Mystic Chords Of Memory The Transformation Of Tradition

Historians have often described the reconciliation between northerners and southerners after the Civil War as a process of selective forgetting. The shared Union and Confederate experience of courage-under-fire quickly supplanted the root causes of the war and the longstanding sectional acrimony between North and South in the public memory. As Michael Kammen suggested in his 1991 book Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture historical meaning is imbued with concern for the present. For many Americans, North and South in the late nineteenth-century, â€Å"present† concerns were economic progress and stability. Sectional discord and enmity stood in the way of rebuilding the nation, and prosperity required letting bygones-be-bygones. New narratives sutured from selected historical memories were crafted to expedite the national healing process and to appeal to the sentiments of northerners who romanticized the bucolic Old South and its aristoc ratic order. Although nostalgia for a pre-industrial past played its part in fostering reunion, Reiko Hillyer, in Designing Dixie: Tourism, Memory, and Urban Space, argues that it was the mutual economic interests of northern capitalists and southern boosters that were central to reconciliation, and shaping the development of the New South. In Designing Dixie, Hillyer shows how southern boosters, competing with the western frontier for northern investment, recast the image of the South from a ruralShow MoreRelatedEssay on Christopher Columbus1931 Words   |  8 PagesAmericas national memory is filled with icons and symbols, avatars of deeply held, yet imperfectly understood, beliefs. The role of history in the iconography of the United States is pervasive, yet the facts behind the fiction are somehow lost in an amorphous haze of patriotism and perceived national identity. Christopher Columbus, as a hero and symbol of the first order in America, is an important figure in this pantheon of American myth. His status, not unlike most American icons, is representativeRead MoreThomas Paine And John Paine Essay1835 Words   |  8 Pagesthe following specialists: Michael Kammen, history; Sacvan Bercovitch, literary theory; Peter Miller, literary theory; and Winthrop Jordan, history. Michael Kammen is a renowned author best known for the following works: Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture; A Machine that Would go of Itself: The Constitution of American Culture; and People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization. Kammen is a professor of American history andRead MoreKhasak14018 Words   |  57 Pagesmodern. He lifted himself to the rarified realm of literary icons with his iconoclasm as well as irony. Sex, satire and deep sorrow marks much of writing. Vijayan has remained a thoroughly Indian writer by sustaining a certain continuity of the tradition established by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer. He achieves this by delving deeper into the subcultures and the subtle dialectical variations of Malayalam. He was an inclusive writer, his mind and the little world around him were his oyster. Vijayan wasRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesstand in special relationship to the divine and to ha ve received special gifts or revelations.15 Because of charismas radical departure from the normative order, Weber regards it as â€Å"the great revolutionary force. †16 Being bound neither by past traditions nor by the present legal or rational structures of society, charisma is indeed revolutionary. The bearer of charisma â€Å"preaches, creates and demands new obligations—most typically, by virtue of revelation, oracle, inspiration, or by his own will

The Dangers of Hypertension Essay examples - 2389 Words

Ms. Gm, my client, lived alone in the community housing corporation. On this faithful morning my patient woke-up complaining of severe headache, fatigue, inability to sleep, dyspnea and dizziness. Following this situation she was taken to the hospital by a neighbor and while she was in the emergency department she was seen by the physician where she was diagnosed with hypertension. Hypertension is deadly and it is a silent killer, if not detected on time, it can cause severe complications to major organs in the body. I chose this topic because I took care of a patient who had high blood pressure in my previous clinical placement. Ever since I have been taken care of this patient, I discovered that she has been withdrawal, depressed†¦show more content†¦Such contributing factors are increased in sodium intake, weight gain, physical inactivity, increases alcohol intake and increased sympathic nervous Secondary hypertension: The cause can be characteristize by pathologic situat ion that may result to hypertension. About 5 to 10% of adult are suffering from this hypertension and children about 80%. There are some clinical manifestation that can trigger up secondary hypertension, such as hyperlipidemia, renal disease, tachycardia and abdominal bruit. The causes of secondary hypertension are as follows coarctation or congenital narrowing of the aorta, renal disease such as artery stenosis , Cushing syndrome, neurologic disorders such as brain tumor, estrogen replacement therapy, pregnancy induced hypertension and non steroidal anti-inflammatory (Med-surg.pg780). Signs and symptoms: Presented by this patient are headaches, dizziness, fatigue nosebleed and tingly sensation on the heels, pain in the chest, blurred vision and kidney problems. The risk factors that are associated with my patient’s disease (hypertension) are, obesity, tobacco consumption, smoking, caffeine, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, age, family history of cardiovascular disease, diet high in fat and high sodium, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and coarctation of the aorta. This patient has been a chain smoker over 10Show MoreRelatedBlood Pressure, The Pressure Of Blood913 Words   |  4 PagesHigh blood pressure is called Hypertension, which can be a silent killer if untreated. There are many causes of Hypertension, including diet, age and race. Doctors now are making classifications of pre-hypertensive, which can help patients maintain their health and possibly avoid hypertension, if they follow the advice of their physician. Americans should eliminate fatty foods from their diet, be mindful of their age and race as they may become prone to Hypertension, which can lead to heart damageRead MoreHypertension : High Blood Pressure11 24 Words   |  5 Pages Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) is a sickness that a great many individuals of different varieties are influenced by. In spite of the fact that stress and emotional pressure can incidentally expand pulse; however it would not be considered as hypertension. Hypertension normally is there with no manifestations. It may happen and stay inconspicuous for a long time. Individuals, until told by a therapeutic doctor by large disregard hypertension. Individuals are not mindful of how hypertensionRead MoreEssay On Health Advocacy Campaign761 Words   |  4 PagesDeveloping a Health Advocacy Campaign Hypertension Awareness in low-income neighborhood Cardiovascular diseases are the number one source of death globally. They account for around 17 million deaths in the world each year (American Heart Association News, 2017). AHA mentions for African-Americans, high blood pressure usually develops early in life. The prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP or hypertension in African-Americans in the United States is amongst the largest in the world (American HeartRead MoreCoronary Heart Disease : Risk Factors And Roles865 Words   |  4 Pagesfatty plaques and nodules within the artery, and in the tissue forming the artery wall(2). Multiple risk factors including abnormal lipids, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, psychosocial factors, and varying consumption of fruit, vegetables and alcohol are thought to increase the probability of developing CHD(3). The three major risk factors are hypertension, smoking and abnormal cholesterol levels (blood lipids)(4). In 2006 CHD accounted for approximately 1 in every 6 deaths in the United States(5)Read MorePregnancy Complications: Gestational Hypertension Essay1206 Words   |  5 Pages The existence of hypertension may occur before being pregnan t but eventually it develops to a pregnancy complication in the long run during pregnancy known as gestational hypertension (GH). The main goal of all health care providers and the whole medical team is to aim to have a pregnant woman deliver a healthy baby without any complications. Unfortunately pregnancy complications may still occur during any period of pregnancy such as antepartum period, intrapartum period, postpartum periodRead MoreAdolescent Sleep Deprivation: Causes, Effects, and Prevention1438 Words   |  6 Pagesnumerous studies done to determine the causes of sleep deprivation in teenagers, the most prevalent being teens not getting enough sleep due to things like jobs and early school start times. There are many perceived dangers of this, such as sleepiness while driving and a risk for hypertension. There are a few ways to prevent these problems, ranging from parents stepping in to ensure teens get the proper amount of sleep to changing school start times to a later hour. Adolescent sleep deprivation isRead MoreHypertension In Nursing1340 Words   |  6 Pagespractices for treating and managing hypertension in comparison with the practice of health promotion and maintenance NCSBN category while addressing a clinical issue of hypertension and also suggesting a solution to the problem. Current evidenced-based practice guidelines for treatment of hypertension was created by a panel of the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8), whom reviewed peer-reviewed research and current practice to create guidelines. A hypertension management algorithm was createdRead MoreImproving Patient Health Through Standardized Representations of Health Information680 Words   |  3 Pagesstandard used in the case of a hospitalized patient through various scenarios. First Scenario A patient is admitted in a hospital for chest pain and shortness of breath. The tests conducted by the physician revealed that the patient has pulmonary hypertension, which is a, â€Å"variety of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of your heart† (Mayo Clinic, 2012). To classify this diagnosis, I suggest the use of the international classification of diseases, ninth revisionRead MoreReflection Paper On Disease996 Words   |  4 PagesEpidemiology Reflection Assignment The most significant problems faced by the people who are residents of 63031 zip code neighborhood are chronic diseases like asthma, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and alcohol or substance related issues. People also faced problems with disease conditions like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis. Among the list of chronic diseases faced by people living in this area is cancer which is the leading cause of death in the area and this might be as a result of some exposureRead MoreManaging Hypertension Before It Will Be Too Late1505 Words   |  7 PagesManage hypertension before it will be too late This paper is the requirement for RN 101 class. The paper is from a Nursing Journal 2015 Volume 45 Number 1, Pages 28 – 33, written by Kristine Anne Scordo and Kim Anne Pickett, both are Registered Nurses. They explained in this Article about how to manage hypertension before it will be to late and can lead to cardiovascular disease. What is Hypertension? According to the research, Hypertension is a high blood pressure, a situation in which the arteries

Inventory Management Free Essays

Purpose of research A study of inventory management is undertaken in order to know the inventory performance and position of selected companies and to know the strength and weakness and to assess the profitability of the companies. Inventories constitute most significant part of assets of large majority of the companies in India. Inventory a double edged sword is usually an asset of an organization, if not used properly it will become liability. We will write a custom essay sample on Inventory Management or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is therefore absolutely very important to manage inventories efficiently and effectively in order to overcome unnecessary investment. Excessive stock, or excess inventory, is the result of bad management of stock demand or of material flow in process management. Excessive stock is also associated with loss of revenue owing to additional capital bound with the purchase or simply storage space taken. Shortage of stocks leads to loss of business, hence inventory management plays a key role. Literature review: †¢Article on inventory management by weilege †¢Case study on coco-cola bottling inventory management by S. L Adyemi †¢Article on inventory management by James H Aim: â€Å"To identify the problems/challenges involved in the Inventory Management process† Objectives: 1. To study the inventory control measures and methods of valuation of inventory of selected companies in India of manufacturing industry 2. To identify problems related to inventory management specific to manufacturing industry of selected companies 3. To make a comparative study of inventory management of selected companies under manufacturing industries and to offer suggestions for effective inventory management Hypothesis: Research hypothesis: â€Å"Optimum inventory management leads to profitability of companies† Research methodology: a)Primary data: The primary data will be collected by personal interviews with officials. b) Secondary data Files, annual reports, periodicals, manuals and text book. Which have already been passed through the statistical process are the secondary data used. Scope of the study: †¢ This study is to find the facts and opinions of inventory management and control of selected companies under manufacturing industries. †¢ In accordance with the present trends it aims mainly at finding out the inventory control procedures. Limitation of the study †¢ The study is related to only specific or selected companies in India of manufacturing industries. Proposed content of the dissertation: 1. Chapter 1: introduction 2. Chapter 2: literature review 3. Chapter 3: data collection and research methodology 4. Chapter 4: analysis and data interpretations 5. Chapter 5: findings and recommendations 6. Chapter 6: Conclusion 7. Bibliography 8. Annexure Work plan: First two weeks : literature review next two weeks: data collection for the project next four weeks: analysis and interpretation of data next two weeks: Findings and suggestions or recommendations next two weeks: compiling of project report last few weeks : correction of report and final report preparation. How to cite Inventory Management, Essay examples

Contemporary Business Communication Organizations

Question: Discuss about the Contemporary Business Communication Organizations. Answer: Introduction: Hearing and listening are thought to be the same event, but they are very different. The hearing is one of the five sense of human beings and is the ability perceiving of sounds and detection of the vibrations by the human ear. Listening is a process of communication which involves getting information from the speaker and eventually giving feedback. Both hearing and listening are effective ways of enhancing communication but not similar. (Rorem, 1963, pp. 28). However, this paper is going to look the differences between the two and show they can be used effectively in communication by people. Listening is voluntary implying that a person can choose who to share information. Listening is also known as active listening where people exchange information. The listener is the person who does the listening from the speaker and listening is a learned skill of the listener which occurs in people's minds. Listening to any speaker involves mind interpreting the message received by the ears. This skill requires more than one senses of human beings to be effective. It occurs where there are interpersonal communication and exchange of information occurs between two or more parties. There is one party sending the message as the other receives the information through active listening and eventually giving feedback on the satisfactory of the information received. Listeners have the power to choose from whom to listen, and the communication should occur in a place free from distraction to ensure that both parties can understand each other well. Listener my listen to a speaker to get some information or seek some clarification with the of reading a situation and making the relevant decision. The audience to show attentiveness during the period may ask questions to the speaker, make contributions and also agree with the message given. Listening depending on the means may or may not need a response. The listener must be keen and concentrate to the speaker to get the information correctly. A listener should have proper listening skills as it is a part of effective communications (Hunt Cusella, 1983). The hearing, on the other hand, is an involuntary meaning that a person can't choose what to hear and what not to hear. It involves only the hearing sense. During daily activities, people understand many things like hooting of cars, objects, noise, etc. The ears receive the information. Even though hearing is involuntary people may ignore the things they hear by not been keen and concentrating on them. These can make the individuals not get to know what the perceived information meant. The hearing is not applicable to all the people as deaf person lack this ability. The hearing is necessary for intrapersonal communication. It occurs within the persons' mind and enables a person to know what to do in a particular situation. The brain interprets the things people hear and give them meaning. Hearing helps people know what is happening in the environment (Masterton, Heffner, Ravizza, 1969, pp. 966-985). Finally, with the discussion it is clear that listening is ahead of the hearing. The hearing is something people have no control over since it is automatic yet listening is under the supervision of individuals as they can choose who to listen and who not to listen. It is also important to note that not all people have the skill of listening but all people can hear if they have no hearing impairments. Nonetheless, people should listen to speakers with concentration and keenly to understand the information correctly. References Hunt, G. T., Cusella, L. P. (1983). A field study of listening needs in organizations. communication education, 32(4), 393-401. Masterton, B., Heffner, H., Ravizza, R. (1969). The evolution of human hearing.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,45(4), 966-985. Rorem, N. (1963). Listening and Hearing.Music Journal,21(9), 28.

In what ways could the Hundred Flowers movement Essay Example

In what ways could the Hundred Flowers movement Paper The Hundred Flowers undoubtedly had a less significant Impact than other events considered turning points in Mayos China such as the establishment of the PRE, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, but It did still have a notable Impact on various areas of Chinese life, particularly In the short term. Politically, the Hundred Flowers movement had a significant part to play In the purging of the party. In the spirit of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought intend to allow the progress of science and society, Intellectuals, party members and even the public were encouraged to speak out with any criticisms of the party. This policy fitted with the rather pragmatic approach taken by the ICP In the early years of Its rule in order to transform Itself from a revolutionary group to a legitimate organized government capable of ruling a country as vast and diverse as China. A later change of policy by Mao led to the great political legacy of the Hundred Flowers event, as he placed a quota of 5% of intellectuals who had spoken out to be arrested and imprisoned so as to ensure he was cleansing the country of rightists and counter-revolutionaries. 43% of all court cases in 1958 were about alleged counter-revolutionary activities and 550,000 intellectuals were arrested. There was also significant social change following the Hundred Flowers movement. At first the people kept to relatively mild and moderate discussion but as they grew in confidence expressed more radical dissent. We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways could the Hundred Flowers movement specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways could the Hundred Flowers movement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways could the Hundred Flowers movement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The call for public discussion recalled the ales of the earlier May 4th Movement. The expression of dissatisfaction the ICP peaked with 86 strikes in Shanghai in 1956, showing the disapproval of the proletariat the ICP theoretically represented. However, following the same reversal of policy that led to the arrest of intellectuals, those who orchestrated strikes were taken away while their comrades who remained became fearful and ceased to continue expressing disapproval at the party. Not only did Mao encourage the expression of opinions but he ensured any resulting campaign against those who poke out would only entail mild or moderate punishment. After the turnaround, many people began to come to the conclusion that the word of the party was not always to be trusted and that the party may not have the peoples Interests at heart. This has manifested itself years later, for example peasants being slow to take up the opportunities presented by Dens reforms, worried about later consequences for them that might ensue. The purge that followed the Hundred Flowers movement enforced Miffs total dominance. Those critics who were not arrested were too fearful and cowed to continue to speak out. The betrayal of those who were at first encouraged to speak out helped to usher In a new era of red or Ideologically-led rule The chaos and mayhem of the Great Leap Forward followed, which Mao may not have been able to implement without the conformity and lack of opposition that resulted as a legacy of the Hundred Flowers. While not a major turning point, the Hung area Flowers allow EAI Mao to carry on Walt later, more gallantly polices.

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form PDF files have an internal document format that requires a software object that understands the format. Since many of you might have used the functions of Office in your VB code, lets look briefly at Microsoft Word as an example of processing a formatted document to make sure we understand the concept. If you want to work with a Word document, you have to add a Reference to the Microsoft Word 12.0 Object Library (for Word 2007) and then instantiate the Word Application object in your code. Dim myWord As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass Start Word and open the document. myWord CreateObject(Word.Application) myWord.Visible True myWord.Documents.Open(C:\myWordDocument.docx) ( must be replaced with the actual path to the document to make this code work on your PC.) Microsoft uses the Word Object Library to provide other methods and properties for your use. Read the article COM -.NET Interoperability in Visual Basic to understand more about Office COM interop. But PDF files arent a Microsoft technology. PDF - Portable Document Format - is a file format created by Adobe Systems for document exchange. For years, it was totally proprietary and you had to get software that could process a PDF file from Adobe. On July 1, 2008, PDF was finalized as a published international standard. Now, anyone is permitted to create applications that can read and write PDF files without having to pay royalties to Adobe Systems. If you plan on selling your software, you still may be required to get a license, but Adobe provides them royalty-free. (Microsoft created a different format called XPS that is based on XML. Adobes PDF format is based on Postscript. XPS became a published international standard on June 16, 2009.) The Uses of PDF Since the PDF format is a competitor to Microsofts technology, they dont provide a lot of support and you have to get a software object that understands the PDF format from someone other than Microsoft right now. Adobe returns the favor. They dont support Microsoft technology all that well either. Quoting from the latest (October 2009) Adobe Acrobat 9.1 documentation, There is currently no support for the development of plug-ins using managed languages such as C# or VB.NET. (A plug-in is an on-demand software component. Adobes plug-in is used to display PDFs in a browser.) Since PDF is a standard, several companies have developed software for sale that you can add to your project that will do the job, including Adobe. There are also a number of open-source systems available. You could also use the Word (or Visio) object libraries to read and write PDF files but using these large systems for just this one thing will require extra programming, also has license issues, and will make your program bigger than it has to be. Just as you need to buy Office before you can take advantage of Word, you also have to buy the full version of Acrobat before you can take advantage of more than just the Reader. You would use the full Acrobat product in about the same way that other object libraries, like Word 2007 above, are used. I dont happen to have the full Acrobat product installed so I couldnt provide any tested examples here. How To But if you only need to display PDF files in your program, Adobe provides an ActiveX COM control that you can add to the VB.NET Toolbox. It will do the job for free. Its the same one you probably use to display PDF files anyway: the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader. To use the Reader control, first make sure that you have downloaded and installed the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe. Step 2 is to add the control to the VB.NET Toolbox. Open VB.NET and start a standard Windows application. (Microsofts next generation of presentation, WPF, doesnt work with this control yet. Sorry!) To do that, right-click on any tab (such as Common Controls) and select Choose Items ... from the context menu that pops up. Select the COM Components tab and click the checkbox beside Adobe PDF Reader and click OK. You should be able to scroll down to the Controls tab in the Toolbox and see the Adobe PDF Reader there. Now just drag the control to your Windows Form in the design window and size it appropriately. For this quick example, Im not going to add any other logic, but the control has lots of flexibility that Ill tell you how to find out about later. For this example, Im just going to load a simple PDF that I created in Word 2007. To do that, add this code to the form Load event procedure: Console.WriteLine(AxAcroPDF1.LoadFile( _   Ã‚  Ã‚  C:\Users\Temp\SamplePDF.pdf)) Substitute the path and file name of a PDF file on your own computer to run this code. I displayed the result of the call in the Output windows only to show how that works. Heres the result: Click Here to display the illustrationClick the Back button on your browser to return If you want to control the Reader, there are methods and properties for that in the control too. But the good folks at Adobe have done a better job than I could. Download the Adobe Acrobat SDK from their developer center (adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/). The AcrobatActiveXVB program in the VBSamples directory of the SDK shows you how to navigate in a document, get the version numbers of the Adobe software you are using, and much more. If you dont have the full Acrobat system installed - which must be purchased from Adobe - you wont be able to run other examples.

Inluence of Sport Science disciplines on Basketball Literature review

Inluence of Sport Science disciplines on Basketball - Literature review Example al., 2007). Different sciences that are related with sports help in enhancing the ability of the players to perform. The fitness and aerobic performances of the players could be measured through proper management of the abilities of the players and further develops the strength. Assessment of different skills will also help in enhancing the ability of the players and develop a safety towards the sports. By the assessment of their physical as well as the psychological factors, the performances of the players could be enhanced and developed (Choi & et. al., 2009). Sports sciences are predominant in every discipline irrespective of the mode of the performances of the players. It is often noted that diverse analysis conducted under the different factors of the sports sciences gives a clear picture of the varied performances and further develops the ability of the players to perform effectively. For a game like basketball, which involves huge amount of speed and continuous movement the development of the players, is an area of major concern for the organisations as well as the teachers. Basketball is a high intensive game that involves a continuous movement of the player both in short or long movements and hence physical fitness is of utmost importance. The game has a series of transitions, which involves movements like short sprints to jogging as well as walking. This transition needs huge amount of physical strength. Moreover, the players due to the lack of proper physical fitness will not be able to meet with the different movements in an eff ective manner. Therefore, sport sciences are required to develop the players by enhancing their performances effectively and by developing their kinetics. These factors of the sport sciences if developed would help to enhance the ability of the players to perform better (Stephens & et. al., 2007). With this regard, the paper elaborates on the different factors of

How the French in the United States View the Americans Essay

How the French in the United States View the Americans - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that considering the different historical economic affiliations of France and United States, citizens from these two countries have different opinions concerning social, economic and political views of each other. France is known to have supported communism ideologies while the United States supported capitalism hence the different perspectives held by the citizens of both countries. To start with, according to the reading, money is described as the ultimate value in America. This is because people who make fortune in America are very respectable compared to those in France. In America, it does not matter how the rich make money, whether, in suspicious or genuine ways, the fact remains that the rich are respectable and are seen as hardworking citizens. On the other hand, the French do not value money greatly. They only require money for their survival and having a lot of money does not earn people respect in France. Secondly, the work cultu re is different in the two countries. According to the reading, the Americans are strict in terms of time management, execution of commands and also limit social associations at workplaces. This is in contrast with the French people who have relaxed rules at their workplace and encourage social relations. Thirdly, the choice of food is different in the two countries. According to the reading, Americans like to have fast foods as opposed to the French who enjoy having quality meals. This is shown by the increased number of fast food restaurants in America.

Swatch - strategic management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Swatch - strategic management - Case Study Example The introduction of the Swatch watch is not simply a single-company success; it revolutionizes the whole Swiss watch industry. It is a brand name associated with style and fashion that has sold over 200 million units within a decade obtaining strong presence in all big markets. By 1998 the watch industry is shifting to the mature phase of its life cycle, bringing new challenges to Swatch and the other watch manufacturers. Swatch management team is facing the necessity to reconsider strategy, pressed by several major developments: By 1998 the watch market is reaching its maturity phase. What is typical for the maturity stage in an industry is decreasing sales growth and tougher competition (Thompson, 1996). Persuasive promotion and strong brand identity are key success factors for market leaders and this is one of Swatch's competitive advantages that can be used to counteract competitive pressures. Increased competition in the maturity stage of the life cycle means more companies adopting the Swatch strategy in terms of pricing and brand positioning, competing on the same market segment. Swatch's major competitors are The Timex Corporation with a number of watch brands positioned differently to cover different market segments; Guess, already part of The Timex Corporation; Fossil, and Casio. There are several factors that influence the intensity of competition (Porter, Competitive Strategy, pp. 17-21). In the watch industry intense rivalry is fuelled by the slow market growth, due to life-cycle maturity stage; and an increasing number of companies competing with equal offers on a market that is limited and decreasing in size. The high volume mass market segment is likely to attract further market entrants - other low cost manufacturers from Far Eastern countries. Additionally, on the low-price mass market segment product and brand switching is very easy, especially for fashion-driven products. According to Figures 3 and 5 in the case study, the players in the watch industry can be put in several categories. Cheap Hong Kong brands - low priced product associated with low prestige and no design exclusivity. Up-market segment dominated by watches like Rolex, Rado in the high prestige, high-priced category. Because of the specific market niche, these watches are sold in smaller quantities and have high profit margins. Medium prestige, medium price category between the two market extremes - dominated by companies like Seiko and Citizen. Swatch's strategy is in the low-price but strongly branded category, competing with brands like Benetton, J. Boxer, Timberland, Kickers etc. 1.4. Changing consumer base The power of customers is one of the five competitive forces, as identified by Porter (Porter Competitive Strategy, 1980). The changes in the consumer base are caused by demographic and fashion developments. The watch market is strongly influenced by changing lifestyle and fashion. Preference to more durable metal watches makes the standard Swatch plastic watch less attractive. To respond to this change, the company has introduced the Irony brand that is in line with new trends. Another pressing factor is changing demographics that will lead to decrease in customer base over the next decade. This means that Swatch will have to compete for fewer customers in the present market

Pace Leisurewear Ltd Case Study

Pace Leisurewear Ltd Case Study An integrated approach with effective administration, adequate financing and capable human resource may lead a business organisation towards the path of goal attainment. Disintegration among these elements may lead towards its own demise sooner or later. Pace Leisurewear Ltd is a company that designs and manufactures the casual and leisure clothes aimed particularly at the younger, higher-income market. It was established by Jill Dempsey and Mike Greaves, who are the Managing Director and Production Manager of the company respectively. By observing the case study of this company, we know that the company is in trouble because the letter from the companys bank was asking it for the reduction in the overdraft. This letter from the bank has made them worried because if they cant keep up the overdraft, they will not be able to fulfil the big order by Arena, which was one of the several national chains of casual and sportswear stores that was placing substantial orders with Pace. It shows that they were facing liquidity problem. A general outlook of the case study putting aside the financial statements provides us with some other difficulties that the company was facing. Trading of the company during the recession period was a problem. Moreover, recession itself was a problem for the company. Though it was a big company, the production director Mike was looking after the financial matters. There was no one within the company who had any great financial expertise. When there was a problem, the companys auditors were normally asked for advice. The company is facing poor cash situation as conveyed by Mike Greaves which might be result of their spending on fixed assets like plant. Declaration of no further investment in the company by the largest shareholder Keeble States also came as a shock to the company when there was a hope that Keeble States would invest money and they would be able to issue overdraft. Also, an indifference of the largest shareholder in the affair of the company can be regarded as a problem. Such indifference directly affects the operation of company that ultimately, has the effect on financial situation of the company. Breaching of the overdraft limit over the past few years by the company functioned as a proof of their dishonesty. Also, we can identify that the company was running along with the conflict between the largest shareholder Keeble brothers and the other board members. The other board members were bringing forth the idea of introducing another major shareholder, which was against the wish of Keeble brothers. So, the company was facing the problem in decision making. A quick look upon the balance sheet of the company, gives us the information that there is a massive increment in the non-current assets. Though investment in the non-current assets is good for the company in the long run, it may cause problem to the company in its day to day operation. It may create an inadequacy of working capital which is necessary for daily activities. The amount of trade receivables has increased which indicates that the goods are being sold on credit. Calculation and Interpretation of Financial Ratios The income statement and balance sheet are the traditional basic financial statements of a business enterprise. They do not give all the information related to the financial operations of a firm. Still, they provide some extremely useful information to the extent that balance sheet mirrors the financial position on a particular date in terms of structures of assets, liabilities and owners equity and others and profit and loss account shows the results operations during a certain period of time in terms of revenues obtained and the cost incurred during the year. In depth analysis of financial statements is supported with ratio-analysis. It is the most widely used technique of financial statement analysis. Ratio analysis is a systematic use of ratio to interpret the financial statements so that the strengths and weaknesses of a firm as well as its historical performance and current financial condition can be determined. Ratios are relative figures reflecting the relationship between variables. A single figure by itself has no meaning but when expressed in terms of related figure, it yields significant inferences. Ratios can be divided into profitability ratio, liquidity ratio and activity ratio. To analyse the financial statement and condition of the Pace Leisurewear Ltd, the method of ratio analysis is used as a major tool. Here, return on capital employed, return on equity (shareholders fund), gross profit margin, net profit margin, inventory holding period, average collection period for trade receivables, sales to capital employed ratio, current ratio, quick assets (liquid or acid test) ratio and gearing ratio are used as major tools for the interpretation of business condition and financial statements, though there are other tools for the interpretation. Calculation and interpretation of these ratios provide us with the information about liquidity, profitability and efficiency of the company. The calculation and interpretation of the ratios can be shown as below: Calculation S.N. Description Formulas Year before last Last Year a) Return on Capital Employed =20.05% =29.60% b) Return on Equity =18.15% =32.51% c) Gross Profit Margin =46.48% =48.16% d) Net Profit Margin =14.99% =20.61% e) Inventory Holding Period =117.74 days =182.84 days f) Average Collection Period =42.10 days =60.98% g) Sales to Capital Employed =1.34 times =1.44 times h) Current Ratio =1.76 times =1.13 times i) Acid Test Ratio =.78 times =0.47 times j) Gearing Ratio =34.40% =42.30% Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) ROCE ratio tells us how much profit we earn from the investment the shareholders have made in their company. If the company has low ROCE ratio, it is using its resources inefficiently, even if its profit margin is high. The higher the ratio the more efficient is the use of capital employed. In context of the Pace Leisurewear Ltd, ROCE ratio was increased in the last year than the year before last. From the calculation, we got, it was 30% in the last year whereas it was 20% in the year before last. So, we can say that the company had better performance in the last year than the year before last. Return on Equity This ratio indicates the profitability to the shareholders of the firm with deduction of all expenses and taxes. In context of this company, the return on equity ratio was increased which is good for the company. It was 32.5% in the last year and 18% in the year before last. Gross Profit Margin It indicates the efficiency of operations and firms pricing policies. The larger the gross profit margin, the better for the company. It looks at how well a company controls the cost of its inventory and manufacturing of its products and subsequently pass on the cost to its customers. From the calculation we found that the gross profit margin ratio was increased. It was 46.16% in the year before last and 48.16% in the last year which is good for the company. Net Profit Margin This ratio measures the relationship between net profit and sales of a firm. A high net profit margin in ratio is an indicative of adequate return to the owners as well as enables a firm to withstand adverse economic conditions. A low net profit margin ratio has the opposite implications. From the calculation, we found that the net profit margin ratio was increased. It was 8.91% in the year before last and 13.10% in the last year. It shows that the company was selling well which is good for the company. Inventory Holding Period A high number of days inventory indicates that there is lack of demand for the product being sold whereas a low days inventory holding period may indicate that the company is not keeping enough stock on hand to meet the demands. It is known from the above calculation that the inventory holding period for the company in the year before last was 63 days and for the last year it was 95 days. So, this extension in the inventory holding period is a problem for the company which obstructs the path of cash generating. Average Collection Period of Trade Receivables This ratio indicates the speed with which debtors/accounts receivables are being collected. A short, collection period implies prompt payment by the debtors. It reduces the chance of bad debts. Similarly, a longer collection period implies too liberal and inefficient credit collection performance. From the calculation, we found that, the collection period for the debtors/accounts receivables for the year before last was 42 days whereas for the last year it was 61 days. So, it indicates that the company was inefficient in its credit collection performance. This delay in the collection of receivables, may have adverse effect in the liquidity position and also there lies possibility of accounts receivables being bad debts. Sales to Capital Employed Ratio It is the ratio which indicates the relationship between the capital employed and sales revenue. The higher the ratio the higher is the revenue, the lower the ratio the lower the revenue. From the calculation, we found that the ratio of capital employed in the year before last was 1.34 times and for the last year it was 1.44 times. It indicates that the Pace Leisurewear Ltd was generating more revenue. Current Ratio The ratio of total current assets to total liabilities is current ratio. It measures the short term solvency, that is, its ability to meet short term obligations. The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its obligations. A ratio under 1 suggests that the company would be unable to pay off its obligations if they come due at that point. From the calculation, we found that the current ratio for Pace Leisurewear Ltd in the year before last was 1.76:1 and for the last year it was 1.44:1. This ratio indicates that the short-term solvency of the company was getting poorer. Quick Assets ( liquid or acid test) Ratio It is the ratio between quick current assets and current liabilities. It shows a firms ability to meet current liabilities with its most liquid assets. Companies with the ratio less than 1, are supposed to be in vulnerable condition. Such companies are unable to pay their current liabilities, which show the dependency of current assets on inventory. In case of this company, it was found that quick assets ratio was getting weaker. It was 0.78:1 in the year before last and 0.47:1 in the last year. It indicates that the company was in difficulty of paying current liabilities. It was even weaker in the last year than the year before last. Gearing Ratio The higher the gearing, the higher the dependence on borrowing and long term finance. The lower the gearing ratio, the higher the dependence on equity financing. Here, in case of this company, the gearing ratio for the last year was 42.3% and 34.4% for the year before last. It shows that the company had a reliance on sources of long term loan. Conclusion and Recommendation From the above calculation and interpretation of the ratio and its analysis based on the two years financial statement of the Pace Leisurewear Ltd, we came to know that the company was facing mainly a liquidity problem. In order to get rid of such financial problem, assuming myself as a member of Drake Management Consultants, would like to recommend that the company should issue the shares, increase the cash sales rather than credit sales, collect the trade receivables promptly, decrease the long term liabilities and not exceed the limit of overdraft. Beside this, it needs to employ a financial expert and develop an environment of mutual understanding and trust among the shareholders and board of directors.

Web Radio :: essays research papers fc

Web Radio Instant global radio, or Web radio, is the latest manifestation of the Internet's multimedia successor, the World Wide Web. Improved technology and content are turning Web radio into a mass medium. (Hickman 30) The Web radio concept is mainly underlined by the concept of Webcasting, or broadcasting station content over the Internet. Online users who visit the Web pages of Webcasting stations can find archived and live audio covering news, business, sports, and many different types of music. (Thomas 38) Although the most prominent reason for the increase in Web radio activity is advancement in related technology, there are multiple other reasons. The key has been the development of software that allows a digital recording stored on a computer to be transmitted over the Internet and played instantly and continuously as it is received by the listener's computer. (Your Very Own 516) This technique is known as streaming, and was pioneered by RealNetworks. In the streaming process, the digitized clips are sent over the Internet as a stream of compressed data packets. (O'Malley 64) Free audio-player software that works with Web browsers then decompresses and assembles these packets at the user's computer and automatically plays them back as they are received. Streaming systems typically use a buffering system that stores an extra few seconds worth of data to prevent Internet "hiccups" from disrupting the steady flow of audio – not unlike the shock-protection systems on portable compact disc players. (O'Malley 64) As reported in 1995, listening to broadcasts on your computer is akin to dialing in a tinny transistor radio on the fringes of reception area – even with hotshot multimedia speakers. (Silverthorne A1) Advancements have made it so Web-based audio now offers near-CD quality, even over a modem of average speed. (Hickman 30) The broadcast quality depends largely on the amount of traffic on the Internet. (Your Very Own 516) Sites will have varying degrees of quality, and the only way to ensure pure transmission is a fast connection from a fast site. On September 5, 1995, the first broadcast of a Major League Baseball game was made over the Internet on ESPN's Web site. The next week, ABC Radio Net became the first organization to provide live Internet newscasts, with coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial. (Silverthorne A1) These early firsts by big-name network stations sparked the initial interest in Web radio, and the networks have been the biggest contributors towards the widening spectrum of quality content, as well as setting professional standards for content.

Race in the study of food Essay

â€Å"Local food advocacy is a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways† (Daston, 2017). Daston is correct â€Å"in her philosophy because, in various and dispersed traditions, nature has been upheld as the pattern of all values, the good, the true, and the beautiful.† (Daston, 2017) â€Å"There is nothing new about the link between nature and necessity, nor with the exculpatory inferences drawn from such links.† (Daston, 2017). In the first section of the paper, she describes local food advocacy as having a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways. She explores the use of the concept of â€Å"nature† and the â€Å"natural† in local food discourses with a number of examples of local food advocacy in an attempt to decipher the meaning of the â€Å"natural† in the discourse. Portman (2014) discovers that a cluster of implicit concepts which are uncritically assumed to be earth-based, family-based, and feminine-based; these bases are also assumed to be unproblematic.† (Portman, 2014 Daston asserts that â€Å"the moral dimension of local food discourse, in general, is encompassed in the conviction that there are ethical and unethical ways by which our food can be produced, distributed and consumed.† (Daston, 2017). â€Å"It is only within this modern framework that we can make sense of the naturalistic fallacy, both its confusions and its tenacity. The naturalistic fallacy and its barnacle-like accretions assume what Frankena called a â€Å"bifurcation ontology† that prohibits commerce between the two immiscible realms. Repeated efforts on the part of monists of both materialist and idealist persuasion to dissolve the dichotomy in favor of one or another realm have only reinforced its binary logic† (Daston, 2017, p.581). Portman’s (2017) decision to delve into the ethics of local food advocacy is a timely decision as words such as organic, healthy, and farm-fresh have become a part of the mainstream vernacular. While it may seem random to popular culture.† (Portman, 2017, p. 4). His ideology supports a long-held belief that humans make their food choices based on financial ability. However, it is reckless to say that a single mother of four will make â€Å"everyone’s agreed upon† morally sound decision when trying to determine how to feed her children with her last $20. While politics and economics dictate the type of food presented to various populations and demographics, morality is a luxury that only those who have the time to debate it can afford. â€Å"In this context, the concept of the â€Å"natural† is frequently and uncritically invoked to argue for the ethical significance of participating in and advocating for local food networks. This is problematic in that the dualistic framework serves to obscure many actual complexities within the â€Å"natural† and the â€Å"local† themselves, and in their relationships with their counterparts, the â€Å"cultural† and the â€Å"global.† Thus, by leaving unquestioned certain assumptions about the meaning of the â€Å"natural† and how that meaning was constructed, local food advocacy is not as resistant as it might otherwise be.† (Portman, 2014) Datson (2014), on the other hand, supposes that the idea of morality having a direct influence on decisions regarding nature is a modern phenomenon. This notion supports the theory that these philosophical examinations are only able to be discussed because humans now have the knowledge and time, thanks to modern technology, to make these assumptions. Datson (2014) defined nature as, â€Å"everything in the universe (sometimes including and sometimes excluding human beings), to what is inborn rather than cultivated, to the wild rather than the civilized, to raw materials as opposed to refined products, to the spontaneous as opposed to the sophisticated, to what is native rather than foreign, to the material world without divinity, to a fruitful goddess, and to a great deal else, depending on epoch and context† (Portman, 2014) (p. 582). The lack of a universally accepted definition of the term they are trying to define speaks to the logical flaw that we cannot discount anything that we do not yet understand. It argues that just because something is natural it must be good. We act against nature all the time with money, vaccination, electricity, even medicine. In the same sense, many things that are natural are good, but not all unnatural things are unethical which is what the naturalistic fallacy argues. Both articles show a bias for people who have a choice. A choice to choose what they eat, a choice to carefully examine what they are able to consume, both physically and mentally, and a choice to act on their desires. According to the â€Å"Center for Disease Control (CDC), Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (48.1%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (34.5%), and non-Hispanic Asians (11.7%)† (2017).† The CDC also reported that â€Å"obesity decreased by the level of education. Adults without a high school degree or equivalent had the highest self-reported obesity (35.5%), followed by high school graduates (32.3%), adults with some college (31.0%) and college graduates (22.2%)† (2016). The populations represented in these reports are often plagued by a lack of choice due to political agendas and systemic oppression. Without using these statistics to inform their theories, the authors have left out a demographic who would benefit the most from these findings. Portman (2017) and Daston (2014) have continued a discussion that has been argued for centuries. Portman (2017) provides an action-based solution to the posed questions and the stance it takes, while Daston (2014) attempts to break down a concept that has not been generally agreed upon. Both articles, when referenced wisely, can begin the movement of a positive change in the relationship between our decision-making and our food. References Daston, L. (2017). The naturalistic fallacy is modern. The History of Science Journal, The University of Chicago Press, 105(3), 579-587. doi:10.1086/678173. Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html Portman, A. (2014). Mother nature has it right: Local food advocacy and the appeal to the â€Å"natural.† Ethics and the Environment, 19(1), 1-30. Doi: 10.2979. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/678173 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/summary https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/pdf https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/archive/†¦

Biology Lab Essays

Biology Lab Essays Biology Lab Essay Biology Lab Essay Nature, 2001 2. David W. Pfennig, Karri S. Pfennig, and William R. Hardcore 3. Batteries Mimicry: When a harmless species mimics a dangerous species to confuse them so they are not harmed. Symmetric: A speciation in which new species evolve from a single ancestral species while inhabiting the same geographic region. Allophonic: Occurring in separate, impoverishing geographic areas 4. Organism- Reptile Genus- Mimicries Species- fulfils Common Names- Coral Snake Organism- Reptile Genus- Lampposts Species- triangular ellipsoids Common Names- Sneaking 5. That Batteries mimicry is only effective if predators have experience with dangerous species. 6. Cylinders of procedure, non-toxic plasticize threaded onto an S-shaped wire 7. Ten at each site. Ringed, striped, and brown. 8. 10 symmetric and 8 allophonic in North and South Carolina.

Factors Which Influence t he Rates of Reaction Essays - Chemistry

Factors Which Influence t he Rates of Reaction Essays - Chemistry Factors Which Influence t he Rates of Reaction Introduction The purpose of this lab is to research the factors which makes the rates of reaction to change. The meaning of rate of reaction is how fast it takes for a chemical reaction to occur. Some factors that affect the rate of reactions are the nature of the chemical reactant which is the chemical formation of the substance we use determines how fast it will react. The concentration of reactant which is if the reactant concentration is increased, it will increase the rate of reaction. The temperature , if the temperature increases so does the reaction. The surface area in reaction , rate of reaction occurs faster in solids or liquids. The catalyst , by lowering the activated energy, a catalyst will increase the rate of reaction. Materials Goggles Zinc (Zn) Sulfuric Acid (H 2 SO 4 ) Hydrochloric acid (HCl) Acetic acid (CH 3 COOH) Phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) Hydrogen Peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) Copper (Cu) Magnesium (Mg) Lead (Pb) Iron (Fe) Test tubes Water (H 2 O) 24-well test plate Beaker Bunsen Burner Ring Ring stand Wire gauze Plastic Pipet Experimental Nature of the Reactant: Take 6 pieces of zinc in a test tube and add sulfuric acid to clean the zinc. Pour out the acid in the sink and pour phosphoric acid into two wells. Place one clean zinc and one unclean zinc in each well. Record the results. Pour acetic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and hydrochloric acid in a well. Place one clean zinc in each well and record the results. Pour hydrochloric acid in 5 wells. Place 1 piece of clean lead, iron, zinc, magnesium, and copper in each well and record the results. Concentration: Using a pipet, add 60 drops of water in one well, 40 drops in the second well, and no drops in the third well . Add 20 drops of HCl to the first well, 40 drops to the second well, and 80 drops to the third well. Place a piece of clean zinc in each well and record results. Pour out acid in the sink and keep used zinc. Temperature: Add 5ml of HCl into three test tubes. Leave the first test tube at room temperature. Using Bunsen burner and ring stand, place the second test tube into a beaker with water and bring it to a boil. Place the third test tube into ice w ater . Place a piece of clean zinc into each test tube and record results. Surface Area: Add 5 ml of HCl into two test tubes. Add one piece of clean in one test tube and 0.25 g of powdered zinc to the other test tube. Record results. Pour the acids into the sink. Catalyst: Add 5 ml of hydrogen peroxide into two test tubes. Place 5 drops of water into one test tube and 5 drops of FeCl 3 to the other test tube. Record the results. Results: Nature of the Reactants: Observation: Clean Zinc (Zn) + H 2 SO 4 : instant bubbles. Zinc did not dissolve. Clean Zinc (Zn) + H 3 PO 4 : softly bubbles Clean Zinc (Zn) + CH 3 COOH: unchanged Clean Zinc (Zn) + HCl: instant bubbles. Zinc dissolves eventually Explanation: Based on the characteristics of bubbles and the zinc dissolving, there was a reaction with acids except for CH 3 COOH. With HCl having the fastest reaction. Order of Acid Reaction: HCl H 2 SO 4 H 3 PO 4 CH 3 COOH Nature of the Reactants: Observation: HCl + Copper (Cu) : unchanged HCl + Lead (Pb) : barely any bubbles HCl + Zinc (Zn) : instant bubbles, dissolves eventually HCl + Iron (Fe) : unchanged HCl + Magnesium (Mg) : Bubbles, fizz, odor, and dissolves Explanation: Based on the characteristics of bubbles, fizzing, odor, and metals dissolving, there were a reaction with Pb, Zn, and Mg. Mg having the fastest reaction and Cu and Fe having no reaction at all. Depending on which metal it is, will determine the rate of reaction. Order of Reaction : Mg Zn Pb Fe Cu Concentration

Critically discuss how scientific paradigms influence research Coursework

Critically discuss how scientific paradigms influence research methodologies. Which of the current theoretical views & methodologies are most relevant to research within your discipline - And why - Coursework Example as its research methodology given the kind of paradigm it uses, prompting the researchers to establish first where the discipline they deal with belong. Research is an undertaking that is concerned with the exploration and understanding of social phenomena that are both academic and informative in nature. It pertains to formalized and spontaneously occurring social, psychological and cultural processes which are known as education. Research, therefore, deals educational concerns from a range of concepts and understandings of the social reality. This explains why a number of varied paradigms have been developed to explain the criteria according to the one selected and the definition of the problems awaiting the inquiry. Research methodology, on the other hand, is the inquiry strategy, which draws from the underlying assumptions to research design and data collection (Niglas 2000). Research methodology is mostly classified as either qualitative or quantitative, although there are other distinctions concerning the mode of the research. These two tend to create distinctions about the knowledge of nature and also the way data is collected and analyzed. (Rescher 2000), and finally the kind of generalizations deduced from the data. While quantitative research method tends to study natural phenomena, qualitative method inquiries into the social and cultural phenomena. This paper will inquire into the various ways in which scientific paradigms influence research methodologies, which of the current theoretical views and methodologies are most relevant within the discipline of engineering. Finally, it will also look into the reasons why the methodologies so selected are most relevant in this discipline. There are three philosophical perspectives widely accepted as paradigms in the contemporary social, management and organizational research. These paradigms include the Positivism paradigm, Interpretivism paradigm and the Critical Postmodernism paradigm. Notably, the main

Challenges posed by the aging population (be specific) Research Paper

Challenges posed by the aging population (be specific) - Research Paper Example The difference in opinion is as a result of new findings of health care resources usage by the elderly and also from the recognition of the responses of elder patient in the past. Conversely, these changes bring some opportunities since people have longer and healthy lives. This essay is to present the challenges posed by an aging population and how the government, society and the businesses have responded to the whole issue. First, it is important to see the reason as to why the population is aging by looking at the population trends in the past half century (Neumark, 2009). Aging people are in most countries of the world. There are some factors behind this trend. For instance, longevity has increased in most parts of the world compared to the previous years. Globally, the life expectancy has increased from the age of 48 years in the 50s to 68 years presently. For the past 50 years, community division project aims to make the expectancy reach 76 years. In addition, the fertility rate of the world fell from five kids per woman in the 1950s to approximately 2.5 presently. Fertility is further projected to decline to about 2.2 in the next 50 years. Similarly, aging of a large number of children born after the World War II coupled by an equal boom elsewhere in the world are leading to a generation of an older people. UN estimates that the global number of old people will increase from 800 million currently to more than 2 billion by 2050 (equivalent to 22 percent of the entire population) (Shapner, 2006) Aging of a community presents many challenges and raises concerns on the pace of the future economic progress, financial integrity of pension systems and health care services and operation, and the health of the elderly (Shapner, 2006). Economic prosperity of any given economy depends crucially on the quality and size of the labor force to be productive and maximize on the available resources. From

Information Systems Components PowerPoint Presentation

Information Systems Components - PowerPoint Presentation Example At the core of proper information management is the collection process. Collecting information includes all the activities that pertain to the gathering of the information from its source. In the London Olympics, much information will have to be gathered from thousands of places in order to be analyzed and translated. The collection process has to be done exhaustively and unobtrusively in order to ensure that nothing important is left behind. In this regard, proper information gathering techniques have to be used in order to obtain quality information from the fields and other sources. Such techniques should not have any loopholes that can lead to some information being lost or distorted during the collection process. Good information management for the Olympics will require that information is normalized in order to create a sense of uniformity and conformity for the organizers. In this regard, it is important to use advanced computer software that can effectively normalize the larg e volumes of information that will have to be dealt with in the process. The organizers should therefore ensure that they use proper computerized information management systems that will ensure that the whole event is devoid of any mishaps that can occur in such instances. It has to be realized that if the wrong information is gathered from the ground, chaos will begin to erupt in the games. It is therefore important that information gathered has to be confirmed and counterchecked in order to ensure that no distortion has occurred in the collection process. The information gathered from the field will normally be at its raw state. In order to make it presentable and easily understood by the millions of people across the world that would be waiting, it is important that the information is properly analyzed. The raw data can be analyzed through the use of various methods. In this regard, the analysis of the information has to be highly computerized in order to effectively address the large volumes of information that would be available. It is also important that the information system to be used to has a good backup process in order to take care of any eventuality. While many people across the world would eagerly be waiting to receive updated information on the various events on progress in London, the organizers have the important duty of ensuring that this flow of information occurs without any interruption or hiccups. In order to ensure that nothing is taken for granted, it is necessary that the organizers of the London Olympics to regularly conduct database checkups in order to ensure the functionality of the information systems and to ensure that everything progresses as planned. Since the data gathering process is expected to be top notch, it is also important to ensure that the data quality strategy is regularly checked and enhanced. This would be greatly important considering that the data obtained from the event will have to be kept and used for several years to come. In order to ensure that only the appropriate information is gathered and relayed across, it is necessary to track the deliverability of the information across the whole system. Quality information can only be obtained if it is tracked across the movement in order to ensur

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Essay Example for Free

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Essay Throughout the novel the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Yunior tells the story of oscars family that is allegedly cursed by the Fuku. The dominican family that roots back to when Trujillo was in power has been tragical effected by the Fuku. The main character Oscar is an awkward Dominican that balms his failures on the curse of the Fuku. The curse started back in the Dominican republic when the oppressive dictator Trujillo convicted oscars grandfather Abelard who was a respected doctor for conspiracy. When oscars grandfather was put in jail he was tortured and beaten, this was the origin of the curse for the Waos. Like a gene the curse has been passed down the family to oscar. The author Junot Diaz uses the motif of the Fuku to illustrate how bani allows her awful past to dramatically affect her and children. Everyone that lived in the dominican was in some way negatively effected by Trujillo. Oscar Wao was a living example of the fuku and how not only Trujillo effected the dominican people of his time but even the people two generations later. For example (p.5)â€Å"wether I believe in what many have described as the great american doom is not really the point. You live as long as I did in the heart of Fuku country, you hear these kinds of tales all the time everybody in san domingo has a Fuku story knocking around in their family.† Yunior is expressing the fact that even if you are not a believer of the Fuku curse if you are dominican there is a good chance it has affected you or your family. When oscars mother was left an orphan she was put through unbelievably awful circumstances much like her fathers. This time in Banis life effect who she became and how she parented Oscar.(78)â€Å"From 1951 on, â€Å"hija† and â€Å"madre† running their famous bakery near the plaza central and keeping their fading, airless house in tip-top shape. (before 1951, our orphan girl had lived with another foster family, monsterous people if the rumors are to be believed, a dark period of her life neither she nor her madre ever referenced. Their very own pagina en blanco). This quotation refers to how oscars mother was effected by the Fuku. The reason she was an orphan was because Trujillo killed her parents. The events of her childhood were a direct result of Trujillo but Bani had the power to put the past in the past and parent Oscar the right way, because Bani did not do this the Fuku lives on. Many times in the book a Wao has been injured almost to the point of death. Once was when Oscar attempted suicide. Oscars Suicide attempt was not just because he lost the first girl he has ever loved it was also because of how Oscar had almost no self esteem. Even his own mother would belittle him from a young age. The suicide attempt went wrong and Oscar survived to live another day. (p.191) â€Å"Except that this one of the garden dividers that they planted shrubs on and he hit the freshly tilled loam and not the concrete.† Because he hit the fresh loam he survived with many harsh injures instead of plummeting to his death as planned. This was an incident in Oscar Waos life that was a result of his failures like his failure to love or be loved. This failure stems back to how his mother raised him with very tough love because of the her childhood. The novel clearly illustrated how the Fuku has effected all Dominican people even if they had immigrated off the island. To me this novel is not about dominican people and there history it is about how only one man effected millions of lives not only in one point it time but for generations to come. Junot Diaz shows the reader how we all have the power to stop horrible things like the Fuku from effecting the next generation but you must have the power to leave the past in the past.

Failure At The Battle Of Britain History Essay

Failure At The Battle Of Britain History Essay In the summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain was fought between the Royal Air Force of Great Britain and the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany. The assault was Hitlers attempt at decimating Britains air force and morale, enabling a full-scale seaborne invasion of Britain. The failure of such an ambitious undertaking marked Germanys first significant defeat and became a turning point in World War Two. More than seventy years later, historians continue to debate over the reasons for the failure of the Luftwaffe, prompting an investigation to answer: To what extent was the Luftwaffe responsible for their failure at the Battle of Britain? This essay analyses both sides of the debate; either that the RAFs successes were the most important cause of Germanys failure, or that it was the errors of the Luftwaffe that proved decisive in Britains victory. Utilizing the views of historians such as Stephen Bungay, RJ Overy and JP Ray, this essay also employs some primary sources to consolidate both arguments, and forms a conclusion to the investigation. Although the Luftwaffe were not perfectly suited to the task of singlehandedly eliminating Britains key defences, being a support force rather than a strategic one, the sheer number of pilots and planes that they had at their disposal, combined with the fact that they did not have to defend anything themselves, should have guaranteed a German victory. Instead, the constantly shifting strategy and bad leadership combined with flawed intelligence complicated the operation. Additionally, Britain benefited from the leadership of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Air Marshal Hugh Dowding, while being aided by their radar early warning system and the advantage of fighting within friendly territory. In conclusion, however, the Luftwaffe was still the clear favourite and it was only through their mistakes that the RAF was able to survive. Introduction The Battle of Britain, part of the Second World War, began in the summer of 1940, on the 10th of July. An entirely aerial battle, Hitler initiated the assault as a preliminary phase of his invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sea Lion. The Luftwaffe was meant to neutralize the RAF and Britains other key defences, enabling the German Navy to land and discharge troops. Not only was this failure a psychological blow to the Nazi war effort, but also more significantly it thwarted Hitlers planning for the German invasion of the USSR, for which timing was crucial. The Luftwaffe was overconfident as a result of its successes across the rest of Europe, but it failed to anticipate the conditions of a battle fought exclusively in the air; understandably, since the Battle of Britain was the first entirely aerial conflict. Hermann Goering, the commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, assured Hitler that he could guarantee control of the skies above the channel, protecting the German invasion for ce from the RAF. Not only did the Battle last far longer than intended, but also the Luftwaffe failed their objective, forcing Hitler to postpone Operation Sea Lion indefinitely  [1]  . Both during the Battle and in the years following it, the British cleverly capitalised on the propaganda value of their success. This gave rise to the initial popular view that it was the courage and resilience of the RAF that had repelled the Luftwaffe through sheer determination, overcoming the numerical odds. Indeed, Churchill would often mention in his speeches and later his memoirs the importance of the Few  [2]  . However, orthodox historical investigations adopted a more analytical and less sensationalist view that Britains inherent advantages of radar and friendly territory tipped the scales in their favour, combined with the heroism of the pilots and Britains impressive fighter production and sound leadership  [3]  . An alternative revisionist view emerged later as records out of Germany came to light, stating that despite all of this Britain would still have lost if the Luftwaffe had not conducted their campaign so poorly  [4]  . After all, it is undisputed that the Germans had greater numbers of planes  [5]  and more importantly, capable, experienced pilots. The fact that such a key event continues to be a subject of intense debate merits an investigation into what actually was the more decisive factor. Therefore the following research question is still very relevant today: To what extent was the Luftwaffe responsible for their failure at the Battle of Britain? While both sides of the debate provide compelling evidence, ultimately, for all of the RAFs courage and advantages, the Luftwaffe should have been able to overwhelm them with sheer brute force and elementary tactics, but the extent to which the Luftwaffes mistakes altered the course of the Battle led to Britains victory. The RAFs responsibility for the result There can be no doubt that the RAF showed an unprecedented level of resilience and intelligence in dealing with the German threat, and despite all of the propaganda associated with it, there is a great deal of evidence that supports this orthodox view. One of the major contributors to this success was the system implemented by Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, aptly named the Dowding system of defence. Dowding organized a structured system of command and networked intelligence, with several scattered Sectors reporting to four groups, and each group then filtering and passing on the necessary information to the central Fighter Command Headquarters  [6]  . The Dowding system ensured that Fighter Command was able to receive a clear and updated picture of the Battle at all times. This was in no small part due to the implementation of Radio Direction Finding (RDF) also known as radar, which was instrumental in ensuring that Fighter Command knew exactly when and where the Germans were attacking. Since its inception in 1935, Dowding had personally championed the radar system. Furthermore, the use of radar was cleverly organised; Fighter Command controlled the radar, but each sector was able to control its airfields and observers, enabling local control that avoided the potential delay of waiting for Fighter Commands directions. Additionally, as Fighter Command directly received radar, if the Luftwaffe succeeded in bombing a station, Fighter Command would continue to function unimpaired. On the 7th of September 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked London with 400 bombers escorted by fighters. This attack tested the efficiency of the system; once the Germans were detected by the radar and confirmed as three waves of aircraft, the commander of 11 Group, Keith Park, sent six of his squadrons to combat the first wave while holding the remainder of the group for the other two, saving fuel. Meanwhile, 12 Group and 10 Group were deployed to protect 11 Groups vulnerable airfields from German bombers  [7]  . Dowdings system was able to eliminate the Luftwaffes advantage of surprise  [8]  , allowing the British to send out the precise number of aircraft exactly where they were needed to thwart the Germans; and this became a vital component of Britains victory, especially since the Germans refused to recognize the threat of it. Another factor in the result of the Battle was the ability of the British factories to replace lost and damaged aircraft. Britains fighter production was far better than Germanys, approximately 500 per month against just over 150 per month by the Germans  [9]  . In addition, these aircraft were Hurricanes and Spitfires, high quality planes that were more than a match for Germanys own Bf 109s and 110s  [10]  . The rapid rate of production ensured that the RAF never had a shortage of operational aircraft, although the same could not be said of their pilot reserves.  [11]  . This impressive level of production was primarily due to Lord Beaverbrooks ability to deregulate the processes used for aircraft production, in his capacity as Minister of Aircraft Production. With Churchills help, Beaverbrook managed to persuade British citizens to donate pots, pans and even fences and railings to be used in factories in a scheme dubbed Saucepans to Spitfires  [12]  . Churchill ofte n lauded Beaverbrooks success, during these weeks of intense struggle and ceaseless anxiety, claiming that his personal buoyancy and vigour were a tonic  [13]  , and on the 2nd of August 1940 he appointed Beaverbrook to the War Cabinet. The results of Beaverbrooks efforts were directly reflected in the number of operational airplanes, which rose from 560 to 730 between June and November  [14]  . The orthodox view gives great importance to Dowdings excellent tactical deployment of his aircraft in determining the RAFs victory. Dowding was aware from the beginning that the number of trained pilots available was always dangerously scarce; a notion supported by accounts from fighter pilots that emerged after the war, claiming that they were often scrambled three or four times a day  [15]  . Despite strong suggestions from 12 Group Commander Trafford Leigh-Mallory and the leader of 242 squadron Douglas Bader to attack the Germans head on in a massive fire fight, Dowding held firm with his strategy of utilizing his early warning system to send out a small number of planes to intercept the Germans where they were most needed. Furthermore, during the last days of the Battle of France, Dowding refused to send out any more squadrons to the aid of the French, recognizing that Frances defeat was inevitable  [16]  . During the Battle of Britain, 11 Group, which often bore the brunt of the German attack, frequently requested Fighter Command for support from the other Groups. Indeed, some of the pilots in 11 Group who later recounted their experiences have criticized Dowding for putting too much strain on Air Vice Marshal Park  [17]  , although it is unlikely that these pilots would have sympathized with the general strategy after the ordeals they were put through. Dowding also understood that the RAF had an essential advantage in fighting over friendly territory; firstly, an RAF pilot who ejected from his plane could easily be rescued and returned to the front-line, whereas German pilots would become prisoners of war, or drown in the Channel. Considering that out of the more than 800 planes shot down, only 507 RAF pilots were killed, this was extremely valuable given the RAFs lack of reserve pilots  [18]  . Secondly, the Luftwaffe was operating out of France, which meant they had to waste precious fuel crossing the English Channel, whereas the RAF planes took off much nearer to the points of interception.  [19]   Another aspect of the RAFs ingenuity that worked in their favour was their quick adaptation of aerial combat tactics. The nature of the Battle of Britain was such that both the RAF and the Luftwaffe were initially unprepared for the scale and pace of the fighting that was conducted. As per the training manual, RAF pilots initially used a conventional formation with two wingmen flying behind the leader at a fixed distance, which limited their ability to defend the leader  [20]  . By contrast, the Luftwaffe sent fighters operating in a two pair formation around their bombers, and towards the end of July the RAF had already adopted this strategy. Wing Commander H. R. Allen of 11 Group believed that if the RAF had used this method from the beginning, they would have been several times more efficient at destroying German aircraft  [21]  . Since Allen was a pilot who actually fought in the Battle, it is reasonable to assume that he would have been able to evaluate this effectively. Also, the RAF modified their standard squadron formation, using part of the squadron flying in three lines, while the rest flew above and to the rear, offering better defence and ready replacements for any losses in the front  [22]  . Another important tactic employed by the RAF was to send their faster, more agile Spitfires against the German Messerschmitt 109s, while allowing their Hurricanes to eliminate the slower and more vulnerable German bombers. Britains adaptability helped to conserve their limited resources and efficiently engage the enemy, offering crucial tactical gains. While the RAF were busy fighting the Germans in the skies, Britains Prime Minister Winston Churchill was equally active in rallying Great Britain behind their courageous Royal Air Force. Churchills skills as an orator and motivator undoubtedly played a part in Britains victory. Although Hitler could be equally charismatic, he showed very little interest in the Battle, deferring responsibilities to Goering while he focused on Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR  [23]  . Churchill wrote in his memoirs Their Finest Hour how he cannot speak too highly of the loyalty of Mr Chamberlain, or of the resolution and efficiency of all of my Cabinet colleagues, and yet Churchill himself was constantly visiting various Group stations and Fighter Command, asking for updates and estimates of progress  [24]  . A notable example of this was Churchills arrival at 11 Groups Headquarters in Uxbridge on the 15th of September, and remained in the Group Operations room with Air Vice-Marsh al Park for most of the battles duration  [25]  . In addition to this, Churchills address to the House of Commons on the 18th of June famously spoke of Britains finest hour and of how never has so much in the field of conflict been owed by so many to so few. These speeches helped to boost the morale not only of the public, but more importantly that of the overworked RAF pilots  [26]  . Moreover, Britain also benefited from the intelligence it received. During the Battle, both sides overestimated the enemys losses while underestimating their own, partly to increase morale, but also due to the chaotic circumstances that made it extremely difficult to gather reliable intelligence. According to Stephen Bungay, Britain also overestimated the overall strength of the enemy force, judging Luftwaffe front line strength to exceed 5000 when in reality there were around 3000 German aircraft with 900 reserves. This discouraged an all out Big Wing assault, which would have negated Britains advantages and caused careless losses  [27]  . Furthermore, by the time of the Battle the British were able to decode German messages using their Enigma machine; although some historians argue that Fighter Command was unaware of the Enigma breakthrough until as late as October  [28]  . The RAF were also aided by a branch of the observer corps known as Y Service, which yielded unprecede nted results simply by listening in to various German radio frequencies  [29]  . These aspects of the RAFs intelligence network compounded by the Dowding early warning system ensured that the RAF were alerted of the Luftwaffes moves as much as possible. The many advantages that the RAF both inherently began with and later cultivated enabled them to put up a strong defence, resulting in the Luftwaffe coming off worse in nearly every exchange. In a stark contrast to the Luftwaffe, the RAF prospered under an efficient system of intelligence, tactical adaptability and reliable leadership. There can be no doubt that these were important contributors to their victory, to a limited extent. The Luftwaffes responsibility for the result Hitler commanded his Luftwaffe to maintain air superiority over the Channel and Island.  [30]  While the Luftwaffe outnumbered the RAF, an important point to note is that of the 3000 aircraft sent to Britain, only 1200 of those were fighters, while the 1800 bombers were far more vulnerable against the Hurricanes and Spitfires  [31]  . One of the most costly failures of the Luftwaffe was their wayward tactics and strategy. This was explicitly demonstrated in the inexplicable gap in the offensive between the British evacuations of Dunkirk on the 4th of June and the final launch Operation Eagle Attack (the codename of the assault) on the 13th of August  [32]  . During this period, both sides were able to replace their losses after the Battle of France, however since Britains production was much higher than Germanys, the Luftwaffe effectively weakened their position by waiting. Moreover, the minor intermittent raids conducted by German aircraft gave Britain a chance to test and perfect the Dowding system  [33]  . Additionally, this delay was compounded by a lack of focus in the German plan of attack; the Luftwaffe was attempting to attack merchant convoys on the Channel, British airfields and radar stations in the South as well as fighting a war of attrition by engaging RAF airplanes. The overall result of the se endeavours was that while there was some success in each of these objectives, it was very limited  [34]  . No targets were actually crippled beyond repair, especially since Hermann Goering considered attacking the radar stations a waste of time and resources, a clear display of ignorance that made the system all the more effective for the RAF. Perhaps the single most detrimental decision made by the Luftwaffe was the decision to switch bombing targets from the RAF airfields to the British cities. Many historians have attributed this to an accidental German bomb dropped on London, which prompted retaliation against Berlin, thus enraging Hitler to the point of ordering the destruction of London  [35]  . This proved to be a turning point in the Battle for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gave the RAF much-needed breathing space to repair airfields, train new pilots and deploy them. Secondly, Fighter Command could now organize its groups around London and concentrate its forces, instead of having to stretch them across the south coast. Thirdly, in London air raid shelters had already been constructed throughout London which somewhat limited civilian casualties, as the attacks on the countryside were abandoned  [36]  . A further point is that the journey to London took the German fighters and bombers, who were operating out of Normandy and Belgium, to the limit of their fuel capacity, offering them mere minutes of flight time over the city. Ironically, even Goering seemed to immediately realize this, commenting its stupid to drop bombs on cities.  [37]  While the orthodox views confidently identify this as the saviour of the RAF, revisionists have argued that although it gave Fighter Command some breathing space it was an inevitable tactic given that the bombers damage to the airfields was limited  [38]  . Although there is disagreement over the extent to which this affected the outcome of the Battle, it was a factor that cannot be ignored; this respite was complemented by the RAFs high fighter production that allowed them to recoup their losses quickly. While Great Britain was able to rely on Churchill and Dowding to bolster their resolve and devise effective strategies, the Luftwaffe deteriorated under the command of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering. Not only did Hitler overestimate the Luftwaffes capabilities as an attack force by expecting them to singlehandedly eliminate British defences, he made matters worse by ordering the Luftwaffe to bomb London, purely as a result of his political outrage over the raid on Berlin. Churchill publicly denounced Hitlers inability to grasp aerial warfare, Herr Hitler is using up his fighter force  [39]  . Goering on the other hand did not actively coordinate his forces as his British counterpart Dowding did, nor did he make any effort to motivate his pilots; as German ace Adolf Galland claims, he went about it the wrong way  [40]  . However, being a contemporary German source, it is important to note that a pilot like Galland would prefer to blame the strategy of his officers for the de feat rather than the performance of pilots such as himself. As the tide of the Battle began to turn, the leadership flaws were exposed and this made the Luftwaffe even more impotent, which proved to be a necessary component of the RAFs success. Another aspect of the Luftwaffes failure was their unsuitability as a force for the task that was put to them. This view is supported by many revisionists, who investigated German records after the war and came to the conclusion that the Luftwaffe was a support force, designed to aid the Wehrmacht (Army) by bombing key targets ahead of the armoured advance on the ground  [41]  . The only Air Force the Luftwaffe had to contend with prior to the Battle of France was the Polish Air Force, who fought valiantly but ultimately had too few planes, all of which were also obsolete  [42]  . Furthermore, despite Goerings confidence that he could destroy the RAF, the Luftwaffes planes were unsuited to the task. While the Bf 109 could outmanoeuvre a Spitfire at high altitudes, it was limited both by a low fuel capacity, and the fact that it had to protect the low flying Ju 87 dive-bombers  [43]  . By 1940 Germany had not yet developed long-range heavy bombers, since Goering believed t hat dive-bombers were sufficient for any assault. While the Ju 87s and 88s were accurate, they were unable to defend themselves against Hurricanes and Spitfires, which allowed the RAF to pick them off with ease once their fighter escorts had been dealt with. This became a huge problem when the Luftwaffe began bombing London, which was even further north, as the Bf 109s only had an effective range of 125 miles  [44]  . This problem was highlighted on August 15th 1940, when 30 German bombers were shot down at the cost of two Hurricanes, which also demonstrated that in daylight, the German aircraft were even more vulnerable  [45]  . Furthermore, Keegan believes that because the Luftwaffe had more bombers than fighters, their fighter strength was insignificantly greater than the RAF condemning their operation from the beginning. Clearly, the Luftwaffe was completely unprepared for their operation, and in the war of attrition they came off worse as a result. Many of the tactical errors made by Goering were based on faulty intelligence received, and this was responsible for much of the self-inflicted damage. Firstly, in the Air Intelligence Departments report, the Dowding system was labelled as rigid and inflexible, and this was partly the reason that Goering dismissed the radar stations as insignificant targets. This was undoubtedly a costly mishap; the radar eliminated the Luftwaffes much-needed element of surprise and there were only six proper attacks against the radar stations during the course of the Battle  [46]  . Not only was Britains overall fighter strength underestimated, but fighter production itself was also underestimated, with intelligence estimating 230 planes a day while the reality was well over 400  [47]  . The intelligence department suffered from managerial deficiencies; there were several different agencies attempting to curry favour by providing positive (and false) reports, which would even conflict with e ach other at times. Goering received a report that the Bf 110 could hold its own against the Hurricane, which complicated battle tactics later when the reality emerged and the Bf 110 squadrons had to be reinforced with the superior Bf 109s  [48]  . This was a key flaw that separated the Luftwaffe from the RAF, and this allowed the RAF to maximise the useful implementation of their intelligence without facing effective retaliation. In addition, while Britain may have benefited from overestimating German losses by boosting morale, the same did not apply to the Luftwaffe. The overestimation of RAF losses bred complacency, and Goering was often made to look foolish by confidently asserting that the RAF would be destroyed within the week only to have the Battle continue to drag on  [49]  . At one point Goering was under the impression that the RAF only had 100 operational fighters, while the reality was more than 700  [50]  . The bad estimates of numbers, the underestimation of radar and the overestimation of German fighter capability all created an atmosphere of arrogance and complacency, which proved detrimental to the Luftwaffe. Although the Luftwaffe should have prevailed through sheer force of numbers, it was constantly let down by unfocused strategy, distracted leadership and incorrect intelligence. Also, the overconfidence of Goering ensured that crucial problems were not rectified in time, and this created a sluggishness that was uncharacteristic of the nation that had Blitzkreiged across Western Europe, and unacceptable given the circumstances of the Battle. Conclusion There is a great deal of sound evidence and judgement on both sides of the argument. It would have been unfair to entirely discount the orthodox view in favour of the revisionist. After all, the RAF was fighting on friendly territory, their early warning system eliminated the German element of surprise, they were highly motivated by their leaders and any tactics which may have initially been obsolete were quickly adapted, turning the RAF into one of the best Air Forces of World War Two and certainly one of the most experienced. Additionally, a high rate of fighter production supported by civilian initiatives enabled the RAF to maintain and expand its front-line strength over the course of the Battle. The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, benefited from superior numbers and experienced personnel. However, the Luftwaffe were more suited to providing support for the Army, rather than engaging another air force, as indicated by their large quantities of outdated and unsuitable bombers. During the Battle, the Luftwaffe suffered a number of setbacks, as a result of their lax leadership, meandering strategy, and faulty intelligence from sycophantic and competitive agencies. The most debilitating demonstration of this was the decision to switch bombing targets from airfields and other military installations to British cities, allowing the RAF time to recover and replace their losses, while accomplishing very little instead. Although the RAF put up an excellent defence, the objective that the Luftwaffe were assigned, to pave the way for the invasion force and weaken or destroy the RAF should have been possible based on their numerical superiority; certainly prior to the Battle there was very little hope for Britain. Furthermore, it is important to understand that rather than two separate developments of the Battle, the German mistakes and British successes