Strategic Management Business & Management Case Study

Strategic Management Business & Management - Case Study Example The company did not respond to the changing management needs and continued to pay heavy packages to its workers and coupled with low response to fashion changes, it has lost its customers confidence. JZ Benny did not respond to the competitive edge that the new entrants like Spanish El Dorado and Scandinavian Helgar were employing. It remained static in the fashion outsourcing even when its competitors changed to fast fashion model shops. While the competitors outsourced their fashions from Eastern Europe, JZ Benny instead rushed to China and South East Asia which sold at low cost. Thinking this as a cost advantage over the rivals, it turned out to be a stock burden for the company since they had to buy in bulk and hence were left with indispensable stock at the end of the season. This was a miscalculated marketing strategy resulting from inefficient market analysis. The company failed to keep up with its competitors who resulted to e-supply chain which enabled them to connect the customers with the designers hence placed in the market what the customer preferred. This ensured that they were always ahead of other retailers since they stocked what the customers liked. JZ Benny saw a management gap and responded by fishing Bob D'Saster from competitor Helgar Fashions. As the CEO of JZ Benny, D'Saster was confident that cost cutting measures and investment in technology would turn the chain around to start making profit. Cost cut measures were implemented leading to layoff of about 20% of the staff and heavy investment in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to help in improving the Barcode Inventory Processing. However this did not help the company and the AGM dismissed D'Saster and placed John Hammond as the CEO. As expressed by Courtney et al., 1997, the case of JZ Benny is a management problem. The company has been under a management that does not recognized that the company is in a dynamic industry which is highly competitive. Fashion industry has seen a lot of revolution and even the giants in Paris and Milan have not been spared. With the rise of USA and ASIA and fashion centres of the world, the company needs to wake up to the changes taking place in the market. As part of the strategic management, the company should first embrace the e-commerce models to have more links between designers and customers. It should also look into expansion strategy to widen its operation base. This model should be in line with the following analysis of the business and its operation environment. The company should not be disposed to tycoon McQueen since it can use this proposed model to turn round its fortunes. (Michael and Jude, 1997) External Analysis (a) Political The company operates in an enabling political environment. The fusion of the political and business environment is suitable for its operation. The business commission has already barred McQueen from acquiring the company as per its rules. With the formation of the European Union the company should

Prince of Hijaz and Ottoman Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Prince of Hijaz and Ottoman Empire - Essay Example Ottoman Empire in Arab peninsula extended over four centuries, and with an authority that fluctuated in terms of strength and weakness. Further, this period also saw the rise of the Saudi Kingdom referred to as Al Saud. The alliances that were later formed in this region resulted in the expansion of Saudi and which provides impetus to the Saudi Arabian dynasty in the present day. The history of the Prince of Hejaz and Ottoman Empire also provides the reader with insight of when the Saudi state was created. However, this state was later destroyed by Mohammed Ali Pasha. This later contributed to the establishment again of a smaller Saudi state that existed in Nejd. However, throughout the 19th century, Al Saud continued to pursue for control of the interior lands and which, later formed Saudi Arabia and ruled by the Al Rashid. Later in the 20th century, the hold on power by Ottoman Empire begun to collapse, this period also marked the rise to power by Ibn Saud who ruled over Riyadh, and specifically Nejd. This led to Al Saud coming back from exile in Kuwait and settled in Nejd. The rise into power enabled Ibn Saud to gain support from the Ikhwan that was a tribal army which, derived influence from Wahhabism. The local army looked upon Ibn Bijad and Faisal Al-Dawish for leadership, this army was founded in 1912 and allowed Ibn Saudi to gain strength over the Ot tomans. Further, a revolt by the unified Arabs around 1916 to 1918 contributed to the demise of Ottoman Empire and their control over Arabia. This article is an important source for this topic in the sense that it describes the history of Ibn Saud also referred to as Abdual Aziz Ibn Saud. Further, this article provides information regarding Nejd which, is considered to be an Ancient land in the Arabian Peninsula. Through this article, the reader is also able to understand where the Islam religion originated. However, later on, this

Summary of Margaret Newman's and Rosemarie Parse's Grand Theories of Essay

Summary of Margaret Newman's and Rosemarie Parse's Grand Theories of Nursing - Essay Example The development of grand nursing theories helped to distinguish the discipline from the medical model, catalysed the extensive growth of nursing knowledge, and provided a framework for organizing nursing knowledge and nurse education curricula. Further, grand theories offer an alternative to practising solely on the basis of tradition or intuition, thus helping to professionalize nursing practice. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to summarise Margaret Newman’s and Rosemarie Parse’s grand nursing theories, examining their aim, their application to patient care and nursing, their key elements, and their strengths and weaknesses. Margaret Newman’s Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness Margaret Newman’s 1990 theory of health as expanding consciousness arose from her insights on long-term illness. She believed that through the invalid’s expansion of consciousness, they gained a deeper appreciation for life and more meaningful relation ships. This abstract model required recognition of the life pattern, acceptance of illness as part of the life pattern, and health as an expansion of consciousness. The pattern of expanding consciousness evolves irrespective of the form or direction it may take. Through this realization, illness and disease lose their demoralizing power (Rich, 2011). The theorist believed that the focus of nursing is on the nurse-patient relationship. Pattern-recognition is the key element of nursing practice and interventions. The more expanded the consciousness of the nurses, the more readily they are able to enter a transformative relationship with clients, to help the latter regain health by minimizing disease and emphasizing health (Newman, 1999). The purpose of this theory of health as expanding consciousness, is to underscore the human experiences of transformation through time and space to a more highly organized pattern of the whole. Newman’s perspective of health and illness as a un itary process moving through variations of order-disorder, was built on Rogers’ 1970 life process model with a holistic and unitary view of humans, and from Young’s idea of the acceleration of evolution of consciousness. According to Newman, consciousness pertained to all information of a system that related to its capacity to interact with its environment. â€Å"Consciousness as the essence of all things that exist, including humans† (Kim, 2006, p.297), is a part of time and space, and is reflected in movement. Newman’s theory considers health as a synthesis of the fusion of disease and non-disease, that is health consists of both wellness and illness. Disease and nondisease form â€Å"a larger wholeness that takes on a new and different form that is not diminished by illness† (Rich, 2011, p.290); this health creates a more inclusive consciousness. Therefore, the key characteristics of Newman’s theoryare: Health includes illness or patholgy ; these pathological conditions are a manifestation of the total pattern of the individual; the pattern of the individual that eventually establishes itself as pathology existed as a primary feature before the occurrence of structural or functional changes; by removing the pathology the individual’s pattern cannot be changed; â€Å"if becoming ill is the only way an individual’s pattern can manifest itself, then that is health for that person†

Legal Aspects of Health Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Legal Aspects of Health Administration - Essay Example able medical equipment and supplies, parenteral and enteral nutrients, equipment, and supplies, prosthetics, orthotics, and prosthetic devices and supplies, home health services, outpatient prescription drugs, inpatient and outpatient hospital services and nuclear medicine. However the Law has around 35 exceptions that describe acceptable financial relationships that allow a physician to refer to an entity for the provision of designated health services. (Stark Law Questions & Answer). This anti-kickback statute, which states the punishment that may be meted out to anyone who knowingly, and willfully pays any remuneration to induce referrals of federal health care program services and products. Medicare & Medicaid Patient Protection Act 1987 (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b) provided for criminal penalties for certain actions of Medicare and state health care .Under it, any offeror who induces another, inter alia, to refer people for providing any services which are been currently paid out of Medicare or state Funds, shall be liable for prosecution, with fine ranging to $25,000 and also five years’ imprisonment. (Manning, 1996). However, there are exceptions for Anti-kickback Laws which are known as safe harbors. Soon after the decision in the famed Jeffrey Feldstein v. Nash Community Health Services Inc., during November 1999, eight new anti-kickback safe-harbor provisions were published in addition to the existing 15 safe-harbors. The safe harbor provisions include actions such as investments in large publicly held health care companies, small healthcare joint ventures, rentals of space or equipment, personal services agreements, sales of retiring physicians’ practice, discounts and other arrangements, waivers of Medicare Part A inpatient cost-sharing amounts, managed care arrangements involving particular price reductions and enrollee incentives, investments in group practices and ambulatory surgical centers, joint ventures, practitioner recruitment, sales of physician

File Properties and Attributes, Operating Systems Assignment

File Properties and Attributes, Operating Systems - Assignment Example The operating systems are the system software that provides an interface for users to interact with the computer to perform their required tasks. The operating systems are major software applications necessary for computer users to use the system. Without the operating system, the users can not use the computer as computers do not understand human languages. The operating systems perform the task of translating user inputs to computer understandable format and vice versa. "An operating system is a special computer program that manages the relationship between application software, the wide variety of hardware that makes up a computer system, and the user of the system" [Wikipedia]. Once the booting process is complete, the kernel hands over the control to various other applications and programs to run. Kernel also provides access to various core services to other programs. These include disk access, memory management, task scheduling and other hardware devices. The layers of OS include Service layer providing services to other software to interact and use the functionality of kernel, Command layer providing a command driven interface options and application layer running and executing application level software and tasks. The List  of resources allocated by the operating system and explain the process of the allocation process. Include: Single process resource allocation -  The single process resource allocations are done in a simple manner. Based on the available resources, the CPU distributes the entire process into pieces and allocates and schedule resources accordingly.

Homeostasis in humans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Homeostasis in humans - Essay Example Core to this is the human body’s management of a variety of highly complex relations, critical in maintaining either a return to, or a balance of, normal functionality of the body (Guyton & Hall, 2006:310). This is achieved through three core types of processes i.e. thermoregulation, osmo-regulation and chemical regulation. Such interactions vitally facilitate changes, which are compensatory in nature and hence supportive of both psychological and physical human functionality. In the case of an imbalance, a function is usually altered, causing a reversal of the functionality back to its normal settings (Guyton & Hall, 2006:317). This is exemplified by the function of human skin, with an increase in temperature necessitating thermo-receptor feedback to the brain’s hypothalamus. This results in increased sweating, as a way of balancing the temperature. In the case of blood pH imbalance, chemoreceptors send messages to the brain’s respiratory center, thus enhancing the affected individual’s respiratory rate (Guyton & Hall, 2006:324). Other processes crucial in the maintenance of homeostasis include the body’s balance of electrolyte and blood pressure levels. Core to this body functionality, is the input of various body organs i.e. the human brain, the kidneys and the liver. The latter two’s role in maintaining homeostasis is undisputed, with the brain’s endocrine system, hypothalamus sector, and its autonomic nervous system being core to this functionality. The human pair of kidneys is on their part essential for a number of roles i.e. the re-absorption of substances into the blood circulation; the excretion of human waste matter and urea; the regulation of blood water levels and blood pH, in addition to maintaining iron and salt levels in circulation (Maton et al., 1993:35). As Marieb and Hoehn (2007) allude, the liver provides core maintenance of

Good and Evil (a Wrinkle in Time, and Frankenstein Review) Essay Example for Free

Good and Evil (a Wrinkle in Time, and Frankenstein Review) Essay â€Å"Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil. † Marcus Aurelius. A Wrinkle in Time is a book about the journey through the war of good versus evil and the ultimate triumph of love. Every character is clearly distinguished with either good or evil: the â€Å"good† characters include Meg, her family, Calvin, the Mrs. W’s, Aunt Beast, and the Happy Medium; the â€Å"evil† characters include IT, The Dark Thing, and the Man with the Red Eyes. Frankenstein, on the other hand, is a story told in a series of letters, as Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole, recounts to his sister back in England the progress of his dangerous mission. Successful early on, the mission is soon to be disturbed by seas full of impassable ice. Trapped, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein, who had been travelling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton take him abroad the ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster the Frankenstein created. This tale that Frankenstein is reciting reveals the two sides that a person, or a living creature can portray: good and evil. Frankenstein was banned in South Africa for being â€Å"obscene† and â€Å"indecent†, while A Wrinkle in Time was banned for having a fantasy-related genre throughout the plot, including witches and demons. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. â€Å"Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master; obey! † (Shelley 149). In Frankenstein, the monster represents evil, as it comes to life, and terrorizes its creator. Dangerous knowledge is an ideal theme in Frankenstein. The pursuit of knowledge is right in the middle of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to go beyond accepted human limits and find out the secret of life. Likewise, Robert Walton attempts to pass the past human explorations by being determined to reach the North Pole. In A Wrinkle In Time, comfort and individuality is a major theme that I saw throughout the plot. The main character, Meg, is caught between the desire for conformity and the expression of her own creative nature. At the beginning of the novel Meg feels embittered towards other students at her school that make fun of her and tease her for being different, as well as those who see her little brother as being weird or odd. She desperately wants to be more like her twin brothers who have little problem fitting in. The theme that the two stories share, and that I have mentioned before, is the theme titled good and evil: â€Å"Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure. Then, slowly, the shining dwindled until it, too, was gone, and there was nothing but stars and starlight. No shadows. No fear. Only the stars and the clear darkness of space, quite different from the fearful darkness of the Thing† (L’Engle 102). Its interesting that the defeat of the Black Thing doesnt lead to the universe being lit up like a baseball stadium, but rather to an absence of unnatural darkness. Its almost like the battle isnt so much between evil and good as between evil and the normal. Characters are â€Å"Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations† Ray Bradbury. In Frankenstein, the main character or the creator of the monster. Victor becomes obsessed with the idea of creating an artificial human form and eventually attempts to make it. Immediately after creating the monster, he falls into a depression and starts to fear. He leaves the school and returns home to his family, where he finds only tragedy. Not fully aware of the consequences of his creating a new human, he ends up really spending his entire life trying to destroy the same creation he was working to make for so long. In a Wrinkle In Time however, the protagonist is portrayed a bit differently: Meg Murry, The books hero, an awkward, but loving high school student who is sent on an adventure through time and space with her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin to rescue her father from the evil force that is attempting to take over the universe. Megs greatest faults are her anger, impatience, and lack of self-confidence, but she changes and overcomes them, and in the end is victorious, as the story ends with a stereotypical kid’s-story ending. A happy ending for the protagonist. The main differences that I saw between the two are the two protagonists: Meg Murry (A Wrinkle In Time), and Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein), are to begin with, set in different times. A Wrinkle In Time could be set anywhere in the recent past. Frankenstein however, is set in the late 18th century. The whole concept of Frankenstein is much darker, and in fact I would say it could be classified as gothic science fiction, as the characters are much darker, and seem more serious and cold-hearted by the way Shelley describes them compared to the other book. A Wrinkle In Time is much lighter, as the characters, their actions, and abilities are all easier, and always give the advantage to the â€Å"good guys†. Also the whole concept of the book, and the idea of it, is more for a child’s imagination to handle and comprehend compared to Frankenstein, and I would classify it as plain science and fantasy fiction. Although these differences shape the stories in totally different directions, there are some similarities: The similarities between the characters and their traits are that they both have solid downsides to them. As I mentioned before, Meg’s (A Wrinkle In Time) faults are her temper, impatience, and lack of confidence in herself, and Victor’s (Frankenstein) faults are that he is in a depression and great fear throughout the plot after the Monster is created and is woken. Another trait I can compare between the two protagonists, are their determination to reach their final goal. Although I cannot see it in either book, but both books were officially banned in one place or another for ridiculous reasons. Frankenstein was banned in South Africa for being â€Å"obscene† and â€Å"indecent† in 1955. Maybe 57 years ago there were different rules and traits a person had to portray to be defined as â€Å"good†, but to make this specific book banned for being â€Å"obscene† (which means that it is offensive or the opposite of accepted manner). A Wrinkle In Time is banned for having witches, crystal balls and demons. Also, because Jesus is listed among the names of great artists, philosophers and teachers, and it is banned in the U. S. â€Å"Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin† (Shelley 37). All in all, these books have more differences than similarities in my opinion. Although both are really good, one is dark while the other is light compared. The similarities that I saw in the characters, the themes, and the reason they were censored are mostly because of the relationship between good and evil throughout it. Studying these two books and the reason for them being banned has surprisingly changed my life in a minor way, as I learned how people from different cultures and education they grew up with react to different things, and I learned to compare and contrast, not only the books, but real life situations such as the South Africans who banned Frankenstein versus my lifestyle and way-of-thinking. â€Å"Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil. † Marcus Aurelius. A Wrinkle in Time is a book about the journey through the war of good versus evil and the ultimate triumph of love. Every character is clearly distinguished with either good or evil: the â€Å"good† characters include Meg, her family, Calvin, the Mrs. W’s, Aunt Beast, and the Happy Medium; the â€Å"evil† characters include IT, The Dark Thing, and the Man with the Red Eyes. Frankenstein, on the other hand, is a story told in a series of letters, as Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole, recounts to his sister back in England the progress of his dangerous mission. Successful early on, the mission is soon to be disturbed by seas full of impassable ice. Trapped, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein, who had been travelling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton take him abroad the ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster the Frankenstein created. This tale that Frankenstein is reciting reveals the two sides that a person, or a living creature can portray: good and evil. Frankenstein was banned in South Africa for being â€Å"obscene† and â€Å"indecent†, while A Wrinkle in Time was banned for having a fantasy-related genre throughout the plot, including witches and demons. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. â€Å"Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master; obey! † (Shelley 149). In Frankenstein, the monster represents evil, as it comes to life, and terrorizes its creator. Dangerous knowledge is an ideal theme in Frankenstein. The pursuit of knowledge is right in the middle of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to go beyond accepted human limits and find out the secret of life. Likewise, Robert Walton attempts to pass the past human explorations by being determined to reach the North Pole. In A Wrinkle In Time, comfort and individuality is a major theme that I saw throughout the plot. The main character, Meg, is caught between the desire for conformity and the expression of her own creative nature. At the beginning of the novel Meg feels embittered towards other students at her school that make fun of her and tease her for being different, as well as those who see her little brother as being weird or odd. She desperately wants to be more like her twin brothers who have little problem fitting in. The theme that the two stories share, and that I have mentioned before, is the theme titled good and evil: â€Å"Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure. Then, slowly, the shining dwindled until it, too, was gone, and there was nothing but stars and starlight. No shadows. No fear. Only the stars and the clear darkness of space, quite different from the fearful darkness of the Thing† (L’Engle 102). Its interesting that the defeat of the Black Thing doesnt lead to the universe being lit up like a baseball stadium, but rather to an absence of unnatural darkness. Its almost like the battle isnt so much between evil and good as between evil and the normal. Characters are â€Å"Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations† Ray Bradbury. In Frankenstein, the main character or the creator of the monster. Victor becomes obsessed with the idea of creating an artificial human form and eventually attempts to make it. Immediately after creating the monster, he falls into a depression and starts to fear. He leaves the school and returns home to his family, where he finds only tragedy. Not fully aware of the consequences of his creating a new human, he ends up really spending his entire life trying to destroy the same creation he was working to make for so long. In a Wrinkle In Time however, the protagonist is portrayed a bit differently: Meg Murry, The books hero, an awkward, but loving high school student who is sent on an adventure through time and space with her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin to rescue her father from the evil force that is attempting to take over the universe. Megs greatest faults are her anger, impatience, and lack of self-confidence, but she changes and overcomes them, and in the end is victorious, as the story ends with a stereotypical kid’s-story ending. A happy ending for the protagonist. The main differences that I saw between the two are the two protagonists: Meg Murry (A Wrinkle In Time), and Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein), are to begin with, set in different times. A Wrinkle In Time could be set anywhere in the recent past. Frankenstein however, is set in the late 18th century. The whole concept of Frankenstein is much darker, and in fact I would say it could be classified as gothic science fiction, as the characters are much darker, and seem more serious and cold-hearted by the way Shelley describes them compared to the other book. A Wrinkle In Time is much lighter, as the characters, their actions, and abilities are all easier, and always give the advantage to the â€Å"good guys†. Also the whole concept of the book, and the idea of it, is more for a child’s imagination to handle and comprehend compared to Frankenstein, and I would classify it as plain science and fantasy fiction. Although these differences shape the stories in totally different directions, there are some similarities: The similarities between the characters and their traits are that they both have solid downsides to them. As I mentioned before, Meg’s (A Wrinkle In Time) faults are her temper, impatience, and lack of confidence in herself, and Victor’s (Frankenstein) faults are that he is in a depression and great fear throughout the plot after the Monster is created and is woken. Another trait I can compare between the two protagonists, are their determination to reach their final goal. Although I cannot see it in either book, but both books were officially banned in one place or another for ridiculous reasons. Frankenstein was banned in South Africa for being â€Å"obscene† and â€Å"indecent† in 1955. Maybe 57 years ago there were different rules and traits a person had to portray to be defined as â€Å"good†, but to make this specific book banned for being â€Å"obscene† (which means that it is offensive or the opposite of accepted manner). A Wrinkle In Time is banned for having witches, crystal balls and demons. Also, because Jesus is listed among the names of great artists, philosophers and teachers, and it is banned in the U. S. â€Å"Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin† (Shelley 37). All in all, these books have more differences than similarities in my opinion. Although both are really good, one is dark while the other is light compared. The similarities that I saw in the characters, the themes, and the reason they were censored are mostly because of the relationship between good and evil throughout it. Studying these two books and the reason for them being banned has surprisingly changed my life in a minor way, as I learned how people from different cultures and education they grew up with react to different things, and I learned to compare and contrast, not only the books, but real life situations such as the South Africans who banned Frankenstein versus my lifestyle and way-of-thinking.