Contact Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contact - Assignment Example Fitlife's quoted prices are based on the approved date of send out, and apply all through the period of contract, unless otherwise put forward. Packing, carriage, Sales Tax (where applicable) dues taxes, or other charges are extra to the quoted price and payable by the Customer whether or it exists at the date of quotation or contract, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Quotations in currencies other than Australian dollars, are subject to disparity in price based on variation between the exchange rate appropriate at the date of quotation and that appropriate at the date of payment(http://www.Universitypaton. com.au/pdfs/tandc.pdf, retrieved 17 September 2009). (b) Liability for GST (payable in respect of any taxable supply) is extra. It has to be paid by the buyer to the Company when the price and other moneys are payable(http://www. universitypaton.com.au/pdfs/tandc.pdf, retrieved 17 September 2009). the securing and/or shipment or delivery of the goods to the buyer is forestalled or held up by any reason outside our control the delivery and/or shipment shall be extended accordingly(http://www. universitypaton.com.au/pdfs/tandc.pdf, retrieved 17 September 2009). Since the Company is not the producer of the goods it does not give any guarantee with regard to the quality and does not accept any liability in respect of any blemish in or failure of the goods supplied. The purchaser assumes the guarantee of the manufacture which is the only guarantee given to the buyer in respect of the goods. The Company accords to allocate to the buyer on demand the advantage of any warranty or right to the goods that the manufacturer has contracted to the Company(http://www. universitypaton.com.au/pdfs/tandc.pdf, retrieved 17 September 2009). References: http://www. universitypaton.com.au/pdfs/tandc.pdf, retrieved 17 September 2009. http://www.advancedfit.com.au/page/terms_conditions.html retrieved 17 Sept

Law Hypothetical6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Law Hypothetical6 - Essay Example He does not want to have any involvement in the event and is very concerned that he not suffer any potential liability except his investment. You all eventually agree to split the profits from the event on an equal basis. You question, however, the business skills of the dirt bike shop co-owner so that to have full responsibility over the business affairs of the event the biker shop owner will be restricted to marketing. The three parties are the dirt bike store (which is a partnership between two brothers), the money was (as individual) and the OUTAWAY INN (which is a sub chapter S corporation). The new venture should be structured as a partnership between the three parties. The three partners should have equal say in organizing and running the event. This means that the two brothers who own the bike shop should have one vote as should the owner of the OUTAWAY INN and the Canadian investor. The new structure should be more than a contract relationship. There should be formation of a new registered business entity to ensure continuity if the race proves to be a success. This will ensure easier periodical organizing of the race. It will also be easier to promote the race if it is a formally business than when it happens in an impromptu manner. The formal registration of the race would be in essence a new investment by the three partners. The partnership perfectly fits the description of a Limited liability partnership in that one if its partners; the Canadian investor has limited liability. The requirement of the Canadian that he has as limited liability will prompt the partnership to go for C Corporation which will tax the business separately from the owners therefore ensuring that the partner will in no way be required to directly pay any tax to the United States federal income tax law. This will ensure that only the returns from his initial investment will be taxed. The most strategic move however, should the

Construction of the road

Construction of the road 1. Introduction Roads are constructed to bring benefits to the people. Investment in roads is huge for which funding most time is limited. Therefore the decision to invest and protect the investment in form of maintenance is important so as to bring optimal benefits and value for money. In order to maximise the benefits in the choice of investment, road investment appraisal may well be part of the planning process. The purpose of economic appraisal is to determine the investment cost and economic returns expected from such investment. Investment cost consists of construction and annual maintenance costs and are normally shouldered by the road agency. While economic returnsis in form of savings to the road users resulting from new road facility. These costs are referred to as total (road) transport cost or whole life cycle cost (HDM-4 documentation). It is therefore necessary to determine the works that will minimise the total transport cost over the extended analysis period, say expected life of the road. This report presents the economic analysis of a project to upgrade an existing gravel road to a bituminous pavement. The aim is to assess the economic benefit resulting from the proposed investment. This is to be carried out using Highway Development and Management (HDM-4), a road investment appraisal tool. HDM-4 is known to have the capability which assist with the selection of appropriate road design and maintenance standards that minimises the total transport cost. The support system will also indicate the economic viability of the proposed upgrading. The run will include sensitivity analysis, which involves repeated economic evaluation changing one parameter at a time, to identify the parameter(s) which affect the viability of the road project. 2. Literature review: 2.1 Economic appraisal of a road project. Economic appraisal is very important in planning a road project. It enables the road agency knows the investment cost as well as the economic returns of various alternatives, thereby assisting them in the selection of that which gives the highest returns. Total transport cost, also referred to as whole life cycle cost, includes construction and annual maintenance costs as well as road user costs (RUC). The RUC, in most cases, is the benefit due to the provision of a better road facility i.e VOC, travel time, comfort, reduction in accident. HDM-4 is a decision support tool for the analysis of road management, evaluation of investment alternatives and strategic planning among others. It has four models that are used to predict the effects of road construction and operation. Road deterioration model considers pavement structure, traffic loading and climate condition to analyse and predict the progression of structural and surface condition variables. Works effects model uses these variables and application of maintenance and construction measures to predict the physical quantities of resources required. These are used to multiply the unit costs specified to obtain the construction and maintenance cost for the analysis period. Road user effect model uses vehicle characteristics, geometric data and the forecast condition variables (e.g. IRI) to calculate the expected travel speeds of the different vehicle types, which in turn affect the vehicle and owners costs. The social and environmental effect model can forecast vehicle emissions and energy consumption. 2.2 Method of economic appraisal of a road project. This is usually done in HDM-4 for at least for two mutually alternatives road construction, rehabilitation or upgrade, one of which is referred to Do nothing or base alternative. While others are do something or project alternatives. The Do nothing or base alternative is where minimum investment is carried out in form of continuation of current maintenance strategy. This alternative has no construction component but has high maintenance cost and RUC. On the other hand, the do something or alternative project is when the road standard is improved, the choice of which depend on many factors such as the road agencys standard, traffic level, political and social consideration etc. This would normally have construction cost with both low maintenance cost and RUC. 3. Methodology. Create Project Define road network Section 2 Section 1 Define road sections Improvement Standard Mtce Standard (After) Mtce Standard (Before) Mtce Standard (Gravel) Define Work standards With Project Without Project Define Project alternatives Run analysis with sensitivity Generate Outputs The above flow describes the procedure for the economic analysis of the project using HMD-4. 4. Procedure for project analysis. 4.1 Project description: This Project is a 49.9 km gravel road classed secondary road and it is situated in sub-tropical/humid climate. It passes through varying topography. The road is divided into two sections based on geometric, pavement condition and traffic volume. The traffic and condition data obtained in 2008 are represented in table 4.1. The road is proposed to be upgraded to bituminous pavement. Both the degree of conflict between motorised and non-motorised transport and the effect of the road side activities on traffic flow were insignificant. 4.2 Data Input: Using the flow chart in paragraph 3 above all the necessary data require for the project analysis is stored in the system in the appropriate folders. These include detailed traffic composition and growth rate which are provided in the Vehicle fleet folder. A uniform growth rate of 4% was used for all vehicle classes on this project. The sections of the roads are defined under the road network folder. Each of the sections is considered homogenous in terms of geometric, pavement condition, traffic volume and composition. Therefore the physical details of the sections (length, width, and surface class), traffic direction and pattern, pavement type and condition, horizontal and vertical alignment information are among data set in the road network definition. However, only motorised traffic is considered in this analysis. 4.3 Defining the works standards: This is where both the maintenance and improvement standards are defined. The details are on Table 4.3. The maintenance standards are in the works standard/maintenance standards folder while the improvement standards are specified in the works standard/improvement standards folders. The maintenance standard has great effect on rate of deterioration of a road. Road will continue to perform to standard throughout its design life only when adequate and timely maintenance is carried out. Defining maintenance standard in the system imposes a limit to which deterioration could reach before a trigger. Furthermore the long term performance of a road is also affected by the improvement standard 4.3.1 Maintenance standard: There are three maintenance standards under the study. These are Gravel road maintenance, Maintenance before upgrading and routine maintenance after upgrade (crack sealing and patching paved road). These are effective at different time for the two sections of the road as detailed in Table 4.4. Scheduled for specified years. Duration is one year. Both economic and financial costs for each of the work items were stored in the system. 4.3.2 Improvement standard: The improvement standard is to upgrade the gravel road to bituminous pavement. However the year of implementation for each of sections 1 and 2 are 2011 and 2012 respectively. These are indicated at the intervention tab while keying the information for each of the section. Furthermore the financial cost for sections 1 and 2 are US$120,000 and US$150,050. The economic costs were estimated as 85% of the financial costs. These were stored in the cost tab. 4.4 Defining the project alternatives. There are two project alternatives Without project (maintaining the gravel road) and With project (upgrade gravel road). Each of the alternatives has works standards specified for each of the two sections. The analysis type (by project), start year (2009) as well as analysis period (20 years) were specified. The currency output of US$ was also selected. 4.4.1 Analysis method: There are two methods of analysing road investment in HDM-4 Analysis by section and analysis by project. The formal (analysis by section) is when the sections in the road are considered separately and analyse against a base section. While the latter (analysis by project) is when the entire sections in an alternative are considered against a base alternative. For this case study the analysis is by project. In this instance, the annual cost and benefit are added for the sections in the With project to give the year total. The economic indicators so obtained are then used to compare the base alternative. 4.4.2 Without project alternative: This is the base alternative representing a continuation of current maintenance practice. The two sections were defined and assigned a maintenance standard Gravel road maintenance earlier defined under the works standard/maintenance standards folder. 4.4.3 With project alternative: This is the alternative where the road is to be upgraded to bituminous pavement. The two sections were defined with both maintenance and improvement standards. Both sections are to be upgraded in 2011 and 2012 respectively. However, they are to be maintained before upgrade according to maintenance before upgrading standard as defined. Furthermore, the period of maintenance after upgrade is also specified. 4.4.4 Sensitivity analysis: It is a technique used to find out the effect on the whole project of changes in value of each variable which is considered potentially serious risk to the project. In this case study, three variables Traffic growth rates, Construction cost and Initial AADT were considered as sensitive to the project. Therefore each of them was changed at a time by  ±20% from 20% to 80% to verify their impact on economic indicators. 5. Analysis concept, summary result and discussion. 5.1 Project analysis concept The concept of the project analysis, using HMD-4, is assessing the physical, functional and economic feasibility of the With project alternative and compares it with Without project considered as base case. The system uses Life cycle costing for the analysis period of 20 years. In achieving this cost, the system models and predict the road deterioration, estimates the road user cost, model the road works effects and the cost of these to the road agency as well as calculate the economic and financial benefits from the comparison of the alternatives. 5.2 Road Deterioration and road works effect modelling For each year of the analysis period, HDM-4 models the road condition and assigns road works effect using predefined works strategies. Road deterioration prediction is based on the data provided on such variables as the original design, material type, construction quality, traffic volume, axle load characteristics, road geometry, environmental conditions, age of pavement and maintenance standard. HDM-4 does predict change in condition, i.e. distresses, from the initial set conditions as a function of the above named variables. 5.2.1 Average roughness (IRIav) of project: The deterioration of gravel road is characterised by roughness and material loss. Therefore grading every six months was specified as one of the work items for its maintenance to keep the roughness within tolerable limit. Spot regravelling work item was to repair areas of severe depression, while gravel resurfacing is performed to augment gravel surfacing due to loss of material. These work items followed intervention criteria specified by the users. This is the logic HDM-4 uses to predict the gravel road deterioration and it is presented in graph 5.2. This graph correlates Appendix I which shows the pavement condition summary. The pavement condition of Without project is a reflection of the interventions of the work items under continuous maintenance of the gravel road. Grading and Spot regravelling were effective every six month with no significant improvement to IRI values. However, gravel resurfacing was done in 2013, 2016, 2019, 2023 a nd 2025. There is a drop in IRI value each time the work item was carried out. In general the IRI was consistently high at between 7-13m/km throughout the analysis period for Without project alternative. HDM-4 also predicts the deterioration of the road after improvement. This is done through surface distresses (cracking and potholing) and deformation distress (roughness). Out of the three work items for the maintenance of the paved (bituminous) road only resealing work item was triggered throughout the analysis period. This is a reflection of the intervention criteria specified. Under the With project alternative there is a drop in IRI values in 2011 and 2012 following the upgrading of sections 1 and 2 at these years respectively. For instance, for section 1 the IRI value was 11.26m/km in 2010 but drastically reduced to 3.01m/km after upgrade in 2011. This is similar to the effect of upgrading section 2 in 2012. However, it is noticed that IRI continued to increase steadily subsequently but at low rate. In 2018, 2019, 2025 and 2026 there was resealing which changed the rate of increase in IRI (between 2018 and 2019) and actually reduced the value (between 2025 and 2026). Surface dre ssing does not necessarily improve the smoothness of road surface hence its effect on IRI is not significant. 5.2.2 Road works summary: This summary, as contained in Appendix 2, confirmed graph 5.1 and reflects the pavement condition summary in appendix 1. It shows the works items as they were triggered with associate quantities and costs (economic and financial). For the With project the maintenance standard before upgrade is reflected in the two sections before the upgrade. Furthermore resealing was also carried out in 2018 and 2025 for section 1, while that for section 2 was in 2019 and 2026. On the other hand in the Without project the average roughness for the project is shown in graph 4.1. This graph correlates Appendix 1 which shows the pavement condition summary. Road User Cost (RUC): From the economic indicator shown in Table 4.3 there is a decrease of US$3.828 million in Road User Cost (RUC) compared to US$3.105 million increase in Road Agency Cost (RAC) for the proposed upgrade. This is an indication of the viability for the upgrade. Cost Streams and Economic Evaluation Table 4.3 reflects the economic indicator showing a positive Net Present Value (NPV) of US$0.723 million, indicative of the project viability. The Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) is US$12.6 million. The economic indicator summary with sensitivity included in the analysis is provided in Appendix 3 Sensitivity Analysis As discussed in paragraph 5.2.2 above Tables 5.4a, 5.4b and 5.4c show the effects in economic indicators (NPV and EIRR) of changing the percentages of Initial AADT, Construction cost and Traffic growth rates considered as sensitive to the project. Increasing both initial AADT and Growth rate indicates positive values of NPV and EIRR, while reduction in their values gives negative economic indicators. On the other hand, increase construction cost gives negative NPV and its reduction gives positive NPV. NPV sensitivity diagram in figure 5.3 below indicates that the three variables have various degrees of sensitivity on the project, with AADT being most sensitive. An increase in construction cost as well as drop in AADT will affect the chances of achieving the positive NPV values. Therefore the accuracy of their estimation and forecast is important. Switching Values: A reduction in percentage of AADT and Growth rate beyond 11.5% and 25.6% respectively changes the NPV values from positive to negative. Whereas increase in construction cost beyond 19.5% also changes NPV from positive to negative. 6. Conclusion: The economic analysis, using HDM-4, indicates that upgrading the gravel road to bituminous pavement is viable because of the positive NPV value obtained for the analysis period. In implementing the project the gain in RUC outweighs the increase in the RAC when this is compared with do minimum alternative. However, this result can only be achieved if the works are carried out according to the programme. The Initial AADT, Construction cost and vehicle growth rate have various levels of sensitivity on the NPV. However, AADT is the most sensitive. An increase in construction cost as well as drop in AADT is likely to affect the chances of achieving a positive NPV values. There is also an indication that more benefit could be derived from the project when AADT value grows even as high as by 80% of the initial value. Therefore the accuracy of the construction cost, AADT and its projection are important to getting the benefit from the proposed project

empiricism Essay -- essays research papers

Empiricism Empiricism by nature is the belief that there is no knowledge without experience. How can one know what something tastes like if they have never tasted it? For example, would someone know that an apple is red if they have never actually have seen one. Someone can tell you an apple is red, but, if you never have seen one, can you really be sure? Empiricists use three anchor points in which they derive their opinions from. The first of these points is; the only source of genuine knowledge is sense experience. An easier way to understand this is to compare the mind to a clean sponge. As the sponge touches things, it takes with it, a piece of everything it touches. Without this, the sponge would remain clean and be void of anything other than its own material. With this conclusion, empiricist believes we must be content with the knowledge we have at hand, rather than things we have not yet been privy to. The second anchor point is; Reason is an unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge unless it is grounded in the solid bedrock of sense experience. Empiricists believe that all of our words meanings are derived from our experiences. Everything can be traced back to a single moment in our lives. Empiricists understand that reason is necessary in helping us make our experience intelligible, but reason alone cannot provide knowledge. The third anchor point is; there is no evidence of innate Ideas within the mind that are known apart from experience. What this means is the mind does not possess ideas that are not backed by experience. In no case are there a priori truths that can both tell about the world and are known apart from experience. When asked the three epistemological questions the three empiricists all have different answers. The first of these questions is; is knowledge possible? John Locke (1632-1704) states â€Å"Knowledge, however, is not something lying out there in the grass; it is located in our minds. So to understand knowledge we have to analyze the contents of our minds and see what they tell us about the world† (pg. 93). Locke believes that all of our known truths are made up of simple ideas. Simple ideas are what make up the rudimental elements of everything else we know to be true to us today. For example, they consist of ideas such, hot and cold, soft and hard, bitter and sweet. They also give us experience through are own mental o... ...s not possible for our knowledge to truly represent what reality really is. He believes that â€Å"the only certainty that we can have concerns the relationships of our own ideas. Since these judgments only concern the realm of ideas, they do not tell us about the external world† (p. 108). This means that any knowledge about reality must be based on a posteriori judgments. These judgments are made by Hume because he believes there is no way to have a true reality through knowledge because you only gain knowledge through experience. In conclusion, Hume states that many empiricists discovered that reality is an impossible goal to understand. Overall, Empiricists believe that there is no knowledge without experience. While their individual views may differ, their fundamental ideas are used to make conclusions about theories in the world. Each of these men have ideas about how knowledge is used and what it creates for each person. Through each of these theories it is apparent that knowledge and reality are difficult to access in such a complicated world. References Lawhead, William F., The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Hamburger †Fast food Essay

Market and environmental analysis is an essential part of an organization’s External Analysis. The main objectives of a market analysis are; a)To determine how attractive a market is. b)To understand the dynamics of the market and amend strategies accordingly. Here we apply the dimensions of a Market Analysis to McDonalds corp. 1)Emerging submarkets; McDonalds failed to recognize the changing trend in customer’s preferences to better tasting, fresher food. This trend led to new sub markets emerging for tastier, fresher and fast food perceived as healthier. A few of the smaller/privately owned competitors (Cosi and Quizno’s) were able to operate in niche markets selling gourmet sandwiches and salads. The emergence of smaller restaurants offering easy access to exotic foods such as sushi and burritos created a more specialized niche market. 2)Size and Growth; With the emergence of these sub-markets and niche markets, McDonalds started losing market share. It now had to share its fast-food mass market with these newly created markets. Even though these restaurant chains were small in size, their growth opportunities presented a potential threat to McDonalds. They operated on service that was better than McDonalds at the same time providing better tasting food, which led to an increase in its sales. This sector was in the early stages of growth where as McDonalds was past the maturity stage. 3)Profitability; McDonalds profitability can be gauged by using Porters 5 factor model. a)Intensity of competition among existing customers was relatively high. Direct competitors like Wendy’s and Chik-Fil-A were able to out perform McDonalds based on service quality by providing quicker service. In comparison McDonalds had a large number of franchises, but will falling service time. b)Threat of new entrants: Other market niches like quizo’s, cosi and small restaurants offering exotic foods also provided a high degree of competition to McDonalds by offering food that appealed to changing customer preferences. The only barrier to entry that McDonalds used was to open a large number of franchises and offer an inexpensive menu; this is however changing as franchisees are leaving McDonalds, lowering the barriers to entry. c)Substitute products would include fast food options available in leading supermarkets, and cafe’s offering exotic foods like sushi. d)Bargaining power of customers. Customers are the main source of income for McDonalds. Customers were not happy with the menu offered at McDonalds and hence took their custom to other restaurants, leading to a drop in sales. e)Bargaining power of suppliers: McDonalds aimed to keep their menu prices low (source more details about suppliers) 4)Cost structure McDonalds strategic focus was on cost and service. In order to raise service quality new kitchens were installed. However, this installation was done for some franchises that did not need it and where the new additions did not help improve business. In order to keep the price of its burgers low, it asked the franchises to sell at a loss. Example: Promoting a $1 burger when the cost to make it was $1. 07. This lack in foresight resulted in rising costs to franchise owners who responded by leaving McDonalds and going over to competitors. This snowballed into falling investor confidence resulting in falling equity. Another cost issue was investing in too many takeovers which it couldn’t handle at the same time as improving service quality and revamping the menu. 5)Distribution Systems McDonalds distribution system was the large and growing number of franchises. However not many of the franchises were posting profits and as per Exhibit 1, more than 500 would have to be closed. One of McDonalds strengths is its distribution system, where in customers come in and have the same experience that they have at any other store. However, this can also be a weakness as providing a consistent experience soon becomes ordinary. 6)Market Trends The fast food casual market was quickly breaking up into fragments. With the rising immigrant population customers now had a choice of items. McDonalds realize this too late and try to counter this effect by introducing new burgers. However, the testing of the new menu does not gauge strongly enough the changing customer preferences and this poor planning led to its failure. Internally changing trends were also blindsided. Franchisees who were the closest to customers were not included in decision making and were thus disgruntled. Here was the need to change the management style from top-down to bottom-up. This would have solved some of the issues plaguing McDonalds, by providing data on what customers want and what products would have a greater chance of success. 7)Key success Factors McDonalds did have some strengths or key success factors; a)Large number of franchises that led to economies of scale. This however contrasted to the ‘small is beautiful’ concept of the niche markets. b)Complete training for franchisees to begin and run their own McDonalds proved to be a good team building exercise. c)Cost of food was low due to economies of scale and economies of size. Moreover, McDonalds was able to negotiate a reasonable price for high quality food products. McDonalds failed to realize the changing trends in the casual fast food markets, as a result of which, a large part of the market share was taken over by existing brands like Wendy’s and new players like Panera bread co. The company also failed to acknowledge competition from the niche markets serving gourmet and exotic foods. This lack in analysis led to lowering of entry barriers for new entrants, loss of market share to competitors (Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A. ), disgruntled franchisees, and a drop in sales leading to a fall in equity value. Environmental Analysis 1)Political. 2)Economic: 3)Socio-Cultural: There are three cultural forces that influence marketers: a) persistence of cultural values, b) subcultures and c) shifts in secondary cultural values. Of the three, secondary cultural values carry the largest influence on the fast-food market. When the market is interested in convenience, they are more likely to buy fast food; if the market’s secondary values shift and become interested in fitness and health, they will be less likely to buy fast food. (Monash university, 2006) The case shows this shift to gourmet and healthier foods. 4)Technological: McDonalds had begun to notice the importance of technology. The organization was looking at new technological solutions like ERP to improve their supply chain (Newman, 2002) 5)Environmental: 6)Legal. References: Monash university, 2006, Briohny’s Report, Language and Learning Online, Retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. monash. edu. au/lls/llonline/writing/business-economics/marketing/3. 3. 2. xml Newman, K, 2002. McDonalds seeks closer electronic relations, iStart. com:Technology in business, www. istart. co. nz, retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. istart. co. nz/index/HM20/PC0/PVC197/EX245/AR22537.

The Most Dangerous Game

Michelle Anne Rubio Mrs. McCann English 9 20 October 2011 How do Rainsford's actions affect the story's theme? In the short story, The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell tells the tale of an exceptionally skilled hunter named Rainsford. Rainsford falls off his yacht and ends up on the shores of Ship Trap Island, home to the evil General Zaroff and finds himself in a game of man vs. man against a person who finds thrill in hunting and killing human beings. However, despite the fact that Rainsford is forced to face a surplus of life threatening obstacles he does not back down.Throughout this story Rainsford's skill, whit, determination, and persistence are put to the test over and over again in this game; the odds are not in his favor but he quickly grasps the reality that if he is to survive he must will himself to do so. Evidently, Rainsford's hardwork is rewarded in the end when he beats the General at his own game but more importantly saves his own life. Rainsford is told about S hip Trap Island where, through sailor lore, those who arrive on the island never return home. Whitney states, â€Å"Those fishy blue eyes held a look I never saw there before. This quote explains a scene in the story where Rainsford notices a look in the captain's eyes that he has never seen before which reveal a sense of suspicion and alertness, as well as a hint of fear. This quote hints the future of the story by comparing the scared look in the captain's eyes and being â€Å"Fishy† or suspicious; thus foreshadowing the dangers of Ship Trap Island. Although Rainsford has seen the fear in the captain's eyes, his opinion on hunting remains the same as he states, â€Å"Pure imagination. † In this scene, this quote shows how Rainsford is not shaken by the sailor lore that seems to have everyone else on edge.This shows that Rainsford acquires a kind of competence toward something in the story that in fact, is very serious. Rainsford is headstrong about his â€Å"Braver y† toward Ship Trap Island despite of everyone else's fear toward it. Rainsford has fallen off the yacht but fortunately has been able to pursue through and end up on the shores of Ship Trap Island. â€Å"But as he forged along, he saw to his great astonishment that all the lights were in one enormous building- a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging up into the gloom. This scene describes the point in the story where Rainsford is on the island and sees the chateau. This quote lines up Rainsford to meet General Zaroff as he brings himself to arrive at his chateau. â€Å"There is no greater bore than perfection. † In this scene General Zaroff and Rainsford are talking about their take on hunting when General Zaroff non-shalontly implies his psychotic opinion that it is okay to hunt humans by telling Rainsford how everything else has failed to satisfy his thrill.This quote shows the loss of interest General Zaroff is experiencing because he no longer finds hunting as a challenge. General Zaroff makes it clear to Rainsford what his interest on this island is and Rainsford suddenly finds himself in a life-threatening situation when General Zaroff wants him to take part in his game. Rainsford is forced to compete with the evil General Zaroff in a game of man vs. man. â€Å"Keep your nerve, Keep your nerve. In this scene, Rainsford is playing in the game against the General and is having trouble adjusting to the level of persistence and skill that he needs in order to survive. This quote shows the amount of pressure that Rainsford is in as he struggles to keep himself under control in order to stay focused. â€Å"But, perhaps, the General was the devil. † In this scene Rainsford had created a trail in which he hoped to trick General Zaroff with however, it did not work. This quote shows very bluntly, what Rainsford thinks of General Zaroff by comparing his evil with the devil.Throughout this story, Rainsford has been striked with many su rprises but he knew better than to let the blows of hardship knock him down. As the game goes on it does not get easier for Rainsford, but he sure does not go easier on this game. As he is challenged by General Zaroff, a man of savagery, he is constantly pushed further and further past his limits. However, General Zaroff is no match for the amount of determination Rainsford holds within himself. Due to the fact that Rainsford did not give up even when things were so vastly unfortunate he ends up winning the game    The Most Dangerous Game Michelle Anne Rubio Mrs. McCann English 9 20 October 2011 How do Rainsford's actions affect the story's theme? In the short story, The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell tells the tale of an exceptionally skilled hunter named Rainsford. Rainsford falls off his yacht and ends up on the shores of Ship Trap Island, home to the evil General Zaroff and finds himself in a game of man vs. man against a person who finds thrill in hunting and killing human beings. However, despite the fact that Rainsford is forced to face a surplus of life threatening obstacles he does not back down.Throughout this story Rainsford's skill, whit, determination, and persistence are put to the test over and over again in this game; the odds are not in his favor but he quickly grasps the reality that if he is to survive he must will himself to do so. Evidently, Rainsford's hardwork is rewarded in the end when he beats the General at his own game but more importantly saves his own life. Rainsford is told about S hip Trap Island where, through sailor lore, those who arrive on the island never return home. Whitney states, â€Å"Those fishy blue eyes held a look I never saw there before. This quote explains a scene in the story where Rainsford notices a look in the captain's eyes that he has never seen before which reveal a sense of suspicion and alertness, as well as a hint of fear. This quote hints the future of the story by comparing the scared look in the captain's eyes and being â€Å"Fishy† or suspicious; thus foreshadowing the dangers of Ship Trap Island. Although Rainsford has seen the fear in the captain's eyes, his opinion on hunting remains the same as he states, â€Å"Pure imagination. † In this scene, this quote shows how Rainsford is not shaken by the sailor lore that seems to have everyone else on edge.This shows that Rainsford acquires a kind of competence toward something in the story that in fact, is very serious. Rainsford is headstrong about his â€Å"Braver y† toward Ship Trap Island despite of everyone else's fear toward it. Rainsford has fallen off the yacht but fortunately has been able to pursue through and end up on the shores of Ship Trap Island. â€Å"But as he forged along, he saw to his great astonishment that all the lights were in one enormous building- a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging up into the gloom. This scene describes the point in the story where Rainsford is on the island and sees the chateau. This quote lines up Rainsford to meet General Zaroff as he brings himself to arrive at his chateau. â€Å"There is no greater bore than perfection. † In this scene General Zaroff and Rainsford are talking about their take on hunting when General Zaroff non-shalontly implies his psychotic opinion that it is okay to hunt humans by telling Rainsford how everything else has failed to satisfy his thrill.This quote shows the loss of interest General Zaroff is experiencing because he no longer finds hunting as a challenge. General Zaroff makes it clear to Rainsford what his interest on this island is and Rainsford suddenly finds himself in a life-threatening situation when General Zaroff wants him to take part in his game. Rainsford is forced to compete with the evil General Zaroff in a game of man vs. man. â€Å"Keep your nerve, Keep your nerve. In this scene, Rainsford is playing in the game against the General and is having trouble adjusting to the level of persistence and skill that he needs in order to survive. This quote shows the amount of pressure that Rainsford is in as he struggles to keep himself under control in order to stay focused. â€Å"But, perhaps, the General was the devil. † In this scene Rainsford had created a trail in which he hoped to trick General Zaroff with however, it did not work. This quote shows very bluntly, what Rainsford thinks of General Zaroff by comparing his evil with the devil.Throughout this story, Rainsford has been striked with many su rprises but he knew better than to let the blows of hardship knock him down. As the game goes on it does not get easier for Rainsford, but he sure does not go easier on this game. As he is challenged by General Zaroff, a man of savagery, he is constantly pushed further and further past his limits. However, General Zaroff is no match for the amount of determination Rainsford holds within himself. Due to the fact that Rainsford did not give up even when things were so vastly unfortunate he ends up winning the game    The Most Dangerous Game Critical Analysis Essay â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† by Ray Bradbury Imagine using a time machine to hunt one of the biggest dinosaurs of all kind. Ray Bradbury’s plot makes the reader wonder in our minds which leads us to hints and makes us foreshadow that something bad is going to happen next. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury uses imagery, figurative language, and tone to create the mood of bone-chilling, nightmare, and seriousness.The imagery in the story supports the mood of bone-chilling by describing the jungle and everything in it. â€Å"The fog that enveloped the machine blew away and they were in an old time. † The author describes it to us making us think something horrible is going happen. The author says â€Å"the jungle was wide full of twittering, rustlings, murmurs, and sighs,† this sentence helps us know what the jungle looks like which is bone chilling. He describes the jungle as broad also and it is an entire world forever and forever.The way the author describes the dinosaurs makes it bone chilling, â€Å"it’s armored flesh glittered like a thousand green coins. † â€Å"The coins crusted with slime, steamed. † The author uses imagery to help us create the mood of bone chilling. The figurative language in the story supports the mood of nightmare by describing the dinosaur. The author describes the dinosaur like a thousand green coins, it’s armored flesh. Like a stone idol, a mountain avalanche, the dinosaur fell.The author used a simile to describe the dinosaur as an avalanche because the dinosaur is humongous. He uses figurative language to make the story nightmarish and to let us know how big and dangerous the dinosaur is. The use of tone supports the mood of seriousness by Travis telling Eckles not to get out of the path. By Travis telling Eckles not to get out of the path so many times the reader can foreshadow that he might step outside and he might change the future.T hey tell Eckles to shoot on the red paint on the dinosaur and nowhere else because the one they kill were going to die. Travis uses a serious tone after they almost got killed by Eckeles and says â€Å"this fool nearly killed us. † The use of a serious tone lets the reader predict something bad is going to happen. The author did a good job by letting readers foreshadow by their hints in the story. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury uses imagery, figurative language, and tone to create the mood of bone-chilling, nightmarish, and seriousness.Through the use of imagery the reader was able to create the mood of bone chilling when he describes the dinosaur so hauntingly. Through figurative language the reader thinks the mood of nightmarish because how he describes the jungle so broad and high. Finally, through the use of tone the reader could feel the mood of seriousness because how Travis tells Eckles not to step outside of the path and not to shoot dinosaurs with out red paint. By reading this story it tells the readers that if you do not listen and change something there will be consequences The Most Dangerous Game Critical Analysis Essay â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† by Ray Bradbury Imagine using a time machine to hunt one of the biggest dinosaurs of all kind. Ray Bradbury’s plot makes the reader wonder in our minds which leads us to hints and makes us foreshadow that something bad is going to happen next. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury uses imagery, figurative language, and tone to create the mood of bone-chilling, nightmare, and seriousness.The imagery in the story supports the mood of bone-chilling by describing the jungle and everything in it. â€Å"The fog that enveloped the machine blew away and they were in an old time. † The author describes it to us making us think something horrible is going happen. The author says â€Å"the jungle was wide full of twittering, rustlings, murmurs, and sighs,† this sentence helps us know what the jungle looks like which is bone chilling. He describes the jungle as broad also and it is an entire world forever and forever.The way the author describes the dinosaurs makes it bone chilling, â€Å"it’s armored flesh glittered like a thousand green coins. † â€Å"The coins crusted with slime, steamed. † The author uses imagery to help us create the mood of bone chilling. The figurative language in the story supports the mood of nightmare by describing the dinosaur. The author describes the dinosaur like a thousand green coins, it’s armored flesh. Like a stone idol, a mountain avalanche, the dinosaur fell.The author used a simile to describe the dinosaur as an avalanche because the dinosaur is humongous. He uses figurative language to make the story nightmarish and to let us know how big and dangerous the dinosaur is. The use of tone supports the mood of seriousness by Travis telling Eckles not to get out of the path. By Travis telling Eckles not to get out of the path so many times the reader can foreshadow that he might step outside and he might change the future.T hey tell Eckles to shoot on the red paint on the dinosaur and nowhere else because the one they kill were going to die. Travis uses a serious tone after they almost got killed by Eckeles and says â€Å"this fool nearly killed us. † The use of a serious tone lets the reader predict something bad is going to happen. The author did a good job by letting readers foreshadow by their hints in the story. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury uses imagery, figurative language, and tone to create the mood of bone-chilling, nightmarish, and seriousness.Through the use of imagery the reader was able to create the mood of bone chilling when he describes the dinosaur so hauntingly. Through figurative language the reader thinks the mood of nightmarish because how he describes the jungle so broad and high. Finally, through the use of tone the reader could feel the mood of seriousness because how Travis tells Eckles not to step outside of the path and not to shoot dinosaurs with out red paint. By reading this story it tells the readers that if you do not listen and change something there will be consequences

Free Essays on Examine The Life Of Any Patriarch

In finding someone who epitomizes a patriarch like Abraham, Moses, and David; I chose a person who people do consider him one and not one. He is a patriarch’s son and became one of the promising leaders of Egypt, building their economic system. Realizing everything he has done to build Egypt into a wealthy society, I chose Joseph as my patriarch and comparing it to the past and current leaders of Israel, the Prime Minster. As we discussed in class about the lineage of the Israelites in their quest to teach their young children about the econmic system and how to provide for family life is much sustained in the their culture. The stories concerning Joseph differ in many ways from the stories of the patriarchs. First of all, they have about them certain of the characteristics of wisdom stories. The theme of the stories is that goodness is always rewarded and evil is always punished, which is a major theme of the Book of Proverbs, also the theme of the oppressed, righteous man who overcomes all obstacles and comes out on top, particularly because he possesses the wisdom to interpret dreams(Genesis 40-41). Both leaders start at the bottom of the societal level and eventually worked their way up to one of the prominent leaders for their people. The second difference in these stories is in how God communicates with Joseph. There are no divine messengers- no theophanies (appearance of deity of a person). Instead, God guides Joseph through the events and circumstances of life. (Genesis 44-45) God guide the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to do the right thing for the people and bring peace in to the city. The people see the Prime Minister as one of God’s guides to cease all violent actions and live in harmony like their ancestors. In the former Prime Minister’s Ehud Barak last name; Barak was the Deborah’s general to rally the people to fight against the enemy, but he refused to go unless she went with him. She agreed, but she told hi... Free Essays on Examine The Life Of Any Patriarch Free Essays on Examine The Life Of Any Patriarch In finding someone who epitomizes a patriarch like Abraham, Moses, and David; I chose a person who people do consider him one and not one. He is a patriarch’s son and became one of the promising leaders of Egypt, building their economic system. Realizing everything he has done to build Egypt into a wealthy society, I chose Joseph as my patriarch and comparing it to the past and current leaders of Israel, the Prime Minster. As we discussed in class about the lineage of the Israelites in their quest to teach their young children about the econmic system and how to provide for family life is much sustained in the their culture. The stories concerning Joseph differ in many ways from the stories of the patriarchs. First of all, they have about them certain of the characteristics of wisdom stories. The theme of the stories is that goodness is always rewarded and evil is always punished, which is a major theme of the Book of Proverbs, also the theme of the oppressed, righteous man who overcomes all obstacles and comes out on top, particularly because he possesses the wisdom to interpret dreams(Genesis 40-41). Both leaders start at the bottom of the societal level and eventually worked their way up to one of the prominent leaders for their people. The second difference in these stories is in how God communicates with Joseph. There are no divine messengers- no theophanies (appearance of deity of a person). Instead, God guides Joseph through the events and circumstances of life. (Genesis 44-45) God guide the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to do the right thing for the people and bring peace in to the city. The people see the Prime Minister as one of God’s guides to cease all violent actions and live in harmony like their ancestors. In the former Prime Minister’s Ehud Barak last name; Barak was the Deborah’s general to rally the people to fight against the enemy, but he refused to go unless she went with him. She agreed, but she told hi...

Food And Hospitality

Food And Hospitality The Food and Hospitality Industry has become very important to the Australian economy, as it is one of the biggest employers in our state. It now has attained a much higher status in society and demands high standards of work from its employees. This industry is important to Australia as it is bringing in money from different countries and once this money is made it stays in the country.Employment opportunities are many. Many who wish to enter the industry usually do so by gaining a apprenticeship . Apprenticeships in the hospitality industry usually last between 2.5 years to 4 years. These apprenticeships mainly consist of 'on the job training', combined with full time practical work experience, along with future training at TAFE.This industry consists of long hours and workers must have a keen attitude, a friendly disposition, neat appearance, a willingness to work, confidence, cleanliness, personal hygiene and honesty.Main building of Villa Blanka, a secondary school ...Interperso nal skills basically include the ability to interact with people and using initiative to deal with problems which may arise if the customer is not satisfied.This Industry has many different sectors, including the Hospitality sector, which consists of restaurants, cafes, licensed clubs, accommodation, caravan parks, casinos, bed breakfasts and taverns. This sector is broken down into the food, beverage and accomodation services and is involved a lot with the tourism sector.Travel - travel agencies, tour and travel wholesalers, coach and air companies, shipping lines and car rentals Visitor services - tourist information centres, regional tourism associations, tourism commissions.Gaming - table and electronic gaming, this sector is mainly involved with casinos and establishments with tab facilities, keno and where gaming machines are available. Many locals and tourists spend their money in this part of the industry.Tourism - tour operations, theme parks, attractions, wildlife parks,

Big Data and Supply Chain Management Essay

Big Data and Supply Chain Management Essay Introduction Big data has become one of the most important aspects of supply chain management. The concept of big data refers to the massive data sets that are generated when millions of individual activities are tracked. These data sets are processed to yield insights that help inform managerial decision-making. Supply chains in particular have leveraged big data because companies have been able to develop technology to not only capture hundreds of millions of data points, but to process them in meaningful ways to eliminate waste and promote efficiency in the supply chain systems. This paper will examine the concept of big data, how it has arisen and come to dominate supply chain management, and look at the different ways big data is transforming the supply chain function. Lastly, the paper will take a closer look at the future for big data with respect to supply chain management. As it becomes easier to gather data, and as there are diminishing returns to statistical robustness as the number of data points increases, are the competitive advantages of big data going to diminish? The Evolution of Supply Chain Management The field of logistics management was focused on controlling the flow of materials, in-process inventory and finished goods through a companys system from the time that it enters the system until the time that it leaves the system (Cooper, Lambert Pagh, 1997). As the field became more strategic in nature, it came to encompass other issues, such as sourcing materials and building in redundancy (Cooper Ellram,1993). More than simply moving things from point A to point B, the field became holistic in nature, where the quality and price of goods were factored into purchasing decisions as well as the logistics of getting those goods to the right place at the right time. Driving this change was the move towards a globalized marketplace. Globalization increased the complexity of the supply chain, adding longer transportation routes, border wait times, currency exchange, duties and tariffs, and a host of other variables that now had to be taken into consideration – logistics has rem ained important but it always viewed in context with the rest of the supply chain. Big Data The concept of big data really began to arise in the 1990s but has become increasingly important since that point. Big Data refers to the use of very large data sets to enhance managerial decision-making. The concept of big data arose as technology has developed to allow businesses to capture enormous data sets, and process them relatively easily (Boyd Crawford, 2012). Companies have long collected data at a rudimentary level. Loyalty programs and credit cards represented an evolution in the ability of companies to collect data and distill that data into consumer spending habits. This information is then made actionable by letting companies understand more about buying patterns. Big data is similar, but with a lot more data. One of the major advantages of big data is that it allows for complex problems to be solved. A modern supply chain can be exceptionally complex, and one of the important things about this complexity is that no one person can effectively make all the decisions â €“ decision-making tools are needed that can ensure not only consistent decision-making across the company but coordinated decision-making as well (Hult, Ketchen Slater, 2004). It is these coordinating mechanisms where the true power of big data lies – being able to identify things and make decisions that an entire team of humans working without big data would probably never be able to identify (Fugate, Sahin Mentzer,2005). Once big data gets to that point, a company can generate true competitive advantage. And when a company is large enough that is has a data advantage, it will be able to sustain that advantage, which is why there has been such a rush in recent years with respect to big data. As the concept was being fleshed out in academia, businesses were just starting to learn what they could do with all of the information that they were collecting – and one of the applications was to move away from marketing and use data to make decisions about the supply chain (McAfee Bryjolfsson, 2012). One of the first steps that companies needed to make was to hire data scientists – the sort of people who could process these data sets and derive useful information about them. Data scientists suddenly became popular, for their ability to take vast quantities of data, and derive actionable findings from that data (Provost Fawcett, 2013). At the heart of the drive to adopt big data is competitive advantage. Companies have invested in their data programs because they can derive significant advantage from big data under two conditions. The first is that larger companies have access to more data than smaller companies. The incremental cost of data acquisition is lower, and the companys ability to use that data in decision-making is theoretically better. The second is that even among larger companies, there are first-mover advantages to be had. This is evident in the supply chain, especially among companies that are competing on price. Using the classic example of Wal-Mart, one o f the leaders of data-driven supply chains, the company competes on offering the lowest prices, as do most of its competitors. Thus, if it can lower the cost of getting goods to its stores, it can pass those savings along to customers. There is opportunity for competitive advantage under that scenario, if cost leadership is the chosen strategy. Even when cost leadership is not the strategy, making the groundbreaking decision early puts a company in a better competitive position than its competitors (LaValle, et al, 2010). Big Data in the Supply Chain As the largest non-oil company in the world, Wal-Mart is looked to as a leader, so the fact that they were first movers on the use of big data in supply chain management has ensured that the rest of retail – and other industries as well – have followed. Some of the technologies that Wal-Mart has adopted allow the company to track its inventory from when it leaves the supplier –if not before – all the way through the logistics channel. Once Wal-Mart takes possession of the good, that good is scanned regularly through the process. The companys trucks are tracked via satellite. Stores use automatic re-ordering triggers to ensure that goods can be received as soon as they are needed. The goals of all this are to lower inventory holding costs by reducing the amount of inventory that stores have. Goods are turned over more quickly, because Wal-Mart receives them only days before it expects to sell them. Big data plays a significant role in ensuring that this pro cess can be achieved. There are a couple of key areas highlighted for big data in supply chain management. Demirkan Delen (2013) note that data, and how a company uses its data, is one of the ways it can truly differentiate from its competitors. It can be difficult to truly and consistently attract superior talent, and it can take time to move the needle on brand image, but data has become a popular means of finding competitive advantage largely because it is new, and firms in many industries are basically in a data arms race to find innovative ways to use their data to extract competitive advantage. The first is predictive analytics. Data science often focuses on using past events to predict future ones, and that is one of the main uses for big data in supply chain management. For example, if Wal-Mart in Smalltown, OH is running out of shovels at the end of February, and it takes twenty days to order new ones from China, including manufacturing and shipping times, three things can happen. The company can order a lot of shovels and ensure that they have supply. If spring comes, those shovels will sit in a warehouse until next November. They could also run out of shovels, but a late-season snow could leave demand on the table if the store lacks inventory. Modelling both weather patterns and local buying patterns can help the company to settle on demand. Even when weather is not a factor, the company can examine past purchasing patterns to set order quantities. The earlier it can set these quantities, the better response it can get from suppliers. Wal-Mart knows already what the no rmal amount of hot dogs it sells on the 4th of July, for example, so it can feed that information to its suppliers to ensure that they have those dogs at the Wal-Mart warehouse, exactly in the quantity Wal-Mart needs. Predictive analytics is used in supply chain management to take the variability out of the system as much as possible. Inventory usage is reduced, as is the potential for waste, especially with perishable goods. The chances of disappointed customers is also reduced. It is almost impossible – and certainly it is impossible for a company like Wal-Mart – to have exactly everything delivered exactly when the customer needs it. That means that there is always room for improvement. The pathway to improvement lies with bigger data sets, better analytics, and at scale even small incremental gains in the robustness of data or the ability of the company to analyze the data can yield meaningful financial gains (Waller Fawcett, 2013). But using data for something like predictive analytics – managerial decision-making, essentially – requires having good data, lots of it, and the means by which to process it. This is where larger companies enjoy scale advantages in big data. First, the technology to track events is not necessarily cheap. It can involve scanners, and certain involves large amounts of servers, routers, cloud storage – a lot of hardware. Larger companies are at an advantage in buying this hardware but they also have advantage in that they have many more data points. Wal-Mart can estimate sales because it has several years worth of sales, and can break these down by product, store, day, or even time of day. And instead of guessing for decision-making, the companys managers can look at the data and make the decision that on average delivers the greatest outcome. Data replaces decision-making heuristics when the data is sufficiently robust. Because the transference of big data relies on the Internet and communications technology infrastructure, that ICT infrastructure becomes a risk point for many companies but it also becomes a critical point of investment for companies that work with big data – how fast can the data collected on-site make its way to the decision-making tools matters in many businesses where time is of the essence in decision-making (Lu, et al, 2013). Predictive analytics has more than just value in ordering; it can help businesses to identify trends more quickly. This can be critical to advantage in some industries. Think of a fast fashion retailer – it needs to identify trends as soon as possible to get its knock-off clothes onto the market while the fashions are still fresh. Instead of anticipating, which is fraught with error, it can react to trends that have been verified with data. By understanding buying patterns and market cycles, companies can make better choices about what they make and when. This, in turn, is important to the supply chain, because companies also need to know what they need to produce their goods, and when. If there are fluctuations in availability, of if there is any variability among suppliers, then big data has the ability to point these factors out, and give the company an opportunity to deal with them proactively (Wang et al, 2016). Impact of Big Data When the concept of big data was first being elaborated, it promised major impact on business. Instead of guessing, firms would be able to make data-driven decisions that would reduce error, reduce waste and improve speed. As firms understand how to gather the data that they need, and to process it, they become more adept at this, big data has a bigger impact. Some leading firms have used the predictive powers of big data to help with their marketing. Amazon, for example, will recommend products to its customers based on what they have viewed and what they have purchased. Netflix does the same thing – and thereby encourages binge-watching of its shows. Both of these companies have become leaders in their respective businesses, and Netflix has done this specifically in the era of big data, by using that data to foster brand loyalty (Chen, Chiang Storey, 2012). If a company ends up as a first mover in big data, it will be able to gain advantage, and in many cases will make market share gains. Amazon faced a challenge from Wal-Mart a few years, ago, but has made use of big data to driver a high level of brand loyalty, while Wal-Mart fell short on its ability to use big data on the marketing side of its business. Netflix faced threat when major studios wanted to charge more for their content – so it created its own content and even more importantly used big data to improve the information architecture of its platform, allowing people to find content they want to consume. This increased the value of Netflix for many customers, thereby driving business value. Google uses data to target ads better, and charge its customers a premium. Customers are willing to pay more for a Google ad because they know that they will get more traction. So it is important that companies understand data on a conceptual level. One of the reasons that this is so important is that data today comes from a variety of different sources. This ties back to the concept of supply chain management, where the supply chain is a highly-integrated system with many parts from one end to the other. Understanding how the different variables within this system interact so that supply chain systems can be redesign in a more optimal way. Consider the way FedEx used the hub-and-spoke model before passenger airlines thought to do so. Consider how Wal-Mart designed its entire logistics network around lowering the amount of time that it takes for stores to restock. There are different approaches, but the innovations should derive from analysis of the data that identifies areas where the company might potentially perform better. Maybe sourcing goods from a certain country is no longer the lowest cost method, given how long it takes to get those goods to marke t. There are different ways of conceptualizing a supply chain, and now that companies are able to use data analytics to make those decisions, it is likely that many firms will start to restructure their supply chain (Tan et al, 2015). Total cost will become more important, but so too will overall responsiveness. Sourcing locally might provide a company with the responsiveness it needs for certain products that have higher variability in demand, for example. Future Directions While there is presently a shortage of people who have strong data analysis skills, these skills are becoming increasingly in demand, and schools are starting to train more students in the use of big data. One of the important factors here is that data has become much cheaper – big data arises because the cost of acquiring any given data point is very small, and continuing to shrink. Retailers in particular have been able to reduce their cost of data acquisition dramatically (Chen, Chiang Storey, 2012). Key to learning about the use of data is how to identify the problems that can be solved with data, how to match the data you have with the problems that you want to solve, and then developing systems to acquire the data that you do not have. At this high level of understanding, a company that thinks a good data game is in a much better position because having the right data matters just as much as knowing what to do with that data (Hazen, et al, 2014). The cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving a lot of changes in the way companies do business, and big data is playing a significant role in this restructuring of business. Zaslavsky, Perera and Georgakopoulos (n.d.) note that data is becoming a service function, with companies preparing to offer the means by which data can be acquired as a service, and the same for data analytics. We know that data is cheap to acquire, but combine that with lowering costs of processing data and there is a business model here, as well as one that focuses on using data to enhance business. The IoT will be more engaged in the data gathering process. For example, while convention supply chain data gathering might involve devices at the store level, the IoT might drill down further, to the individual level. Ovens could know how many people are cooking a frozen pizza and this information could be sold to frozen pizza makers, so that they can get a better sense of not only the performance of the ir products but of their competitors as well. This is the example a hungry person thinks up, but with more devices having some internet capability, it seems likely that type of application will emerge. Tesla is already a leader in gathering data about driving from its cars (Edelstein, 2016 Hull, 2016). Another progressive idea is that of big data benchmarking. If it is possible to buy and sell data to the point where a company can learn about the best practices at all levels for multiple companies in an industry, that would be incredibly valuable information to any firm in that industry. With the data explosion has come a rapid pace of innovation in the gathering and use of data. With this will come firms that buy and sell data, without actually gathering their own. Until now, data has largely been proprietary in nature, as a key source of sustainable competitive advantage, but as the cost of data acquisition declines, this might not be the case much longer. Secondary markets for data are already emerging and ultimately data will become commoditized – this process might take many years but it will happen and that will make for interesting analysis about the future of data , in particular the extent to which data can continue to be a driver of competitive advantage going forw ard (Ghazal et al, 2013). Finally, big data is also becoming a competitive weapon, which makes security of big data a major issue. Companies that gather and own data sets, and in particular the usable intelligence that has been gathered from those data sets, are increasingly going to be targeted with hacks. Security of big data is going to be an issue going forward. This is especially true of supply chain data, because that is powerful business intelligence. So it will be necessary, especially when using remote or cloud solutions, that data security is paid attention to, as the more that data becomes a source of competitive advantage the more at risk it will likely be. Conclusion Supply chain management had already emerged as a force in business, a holistic view of the supply chain that started with logistics but incorporated purchasing, product design and marketing as well, in order that supply chain decisions were not just based on a simply understanding of cost, but a complex one that took into account a number of different variables. Ultimately, supply chain management required significant amounts of data to be effective, and this realization occurred at just the time that managers realized they had the ability to gather, store and process data much more cheaply and easily than before. The transactional value of data grew at precisely the time that the acquisition cost declined. Data is typically used to aid in managerial decision making. Some companies have focused on the low-level decision where they seek out incremental gains on repeatable processes, knowing that those processes and other companies have sought insight that will allow them to completely transform their supply chains. Big data has become so important because the companies that are using it tend to be the market leaders. It is apparent that there is a scale value to data, which means that the largest companies, ones that have more data and lower data acquisition costs, are going to have sustainable competitive advantage. This has driven demand for data experts, such that there is a shortage of such individuals. Big data is going to continue to influence supply chain decision-making. There will be more points at which data is gathered, and the cost of processing data will continue to drop. There will still be a strong need, however, for talent that can conceptualize how that data should be used – after all, companies need to ask the right questions to get the most out of their data. If they can do that, they can sustain competitive advantage. In addition to there being an increasing ability to gather data, another reality is that many companies are going to be in the business of selling data. A company like Google sells data by proxy with its advertising, but as data becomes commoditized, the market for data will become more developed. An interesting aspect of this is that competitive benchmarking will be more common with respect to data practices. Firms will need to be careful to ensure that their proprietary data is secure so that they can maintain the competitive advantages that their data is giving them. If they can, then they can gain first mover advantage for tactics that deliver incremental gains, or the complete overhaul of a system to take advantage of something gleaned from the data. References / Works Cited Boyd, D. Crawford, K. (2012). Critical questions for big data: Provocations for a cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomenon. Information, Communication and Society. 15 (5) 662-679. Chen, H., Chiang, R. Storey, V. (2012) Business intelligence and analytics: From big data to big impact. MIS Quarterly 36 (4) 1165-1188. Cooper, M. Ellram, L. (1993). Characteristics of supply chain management and the implications for purchasing and logistics strategy. International Journal of Logistics Management 4 (2) 13-24. Cooper, M., Lambert, D., Pagh, J. (1997). Supply chain management: More than a new name for logistics. The International Journal of Logistics Management. 8 (1) 1-14. Demirkan, H. Delen, D. (2013) Leveraging the capabilities of service-oriented decision support systems: Putting analytics and big data in cloud. Decision Support Systems. 55 (2013) 412-421. Edelstein, S. (2016) Teslas autonomous-car efforts use big data no other carmaker has. Green Car Reports. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108065_teslas-autonomous-car-efforts-use-big-data-no-other-carmaker-has Fugate, B, Sahin, F. Mentzer, J. (2005) Supply chain management coordination mechanisms. University of Tennessee. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian_Fugate/publication/228349679_Supply_Chain_Management_Coordination_Mechanisms/links/0c96051e3eaaa0280f000000/Supply-Chain-Management-Coordination-Mechanisms.pdf Hull, D. (2016) The Tesla advantage: 1.3 billion miles of data. Bloomberg. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/the-tesla-advantage-1-3-billion-miles-of-data Hult, G., Ketchen, D. Slater, S. (2004). Information processing, knowledge development and strategic supply chain performance. Academy of Management Journal. 47 (2) 241-253. LaValle, S., Lesser, E., Shockley, R., Hopkins, M. Kruschwitz, N. (2010). Big data, analytics and the path from insights to value. MIT Sloan Management Review. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/big-data-analytics-and-the-path-from-insights-to-value/ Lu, T., Guo, X., Xu, B., Zhao, L., Peng, Y., Yang, H. (2013). Next big thing in big data: The security of the ICT supply chain. IEEE Computer Society. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://diyhpl.us/~nmz787/pdf/Next_Big_Think_in_Big_Data__the_Security_of_the_ICT_Supply_Chain.pdf McAfee, A. Brynjolfsson, E. (2012). Big data: The management revolution. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://www.rosebt.com/uploads/8/1/8/1/8181762/big_data_the_management_revolution.pdf Provost, F. Fawcett, T. (2013) Data science and its relationship to big data and data-driven decision-making. Big Data. 1 (1) 51-59. Tan, K., Zhan, Y., Ji, G., Ye, F. Chang, C. (2015) Harvesting big data to enhance supply chain innovation capabilities: An analytic infrastructure based on deduction graph. International Journal of Economics. 165 (2015) 223-233. Waller, M. Fawcett, S. (2013). Data science, predictive analytics, and big data: A revolution that will transform supply chain design and management. Journal of Business Logistics. 34 (2) 77-84. Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. Papadopoulos, T. (2016). Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics. 176 (June 2016) 98-110. Zaslavsky, A., Perera, C. Georgakopoulos, D. (no date). Sensing as a service and big data. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1301/1301.0159.pdf

The American Experience Discussion Questions Essay

The American Experience Discussion Questions - Essay Example This legitimacy has been questioned over the years by various leaders such as Nelson Mandela who was quoted as saying "if there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America (Nagasaki and Hiroshima)"(Daily News, NY). The view of the role the U.S. has taken on has changed from positive to negative. The United States recently has taken on the role of hated and despised despite the fact that the U.S. has contributed billions in aid to other countries and sent in troops to support emerging democracies (Afghanistan and Iraq). There were many scientific advances made during World War II that affected the outcome of the war. By far medical care for wounded soldiers made tremendous leaps during the war. Medical care was designed to "conserve the strength and efficiency of the fighting forces so as to keep as many men at as many guns for as many days possible."(World War II Encyclopedia). Scientists created a better blood substitute called serum albumin and eventually science brought whole blood to the field or field hospitals to be given to wounded servicemen. With this advance more servicemen made it from the battlefield to the field hospitals and hospital ships for further life-saving care. Other advances such as treatments and preventives (DDT and Quinine) for malaria were developed.

The Free-Trade Area of the Americas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Free-Trade Area of the Americas - Essay Example For the past few years, diplomats from 34 nations have been working hard to push for the establishment of a free trade area. The following are reasons why governments across the Americas are pushing for the free trade area. First, a country will only specialize in selling goods and services which it can do be and trade with other nations for its wants. This is a representation of actual supply and demand of free trade market. This is because when a certain country concentrates the products that it can do best, such a country takes economy of scale advantage and manufactures their products at reduced production costs. Secondly, these governments argue that free trade area will lead to increased imports and exports, thus increasing the availability of products in the involved nations, therefore, bringing healthier competition. Another reason why governments across the Americas are pushing for a free trade area is that it will reduce living costs, thus increasing economic growth. This i s because it will do away with governmental interventions such as taxes and tariffs thus enabling consumers to purchase products at reduced costs. This will also bring good bond between the involved countries leading to healthier governance and diplomatic global ties. Anti-FTAA group claims that free trade agreement extends treaties that were already adopted (NAFTA and FTA) from the acute North of Tierra del Fuego, Canada, and NAFTA had noxious outcomes with Mexico and the impacts negatively workers in the United States and in Canada. Therefore, the protests argue that from this example, it is evident that the FTAA will bring disastrous effects on Latin America. From the protests point of view, the accords of Free Trade are Globalization masterpieces and thus they will allow deregulation as well as the opening of new markets through the elimination of trade barriers such as worker rights and environmental protection. Additionally, these accords will contribute to commodification and privatization of things such as education and healthcare services and due to globalization, Free Trade aims at enriching â€Å"world masters† called big capitalists and financiers.

Physilogical birth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Physilogical birth - Essay Example Physiologic birth is often relegated in the periphery, particularly by nurses tasked with giving care to pregnant women on the verge of the delivery process. Noteworthy, it is utterly pointless to intervene if such is not necessary. Physiological birth should, thus, be promoted to erase the horrible birth memories. As Jenifer Block notes in her piece titled â€Å"Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care†, a woman is more likely to have a positive birth experience when she feels in control. Such thoughts and emotions lessen the impact of labor pains. Interestingly, the doulas, the check –box birth plan, the Bradley method, Lamaze, and hypnobirthing classes –all give women some sense of control. The question is, if all these give pregnant women the needed control, then â€Å"why are there only 20% having optimal birth experiences, with a whooping 43% suffering morbidity in childbirth?† asks Block (2007). The answer seems quite straight forward as it is; a great deal of misunderstanding exists over what physiological birth really means. Consequently, that very misunderstanding finds its way to ruin that special moment of happiness due to knowledge inadequacy. While Obstetricians are trained to intervene in cases of emergencies, it is important to incorporate the perceptive lenses of natural birth when rendering care to the laboring women. As a specialist trained in this area, I will not only spread the very importance of physiological birth, beginning with my own family, but ensure as a medic that I only intervene when it is absolutely

Technology for patient safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology for patient safety - Essay Example fication of the patient, wrong drug prescription, infectious contact with staff, or a prescription that has a reactive quality with another drug already being administered, etc. Over the past few years the need to establish and regulate an effective safeguarding system for both; the patients and the staff, from the day to day errors was felt as a result of which newer technologies for patient safety were formed. This literature aims to address patient safety technologies. All the patient safety technologies and systems developed are first tested and verified to be compatible with certain standards of the Joint Commission or other respective certification organizations. For the effective functioning of the technologies and ensuring their working state; a health care facility must fulfill the standards provided by the certification authority which address issues like medication use, infection control, surgery and anesthesia, transfusions, restraint and seclusion, staffing and staff competence, fire safety, medical equipment, emergency management, and security. The process mentioned isn’t that simple so as to directly implement a certain technology. It is first tested in a health care facility and is first proven to be compatible not only with the health care environment but also with the patients and the other general community. These technologies also focus on detailed data provision to the doctors which is quite important since the doctor must be informed about the patient and his/her condition along with the patient being informed about the health care environment. Polls are taken amongst the patients to take into consideration their views and comfort to implement a certain Patient Safety Technology. For instance; results from a study at a quality of care unit in Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland, found that more than â€Å"90% of patients said they would agree to wear an ID bracelet†. With the accreditation of a health care institute comes the

Is the use of placebos as a control ethical when an effective standard Essay

Is the use of placebos as a control ethical when an effective standard of care medication is available (YES or No) - Essay Example This does not exclude the use of placebo, or no treatment, in studies where no proven prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic method exists.1i The revision does not ban placebo but allows it only when there is unanimous agreement among members of medical community that no effective treatment is available. In the absence of effective preferred treatment, placebo controlled trials are permissible. In all other cases, its use has been restricted on ethical grounds. Critics have raised objections to the absolutism of the revised version. The basic ethical concern is grounded in one complex question: Are the rights of the subject more important than potential for greater good of the society If it is felt that inefficacy of drugs can be tested through placebos and new drugs can be developed, should the researchers proceed with the trial or should they be concerned about welfare of the subjects to the extent that they abandon the research This is a question which definitely is not easy to answer. Proponents of the revised version support the declaration that: "In research on man, the interest of science and society should never take precedence over considerations related to the well being of the subject."ii Supporters of placebo controlled trial are of the view that use of an inactive agent is preferable to an active one because it provides an important static reference pointiii. Another major argument in favor of placebo use is connected with Food and Drug Administration in the US that does not approve any drug that has not been tested with placeboiv. While it is true that many resent the imperialistic stance of FDA, the fact remains that in most cases, clinical trials with placebo might appear to be the only option. It is true that welfare of the subjects is an important concern but equally important is the development of a better and more effective treatment. In case an effective treatment exists and the patient is suffering from a life threatening disease, it is better not to proceed with the placebo control method. But where a slight delay might not significant affect a patient and a clearly effective treatment is unavailable, use of placebo should be allowed unhindered. FDA on one occasion for example "argued that the low risk to subjects justifies the use of placebo arms in clinical trials when effective treatments are available and equipoise is therefore impossible."v It is possible to reach a consensus on the issue if we study the placebo control method carefully and delineate some clear rules as to when it can be applied. Emanuel, Miller offer a sound solution when they say, "A placebo-controlled trial has a sound scientific rationale if the following criteria are met: there is a high placebo-response rate; the condition is typically characterized by a waxing-and-waning course, frequent spontaneous remissions, or both; and existing therapies are only partly effective or have very serious side effects; or

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May be on any philosopher or logician (e.g., Aristotle), any pair of philosophers or logicians (e.g., Aristotle and Frege), an - Essay Example The Academy in Athens was the first institution in the Western World devoted to research and instruction in philosophy as well as other sciences. Plato’s works delve into political events and intellectual movements of his time while raising profound questions and tackling them in s richly suggestive and provocative manner that educates readers of nearly every period. As such, Plato’s works has been used as teaching material in varied subjects such as philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric as well as mathematics. In this regard, Plato along with Socrates and Aristotle played a crucial role in influencing the foundation of Western philosophy and Science. In essence, Plato expressed a sense of self-consciousness in regards to how we ought to conceive philosophy, its proper scope and ambitions. This paper seeks to discuss Plato’s contributions to the field of philosophy. In this regard, the paper discusses the biography of Plato and addresses his work in the field of ph ilosophy. ... In regards to Diogenes Laertius account, Plato derived the name Plato from the breadth of his expressiveness while his wrestling coach as well gave him that name in light of his stature. Plato had the quickness of mind and modesty as a young boy while his hard work and love of study made him a student of Socrates. Prior to meeting with Socrates, Plato had received instructions in grammar, music as well as gymnastics while he was as well acquainted with the Cratylus and the Heraclitean doctrines. After the death of Socrates, Plato traveled in Italy, Sicily, Egypt and Cyrene. He returned to Athens while at the age of forty and founded the Academy in Athens, one of the earliest known formal institutions of higher learning in Western Civilization. The Academy in Athens schooled many intellectuals with the most prominent one being Aristotle. Plato later delved into politics by associating in the politics of the city of Syracuse. Plato died in 347 BC while the details of his death remain s canty. The widely acclaimed accounts detail that he died in his sleep. In essence, the biography of Plato remains scanty in many areas owing to the lack of proper documentation of events during his era. Plato’s philosophical contributions Persistent themes One of the most persistent themes in Plato’s philosophical work is the relationship between a father and a son. Plato pays particular interest to the question whether the interests that a father has in relation to his son have profound influence on how well the son turn out. The factor influencing Plato’s concern in this theme is the fact that in ancient Athens, the social identity of a boy emerged from the social identity of his family. Plato differs from his mentor, Socrates, who mocks the

Is the use of placebos as a control ethical when an effective standard Essay

Is the use of placebos as a control ethical when an effective standard of care medication is available (YES or No) - Essay Example This does not exclude the use of placebo, or no treatment, in studies where no proven prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic method exists.1i The revision does not ban placebo but allows it only when there is unanimous agreement among members of medical community that no effective treatment is available. In the absence of effective preferred treatment, placebo controlled trials are permissible. In all other cases, its use has been restricted on ethical grounds. Critics have raised objections to the absolutism of the revised version. The basic ethical concern is grounded in one complex question: Are the rights of the subject more important than potential for greater good of the society If it is felt that inefficacy of drugs can be tested through placebos and new drugs can be developed, should the researchers proceed with the trial or should they be concerned about welfare of the subjects to the extent that they abandon the research This is a question which definitely is not easy to answer. Proponents of the revised version support the declaration that: "In research on man, the interest of science and society should never take precedence over considerations related to the well being of the subject."ii Supporters of placebo controlled trial are of the view that use of an inactive agent is preferable to an active one because it provides an important static reference pointiii. Another major argument in favor of placebo use is connected with Food and Drug Administration in the US that does not approve any drug that has not been tested with placeboiv. While it is true that many resent the imperialistic stance of FDA, the fact remains that in most cases, clinical trials with placebo might appear to be the only option. It is true that welfare of the subjects is an important concern but equally important is the development of a better and more effective treatment. In case an effective treatment exists and the patient is suffering from a life threatening disease, it is better not to proceed with the placebo control method. But where a slight delay might not significant affect a patient and a clearly effective treatment is unavailable, use of placebo should be allowed unhindered. FDA on one occasion for example "argued that the low risk to subjects justifies the use of placebo arms in clinical trials when effective treatments are available and equipoise is therefore impossible."v It is possible to reach a consensus on the issue if we study the placebo control method carefully and delineate some clear rules as to when it can be applied. Emanuel, Miller offer a sound solution when they say, "A placebo-controlled trial has a sound scientific rationale if the following criteria are met: there is a high placebo-response rate; the condition is typically characterized by a waxing-and-waning course, frequent spontaneous remissions, or both; and existing therapies are only partly effective or have very serious side effects; or

Health of Indigenous Peoples Essay Example for Free

Health of Indigenous Peoples Essay This essay seeks to demonstrate that whilst Indigenous health policy may have been on the Australian public policy agenda since the1960s, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health has remained. A brief description of the lives of Indigenous Australians prior to the colonisation of Australia is given, followed by a description of various policies that have been introduced by the Australian government to combat these inequalities. This essay demonstrates why these policies have been inadequate, in turn highlighting why the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge in creating Indigenous health policies is important. This essay closes with a brief examination of the Closing the Gap policy, which is utilising the knowledge of Indigenous Australians in creating culturally sensitive Indigenous health policies. In conclusion, this essay demonstrates that by including Indigenous Australians in the policymaking process, we might be starting to close the gap. The health inequality of Indigenous Australians has long been a concern for Australia and the world. Whilst the overall health of Australia has continued to improve, the health of Indigenous Australians remains at levels below those of non-indigenous Australians. Whilst it may seem that there is a lot being done to address these issues, the statistics demonstrate that policies implemented to address these issues have not been effective (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet 2010; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 29). The thesis of this essay is that whilst the government has been seen as attempting to address the issues of health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, it is only in recent times that the government has implemented programs that are anywhere near close to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. To demonstrate this thesis, this essay will firstly discuss the history of Indigenous health prior to colonisation. This will be done to highlight how Indigenous health has declined dramatically since colonisation. This essay will then discuss what the government has been doing since the 1967 referendum, in which Indigenous Australians were formally recognised in the Constitution, to address issues of health inequalities (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet 2010). In the next section, a discussion on the reasons why there is a large gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous health will occur. This will be followed by a discussion on the utilisation of Indigenous knowledge to provide adequate health services. This essay will finally discuss the current Closing The Gap policy (Australian Human Rights Commission 2011), which has been introduced to address issues that previous policies have failed to. This will be done to highlight the fact that whilst it may seem that as the Indigenous population require the knowledge and assistance of its non-indigenous counter parts, what is evident is that health of Indigenous populations has in fact declined since the colonisation of Australia. Failing to recognise the correlation between colonisation and declining health of Indigenous people, will only see a continuation of the problem rather than seeing a positive change. Whilst the information pertaining to the health of Indigenous Australians prior to colonisation in 1788 appears to be scarce, what is known is that Indigenous health has been on the decline since the arrival of European settlers. Indigenous Australians were considered to be healthier than those of their colonisers (Flood 2006, p. 120). Prior to colonisation, there was no contact with the outside world and therefore infectious diseases were minimal. Due to the introduction of new illnesses from colonisation, the population of Indigenous Australians declined (Carson 2007, p. 43). It was also common for Indigenous women to contract sexual diseases from the often non-consensual contact with the colonisers (Carson 2007, p. 44). Health was also impacted upon by change in diet. Prior to colonisation, Indigenous Australians maintained a diet of protein and vegetables due to the animals and plants available to them (Flood 2006, p.120), as well as the exercise they maintained from hunting and gathering (Flood 2006, p. 122). After colonisation, the Indigenous diet included many foods which saw an increase in obesity, diabetes and heart disease (O’Dea 1991, p. 233). It was not just the introduction of disease and change in die that impacted upon Indigenous Australians’ health. Anthropological studies surrounding Indigenous culture have shown that Indigenous populations have close ties to the land, as the land is incorporated into their sense of being. Pieces of land belonged to particular groups of individuals, and the objects from the natural landscape were considered to be part of their history (Carson 2007, p. 180). It was the failure of colonisers to understand this worldview that has contributed to the deterioration of mental health amongst Indigenous Australians, as they were forced off their lands and into settlements and reserves (Carson 2007, p. 49). This contributed to the feeling of being disconnected from land and family, exacerbating feelings of not be longing, lack of identity and low self-esteem (Ypinazar et al.2007,p. 474). As one can see, the issue of health amongst Indigenous Australians is a complex one, complicated by the differing world views of Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It is due to this lack of understanding that has resulted in a myriad of health policies that have attempted to address the issue of health inequality of Indigenous Australians. The first health policy to address the health issues of Indigenous Australians was implemented in 1968, with thirty five adjustments made between then and 2006. Without going into the details of every amendment or new policy, what was common throughout this timeline, was that there were various bodies and institutions created to address the issues that had not been adequately addressed previously, responsibilities were allocated by the government to the states and territories, and programs were implemented to address health issues. Change in governments also meant that policies were constantly changing, which meant that the ways in which health issues were seen and therefore addressed also changed (Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet 2010). When attempting to implement a policy that will adequately address the issue, what has been found is that comparative analysis has been used to determine how health issues have been addressed in other countries. Whilst this kind of analysis may be sufficient in some circumstances, it does not suit such a situation where our Indigenous population’s culture and worldview is unlike that of any other. For example, whilst health issues may be similar to those of Indigenous populations elsewhere, worldviews which impact upon health and wellbeing will vary and may not be able to be applied from one culture to another (Tsey et al.2003, p. 36). One event that highlights the differing views on how issues should be addressed, was the closing down of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) by the John Howard Government in 2004 (Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet2010). What was significant about this was that Indigenous health policy had been the responsibility of ATSIC. This action effectively removed the responsibility of Indigenous health from the Indigenous people and placed the responsibility with mainstream departments that were also responsible for non-indigenous health. By doing this, the government had  wound back many years of work to address the health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, perceiving Indigenous Australians as a culture that could not look after themselves and needed instead the knowledge and expertise of the superior colonialists (Kay Perrin 2007, p. 19). By removing the responsibility of Indigenous health from ATSIC and placing it in the hands of a body that was also responsible for non-indigenous health, the government failed to understand the intricacies of Indigenous Australian culture and the implications that this kind of action can have on Indigenous health. Whilst the overall health of Australians is amongst the top third of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 8). There is a clear disparity between Indigenous and non-indigenous health, when one considers that even in this day and age of modern medicine, Indigenous Australians are expected to live twelve years less than their non-indigenous counterparts for males, and ten years less for females (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 29). So what are considered to be the reasons for this inequality? What has already been highlighted, is that Indigenous health has suffered from the introduction to changes in diet, introduction of diseases both airborne and venereal, and the impact upon mental health due to dispossession of land and loss of kinship. Mental health issues can also be connected to the economic and social disadvantage of many Indigenous individuals, which can lead to substance abuse and other issues (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 33). The failure to adequately address mental health issues has resulted in deaths by suicide being the second biggest reason for deaths by injury (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 30). These figures demonstrate that policies have clearly not been working. A salient point to note is that Indigenous Australians are the least likely group of the whole population, to access important health services. So what are the reasons behind this lack of access to services? It can be as simple as the kind of service that an individual receives. From personal experience of serving Indigenous customers, tone of voice can be misinterpreted. What may be considered polite in most circumstances, can be misconstrued as being conceited by others. Use of language can also be a barrier. For example, (again from personal experience), language has to be altered to manoeuvre these barriers, such as replacing the term ‘bank account’ with the word ‘kitty’. Other barriers may include the fact that in remote communities, health professionals may also be the town judge, which may deter Indigenous people from accessing the services from a person who might have also been responsible for sentencing an individual or a member of their family (Paul 1998, p.67). Barriers such as the remote locations of individuals in comparison to the services, and the cost of services also have to be taken into account. For example, if a service is some distance away from an individual, the cost of travelling may be too high. The cost of services close by may also be too expensive for individuals, or individuals may receive poor treatment due to either being turned away from services, or mistreatment due to racialist beliefs. This may result in individuals travelling long distances due to this very mistreatment in their own communities (Paul 1998, pp.67-68). The misconception that all Indigenous Australians are one group of people can also result in culturally inadequate services, deterring individuals from accessing important health services (Paul 1998, p. 68). This lack of understanding about Indigenous cultures when providing health services has resulted in a rise in the provision of health services that are either run by Indigenous individuals, or have been created in consultation with Indigenous individuals, to ensure that the services being provided are culturally adequate. An example that highlights this can be seen in the creation of a program in 1998in the Northern Territory that was attempting to address the health inequalities of Indigenous children (Campbell et al 2005, p. 153). There were many problems with this programme because the people that were overseeing the programme did not have cultural knowledge that was a factor in the health and wellbeing of the children. What resulted was a program which was implemented in an Indigenous remote community, which utilised the knowledge of Indigenous people from the community itself. This allowed for the programme to be altered when issues were addressed and individuals within the community were able to provide solutions to issues, rather than being told what was going to happen by an outside authority (Campbell etal. 2005, p. 155). Whilst this programme realised that a bottom-up approach was more beneficial than a top-down one which usually occurs in policy implementation, there were issues because the programme also involved people from the outside that were there to manage the programme, who were unwilling to give total control to the community, generating feelings of disempowerment, resentment and marginalisation (Campbell et al. 2005, p. 156). Whilst there are many examples of programs that have been implemented to address the health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, one that deserves mentioning because of success that it has had are the men’s groups in Yaba Bimbie and Ma’Ddaimba Balas (McCalman et al. 2010, p. 160). What was found was that these programs were successful because they were run by Indigenous men who had direct knowledge of the cultural issues and needs of the community as they also lived there. They were also successful because the men felt included in their communities by having control, rather than being controlled by an outside source. Due to these men’s groups, individuals were able to come together and share their concerns about their community, and as the others also were from the same community, they were able to contribute to solutions to the problems by feeling able to speak freely about their concerns. One such concern was anger management issues, which were exacerbated by the social issues that the individuals faced (McCalman et al. 2010, p. 163). Whilst, issues like this may seem to be separate, they in fact contribute to other areas, as has been mentioned earlier in regards to mental health and suicide, which flow on to other members of the community, when there may be no one in the family who is able to earn an income, which contributes to poverty. This may in turn, render an individual unable to access services as previously mentioned. As one can see, when individuals who are directly impacted by issues, are included in finding solutions to address these issues, there is more success than when they are not included. It is the understanding of this that has seen the implementation of the Close The Gap policy (Australian Human Rights Commission 2011). This policy is based on the understanding that the concept of health is different in the eyes of Indigenous Australians than that of non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2009). This policy has sought to reduce the gap of inequality between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians by reducing the gap in life expectancy by 2031, halving mortality rates of children by2018, ensuring equal access to early childhood education by 2013, halving the gap in the area of inability to read and write by 2018, halving the gap of individuals who attain their Year 12 education by 2020 and halving the gap of unemployment rates by 2018 (Gillard2011, p. 2). Various programmes have been implemented to address these issues, with a common theme of inclusion. That is, the programs all involve Indigenous Australians who have a better cultural understanding than non-indigenous Australians. This has allowed for individuals to work with their own communities, various levels of government, non-government organisations and businesses (Gillard 2011, p. 6). By doing so, it has provided individuals with a sense of control and purpose over their own lives, which has seen a decrease in the mortality rates of Indigenous Australians (Gillard2011, p. 12), as well as a reduction in the rates of reading and writing problems (Gillard 2011, p. 14). There has also been a significant increase in the numbers of Indigenous Australians aiming towards their Year 12 qualifications (Gillard 2011, p. 16), as well as a decrease in the number of unemployed in the Indigenous population (Gillard 2011, p. 17). Whilst these figures are promising, one has to look at some of the programs that have been implemented as a result of this policy, to see if lessons have been learned from past mistakes, or if similar mistakes are being made. One such program that is deemed to be addressing issues of inequality is the Welfare Payment Reform act, which allowed the government to withhold portions of welfare payments (Gruenstein 2008, p. 468). This was to ensure that portions of the payment were going to required living expenses before going to things such as alcohol. Whilst this may seem as though it is an important step in addressing issues within communities, what is important to note is that policies such as these are in direct violation of the Racial Discrimination Convention because they directly target Indigenous individuals solely because they are Indigenous and are not necessarily in need of intervention (Gruenstein, 2008, p. 469). Whilst the Closing the Gap policy has good intentions, it can result in actions that treat Indigenous Australians as a homogenous group, rather than recognising the variation of issues. In conclusion, this essay has demonstrated that Australia has come a long way in addressing the issues of inequality amongst Indigenous Australians. It has been demonstrated that Indigenous Australians were in good health prior to colonisation, and only since colonisation has the health of Indigenous Australians has declined. This essay has also shown that the different governments have varied between allowing Indigenous Australians self-determination, or be included in the process of policy making, to the government seizing control of the issues, excluding the Indigenous community from decision making. Whilst it has been shown that the government has been addressing issues for well over 40 years, it has only been in recent times that issues of inequality have begun to be adequately addressed. By understanding that it is Indigenous Australians who are better able to understand their issues, which stem from the actions of non-indigenous peoples and allowing Indigenous Australians to take control of their own lives, will we start to close the gap of health inequality between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.