Religion As A Cyber Society Essays - Monastery, Cyber,

Religion As A Cyber Society The exponential growth of the Cyber society and Cyber culture within the Internet has not gone unnoticed by the ?religious community.? As I write, church web sites are being published and electronic prayer groups zip by in modems and wire networks across the globe. Even isolated monasteries like the Monastery of the Christ in the Desert (see sidebar) are able to send their Benedictine messages from their cloister in New Mexico. New age religions also use the [virtual] soil of the Internet as the center of their ?virtual church? (see end of the Cyber society Observation for links on religious web pages). With these in mind, it is safe to write that Religion has seamlessly incorporated itself within the realm of Cyber society. The presence of Religion in Net Culture is not an unforeseen trend. Although Religion and Modernity does not have the best relationship, Religion has learned that they need to conform with the current trends of technology to survive. Religion sees Modernity (in hand with secularization) as a threat to spiritual well-being and existence of its churches. Today for example, membership in Christian denominations is decreasing and the number of priests is on the downward slope as well. The declining trends are placed on modern individual's tendency to think of religion as ?neither good nor bad but simply irrelevant.? (Encarta ?Religion?) Another reason lies in the prestige appropriated to science, the body of knowledge that made no reference to spiritual gods and the foundation of all the technologies that made human life easier. The religious organizations recognize the decline in membership and religious passivity of the general populace. Instead of going condemning the technology, they adapted to it and used it to perform their evangelical work. Evangelicalism originally means ?personal commitment to Christ and the authority of the Bible (Encarta ?Religion?).? Evangelicalism can also mean the spreading of God's word. History witnessed the churches' efforts to ?convert? people with the help of discovery and innovation. For example, the invention of the movable press type by Johann Guttenberg in Germany changed the painstaking effort of copying the bible by hand. Anyone can now access a bible anywhere they need it. With the invention of the television and radio came the TV and radio evangelists, spreading the ?word of their God? and converting the masses. Many churches actually own stations and record studios that would help establish the stability of their religion. The birth of the Internet, however is a w hole new platform altogether. As a cyber deacon in one the new-age religions puts it (with exaggerated confidence and modulated voice), ?The Internet has the potential of evolving into the greatest communication tool of all time (Busch 1).? The Internet is sometimes scorned as the menace and heralded as the savior of society. How has the Internet worked for Religion? The Internet, for one, has become the primary breeding ground for New-Age churches and religion, usually creating a ?virtual church? in the confines of their web pages. New Age Movement: ?A new form of spirituality that offers individuals the opportunity to reconnect with mystical dimensions of the self and thus the wider cosmos?relationships that are typically obscured by secular culture and often are not addressed in biblical traditions?. (Encarta ?Religion?) Some of these New Age Churches include Cosmosofy, Digitalism and The First Cyber Church of the Scientific God. Most, if not all of the cyber churches try to create a church that combines love for God as related to science. For example, Digitalism is a modernized religion based on the wonders of technology and Buddhism. The First Cyber Church advocates a love for God and mankind with good science as foundation. As a whole, these new religions try to meet anybody's spiritual needs. Traditional Churches and denominations have also taken advantage of the Internet. Many of these religions have established web pages, like the Vatican, Qabalah (for insight on Jewish Mysticism) and Anglicans Online to name a few. A list of traditional churches and their links are found at the end of this paper. The old religions like the New age religion uses the Internet to spread their message of faith with the aid of the technologies

The Quest Essays - Social Psychology, Identity, Free Essays

The Quest Essays - Social Psychology, Identity, Free Essays The Quest The Quest Introduction Adolescence is a period of life in which critical psychological and physiological changes occur. It is also the time when identity, a unified sense of self characterized by attitudes, beliefs, and ways of acting that are genuinely ones own (Insel, 1994), forms. The theory of Eric Erikson describes the psychological development of identity as a developmental stage in which individuals are faced with finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life.(Santrock, 1997) During this stage, adolescents are trying to find an answer to the question Who am I? and making important life choices, such as career, intimate commitments, or morality. The identity formation period is very critical and it will affect the individual throughout the adulthood. If adolescent arrives at a positive path to follow in life, then a positive identity will be achieved; but if a positive future path is not defined, then identity confusion reigns. (Santrock, 1997) Methods I interviewed a 13 year old girl from a well educated family. The interview was done in the privacy of her house in her own room and took about 40 minutes. During the interview, the teen was asked to answer a list of questions and encouraged to use as much details as possible. Each answer was carefully recorded and evaluated. The questions I asked her targeted fundamental self aspects that build the feeling of identity. The interview examined the following aspects: role experimentation, self certainty, peer relationships, family relationships, sexual orientation, career, and leadership. Results The girl I interviewed had a strong sense of uniqueness-she wants to be different and expresses herself colorfully. I found that appearance is very important, such as adoption of different fashions and in hair styles. Girls are very conscious of how they look. While admitting that appearance is crucial, the teen made a point that maintaining a sense of confidence and self-esteem is important for your future. Also, I was informed that it is substantial to try everything and put your butt here and there. It appears that teenagers think they should experiment with smoking, drinking, sexual activity, and other adults stuff. In addition, the significance of the successful role model, a father in this case, was emphasized. Furthermore, the teen stressed that she considers herself a very sociable individual who likes to mix with different groups. She also feels that she is the woman of the 90s and plans to depend on herself. She also claimed to possess some leadership qualities in her natur e, which will become more and more evident as she will mature. I also found that it is crucial to have a sense of direction in ones own life. Together with that, she indicated that she feels that the involvement in the intimate relationship, having a boyfriend, means a big deal to her. She added that it is important to have someone to talk to and do stuff with. Discussion Adolescents are obsessed with their looks and they are expected to do that because it is through these symbols, wearing the right clothes and having cool sunglasses, that their identities are formed. Adolescents are expected to view self-esteem as crucial; after all, it plays a big role in their quest for identity. As teenagers begin their quests for identity, they experiment with different roles, various social postures, and self-images (this is what Erikson would call a search for identity). Teens often feel that appearing mature will bring recognition and acceptance, so they begin to engage in behavior associated with adults, such as smoking, drinking, and sexual activity. Experimenting with different roles is expected in Erikson stage and having a role model is not uncommon. During the early adolescence, a role model is usually one of the parents. ( Insel, 1994) Teens often are very social at this stage and that is expected because socialization contributes a lot to a teens searc h for identity. Some teens have already developed a strong sense of self-worth and it is not uncommon, although it is not necessarily expected for them to develop a sense of self worth at such a young age. Today, the percentage of teens who engage in sexual activities is increasing every year together with the

A Great Controversy Among Historians About the Figure of Louis XIV Research Paper

A Great Controversy Among Historians About the Figure of Louis XIV - Research Paper Example Louis XIV thought that his entire life has to be the walk of a great king in a great country, the entire country being resumed in his divine-right, absolute monarch. It is possible that he never said the famous statement historians had always attributed to him, â€Å"L’à ¨tat, c’est Moi† (I am the state). But, as Jacques Bousset and Jean Domat1 were theorizing (Domat 1829), he considered himself to be God’s instrument on earth, and clearly felt that the state was his patrimony, as J. Nathan suggests (The Virginia Quarterly Review, J. Nathan). In his letters to his heirs, he explains his thought: â€Å"†¦A king works for himself when he has the state in mind, and the welfare of the one enhances the glory of the other†. Bearing this idea in mind, he devoted his life to the achievement of his glory and, therefore, of the glory of France. And he believed that war was the main mean to achieve his greatness. Through all the wars he sustained during his life, he tried to force all European nations to accept the French hegemony. He never really worked to establish a harmonic co-existence with other European nations (The Virginia Quarterly Review, J. Nathan). He did steer France through a series of wars in order to dictate Europe his idea of order: all nations united under the legitimate hegemony of France. Diplomacy was in his hands only a mean to keep enemies occupied while he prepared the army, and nobody was better than him in betraying his own words. As once he wrote to his ambassador: â€Å"†¦there are hardly any words in the world so clear..that do not have some exceptions and contrary reasons†¦Ã¢â‚¬ .

Business Analysis using PESTEL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Analysis using PESTEL - Essay Example The main part of the report has used PESTLE framework to identify the factors that are important to be considered by the electric car manufacturers. The listed factors are then classified as highly relevant and less relevant. An impact analysis is then performed on the highly relevant factors to arrive at the most important trend to be considered. The trends as identified by the impact analysis are Government spending, Government deficit, Economic Growth, Research spending, Innovations, Safety regulations and Environmental awareness. Based on the analysis of the above factors, it is identified that the main opportunity for the electric car companies in the next 5 years is the increased environmental awareness among the people. Similarly, the main threat for electric car markets is the uncertainty about government policies. Sl. No. Topic Page No. 1 Introduction 4 - 5 2 Main body 2.1 PESTLE Analysis 2.2 Analysis of four trends 6 – 10 10 – 15 3 Conclusion 15 – 16 1. Introduction Developing a powerful battery for electric cars is a challenging task for all electric car manufacturers due to the various challenges associated with it. Those main challenges will be discussed here in this report. The topic is â€Å"A new type of battery that can extend the range of electric cars between charges from about 100 miles to about 500 miles.† This study will deal specifically about the electric car market in UK. The various aspects that are relating to the UK car market are dealt in detail in this report. The objective of the study is to identify and analyse the four key factors that are important for the electric car market in UK. A very comprehensive PESTLE analysis is done in order to identify the key factors affecting the UK electric car segment. Before getting into the core area, it is important to have an idea about the UK electric car market. British automobile industry is one of the most established and fastest growing automobile industries in the world. UK shows good growth figures for all car segments. The trend until some years back has been the small car segment. But now, the trend is getting shifted to the electric cars irrespective of whether it is big or small. The main motivating factors for such a shift in trend is the continued awareness regarding the ill effects caused by vehicle emissions and the low cost of operations. Due to this high potential that exists in the region, companies from across the world are targeting to introduce electric cars for the UK market. This is evident from the fact that the even the super luxury car maker Rolls Royce will unveil the electric version of their Phantom in the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. As of 2008 electric cars represented around 0.004 percent of cars on the UK roads. The committee on climate change then expected this figure to reach around 40 percent by 2020. (Webster, 2008) (Ref. 1). The following chart gives the electric car growth estimate by region. (Reed, 2010) (R ef 22) To make things easier for the car manufacturers as well as the potential buyers, the UK Government is very keen on supporting the segment through their subsidy programme and other policies. The government has planned to provide subsidy of up to ?5000 to those who acquire an electric car in future. (House of Commons, Page 40) (Ref. 2) But when it comes to the sales of electric cars, government support is not the only factor that works out. The practicality of the car is the most important success

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Global Warming - Research Paper Example uses of global warming and researchers have been in constant conflict on the issue of whether global warming is a creation of human beings or it is a naturally occurring phenomenon. This research will focus on the history, prevalence, cause & effect as well as ways to counter global warming. The term global warming first came into limelight during the period of 1975 when an American scientist named Wallace Smith Broecker utilized the term in his scientific research paper (pmm.nasa.gov 1). The term global warming reached the ears of people and policy makers throughout the world when the term was used by a scientist named James Hansen who was employed by NASA and he used the term during 1988 while presenting a testimony to the Congress (pmm.nasa.gov 1). Since the term became quite popular, several researches were conducted to figure out whether the temperature of the earth was actually increasing or it was simply a myth. According to Zedillo, the temperature of the earth was actually increase year after year and an increase in earth’s temperature of 0.74 degree Celcius was recorded between the period starting from the 20th century and ending during the 21st century (Zedillo 15). Other studies that have identified similar changes in the rise of the earth’s temperature were conducted by Climatic Research Unit which identified that the earth’s temperature was highest during the period of 1998 while the increase in the temperature during the year of 2005 as well as 2010 was quite tremendous but not as high as the rise in temperature noted during 1998 (Jones 1). The occurrence of global warming is considered as a natural phenomenon and one of the natural reasons due to which global warming is taking place is that the there has been an increase in the amount of energy released through solar energy. NASA has reported that that huge number of changes in the quantity of solar energy produced by sun have been experienced over a period of 11 years and during this

Information System of Retail Shop

Information System of Retail Shop Prepared by: Travis McEachron Shakil Kamran Muhammad Tanvir Hasan Fabrice Hecdivert Rhea Farrell The objective of the class project is to investigate and evaluate an information system of GAP Inc. GAP Inc. is a retail organization that is comprised of stores nationwide as well as being internationally based. They are mainly branded as Athleta, GAP, Old Navy, Intermix and Banana Republic. Its first store opened in the year 1969 and now spans across the United States of America and many other countries. Over the years, the organization has grown into large businesses with numbers of franchises. In addition to its onsite stores, it provides an e-commerce platform for its large customer base. The information system we decided to base our project on is GAPs Supply Chain Management System. Our team looked at the Supply Chain Management System used by GAP. Throughout, this report shows the findings, summary and recommendations for GAPs organization. The main goal of this research is to identify how GAP operates and how does the Supply Chain Management System play a role in this. It goes into further details about competing with its competitors, and identify how GAP is performing in the apparel market. According to Thomas Wailgum (2007), Supply chain management (SCM) is the combination of art and science that goes into improving the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers. The Global Supply Chain at Gap Inc. is employed with thousands of individuals around the world whereby creating the right product, made well and delivered at the right time. Gap praise its size and scale, as it continues to change the retail industry, its Global Supply Chain is the instrument of innovativeness.- Gap Inc. Careers. GAP Inc. is one of the largest for pr1ofit, American specialty retail corporations. GAP was first started by Donald and Doris F. Fisher in 1969. Art Peck is currently the President and CEO of GAP Inc. Their headquarters is located in San Francisco, California. GAP specializes in selling apparel: clothing, shoes and accessories.  The company has about 40 franchise suppliers, and also has over 3,700 stores worldwide. It operates in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and several locations in Europe. GAP has a hybrid organizational structure. GAP started as a single store in San Francisco, California and now has a chain of companies, including Old Navy, GAP, Banana Republic, and many more. The company offers products such as clothing, accessories, and care products for men, women, and children. GAP offers its services worldwide. Its Omni-channel supply chain allows GAPs many branches to stay interconnected. It also provides an e-commerce division, known as Growth Innovation Digital (GID), thus being able to expand its market over the years. GAPs main shipping carriers include FedEx, United States Postal Service, and United Parcel Service. In addition, GAP sales revenue for 2016 was 15.8Billion; however, there was a decrease in sales growth at -3.88%. GAP Inc. competes with other large retailers, such as Macys, Wal-Mart, Target and other major stores. Unlike some companies, GAP only provides apparel, where companies like Wal-Mart sell apparel, furniture, house appliances and so forth. Mission Statement GAP Inc. is a brand-builder. We create emotional connections with customers around the world through inspiring product design, unique store experience compelling marketing.   Ã‚   Organizational Structure Information Systems Gap Inc. is large business that does business which includes retailers, such as Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, Intermix, etc. Therefore Gap Inc. uses a cloud computing infrastructure in order to support their global business. Gap Inc. uses an omni- channel technology which allows and ensures customers get the products they when and where they want it. Gap Inc. also developed a Business Intelligence Group which allows the organizations to stay on a unified platform data which makes Big Data accessible supporting the companys strategic decision making. With this knowledge, I was able to decipher that this organization uses a decision support system (DSS) mainly because Gap Inc. has an automatic loop systems that fits customers needs with any other concerns. There is a 24hrs (automated) customer service operator unless the concern is urgent, customers will then be transferred over to customer relations specialist that best fits that category of the customers concern. This company d oes have an IT support team that is only accessible to Gap Inc. employees. Technical Information Any companies software and Hardware they buy depends so much on the size, sophistication, and budget of the retailer. The applications include merchandising systems, demand forecasting, replenishment, allocation, price management, price optimization, sourcing, product lifecycle management, inventory control, point of sale, sales analysis, merchandise planning, location planning, markdown optimization, store operations, e-commerce, analytics and business intelligence, customer relationship management, and so on. GAP Inc. is a retail chains company, so they usually used apparel retailers software. Apparel retailers tend to have different systems needs from hardlines retailers or grocery retailers. GAP also use Dressing Room apps. Its available in Apple and Android both. This app was created to assist customers virtually. This tool came with a try on clothing capability and can be performed using smartphone, Augmented Reality experience. The Dressing Room by GAP app was created in association with Avametric technology, to deliver accurate shoes and texture of each clothing. GAP Inc. top priorities is continuing to improve their technical knowledge around how the fabric stretch, drape and feel impact the sensation of fit. Technology gives customers incredible autonomy around the shopping experience and its companys opportunity to explore new ways to make customers shopping experience effortless and find different solutions that will add value to a customers experience. The Dressing Room by GAP pilot app is just one element of our longer-term strategic plan in this space. The GAP Inc. is taking advantage of software-defined (SD) networking, which is used to connect its several stores through the internet in the corporate network. It can now route traffic through the public Internet using encrypted connections. The company is installing new software-defined routers from Viptela Inc. at each store to build a more cost-effective WAN to connect store branches. Network upgrades or changes can all be done remotely, which makes GAP work easier. The routers allow GAP to segment its network as security technique. GAP Inc. is currently using the SCMS PO application to manage purchased orders. In loyalty marketing, data and technical infrastructure are critical. At GAP Inc., marketing owns the customer database, which offers a true 360-degree view of the customer. GAP Inc. uses third party service providers to manage the site and assist with business needs. Gap Inc. may share personal information with service providers in order to deliver the site and services as described in this Privacy Statement. These third parties include Taleo. Third party providers who are receiving personal information are expected to apply the same level of privacy protection as contained in this Global Privacy Statement. Also, they are required to keep personal information confidential for any purpose other than as originally intended. Global-Technology Platform GAP Technology uses the DevOps principle. The DevOps principle refer to a set of practices which emphasize the collaboration and communication of both software developers and information technology professionals. The DevOps tool uses Holistic system thinking, no silos, Rapid and useful feedback and automate drudgery away. Ecommerce Technology GAP is comprised of 5 different e-commerce sites GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athlete and Intermix. With serving customers on a global customer base the E-commerce technology is needed. Growth Innovation Digital (GID) is the award-winning e-commerce division of GAP Inc. The Multi-brand shopping platform drives the web and mobile experience and multi-channel capabilities. Open source technology such as chef and OpenStack also plays a large role the online based websites to manage large jobs. Open Source Technology GAP uses Open Source technology such as chef which is used for writing system configurations. With many plugins and features at a low-cost savings is key for large businesses such as GAP. Chef is used to streamline the task of configuring and maintaining a companys servers and can integrate with cloud-based platforms such as Chef OpenStack, Amazon EC2 etc., Chef is able to manage large jobs on any infrastructure no matter the size. They enable services and features to deployed and update more frequently with small chances of down time. All at a respectable price range. Openstack is a free and open source software platform for cloud computing. The platform is made up of related components which control diverse, multi-vendor hardware pools for processing, storage and network resources through a data center. Omni-Channel Technology Logistics Omni-channel technology and logistics uses a Global-Technology Platform. An Omni-channel supply chain uses a central stock pool to control a number of factors such as pricing, fulfilment, sales, stock management and ordering. These orders are fulfilled from numerous retail channels such as concessions, franchises, catalogue, web, stores and mobile. The central stock pool is the heart of all these operations. The supply chain is now on the front line thanks to Omni-channel. Omni-Channel interrelates everything from sales to your connected. The online store connects to the mobile store which connect to a retailor store. Such as you creating an order online and being able to go get that product from the store. It creates an interlock of transactions which is smarter and give the customer multiple choices of how to interact and get the required products they need. Enterprise Platforms GAP uses a custom J2EE enterprise ecommerce platform. J2EE stands for Java 2 Enterprise Edition. The Java Centric environment with a set of services, API, and protocols that provide the functionality for developing multitude, web based applications. Security being implemented and Privacy and Ethical concerns with current laws GAP was founded on doing business honestly, responsibly and ethically so corporate compliance is critical and taken very seriously. GAP has developed a Code of Business Conduct (COBC) where it gives employees an overview on what is acceptable use of GAP Inc. data and what is not tolerated. Each employee and director is responsible for complying with GAP Inc. COBC. GAP Inc. has created Global Integrity Department to implant the companys existing compliance infrastructure. The Global Integrity Department works with Human Resources, Global Corporate Affairs, Internal Audit, Loss Prevention and Corporate Security to raise code awareness within the company, to monitor and audit Code compliance and to investigate all suspected code violations. For customers GAP Inc., has implemented a Customer Bill of Rights which is a basic customer policy on the rights you are entitled to as a GAP Inc. customer such as profiling being prohibited with any GAP Inc. facility, as well as unreasonable searche s of customers by any employee. However the policy also includes rules on how GAP Inc. will react in case of any serious matters as stated A person may be detained only in a reasonable manner and for not more than a reasonable time to permit investigation or questioning, provided an authorized employee has reasonable grounds to believe that the person so detained was guilty of criminal possession of an anti-security item or was committing or attempting to commit shoplifting on the premises (New York State General Business Law, Section 218). Security is also implemented physically by the presence of security guards to assure the safety of employees as well as shoppers within every GAP Inc. facility. Business Information The business aspect of GAP Inc. is focused on three major stages: creation, integration and impact. Creation is when they first act or develop an innovative approach to creating social or environmental change. Once they demonstrate that the efforts bring benefits both to the people and communities they serve, as well as to their business, they move on to integration. Integration leads them away from a model in which sustainability is a separate function and toward one in which a much broader group of actors drives change. The result of this strategy is impact on a bigger scale and in a way, that is sustainable for the long term. A prime example of how business integration can help the company move forward involves their efforts to improve working conditions for the people who make their clothes. They have been expanding these efforts for more than two decades and have played a leading role in multi-stakeholder innovations such as the Better Work program, a collaborative approach to monitoring factories. While they have made significant progress through the work of our sustainability team, they recognize that to create lasting, widespread change, their sourcing team and brands also need to play active roles. These teams are finding new ways to collaborate every day, including the setting of shared sustainability goals. They are also taking an integrated approach to measuring the performance of our suppliers across all dimensions that are important to them, from working conditions to environmental performance. The technology is integrated through the use of machinery that stitches together the fabrics to make a certain piece of cloth. Nowadays its more computerized than before so when a layer of fabric is done the other departments can see the status of the job as they can have an expected ETA of when the clothing would be boxed, packaged and ready to go. They see the retail brick n mortar as costly, and Gap sees it actually as a way to connect the two areas of physical and non-physical stores. Reserving in store for quicker pick up is helpful, but it also drives foot traffic. Having the reverse ability to limit in-store products drives people online. Having it done through one seamless inventory makes sense. GAP must have a global assortment. So far, Old Navy, the outlets and GAP are all global ass ortment, and Banana Republic is mostly a global assortment with some changes. The assortment then goes to universal fit, so Old Navy is a universal fit, outlets are a universal fit. The retailer can now ship a unit from a store to satisfy an online customer and that process will become seamless. The Information System and Competition GAP Inc. is one of the many businesses in the retail market, which include a number of competitors such as Aeropostale, Macys, J.C Penney and many more. All of the aforementioned stores sells clothing, shoes and many different products. They all compete to sell the best quality of designer outfits all priced differently. As businesses continue to compete for a larger customer base and target groups, branding and pricing are two major factors for its growth. The advantages are providing better customer service, providing longer training periods for new employees and providing incentive programs. A well-known company as GAP faces little threat to new retail businesses just entering the market. These businesses will initially have a hard time competing with Gaps larger customer base, global presence, their ability to sell their apparel at a lower cost, their multimedia advertising, and their large-scale production market, which are parts of the Supply Chain Management. Competing on a Global Scale GAP Inc. is one of the leading international retail companies with five different brands in the United States of America, France, Canada, United Kingdom and so forth. Their supply chain franchise spans across 40 countries, in Asia, Australia, South America and Africa. Its employees play a huge role in sourcing, making, and delivering these many products. It also combines stores, outlets and multiple franchises. This allows it to compete with many retailers on a global scale. With its international presence on six continents. GAP Inc. has a huge advantage in attracting customers and making its large presence around the world known. Over the years, GAP Inc. through its many stores has provided its customers with an e commerce online market to buy products. Competing on Quality and Design GAP Inc. has a large customer base and has to create up-to-date trends for its customers. To reiterate, GAP Inc. is franchised in many places around the world. It provides high quality designs at reasonable prices. It has managed to add an abundance of stores to differentiate its brand from other retailers: Intermix and Banana Republic are just a few. They have also expanded their markets to attract teens, while keeping their existing customers. For example, Old Navy has added a baby department. Competing on Business Processes GAP works to reorganize and redesign its organizational structure of its business to help expand its company and increase its customer base. Big data plays a huge role in this goal. Companies such as GAP collect huge amounts of information to see what customers want and need. With this, large data is analyzed based on consumer trends on a day-to-day basis. This allows them to change their market strategy and increase productivity in order to deliver more value to its large customer base. Also, GAP keeps track of what its competitors are doing to see how it can improve service. Furthermore, GAP is focused on providing quality products to the market by changing its planning and allocation processes, its operation, and its process design. GAP continues to improve its global growth, customer relationships and speed. The company is using the Business Process Redesign (BPR) to exploit technologies to reconstruct its organization, two of these technologies are Omni-channel technology and e- commerce. Porters Five Competitive Forces When addressing how GAP competes with other businesses, it is essential to refer to Porters five competitive forces. The following shows an analysis of Porters five competitive forces based on GAP Inc. and highlights the view of a competitive retail industry. When looking at GAPs competitive analysis differentiation, operational effectiveness, innovation and customer orientation strategy is essential to GAPs goals and approach to compete with other businesses. The threat of entry of new competitors The threat of entry of new competitors is low. There is an abundance of retail stores worldwide who compete with GAP on a daily basis. These stores often sell substitute apparel to GAP and at a lower cost. However, advertising and the promotion of a brand name are risky for new competitors and gives GAP an advantage when new competitors are trying to enter. New customers will find it hard to compete with GAPs large customer base located in over 3,700 countries worldwide, including the United States and England. The bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is low. GAP purchase its products from factories in almost 40 countries, including Asia and South America. The fact GAP does not dependent on a single supply makes it easier for them to bargain with its franchises. It is equally important for suppliers to kept businesses with GAP because of its high demand of orders. The bargaining power of customers (buyers) The bargaining power of customers is high. GAP provides to a huge customer base in countries, such as Canada, Japan, North America and the United Kingdom. With the large retail market customers have the ability to choose from an abundance of retail stores worldwide, including HM, American Eagle and Aeropostale. However, some customers look at brand image and choose to buy at a particular store. This gives GAP an advantage because of advertisement and its many locations. The threat of substitute products and services The threat of substitute products and services is high. Gaps multiple brands have become some of the most recognizable labels within the apparel industry. Many retail stores sell the same apparel as GAP, including clothing, accessories and shoes. GAP Inc. is able to compete with other companies because it is large and has the ability to sell products at a low cost. However, because GAPs brand name it makes it easier for them to perform with companies who sells the same products. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry The rivalry among existing firms in the industry is high. As it relates to this competitive force GAPs main competitors include business such as JCPenney, Aeropostale and American Eagle Outfitters. However, despites GAPs presence in the apparel market, it holds just about 5% in market share, when compared with Macys and Wal-Mart who holds 9% and 7% respectively. GAP competes with companies on a national and international scale. Over the years, GAP has been able to expand its market to reach a larger customer base, for example, adding its e-commerce market. Also, it has been able to sell its products at a lower cost to compete with other businesses. It was found that, GAP does not have a large market share, however, GAP has the ability to maintain its competitive status. In addition, GAP is using Porters five competitive forces to strategically compete with other businesses. Statistics also shows that GAP has been decreasing with sales, in 2016 it showed that there was a decrease in sales growth of -3.88%. Also, GAP has been able to keep its a large customer base. With GAPs geographic presence and the help of its e-commerce market, the company has been able to expand over the years. GAP offer customers the opportunity to shop online from anywhere in the world. Customers are able to return products bought online directly to the store. GAP e-commerce presence allows for its continued growth, increase customer base and increase productivity. Furthermore, GAP has been able to compete with new and existing businesses. Since GAP is not the only company who sells apparel, they are often challenged to fluctuate prices, and maintain a quality brand name. Using Omni-channel technology has also helped GAP significantly. This has allowed the corporation to connect its branches with a single supply chain management system to improve efficiency. There are many recommendations unheard of by the public or consumer side of the market by GAP. Inc. Ways to make a such highly praised company such as GAP increase profit and gain more loyal customers who see more than just a brand name. Innovations that can create an unstoppable marketing and ecommerce business to bring them all the way to the top. All the competitors of GAP are thinking of new ways to beat out the company by making their market on top of the rest. Which is why clothing retail being such a hotspot due to the constant demand for clothing. A new business based Omni-channel where they adding such devices and application to technology such as smart TVs, Smartwatches and even a new device that allows to you order distinctly from their retailers such as Banana Republic, Athleta, Old Navy, and Intermix would be nothing but genius. This device would also include for those who shop at these of branches coupons, giveaways, discounts etc. The device would be free but would require you to be a valued customer with a GAP account for a certain number of months, years etc. This is a new idea seeing that not many retailers within the clothing company own their own device to do such a thing. It is a concept in the making and just an idea but an innovating idea at that. New innovative ideas can help GAP tremendously. GAP has the ability to sell new products that is not offered by other and improve its original brand. I recommend that GAP provides its on customer on a high level of professional development by offering their customers extreme value, for instance, keeping up with the latest trends. In addition, the organization should provide customers with high quality product in order to distinguish itself from its competitors. GAP has begun productivity improvement whereby they will a number of their locations worldwide and expand its brand to North America. Also, GAP must be focused on its customer base. This means that it should us collected data to see what customers are buying on daily basis. GAP is using a cloud based optimization system to focus on its inventory. This will allow GAP to strategical positon its many businesses. GAP certainly has the ability to improve the business operations. The company can improve their e-commerce market by integrating their e-commerce platform and physical store. Overall, the GAP must improve productivity along with its profit margin. GAP Inc. Logo  GAP Inc. Market Share   GAP Inc. Many Locations Worldwide  Ã‚  Omni-channel Logistics References Ahmed, R. R. (2014). Case Study Report: GAP Inc. Supply Chain Managment. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.academia.edu/7583705/Case_Study_Report_GAP_Inc._-  Supply_Chain_Managment Corporate Compliance. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2017, from http://www.gapinc.com/content/gapinc/html/investors/corporate_compliance.ht  ml Customer Bill of Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.gapinc.com/content/gapinc/html/aboutus/customer_rights.html Gap Inc Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from https://jobs.gapinc.com/global-supply Gap Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2017, from http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gps/financials Gap Inc. (2017, March 15). Retrieved March 5, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_Inc. Gap Inc. Porters Five Forces Analysis: A Highly Competitive Industry with Immense   Buyer Bargaining Power. (2016, October 23). Retrieved March 7, 2017, from   http://research-methodology.net/gap-inc-porters-five-forces-analysis-a-highly-  competitive-industry-with-immense-buyer-bargaining-power/ Osmanay, A. (n.d.). Gap Inc.: Marketing Strategy Analysis of the Company. Retrieved   Ã‚  February 21, 2017, from   Ã‚  http://www.academia.edu/19985431/Gap_Inc._Marketing_Strategy_Analysis_of_  Ã‚  the_Company Our Sustainability Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2017, from http://www.gapincsustainability.com/strategy/our-sustainability-strategy Shop By Department. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.gap.com/browse/info.do?cid=80004 The worlds favorite for American style. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://www.gapinc.com/content/gapinc/html/aboutus.html Wailgum, T. (2007, March 19). Supply Chain Management Definition and Solutions.   Retrieved February 21, 2017, from http://www.cio.com/article/2439493/supply-  chain-management/supply-chain-management-definition-and-solutions.html !company_name! | Company Profile from Hoovers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2017, from   http://www.hoovers.com/company-  information/cs/companyprofile.the_gap_inc.5b8839480138c8d6.html

A Storm of Emotion in Kate Chopins The Storm Essay -- Chopin Storm Es

The Storm of Emotion Usually a storm creeps upon us, hits a luminous climax, and then fades away into nothingness.   In The Storm, Kate Chopin develops a parallel between a rainstorm and an emotional storm in a woman’s life.   Chopin uses symbolism to depict the feelings of relationships that are as unpredictable as that of a raging storm.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the time frame that this story is set, many major life decisions things are made taking into account one’s duty to family - including the selection of a husband or wife.   It is possible that each of these couples may not have been in love,   when their vows were stated.   They have a duty to society; they must not marry outside of their social class.   They have a duty to their family; they must not disgrace the family by not marrying.  Ã‚   They have a duty to him or herself, they must not allow themselves to be alone.   If they marry because there is no other choice, or because of a sense of duty, it is unlikely that they will have a fulfilling relationship.   It appears as though Calixta and Bobinot are content, and if they did not love each other when they were first married, then they have learned to love each other as the time passed.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Mr. and Mrs. Laballiere seem to be content, but their relationship seems to belacking something.   There doesn t seem to be any closeness of any kind.   Clarisse is quite content to   forgo   their   intimate conjugal life   at least for a little while.   The delay in Clarisse s arrival home is encouraged by Alcee, which seems odd for a husband who is lovingly, devoted to his life long companion.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Chopin uses the details to create symbolism that represents the bonds of therelationship between Alcee and Calixta. There is an awkwardness to... ...ife is felt anew as the two lovers say good-bye in a   glistening green world   (668).   Alcee and Calixta can return to their families as hopeful, vibrant people and continue their lives with a little more love and vitality.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Ms. Chopin magnificently gathers the descriptive details and uses them in such away that her meaning is comprehensible to the reader.   The reader sees the complete storm, from the first raindrops to the last.   She uses unique, creative symbolism to portray the thoughts and emotions that so often fade with the storm. The storm washes the depressing, dingy dust away, and allows new hope and vigor to spring up in its place.  Ã‚     So the storm passed and everyone was happy   (669). Work Cited Chopin, Kate. "The Storm." Literature Across Cultures. Eds. Sheena Gillepie, Terzinha Fonseca, Carol A. Sanger 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. A Storm of Emotion in Kate Chopin's The Storm Essay -- Chopin Storm Es The Storm of Emotion Usually a storm creeps upon us, hits a luminous climax, and then fades away into nothingness.   In The Storm, Kate Chopin develops a parallel between a rainstorm and an emotional storm in a woman’s life.   Chopin uses symbolism to depict the feelings of relationships that are as unpredictable as that of a raging storm.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the time frame that this story is set, many major life decisions things are made taking into account one’s duty to family - including the selection of a husband or wife.   It is possible that each of these couples may not have been in love,   when their vows were stated.   They have a duty to society; they must not marry outside of their social class.   They have a duty to their family; they must not disgrace the family by not marrying.  Ã‚   They have a duty to him or herself, they must not allow themselves to be alone.   If they marry because there is no other choice, or because of a sense of duty, it is unlikely that they will have a fulfilling relationship.   It appears as though Calixta and Bobinot are content, and if they did not love each other when they were first married, then they have learned to love each other as the time passed.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Mr. and Mrs. Laballiere seem to be content, but their relationship seems to belacking something.   There doesn t seem to be any closeness of any kind.   Clarisse is quite content to   forgo   their   intimate conjugal life   at least for a little while.   The delay in Clarisse s arrival home is encouraged by Alcee, which seems odd for a husband who is lovingly, devoted to his life long companion.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Chopin uses the details to create symbolism that represents the bonds of therelationship between Alcee and Calixta. There is an awkwardness to... ...ife is felt anew as the two lovers say good-bye in a   glistening green world   (668).   Alcee and Calixta can return to their families as hopeful, vibrant people and continue their lives with a little more love and vitality.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Ms. Chopin magnificently gathers the descriptive details and uses them in such away that her meaning is comprehensible to the reader.   The reader sees the complete storm, from the first raindrops to the last.   She uses unique, creative symbolism to portray the thoughts and emotions that so often fade with the storm. The storm washes the depressing, dingy dust away, and allows new hope and vigor to spring up in its place.  Ã‚     So the storm passed and everyone was happy   (669). Work Cited Chopin, Kate. "The Storm." Literature Across Cultures. Eds. Sheena Gillepie, Terzinha Fonseca, Carol A. Sanger 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.

Competency in Information and Technology Literacy Essay

The dynamic changes in information technology has advocated for nurses highly qualified in nursing informatics. This paper discusses some barricades allied to the employment of essential Nursing Informatics competencies into undergraduate nursing websites. Introduction Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to discover, repossess, evaluate, and use information. The Changes in information technology have led to new changes in the way nurses operate on patients. These nurses have to undergo various competencies. This paper discusses the changes and the required competencies. Discussion Information literacy is important in the nursing researches and practical working with the nursing informatics equipment. It is not just for students to learn but for practicing nurses and other healthcare practitioners as well. The practice of nursing in which the nurse makes medical decisions based on the best existing research proof, his or her own clinical expertise, and the needs and inclinations of the patient is referred to as evident based nursing. The nurses should learn to practice Information system to design and maintain their healthcare information. For instance, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant or Patient Data) could allow nursing scholars to access various decision support systems that would offer them with professional guidance relating to specific care and treatment matters at their patient’s bedsides. There are various sources where one can learn about information literacy and find ideas about relationship between them. These include the website, libraries, journals, electronic full-text for nursing, that is, books, journals, virtual libraries, other articles and databases. To evaluating a website containing medical records, determine the website goal; discover the website objectives; website content description, evaluation questions, sources of evaluation data, methods of data collection. The steps performed are performed systematically. First and foremost, find out if the results have been reproduced in other research laboratory or by other scholars. Next step involves an attempt to conclude the study’s credibility. Look keenly at the material of study that is, if investigators essentially compare two sets of topics or did they just make bservations? If a control was used were the group results comparable? Evaluate the criteria used to conclude this study. Consider the modification and duration of the study. The next step is to look at the conclusions. Consider if they are warranted by the evidence. If one can’t find useful solutions in the website, then it is time to address some questions like: does one have to take illegalized results? How does one know that the product in question is the right one? If the product is or could be the right one, then, what guarantees this? Moreover one must to know more information on the product. Any information that is relevant should be taken into account. If the person still decides to take the product, he or she should be sure to tell the doctor who can make observation on the side effect about the product. Conclusion Nursing informatics is very important in today’s dynamic technological application. It is very important for nursing professionals to have the knowledge of nursing informatics as this will help them to participate fully in the technology enabled nursing.

Characterization in “Charles”

Laurie’s lies In the story â€Å"Charles† , Shirley Jackson vividly creates an entertaining main character, Laurie, through a description of his own looks, clothing, his own words, and actions. Shirley Jackson shows Laurie as having three main personality traits. Laurie can be best described as rude, impish, and disruptive. Early on in this story Laurie shows us his rude behavior when he starts kindergarten. Laurie is rude to everyone. He is rude to his teacher, his dad, and his mom.He says to his dad â€Å"hey pop you old dust mop†. That’s rude most dads would have slapped him. Laurie shows another trait later on in the story â€Å"impish†. He got in trouble and the whole class stayed to watch what would happen. He also makes up this character Charles he tells his mom that â€Å"Charles does whatever he really does at school. † That is just some really impish attitude. Laurie also has a third trait disruptive. Laurie disrupts the whole class a lot in this story. He tells a little girl in his class to say a bad word. † The little girl did and got in trouble. Then Laurie goes ahead and says the word himself and gets in trouble. That shows disruptive behavior. In our world today kids are the same. They all do stuff to get attention. This story will bring to parents attention how their kids act when they are not around. All kids today can have the same characteristics as Laurie does rude, impish, and disruptive.

The Candid in Candidate

The Candid in Candidate The Candid in Candidate The Candid in Candidate By Mark Nichol Yes, candid and candidate are cognate. It’s ironic, of course, that a word referring to forthrightness and honesty is the basis of a noun referring to someone who stands for political office. Candid is from the Latin term candidum, which means not only â€Å"sincere† and â€Å"upright† but also â€Å"white† and â€Å"pure.† Candidatus, the Latin predecessor of candidate, means â€Å"white robed,† and alludes to the fact that those campaigning for public office in ancient Rome wore white. Candid also means â€Å"blunt† or â€Å"frank† but also came, by extension, to mean â€Å"spontaneous,† as in referring to someone photographed in a candid pose rather than a prepared one. Meanwhile, candidate now can also refer to an applicant for any position, whether in a political context or otherwise, or to someone vying for an award or one who meets, or is on track to meet, all the requirements for something. Synonyms for candidate include applicant, referring to someone who applies or asks for something, from the Latin verb applicare, meaning â€Å"fold to.† (The second syllable of apply is has the same as the word ply.) Another is aspirant, meaning â€Å"someone who tries to be or do something,† derived from the Latin verb aspirare, meaning â€Å"breathe on.† Campaigner, which refers to someone who embarks on a political campaign to seek office, derives ultimately from the Latin term campania, meaning â€Å"level ground† and referring to the type of terrain most easily traversed by an army on the march; campaign originally referred to a series of battles waged to produce a desired strategic outcome. Contender, meanwhile, refers to someone who tries to win something, especially someone with a strong possibility of victory; the root word, contend, stems from the Latin verb contendere, meaning â€Å"stretch with† in the sense of a competitor who physically strives to win. Nominee, from the Latin verb nominare, meaning â€Å"name,† pertains to someone who has been chosen to represent a political party for a specific office or someone who is being considered for a position. Prospect denotes someone likely to win or be chosen; the word, from the Latin verb prospicere, meaning â€Å"look forward,† also refers in general to anticipation or possibility, or to a lookout or a scene or a survey. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in S3 Types of HeadingsHonorary vs. Honourary

The relationship between math and future Research Paper

The relationship between math and future - Research Paper Example The world is getting technology oriented and we can even feel it today.   Technology permeates and affects every dimension of our life and it is expected that this trend will not only continue in the future but will become more intensive.   Virtually almost all product s will have a component of technology and engineering and as long as technology and engineering is involve, so does mathematics because technology and engineering speaks the language of numbers which is the domain of math.  Ã‚   Thus it can be inferred that a country’s competitiveness is directly correlated with its aptitude in math.  Ã‚  Ã‚   A country which has strong score in math tends to have a strong technological base to create industry such as the case of Japan who is the leading country in manufacturing electronic products (section for interview) and thus will have a greater chance to prosper.  Inversely, countries which have low aptitude in math cannot progress to manufacture technological pr oducts due to its shortcoming in math.   A classic example is the Philippines whose economy is still playing a catch up despite the fact that it is known to be proficient in English.   It still played as a catch up because its Math education deteriorated where its students only get a mean average of 34.41% in math (BusinessWorld).   As a result of this deficiency in Math, it does not have its own industry but is rather limited to assembly and outsourcing of manufacturing functions where the high paying industry still eludes the country because.

Against Abortion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Against Abortion - Research Paper Example Whether the fetus has life or not, pregnancy shows the woman had some level of maturity. The woman has ethical obligations towards the fetus as pregnancy occured knowingly (Cline, 2010). The second reason is the religious values. Christianity and Hinduism believe that all human beings come to earth with a definite purpose. Almost all religions are against abortion except special circumstances. Women want abortion because of social stigma or financial reasons. Each one’s destiny is clearly defined and killing would amount to the process of evolution of that soul (Christianet, 2008). Abortion can be traumatic for a woman which could impact her life at a later stage. Her own conscious would nag her and living with the aftermath of aborting can be devastating for a woman (Christianet, 2008). Abortion is immoral, abortion is unethical, abortion can impact the woman physically, mentally and emotionally and hence under no circumstances should abortion be