Macro Environment - 1114 Words

2.0 MACROENVIRONMENT ELEMENTS As an entrepreneur, they need to evaluate the environment not only prior to the start-up of their business but also during the growth stage of ventures. The environment means the situation where the company business ventures operate. As we know, ventures environment can be divided into two sections that are External environment and Internal environment. And the external environment also divided into two parts, which are Macro environment and Micro environment. But in this section, I just discuss about Macro environment. The elements of macro environment can affect business decision-making in the long term and unstoppable. Macro environment contains of four elements, such as Politic and legislation, Economy,†¦show more content†¦The demographic environment is of major interest to entrepreneur because it involves people, and people make up market. Among the topics of curiosity to demographers are the age structure of a country, the geographic distribution of its population, th e balance between male and females, and the likely future size of the population and its characteristics. Changes in the size and age structure of the population are critical to many firms marketing. Most countries are experiencing an increase in the percentage of elderly people and companies who have observed this trend responded with the development of residential homes, cruise holidays, and financial portfolio management services aimed at meeting this group s needs. At the other end of the age spectrum, the birth rate of most countries is cyclical resulting in a cyclical pattern of demand for age-related products such as baby products, fashion clothing, and family cars. Next aspect is cultural trends. The cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors. It is critical for entrepreneurs to appreciate fully the cultural values of a society, especially where an organization is seek ing to do business in a country, which is quite different from its own. Attitudes to specific products change through time and at any one timeShow MoreRelatedMacro Environment1130 Words   |  5 PagesQ.1) Explain How Macro Environmental Factor Affect International Business Product With An Example. There are many factors in the macro-environment that will affect the decisions of the managers of any organization. Tax changes, new laws, trade barriers, demographic change and government policy changes are all examples of macro change. To help analyze these factors managers can categories them using the PESTEL model. This classification distinguishes between: Political factors: These refer toRead MoreMicro and Macro Environment2339 Words   |  10 Pages1. Micro Environmental The microenvironment consists of five components. The first is the organization’s internal environment—its several departments and management levels—as it affects marketing managements decision making. The second component includes the marketing channel firms that cooperate to create value: the  suppliers and marketing intermediaries (middlemen, physical distribution firms, marketing-service agencies, financial intermediaries). The third component consists of the five typesRead MoreMacro Environments and Breakfast Cereals2315 Words   |  10 PagesMacro environments and breakfast cereals 1. Introduction Company A’s cereals are manufacturers of healthy and nutritional breakfast cereals and ready to go breakfast bars. While their main manufacturing plant is located in Brisbane, their products are distributed in major supermarkets Australia wide. Knowing that breakfast is considered by consumers as the most important meal of the day the company’s focus is on offering a multiple product range to various target groups with the added benefitsRead MoreMacro Environment2183 Words   |  9 PagesMacro Environment The larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment- demographic, economic,natural, technological, political, and cultural forces. These factors represent constraints within which all organizations including the automobile industry must function. Macro Environment For any decision there is n number of factors which influences the decision. Be it a decision related to any organisation, any business concern or even an individual. Thus it is per se very much necessaryRead MoreThe Macro Environment2338 Words   |  10 PagesThe macro environment Introduction Marketings role is to match the capabilities and resources within the organisation with market opportunities external to the organisation. Understanding customer needs is central to achieving this aim, but marketers must also be aware of factors that can cause customer needs to evolve. A change in customer needs will impact upon the organisations ability to serve its customers. This means that marketers have to be knowledgeable about what is happening in theRead MoreMacro Environment Factors933 Words   |  4 PagesMacro Assignment Table of Contents 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...3 2. Summaries†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.....3 3. Macro environment factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....4 4. Industry involved†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.......5 5. Impact of the factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..5 6. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 1.0 Introduction The purpose of this report is to demonstrate an understanding of the marketing macro environment. The proposed research question was: Identify the macroRead MoreRyanair Macro Environment1737 Words   |  7 PagesConsultancy Report Part 1 Ryanair’s macro and competitive environments Report compiled by: Student: Egle Sukyte Student number: 7124180 Course: Business Management with HRM Unit title: Marketing (MKT 432), Level 2. Table of Contents 1. Introduction.............................................................................1 2. Macro Environment – PESTLE Analysis...............................................1 3.1 Political forces..........................Read MoreMacro and Micro Environment656 Words   |  3 PagesThere are two kinds of external marketing environments; micro and macro. These environments’ factors are beyond the control of marketers but they still influence the decisions made when creating a strategic marketing strategy. micro and macro environments Micro Environment Factors The suppliers: Suppliers can control the success of the business when they hold the power. The supplier holds the power when they are the only or the largest supplier of their goods; the buyer is not vital to theRead MoreMacro Environment of an Organization1077 Words   |  5 Pages1. Macro environment External environment is the uncontrollable factors, forces, situations, and events outside the organization that affect its performance and strategies. As shown in below figure, the examples of macro environment of an organisation is include factors such as social cultural, political and legal, globalisation, economy, demographical and also technology. Detailed definition of macro environment factors mentioned and the description showed as below. Figure 1: Component ofRead MoreExternal Macro Environment1645 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction 3 2. External macro-environment 3 2.1 Social and cultural forces 3 2.1.1 Changing gender roles 3 2.1.2 Attitude towards health, nutrition and well-being 3 2.1.3 Cultural beliefs in a country 4 2.2 Technology 4 2.2.1 Advantages of technology 4 2.2.2 Disadvantages of technology 5 2.3 Demography 5 3. Conclusion 6 4. References Lists 7 1. Introduction This report is discussing about how three major forces of macro environment affecting an organisation’s

Kate Chopin s The Storm - 1623 Words

Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Storm† Kate Chopin’s short story â€Å"The Storm† was written almost at the same time as â€Å"The Awakening,† but the author has not dared to publish it. The story encompasses deep social problems important for the nineteenth century, including women’s rights and women’s sexuality. The plot of â€Å"The Storm† is sequel to â€Å"At the ‘Cadian ball,† published almost six years earlier, although the characters have obtained different features and behavioral patterns. Kate Chopin was born in 1851 in St Louis, Missouri. She graduated the Sacred Heart Convent and married Oscar Chopin after graduation. Together with her husband she moved to Natchitoches Parish, which would serve as one of the settings of her future stories (Stephenson 111). Chopin’s writing career began in 1882 with the death of her husband, when she struggling financially had to work in order to earn for her living. That made her really independent and the pattern of woman as an artist-outsider will later be present in her stories. Writing in the period of immense transmogrification of social order, which influenced her way of writing and defined the selection of themes mentioned in her stories. The pre-capitalist slavery based economy was being substituted with the industrialized economy based on the new class system retaining, however, large class of workers and preserving overall women’s subordination. Depicting the South, Chopin, encountering the rapid change in s ociety, depicts women that defy the oldShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin s The Storm Essay1339 Words   |  6 Pagesfamous writer Kate Chopin once said, â€Å"The voice of the sea speaks to the soul.† The Awakening, (1899). Kate Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time. She was an American author of short stories and novels. She was born on February 08, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. She died on August 22, 1904, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Written in 1898 but not published until it appeared in The Complete Works of Kate Chopin in 1969, The Storm has been widelyRead MoreKate Chopin s The Storm1706 Words   |  7 Pagesunimportant and inappropriate, Kate Chopin writes a story portraying a married woman in the 1890’s who involves herself in an adulterous relationship with her former lover, Alcee. In â€Å"The Storm,† Chopin refrains from condemning Calixta’s sexual immorality by drawing parallels between the storm and her passion while ultimately allowing Calixta to move from the traditional housewife to a more liberating feminist role. Chopin uses the symbol of the storm to portray the brewing storm, its peak, and end withRead MoreAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s The Storm 915 Words   |  4 PagesSeptember 30, 2015 Analysis of Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Storm† â€Å"The Storm† by Kate Chopin is a story of passion and desire where morality has no home when it comes to love, sex, and marriage. â€Å"The Storm† as the title implies, tells a story about Calixta a married woman who has an affair with Alcee, a former beau who is also married. As the storm approaches so does Alcee riding upon his horse and he asks â€Å"May I come in and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?† (Chopin , pg 121). She allows himRead MoreKate Chopin s The Storm883 Words   |  4 PagesBasically, the setting in the short story of Kate Chopin ‘The Storm’ presents a clear demonstration of an illicit but a romantic love affair. Indeed, the title has been used perfectly to signify the adulterous love affair. Most importantly, it is evident that the storm has not been used as a mere coincidence but instead it has been used to steer the story and the affair forward. In fact, the storm has been significant during the star t of the story, during its peak and ultimately in the end. AlthoughRead MoreAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s The Storm 1842 Words   |  8 PagesMagen Ware Phyl Charnes English 28, March 2014 Betrayal My research paper is on The Storm, by Kate Chopin. This story is about two married couples having an affair during a fierce storm while their partners are elsewhere. Alcee is a high class, landowner and liked Calixta who was lower class. They were in love but could not let anyone know because it would be a disgrace. Five years later, they were both separately married and did not talk often. Calixta and Bobinot are married and they haveRead MoreAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s The Storm 1161 Words   |  5 Pageswhat would lead them to love and their happy ever after. Despite that, they always didn’t really love who they married, but they stood by because it was frowned upon for women to break the commitment of marriage, during this time period. In Kate Chopin’s, â€Å"The Storm† you can see that Calixta is unhappy in her married life, and it leads her to break away from the regular rules of a women in that time period. Similarly, in â€Å"Cinderella† by Anne Sexton, Cinderella does not seem happy in her marriage withRead MoreKate Chopin s The Storm Essay1031 Words   |  5 PagesDr. Firtha English 1B January 17, 2016 The Storm by Kate Chopin. While it has traditionally been men who have attached the ball and chain philosophy to marriage, Kate Chopin gave readers a woman’s view of how repressive and confining marriage can be for a woman, b oth spiritually and sexually. While many of her works incorporated the notion of women as repressed beings ready to erupt into a sexual a hurricane, none were as tempestuous as The Storm. A storm can have several meanings, an â€Å"aggressiveRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour And The Storm844 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin’s short stories testify to display to the readers her viewpoints about love, sex and marriage that one is not usually aware of. These three topics all tied together. Typically, it’s easy to think that when you love someone you get married to them. You only commit yourself to them and no one else. Of course not all marriages work out but that’s life. In two particular short stories though, it establishes the struggle for woman around the 1800’s. Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The story of an Hour† andRead MoreAn Analysis Of Kate Chopin s The Awakening And The Storm 1115 Words   |  5 Pages The late 1800’s was a cruel and unjust period in history for women. Around this time, women sought out to find equality and began the feminist movement. However, religious and social traditions still held strong, thus allowing the continuation of suppression of women’s rights, such as marriage and freedom. While many saw women as property rather than people, women were gathering a voice and eventually prompted to make a stand for their rights. Two pieces of timeless literature that express thisRead MoreKate Chopin s A New England Nun And The Storm1201 Words   |  5 PagesWhen the notorious topic of women’s role in society comes to mind writers like Kate Chopin and Mary Wilkins Freeman break the norms of how women in America were imagined to be through different cultures and regions. In both Kate Chopin’s and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s time period women are portrayed as an ample servant to their husbands. Together the texts show how the controlled und erstanding of the nineteenth century society, had on women. At that time of these writers, people were restrictive about

Entrepreneur and Innovation Chesbrough

Question: Discuss about theEntrepreneur and Innovation for Chesbrough. Answer: Introduction It is evident that entrepreneurial ideas are widely used in leading the business towards the desired direction. Most of the large organizations use the idea of innovation and entrepreneurship to lessen the impact of potential risks in the business. In addition, as the needs and demands of business are changing, the trends of business are also changing with time. Thus, the marketers have got the rush to develop different innovative business ideas that helps to meet the needs of people and increase the profits of business. As mentioned by Chesbrough (2013), firms today act under an increasing pressure by other large enterprises that offer the same and the similar products and services. Therefore, to deal with the new conditions as well as situations, the organizations are bound to persistently search for new ways of the productions. The process is usually conducted by launching new products and enhancing existing products. Conversely, the organizations should continuously introduce innovations. In this context, Simons (2013) commented that due to the increasing and intense competition in the global environment, the organizations observe the rush to reconsider competitiveness through their competitors by applying innovation in business. Likewise, as the organization implements the innovative ideas in the form of launching a new product or developing the existing ones, the entrepreneurial ideas, in this context, are highly embraced by the marketers. Therefore, in order to understand these innovative and entrepreneurial ideas, the current operation of Ardmore Shipping. It is observed that Ardmore Shipping is involved in the ownership as well as the operation of the pr oducts and chemical tankers in global business. Background Analysis of the Company The organization Ardmore Shipping acquires and operates a fleet of mid-size products. The company has also extended its operations of chemical takers that has the range of 17500 Dwt to 50,3000 Dwt (Yang, Lu, Haider, and Marlow 2013). The company provides seaborne transportation of petroleum products as well as the chemicals in the global market. The key strategy of the organization is to enhance an advanced, high quality fleet of products as well as chemical tankers. Through its operation, the organization forms long-term commercial relationship as well as maintain its cost advantages in assets. Ardmore Shipping is determined to build a new shipping company with long-term growth plans. The company has been running its shipping operations over the decades. The organization has developed itself into a first-class organization dedicated to the effective operating practices, operational efficiency as well as the customer service. The company provides shipping services to the consumers through voyage charters, time charters as well a as the commercial pools. Ardmore formed a close working relationship with major commercial as well as the technical management partners. As mentioned by Hall, O'Brien, and Woudsma (2013), new challenges of shipping are influencing the operations in the internal market. Financial Strength and Flexibility: According to the annual report (2015), Ardmore Shipping Corporation has generated the revenue of $157.9 million (Poulis, Poulis and Dooley (2013). In addition, the company has earned the net profit for the year for 2015 is $32.0 million. In 2014, overall income was around 2014. The strong financial performance of the organization is attributed to the development in revenue days associated with the addition of 10 new vessels to the fleet. In addition, the organization has continued its operation effectively with their overhead per ship existing among the least of their peers. In addition to all these, the company also maintains a conservative balance sheet with overall assets of 1778.2 (Shi 2014). The overall cash balance of the Ardmore was $40.1 million at end of the year (Ardmore Shipping Corporation InvestorRoom 2016). The organization has completed a refinancing of $408 million in debt at increased terms. Thus, the re-financing initiative has decreased Ardmores cost of capital as well as reduces the interest capital of the company. Additionally, re-financing has tremendously enhances organizations super cash flow by nearly $6.7 million in 2015. On the contrary, it has also been identified that under the new dividend policy Ardmore Shipping Corporation pay out 60% of earnings from prolonging operations (Ardmore Shipping Corporation Investor Room 2016). This allows their shareholders to directly take part in stabilizing the charter market. Customers: The customers of Ardmore include regional, global and national organizations. Likewise, the fleet of the organization is employed through a mixture of time charters and direct charter employment. The company has formed a developing relationship with the customers or the end of users who take services by satisfying their needs and demands (Lun et al. 2013). In addition, as the organization is running the operation over a long period, it has increased its customer base. Due to the increasing number vessels and their availability, the company undertake long-term operation. Competition: The organization operates in the markets that are largely competitive and dependent primarily on supply as well as the demand. The organization competes for charters on the basis of the price, location of the vessel, size and conditions of the vessel and the reputation of the company. Ownership of the tanker vessel is largely fragmented and is divided among the organizations that are considered as public (Panayides, Lambertides and Cullinane 2013). However, Ardmore has the long history of operation, which indicates that from the inception of the tanker industry, the organization captured a wide section of the market. Trip-Level Cost Structure and Cmpetitive Analysis It has been identified that cost structure of the shipping industry are often considered as the significant element while emphasizing on the carrier competitiveness as well as the market competition. This section of the report elaborates the optimized chain cost of container shipping based on the relevant information and statistical data gathered from vast shipping industry and ongoing operation of Ardmore Shipping. Hence, TRP model is applied to identify the potential aspects influencing the overall operation of the company including the operation of the organization. This model stimulates as well as compares the transport costs of the moving cargo on particular trips and the characteristics of vessels with a particular selection mentioned in the following. Port of Departure: Antwerp, Le Havre and Lisbon Port of Destination: Shanghai, China and Norfolk USA Ship functions and the cargo capacity of the ships: From 5500 to 18000 Therefore, the stimulation cost of the effects that affect the operation cost of the ship by different factors like: Steady steaming and traditional high financial progress Changes on the fuel cost based on the environment and this comes under environmental requirements Port Departure and Destinations of the Trip Affecting the Costs The analysis made on different origins of the cargo demonstrates that the overall cost of the chain port could encourage the organization to use the nearest ports; however, this may not happen always. On the contrary, Vaughan et al. (2013) commented that decisions of shipping through any of the five EU ports have been analysed hence, relies widely on total cost at the sea and at the port. Hence, the competitive analysis of the expense at EU ports where Ardmore shipping often the runs the operations considering as their revenue sources implies that Antwerp is comparatively less expensive for destinations in far EAST (Rojon 2013). Notwithstanding, Ardmores operations for United States cost destinations, the most competitive port would always be Lisbon leaving the inclusion of hinterland cost. In addition, it has also identified that Ardmore finds Lisbon as the competitive in sea and port costs for East Cost Trade lanes in United State; however, not Far East. This indicates a negative o r affected relationship the competitive nature Lisbon and the deep sea transport. Thus, it has been observed that the port with similar costs as Lisbon in competition with the trade in Far East needs an increase in port capacity for dealing with ultra large container ships. Unlike the deep sea transportation, the shorter deep sea trade lanes provide the opportunity for the other ports like Lisbon to compete. This has probably been the significant reason for the increasing growth (13%) of Lisbons port (Panayides, Lambertides and Cullinane, 2013). Benchmark Analysis of the Shipping Organizations in Shipping Industry While an earlier section describes the cost effects, this section provides a benchmark analysis of the financial performance of large shipping organizations like Ardmore Shipping Corporation in all shipping markets. Thus, to do this, the dimensions for the segmentation of the shipping industry are related to geographical and business sectors. Hence, major purpose is to compare Ardmore Shipping in EU shipping lines performance with the organizations from Asia and other large countries (Sampson 2013). The collection of the data is based on three different approaches that provide information regarding the organizations that have been running the operations from 2010 to 2013. The Global Shipping Benchmark database of PWC The Avention database Desk research based on the financial statement of the companies The intensive data collection and in-depth research provides the outcome of the analysis including the operations of more than 300 companies along with the operation of Ardmore Shipping. Notwithstanding, approximately 200 organizations provided financial statements with adequate details as well as the competitiveness. Thus, the information on the number of employees as well as cost of personnel is presented only by a similar share. The data shows that most of the large organizations (52%) like Ardmore Shipping or the competitors of the company are based on Europe and 34% are belonging to Asia followed by North America (10%) (Andriosopoulos et al.2013). This data shows European shipping sector provides optimal trading opportunities. On the contrary, the number of organizations from South America, Australia and Africa are comparatively less than the companies in Europe and Asia. Countries Participation to the Shipping sector Europe 52% Asia 34% North America 10% South America 2% Oceania 1% Africa 1% Table 1: The percentage of the organization in shipping industry (Source: McCollum et al. 2013) Figure 1: percentage of the organization in shipping industry Reviewing and Discussing the Megatrends Surrounding this Idea The background analysis of the company indicates that tanker industry has become dynamic and different trends are being adopted in the operation conducted within the industry. Therefore, in order to deal with the dynamic environment of the industry, it is necessary for the organization to gain the ideas regarding the significant trends that could influence operation. Especially, the crude oil tanker industry is expected to increase strongly in 2016 with the desired fleet increase of 4.3% (Armstrong 2013). In this context, (Ostreng et al.2013) also commented that most of the new tankers would be delivered in the second of 2016. Likewise, the demolition activity is probably remaining subdued since the market observed an increase rates. On the contrary, Cahoon, Pateman and Chen (2013) provided an insight that following an ordering activity over the past few years that brings about present positive market at the 6 months of 2015. However, this trend is ended and the proposed orders arriv e than the expected time. Therefore, it is observed that the year ended at 11.4 million DWT for oil product tankers. In addition, for the crude oil tanker segment, the new building market was busy throughout the entire year. However, in order to deal with the dynamic environment of the tanker industry, the organization could implement the innovative ideas such as expanding the contract the oil and gas organization that manufacture the products. Ardmore Shipping needs to innovate its traditional ways of running the operations. While making the contracts with the oil and gas companies, the shipping corporations need to expand the contracts by reducing the cost of carrying the operations. Hence, both of the parties are free from the potential risks and outcome of the dynamic environment. However, this strategy can only be applied to when the shipping organizations have more clients. For example, Ardmore Shipping Corporation needs to increase the number of clients. Thus, the strategy of cutting the cost of operation can be conducted if the company has increasing number clients. However, as commented by Aguado, Alvarez and Domingo (2013), in order to undertake the operation of large of clients, the shipping c orporation may need to have skilled workforce as well as the advanced technology, as clients may demand the quick operations. Thus, to provide speedy delivery of the services, the company needs to apply advance technology and increase the workforce. On the contrary, while adopting new technology and increasing workforce, the organization Ardmore Shipping needs to emphasise on the operational safety as well as the quality maintenance for all of their vessels. Likewise, the company also needs to comply with present as well as the proposed environmental laws. The organization may apply the innovative strategy of outsourcing the technical operations as well as crewing. In order to conduct the proposed contract with the clients, the company needs to focus on the high utilization of all of their vessels. The shipping corporations also need to develop an effective relationship to the main charters. However, it also important for the organization to provide training to the staff that deals with the cargo operations. While applying the technology in the operation, it is necessary that workers have sufficient knowledge regarding the use of the technology. Thus, because of these reasons, the workforce should be developed. On the contrary, it is necessary that shipping organizations must comply with the environmental standards and other regulations (Baden-Fuller and Haefliger 2013). Thereby, it is the responsibility of the organization to promote the awareness among the people in the organization regarding the environmental standards. Apart from the internal operational strategy, the organization also needs to focus on the external environment that indirectly influences the operation of the organization. The other large organization such as Frontline Ltd has acquired a large part of the market with its continuous operations and flawless services. The competitors in the tanker industry are determined to utilise the advanced strategies to recover the damage occurred due to the cut down in the operation because of the increasing environmental regulations. Thus, Ardmore Shipping Corporation needs to also focus on the strategies or the approaches that have widely been used by the rivals in the industry. Hence, the company could invest more on the technology to reduce the time of operations. This opens up of the opportunity of undertaking another operation utilizing the available vessels. In this context, Davenport (2013), commented that the use of the technology in shipping operation is an effective choice. However, most of the shipping organizations do not take the risk of investing more on the technology. Due to the dynamic nature of the industry, this means sometimes the demands may be high but the shortage in the supply or the demand of the products is less, the organizations tend to suffer from the loss of the investment. Furthermore, external weaknesses also prevent the ways of applying the entrepreneurial ideas. For example, the aggressive operations of competitors like MOL Group. According to the secondary source of the data, it has been identified that MOL Group acquires ship management organizations that are specialize to tankers. The company is highly developed customer services even in the crisis period. Therefore, it is also necessary for Ardmore Shipping Corporation to pay attention to the aspect of the customer service. Developed customer service in the tanker industry plays an important in the technique recovering the damage. Another significant factor influencing the op eration is shipping has obtained the demand, if in case oil and gas industries suffer from the unexpected crisis, the shipping organization may find it difficult to conduct its normal operation within the usual time. Explaining the Industry and Market Conditions that Favour or Inhibit the Venture Success Dynamics of the Oil Tanker Industry The tanker industry is considerably influenced by multiple key elements and these key elements have wide impact on the industry and the organizations that provide the services. These key elements may include the demand, the supply of tanker, rates of freight, international regulations and expense. Thus, in order to understand the dynamics of this sector, it is necessary to examine each element as well as inter-relationship by evaluating the behaviours of the market. Demand of the tanker: As mentioned by (Drobetz et al. (2013) a tanker is categorized for carrying petroleum products including the crude oil (70% of the world tanker) and refine products (30%). This has been probably been the reason that tanker demand is usually determined by the movements of the cargo. As commented by Massa and Tucci (2013), at the time of first oil crisis in 1974, when crude price increased sharply from $3 per barrel to $11, the consumption of oil reduced by 1.4%. As a result, at the time of second oil crisis (1979-1980), the consumption of the oil reduced by 8% (Schneider and Spieth 2013). The increasing shortfall in oil consumption leads to the continuous depression in the tanker industry; especially due to this over-supplied situation. The demand of the tanker is increased by an average of 5% during 1974-1979. In this context, Boons and Ldeke-Freund (2013) mentioned that the growth of tanker demand is slow in comparison with the average increase of 15%. Therefor e, it can be mentioned that the demand of tanker widely has widely changed than the consumption of oil did. It can be added that tanker demand is affected by the consumption of the oil; however, other factors such as distance from the exporting areas to importing areas associated with the operation could also affect the industry. Freight Rates: It has been identified that the movement of the freight rates are observed to be very dynamic as well as complicated. As commented by Rojon (2013), the freight rates are determined by the balance between supply as well as demand through free competition among the charters and owners. However, in the current context, the brokers play a significant role in making the deals and the intermediaries. The brokers provide the professional advice and the information regarding the industry to the clients. As commented by Panayides, Lambertides and Cullinane (2013), if a deal fails due to one of the two sides, an owner takes all risks and responsibility of bearing the loss due to an idling vessel. This is a significant issue, if the loading date of the cargo is not fixed. In addition, it has also been identified that a character takes the responsibility and other associated risks considerably at higher than the usual rate at the industry. The underlying technique of a freight cau se the increase in the freight rates in the strong market as well as reduce abruptly in the particular market, where the demand is comparatively low. Figure 2: Freight rates (Source: Sampson 2013) On the contrary, it is examined that the structure of the market could cause persistent changes in the freight rate for particular reasons. Firstly, for the case of sudden change of demand both in short-term and long-term, the industry responds to the change immediately. Moreover, there have been two significant factors based on which the freight rates may increase or decrease. One of the factors is the demand, which is restored by replacing the sudden shock. Conversely, it can also be added that the supply could decrease from the scrapping effort. In addition, the tanker market remains strong because of the delay caused by time lag between order as well as delivery. Additionally, if the situation of unexpected decrease of supply chain occurs caused by political issues like war, strikes and international regulations, the rate of the freight may increase by the decreased tonnage (Panayides, Lambertides and Cullinane 2013). Costs: The costs associated with the vessels do not usually affect freight rates as different forces of the market determine the rates, which is further based on the balance between the supply and demand. Notwithstanding, the annual report of Ardmore Shipping Corporation provides the overview of the market forces that affect the freight rates. It is observed that costs indirectly influence the supply of the tanker in both short and long-term. As commented by Vaughan et al. (2013), the nature of high profitability that comes from the cost attracts shipbuilding and the supply of the tanker increases whereas the low profitability from high cost increases the lay-up; as the result the supply of the tanker decreases. Subsequently, owners of the vessel reluctantly run their vessels below the break-even cost. It has also been identified that the owners such as the Ardmore Shipping Corporation of the vessel do not run the vessels below cost of voyage. Thus, the costs are divided into three d ifferent categories. Voyage costs: The costs of the variables are incurred by performing particular voyage, fuel cost, port charges and additional expense. Operating cost: The fixed costs are associated with the operation of a vessel, repairs and maintenance, mining and insurance premium. Significant factors influencing the industry Cyclical and volatile nature of charter industry in respect to charter rates and profitability affecting the industry operation It has been identified that the tanker industry has become both cyclical as well as dynamic in respect to charter rates as well as the profitability. Additionally, a continuous downturn in the tanker sector may adversely influence the ability of Ardmore to re-charter to its vessels. Sometimes, due to this adverse impact, the organizations in the tanker industry end up selling the vessels on expiration of the charters. Moreover, the rates payable in terms of its vessel would not be sufficient or appropriate for the company to run all the vessels profitably. On the contrary, the fluctuation in charter rates as well as the tanker values could result from the changes that occurred in the supply chain and increasing demand for tanker capacity. As argued by Shi (2014), the factors influencing the supply chain and demand are not under control. Likewise, the timing and the degree of change in the sector conditions are also unpredictable. Some significant factors affecting the demand for tanker capacity may include the followings: Supply and demand of oil, chemical and oil products Regional availability of refining the capacity Political conditions, internal and regional demand As mentioned by Sampson (2013) shipping is considered as the lifeblood of the internal economy. Thus, more than 80% of the world goods are observed to be carried by the ship. On the contrary, United Stated, the largest trading country in the world tends to use the sea cargo to move about 90% of its export freights. As argued by Armstrong (2013), the international activities are changing as well as the shipping industry is dealing with some structural change and modification. This results to dramatic shift in global manufacturing as well as trading. The industry and the market places have become global as well as the production is located everywhere across the market. For example, China is worlds largest manufacturer; likewise, Indian and other Asian countries have been following the same economic model. Furthermore, the major shipping lines that were primarily concentrated on East and West routes linked to the major three poles of the globe economy. This new design of the world trade makes a compulsory need for a highly integrated system. Thus, it can be mentioned that the shipping business environment is becoming more instable and the competition is rapidly increasing. Conversely, the profit margin is falling down, the desired service quality is increasing, and the demand is becoming more uncertain. In this particular context, Armstrong (2013) has commented that shipping lines should build and execute the winning strategies to increase the revenue, the profit margin and the growth. Sign of Weaknesses are Appearing; However, Still Profits to be Gained Demand: It is observed that demand is sustained by slow fleet growth as well as the ongoing positive refinery margin. Thus, the earning of the competitors of Ardmore Shipping Corporation was up from a years back. However, the overall earnings were less in the year 2014. Likewise, the minor crude oil carriers were also less in 2015. Furthermore, for the oil product tankers Q3-2015 appears as the peak quarter of the current cycle. The same patterns of slightly decreasing freight rates are observed to be reappeared in time charter market. Drobetz et al. (2013) commented back in January adding some capacity aware on time charter. In this context, Aguado, Alvarez and Domingo (2013) commented that volatile oil price could strengthen the oil tanker market than the market where the oil price is stable. Environmental and other Regulations Impacting the Industry The laws and the regulations imposed by the government significantly affecting the organizations and their operations of tankers. The organizations in tanker industry are subject to global conventions, national, state as well as the local laws in force in the domains or the countries where its vessels could operate. Thus, the compliance with such regulations and other regulations entails significant expense. This also may include the vessel modification as well as the execution of particular operating procedures. On the contrary, it has also been identified that a variety of governmental as well as the quasi-governmental and other private organizations are subject to both planned and unplanned observations. The company has the firm belief that the heightened ranges of environmental as well as quality concerns financial institutions, regulators and charters leads to the increasing observation and safety requirements on all vessels. In addition, this could accelerate the scrapping of o lder vessels across the tanker industry. As commented by Cahoon, Pateman and Chen (2013), the environmental demands have created an increasing demand for tankers that comply with the environmental standards that are established to increase in stringency. Subsequently, the organizations in the tanker industry are required to follow and maintain the operation standards for all of its vessels that mainly focus on the operational safety and quality maintenance along with persistent training of the employees such as officers and crews to comply with the local and international regulations. U.S regulations- The United State Oil pollution act of 1990, established an extensive regulatory as well as the liability regime for the protection and cleanup of the environmental from oil spills (Ostreng et al. 2013). The Oil Pollution Acts that developed for protecting the environment are affecting the owners or the operations that run trade with their vessels in United State. In addition, it has also been identified that under the oil pollution laws, the owners of the vessels, operators are bound to take the responsibility of clean-up expense and other related harm or damages arriving from the discharge of oil spills. The laws against oil pollution define other damages widely include the injury to loss, destruction and the natural damage and assessment costs. The regulations include the injury to financial damage results from personal and property damage. Furthermore, it has also been identified that these regulations usually contain statutory caps on the liability as well as the damage. However, such caps are usually not applied to the direct clean-up cost. Eventually, it can also be added that all these regulations have large impact on the organizations. In spite of the demand of the services, the organization sometimes cannot provide the delivery of services, as the regulations do not permit the operations that have impact on environment. Moreover, in United States, the demands of the services are comparatively high; thereby, the shipping organizations mainly focus on the U.S markets. On the contrary, changes in the political environment also affect the shipping operations. This is evident that political instability results to change in the regulations. Making Investment Decision It is evident that shipping has become worlds most capital-intensive industries because of the high cost of purchasing a ship. For example, a super post Panamax vessel of 8000 TEU costs US$120 million (Ostreng et al. 2013). Therefore, it can be added that a shipping organization has to make a large investment that often accounts for half of the overall cost to operate a new large ship. Conversely, the used ones or the second-hand ships are less comparatively less costly to purchase and operate. Therefore, the company has to pay lower capital cost. However, these second-hand ships lack varieties in the industry. Thus, in order to achieve the range of efficiency, the shipping organizations could require different ship sizes for different trade routes. Subsequently, while making the investment decision, two significant questions faced by the organizations like whether the company purchases a second-half one or new one. One more significant aspect is the right size of the purchase. From the perspective ship owner or the organization, it can be added that the major investment decision revolves around whether to invest at certain market conditions in order to satisfy the market trends or deter the new entrants or the compete with the rivals in the industry. Focussing on the motivation behind the decisions, while the investment decision is made, the next aspect is to consider buying a new ship or a second-hand vessel. The last decision revolves around the specific type of the ships. Logit Model for the Investment Decision Figure 3: Investment decision model (Source: Ostreng et al. 2013) It has been considered that there is no strategic behaviour in ship investment. Thus, the fundamental reason for shipping organization to increase its capacity is to meet the increasing demands of the market. Notwithstanding, sailing fast is expensive as there is a particular limit on how fast a ship could sail. Thereby, it can be added that decision regarding the investment on the capacity expansion relies on the demand as well as existing capacity as well as the impact of speed on cost. In addition to this, it can also be added that the competition of strategic behaviour could add another dimension to the complicated decision-making process for the capital investment of ships. In this context, Aguado, Alvarez and Doming (2013) commented that shipping organizations with different market power have different strategies to deal with the dynamic market structure. Thus, the large organizations like Ardmore Shipping invest excessive capacity to deal with or prevent the newcomers or to ex pel the existing organizations. Conclusion On the completion of the report, it can be mentioned that organizations in the shipping industry have to deal with long-term large operations. Therefore, it is necessary for the organizations to pay serious attention to the dynamic scenario of the market. The business environment in shipping industry is constantly changing which is influenced by the demand and supply of the products. In addition, some potential risks are also associated with the operations as the shipping corporations tend to make large investment in purchasing the ships. Thus, if the demand of the services decreases, the organizations have to suffer from long-term recession, which could result in selling of the ships. Reference List: Aguado, S., Alvarez, R. and Domingo, R., 2013. Model of efficient and sustainable improvements in a lean production system through processes of environmental innovation.Journal of Cleaner Production,47, pp.141-148 Andriosopoulos, K., Doumpos, M., Papapostolou, N.C. and Pouliasis, P.K., 2013. Portfolio optimization and index tracking for the shipping stock and freight markets using evolutionary algorithms.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review,52, pp.16-34. Ardmore Shipping Corporation InvestorRoom. (2016).Annual Reports. [online] Available at: https://ardmoreshipping.investorroom.com/annual-reports [Accessed 24 Sep. 2016]. Armstrong, V.N., 2013. Vessel optimisation for low carbon shipping.Ocean Engineering,73, pp.195-207 Baden-Fuller, C. and Haefliger, S., 2013. Business models and technological innovation.Long range planning,46(6), pp.419-426 Boons, F. and Ldeke-Freund, F., 2013. Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-the-art and steps towards a research agenda.Journal of Cleaner Production,45, pp.9-19 Cahoon, S., Pateman, H. and Chen, S.L., 2013. Regional port authorities: leading players in innovation networks?.Journal of Transport Geography,27, pp.66-75. Chesbrough, H., 2013.Open business models: How to thrive in the new innovation landscape. Harvard Business Press Davenport, T.H., 2013.Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press. De Martino, M., Errichiello, L., Marasco, A. and Morvillo, A., 2013. Logistics innovation in seaports: An inter-organizational perspective.Research in Transportation Business Management,8, pp.123-133. Drobetz, W., Gounopoulos, D., Merikas, A. and Schrder, H., 2013. Capital structure decisions of globally-listed shipping companies.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review,52, pp.49-76 Drucker, P., 2014.Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge. Hall, P.V., O'Brien, T. and Woudsma, C., 2013. Environmental innovation and the role of stakeholder collaboration in West Coast port gateways.Research in Transportation Economics,42(1), pp.87-96. Lun, Y.V., Lai, K.H., Wong, C.W. and Cheng, T.C.E., 2013. Demand chain management in the container shipping service industry.International Journal of Production Economics,141(2), pp.485-492 Massa, L. and Tucci, C.L., 2013. Business model innovation.The Oxford Handbook of Innovafion Management, pp.420-441. McCollum, D., Shubin, S., Apsite, E. and Krisjane, Z., 2013. Rethinking labour migration channels: the experience of Latvia from EU Accession to economic recession.Population, Space and Place,19(6), pp.688-702 Ostreng, W., Eger, K.M., Flistad, B., Jrgensen-Dahl, A., Lothe, L., Mejlnder-Larsen, M. and Wergeland, T., 2013.Shipping in Arctic waters: a comparison of the Northeast, Northwest and trans polar passages. Springer Science Business Medi Panayides, P.M., Lambertides, N. and Cullinane, K., 2013. Liquidity risk premium and asset pricing in US water transportation.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review,52, pp.3-15. Poulis, E., Poulis, K. and Dooley, L., 2013. Information communication technologyinnovation in a non-high technology sector: achieving competitive advantage in the shipping industry.The Service Industries Journal,33(6), pp.594-608. Rojon, I.N.M., 2013. Blowin'in the wind? Possibilities of the International Maritime Organization to promote the uptake of wind propulsion in international shipping. Sampson, H., 2013. Globalisation, Labour Market Transformation and Migrant Marginalisation: the Example of Transmigrant Seafarers in Germany.Journal of International Migration and Integration,14(4), pp.751-76 Schneider, S. and Spieth, P., 2013. Business model innovation: Towards an integrated future research agenda.International Journal of Innovation Management,17(01), p.1340001. Shi, Y., 2014. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from International Shipping: The Response from Chinas Shipping Industry to the Regulatory Initiatives of the International Maritime Organization.The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law,29(1), pp.77-115. Simons, R., 2013.Levers of control: how managers use innovative control systems to drive strategic renewal. Harvard Business Press. Vaughan, L., Yang, R., Chen, C., Liang, W. and Li, B., 2013, October. Extending web co-link analysis to web co-word analysis for competitive intelligence. InProceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS/Actes du congrs annuel de l'ACSI Yang, C.S., Lu, C.S., Haider, J.J. and Marlow, P.B., 2013. The effect of green supply chain management on green performance and firm competitiveness in the context of container shipping in Taiwan.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review,55, pp.55-73.

Witch Hunts Salem And McCarthyism Essays - Culture, Religion

Witch Hunts: Salem and McCarthyism Imagine what it would be like to be labeled a Communist for the mere fact that you happened to sport a goatee? It happened in the 1950's McCarthyism period! Doesn't this sound strangely similar to the Salem witch-hunts? Perfectly normal people accused of being witches just because they were seen dancing strangely in the woods. McCarthyism and the Salem witch-hunts were both attempts by power-hungry people to diminish their competition without any concrete evidence. The causes of the Salem witchcraft trails and "McCarthyism" were irrational fears that witchcraft and communism were going to infiltrate society if drastic measures were not taken. Once the idea that witchcraft might really be going on got started, the behavior of normal citizens was open to suspicion of witchcraft. Likewise, the real fear of a Communist take-over had Americans in the 1950's so frightened, some actually believed that there neighbors might be spies because McCarthy was planting this suspicion so strongly into their minds. Once the hysteria began, it snowballed out of control. In the Salem witch hunts two young girls, Betty Paris and Abigail Williams, were exhibiting strange behavior and were diagnosed to have been touched by the hand of the devil. When pressured to reveal the witch or witches who had caused this, the young girls named several outcasts of society. These accused witches were guilty until they prove their innocence. Many were tortured until they confessed they were in fact witches so they did not have to endure any more pain. A few who admitted their guilt were spared, while the rest were quickly executed. These confessions became the "proof" of the existence of witches. The hysteria of McCarthyism began when Senator Joseph McCarthy landed a series of highly publicized investigations that intended to bring forward Communists in the State Department and Hollywood. McCarthy eventually let his "Red Scare" get out of control and said the U.S. Army was concealing foreign espionage activities. His accusations contained little evidence and McCarthy eventually fell into disfavor. The Witch-hunts of Salem resulted in the execution of 20 individuals. People accused of witchcraft were considered guilty until proven innocent, and tests were devised to identify the guilty. Those who passed the treacherous tests were considered witches and put to death. Eventually, the madness ended but not before the slaying of twenty innocent people. The McCarthy Communism scare turned very negitive toward Senator McCarthy when the hearings to investigate whether the secretary of the Army was not cooperating to uncover Communists in the U.S. military. These hearings were given a great amount of media coverage and that did much to end the anti Communist "witch-hunt" led by McCarthy. A resolution of censure against McCarthy was soon introduced in the Senate. On December 2, 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy was condemned in a vote of a special session of the U.S. Senate for his conduct in Senate committees. Bibliography Works Cited Garraty, John A. "The Rise of McCarthyism." The Story of America. Cincinnati, OH: Pantheon Books, 1990: 458-459. "McCarthy, Joseph Raymond." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99. New York, NY: Publishing, Inc., 1999. CD-ROM "The Salem Witch Trails 1692." 27 August 1997. (14 October 1999).

Astronaut And Space Essays - Apollo Program, United States

Astronaut And Space On May 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most memorable State of the Union addresses in the history of the United States. ?I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the earth? (http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary, President John F. Kennedy's Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs). With those words, Kennedy launched a new era of space exploration in the United States. Although the National Aeronautics And Space Administration was created in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act (http://www.hq.nasa.gov, Key Documents), and the Russians already launched the first satellite into space in 1957, the US was still at a stand still on the subject. What the country needed was a wake-up call, and that is exactly what it got from one of the most celebrated speakers in its history. The new era promised much, but expected little. From USA's struggle to be the dominant world power in the Cold War Era, to the careless depletion of natural resources in the Information Age, space exploration and astronauts were and will be the real keys to the new millennium and beyond. Before looking into the future, or even evaluating the present, one must look in detail at the history of the space project. The missions that gave scientists and engineers the necessary data and experience to make new, safer, more reliable and intricate equipment were launched long before there was realistic talk of sending probes to Mars. The astronauts that helped shape the training programs, took the beatings of primitive flight tests, and died in order to serve their country were born before World War II. And even the Russian Space Program was crucial to what the space program is today. It fueled competition, and provided more resources for American engineers. Until Apollo 11, they were ahead of the Americans in almost everyway, with their launch of Sputnik, a unmanned satellite in 1957, and their countless firsts in orbiting and space walks. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Although most of the missions that have been launched have been important in their own ways, some missions just stand out, whether it was the first step on the Moon, or the first mission to Mars. NASA's first high profile program was Project Mercury, an effort to learn if humans could survive in space. It was the prelude to the later missions, and it gave NASA the necessary data to build better, and more comfortable ships for humans to stay in space for extended periods of time. The first launch of the Mercury program was the LJ-1 on August 21, 1959. At thirty-five minutes before launch, evacuation of the area had been proceeding on schedule. Suddenly, half an hour before launch-time, an explosive flash occurred. When the smoke cleared it was evident that only the capsule-and-tower combination had been launched, on a trajectory similar to an off-the-pad abort (http://www.ksc.nasa.gov, Mercury: LJ-1). The first mildly successful spacecraft launch occurred September 9, 1959. Although t he BJ-1 ship experienced some problems, and the timing on some of the separation procedures was off, the capsule made it back to earth some seven hours after lift-off. The capsule orbited the earth for approximately thirteen minutes (Mercury: BJ-1). Mercury mission MA-5 was the first to carry live organisms into sub-orbit. Although Enos - a chimpanzee, was not a perfect substitute for a human, he served as a good test for the environmental controls of the capsule. He orbited the earth in total weightlessness for over three hours and upon landing was in perfect physical condition (Mercury: MA-5). On May 5, 1961, Freedom 7 was the first launch to carry humans into space. Alan B. Shepard, Jr. was the only crewmember, and the successful mission lasted for over 15 minutes (Mercury: MR-3). More manned flights from the Mercury series followed, highlighted by the Friendship 7, where on February 20, 1962, John Glenn was the first American in actual orbit, and he orbited the earth three times for a little under five hours (Mercury: MA-6). The last mission from the Mercury project came on May

Teetotaller - Definition and Origin

Teetotaller - Definition and Origin Definition: A teetotaller is someone who totally abstains from liquor. In the 19th century, the Preston Temperance Society in England and, later, the American Temperance Union encouraged a pledge of abstinence from intoxicating liquor, as part of the temperance movement. Those who had signed the pledge were asked to use a T with their signature to mean total abstinence. The T plus the total led to those whod signed the pledge being called T-totallers or teetotallers. The term was in use as early as 1836 when an explanation of it as meaning total abstainer appeared in print. From there, the term came to be used more generally, for anyone who voluntarily committed to abstinence, or simply for a nondrinker. The Pledge The pledge of temperance from the Preston Temperance Society (in Preston, England) read: We agree to abstain from all liquors of an intoxicating quality whether ale, porter, wine or ardent spirits, except as medicine. Also Known As: Abstainer, dry, nondrinker, prohibitionist Other words for teetotalism:  Abstinence, temperance,  abstemiousness, on the wagon, dry, sober. Alternate Spellings: t-totaller, teetotaler Examples: First Lady Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, was known as Lemonade Lucy because, as a teetotaller, she did not serve liquor in the White House. Henry Ford required a teetotaller pledge for those he hired in his new auto production industry, to promote better productivity and workplace safety. Learn more about how teetotallism fit into the more general movement to limit or ban the use of alcoholic beverages: Temperance Movement and Prohibition Timeline Image: the image included is an example of the Victorian era pledge, complete with very Victorian floral embellishment. Religious groups that require or encourage abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages: Assembly of God,  Bahai, Christian Science,  Islam, Jainism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS. also known as the Mormon Church), Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Christ, Sikhism, Salvation Army.   Also, some Hindu and Buddhist sects, and some Mennonite and Pentecostal groups. Methodists in English and American history often taught abstinence but rarely do that currently. In the Victorian era, many in both the Evangelical and Unitarian movements taught at least restraint, if not temperance and teetotalling. Most of those religions that prohibit alcohol do so on the grounds that it is harmful, that it inhibits mindfulness, or can easily lead to unethical behavior. Some famous women teetotallers: In history, women becoming teetotallers was often an expression of religious values, or was based on general social reform principles.   In the modern world, some women become teetotallers for such reasons, and others because of a past history of alcoholism or alcohol abuse. Tyra Banks: a model and actress.Susan Boyle: singer.Pearl S. Buck: writer, won Nobel Prize for Literature, 1938.Faye Dunaway: actress.Janeane Garofalo: actress.Kathy Griffin: comedian.Elisabeth Hasselbeck: television personality.Jennifer Hudson: singer.Carrie Nation: temperance activist.Kelly Osbourne: actress.Marie Osmond: singer.Natalie Portman: actress.Anna Quindlen: writer.Christina Ricci: actress.Anne Rice: writer.Linda Rondstadt: singer.Sarah Silverman: comedian, actress and writer.Jada Pinkett Smith: actress.Lucy Stone: womens rights activist.Mae West: actress.  Frances Willard: temperance reformer.

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) - Term Paper Example Wordsworth wrote the poem ‘we are seven’ at the age of 18 when he was going on a journey with his best companion Coleridge. ‘Wordsworth’s most deeply held conviction is his belief that the scope for poetry was often best provided by memory.’ As we also observe in this particular poem that the little girl that he talks about is actually someone he had met on his journey in a similar setting. As stated, ‘We Are Seven was inspired by a little girl he met in the area of Goodrich Castle.’ The poem comprises of sixteen four lined stanzas with the exception of the last stanza that consists of five lines. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB. The poem is in the form of a conversation between a stranger and a little girl. The technique of writing the poem in a dialogue form enhances the beauty of the poem as it helps in retaining the interest of the reader, as he is curious about the end result of the conversation. The title of the poem hints about a sense of security that is related to the knowledge of having strong family bonding as observed from the word ‘We’. It has a tone of finality to it. The two letter word hold a lot of meaning as it also indicates the element of stubbornness and conviction of belief that nothing can change the reality i.e. we are seven. Number ‘seven’ can in itself be a reference to ‘Shakespeare’s seven stages’ of a man’s life as the readers later observes that this poem also draws a contrast between the perspective of life from the eyes of a child and an adult and shows the manner in which a person loses his idealism in order to grow up. The poem is basically about a conversation between a man and a little girl about her family and loved ones. The stranger inquires about her brothers and sisters and the girl replies that we are seven. This reply leads to the formation of the whole conversation that takes place in the poem.

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Business - Assignment Example Currently, Coca Cola faces competition from other soft drink producers that is not all that substantial but the threat from substitute products is growing. These are only but a few o the challenges that the company may have to face – both now and in the future. The soft drink industry may be strong for now but this does not mean the consumers will remain marred to it. Coca Cola should pursue a strategy that will reduce the overall cost of its products. This strategy will give Coca Cola a much competitive advantage over its rivals who have already adapted methods of lowering the cost of their products. This is one of the many recommendations that the company should adopt if it has to enjoy continued success in the international market. International Business is the terminology that generally describes the business activities that occur across the boundaries of countries for both profit making and political reasons (Daniels & Radebaugh, 2007). This article will explore one such company doing business internationally namely the Coca Cola company, and identify a few significant issues related to its international operations. Coca Cola, which is the symbolic American soda company, is among the companies that have operated internationally for a lengthy time period, having first gone international in the year 1902. It is currently a market leader in terms of soft drinks sales worldwide given that its products sell up to one and a half billion servings on a daily basis. The company can also boast of having the world’s largest production, distribution and marketing system of syrup and non-alcoholic beverage which is in fact double in size of its nearest competitor. For numerous reasons, the Coca Cola Company holds the belief that it will maintain its international growth. Among these reasons are its rising disposable income and the global

An investigation into the theory and practice of management skills Essay

An investigation into the theory and practice of management skills development in the hospitality and tourism industries - Essay Example Thankfully my research and academic proficiency led me to applying in Marriot International among other companies for a management trainee post and getting a positive response from the company. Marriot International is the third largest chain of hotels in the world by employees and revenues but what struck me most about the company was that it consistently got selected as one of the five most ethical companies in an annual review carried out by a rating and analysis firm. The company is based in the United States but has a large setup in the United Kingdom and offers a management trainee program or as the company calls it, a leadership development program, in 30 countries of the world. I got selected in this program that goes by the name of Voyage and conveyed my consent for joining appropriately quickly. Now I am an inductee into the program in its UK chapter and it is early days for me as a trainee of event management, a field of profession I chose to enter after long and careful deliberation. I think that the most prominent feature of event management that is not as important in other types of management is time management which I think is one of the best qualities a person can possess. Also if an event and the planning leading up to it are considered a complete project, I shall get more experience of handling whole projects than I would have gotten in any other field of corporate management. Finally, I have taken this route because I would like t o permanently leave the status of employee one day and establish my own company in the event management business. The first skill that I think I will be requiring to acquire to progress on this career path is keeping my fitness level high. By fitness I do also mean personal health care as well. I have honestly concluded from what I have come to know so far about the job of event management for large companies that it is a tenuous job; it is both physically and

Introduction To Dc Dc Converter Engineering Essay

Introduction To Dc Dc Converter Engineering Essay ABSTRACT A bidirectional dc-dc converter is used for dc-dc power conversion applications. The power converter includes two full bridge converters This Bidirectional dc-dc converter is best for electrical vehicle applications. A bidirectional, isolated topology is proposed in consideration of the differing fuel cell characteristics from traditional chemical-power battery and safety requirements. The topology proposed in the paper has advantages of simple circuit with soft switching implementation without additional devices, high efficiency and simple control. INTRODUCTION TO DC-DC CONVERTER: DC-DC converters are devices which change one level of direct current/ voltage to another (either higher or lower) level. They are primarily of use in battery-powered appliances and machines which possess numerous sub circuits, each requiring different levels of voltages. A DC-DC converter enables such equipment to be powered by batteries of a single level of voltage, preventing the need to use numerous batteries with varying voltages to power each individual component.   1.1. BUCK-BOOST CONVERTER Fig. 1: schematic for buck-boost converter With continuous conduction for the Buck-Boost converter Vx =Vin when the transistor is ON. When the transistor is OFF the inductor in trying to maintain the current in the same direction reverses its polarity as a result of which the diode is forward biased and Vx =Vo. For zero net current change over a period the average voltage across the inductor is zero. Fig. 9: Waveforms for buck-boost converter Vin ton + Vo toff = 0 which gives the voltage ratio and the corresponding current Since the duty ratio D is between 0 and 1 the output voltage can vary between lower or higher than the input voltage in magnitude. The negative sign indicates a reversal of sense of the output voltage.   CONVERTER COMPARISON The voltage ratios achievable by the DC-DC converters is summarised in Fig. 10.We can notice that only the buck converter shows a linear relationship between the control (duty ratio) and output voltage. The buck-boost can reduce or increase the voltage ratio with unit gain for a duty ratio of 50%. Fig. 10: Comparison of Voltage ratio 1.3 BI-DIRECTIONAL DC-TO-DC CONVERTER A DC-DC converter which can be operated alternately as a step-up converter in a first direction of energy flow and as a step-down converter in a second direction of energy flow is disclosed. Potential isolation between the low-voltage side and the high-voltage side of the converter is achieved by a magnetic compound unit, which has not only a transformer function but also an energy storage function. The converter operates as a push-pull converter in both directions of energy flow. The DC-DC converter can be used for example in motor vehicles with an electric drive fed by fuel cells. A bi-directional converter for converting voltage bi-directionally between a high voltage bus and a low voltage bus, comprising a switching converter connected across the high voltage bus, the switching converter comprising first and second switching modules connected in series across the high voltage bus, a switched node disposed between the switching modules being coupled to an inductor, the inductor connected to a first capacitor, the connection between the inductor and the first capacitor comprising a mid-voltage bus, the first and second switching modules being controllable so that the switching converter can be operated as a buck converter or a boost converter depending upon the direction of conversion from the high voltage bus to the low voltage bus or vice versa; the mid-voltage bus being coupled to a first full bridge switching circuit comprising two pairs of series connected switches with switched nodes between each of the pairs of switches being connected across a first wi nding of a transformer having a preset turns ratio; and a second full bridge switching circuit comprising two pairs of series connected switches with switched nodes between each of the pairs of switches being connected across a second winding of the transformer, the second full bridge switching circuit being coupled to a second capacitor comprising a low voltage node. 1.3.3 WORKING OF DC-DC Converters In its simplest form, a DC-DC converter simply uses resistors as needed to break up the flow of incoming energy this is called linear conversion. However, linear conversion is a wasteful process which unnecessarily dissipates energy and can lead to overheating. A more complex, but more efficient, manner of DC-DC conversion is switched-mode conversion, which operates by storing power, switching off the flow of current, and restoring it as needed to provide a steadily modulated flow of electricity corresponding to the circuits requirements. This is far less wasteful than linear conversion, saving up to 95% of otherwise wasted energy. 1.3.2 BIDIRECTIONAL DC-DC CONVERTERS TOPOLOGIES There are many circuit topologies for bidirectional dc-dc converter. Some of them are Non isolated (Without transformer): Full bridge bidirectional dc-dc converter (shown in fig) Half bridge bidirectional dc-dc converter II. Isolated (with transformer): Full bridge bidirectional dc-dc converter ( shown in fig) Half bridge bidirectional dc-dc converter 1.3 NON-ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DC-DC CONVERTER: Fig2: Full bridge bidirectional dc-dc converter Fig 17 shows a basic circuit diagram of a full bridge bidirectional DC-DC converter. It has interleaved operation for both boost and buck modes It has smaller passive components It has less battery ripple current 1.3.2.2 ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DC-DC CONVERTER (PROPOSED CONVERTER): Fig18: lv-side current source and hv-side voltage source Fig 18 shows the circuit diagram of an Isolated DC-DC converter. This converter has the following features Simple voltage clamp circuit implementation Simple transformer winding structure and low turns ratio High choke ripple frequency (2fs) Start up problem will be present in this circuit 1.4 SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHING: Semi conductor switching are of two types. They are 1. Hard Switching 2. Soft Switching 1.4.2 SOFT SWITCHING More recently, new power conversion topologies have been developed which dramatically reduce the power dissipated by With soft switching techniques, reduction in wasted power will often improve the efficiency of a unit by more than 2%. While this does not sound significant, it can account for a saving of more than 20 W in a 1000 W power supply. This 20 W is power that would have been dissipated by the main power transistors, the most critical and most heavily stressed semi-conductors in any switch mode power supply. Reducing the power here lowers their junction temperature, giving increased thermal operating margins and, hence, a longer life for the power supply. Not only does a soft switching power supply generate significantly less electrical noise, it achieves greater efficiency, longer mean time between failures (MTBF), and higher immunity to the effects of other equipment operating nearby. It is desirable for power converters to have high efficiencies and high power densities. Packaging and cost limitations require that the converter have a small physical size and weight. Power density and electrical performance are dependent on the switching frequency as it determines the values of the reactive components in the converter. Thus, high frequency operation of the converter is highly desired. However, operation at high frequency results in higher switching losses and higher switching stresses caused by the circuit parasitics (stray inductance, junction capacitance). The circuit topology of the proposed bidirectional isolated converter is shown in Fig. According to the power  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow directions, there are two operation modes for the proposed converter. When power  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ows from the low-voltage side (LVS) to the high-voltage side (HVS), the circuit operates in boost mode to draw energy from the battery. In the other power  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow direction, the circuit operates in buck mode to recharge the battery from the high-voltage dc bus. Based on the symbols and signal polarities introduced in Fig. 2, the theoretical waveforms of the two operation modes are shown in Fig. (a) and (b), respectively. Fig42: Theoretical waveform under (a) boost and (b) buck operation Boost Mode (Discharging Mode) Operation When the dc bus voltage in the HVS is not at the desired high level, such as during a cold start, the power drawn from the low-voltage battery flows into the high-voltage dc bus. During this mode, the proposed converter is operated as a current-fed circuit to boost the HVS bus voltage. The LVS switches Q1, Q4 and Q2, Q3 operate at asymmetrical duty ratios and 1- which require a short overlapping conduction interval. Referring to the equivalent circuits for the boost mode operation in Fig. 43, the detailed operating principle can be explained as follows. Although the LVS switches subject to higher voltage stress, this is an advantage because the battery voltage is low. Because the overlapping interval for the LVS switches Q1, Q4 and Q2, Q3 is very short, the LVS transformer current flows through only one LVS switch at most time. Thus, the conduction losses for Q1, Q4 and Q2, Q4 can be greatly reduced to improve the conversion efficiency. Moreover, the LVS circuit produces a relatively ripple free battery current that is desirable for the low voltage battery. The voltage transfer ratio Mboost for the boost mode operation for the proposed dc-dc converter can be derived from the volt-second balance condition across the inductor L1 represented by (7). The current stresses of the inductor windings can be also determined as (6).The inductances of the power inductor L1 can be determined for their given peak-to-peak current ripples, ΆI1 Where ÃŽÂ » (%) is the ripple percentage of the inductor currents IL1 B. Buck Mode (Charging Mode) Operation Different from the traditional electric vehicle driving system, the fuel cell powered system needs an additional energy storage device to absorb the feedback power from the electric machine. This energy storage device may be a lead-acid battery as shown in Fig44 . The proposed circuit works in buck mode to recharge the battery from high-voltage dc bus. During this mode, the proposed converter is operated as an asymmetrical half bridge circuit with synchronous rectification current doubler to recharge the battery from high-voltage dc bus. The HVS switches Q5, Q8 and Q6, Q7 operate at asymmetrical duty ratios and 1- which require short and well-defined dead time between the conduction intervals. Referring to the equivalent circuits in Fig. , the detailed operating principle of this mode can be explained as follows. Fig44: modes of operation in buck mode While the LVS switches, Q1, Q4 and Q2, Q3, share unequal voltage and current stresses, the HVS switches, Q5, Q8 and Q6, Q7, share equal voltage stresses as (8). Then the current stresses of the HVS switches can be found as DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR KEY COMPONENTS To verify the feasibility of the proposed scheme, a 2-kW laboratory prototype operated at 20 kHz was built. The simulation and experimental results will be shown and discussed in the next section. The LVS of the design example was connected to a 12-V lead-acid battery whose terminal voltage could swing from 10-15 V. The nominal voltage on the HVS dc bus was designed to 300 V, with an operating range from 150-400 V. The design considerations Based on (5), the turn-ratio selection of transformer can be calculated as (15). The HVS device ratings can then be calculated using (8)-(10) as follows: B. Power Inductors Let the peak-to-peak current ripples be 20% of the inductor currents under full power. The current rating and the inductance of the power inductor L1 can be determined using (6)- (7) as follows: Because of the ripple cancellation on the battery current, a larger ripple current in inductor L1 and can be allowed in practical applications. Thus, the inductance and the size of the inductors L1 might be smaller. To verify the theoretical operating principles, a 2-kW design example was simulated by using MATLAB. There is a good agreement between the simulation results and theoretical analysis. In this research, a 2-kW laboratory prototype was implemented and tested to evaluate the performance of the proposed bidirectional isolated dc-dc converter.. The ripple cancellation between two inductor currents can be observed. This is desirable for a low-voltage battery. 7.1 BOOST OPERATION FOR BIDIRECTIONAL DC-DC CONVERTER CONVENTIONAL CIRCUIT FOR BOOST MODE 7.3 RESULTANT WAVE FORM: 7.3.1 BOOST OPERATION Input and Output waveform: Fig 48 CONVENTIONAL CIRCUIT FOR BUCK MODE Fig47 7.4 RESULTANT WAVEFORM FOR BUCK OPERATION : Input and Output voltage waveform Fig 49 Proposed Bidirectional DC-DC converter Input and Output Voltage Waveforms: Fig50 Fig 51 Inductor Current Waveforms: Fig52 CONCLUSION A soft-switched isolated bidirectional dc-dc converter has been implemented in this paper. The operation, analysis, features and design consideration were illustrated. Simulation and experimental results for the 45W, 20 kHz prototype was shown as per principle. It is shown that ZVS in either direction of power flow is achieved with no lossy components involved As results, advantages of the new circuit including ZVS with full load range, decreased device count, high efficiency (measured more than 94% at rated power), and low cost as well as less control and accessory power needs, make the proposed converter very promising for medium power applications with high power density.

Markov Analysis

1. Describe the internal labor market of the company in terms of job stability (staying in same job), promotion paths and rates, transfer paths and rates, demotion paths and rates, and turnover (exit) rates. Transition Probabilities for 2010-2011 Sales, Full-time 1. 50% stayed the same 2. 10% transferred to part-time status 3. 5% were promoted to Asst. Sales Mgr. 4. 0% were promoted to Regional Sales Mgr. 5. 35% left the organization Sales, Part-time 1. 5% transferred to full-time status . 60% stayed the same 3. 10% were promoted to Asst. Sales Mgr. 4. 0% were promoted to Regional Sales Mgr. 5. 25% left the organization Asst. Sales Mgr. 1. 5% were demoted to full-time sales 2. 0% were demoted to part-time sales 3. 80% stayed the same 4. 10% were promoted to Regional Sales Mgr. 5. 5% left the organization Region Sales Mgr. 1. 0% transferred to another job 2. 70% Stayed the same 3. 30% left the organization 2. Forecast the numbers available in each job category in 2013.Job 2012 Categor y Employees SF SP ASM RSM TOTAL EXIT Sales Full-time (SF) 500 250 50 25 0 325 175 Sales Part-time (SP) 150 7. 5 90 15 0 112. 5 37. 5 Asst. Sales Mgr. (ASM) 50 2. 5 0 40 0 47. 2. 5 Region Sales Mgr. (RSM) 30 0 0 0 21 21 9 Work Sales Full-Time (SFT) Sales Part-Time(SPT) Asst. Sales Mgr(ASM) Reg Sales Mgr a. ) . 50 x 500 = 250 b. ) . 05 x 150 = 7. 5 c. ) . 05 x 50 = 2. 5 d. ) . 70 x 30 = 21 . 10 x 500 = 50 . 60 x 150 = 90 . 80 x 50 = 40 . 30 x 30 = 9 . 05 x 500 = 25 . 0 x 150 = 15 . 10 x 50 = 5 . 35 x 500 = 175 . 25 x 150 = 37. 5 . 05 x 50 = 2. 5 3. Indicate potential limitations to your forecasts. A. ) As a rule, it is desirable to have 20 or more employees in each job category/level. Some of the cells contain less than 20 cases. So the estimates based on these figure can yield unstable estimates of future availabilities. B. ) There is a possibility of results not being accurate due to multiple moves by employees.The analysis cannot detect multiple moves by employees between T and T+1 ; it only classifies employees and counts their movement according to their beginning (T) and ending (T+1) job category/level, ignoring any intermittent moves. C. ) The forecast assumes that all employees in a job category/level have an equal probability of movement. This is unrealistic because organizations take many factors into account. Because of these factors, the probabilities of movement may vary among specific employees.

Comparing Ireland and Denmark ECC Essay

Choose two countries and compare their approaches to early childhood care and education. This essay will introduce and compare approaches to early childhood care and education in Denmark and Ireland. It will specifically focus on comparing the pedagogical approach, curriculum content and the inclusion of ethnic minority children aged 0-6 years attending early childhood settings in both countries. Provision of Services As one of the oldest nations within Europe, Denmark has made the welfare of families with children top priority within government. Under their Social Services Act, matters’ relating to the care and education of children is broken down. The Ministry of Social Services is responsible for day care facilities – dagtilbud, while the Ministry of Education is responsible for pre-school services – bornehaveklasse, primary and lower secondary and afterschool services and forest kindergartens are also available. These services are based on the rights of children outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (OECD, 2000). In Denmark children are not required to enter the primary school sector until they are seven years old. In Ireland, there has been very little funding and resources into the development of childcare provisions with many working families relying on family members or child-minders filling the gap. Full day care exists at a cost and sessional services either morning or afternoon are in operation. In 2010, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs introduced a voluntary, universal free pre-school year for children aged three years and two months and less than four years and seven months. For the year 2010/11, over 94% of eligible children were participating in the scheme (Dept. f Education & Skills, 2011). While it is compulsory for children to enter the primary education system at six years old, it is relevant to note that many children enter the system in the September, following their fourth birthday due to the lack of childcare provisions available. The Irish welfare state seems reliant on offering cash benefits rather than services especially for the youngest group of children 0-2 years (OECD, 2010). Pedagogy French, 2007 defines pedagogy as the practice or craft of teaching in the interactive process between teachers and learners and the learning nvironment which includes family and the community. Under Siolta, the national quality framework it is defined as the range of interactions to support the holistic development of children by embracing both care and education within settings. Denmark has a strong historical background in relation to the training of early care and education practitioners. The first training programme was implemented in 1885 for those working from the frobelian approach in education; this formed a basis for the two year study programme implemented in 1904. In 1992, an integrated training system was established to combine theory with practice. Those training to be social pedagogues complete three and a half year degree programme learning theoretical, culture based subjects and activity based subjects with stints in placement (OECD,2000). Ireland in comparison has yet to regulate for proper qualifications within the sector with only those working with pre-primary classes having the appropriate qualification – bachelor of education. In order for the pre-school year to be implemented room leaders must have a minimum qualification of a Level 5 major award in ECCE (Dept. of Education &Skills, 2011). Curriculum French, 2007, states that a curriculum being implemented in settings for children’s learning should contain a ‘body of knowledge with a clear set of goals and objectives’. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2004 wrote that curriculum refers to â€Å"all learning experiences, whether formal or informal, planned or unplanned, which contribute to a child’s development†. Denmark’s curriculum for children aged 0-6 years is predominately play based and incorporates the holistic development of children. Children work in partnership with the pedagogues throughout daily life. The main aims of the curriculum are to ensure children learn and experience the natural environment while gaining a true understanding of the Danish and other cultures represented. In 2004, a new law of pedagogical curriculum to â€Å"support, lead and challenge the learning of children† was introduced (Starting Strong 2, 2006). This outlined that all centres had the responsibility to outline their own curriculums with the cooperation of staff and passed by the board of parents and local authorities, the aspect of learning was not to become too structured. Six dimensions of aims as themes are to be represented within the curriculum. These include personal competences, social competences, language, body and movement, nature and nature phenomena and cultural forms of expression and values (Brostrom, 2006).

Image Denoising Based on Soft Computing Techniques

Image Denoising Based on Soft Computing Techniques Free Online Research Papers Image Denoising Based on Soft Computing Techniques Abstract: Image Denoising is one of the existing problems in research area. This paper presents an interactive algorithm for image Denoising and segmentation. This paper explains the task of segmenting any given color image using soft computing techniques. The segmentation techniques used are Fuzzy Clustering (FC), Fuzzy C Means (FCM) clustering and Convolutional Networks (CN). After the image is segmented, the noise can be removed by using bilateral filtering. The denoised images are compared using image quality metrics. The image quality metrics are Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), and Mean Average Error (MAE). The time taken for Denoising is also used as a comparison parameter. The techniques have been tested with images of different size and resolution and the results are proven to be better than the existing state-of-art algorithms. Keywords: Denoising, segmentation, Fuzzy clustering, Fuzzy C Means (FCM), Convolutional Networks (CN), bilateral filtering. 1. Introduction Images are often corrupted by random variations in intensity values, called noise, either because of the data acquisition process, or because of occurring phenomena at scene of interest. The goal of image denoising methods is to recover the original image (better quality image) from a noisy one, in order to perform, in an easier and more accurate way, an image processing task as image segmentation. In computer vision literature, various methods dealing with segmentation, and feature extraction are discussed, which can be broadly grouped into region based techniques, edge based techniques, hybrid methods which combine edge and region methods, and so on. However, because of the variety and complexity of images, robust and efficient segmentation algorithm on color images is still a very challenging task and fully automatic segmentation procedures are far from satisfying in practical situations. This paper explains the task of classifying each pixel in an image into one of a discrete level of color classes using three main soft computing techniques, namely Fuzzy clustering, Fuzzy C Means, and Convolutional networks. The results obtained by soft computing techniques are compared with traditional hard c means technique. The results are found to be more accurate and reliable than the traditional method. The rest of this paper is explained as follows: in Section 2, the three types of soft computing techniques are explained, the use of bilateral filtering is explained in Section 3, segmentation based Denoising is explained in Section 4, the experimental results are shown in Section 5, and the conclusion is in Section 6. 2. Soft Computing Techniques: Extracting information from an image is referred to as image analysis. Image segmentation is a preliminary step in most automatic pictorial pattern recognition and scene analysis problems. It is one of the most difficult tasks in image processing. Image segmentation is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple regions or clusters. Each region is made up of sets of pixels. Image segmentation simplifies and changes the representation of an image. i.e. the image is transferred into something that is more meaningful and easier to analyze. Image segmentation is typically used to locate objects of interest and boundaries like lines, curves in an image. The pixels of a color image are represented as vectors. Each pixel is represented a triplet containing red, green, blue spectral values at that position. The RGB color model is shown in fig.1. This is based on Cartesian coordinate system. A color expressed by an RGB vector is said to be a color represented in RGB space. Fig.1.RGB Color Model. RGB color representation is one of the numbers of color models. RGB color model is chosen for image segmentation due to its simplicity hence the fast processing speed that could be achieved [5]. Image segmentation refers to the process of dividing the image into connected regions where pixels of a region share a common property. For color images the common property is usually considered is the red: green: blue, color ratio. This ratio must be reasonably constant over the region. The color ratio does not have smoothly varying values when the pixel intensity is low. So color image segmentation based on color ratio requires that the intensity of the image must be above a threshold value. So instead of segmentation based on color ratio other techniques have been evolved. The requirements of good color image segmentation are as follows. A single region in a segmented image should not contain significantly different colors and a connected region containing same color should not have more than one label. All significant pixels should belong to the same labeled region. The intensity of a region should be reasonably uniform. Several image segmentation techniques have been suggested for gray scale images. In this paper we suggest the neural network approach for color images. 2.1.Fuzzy Clustering In non-fuzzy or hard clustering, data is divided into crisp clusters, where each data point belongs to exactly one cluster. In fuzzy clustering, the data points can belong to more than one cluster[3], and associated with each of the points are membership grades that indicate the degree to which the data points belong to the different clusters. Fuzzy clustering belongs to the group of soft computing techniques (which include neural nets, fuzzy systems, and genetic algorithms). In real applications there is very often no sharp boundary between clusters so that fuzzy clustering is often better suited for the data. Membership degrees between zero and one are used in fuzzy clustering [6] instead of crisp assignments of the data to clusters. The resulting data partition improves data understanding and reveals its internal structure. Partition clustering algorithms divide up a data set into clusters or classes, where similar data objects are assigned to the same cluster whereas dissimilar data objects should belong to different clusters. Areas of application of fuzzy cluster analysis include data analysis, pattern recognition, and image segmentation. The detection of special geometrical shapes like circles and ellipses can be achieved by so-called shell clustering algorithms. 2.2. Fuzzy C Means The most prominent algorithm is the FCM or Fuzzy C Means algorithm. The fuzzy C means algorithm was proposed as an improvement of the classic Hard C-Means clustering algorithm The FCM algorithm receives the data or the sample space, an n x m matrix where n is the number of data and m is the number of parameters. The number of clusters c, the assumption partition matrix U, the convergence value E all must be given to the algorithm. The assumption partition matrix has c number of rows and n number of columns and contains values from 0 to 1. The sum of every column has to be 1. The first step is to calculate the cluster centers. This is a matrix v of dimension c rows with m columns. The second step is to calculate the distance matrix D. The distance matrix constitutes the Euclidean distance between every pixel and every cluster center. This is a matrix with c rows and n columns. From the distance matrix the partition matrix U is calculated. If the difference between the initial partitio n matrix and the calculated partition matrix is greater than the convergence value then the entire process from calculating the cluster centers to the final partition matrix. The final partition matrix is taken and is used for reconstructing the image. Let us assume as a fuzzy C-Means Functional, (1) where ? = { x k | k â‚ ¬ [1,n]} is a training set containing unlabeled samples = { y j | j â‚ ¬ [1,c]} } is the set of centers of clusters; E j (x k) is a dissimilarity measure (distance or cost) between the sample x k and the center y j of a specific cluster j;U = [u jk] is the c x n fuzzy c-partition matrix, containing the membership values of all samples in all clusters; m â‚ ¬ (1, ?) is a control parameter of fuzziness. The clustering problem can be defined as the minimization of J m with respect to Y, under the probabilistic constraint: (2) The Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm consists in the iteration of the following formulas: for all j (3) And (4) ? ? ? 1,? if E j (x k) = 0 and u jk = 0 ? l ? j where, in the case of the Euclidean space: E j = xk ? y j 2 (5) It is worth noting that if one chooses m = 1 the fuzzy C-Means Functional J m (Eq. 1) reduces to the expectation of the global error (which we denote as ): (6) and the FCM algorithm becomes the classic Hard C-Means algorithm. 2.3. Convolutional Networks A Convolutional network is an alternating sequence of linear filtering and nonlinear transformation operations. The input and output layers include one or more images, while intermediate layers contain â€Å"hidden units with images called feature maps that are the internal computations of the algorithm. The activity of feature map a in layer k is given by (7) where Ik-1;b are feature maps that provide input to Ik;a, and denotes the convolution operation. The function f is the sigmoid f(x) = 1= (1 + e -x) and ?k;a is a bias parameter. We restrict our experiments to monochrome images and hence the networks contain a single image in the input layer. It is straightforward to extend this approach to color images by assuming an input layer with multiple images (e.g., RGB color channels). For numerical reasons, it is preferable to use input and target values in the range of 0 to 1, and hence the 8-bit integer intensity values of the dataset (values from 0 to 255) were normalized to lie between 0 and 1. We also explicitly encode the border of the image by padding an area surrounding the image with values of -1. 3. Bilateral Filtering: The idea underlying bilateral filtering is to do in the range of an image what traditional filters do in its domain. Two pixels can be close to one another, that is, occupy nearby spatial location, or they can be similar to one another, that is, have nearby values, possibly in a perceptually meaningful fashion. Closeness refers to vicinity in the domain, Similarity to vicinity in the range. Traditional filtering is domain filtering, and enforces closeness by weighing pixel values with coefficients that fall off with distance. Similarly, we define range filtering, which averages image values with weights that decay with dissimilarity. Range filters are nonlinear because their weights depend on image intensity or color. Computationally, they are no more complex than standard nonseparable filters. Spatial locality is still an essential notion. In fact, we show that range filtering by it selfmerely distorts an image’s color map. We then combine range and domain filtering, and show that the combination is much more interesting. We denote the combined filtering as bilateral filtering. Since bilateral filters assume an explicit notion of distance in the domain and in the range of the image function, they can be applied to any function for which these two distances can be defined. In particular, bilateral filters can be applied to color images just as easily as they are applied to black-and-white ones. The CIE-Lab color space [16] endows the space of colors with a perceptually meaningful measure of color similarity, in which short Euclidean distances correlate strongly with human color discrimination performance [16]. Thus, if we use this metric in our bilateral filter, images are smoothed and edges are preserved in a way that is tuned to human performance. Only perceptually similar colors are averaged together, and only perceptually visible edges are preserved. 4. Self Estimation Algorithm and Parameter Settings: If the number of clusters is manually specified, the segmentation may not be effective. Hence there must be a system to calculate the robust number of clusters. A method has been suggested for automatically finding no. of clusters with K means clustering [7]. That algorithm is modified for finding no. of clusters in our work. The self estimation algorithm used for fuzzy clustering techniques finds the Euclidean distance between the different cluster centers. If the maximum Euclidean distance between the cluster centers is greater than the specified value, then the number of cluster centers is increased by one else the clusters are merged.. The self estimation algorithm for neural network finds the difference between the weight vectors. If the difference between the weight vectors is greater than the specified value, then the number of cluster centers is increased by one else the clusters are merged. 4.1. Algorithm Step 0: Initialize weights wij.Set topological neighborhood parameters with its radius as Set learning rate parameters. Step 1: While stopping condition are false, do steps 2 6 Step 2: for each input vector x, do steps 3 – 5 Step 3: For each j, compute: D(j) = ?i (wij – xi)2 Step 4: Find index J such that D(J) is a minimum Step 5: For all units j within a specified neighborhood of J, and for all i: wij(new) = ij(old) + ?[xi – wij(old)] Step 6: Update learning rate The learning rate ? is a gradually decreasing function of training epochs. The formation of the competitive occurs in two phases. In the first phase the initial formation of the correct order takes place. In the second phase the final convergence. The second phase takes much longer than the first and requires a smaller value for the learning rate. Random values may be assigned for the initial weights. If some information is available concerning the distribution of clusters that might be appropriate for a particular problem, the initial weights can be taken to reflect that prior knowledge. 4.2. Parameter Settings: For the bilateral filtering part of the proposed method, we set the parameters as follows: Bilateral filtering with parameters ?d = 3 pixels and ?r = 50 intensity values is applied to the image in figure 3 (a) to yield the image in figure 3 (b). Notice that most of the fine texture has been filtered away, and yet all contours are as crisp as in the original image. Figure 3 (c) shows a detail of figure 3 (a), and figure 3 (d) shows the corresponding filtered version. The two onions have assumed a graphics-like appearance, and the fine texture has gone. However, the overall shading is preserved, because it is well within the band of the domain filter and is almost unaffected by the range filter. Also, the boundaries of the onions are preserved. Figure 3: A picture before (a) and after (b) bilateral filtering. (c,d) are details from (a,b). 5. Experimental Results: We derive training and test sets for our experiments from natural images in the Berkeley segmentation database, which has been previously used to study denoising [20, 4]. We restrict our experiments to the case of monochrome images; color images in the Berkeley dataset are converted to grayscale by averaging the color channels. The test set consists of 100 images, 77 with dimensions 321_481 and 23 with dimensions 481 _ 321. Quantitative comparisons are performed using the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Average Error (MAE) of the output image and comparisons are made based on the Error Image. The Error of the corresponding image is calculated by subtracting the original image from the image we obtained. 5.1. Peak Signal to Noise Ratio Signal-to-noise (SNR) estimates the quality of a reconstructed image compared with the original image. The basic idea is to compute a single number that reflects the quality of the reconstructed image[4]. Reconstructed images with higher metrics are judged better. In fact, traditional SNR measures do not equate with human subjective perception. Several research groups are working on perceptual measures, but for now signal-to-noise measures are used because they are easier to compute. Also to be noted that higher measures do not always mean better quality. The actual metric that is computed in this work is the peak signal-to-reconstructed image measure, which is called PSNR. Assume a source image f(i,j) is given that contains M by N pixels and a reconstructed image F(i,j) where F is reconstructed by decoding the encoded version of f(i,j). Error metrics are computed on the luminance signal only so the pixel values f(i,j) range between black (0) and white (255). First the mean absolute error of the reconstructed image is computed (MAE) as follows (11) The summation is over all pixels. PSNR in decibels (dB)[4] is computed by using PSNR = 10 log 10 (2552 / MAE). (12) 5.2. Error Image The other important technique for displaying errors is to construct an error image which shows the pixel-by-pixel errors. The simplest computation of this image is to create an image by taking the difference between the reconstructed and original pixels. These images are hard to see because zero difference is black and most errors are small numbers which are shades of black. The typical construction of the error image multiples the difference by a constant to increase the visible difference and translates the entire image to a gray level. The computation is E(i,j)=2[f(i,j)-F(i,j)] +128 (13). The constant (2) or the translation (128) can be adjusted to change the image. Some people use white (255) to signify no error and difference from white as an error which means that darker pixels are bigger errors. Figure 4: Denoising results on an image from the test set. The noisy image was generated by adding Gaussian noise with ? = 50 to the clean image. Non-blind Denoising results for the BLS-GSM, FoE, and Convolutional network methods are shown. The lower left panel shows results for the outlined region in the upper left panel. The zoomed in region shows that in some areas CN2 output has less severe artifacts than the wavelet-based results and is sharper than the FoE results. CN1 results (PSNR=24:12) are visually similar to those of CN2. Table below shows the comparison of the three techniques on their quality metrics. S.No. Method PSNR Execution Time 1. Fuzzy Clustering (Fuzzy) 28.24 253.14 2. Fuzzy C Means Clustering (FCM) 30.57 161.71 3. Convolutional Network (CN) 39.39 2.28 6. Conclusion: Out of the three methods tested competitive neural network is found to be good on the basis of image reproduction because of increased PSNR as well as image compression due to the increased compression ratio. We have found that the optimal ?r value of the bilateral filter is linearly related to the standard deviation of the noise. The optimal value of the ?d is relatively independent of the noise power. Based on these results, we estimate the noise variance at each level of the subbands decomposition and use the optimal ?r value for bilateral filtering. The key factor in the performance of the proposed method is the multiresolution application of the bilateral filter. It helped eliminating the coarse-grain noise in images. The wavelet thresholding adds power the proposed method. This work has several applications in various scientific fields like Satellite imaging, Map determination, Medical imaging, Optical character recognition (OCR), Non-Destructive testing, etc. The program developed has been tested with various pictures and the results were proven to be fruitful. The program has also been tested for its consistency and its reliability. References [1] C. Rosenberger,K. 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IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Systems 4: 385-393, 1996. [6] Songcan Chen, Daoqiang Zhang, 2004, â€Å"Robust image segmentation using FCM with spatial constraints based on new kernel-induced distance measure† in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Vol.34,No.4,pp: 1907-1916,Aug 2004. [7] Siddheswar Ray and Rose H Turi, 1999, Determination of number of clusters in k-means clustering and application in colour image segmentation, in 4th International Conference on Advances in Pattern Recognition and Digital Techniques (ICAPRDT99), 1999. [8]. C. Tomasi and R. Manduchi, â€Å"Bilateral filtering for gray and color images,† in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer Vision, 1998, pp.839–846. [9]. S. G. Chang, B. Yu, and M. Vetterli, â€Å"Adaptive wavelet thresholding for image denoising and compression,† Trans. Image Processing, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 1532–1546, September 2000. [10]. D. L. Donoho and I. M. Johnstone, â€Å"Ideal spatial adaptation by wavelet shrinkage,† Biometrika, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 425–455, 1994. Research Papers on Image Denoising Based on Soft Computing TechniquesAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfOpen Architechture a white paperMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductMind TravelResearch Process Part OneThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesEffects of Television Violence on Children