Video summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Video summary - Essay Example E.g. if they would breed with the normal salmon. However, the company that is involved has argued that these fish are sterile. The FDA is yet to decide if the genetically modified fish will carry a special label. Farmers in Arkansas are facing huge losses because their crops have been infested with a type of weed known as the ‘pigweed’. The weed is native to North America. Farmers have over the years been able to fight the weed using special chemicals. However, the chemicals have suddenly stopped working. The weed has adapted to the herbicides that were being used to kill them. The weed grows 3 inches a day and kills crops and destroys farm machinery like combine harvesters and cotton pickers. The farmers have now resulted to the traditional way of dealing with weed (using manual labor) which is slow and expensive. Scientists believe that the weed is now resistant to the herbicides used to kill it and a new herbicide needs to be developed. This might take close to seven

LensCrafters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

LensCrafters - Assignment Example Incurring least costs involve employing opening up more stores and having employees who serve clients in the quickest way possible. This, consequently, enhances the customer experience. Operations management is an inevitable part of an organization as it involves the movement of goods from the producer, the retailer, and finally to the consumer. Ensuring customer satisfaction while simultaneously striving after efficiency is a huge challenge to operation management activities. Operations management entails the processes and scientific methodology through which products are created and delivered effectively to customers. This is because customers define the existence of a business. The way in which an entity produces and channels products to customers creates the difference between a delightful and an unpleasant customer experience. In the end, produced goods should be available to the market on time and be of the desired quality. Effective operations management, therefore, is crucial to providing high-quality goods that customers demand within a desired period. In designing goods and services, operation managers should value the opinions of customers. A proper market research necessitates that a company asks customers what they need before designing products that appeal to general consumer preferences. Physical characteristics such as dimensions, color, and materials are customer specifications that a company translates into making final goods. It is crucial, however, for a product to undergo prototype testing in order to ensure that customers’ specifications are feasible. Customer experience also depends on the service delivery and system design. This includes the facility’s location, the servicescape, organizational structure, technology, and information support systems. Location affects a customer’s travel costs and time. Besides, the servicescape should entail an enchanting physical impression that promotes customer

LEAN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LEAN - Essay Example In this case, waste should be avoided by the organization since it specifically targets poverty stricken areas. The broad aim of the organization is to alleviate poverty among the less privileged societies hence the need for it to remain focused through the removal of waste. The next step that can be carried is to map the value stream of the customers. This is a very important part since it helps the organization to deliver value once it familiarises itself with the needs of the customers. The organization can use this principle in order to deliver value to the people. The other important principle of lean thinking is to create flow by eliminating waste. In a service organization, steps ought to be taken in order to ensure that waste is eliminated so that its goals can be achieved without any interruption. It is also important for Care international to ensure that it responds to customer pull and demand. If the organization is in a position to establish the needs of the targeted customers, then it is in a better position to satisfy their needs. The last principle is related to pursuant of perfection. The organization can achieve success through perfecting its operations so that the targeted customers get the value of the service offered. In undertaking its activities, Care International can implement the seven wastes of lean namely: transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over processing and defects (Quality Assurance Solutions, ND). . It is important for the organization to ensure that it is capable of transporting the goods to the targeted people so that loses that can result wastes are not recorded. The other important element is to ensure that inventory does not become a waste by storing excessive quantities of goods that are not required by the customers. Excessive motion can also result in wastes since high costs can be

Ethics Challenge and Communicating in Practice Essay

Ethics Challenge and Communicating in Practice - Essay Example A budgetary slack is a premeditated allowance for excess spending as overstated expenses or understated income (Stevens 1). Atkins and Granger make liberal use of this budget-making technique when making sales and expense projections. Budgetary slacks alleviate the effects of deviations if they occur. A more shifty use of the technique is to make it easier for managers to achieve targets, especially where sales performance results in bonuses and appraisals (Stevens 1).   In the case of Atkins and Granger, altered projections can result in less motivation to achieve more in their areas of responsibility as they can alter the figures to give the impression that they are performing beyond the projections. On another note, if the two staff can alter the financial figures at will, then there is a serious risk of the pair falsifying account figures to serve selfish interests (Stevens 1). The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) requires its members behave ethically, and in ways that are responsible, honest, fair, and objective (IMA 1). IMA categorically opposes the use of confidential information for unethical and illegal motives. Overall, management accountants should cultivate restraint in situations that pose conflicting interests. IMA also requires that management accountants evade activities such as the budgetary slack that may jeopardize efficient execution of some activities. A budgetary slack presents ample opportunities for information asymmetry (Stevens 1).  

Examine the relationship between content and form in any of the texts, Essay

Examine the relationship between content and form in any of the texts, photographs, or portfolios in the section - Essay Example The individual insight with a subjective value is inevitable. For instance, on the first photo we may observe people against the background of Leaning Tower of Pisa. They make a picture of memorable moment in their life and stay in famous position showing a person who preserves a Tower. For some people it is just a tourist who made a funny picture, for others it is a close friend who visits a historical place of interest. As for the person who is in the photo is it some other connotation with a special meaning. The second photo represents the tourist group in front of the Temple of Athena. Still, the foreground of the picture involves a person who makes the photo of this people. It may be the tourist from this group, or a guide of the excursion or even a random tripper with no relation to this exact group. A man is a form while the variety of contents is different to any possible viewer. The second important thing is the origin and types of occurred meanings that appear in the process of perception and interpretation of creation. The question of origin is coherent and logical. It depends from the observer and predetermines by his/her social, cultural, intellectual and other competencies (Durant and Fabb, 142). What is more, every person attains individual perception that is fully subjective. It is clear that people who visit historical places what are in the pictures will acquire rather sundry connotations than those who dream to make a vacation in these places. As for the types of meaning it is rather controversial. Recent research investigations divide this huge variety of connotations on two basic kinds. Peirce identifies coded and non-coded relationships between form and content (Durant and Fabb, 142). Still, these types may mix, and one connotation may contract both types or interchange it according to some

Architectural History, Theory & Criticism Essay

Architectural History, Theory & Criticism - Essay Example In all the dialogue, we need to distinguish the terms and notions of postmodernism. Even so, according to Jencks (2010), Postmodernism is deepening of modernism. It is a combination of modernism and other things, a slide away from its parent rather than an act of parricide. It is considered a loyal opposition rather than a movement that is anti-modern. On the other hand, Ronald Nash refers to postmodernism as a present-day movement that rejects dogmas, allegedly taught during the age of enlightenment by thinkers, and by proponents of those ideas, who assisted in producing the movement we now know as modernism (Proctor, 2012). Post-modernism has returned as a major movement in the arts since the millennium post-modernism. This has happened with the revisiting of landmark sculptures and the explosive growth in iconic buildings, and ornaments and pattern making in architecture and the arts. Most post-modern concerns of the 1970s and the 1980s have become central to the society (Jencks, 2012). Jencks states that a typical post-modern building is one that is hybrid and one that dramatizes opposing trend mixtures, of the past, present and future to create a miniature city. Thus, it is based on numerous codes, combining modern universal technology and local culture, in a double coding that is characteristic. A typical building that is post-modern speaks at once on several levels to both high and low culture. It also recognizes the global situation where no single culture can speak for the whole world. Conferring with Vartola (2012), postmodernism concept is in three-fold. First, postmodernism is quoting Umberto Ecos the age of the lost innocence that is characterized by double-coding, ambiguity and irony and a transition to a post-industrial or late-capitalist social order in the Western culture in the late 20th century. However, its temporal borders are disputable. Next, postmodernism, is a thought orientation and acts as a headline for numerous critical

Violence in the Aztec Society Essay Example for Free

Violence in the Aztec Society Essay â€Å"The dismal drum of Huichilobos sounded again, accompanied by conches, horns, and trumpet-like instruments. It was a terrifying sound, and when we looked at the tall cue (temple-pyramid) from which it came we saw our comrades who had been captured in Cortes’ defeat being dragged up the steps to be sacrificed. When they had haled them up to a small platform in front of the shrine where they kept their accursed idols we saw them put plums on the heads of many of them; and then they made them dance with a sort of fan in front of Huichilobos. Then after they had danced the papas (Aztec priests) laid them down on their backs on some narrow stones of sacrifice and, cutting open their chests, drew out their palpitating hearts which they offered to the idols before them. Then they kicked the bodies down the steps, and the Indian butchers who were waiting below cut off their arms and legs and flayed their faces, which they afterwards prepared like glove leather, with their beards on, and kept for their drunken festivals. Then they ate their flesh with a sauce of peppers and tomatoes.† -Spanish Conquistador, Bernal Diaz (The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice by Michael Harner (1977:46-50)) The Aztecs were a tribe in central Mexico during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. They were located in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, on an island in Lake Texcoco. The Aztec community was highly advanced for their time period in things such as architecture and mathematics. They developed a complex calendar, irrigation systems, exquisite art, advanced agriculture, canals used in transportation, chinampas (floating gardens), and were the first civilization to require their children to go to school. Yet, they were extremely violent and resorted to barbaric acts. It appears from the Spanish records and archaeological findings that the Aztecs were most definitely a violent society, but were they inherently violent or did they have rational reasons related to non-violence explaining their behavior? The main reason scholars think that the Aztecs were seen as a malicious  group was their ritual of human sacrificing. Spanish records of the Aztecs have been known to exaggerate their descriptions of human sacrificing but archaeological research done in 1960 and 1969 tends to support the conquistadores’ accounts. Headless human rib cages completely lacking the limb bones were found at Aztec sacrificial sites. Although these remains were found, many scholars perceive this as a religious act pertaining to the Aztec’s belief that humans must sacrifice that, which was most precious to them, life, in order to receive in return the sun, rain, and other blessings of the gods that make life possible. Ortiz de Montellano (1978,1990) attributed the Aztec practice of human sacrifice to their belief that the gods required it. He went on to say that the majority of human sacrifice during harvest periods indicated that it was â€Å"a gesture of thanks and reciprocity to the gods ( 1978:614).† The Aztecs often went to war with their neighbors to bring back prisoners for human sacrifice; this was called the flowery wars. Although the Aztecs did take prisoners to be sacrificed, some scholars believe that the flowery wars were not only for obtaining sacrificial victims. Hassig (1990) linked human sacrifice to their unstable economic position. He analyzed the flowery wars as an empire-building strategy that was used to wear down stronger enemies rather than as a deliberate procedure to capture people for sacrifice. Price (1978) and Isaac (1983) similarly thought that the flowery wars reflected the shifting of power between neighboring cities and their inability to conquer the Valley of Mexico (Tlaxcala-Pueblan Valley). Price suggests that the failure of military conquering made human sacrifice an ideal excuse to explain this lack of success. King Moteuczoma characterized the wars as rituals for obtaining captives and as military training for soldiers. This is seen as a strateg ic plan to direct the conquistadores’ attention away from political and military weaknesses in the Aztec civilization. In the mass majority of sacrificial rituals, cannibalism was performed. This often took part during the sacrificing of prisoners of war but also happened during the sacrifice of some of their own people. Harner (1977) rejected anthropological theories hypothesizing that human sacrifice was  caused by the requirement of their religion and gods. He thought that their causes were because of a high population rate that caused protein scarcity. Based on studies of population pressure, Harner (1970) suggested that the big picture of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism resulted from demographical and ecological factors. These created protein shortages, population pressure, seasonal crop failures, a lack of livestock, the depletion of wild game in the region, famine, and the environment surrounding the valley was not suitable for farming due to the desertification of the land. The Aztecs had corn and beans to provide protein but since these vegetables could only be grown in certain seasons, they were an insufficient way to get protein. This is what led Harner to believe cannibalism was their only constant and abundant supply of protein. Harner also suggested that the purpose of the flowery wars was to capture prisoners to sacrifice with the intent to consume them. Price, (1978) however, disagreed. She stated that the highest classes of society, who consumed most of the human sacrifices, already had easy access to other meat. Ortiz De Montellano (1978) argued against Harner’s hypothesis as well. He stated that there was a wide range of meat protein available, advances in agricultural techniques, plenty of stored food, and that the Aztecs had a good overall diet. Montellano also suggested other ideas as to why the â€Å"ecological hypothesis† was not true. The first was that the Aztecs were conquering new lands and areas for agriculture, which sometimes provided them with a new source of game to hunt, thus having a larger pool of meat to eat. His second was of the minor availability of the total human protein from sacrifice because the flesh was reserved for the elite, which included great warriors and priests. Montellano’s third was evidence that explained that the bulk of the Aztec’s sacrifices took part during the periods of time in the year when there were plenty of crops and plenty of food to easily sustain them. This means that instead of the Aztecs relying on human meat during the off-season, they practiced cannibalism regardless of their food status. Michael Winkelman (1998) said, â€Å"in comparison to other societies with human  sacrifice, the Aztecs were extreme in several measures: they were the only human sacrifice society in this sample with a high risk of famine; the highest on several measures of population pressure; in the highest category of population density (over 500 persons per square mile); and had the highest levels of overall warfare for land resources. Therefore, their sacrifice and cannibalism may reflect their extreme conditions on many ecological variables.† John M. D. Pohl (2002) stated, â€Å"Aztec sacrifice, once perceived as a ruthless practice committed by a ‘tribe’ seemingly obsessed with bloodshed, is now seen as no more or less brutal than what many imperial civilizations have done.† The Aztecs were not the only people throughout the Earth’s history to have such violent practices. William Prescott (1992) compiled research comparing the Aztecs violent ways to those of other cultures throughout history. According to Prescott’s research, such violent practices were found among the ancient Canaanites, the Celtic people, and the Romans. The Romans had slaves that they condemned to die merely for the purpose of entertainment in the Colosseum. The research also notes the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament, where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for God. While the story was against sacrifice it still shows that it was a known practice. Another biblical story of sacrifice that Prescott mentions is the story of Jepthah. Jepthah pledges that he will sacrifice the first living creature that he saw when returning home if god would give him victory in his upcoming battle. When Jepthah returns home, he is greeted by his daughter and is forced by the bindings of his word to make a burnt offering of his daughter. Prescott’s compilation of research also included the Hindu custom of suttee, which was the suicide of the widow on the funeral pyre of her husband because of the Hindu belief in Samsara. French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1964) described the Aztecs as suffering from â€Å"a maniacal obsession with blood and torture.† However, Harner (1977:51) stated, â€Å"Gruesome as these practices may seem, an ecological perspective and population pressure theory render the Aztec emphasis on human sacrifice acceptable as a natural and rational response to the material conditions of their existence. A materialist ecological  approach reveals the Aztecs to be neither irrational nor mentally ill, but merely human beings who, faced with unusual survival problems, responded with unusual behavior.† The Aztec’s beliefs about the world and how they, as a people, could keep the sun rising and the plants growing and therefore continued life for future generations was also a very powerful force in their commitment to give to the gods the highest honor of human sacrifice. The Aztecs definitely had a violent culture and had some very unorthodox practices, but were their methods any more cruel than nuclear warfare, terrorism, and torture for political reasons? We look at the Aztec’s reasons for their violent actions as insufficient but we do not question our own reasons for the violence we create today. Perhaps it’s in the way we view, interpret, and justify the actions.