Assault, Battery, and Crimes against Persons Term Paper

Assault, Battery, and Crimes against Persons - Term Paper Example There is no assault if the act does not produce a true fear of harm that is reasonable in the victim. The general rule of battery occurs when someone offensively touches another person and the touching does not necessarily have to inflict harm. The elements of battery are that an act with intent to cause harmful or offensive contact to the victim (Gardner & Anderson, 2012). The most important aspect that differentiates between assault and battery is the amount of contact. In assault cases, there is no physical harm to the victim, just threat from criminal to victim but in battery cases, there must be some physical contact between the criminal and victim. A person, who receives punishment for battery, is essentially guilty of assault as well but on the other hand; the assault crime has no charges of battery. Also, the purpose of assault is to threaten the victim while the purpose of battery is to cause to the victim actual physical harm (Molan, 2009). Both acts of assault and battery can be either be a criminal act or subject one to civil liability. Another similarity is found under common law where both acts are both Intentional torts. In both cases there are common defense to an assault or battery charge in all jurisdictions, these defenses are mutual consent where both parties agree to the situation, meaning that there was not a one-sided attack and the other defense is self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property. These are the most common defenses (Molan, 2009). The man’s actions should be considered as both an assault and battery because there were elements of both crimes in his actions. The attacker strikes (A) and rips her clothes this constitutes battery because there is actual physical contact that causes harm to the victim. Assault occurs when the attacker jumps from the alley and cause apprehension of harmful and offensive contact

Country Risk Analysis-China Essay Example for Free

Country Risk Analysis-China Essay With the development of economic globalization, foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in the economic development of countries. Although FDI began centuries ago, the biggest growth has occurred in recent years. This growth resulted from several factors, particularly the more receptive attitude of governments to investment inflows, the process of privatization, and the growing interdependence of the world economy. Team B will perform a country risk analysis to ensure that endeavors of investing into the Chinese markets are warranted. Initial ScreeningGreater China has been one of the most dynamic areas in the world economy. With the entry of the China into the World Trade Organization, Chinas financial markets emerge on the frontier of economic reform and openness. Financial services also provide the most exciting foreign business opportunities in China. However, the recent Asian financial crisis illuminates the problems in Chinas state-run enterprises and an ill-functioning banking system. This paper is looking for the business opportunity of financial services industry in China. It will begin from the review of the emerging economies to explain why the specific region was chose. The research of this paper also includes business analysis in China, a review of profitable industry, the business entry strategy and its functional areas operate in China. At the end, the future strategy and the recommendations will be discussed for the further steps in this investment. Potentials/FDILooking at the environmental factors of China, the economic development it has undergone in the past 15 years is of increasing interest to marketers. It has developed and continues to grow into a great trading partner. If this growth pattern continues, China will someday have significant economic influence on the world. One reason China could have a particularly large effect is due to the number of Chinese citizens. China supports over 1.29 billion people and this number is increasing by .93%. If the standard of living persists and income levels rise, it would be possible to accept the Chinese as potential consumers that would unlock a huge market  of individuals. The massive population has been a burden on China because the economy, as it stands now, cannot bear to support such a number of citizens. The government is trying to gain control of this problem by limiting the number of children to one per household, with exceptions to ethnic minorities and those living in rural areas. Other countries are offering their services to attempt to control the birthrate by showing the government that population control can be managed without a coercive and involuntary approach. The government has been losing its authority due to political changes and popular resistance that make population standards difficult to maintain. Therefore, some projections still approximate that 1.6 billion will make up Chinas population by the year 2025. Countries wishing to take advantage of Chinas emerging opportunities are investing a large amount of time, effort and money in order to access such a vast market. These possibilities were made possible when China started its reform in 1978, opening its doors to foreign investments and trade. This changed a self-reliant central economy into a mixed economy that combined state owned enterprises and private businesses. China could now allow individual citizens to have different amounts of incomes. The results have changed China dramatically making it the fastest growing economy for 15 years. When the reforms began in 1978, 60 percent of the population earned less than $1 a day. Since the reform, GDP has grown steadily by an average of 9 percent. In the year 2000, GDP grew by 8 percent. Currently, per capita is equivalent to $3600 and as the economy continues to expand the purchasing power of individuals will increase as well. The new economic reform policy intends to reduce central planning and increase business autonomy and spread income. Many problems still exist, despite the success of the policy and rapid economic growth. There is a movement for more privatization of some State Owned Enterprises because many remain unprofitable. In the year 2000, 46.5% of the SOEs were running at a loss. These problems stem from the socialist system that is still in place under their Constitution. Under the Chinese Constitution, it is the  responsibility of the government to manage the economy by means of production quotas and price setting. This apparent contradiction between the reform policy and the Constitution (1982) seem to work against each other. China will never succeed at full potential unless it retires the Marxist views and embraces a market directed system. Economic IndicatorsChinas economic growth remains quite high due to the large investments from the United States and Europe. The labor sector has a competitive edge with the rest of the globe now, where outsourcing of work to China is a priority among the large corporations. The Second Screening tries to look at more specific types of economic indicators to determine the risk and safety for a foreign company to invest in China, a country that has a communist government. According to the World Economic Forum, China has moved up from 33 to 39 in their 2002-2003 Growth Competitive Index while the IMD has mainland China listed as number 12. Summary data can be accessed below.In terms of trade surplus, there are fluctuations all the time due to the business cycle. Not all cycles of goods and services in China fall into predictable patternsChinas trade surplus in March fell to $6.9 billion, well below forecasts and down sharply from Februarys $23.7 billion surplus, reports AP. It was not clear whether the drop in March was the result of government efforts or would have a lasting impact.(www.metrics2.com)http://www.metrics2.com/blog/economic_indicators/Inflation is something that remains as long as prices keep going up, and there are no controls of prices. The Chinese communist government does have strict controls over the Chinese currency. Its central bank controls the overall balance of payments within the country when dealing with foreign investors, as the United States. Chinas consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.3 percent year-on-year in July, mainly due to the lagging effect of price hikes at the end of 2003 and one-time factors, said the monthly report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Thursday. The July inflation rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the 5 percent rise in June, making it the second  consecutive month that Chinas inflation exceeded 5 percent. Currency ConvertibilityCurrency in China is called the Renminbi and although it tries to be strictly controlled by the Chinese government, the currency competes on the world currency market just like the American dollar and the Euro. The currency is tied to the economic health of the country in terms of balance of payments. Sometimes this is difficult to understand because of the globalized world economies today, where every country deals in all of the worlds currencies. International corporation for example can pay for goods and services in any form of currency. The official currency of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is Renminbi (meaning in Chinese: peoples currency). The Peoples Bank of China, the PRCs monetary authority, issues the Chinese currency. The official ISO 4217 abbreviation of Chinas currency is CNY, but it is also abbreviated as RMB. Colloquially, the Chinese currency is also called Yuan and Kuai.(www.danwei.org)Gross Domestic ProductChina is likely to declare itself the worlds fourth largest economy next week, having leapfrogged Italy, France and Britain, after a widely expected revision of its annual gross domestic product figures. Economists say the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which is due to release part of the results of its first national economic census on December 20, is likely to put a much bigger figure on the size of Chinas services sector. Political and Legal barriers to doing business in ChinaThe Peoples Republic of China is a dichotomy of cultures and lifestyles. While maintaining the culture of an old world, there is a marked representation of Western culture all over the larger cities in the country. However, anyone wishing to do business in China will have to know and understand both cultures, and all the legal and political implications involved in doing creating a successful presence in China. In China, the first step in doing business is to have a legal framework to operate your business. You need a legitimate platform to launch your business venture. It is not advisable to use proxy or another Chinese company to conduct business in China (www.seve.gr). While the most obvious barriers to doing business in China include tariffs and other financial  limitations, there are some non-tariff barriers that could inhibit a business from doing business in China. Entry BarriersGovernments often provide trade consultations and administrative guidance to companies to facilitate implementation of their respective industrial policies. In some countries the role of government may take the form of a caretaker, coordinator and leader providing guidance, coordination and arbitration. In order to achieve these goals, governments use such tactics as licensing, foreign exchange allocations and quotas. These tactics could interfere with free trade and become a barrier to market entry (www.foxweb.marist.edu). Profit Remittance BarriersFinancial controls may take the form of exchange controls, multiple exchange rates, and prior import deposits, as well as credit restrictions and profit remittance restrictions. Exchange controls limit the amount of currency that can be taken abroad. Such controls limit the amount of currency an importer can obtain to pay for the goods purchased. It also limits the amount of currency an exporter receives for goods sold and the length of time it can hold the currency (www.foxweb.marist.edu). Prior to 2005, most businesses in China were state-owned and it was virtually impossible for non-state businesses to enter the Chinese market. However, in 2005, China lifted trade barriers that would allow private businesses to invest in the infrastructure, industry and utilities of China. Although the government has displayed support for the development of non-state economy in recent years, there are still barriers to the development of the private sector especially in the power and oil industries. Even in Shanghai where the private economy booms, the non-state business often faces many limits from various industries (www.English.peopledaily.com). Cultural IssuesChinas estimated population for 2007 is greater than 1,321,800,000 with a relatively small cohort. (CIA, 2007) The median age  in China is 33.2 (32.7 male and 33.7 female). Exhibit 1 (CIA, 2007)Life expectancy is estimated at 72.88 years. Seven out of every 1,000 people die each year. Infant mortality rate is 22.12 per every 1,000 births (20.01 male and 24.47 female). (CIA, 2007). The Chinese ethnic population is 91.9% Han Chinese; while the remaining 8.1% is made up of Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other. Exhibit 2 (Cyborlink, n.d.)Culturally, China ranks highest in long-term orientation. This dimension indicates a societys time perspective and an attitude of preserving; that is, overcoming obstacles with time, if not with will and strength. (Cyborlink, n.d.) Geert Hofstede has conducted many cultural analyses and ranked China the lowest in Asia in regards to individualism. This is thought to be in part to an emphasis on a Collectivist society by Communist rule. Culturally, the Chinese are close and committed to family and relationships and loyalty is considered very important. Hofstede also noted that China ranks 80 in regards to power distance; while the rest of Asia averages 60 and the rest of the world averages 50. This is indicative of a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. This condition is not necessarily forced up the population, but rather accepted by the society as their cultural heritage. (Cyborlink, n.d.) In regard religions, China is an atheistic society (94%); while only three to four percent are Taoist, Buddhist, or Christian, and one to two percent are Muslim. Education in China is very important. Two years before the dawn of the 21st Century the Chinese government proposed an ambitious plan intended to expand university enrollment to ensure a greater output of professional and specialized graduates. (Cyborlink, n.d.) The governments goal is to develop an elite of world-class universities. Today, 90.9% of the Chinese population is literate; however, only 85.5% of Chinese females are literate compared to 95.1% of Chinese males are literate. The 2006 estimated Chinese labor force consisted of 798 million people with  an official unemployment rate of 4.2% for urban areas. Unemployment and underemployment rates for rural areas are considerably higher. According to the 2006 labor estimates, 45% of the labor force was involved in agriculture; 24% industry; and 31% services. Exhibit 3 (CIA, 2007)Competitive forcesNumber, size and financial strengthWith this being a relatively new product idea there is very little competition. That is not to say that there is no competition. Similar software exists however it does not take into account the end user. Most fashion software is for the designer more so than the consumer. Our software allows people put in there body type and shape and then see how clothes would look on you before you ever step foot in a store. Market shareWith a very small number of competitors is allows for firms to have very large shares of the market. We understand that being brand new we will not be able to have the entire market, however within the first three months we expect to grow it by a factor three. This is very ambitious but we feel with our strategic partnerships and quality product we should be the market leader within the first 18 months. Marketing strategiesOur marketing strategy will be to associate our self with an established fashion label(s). We will use there good name to help promote our product as a product extension of the clothes. DistributionWe will distribute our products through online stores as well as their contemporary bricks and mortar counterpart. We feel this is the best over all solution to get the product into the hands of as many people as possible. The competition utilizes the internet as well as physical stores as well so we must do both as well. Modes of entryAs for the mode of entry, we have decided that because of the bureaucratic red tape associated with doing business in china it would be most beneficial if we combined our efforts with an already established clothing company. That way we would not have to launch a completely new company however just branch out as a different product line to an existing  brand. We will probably use price skimming as this type of software will be aimed at consumers who are willing to pay a premium for fashion. Also they might perceive a lower price as a lower quality product. An alternative mode of entry could be if we sold our software to multiple clothing makers and allow them to use the software as a tool. This also would eliminate some of the governmental procedures. This solution would also get the product out and into more users. The products of this industry are services, it is extremely important to build good relationship with customer and build customer loyalty in long term. This issue is currently managed by the group successfully. The only challenge is to keep the standard when entering the China market. In the highly competitive business atmosphere currently occurring in China, there is a large shortage of qualified employees. Many companies are eager to attract as many skilled professionals as possible, especially in financial services industry. Local business giants realize the urgency and magnitude of their needs. Besides the great number of expatiate executives, management-training companies in Shanghai have mushroomed to several thousand to provide the management talent. In conclusion, with the speed up of world economic integration process and the gradual opening of financial market after Chinas entry into WTO, China financial services sector will have to face more powerful competition and challenges from overseas intruders. China will be stepping up infrastructure development and offering equal opportunities to both the foreign banks and the domestics. It also is a greater opportunity for WF to take a step in sharing the market. References China lifts barriers of private business into monopolized industries. (2005). Retrieved April 21, 2007 from http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200501/20/eng20050120_171269.htmlCIA. (2007, April). China. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from The World Fact Book:https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ch.htmlCyborlink. (n.d.). China. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from International Business

Environmental Analysis Of Ryanair

Environmental Analysis Of Ryanair In spite of lots of controversies, in august 2006 Air Transport World Magazine announced that Ryanair was the most profitable airline in the world on the basis of its operating and net profit margins (case study). The purpose of this report is to undertake an environmental analysis of European airline industry with implications to Rynair. On the bases of environmental analysis Ryanairs success and its sustainability in European budget airline industry is critically assessed. An environmental analysis is undertaken on the European airline industry with implication to Ryanair using tools such as PESTEL analysis, Porter five forces, SWOT analysis and Strategic group analysis. Pestel analysis is one of the important tools to analyse environmental factors influencing organisations strategy. PESTEL stands for political, economic, social, technology, environmental and legal. It is important for organisation to analyse how these factors are changing and how they are likely to change in the future (Johnson et. al, 2009). PESTEL analysis is used to analysis macro-environment in which Ryanair operates and to identify key-drivers of change. Government policies can influence to a large extend on airline industry. After the terrorist attract in 2001 UK authorities imposed serve security measures at all airports. As a result of this Ryanair suffered a loss of 1.9 million Euros on reduced bookings. Airport and handling charges was increased by 21% in 2006, which could put more pressure on budget airline like Ryanair. In 2005 EU regulations came into effect, which forced the airline to refund fares to passengers in case of delays, cancellations or denied boarding. Economic climate plays a vital role in influencing airline industry. During time of recession people refer to reduce their expenses which could reflect on number of people travelling in a flight, they may use any other alternative transport. The main economic factors that concerns airline industry is increase in fuel price, which forced some of the airlines to include fuel surcharges into airfares. Ryanair guaranteed its customers that it will not add fuel surcharges into their tickets. Current fluctuation in exchange rate is another issue in airline industry. The fuel price was always quoted in US dollars therefore there is always a risk in converting, as Ryanair deals with Euros. Ryanair had not hedged early, so it was paying $70 per barrel of oil up to October 2009 while other airlines were paying $50 to $60 per barrel of oil. Social: Social factors include social life style, demographic, perceptions which could also influence airline industry. It is expected that by 2012 there will be more old people in European countries; this will be the key to all airlines to come up with something special for them. Ryanair charged up to  £18 for using wheelchair and check in baggage and advertising standards rebuked the airline for misleading advertisement complaint, all these could create a negative impact on customers. Technological: With new technological improvement flying has became a new experience for passengers. New flights, online boarding, in flight entertainment system are some of the technological advancement in airline industry. In 2001 Ryanair launched its website which facilitates car hotel rentals, rail services and travel insurance, all at low prices. The airline website was largest travel website in Europe and fifth most recognised brand on Google, offering huge potential in E-commerce and advertising revenues. Ryanair brought new Boeing 737-800 aircraft which is more environmentally-friendly, reducing fuel consumption by 2%. Environmental: The airline industry is been accused by various social groups for emissions of carbon. Aviation represents 2.6% of carbon emissions in the EU, Oxford university study predicted that carbon from aviation would accelerate. Therefore airline industry was asked to play environmental taxes which could put more pressure on all airlines. Ryanair protested against this taxation arguing aviation contributes only small proportion of carbon emissions. Legal: Ryanair filed two cases against UK government: one for claim to compensate the carrier for lost flights and bookings; another was for increase in insurance costs for all commercial airlines. The carrier was sued by Swedens prime minister and a former foreign minister for placing their photos in one of companys advertising campaign without getting their permission. Porters Five Forces The five forces model was introduced by Porter, which helps to identify the sources of competition in an industry or sector. Although initially used with business in mind, it is of value to most organisations (Johnson and Scholes, 2002). Porters five forces model is used to analyse the level of competition existing in airline industry. Competitive Rivalry: The low-cost airline market is very competitive compared to other markets. The concept of low cost can be easily copied by rivals, which leads to high competition in the industry. Two major low-cost airlines (EasyJet and Ryanair) have always avoided direct competition by serving different routes. There is high level of competition for Ryanair and other established airlines in getting landing permissions and departure slots. Bargaining Power of Customers: Customers who prefer low-cost airline are often price sensitive and tend to switch over to another airline. Now days all airlines are online which has made customers relatively easier and cheaper for them to more to another airline. Moreover they try to maintain some sort of loyalty towards the airline in which they frequently fly. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The major cost for all airline industry is fuel prices, which is constantly increasing. There is no alternative to aviation fuel therefore oil companies has high bargaining power. Boeing supplies plans to Ryanair, if they have to switch to another supplier it will cost them high since they have to retrain its pilots. Bigger airports like Heathrow has a high bargaining power than smaller airports, thus it will be difficult for Ryanair to operate from these airports. Threat of New Entrants: The low-cost model can be easily adopted by others and can enter into the market. There are also some barriers for the new entrants like requires huge capital investment, availability of slots and price war existing in routes where other low-cost airlines operates. The new entrants have to get prior authorisations which are not easily these days and need to setup strong base in order to survive in the competition. Substitutes: Not all people prefer to travel by flights. Especially during time of recession most people avoid flights and travel by other cheap alternatives like travel by sea or by trains or by ferries or by cars. There are some people who may be aerophobia (Fear of flying), these people try to avoid flying and choose other alternative. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis summarises the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organisation that are most likely to impact on strategy development. It aims at identifying the extent to which the current strengths and weakness are relevant in dealing with threats in the environment (Johnson and Scholes, 2002). It is very useful tool in environmental analysis, which helps to find out strengths, weakness and opportunities threats of Ryanair. Strengths and weakness are concerned in detail to analyse current position of the company, complete SWOT analysis can be found in Appendix 3. Strengths: Ryanairs CEO Michael OLeary is one of the main strength to the airline as he often comes up with new ideas and was credited with single-handedly transforming European air transport. Ryanair always operates from small airports thus reducing their costs on airport charges and gaining suitable departure SLOTS. In 2000, Ryanair launched its website www.Ryanair.com, which facilitated car and hotel rentals, rail services and travel insurance and all at low prices (Box and Byus, 2007). The airline uses Boeing 737-800 which is more environmental friendly and also reduces fuel consumption by 2%. Weakness: Ryanair is always criticised for charging for wheelchair and check-in luggage which could leaves a negative image on the customers. The staffs and crew members are not well trained therefore not customer friendly. Ryanair always avoided bigger airports and concentred on small regional airports, which could be a drawback for the company for future expansion. Other important concern for Ryanair is its relationship with authorities, the airline often involved in some kind of crash with them. Strategic Group Analysis Strategic groups are organisations within an industry with similar strategic characteristics, following similar strategies or competing on similar bases. There are many different characteristics that distinguish between strategic groups but these are classified into two major categories: scope of organisations activities and resource commitment (Johnson et. al., 2008). The main competitors to Ryanair are EasyJet and Aer Lingus. Strategic group analysis (Appendix 5) is used to understand the competition, strategic opportunities and mobility barriers of Ryanair in low cost airline industry. Strategic Groups in Low-cost industry In Europe there are three main airlines providing low-cost flights to destinations namely Ryanair, EasyJet, Aer Lingus. Ryanair is dominant low-cost producer and has a gross cash of more than 1.8bn Euros. EasyJets majority of passengers are UK based, but becoming pan-European player. Aer Lingus is another low-cost airline operating from Dublin serving more than 70 destinations across Europe and US. Figure 1 in appendix 5 shows the positioning of these airlines on bases of passengers capacity and their market share in industry. Ryanair and EasyJet have 56% of market share in low-cost industry. Strategic Space in Industry Strategic group maps help us to identify the most attractive strategic spaces within an industry. A strategic group map is only the first stage of the analysis; strategic spaces need to be tested carefully (Johnson et. al., 2008). In low-cost airline industry, for instance the airlines can serve long haul routes which could help them in expansion. They can also consider moving into other low-cost segments like trains and offer its passengers new attractive products and services (figure 2 in appendix 5). Mobility Barriers Moving across the map to gain competitive advantage is costless but it often involves difficult decisions and rare resources. Mobility barriers are the obstacles to movement from one strategic group to another (Johnson et. al., 2008). Similarly in the low-cost airline industry (figure 3 in appendix 5) it will be difficult for airlines to move to another strategic group. The lack of experience in long haul routes, increasing fuel prices, high competition from big airlines like British airways and other regional airlines are some of the barriers which could put more pressure on airlines to move to another strategic group. RYANAIRS SUCCESS When Ryanair was started in 1990, everyone where anxious to see its performance in an industry where there was a monopoly created by giants like British Airways and Lufthansa. In response to this, the airline became one of the successful low-cost airlines operating from 127 destinations around the world (Case study). There have been many ups and downs for Ryanair since its launch but it continues to be successful in its operation. The success of an airline depends on how and what it offers to its customers. In case on Ryanair, it always tried to offer its passengers low-cost airfares at all times. The airline often comes up with new ideas which make them to reduce its airfares. These new ideas differentiate it from other traditional airlines. One of the main differentiate is its website, the companys site is largest travel website which was recording 50000 bookings per week (Box and Byus, 2007). The website also provides additional facilities to its customers like car, hotel rental, rail services and travel insurance, all at low prices. The airline offers customers online check-in which enables them to save its costs on printing tickets and other additional costs. The use of internet also makes it easy and quicker for customers to check-in. LIMITATIONS OF MODELS USED PESTEL Analysis The environment is constantly changing therefore PESTEL analysis should be done on regular basis and information needs to be accurate (Campbell et. al, 2002). PESTEL analysis is very expensive in terms of cost and time The effectiveness of this model depends on the level of prediction made on future. No one can predict the future. The speed of changes makes it difficult for managers to anticipate developments that may affect the organisation in future. Porters Five Forces Porters five force model assumes that all companies try to achieve competitive advantage over others in the industry This model assumes that goal of competitive advantage is to dominate suppliers and buyers (Campbell et. al, 2002). Internal environment is not taken into account It is difficult to use this model in complex industries with multiple interrelations. SWOT Analysis It is not critically analysed The data used in the analysis may be based on assumptions. Lacks detailed structure. It usage rarely amounts to much more than a poorly structured, very general list of factors regarded by the proposing individual as important components of the organisations strategic situation (David, 1997). Value Chain The concept of value chain disaggregates a company into activity or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage (Porter, 1998). There is risk of losing control of proprietary knowledge, skills, capability, or competence as these are disseminated to supply chain members (Morden, 2007). It can be applied only to manufacturing companies not to service industries. Strategic Group Analysis Difficult to group companies based on their strategy. Strategic groups are relatively unstable.

Essay --

Identifying a Decision Point for Cloud Application Build/Migration The decision point is a necessary component to come between Business and application assessment and vendor selection process. It includes various assessment including Cloud-Decision framework, Service Type and Deployment assessment, and Checklist for service type. To create these tools, our team analyzed three main components of service delivery. These components consist of cloud concepts, deployment options and service type offerings. Cloud Concepts (IaaS and PaaS) Cloud computing comprises of three classes of services: Infrastructure as a Service, platform as a service, and software as a service. While SaaS offers more of ready, tailored solution that suits the business needs, IaaS and PaaS delivers more of a building block type of solutions. On a high level, while IaaS focuses on providing storage and hardware capabilities, PaaS focuses on middleware and the development environment in the cloud. Figure 1 shows more detailed comparison between IaaS and PaaS. > The next step that we took was to assess IaaS, PaaS from ‘build-or-buy’ perspective. According to Gartner Research, three cloud concepts, Cloud Hosted, Cloud Optimized and Cloud Native, are applicable to both IaaS and PaaS. These three cloud concepts determine if the application is more suitable for migration or for Greenfield. Following are the characteristics of each cloud solutions: †¢ Cloud-hosted solutions require the lowest effort to implement. It transplant, or migrate, the existing enterprise applications on IaaS to gain the benefits of simple shared-hardware multitenancy (Gartner Research). This is feasible for the server that runs rarely used application as redeployi... ...fore migration (Gartner). For the applications which require heavy refactoring, IaaS is much better option than PaaS. The Cloud-optimized solution on PaaS will allow CMI to make continuous refactoring and optimization on its PaaS environment. However, the application may not be an ideal candidate for this option if the answer to any of the following questions below is â€Å"yes† (Gartner): ï  ¬ Does the application make direct use of OS or hypervisor resources? ï  ¬ Does the application depend on components (such as middleware, services and programming libraries) for which no compatible implementation exists as a cloud services? ï  ¬ Is the application primarily focused on batch operations without a Web user interface, or is it a native client application? ï  ¬ Does the application make heavy use of custom communication protocols? List of the Assessments Cloud-Decision Framework:

Raffles Hotel Marketing Communications

Assignment #4 Observation Report A: Describe one on-the-job problem of issue encountered and how it was resolved. I first encountered this problem two weeks into my internship with Raffles Hotel Marketing Communications. After my orientation week, it was finally time for me to take on projects on my own and start communicating with some of the clients and media the department would follow up from time to time. One of the projects that I was tasked was to prepare the Arabic version of Raffles Hotel’s fact sheet for the Saudi Arabia sales trip that the Director of Sales and Marketing will be doing at the end of the week.This request came in as a last minute project as there were several delays in the process of translation and positioning of the facts and information. In what limited time I had, it does seem that I would not be able to complete to the fact sheet in time due to the constant delays from the Translation Company and external help that took quite some time to get bac k to me. Time wasn’t on my side and I knew I cannot afford to mess up this project. That was when I decided to adopt one of the many values that Raffles Hotel believes in – taking ownership of guest requests.Instead of sitting around waiting for things to happen and emails to be replied, I decided that it was time for me to take action and get what needs to be done, done. The issue was eventually resolved after I made personal trips around the hotel, asking for help from colleagues from various departments that have knowledge in the Arabic language. I managed to prepare the Arabic fact sheet of Raffles Hotel in time for the Saudi Arabia sales trip and have shown my managers that I am someone they can trust to get things done on time and to the best of my abilities.

Works well in theory not in practice - discuss.

Works well in theory not in practice - discuss. IntroductionIt is certainly true that many of the ideas taught in college classrooms within business schools are not experienced in the real world of work. This is true in all of the business disciplines, including accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing-and their various academic subdisciplines. This is not exceptional to the field of HR.The very difference lying between the modern Human Resource Management Theory and the traditional personnel management theory is contemporary HRM changed conventional views in the aspect that it treats the employee as the most important resource within an organization. Meanwhile, the HRM has enriched the contents of the personnel management and presented a fusion of personnel management and industrial relations. As a consequence, the managers all take much greater responsibilities than the in the past. The contemporary HRM includes all activities used to attract and retain employees and to ensure they perform at a high level in mee ting organisation's strategic goal.201305145-OHRM-RBN-8054Specifically, it features in recruiting appropriate staff, providing training and development programmes for the employees, giving appraisal and feedback to employees, setting reward system, maintaining employee relations. The effects of the HRM on improving staff performance and further on the whole company profitability have been clarified and supported by numerous facts and statistics. Does this indicate there is not any problem when applying the theories of HRM into real situation for its effectiveness and reliability? In this essay, the focus lies on one of these sections, motivation and reward system, instead of panoramic perspective, to see the discrepancy between ivory-tower theory and real-world practice.Main partThe assumption is that theory is the good or ideal way, and that practice is the often not-so-good, actual way of the real world. But we must ask, if theory is so far off so frequently from describing...

The Art of Marc Chagall essays

The Art of Marc Chagall essays My name is Marc, my emotional life is sensitive and my purse is empty, but they say I have talent Marc Chagall. I feel that art is subjective to the viewers perspective. With that being said my perspective of Marc Chagalls art is that it is a feast for the eyes! I was immediately drawn to his painting titled "White Crucifixion in the Norton Mix" (Hood 293). The White Crucifixion reimagines the single most iconic moment in the mythology of Christianity, and yet makes that reverberant representation a strikingly Jewish phenomenon as well (Whitfield). This was one of Chagalls most famous paintings and many of his paintings were gathered inspirations from biblical themes reflecting his Jewish heritage. However, this was not all Chagall painted. Different life-changing events played a crucial role on his style of painting, memorable times such as his struggles in Russia, the death of his first wife Bella, and his various encounters with other religions. Marc Chagall, a Russian, was born in 1887. He was Jewish painter who traveled around the world transferring his many experiences on to canvas. He was born into a poor Hasidic family in Vitebsk, Belarus. Chagall was the oldest of nine children. Chagall began to display his artistic talent while studying at a secular Russian school, and despite his fathers disapproval, in 1907 he began studying art with Leon Bakst in St. Petersburg. It was at this time that his distinct style that we recognize today began to emerge. As his paintings began to center on images from his childhood, the focus that would guide his artistic motivation for the rest of his life came to realization. He studied in St. Petersburg before making his way to Paris in 1910. Chagall was in Paris for four years and during that time he painted some of his most famous paintings of the Jewish village, and developed the features that became recognizable trademarks of hi...