Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint The WritePass Journal

Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint Introduction Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint (Morrisons, 2012). It has been tumultuous for Morrisons since its acquisition of Safeway and its drop in sales late in 2012 compared to a similar period in 2011 is evidence of the challenges that the company is facing. Its CEO attributes the fall in sales to the companys lack of presence in the online market and lack of convenience stores, segments in which Morrisons trails behind its rivals (Rudick, 2013). These depressed sales figures underscore the need for crucial decisions on strategies that can shore up the companys performance, enabling its growth in market share and sustenance. In addressing the causes for the drop in market share, Morrisons would have to make logistical changes which could include either the establishment of convenience stores, lowering of prices, or the development of an online market place. Herein, we consider the logistical implications of the establishment of convenience stores, which is the most suitable, acceptable and feasible strategic choice and a significant cause of its loss of market share. As of September 2009, Morrisons owned 455 superstores in the UK which have their core focus on home ware and groceries, with other items such as furnishings, clothing and electronics being fewer than what its rivals hold. However, its limited focus on the affluent London is a notable setback as it commands a paltry 6 percent, lower than its 12 percent stake in the whole of the UK (Ruddick, 2013).The company has, since 2005, acquired a number of distribution centres including: West London, to enhance its distribution capacity to stores in London and the South East; Swindon, a packing facility for fresh produce; Bridgewater; and its Rathbones bakeries operations through which it makes bread. Morrisons projects to open 70 stores in 2013 and towards this, it is engaged in continued acquisitions of stores (Morrisons, 2012). With the decline in core stores, evident in 3-5 percent declines in sales within the industry (with regard to Tesco and Sainsbury), venture into the smaller convenience stores segment is essential to shore up declining growth. Convenience stores are beneficial in supplementing the larger stores. UK convenience stores generated a 4.6% increase in sales from 2011 to 2012, generating total sales of  £33.9 billion in the year (Morrisons, 2012). The segment now represents 20.8% of UKs food and beverage retail market. This growth continues to be fuelled by structural changes in the retail industry which include smaller households, longer working hours and little time reducing loyalties, and the alteration of shopper habits with increasing preference on the little and often approach to grocery shopping which therefore drives convenience sales (Ruddick, 2013; Morrisons, 2012). Morrisons, however, lags behind its rivals in the convenient store segment operating 12 convenient stores under the M Local brand (Ruddick, 2013; Morrisons, 2012). These stores are similar to those of its competitors though they have a wider range of ready-to-eat hot foods, fresh meat and fish, as well as items stocked from proximal superstores. Morrisons is however intent on correcting its lag in this segment and has initiated an expansion of the number of its convenience stores with a projection of 70 additional stores across the UK in 2013 (Morrisons, 2012). Necessary logistical changes Morrisons’ enhancement of its venture into the convenience segment requires that the company revamps its supply chain to meet the rising complexity of operations. A supply chain encompasses a network of relationships between organizations and/or business units that are involved in providing products and services to customers at the end of the chain. To enhance efficiency, which is essential for the survival and competitiveness of firms in the market, there is need to manage this network and constituent processes to ensure a smooth flow of goods and information back and forth from the raw materials through several intermediate entities to end-users (Ketchen and Giunipero, 2004). The retailer operates a vertically-integrated business model with its supply chain consisting of the company’s farms, diverse suppliers, its distribution centres, large stores, and the rising number of convenience stores. To get fresh products, Morrisons has reached back through the chain to the farm cutting off middlemen and warehouses and has thereby significantly enhanced its efficiency, reduced its environmental impact. This focus has made fresh food its distinctive advantage With the   company beating all its competitors in the preparation of food in-store. It owns slaughterhouses, bakeries, and food preparation sites (Morrisons, 2012). The addition of convenience stores would benefit Morrison in its response to the structural changes challenging the retail sector, enhancing its adaptation to consumer trends and lifestyles at a local level, and thereby enhancing the company’s growth in market share. However, such ventures present challenges to distribution systems due to the increase in points to service and supply. A significant challenge in the management of the supply chain, especially for a retailer such as Morrisons focused on groceries, is the balancing of supply and demand, which in essence necessitates the holding and keen management of inventories. The venture into the segment is also challenged by the costs attendant to additional logistical operations and the difficulty in achieving economies of scale given the size and capacity of stores (Tempelmeier, 2006). This necessitates an increase in price of stocked items to cover the increase in costs. Given the small holding capacities for inventories and the low shelf-life of fresh farm produce, the additional convenience stores would require small, frequent shipments of replenishment stocks unlike the superstores which can take up more stock. There might, therefore, be need for smaller depots to enhance focus and to cater for the smaller and low capacity convenience stores, or, the convenience stores can be set up as satellites of the larger stores, receiving their supplies from them enabling enhanced efficiencies in inventory management. With concerns over the level of waste in the agri-food business, enhanced collaboration among the entities in the entire value chain is required to enhance efficiency and enable the conduct and sharing of information from market intelligence on consumer preferences and trends (Handï ¬ eld and Nichols, 2002). Hugely beneficial to Morrison is its vertically integrated business model in which farms, manufacturing and retail sales are integrated, and increasingly reliant on each other. This enables it to maintain a predictable and cost-efficient supply, taking costs off the system and giving consumers what they want (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Hill, 2006). Beer Game and Bullwhip effect The Beer Game is a significantly useful concept for the analysis of the supply chain. It enables the appreciation of key principles and fundamental concepts of systems dynamics and thinking which therefore facilitate better management of the supply chain. The challenge identified in the simulation is that coordination in supply chain management is a significant challenge with various constituent entities having their own, incomplete understanding of the real demand (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Each group/entity has control over a single part of the chain even though their decisions and actions influence or affect the entire chain. This lack of coordination coupled with the ability to influence and be influenced by others is what is referred to as the Bullwhip effect, with various decisions affecting supply and causing shortages or overstocks. The Bullwhip effect is a phenomenon observed in distribution channels which are driven by forecasts in which there are trends of increasing swings in inventory further back the supply chain in response to changes in demand of a particular product. Demand is never stable or constant and therefore business must always endeavour to make accurate forecasts so as to achieve the right balance between resources deployed and inventory positions (Handï ¬ eld and Nichols, 2002). With the inaccuracies, companies carry buffer inventory which with the rise and fall in demand, results in variations being amplified upward in the chain. This challenge in coordination, however, does not only result from breakdowns in communication as delays in manufacturing and procurement can also wreak havoc. With increased orders from customers, a backlog builds up and can be easily confused with increased demand, thereby spurring overproduction (Cannella and Ciancimino, 2010). These difficulties are further exacerbated by the tendency of entities within the chain (such as those constituting Morrisons vertically integrated model) towards their own best interest, far more than that of the entire organization and even the end user. This is often due to significant focus on balancing demand and supply at the individual level (Ketchen and Giunipero, 2004). There is therefore a tendency of the entities inherent in the chain, in the pursuit of stability in the chain, to focus on stock balances and on the next link in the chain which inevitably leads to the ignorance of customer satisfaction at the end of the chain. However, this is unsustainable as no profit can be realized without the customer who should be the primary focus in the management of the entire supply chain (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Regardless of how an individual component/entity may function individually, unless there is an integration of all elements resulting in a harmonious and cohesive ef fort, the results obtained will not be optimal. These concepts are essential for better management of the supply chain and coordination of activities. It is significant for Morrisons as it ventures into the convenience stores segment given the requirement to balance the frequent deliveries of small volumes of inventory to numerous points of sale. For success in this venture, the company should endeavour to minimize potential backlogs in its supply chain while also alleviating related costs. It can achieve this through the adjustment of orders of products to keenly follow customer demand, an extremely important and complex task which entails predicting and forecasting demand. This is especially relevant for Morrisons in this case as demand from the additional convenience stores, given customer characteristics, will most certainly differ from that of its larger stores which it probably has been able, through its years in the industry, to map out and determine. To reduce the Bullwhip effect, focus on the customer at the end of the chain should be consistently maintained throughout the process which should also seek the enhancement of service to internal customers, the various components in the supply chain. Efficiency in the supply chain can be enhanced through the improvement of the flow of information along the chain, reduction in delays, reduction of order sizes (economic order quantities), and the maintenance of consistency in price.   Also essential is the day-to-day observation of trends and prediction of outcomes towards the development of a forecasting system in concert with market fluctuations (Cannella and Ciancimino, 2010). Environmental footprint Initiatives such as the enhancement of delivery frequencies and reduction in order sizes would most certainly result in an increase in the company’s environmental footprint. Climate change is among the greatest challenges to the global community and is a major threat to food security (McKinnon, 2010). Tackling emissions reduction is therefore essential for sustainability and can be achieved through effective resource management and reduction of wastes. These measures are also fundamental to the management of the companies cost base, supporting the maintenance of competitiveness and price and ultimately benefiting customers (Hill, 2006; McKinnon, 2010; Aronsson   and Huge, 2006). As at 2011, retail and logistics took the largest share of Morrisons’ environmental footprint in terms of emissions of carbon dioxide per year at 80% and 13% respectively. For this, electricity was the single biggest source at 57%, followed by refrigeration at 19% (Morrisons, 2012). The venture into the convenience store segment for Morrison will certainly significantly increase the company’s environmental footprint given that the small compact stores would increase overall usage of electricity and refrigeration, with the small frequent deliveries also increasing emissions attendant to logistics. The small, frequent purchases by customers which is characteristic for convenience stores also increases usage of carrier bags which is an essential component of customer service. This is an area of significant environmental concern generating immense public interest. The company in 2010 announced an ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions resulting from its operations by 30% by 2020 aligning with aims of government (Morrisons, 2012). However, with the pursuit of the convenience store segment to shore up the company’s competitiveness and strategic positioning, such an ambitious target would be difficult to attain. Conclusion Tumult in business and declines in sales have necessitated the development of strategies to shore up Morrisons performance and to enhance its market presence. The most suitable, acceptable and feasible avenue is the convenience store segment, which is however challenged by attendant costs due to increased logistics operations, small scale and capacity, as well as the increase in the companys overall environmental footprint. This choice necessitates enhanced management of the supply chain, ensuring a balance in supply and demand given that the convenience stores can take up small quantities of stock at a time, and Morrisons focus on short shelf-life fresh farm produce. The management of its supply chain should therefore endeavour to reduce the bullwhip effect related to the management of the supply chain. References Aronsson, H., and B., Huge, 2006. â€Å"The environmental impact of changing logistics structures.† In: The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 394–415 Cannella S., and E., Ciancimino, 2010. â€Å"On the bullwhip avoidance phase: supply chain collaboration and order smoothing.† In: International Journal of Production Research, 48 (22), 6739-6776 Frohlich, M., and R., Westbrook, 2001. â€Å"Arcs of integration: an international study of supply chain strategies.† In: Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 185-200. Handï ¬ eld, R., and E., Nichols, 2002. Supply Chain Redesign: Transforming Supply Chains into Integrated Value Systems. Financial Times. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Hill, C., 2006. International Business: Competing in the Global Economy, (7th ed.) Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Ketchen, D., and L., Giunipero, 2004. â€Å"The intersection of strategic management and supply chain management.† In: Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 51-7. McKinnon, A., (ed.), 2010. Green logistics. Improving the environmental sustainability of logistics. London: Kogan Page Morrisons, 2012. Food with thought: Corporate responsibility review 2011/12. Wm Morrisons Supermarkets PLC. Ruddick, G., 2013. ‘Morrisons online dilemma becomes clear after Christmas turkey,’ January 7, The Telegraph [Online]. Viewed from: telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9786486/Morrisons-online-dilemma-becomes-clear-after-Christmas-turkey.html Tempelmeier, H., 2006. Inventory Management in Supply Networks- Problems, Models, Solutions, Norderstedt: Books on Demand.

Any

Any Any Any By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, If a countable noun comes after any, then should it [the noun] be singular or plural? Like the indefinite article a/an, the word any derives from a form of the Old English word for one. Primarily an adjective, it is also used as a pronoun. As an adjective, any is most commonly followed by plural or uncountable nouns: In questions: Do you have any tomatoes for sale? (plural noun) Baa, baa Black Sheep, have you any wool? (uncountable noun) In negative statements: I don’t have any books by that author. (plural noun) The lion didn’t have any courage. (uncountable noun) In conditional statements: If your final draft contains any errors, it will be rejected. (plural noun) If you need any help with the proofing, let me know. (uncountable noun) Sometimes any is used to modify a singular countable noun: Any fourth-grader should be able to read that book. Any grammar book will have a section on relative pronouns. In these sentences, any is used in the sense of every: Every fourth-grader should be able to read that book. Every grammar book will have a section on relative pronouns. Sometimes a singular countable noun follows any in a question: Is there any rule that says I can’t dye my hair green? Is there any reason you slam the screen door every time you go through it? In the above contexts, the speaker does not anticipate more than one rule or reason, if any. On the other hand, a speaker who anticipates that there could be several rules or reasons would follow any with a plural noun: Are there any rules against further construction in this neighborhood? Are there any reasons we shouldn’t require job applicants to submit samples of their writing? As a pronoun, any stands for a noun that has already been expressed, or when it is followed by the preposition of: Of all the books I have read, this one is more memorable than any. If there are any of the pecans left after the sale, you may have them. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:8 Proofreading Tips And TechniquesPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Collapse of the Housing Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Collapse of the Housing Market - Essay Example The cracks appeared in the banking system three years later. Housing prices started falling in the year 2005. Initial symptom appeared in the market for sub prime residential mortgage-supported securities as investment demand shrank in 2006. Cracks in financial market became wide open in June 2007 with the failure to meet the lenders’ call on Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) by hedge funds for subprime loans. In a way, it was the overconfidence of the mortgage brokers who went on selling loans to home buyers in the sub prime sector of the housing market due to market hype (Financial World 26-28). The recessionary trends appeared with the sub prime lending to home borrowers. The crisis started from Cleveland where loans in huge amount were cleared without verifying income and documents by the mortgage brokers. Refinancing was allowed on the condition that new sub prime mortgage would start after two years at double the prevailing interest rates. The crisis deepened when t he whole of America came under its influence as property prices touched a new height; as a result, demand for owning property increased because of mortgage brokers and refinancing. When the interest reset period ended after two years, interest rates went higher because Fed interest rates also increased on which sub prime mortgage interests were based (BBC News 9-13).

Student Accomodations in Lesson Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Student Accomodations in Lesson Planning - Essay Example This emphasis on creating hopes in students' heads so that they can work to make them into a reality is a contrast to putting all our energy into developing and creating an effective subject-centered lesson plan. Cooperative learning is effective in IEP education because hey help students to communicate and socialize. In contrast to other lesson formats, cooperative learning is based on discussions and group work. The main similarities between these formats are that they set clear objectives and require instructions; they check understanding and have a practical application step. The main difference is that discovery lesson and cooperative learning models require additional equipment and assessment, while a critical thinking model uses evaluation step. It means being totally involved, completely engaged in doing one's schoolwork. It means total attentiveness and participation in the learning activity (Bateman, 2006). 2. The essential elements of IEP are general intelligence, emotional intelligence, academics: health issues and effective communication. Also, each EIP should have clear ejectives and aims, measurable and observable behavior and stipulated assessment criteria. In a standardized lesson format, a critical thinking model can be used as a frame work of the lesson plan. ... del implies sessions in which teachers encourage students to imagine what it would be like to be successful (including how it might be scary in some ways); how they would feel to know the subject well, to get a good grade, to get approval from their parents and teachers. Students as well as athletes need hopes; not just problems, not just the current reality (Irvine et al 2000). Cooperative model can be a part of the lesson required discussions and personal opinion. Students can begin to focus on improving those areas that are particularly retarding their school success, whether it be some character trait, a health issue, self-management skills, self-defeating ways they think, writing skills, and so forth. To do that, a student is going to have to learn to ask for and accept help from the school. And the school and community, from their side, must be prepared to give the help students need. For example, if a student sees that he has a problem with alcohol that is getting in the way, somewhere in his world there has to be people and programs waiting to respond. The general accommodations for students should involve the use of yellow chalk to reduce glare, the teacher should repeat words written on the blackboard, it is better to use only black print handouts, alternative assignments should be proposed to students who cannot follow the lesson plan. A special attention should be paid to starting, lighting, timing (extended time for tests and more breaks), repeat presentations and immediate response, special test preparation. Sorting students by ability, past achievement, or skill, or whatever, narrows the range of diversity in a classroom and enables teachers to gear materials, assignments, and content to the students' capabilities, interests, and styles. Moreover,

Compariosn of pre 1914 and Wilfred Owens poems Essay Example for Free

Compariosn of pre 1914 and Wilfred Owens poems Essay By comparing and contrasting a selection of war poems, consider the ways in which attitudes to war have been explored and expressed. When considering poetry written post 1900 concentrate on a selection of poems written by Wilfred Owen. War has been an influential topic for poetry for many centuries and through its catastrophic cruelty and sense of patriotism has created some of the most brilliant poets and most controversial poems ever written. With each different war comes different poets who want to write their views on it and just as motives of war differ, so do the opinions of the poets; some see war as barbaric and destructive, whereas others portray it as a way of ennobling oneself. Before the technology and media coverage we have nowadays, stories of battle were passed down by word of mouth and were often written in poetic form so they could be memorized easily. Just as the artillery used in the wars has changed, the way war is portrayed has as well. Before World War 1 began in 1914, it was seen as a glorious opportunity for men to serve and defend their country. In many poems war is compared to a game, for example in Vitai Lampada written by Henry Newbolt, the refrain Play up! Play up! And play the game! is repeated at the end of each stanza to try and rally the soldiers and ready them for battle. Newbolt uses the leitmotif of comparing fighting to playing a cricket match to ease the pressure off the soldiers by making it seem fun and competitive. He uses the simile: Beat through life like a torch in flame to portray how the schoolboys have responsibilities and also to show how these must be passed down through the generations to protect their country, just like the Olympic torch. War is also compared to a game in Henry Vs speech in Shakespeares play, Henry V. He declares: The games afoot, once again understating the enormity of the battle. In addition Shakespeare uses the battle cry God for Harry, England and Saint George! to show that the English are on the righteous side and have a duty to serve their country. Before 1914, there was no compulsory military service and therefore Britain did not have a huge army like other European countries. However World War 1 was so large, conscription needed to be introduced, meaning all men of the appropriate age were obliged to go to war. Along with conscription came the propaganda to encourage men to join up and a popular form was poetry. Poets like Jessie Pope and Rupert Brooke wrote poems convincing men that war would be an exciting opportunity with their friends and that it is their duty to honour and serve for England. However, one of the most famous war poets, Wilfred Owen, had a different view of the war. At first he wrote in a similar way to the likes of Pope and Brooke, but after experiencing first-hand action in the front line his work became less idealistic. One of Owens most famous poems is Dulce et Decorum est. The Latin title means it is sweet and fitting to die for your country and it is used ironically to anticipate an idealistic poem, but it is quite the opposite. Owen wrote this poem in reply to the jingoistic recruiting poems written by Jessie Pope; they glorify war and make it seem like a great opportunity for men to have an adventure with their friends. In the first two lines of Dulce et Decorum est, Owen uses the vivid imagery of old beggars and coughing like hags and the reader thinks that he is describing someone elderly or of low status. However, in the lines that follow, we realize that Owen is actually talking about soldiers who are walking away from the front line: Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Owen uses the word haunting to portray that the battle they have endured will stay in their minds forever. To convey the exhaustion of the men Owen uses hyperbole: men marched asleepdrunk with fatigue. This shows how fighting was physically draining for the soldiers and contradicts the glamorous image that Popes poems conjure up. In the second stanza Owen illustrates the terrifying scene of a gas attack. He repeats the word GAS for a second time in capital letters to convey a sense of urgency and also to imply how fatigued the men were as they needed it to be repeated louder a second time for them to realise the situation. Owen uses polysyllabic words like ecstasy and fumbling and clumsy to convey a sense of panic and alarm. He describes how one man did not get his gas mask on in time and is floundring like a man in fire or lime. This portrays that the gas he is inhaling is burning and the image as under a green sea, I saw him drowning is very powerful because it shows that the gas overwhelms his lungs just as water does when you drown. The line In all my dreams, before my helpless sight shows how Owen will remember that scene forever, and the word helpless suggests that he cannot do anything about the flashbacks and horrible memories he will have to endure but it also implies that he could not do anything to help the soldier who was dying. Owen uses the adjectives guttering, choking, drowning to illustrate the soldiers horrific death; the word guttering is especially effective as you use it to describe a candle about to go out, just as the mans life is about to be extinguished. Owen bitterly attacks Jessie Pope in the last stanza. He sarcastically addresses her as my friend and uses gruesome comparisons like Obscene as cancer and bitter as the cud of vile to portray the horror of war. The line incurable sores on innocent tongues implies that the some soldiers who were very young will have terrifying memories with them for the rest of their lives. He appeals to the senses by using hideous and graphic imagery: If you could hear, at every jolt, blood- Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs. The adjective froth-corrupted illustrates how the mans lungs had been plagued by the gas and what a horrific death he had to endure. He uses the simile: like a devils sick of sin to describe the soldiers face, suggesting a sense of repulsion and disgust. Owen depicts the soldiers as children ardent for some desperate glory portraying that Popes recruiting poems wrongly persuaded boys that were not of age to vulnerably serve their country. In the last two lines Owen frames the poem by repeating the title, but he uses it ironically as he says it is The old Lie, contradicting other pre World War 1 poems that give the impression men will be considered heroic if they serve their duty. Owen once again opposes the notion that women will treat soldiers, who return home from war injured, like heroes in his poem Disabled, Owen opposes the idea that women will treat the soldiers, who return from the war injured, like heroes. In the poem Fall In by Harold Begbie, he persuades men to join the army by using the sexual attractiveness of women. The lines: When the girls line up in the street, Shouting their love to the lads come back, implies the men will be seen as courageous and gallant for fighting. However, Owen explains this is not the case in the lines: Now he will never feel again how slim, Girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, All of them touch him like some queer disease. The metaphor like some queer disease expresses how the women are afraid he may be contagious and how they find him repulsive. Just as in Dulce et Decorum est, at the beginning of the poem we think Owen is describing an elderly man because he uses the phrase ghastly suit of grey which infers old age. But then we discover how he threw away his knees; he chose to enlist for the army and that is portrayed a grave mistake, a waste of his life. The line: Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry also infers that the man opted to fight as the verb poured suggests that he did it himself. In addition, Owen portrays how the boy was not motivated by principles to sign up: Someone had said hed look a god in kilts. He had been induced by vanity and also to please his Meg; once again the notion of impressing the women is used. Even though his face was younger than his youth the line Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years, shows that the authorities were unscrupulous as they knew he was just a boy but still let him sign up. Disabled is a very contrasting poem and Owen repeats the word now to emphasize the contrast between what he was, and what he has now become: Now he is old. Owen uses the motif of football throughout, but not in the positive way Newbolt does in Vitai Lampada. He uses it ironically to show the difference between his life before the war when he was fit and agile, and now when he is condemned to a passive lifestyle in a wheelchair. When he was playing football he liked a blood smear down his leg, implying that he thought it looked manly and would impress the girls. Now however, he can only watch boys playing football: voices of play and pleasure after day and the women do not see him as heroic as their eyes Passed from him to the strong men that were whole. The word whole creates a strong image of him being limbless and is powerful as it is not very compassionate, just like the women. In the last two lines, Owen repeats the rhetorical question: Why dont they come? The first question is directly addressing the nursing staff, portraying that they do not care for the wounded solider or are disgusted by his wounds and the second question portrays a sense of abandonment; he is confused because he fought in the war and people should honour what he has done instead of pitying and disposing of him. Owens Mental Cases has a similar theme to Disabled except it focuses on the mental aspect of fighting and not the physical aspect. The purpose of this poem is to describe to the reader that the conditions were so terrible in the First World War that it drove people insane. The tone of the poem is an angry one; Owen portrays his opposition to the war through line such as: Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. The word multitudinous means the common people and shows how Owen thought that the ordinary people of Britain were being slaughtered and that young, fit men were the subject of untimely deaths. It also emphasises the vast scaled of the murders and the intensity of the war. Owen uses very powerful and vivid imagery in the first stanza with phrases such as drooping tongues and purgatorial shadows to describe the men. The word purgatorial suggests that they are trying to cleanse their soul of the sins they have committed, but are trapped by their own violent actions in the war. Owen uses the word shadows to portray them as ghosts, men that go unnoticed because they are insane and not normal. This is ironic because they were probably once very fit and able and are now spending their lives in an institute. The first stanza poses the question of what made the men mad and Owen uses rhetorical questions to engage the reader: but what slow panic gouged these chasms round fretted sockets? This phrase conjours up a strong image of the men being wide eyed with a constant look of terror upon their face. Owen utilizes the phrase slow panic to infer that the men have been subject to a form of torture and that they have painfully been made to suffer. The phrase deeply gouged suggests wrinkles implying that the men are quite old; however we learn that the men have not lost their minds due to age, but due to war. The lines: Always they must see these things and hear them, Batter of guns and the shatter of flying muscles, use realistic and gruesome imagery to describe the battles. Onomatopoeia is used through the words shatter and batter making the reader almost hear the tremendous bangs of the guns and making them understand the intensity of the situation. The phrase human squander portrays Owens thoughts that many multitudinous murders took place and that their lives were lost for no reason; it was a mistake. In the final stanza Owen describes to the reader how the mental cases wish they were dead so they did not have to remember the atrocious carnage that they have seen: Dawn breaks open like a war that bleeds afresh. This simile is effective because usually dawn brings new beginnings and fresh opportunities, but to these men it just means they have to endure memories of what the war did to them. This poem is a very personal one as in the last four lines; Owen uses words like us and brother. This shows that the men blame us for allowing what happened to occur, and how they wish that they did not have to be reminded of it any longer. Wilfred Owens wrote Anthem for Doomed Youth not to portray the mental and physical effects of war like Disabled and Mental Cases, but to explain how a whole generation of men were subject to gruesome injuries or brutal deaths during the First World War. The title is deliberately ironic because the word Anthem usually suggests celebration; however the tone of this poem is bitter and mournful. It also infers that Owen is mocking poets like Rupert Brooke who say it is honourable to die in the war. The first line is a rhetorical question and it uses plosives, portraying an angry tone. The metaphor for these who die as cattle is effective because it infers that the soldiers are being slaughtered. The soldiers are referred to as Doomed Youth as there were no prayers nor bells for them as they died on the battlefield, just the monstrous anger of the guns, suggesting that the amount of deaths were so widespread there was no separate emotion for each man, their deaths were unimportant like that of cattle. This personification also infers that the weapons were taking control of the soldiers and that their actions are that of monsters. Owen portrays how there is no time for sentiment of the battlefield in the line: The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells; this personification is effective because when a person dies they are believed to be at peace, but when you die on the battlefield the destruction and devastation carries on around you regardless. Owen portrays how the men came from ordinary backgrounds in the phrase: sad shires and he describes how the family of the soldiers did have funerals for them back at home in the line: what candles may be held to speed them all? The devastation of their deaths is shown through the line: the pallor of girls brows shall be their pall; suggesting that their girlfriends are sorrowful and also by using the plural it shows how a whole generation of women may not be able to find husbands because so many young men were killed in action. In the last line, a drawing-down of blinds is a fitting way to end the poem, but it could also be associated with traditional drawing down of blinds in a room where a dead person lies and furthermore it infers that so many soldiers lives were now over. I enjoyed reading Wilfred Owens poetry more than the pre 1900 poetry as it gave me a realistic view of what the effects of war were on the soldiers and their families. World War One was the most devastating and barbaric war to date and therefore I believe that Owens poetry is more fitting as it gives a personal aspect to the poems, portraying the soldiers as humans, not just as statistics, but also showed them like animals to make the vast scale of the murders evident.

Persian Gulf Crisis :: essays research papers

Persian Gulf Crisis Persian Gulf Crisis, 1990-1991: How Saddam Hussein's Greed and Totalitarian Quest for Power Led to the Invasion of Kuwait, World Conflicts and the Degredation of Iraq Joseph Stalin. Fidel Castro. Adolf Hitler. Saddam Hussein. These names are all those of leaders who have used a totalitarian approach to leading a nation. Stalin and Hitler ruled in the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. Like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein is now. Saddam Hussein belongs to the Baath Party of Iraq. This party adopts many techniques similar to those used by Stalin and Hitler. Saddam Hussein conceived a plan to invade Kuwait. It was, perhaps, one of the worst mistakes he could have made for his own reputation and for his country. The invasion of Kuwait as well as the world's response to it, the environmental disaster it caused, and the degradation of Iraq were completely the fault one man and his government: Saddam Hussein and his Baath Government. One of Hussein's weaknesses is negotiating. Negotiating in his terms is to fight it out with as much carnage as possible until his side comes out "victoriously". Repeatedly, Saddam and his government break international convention laws. During his war fought with Iran, the Iraqi army used chemical weapons on the Iranian troops and even on their own Iraqi population. This was seemingly overlooked by the rest of the world because most nations didn't want to see the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution rise. Iraq often obtained foreign arms support from other nations because of this. It wasn't until the invasion of Kuwait that the rest of the world seemed to realize the danger that Iraq posed to its own people and to the Arab states surrounding it. Through poor planning, Saddam Hussein made three major mistakes that enabled an easy defeat of the Iraqis. The first mistake was that he captured all of Kuwait at the same time, instead of leaving it as a border dispute. This might have kept it from becoming an international affair. The second error was that Hussein positioned his troops too close to the Saudi Arabian border. Because of this, other nations feared that Saddam's aggression was endless. The third mistake was that Hussein miscalculated the world's response. He overestimated the Arab "brotherhood" and by doing so, didn't realize that the rest of the world would try to stop him. He also overestimated his own country's military power, and believed that he could annihilate military superpowers like the United States, Britain and France. Saddam Hussein's ultimate dream was to possess a nuclear bomb. Most of the world believed that Iraq didn't have the resources and materials to

Internship Experience for an ESL Teacher Essay

As a foreign student with a degree in Informatics and Library and currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Adult and Community Education Program, I have a vision of teaching English as a second language in Saudi Arabia. To this effect, I have been on an internship project at the Communications Media department at the same university between January and March this year. The main purpose for the internship was to give me an exposure to the kind of environment I will find myself working in as an ESL teacher. ESL is a course that is offered to people who wish to learn English as a second language. Thesis Statement For my internship, I was attached at the Communication Department at the University of Pennsylvania where my duties included but were but not limited to coordinating activities between students taking English as a Second Language (ESL) and conversation partners at the American Language Institute. Also in the line of my duty was the task of overseeing how the two groups have been progressing together. The internship was time well spent and it played a very important role in familiarising me with the classroom set up at an ESL teaching centre. I also had the opportunity to learn much about the job and what it entails as well as the kind of challenges that I may encounter in the course of my career. Taking my internship course at University of Pennsylvania was the most convenient choice that I made. The communications Media Department where I was attached is right on the campus and I was therefore able to operate from my residence without any hustles of commuting from one place to another. It was also convenient in that I was able to coordinate between my classes at the Adult Community Program centre and the training on the internship. The convenience made life a little more comfortable for me because of reduced costs of transport. The internship kept me in good relations with the law because being in one place helped me avoid any instances of breaking immigration rules set for foreign students. The convenience of having all my activities centralised on Campus has played well in helping me to develop my social skills. This is because it has been easy to have extra interaction with some of the students when the opportunity allowed and as a teacher, this was very helpful in that I could closely get to know more about the challenges that ESL students face in their social life as foreign students. Since we were all from different social backgrounds, the interaction helped to improve my social relations with others considering the diversity of culture represented in the ESL class. A close bond between teacher and student is very important as it helps students to learn better and also helps the teacher to improve their skills. Knowing students a little bit more beyond the classroom set up is very important for teacher-student relations. Interaction with the volunteers from the American Language Institute helped me learn more about American society. With these two groups, I was able to share my challenges as a foreign student in America and also listen to theirs and suggest possible solutions. This helped learning easier and more interesting for the students. The sole purpose of learning an extra language is to aid the learner in communicating easily through the desired language. Despite the fact that I speak the English language, the experience I got from the internship greatly helped to improve my skills in conversing with others. The interaction I had with the students as well as the volunteers in the ESL learning programme exposed me to those who were learning and others who were there to assist in learning. It was a learning experience for me as I was able to improve on my fluency and using correct grammar when conversing in the English language. By identifying the students’ challenges in learning to converse in English, I was able to polish my own language especially in using of proper tenses, right statements and remarks. The ESL program brings together people from different cultural backgrounds. Students come here with the aim of learning English that will help them to adapt to their new environment and they are helped through this process by communication partners. Through interaction with this group at the ESL program, I got exposed to a diversity of cultures and it was interesting to get to learn about different cultures and practises of the world. It is interesting to note how the world can meet in such a small set up as a classroom. This knowledge is very important for me in my pursuit of a career in ESL teaching as it will help me adopt to any new culture that I may be exposed to. Objectives were set to enable me achieve the goals of the internship. They were supposed to guide me in carrying out activities that internship period. This would enable me acquire knowledge and skills that are required for one to become an effective ESL student’s teacher. The experience would give me an opportunity to give my suggestions and ideas in order to improve students teaching techniques and materials. In this essay, there will be a reflection on the meaning of the internship experience for my intellectual development and career planning. The internship experience was necessary in equipping me with new learning. It would offer me knowledge and skills required in future teaching work with the language students. Suggestions and ideas that can improve teaching techniques and materials for the students would contribute in achieving my new learning objective. Engaging volunteers achieved this in sessions on curriculum and teaching methods, recommending improvements in class handling discussing organizational concerns with volunteers, drafting lesson plans and evaluating them and discussing educational techniques with volunteers. My objective to teach volunteers on how to interact with English was achieved by carrying out the following activities; directing English lessons in the classroom, engaging the volunteers on curriculum and teaching methods, evaluating their performances and recommending necessary changes in class. The assignments that were offered to the students is a sure evidence that this objective was attained. Creating organizational system to allow educators to organize volunteer schedules and paper work effectively was enhanced by meeting and discussing organizational concerns with the volunteers, organizing schedules to avoid confusion, handling volunteer and class paper work and documentation as well as getting program feedback from the student Creating lesson plans for the volunteer teachers was achieved by; drafting lesson plans for teaching, adapting the teachers according to the class needs, discussing the quality of lesson plans and suggesting their changes, incorporating volunteer opinions in final lesson plans and finally implementing the lesson plan. I managed to work with the students and volunteers of presentation materials, decided upon educational techniques and ensured students follow guidelines in presentation. This assisted me in acquiring skills in creating presentation materials. As a teacher, I accommodated a certain number of students when my time allowed, graded and encouraged students and understanding the students’ need. The current challenges and problems in the classroom were discussed with fellow teachers. This in turn, ensured the students were taught as require by the instruction formal program. Additionally, experience at the ESL classes helped me to learn about other methods used in communicating apart from mouth language. These other methods are important in that as a teacher, knowledge of different methods of communication helps one to assess whether you are communicating fully or as desired by the students. Such methods include but are not limited to using parts of the body to express ourselves or gesturing and also the use of facial expressions. It was interesting to learn that a lot of communication can take place through non-verbal methods. At the end of the internship, I had developed a lot of confidence in conversing with students, being able to interact freely and easily with them as well as understanding diverse cultures and the styles they used to converse non-verbally in the different cultures. My internship was even more helpful as a master’s student in the Adult Education and Community programme. There was much more to learn from the experience at the ESL classes than I had earlier imagined. Interacting with students and volunteers from different cultures of the world helped me to grow as a person as well as to acquire intellectual improvement. I got exposed to diversity of cultures at very close range, something I had not encountered before and after such an experience, it becomes easy to be able to teach English anywhere in the world. This is because of the ability that I have gained to assess student issues anywhere. The ESL students mostly constitute of foreigners who wish to learn English so that they can be able to adapt to their new environments. Such students obviously encounter several challenges in the process of their resettlement and my experience with them enlightened me on ways in which I can be able to evaluate and understand their problems and the approach I can take in helping them to settle such problems. The ESL classes also constitute of people of different ages and as a future adult teacher, the internship has offered me great help in best ways of handling adults at different age categories. It is now easy to identify with their emotions and to know how well to help them cope with learning. Through this experience, I have realised that my own problems as a foreign student were not unique and that I have a lot to share in common with other foreigners that I shall encounter in the course of my career. I now have a burden to offer as much help as I can to make learning comfortable for foreigners. It made me feel even luckier that I could speak the language myself and made me realise that it was easier for me to adapt to my environment than those that cannot speak the language. Internship enriched me with methods of teaching that can be highly effective such as creating the right atmosphere for free teacher and student interaction and getting the students to give feedback on the way that they are fairing in their learning process. I learnt the essentiality of making the environment conducive for the students as it makes learning easier for them. Students can only learn successfully if several of these factors are pooled together. The internship was a good ground to put into practice what I had learnt from my course work.. Getting the chance to utilise my knowledge created a feeling of confidence in me as well as helped me to rectify and improve on areas that appeared weak. It is now possible for me to be able to come up with new ideas that can be applied in the ESL teaching program. This internship has surely given me the right exposure for my future career. Teaching at an ESL class is no longer a new encounter for me and I can affirm the fact that it is only through practice that one is able to assess whether you are ripe for a career. The challenges encountered in an ESL program set up are no longer strange to me. The internship has given me good experience in handling adults in a classroom set up and has helped to build confidence in me as an adult teacher. I believe this experience will assist me a great deal in planning and writing my thesis for the course that I am undertaking. Knowledge is only useful if it is put into practice. The internship offered me an opportunity to put into practice a lot of knowledge both academic and otherwise and gave me good direction on best ways of detecting, identifying and getting solutions to any challenges that may cross my path in the course of my career as an ESL teacher. By offering my own suggestions and contributing ideas on how teaching at ESL classes can be improved, my own personal growth in the career is advancing. I now have the confidence to handle adults in a learning environment and to be able to identify with their emotions, weaknesses, likes and dislikes and to handle such factors without interfering with the learning process. The students were taken out to become conversant with various aspects of the country. Supplementation of students’ knowledge on English by informally speaking with them aided their learning on the English language. On the other hand, not all objectives were achieved fully. There were several problems and challenges that made the achievement of these objectives difficult. The problems that were experienced included; volunteer delayed easy interaction with the students, and volunteers could not identify and understand concerns of all students fully. Though it took some time before they interacted easily with the students, they later managed to do it. There were few communication and organization problems that arose but were sorted out with time. It was also a bit difficult to develop lesson plans containing all relevant information for the course at one particular time. This experience assisted me to improve my conversation skills. This was due to the interaction with both the volunteers and the students. During this interaction conversations between me and then assisted me to gain fluency and correct grammar when conversing. The use of correct tenses, remarks and statements in order to pass the necessary language enabled me to identify their needs in their classes. Conclusion Internship has proved to be a very helpful undertaking and I would recommend it to anyone that wishes to develop and pursue a successful career. It offers a good opportunity to learn so much about the pros and cons of a job. From the experience that I have had at the internship, I believe that I have fewer challenges to face in my future career as an ESL teacher in Saudi Arabia. This is because the internship has prepared me on almost every aspect of human interaction is it personal, social or cultural that I need in my career. The exposure to people from different social backgrounds and different cultures will serve to help me adapt to new cultural backgrounds as it gives the right psychological preparation for such an encounter. The ESL class encounter will help me to adapt in a situation where I may find myself learning a new language. The whole experience was worth the time and effort. References Dolores, La Guardia. , Guth P. H. , (2000). American Voices. Culture and Community. Toronto, Mayfield Publishers.

Economic globalization makes rich get richer, poor get poorer Essay

Economic globalization is the unifying of all the economic systems and markets worldwide. The world obviously is nowhere near true globalization, but countries are making huge strides towards it. There is a premise that globalization makes rich countries richer and poor countries poorer. However, I do not agree with this. Firstly, it is true that the rich may very well get richer by globalization. It opens up new investment opportunities and new growth and if they are wise they can benefit financially. Take the recent boom in emerging markets. It is mainly the rich who have access to invest in these markets, and thus, the rich get richer. I would argue, however, that globalization has a very strong force to actually make the rich poorer. For examle, there has been much talk about outsourcing and that it is bad for America because American jobs get moved abroad. Now those Americans who have had their jobs outsourced are certainly poorer, and in this scenario the Americans are the rich so once again the rich got poorer. The idea that the poor get poorer is in most ways unfounded. Sweat-shops are an example of a terrible characteristic of globalization. Nevertheless, the use of sweat-shops is declining thanks to consumer pressure. Additionally, sweat-shops are a function of the governments of the countries in which they exist. It is not globalization’s fault that people are treated poorly in a country, but rather it is the fault of that government for not looking out for the welfare of its people. Beyond that, though, I believe globalization is helping the poor get richer. To start, take the example in the previous paragraph and reverse it. While Americans losing their jobs get poorer, workers in other countries get richer. Multinational corporations are finding these developing countries provide very appealing investment opportunities and so they are putting their money into these countries, by so doing, helping them to grow and enriching their citizens. Globalization typically leads to the industrialization of countries that have not been industrialized and makes the world a better place for everyone.

A Brief History of Adidas

A Brief History of Adidas Although urban legend has it that the word Adidas is an anagram of the phrase all day I dream about sports, the athletic wear company gets its name from its founder, Adolph Adi Dassler. He and his brother founded the company that would become a worldwide brand, but their history as members of the Nazi Party isnt as well known. Beginnings of Adidas Shoes In 1920, at the age of 20, avid soccer player  Adolph  (Adi)  Dassler, son of a cobbler,  invented spiked shoes for track and field. Four years later Adi and his brother Rudolph (Rudi) founded the German sports shoe company  Gebrà ¼der Dassler OHG- later known as  Adidas. T By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather  shoes  with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adis uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation.  Jesse Owens  was wearing a pair of Dasslers track shoes when he won four gold medals for the US  at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. At the time of his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment. In 1978, he was inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the modern sporting goods industry. The Dassler Brothers and World War II During the war, both Dassler brothers were members of the NSDAP (The National Socialist German Workers Party)  and eventually even produced a weapon called Panzerschreck an anti-tank bazooka, made with the help of forced labor. The Dasslers both joined the Nazi Party prior to the war, and Adi supplied shoes to the Hitler Youth movement, and to German athletes at the 1936 Olympics. Its also believed that Adi Dassler used Russian prisoners of war to help at his factory during the war since there was a labor shortage due to the war effort. The Dasslers had a falling out during the war; Rudolf believed Adi had identified him as a traitor to American forces. In 1948, Rudi founded what would later become Puma, a rival shoe company to Adidas. Adidas in the Modern Era In the 1970s, Adidas was the top athletic shoe brand sold in the US. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both wearing Adidas boxing shoes in their Fight of the Century in 1971. Adidas was named the official supplier for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although still a strong, well-known brand today, Adidas share of the world sports shoe market dropped over the years, and what began as a German family business is now a corporation (Adidas-Salomon AG) combined with the French global concern Salomon. In 2004 Adidas bought Valley Apparel Company, a U.S. company that held licenses for outfitting more than 140 U.S. college athletic teams. In 2005 Adidas announced that it was purchasing the American shoemaker Reebok, which allowed it to compete more directly with Nike in the U.S. But the Adidas world headquarters are still located in Adi Dasslers hometown of Herzogenaurach. They also have an ownership stake in German soccer club 1. FC Bayern Mà ¼nchen.

How to Make Homemade Liquid Nitrogen

How to Make Homemade Liquid Nitrogen You can make your own homemade liquid nitrogen using readily available materials. Its not really liquid nitrogen, however, but cryogenic-temperature alcohol. Chilled alcohol can be used for many liquid nitrogen projects, such as freezing flowers or other materials. It is not suitable for ice cream or anything edible. Also, although this poor mans liquid nitrogen is very cold, it doesnt vaporize off your skin like true liquid nitrogen, meaning it can give you frostbite very easily. Avoid skin contact and use all the safety precautions you would use with nitrogen. Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Materials dry ice99% rubbing alcohol or methanol (lower percentage will work but youll get a gelatinous cryo-fluid)plastic container (dont use glass because extreme temperature changes may cause it to shatter) Prepare the Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Youve got two ways to do this. Pour the alcohol into a plastic container and nest this container inside a bucket of dry ice.Alternatively, you can pour the alcohol directly over the dry ice. This is easier, but you wont have control over the temperature of the dry ice, so its possible your alcohol will freeze. Use the homemade liquid nitrogen simulant to super-cool science projects or chill materials. If you dont use all of the liquid at one time, you can store it in the freezer or an insulated cooler to help it last longer. If the alcohol warms up, you can re-chill it using more dry ice. After the project is completed, the rubbing alcohol will remain useful for its normal purpose and may be returned to its container.

Efficiency of Cloud Computing Data Centers Thesis

Efficiency of Cloud Computing Data Centers - Thesis Example the respective organization, whereas, cloud computing is referred to as the ‘public cloud’ since it is available for use by any individual who might need instantaneous computing capability. This innovative concept has even leaped the performance level of data centers to a new level and has reduced costs for independent developers and organizations. 2. Background Information Warr (2009) stated that cloud computing is also referred to as ‘Platform as a Service’ (PaaS) since developers use it as a platform to run their applications or even develop them from scratch without investing in the acquisition of the required operating system or server hardware. Another name that is used for this concept is ‘Infrastructure as a Service’ (IaaS); it includes the dynamic usage of CPUs, virtual servers, network, storage, systems software etc. Software as a service (SaaS) is another type of cloud computing that provides access to software to users on their need basis while the software runs on the vendor’s side of the data centers. The conventional mode of using the software requires the installation of the software on the user’s computer but this latest technology requires no such installation. Since many decades, internet users have been availing the service of uploading their documents and pictures on the internet by different services like Flickr, Snapfish etc; this concept has enabled the people to save their data ‘on the cloud’. The latest concept of cloud computing is far more usable, scalable and efficient for individual developers and organizations. 2.1 Criteria of Effective Performance Rajan (2011) provided some relevant characteristics that can be helpful to... This paper stresses that the conventional enterprise data centers have been found to possess several limitations and constraints that make their adoption difficult. Enterprise data centers constitute a limited storage capacity and much capital is needed to increase the scale of the data centers. Cloud computing data centers offer the level of scalability that facilitates almost unlimited expansion of the IT infrastructure. The cost of the cloud computing service is dependent on the usage of the requested resources therefore proves to cut costs by significant numbers. The adoption of this technology provides freedom in terms of maintenance and regular updates of the data center software and platforms. This report makes a conclusion that cloud computing data centers promote mobility since they can be accessed from anywhere on the web. Therefore, it can be concluded that cloud computing data centers prove to be effective in typical and atypical business conditions but fall short in the security area. The innovative techniques to improve the physical conditions of the data centers have benefitted the organizations, as well as the society since lesser energy is being consumed from the resources of the planet. Containerized servers, innovative data center designs, evaporative cooling, free-cooling are some of the techniques that have played their role in the reduction of PUE. The uauthor talks that the security standards of cloud computing shall be analyzed in detail for their effectiveness and the rate at which they are being adapted by the respective providers. Data encryption mechanisms shall also be studied that have been adapted by different organizations to improve the cloud comp uting services.