Microsoft Corp.’s Pricing Policies Essay

Executive Summary This case study focused on the Microsoft Corporation and charges made by their competitors, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice of antitrust violations and a monopoly of the computer operating systems and applications software, software development tools (e.g., programming language software), and hardware peripherals (e.g., Microsoft Mouse) that Microsoft specializes in. It focused on numerous issues that would lead one to believe that Microsoft was in fact monopolizing the entire industry they were in. . In order to adequately discuss and analyze the issues of this case, I have broken this paper up into four separate sections. Section 1 – Key Terms & Concepts: Description of the key terms & concepts that pertain to this case Section 2 – The Case Against Microsoft: Identify the facts and information that support my case against Microsoft Section 3 – The Defense of Microsoft: Identify certain facts and information that support a defense of Microsoft Section 4 – Discussion: What I have learned from the case After reading this case study, I went back to the email that I received from you and went over the questions that you suggested we consider. The first question was: If you were the DOJ how would you build a case against Microsoft or a dominant leader? I will attempt to do this in Section 2 – The Case Against Microsoft. The second question was: If you were Microsoft how might you defend yourself against DOJ claims? I will cover this in Section 3 – The Defense of Microsoft. I will attempt to show why it was very necessary for the DOJ to bring a case of monopoly and antitrust violations against Microsoft. In doing this, I will attempt to put myself into Microsoft’s shoes and defend their claims that they have not created a monopoly. Section 1 1. Key Terms & Concepts The reason I decided to include these terms and concepts was to make it easier for me to write this paper and use certain terms without describing them each time I used them in my paper. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: The Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, a presidential appointee, ran the Antitrust Division of the DoJ. When the Division thought the evidence was sufficiently persuasive, it brought criminal charges. The Division also entered into negotiations with businesses to end litigation in exchange for consent decrees in civil cases, or nolo contendere (no contest) please in criminal cases DOJ: Department of Justice: The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans (http://en.wikipedia. Org /wiki / United_States_Department_of_Justice) DOS: Disc Operating System FTC – Federal Trade Commission: The FTC enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws by investigating complaints against individual companies initiated by consumers, businesses, congressional inquiries, or reports in the media (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission) ISVs: Independent Software Vendors MS-DOS: Microsoft Operating Systems NDAs: Non-disclosure agreements OEMs: Original Equipment Manufacturers OS: Operating Systems PC: Personal Computer Sherman Anti-Trust Act: it made illegal any form of contract or combination between entities in regards to trade and commerce that would have the effect of restraining trade. And it also put responsibility on government attorneys and district courts to pursue and investigate trusts http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Sherman _ Antitrust_Act) The Clayton Act of 1914: The Clayton Act was designed to prevent monopoly in the beginning rather than to remedy its effects. To accomplish this goal, Congress authorized antitrust prosecutions whenever business practices â€Å"may†¦substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, in any section of the country.† Section Two of the act forbade sellers from discriminating in price – selling goods of like grade and quality to different buyers at different prices – when such differences were neither cost justified nor necessary to â€Å"meet competition.† Section Three limited the use of tying and â€Å"exclusive dealing† contracts. Tying contracts required purchasers or leases to acquire a second, separate product in order to obtain the desired product. Exclusive dealing contracts obliged a purchaser or lessee not to deal in products of competitors Vaporware: is software or hardware which is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge, either with or without a protracted development cycle. The term implies deception, or at least a negligent degree of optimism; that is, it implies that the announcer knows that product development is in too early a stage to support responsible statements about its completion date, feature set, or even feasibility (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware) Section 2 2. The Case Against Microsoft In order to make my case against Microsoft and prove that they are most assuredly in violation of monopoly and anti-trust regulations, I will answer the following questions: 1. Is this a case of monopoly? 2. Is this case a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? Is this a case of monopoly? When I began considering my approach to this paper, I first thought about situations where I was absolutely sure I had been the â€Å"victim† of a monopoly. In order to do this, I first had to make sure that I fully understood exactly what a monopoly was. The American Heritage ® Dictionary defines a monopoly as â€Å"Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service†. In simpler terms, I have always thought of a monopoly as a big corporation doing its best to â€Å"screw-over† the little guy (A.K.A the customer) by doing its best to make as much money as possible. The first situation that came to mind when I thought of a monopoly was how the Comcast cable company had a virtual strangle-hold on the cable service in my home’s area. Since they had â€Å"exclusive control †¦of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service†, in this case they were the only cable provider in our area, you were forced to settle for Comcast’s service unless you had satellite television or you were willing to settle for the wonderfully fuzzy reception from the antiquated â€Å"rabbit ear† antennas of years past. As a result, we unfortunately had to deal with Comcast’s horrible service and always rising rates. Luckily for us, another competitor came in to the picture when WOW! (Wide Open West Internet-Cable-Phone) set up service in our area. We switched cable providers almost immediately and we couldn’t have been happier. They have provided excellent customer service and their rates are consistently lower  than Comcast’s. As a consumer, we definitely benefited from the increased competition and eventual abolishment of the cable company monopoly in our area. With that out of the way, I was forced to look at whether or not Microsoft had a monopoly in their particular industry. Based on the information in this case, I cannot say that Microsoft has a monopoly on any single entire industry. Do they dominate the majority of endeavors that they choose to participate in? Of course they do. Just look at some of these numbers: As you can see from Table 1, Microsoft dominates the market shares of suite software in the United States. The only problem with these numbers is the fact that they are limited in their time range. In my experience, three years is a long enough time to make an approximate forecast for future happenings, from a financial standpoint. However, that is from a transportation and supply-chain perspective where the main variable happens to be the customer’s shipping fluctuations. In a volatile and constantly evolving market such as software development, these numbers could sway tremendously with the introduction of a new and sought after product or changes in consumer wants and desires. Table 2 shows the financial numbers of Microsoft and three of their competitors: This also tells a lot about Microsoft’s market dominance, but this time from a financial standpoint. Two things that stand out to me in this table are the fact that Microsoft has almost twice as much net revenue than their nearest competitor (Microsoft has 4,649 and Novell has 1,998). The second thing that jumped out to me is the fact that all of the competitors show an increase in net revenue from 1984 to 1994. Based on the growth of Microsoft’s competitors (which there are more than one), I feel confident in saying that Microsoft does not have a monopoly in their industry. They do not meet the standard set forth by the simple definition in the dictionary of â€Å"Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service†. As you can clearly see from the tables, Microsoft  does not have exclusive control of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service. However, Microsoft does in fact hold a monopoly on many other counts, one of which is that Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft OS, is installed on most personal computers that can be purchased from Dell, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, and the like. Because this OS comes pre-installed, we as the consumers do not have much of a choice and there is not much of an alternative for us to go with unless we want to switch to an Apple Macintosh OS. Although Microsoft isn’t a natural monopoly in the classically defined or economic sense that I’ve identified above, it is a natural monopoly in the land of cyberspace. Microsoft is the path of least resistance for government, consumers, and programmers alike. Microsoft may have many faults, but they make a lot of things easier too. Most of us are willing to accept a monopoly such as Microsoft has for increased convenience and usability. Microsoft is a one-product company, no matter how it may sometimes appear. Their success is fundamentally due to the success of Windows. It rose to power with one product, and it resides there because of the success of that product. Unfortunately for us, this is not only the best product on the market, it is the only true alternative for us to use. In my book, regardless of the textbook definition, this constitutes a monopoly by Microsoft. Is this a case a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? As I stated in Section 1, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act makes â€Å"illegal any form of contract or combination between entities in regards to trade and commerce that would have the effect of restraining trade†. Based on this case and the readings from week #7, there is proof that Microsoft did violate the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, particularly Sections 1 and 2 of the Act. Section One prohibited contracts, combinations and conspiracies â€Å"in restraint of trade† while Section Two outlawed monopolies and attempts to monopolize. Microsoft violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by illegally using its market power to restrain trade in the high tech industry. A filing from the DOJ on December 19, 1999 stated that â€Å"Microsoft engaged in illegal conduct in five separate ways: * by tying browser sales to sales of the operating system; * by using its market power to illegally maintain a monopoly; * by attempting to monopolize the browser market; * by imposing exclusive dealing arrangements between itself and Internet service providers and/or developers; and * by imposing first boot-up and screen restrictions on computer makers.† http://news.com.com/2100-1001-233992.html The DOJ filing in December of 1999 shows exactly why Microsoft was in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Some of the things that Microsoft has done that clearly violate the act include, but are certainly not limited to: Microsoft customers upgrading their copies of Microsoft Office at the Microsoft website, but using the competition’s web browser, are greeted with a message insisting on the use of MSIE for the â€Å"full edition† of the update. On November 18, 1998 the digital greeting card company Blue Mountain Arts discovered that beta versions of Microsoft’s Outlook Express (which comes free with Internet Explorer) were automatically filing Blue Mountain’s e-mail greeting cards into the â€Å"junk† folder rather than the â€Å"inbox.† Shortly afterwards, Blue Mountain Arts discovered that Microsoft’s WebTV service was blocking their e-mail greeting cards as well. When the courts ordered Microsoft to ship Windows without an integrated Internet Explorer, the company â€Å"complied† by offering a non-functional version of the OS, claiming that the browser was now so completely  integrated into Windows to remove it was tantamount to â€Å"breaking† the operating system. -All three of these examples were taken from the following website: http://www.vcnet. com /bms/departments/dirtytricks.shtml To summarize, I’ve identified the following facts: Microsoft does have a monopoly in their industry Microsoft did violate Acts 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-trust Act It is convenient for Microsoft to say that their success is solely based on them being able to produce good products. Although they do devote extraordinary resources to improving their technologies, they also work diligently to stifle growth and in-roads from their competition. Section 3 3. The Defense of Microsoft – I am not going to spend a great deal of time attempting to defend Microsoft. They have spent millions and millions of dollars working tirelessly to do it themselves. Furthermore, I firmly believe that they have established a monopoly and that this monopoly serves to futher one parties interests: Microsoft’s. However, I did some research online and came up with the following paragraph from an article titled â€Å"The Microsoft Antitrust Suit† written by Peter Tracey. In it, he wrote â€Å"The persecution of Microsoft is an assault on the free market, and on the intelligence of the American people. It is the result of long-held envy by Microsoft’s competitors, including Netscape and Oracle. It is in violation of the constitution, being both ex post facto and vague (Getman). The governments persecution of Microsoft should be stopped, moreover, the antitrust legislation that has exposed business to unfair and unreasonable practices should be repealed.† (http://www.levelthreesolutions.com/ peter/msantitrust.html) In Microsoft’s opinion, the government should not get involved in determining what means a company uses to produce their products. They feel that they have been able to succeed through hard work, tenancity, and superior products. Although it may be â€Å"unfortunate† for their competitiors, Microsoft feels that â€Å"if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.† In essence, Microsoft makes the most money doing what they do by taking solid ideas from other people, such as the Disc Operating System, and making them better. Microsoft doesn’t monopolize the industry. They simply work harder, take risks, and capitalize where other companies have floundered. Section 4 4. Discussion – Before I discuss this particular case study, I must tell you that I have always been a big fan of Microsoft and Bill Gates. I have enjoyed the relatively cheap cost of Microsoft’s software such as Microsoft Excel and Word. I have also felt that with each successive upgrade of these products I have only been able to improve my performance both at work and school. I also thought it was impressive that Bill Gates could take his ideas, push forward with his undefeatable will, and become one of the richest people in the entire world. However, this case study and the analysis that I’ve done with it has really opened my eyes to the â€Å"seamy† side of Microsoft and Bill Gates. I was so moved by this case that I even went and downloaded one of Microsoft’s few internet browser competitors, Netscape, to compare it’s product with Internet Explorer. When my wife asked me what my paper was I about I told her it was about Microsoft and whether or not they were a monopoly in the industry. Her very quick and wry response said it so perfectly: â€Å"Duh, of course they are. Even I know that.† I think this says it all so succinctly. Do I think Microsoft needs to be disbanded or separated in to two different operating companies? Not really. Like I said before, I enjoy Microsoft’s products and I use them constantly. In fact, I am writing  this paper using one of Microsoft’s products, Microsoft Word. I just honestly think that fair competition and a level playing field for Microsoft’s competitors would only benefit the consumer in the long run. More people with new insights will be given the chance to expand the technology already in place. Too many companies are skittish about taking on Microsoft because of the monopoly and the fear of being annihilated. Finally, I have learned that cases of anti-trust and monopoly are not always as clear cut as one may think. I always thought that Microsoft had a clear monopoly and that there was nothing any of us could ever do to remedy it. I also really didn’t care as long as they continued to improve Windows and the accompanying Office Suite. I can see now that competition in all economic arenas, whether it is cable television or fast-food or computer software, is important, no vital, for lower prices and increased technological growth.

5 Forces Dynamic Analysis Essay

Question 1. –(refer to appendices on p.5) Political 1) From 1991-1998 No longer anti-alcohol campaign to boost ice-cream industry. Ice cream industry had to complete with substitute products. 2) Since 1998 Financial Crisis, Russian rubles devalued by two-thirds. Russians cannot afford foreign products and companies relied more on national suppliers. 3) 1999 VAT raise. Fruit-based ice-creams and popsicles raised to 20% VAT. Consumer buy less ice-cream because of elastic demand, revenue is less. Economical 1) Privatized companies must overcome bad infrastructure, to create value in Primary and Support activities, and to extend the maximum market share. 2) In ice-cream industry, Ice-Fili’s competitor, Nestlà ©, built Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s own infrastructure during the 1990’s and Russian faced an enormous challenge. Society/ Culture 1) Lakomka. Older customers love â€Å"Lakomka†, 5 competitors compete Lakomka. However, in a long term, Lakomka needs to sustain its life if old generation dies. 2) Russian likes Condensed Milk (less sweet) ice-cream generally. But Nestlà © may change consumers’ behavior. 3) Consumers took ice-cream during short summer but took beer throughout year. Technological 1) Newly imported equipment. Ice-cream industries invested newly imported equipment to enhance infrastructure. 2) 90% of new equipment used for freezing and packaging in Russian market, but only $1.5 to $2m per complete production line. Not really improving. Substitutes (High Threat) Soft drinks, beers, chocolate, confectionaries were rising but ice-cream declined by 3.5% in 2002. Rivalry (High Threat) Nestlà © established great infrastructure and wanted to be only brand in Russia in 2-3 years’ time! Entrants (High Threat) Regional producers took 30% of domestic market and still growing. Supplier (High Threat) Imported ingredients were more expensive; National suppliers had more supplier power, price of ingredient were more expensive Buyer (High Threat) 1) Customers had 240 different ice-cream products! Yet to count substitute goods. 2) Retailer cost 17.2% & distributors cost 30%, 47% of industries expenses!! From the PESTLE and Porter Five Forces shown above, Russian ice cream industry was struggling to evolve. Question 2 Resources– (refer to appendices on p.6) 1) Tangible resources In Physical point of view, Russian ice-cream market contains different plants and fruits. This is also mention under point â€Å"rare† below in the same answer. Ice cream companies’ experiences long year’s industries, human resources of local and national knowledge such as culture, marketing, and human connections were under the competitive advantage. 2) Intangible resources For firms in Russian market, long ice cream brands were already enjoying reputation because some reputable brands were household name such as Lakomka. Under Capabilities 1) Valuable Despite that is devaluation in Russian Rubles, which is a great opportunity to enter ice cream market in Russia in lower cost. 2) Rare Tailor made Ingredients. Russia has a huge area, which may grow some specific type of plant that cannot find in other countries. Those local plant and fruit could turn into local ingredients to make a unique ice-cream that could be found in Russia only. 3) Inimitable In the Russian market, there were more than 240 ice cream products alone. For a market entrant, the barrier of entry is low because customers were not sticking to a particular ice cream brand and reject the others. Entrants needn’t imitate other brand and enter to the market. That was why regional ice cream market enjoyed growth. 4) Organized to be exploited by the firm Russian market used to have a weak organizational infrastructure, neither in vertical and horizontal integration during 2002. Nestlà © had formed a well infrastructure already but Nestlà © couldn’t take entire integration in Russia  market, there are still some room for companies can take on this opportunity to integrate horizontally and/or vertically at the moment, to grow on company’s economies of scale at this moment, rather than years later that all the market big boys fill up the ice cream industry, which increase barrier of entries. Question 3: Strategic Positioning Model – (refer to appendices on p.7) In appendices 1, Ice-Fili played board in Competitive Scope but played differentiation in Economic Logic. Despite Ice-Fili sold 6 Rubles and compete directly with some of Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s medium price products, for a medium size company with limited tangible resources, Ice-FIli unable to be a Cost Leader to compete with high economies of scale like Nestlà © and local big companies. Ice-Fili had to prove its value. Porter 5 Forces – (refer to appendices on p.7) Threat of Substitutes Invest Eastern Europe and Germany Ice-Fili directors believed to take a ‘cash cow’ opportunity to produce dry ice and sell aboard. It was right as director aware substitute goods and lower switching cost of Buyers can threat ice-cream business. If dry ice aboard were Stars Market, of course it was worth to invest in; if dry ice was a Question Marks market, risk was much higher.; Furthermore, Ice-cream market and dry ice-market may not share the same technologies simply based on same freezing system, Ice-Fili needed to put more effort to control its business, plus taking care the tough ice-cream competition at the same time. Threat of entry Ice-Fili improved some sufficiency that raised the bar barriers of entry from below: 1) It was right to restructure 117 salary levels to one under Corporate Organization & Structure, more cost flexibility & got rid of high fixed cost rigid system. 2) Production Invested $8m on advanced machinery with 90% used for freezing and packaging! To tackle significant 5.7% packaging cost was reasonable. It may spend too much on improve lower cost Freezing system but spent less than 10 % on production, let â€Å"Older generation equipment† produced 25% production capacity was obviously  insufficient. Ice-Fili did not tackle high repair & maintenance cost. Buyers’ Power Ice-Fili planned their Product range with 170 different ice cream plus 20 new products every year. That let buyer to have more choice was creating far less sufficiency on cost control. Under poor financial position in 2002, simply should focus traditional intangible brand Lakomka and other most profitable ice-cream! Supplier Power 1) Ice-Fili kept 3-4 suppliers only. Kabuzenka stated Ice-Fili constantly received â€Å"new one† offers, but didn’t diversify more suppliers. High Suppliers Power remained. 2) Ice-FIli never hedged foreign currencies that can cost less to buy foreign products. Question 4. –(refer to appendices on p.8) Arenas- Red Ocean (substitute products), Blue Ocean (Dry-Ice Market & theme park) Invest Foreign Dry Ice Market- Ice-Fili must ensure they were investing Star Market rather than Question Marks market. If not a Star Market, Ice-Fili should not invest. Invest Ice Cream theme park- Ice-Fili located nearby Moscow. It is inexpensive to set, and easy to attract some visitors to visit theme park. i) Introduce company’s history ii) watch brief production process, iii) let visitors taste and evaluate developing future product. iv) Visit â€Å"cute† graveyard of Ice-Fili’s â€Å"buried products† to create fun. Invest substitute products- E.g. beer, chocolate, soda, etc., as markets were expanding, in short term, to buy these companies shares and generate cash a.s.a.p. In longer term, get enough resources to develop its own brand, or fully takeover an existing substitute company. Vehicles- Acquisition Backward integration- To save storage cost of ingredients, could pay suppliers slightly more by delivering on time for production. This enhanced inbound logistics under Generic Value Chain, Porter 5 Forces’ Supplier Power, and decrease Operation cost. Forward Integration- Set up own small distribution warehouses across geographical market locations, hire few employees in each location. It runs several tasks: a) Enhance Outbound Logistics by distribute products on time to all retail channels, replace 47% Retailers and Distribution costs. b) Use cheap operated SMS to communicate freely with local marketers, to gather 1st hand market demand and relevant information, to build up Services by developing relationships. Then e-mail this â€Å"fount line† information to headquarters on regular basis. Differentiation- Position medium price product and try to Re-register Lakomka 1) Register Lakomka- to become Ice-Fili’s unique product in the market. 2) Not bond with leading Russian producers for joint advertising- The bond favor more on Russian big players rather than medium Ice-Fili. Bond’s decision may constraint the future benefit of Ice-Fili. Eventually, Ice-Fili could be destroyed by the bond, not by Nestlà ©. It is not worth to save 0.44% cost by joining the bond. Staging- Based on priority of financial resources inflow and outflow of time sequence as follows: Invest substitute products 1st as market growing->register Lakomka->forward integration->backward integration->Dry Ice Market abroad->Ice Cre am theme park Economic Logic Gain cash from raising market (substitute goods); Save cash to run future business. Conclusion: 1st invest Horizon 2- certain growing substitute market; then enhance Horizon 1- register Lakomka and integration, finally invest Horizon 3-Dry Ice and theme park. APPENDICES Brief History PEST (question 1) Components of Internal Analysis (question 2) Strategic Positioning Model (question 3) Lower Cost Differentiation Board Target Competitive Scope Nestlà © -Cost Leadership Ice-Fili- Medium Price, Nestlà © Narrow Competitive Scope Cost Focus Differentiation- Niche

Viewpoints of the Great Carajas Project

The main two types of people involved in the Great Carajas Project are the CVRD ( A company which owned mines) and the Garimperos. Garimperos are the illegal miners or free lance miners. They mine for gold and are forbidden to mine in the Carajas area. The Garimperos come from all over Brazil and usually mine for Gold. They are annoyed with the government because they feel that they have the right to mine in the area as well. If a Garimpero is caught mining where they shouldn't be, security guards will hunt them down and confiscate their gold. In Serra Pelada 80,000 Garimperos invaded a Gold mine and took it over. They were extracting around $200 million annually but although they were making good money, they are damaging the environment and working in a very unsafe manor. They are using mercury to separate the gold and this mercury was then getting into rivers and contaminating/poisoning them and various food chains. They also burn the mercury which gave off toxic gas and the safety in the mining pits was appalling; there were regular rock falls and some miners are killed. In January 1986, Riot police were ordered into the mines to force the Garimperos out. A miner was killed by accident when a policeman intended to shoot a bullet in the air but shot too soon and killed the miner. Soon after, the mine was shut down but the company re-opened it and increased safety levels by using bulldozers. The CVRD were confident that they would make lots of money and they were very strict about the area; check posts were set up to ensure that only people involved with the mines/CVRD were allowed to enter and all cars were searched, only allowing people to enter who had a permit. The government were in control of the project and showed interest because of the investment being made. The project had an annual income of $700 million. The company are licensed to run the project, unlike the Garimperos. The companies are looked upon as being sufficient but inhumane and the Garimperos are seen as trying to fend for themselves but obliviously harming the environment and putting their own lives in danger. Local tribes who live in the forest called Amerindians are moved out of their settlements so that the CVRD can expand the mining areas. The CVRD destroy their living area and when the Amerindians next settle they are still weary of having to move again. In My opinion I think that both Garimperos and the CVRD should be allowed to mine there. They should compromise as to who gets what land so that everyone is happy. I think that if this did happen the Government would have to do some serious thinking into safety regulations and the damaging of the environment.

Chronis Illness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chronis Illness - Assignment Example Chronic illnesses Chronic illnesses refer to medical conditions or health problems with associated symptoms or disabilities that require long-term management usually three months or more (Brunner & Smeltzer, 2009). Chronic illnesses may also refer to illnesses that have extended or prolonged course that are unlikely to be resolved immediately and that cure may be absent or rare. Currently, the term chronic illness is gradually fading and it being replaced by the term living with a long-term condition. The import of this approach is to eliminate or reduce emphasis on the disease rather than the person. The magnitude of chronic diseases has been defined and based on the length of illnesses, recurrence, resistance to cure and severity (Power and Orto 2004). The major causes and factors that led to the increased number of people with chronic conditions include decrease in mortality from infectious diseases, lifestyle factors, longer lifespan because of advancement in medicine and improve d screening and diagnostic procedures (Ackley & Gail, 2000). Lifestyle habits such as smoking and sedentary lifestyles have contributed to the rise and risk of chronic illnesses and problems such as respiratory diseases, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity among others. Characteristics of chronic illnesses Chronic illnesses characteristic revolves around the lives of the patients and their families and its management. Chronic illness management often goes beyond the treatment of medical problems and it goes further to address other related psychological and social problems. This is because living with chronic illness and any disability has the potentially of affecting, changing and altering the identity, roles, body image and lifestyle of people (Carrier, 2009). As a result, these changes and alteration need to be managed to enable people living with chronic illnesses to continuously adapt and for them to be accommodated in the society. Another characteristics of chro nic illness is that is develops in different phases over the life span of a person. The phases may include acute periods, stable and unstable periods, flares, and remissions and each phase is normally associated with its inherent physical, psychological and social problems that need various regimens and management (Brunner & Smeltzer, 2009). Successful management of chronic illnesses requires persistent and consistent adherence to therapeutic regimes as failure or any slight deviation from the treatment may increase the risk of patients for developing other complications and it may increase the development process of the disease (Larsen, 2011). Chronic illness may lead to the development other chronic illnesses or conditions hence contributing to high risk of morbidity and mortality among patients. Chronic illness is uncertain and its management is a process of discovery that involves the collaboration of various healthcare professionals who work together with the patient and their families in the provision of various services (Nolte, Knai, & McKee, 2008). Chronic illness management is an expensive and costly as patients often incur a lot of expenses that are related to costs for hospital stays, diagnostic tests, equipment, medications and supportive services. The cost problem is further exacerbated by the fact that most living with chron

District Attorneys office Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

District Attorneys office - Research Paper Example A good attorney spends most of their time researching, has a great memory and writes convincingly, so any degree that prepares on for this is probably a good choice. Depending on what particular field in law one wants to go into, there are other options. It is not unheard of for individuals with an established career to attend law school in mid-life in order to become a litigator in their chosen field. Many colleges offer some sort of pre-law coursework and this is not a bad idea if it can be worked into the schedule. Any course of study at the undergraduate level that familiarizes the student with the course of study in law school will be of benefit and help the student achieve higher comprehension and higher grades in law school. Asking the prospective law school what kind of coursework would be beneficial will result in solid information as to what the admissions board would like to see. Wise students will try to provide the admissions board with a high GPA along with the course o f study and life experience the board is looking for if they want to be admitted. If law school is the goal, then the undergraduate degree is just the final step on the path prior to law school. With undergraduate degree in hand, the next step is to get accepted into law school. An appropriate degree from a good school, a high grade point average and an excellent LCAT score should provide the applicant with many options as to which school to consider. There are three types of law schools and each provides the student with a different experience and benefits package for a variable price. : Ivy League schools such as Harvard or Yale are the top tier, where the coursework is rigorous but the real value is the rolodex one could walk away with after graduation. Ivy League schools are expensive and should be considered an investment in who one gets to know as much as what one learns. The value of relationships and â€Å"connections† cannot be understated, and this is the true value of attending the prestige schools. There are plenty of solid Universities that have excellent law schools, all provide a solid education and possibly some good connections but the value of this choice is the quality of the education in terms of cost. It is possible to shop around and find a well-regarded law school that offers the degree for a much lower price than a comparable school. Keep in mind that the admission process will be tougher because more people will be applying. (Sedberry) The bottom tier schools simply provide one with a degree and hopefully the preparation necessary to pass the bar exams. Cost and time are usually the major issues here, as it is possible to go to school part time and complete a law degree in four to six years. Several schools offer online law degrees (adultlearn.com). A prosecutor works for the State, so any law school will work as long as it results in passing the bar exam. The better the school the better-off the individual is when trying to get hired, but passing the bar exams makes the attorney a member in good standing with the union. The course of study in law school is normally three years and results in the award of the Juris Doctorate degree. In general, the first two years of law school consists of the basic curriculum and all the students are in competition with one another. The class standing is based on the performance in these classes. One way to

Management of change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management of change - Research Paper Example In line with this, the process through which an organization will manage its change process determines the success or the failure of the organization. Bringing the human resources together to work for one common objective, during the process of change, requires the incorporation of various change management theories and other approaches. In effect, this sets different business organizations apart from others and ensures that they remained competitive in the global business environment. In view of the importance of change in the contemporary business society, this essay elucidates on various important factors using the presented case study. First, it is important to identify the drivers of change in any business organization and identify the agents responsible for change. Consequently, using the available evidence in this case, it is important to investigate the perspectives of managed change applicable to this particular case. Conversely, managers face dilemmas while confronting vari ous situations in the organization. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the dilemmas of change faced my managers in this case while also accessing strategic thinking in this business organization regarding the process of change. Finally, it is crucial to investigate the causes, processes and consequences of change as presented in this case while focusing on the prescriptive model. Drivers and Agents of Change It is important to point out that change in an organization does not occur without drivers and agents that push for the change to occur. Therefore, it is important to point out that different change drivers and agents of change require managers to operate in approaches that helped an organization withstand the change process. Drivers of change are crucial in identifying what causes the change in an organization. In effect, drivers of change can be classified under two categories with these drivers being in either external or internal. Internal drivers of change include the cul ture of the organization, organizational behavior, and the mindset in an organization (D. Anderson & L. Anderson 2010). Based on the foregoing, it should be noted that the change process in this case is driven by factors within the organization that

Confucianism And Education In Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Confucianism And Education In Asia - Essay Example Additionally, the article argues that Confucian based education encourages students to be passionate about education. Kristof states that United States ought to borrow some ideas from Confucian based education systems (Kristof Web). How Confucianism Affects Education Confucian is a traditional outlook and practices followed in East Asian countries, which are based on teachings of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who lived between 551 and 479 BCE. Confucianism emphasizes on ethics as well as statecraft. Confucius believed that education was the only way that one could earn appropriate social status in addition to material success. Additionally, he claimed that education helped foster harmony and morality in the society. Due to this believe, Confucian countries lay a lot of emphasis on education in terms of the fund set aside to facilitate education. Additionally, the parents tend to pressure their children to work hard and prosper academically. This has led to higher performance in Co nfucian countries (Gove and Huang 10-13; Phuong-Mai, Cees and Albert 1-3; Kristof Web). Learning is a process influenced by interaction of many factors many factors. The world or the environment that one learns in plays a role in determining ones perceptions toward education hence the possibility of succeeding or not succeeding. Culture is one of the factors that determine the modes of learning as well as the development of education policies. Most Asian schools follow Confucian ideas in teaching. Confucianism is one of the greatest stimuli of education in most Asian countries such as Singapore, China, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Confucianism entails a lot of strictness, demand for students to... This essay stresses that Confucian is the main difference that segregates education in the Asian countries from that in Western countries. Additionally, the notion that Confucianism encourages surface learning, which is inadequate for future performance in jobs, is not correct. This is because Students from Confucians countries have been regarded as good performance even in their jobs. It is true that students in counties such as Hong Kong considerably depend on deep memorizing to pass their exams, but the fact that they end up outdoing their western counterparts means that Confucianism is an appropriate approach worth emulating. This report makes a conclusion that Confucianism, a cultural approach that emphasizes on education as the path that enables success in life is responsible for the improved performance in Confucian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and China. This is according to Kristof, who adds that the strict nature demanded in Confucian educations systems cultivated good attitude towards education. This argument is true and can be supported by the recent international findings that ranked student from Confucian countries as the best performing in math, science and reading. Since culture plays a role in modeling the learning environment, it is appropriate to argue that Confucian culture is responsible for this performance since the west students have been outdone by Confucians students irrespective of the believe that Confucianism is inefficient since it entails memorizing.

Texas Attorney General Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Texas Attorney General - Research Paper Example Secure confinement indicates that the court has committed a juvenile into the secure juvenile correctional facility’s custody for duration of a specific program that can run over a few months or many years. The detention of juveniles does not intend to be punitive; rather, they receive care that is consistent with that of the parent in the secure custody. The local jurisdiction or the state have the responsibility of providing recreation, counseling, education, assessment, health services and other required services in a youth’s maintenance and well-being in their custody. Reservations in the secure detention are for the juveniles who pose a threat to the safety of the public. Status offenders like juveniles who are charged with alcohol possession or running away from home may be held for only 24 hours or less. There are five types of residential programs in which juveniles are detained. These programs include camps, detention, corrections, residential treatment and community based. The wide placement variety options are because there is no uniform in these programs (Lissitz, Green, 1975). The youths are supposed to be accorded the appropriate services either in confinement facilities or in the detention centers. The services available differ from the different facilities but generally, the services and programs provided are geared towards the juvenile needs. The function of the facilities is to rehabilitate the youth. The service that offers primary rehabilitation is education and it is mandatory to the detained youth (Marx, 1998). The juvenile facilities that run schools, which are highly effective, provide general equivalency diploma preparation, high school curriculum, special education and opportunities of vocational training. The issues of major concerns in these centers are ineffectiveness and overcrowding. The facilities can create instability regarding simple logistics and become unstable and it becomes

Collaborative Knowledge Management Tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Collaborative Knowledge Management Tools - Essay Example For instance, a construction project management faced with an increasing case of problems and pressure such as costs, quantity, quality, labor among others, need proper project and design managers who would be analyzing large number of data when making crucial decision. It also focusses on integration, creation and dispersals of knowledge into the concerned society, where solution created is put forward by these collaborative techniques arising from proper management of technical knowhow or rather creativity (Dean, et al., 2010). Inter-connected problems which come from creative collaborative knowledge processes are captured and shared in such a way that they are managed sufficiently to achieve the desired aims and objectives. This means generally that whatever the objective of an operational firm, clinic or project, proper management of their used skills in a collaborative manner is no doubt necessary to ensure these objectives are achieved optimally (Antonino & Ronaldo, 2010). The management of a firm should embrace collaborative knowledge management tools in all levels of administration. This ensures that time and cost of decision making within the firm is saved and thus increases its profitability. It also enables easy flow of communication and skills among employees which results to improved productivity and work

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human Resource Management - Essay Example This helps in the HR planning processes that entail incorporation of reward systems and increase of responsibilities for workers. Furthermore, the termination of services of workers also falls under the HRM department is expected to use proper channels that are fair and transparent to uphold integrity. This also includes the guiding reasons for terminating the services of an employee through effective tribunals that follow tenets of justice and equality. There are several differences between personnel management and Human Resource Management in every organization such Coca Cola Company. For example, in terms of nature relations, HRM deals with unitarist view while personnel manager leans with pluralist view. Therefore, in terms of a unitarist perspective, the HRM coordinates with the management and staff through a common vision for the establishment of a mission for the attainment of business goals. Additionally, the vision targets the achievement of mutual interest whereby the needs of corporations are met by employers and employees (Yeandle 2003, p. 123). However, with personnel management, there is a centralization of power whereby all powers are held by the top management. Therefore, this influences decision-making where all suggestions rest on the management excluding the personnel manager. Alternatively, there is a difference in leadership and management responsibilities between HRM and personnel manager. For example, while leadership style is the emphasis in personal management, in HRM it is transformational. Another difference is the contract of employment whereby there is a clear written employee contract in personnel management while HRM emphasize on one-time-long contract (DuBrin 2008, p.167). This means that there is less rigidity in the terms and conditions for employees. In other words, there is flexibility in terms of approach to the contribution of knowledge and skills for the organization. Therefore, there are numerous HRM related roles and res ponsibilities of line manager

Term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Term Paper Example A firm would boost that it has succeeded in business if it has met its objectives. When the firm is designing its objectives, it has to consider factors that would influence the market entry approach of the firm, pricing and distribution. Many automotive motive organizations face stiff competition in the market. This would call for a marketing strategy that aim which would aid the firm to meet its set objectives. Information regarding products of the firm in the market is very important since it enables the business to identify areas, which need correction when designing marketing approach. Marketing survey is an important exercise to the firm since it will dictate the approach or entry behavior of the business in a particular segment. Marketing strategy is a tool that the automotive firm would use to make a calculative approach into the market. The strategy would influence issues such as pricing, distribution, and market share among others. Marketing of products require a strategic entry behavior into the market in order to meet the set target of the organization. Most automotive companies manufacture similar products and supply their products into the same markets. Competition among these companies requires a devised mechanism that would woo buyers to purchase specific products of a particular company. Branding of the company products and employing marketing tactics would help to woo buyers into buying the company products. Automotive firm needs to consider a number of factors before rolling its products into the marketing. These factors would influence the amount of sale the firm is able to make, the growth of the automotive firm and market share of the firm. This paper explores strategic marketing strategies for automotive company. Market survey helps in establishing taste and preferences of customers. Conducting a marketing research would help an automotive firm to develop products that would suit the interest of the consumers. The firm may

Never Let Me Go Essay Example for Free

Never Let Me Go Essay 2009: A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. Most children grow up thinking that one day they will reach maturity and go to college, get a job, start a life and family and so on. However, the children of Hailsham grow up only to get their organs taken from them one by one until they die. While growing up at Hailsham, their biggest fear seems to be the woods that surround their home. The woods are a symbol that represent the outside world and therefore their fate after Hailsham, but more importantly how this knowledge they have about their future is always wandering in the back of their mind. Throughout the entire description of the woods, there’s imagery of things lurking over Hailsham. The woods are always â€Å"looming in the distance† up on the hill over Hailsham and the ghost of the girl who was never able to get back in is always â€Å"gazing over Hailsham† This idea of the woods being so scary, and the scary stories that have been created about them, is symbolic of how the fate of their futures also lingers over Hailsham and the children. It seems that the only thing the children can truly be sure of is that they will be fine as long as they stay in Hailsham. To them Hailsham represents security and safety, but outside, they don’t really know for sure. All they really know is that once they leave Hailsham, no matter how badly they’re pleading to be let back in, they will never be able to return. In the novel there is a part where the kids punish Marge K for embarrassing them by forcing her to look at the woods at night because apparently it was enough to ensure for her a sobbing night of terror. I could see a kid being scared in this situation but an entire night of sobbing terror seems like she was way more than just scared. What scares her is facing her future. Seeing those woods and realizing that one day she will be there and not at Hailsham anymore. As the story progresses the guardians try to deny the rumors about the woods, but the older kids always insist they would be told the ghastly truth soon enough. Since the older kids begin to understand the truth about their futures they warn their younger, more naà ¯ve, brothers and sisters at Hailsham. The fate of the children of Hailsham is tragic and inevitable one. When you’re young, your â€Å"little kid† instincts tend to take over and you find yourself channeling your fears into something that’s easier for you to understand. For the children of Hailsham this â€Å"easier† thing is the woods.

The Art In Cinema Film Studies Essay

The Art In Cinema Film Studies Essay Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating   or indoctrinating   citizens. Film may be combined with performance art and still be considered or referred to as a film, for instance, when there is a live musical accompaniment to a silent film. The act of making a film can, in and of itself, be considered a work of art, on a different level from the film itself.. A road movie can refer to a film put together from footage from a long road trip or vacation. Intuitively, some films qualify as artworks and others do not. All film is art, though some of it is better art or higher art. This, it turns out, is not just a question for those with a special interest in film. It has interest for aesthetic value more broadly, because film can serve as a test case for definitions of art. Some theories of art seem too restrictive, because they prevent us from classifying certain films that are aesthetic masterpieces into th e category of art. The intentions of the creators in attaining status as art. Sometimes, however, creators do not conceive of their creations as primarily belonging to the class of artworks, but viewers come to recognize that they can be fruitfully regarded in this way. This is not to say that a work becomes art when its taken up by a art-consuming audience. A theory of that kind would face the difficulty of saying which audiences had the power of conferring art status. Moreover, audiences do not transform works into art, rather they discover that a works deserves to be regarded in that way. If this intuition is right, the key to understanding what makes a film count as art is what goes on in this discovery process. India is well known for its commercial cinema, better known as Bollywood. Almost every Indian is well versed with onscreen running around the trees singing songs, the fight sequences, twins meeting each other pachchees saal baad, topped with some dose of mush and lots and lots of spice. However there are other types of movies which focus purely on story- minus the masala. This genre is sometimes referred as Pheeka or Bina namak mirch wala (bland) kind of cinema. In addition to commercial cinema, there is also Indian art cinema, known to film critics as New Indian Cinema or sometimes the Indian New Wave. A true admirers of cinema and people who consider movie-making as an art call it the Offbeat or The Art House Cinema. Many people in India plainly call such films as art films as opposed to mainstream commercial cinema. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the art film or the parallel cinema was usually government-aided cinema. Such directors could get federal or state government grants to produce non-commercial films on Indian themes. Their films were showcased at state film festivals and on the government-run TV. These films also had limited runs in art house theatres in India and overseas. The Indian Art Cinema or the New Wave sometimes called has had a humble beginning. This genre doesnt boast of foreign locales, hopelessly expensive clothes or the big star cast. The sole strength of these kind of films is the story. The Indian Art Cinema has beautifully transformed and re-invented itself. From socially relevant topics of Child Marriage, Dowry, Female Foeticide, Widow Re-marriage to a simple love story. The Art film-makers have done it all. Its amazing to see how some of the very talented film-makers have gifted their audiences with some of their magnificent work. There is Shekhar Kapoor who beautifully told the story of a man struggling to make his illegitimate son a part of his family (Masoom) and we got one of the all time masala entertainers Mr India from the same director. The person who gave us Zubeida, Ankur and Manthan came up with something as entertaining as Welcome to Sajjanpur and the very recent Well Done Abba. The Gen-X today are more intelligent and open to a wide variety of topics. At the end of the day the purpose of the film and the audience should be served. The audience wants a good story and a really good way of putting it and thats what the film makers are supposed to do. Yes masala flicks are welcome but too much of masala can cause acidity! A good mixture of masala movies and intelligent cinema is what the audience wants. Brainless comedies work, but again not always. In this new context of art-house appeal to the mainstream, of limited box-office appeal is striking, if not, perhaps, inaccurate. On the other hand, general conceptions of art house have come to describe films simply on the basis of their production outside the Bollywood system, regardless of their status as conventional dramas or slightly offbeat comedies. Surely a film with a 30-crore budget, Bollywood stars, and wide release does not fit the standard art-house profile. And yet a documentary about global warming w ith art house written all over it-complete with its charisma-challenged star, Al Gore-enjoyed sold-out screenings at huge multiplex theaters across the globe. From the very inception of this genre, there has been a difference between art and commercial cinema. However with changing times this gap has been bridged. The themes of art movies have witnessed a change. The earlier trends in Indian Art movies were more specifically related to the Indian audience, while the recent incline is towards the global concept. Quite ideally therefore the Indian Art cinema has gradually emerged itself as a reflections of the happenings in the society. Now many of these Art Movies or small films are grossing major profits and competing for space at the big multiplexes as well as finding their audiences at the small cinemas devoted to specialty fare. What will be ideal is an exclusive chain national art house cinema multiplexes to mark the new era of these specialized cinema. The audiences today look out for good films rather than the serious or popular films. Hence once a while a multi-starrer movie bombs and a small budget movie like Aamir is much appreciated by the cine goers. The need for better subjects, the desire to watch something more feasible on the screen and the boredom that has set in with the regular candy floss cinema are some of the reasons for this apparent change. If this trend continues then the day is no far when there will be no commercial cinema or art cinema, but just good cinema and bad cinema. India is full of art and that is depicted in Indian movies. But a commercial or non commercial movie, both need art. Commercial movies need art in form of background, sets, getting a shot right. Both have got distinct way of describing art through movies. There are a number of genres and styles of Indian cinema that a viewer encounters, such as, romantic comedies, gangster films, horror films, westerns, melodramas, musicals and historical films. While some of these genres are present in Indian cinema, often as a consequence of the impact of the western films, the Indian filmmakers have also created some styles of their own, that are acknowledged as their own. This is clearly discernible in the popular tradition of filmmaking in India. The knowledge of Indian cinema provides an entry into the thought-worlds and performance-worlds to the people interested in this art. Many Indian film directors, right from the pioneers such as Dadasaheb Phalke to the modern ones like Yash Chopra, have deployed their creativity along with traditional forms of dance mime, folk classical music to enhance the communicated experience. Indian popular cinema has evolved into a distinctively Indian mode of entertainment by imaginatively amalgamating music dances also and the works of veteran directors like V.Shantaram. Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor bear a testimony to this fact. So, through Indian cinema one can also enter the larger world of Indian aesthetics. Film makers like Ketan Mehta has made a movie on the life of 19th century painter Raja Ravi Varma named it as Rang Rasiya. Its a very artistic movie showing us the reality of the society in the 19th century. He had also directed Mangal pande which was againg very artistic from the sets to costume everything gave you the feel on the 18th century. Aushitosh Gowarikars Jodha Akbar is another epic story in which art played a very important role. To add on the list is devdas Sanjay Leela Bhansali did a brilliant job with art direction. Indian cinema has presented a detailed version of India from its different historical movies to its present scenario movies. The distinct genres of films depicted by the different filmmakers have helped in the study of India from a different and distinct angle of vision. Thus, one cannot help but realize the fact that indeed it has been the old traditions and the cultures that have actually framed the Indian cinema, which have been an encouragement to uplift India and make it one of the renowned countries in the world. By seeing the cultures and traditions of the distinct societies, people can examine their own country`s culture with fresh eyes and with a special vision and approach.

Introduction To Rubber Tree Computer Science Essay

Introduction To Rubber Tree Computer Science Essay Rubber tree is a tree that is used by the world community to collect the product. The product from rubber trees not only wood but also sap. However, the main product is rubber latex itself. Rubber trees are not available in many countries in the world. It was first found in the forests of Brazil. So far many countries for the purpose of planting rubber trees and agricultural economies of their countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Indonesia especially. Planting date became one of the major industries in these countries as economic resources and produce quality rubber. Rubber seedlings began to be brought into Malaysia from Brazil in 1877 from Hevea Brasiliansis sepsis. However, commercial rubber cultivation began in 1902 and continues to grow at the same time contributing to the highest exports in the Philippines until the 1970s. Hence, Malaysia is a major producer after Indonesia and Thailand. However, state revenue through sales of rubber-based products began to decline in recent years due to the use of synthetic rubber is more expensive than natural rubber in the market. To overcome this problem a lot of steps have been made to improve the quality of rubber produced. At the same time, a new effort has been made to diversify the products and rubber-based products. Besides latex, rubber trees have also been used in the furniture industry; the rubber leaves the country but also now has its own value in the handicraft industry in Malaysia. Seeing the potential and the rubber industry are very proud and vibrant, the planting of rubber is recognized as a long-term enterprise that requires careful planning and commitment to achieve lasting results and quality. PROBLEM STATEMENT The thing that should do in this final project is to improve already tapping knife at market so that it can simplify rubber tapper to do their works. The products at market and also use by tappers are not comfort and ergonomic to hold. Besides, the knife uses by rubber tappers at this time need a high skill to use. It is hard for new rubber tapper or anyone that dont have a skill to conduct this particular works. If the tap is too deep it can cause damage on the wood. In this project most important thing should be done is improve at latex incise machine at market now a days so that it can simplify tapper to do their work. The existing product at market always used by tappers not really comfort and ergonomic to be hold. Besides, the knife has been used by tappers need a high skill to use. If the incision is too deep will cause touch the stem tree and make the tree have a bump on it. So, to improvement that will do on this knife so that it can be used by tappers or even other people who do not have an experience or skill before. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT To ensure that these problems can be overcome, some objectives have been placed so do not come out of its original purpose to solve the problem. The objective of this set is referred to the statement of the problem. The objectives are: Design a new knife so that it is comfort when use. It can be use by anyone who does not have a skill also. The tapping knife using electricity concept and can produce a same quantity and quality by using conventional method. SCOPE OF WORK The scope of this project is to design a comfort incise machine when hold by using material can absorb the vibration while tapping process. Besides, this tapping knife will be add with electrical element to make the incision process faster and produce a same quality and quantity with using the conventional way. The usage of electrical element inside the incise machine easy to used and can be recharge the battery so that tappers cannot spent a much money on that. The incise machine should have a mark so that it can be used by people who do not have skill. After that, the fabrication of the machine should be do and test. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW HISTORY OF RUBBER TREE Rubber was originally used by native Central and South America. They have learned to produce a variety of latex products such as shoes are simple, bottles and a ball that can bounce. The famous traveler Christopher Columbus since 1496 the indigenous peoples of the world have seen playing with rubber ball like this. Materials that are considered odd were brought into Europe, and scientists have begun studying this material carefully to know the true state of this material. Starting in the early 19th century, changes began to occur. In 1820, a person who is of English, Thomas Hancock invented a machine to soften, mix and form a rubber scrap. As a result of using this machine is a flexible and waterproof. In the 1870s, the Sir Henry Nickham was sent to Brazil to collect rubber seeds. Over 70,000 rubber seeds were collected and brought back to England. Half of the seeds that were planted in special hot houses at Kew Gardens is located in London. Rubber seedlings sent to Sri Lanka and Pakistan and then to other countries in Southeast Asia to be planted on a large scale In 1839, an American, Charles Goodyear was aware that the raw rubber could be improved by heating it with sulfur. This process known as vulcanization process. In the vulcanization process is to improve the quality of the rubber. Changes in temperature either low temperature or vice versa does not affect the rubber member is processed with this new way. With more discoveries of rubber has become an extremely popular and used until now even become a very important matter in life. Rubber has many uses. Malaysia became one of the main suppliers of rubber in the world. With the weather hot and humid all year round in Malaysia, it is suitable for rubber cultivation on a large scale. The end of the 19th century, the use of cars in the United States began preferred. Not long later, Henry Ford was producing thousands of cars at the factory. Accordingly, the demand for rubber tires and spare parts of other cars has soared. So, the more rubber trees were planted to supply the required rubber. Many rubber plantations are open either a small or large from the north down to south of Malaysia. All of this is to accommodate the high demand for the world rubber industry. Therefore, many countries follow the rest of the world. THE DISEASES OF RUBBER TREE Rubber tree planted should be treated with good care and require regular monitoring. If the rubber trees are planted not be maintained and regularly monitoring it will cause the rubber tree easy to get infected. However, the diseases of rubber trees are not only attacking the young and new rubber trees but also attacks matured tree. Therefore, careful monitoring should be conducted with regular frequency so that the rubber trees grow healthy and lead to a good quality rubber. The diseases namely: Root disease (Penyakit Akar) Mushroom Disease (Penyakit Cendawan) Stem disease 2.2.1 Root Disease Root disease is a deadly disease that attacks the matured rubber tree. Root diseases cause by fungi that attack the root bark at first, and then penetrate the wood and rubber tree roots eventually become outdated and dead. Fungal spores to be blown by the air and landed in any parts of the rubber tree wood that s expose due to wound or injury. In addition, root disease may be cause by a meeting of the roots; the well roots meet with disease roots. There are six types of diseases that attack the roots of rubber tree, the white root disease (Penyakit akar putih), red root disease (penyakit akar merah) and brown root disease (penyakit akar perang) that can be classified into major types. The name of root disease is based on the skin colour. Another three types of root disease are called Penyakit Akar LapukUstulina, Penyakit Akar Lapuk Poria,and Penyakit Akar Lapuk Busuk. White Root Disease (Penyakit Akar putih) The name of fungus that attack white root disease is Rigidoporous Lignosus. The white root disease assumes the most dangerous because it is easy to faster spread. The fungus is white colour and look like a thread covered around the root. The shape of Rigidoporous Lignosus is circle and big at based and sharp thin at the end and getting change at the colour to light orange. The mother of the fungus is orange at the top and red at the bottom. The mother of fungus usually can be seen at the dead stumps and its always attack a young tree. Red Root Disease (Penyakit Akar Merah) The fungus that attack red root disease called Ganoderma Pseudoferrum. This fungus is red and blotched at root. This disease attack by soil attached to the root. The mother of red root disease is dark red at the top and light grey at bottom part. This fungus is usually found on dead stumps because of the infected of the disease. Brown Root Disease (Penyakit Akar Perang) Â  The fungus that attack brown root disease is called Phellius Noxius. The fungus condition of brown root disease is almost same with red root disease but the colour of the fungus is brown. The root condition that attack by the disease is freckled when its cut into two. Besides, it is can be seen the strips on the surface. Others Root Diseases Besides the big root disease, there are three types of small root disease. Penyakit Akar Lapuk Ustulina because of Ustulina Deusta fungus. This type of disease can be treated by loping which root that have infected and then swept with tar. Penyakit Akar Lapuk Poria because of Poria Hyperbrunnea. The way to solve the disease is same with Penyakit Akar Lapuk Ustulina. For penyakit Akar Lapuk Busuk it is because Sphaerostilbe Repens. This disease can be treated by remove all the infected tree together with its roots. In addition, the water system should be repaired so that root disease can be controlled. 1.2.2 Bad Mushroom Disease In bad mushroom disease there are three types of it, which: Bad Mushroom Disease The fungus that attack bad is Ceratocystis Fimbriota. The rubber tree that always attack by bad mushroom disease is a clone tree which PR107 and RRIM600. Bad mushroom disease usually attack tapping panel at rainy season moreover if the field is copse. The tapping panel will be obsolete and there are fine patches in white colour which a little upper from the incision groove. Next, the patches change into grey. When grow, the patches are not same with the groove incision. The fungal spores Ceratocystis Fimbriota can spread faster when it is blown by air or wind and insects. Besides, the infection of the bad mushroom disease also happened through incision instruments mostly the knife itself. Black Scratch Disease (Penyakit Calar Hitam) The fungus that attack black scratch disease is Phytophthora Palmirora. This disease attack on the incision panel of the tree. Rubber trees that always infected by these diseases are from clone PB 86, PR107, AVRUS 2037, RRIM 600 and RRIM 623. Incision Panel Necrosis (Nekrosis Panel Torehan) The fungus that attack the incision panel necrosis is called Fusarium Solani. These types of disease attack a new panel incision and sometimes also attack the old tree. The types of tress that always attack by this particular disease are; PB 5/51, PB 28/83, PR 107, RRIM 605, RRIM 612, RRIM 623 and RRIM 628. Panel incision disease attack a new panel and boundary groove panel. Sometimes, this disease attacks the injury of the tree. The injury diameter in 0.5 until 1.5cm dark brown colour or may be grey can be seen at the incision groove. Wind Fungal Disease (Penyakit Cendawan Angin) The fungal name of the wind fungal disease is Corticum Salmonicolor. This disease usually attack limb and branch of rubber tree age between three to eight years old. This disease worst on rainy season. The trees that expose to the disease are RRIM 501, RRIM 600, RRIM 607, PB 28/59 and PR 255. 1.2.3 Stem Disease There are two types in stem disease. The two types are: Bad Stem Disease (Penyakit batang Lapuk Ustulina) The name of the fungus is Ustulina Deusta. This disease attack everywhere around tree stems. The fly Ustulina Deusta fungus spores will penetrate the stems tree through the expose tissue or old illness. Besides, there are trees that injured because of lightning and burn easy to get this disease. Phellinus Bad Stem Disease (Penyakit Batang Lapuk Phellinus) The fungus that attacks these types of disease is called Phellinus Noxius. This disease always attack matured tree. The fungus spores attack and infect parts or injured limb, the infected mostly happened at injured because of air blow. The injured part then will spread until the root of the tree. The stem the will form like a bees nest because of the disease. RUBBER PROCESSING The raw latex from rubber tapper need to process before it is sent to factory or export. The processing of raw latex is in few ways. For example of the process is based on the weight, pure latex is 1/3 of rubber besides sugar, protein and salt that dissolved together in water. The first process called conglomeration process. The latex then will be sieve first to remove all unneeded stain and foreign material. Next, the latex will pour into a tank or big reservoir with much water and will be added ascetic acid or formic inside it. This will cause the particle of the rubber combine together and became a solid conglomeration. Inside the tank, the latex will form into rubber sheet by using a metal plate. This rubber sheet then will be sent to do a drying process. A big roller use to squeeze the water that still inside the dried rubber as much as can. The next step is the rubber sheets will cut into small parts and will dry once again by smoky process. This process indirectly avoid the rubber sheet from infect by fungus. Another one process to produce a rubber is the rubber will be cut into smaller pieces by machine and will added an oil inside it, drying and will be pressed became a rubber. Besides, rubber also sells inform of latex. Water will be separate from the water and then it will add some chemical to avoid the latex became conglomeration. Therefore, these processes did by machine. The processed latex called viscous latex and this latex very useful mostly for factories that produce goods like rubber glove and host pipe. HOW THE RUBBER TREE BEING INCISE To get much quantity and result of the latex, the tree must be incised by early morning. This is because at the early morning latex is easy to flow and produce much latex when incise. Even so, if the tree incised at late evening or even noon the latex is hard to flow and produce little latex compared incise at early morning. To incise, rubber tapper need a special knife to incise stem bark layer. The process to incise the bark need to do very detail and carefully so that it cannot hurt the stem tree. The incision will pierce over the cells of the tree and then latex will flow slowly through it and go into the cup that placed at the bottom stem tree. The cup that container the rubber placed at the bottom of incision stem bark area. However, to start incision at a new tree and not ever incise before, the incision should start 150cm from the root or land and diameter 45cm. The latex that flow out from the tree is white and like milk. The latex will stop from flow two to three hours afte r the incision process. After two or three hours rubber tapper came back to collect the product by pouring the latex into a bucket. After that, rubber tappers bring their product to collecting centre. At the collecting centre, buyers already there to buy their entire product to send to the factory that need a rubber product. Even so, if the selling in form of rubber scrap rubber tappers will collect their product after two or three incision process equal with two or three days after the tree incised. The scrap will solidify based on the form of the cup. At the scrap can be see the line on solidify latex on the days. THE INCISION WAYS OF RUBBER TREE Rubber tree can be incised by two ways which: Pulling Way (Downwards Tapping) Pushing Way (Upwards Tapping) 1.5.1 Pulling Way Pulling incision usually used by most tappers in Malaysia especially in north. This way uses a different knife with pushing incision knife. The shape of this ways knife is curve at the end of the knife. 1.5.2 Pushing Way While pushing incision mostly use at south Malay namely Johor. The knife in this incision totally not same with pulling way knife because this knife shape is straight and V shape at the blade. However, tappers preferred to use pulling ways better then pushing way. Even there are two types of incision way, but the ways of incision never contribute to the how much the latex flow out or the quantity from the tree. INCISION TECHNIQUE The technique of incision is important so that the incised tree produce maximum latex. Moreover, the right technique contributes to good result for tappers. The purpose of the technique incision is to cut the latex channel systematically where the latex can be produce systematically. This technique is introduced by RISDA. There are some factors contribute to the better result. The factors are: The Channel of Incision The incise tree will produce latex which flow out through the channel inside the bark tree itself. The location of these channels placed at left bottom around the stem tree and lean about 3.7Â ° to 5Â ° from vertical line. To produce the latex from the tree, the channels should be cut. The furrow of incision must do from left top to right bottom for cut much latex channel. Location of latex channel Wrong incision way Right incision way Figure 2.6.1 The channel of incision The Steep of Channel Incision The channel incision should be made by way so that to get the maximum result with a minimum bark uses. The preferred is 30Â °. The bark of clone tree usually thinner, but the latex is much, the extra steep make the latex flow out faster into the ready cup and it not overflow to the stem of the tree. The High of Channel Incision The high of channel incision should make from the ground up to150cm or 5 feet. The high can be measure by a special instrument or for old tappers they can assume the high and the steep itself. If there is a limb between high 150cm, the limb should be lopped. The Trunk Diameter The stem or trunk can be opened is 45cm incision site, measured according to the recommended height of 150cm for the ground or land. Tapping Time The best time to do tapping process is when the rubber tree can be seen without the aid of light or about 6.30a.m. Tugor pressure are still strong at that time accelerate the flow of latex. Besides, the tree is still fresh and efficiently drains the latex. The result tapping at 6a.m more than 20% than tapping at 2p.m where the normal incision cannot be implemented because of rain and wet his incision site and through late incision is at 11a.m. The Depth of Incision The bark of the rubber tree consists of several layers: Outer layer Skin cork: as a protective layer inside. Second layer Hard cover: also known as layer of rock because there are very little vessels of latex. Third layer Soft skin: there are many channels inside it. Table 1.6.6 Number of latex vessels cut The latex channel position is in the ring in the closed circle. Near the timber there is a cambium skin. The fifth layer is the channel horizontally across the skin, called the radius of the pitch. Role in bringing water from the cambium allergic skin and food from skin wood. Number of latex vessels cut The deep of tapping Number of latex vessels cut 2.0mm from the skin 1.5mm from the skin 1.0mm from the skin 0.5mm from the skin 38 48 62 80The Thickness of Incision Table 2.6.7 Number of latex vessel cut The thickness of incision did not significantly affect the production of latex because latex are coming out are equal. Thick slices will: Curtail economic age of rubber trees. Recovery could not tap the skin. Just enough to remove the clog pumps latex at the end of the channels estimation interval of 1mm to hack a day. To score two and three day interval required for same thick skin incision on the beam was gradually dried. CALCULATION METHOD OF PRODUCTIVITY AND SELLS PRICE OF RUBBER Rubber Productivity Calculation PRODUCT (kg/hec/year) = g/t/t x NTS/1000 Where; g/t/t result for one incision tree NTS number of tree for one hectare NID number of incision day Example: g/t/t = 30g NTS = 500 trees NID = 144 days Product (hectare/year) = 30 x 500 x 144/1000 = 2, 160kg Rubber Sells Price Calculation SMR 20 Price = 560.00 cent/kg Discount price: = 100.00 cent/kg Sos = 13.17 cent/kg Processing cost = 35.00 cent/kg Logistic/shipping cost = 10.00 cent/kg Others cost = 11.22 cent/kg Transportation = 10.00 cent/kg Margin = 10.00 cent/kg Total = 120.00 cent/kg Price for 100% KGK: = 560 120.00 cent/kg = 440.00 cent/kg 50% KGK: 440 cent x 50% = 220.00 cent/kg 55% KGK: 440 cent x 55% = 242.00 cent/kg 62% KGK: 440 cent x 62% = 272.80 cent/kg KGK Kandungan Getah Kering Example: Wet scrap product = 4,000 kg/hectare/year KGK = 50% Income = 4,000kg x 220 cent/kg = RM 8,800/hectare/year PRODUCT OF RUBBER OR LATEXS All transportation in road and air like cars, buses, lories, bicycle and airplane are use tyre made from rubber. Rubber use to make tyres because it resist to high temperature when it friction to the road. The production of world rubber spends about 60% to tyres industries. Tyre divides to four components which inner tube, side wall, frame and the pattern of the tyre. In tyre processing the most important element is carbon. Carbon is fine black powder that make tyre is black. For each kilogram rubber use to produce tyre, almost half of that are carbon. Besides, carbon able to increase rubber strength and it can avoid the tyre from torn. Another raw material used in tyre process is steel thread, nylon synthetic rubber and so on. The base of tyre is frame. The frame produced by insert the rubber into the roller machine. The machine will process rubber mixture until it became a smooth rubber sheet. The rubber sheet will friction with something called tetulang. The side wall as a protector from damage. The side wall and the tyres pattern are built separately. Lastly the tyre will go to machine to do the shaping process. The machine called press machine. All tyres have a different structure. For example, airplane uses 100% pure rubber in their process. 2.9 PATENT SEARCH For this product which latex incise machine, there have no paten because almost rubber tappers use conventional way to tapping which use an old knife. However, there still have private person who design and develop an incise machine to simplify tappers to tapping with comfort and more ergonomic. Even so, the designed incise machine not be patented and this is cause the related data of the machine none. For that matter, in this research, existing product used to be studied detail about usage of the already existing instrumentation. EXISTING PRODUCT OF TAPPING KNIFE The existing product at market took to be studied about their usage detail before design a new incise machine for tapper. The existing product at market now days still the conventional way which using the traditional knife to tap. However, there are knifes got a little improvement on it to simplify tappers. Figure 2.10.1 Traditional knife The picture above shows the traditional knife use by almost rubber tappers in Malaysia. The knife made by metal entire the knife. The holder of the knife make by metal too. Even though the price of the knife cheap but if the blade or the cutter of the knife is broken then tappers need to change to the new one. The holder is hard and will hurt tappers hand when they hold on it. Figure 2.10.2 Improved knife This is another one of tapping knife sells at market. This knife is improved by the old knife. This knife was designed and produce by Electrolux Company. The holder made by plastic. This way can reduce hurt and force on tappers hand when their use this knife. Besides, this knife has a roller at the cutter to easier tapping process. The knife can move freely and easy without stuck because of this roller. The cutter blade also has an adjuster to setup the required deep and thickness when tapping. In addition, this instrument is light in their weight because it has been change the material at the holder. OTHERS TECHNOLOGY Besides the current technology or conventional way use now days to get latex, there is another technique use to get latex from rubber tree which called Impale way. Impale way use a special needle made from steel. This way very seldom use in Malaysia or even entire world. This is because this technique just produces a little latex than using a tapping technique using knife. This technique did by impale the needle to make a small hole at the bark or skin of rubber tree by followed the latex channel inside the bark. Other technique to produce maximum latex when tapping is using a gas to embolden the latex flow out. One of the techniques called G-Flex technique. This technique was introduced by RISDA. This way is used about five years ago. The usage of this technique increases the income of rubber tappers for many times. This technique is a embolden technique that used etilina gas that give to the tree directly with a periodic time. It is use a special instrument and just need a short incision. Usage of this way will produce 100% latex than using already existing technique. The use of this gas is safe and friendly user and nature with a cheaper cost. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter will describe how the designing incision machine. Before do the designing process there are few factors that need to know and do to get some information and data about the existing incision instrument. Designing process starts with get information from related people in this industry. This information and data are very important to design an incision machine that can be accepted by people mostly by tappers. In this chapter also will describe how the finding information did and analyzed the information. After the analyzed process done, designing process can be start based on the customer requirement. 3.2 METHOD OF COLLECTING INFORMATION AND DATA To collect required information to enable designing new latex incise machine, a few methods are used. The used methods are the best methods to find and collect information based on the next process. This method have been choose because it can give more information require in order to dissolve this project. The methods used are: Questionnaire Observation Interview 3.2.1 Questionnaire For this method, the related questions asked to get the ensure, data and related information with the procedure and the management when incision process did. The questionnaire asks for rubber tappers in Kedah and Perlis. Most of the question is related with the incision technique and the product from the incision. 3.2.2 Observation This method did to see how the tappers work on the field and see the result. This method is done together with questionnaire while go to the field to see tappers work. 3.3.3 Interview This method did to know about the current technology that related with latex incise machine in Malaysia or even entire world. This interview did at RISDA Alor Setar main office. All the question that have been asked is about the technology of incision and about the rubber tree itself. 3.3 ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION AND DATA 3.3.1 Time tappers go to their work Figure 3.3.1 Chart of working time From the pie chart above it shows the time when the tappers go to their works. The charts tells the mostly tapper around five person from ten responders go to works at 8 a.m. follow by three responders go work at 7 a.m. and another two responders go work at 6 a.m. This is because most responders are women. They go for works after finish their works at house first before go to tapping. For responders who go for works at 6 a.m. is for contract tappers for example from Thailand. 3.3.2 Time of tappers working hours Figure 3.3.2 Chart of time of tapers working hours From the chart can be seeing that most of tapper works around five hours a day. It is follow by four hours and three hours a day. However, there still have tappers work more than five hours. The hour of working of tappers are actually depending on weather. If the day is rainy, tapper would not go to work and vice versa. Besides, the working hour also depend on the tappers effort to their work, if they have any matters to do so the working hour will be short and vice versa. 3.3.3 Days of tappers works in a week Figure 3.3.3 Chart of days of tappers work in a week The day of work by tapper is not consistent. It depends on area of the field. If tappers have more than one field, the tapping process in field will do alternate with other field but most of tappers work five days in a week follow by six days, four days and the rest is work almost every days. 3.3.4 Number of tree tapping in a day Figure 3.3.4 Chart of number of tapped tree in a day Most of tapper will tap more than 500 trees in a day. However, the number of tree is depending on the tappers effort to tap a number of the trees. The data followed by 400 trees, 300 trees and the rest is 200 and 100 trees in a day by the same value. The number o the tree will be tap is based on field area that tappers work on the day. One hectare of rubber field content about 500 to 550 trees. So, tapper will work based on the area of the field. 3.3.5 Time take to incise for a tree Figure 3.3.5 Chart of time of incision The time of the incising process is depending on the tappers skill. If the tapper has a high skill so they just need a short time for one incision process. From the pie chat above, all responders are needs ten second to incise one tree. 3.3.6 The way to incise Figure 3.3.6 Chart of incision technique There are two ways of incision technique which upwards incision and downwards incision. The chart shows all responders use downwards technique. This technique is base on tappers comfortable level when incise. Can be says that most tappers in Malaysia use downwards technique to incise better than upwards technique. However, there is still has tapper use upwards technique. The analysis above describes few questions that contain in questionnaire. All those questions are to see the way of tappers manage their work and the technique of their work so that design process of new latex incise machine can do. 3.4 VOICE OF CUSTOMER NEED Voice

Constructivism in the classroom Essay -- essays research papers

Constructivism represents a paradigm shift form education based on cognitive theories. This concept assumes that learners construct their own knowledge on the basis of interaction with their environment. (Gagnon & Collay, 200?) The role of the teacher as a constructor of the learning experience to ensure authentic curriculum and assessment which is responsive to the skills, needs and experiences of the learner, within established curriculum framework and with the reference to the achievement of literacy, numeracy, retention and attainment of outcomes. Krause, Bochner and Duchesne (p.157) comment that â€Å"as learners interact with their environment, they link information learned through experience to previous knowledge, and so construct new understandings and knowledge.† Constructivism then inturn encourages Teachers and Learning Managers to recognise the value of prior knowledge and experiences that each child brings with them into the classroom, and help them (the students ) build on their understandings of the world by providing appropriate learning experience plans. This practise of effective teaching and learning has relatively new in classrooms but has already made a great difference in the students’ abilities and interests both in and out of their studies. Constructivist teaching recognises and validates the student’s point of view rather then the necessity of a correct answer. The child is then able to reassess their knowledge and understandings, which in turn boosts self-esteem and confidence. It also encourages children to be involved in classroom activities by self-questioning, seeking answers, comparing situations and establishing links between different ideas. This is possible as constructive learning is transferable between different ideas. (Tutorial Notes, 28th July, 2004) Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980), a Swiss psychologist, portrayed the child as a ‘lone scientist’, creating their own sense of the world. Their knowledge of relationships among ideas, objects and events is constructed by the active processes of internal assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. (Hughes, 2001). He also believed that we must understand the child’s understandings of the world, and this should guide the teaching practises and evaluation. The fundamental basis of learning was discovery. To understand is reconstruct by discovery, and such conditions must be compiled... ...n essentials that teachers should undertake to help maintain a healthy constructivist classroom. It is important to hold a belief that learning is restructuring of thought rather than an increase in content, and reconstruction or recall will reflect that particular ‘schema’ of the child. They also believe that the use of cognitive conflict promotes the consolidation of concepts. The use of ‘wrong’ answers also helps students analyse their thinking in order to retain the correct elements and revise their misconceptions. Promoting social interaction, peer friendships and co-operation, also increases their interest and comprehension in learning, as well as improve the child’s conflict resolution skills. Teachers continually learn about ways people learn – the processes of learning and how individuals learn best. They learn about their students and individuals, and learn with as well as from their students when they seek knowledge together. (Principles of effective learning and teaching, 1994). Through continually discovering new and exciting ways to help mould a constructivist classroom, the students will be able to achieve their outcomes with great ease and learn to enjoy education.

Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway Essay examples -- Hills

"Literature is a luxury: Fiction is a necessity" (Chesterton). Literature is a single phenomenon that will always remain in the lives of people throughout the years. According to Andre Maurois, "In literature, as in love, we are astounded by what is chosen by others." Fiction Literature is one of the most fascinating types of Literature. There are many types of Fiction Literature read across the world and with much selection, the greatest are short stories. Out of those, one very memorable short story is called "Hills Like White Elephants". The author, Ernest Hemingway, has created many intriguing stories with his recognizable syntax. The specific style he is known for may be childish and use only a few small lines, but nevertheless his writings are continuously read by many people. Like any exceptional author would, Hemingway manipulates his text to get across certain themes in the plot of his stories. A couple themes found in "Hills Like White Elephants" are doubt, choices, conseq uences, and decision-making. These themes are noticed by Hemingway's use of various different literary elements in the story. They help the reader better understand the true meanings behind "Hills Like White Elephants"' seemingly empty plot. The characters in this story are very believable because they play very realistic roles. For their situation, these characters are appropriately casted. The protagonist of this story is a girl named Jig. She is portrayed as a flat character where we only see one side of her throughout the story. We only see her doubt and worry over not being able to make a decision. The decision she is trying to make is whether or not to go through with an 'operation' that is not directly stated. We later infer that she... ...about life itself. May we all learn from this reading experience as well as gain knowledge about the world as we know it. Works Cited Akers, Tim. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants.† Short Stories for Students. Ed. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Short Stories for Students. Gale. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants". LitFinder for Schools. Gale. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.. Henningfeld, Andrews Diane. Overview of Hills Like White Elephants, for Short Stories for Students, The Gale Group, 1999. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. Johnston, Kenneth G. "'Hills Like White Elephants' Lean, Vintage Hemingway," in Studies in American Fiction, Vol. 10, No. 2, Autumn, 1982. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. Weeks, Lewis E. Jr., â€Å"Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants,† in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 17, No. 1, Winter, 1980. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.