Critically analyse the relative merits of the Capital Asset Pricing Assignment

Critically analyse the relative merits of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and empirical approaches to Asset pricing (such as FAMA and French model) - Assignment Example The basic essence of the model is that it determines the amount of return that an investor is going to earn for putting their money at risk. It would be helpful to have a brief and basic idea about the concept of CAPM with the intention that the understanding of relative merits of it becomes easy. According to the model and ultimate derivation, it can be said that the return which an investor expects to earn by investing on a security or a portfolio is the rate on a risk-free security and a risk premium. The formula for this finding is written like: The basic concept behind the above model is that the investors are required to be compensated in two ways: risk and time value of money. The compensation for time value of money is represented by the risk-free rate which an investor earns by putting his money on investment over a period of time. The other part of the formula on the right hand side is a factor of risk and it determines the compensation the investors should get for taking an additional amount of risk. This amount is calculated by a risk measure (beta). There are certain implications of the model: According to Michailidis (2006), an examination of the emerging Greek Securities market was done based on the CAPM by considering weekly stock returns of 100 companies that were listed on the Athens Stock Exchange for the period 1998-2002. The findings of the test did not support the basic statement that higher risk (beta) means higher levels of return. However the model explains excess return and ultimately supports the linear structure of the CAPM equation (Michailidis & Et. Al., 2006). The model considers reality in explaining risk factor where it assumes only systematic risk associated with the investment options. The unsystematic risk can be removed since there are diversified options for investors and thus can be eliminated. CAPM derives a theoretical relationship between return and

The Strong Form of Efficient Market Hypothesis Essay

The Strong Form of Efficient Market Hypothesis - Essay Example This evaluation may seem too obvious to day, but prior to the efficient market hypothesis in the 1900s, it was not so self-evident. In recent times however, the Efficient Market Hypothesis is subject to critical re-examination and trial in the paradigms of financial market research (Russel and Torbey, 2001:27). Primary evidence shows that the initial confidence of the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis is misplaced. According to observations, Efficient Market Hypothesis based financial equilibrium models do not depict the actual trading operations in the world. Indeed, numerous inconsistent results and anomalies require refinement of the current paradigms. This paper presents a critical analysis on the validity of Efficient Market Hypothesis strong form based on existing evidence. Within the realms of finance, Efficient Market Hypothesis reiterates that there is efficient information in financial markets, that assets traded in the financial markets such as bonds, property, or sto cks, reflect all the known and relevant information. In this regard therefore, there is no bias since the information present reflects the collective beliefs of involved investors concerning future expectations and prospects. The Effective Market Hypothesis states that in a financial market with effective information, it is impossible to outperform that market using known information, with the exception of lack (Palan, 2011:24). According to the hypothesis, news or information refers to anything capable of affecting the current market prices.

Free Time In Germany And Bangladesh Cultural Studies Essay

Free Time In Germany And Bangladesh Cultural Studies Essay Free time is the time when people have nothing specific to do, when they can dispose of their spare time at their own sweet will. Not only the people are free from work, they are with an unoccupied mind. The necessity for having a rest from work and worry cannot be too much stressed. Peoples life is usually bound by routine; free time affords an opportunity to escape out of the compulsions of routine and breathe the fresh air of freedom. Free time perhaps is the very essence of life. People dont live to create work but to enjoy free time. Free time as the most priceless thing a people can have. To them the only object of work is to obtain free time. I am going to compare and contrast free time in Germany and Bangladesh. Description: Focusing the two countries: In Germany people spend their free time watching soccer, they practice a lot of sport, passing their time with outdoor activities, otherwise, theyre busy with their pets (especially dogs), they spend the weekend visiting their relatives living in another city, they throw out barbecue parties, and they have spectacular brunch Sunday. They have 6 hour 34 minute free time in every 24 hour according to their national survey (OECD) In Bangladesh people dont have that much free time like the other Europeans countries. They usually spend their free time watching TV, visiting relatives house. Younger people plays cricket. Now days young people love internet a lot, they likes to go out with their friend. Most of the women usually stay home in their free time. Watching TV in free time: In Germany not many people watch TV on their free time. According to their national survey (OECD) only 28 percent people spend their free time by watching TV or listening radio. Because of German soccer league on TV the percentage goes bit higher otherwise I couldve been much lower. Another reason behind that they dont like to stay at home on their free time, in summer they like outdoor sport or traveling. In winter they love to spend their free time in coffee shop or bar or they go out for ice skating. [Ref: http://www.n24.de/news/newsitem_5027850.html] As for Bangladesh concern, watching TV is one of the best ways to spend free time. They havent done any national survey to say the percentage of it, but because Bangladesh is a Muslim country, woman doesnt go outside that often like German women. So the large number of Bangladeshi women spending their free time by watching TV. Its not only the woman, the man also like to watch TV especially live sports (cricket). It is the most popular sport in Bangladesh. So we can tell now, both country loves to see sports on TV in their free time. But they watch different kind of sport. Traditional free times: Germany people celebrated a large number of traditional festivals in big way. Christmas, Fasching, Easter, Oktoberfest and Love parade are some of their traditional festivals. This is also count as their free time. The biggest free time they have is summer holiday, school kids have more than month break. The people can take also a month break, because they can have one month break in whole year. And they usually take it in summer. They like to travel with their family. Christmas is also their favorite free time. The month of December they have lots of free time, this month they get extra bonus salary. They spend their free time in this month by shopping and they often go restaurant to eat. And this month consider fun in Germany. Everyone is happy; especially children have lots of fun. Bangladesh people have lots of fixed public holiday called New Years Day, International Mother Language Day, Independence Day, Bengali Solar New Year, Labor Day, National Mourning Day, National Revolution Day, Victory Day, Christmas Day .There are also lots of religious holiday, especially they have two big religious holiday which they consider the best free time. Although its Muslim fest, but because Bangladesh is a Muslim country they enjoy that time. This two religious holiday called Eid Al Adha and Eid Al Fitr. In this two occasions people goes for shopping. Its the happiest free time for Bangladeshi people. [Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Bangladesh] Both countries are different as religious point of view and cultural view. As for international holiday both countries people have same free time, but they spend it different way. Cultural and religious way they both have different holiday which they call free time. New Year celebration: The people in Germany celebrate New Year on the night of December 31st to January 1st. The people in Germany regard the New Year to be a major celebration. As a salute to the New Year celebrations the people in Germany light up fireworks. The New Year is called Neujahr and is observed as a public holiday in Germany. The customs in Germany play a significant role in the New Year celebrations. The New Year is a time to celebrate, enjoy and have fun. Its also their free time activities. [Ref: http://www.123newyear.com/newyear-customs/new-year-customs-germany.html] [Ref: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/germany/new-year-day] Bengali New Year (Bengali Noboborsho) or (Pohela Boishakh) is the first day of the Bengali calendar, celebrated in Bangladesh. It coincides with the New Years Days of numerous Southern Asian calendars. Poila Boishakh connects all ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences. In Bangladesh, it is a national holiday celebrated around 14 April according to the official amended calendar designed by the Bangla Academy. They enjoy their free time in that day very much. [Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohela_Boishakh] Free time in students view: In between study every students have their free time. German students love to attend their free time on sports. They like to play outdoor sports like soccer, ice skating, Basketball and indoor sports like Bowling, pool etc. In long holiday they love to go for study tour. They visit some other country university for attending two or three class. To improve their educational knowledge skills. This is really very nice things to do because students get opportunity to see the other country education system. Its a part of their education system, teacher also go with them. Bangladeshi students have also got study tour on their free time. They usually visit Historical places. Teachers also join them, to managing and telling them about the places. Bangladeshi students also go in coxs bazaar [largest sea beach in the world] sudorbon [largest mangrove forest in the world]. They have some national holiday called pohela boisakh, which is one of the biggest cultural fest they have. All the school, college, university arranged program for students where they celebrate. 21st February is international mother language day, Bangladesh celebrate this day more than any other country do, because of the blooded history behind of their mother language 1952. This day the whole country and the students doing lots of program to shown their love and respect to the Martyr. This is also their free time activities. One country fun differs in the other country: Oktoberfest is one of the popular fest in Germany. Its a part of German culture; its to drink bear (alcohol). German people often drink alcohol in their free time. Bar, pub, disco, night club its all part of spending free times for fun. They drink alcohol, if they have free time. Young people in Germany like to go in disco at night. Its obviously if they have free time. They have spectacular brunch Sunday; they enjoy it with their family. Weekend free time comes to end Sunday. Bangladesh is an Islamic country. Islamic law forbids the drinking of alcohol. Under Islamic law, drinking alcohol is classified as a serious or Hadd crime. Drinking in Bangladesh is also illegal. Although they have some bar where people can go to spend their free time and drinking. But it stills not that easiest like in Germany. In free time, drinking is normal in Germany. Its may be fun for them but its completely different case in Bangladesh. Conclusion: Bangladesh and Germany both country have some little things similar. Maximum way of spending free time is completely different. But the bottom line about free time in both the countries to occupied the time well, not to wasting it unnecessary. Because time as tide waits for none. And there are some ways, where German people find it as fun. But the same thing doesnt make any fun to Bangladeshi people. They find it unnecessary and against their religious thought. But still both have their own way to spending free times. And free times are all about relaxed from the stressful life. Because life is not only about work, its to live also. References Bibliographies: page viewed in date: 1st may 2011 http://www.holidayshub.com/holiday-traditions/german.html http://www.n24.de/news/newsitem_5027850.html http://www.bangladesh.com/national-holidays/ http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Bangladesh.html http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/schoolholidays.html http://www.ehow.com/list_7372498_islamic-laws-foreign-businesswomen.html http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/bangladesh/SOCIETY.html http://www.123newyear.com/newyear-customs/new-year-customs-germany.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohela_Boishakh http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/germany/new-year-day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Bangladesh

Brave New World - Society And Socio-economic Class :: essays research papers

Discuss how the society in Brave New World works to ensure that people do not change their socio-economic class. Through Brave New World, Huxley depicts a new, industrialized world, which is financially stable and has prevented poverty and self-destruction. Dictatorial governments are there to ensure stability and maintain perfection of the world. Therefore, just like under any other totalitarian government, social, mental and economic freedoms are abolished in order to retain social stability. The government eliminated these freedoms by censoring art and religion, by predestining peoples’ social caste prior their birth, and by controlling each individual’s life with the introduction of conditioning. At the beginning of the novel, the Director addresses his students and mentions, â€Å" We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future Directors of Hatcheries,† (p. 29). Citizens of the World State are categorized into distinct social classes, before they come into existence. Mr. Foster explains, â€Å"The lower the caste, the shorter the oxygen,† and this shows how chemical conditioning of the embryos presets the mentality and physical features of individuals towards a certain standard specified by the government. (p. 29) In an autocratic society whose aim is to maintain perfection, people no longer have the right to choose who or what they want to be. The government engineers babies to grow into efficient adults, who will then again contribute towards a stabilized society. After birth babies’ minds are altered to accept the moral education of the government. Two processes the new world uses to control human judgement are the Neo-Pavlovian process and hypnopaedia. The children, during early childhood, are trained to like and dislike certain aspects of life, nature, and science so that they can consume the maximum resources. Beta babies receive electric shocks in the presence of flowers and books and then the Director teaches how, â€Å" They’ll grow up with what the psychologists †¦ call an ‘instinctive’ hatred of books and flowers †¦ they’ll be safe from books and botany all their lives," (p. 36). The conditioning of the children forms a barrier in their minds, so that they are never free to decide for themselves, but are always bounded by the instructions of the state. Thus, the government is achieving its goal, the maintenance of stability. The Alpha students also got a chance to hear one of the hypnopaedic repetitions addressing Beta babies which echoed, â€Å" Alpha children wear grey.

Collision Theory Essay

I have been asked to investigate the effects different factors such as concentration and temperature have on the rate of reaction The rate of reaction is the loss rate of a reactant or the rate of creation of a product during a chemical reaction and it can be measured by dividing one by the time taken for the reaction be completed. Collision Theory states that an increase in concentration, temperature, surface area and the use of a catalyst in a reaction will either increase the rate of reaction by increasing the rate of collision between reactant particles, increase the success rate of collisions between the reactants or both of these reactions, there is also another factor which effects the rate of reaction, but is only applicable in gasses, that factor being pressure. I have chosen to investigate the effects of Concentration on rate of reaction, as it is the most accurately achievable while still challenging factor to change. Method: Equipment- 1x conical flask 2x 50ml measuring cylinder 1x 10ml measuring cylinder 1x pipette Sodium Thiosulphate Hydrochloric acid Water Stop clock Safety goggles Plain paper with a black cross on it. Add 10ml of HCL to a conical flask, by All procedures will be undertaken with safety goggles on. After assembling all of the equipment I will pour as close to 10 ml of hydrochloric acid into the 10 ml measuring cylinder, using the pipette to get the amount as close as reasonably possible, I will when doing this take into account surface tension and hence fill so the actual amount in the measuring cylinder is at 10ml not a little under as it may appear. I will then add (starting with 50ml descending in steps of 5ml to 20ml) sodium thiosulphate to the 50ml measuring cylinder. Following this I will add (starting with 0ml rising to 30ml in steps of five, in such a manner that the total volume of water combined with sodium thiosulphate Is always at 50ml) water to the second 50ml measuring cylinder. I will then add the two 50ml measuring cylinders contents into the cylinder containing the sodium thiosulphate, leave the cylinder for 10 seconds for the liquids to mix together (after swirling gently 10 times) before emptying the hydrochloric acid into the conical flask, followed by the mixture of sodium thiosulphate and water. The conical flask will be left on top of the piece of paper for the addition of the latter and when the second liquid is poured into the conical flask the stop clock will be started, I will then proceed to watch the view the black cross on the piece of paper bellow the conical flask until the point I can no longer see the black cross, at which instance I will stop the stop clock and record the time taken on a table along with the volumes of liquids used, I will also take the temperature at the time to make sure if there is any major discrepancy caused by the temperature I will know that this is the case and will be able to identify and explain these results.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 31~32

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Booty and the Beasts The second time Amy came out of the bedroom, she was dressed in her familiar hiking shorts, flip-flops, and a WHALES ARE OUR PALS T-shirt. â€Å"Better?† â€Å"I don't feel any better, if that's what you're asking.† Nate sat at the table with a can of grapefruit juice and a pint of vodka in front of him. â€Å"I mean, are you more comfortable now that I'm dressed? Because I can be naked again in a flash –  » â€Å"You want a drink?† Nate needed to forget the whole naked encounter as quickly as possible. Applying alcohol seemed like the most efficient method at this point. â€Å"Sure,† she said. She pulled a glass out of one of the kitchen cubbies, the clear door folding back like the protective cover of a frog's eye. â€Å"You want a glass?† Nate had been sipping alternately from the juice can and the vodka bottle until he had enough room in the can to pour in some vodka. â€Å"Yeah. I don't like reaching into the cupboards.† â€Å"You're kind of squeamish for a biologist, but I guess it does take some getting used to.† Amy set the glasses in front of him and let him mix the drinks. There was no ice. â€Å"You adjust.† â€Å"You seem to have adjusted. When did they take you? You must have been really young.† â€Å"Me? No, I was born here. I've always been here. That's why I was perfect to work for you guys. The Colonel has been teaching me cetacean biology for years.† It occurred to Nate that he had seen a few human children around and hadn't really thought about growing up in Gooville. Someone had to teach them. Why not the infamous Colonel? â€Å"I should have known. When you were trying to locate the whale by listening for it that last day. I should have known.† â€Å"Correction, when I did locate the whale by listening for it, for which you still owe me dinner.† â€Å"I think this is one of those all-bets-are-off situations, Amy. You were a spy.† â€Å"Nate, before you get too angry, you need to remember the alternative to my spying and finding out what you were working on in detail. That would have been to just kill you. It would have been much easier.† â€Å"You and Ryder act like you did me a favor. Like you saved me from some great danger. The only danger I was in was from you in the first place. So stop trying to impress me with the quality of your mercy. You did it all – tore up the lab, sank Clay's boat, all of it – didn't you?† â€Å"No, not directly. Poynter and Poe tore up the lab. The whaley boys sank Clay's boat. I took the negatives out of the packet at the photo lab. I kept them informed, and I made sure you were where they needed you to be, that's all. I never wanted to hurt you, Nate. Never.† â€Å"I wish I could believe that. Then you show up here like that, trying to convince me that this is a great place to live right after Ryder has given me the speech.† He drained his glass, poured himself another drink, this one with just a splash of grapefruit juice over the top. â€Å"What are you talking about? I haven't seen Ryder since I've been back. I just got in a few hours ago.† â€Å"Well, then it's always been a part of the plan: Let Amy lure the biologist into staying.† â€Å"Nate, look at me.† She took his chin in her hand and looked him right in the eye. â€Å"I came here of my own free will, without any instructions from Ryder or anyone else. In fact, no one knows where I am, except maybe the Goo – you can never be sure about that. I came here to see you, with all the masks and the role-playing out of the way.† Nate pulled away from her. â€Å"And you didn't think I'd be mad? And what was with the whole ‘Look how luscious I am' act?† She looked down. Hurt, Nate thought. Or acting hurt. If she cried, it wouldn't matter. He'd be useless. â€Å"I knew you'd be mad, but I thought you might be able to get over it. I was just trying to be floozish. I'm sorry if I'm not very good at it. It's not a skill you get to use a lot in an undersea city. Truth be told, the dating pool is sort of shallow here in Gooville. I was just trying to be sexy. I never said I was a good floozy.† Nate reached over and patted her hand. â€Å"No, you're a fine floozy. That's not what I was saying. I wasn't questioning your†¦ uh, floozishness. I was just questioning its sincerity.† â€Å"Well, it's sincere. I really do like you. I really did come here to see you, to be with you.† â€Å"Really?† What was the biological analog for this? A black widow spider male falling for one of her lines, knowing innately where it was going. Knowing right down to his very DNA that she was going to kill and eat him right after they mated, but he would worry about after. So time and again Mr. Black Widow passed his dumb-ass, sex-enslaved genes on to the next generation of dumb-ass, sex-enslaved males who would fall for the same trick. Spinning a little conversation: Interesting name, Black Widow. How'd you come about that? Tell me all about yourself. Me? Nah, I'm a simple guy. I'm doomed by my male nature to follow my little spider libido into oblivion. Let's talk about you. Love the red hourglass on your butt. â€Å"Really,† Amy said. There were tears welling in her eyes, and she lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it gently. â€Å"Amy, I don't want to stay here. I'm not – I want – I'm too old for you, even if you weren't a lying, destructive, evil – ; â€Å"Okay.† She held his hand to her cheek. â€Å"What do you mean, ‘okay'?† â€Å"You don't have to stay. But can I stay with you tonight?† He pulled his hand back from her, but she held his gaze. â€Å"I need to be way more drunk for this,† he said. â€Å"Me, too.† She went over to the scary fridge thing. â€Å"Do you have more vodka?† â€Å"There's another bottle over there in that thing – that other thing that I'm afraid of.† He caught himself watching her bottom while she found the bottle. â€Å"You said ‘okay. You mean you know a way out?† â€Å"Shut up and drink. You gonna drink or you gonna talk?† â€Å"This isn't healthy,† Nate observed. â€Å"Thank you, Dr. Insight,† Amy said. â€Å"Pour me one.† â€Å"Nice red hourglass.† â€Å"What?† Back at his bungalow at Papa Lani, Clay sat on the bed with his head in his hands while Clair rubbed the knots out of his shoulders. He'd told her the Old Broad's story, and she'd listened quietly, asking a few questions as he went along. â€Å"So do you believe her?† Clair asked. â€Å"I don't even know what I'm admitting to believing. But I believe she thinks she's telling the truth. She offered us a boat, Clair. A ship. She offered to buy us a research vessel, hire a crew, pay them.† â€Å"What for?† â€Å"To find Nate and her husband, James.† â€Å"I thought she was broke.† â€Å"She's not broke. She's loaded. I mean, the ship will be a used one, but it's a ship. It will still run in the millions. She wants me to find one – and a crew.† â€Å"And could you find Nate if you had a ship?† â€Å"Where do I look? She thinks he's on an island somewhere, some secret place where these things live. Hell, if she's telling the truth, they could be from outer space. If she's not†¦ well, I can't just run a ship around the world stopping at islands and asking them if they happen to have seen people crawling out of a whale's butt.† â€Å"Technically, baby, whales don't have butts. You have to walk upright to have booty. This is why we are the dominant species on the planet, because we have booty.† â€Å"You know what I mean.† â€Å"It's an important point.† She slid into his lap, her arms around his neck. Clay smiled despite his anxiety. â€Å"Technically, man is not the dominant species. There's at least a thousand pounds of termites for every person on earth.† â€Å"Well, you can have my termites, thanks.† â€Å"So man isn't really dominant, whether it's brains or booty.† â€Å"Baby, I wasn't saying that man was the dominant species, I was saying that we are the dominant species. Wo-man.† â€Å"Because you have booty?† She wiggled on his lap by way of an answer, then leaned her forehead against his, looked in his eyes. â€Å"Good point,† Clay said. â€Å"What about this ship? You going to let the Old Broad buy it for you? You going to go look for Nate?† â€Å"Where do I start?† â€Å"Follow one of these signals. Find whatever is making it and follow them.† â€Å"We'd need location for that.† â€Å"How do you do that?† â€Å"We'd need to have someone working the old sonar grid the navy put down all over the oceans during the Cold War to track submarines. I know people at Newport who do it, but we'd have to tell them what we're doing.† â€Å"You couldn't just say you were trying to find a certain whale?† â€Å"I suppose we could.† â€Å"And if you have your ship and that information, you can follow the whale, or the ship, or whatever it is to its source.† â€Å"My ship?† â€Å"Roll over, I'll rub your back.† But Clay wasn't moving. He was thinking. â€Å"I still don't know where to start.† â€Å"Who has the booty? Turn over, Captain.† Clay slipped off his aloha shirt and rolled over onto his stomach. â€Å"My ship,† he said. Nate was suddenly cold, and when he opened his eyes, he was pretty sure that his head was going to explode. â€Å"I'm pretty sure my head is going to explode,† he said. And someone rudely jostled his bed. â€Å"Come on, party animal, the Colonel sent for you. We need to go.† He peeked between the fingers he was using to hold the pieces of his head together and saw the menacing but amused face of Cielle Nuà ±ez. It wasn't what – who – he expected, and he did a quick sweep of the bed with one leg to confirm that he was alone. â€Å"I drank,† Nate said. â€Å"I saw the bottles on the table. You drank a lot.† â€Å"I didn't get a knob so just anyone could use it anytime they want.† â€Å"I noticed your knob. It looks out of place.† About that time Nate realized that he was naked, and Nuà ±ez was standing over his naked body, and he was going to have to let the pieces of his head go where they may if he was going to cover himself. He felt for a sheet, pulled it up as he sat up and threw his legs off the bed. â€Å"I'm going to need a moment.† â€Å"Hurry.† â€Å"I have to pee.† â€Å"That will be fine.† â€Å"And throw up.† â€Å"Also fine.† â€Å"Okay. You go away now.† â€Å"Brush your teeth.† And she left the room. Nate looked around the room for signs of Amy, but there were none. He didn't remember where her clothes were, but the last time he'd seen them, he was pretty sure they weren't on her. He stumbled into the bathroom and looked into the basin, mother of pearl with its little siphon fixtures and the green sphincter drain. Seeing that pretty much did it for him, and he heaved into the sink. â€Å"Hi,† Amy said, poking her head out of the retracting shower door. Nate tried to say something – something about trapdoor spiders, in keeping with an arachnid theme he was developing with regard to Amy – but it came out more bubbly and moist than he intended. â€Å"You go ahead,† Amy said. â€Å"I'll be in here.† And the door clicked shut like a frightened clam. When Nate had finished reviewing the contents of his stomach, he rinsed his face and the sink, emptied his bladder into the thing on which he would not sit, then leaned against the sink and moaned for a second while he gathered his thoughts. A head popped out of the shower. â€Å"So, that went well.† â€Å"The water's not running.† â€Å"I'm not showering, I'm hiding. I didn't want Nuà ±ez to see me. The Colonel shouldn't know I've been here. I'll leave after you go. Brush your teeth.† And then she was back in her shell. He brushed, rinsed, repeated, then said, â€Å"Okay.† Out she came, grabbed him by the hair, kissed him hard. â€Å"Nice night,† she said. The shower clicked shut, Amy inside. â€Å"I'm too old for this.† â€Å"Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that. Not now, later. Go. She's waiting.† CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO The Replicator Versus the Imitator Nuà ±ez bought him a large cup of coffee at a cafe where whaley boys stood around pouring down lattes the size of fire extinguishers and exchanging clicks and whistles at an irritating volume. â€Å"If ever there was a creature that didn't need caffeine,† Nate said. Nuà ±ez kept him moving, while he kept trying to stop to lean on things. â€Å"Don't ever drink with them,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"Especially the males. You know their sense of humor. You're as likely as not to get a wet willy in the ear, and it's a real wet willy.† â€Å"I may have to hurl again.† â€Å"Don't destroy yourself out of spite, Nate. Just accept things how they are.† He wasn't trying to destroy himself, and he wasn't spiteful. He was just confused, hungover, and kind of in love, or something remotely like love, except that the pain was more localized in his temples rather than being the overall, life-ruining pain it usually caused him. â€Å"Can we stop in at the Lollipop Guild and get a couple aspirins?† â€Å"You're late already.† In the corridors she handed him off to a pair of killer whaley boys. â€Å"You should be honored, you know?† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"He doesn't meet with many people.† â€Å"You can take my appointment if you want.† The Colonel had a goo recliner waiting for him when he walked through the iris door. Nate sat in it and held his coffee cup like a security blanket against his chest. â€Å"Well, can you see now that life wouldn't be so bad here?† Nate's mind raced. Amy said the Colonel didn't know, but maybe the Goo knew, but the Colonel was tapped in to the Goo, so did he know? Or had he sent her in the first place and this was all a scam, just like when he'd sent her to Hawaii to spy on him? She'd fooled him for a month there, why couldn't she be fooling him now? He wanted to trust her. But what was Ryder getting at? â€Å"What's different, Growl? When I saw you nine hours ago, I was a prisoner, and I'm a prisoner now.† Ryder seemed surprised. He wiped the lock of gray hair out of his eyes furiously, as if it had caused him to make some sort of mistake. â€Å"Right, nine hours. So you've had some time to think.† He didn't sound sure. â€Å"I got drunk and passed out. In the clear, lightning-bug light of day, Colonel, I still want to go home.† â€Å"You know, time† – Ryder patted the living chair he was sitting in as if he were petting a dog, sending waves of blush through the pink Goo outward from where he touched. Nate shivered at the sight of it – â€Å"time is different down here, it's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Relative?† Nate offered. â€Å"It's on a different scale.† â€Å"What do you want from me, Colonel? What can I possibly offer you that I get the special treatment of being spared and granted multiple audiences with the†¦ the grand pooh-bah?† Nate was going to say â€Å"with the alpha whacko,† but he thought of Amy and realized that something had changed. He no longer felt like he had nothing to lose. Rider swiped at his hair and clutched at the flesh of his chair with the other hand. He began rocking slightly. â€Å"I want someone to tell me I'm thinking clearly, I guess. I dream things that the Goo knows, and I think it knows things that I dream, but I'm not sure. I'm overwhelmed.† â€Å"You might have thought about that before you declared yourself wizard.† â€Å"You think I chose this? I didn't choose this, Nate. The Goo chose me. I don't know how many people have been brought down here over the years, but I was the first biologist. I was the first one who had some idea how the Goo worked. It had the whaley boys bring me to a place like this, where there was raw, unformed animal, and it never let me leave. I've tried to make things better for people in Gooville, but – † Ryder's eyes rolled up in his head as if he were starting to have a seizure, but then he was back again. â€Å"Did you see the electricity on the whale ships? I did that. But it's not – It's different now than it has been.† Nate suddenly felt bad for the older man. Ryder was behaving like an early Alzheimer's patient who is realizing that he's losing recognition of his grandchildren's faces. â€Å"Tell me,† Nate said. Ryder nodded, swallowed hard, pressed on – hardly the picture of the powerful leader he'd appeared the night before. â€Å"I think that after the Goo found its safe haven here under the sea, it needed to have more information, more DNA sequences to make sure it could protect itself. It produced a minute bacterium that could spread throughout the oceans, be part of the great world ecosystem but could pass genetic information back to the source. We call the bacteria SAR-11. It's a thousand times smaller than normal bacteria, but it's in every liter of seawater on the planet. That worked fine to transmit information back to the Goo for three billion years – everything that could be known was in the sea. Then something happened.† â€Å"Animals left the water?† â€Å"Exactly. Until then, everything there was to know – every piece of information that could be known – was transmitted through DNA, replicators, in creatures that lived in the seas. The Goo knew everything. Mind you, it might take a million years to learn how to make an arthropod's segmented shell. It might take two million years to learn to make a gill or, say, twenty million to make an eye, but it had its safe niche, so it had the time – it didn't have anywhere it needed to be. Evolution doesn't really have a destination. It's just dicking around with possibilities. The Goo is the same way. But when life left the water, the Goo got a blind spot.† â€Å"I'm having a little trouble seeing the immediacy of your story, Colonel. I mean, why, beyond the obvious that I'm sitting inside this thing, is this supposed to be urgent?† â€Å"Because four hundred million years later, the land creatures came back into the water – sophisticated land animals.† â€Å"Early whales?† â€Å"Yes, when mammals came back to the sea, they brought something that even the dinosaurs – the reptiles and amphibians that had come back to the water – didn't have. Something the Goo didn't know. Knowledge that didn't replicate itself through DNA. It replicated through imitation, learned knowledge, not passed on. Memes.† Nate knew about memes, the information equivalent of a gene. A gene existed to replicate itself and required a vehicle, an organism, in which to do it. It was the same with memes, except a meme could replicate itself across vehicles, across brains. A tune you couldn't get out of your head, a recipe, a bad joke, the Mona Lisa – all were memes of sort. They were a fun model to think about, and computers had made the idea of a self-replicating piece of information more manifest with computer viruses, but what did that have to do with – But then it hit him. Why he'd learned about memes in the first place. â€Å"The song,† Nate said. â€Å"Humpback song is a meme.† â€Å"Of course. The first culture, the first exposure the Goo had to something it didn't understand. What, maybe fifteen million years ago it found out it wasn't the only game in town. Three billion years is a long time to get used to living in what you think is your private house only to suddenly find out that someone moved into an apartment above you while you were sleeping. â€Å"For a long time the Goo didn't perceive that genes and memes were at odds. Whales were the first carriers. Big brains because they need to imitate complex behaviors, remember complex tasks, and because they could get the high-protein food to build the brains the memes needed. But the Goo came to terms with the whales. They're an elegant mix of genes and memes, absolute kings of their realm. Huge, efficient feeders, immune from any predation except from each other. â€Å"But then something started killing whales. Killing them in alarming numbers. And it was something from the surface world. It wasn't something the Goo could find out about from its ocean-borne nervous system, so that's when I think it created the whale ships, or a version of them. Late seventeen or early eighteen hundreds, I'd guess. Then, I think when it had somehow gotten back enough samples of human DNA, it made the whaley boys. To stay camouflaged but to watch, to bring people back here so it could learn, watch us. I may have been the final link that started the war.† â€Å"What war? There's a war?† Nate had a quick vision of the paranoid megalomaniacs that the Colonel said he'd considered for pseudonyms, Captain Nemo and Colonel Kurtz, both complete bedbugs. â€Å"The war between memes and genes. Between an organism that specializes in the replication of gene machines – the Goo – and one that specializes in the replication of meme machines – us, human beings. I brought electrical and computer technology here. I brought the Goo the theoretical knowledge of memes and genes and how they work. Where the Goo is now and where it was before I came is the difference between being able to drive one and being able to build a car from lumps of raw steel. It's realizing the threat. It's going to figure it out.† Ryder looked at Nate expectantly. Nate looked at him as if he wasn't getting the point. When he'd studied under Ryder, the man had been so cogent, so clear. Grumpy, but clear. â€Å"Okay,† Nate said slowly, hoping Ryder would jump in, â€Å"so you need me to†¦ uh†¦?† â€Å"Help me figure out a way to kill it.† â€Å"Didn't see that coming.† â€Å"We're at war with the Goo, and we have to find a way to kill it before it knows what's happening.† â€Å"Then don't you think you should keep your voice down?† â€Å"No, it doesn't communicate that way.† The Colonel looked perturbed at Nate's comment. â€Å"So you want me to figure out how to kill your god? â€Å"Yes, before it wipes out the human race in one fell swoop.† â€Å"Which would be bad.† â€Å"And we have to kill it without killing everyone in Gooville.† â€Å"Oh, we can do that,† Nate said, completely confident, the way he'd seen hostage negotiators in cop movies tell the bank robbers that their demands were being met and the helicopter was on the way. â€Å"But I'm going to need some time.† The strangest thing was, as Nate left the Colonel's chamber after being in direct contact with the Goo for only a few minutes, his hangover was completely gone.

Wyomia Tyus, Olympic Gold Medalist

Wyomia Tyus, Olympic Gold Medalist About Wyomia Tyus: Known for: consecutive Olympic gold medals, 1964 and 1968, womens 100-meter dash Dates: August 29, 1945 - Occupation: athlete More About Wyomia Tyus: Wyomia Tyus, with three brothers, became active in sports early. She was educated in Georgia in segregated schools, and played basketball and later began to run. In high school she competing in the Girls National Championships of the Amateur Athletics Union, placing first in the 50-yard, 75-yard, and the 100-yard races. After winning the 1964 Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash, Wyomia Tyus traveled to African countries as a goodwill ambassador, running training clinics and helping athletes learn to compete in world competions. Wyomia Tyus planned to compete again in 1968 and was caught up in the controversy over whether black American athletes should compete or should refuse to compete in protest of American racism. She chose to compete. She did not give the black power salute when she was honored for winning gold medals for the 100-meter dash and as anchor of the team for the 400-meter relay, but she wore black shorts and dedicated her medal to the two athletes, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, who had given the black power salute when they won their medals. Wyomia Tyus was the first athlete to win gold medals for a sprint in consecutive Olympics. In 1973, Wyomia Tyus turned professional, running for the International Track Association. She later taught physical education and coached. She continued to be active in Olympics-related organizations and to support womens sports. In 1974, Wyomia Tyus joined Billie Jean King and other women athletes in founding the Womens Sports Foundation, which aims to enhance opportunities for girls in sports. Background, Family: Born in Griffin, GeorgiaFather: Willie Tyus, dairy workerMother: Marie, laundressonly girl and youngest of four children Education: high school in Georgiacollege at Tennessee State University; recreation major Marriage, Children: husband: Art Simburg (divorced)husband: Duane Tillmanchildren: Simone (daughter) and Tyus Tillman (son) Selected Wyomia Tyus Quotations Starting all over, its kind of difficult saying where you want to go. You go step by step, waiting and waiting, and, I guess, being a sprinter, its hard to wait. I never think about anybody. I let them think about me. I wasnt paid a dime for my track career. But participating in the Olympics gave me the opportunity to learn about different cultures; it made me a better person. I wouldnt trade the time I competed for anything. After the Olympics I did not even run across the street. You can be the best in the world and not be recognized.... A lot of it has to do with breaks. If a coach at Tennessee State hadnt given me a break at 14, I never would have been in the Olympic Games.

Your 100 Fan Club

Your 100 Fan Club The older I get, the more simplified I seem to want my life. Thats why I toned FundsforWriters down over the years from four newsletters, to three, to two. . . and now one, just like I started years ago. More time to write. More time to enjoy myself while writing. I love losing myself in a story. But marketing, publishing, and so on tend to distract us and rob us of the joy. At  a recent conference speaker, I spoke to writers about corralling all the to-do things on their plates and learning how to focus on writing. I suggested they do what Im doing. . . write for their most avid 100 fans. You know who those are. They are the ones who review, who respond to your blog, who converse with you on Facebook, who like your Instagram posts. They dont just say they love your work, but they talk it, naming characters and plot points that resonated with them. Why just 100? Because those are your concentrated dose of energy. You have a better feel for what they like. Since theyve contacted you somehow, you feel a few degrees closer to them. You owe them more, and in turn, they deliver back with reviews, emails, and that oh-so-precious word-of-mouth to others about you and your stories. Simply your writing. Write the stories that you think your top 100 will love. Dont have 100? If you keep making an appearance in person, on social media, in writing guest posts on blogs, that 100 will materialize. If you keep writing and quit banking on one book. If you keep reminding the few you have in a newsletter who you are (avoiding saying BUY MY BOOK), that 100 will happen. Who doesnt feel warm and cozy having 100 fans? And that number grows faster the more you cater to that tribe. Theyll practically spread the word for you.

Agroclimate Factors of Oil Palm in Nigeria

Agroclimate Factors of Oil Palm in Nigeria EFE S. I. AWARITEFE O. D. ABSTRACT . Using multiple correlation analysis and student ‘t’test, the Agroclimate factors of Oil Palm production was examined for ten years periods. Result showed that Agroclimate factors (sunshine, temperature and rainfall) are highly correlated with oil palm yield. This is evident from a multiple correlation of 74%. It was also observed that oil palm yield is more in the dry season than in the wet season. INTRODUCTION Any agricultural system is a man-made ecosystem that depends on climate to function just like the natural ecosystem. The main climatic elements that affect crop production are solar radiation, temperature and moisture. These climatic parameters and other depend on them, largely determine the global distribution of crops yield and livestock (Ayoade, 1993). He stresses further that climate elements exert an influenced on all stages of the agricultural production chain, including land preparation, sowing, crop growth and manageme nt, harvesting, storage, transport and marketing. This view has earlier be noted by Oguntoyinbo (1983) when he attributed the donation of the cocoa and kola-nut belt in southwest, oil palm bush in southeast and the north south ridge of river Niger comprising area of groundnut, cotton and rice cultivation to these climate vagaries. However, climate influence on oil palm has attracted the attention of some scholars over the years. Amongst whom are Manning (1956), Broekman (1963), Oshodi (1966); and Hartley (1988). An examination of their views shows that Manning (1956), outlined the rainfall requirements of selected food and commercial crops grown in West Africa, and he opined that the mean annual rainfall for oil palm is between 1500— 3000mm in West African Countries. Devuyst (1963) correlated oil palm yield with the influence of rainfall alone; using the concept of useful rainfall. His work however showed a positive correlation. He regarded rainfall as the sole agent influenc ing oil palm yield, and consequently considers any yield maxima to originate in wet season. Broekman (1963) accepted the view of Devuyst but differs in his finding. He stressed that dry season rainfall is positively correlated with oil palm yield. To him, it is reasonable to except that the amount of rainfall during the dry season will be of particular importance, as moisture is a limiting factor during this period. On the other hand, Oshodi (1966) computed the effective growth energy index for some selected crops in Nigeria. The index was however based on only temperature and rainfall. The Effective Growth Energy (E.G.E) for oil palm in Nigeria is 250-300Â °F. Harley (1988) stated that oil palm yields are correlated with dry season rainfall with measures of effective sunshine, which take into account the distribution of such rainfall in’ the dry season. It is clear from the foregoing that rainfall and temperature correlation with oil palm has been substantiated, however, th e relationship between sunshine and oil palm yield, as well as the joint contribution of sunshine, rainfall and temperature, has not be substantiated. Similarly there are divergent views on the relationship between the seasons and oil palm yield. Also, since the establishment of Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) in 1939 there have been a relative neglect in the development of Agroclimatological Research Unit in the institute. While other research units (Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Engineering Research, Agronomy, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Extension and On-Farm Adaptive Research, Entomology, Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology, Plant Physiology and Statistics) have been developed. What exists in that unit is a dilapidated weather station where climate data’s are collected and never used for research purposes. So, the present study of Agroclimatic factors of oil palm yield in Nigeria is borne out of the desire not only to fill the above gaps, but to proffer use ful suggestion that will guide both the oil palm farmers, and the NIFOR officials on the need to plan with the climate of the area. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the extent to which temperature, sunshine and rainfall correlate with oil palm yield.

Compare and contrast software analysis techniques Essay

Compare and contrast software analysis techniques - Essay Example After the detection of that fault in the fifth month, a software programmer was contacted and briefed with the entire story. Even a small miscalculation can lead to a bad reputation and penalties from regulatory authorities that may lead to business loss. Similarly, a software malfunction was detected in November 1979, where the strategic air commander receives an alert scramble. The scramble alarm indicated that the Worldwide military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) reported that the Soviet Union has launched missiles that are moving towards the United States of America (Software engineering (sie) 7E). Likewise, later it was found that the simulated attack was considered as a real attack, however, the U.S department of defense has not provided the details of that incident as it was marked as confidential. Conclusively, it was also a software fault that may have intimated U.S to launch a counter attack. With these two examples of billing a customer or getting false alarms in air defense, the completion time of software is always late, over budgeted or with many faults and may not cope with clients requirements. To overcome, these issues, software engineering methods are invented. Likewise, it is an attempt to provide a solution of these problems. In this brief, we will discuss two software engineering techniques i.e. formal software engineering and semi-formal software engineering. 2 Formal Software Engineering Techniques There are various formal software engineering techniques available; however, they are exceedingly diverse. For instance, Anna is considered to be a formal specification language pertaining to Ada (Luckham, von Henke, Krieg-Brueckner, & Owe, 1987). Likewise, some of the formal techniques are based on knowledge such as Gist, as it was designed for describing processes aligned with user friendliness i.e. the closest alignment of describing the process. Likewise, this is only achievable by formulating the constructs that are utilized in natura l languages. The Gist specifications are very difficult to read in practice, a separate paraphrasing tool has been deployed from Gist to English. Moreover, one more formal software engineering technique known as (Schach, 1993) Vienna definition method (VDM) is also invented. Likewise, this technique is based on DE notational semantics (Fitzgerald & Larsen, 2009). Moreover, one remarkable factor of this technique encompasses not only on the application but the design and deployment, as well. The VDM technique has been successfully applied in many projects, most amazingly on the ‘Datamatik Center development’ that was integrated with DDC AdaCompiler System (Diaz & Orejas, 1989). A unique perspective of reviewing specifications is to analyze them in the context of sequences of events. Likewise, an event can be an ordinary action or a communication signal that transmits data inward or outward of the system. For instance, a case study related to an elevator, where one event comprises of pressing the button of the elevator for floor f on elevator e along with its consequential illumination. Similarly, another event comprises of elevator e that is leaving the floor f downwards along with cancellation of illumination that is associated with conforming floor button. The CSP language abbreviated as the Communication Sequential Processes (CSP) is invented by Hoare in

The learning and teaching of mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The learning and teaching of mathematics - Essay Example The paper tells that decimal notation is a crisis experienced by children in mathematics. The researcher has faced instances where some children are unable to distinguish between small and large values when presented with decimal points. When the subject of decimals is first introduced to primary school children, there is a general belief that when the number is long, the value is high. This means that there is an existing problem in the ability to differentiate the values of digits with decimal points. For example, when the researcher ask children to assign the number with the highest values between 5.555, 5.55 and 5.5, 5.555 is given as the answer. The reasons children give are arguably connected to the way they view whole numbers and denote decimal points. This trend can be explained by a number of misconceptions in decimal notation. There is a general belief that numbers with more digits represent high values than those with small values. 5.555 is believed to have a large value t han 5.5 because 5.555 has four digits that make the number look bigger, and 5.5 has two digits that make the number look smaller. While this explanation may be true in some cases, several combination of numbers may not adhere to the misconception. For example, in differentiating between 0.12, 0.111 and 0.1012, children pick 0.1012 as the number with the greatest value because 0.12 has three digits, 0.111 has four and 0.1012 has five, hence, the more the number of the digits, the higher the value of the number. In reality, 0.12 has a higher value compared to 0.1012.

Aerobics class in london Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Aerobics class in london - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to find out opportunities provided for the community to engage in sporting activities and which groups of people the sport activities target. This paper will reveal research findings and results after visiting a community sports leisure center. Activities carried out in the center will be mentioned as well as the targeted groups and benefits of the mentioned activities. To receive accurate data, an arranged permitted interview will be conducted so as to learn more about the center. Observation and other mode of primary data collection will be discussed as well as the collection of secondary data. The center under study is central YMCA club. This club is a component of a charity organization; this makes this fitness center only one of its kind in the health and fitness sector. This club offers a center for the community members to interact in a social perspective. This therefore leads to its welcoming, friendly and warm environment as it leads to a feeling of belonging and enables members to achieve fitness and health through a wide range of activities offered. (Prasad, 6). The mission of this club: To advance the wellbeing and health of the community via the providence of fitness, sport and art- based programs. Such programs will include: positive health, older adults, performing arts, creative arts, mind and body, exercise nutrition, Y active kids, healthy living, and pre and post natal. However, the program under focus is mind and body. Under this program several concepts are practiced. The area of concern in this report is Tai Chi. This is an aerobic exercise which develops a healthy mind and body; it includes meditation as well as slow aerobic sessions. (Tucker, 7) 2. Methodology My initial visit at the Central YMCA was on 19-03-2013. I collected brochures and fliers concerning the organization at the reception desk. I walked around the facility and observed the activities taking place. I also met with the assistant coordinator and discussed my intentions as well as handed him my letter of introduction. We arranged my next visit to the center as well as the activities I was to undertake so as to facilitate the findings of my report paper. I collected more relevant information concerning the fitness facility in their website. My next visit was on 22-03-2013. I met with the assistant facilitator discussed my report paper and I was given a go ahead as well as the date and venue to collect my data. I then walked around the facility and observed the activities. On 26-03-2013, 30 random members of Central YMCA were selected by I and a group interview was conducted. This was done with permission from the management of the organization. The venue was at the board room, time 2:00- 4:00 pm. I asked the participants each question as I recorded the results. Each member answered individually. Questions asked to each member included: a. Why do you attend Central YMCA? b. Do you like the aerobic programs? c. How many att end Tai Chi? Reason for attendance? Two aerobic instructors of Central YMCA were also interviewed. The management of the organization was informed and the employees permitted to give concerned information. This took place on the 26- 03- 2013, at the boardroom, 11:30 am -12:15 pm and 6:00- 5:45 pm. Questions asked included: a. What are the opportunities provided for people to participate in aerobic fitness activities? b. What is the target group? c. Which aerobic program comprises of a majority of people? Why? d. How does the community benefit from the organization? e. How many attend Tai Chi? Reason for attendance? 3. Findings i. Primary data collected Data collected from the members was

Low job Satisfaction at Disney Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Low job Satisfaction at Disney - Research Paper Example Its great and main involvement is to sell vacation packages to people from all over the world who wish to visit the ‘magic Disney land’. Disney World Travel Agencies is a subsidiary company of the greater World Disney Company. Their ever crowded jam park in its many Disney lands is a reflection of their customer satisfaction. This company allows visitors to book their vacations in their parks online through their heavily trafficked website. In addition, all this Disney parks have call centers where customers can call with in their enquiries, whether for Disney Land, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris or Disney land Hong Kong (Gittin, 2010). Problem Statement If the crowded Walt Disney Parks is anything to go by, one would expect that the job satisfaction for the employees in this company is high. As much as this company is greatly accredited to a great customer satisfaction, it continues to habitually leave employees wages low and stall promotions. (Watt, 2013). Being a multinational company, the company is not treating the employees as it should be. The rate of employee turnover in this company is very high, which directly translates to a low job satisfaction. There is tons of ambition, desire, and magic from each cast member only to be put down by management when someone has an idea (non-solicited ideas are not allowed by cast members). This course project will help Identify several changes needed to be made within the company structure of WTDC in order to get morale back to its previous heyday when Walt Disney himself ran the company. Literature Review Job satisfaction refers to how content an employee is with his or her job. It can be taken to be that aspect where one analyses the number of people who would say, â€Å"I love my job’. (Cranny et al, 1992).Job satisfaction can be in form of affective job satisfaction or cognitive job satisfaction. These two concepts are very different from each other yet they are closely related as they both deal with an employee’s relationship with his or her work. Affective job satisfaction refers to the emotions that one has towards their job. Are they happy and content? How much pleasure do they derive from their daily activities? Cognitive job satisfaction refers to employees feelings towards different aspects of their job, which might include maternity leave, pay or salary, management of the company among others. (Wang, Yang and Wang, 2012) These two concepts are usually applied when studying the organizational behavior, attitudes and actions of employees. The results are thereafter used to determine the overall job satisfaction of employees (Cranny, 1992). Frederick Herzberg, in his Two Factor Theory notes that motivation and hygiene are the two main factors that lead to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction of employees. Motivation factors are said to encourage and motivate an employee (Sultan, 2012). Examples of such factors include chances for a promotion, being c omplemented for work well done, achievement recognition awards among others. With these, the employee will have a higher level of job satisfaction. The hygiene factors include aspects such as favorable company policies, a good pay and other terms that are favorable and appealing to the employees. Frederick argues that these are the main factors that lead to either the satisfaction or the dissatisfaction of an employee. The Affect Theory, however states different reasons for the satisfaction

Please see instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Please see instruction - Essay Example The author, McKinley did not do the piece just fully as required right from the title of the story for he put it as if the raped child was in the town (Roxane). He focused so much on the town and the men while forgetting who the victim was in this situation. Considering what happened, the mainly affected person was the little girl but not the men who executed that horrifying act (Roxane). In the articles, focus is on the lives of men and the town rather than our victim who suffered the worst. He quotes some responses residents of the town were relaying of how the little girl dressed like a 20-year old woman and how the mother would let her leave home to go to various quarters all alone. He also states how the men’s lives would change because they would miss school. All this tries to imply that the little child brought all on herself through her conduct so the whole story is understandable in a way (Roxane). In the article there were questions raised on where the mother was when her little girl was raped because it is believed that she should be with her child at all times. This means that incase anything bad happens, she is to blame herself for not being responsible. The author shows a sense of chauvinism because he attacked the victim’s mother but never bothered to question the father too (Roxane). The article would be better if the author would not involve the defense of the men who did it because what he did is trying to justify their actions. Since he is reporting on what happened it should focus on the victim more and how the victim found help, through justice and her healing process. The gender of the authors too brought difference in the two articles. The Times newspaper reporter wrote the article focusing so much on the defense of the boys; trying to blame the mother for being irresponsible to the victim. He does not mention the victim’s father because he too must be responsible as much as the mother should be; they are all the parents to the

Aerobics class in london Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Aerobics class in london - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to find out opportunities provided for the community to engage in sporting activities and which groups of people the sport activities target. This paper will reveal research findings and results after visiting a community sports leisure center. Activities carried out in the center will be mentioned as well as the targeted groups and benefits of the mentioned activities. To receive accurate data, an arranged permitted interview will be conducted so as to learn more about the center. Observation and other mode of primary data collection will be discussed as well as the collection of secondary data. The center under study is central YMCA club. This club is a component of a charity organization; this makes this fitness center only one of its kind in the health and fitness sector. This club offers a center for the community members to interact in a social perspective. This therefore leads to its welcoming, friendly and warm environment as it leads to a feeling of belonging and enables members to achieve fitness and health through a wide range of activities offered. (Prasad, 6). The mission of this club: To advance the wellbeing and health of the community via the providence of fitness, sport and art- based programs. Such programs will include: positive health, older adults, performing arts, creative arts, mind and body, exercise nutrition, Y active kids, healthy living, and pre and post natal. However, the program under focus is mind and body. Under this program several concepts are practiced. The area of concern in this report is Tai Chi. This is an aerobic exercise which develops a healthy mind and body; it includes meditation as well as slow aerobic sessions. (Tucker, 7) 2. Methodology My initial visit at the Central YMCA was on 19-03-2013. I collected brochures and fliers concerning the organization at the reception desk. I walked around the facility and observed the activities taking place. I also met with the assistant coordinator and discussed my intentions as well as handed him my letter of introduction. We arranged my next visit to the center as well as the activities I was to undertake so as to facilitate the findings of my report paper. I collected more relevant information concerning the fitness facility in their website. My next visit was on 22-03-2013. I met with the assistant facilitator discussed my report paper and I was given a go ahead as well as the date and venue to collect my data. I then walked around the facility and observed the activities. On 26-03-2013, 30 random members of Central YMCA were selected by I and a group interview was conducted. This was done with permission from the management of the organization. The venue was at the board room, time 2:00- 4:00 pm. I asked the participants each question as I recorded the results. Each member answered individually. Questions asked to each member included: a. Why do you attend Central YMCA? b. Do you like the aerobic programs? c. How many att end Tai Chi? Reason for attendance? Two aerobic instructors of Central YMCA were also interviewed. The management of the organization was informed and the employees permitted to give concerned information. This took place on the 26- 03- 2013, at the boardroom, 11:30 am -12:15 pm and 6:00- 5:45 pm. Questions asked included: a. What are the opportunities provided for people to participate in aerobic fitness activities? b. What is the target group? c. Which aerobic program comprises of a majority of people? Why? d. How does the community benefit from the organization? e. How many attend Tai Chi? Reason for attendance? 3. Findings i. Primary data collected Data collected from the members was

Please see instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Please see instruction - Essay Example The author, McKinley did not do the piece just fully as required right from the title of the story for he put it as if the raped child was in the town (Roxane). He focused so much on the town and the men while forgetting who the victim was in this situation. Considering what happened, the mainly affected person was the little girl but not the men who executed that horrifying act (Roxane). In the articles, focus is on the lives of men and the town rather than our victim who suffered the worst. He quotes some responses residents of the town were relaying of how the little girl dressed like a 20-year old woman and how the mother would let her leave home to go to various quarters all alone. He also states how the men’s lives would change because they would miss school. All this tries to imply that the little child brought all on herself through her conduct so the whole story is understandable in a way (Roxane). In the article there were questions raised on where the mother was when her little girl was raped because it is believed that she should be with her child at all times. This means that incase anything bad happens, she is to blame herself for not being responsible. The author shows a sense of chauvinism because he attacked the victim’s mother but never bothered to question the father too (Roxane). The article would be better if the author would not involve the defense of the men who did it because what he did is trying to justify their actions. Since he is reporting on what happened it should focus on the victim more and how the victim found help, through justice and her healing process. The gender of the authors too brought difference in the two articles. The Times newspaper reporter wrote the article focusing so much on the defense of the boys; trying to blame the mother for being irresponsible to the victim. He does not mention the victim’s father because he too must be responsible as much as the mother should be; they are all the parents to the

Reasons for the failure of Germany in World War II Essay Example for Free

Reasons for the failure of Germany in World War II Essay Backing to the year 1933, National Socialist Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany and began a massive rearming campaign. This worried France and the United Kingdom, who had lost much in the previous war, as well as Italy, which saw its territorial ambitions threatened by those of Germany. Hitler was convinced that fate had chosen him to rescue a humiliated nation from the shackles of the Versailles Treaty, from Bolsheviks and Jews. Thus he wanted to wage war in order to recover Germany. Eventually, in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, the World War II’s European battleground began. On September 1st 1939, German armies invaded Poland and henceforth Hitler’s main energies were devoted to the conduct of a war he had unleashed to dominate Europe and secure Germanys living space. The first phase of World War II was dominated by German Blitzkrieg tactics: sudden shock attacks against airfields, communications, military installations, using fast mobile armor and infantry to follow up on the first wave of bomber and fighter aircraft. Poland was overrun in less than one month, Denmark and Norway in two months, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and France in six weeks. After the fall of France in June 1940 only Great Britain stood firm. Just as what he had prophesied at the end of January 1939, that if the international financial Jewry within and outside Europe should succeed once more in dragging the nations into a war, the result will be, not the Bolshevization of the world and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.(Evans, R. J., 2005 ). For many points to the reparation payments that Germans had to pay after the first world war as the cause of this downturn. Both through envy and despise, he and many other Germans began to scapegoat the Jews as the cause of all their suffering. Jews were slaughtered during the World War II by German armies. Exactly as the film Schindlers List (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg showed that the figure for the number of Jews who were killed in t he Holocaust is about 5.7 million to 6.0 million. However, it was still the same country which was always be regarded as the strong during the whole process of World War II, Germany was one of the vanquished countries of WWII. It was concluded from the army strength and the historical evidence of the condition of the WWII that although Germany was powerful during the World War II, Germany was defeated by its vanity, without people’s support and Hitler’s dictatorship. According to Lowe, K (2012), by Ian Locke’s examining the British attainment of German industry. Although German economic was better than any other European countries at that time, German was still not enough powerful to wage the war. The advanced science and technology might help Germany equip its army well. Which leads to most of the German tanks and other weapons were way ahead of anything their opponents had to offer. Their tanks were faster, better armored and had a longer range than anything the allies had available. However, after America joined the war and supplied the British and Russians with armaments, the flood gates were opened and the battlefields were swamped by technically inferior but numerically superior weapons. Once overview the domestic ground condition of Germany in 1945. It was obviously that Germany made too many enemies. Germany during World War II, focusing particularly on the evidence gathered from archival sources at the Russian Federations Foreign Ministry Historical Documents Department. On April 27, 1945, the Soviet 70th Army of the 2nd Byelorussian Front under the management of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky held the town of Prenzlau as part of the Soviet process to take Berlin, Germany. The reason to this tragic historical event is that Germany had not been fully focused on the defense for the camp. Meanwhile, Germany was also fighting against Great Britain. (Zaleeva, A. A., 2010) During the World War II, it was the period that airpower was the element of crucial importance. Losing airpower usually means losing the victory. Based on the record of the history by Harvey, A. D(2012). German Luftwaffe battled against the British Royal Air Force during the Air Battle of Britain in 1940. The Luftwaffe failed to properly identify their numerical advantages over the RAF within their missions. Including Nazi military leader Hermann GÃ ¶ring, German Messerschmitt Bf109 military fighter planes, and U.S. Army Air Force Lieutenant James Doolittle. After the losses of the Air Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe never fully recovered. By 1944, they had lost control of the skies over most of Europe and were subject to 24hour bombing. It was because lack of airpower meant lack of photo reconnaissance, so the German high commands were making decisions without proper intelligence. Since losing the resource gates in the previous battle and having blind confidence about the airpower itself. The air warfare strategies used for bomber and fighter aircraft during both events. It was because German looked down upon the Royal Air Force, leading to the lack of airpower so that lacking of photo reconnaissance. Eventually it resulted in German failure of WWII. Moving to the reason why Nazi government could not gain people’s support. From the career of Albert Speer, principal architect of the Nazi regime, who played the role in the atrocities committed by Germany in World War II. Among his major responsibilities was the procurement of manpower to keep the Nazi factories in operation which played an important role in the organization of the Nazi forced-labor programs. Since labors were forced to work, they were not willi ng to do it, so German domestic residents were not support the war. They were working without their own willingness. In this case, not even to mention to gain any support from allies. Only the country who had the same objective by waging the war made friendship with Germany, most of other countries were standing against Germany, it also indicate that only through following peoples heart, can they lead a strong army. And Germany made too many enemies all over the world was another reason for its failure. (Forsgren, R. 2012) Last but seems to be the most general one is the system of organization. Looking back to Adolf Hitler’s biography, Strategy used by him to strengthen the violence on the roads; Purpose of the government for not legally banning communists; Connection between social democrats and communists; Reason behind the firing of judges, state prosecutors and judicial officials in Germany. Diplomatically, his style of leadership involved him personally taking all the major decisions, with little delegation. Under the circumstances, his dictatorship dominated Germany. Leading to a dictatorial government in which one person has absolute power, often backed by the military, over the entire country and its people. What is more, he removed certain rights from people, most of the time trespassed certain human rights.(Zaleeva, A. A. 2010) The mental state of general Germans at that time was blind and lack of personal thinking. The way they followed was the responsibility which was given by their nation, no matter it was right or not. Under this situation, the wrong war was waged. It could be concluded from the personal diary of August TÃ ¶pperwien, a German Protestant, who was not a Nazi and however maintained a loyal nationalism to the end. In so doing, it probes the troubled morality of someone whose conflicting senses of personal duty and political obligation found their vent in pages of silent self-reflection, and so reveal with an unusual simplicity of the underlying frames of moral refe rence, which so often remain implicit and argued in the short-hand and rational of other diaries and family letters, let alone macro-level surveys of widely held attitude. From his personal feeling, the responsibility that led to Germanys failure is that Germans soldiers wrongly regarded the support for the Nazi regime and for the war were the same thing then overrated their power to against the rest of the world. (Stargardt, N. 2010). World War II is the largest war in humans history, which causes the most losses, either the number of casualties or economic losses, and brings human being disasters. It lasted for 6 years, more than 60 countries or regions took part in the war. The immediate cause of the outbreak of World War II is fascist regime, the rapid rise. Fascist rulers head of Germany, Italy, Japan in order to achieve the re-divide the world and expand their areas attempted to cause the War. With Germany was defeated in North Africa and Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat o n all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. In April 1945, the Soviet Union occupied Berlin as Hitler committed suicide. Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7th, 1945. The war in Europe ended. Later 1945, World War II was completely ended with Japan’s unconditional surrender. Fortunately, this costed more than six years’ war eventually ended with the victory of the world anti-fascist alliance. Looking back to the history, by summing up the reasons why the result was occurred, it is reasonable that Germany would fail in this war obviously. Under Hitler’s dictatorial domination and the excitation with their early victory, Germany became more and more arrogant. Regarding they could achieve whatever they wanted to come true. Dreaming to dominate the other nations all over the world even without their domestic support. History was correct, it chose the victory deserved to win. Peaceful Americans, grieved British, tough and tensile Soviet and Chinese made great contribution to international public. No matter how it was negative at the beginning of the war, they never gave up. By taking up the vital point of Germany, international public finally made the gorgeous reversal come true. How foolish that German looked down upon such opponents! Although Germany was powerful during the World War II, Germany was defeated by its vanity, without people’s support and Hitler’s dictatorship eventually. References 1. Evans, R. J. (2005). Hitlers Dictatorship. (Cover story). History Review, (51), 20-25. 2. Forsgren, R. (2012). The Architecture of Evil. New Atlantis: A Journal Of Technology Society, 3644-62. 3. Harvey, A. D. (2012). The Battle of Britain, in 1940 and Big Week, in 1944: A Comparative Perspective. Air Power History, 59(1), 34-45. 4. Lowe, K. (2012). From the Archive. History Today, 62(2), 72. 5. Steven, S. (1993). Schindlers List 6. Stargardt, N. (2010). The Troubled Patriot: German Innerlichkeit in World War II*. German History, 28(3), 326-342. 7. Zaleeva, A. A. (2010). Freeing Belgian Generals from the Prenzlau Nazi POW Camp. International Affairs: A Russian Journal Of World Politics, Diplomacy International Relations, 56(4), 242-246.

Key Features of Business Process Management

Key Features of Business Process Management Key Features Of Business Process Management Suite: BPMS Vendors And Core Functions Reviewed. Introduction Organisations seek to improve their business process by making them more efficient, real time, automation and agile. The business demand was met with a suite of technologies, ranging from groupware and office automation, to workflow and more currently, BPM technologies (Bandara,Wasana and Indulska ). Finding a vendor and which tool to use that can be very daunting exercises. One the other hand, vendors introduced innovative ways to meet their customers demands. Gartner (Feb 2009) predicts that through 2012, managers and consultants will develop process centric methods and disciplines analogous to those used in territorial and function organization. This paper will review features are included in the BPMS suite. Discuss few vendors that are in the Gartner Major Quadrant, functions of BPMN, BPEL which are languages or execution standards that support a BPMS tool. Description Of Business Process Management Suite (BPMS) A BPMS is an integrated collection of software that enables the control and management discipline of business process (Gartner 2009). BPM enable-technologies have existed for so many years as point products supporting explicit control of particular aspect of a process, such as human workflow, document and image routing, system system interaction patterns (Garter 2009). The appearance of integrated BPM- enable technology is part of disaggregation of application software and is an example of the trend toward building software systems from small â€Å"chunks.† BPM-enabling technologies are available as separate specialty tools, integrated BPMSs, and are being adder to some major application packages (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) For some vendors it is a lucrative profitable business. Gartner research shows that the BPMS market will have a compound annual growth of more than 24 % from 2006 2011 (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) Business Process Management Suite Architecture BPMS has been divided into four layers; Middleware/Application, Engines, Utilities and Knowledge (Paul Harmon). There are no standards set on what should be included in the business process management suite. Some companies look for tools that are workflow centric, application integration or decision centric (Bptrends). BPMS products need to be able to manage the access of other application. Few BPMS products can handle this function; they have to rely on existing middleware and application server products to provide support (Paul Harmon). Rules Engine The heart of the BPMS product consists of the engine that manages the runtime execution of the business process instance (Paul Harmon). Rules Engine execute rules that abstract business policies and decision tables from the underlying applications, and make available more flexi process changes (Gartner 2009). When a decision point is reached, the rule engine will determine which business rule apply and then execute them to determine the appropriate decision (Paul Harmon). If customer applies for a loan, business rule will determine if the loan is granted or not, based on the customers credit history. Business rules are managed by tools called Business Rule Management. Workflow Engine Workflow is one of capabilities delivered with BMPS. Some important parts of the workflow are poorly understood. The BPMS helps reviles better workflows by making their process execution visible and audited (Garter 2009). Workflow management improved things not only by managing the flow of work, but also digitising the information, thereby making the process as automated and paperless as possible (Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee) EAI Engine Enterprise application integration (EAI) tool was developed to interface between systems. Paul Harmon in his book says that, â€Å"EAI engine manages the calling and coordination of the software application required for the execution of a process â€Å"(Bptrends) Modelling tools Popular process modelling tools that are supported by BPMS is UML and BPMN. BPMN defines a Business Process Diagram (BPD), which is based on a flowcharting technique tailored for creating graphical models of business process operation. BPMN was first released in May 2004 by Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI.org), the graphical, flowchart-based BPMN is a recent BP modelling language that is already gaining wide acceptance (Koskela and Haajanen, 2007). 1. Execution standards Execution standards enable business designs to be deployed in BPMS and their instances executed by the BPMS engine. 1.1 BPEL The Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) is the short name for BPEL4WS (Paul Harmon). BPEL is the currently the most popular and influential execution standard in the market. It is used together with Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) and other related technologies. This means that BPEL is used to define how the business process is built from invocations of existing web services and the kind of interaction of the process with external participants (Ryan K.L. Ko). BPEL is more widely adopted in several prominent software suites (e.g. IBM Websphere, BeA AquaLogic BPM Suite, SAP Netweaver, etc.) (Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee) Strengths of BPEL (Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee) 1. focuses on process that low level programming constraints 2. It subscribes to the web services paradigm 3. Its popular most vendors are using it. Weaknesses 1. Complex syntax and very difficult to implement its XML representation is difficult and readable to the trained eye 2. Does not example human involvement in business process well Workflow management systems have always able to model human participation in business process (Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee) 1.2 BPML The Business Process Modelling language is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) process definition language that describes the structural representation of a process and the semantics of its execution ( Have,2005). BPML was designed for business processes to be executed in contemporary web service based BPMS (e.g. Intalio BPM) (Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee) Strengths of BPML 1. Zero code programming programmers dont need to dwell on coding but defining business process. 2. Encourages usability and scalability Weaknesses 1. BPML has its limitation ( Shapiro, 2002, Smith, 2004,Koskela and Haajanen, 2007) Garners Magic Quadrant for Business process management Suite (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) Gartner ‘s 2009 Magic Quadrant depicts the relative strength of the top 22 vendors offering multiregional, cross industry business management suits (BPMSs) . Magic Quadrant is one of the several tools that clients can use to evaluate BPMS market. Gartners Magic Quadrant for BPMS has been recognised by vendors that they reference to it in their websites. Leaders offers products and services that best enable all of the use cases and have customer references for each. Niche players focus on a specific area, where they have very good functionality to offer, but they do not have a comprehensive BPMS Suite Visionaries develop new and comprehensive concepts regarding architecture and functionality Challengers- companies in that have undergone major changes in their organisations and products that they offer. For the vendors to qualify to be placed in the leaders section of the quadrant have to meet all the required characteristics of the BPMS. Characteristics of BPMS (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) Following are functions that are delivered in the BPMS. BPMS tools must have all these functionality in order to meet the changing marker and user needs. Gartner suggest that in order for the vendor to be a leader in the marker, all these capabilities must be met. â€Å"Support the modelling and analysis of business processes, including all aspects of workflow: tasks,roles,decisions,approvals,reviews,escalations,collaborations,flows,rules,policies,forms and other documents, events, goals, objectives and scenarios. BPMS is not only an automate tool but support documents and ( check the source ) Support process change in the design and the execution of transactions, with auditing. ( support this statement) Coordinate any type of interaction pattern among users, system task and information resource, regardless the location of these resources. Interaction patterns include human to human, system to system, human to system, human to content and content interdependencies. Enable participants to manipulate and manage structured and unstructured information within the process, not just as referenced attachments to their tasks. Support the definition, manipulation and management of business rules by business and IT users. Support user and group collaboration on work items in the process (in real time and offline). Support the monitoring, reporting, analysis and notification of activities and events affect work, using data about completed and in progress transactions (in the real time and offline). Support process simulation and optimisation of desired business outcomes by using real-time, historical and estimated data. Interoperate with external software assets, especially SOA web services, and include these in the end to end business orchestration. Enable management of all process artefacts (models, process definitions, rule definitions, service definitions. Executables and more) throughout the entire process life cycle Include packaged business content, such as sample process models, rule sets; prebuilt user interfaces (UIs) and composite process frameworks†. BPMS vendors Only selected vendors from the Gartner Magic Quadrant that are reviewed below:- Intalio Enterprise And Community Edition BPMS Intalio community edition is the first that offers an open source reliable BPMS. This packaged is scaled for small companies. Intalio is lacking distribution channel and efficient marketing. (Janelle B. Hill , Nikos Drakos) Strengths In this unstable harsh economic climate, open source is gaining more attention. Intalio has a unique business model that uses open-source content, licensing and community marketing. The intelligence use of using open source business model, combined with adoption of industry standards, has resulted in more that 500, 00 companies downloading Intalio BPMS community Edition (open -source code). Intalio has more that 500 customers in 50 countries; six of these companies are located in South Africa. ( www.intalio.com) Caution Advanced features for business rules engine, BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) and ECM (Enterprise Content Management) are only available in the commercial Enterprise Edition. Companies that start using Intalio Community Edition should be prepared to send their employees on training as Intalio is not offering consulting services. IBM BPMS (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) According to Gartners Magic Quadrant, IBM is a leader in the BPMS. It meets most of the required capabilities to make it a leader. IBM suite contains a comprehensive set of role based capabilities that enable customers to model, simulate, run, rapidly change, monitor and optimise core business processes. IBM BPMS tools reviewed in this paper are: Business Leader widget which is available through IBM BPM Blueworks, WebSphere Business Modeller and Business monitor. Business Leader widgets: WebSphere business publishing server Enable users to share process models and BPM assets through a Web browser. Enable users to publish an array of BPM assets including process models, WebSphere Business Monitor dashboard designs, and user interface forms. WebSphere Business Modeller Business Analyst can document , test and share business process Simulate process runs and identified inefficiency and bottlenecks Define key performance indicators and business metrics for in the WebSphere Business Monitoring WebSphere Business Modeller can generate IT implementation artifacts for WebSphere Process Server and facilitate human centric- process in a server environment. WebSphere Business Monitor WebSphere Business Monitor is an integrated business activity monitoring (BAM) environment that provides end to end visibility of business activity on WebSphere Process Server, WebSphere MQ Workflow, FileNet ® Business Process Manager, and other enterprise application.  · WebSphere Business Monitor development toolkit provides templates and a test environment to further accelerate time to value  · Fully configurable dashboards that shows you what you only need to see  · Deliver alerts to email, pagers or PDAs Strengths IBM has marshalled all its resources including Global services, university, IBM staff and families, outreach industry and its partner ecosystem to accelerate user adoption of BPM as a management discipline. SOA companies has benefited its BPMS by showing how SOA and BPM work better together Has a vision for exposing process artifacts and data more directly to business professionals Caution IBM has multiple of BMPS products, it fulfils its BPM strategy through federated interoperability across two basic offerings augmented by extended offerings. Broader software divisions acquisition strategy will continue to augment IBMs BPMS vision and product road map. Customers are cautioned to monitor the integration of new technologies Individual products in the suite have strong and rich functionality. And in combination, the permutations of configuration possibilities are overwhelming. Customers usually require help from a service provider. WebSphere dynamic Business Process has few references. Lombardi BPMS Lombardis BPMS, called Teamworks , is best known for human centric process that change dynamically based on business factors such as dispute resolution, product returns, tax reconciliation, loan origination, or supply chain management. Lombardi describes Teamworks as focused on â€Å"operational processes,† meaning complex flows spanning organisation and system boundaries. Lombardi has customers in almost all sector; Financial Services, Government, HealthCare, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail, Telecommunications and companies like Ford Motors. Its evident why Lombardi is on the top leaders in Gartners magic quadrant. Its not surprising why companies like IBM have shown interest in it. (http://www.lombardisoftware.com/bpm-software-customers.php) Lombardi BPMS Tools These are the following tools that Lombardi is offering:- Lombardi Teamworks 7 Enterprise offers a complete Business Process Management Suite supporting modelling and simulation analysis, human workflow, integration, business rules and performance management. Lombardi Blueprint: Is a hosted web- based environment that provides an extremely business friendly front end to BPMN modelling and supports team collaboration. Means that Blueprint is a cloud- based process discovery and documentation platform that can be accessed from any browser. Blueprint models can be exported to Teamworks for implementation. Lombardi Services Included the entire range of BPM enablement services covering core competencies; Process analysis, process implementation, process optimisation, reporting and performance management, architecture and infrastructure and program leadership and governance. ( Bruce Silver Associates) Strengths Lombardi has keen insights into the functions required by each individual user role that is involved in business process life cycle. User friendly modelling tool, making business analysts life easier. Continuous process improvement programs where empowering business users or business analysts is key. Customer references are among the most advanced in BPM maturity. Blueprint which is a cloud based, appeals to business managers and strategic planners who seek for high process diagramming and knowledge capture. (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) Caution Customers with smaller deals will find it challenging to command Lombardis attention. And its case management is not strong as its competitors. (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) Metastorm BPM vs 7.6 (Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006) The Metastorm BPM suite provides an open standards based framework for integration, enabling organization to easily integrate external applications and data with Metastorm BPM processes (Metastorm). Strengths In 2008 customer experience was excellent. Enable Metastorm BPM processes to access SAP functionality and data during the development and execution of business processes Strong heritage in providing BPM software based on Microsoft technologies Product easy to use, even for non technical users. Caution Some users have reported support problems outside the U.S. Metastorm has developed a global presence through regional resellers to sell its BPMS and targeted solutions. Customers should understand the scope of the solutions they buy from a reseller and the path to further licensing options to ensure expectations are met. Some customers report difficulties in negotiating pricing and contracts. It may take longer than anticipated to determine the appropriate licensing configuration Conclusion Its been almost a decade since BPMS tools entered the market. Business Process Management (BPM) is the most talked about subject. Yet I have found that information about the tool that support BPM, which is BPMS is not easy to find. Or there is not much information available. I can only imagine how difficult it is for companies to decide what tool best fits their needs. Companies will have to purchase papers from companies like Gartner and Forester. Evidently BPMS is still new in the market. Their standard has not reached maturity. As much as BPEL and BPML are popular standards, their limitation and drawback have major impact in the BPMS. For companies looking to implement BPMS tools in the companies can be very difficult. Companies go to big vendors that can support globally and have customers references. Word of mouth is a big deal. With the help of Gartners Magic Quadrant, companies can save time to search for suitable products that can meet their needs. For companies who seek to explore the BPMS tools, or student who want to know what is about. Open -source vendors like Intalio and others who can offer their products for free. Its very interesting to see how this marking is growing. Vendors like IBM purchasing smaller vendors, but who are excelling to the BPMS field in order to improve their products. University of Cape Town ICTS department is planning to implement Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Its going to be an interesting observation to see how they will choose the vendor. Will the UCT look within the companies that they have been dealing with like Microsoft SharePoint. Or they will look for a new vendor, how they will base their findings. References (Harmon, www.bptrends.com) ; Janelle B. Hill, Jim Sinur, David Flint, Michael James Melenovsky, 2006. Gartners Position on Business Process Management, 1-26 Bandara, Wasana and Indulska, Marta and Chong, Sandy and Sadiq, Shazia (2007) Major Issues in Business Process Management: An Expert Perspective. In Proceedings ECIS 2007 The 15th European Conference on Information Systems, pages pp. 1240-1251, St Gallen, Switzerland. Ryan K.L. Ko,Stephen S.G. Lee,Eng Wah Lee. Business process management (BPM) standards: a survey, 1-47. Available: www.emeraldinsight.com/1463-7154.htm