Not So Young At Heart - 1635 Words

My grandmother was a lifelong smoker until she quit cold turkey in the early 1970’s. At that time, this was one of, if not the only, ways to quit. Nowadays, we have several different methods that are available to quit. These include support groups, e-cigarettes, gum, nasal sprays, etc. With an abundance of resources, quitting has become easier than ever. And as quitting has become easier, awareness is at is peak with the rise of the Internet and social media. The stigma around smoking is growing, and the health effects are becoming more noticeable and easily communicated. This invokes the following question: Why do people continue to smoke, knowing that it will damage their health? This advertisement, titled â€Å"Not-so-young at heart† was initially created in Australia, photographed by Chris Cordeiro. It was created by the Agency, EURO RSCG Sydney for the product Nicotinelli Nicotine Gum. The ad was distributed in May of 2008 and appeared on World No Tobacco Day, May 31st. I found this image through the database provided to me in class, however through further research was able to find the origin of it at advertolog.com. World No Tobacco Day is observed every year on May 31st and is intended to discourage the use of tobacco on that day in hopes of encouraging tobacco users to continue their abstinence as the year progresses. The setting of this ad is fairly homely as it seems to be taking place in the backyard of a house, with plants and trees in the background.Show MoreRelatedShould Student Get Screen For Heart Disease Before Athletics?1539 Words   |  7 Pagesdying of a heart attack at an early age? Should student get screen for heart disease before athletics? Sadly In today’s society, student athletes are dying of heart attacks, at an early age. Which is why student athletes should be required to get screened for heart disease. When the individual gets a screening, they should take both popular diagnostic tests, such as the electrogram (EKG) and the echocardiography (ECHOS). Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in young athletes (DreznerRead MoreThe Medical Science Of Cardiology1179 Words   |  5 PagesYoung 1 The Medical Science of Cardiology Have you ever felt your heart race after a run, or when you watch a movie, your heart stops? Well, your heart is an incredibly important organ within the human body that keeps you alive and helps run your body. The heart is such an important component of the body. If something goes wrong, it needs to be taken care of immediately; this urgent job is given to cardiologists. Cardiology is the medical science of treatment of the heart. This science isRead MoreGustave Flaubert A Simple Heart Essay1195 Words   |  5 PagesGustave Flaubert A Simple Heart Gustave Flaubert’s short story, A Simple Heart, is the narrative account of one woman’s painfully unrewarding life as a humble and blindly dedicated servant, Felicite. Throughout the story chronicling her life, she suffers a series of heartbreaking losses, but continues to love unconditionally nonetheless. A Simple Heart brings up themes of death and loss, and unquestioning duty and responsibility. It also calls into question conventional religious beliefRead MoreThe Dollar Baby Is A Film About Loss, Perseverance, And Love845 Words   |  4 Pagesand trials of life, the film depicts characters having heart. The characters show heart in the film by rendering motivation, kindness and love. Scrap, Maggie, Frankie, and Danger all different characters are similar in that they have heart. They all show in various ways what it means to have heart and live life. Million Dollar Baby film showed characters having heart. The tall old black man that had worn down clothes was a tough but yet had heart. The old black man’s face was wrinkled with a gray beardRead MoreCultural Observation Project Essay examples1473 Words   |  6 Pages I went to this location on a Saturday night, where it was full of young people. The weather outside was warm, but rainy, so I believe this caused even more people to look for indoor fun, so the mall was packed on this Saturday night. I began my observation in the food court, which is near the movie theatre. This is definitely a hot spot in the mall for young people. I got something to eat and began to observe. Most young people were not with their families, but were with their friends insteadRead MoreThe Fountain Of Health : A Disease Caused By Degeneration Of Your Brain962 Words   |  4 Pagesin her hand just a minute ago. This is a heart-breaking disease that no one wants to see their loved one’s suffer from, but it seems to be almost inevitable as you start to age. This is only one of the many diseases caused by age, however thanks to amazing scientists and our much advanced technology they have been able to come up with a solution to all of these issues. The solution would be injecting a young humans blood, which is someone who is very young and healthy, into someone who is old whoRead MoreAnalysis Of `` Peace `` By Rupert Brooke1683 Words   |  7 Pagesin his poem â€Å"Peace† addresses the value and honor of fighting in war. Brooke hopes to inform readers that war is a gift and that those who are able to fight should do so willingly, with great pride and honor. He adopts a passionate and serious tone in order to appeal to the feelings and experiences in his intended audience of young English males. Brooke challenges his intended audience by combatting their pessimistic beliefs of war. Brooke’s sonnet â€Å"Peace† was written during an era of war. DifferentRead MoreBob Cilman And Judith Sharpe Organized Young @ Heart898 Words   |  4 PagesBob Cilman and Judith Sharpe organized Young@Heart in 1982. The group s hometown is located in Northampton Massachusetts. The mission of the Young@Heart Chorus is to present a unique and positive image of aging. Growing old does not have to be a bad thing and this film did a good job of showing that. There can even be positive outcomes as we age, but only if we attend to our physical health, cognitive abiliti es, engagement in social and productive activities, and have a subjective sense of lifeRead MoreThe Effects Of Heart Failure On The Elderly1264 Words   |  6 Pagesour bodies start to deteriorate and the normal functions of our young blood will not be as efficient. Usually the blood in our bodies can’t reach certain organs or specific biomolecules in the blood aren’t being provided enough to these vital instruments of our bodies. This leaves a pathway for many diseases and failures in our organs. However, a current study shows that there may be a solution to the dreaded breakdown of our hearts and other functioning organs in our bodies. At Harvard UniversitiesRead MoreAnalysis of Romeo and Juliets Exchange in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet593 Words   |  3 Pagesloyalty. We see love: at first sight, which is one-sided and between young lovers. We also see love in old ages between members of one family and lost and found again. The modern reader will face certain difficulties in Romeo and Juliet. These difficulties consist not so much in the strength of the words or the structure of the sentence. The names Romeo and Juliet have come to epitomize passionate young love; so successful was Shakespeare in creating these characters through

A Comparison of Exxon and Chevron - 1707 Words

Executive Summary Exxon and Chevron are no doubt some of the leading incorporated oil companies on the globe. Exxon Corp. is the second largest oil firm after Royal Dutch Shell, it is respected for getting the biggest revenue return in 2008 which no company in the U.S. have ever reported before. According to Wilson (2009) Chevron has managed to show a lot of profitability in the market despite the decease in its oil production. It graded as one of firms which made a billion dollars profit within a week in the period of July to September 2008. Regardless of profitability trends set by the two oil firms in the U.S. market, they have been facing financial decline like the rest of the companies in other industries. The two firms are like two sailing ships which are taking longer time to sink. In the last few years, the production capacity of Chevron and Exxon has decreased and their listings on the stock market have become weak. The continuation of construction and drilling which requires billions of doll ars in expense of oil production might make them experience a bigger financial crisis (Wilson, 2009). Exxon and Chevron are so different in a number of ways. When you compare Chevron to Exxon, Chevron is a smaller firm. The ratios of Exxon are relatively larger than Chevrons. Nevertheless, Chevron has a got a wide net working capital and market ratio than its counterpart Exxon. This therefore, means that because its larger networking capital, Chevron needs a lot of moneyShow MoreRelatedEssay on Exxon Mobil and Chevron Financial Performance2071 Words   |  9 Pagesexxon mobil and chevron Exxon Mobil and Chevron Financial Performance Understanding the key ratios of a company is very important for investors. Each ratio uncovers the inner workings of the company, and may lead an investor to make a decision on whether to invest in the company, or to continue looking elsewhere. Exxon Mobil and Chevron are both in the same industry, and are virtually household names. In this study, key ratios of these two companies will be analyzed, and a comparison of resultsRead MoreThe Company Corporation And Exxon Corporation Essay1602 Words   |  7 Pages ExxonMobil, is the largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world. It was formed from the merger of Mobil Corporation and Exxon Corporation and it is best known in many countries by the brand names Exxon, Esso, and Mobil. The company was incorporated on August 5, 1882 and it operates through five different segments: Upstream, Downstream, Chemical, and Corporate and Finance. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. The Downstream segment manufactures andRead MoreExxon Mobil Financial Analysis1272 Words   |  6 PagesExxon Mobil By analyzing Exxon Mobil’s financial statements we obtained financial ratios which led me to the conclusion that Exxon Mobil is mildly profitable, however they have some areas that might require attention. We can support this conclusion by analyzing what the implications of certain ratios are, and how they apply to Exxon Mobil. To make things brief will pick out a prominent ratio from four different categories (liquidity/short term debt ratios, turnover ratios, long-term debt ratiosRead MoreExxon Mobil1642 Words   |  7 PagesCompany Description Exxon mobile also know as Xom in the New York Stock Exchange is on of the largest producers of fossil fuels. Exxon engages in oil and gas exploration, production, supply, transportation and marketing in a global economy (Bloomberg). They hold over 13 billion barrels of oil in reserve. Exxon also has thirty eight refineries spread over 21 countries (Annual Report). The company also has a thought put capacity of 6.3 million barrels of oil daily. Target Market Exxon has a huge targetRead MoreEssay about Exxonmobil Study1654 Words   |  7 PagesExxon Mobil †¢ Multinacional americana †¢ ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3 percent of the worlds oil and about 2 percent of the worlds energy †¢ Resultado de la fusià ³n de Exxon y Mobil en 1998, en un acuerdo de US$ 73.7 billones †¢ Ambas empresas son descendentes de histà ³rica Standard Oil, fundada en 1870 por John D. Rockefeller †¢ Marcas: o Exxon o Mobil o Esso †¢ Casa Matriz: IrvingRead MoreAssignment 2 Challenges in the Global Business Environment Essay2235 Words   |  9 Pagessold some Gulf stations and a refinery, SoCal changed their name to Chevron Corporation. In 2001, Chevron Corporation acquired Texaco to form Chevron Texaco. In 2005, Chevron Texaco announced it would drop the Texaco. Today, the Chevron Corporation is the second-largest US integrated oil company ( behind Exxon Mobil) and is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. Chevron is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Watson and governedRead MoreFinancial Analysis of Exxon Mobil Corporation3115 Words   |  13 PagesIntroduction This report consists of financial analysis of Exxon Mobil Corporation and it is based on the company annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, on the company’s official documents placed at their website and on other appropriate sources. For convenience and simplicity, in this report the terms ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso and Mobil, as well as terms like Corporation, Company, their and its, are sometimes used as abbreviated references to specific affiliates or groups of affiliatesRead MoreEffect of Oligopoly on Economy1549 Words   |  7 Pagesfirm have the power to retaliate. This results in a high concentration of the industry in only 2 to 10 firms with large market shares. The gasoline industry is an oligopoly in the United States: it is dominated by a few giant firms such as Exxon, Mobil, Chevron and Texaco. Note, however, that many small firms exist in the market: small independent gas stations which sell in just one city or just a limited region. OLIGOPOLY CONCENTRATION CAUSES The most notable causes for the high concentrationRead MoreFinancial Research Report Essay3621 Words   |  15 Pagesdriving your decision as a financial manager: Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon Mobil) is a manufacturer and marketer of commodity petrochemicals, including olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics and a range of specialty products. It also has interests in electric power generation facilities. The company has a numerous divisions and affiliates that include Exxon Mobil, Exxon, Esso or Mobil. Divisions and affiliated companies of Exxon Mobil not only operate but also market productsRead MoreCase Analysis : Exxon Chevron Corporation2318 Words   |  10 PagesThis is the audit project memo of Exxon Mobil Corporation, at your request, it is consists of a brief introduction of the background, the analysis of inherent risk, control risk and detection risk. In the detection risk section, revenue recognition policy was been selected as the target of the following analytical procedures and substantive procedures. At the end, based on the evaluation and analytical procedures performed in this paper, the inherent risk is moderate to high, the control risk is

Guess, Inc. Free Essays

string(128) " to listening and responding to the needs of our customers, associates and business partners, and honor their individual value\." Guess? , Inc. What started as a small family owned jeans boutique has flourished into a global lifestyle brand. Guess? , Inc. We will write a custom essay sample on Guess, Inc. or any similar topic only for you Order Now currently designs, markets, distributes, and licenses a leading lifestyle collection of contemporary apparel and accessories for men, women, and children that mirror the American lifestyle, while grasping European fashion sensibilities. While the foundation of Guess, Inc. ’s history and massive success can be attributed to their roots in the sale of jeans, Guess, Inc. has now expanded globally, granting licenses for the manufacture and distribution of a full line of product categories. Guess, Inc. perates in 87 countries, with the majority of the stores in the U. S. and Canada. As of 2010, Guess has 1292 stores, 504 in North America, 441 in Europe, and 347 in South East Asia (Breif History of the Company and the Marciano Brothers). The company has agreements with 17 licensees. Throughout the past 30 years, Guess, Inc. has made every effort to maintain their status as a global phenomenon. History CEO and Chairman, Maurice Marciano, and Co-Chairman,  Paul Marciano The epitome of a successful family business, Guess, Inc was founded in 1981 by the four Marciano brothers, Georges, Armand, Paul, and Maurice (Guess? Inc. ). They came equipped with experience in the fashion industry, having previously owned and operated a chain of twelve retail stores in France (Guess, Inc. ). The brothers moved to California from Marseilles, France in 1977, where Guess was born, starting as a small jeans company. Georges Marciano was the designer of the jeans, and the brothers gave them the name â€Å"Guess† as they believed that word to be easy to pronounce due to their limited English (Guess, Inc. ). The company’s original jeans were innovative for its time, stone-washed, made to fit tightly, and featured zippers at the ankles. They called this the â€Å"Marilyn Jean† (Guess, Inc. ), and the style lived up to its name, with a sexy, unique style and attitude. They had a softer feel and lighter colors than typical denim jeans. They also featured the classic Guess triangle on the back pocket, which would soon become the distinctive Guess trademark. Believing strongly in his family’s jean business, Georges flew to New York, and convinced Bloomingdale’s to display 30 pairs of his European-style jeans on consignment in the Bloomingdale’s flagship New York store (Guess, Inc. ). Within three hours, Bloomingdale’s sold out every pair. Demand for the jeans soon skyrocketed, and the brothers would find themselves overwhelmed. Though he possessed no previous advertising experience, the brothers appointed Paul Marciano as their advertising director, in hope of expanding their capital. This proved to be wildly successful, as Paul would design an ad campaign that would revolutionize the way jeans and other clothing were sold. Seeking to take a different direction from the typical studio design, Paul brought the models and the jeans outdoors, using grainy black-and-white photography. He had the models show off the jeans using provocative poses, which would later be described by Forbes Magazine as â€Å"catering to teenage cravings for sex, power, attention, and self-love†¦electric not only with sexuality, but with an implicit brutality and exhibitionism as well. † (GUESS INC (NYSE: GES) | Balance Sheet). These controversial ads would quickly create a household name for Guess. By the end of 1982, their jeans produced about $12 million in revenue (Guess, Inc. ). Over the next 15 years, Guess would grow from a company of 30 pairs of jeans, to a globally diversified billion-dollar empire. Legal Battles Overwhelmed by their increasing costs to produce, the Marciano brothers sought a solution to expand their capital and access cheaper foreign labor. In July 1983, they signed an agreement with the Nakash brothers of the company Jordache which would entitle the Nakash brothers to 50% ownership of Guess, Inc. in exchange for $4. 8 million, as well as the use of Jordache’s Hong Kong manufacturing plants (Guess, Inc. ). This deal also licensed Jordache to produce a new line of jeans, entitled Gasoline, using parts of Guess designs in a lower-priced line. However, Guess made a mistake in putting their trust in the Nakash brothers, and neglecting to provide written assurances in the agreement to protect each company against creating knock-off’s of each other’s designs. This mistake would soon come back to haunt them, in their biggest legal battle to date. The Marcianos sued the Nakash brothers on charges of unfair competition, accusing them of using their position on the Guess board of directors and their access to Guess designs in the Hong King plant to produce clothing in their Jordache line that were clear knockoffs of Guess designs. In the suit, the Marcianos sought to null the 1983 agreement that had given Nakashes ownership of half of Guess (Guess, Inc. ). This battle would continue for the next five years, eventually ending with the two sets of brothers settling out of court, and the Marcianos regaining full control of the business. Estimated attorney fees were as high as $10 million per year for each side (Guess, Inc. ). This was an ugly legal battle that cost Guess Inc. an unnecessary amount of funds. 1982 also bought a smaller legal battle with Jeff Hamilton, Inc. Guess sought to enter the menswear market by obtaining a licensing agreement with this company. Under this agreement, Jeff Hamilton, Inc would market a line of clothing under the Guess name in exchange for a 7% royalty fee (Guess, Inc. ). However, Guess soon decided that Hamilton was targeting the young men’s market too strongly, and did not approve of Hamilton’s â€Å"dumping† of Guess merchandise in large discount stores, which was hurting the label’s high-end image. Guess sought to terminate the license agreement, which they eventually succeeded in doing in 1986. This extensive legal battle resulted in a slow growth for Guess menswear. Marketing Promotional Strategies Guess is backed by their corporate mission statement; â€Å"At Guess, we are committed to being a worldwide leader in the fashion industry. We will deliver products and services of uncompromising quality and integrity consistent with our brand and our image. We are committed to listening and responding to the needs of our customers, associates and business partners, and honor their individual value. You read "Guess, Inc." in category "Papers" We are dedicated to personal and professional enrichment through an environment of open communication, creativity, teamwork, trust, and respect. We continue to give back to the community, support humanity, and protect the environment as part of our responsibility. We remain committed to an entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the growth of our Company and increased shareholder value. Through principled leadership we will embrace diversity, cultivate strength, pride and passion to align our personal life and our professional life. (The Guess Mission Statement). The target customer for Guess is a young, affluent adult, between the ages of 18 and 32. Guess makes every effort to live by this mission statement every day, and uses a variety of creative marketing and promotional strategies to further entice the target customer to purchase Guess products. The mission statement is executed everyday in Guess, Inc’s corporate strategy, which focuses on the long term. Guess is a global compa ny known for their quality, trend-setting styles, and marketing creativity. In realizing the importance of diversity, and consumers’ needs to constantly have something new, Guess never fails to bring forward new products and images to keep their name alive. While originally gaining momentum with their jeans, Guess now manufacturers and distributes a wide range of product lines. Once realizing their success, in the 80’s, the Marciano brothers decided to increase their potential, and expand beyond men’s and women’s jeans. Baby GUESS? , GUESS? watches, GUESS? footwear, GUESS? eyewear, and GUESS? fragrances were introduced. Wishing to continue their expansion, Guess introduced even more products in the late 90’s, including an entire collection of GUESS handbags, active wear, jewelry, swimwear, innerwear, leather, belts, neckwear, and men’s classics (CITE- annual report). Around the millennium, Guess introduced their website, opening the company to a whole other world of potential. Guess operates in 6 different store concepts in an attempt to appeal to a variety of different markets. The original GUESS? retail stores carry a full assortment of full-priced Guess products, including men’s and women’s merchandise, and licensed products. GUESS? factory outlet stores are primarily located in outlet malls, and sell a select assortment of men’s and women’s apparel and licensed products at lower price points. GUESS by MARCIANO stores were introduced in the summer of 2004 (GUESS INC (NYSE: GES) | Balance Sheet), in an attempt to recapture the company’s glamorous image. The Marciano chain offers apparel and accessories that are sexy, yet sophisticated. The target market for these stores is slightly older customers interested in higher-end clothing and accessories such as ritzy evening dresses and fancy jeans. G by GUESS stores offers Guess products at a lower price point than Guess retail stores, in order to target a wider demographic. These stores carry apparel for men and women, as well as a full line of accessories and footwear. Products in this line provide a more fun, youthful image; fashion-forward, yet not cutting edge fashion. GUESS? accessories stores sell GUESS? and GUESS by Marciano labeled accessory products. Finally, GUESS also operates in an e-commerce segment, with websites in 6 different languages (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). Guess is known for their iconic black-and-white print advertisements and logos that have maintained a level of consistency throughout the company’s history. The aim of Guess advertisements is to place more of an emphasis on the brand image than on the actual products (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). All Guess advertisements use similar themes and images, primarily using outdoor images. Guess images have been showcased in international print campaigns in virtually all major magazines, on television, billboards, bus shelters, and advertisements throughout the world. The image of the Guess model has become a pop culture icon in the history of fashion advertising. Guess model, Anna Nicole Smith, in the early 1990’s Drew Barrymore Adriana Lima Paris HIlton Guess brought forth the faces of many future supermodels in their sexy promotional campaigns, including names such as Anna Nicole Smith, Claudia, Schiffer, , Drew Barrymore, Jessica Miller, Cindy Taylor, Minki Van Der Westhuizen, and Shana Zadrick (Guess? Inc. News- Company Information). Iconic models, actresses and all-round sex-bombs have all pouted and posed for these successful Guess ad campaigns. It goes without saying that Guess has been such an influential brand in the fashion world. Sales Trends Financial Data For the first quarter of 2012, Guess, Inc reported net earnings of $42. 7 million. This was a 15. 2% decrease from the first quarter of the fiscal year 2011, in which Guess, Inc. reported net earnings of $50. 3 million (Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results). Balance Sheet from www. FORBES. com For the entire year, ending January 29 ,2011, net earnings for Guess, Inc were reported at $289. 5 million, an increase of 19. %, with gross profit increasing to $1090. 2 million, an increase of 15. 8%. Total net revenue increased to $2,487. 3 million, and gross margin decreased from the previous year to 43. 8% of total revenues (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). The decrease in gross margin was attributed to the negative impact of the stronger U. S. dollar on product purchases, increased occupancy costs due to retail expansion in Europe, lower initial mark-ups in Europe, and higher markdowns in the North American retail segment (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). Earnings from operations were reported at $404. million, a 12. 8% increase from the prior year, and other income, including interest income and expense, totaled $16. 7 million (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). As of January 29, 2011, Guess, Inc. had $442. 1 million in cash and cash equivalents, down $60. 0 million from 2010. In breaking down all of their marketing segments, Guess, Inc found that once again, the largest increase in gross profit came from their European segment. In Europe, revenues increased 23. 2% to $920. 3 million. Revenues produced by other segments were reported as follows: North American Retail- Net Revenue: $1069. 9 million * Earnings from Operations: $122. 6 million * Operation Margin: 11. 5% Asia- * Net Revenue: $53. 6 million * Earnings from Operation: $28. 6million * Operating Margin: 14. 3% North American Wholesale- * Net Revenue: $181. 0 million * Earnings from Oper ations: $46. 2 million * Operating Margin: 25. 5% (Maurice Marciano and Marciano) Despite setbacks from their legal battles (The Marciano brothers believed they would have exceeded $1 billion in sales by their 10th anniversary, had it not been for the court cases) (Guess? Inc. ), Guess sales flourished from the very beginning. 1984 brought sales of $150 million, and in 1987, the company reached profits of $100 million, with sales reaching $350 million (Guess, Inc. ). At that time, Guess retail stores grew to 19 locations, and sales reached $575 million in 1990 (Guess, Inc. ). In 1991, Guess strategically increased their advertising budget to $22 million. This worked in their favor, as the company earned enough profits to add 33 more stores by the end of the year, including the European flagship store in Florence, Italy. Sales slowed during the recession in the early 1990’s (Guess, Inc. ). However, the men’s collection took an opposite approach, and sales skyrocketed, with a 41% sales growth in 1991 alone (Guess, Inc. ). By the end of the year, menswear sales would account for 40 of total company sales. During this time, Guess also began to see the extensive opportunities available with international sales, as licensing arrangements introduced Guess to over a dozen countries, causing a significant increase in revenues. By 1993, Guess had reached an estimated $700 million in sales (Guess, Inc. . During this time, Georges Marciano decided to step down from his position as CEO, and sell his 40% of the company to his brothers for around $200 million. Maurice was then named CEO, and took over direction of design. Guess then stepped up their promotional campaign, looking to fuel its future growth. Licensing became a vital part of total revenues, with products now including home furnishings, i nfant wear, and junior knit wear (Guess, Inc. ). Meanwhile, sales continued to grow, now focusing on more accessories as well. In 1994, sales of Guess watches exceeded $100 million and footwear more than $60 million. Guess became a publicly traded company in 1996 (Guess, Inc. ). Hoping to continue their uninterrupted success, Guess was disappointed when 1997 sales began to drop. To compensate, Guess created a new line of high-end jeans called Premium Denim for men and women. However, this proved to be another disappointment, and the market share was lost due to competitive pressures and a terrible retail environment. In 1999, Guess decided to start their first e-commerce store (www. guess. om), which gave their sales a much-needed boost. Even in critical times, Guess was able to open 56 new stores in 2000. Annual sales would increase by 32% with the introduction of G Brand, a new complete line of high quality unisexual jeans wear that used Italian denim and European designs. At the end of 2000, Guess had 212 stores in the U. S. and Canada. In 2001, Guess implemented a new marketing strategy in order to keep their profits rising. With these new strong marketing methods, Guess was able to increase their sales, and open 24 new stores in the U. S. and Canada, a total of 249 stores. Guess continues their success over the next several years. As of 2010, Guess has 1292 stores, 504 in North America, 441 in Europe, and 347 in South East Asia (Breif History of the Company and the Marciano Brothers). Looking towards the year ending January 28, 2012, Guess, Inc. expects new revenues to range from $2. 74 billion to $2. 80 billion (Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results). Operating margins are expected to be between $16. 5%, while diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $3. 30 to $3. 50 (Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results). SWOT Analysis Like any business, Guess must analyze each of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and implement a strategy of using each of these aspects to their advantage. Strengths A quick overview of the strengths of Guess, Inc. include maintaining a strong and diversified brand portfolio, a global full lifestyle brand, an effective management team, and solid capital structure. Guess produces a brand that portrays a fun, fashionable, and sexy image, which is developed and maintained worldwide. Guess maintain a massive level of global success, with stores in 85 countries besides the U. S. and Canada. Because of this global diversification, the company is still able to grow, even in tough economic times. International growth remains one of Guess, Inc’s top strengths. Another major advantage Guess has is their use of multiple distribution channels. Not a company to focus solely on one channel, Guess Inc uses retail, wholesale, e-commerce, as well as licensing distribution to sell their products. This proves as a preventative benefit, as their operating results are not relying solely on the performance on one single channel. This also allows Guess, Inc to quickly adapt to ay changes in the distribution or retail environment of any one particular region. Adding to their diversity, Guess also relies on multiple store concepts, including flagship GUESS? full-priced retail stores, GUESS? factory outlet stores, GUESS by MARCIANO stores, G by GUESS stores, GUESS? Accessories stores, and GUESS? kids stores (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). This allows Guess to target multiple demographics in different regions. Weaknesses Like any company, Guess, Inc must also identify their weaknesses. A quick overview of the weaknesses of Guess, Inc. include maintaining a business in a highly promotional environment, the highly competitive nature of the apparel industry, discretionary spending being dictated by the situation in the global economy, and the narrow focus on women’s apparel. While Guess has very diversified products, and targets women, men, as well as children, their heavy focus on women’s apparel could be seen as a big weakness. Only 10% of Guess consumers are men, boys, or babies (Maurice Marciano and Marciano), which may indicate a lack of balance of promotional activities. Guess should assign more of their promotional budget to focusing on these areas, rather than attempting to portray an image of solely a women’s retailer. This also creates an opportunity for competitors to gain control over these sectors. While Guess stores may be growing rapidly in other countries, they must continue to be careful not to saturate the market. Opportunities A quick overview of the opportunities for Guess, Inc. include growing demand in foreign countries, such as China, under-penetrated markets in Europe, growth in the U. S. , and alliances by leasing. The Guess e-commerce environment improves customer relations, and creates an alternative shopping environment. In realizing this, Guess has the opportunity to increase their profits significantly by continuing to offer a wide range of products and keep up with an ever-changing economy. Technology proves to be a great opportunity for Guess, as they can benefit from consumer’s need for convenience. Guess men’s clothing category also has the biggest potential and room for growth. If Guess takes advantage of that, they will allow themselves the potential for a tremendous increase in profits. Guess should also take advantage of the new business casual trend, whereas smart casual clothing is becoming more and more acceptable in professional offices, and more people are looking for an acceptable replacement for their suits, ties, and other â€Å"formal† business attire. Threats A quick overview of the threats against Guess, Inc. include continued weakness in global consumer spending, low entry cost for competitors in the apparel market, changes to import tariffs, quotas, and taxes, and increases in energy and raw materials prices. Competitors are always considered one of a business’s greatest threats. The apparel industry is highly competitive, which may cause difficulties for Guess in the future. During a recession or uncertain economic conditions, consumers may be faced with reduced confidence and spending habits, resulting in a slow-down in sales and profits. While relationships with international markets and suppliers prove to be a steady strength for Guess, there are also threats involved. Since Guess does not own or operate any production facilities of their own (CITE- annual report), they depend heavily on foreign suppliers and manufacturers to produce products of top quality, and exactly to their specifications. Since Guess is a global business, there revenues could inadvertently be affected by factors beyond their control, such as recessions in foreign countries, political instability which may interrupt trade with foreign vendors, reduced global demand, significant fluxations in the value of the dollar against foreign currencies, or local business practices that do not conform to legal or ethical guidelines. Furthermore, Maurice and Paul Marciano currently hold 33% ownership of Guess shares, which is a very significant percentage. Their interests may differ from those of other stockholders, which could present a potential threat to the nature of the business. Competition One of Guess, Inc’s top competitors is Abercrombie and Fitch. Similar to Guess, Abercrombie’s positioning strategy involves the use of sexually overt advertising positioned to appeal to young adult markets. Unlike Guess, Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements often depict nudity, alcohol consumption and assorted sexual behaviors. Guess chooses to take a less scandalous approach, and maintain a softer, more classical image. Abercrombie ; Fitch does not have a mass market approach to its advertising. It places print ads in 4 magazines: Vanity Fair, Interview, Out, and Rolling Stone. Abercrombie ; Fitch is well positioned for the future, however it is necessary for them to continue to move forward in their efforts to maintain a new, trendy image. In the face of a falling economy, Abercrombie’s advertising stands out to an audience that has been exposed to a lot of noisy ads. In comparison to Guess, Abercrombie has the advantage of selling products under four different concepts, Abercrombie Fitch, Abercrombie, Hollister, and RUEHL. This provides the added benefit of appealing to different markets and demographics under completely different names, whereas Guess will only sell products with the Guess name , allowing Guess limited access to the market. GUESS? In the Future Immediate strategies to make Guess bigger and better would be to focus more of their advertising and promotional capabilities to their menswear collection. In the near future, I would recommend opening individual Guess for Men stores, which would open the door to an entire new demographic, increasing the potential for an immeasurable amount of profits. Focusing on new markets in Europe should also prove to be beneficial for the company. Currently, this market is under-penetrated, but has great potential for expansion in the future. As for a long term growth strategy, Guess needs to continue increasing their retail presence and expanding internationally. Guess has an excellent retail strategy which needs to be executed in each region of the world. Looking towards the long term, Guess should consider forming an alliance with a major competitor in the market, such as BEBE or Levi’s. Both of these companies have showed evidence of trying to come up with new styles in an attempt to keep up with Guess (Guess? , Inc. ), and are equally dominating the market for jeans and/or casual wear. Merging with either of these companies would prove to be tremendously profitable for Guess, as it would eliminate much of the competition, as well as allow them to dominate more of the market. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, Guess, Inc. is now bigger and better than ever, and growth shows no signs of slowing down. As long as they continue to leverage their presence globally and execute their mission statement and creative promotional strategies, Guess will continue to stay on top of the fashion world. Works Cited â€Å"Breif History of the Company and the Marciano Brothers. 25 June 2009. Guess, Inc. 1 May 2011 http://www. guessinc. com/presskit/history. â€Å"Guess, Inc. † Funding Universe. 27 May 2011 http://www. fundinguniverse. com/company-histories/Guess-Inc-Company-History. html. â€Å"Guess? Inc. News- Company Information. † New York Times 2011. â€Å"Guess? , Inc. † 2011. Hoover’s Company Information. May 2011 ;http://proquest. umi. c om. ezproxy. library. berkeley. org/pqdweb? index=4;did=168188551;SrchMode=1;sid=1;Fmt=3;VInst=PROD;VType=PQD;RQT=309;VName=PQD;TS=1307571605;clientId=11195;. Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results. Fiscal Results for the First Quarter Ended April 30, 2011. Los Angeles, CA: PR Newswire, 2011. â€Å"Marcianos Go Full Time Now at Guess. † Women’s Wear Daily 16 6 1990: 1. Maurice Marciano, Chairman of the Board, Guess, Inc. and Paul, CEO Vice Chairman of the Board, Guess, Inc Marciano. â€Å"Guess? , Inc Annual Report 2010. † Annual Report. 2010. â€Å"The Guess Mission Statement. † Guess, Inc. 2011 http://www. guessinc. com/help. asp. ——————————————– How to cite Guess, Inc., Papers

Effectiveness of Learning Experience Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Effectiveness of Learning Experience. Answer: Effectiveness of learning experience The assignment that I have done in assignment one and two has helped me to learn a lot of things. Through the assignment, I have been able to read and learn various things, which will be of great importance in life. Interactions and discussions with others as well as my research from various internet sites have helped me learn about every aspect of business outsourcing and cloud computing. Assignments help us to learn a lot from them as we get to research various things and give our own views in them. Moreover, the topic that I have covered in the previous two assignments is in high demand nowadays, thus, huge amount of materials was available le on the secondary sources. This facilitated me o learn a lot about the topics which will be useful to me in the long run. The overall learning experience from the previous assignments has been very beneficial to me depending on the course that I am pursuing (Siemens, 2014). Value of the learning experience The learning experience has been very valuable for me as it has not only helped me to pursue my course effectively and helped me for future growth. The topics that I have focused on in the research have helped me learn every important point of my course study materials. I have realized that in future I would be aware and comfortable in answering any question coming from business outsourcing and cloud computing (Bornmann, 2014). This shows that the assignment were of great value to me. In addition to this, I have also learnt various processes of research such as the pattern and format of writing a literature review. This will help me to write further research project with better understanding and accuracy. Moreover, I also got to know the type of development going on in the business sector, which might be helpful for me in future. The project has made me up to date with the processes adopted by business to expand internationally and make its business processes free of any complexities (Vapnik, 2013). Usefulness of learning experience The assignments that I have completed proved to be very useful for me in every aspects. It has helped me grow in my course as I learnt many things form the project. The aim of the assignment was to know various business strategies that can be useful to the business in todays world. Thus, I have to learn about these strategies, which is a beneficial task for me not only in my college but also in my career growth. As I am abusiness management student, these strategies will also be guiding me in future if I have to manage any business process (Wuyts, Rindfleisch Citrin, 2015). Moreover, the cloud computing system that I have learnt from the assignment has helped me know the ways I can easily process my data in my course study as well as in my personal life. Being able to know so many things from the assignment will not only assist me in growing in my job life but also in my personal life. This is because my career development will automatically affect my personal life. Usefulness of business research Business research is about analyzing various prospects of business that would be helpful to a person in developing and running a successful business. Thus conducting a business research helps us to learn various aspects of running a business. From the business research that I have conducted in the previous assignment helped me realize various crucial factors that are important in a business. In assignment, one I have learned about the business outsourcing method adopted by the business and the advantages and disadvantages that process puts on the organizations growth. On the other hand, the cloud computing process that I researched for in assignment two helped me to know another important method that will allow the company to secure their data in a better way (Arora, Parashar Transforming, 2013). However, it also showed some of the threats attached to cloud computing. Thus, business research conducted by me has been very useful in providing me with all crucial knowledge about variou s aspects of business (Zikmund, 2013). Reason for choosing the activity There were various reasons that motivated me to choose these assignments. One of the reasons is that I was enthusiastic about learning some new things, which will be beneficial for me in every perspective. Moreover, the process such as business process outsourcing and cloud computing that I have researched in the assignments are very demanding topics in todays business and are thus can fetch me good marks in future. This is because the processes of the business are becoming complex day by day due to international expansion and thus requires business process outsourcing and cloud computing technologies (Rittinghouse Ransome, 2016). Knowing the way to deal with it can only help a company to fight tough competition. Business outsourcing is growing on a faster rate and an assignment on this topic can be very useful to me a preset and in future (Gerbl et. al, 2015). The second reason behind choosing the activity is to know more about running a business process in a way that is very diffe rent from other. This is because uniqueness of the process can only help the business to gain the perfect customer base and profitability they want. Impact on future The research work carried out by me will not only put an impact on my present course that I am pursuing but also affect my future in a great way. In future, the processes will put an impact not only on my career but also on my personal life. After the completion of the task, I have realized that I have a lot of knowledge about the two important business processes such as business process outsourcing and cloud computing. Further, it will also affect my personal life, as the knowledge I gathered from here will allow me to open my own business and run it in a successful manner. This will help me become successful in every work I do. Thus, the assignment has proved to put a long-term effect on my present as well as my future. References Arora, R., Parashar, A., Transforming, C. C. I. (2013). Secure user data in cloud computing using encryption algorithms.International journal of engineering research and applications,3(4), 1922-1926. Bornmann, L. (2014). Do altmetrics point to the broader impact of research? An overview of benefits and disadvantages of altmetrics.Journal of informetrics,8(4), 895-903. Gerbl, M., McIvor, R., Loane, S., Humphreys, P. (2015). A multi-theory approach to understanding the business process outsourcing decision.Journal of World Business,50(3), 505-518. Rittinghouse, J. W., Ransome, J. F. (2016).Cloud computing: implementation, management, and security. CRC press. Siemens, G. (2014). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Vapnik, V. (2013).The nature of statistical learning theory. Springer science business media. Wuyts, S., Rindfleisch, A., Citrin, A. (2015). Outsourcing customer support: The role of provider customer focus.Journal of Operations Management,35, 40-55. Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., Griffin, M. (2013).Business research methods. Cengage Learning.

An Overview of Sanctuary Cities

An Overview of Sanctuary Cities While the term has no specific legal definition, a â€Å"sanctuary city† in the United States is a city or county in which undocumented immigrants are protected from deportation or prosecution for violations of U.S. federal immigration laws. In both a legal and practical sense, â€Å"sanctuary city† is a rather vague and informal term. It can, for example, indicate that the city has actually enacted laws that restrict what their police and other employees are allowed to do during encounters with undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, the term has also been applied to cities like Houston, Texas, which calls itself a â€Å"welcoming city† to undocumented immigrants but have no specific laws regarding enforcement of federal immigration laws.   In an example of a states’ rights conflict arising from the U.S. system of federalism, sanctuary cities refuse to use any local funds or police resources to enforce the national government’s immigration laws. Police or other municipal employees in sanctuary cities are not allowed to ask a person about their immigration, naturalization, or citizenship status for any reason. In addition, sanctuary city policies forbid police and other city employees from notifying federal immigration enforcement officers of the presence of undocumented immigrants living in or passing through the community. Due to its limited resources and the scope of the immigration enforcement job, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) must rely on local police to help enforce federal immigration laws. However, federal law does not require local police to locate and detain undocumented immigrants just because ICE requests they do so. Sanctuary city policies and practices may be established by local laws, ordinances or resolutions, or simply by practice or custom. In September 2015, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency estimated that about 300 jurisdictionss of large U.S. cities with sanctuary laws or practices include San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, and Miami. U.S. â€Å"sanctuary cities† should not be confused with â€Å"cities of sanctuary† in the United Kingdom and Ireland that apply local policies of welcoming and encouraging the presence of refugees, asylum seekers, and others seeking safety from political or religious persecution in  their countries of origin. Brief History of Sanctuary Cities The concept of sanctuary cities is far from new. The Old Testament’s Book of Numbers speaks of six cities in which persons who had committed murder or manslaughter were allowed to claim asylum. From 600 CE until 1621 C.E., all churches in England were allowed to grant sanctuary to criminals and some cities were designated as criminal and political sanctuaries by Royal charter.   In the United States, cities and counties began adopting immigrant sanctuary policies in the late 1970s. In 1979, the Los Angeles police department adopted an internal policy known as â€Å"Special Order 40,† which stated, Officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person. Officers shall not arrest nor book persons for violation of title 8, section 1325 of the United States Immigration code (Illegal Entry).† Political and Legislative Actions on Sanctuary Cities As the number of sanctuary cities grew over the next two decades, both the federal and state governments began taking legislative actions to require full enforcement of federal immigration laws.   On September 30, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 addressing the relationship between the federal government and local governments. The law focuses on illegal immigration reform and includes some of the toughest measures ever taken against illegal immigration. Aspects considered in the law include border enforcement, penalties for alien smuggling and document fraud, deportation and exclusion proceedings, employer sanctions, welfare provisions, and changes to existing refugee and asylum procedures. In addition, the law prohibits cities from banning municipal workers for reporting persons immigration status to federal authorities. A section of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 allows local police agencies to obtain training in the  enforcement of federal immigration laws. However, it fails to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with any general powers for immigration enforcement. Some States Oppose Sanctuary Cities Even in some states housing sanctuary or sanctuary-like cities and counties, legislatures and governors have taken steps to ban them.In May 2009, Georgia’s Governor Sonny Perdue signed state Senate Bill 269, a law prohibiting Georgia cities and counties from adopting sanctuary city policies. In June 2009, Tennessee’s Governor Phil Bredesen signed state Senate Bill 1310 banning local governments from enacting sanctuary city ordinances or policies. In June 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry called a special session of the state legislature to consider state Senate Bill 9, a proposed law banning sanctuary cities. While public hearings on the bill were held before the Texas Senate’s Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, it was never considered by the full Texas legislature. In January 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to oust any local officials who promoted sanctuary city laws or policies. â€Å"We are working on laws that will ... ban sanctuary cities [and] remove from office any officer-holder who promotes sanctuary cities,† stated Gov. Abbott. President Trump Takes Action On January 25, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled â€Å"Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,† which, in part, directed the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General to withhold funding in the form of federal grants from sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration law. Specifically, Section 8 (a) of the executive order states, â€Å"In furtherance of this policy, the Attorney General and the Secretary, in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary.† In addition, the order directed the Department of Homeland Security to begin issuing weekly public reports that include â€Å"a comprehensive list of criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdiction that ignored or otherwise failed to honor any detainers with respect to such aliens.† Sanctuary Jurisdictions Dig In Sanctuary jurisdictions wasted no time in reacting to President Trump’s action. In his State of the State address, California’s Governor Jerry Brown vowed to defy President Trump’s action. â€Å"I recognize that under the Constitution, federal law is supreme and that Washington determines immigration policy,† stated Gov. Brown. â€Å"But as a state, we can and have had a role to play †¦ And let me be clear: we will defend everybody - every man, woman, and child - who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state.† Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pledged $1 million in city funds to create a legal defense fund for immigrants threatened with prosecution due to President Trump’s order. â€Å"Chicago has in the past been a sanctuary city. ... It always will be a sanctuary city,† said the mayor. On January 27, 2017, Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams stated he would refuse to enforce President Trump’s order. â€Å"There has been fear and uncertainty among our refugee population the last few days,† McAdams said. â€Å"We want to reassure them that we love them and their presence is an important part of our identity. Their presence makes us better, stronger and richer.† In Tragic 2015 Shooting, Sanctuary Cities Stir Debate The tragic July 1, 2015 shooting death of Kate Steinle thrust sanctuary city laws into the center of controversy. While visiting San Francisco’s Pier 14, the 32-year old Steinle was killed by a single bullet fired from a pistol admittedly held at the time by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an undocumented immigrant. Garcia Zarate, a citizen of Mexico, had been deported several times and had been convicted for illegal re-entry into the United States. Days before the shooting, he had been released from a San Francisco jail after a minor drug charge against him was dismissed. Although U.S. immigration officials had issued an order that police detain him, Garcia Zarate was released him under San Francisco’s sanctuary city laws. The uproar over sanctuary cities grew on December 1, 2017, when a jury acquitted Garcia Zarate of charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, finding him guilty only of illegally possessing a fire arm. In his trial, Garcia Zarate claimed he had just found the gun and that the shooting of Steinle had been an accident. In acquitting him, the jury found reasonable doubt in Garcia Zarate’s accidental shooting claim, and under the Constitution’s guarantee of â€Å"due process of law,† guarantee, his criminal record, history of prior convictions, and immigration status were not allowed to be presented as evidence against him.   Critics of permissive immigration laws reacted to the case by complaining that sanctuary city laws too often allow dangerous, criminal illegal immigrants to remain on the streets.

Bring and Take

Bring and Take Bring and Take Bring and Take By Jacquelyn Landis Writers tend to get confused about when to use bring and take. Many think that the two words can be used interchangeably, but they do have two distinctly different uses. Which one you use depends entirely on your perspective for the action. Bring indicates action coming toward the speaker; take means action taken away from the speaker. So from your perspective, your kids will bring their homework to you to check, and then they’ll take it to school tomorrow. From your kids’ perspective, they’ll take their homework to you and then bring it with them when they go to school tomorrow. The trick is to think about your location. Something coming your way is brought to you. Something going away is taken from you. It can get confusing occasionally, and when it does you have to depend on the surrounding context to help you determine the point of reference. Check out these examples: Be sure to bring a jacket with you in case it gets cold. Be sure to take a jacket with you in case it gets cold. Both can be correct. In the former example, the meaning is to carry the jacket with you to where you are going. It’s likely that this would be something the person you’re joining would say to you. In the latter example, the meaning is to take it away from your starting point. It sounds a lot like something Mom would say as you’re running out of the house. To simplify the concept even more, think of it like this: you bring things here and take them there. It’s not an infallible method, but it works most of the time. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative ConflictIs There a Reason â€Å"the Reason Why† Is Considered Wrong?How to Style Legislative Terms

Pepsi Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Pepsi - Research Paper Example This consolidation gave PepsiCo immediate control in excess of 80% of its packaging system. Presently the organization can consolidate sound snacks with their solid beverages and procure the profits (Ryder, 2013). 6 Pepsi has and global Market vicinity, generating and viable Diversification Analysis. The following step is to be mindful of the budgetary changes that face shoppers, which put weight on our organization when attempting to offer our items. With this being an element in our marketing and offering we will keep on putting resources into creating and developing markets, universally. PepsiCo has stretched the organization into offering its items universally and now offers its items in excess of 200 nations. 6 Furthermore Lastly PepsiCo concentrates on making keeping client connections by giving the individuals what they need. PepsiCo’s prosperity relies on upon the way the organization responds to purchaser pattern. With the pattern of customers arriving at for healthier choices, PepsiCo keeps on growing their Good-For-You portfolio. Concentrating on Consumer patterns, giving the individuals what they are searching for (Ryder, 2013). 6 PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of food and beverage brands. PepsiCo has eighteen different products and they are operating in different countries across the world. PepsiCo serves their customers with a range of products starting from cold beverages to tasty treats which can deliver enjoyment as well as nutrition at an affordable price. For this reason, in recent times, they have incorporated organic products in their products which do not contain artificial additives and preservatives. The marketing plan of PepsiCo is analyzed from the background analysis of the company, where the background serves as a basis for analyzing the internal and external environment of the

Nucor Uses an Integrated Approach to Employee Motivation Essay

Nucor Uses an Integrated Approach to Employee Motivation - Essay Example Nucor’s HRD program is consistent with Maslow in providing a fixed, though comparatively lower level, of regular pay, just enough for the worker to meet his basic sustenance. But at Nucor higher pay must be justified by higher productivity, which in effect pertains to the workers’ esteem needs through pride in their workmanship. By linking good workmanship with performance bonuses, Nucor is able motivate its workers to be rewarded not only financially but with a feeling of pride in their work. Alderfer’s ERG Theory builds on Maslow’s Theory but groups the needs into a simpler hierarchy of Existence, Relatedness and Growth needs. But Alderfer differs from Maslow in that the ERG hierarchy need not be satisfied one level before the other, that is, a lower motivator does not need to be satisfied before higher motivators take over. In Nucor, this was evident in the situation in Hickman, where company electricians, without any order from supervisors, took the initiative to respond to an emergency including defraying traveling expenses from their own pockets and working 20-hour shifts to repair the damage. The case study states that this was done without any extra remuneration nor any kind of financial incentive. This is indicative of the ERG theory, since the workers fulfilled their relatedness and growth needs (i.e., pride in their company and commitment to their job) even above and beyond additional pay that would have meant to fulfilling existence needs. On the other hand, McClelland’s acquired-needs theory (also three advances the proposition that an individuals’ specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by life experiences. The needs are classified as either achievement (nAch), affiliation (nAff) or power (nPow), and that a person’s motivation and effectiveness on the job are influences by these three needs. All three of these needs are present in Nucor’s system,

A literature review on electromagnetic transponders in prostate cancer

A on electromagnetic transponders in prostate cancer treatment - Literature review Example The present research particularly involved reviewing a number of recent publications including journals, books, articles, magazines and databases related to the use of electromagnetic transponders in cancer treatment. Electromagnetic Transponder is an emerging high tech system that is increasingly being used to track the movement of prostate glands particularly during external beam radiation therapy. The technique particularly involves implanting three tiny electromagnetic transponders into a patient’s prostate gland in order to enhance the delivery of post- prostatectomy radiation therapy by providing real time tracking required to ensure accurate treatment of prostate cancer through radiation therapy (Kindblom et al., 2009). According to many experts, the technique is particularly preferred for the post-surgical radiation therapy for prostate cancer because it significantly allows for enhanced localization of the specific targeted area thereby allowing for the delivery of maximum radiation dose while at the same time minimizing the exposure of the patients surrounding non-targeted normal tissues to radiation (Foster, Pistenmaa and Solberg, 2012, p.2924). The present literature paper particularly focused on a comprehensive review of relevant recent publications such as journals, books, articles, magazines, databases and other professional manuscripts related to the theory, practice and use of electromagnetic transponders in cancer treatment. Finally, the findings of the literature review were then analyzed and clustered based on the key major themes namely the oncologic and functional outcomes of electromagnetic transponders, placement of electromagnetic transponders in prostate cancer treatment as well as the challenges related to the use of electromagnetic transponders in the prostate cancer treatment. For the last 15 years, development of electromagnetic

Introduction on the effects of obsessive compulsive disorder

Introduction on the effects of obsessive compulsive disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), is an anxiety disorder that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. A person with OCD is plagued with recurring and distressing thoughts and fears that they spend hours distressing over (obsessions) that they cannot control. The anxiety produced from these thoughts lead to urgent need to perform rituals on a continuous basis (compulsions). The compulsive rituals are performed trying to attempt of preventing the obsessive thoughts and make them go away. The ritual might make the anxiety go away for a time, the person then must perform the ritual again when the obsessive thoughts return. Sometimes this cycle can take hours in a persons day that will interfere with normal daily activities. A person most often know their obsessions and compulsions are unrealistic, they cannot stop from doing them (Webmd, n.d,.). The purpose of this project is to provide a comprehensive five part project on obsessive-compulsive disorder. Part I describing the disorder, how it became a psychological disorder. OCD is classified as an anxiety disorder in the DSM-IV and the ways it has been studied. Part II Neurotransmitters that are linked to OCD; then the medications that are prescribed to a person with OCD. Will give information on how genetics contribute to OCD and the part of the brain that is affected. Part III the little known environmental influences that causes a person to be acceptable for OCD. Genetics play more to this disorder than the environment. Part IV Explain the best medical treatment and most effective treatment in helping a person overcome OCD. Then will present a treatment plan for Maria. Part V will explain the best psychological model that best applies in treating OCD and the new treatments that are developed and how Maria can have a productive life without obsessive-compulsive disorder. Maria who is a 38 year old woman, who lives in Pittsburgh, married and has four children. She was raised in a strict catholic family and continues to be devoted to her believes. Maria sometimes worries if she is devoted enough and over whether she is performing the rituals perfectly where she began doing rituals that takes up hours and hours of her day. Wit with anxiety she become more obsessed with staying clean and holly where she became more extreme in washing and cleaning, so she will feel clean and pure. Maria personal habits throughout her life include:, keeping her house clean, tidy, and free from clutter, brushing her teeth three or times a day, and wash her hands six to eight times a day, until two years ago she became more obsessed with cleanliness and religious rituals where she spent six to eight hours washing her hands, and cleaning her house that is already cleaned Her relationship with her husband and children are alienated, she refuses to allow them to touch or hug he r and insists they wash their hands all the time. The DSM-IV code for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is 300.03. OCD is considered as an anxiety disorder. The diagnostic criteria are either obsessions or compulsions. Obsessions are recurring and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are intrusive that are not only excessive worries. A person with OCD tries or attempts to restrain or not pay attention to these thoughts and recognizes that it is only in their mind. Compulsions on the other hand are repetitive behaviors. Obsessions and repetition are intended for a person with OCD to prevent or reduce their stress or a frightful situation or event. The person recognizes their obsessions or compulsions are excessive and unnecessary and unreasonable. These behaviors take up a persons time and interfere with a persons daily normal functions (APA, 2002). Obsessive thoughts can include: * Persistent fear of harming others or self. * Concern with being contaminated with germs that is unreasonable * Intrusive religious, violent or sexual thoughts. * Need to things perfect and is excessive in doing so. Compulsions included: * Checking doors, stoves, water faucets, and lights. * Making lists over and over again. * Rearranging or realigning things. * Collecting or hoarding objects that are useless, such as, outdated newspaper, plastic utensils, or food. * Doing actions a certain amount of time. * Rereading or rewriting unnecessarily * Repeating phrases * Excessive washing that takes up hours of each day. (List taken from Rais, 2008 article titles Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). The things Maria did that are considered typical signs of OCD were spending six to eight hours cleaning her hands so she would feel clean, performing religious rituals that occupied hours of her day, cleaning an already clean house for hours a day, and avoiding coming in contact with her husband and children (case study 1, Kaplan university). Understanding the symptoms and history of OCD is important in determining why Maria had OCD in order to help her. First we will look at the biological reasons then the environmental reasons that would contribute to someone having obsessive-compulsive disorder. II Genetic There are several biological aspects of OCD. There are neurotransmitters that are linked to it, genetic contributors to this disorder, and different brain abnormalities that influence this disorder. Neurotransmitters transmit chemical impulses from neurons to neurons. Each neurotransmitter has various functions and different names (Durand, Barlow, 2007). Serotonin is of the neurotransmitters that influence our behavior. Serotonin is a chemical that takes one messages from one neuron to another (Dryden-Edwards, 2005). When serotonin are too low a person does things they normally would not do and tend to overreact doing impulsive actions. A person with low levels of serotonin are more quick to do abnormal behaviors. Serotonin is not found to cause the problem (Durand, Barlow, 2007). The brain looks normal in a person who has OCD. It has been found in the brain of a person with OCD, that there is more activity in the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex, there are increased activity in other parts of the frontal area and the thalamus. A person with OCD is considered to have a faulty brain circuit, because of the low levels of serotonin (Durand, Barlow, 2007). When the cerebral cortex are under active a person has a hard time controlling their OCD behaviors and actions (Dryden-Edwards, 2005). There has been a twin study on monozygotic twins to find if genetic and environment had an effect on OCD. Data was collected on the family structure, health of the family, lifestyle of the family, if there were any complications at the babies birth, events that happened in their life, and other environment factors in their life. The results were more twins (both of them) had OCD behaviors later in life if they had parents that were anxious and depressed. This article concludes that genetics played a more role in OCD then the environment. The author suggested that more studies would need to be conducted to determine the exact nature between Genetics and the environment factors of OCD (Cath, Van Grootheest, Sillemsen,Van Oppen, Boomsma, 2008). Dr. James Kennedy, a Neurogeneticist, said a role in a person developing OCD if they have a relative that is affected with this disorder. In his article he said that the DNA (5HT1 D Beta) receptor gene is passed to their offspring (Mundo, Richter, Zar, Sam, McBride, Macciardi, Kennedy, 2002). Durand, Barlow state that genes play a role in certain abnormalities, the environmental causes need to be triggered in order to activate a disorder such as OCD (2007). After getting an understanding the research that has been done on the biological aspect of OCD, Researchers researched and noticed a strong correlation that genetics play a big role in a person developing OCD, but no factual evidence. Researchers have investigated and determine that an environmental factor influences a person having OCD. we can turn to what environment plays on someone have this disorder. III In the fourth century OCD was considered to be melancholia which is a Greek word that means black bile, if a persons OCD behaviors lasted a long time. In England in the seventeenth century, religious melancholy was established as part of an OCD disorder and derived from overzealous devotion to God (Allison, 2008). In 1907 Freud stated OCD resembled religious rituals. Rituals are done over and over to get rid of guilt. Religion was the universal obsessional neurosis (Yossifova, Loewenthal, 1999. p. 145). Freud also believed that obsessive-compulsive behaviors are caused by conflicts unconsciously in the mind that manifested in OCD illness. A person struggles between the desire and the actions of their conscious and their unconscious mind. They are urge to complete the actions of their unconscious mind, to get temporary relief from their high intense anxiety. Their conscious mind knows it is ridiculous and bizarre it is to continue to do these actions (Allison, 2008). In Marias mind s he felt she wasnt religious enough, where to get relief from her anxiety she would devote more hours than a normal religious person would to perform religious rituals hours each day. In Marias case she grew-up as a strict Catholic, which she continued through her life. She worried that she didnt measure up to the expectations to be considered pure or holy. This could have been the reason she had great amounts of guilt that caused her to do her religious obsessions and cleaning compulsions. Durand and Barlow (2007) state that in every psychological disorder, both genetics and environment have to be considered. Both are needed to activate OCD. Research supports that genetics play a major role in OCD, but need more research on the environmental factors to support Durand and Barlow theory. The diathesis -stress model is the best way to explain that situations in the environment along with the biological system will influence OCD behaviors. There are behaviors that are inherited which a person is vulnerable to, which can be activated under stress or an environmental situation (Durand, Barlow, 2007). As mentioned before, Maria was predisposed to OCD and it was activated from the environment by the petunias at the funeral. Once the genetic and environment influences are understood they can determine the best treatment In Marias case her mom showed strong OCD tendencies with the her many superstitions (genes). Seeing petunias at a funeral (environment) triggered the start of Marias obsessive compulsive behaviors. Maria had a genetic vulnerability for OCD; the environment was a factor in the onset of her illness. Environment factors that came from a horrible divorce or from traumatic events of sexual abuse (Grisham, Anderson, Sachdev, 2008). Religious factors play an enormous environmental influence that is correlated as a risk factor of having OCD (Higgins, 1992). Researchers found more often the causes of this disorder, is religious factors, the reason for this is a person feel they lack in their faith and feared they havent prayed enough or hard enough; their behaviors were sinful; or got contaminated from thought that were impure and sinful. Guilt thrives from these thoughts where they pray over and over again, repeatedly confessing to purge the fear that they are Doomed to hell (Higgins, 1992). Maria was apprehensive about her dedication and that she did not measure up to her religious expectations to be considered pure and holy. This could have influence her to have so much guilt which in turn caused her to do have religious obsessions. IV February 19, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for those who suffer with OCD and other treatments have failed. To qualify for this procedure a person has to have had at least three SRIs that have failed. This device has been an on going study in four Catholic Universities since 1998 (Bates, 2009). The DBS is surgically implanted in the brain. It delivers electrical impulses to different areas of the fiber bundle in the front of the brain. It is programmed by a clinician and is based on an individuals needs (Bates, 2009). This device is not exempt from side effects, One that has been know is cerebral hemorrhage and brain infections, non life threaten have ever been reported. Studies had shown that this device has made great improvement in peoples life and some has even returned back to work (De Noon, 2009). A study that was conducted were quasi-experiments designs, which is where researchers manipulate the independent variable (the variable they manipulate) while measuring the dependent variable (what is being measured) Durand, Barlow, 2007). They observed the relationship between the different medications that were used to treat OCD to see if OCD behavior improved and which psychologically treatment made the most improvement. For example, in the article Brain Changes Quickly Following Intensive Behavioral Therapy for OCD, the author concludes there is a strong correlation between the increased brain activity and improvement in OCD symptoms (Douglas, 2008). Therapy and medications are helpful to help people with obsessive compulsive disorders. One known therapy that works for OCD is behavioral exposure. This works by having the person face objects, situations, places, and thoughts that the person fears and avoids. A person needs to be exposed repeatedly to the fearful things in order for it to work. Rituals are prevented by not allowing the person to perform their compulsions (Dell Osso, Altamura, Mundo, Marazziti, Hollander, 2007). Medications that seem to work for OCD people are antidepressants, those that are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs). The six that are commonly used are fluvoxamine (Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (paxil), citalopram (celexa), and clomipramine (anafranil). Studies that have been conducted concluded that Anafranil has been the most useful in treating OCD. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors work by slowing the reuptake of serotonin and postponing how it is affects the synapse. This serotonin increase produces changes in the receptors in nerve membranes (Korn,2001). With each of these medications come possible side effects, which do not cause any permanent damage. The most common side affects are sleepiness, dry mouth, and nausea. Anafranil has a few harsher side effects such as, heart racing, difficulty in concentrating, slower thinking ability, and weight gain. Anafranil (Korn,2001). Treatment for OCD In peer reviewed article, Cognitive behavior therapy and medications in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder, the researchers studied to determine what treatment would best help a person suffering from this disorder. In their research they wanted to determine if cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) would be the best therapy, or Cognitive behavior therapy and medication, or just medication, or just a sugar pill known as a placebo. They concluded that CBT plus medication had the greatest outcomes. It was interesting the study showed no noticeable difference among those that took medication and those that took placebo, but when the person added therapy with the medication they made major improvement. Medications that seemed to work the best were those that are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI), Serotonin reuptake inhibitors showed more improvement in their moods to where they could finally work on their OCD behaviors. Combining CBT and medication has been known to be effective i n treating OCD (OConnor, Aardema, Robillard, Pelissier, Todorov, 2006). Another therapy that is known to be beneficial and make significant changes in their brain activity after four weeks is an intensive cognitive behavior therapy program. This program consisted of a 90-minute individual therapy session, and four hours of homework five days a week. The PET scans showed changes in normalized regional glucose metabolism and bilateral decreases in normalized thalamic metabolism. The PET scores also showed an increase in a persons right dorsal anterior anterior cingulated cortex activity along with improvement in their OCD symptoms (Douglas, 2008). Durand Barlow (2006) stated that the most common psychosocial treatment that is used to treat a person with OCD is exposure and ritual prevention (ERP). This is where a person is exposed to a threaten situations they fear or think are invasive. For example, if a person has a fear that their hands being contaminated, the therapist will encourage the client touch the object they fear and ride it through to the end without washing their hands, such as door knobs (Durand, Barlow 2007). When it comes to insurance companies or other third party reimbursement such as Medicaid fast outcome are important. They expect therapists to provide written documentation to justify the treatment and expected length of the clients treatment (Hill, Beamish, 2007). Purposed treatment for Maria Maria treatment plan would consist of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), medication and family counseling. I think Maria will need spiritual counseling, first because of her religious Catholic background that has put a lot on her; she does not feel she can live up to those expectations where she spends many hours a day performing rituals in order to feel clean and pure. I would start by having her talk to her priest to get an understanding that she is clean, God accepts her, and she does not have to pray hours a day in order to feel accepted and considered clean. I feel spiritual counseling is needed first because if she can feel accepted by God she can begin working on the other OCD behaviors. It would be supportive for Maria to start on some medication to help decrease her anxiety when she begins cognitive behavior therapy. A plan for therapy would be then to begin with cognitive therapy to change Marias old thinking patterns concerning fears of contamination, plus to find different ways to handle stress and change her intense fears (Owens, 2009). The counselor would have Maria touch thing that she fears are contaminated and not be allowed to wash her hand afterwards. She will need to find ways to cope with her anxiety and stress when she has to reframe from washing her hands. Maria would be put on a plan that only lets her brush her teeth a few times day and limited to how many times she can clean and straighten her house, eventually she would have to skip a day in cleaning her house. Maria need realize nothing bad will happen if she doesnt have a clean house. Maria will also be restricted to the total of spiritual rituals she could do. It would be important to still be involved in her faith, but needs to limit the amount the time on spiritual rituals such as praying. The goal would be to change the t otal number of hours she spends in praying down to five minutes no more than two times a day. Family therapy would be, not to allow Maria to place huge demands on her children and husband to stay clean by not giving into her by taking a shower when they come home and not washing their hands every time she demands. Marias family will have the opportunity to express how they feel and doubt her love because she does not touch or get near them so she understands how her disorder affects them. It would be good to have a doctor explain OCD to her family. I would give Maria assignments each week to help Maria begin to be comfortable touching and hugging her children and husband. How this will be done is after leaning relaxation techniques she will be advised to do the weekly assignments in a relaxed state. On week one she will touch each family member on the shoulder and if it is fearful to do deep breathing techniques, then on weeks to come get her to comfortable hug her children without the need to shower. By going to family therapy will help change the dynamics in Marias family. In conclusion, there has been research done that suggest that genetics is the main factor in developing OCD. More research needs to be conducted on the environmental reasons a person has obsessive compulsive disorder to sustain that the combination of genetic and environmental factors a person end up having psychological disorders. Through accepting the biological and environmental factors of this disorder, specialists can comprehend the reasons of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to better provide better therapeutic treatment so that it might be minimized in the future. I fully believe that Maria can change through hard work if she has spiritual and family counseling along with cognitive behavioral therapy and medication to overcome her compulsive behaviors that have taken many years of her life and rejoin her family in a healthy relationship. After, learning what researches believe the best treatment are and discussion a treatment plan I think will help Maria, we will discover the dif ferent therapeutic theories and new medication that are being devised. I will determine the final outcome of Marias disorder by applying these techniques. V To determine which psychological model that would best help a person with obsessive compulsive disorder it is important to understand the basic concept of each. Psychoanalysis is a verbal therapy to help a person receive freedom from their emotional pain. This model accepts the view of Freuds that the unconscious motives are created from some sexual motive (Fine, 2007). Cognitive model suggested that our thoughts influences behavior. This therapy was pioneered by Albert Ellis in 1950 and workes to get people to change their attitudes. This therapy is known as talk therapy and focuses on thoughts and emotions that lead to behaviors (Schonbeck, 2005). Psychodynamics model uses expressive or supportive methods to treat a disorder. Expressive attempts to relieve symptoms through understanding their thought and feelings that possible they might not be aware of. Expressive is that adults problems are created in childhood where they dont have the maturity at that point to make appropriate choices because how they coped to their problems as a child stopped working as an adult. This therapy teaches the person to learn new ways to solve problems to relieve stress and cope in more appropriate ways (Fine, 2007). Behavior therapy model deals with changing and eliminating behaviors that are troublesome. This therapy was pioneered by Joseph Wolpe which includes assertiveness training, operant conditioning, and desensitization (Schonbeck, 2005) Wolpe reported great success with the stigmatic desensitization for those with phobias (Durand, Barlow, 2001). Humanistic Psychology emphasizes a person to control their mental health. It suggests that environment factors influence a persons behaviors. It removes the stigma that people think therapy is and allows the individual to determine their own care on mental health (Wagner, 2009), it is a person-centered therapy ,where the therapist is passive in the clients care and tries to avoid interpretations (Durand Barlow, 2001). I would choose a combination of the cognitive and behavioral models in order to treat OCD. The rationale for this is research has shown cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to be the most effective method to the treatment of this disorder. The cognitive model works on the thought processes, and the behavioral model works in changing undesirable behaviors (Schonbeck, 2005). The newest medication that has been approved for OCD is Luvox CR in January 2007. Luvox CR is an extended release from of Luvox SSRI. People are paying more attention to this method of having more beneficial outcomes (Jeffery, 2008). Now we know and understand the different treatments and medication in helping a person with OCD, I believe there is a strong possibility that Maria can overcome her OCD behaviors that she has. If Maria wants it and puts her whole heart into her treatment plan, she can have a bright fulfilling future. Once a person is able to get their OCD under control and is able to cope with the environment influences (stressors) in their life they may or may not need to continue medication. A person can be free from the problems of OCD and live a normal life. Maria can have this; it will be hard work but worth the price she has to pay to be free of this disorder that has held her hostage for so many years.

The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing Essay -- Argumentati

The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing At most institutions of higher learning in the United States and worldwide the emphasis is placed on the depth and breadth of the institution's research, at least as far as the institution's reputation and renown are concerned. An institution that does not produce much scholarly research in the form of conference activity or publication activity will not carry the same high regard as an institution which is much more involved in conference participation and publication. Sometimes individual state institutions are regarded as having powerful personas if they have established and maintained their university presses, but other universities do not have the funding nor the personnel to attempt such an endeavor and must seek other venues for touting their scholarly accomplishments. While most scholarly publishing is in the traditional print medium, a growing number of scholarly publications are finding new offices in the new technology, either in the form of e-books or online scholarly journals. With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, traditional print publications are having to decide if they want to ride the "information superhighway" or simply lag behind in a horse-drawn carriage. Some traditional media—television, radio, newspapers, and magazines—have tested the waters by providing online access to some of their features. Similarly, some scholarly journals, convinced that a foray into electronic publication does not mean lower revenues nor higher costs, have also decided to continue their traditional publication while including access to selectively chosen features. The American Journal of Physiology—Heart and Circulatory Physiol... ...text Journal.† Serials Review. 22.1(Spring 1998): 1-19. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://www.galileo.usg.edu Sweeney, Aldrin E. "E-Scholarship and Electronic Publishing in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for the Academic Community." Education Media International. 38.1 (March 2001): 25-38. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Tomlins, Christopher L. â€Å"The Wave of the Present: The Printed Scholarly Journal on the Edge of the Internet.† Journal of Scholarly Publishing. 29.3(April 1998): 133-150. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Wills, Mathew, and Wills, Gordon. "The Ins and the Outs of Electronic Publishing." Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. 11.1 (1996): 90-104. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. <http://galileo.usg.edu>

Enzyme Lab

Purpose and BackgroundThe purpose of this lab is to explain how enzymes act as catalysts for biological reactions in different temperatures. This lab relates to enzymes, proteins, and substrates; that we learned in class. The union of the enzyme and the substrate is called the enzyme-substrate complex. The make-up of an enzyme is proteins and made up of chains and amino acids.Enzymes are considered to be organic catalysts, they speed up chemical reactions that might otherwise take too long to occur and be of use in the body. They also allow reactions to occur in regions of the body that are unfavorable because of the level of pH or the lack of heat. HypothesisA reused and ground enzyme will have the greatest reactions compared to the other types of enzymes. Materials 1. Avocado 2.Petri Dish 3.Hydrogen Peroxide 4.Vinegar 5.Vinegar SubstrateProcedure1.Place a small piece of cooked avocado/avocado/soaked avocado in a Petri dish. 2.Place 10 drops of hydrogen peroxide/vinegar substrate on the avocado 3.Observe for enzyme activity by looking for bubbles4.Rate the amount of oxygen bubbles produced on a scale of 1-5 5.Record your data in the chartDataConclusionAfter placing 10 drops of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar substrate in the different forms of avocado, the results were interesting. The ground and reused enzyme had the most evident reactions. It also shows me that enzymes can be reused, because of the reaction rating. Enzymes can be affected by temperatures because the regular enzyme reaction is low. Also enzymes aren’t affected by pH because it had a low reaction. Enzymes are specific because different types of enzymes work for different substrates.DiscussionMy hypothesis was supported and proved in the lab. I predicted that the ground and reused enzyme would have the greatest reaction rating, and they did. Evidence that occurred in the lab would be the hydrogen peroxide and vinegar substrate dropped onto the different forms of enzymes. I don’t thi nk any improvements can be made, the lab was straight forward and proved what needed to be known

Andes - The Worlds Longest Mountain Chain

Andes - The World's Longest Mountain Chain The Andes are a chain of mountains that extends 4,300 miles along the west coast of South America and bisects seven countries- Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Andes are the longest chain of mountains in the world and include many of the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. Although the Andes is a long mountain chain, they are also narrow. Along their length, the east-to-west breadth of the Andes varies between about 120 and 430 miles wide. The climate throughout the Andes is highly variable and depends on latitude, altitude, topography, precipitation patterns, and proximity to the ocean. The Andes are divided into three regions- the northern Andes, the central Andes, and the southern Andes. Within each region, there is much variation in climate and habitats. The northern Andes of Venezuela and Colombia are warm and wet and include habitats such as tropical forests and cloud forests. The central Andes- which extend through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia- experience more seasonal variation than the northern Andes and habitats in this region fluctuate between a dry season and a wet season. The southern Andes of Chile and Argentina are divided into two distinct zones- the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. There are about 3,700 species of animals that live in the Andes including 600 species of mammals, 1,700 species of birds, 600 species of reptiles, and 400 species of fishes, and more than 200 species of amphibians. Key Characteristics The following are the key characteristics of the Andes: longest mountain chain in the worldincludes the Atacama desert, the driest desert in the worldincludes the Andean Plateau, the second-highest plateau in the worldlocated on the Pacific Ring of Fireincludes of the highest active volcano in the world, Ojos del Salado, which lies on the border of Argentina and Chilesupports a number of rare and endangered species including short-tailed chinchillas, Andean flamingos, Andean condors, spectacled bears, Junin rails, and Titicaca water frogs Animals of the Andes Some of the animals that inhabit the Andes include: Alapca (Vicugna pacos) - The alpaca is a domesticated species of even-toed hoofed mammal that belongs to the camel family. Alpacas are native to South American. They are kept in herds in the high altitude plateaus in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile. Alpacas are grazers that feed on hay and grasses.Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) - The Andean condor is found throughout the Andes, although it is far less common in the mountain ranges of Venezuela and Columbia. Andean Condors inhabit grasslands and alpine habitats up to 16,000 feet. It prefers open habitats where it can locate carrion as it soars above.Short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla chinchilla) - The short-tailed chinchilla is one of just two species of chinchillas alive today, the other being the long-tailed chinchilla. Short-tailed chinchillas are an endangered species of rodent that once inhabited areas of the central and southern Andes. The species was heavily exploited for its fur and as a result their numbers declin ed drastically. Short-tailed chinchillas are currently classified as critically endangered on the IUCN RedList. Andean mountain cat (Leopardus jacobita) - The Andean mountain cat is a small cat that inhabits high montane regions of the central Andes. The Andean mountain cat is rare, with less than 2,500 individuals remaining in the wild.Titicaca water frog (Telmatobius culeus) - The Titicaca water frog is a critically endangered frog that is endemic to Lake Titicaca. Titicaca water frogs were once common but have declined due to hunting, pollution, and predation  by trout that have been introduced to the lake.Andean goose (Chloephaga melanoptera) - The Andean goose is a large sheldgoose with black and white plumage, a pink bill, and orange legs and feet. The Andean goose inhabits elevations of the Andes above 9,800 feet in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) - The spectacled bear is South Americas only native species of bear. It inhabits forested areas of the Andes mountain range including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. Spectacled bears have black fur, keen eyesight, and distinctive golden-colored rings of fur framing their eyes.