Leading the revolution †Book Review

Leading the revolution – Book Review Free Online Research Papers Leading the revolution Book Review Primero le quitarn los clientes; luego, se llevarn a sus empleados y finalmente lo sacarn del negocio.  ¿Quienes?: empresas como Sephora, eBay, Virgin, Dell, Gap, Amazon.com, AOL, o E-trade, que son las nuevas revolucionarias de los negocios; las que con su impulso renovador se estn infiltrando e influyendo sobre todas las industrias del mundo. Aun asà ­, en vez de temerles, la comunidad empresaria deberà ­a desarrollar modelos innovadores de negocios para imitarlas. Las flamantes compaà ±Ãƒ ­as revolucionarias estn tirando abajo los viejos esquemas y construyendo nuevos modelos. Entre el personal de las nuevas revolucionarias pueden encontrarse activistas, radicales y guerrilleros: se trata de personajes poco convencionales que estn construyendo un nuevo orden en la industria, donde la imaginacià ³n cuenta ms que el capital y romper con las reglas es ms trascendente que el conocimiento. Pero el desafà ­o no alcanza sà ³lo a las recià ©n llegadas: tambià ©n las empresas experimentadas, las revolucionarias de cabellos grises son bienvenidas a la aventura.  ¿Cà ³mo lograrlo? Estimulando la imaginacià ³n en cada uno de sus empleados, desarrollando nuevos parmetros financieros que se concentren en crear nueva riqueza y organizando un mercado interno rebosante de nuevas ideas, capital y talento. En suma, Leading the Revolution describe la innovacià ³n, pero sin mostrar nuevos productos y tecnologà ­as; en cambio, prueba que de ahora en ms la innovacià ³n debe ser concebida como un modelo de negocios radicalmente nuevo. Segà ºn Hamel, sà ³lo las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as capaces de crear revoluciones industriales y de guiarse por ese imperativo revolucionario, llegan a prosperar en la Nueva Economà ­a. A lo largo de su obra, Hamel provee un detallado manual sobre lo que cada ejecutivo puede hacer para comenzar la revolucià ³n en su propia corporacià ³n. Al final, traza una agenda para hacer de la innovacià ³n tanto una capacidad ubicua como un servicio de calidad para el cliente. Su lema es que el cambio radical es la ventaja competitiva del nuevo milenio, y por eso las empresas deben reinventarse continuamente, no sà ³lo cuando estn en crisis. La clave del à ©xito de las empresas de Silicon Valley no es la e del comercio electrà ³nico, tampoco su valor tecnolà ³gico, sino la i con que empiezan las expresiones imaginacià ³n e innovacià ³n. Las tecnolà ³gicas y las punto-com, por ejemplo, son empresas jà ³venes, hambrientas y totalmente despojadas de tradicià ³n. Es el poder de las i, ms que el de las e, lo que determinar quià ©nes sern los ganadores y quià ©nes los perdedores en la economà ­a del siglo XXI. Tambià ©n estn los casos de compaà ±Ãƒ ­as como Nokia, Enron y Charles Schwab, que han demostrado ser capaces de reinventarse continuamente a sà ­ mismas y a sus mercados, probndole al mundo que las grandes compaà ±Ãƒ ­as sà ­ pueden innovar, aunque muy pocas lo hagan. Las herramientas para encabezar la revolucià ³n del cambio estn a continuacià ³n. El fin de la era del Progreso La era del Progreso comenzà ³ en el Renacimiento, alcanzà ³ su adolescencia exuberante durante el Iluminismo, logrà ³ su madurez rotunda en la era industrial, y murià ³ con el comienzo del siglo XXI. Ahora comenzà ³ un nuevo tiempo: la era de la Revolucià ³n. En esta nueva era, cualquier compaà ±Ãƒ ­a que se se desenvuelva lentamente est transitando el camino hacia su propia extincià ³n. En primer lugar, los revolucionarios de la nueva era tomarn el mercado y los clientes de aquellas compaà ±Ãƒ ­as que no se renueven. Luego, se llevarn a sus mejores empleados. Y, por à ºltimo, tomarn sus acciones. La pelea est servida: la vieja guardia versus la vanguardia; la oligarquà ­a versus la revolucià ³n; el poder de la incumbencia versus el poder de la imaginacià ³n. Y en la disyuntiva, cada organizacià ³n elige quà © camino tomar. Sin embargo, no hay de quà © preocuparse porque la Revolucià ³n tambià ©n presenta oportunidades que no se pueden desperdiciar. Por primera vez en la historia es posible trabajar sobre la imaginacià ³n y no sobre lo hecho en el pasado; explorar nuevos mundos, revertir el paso de los aà ±os y trascender las distancias. En la era de la Revolucià ³n, el futuro ser distinto del pasado, y quizs infinitamente mejor. El mundo corporativo atraviesa un momento en el cual el à ºnico là ­mite que existe es la imaginacià ³n. Por otra parte, en un mundo no-lineal sà ³lo las ideas no-lineales sern capaces de crear riqueza. La innovacià ³n no-lineal significa que las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as deben romper con las ataduras del pasado e imaginar soluciones completamente nuevas para las necesidades de sus clientes. En consecuencia, los revolucionarios ya saben que la competencia no est planteada en tà ©rminos de productos o servicios, sino de conceptos de negocios. La novedad no est dada por caracterà ­sticas fà ­sicas de lo que se compra, sino por las nuevas relaciones. Por ejemplo, comprar un seguro a travà ©s de Internet es un modelo de negocios radicalmente distinto del acostumbrado, en el cual las personas debà ­an acudir a una direccià ³n fà ­sica y realizar una transaccià ³n de tipo personal; el nuevo modelo planteado por el comercio electrà ³nico presenta relaciones virtuales con caracterà ­sticas propias y, adems, permite comparar las pà ³lizas al instante y asegurarse de que se est tomando la de m enor precio. El desafà ­o de la innovacià ³n Los innovadores son aquellas personas capaces de repensar los modelos de negocios existentes y convertirlos en nuevas formas de crear valor para los clientes, sorprender a los competidores y proveer nuevas ganancias a sus inversores. Pregà ºntese a usted mismo si conoce y practica las claves para llevar a cabo la Revolucià ³n. Soà ±ar, crear, explorar, inventar, imaginar, ser pionero  ¿es eso lo que usted hace en su organizacià ³n? Si no es asà ­, usted aà ºn es una persona irrelevante en su empresa, y probablemente su compaà ±Ãƒ ­a està © volvià ©ndose irrelevante tambià ©n. La agenda de la nueva era de la Revolucià ³n est construida sobre lo que ya existe, pero tiene el deseo de ir ms all. Y se sostiene sobre las siguientes bases: Mejora continua ms innovacià ³n no-lineal. Innovacià ³n de productos y servicios ms innovacià ³n de conceptos de negocios. Liberacià ³n de riqueza ms creacià ³n de riqueza. Suerte ms capacidad. Visionarios ms activistas. Cientà ­ficos, marketineros ms Silicon Valley. Aquellos que se comprometan con esta nueva agenda pronto descubrirn que la era de la Revolucià ³n tambià ©n es la era de las oportunidades. Las expectativas de los accionistas No se engaà ±e creyendo que la buena suerte de las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as jà ³venes y calientes a la hora de cazar inversores durar para siempre: pasada la fiebre por las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as capaces de generar beneficios a gran velocidad, los inversores querrn que esas expectativas iniciales coincidan con una buena performance de ganancias a largo plazo. La pregunta a continuacià ³n es cà ³mo crecer para mostrarles a los accionistas (que son cada vez ms exigentes) que puede crear valor para ellos. Y el desafà ­o no es sà ³lo para las firmas de la vieja economà ­a, sino tambià ©n para las recià ©n llegadas: muchos de los programas corporativos de està ­mulo a la eficiencia, share buybacks, o fusiones que suelen disparar las cotizaciones accionarias de las empresas en un primer momento, terminan causando rendimientos decrecientes. La razà ³n es que tales decisiones estn focalizadas en liberar riqueza, pero no en crearla. Asà ­, la atencià ³n corporativa sigue puesta en los procesos y sistemas internos de la corporacià ³n, con lo cual à ©sta pierde diferenciacià ³n respecto de sus competidores. En cambio, los inversores premiaron a firmas como Cisco, Home Depot, Pfizer, Charles Schwab, Intel, y otras, porque fueron capaces de crear nuevas industrias, nuevos productos, nuevos servicios y, por sobre todo, nuevos modelos de negocios. Han sido revolucionarias en sus mà ©todos de generacià ³n de riqueza y por eso estn entre las preferidas por los inversores. Claro que por estos dà ­as a las empresas les resulta imposible satisfacer las crecientes expectativas de los accionistas si no crean nuevas ganancias; para crearlas deben innovar buscando una fà ³rmula que la competencia no haya empleado. Es que, en la nueva economà ­a, los inversores no buscan administradores, sino emprendedores heroicos. Mientras que los administradores se concentran en desbloquear los retornos existentes para los accionistas (asegurando que a travà ©s de tercerizaciones, fusiones, sinergias o recortes de gastos podrà ­a ser liberada), los segundos estn obsesionados por el desafà ­o de generar nuevos retornos. De igual manera, en el universo corporativo abundan las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as que en los à ºltimos aà ±os distribuyeron saludables retornos para sus accionistas, pero al mismo tiempo registraron muy poco o ningà ºn crecimiento en su valor total de mercado. Algunas de ellas son Dun Bradstreet, Times Mirror, Fortune Brands y Philip Morris. En general, las firmas que generan valor poseen estrategias altamente diferenciadas. Adems de enfrentar con solvencia a sus competidores, tienen capacidades à ºnicas, activos à ºnicos, valores à ºnicos, y un posicionamiento de mercado à ºnico. Esto confirma que la estrategia de cada corporacià ³n debe ser diferenciada, porque bastar observar si el crecimiento de sus rendimientos, el retorno de la inversià ³n, los mrgenes de operaciones y la relacià ³n precio-ganancia se parecen al promedio de las otras empresas del sector, para saber si hay problemas. Si tales parmetros resultan muy similares a los de las otras empresas de la misma industria, entonces la empresa no es innovadora y no est haciendo nada para obtener ganancias de fuentes no tradicionales.  ¿Est usted diferencindose de sus competidores o convergiendo con sus estrategias? Para saberlo, pregà ºntese lo siguiente: 1)  ¿Dejamos que los otros definan las expectativas de nuestros clientes? 2)  ¿Cà ³mo nos ven nuestros competidores: como disciplinados ante las normas establecidas o expertos en desobedecerlas? 3)  ¿Nuestra estrategia cambià ³ radicalmente en los à ºltimos dos aà ±os? (los à ºltimos dos meses si se trata de compaà ±Ãƒ ­as de Internet) 4)  ¿Ha habido algà ºn tipo de erosià ³n de nuestro price premium o cost advantage? 5)  ¿Se nos ha vuelto cada vez ms difà ­cil atraer talentos de categorà ­a internacional? Tarde o temprano, todo modelo de negocios llega a una situacià ³n de rendimientos decrecientes; y en los dà ­as que corren, ese momento llega cada vez ms pronto. Si desea escapar de los temidos rendimientos decrecientes, admita que no todo est marchando bien en su empresa, y asuma el compromiso de crear nuevas ganancias como fundamento para una estrategia de innovacià ³n. La cadena de tiendas minoristas Gap, por ejemplo, pasà ³ de vender jeans y un surtido de prendas para adolescentes bajo un formato poco diferenciado, a crear un inmejorable portfolio de marcas propias que se venden en tiendas exclusivas. Harley Davidson pasà ³ de venderles motos a algunos rebeldes, a venderles un concepto de rebeldà ­a a personas adineradas e inmersas en la crisis de la mediana edad. Negocios que se reinventan En la nueva economà ­a, la unidad de anlisis para la innovacià ³n no es un producto o una tecnologà ­a, sino el concepto en el cual se basa cada negocio. La renovacià ³n de un concepto de negocios es la capacidad de imaginar formas dramticamente nuevas para diferenciarse de lo existente, y la meta de toda innovacià ³n es introducir mayor variedad estratà ©gica en una industria o segmento competitivo. Cuando esto efectivamente sucede, y los consumidores perciben esa estrategia de diferenciacià ³n, aumentan las posibilidades de que la empresa se convierta en la creadora de ganancias, pues los consumidores tambià ©n valoran en forma positiva la innovacià ³n. Para ser revolucionarias en su sector, las empresas deben desarrollar una capacidad instintiva para pensar los modelos de negocios como una totalidad. Para lograrlo, debe saberse que cada modelo de negocios est compuesto por: Una estrategia central, es decir, la forma en que la firma elige competir. Incluye la misià ³n del negocio, el alcance del producto en el mercado, y cà ³mo se diferencia de otros. Recursos estratà ©gicos. Son las competencias centrales, los activos estratà ©gicos, y los procesos involucrados. Cambiar dramticamente la base de recursos que se usan para competir, puede ser una importante fuente de innovacià ³n. Interfaz con el cliente. Est compuesta por cuatro elementos: grado de cumplimiento y apoyo, informacià ³n y penetracià ³n, dinmica de las relaciones y estructura de precios. Cadena de valor. Se trata de todo aquello que rodea a la firma, que complementa y amplà ­a sus recursos. Incluye a los proveedores, socios y alianzas. La forma en que est diseà ±ado y cà ³mo se maneja este elemento puede convertirlo en factor de innovacià ³n. Ahora, estos componentes se describirn ms en detalle: Configuracià ³n: se refiere a la forma à ºnica en que las competencias, activos y procesos de la empresa se combinan e interrelacionan para apoyar una estrategia en particular. Por ejemplo, la mayorà ­a de los bancos envà ­an a sus clientes un resumen para la tarjeta de crà ©dito, otro para la hipoteca, otro para informar sobre el estado de cuenta, otro para ahorros e inversiones, y otro para prà ©stamos obtenidos. La combinacià ³n de resà ºmenes que cada uno recibe por mes refleja la configuracià ³n interna de casi todos los bancos - cada rea de producto es un centro de ganancias separado. Sin embargo, el Virgin Direct, a travà ©s de su Virgin One Account, supo diferenciarse de sus competidores estableciendo una nueva configuracià ³n: envà ­a un solo resumen de cuenta a sus clientes, en el cual concentra todas las operaciones de la relacià ³n entre el cliente y el banco. Beneficios para el cliente: se refiere a las necesidades y deseos del cliente que estn siendo satisfechos por el producto o servicio actual. Los beneficios vinculan la estrategia central con las necesidades del cliente. Entorno: hace referencia a lo que la firma hace por sà ­ misma y lo que contrata de los distintos miembros de la cadena de valor. Cambiar el entorno contribuye a menudo a innovar en el concepto de negocio. Adems, existen cuatro factores que apoyan el modelo de negocios de una compaà ±Ãƒ ­a y que determinan si à ©ste ser capaz de crear valor: Eficiencia: implica que el valor que el cliente establece sobre los beneficios que recibe excede el costo de producir tales beneficios. Es un modelo de negocios difà ­cil de sostener en el largo plazo. Diferenciacià ³n: cuanto ms à ºnico, exclusivo y diferenciado sea el modelo de negocios, aumenta la posibilidad de obtener resultados por encima del promedio. Compatibilidad: un concepto de negocios tiene que ser internamente consistente, es decir, que todas sus partes deben trabajar en forma conjunta, y demostrar asà ­ compatibilidad, para alcanzar el mismo objetivo final. Multiplicadores de ganancias, que a su vez se dividen en cuatro grupos: 1) Rendimientos crecientes. Para beneficiarse de ellos un modelo de negocios tiene que aprovechar alguna de sus tres fuerzas subyacentes: los efectos de redes, los efectos positivos del feedback, o los efectos del aprendizaje. Con relacià ³n al primero, Visa, MasterCard o American Express son buenos ejemplos. Cuanto ms comerciantes aceptan estas tarjetas, mayor es la posibilidad de que la gente quiera tenerlas. Y cuanto ms gente las tenga, ms comerciantes las aceptarn. Se trata de un cà ­rculo virtuoso. El concepto de feedback se utiliza en un sentido similar, es decir, que el aprendizaje es un multiplicador de ganancias, siempre y cuando la empresa desarrolle los mecanismos necesarios para internalizar su propia experiencia y conocimientos mejor que sus competidores. 2) Desplazamiento del competidor. Se trata de encontrar una ventana de oportunidades, que ofrezca ventajas competitivas, atravesarla y cerrarla una vez adentro. Esto puede realizarse a travà ©s de la apropiacià ³n (ser el primero), obstruccià ³n (establecer algà ºn estndar tecnolà ³gico, controlar alguna infraestructura costosa, tener acceso preferencial a un comprador del gobierno, o tener una patente), o capturar a los clientes (a travà ©s de, por ejemplo, contratos de largo plazo). 3) Economà ­as estratà ©gicas. En sus tres variantes: escala, foco o alcance. Este à ºltimo, por ejemplo, implica el aprovechamiento de recursos que aumentan la eficiencia, tales como marcas, facilidades, mejores prcticas, talentos escasos o infraestructura tecnolà ³gica. 4) Flexibilidad estratà ©gica. Incluye amplitud del portfolio, agilidad operativa y bajo breakeven. La clave es apropiarse de uno o dos de estos multiplicadores de ganancias para definir un concepto innovador del negocio. Adivinanzas Construir posibles escenarios futuros es una actividad rutinaria para la mayorà ­a de las empresas; para hacerlo, toman sus mayores incertidumbres ( ¿cà ³mo se comportar el precio del petrà ³leo?,  ¿hacia dà ³nde evolucionar el movimiento ecologista?,  ¿quà © pasar con la seguridad global?) y planifican escenarios para construir su futuro posible. En la era de la Revolucià ³n, sin embargo, los managers tienen que imaginar alternativas que rompan con el orden establecido. No se trata sà ³lo de especular sobre lo que podrà ­a llegar a suceder en el futuro, sino de imaginar lo que se puede lograr bajo las circunstancias actuales. Tampoco se trata de hacer predicciones, sino de imaginar cà ³mo ser el futuro. Los revolucionarios piensan como tales, y esa es una visià ³n que sà ³lo ellos pueden desarrollar, sin la ayuda de las firmas consultoras ni de gurà ºes. Cada empresa tiene que desarrollar sus dotes de adivinacià ³n e imaginacià ³n futurista; mirar diferente para ser diferente. Las siguientes herramientas sern à ºtiles para los managers que quieran convertirse en adivinos: Sea un adicto a la novedad. Busque constantemente nuevas experiencias, visite nuevos lugares, aprenda cosas nuevas, contctese con nuevas personas. Sorprà ©ndase a sà ­ mismo. Encuentre las discontinuidades. Si puede responder a las siguientes preguntas, correr con ventaja dentro de su industria:  ¿Dà ³nde y cà ³mo se est creando el potencial para generar nuevas reglas y nuevos espacios?  ¿Cul es el potencial para la revolucià ³n implà ­cito en las cosas que estn cambiando justo ahora o que acaban de cambiar?  ¿Cules son las discontinuidades que se pueden explotar?  ¿Quà © aspecto de lo que est cambiando podemos entender mejor que cualquier otro de nuestros competidores?  ¿Cul es la dinmica que har que nuestro nuevo concepto de negocios sea relevante en este momento? Encuentre tendencias que otros no aprecian. Nadie es el dueà ±o del futuro; lo que alguien sabe sobre lo que est cambiando en el mundo, puede saberlo cualquier otro. La clave est en mirar hacia donde los otros no miran. Encuentre la gran historia. Busque temas trascendentes. Siga la cadena de consecuencias. No se conforme con averiguar los efectos que los acontecimientos tendrn en el corto plazo: piense en las posibles consecuencias inesperadas. Siga cavando para encontrar el oro. Enterarse de que muchos adolescentes pasan cada vez ms tiempo navegando en Internet que mirando televisià ³n no tiene ningà ºn valor. Lo que realmente sirve es preguntarse por el perfil de los que se conectan o a quà © sitios entran, o quà © les da la Red que no encuentran en la televisià ³n. Recuerde que algunas cosas no cambian. Aprenda a usar las nuevas herramientas para satisfacer los deseos histà ³ricamente ms arraigados en los seres humanos. Experimente. La à ºnica forma de entender una discontinuidad es experimentndola; no alcanza con leer acerca de ella. Establezca una rutina. La mayorà ­a de las personas descarta lo que es nuevo o pequeà ±o. Como disciplina, puede proponerse exagerar lo nuevo y lo pequeà ±o. Esto no significa invertir en estas cosas, sino abrir la mente a nuevas posibilidades. Sea un hereje. Son los herejes y no los profetas quienes crean revoluciones. Las empresas pueden concentrarse en ver lo que est cambiando, pero sà ³lo vern las oportunidades si logran escapar a las ataduras de la tradicià ³n. El desafà ­o no es tener un pensamiento de largo plazo, sino desarrollar un pensamiento no-convencional. En conclusià ³n, el problema con el futuro no es lo desconocido: el gran dilema es que el futuro ser diferente. A quienes no sean capaces de pensar en forma diferente, el futuro siempre los tomar por sorpresa. Por ello: Rompa con los dogmas. Nunca deje de preguntarse por quà ©. Celebre lo obvio. Vaya a los extremos, sea radical. Encuentre los y; por ejemplo, piense en un producto que sea econà ³mico y de alta calidad. Distinga entre forma y funcià ³n.  ¿Por quà © la gente piensa que Internet puede matar a los diarios? Porque ven a estos à ºltimos como una forma ms que como una funcià ³n. Comience una nueva conversacià ³n; aplique distintos estndares y conceptos para cada tema. No se puede hablar en los mismos tà ©rminos sobre innovacià ³n que sobre desempeà ±o operacional. Todas las anteriores son opciones confiables que lo ayudarn a descubrir oportunidades para revolucionar su modelo de negocios. Rebeldes corporativos Para que florezca la innovacià ³n en el modelo de negocios, todos los sectores de la empresa deben compartir la responsabilidad en la elaboracià ³n de la estrategia: à ©sta no debe ser una responsabilidad exclusiva de la alta gerencia. En realidad, no se pueden cambiar los modelos de negocios si no se renueva tambià ©n la forma en que se distribuye el poder dentro de las organizaciones. Allà ­ la figura de los activistas ser decisiva: ellos se encargarn de ayudar a construir una jerarquà ­a imaginaria, romper con el organigrama tradicional y trabajar (en el proceso de formulacià ³n de la estrategia) sobre la base de uno nuevo; uno en el que mande el que tiene imaginacià ³n y no el que ocupa el cargo ms alto. Al final, no olvide que los activistas no son anarquistas. Por el contrario, constituyen una oposicià ³n leal dentro de la empresa; su objetivo es crear un movimiento dentro de la misma y una revolucià ³n fuera de ella. Reglas de funcionamiento Cada compaà ±Ãƒ ­a funciona en base a cuatro fà ³rmulas: el modelo operativo, el modelo de negocios, el modelo mental y el modelo de polà ­tica. Si los cuatro se encuentran alineados, entonces no cabe espacio para la innovacià ³n, porque el alineamiento no permite el disenso ni las alternativas. La salida, entonces, es crear los espacios que den lugar a la innovacià ³n alcanzando, por ejemplo, un modelo de las siguientes caracterà ­sticas: Hay que tener presente que en un mundo discontinuo los modelos de negocios no duran para siempre. Y cuando comienzan a decaer, la tentacià ³n lleva a las empresas a invertir la energà ­a humana y el capital para hacer ms eficiente el modelo operativo. En à ºltima instancia, o se inventan nuevos conceptos de negocios, o se reinventan drsticamente los ya existentes. Sin embargo, no hay otra forma de innovar respecto de un concepto de negocios, si no cambia el modelo mental de la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a. Pasos para comenzar la insurreccià ³n Paso 1: Construya un punto de vista que explique cà ³mo est cambiando el mundo, quà © oportunidades hacen posible estos cambios, y cules son los conceptos de negocio que podrà ­an explotar los beneficios de esos cambios. Si logra comprender los principios de la innovacià ³n en el concepto de negocios, si aprendià ³ a ser su propio profeta, entonces usted y su empresa estn en buen camino para desarrollar su propio punto de vista. Este debe ser creà ­ble, coherente, fcil de comunicar, adems de comercial y emocionalmente convocante. Paso 2: Escriba un manifiesto Tener una ideologà ­a personal y corporativa no alcanza: es preciso contagiar a los dems con esas ideas. La clave es escribir un manifiesto que convenza sobre la inevitabilidad de la causa revolucionaria, sobre las necesidades y aspiraciones humanas, que defina claras implicaciones para la accià ³n, y que requiera de apoyo, que es allà ­ donde la gente podr sumarse. Paso 3: Forme una coalicià ³n Nadie puede cambiar el rumbo de su compaà ±Ãƒ ­a con buena voluntad; incluso los presidentes de las empresas tienen que seducir, adular y convencer a sus subalternos para que las cosas se hagan. El camino entonces es formar una coalicià ³n, y asà ­ transformar la autoridad individual en autoridad colectiva. Porque si los rebeldes corporativos estn fragmentados, aislados y no se ponen de acuerdo, ser fcil desanimarlos. Paso 4: Elija sus aliados y sus momentos Tarde o temprano el movimiento revolucionario se convertir en un imperativo. En ese momento, los activistas debern contar con una persona o un grupo que sean los reales apalancadores del poder. Para ello hay que descubrir quià ©nes son las personas dentro de la organizacià ³n dispuestas a dar el primer paso. Una vez identificados los aliados, verifique a quà © presiones estn sujetos, cules son los principales temas de sus agendas, quà © objetivos tienen para sà ­ mismos y para la empresa, y cules de ellos estn buscando ayuda e ideas. Tambià ©n es importante estar preparado para adaptar los propios objetivos, de forma tal que sean compatibles con las metas de sus potenciales aliados. Finalmente, haga una lista de todos los eventos y ocasiones - reuniones, seminarios, conferencias- que podrà ­a aprovechar para influir directamente sobre sus aliados. Paso 5: Sume y neutralice Avergonzar al otro y confrontarlo no son estrategias efectivas en un ambiente corporativo. En cambio, hay que manejarse con proposiciones del tipo ganar-ganar y procurar la reciprocidad. Paso 6: Encuentre un intà ©rprete Muchas veces se habla, pero no se est seguro de que los dems comprenden lo que se est diciendo. Dado que, en variadas oportunidades, los otros manejan lenguajes, valores y experiencias diferentes, los revolucionarios necesitan intà ©rpretes para comunicar sus ideas a la alta gerencia. Paso 7: Gane poco, gane pronto, gane siempre Todo su esfuerzo puede resultar vano si no puede demostrar que sus ideas realmente funcionan. Comience con poco si quiere lograr mucho. Los activistas exitosos como primera medida inventan una serie de experimentos escalonados, diseà ±ados para probar el nuevo concepto de negocios y para justificar las eventuales subas en las necesidades de inversià ³n. Paso 8: Aà ­sle, infiltre, integre En los primeros pasos de su campaà ±a activista, usted querr aislar su proyecto del resto de la organizacià ³n. Sin embargo, para atraer recursos deber dar el salto hacia la infiltracià ³n. Aun asà ­ muchas veces se necesitan ms que recursos, ya que la oportunidad no reside en un nuevo negocio sino en la reconfiguracià ³n de los negocios ya existentes. Por ejemplo, si usted es un comerciante minorista, no puede relegar su comercio electrà ³nico en alguna incubadora de negocios offline. En este punto, ms que infiltracià ³n se necesita integracià ³n. Y recuerde que los activistas deben tener como valores la honestidad, compasià ³n, humildad, pragmatismo y coraje. Todos pueden Hasta tanto una compaà ±Ãƒ ­a no institucionalice el activismo, difà ­cilmente podr reinventarse a sà ­ misma y reinventar su industria. Porque una compaà ±Ãƒ ­a que no pueda re-pensar el sentido ms profundo de su negocio y de la forma en que compite, pronto pasar a ser obsoleta. La clave es, entonces, asumir la revolucià ³n como una forma de vida. Considà ©rese la siguiente matriz simple, de dos por dos, que refleja el desafà ­o doble de reinventar las estrategias centrales y de crear una revolucià ³n en la industria. Las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as que son incapaces de cambiarse a sà ­ mismas o a la industria en la que estn insertas son adictas a la eficiencia. En realidad, ya estn muertas y constituyen polos de atencià ³n para empresas con mayor capacidad de imaginacià ³n que toman para su propio beneficio las habilidades y los activos de las primeras. En contraste, los burà ³cratas lentos podrà ­an haber sido revolucionarios en su industria alguna vez, pero ahora estn presos en su propio invento. Por su parte las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as visionarias por à ºnica vez son aquellas que han logrado reinventarse a sà ­ mismas en algà ºn momento, pero que probablemente no lograrn hacerlo de nuevo. Los revolucionarios con canas, el caso ms raro, son las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as que se han reinventado a sà ­ mismas y a su industria ms de una vez. Las canas provienen no de los aà ±os sino de la experiencia: su estrategia de negocios ha pasado por varios ciclos. Existe un mito generalizado alrededor de este grupo, que dice que las grandes y ms antiguas compaà ±Ãƒ ­as no pueden innovar ni llegar a producir cambios en su propia industria, lo cual es falso. Enron, Charles Schwab, GE Capital, Cisco y otras compaà ±Ãƒ ­as se han reinventado una y otra vez a sà ­ mismas y a los sectores en los cuales operan. Tambià ©n hay ejemplos de empresas ms jà ³venes que han logrado el triunfo en este sentido. Tal es el caso de Amazon y AOL, que han cambiado sus modelos de negocios ms rpido de lo que la mayorà ­a de las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as tardan en renovar sus folletos promocionales. De cualquier manera, todavà ­a ninguna empresa ha logrado internalizar por completo los cà ³digos de la nueva agenda de innovacià ³n. Sin embargo, es conveniente observar a las que ya han comenzado a transitar ese camino - los casos recià ©n mencionados- y aprender de sus experiencias. Las reglas de la innovacià ³n Pregunta:  ¿cà ³mo hacer para construir organizaciones que sean perpetuamente innovadoras? Respuesta: tome en cuenta lo siguiente: Olvà ­dese de las expectativas razonables. Cualquiera que sea el objetivo (crecer en rendimientos, en ganancias o en eficiencia) la innovacià ³n no-lineal nunca comienza con metas razonables. Sà ³lo cuando la gente adhiere a metas que no son razonables aparecen las ideas innovadoras. Haga una definicià ³n elstica del negocio. Muchas compaà ±Ãƒ ­as se definen a sà ­ mismas por lo que hacen ms que por lo que saben hacer (sus competencias centrales), y lo que tienen (sus activos estratà ©gicos). La clave, sin embargo, es lograr una definicià ³n elstica de la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a, considerando la suma de sus competencias centrales y sus recursos estratà ©gicos. Defina una causa, no sà ³lo un negocio. Sin un propà ³sito trascendente, los individuos carecern del coraje para comportarse como revolucionarios. No necesitamos una economà ­a de manos y cabezas sino una economà ­a de corazones, en la que cada empleado pueda sentir que est contribuyendo con alguna causa que puede establecer una diferencia genuina y positiva. Escuche a todos. Si un gerente quiere establecer estrategias revolucionarias debe aprender a escuchar las opiniones de los revolucionarios. Abra el juego a los capitales no tradicionales, al talento y a las ideas de negocios novedosas. Provea incentivos para los empleados que estn dispuestos a tomar un riesgo y que quieren formar parte de la construccià ³n de algo nuevo. Es una buena forma de que los grandes talentos abandonen sus cà ³modas posiciones en oficinas tradicionales y se sumen a su proyecto. Manà ©jese con prudencia. Ser revolucionario no significa que tenga que tomar riesgos enormes para hacer valer sus ideas. Pague lo que corresponde. Los emprendedores no trabajan por un sueldo, pero sà ­ por un promisorio porcentaje de las acciones de la empresa. La nueva agenda En suma, si quiere estar entre los là ­deres de la Revolucià ³n, remueva los cimientos para abrazar la nueva agenda de la innovacià ³n. Examine los fundamentos filosà ³ficos que sostienen sus convicciones acerca del liderazgo, la creacià ³n de riqueza y la competitividad. Y cada vez que encuentre un ladrillo viejo y fracturado, squelo y ponga uno nuevo en su lugar. Para comprometer a su organizacià ³n con la construccià ³n de capacidades para generar una innovacià ³n radical, hay que estar convencido de tres cosas: De que las inversiones en innovacià ³n reportan enormes dividendos. De que su organizacià ³n cuenta con un rico potencial de ideas que claman por desarrollarse y con capacidades emprendedoras que estn desaprovechadas. De que es posible que la innovacià ³n se convierta en una capacidad sistemtica de su empresa. Para que la innovacià ³n sea la prioridad en la agenda corporativa, las empresas deben incorporar los siguientes componentes: Habilidades. La empresa debe estimular a su gente para que reconvierta sus habilidades y pueda enfrentar la era de la Revolucià ³n. La capacitacià ³n es tediosa, y el aprendizaje implica un trabajo duro, pero no hay otro camino para lograrlo. Medidas. Los parmetros tradicionales, tales como costo, eficiencia, velocidad o satisfaccià ³n del cliente, no obligan a una compaà ±Ãƒ ­a a revisar cà ³mo se est desempeà ±ando con relacià ³n a competidores nuevos y poco ortodoxos, en el camino a la creacià ³n de riqueza. Por ello, las empresas necesitan una nueva manera de medir su capacidad relativa para inventar nuevos conceptos de negocio y crear nueva riqueza. Una de esas medidas es el à ­ndice de creacià ³n de riqueza (WCI; Wealth Creation Index), que se obtiene al definir el dominio competitivo (cules son las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as posicionadas por encima y por debajo de la propia, tomadas en el sentido vertical de la cadena de valor), y luego calculando los cambios en el valor de mercado de su compaà ±Ãƒ ­a versus el valor de mercado del dominio completo. Tecnologà ­a de la informacià ³n. Para institucionalizar la innovacià ³n radical, las empresas necesitarn construir mercados electrà ³nicos altamente eficientes para las ideas, el capital y el talento. Mientras lo hagan, ya no ser la funcià ³n de management del conocimiento la que constituya el liderazgo de la tecnologà ­a de la informacià ³n corporativa, sino el mercado de la innovacià ³n. Procesos de management. Existen muchos motivos para pensar que los procesos corporativos establecidos suelen ser hostiles a la innovacià ³n. Muchos de ellos se rigen por el calendario; tienden a la conservacià ³n ms que al crecimiento; toman el modelo de negocios existente como punto de partida; se focalizan en los clientes y mercados actuales; estn formados por defensores del pasado y son militantes anti-riesgo. En tales casos, la solucià ³n es identificar tres o cuatro de los principales procesos de la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a y asignar un equipo que trabaje sobre la redefinicià ³n de cada uno de ellos. Cada equipo deber escribir un nuevo enunciado de la misià ³n de ese proceso; una que incluya explà ­citamente la innovacià ³n no-lineal y la creacià ³n de riqueza. Por à ºltimo, deber considerarse que la innovacià ³n es un proceso dinmico, compuesto por distintos elementos: -Imaginacià ³n Diseà ±o Experimentacià ³n Evaluacià ³n Escala Ideas, que se mueven como una rueda de la siguiente forma: Los herejes y los adictos a la novedad imaginan nuevas posibilidades. Utilizando los principios de la innovacià ³n en el concepto de negocio, diseà ±an modelos de negocios coherentes con esas ideas. Lanzan experimentos de pequeà ±a escala para testear la viabilidad de sus conceptos de negocios y luego los adaptan. Habiendo probado un experimento o dos o tres, evalà ºan lo que han aprendido. Y dependiendo de lo aprendido, deciden escalar, seguir adelante, o bien avanzar con otro ciclo experimental. Para hacer que la rueda corra ms rpido usted puede: Utilizar la aproximacià ³n sucesiva (haga un experimento detrs de otro). Usar a los clientes como socios para desarrollar su idea. Eliminar rpidamente los experimentos perdedores. Adems, considere la posibilidad de contar con un portfolio de innovacià ³n. Piense en los diseà ±os de negocios nacientes o en los experimentos en su fase inicial como opciones para el futuro. Las posibilidades de que su compaà ±Ãƒ ­a pueda crear nueva riqueza son directamente proporcionales al nà ºmero de ideas que desarrolla y al nà ºmero de experimentos que comienza. Por ello, es conveniente contar con un portfolio de ideas (conceptos de negocio creà ­bles aà ºn no testeados), un portfolio de experimentos (el conjunto de las ideas que tiene algà ºn mà ©rito particular), y un portfolio de nuevos negocios (experimentos que aparecen como ms prometedores). Finalmente, tenga en cuenta lo siguiente: La innovacià ³n no es toda la historia, pero es la gran historia. Research Papers on Leading the revolution - Book ReviewAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaQuebec and CanadaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XCapital PunishmentRiordan Manufacturing Production Plan19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraGenetic EngineeringThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use

Euphoria

Euphoria Euphoria Euphoria By Maeve Maddox This word from the Greek referred originally to the ease and comfort felt by people who enjoy good health. The Greek elements are eu (well) and pherein (to bear/carry). Etymologically, euphoria is a feeling of well-being. The earliest use of euphoria in English (1684) is as a medical term. The right medicine could produce a feeling of euphoria in a sick person (i.e., make a sick person feel well). The adjective, introduced in 1888, is euphoric: euphoric: characterized by a feeling of well-being, cheerful; also, producing or causing cheerfulness. In modern usage, euphoria refers to a heightened feeling of well-being, such as the phenomenon referred to as â€Å"runner’s high†: runners high   (noun): a feeling of well-being or euphoria resulting from physical exercise, especially running. M-W Online defines euphoria as: â€Å"a feeling of well-being or elation; especially one that is groundless, disproportionate to its cause, or inappropriate to one’s life situation.† Here are some examples of usage from the Web: The few truly euphoric moments Ive experienced as a Steelers  fan The [prayer-induced] experience lasted probably only a second or two, but after it left my body I was left with this euphoria. Almost feeling like I was floating. At 2:49 p.m. on Monday, city native George Lobaton experienced the euphoria of crossing the finish line of the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. What is it like to finish a novel? The first time you do it, you feel utter euphoria, and you should.   For [Ebola] survivors, the euphoria of having beaten the disease is soon followed by the battle to live with the stigma. [Volunteers helping the homeless] experience the euphoria that comes from doing something good for someone who can’t help you in return. Euphoria doesn’t last. The verbs commonly used to indicate its passing or dissolution are dissipate, evaporate, wear off, die down, and fade: Now that the euphoria has  worn off the cold hard facts remain. But now the euphoria has  subsided and the market [has undergone] a painful correction.   But now the euphoria has  faded - partly no doubt because Spain is settling down to normal democratic apathy   Now the euphoria has died down, its back to business as usual. Unfortunately, that euphoria typically dissipates when companies realize that the cloud technology they’ve invested in isn’t as easy or reliable as they thought it would be. But little remains of the euphoria from those winter days when the beginning of a new era seemed to be dawning in Ukraine. That euphoria, however, has evaporated. Here are some other nouns to name feelings of happiness and well-being: elation happiness joy delight glee excitement exhilaration jubilation exultation ecstasy bliss rapture 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:50 Idioms About Talking50 Types of Propaganda40 Idioms with First

Global Perspective of a Nursing Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global Perspective of a Nursing Theory - Essay Example ry by Selye as well as Lararus writing on coping and stress are all great inspirations, which influenced the birth of the theory of systems by Neuman. It was based on many assumptions, which include that every individual client’s system is distinct and unique. There exist very many stressors, which are universal while other universally known while others are still unknown. Particular interrelationships by variables in a client determine the level of defense that a patient enjoys from a particular line of defense. Environmental factors are major influences to the evolution of the lines of defense as described previously. Lines of resistance explain the uniqueness of individual clients capacity to challenge and take defense against the stressors. Primary prevention strategies define the possible or the actual risk factors that are associated to individual client condition. The secondary factors provides the practitioner with direction to address the outcome of a particular treat ment administered to a particular client in regard to stress. The tertiary level on the other hand explains reconstitution adjustive processes to be adopted for addressing the stress and factor causes. However, bottom line to the theory is that the client system is quite dynamic and involves constant exchange of energy between the client and the environment. A client system according to this theory is the depiction of the interplay of the internal and environmental factors as variables to individual person. Selection of a Nursing theory and reasons for selection The selection of this theory for discussion in this paper has been influenced by various factors. The theory has been in application in nursing discipline in the understanding that an individual client is a person as at the bottom line... This essay approves that the systems theory as developed and used by the theorist had basic conceptual framework in management of stress for the clients, which is associated for both internal and external factors. The internal factors are the inherent factors such as the disease conditions and as such, management of the stress resultant is best addressed from the perspective of treating the disease first. On the other hand, environmental factors such as would cause the diseases are blamed on causing the stress that is externally influenced. In this regard in addition, management of the stress by practicing nurses and the clients designing and application of lines of defense that span from appreciating these causative factors. This report makes a conclusion that theorist Betty Neuman is globally acknowledged as one of the most dynamic contributors to the nursing model based theories in the nineteenth century. She developed the conceptual framework through which the particular roles of nurses and the patients are defined concerning the management of stress. She derived her inspiration from various other works of philosophy, which had the inclination to understanding stress and the management. The client is depicted as a system, which comprises of psychological, physiological, social cultural, developmental as well as spiritual dimensions. In sum, the study reveals that Newman’s work in nursing has had great impact towards the universal discipline of nursing. Having great foundation in other theorists works, the theory of stress as developed by her have undergone great evolution over time and is most celebrated in changes notable in nursing research, education and curriculum development among other ar eas.

FBI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FBI - Essay Example Department of Justice 1). FBI is one of the powerful and the largest agency in the world that not only deals with the law enforcement but also aim to end terrorism. Its official mission is upholding the law through investigating violation of the criminal law, protecting the United States from external attacks such as terrorists’ activities, and providing leadership and support to both local and international authorities (U.S. Department of Justice 1). The FBI performs its responsibilities in accordance to the constitution and in line with the public needs. The FBI does have the power to prosecute or take charge of any case from the local agencies. FBI also has different divisions that are in charge of processing information and handling different incidents under the justice department. The three FBI divisions include the IT Management Division, the IT Services Division, and the IT Engineering Division (U.S. Department of Justice 1). The FBI operates on a culture that seeks to serve America and its citizens. FBI Agents cannot wiretap suspects unless they have a court order to do so and it is regarded as felony incase wiretapping is done without a court order. Director James Comey is the current head of the FBI department (U.S. Department of Justice

Monopoly and marginal cost Essay Example for Free

Monopoly and marginal cost Essay Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly The following questions practice these skills: ? Explain the sources of market power. ? Apply the quantity and price affects on revenue of any movement along a demand curve. ? Find the profit maximizing quantity and price of a single-price monopolist. ? Compute deadweight loss from a single-price monopolist. ? Compute marginal revenue. ? Define the efficiency of P = MC. ? Find the profit-maximizing quantity and price of a perfect-price-discriminating monopolist. ? Find the profit-maximizing quantity and price of an imperfect-price-discriminating monopolist. Question: Each of the following firms possesses market power. Explain its source. a. Merck, the producer of the patented cholesterol-lowering drug Zetia b. Chiquita, a supplier of bananas and owner of most banana plantations c. The Walt Disney Company, the creators of Mickey Mouse Answer to Question: a. Merck has a patent for Zetia. This is an example of a government-created barrier to entry, which gives Merck market power. b. Chiquita controls most banana plantations. Control over a scarce resource gives Chiquita market power. c. The Walt Disney Company has the copyright over animations featuring Mickey Mouse. This Is another example of a government-created barrier to entry that gives the Walt Disney Company market power. Question: Skyscraper City has a subway system, for which a one-way fare is $1. 50. There is pressure on the mayor to reduce the fee by one-third, to $1. 00. The mayor is dismayed, thinking that this will mean Skyscraper City is losing one-third of its revenue from sales of subway tickets. The mayor’s economic adviser reminds her that she is focusing only on the price effect and ignoring the quantity effect. Explain why the mayor’s estimate of a one-third loss of revenue is likely to be an overestimate. Illustrate with a diagram. Answer to Question: A reduction in fares from $1. 50 to $1. 00 will reduce the revenue on each ticket that is currently sold by one-third; this Is the price effect. But a reduction in price will lead to more tickets being sold at the lower price of $1. 00, which creates additional revenue; this is the quantity effect. The price effect is the loss of revenue on all the currently sold tickets. The quantity effect is the increase in revenue from increased sales as a result of the lower price. Question: Consider an industry with the demand curve (D) and marginal cost curve (MC) shown in the accompanying diagram. There is no fixed cost. If the industry is a single-price monopoly, the monopolist’s marginal revenue curve would be MR. Answer the following questions by naming the appropriate points or areas. Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly a. If the industry is perfectly competitive, what will be the total quantity produced? At what price? b. Which area reflects consumer surplus under perfect competition? c. If the industry is a single-price monopoly, what quantity will the monopolist produce? Which price will it charge? d. Which area reflects the single-price monopolist’s profit? e. Which area reflects consumer surplus under single-price monopoly? f. Which area reflects the deadweight loss to society from single-price monopoly? g. If the monopolist can price-discriminate perfectly, what quantity will the perfectly price-discriminating monopolist produce? Answer to Question: a. In a perfectly competitive industry, each firm maximizes profit by producing the quantity at which price equals marginal cost. That is, all firms together produce a quantity S, corresponding to point R, where the marginal cost curve crosses the demand curve. Price will be equal to marginal cost, E. b. Consumer surplus is the area under the demand curve and above price. In part a, we saw that the perfectly competitive price is E. Consumer surplus in perfect competition is therefore the triangle ARE. c. A single-price monopolist produces the quantity at which marginal cost equals marginal revenue, that is, quantity I. Accordingly, the monopolist charges price B, the highest price it can charge if it wants to sell quantity I. d. The single-price monopolist’s profit per unit is the difference between price and the average total cost. Since there is no fixed cost and the marginal cost is constant (each unit costs the same to produce), the marginal cost is the same as the average total cost. That is, profit per unit is the distance BE. Since the monopolist sells I units, its profit is BE times I, or the rectangle BEHF. e. Consumer surplus is the area under the demand curve and above the price. In part c, we saw that the monopoly price is B. Consumer surplus in monopoly is therefore the triangle AFB. f. Deadweight loss is the surplus that would have been available (either to consumers or producers) under perfect competition but that is lost when there is a single-price monopolist. It is the triangle FRH. g. If a monopolist can price-discriminate perfectly, it will sell the first unit at price A, the second unit at a slightly lower price, and so forth. That is, it will extract from each consumer just that consumer’s willingness to pay, as indicated by the demand curve. It will sell S units, because for the last unit, it can just make a consumer pay a price of E (equal to its marginal cost), and that just covers its marginal cost of producing that last unit. For any further units, it could not make any consumer pay more than its marginal cost, and it therefore stops selling units at quantity S. Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly Question: Bob, Bill, Ben, and Brad Baxter have just made a documentary movie about their basketball team. They are thinking about making the movie available for download on the Internet, and they can act as a single-price monopolist if they choose to. Each time the movie is downloaded, their Internet service provider charges them a fee of $4. The Baxter brothers are arguing about which price to charge customers per download. The accompanying table shows the demand schedule for their film. Price of download Quantity of downloads demanded $10 0 $8 1 $6 3 $4 6 $2 10 $0 15 a. Calculate the total revenue and the marginal revenue per download. b. Bob is proud of the film and wants as many people as possible to download it. Which price would he choose? How many downloads would be sold? c. Bill wants as much total revenue as possible. Which price would he choose? How many downloads would be sold? d. Ben wants to maximize profit. Which price would he choose? How many downloads would be sold? e. Brad wants to charge the efficient price. Which price would he choose? How many downloads would be sold? Answer to Question: a. The accompanying table calculates total revenue (TR) and marginal revenue (MR). Recall that marginal revenue is the additional revenue per unit of output Price of download Quantity of downloads TR MR demanded $10 0 $0 $8 1 $8 $8 $6 3 $18 $5 $4 6 $24 $2 $2 10 $20 $-1 $0 15 $0 $-4 b. Bob would charge $0. At that price, there would be 15 downloads, the largest quantity they can sell. c. Bill would charge $4. At that price, total revenue is greatest ($24). At that price, there would be 6 downloads. d. Ben would charge $6. At that price, there would be 3 downloads. For any more downloads, marginal revenue would be below marginal cost, and so further downloads would lose the Baxters’ money.e. Brad would charge $4. A price equal to marginal cost is efficient. At that price, there would be 6 downloads. Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly Question: Suppose that De Beers is a single-price monopolist in the market for diamonds. De Beers has five potential customers: Raquel, Jackie, Joan, Mia, and Sophia. Each of these customers will buy at most one diamond—and only if the price is just equal to, or lower than, her willingness to pay. Raquel’s willingness to pay is $400; Jackie’s, $300; Joan’s, $200; Mia’s, $100; and Sophia’s, $0. De Beers’s marginal cost per diamond is $100. This leads to the demand schedule for diamonds shown in the accompanying table. Price of Diamond Quantity of Diamonds Demanded $500 0 $400 1 $300 2 $200 3 $100 4 $0 5 a. Calculate De Beers’s total revenue and its marginal revenue. From your calculation, draw the demand curve and the marginal revenue curve. b. Explain why De Beers faces a downward-sloping demand curve. c. Explain why the marginal revenue from an additional diamond sale is less than the price of the diamond. d. Suppose De Beers currently charges $200 for its diamonds. If it lowers the price to $100, how large is the price effect? How large is the quantity effect? e. Add the marginal cost curve to your diagram from part a and determine which quantity maximizes De Beers’s profit and which price De Beers will charge. Answer to Question: a. Total revenue (TR) and marginal revenue (MR) are given in the accompanying table. Price of Diamond Quantity of Diamonds TR Demanded $500 0 $0 $400 1 $400 $300 2 $600 $200 3 $600 $100 4 $400 $0 5 $0 MR $400 $200 $0 -$200 -$400 The accompanying diagram illustrates De Beers’s demand curve and marginal revenue (MR) curve. b. De Beers is the only producer of diamonds, so its demand curve is the market demand curve. And the market demand curve slopes downward: the lower the price, the more customers will buy diamonds. c. If De Beers lowers the price sufficiently to sell one more diamond, it earns extra revenue equal to the Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly price of that one extra diamond. This is the quantity effect of lowering the price. But there is also a price effect: lowering the price means that De Beers also has to lower the price on all other diamonds, and that lowers its revenue. So the marginal revenue of selling an additional diamond is less than the price at which the additional diamond can be sold. d. If the price is $200, then De Beers sells to Raquel, Jackie, and Joan. If it lowers the price to $100, it will also sell a diamond to Mia. The price effect is that De Beers loses $100 (the amount by which it lowered the price) each from selling to Raquel, Jackie, and Joan. So the price effect lowers De Beers’s revenue by 3 ? $100 = $300. The quantity effect is that De Beers sells one more diamond (to Mia), at $100. So the quantity effect is to raise De Beers’s revenue by $100. e. The marginal cost (MC) curve is constant at $100, as shown in the diagram. Marginal revenue equals marginal cost at a quantity of 2 diamonds. So De Beers will sell 2 diamonds at a price of $300 each. Question: Use the demand schedule for diamonds given in the previous question. The marginal cost of producing diamonds is constant at $100. There is no fixed cost. a. If De Beers charges the monopoly price, how large is the individual consumer surplus that each buyer experiences? Calculate total consumer surplus by summing the individual consumer surpluses. How large is producer surplus? Suppose that upstart Russian and Asian producers enter the market and the market becomes perfectly competitive. b. What is the perfectly competitive price? What quantity will be sold in this perfectly competitive market? c. At the competitive price and quantity, how large is the consumer surplus that each buyer experiences? How large is total consumer surplus? How large is producer surplus? d. Compare your answer to part c to your answer to part a. How large is the deadweight loss associated with monopoly in this case? Answer to Question: a. The monopoly price is $300. At that price Raquel and Jackie buy diamonds. Raquel’s consumer surplus is $400 ? $300 = $100; Jackie’s is $300 ? $300 = $0. So total consumer surplus is $100 + $0 = $100. Producer surplus is $300 ? $100 = $200 for each diamond sold; 2 ? $200 = $400. b. In a perfectly competitive market, P = MC. That is, the perfectly competitive price is $100, and at that price 4 diamonds will be sold—to Raquel, Jackie, Joan, and Mia. c. At the competitive price, Raquel’s consumer surplus is $400 ? $100 = $300; Jackie’s, $300 ? $100 = $200; Joan’s, $200 ? $100 = $100; and Mia’s, $100 ? $100 = $0. So total consumer surplus is $300 + $200 + $100 + $0 = $600. Since the price is equal to marginal cost, there is no producer surplus. d. Under perfect competition, the sum of consumer and producer surplus is $600 + $0 = $600. Under monopoly, the sum of consumer and producer surplus is $100 + $400 = $500. So the loss of surplus to society from monopoly—the deadweight loss—is $600 ? $500 = $100. Question: Use the demand schedule for diamonds given in the previous questions. De Beers is a monopolist, but it can now price-discriminate perfectly among all five of its potential customers. De Beers’s marginal cost is constant at $100. There is no fixed cost. a. If De Beers can price-discriminate perfectly, to which customers will it sell diamonds and at what prices? b. How large is each individual consumer surplus? How large is total consumer surplus? Calculate producer surplus by summing the producer surplus generated by each sale. Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly Answer to Question: a. If De Beers can price-discriminate perfectly, it will charge each customer that customer’s willingness to pay. That is, it will charge Raquel $400, Jackie $300, Joan $200, and Mia $100. De Beers does not want to sell to Sophia since she will only buy at a price of $0, and that would be below De Beers’s marginal cost. b. Since each consumer is charged exactly her willingness to pay, there is no consumer surplus. De Beers’s producer surplus is $400 ? $100 = $300 from selling to Raquel; $300 ? $100 = $200 from selling to Jackie; $200 ? $100 = $100 from selling to Joan; $100 ? $100 = $0 from selling to Mia. So producer surplus is $300 + $200 + $100 + $0 = $600. Question: Download Records decides to release an album by the group Mary and the Little Lamb. It produces the album with no fixed cost, but the total cost of downloading an album to a CD and paying Mary her royalty is $6 per album. Download Records can act as a single-price monopolist. Its marketing division finds that the demand schedule for the album is as shown in the accompanying table. Price of album Quantity of albums demanded $22 0 $20 1,000 $18 2,000 $16 3,000 $14 4,000 $12 5,000 $10 6,000 $8 7,000 a. Calculate the total revenue and the marginal revenue per album. b. The marginal cost of producing each album is constant at $6. To maximize profit, what level of output should Download Records choose, and which price should it charge for each album? c. Mary renegotiates her contract and now needs to be paid a higher royalty per album. So the marginal cost rises to be constant at $14. To maximize profit, what level of output should Download Records now choose, and which price should it charge for each album? Answer to Question: a. Total revenue (TR) and marginal revenue per album (MR) is shown in the following table: Price of album Quantity of albums TR MR demanded $22 0 $0 $20 1,000 $20,000 $20 $18 2,000 $36,000 $16 $16 3,000 $48,000 $12 $14 4,000 $56,000 $8 $12 5,000 $60,000 $4 $10 6,000 $60,000 $0 $8 7,000 $56,000 -$4 b. If the marginal cost of each album is $6, Download Records will maximize profit by producing 4,000 albums, since for each album up to 4,000, marginal revenue is greater than marginal cost. For any further albums, marginal cost would exceed marginal revenue. Producing 4,000 albums, Download Records will charge $14 for each album. c. If the marginal cost of each album is $14, Download Records will maximize profit by producing 2,000 albums, and it will charge $18 per album. Practice Questions and Answers from Lesson III-3: Monopoly Question: The movie theater in Collegetown serves two kinds of customers: students and professors. There are 900 students and 100 professors in Collegetown. Each student’s willingness to pay for a movie ticket is $5. Each professor’s willingness to pay for a movie ticket is $10. Each will buy at most one ticket. The movie theater’s marginal cost per ticket is constant at $3, and there is no fixed cost. a. Suppose the movie theater cannot price-discriminate and needs to charge both students and professors the same price per ticket. If the movie theater charges $5, who will buy tickets and what will the movie theater’s profit be? How large is consumer surplus? b. If the movie theater charges $10, who will buy movie tickets and what will the movie theater’s profit be? How large is consumer surplus? c. Now suppose that, if it chooses to, the movie theater can price-discriminate between students and professors by requiring students to show their student ID. If the movie theater charges students $5 and professors $10, how much profit will the movie theater make? How large is consumer surplus? Answer to Question: a. If the movie theater charges $5 per ticket, both students and professors will buy tickets. The movie theater will sell to 1,000 customers (students and professors), at a price of $5 each. Since the movie theater’s cost per ticket is $3, its profit is $2 per ticket for a total profit of 1,000 ? $2 = $2,000. Students will experience no consumer surplus, but each of the 100 professors will experience consumer surplus of $10 ? $5 = $5 for a total consumer surplus of 100 ? $5 = $500. b. If the movie theater charges $10 per ticket, only professors will buy tickets. The movie theater will sell to 100 customers (professors) at a price of $10 each. Since the movie theater’s cost per ticket is $3, its profit is $7 per ticket for a total profit of 100 ? $7 = $700. Students experience no consumer surplus since they do not buy any tickets. Each of the 100 professors experiences no consumer surplus since the price is equal to their willingness to pay. So consumer surplus is $0. c. If the movie theater charges students a price of $5, it sells 900 tickets at a profit of $5 ? $3 =$2 each for a profit from selling to students of 900 ? $2 =$1,800. Charging professors $10, it sells 100 tickets at a profit of $10 ? $3 =$7 each for a profit from selling to professors of 100 ? $7 =$700. So the theater’s total profit is $1,800 + $700 =$2,500. Since each customer is charged exactly his or her willingness to pay, there is no consumer surplus. Question: A monopolist knows that in order to expand the quantity of output it produces from 8 to 9 units that it must lower the price of its output from $2 to $1. Calculate the quantity effect and the price effect. Use these results to calculate the monopolist’s marginal revenue of producing the 9th unit. The marginal cost of producing the 9th unit is positive. Is it a good idea for the monopolist to produce the 9th unit? Answer to Question: The quantity effect is $1 (the increase in total revenue from selling the 9th unit at $1). The price effect is 8 ? (? $1) =? $8 (the decrease in total revenue from having to lower the price of 8 units by $1 each). So the marginal revenue of producing the 9th unit is $1 ? $8 =? $7. Since marginal revenue is negative, producing the 9th unit is definitely not a good idea: it lowers revenue (since marginal revenue is negative), and it increases the total cost (since marginal cost is positive). So it will definitely lower profit. Instead, the monopolist should produce less output.

Gertrude and Helen: Wantonness in the Trojan War and Shakespeares Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet

Gertrude and Helen: Wantonness in the Trojan War and Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet is the melancholy Dane; Claudius, the smiling villain. Polonius is the oily courtier; Horatio, the loyal friend. Most of the characters in Hamlet are well defined and unambiguous; the character of Gertrude, however, presents us with many ambiguities and difficulties. Some critics see her as "well-meaning but shallow and feminine, in the pejorative sense of the word: incapable of any sustained rational process, superficial and flighty" (Heilbrun 10), while others see her as a stronger character, cool and calculating. The play presents many aspects of Gertrude's character ambiguously. Janet Adelman writes,    Given her centrality in the play, it is striking how little we know about Gertrude; even the extent of her involvement in the murder of her first husband is left unclear....The ghost accuses her at least indirectly of adultery and incest...but he never accuses her of nor exonerates her from the murder. For the ghost, as for Hamlet, her chief crime is her uncontrolled sexuality; that is the object of their moral revulsion, a revulsion as intense as anything directed toward the murderer Claudius. But the Gertrude we see is not quite the Gertrude they see. And when we see her in herself, apart from their characterizations of her, we tend to see a woman more muddled than actively wicked; even her famous sensuality is less apparent than her conflicted solicitude both for her new husband and for her son....Even her death is not quite her own to define. Is it a suicide designed to keep Hamlet from danger by dying in his place?...Muddled, fallible, fully human, she seems ultimately to make t he choice that Hamlet would have her make. But even here she does not speak clearly; her character remains relatively closed to us (Adelman 15-16).    In spite of the many ambiguities of Gertrude's character, one of her chief characteristics is wantonness, and like Helen of Troy, Gertrude's wantonness led to tragedy. Wantonness-a word that is little in use nowadays-suggests three characteristics: luxuriously rank extravagance, lack of discipline, and lustfulness. The treatment of Gertrude's character in Hamlet supports the argument that her chief fault is wantonness, for these three characteristics can be seen in her character.    The first characteristic, luxuriousness or extravagance, is not directly stated in the play but can be inferred from the actions of Gertrude. One possible reason for her remarriage after King Hamlet's death is a desire to maintain her position as queen, with all its luxury and comfort.

Poem Red to You vs Reading a Poem Essay

I believe that having a poem read to me is more powerful then reading a poem off of a page. When I close my eyes I can see the words that the reader is speaking, instead of trying to understand what the author is attempting to write to me; so it is easier for me to understand what the author is communicating without decoding the words. When I close my eyes as someone is reading, the reader paints a picture in my head of what the author has written and I can also see the words that are being spoken. The poem being read out loud helps me to get a better understanding of what the author was trying to say without reading between the lines. Having the poem read to me also helps me find different authors that I might not have looked at before or even heard of . So it gives me a bigger variety of the authors I might enjoy reading and an opportunity to ask any questions about what is being read. When I read a poem straight off a page I don’t not know what words to say strongly, it is like I’m reading a really boring article in the news paper or reading a story with no expression. For my logic to work I must assume the person reading to me knows the poem and knows the words to emphasize. Therefor having a poem read to me is more powerful then reading a poem off of a page because I get a better understanding of what is said, I can ask questions. Especially if the reader uses the proper emphasis on key words.

Elizabethan Age Essay

Elizabethan age was an era of extraordinary juxtaposition of whole new avenue of thoughts and avalanche of ideologies, which flowed in words of great literary geniuses. It began with the spirit of Renaissance marked by the quest for adventure and material wealth. It was the age when the minds of the people were lured by the new visions of distant lands rich in gold jewels and were swayed by the captivating charm of the beauty and loveliness. Music, Dance and Mirth played a significant part in their lives. On the other hand, Elizabethan era also saw the decay of moral values. From the noble class to gentry and from royalties to peasantry: people in an inexhaustible pursuit of materialism devoid from spirituality, adopted greed and corrupt values. The literature world delved deep into the psyche of the masses to illustrate the situation whereby in their quest for lavish life, they forgot that the tragic end is waiting for them. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare created the characters in their enduring plays Dr. Faustus and Hamlet who became the emblem of tragic heroes. They both enjoyed royalties because of their noble birth but both of their lives ended in tragedy in virtue of their most tragic flaw in their character. Their flaw was their greed and pride, which led them to pursue their evil designs and eventually their death. Marlowe’s hero is Dr. Faustus who had extraordinary qualities and was a super human but his consuming passion reaches beyond the ordinary aspiration until he meets with his fate. It was not the matter of his own fall but it was a struggle between his overweening soul and in its insatiable ambition, and the limitations, which it seek to overcome. On the other hand, we cannot say Hamlet was lacking in moral values but he was also a conqueror and his greed to revenge the murder of his father surpassed all his good actions and deeds. For the power and wealth, Claudius murdered King Hamlet whose soul wanders and tortures the young Hamlet to ponder upon some foul play. Dr. Faustus’s over ambitious desire and zeal induced him to sell his soul to evil. He abjured the scriptures, the Trinity and Christ to fulfill his inordinate ambition to gain super human powers by gaining mastery over unholy art of magic. By selling the soul to Devil, he lives a Blasphemous life full of vain and sensual pleasures for complete twenty-four years and did not even hesitate to insult and assault the Pope with the Holy Fathers at Rome. Though he feels a constant dispute going on in his soul between his overweening ambition and conscience (a struggle between the seven deadly sins and ethics or moral principles), between the Good Angel and Evil Angel that externalize the inner conflict. But Dr Faustus surrenders himself to the allurements of the Evil Angel, thereby paving his way for eternal damnation. In his inordinate passion to unravel all the mysteries of the universe, he forgot that he cannot overpower the time and when ultimately the time came for the evil angel to take his soul, he realizes that his sins are unpardonable and nothing can save him from eternal damnation. And before the devils snatch away his soul to the burning hell, the excruciating pangs of a deeply agonized soul finds the most poignant expression in Faustus’s final soliloquy. â€Å"My God, my God, look not so fierce to me! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while! Ugly hell, gape not: come not Lucifer: I’ll burn my books: Ah, Mephistophilis! (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene XIV) Shakespeare’s Hamlet also had a tragic end-but the end of Hamlet was not due to the flaw in his moral character but the waver of the mind of the noble soul to avenge the death of his father. The play began with the presence of supernatural element in the form of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father. Both Bernardo and Horatio accepted the Ghost as a portent, or as foreshadowing a coming event. The figure of Ghost implied the emergence of foul play that would change the course of Hamlet’s life and the impending doom owing to the Greed of Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius who later ascended the throne of Denmark and married Hamlet’s mother. The indecent haste in which she had remarried made Hamlet think foul play behind his father’s murder and he remarked, â€Å"O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,/would have mourned longer and made him generalize, â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman! † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act I, Scene II 146). Prince Hamlet decided to avenge the death of his father but as he was thoughtful by nature, he delayed the revenge and instead entered in a deep melancholy. Claudius and Gertrude in a bid to know about the cause of Hamlet’s behavior made Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to keep a watch on him. On the other hand, Hamlet was blind to seek the revenge of his father and called upon the traveling actors to act a play depicting the scene in the way he had imagined his father was murdered. He invited Claudius to see the play and if he reacted at the scene, Hamlet would be ensured about Claudius guilt. And the same happened, as soon as the scene came, Claudius left the room in haste and Hamlet got the proof. Hamlet went to kill Claudius but when he found him praying, Hamlet stopped as the killing at that time would mean that Claudius soul would go to heaven. Claudius was so scared now that he decided to send Hamlet to England, but meanwhile Hamlet went to meet his mother where Polonius was hidden. Hamlet thought that Claudius was hiding there and in a fit of rage, he picked up the sword and instead of killing Claudius, he killed Polonius. Hearing the news of the death of Polonius, Opthelia went mad with grief and killed herself by drowning in the river. Polonius son, Laertes now wanted to avenge his father and sister’s death. Taking the advantage of situation, Claudius instigated Laertes for a duet with Hamlet, and gave him a sword of poison and also prepared a drink to poison Hamlet to death in case he won the battle. In a sword fighting after the Ophelia’s funeral, Hamlet could hit Laertes first but declined to take a drink instead Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother took a drink and died on the spot. Laertes was able to wound Hamlet and after Laertes revealed the real culprit to Hamlet, he too died due to the cut on his arm by his own sword. Wounded Hamlet did not hesitate even for a second; he picked up a poisoned sword, stabbed Claudius and forced him to drink the remaining of the poisoned wine. Claudius went into the eternal doom and Hamlet too died but after taking his revenge. In play Dr. Faustus, Marlowe had captured the moral value of greed for materialistic matters in the form of Dr. Faustus’s aspirations for gaining the knowledge of black magic, and for this purpose, he bid farewell to the religious values of medieval period, in other words to divinity. â€Å"These metaphysics of magicians And necromantic books are heavenly; O, what a world of profit and delight Of power, of honor of Omnipotence, Is promised to the studious artizen: All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command† (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene I) These lines show Dr Faustus was pelf with power, whereas, in â€Å"Hamlet†, the main protagonist of William Shakespeare is a noble soul and possesses strong moral convictions. Though he too kills Polonius but it was out of revenge and erroneously mistaking him for Claudius, his father’s murderer. He thinks it is his moral duty to revenge his father’s death then only his father’s soul will rest in peace. He is a true representative of medieval period. He is as said by Herlinde Pauer-Studer in her book, â€Å"Norms, Values and Society†, â€Å"He acts on his moral sense of duty, even though he knows that he is doing it at the cost of his happiness and life. † (Studer-Pauer 1994) He put on his antic disposition and says, â€Å"The time is out of joint, O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act I Scene V) The second comparison can be made between Hamlet and Dr. Faustus in the way both Hamlet and Dr Faustus carried out their plans to fulfill their aims. Dr. Faustus defies the medieval conventions of love, selfishness and trust to become all powerful and wealthy and tried to become evil by killing his own ministers. He is a true representative of Renaissance period whereby man can go into an extreme extent to achieve his aims. â€Å"With the help of spirits Dr, Faustus feels: â€Å"I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring, and chase the Prince of Parma from the land, and reign sole king of all our provinces. † (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene I) Whereas on the other hand though Hamlet’s aim was good but the route he adopted was not consistent with Christian ethics. He followed dishonest ways like deception and homicide to carry on with the plan of revenge. â€Å"I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me; I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious †¦What should such fellows as I do crawling between heaven and earth. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act III, Scene I) But there are certain elements of good deeds and the values of medieval ages that still are visible in the human souls and in their thoughts and actions. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare created the characters that were not evil in the real sense. Before carrying on their evil deeds the goodness, which prevail in their soul makes them to give second thoughts in the form of the consequences of their deeds. This is third aspect in the way Shakespeare and Marlowe made protagonists think of the consequences, which they can face if they follow their whims. Hamlet was in a state of dilemma, â€Å"To be or Not to be† (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act III, Scene I) whether to take revenge by killing or not, and the consequences of his actions loom large on him. His soul was arguing whether his actions followed the norms of the society or not? Is it evil to punish the evil or killing is wrong altogether. If one goes by the rule utilitarianism, one must follow the rules and which would bring utility for all. (Studer-Pauer 1994) and in this concept what Hamlet did is absolutely right but according to the law of the land what he did was wrong and way he carried out his executions had serious lapses. These lapses occurred only because his other side of the soul was not permitting him to carry on with the killings. His character of being a noble soul came to light in the scene when he was going to kill Claudius but when he saw him praying he could not kill him. Whereas Dr. Faustus finally sold his soul to Evil, still the good side of his was again and again prompted him to go back to divinity and seek forgiveness from Jesus. His conscious mind was rebelling against his whims in the form of Good Angels but he did not bother to listen. This is the finest example in English literature to prove the biggest reality of the man’s nature. Man is not born evil but even if he is succumbing to evil designs, there within deep his heart and soul, his consciousness will keep on prompting him what he is doing is wrong. This is the difference between Hamlet and Dr Faustus. Hamlet wants to take revenge but his virtuous character and goodness in him was making him delay the revenge. He did take revenge finally but at the cost of his own life and the life of so many others. Whereas though the Dr Faustus’s conscious mind was prompting him to recede but he want only more and more of wealth and power. Claudius got punished for the sins he committed not by his choice but by fate, and Laertes repented, â€Å"Laertes, poisoned by his own sword, declares, â€Å"I am justly kill’d with my own treachery. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: V Scene II 318). Whereas Dr. Faustus’s end was the result of his own deed-his deal with devil Lucifer and he lamented, â€Å"On God, whom Faustus hath abjured! On God whom Faustus hath Blasphemed! Ah, my God, I would weep! But the Devil draws in my tears. Gush forth blood, instead of tears! yea, life and soul-O, he stays my tongue! I would life up my hands; but see they hold em, they hold em! † (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene III) There was a certain fascination associated with the transition, which was carried on in the period of renaissance and the plays try to show the same. On one hand, there was whole new lease of life in the form of scientific and technological developments and on the other hand moral values were loosing ground. People were not thinking that for every beginning there is an end. With this there was a sense of insecurity too, which is so destined. The distinction points were made keeping in view the social circumstances of the time. There was reformation in every sphere of life and people were swept by the waves of these reformations. These reformations were like magic for them. With the magical powers of scientific discoveries and technological advancement, every one wanted to gain wealth, power and prestige without adhering to religious norms and wanted life of sexual fulfillment and pleasurable living even at the cost of killing near and dear ones. REFERENCES Baker J. , Bredemann A. , & Brussart B. , McLeer A. , Tuck Tiffany & Wolowicz T. 1997. Renaissance Attitudes Towards Faustus as a Magician.Retrieved on September 25, 2007 from http://www. english. uga. edu/cdesmet/tiffany/faustus. htm Collins J. (2006) An Introspective Look at Corruption from Hamlet Spoiled Fruits, Stolen Nation Retrieved on September 24, 2007 from W. W. W: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/70560/an_introspective_look_at_corruption. html Marlowe C. Doctor Faustus (1588) New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1909–14 Shakespeare W. Hamlet (1600) The Norton Shakespeare: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. , New York, NY: 1997 Studer-Pauer, Herlinde (1994) â€Å"Norms, Values, and Society† Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Identify the major reasons causing the light pollution Essays

Identify the major reasons causing the light pollution Essays Identify the major reasons causing the light pollution Paper Identify the major reasons causing the light pollution Paper Identify the major reasons causing the light pollution in urban areas. Examine the methods to control excessive usage of external lighting. BY aakk1234991 Light pollution is an issue that affects the livability of a city. Although it is not always considered as a serious environmental concern, it Is an issue that has serious impact on the environment, ecology and society. Outdoor lighting Is designed with a purpose. External lighting Is considered as functional lighting. However, over-11th outdoor lamps including traffic lamps and advertisement spotlights have led to 377 implants to various government departments in 2009 (Imaging, 2010). The problem of light pollution have arouse much concerns. Are there any government policies that regulate the lighting at night and protect the dark sky of Hong Kong? This paper argues the main causes of light pollution as well as evaluating current polices on restricting unnecessary lighting In the city. To begin with, the term light pollution must be defined first. According to the International Dark-sky Association (IDA), light pollution is defined as any adverse effect of artificial light including sky low, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste (IDA, 2010). Urban sky glow is defined as the brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas (IDA, 2009). Light trespass is defined as light falling to places where it is not Intended, wanted or needed (IDA, 2009). Clutter is the bright, confusing and excessive groups of light sources commonly found In over-11th urban cycles (IDA, 2009). The combined effects of sky glow, light trespass and clutter leads to light pollution in the city. There are 2 main objectives of outdoor lighting. The first objective is to revive visibility (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). Traffic light and headlights on motor vehicles are essential to provide a certain amount of visible distance for the drivers to drive safely. Headlights are designed such that the maximum amount of luminous flux Is parallel to the road. However, there Is always light escaped from the designed direction and reach the outer part of the road. As a result, observers standing beside the road can receive a considerable amount of unwanted light (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). The huge amount of traffic on roads therefore is a great cause for eight pollution. The second purpose of outdoor lighting is to decorate the city at night (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). Commercial activity at night must come along with a well lit environment. People are attracted by high-quality outdoor lighting on the streets to go shopping and leisure activities at night, Neon lights, outdoor advertisements and spotlights are the characteristics of the night view of Hong Kong. A Symphony of Lights organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board since 2004 is a synchronized laser and light multimedia display which has attracted millions of rigorists (Tourism Commission, 2005). Tourists are also attracted to see the charming view of the Victoria Harbor at night. However, the charming night view of the Harbor has become the cover story of an International astronomy magazine, being an commercial activities at night are another reason for light pollution. Observations for astronomy objects are very difficult to make as a consequence of light pollution. Lighting of industrial sites, airports, building sites, road and street lighting, advertising signs, floodlighting of buildings, lighting of sports facilities may interfere tit astronomical observations (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). A phenomenon called sky glow is the reason for dimmed astronomy objects. The upward light from poorly designed lamps are scattered and reflected downwards by aerosols in the atmosphere, reducing the details of the night sky (Motion 2002). Stargazing activities are therefore seriously affected by sky glow as many of the twinkle stars are covered up by the bright night. Wasted lighting is costly to the environment. The greenhouse gases produced and fossil fuel consumed on lighting is notable. Although street lighting consumed only 0. % in overall electricity consumption in 2009 (Census and Statistics Department, 2008), the overall effect cannot be neglected. Road lamps in Hong Kong are automatic. When the environment reach a certain darkness level. However, the lamps will not be turned off if there is no body nearby. They are kept on for the whole night even though they are not in use. Advertisement boards waste even more energy. A non-government organization Friends of the Earth launc hed a Ridiculous Lightings Vote in 2008. Spotlight outside the Windsor House was elected as the most ridiculous lighting by more than 600 citizens. The luminance level was 10,000 lug, which was 20 times brighter than a normal office (FOE, 2008). High-rise buildings in Hong Kong always use spotlights and LED to make their appearance sharper at night. One can see the advertisement display on the wall of Hopeless Center in Hawaiian across the Harbor. Even worst is that these highly laminated advertisement boards remain bright the whole night long. Another environmental group, Green Sense, conducted a study in 2007 to examine the number of neon lights, advertisement boards and spotlights that are still operating in major roads in Mongo Kook and This Shah Thus at 2300. The study revealed that a total of 1330 spotlights were used for 120 advertisement boards. 91 neon lights were still operating even though the shop concerned was closed (Green Sense, 2007). This kind of decorative lightings are obviously a kind of wastage. Light pollution has a significant impact on individuals health. Human beings are adapted too light/dark regime of 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness depending on latitude and season (as cited in Ashram, 2009, p. 23). According to Ashram (2009), The primary unction of the human circadian rhythm, as set by the internal clock and outside visual reference, is the release of hormones that help to regulate varying bodily functions in response to the internal perception of time (p. 25). Light pollution is a form of annoyance. According to the World Health Organization, annoyance is described as follows, Annoyance is a feeling of displeasure associated with any agent or condition believed to affect adversely an individual or a group (as cited in Marinara Schroeder, 2004, p. 79). Friends of the Earth (HOOK) discovered that more Han 1900 street lamps are mounted on the wall of buildings. These lamps are too close to the residents and cause nuisance to them (FOE, 2009). They are like a kind of free bedside light turned on for the whole night with a strong intensity. A local resident, Mr.. Fond, described, The floodlight here switches off after 1200. The light is floodlight. In order to have good rest, I have to put up three layers of curtain (Sing Tao Ltd, 2007). It is obvious that this kind of wall lamps may cause annoyance to the residents. Nevertheless, the impact on health caused by light pollution is significant ND cannot be neglected. To be frank, there is no single department dealing with light pollution currently. Even worst is that there is no laws and guidelines regulating the problem of over-lit outdoor lamps. The former Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dry Sarah Lila replied to a question raised in a Legislative Council meeting in 2007 as follow: Light nuisance that may result from advertisement light boxes on the external face of buildings for the purpose of advertisement is not subject to control under the existing environmental legislations E light intensity of these facilities and whether they cause nuisance to nearby residents falls outside the current scope of control. (HUSSAR Government, 2007) The government cannot control any of the measures that directly lead to light pollution such as light intensity, direction of the luminous flux and angle of operation. Secretary for Transport an d Housing, Ms Eva Change, expressed that the government would consider the feasibility of legislation to regulate external lighting in the view point of energy wastage in a meeting in the Legislative Council in 2009 (HUSSAR Government, 2009). This suggests that the government would only consider the perspective on energy wastage but not the impact of light pollution on individuals and the ecosystem. As there is no measures that deal with light pollution, what methods can be used to regulate unnecessary external lighting? Light pollution cannot be alleviated solely by private initiative since it is not a problem that directly threatens the health of the general public. Legislation, therefore, is the only way to deal with the problem (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). In some Europe countries like the Czech Republic, Belgium and Spain, legislation have been made concerning light pollution. In other parts of the world, various guidelines and regulations have been adopted (Olivarez del Castillo et al. , 2003). Zoning and hour of restriction (curfew time) are the 2 parameters that are generally used to control light pollution (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). Zoning is a method dividing areas into zones. One of the methods is dividing the city into environment sub-zones (Marinara Schroeder, 2004). Different standards of restrictions are imposed in different areas. The city would be beautified by a decent environmental zoning scheme. An effective environmental zoning scheme also discourages unwanted light and alleviates light pollution (Aka, 2008). Hour of restriction (curfew time) is a method restricting the operating time of outdoor lightings. The major consideration of setting hour of restriction is to ensure a better resting environment at night. In order to identify the appropriate time for restricting outdoor lightings, working and rest hour are the 2 major considerations. As for the case in Hong Kong, 1 1 pm would be a suitable time. However, switching off outdoor advertisement light boxes may decrease incentives for entertainment at night and even mislead others that the shop is closed. Nevertheless, curfew time would be an effective way of alleviating light pollution (Aka, 2008). To conclude, It can be seen that light pollution causes serious destruction to the society and the environment. Lack of regulations is the main reason that leads to brightened night sky. By taking suitable The aim of achieving sustainable usage of energy and utility can be met. After implementing suitable measures to regulate light pollution, the city would be a more livable place to live in.

The Ubiquitous Butt

The Ubiquitous Butt The Ubiquitous Butt The Ubiquitous Butt By Maeve Maddox The word butt in the sense of buttocks was once considered unsuitable for general use. Comedians used it to get a laugh, but it was not considered acceptable in polite conversation. Children were taught to use less offensive colloquialisms like rear-end or backside. Nowadays the word has become so acceptable that it has largely replaced buttock and buttocks, even in formal contexts: Best 10 Exercises to Tone Your Butt 18 Exercises to Tone Your Legs and Butt Butt Augmentation Options: Fat Injections vs Implants Dr. Constantino Mendieta: Miami Butt Augmentation Specialist Speakers used to attaching only one meaning to butt may be unfamiliar with other words that are spelled the same but have meanings unrelated to human or animal anatomy. The Oxford English Dictionary has fourteen entries for the word butt as a noun. Its sense of â€Å"human posterior† developed from this definition: The thicker end of anything, especially of a tool or weapon, the part by which it is held or on which it rests; e.g. the lower end of a spear-shaft, whip-handle, fishing-rod, the broad end of the stock of a gun or pistol. The etymology of butt in the sense of â€Å"thicker end† is obscure, but the word seems to be cognate with foreign words with such meanings as blunt, short, thickset, and stumpy. Boston butt This cut of meat does not come from the rear of an animal. It is the upper portion of a pork shoulder containing a small piece of the shoulder blade and characterized by leanness. The origin of this use of butt comes from this definition: â€Å"a cask for wine or ale; later, also a measure of capacity.† On the upper east coast of colonial America, butchers packed less prized cuts of pork like the shoulder of the pig into butts (barrels) for storage and transport. The shoulder cut packed in this way became associated with New England, chiefly Boston, hence, â€Å"Boston butt.† shooting an arrow at the butt Another definition of butt is â€Å"a hillock (small hill) or a mound.† A meaning that developed from butt as mound is â€Å"a mark for shooting.† Archery targets were set up on a mound or embankment. Because there were usually two butts on an archery range, one at each extremity of the range, one might speak of â€Å"a pair of butts.† Another term for an archery range is â€Å"the butts.† This butt comes from French but: â€Å"goal, target.† This meaning of butt as target gives us the expression â€Å"to be the butt of a joke†: â€Å"an object at which ridicule, scorn, or abuse, is aimed.† The word butt can also be used as a verb. One of its verbal meanings is â€Å"to strike, thrust, shove or push with the head or horns.† This butt is related to modern French bouter, â€Å"to strike, thrust, project† and gives us these expressions: to butt in: to intrude where one is not wanted. Example: Stop butting in our conversation. to butt out: to stop intruding or interfering. Example: I told him to butt out of my private affairs. A curious fact about the shortening of buttock to the shorter form butt is that buttock is itself a diminutive form of butt (â€Å"thicker end of something†). The suffix -ock is the same one that makes hillock mean â€Å"a small hill.† 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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†Among vs. AmongstBail Out vs. Bale Out

Pro's of distant learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pro's of distant learning - Essay Example eo conferencing, and virtual mode) has been a mechanism that has been used to reach out into communities where individuals want to obtain an education but has not been necessarily easy to obtain using the traditional classroom setting. It has been geared to reach individuals that are at a distance and want to study but are not physically at the university campus and its surroundings and/or do not have time to take these courses using the traditional classroom setting. In today ´s day and age of information technology, distant education continues to exist and many more higher education institutions are offering these non-traditional courses. Information Technology is here to stay. There are different paradigms that are used by institutions of higher education (synchronous/asynchronous). There are forums where the students and the assessor discuss topics, ask questions, and make comments. This type of communication opened infinite possibilities in making distant education accessible to all of those individuals who want to obtain higher education recognition (diploma/degree). The visual mode within distant learning is a powerful asset. You not only communicate by writing and in some instances sound is included, but by having the visual mode incorporated into this virtual paradigm augments the possibilities given the different learning styles. According to Veenema & Gardner (1996) interactive technology could become a valuable tool in education if it takes into consideration how the human mind works. These authors stated that â€Å"†¦cognitivists argue that individuals do not just react to or perform in the world; they possess minds, and these minds contain mental representations-images, schemes, pictures, frames, languages, ideas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 70) They emphasized that some mental representations that individuals have are that they are born with them or are formed at an early age, have proven to be enduring but that others are created, transformed or dissolved over time