Evil in Sula, Yellow Wallpaper, and Love Medicine

No Rest for the Wicked â€Å"l started out thinking that one can never really define good and evil. Sometimes good looks like evil; sometimes evil looks like good,† this quote by T. Morrison highlights the fact that evil is relative. Although evil can be, in many ways, self-defined, many characters in novels can be perceived as one thing while they are another. Written works such as, Sulk, Love Medicine, and The Yellow Wallpaper contain several examples of good vs. evil that take a closer look to deceiver.First, in the novel Sulk, there are several characters that prove that looks can be achieving. For example, the character Sulk is perceived as a terrible person in the book. The people of the Bottom hate her for everything that she is, despite the fact that she followed the example of her mother. The story states, â€Å"The death of Sulk Peace was the best news fossils up in the Bottom had had since the promise of work at the tunnel† (150). They accuse her of things th at, in their society, were deemed horrible and not moral. When Sulk attempts to help a child she is only further accused of wicked ways.Sulk only does what she knows, and only hurts Nell because f her blindness to what their relationship has become. As well, Newel's mother is seen as a good person in society. Helene attends church as does what is proper. The story states, â€Å"Helene Wright was an impressive woman, at least in Medallion she was† (18). However, in an attempt to be a good mother Helene pushes her opinions down Newel's throat, leaving imagination away and replacing it with a sense of alienation. Helene wants people to see her as a wonderful woman, but her actions and motives seem only to follow selfishness and a need for importance.Moreover, Jude does what is right by society. Jude attempts to work, he takes care of his family, he does everything he was meant to do. The story states, â€Å"Along with a few other young black men, Jude had gone down to the shack where they were hiring† (81). But Jude only married because he was settling, and when Sulk came around he didn't have a quarrel with cheating on his wife with her best friend. He then leaves him family behind, leaving Nell to take care of the children. And, Eva is a character that can be interoperable as evil, but she only does what she does because she loves her children.Eva kills her own son by lighting him on fire. The story states, â€Å"†¦ Threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in snug delight† (47). Even her daughter does not understand why Eva would do such a thing. But the truth of the matter is that Plum was slowly wasting away, Just the shell of the person he once was. His unhealthy habits and his inability to take care of himself after he was traumatized by the war brings Eva to the decision to end his suffering then and there. Secondly, in the novel Love Medicine there are several examples of evil and good reflections. For instance, t he character Marie goes to the convent.Though this can be seen only as a good and pure thing, it is revealed to the readers that Marie wants only the praise and glory she would find there. The story states, â€Å"And they never thought they have a girl from this reservation as a saint they have to kneel to (43). Maria's reasons are not good, but rather they are wicked reasons that are identified as sins. Moreover, once Marie is within the convent it is revealed that she is not the only wolf in sheep's clothing. The nun, Leopold sees the devil inside Marie. In an attempt to banish the devil from Marie, she physically harms the young girl.The two both speak of love and both seem to have some degree of hate for the other. The story states, â€Å"She always did things this way, to teach you lessons† (51). Leopold then lies about Maria's injuries to the other nuns to save herself. As well, Nectar is perceived as a strong individual by the community. Although Nectar keeps a high p osition in his community and is seen both as handsome and good, he only has such a great position because Marie made him. It was Maria's work that made Nectar what he was. Even though he owes her a great deal he still cheats on her.He turns away re love in favor of Lulu, committing adultery. He cares for Marie and understands he has obligations to her, but he loves Lulu. He states, â€Å"l do not compare her with Marie. I would not do that. But the way I ache for Lulu, suddenly, is terrible and sad,† (127). He puts his love first in several situations such as, when he planned to leave Marie. Lulu is also a seemingly wrongly accused character. Lulu has got a serious reputation as being a loose woman in the community. She even sleeps with married men because she does not seem to respect the value of marital ties.However, Lulu is a errors of passion and love. The story states, â€Å"And so when they tell you that I was heartless, a shameless man-chaser, don't forget this: I lov ed what I saw' (228). Lulu's true nature is not that of evil, it is that of love. Although some can argue that her actions were questionable, it is within her intentions that the truth is found. Lastly, in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, evil and good is a battle that continues through the story. For example, John attempts to take care of Jane by forcing her to bed rest and limiting her activity.Although he is a high standing doctor ND her husband it is with Cane's point of view that the reader discovers that the bed rest could be doing more harm than good. The bed rest does not allow Jane to function as a normal human being. The story states,† Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good† (1). It seems that, because John is a doctor, he must know what is best for Jane and that the treatment must be good. Perhaps John himself is not evil, but the result of his actions leave Jane in a state of no return.If evil is defined by the opposite of good then his actions have evil results. As well, John takes away Cane's ability to write. Cane's loss of a creative outlet is something that she finds could be making things worse. The story states, â€Å"l think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me† (4). Cane's mental state wavers as the story continues. Her own free will is practically ripped from her, and her writing is left to be done in secret. And, John once again creates â€Å"evil† results as he keeps Jane away from other people.The story states, â€Å"It is so scrounging not to have any advice and companionship about my work† (4). Despite her plea to be around others, John does not trust it. His actions lead Jane farther down her road to insanity and leave her with only her own thoughts of the wallpaper through the day. Moreover, the woman in the wallpaper can be completely perceived as evil at first glance. If the woman in the wallpaper, or the center of Cane's insanity, takes away Cane's ability to be a person, than she must be evil. Yet, it is only when Jane reaches the point of full insanity that Jane finds herself free.Able to do what she wants, albeit a bit strange, Jane finds freedom completely. As the story states, â€Å"Vive got out at least,' said l, ‘in spite of you and Jane. And Vive pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back† (14)! As a symbol of woman's suffrage, the lady in the wallpaper shows the reader how women, forced into the restraints society has put on them, must choose between insanity, and slavery. It is hard to pinpoint evil or give it a certain definition. Where are the lines drawn? Who determines what is right, necessary, and bad?The ever pondered question that enders if people can be labeled good or evil, or if no one is strictly either, pounds through the mind of those that read. Written works such as, Sulk, Love Medicine, and The Yellow Wallpaper allow readers to see beyond what society may see in a person and look deeper into their actions and motives. Taking a step back from one's own opinions, the reader can see the many point of views that leave certain actions, characters, and situations more clear on the moral side. If, like beauty, evil is in the eye of the beholder, there can never be a definite definition of the word.

Introduction to Waste Management Essay

Over the past few years, public concern has been growing over the disposal of wastes produced by health care facilities in the Philippines. Several reports have cited large, albeit inconsistent, figures of the amount of infectious waste hospitals in Metro Manila produce daily, and little information is available on what is done with these wastes, especially after the banning of incineration in the country. More recently, these concerns have been fueled by reports that some of these wastes end up in our open dumpsites and in some cases, in rivers, leading some sectors to call for the allowing of incineration once again. Health care waste can be managed properly without the use of incinerators that produce toxic air pollutants that pose threat to human health and environment. To begin with, not all of the wastes produced by hospitals are infectious or hazardous. With proper management and the use of well-known solid waste management tools such as segregation and recycling, the portion of a hospital’s waste stream that poses risk to human and environmental health need not be cause of public fear. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, 21 million people all over the world were infected with the hepatitis B virus due to injections with contaminated syringes. Another 2 million people were infected with the hepatitis C virus due to the same cause, and about 260,000 were infected with HIV. Ironically, all these people acquired diseases as a result of the practices of the very institutions that should be protecting their health. The sheer nature of providing health care, unfortunately, creates wastes that can pose serious environmental and health risks to health care workers, waste handlers, and even waste pickers. This, however, is the case only if the wastes produced by health care facilities are not managed properly. In 2002, though, a WHO assessment conducted in 22 developing countries showed that 18% to 64% of health care facilities do not use proper waste disposal methods. While most of the waste produced by health care facilities is not any more dangerous than regular household waste, some types do represent a higher risk to health. According to the WHO, these include infectious waste (15% to 25% of total healthcare waste), among which are sharps waste (1%), body part waste (1%), chemical or pharmaceutical waste (3%), and radioactive and cytotoxic waste or broken thermometers (less than 1%). Improperly managed and disposed, these wastes can expose health care workers and the public to risk of infections. In order to fulfill the medical ethic to â€Å"first do no harm†, the health care industry has a responsibility to manage waste in ways that protect both the public and the environment. Poor management of health care waste potentially exposes health care workers, waste handlers, patients and community at large to infection, toxic effects and injuries, and risks for polluting the environment. It is essential that all medical waste materials are segregated at the point of generation, approximately treated and disposed of safely. The purpose of this study is to have a practical understanding and to raise the lore of the patients and so as their significant others regarding the significance and essentiality of proper health care waste management, and also to raise the quality of the health care environment.

The Clash Of Civilization In The Arab World Research Paper

The Clash Of Civilization In The Arab World - Research Paper Example Chiozza attempts to test the truth in clash of civilization by forming various hypotheses (714). Furthermore, Wei (p.40) prevents confusion between culture and civilization, two words used interchangeable with different meanings; while Crittenden provides a deeper analysis of the causes of the struggle in Syria and gives a different view from (Manfreda). Al-Radhan (1) analyses the ways differing civilizations can interact, and how the western civilizations should attribute is origin to Arab culture and civilization. This study seeks to analyze, examine and cross-examine clash of civilization in the contemporary culture to determine relevance of such a theory. Ruan provides a historical context between civilization and culture and states that the two words are often used interchangeably. This outlines a comparison between a long service definition of civilization and culture alongside a geographical locus. Through this statement, civilizations are likely to arise in a given geographic al location, where they share similar cultural values. Culture emerged at earlier stages of human interactions and laid the foundation for civilization to take place. Civilization is based on a number of relationships including history, religion, language and tradition, and all these relationships are from a cultural background of a given society in specific geographical locations. The western civilization is incorporated in areas like Eastern Europe, Latin America whose cultures closely resemble each other, while Middle East cultures also resemble. States create strong relationships with others that seem to sympathize with their cultural ideologies, values and interest. With two civilizations contrasting, the western modern civilization will have to accommodate nonwestern modern civilizations, whose cultures differ in many ways. There is conflict between civilizations because of the misconceptions values, and achievement of different cultures especially the West and Middle East (Al -Rodhan 3). This implies that cultural transmission is the key to the development of modern civilizations. Cultural differences have played an important role in the transmission of ideas, and development of key institutions such as science, philosophy, finance and commerce. Civilizations have borrowed ideologies from different cultures, as Al-Rodhan continues to state that the Arab world played an important role in the western civilization (3). The western civilization can attribute the role of the Arab culture in the Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment period in Europe and America. Civilization is the highest form of cultural grouping and broadest level of culture that distinguishes two people, and provides some major classifications of civilizations in the contemporary world. In addition, he provides these classifications according to a geographical grouping, and according to differing cultural ideologies. According to the geographical groups, there are eight major civiliza tions that arise in the contemporary world including; western, Confucius, Japanese, Islamic, Hinduism, Slavic, orthodox, Latin America, and African civilizations. A greater classification is by differing cultural ideologies which give rise to two major civilizations, which Huntington feels conflict in the contemporary society. These are the western civil

Why Queen Should Be Musical Canon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why Queen Should Be Musical Canon - Essay Example Their music has appeared in many movies, television shows and commercials, and many of their songs have become part of American culture in other important ways. They changed the way that people thought about music, the way music was presented to the public, and the way that music is made. By exploring these uses of Queen's music in film and television and establishing their important role in modern social history I hope to explain why their music should be considered part of musical canon. Everyone who has attended a sporting event in the US in the past 30 years is familiar with the songs We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions by Queen. We Will Rock You, in particular, is so well known that if you play it for any crowd in America they will immediately begin singing and clapping along, for every group from elementary school assemblies to professional sporting events. It is hard to find anyone unfamiliar with the drums and clapping which open the song. The sound of We Are the Champions inspires cheers and shouts of victory all over the country. Everyone in the country knows the refrain by heart, and associates it with winning, particularly in sporting events: We are the champions, We are the champions! No time for losers 'Cause we are the champions of the world! (Queen, 1977) The movie Wayne's World, released in 1992, helped to make Queen's epic anthem of operatic rock Bohemian Rhapsody even more popular than it already had been and introduced the band to a whole new generation of fans. Originally released in 1975, Bohemian Rhapsody was Queen's first top-ten hit in the United States. In the United Kingdom, where the band was already well established, it stayed at #1 on the pop charts for nine weeks-- a record at the time. Though the song only reached #9 on US charts when it was originally released, the re-release after Wayne's World peaked at #2. (Songfacts) The popularity of this re-release led to greater demand for the rest of the band's work, and the release of several greatest hits albums in the late 90s. Bohemian Rhapsody is still one of the most complex and elegant musical pieces to achieve broad popular appeal in modern times. The background track alone, with piano, bass and drums took two days of recording to complete. Sessions for the song lasted nearly three weeks, with the opera section alone taking seven days to complete. Queen sang their "Galileos" continually for ten to twelve hours each day, producing a staggering 180 vocal overd ubs. The tapes required another two days of mixing before the band agreed that the song was complete. (Davis) The message behind the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody are very elegantly stated, if somewhat controversial. Most fans agree that the song is about a murderer who confesses his crime to his mother and is eventually caught and sentenced to death. Still there is some speculation as to the true meaning of Bohemian Rhapsody, the lyrics of which can be interpreted in several different ways. In interviews, Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen and the writer of Bohemian Rhapsody, is quoted as having said that much of the song is â€Å"random rhyming nonsense.† (Songfacts) The extremely complex vocal harmonies and guitar riffs made Bohemian Rhapsody especially difficult to perform live, so the band created a music video-- one of the earliest music videos ever created-- in order to popularize the song while avoiding playing it live for a UK television audience. In doing so they c hanged the way that music is consumed. Today music videos are considered necessary for commercial musical success, but in 1975 they were almost unheard of. The video used camera effects which were

Integrative Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Integrative Conclusion - Essay Example Throughout this process I have been consistently surprised at how much my work has taught me, and how much my present and my past tie into each other. Prior to this portfolio I had never considered why I chose the path I did for my career. At the time, it felt like I was bouncing from one situation to another, and perhaps at first I was. Certainly, my very first job was more about finding a way to earn money than it was any conscious decision. However, looking back through the eyes of experience, I am beginning to understand where the passions that drive my interests have come from. I have grown considerably from the time that I first started working to the present day, as I have worked my way through the store to my current role as the head of the Security and Loss Department. At first, my involvement in the store was relatively little. I worked on checkouts, and while I saw security doing their job, I had no involvement in them and little interest. I moved from this role because of an increasing interest in becoming more involved in the store. This eventually led me to the security department, where I felt both more comfortable. I think that as I started to work in security I was fulfilling some of my deepest passions, ones that I hadn’t fully been aware of. As I have become more involved in security, I have continued to grow, and my role has moved from being an employee under someone else’s instruction to being management myself. In my introduction essay for this portfolio, I examined my own past and how it has shaped my life. I considered the way that my life had developed, what my passions are and where I thought they came from. I chose loss prevention as a theme because it seemed the most logical. After all, loss prevention is the central focus of my job. However, it was not until I started to examine my past that I understood why I enjoyed my work so much, and where that interest and passion had sprang from. Two factors that strongly influe nced me in my younger years were my uncles’ role in law enforcement and my father, a firefighter who risked his own life to save others. These influences strongly convinced me of the value of the law, of what was right and just. I believe that these morals have resulted in me finding great satisfaction from helping others, and from working to preserve the law. I think now that it was this passion and interest that has meant I have immensely enjoyed my role in the Security and Loss department, and also driven me to become part of it in the first place. For example, I had always held a great deal of respect for my uncles and their work, and wanted to eventually become involved in something of a similar nature. This was part of the reason for wanting to do a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, but I didn’t feel that I was ready to give up my job in order to earn the degree. Hence, I am balancing the two by working on the course online, while holding my job at Be st Buy. It was also the reason that I took on an internship at the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. I hope that completing my degree will bring me a few steps closer to ultimately becoming involved in Law Enforcement, although for now I am content where I am. In my first

How the Black Plague Changed Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How the Black Plague Changed Europe - Essay Example The aristocracy wealth was based on ownership of land. The death of millions of people due to the Black Plague, therefore, meant that there was an acute shortage of labour. The peasants were particularly affected by the Black Plague because of the poor conditions in which they were living; the poor conditions coupled with close quarters in which the peasants were living provided a conducive environment for the spread of the Black Plague (The Flow of History,n.p. Web.). The shortage of labour led to drastic reduction in agricultural produce. The reduction of agricultural produce was a real disaster in the economy of medieval Europe. Apart from reduced agricultural produce, the few available peasants/labourers started demanding higher wages because the demand of their services was very high (Herlihy, 8-9). This led to increase in the cost of production of agricultural products. This in turn led to inflation because the aristocrats had to sell their produce at higher prices because of the high cost of production. Another factor that led to the inflation of the economy was the prohibitive trade measures that were instituted by some monarchs, these measures made procurement of goods through trade quite difficult (Zapotoczny, 2-3). This meant that there was insufficient supply of goods in the market leading to inflation. The crumbling of the Agricultural sector in the 14th century Europe due to the Black Plague depleted the tax base of the European states. The medieval European states were therefore forced, as it were, by the economic constraints occasioned by the Black Plague to increase taxes. The increase in taxes exacerbated the already high inflation in medieval Europe. The Black plague therefore caused economic recession in the medieval Europe. The economic recession ultimately led to complete change of economic system in Europe from Feudalism to capitalism as we shall see later in this paper. The second

Contract and Patent Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contract and Patent Law - Assignment Example public, nor its components and usage described in a publication for a period of one year before the invention, nor offered for sale for a period of one year, before the filing for a patent (Cheeseman, 2011). The other rule guiding the granting of a patent is the fact that the invention must be useful and able to perform the intended purpose. Additionally, the invention should not be exactly similar to a pre-existing product (Cheeseman, 2011). However, an improvement on a previously existing product that is non-obvious is also patentable. Thus, based on Billy’s Towrack invention, it is patentable since the invention is useful for carrying sporting equipment, it is a non-obvious improvement from the already existing tows in that it is lighter and has only the single wheel. Thus, Billy can successfully obtain a patent for this device. 2. Under the requirements of the trademark laws, a symbol, a word or a name can only be registered as a trademark if it is able to differentiate the products or services offered by one entity from those offered by others. The symbol or the name used should not be confusing to the consumers, to an extent of not knowing the difference between one product and the other (Cheeseman, 2011). Additionally, the symbols and names used should not be similar to those of an already existing product, and neither should they be deceptive on the sides of the consumers. Based on the name used by Billy for his invented device, Towrack is just but a general name, which does not serve to differentiate the device from the common ones of its kind. Thus, Billy may not obtain a trademark by using this name to identify his product, since it is not distinctive to the consumers.

Children With Cerebral Palsy and Genetic Disorder Assignment

Children With Cerebral Palsy and Genetic Disorder - Assignment Example The present research has identified that the work â€Å"Quality of life of parents of children with cerebral palsy† is a cross-sectional design with a control group. It is not experimental in the sense that cerebral palsy is inflicted on the subjects. Instead, a post-test study is apparent, where the post-results of the effects of having cerebral palsy are examined. The authors wanted to know the differences and similarities in the quality of life conditions between parents with children who have cerebral palsy and parents who have healthy children. The authors chose the right research design because they aimed to know how cerebral palsy affects the parents, instead of children with cerebral palsy per se. The author has rightly presented that through the comparative approach, they can determine these differences and similarities and make deductions from the data. Sample Size: 40 parents of children with cerebral palsy aged 6-17 years.   The control group was composed of 40 p arents of healthy children (27 mothers and 13 fathers). Sample characteristics:   They are parents of children with cerebral palsy aged 6-17 years. These children were treated at the Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation of the Medical University of Bialystok.   Their cerebral palsy conditions are as follows: spastic tetraplegia - 18 (45%), spastic hemiplegia (hemiplegia spastica) -15 (37.5%), spastic diplegia (diplegia spastica) -7 (17.5%).

United Nations and International Peace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

United Nations and International Peace - Essay Example International peace is a prerequisite to any country's progress and prosperity that determines the country's development both in terms of social and economic aspects. For decades, terrorism has been a nightmare for countries, which will collapse the economic and social set up of a country and hurdle its economic growth and development. At this juncture, the present essay is relevant as it deals with the role of United Nation's role in preserving and encouraging peace among the member countries. The essay further examines the role of the UN in monitoring and maintaining peace across the world as an international agency in the context of its powers. The essay takes a critical approach to the success and failure of UN in international peace with real examples such as Rwanda, Iraq and Kosovo. The essay is concluded with a short debate on the present role and significance of the UN to contribute to international peace. United Nations came into existence on 24 October in 1945by virtue of the Charter ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. "The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter" (Introductory Note). The day October 24 is celebrated each year all over the world as UN Day. The basic idea behind setting up of such an organization is to work for peace and development by bringing all countries together in harmony. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the a ctions of nations (Article 1). As regards the membership is concerned, the Charter states that "membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations" (Article 4). The top most official of the UN is the Secretary General and Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General, holds the position at present. The operations of the UN are regulated by different departments. A brief account of the structure of UN in general is outlined below: The General Assembly The Security Council The Economic and Social Council The Trusteeship Council The International Court of Justice The Secretariat The UN System The Role and Powers of UN in International Peace One of the main areas of concern of the UN is the preservation of world peace. International peace and harmony have been in the agenda f the UN since its inception. By signing the Charter, member states/countries undertake to take efforts to avoid crisis situations between countries and tackling of disputes by peaceful means. Since it inception, the UN has been playing a major role in helping defuse and eliminate international crisis and in resolving protracted conflicts. In its efforts to harmonize the member countries, the UN has experienced both successful and disappointing outcomes. Over the years UN efforts

Issues in Global Business and Strategic Concepts Essay

Issues in Global Business and Strategic Concepts - Essay Example The paper also recommends certain inputs which might be beneficial for the company in its future operational growth and expansion in the emerging market of India. The report portrays that the performance of the company from the past few years has not been quite impressive which has further affected its brand image as well as the trust and confidence of its investors in the global periphery. It has also been observed that poor performance of the company has been associated with some of its internal weaknesses such as uncontrollable expansion of product lines and lacuna in complying with ethical standards and consumer needs which has hampered its presence in all over the global market. ... It has been learnt that the brand image of the company has weaken and sales of the company has declined considerably owing to the competitive forces underlying the international consumer electronics industry. To be precise, in its recent operations, the company has been witnessing various issues such as branding problem, legal interventions for hacking issues and fall in share price among others. These issues affected the trust of the investors on the future performance of the company owing to which its international growth, especially in developing nations such as India, where consumer buying behaviour is highly fluctuating, has been hampered significantly. Emphasising on the current status of Sony, this study will aim to present a portfolio report on the current strategic position of Sony by analysing all the elements of its business which shall be helpful for its further expansion and growth in the Indian market. The paper would further recommend the company with some strategies t hat would be helpful for it in its expansion to an emerging market. Background Information Company Overview Sony Corporation is one of the most familiar brand names in the world today. The company mainly manufactures audio, video and information technology products for consumers all over the world. It has been noted that the prime vision of the company is to manufacture and market products based on the preferences of the customers and enable them to enjoy a new digital entertainment experience. With this concern, the company has been operating to make certain that every product it offers should be of A-grade quality as per the industry standards (Sony, 2013). Critics have often argued that the success of the company is largely due to its innovative

The Home Depot-Leadership in Crisis Management Essay Example for Free

The Home Depot-Leadership in Crisis Management Essay The Home Depot: Leadership in Crisis Management Introduction Established in 1979, The Home Depot has proved to be a leading retail company founded upon providing excellent products at competitive prices sold from knowledgeable sales representatives. Through this concept, The Home Depot has dominated both professional and do-it-yourself sales across the world. In 1992, The Home Depot was faced with a new challenge. Hurricane Andrew struck with vengeance and devastated 75,000 homes across Florida. Since 10% of The Home Depot’s stores were located in Florida, this quickly became a corporate emergency. The Home Depot stepped up to the challenge and stood behind their customers. Depot froze prices for supplies the community would need to rebuild or even sold products at costs in some cases. Then-CEO Bernie Marcus stated â€Å"This is not a time to make money on the back of other people’s misfortune† (Herman). This attitude proved prosperous for The Home Depot when profits increased 44%. With this eye opening experience, The Home Depot decided to take further actions to prepare their employees and customers for future hurricanes. Paul Raines was hired by The Home Depot and eventually was made the Divisional Leader for the Southern Region. His experience in the third world countries made him the perfect candidate to lead Depots crisis management project. When 2004 rolled around, Florida was viscously attacked with four storms in a seven week period. Through the devastation, The Home Depot utilized this period as a learning tool. The storms of 2004 developed three main â€Å"Crisis Management† concepts for The Home Depots: speed, preparedness, and chain of command. Speed was crucial for the community and The Home Depot strived to open as swiftly as possible after the storms ceased. The Home Depot stayed ahead of the storms by having a surplus of storm relief inventory, as well as workers close enough to be called upon when the major threats had passed. Finally, the employees of The Home Depot understood who was in charge and calling the shots. From these concepts a â€Å"Crisis Command Center† was born for category two hurricanes or worse. The Command Center consisted of conference rooms where representatives could meet and develop a plan of attack. With the click of a mouse they were able to determine what their customer’s main needs were. The main goal of the Command Center was to insure employee safety, re-open stores, and make sure computer systems were accurately working which included pay roll and cash registers. In 2005 the Command Center was put to the test when Hurricane Katrina attacked the Gulf Coast. The Home Depot began preparations well in advance and was ready to reopen stores as soon as possible after the storm had passed. Managers worked eighteen hours a day, which paid off when of the thirty-three stores in Katrina’s path all but ten opened the following day. With such an elaborate Command Center and well informed staff, The Home Depot was able to provide the communities with the supplies they needed to begin rebuilding their homes (Herman). In 2007, a new crisis was thrown at The Home Depot. This predicament was far more personal than any storm could ever be. Columnist Scott Burns verbally attacked The Home Depot in a published article on MSN. com. Customer service, products, inventory, and cleanliness were all under attack by disgruntled customers. In a short period of time, there were over 7,000 posts and 10,000 emails of customer complaints. Corporate Officials were outraged over the online posts. This was a delicate situation that needed to be dealt with. Official’s feared making a public statement would draw media attention to the article which had not yet been a hot topic for the television. Then CEO Frank Blake, felt he had no choice but to respond on the MSN post board. He made a lengthy apology to all disgruntled bloggers. He pleaded for all concerns to be forwarded to a private email account. He vowed to improve upon these negative insights and hoped to once again regain their trust. As Blake assumed, the media went crazy and picked up the article. Blake decided to utilize the Crisis Management plan to handle their current reputational attack (Herman). At the current time, the main issues faced by the â€Å"Command Center† were natural disasters such as hurricanes. From the Crisis Management Command Center, The Home Depot had found the key to success when handling natural disasters: speed, preparedness, and a clear chain of command. Utilizing these tools, The Home Depot had developed a great starting point for handling their Reputational Crisis. The Home Depots crisis management skills were analyzed in a SWOT analysis, which can be viewed in appendix A. In mainstream media, the public tends to remember the negative and forget the positive. Regardless of how many wonderful things The Home Depot had done for the community, the current reputational attack was going to be remembered the most. Blake’s swift response was both beneficial and harmful to The Home Depot in my opinion. I agree the Home Depot needed to respond quickly to the article; however, I feel they should have brought the media’s attention to the article through a press conference rather than by a post on a message board. If The Home Depot had made a verbal response, they could have put their own spin on the article. Blake’s apology was a good tactic which could have been carried over to a verbal response. Reputational attacks are bound to happen to major companies and The Home Depot needs to learn from this and be prepared to respond through positive publicity. Ways to accomplish this would be through donations, charity events, sales, or other generous acts which would benefit the community. These acts could help cover reputational attacks. The Home Depot also needs be prepared with the proper chain of command to respond to situations like these (Herman). Analysis: Decision Making Biases The Home Depots reputation crisis presented several decision making biases which involved crisis management situations where decisions had to be made under uncertainty. These biases included overconfidence, inertia, selective perception, representation, and self-serving biases. The overconfidence bias was based on the illusion that a company was superior to its competition, allowing the company to focus on successes and forget the situations where failures occurred. The Home Depot most likely assumed they were one step ahead of the competition. This assumption led them to believe their customers also felt The Home Depot was a superior company. Unfortunately, this was not the case and was revealed through the MSN article. The inertia bias was based upon the term procrastination which demonstrates when a projects immediate effect is unpleasant; a company will delay the project even if the long term reward outweighs the immediate negative effect. Essentially, this was a probable cause why The Home Depot postponed improving upon customer service, products, inventory, and cleanliness before it was attacked by the media. The Home Depot also likely encountered the selective perception bias. This bias focuses on instances where a company was influenced by its own base of interpretation more than the environment around them. In simplistic terms, The Home Depot had tunnel vision and was not focusing on the needs of their customers. The representation bias also applies to crisis management when companies ignore the laws of random occurrences and evaluate the likelihood of an event (social disaster such as the reputation attack on The Home Depot) based on how closely they resemble some other event (natural disaster for instance). Lastly, but not least, the self-serving bias focuses on situations where a company takes recognition for successes but blame external factors for failures. The Home Depot could have easily gone down this path with its reputation crisis, but it stood up to its own mistakes and faced the issue head on (Lehrer). Analysis: Crisis Leadership Now As discussed in the introduction, The Home Depot’s Disaster Management plan was based on three concepts which included speed, preparedness, and a clear chain of command. Throughout the years, The Home Depot proved their Disaster Management plan worked for various tragedies encountered by the company. Their methods have fallen right in line with approaches mentioned in the book, Crisis Leadership Now. Within this book, it states â€Å"If businesses are ready to survive and recover, the nation our economy are more secure† (Barton). The Home Depot was prepared and wasn’t afraid to get involved. The Home Depot’s Disaster Management plan also went along with the material within the Crisis Leadership Now, by showing The Home Depot practiced the idea that a company can best shield itself not just by assuming it’s protected, but by investigating deeper into potential problems and exposures. Along with that, The Home Depot was also promoting family and individual preparedness for disasters. Home Depot’s latest crisis involving the company’s reputation dealt with managing a crisis and handling key stakeholders. With such a public outcry for improvement, a quick response was needed to keep control of the situation. Crisis Leadership Now explains an â€Å"8 hour window† concept where â€Å"If you can capture what has happened, who is impacted, and how you intend to communicate your response with a clear plan of action within 8 hours, you have the foundation for an excellent recovery plan† (Barton). I believe The Home Depot followed this concept in formalizing a response on the MSN. com message board. The question which arises however is whether or not they should have carried the company’s response over to a verbal reply that would have appealed to more dissatisfied customers. Analysis: Managing the Unexpected The Home Depot’s Disaster Management Plan also follows several principles for HRO’s (high reliability organizations) that were laid out in the book â€Å"Managing the Unexpected†. There are a total of 5 principles which include: 1. Preoccupation with Failure – Do not focus primarily on business successes. 2. Reluctance to Simplify Interpretations – See as much as possible and welcome diversity. 3. Sensitivity to Operations – Be more attentive to the front line and be less focused on strategy. 4. Commitment to Resilience –Have the ability to bounce back after mistakes and learn from them. 5. Deference to Expertise – Do not focus expertise decisions on a hierarchical system where the top level makes all decisions. Place authority with person(s) with most expertise wherever they are located in the hierarchy. Weick) It is in my opinion that The Home Depot closely followed all five of the principles above. The two that stand out the most to me are the company’s â€Å"Commitment to Resilience† and â€Å"Deference to Expertise†. The Home Depot’s commitment to resilience can easily be seen over the years where the company produced a quick turn around after major natural disasters, as well as their response after the company’s latest reputational crisis Also, the company’s deference to expertise can be seen as top executives gave more power to the individual store managers. The executives realized that the specific store managers had more expertise for the individual store location than executives did. The fact that The Home Depot closely follows all five of the principles stated above shows that the company is a highly reliable organization (Weick). Conclusion The Home Depot has become an industry leader in Crisis Management. They continue to learn from their mistakes as well as from experience. The Home Depot should keep in mind there is always room for improvement. The key is not only to have plans set in place for natural disasters, but also for disasters such as reputational attacks. The Home Depot should continue to prepare for all sorts of tragedies. This will only insure their longevity in the field, as well as reassure customers of their core values. The Home Depot should rejoice in their successes and embrace their faults when trying to improve. Negative publicity will always be a concern for such a large company, but with a secure plan of attack, The Home Depot will continue to lead the way for home improvement.

The Life Of Adoor Gopalakrishnan Film Studies Essay

The Life Of Adoor Gopalakrishnan Film Studies Essay Moutatthu Adoor Gopalakrishnan Unnithan is a National Award winning Indian film director, script writer, and producer. Adoor Gopalakrishnan had a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema. Adoor Gopalakrishnan first film Ones Own Choice (1972) pioneered the new wave cinema movement in Kerala. Over the last 40 years Gopalakrishnan has made films, short films, plays and documentaries in the Malayalam language spoken in the Kerala state located in the south west corner of India. All the 11 films he directed, from Ones Own Choice (1972) to A Climate for Crime (2008), were screened at several International film festivals and won him several National and International awards. He won National Film Awards fifteen times, Kerala State Film Awards seventeen times and also won several International Film Awards. He won the prestigious British Film Institute award for The Rat Trap (1981). Adoor Gopalakrishnan received the Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2006. The Nation honored Adoor for his valuable contributions to Indian cinema by awarding him the highest cinema award of India, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2004. He is one among the very few Indian film makers who are well known in the international film fraternity. (Razdan ) During the 1970s a revitalized movement for good cinema called parallel cinema started in Kerala with Adoor Gopalakrishnan leading the cause. Parallel Cinema is an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times. A neo-realist film director by definition Adoor films tend to be much more than that. He involves the audience allowing them to become part of the film rather than just spectators. Adoors films and the characters in them are derived from real people and real situations. He uses his films to address underlying social problems presented in his home state of Kerala. Nothing is sugar coated, only the real stories of common social problems and how these problems affect people in their daily lives. His films dont necessarily try to solve these problems, but show the viewers the sacrifices and hardships those problems present to people that because of different social classes the viewers might not be aware of. By watching other peoples struggles, Adoor lets his audience experience and learn from these life struggles in hopes that the viewers wont repeat some of the mistakes that were made. Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been known as a director who completely dictates every fine detail of his films. From cinematography to acting, Adoor molds each frame of his films, inviting viewers to experience and discover new levels of thinking while still addressing the key overtone of the plot of his film. On the performance of actors in his movies, he stated that It is not the artists job to do the detailing. I do not want different interpretations of roles that may clash with each other. It has to be absolutely unified. According to Adoor in movies, the actor is not performing to the audience like the stage actor. Here they are acting for me. I am the audience and I will decide whether it is correct or not, enough or not. (Panicker) The film, Ones own choice (1972) is a film that portrays the middle class of Kerala as it transitions to a more modernist society. The emphasis of the film shows the economic and social crisis that young couples endure while trying to make a life for themselves. In the beginning there happy and together but as life plays out there world is turned upside down and in the end all we see is a woman, distraught, alone and overwhelmed starring into a unknown future by herself and her small child. This was the 1st feature film that Adoor directed and it went on to win many national and international awards. The film, Four Women (2009) tells the tales of four women in modern India. Each woman had their own roles in the film: the virgin, spinster, prostitute, and house wife. There is no real plot associated with this film or any type of closure enabling the Adoor to focus the viewers attention to the individual stories of the women. Each woman has her own social status in the film and their stories reflect their perspective in regards to their status during the time that they lived in. This film tends to show male domination of the women, but also gives way to a feminist rebellion brewing in each woman. Yet the film is not feminist in nature, since Adoor Gopalakrishnan is more concerned in portraying the era and the fine details it holds regarding the rituals and patterns of society than just to present a story regarding the power and will of womanhood. Irrespective of the fact, that he took his liberties in exercising what should be seen and what remains unseen and what remained- the ear thly nature of the film, which in all due, is as much powerful to what is portrayed (the role and growth of the woman). These women understand their roles, but are starting to believe that they can be something better. The film puts an emphasis on what constitutes living a life or just going through the motions of life. These women want to be something more than their social class structure allows them to be and without forgetting there place, they strive to be more than they are or at last dream they are. (Nitesh) Shadow Kill (2002) is the story of a hangman, Kaliyappan. The executioner is unhappy due to the guilt attached to his means of earning income. He realizes that the executions that he often carries out are a result of politics and not justice. To cleanse himself of the guilt, the King issues a pardon in the form of a clemency order, which deliberately arrives a few minutes after the hanging. However, Kaliyappan has no way to absolve himself from the guilt. As times change, the hangings grow increasingly few and far between. One day Kaliyappan receives orders to prepare for another hanging, which is due to take place in a couple of days. Kaliyappans preparations include rigorous prayers and penance; yet as the day draws closer, he becomes more and more perturbed. Just before the execution, Kaliyappan sits down with his friends for a traditional drink. To pass time, one of them starts telling a story about a young girl who was raped and murdered. As the story proceeds Kaliyappan begins to imagine the young victim to be his own daughter. The overpowering thoughts completely shatter his mental framework and he is unable to perform the execution. In this film Adoor shows the audience what its like to live in someone elses shoes. Would we make the same mistakes or come to the same reasoning as Kaliyappan did? As human beings are our lives controlled by fate or do we have control of what happens around us? These are some of the questions that after watching this movie become apparent. Adoor gives the viewers the opportunity to face these questions through the eyes of the Kaliyappan. The Rat Trap (1981) is a film about a middle-aged rural landowner, who has never had to do a thing for himself, loses the female relatives who wait on him, one after another, and watches helplessly as his estate, already ravaged by thefts and mismanagement, falls into decay. With his only known life in ruins he completely withdrawals to himself and becomes completely self absorbed, incapable of caring or showing any response to change. He is trapped in his own life. Instead of trying to find a way out he simply gives up all hope and does nothing. He is a man caught in a trap or as the movie title suggests a Rat Trap. This film went on to win many International awards and won the coveted Sutherland trophy at the 1982 London Film Festival. Adoor Gopalakrishnan films are drawn from real people, real lives. His cinema manages to frame details that often escape our everyday glance, turning the mundane into the magical, the commonplace into the startling. Adoors characters are extraordinarily varied. A couple living in defiance of society, trying to make ends meet; a rootless, rustic man unaware of his responsibilities; an ex-revolutionary wasting himself, sleeping and eating and drinking, much to the disgust of his old comrades; and a prostitute discovering love only to be separated from her lover by the guardians of society. He invites his viewers to open their minds to different experiences and life lessons that each character presents. As Adoor stated in an interview at the London Film Festival Ideas come from life, what you have been living through and what you have observed. Creativity defies simple definitions and explanations. The mysterious and unknown element of it is what make it ever exciting and interesting. (Bhaskaran) His work has motivated a new generation of film-makers to use their medium in bold new ways and to explore traditionally forbidden topics. Adoor Gopalakrishnan films are about humanity and what experiences we learn through living. He doesnt give the answers but his films guide us as viewers to an understanding that unfamiliar or uncertain aspects of life are just that, a part of life, which we can learn and grow from.

Strategic Personnel Considerations Human Resources

Strategic Personnel Considerations Human Resources Introduction This report critically analysis all the issues affecting the organisation to enter into an international market. Many companies like Proctor Gamble, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MS, Tesco are moving towards the global market because revenue maximization. IHRM is an integral part of the Human resource management. Human Resource Management (HRM), is the process of policies and practices which involved in carrying out the people or human resource aspects of a management position which includes recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising, (Dessler, 2008). When companies are operating their businesses out of the national boundaries than it is becomes the multinational enterprises. Multinational companies are the firms that are headquartered in one country but have operations in one or more other countries, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p.7). Some of the major multinational companies are Wal-Mart (US), BP (UK), Exxon Mobil (US), General Motors (US) or Toyota (Japan). The reasons for going in the international market are to create an economic integration and increase the market share and companies are using different international entry methods like mergers or acquisitions, joint-ventures, franchising to gain the competitive advantages in the international market. However, there are some challenges in the international market such as the cultural differences, diversity in the workplace or the pressures from the rules and regulations of the government and the trade unions. International HRM deals with all of these issues regarding the management of human capital in an international context. International HRM is the process of selecting, training and developing and compensating personnel in overseas positions, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 354). There are some challenging factors in the global work environment such as cultural diversity at the workplace and thats why the compensation practices may vary from one country to another and employment laws and regulations will be differ from one country to another as well. The strategic role of HRM in an international context will also be different than in the domestic firms. The strategic role of HRM is complex enough in a purely domestic firm, but is more complex in an international market, where profound differences between countries in labour market, culture, legal systems, economic systems and the complicate staffing, management and development, performance evaluation and compensation activities, (Hill, 2009, p.626) The main approaches to IHRM can be ethnocentric, polycentric or geocentric depending on the nature of the country and its cultural background. In an ethnocentric approach there is a belief that ones own way of doing things is superior to that of others and it can be a major challenge for the IHRM. Ethnocentrism can be a major challenge for international HRM and these challenges include recognising differences, combining the advantages from different styles and approaches, adjusting and adapting to succeed with different people in different partnerships in different markets, (Rugman, et al., p. 134). In an ethnocentric firm, the top management will dominate the employees working for the organisation. Ethnocentric firms are where top management is dominated by home-country nationals and procedures and management styles that are transferred from the head office and imposed on regional subsidiaries in place of local ways of doing things, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p.147). On the other hand, the polycentric firms are looking likes a semi-autonomous organisation where restriction will put in some of the departments and other departments may not be influenced by restricted rules. This act like a federation of semi-autonomous organisations with financial controls or strict reporting structures holding them together and subsidiaries are able to reflect the local cultural norms, and headquarters appreciates the need for different organisations designs, procedural norms, reward systems etc. as long as profits flow to the centre, (Collinson, et al., 2009, p. 147). Furthermore, the geocentric organisations are seen to be an ideal, collaborative and meritocratic form of global organisation for example, Unilever. It includes an equal sharing of power and responsibility between headquarters and subsidiary, senior management promoted according to the ability rather than nationality and subsidiaries that share worldwide objectives with managers focusing beyond national market interests, (Collinson, et al., 2009, p. 147). Furthermore, it is required to have a business strategy when operating in the international market. The role of IHRM is to fulfil the objective of the business level strategy and fulfil the corporate strategy. Corporate strategy is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a mission statement, (Johnson, et al., 2008) The objective of this report is to identify the different issues which are affecting in the international HRM and the ways of overcoming the challenges of IHRM. This report critically analysis and evaluates all the factors related to the IHRM in an international context. Main Body Previously people management was related to the managing people within the organisation but they never treated as resources. Human resource policies should be integrated with the strategic business planning because strategic HRM is emphasizing the integration of the HR policies with both one another with the business planning, (Keith Sisson, 1990). There is a strategic significance of the HRM in the international market. Strategic HRM thinks people as most important asset and it deals with the improvement of human resources. People are the most important asset and the people management is the responsibility of everyone and far too important to be left to personnel managers. It follows that HRM needs to be owned by line managers and by senior managers and by implication is too important to be left to personnel managers, (Guest, 1991). HR managers need to implement the policies strategically in order to manage their people and to gain the competitive advantages. International Training and Development: Training and development is an important aspect of IHRM. Training means the process of teaching new employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs, (Dessler, 2008, p-294). The difference between the local training and development and the international training and development is to get more experiences from the international market. Many companies like IBM, Microsoft are sending their in different counties to get the international knowledge and experiences. Challenges of IHRM: The challenges of HRM include the standardisation and adaptation of work practices of different countries. HRM in the host country context standardisation and adaption of work practices such as IHRM are using some of the strategies of making the standardisation such as language training, cultural adaptation and competitive compensation. One of the major aspects of IHRM is the adaptability which is an individuals ability to adapt a cultural change. It is important for the HR managers to adapt along with the different cultures if they want to run their business in an international context. The degree of integration of policies within the local country such as the degree of integration of policies within the local country will depend on the self-reliance, age, experience and education and health and family status. HRM implications of language standardisation like there are some HRM implications of language standardisation of HRM by the local companies by language learning. Learning the local language can be helpful because it will help the managers to learn and understand the languages of the colleagues and help to increase the performance of the organisation. Integration between IHRM Strategy and Business Strategy: It is important to maintain the integration between the IHRM strategies with the business strategy. There are some strategies which will help to make an adjustment between the IHRM and the business strategy such as the transition strategies. Transition strategies are designed to help smooth movement from foreign to domestic assignments, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 358). Some of the other strategies which are affecting the IHRM are the following:- Repatriation agreement: This agreement will tell how long a person will stay in an overseas place. It is an agreement that spells out how long a person will be posted overseas and sets for the type of job that will be given to the person upon returning, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 358). Rent or maintain the expatriates home during the overseas tour: under this agreement the company can reduce the financial burden for the managers who went for a particular place over a tree-year to four-year plans. Both Union Carbide and the Aluminum Company of America have such arrangements which is used to reduce to financial burden, (Rugman, et al., p. 359). Assign a senior executive as a sponsor for every manager posted abroad: some of the companies put some senior executives when every manager went to visit in different places. This ensures that there is someone looking after each expatriate and ensuring that his or her performance, compensation and career path are on track. When the expatriate is schedule to return home, the sponsor begins working internally to ensure a suitable position, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 359). Many companies like IBM and Carbide use this form of the mentoring process. Maintaining the on-going communications with expatriate managers: this strategy will ensure and let the managers know what is happening in the home country. it will ensure that what is happening in the local office and if they are scheduled to be home on leave for any extended period of time, the company works them into projects at headquarters and in this way they can maintain their visibility at headquarters and increase the likelihood that are viewed as regular members of the management staff rather than the outsiders, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 359) The impact of IHRM effects on culture: Culture is a major aspect of International HRM where there are some challenges in the cultural diversity in the workplace. Corporate culture is the shared values, traditions, customs, philosophy and policies of a corporation also the professional atmosphere that grows from this and affects behaviour and performance, (Rugman, et al., p. 132). Managing the cross culture arises from the international market situation where the managers from the international patent company need to understand the local employees from the host country and it may require different organisations structure and HRM procedures. Because of globalisation there is an impact of cultural diversity in the work place. People from different countries are working together or they are moving from one place to another place more easily because of this globalisation. To manage this cultural diversity HR managers can use Hofstedes cultural dimension in the national cultures such as the following:- Power distance: The cultural differences can be understood by the cultural difference among the two countries. This refers to the extent to which people in a particular culture accept and expect that power in institutions and organisations is, and should be distributed unequally, (Edwards Rees, 2010). Uncertainty avoidance: Another important element of understanding the cultural differences is the uncertainty avoidance. This indicates the extent to which people in a culture feel nervous or threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and hence create institutions and rules to try to avoid them, (Edward Rees, 2010) Individualism/collectivism: It will determine the nature of the culture in any particular country. In an individual culture people tend to look after their own interests and those of their immediate family, whereas in collectivist culture there is a tighter social framework in which each person respects the group to which he or she belongs, (Edward Rees, 2010) Masculinity/femininity: Depending on the masculinity or femininity structure the culture will be different. In a masculine culture the dominant values are said to be ambition, assertiveness, performance and the acquisition of money and material objects, where as in a so-called feminine culture values such as the quality of life, maintaining personal relationships and care for the weak and the environment are emphasized, (Edward Rees, 2010). Time orientation: Finally, the time orientation will determine the cultural influences in any country. originally termed as confusion dynamism and this is related to the time horizons that people in different cultures are oriented towards with some looking several years ahead in declining upon particular courses of action whilst others are more generated to the shorter term, (Edward Rees, 2010) It is important to understand the cultural diversity at the workplace and manage them accordingly and Hofstedes cultural dimension will help the HRM manager to make the decisions. The concept of an expatriate can help the international organization to expand their market operations in different countries and to gain the competitive advantages. An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the persons upbringing or legal residence, (Mercer, 1996). The role of an expatriate is to change the shape of the cultural influence by living on that particular place. Resourcing Strategy in IHRM: Resourcing strategy in IHRM deals with the all the issues related to the management of human resources. It considers the consequences of international cultures on employee performance and welfare and explores the consequences (such as diversity issues) of the various employee resourcing options, for example: hiring local staff vs. international appointments. It also examines training and development in an international environment and the complexities of multinational reward management practice, (www.koganpage.com, 2010). Understanding the resourcing strategy can help to gain the competitive advantages in the international market. Recruitment of Labour Market: One of the major challenges for the multinational companies is the varying demand of the organised demand of the labour around the world. Because of national differences the nature of economic, political and legal systems can create a variety of labour relations systems and strategy. In managing labour relations the most multinational companies use a combination of centralization and decentralization with some decision being made on headquarters and others being handled by the mangers on site, (Colinson, et al., 2009, p. 366). For example, US companies are exercising more centralized management control and close reporting system and UK and EU companies are more decentralized and less control on the reporting system and flexible management control. Understanding the labour market is an important aspect of the IHRM and companies need to consider the labour market relations with the companys goals and objectives. Labour relations practices vary widely in the international arena, for example, union-management relations and industry democracy approaches are different throughout the Europe and these dramatically differ from those in Japan, (Rugman, et al., 2009, p. 377) Labour market can support the international organisations by decreasing the labour costs because in some countries the labour costs are lower than the other countries and it will help to gain the competitive advantages as well. A strong relationship between the labour market and the international organisation will help to gain the competitive advantages in the global market. Legislation: Understanding the labour legislation in the international market is required to make an effective IHRM activities, in an international market such as labour laws, rules and regulations from the labour union imposed in any particular countries, compensation and payment activities based on the international laws and regulation etc. According the porters generic strategies the IHM can make the profit either by cost leadership or a differentiation strategy. Cultural awareness: One of the major aspects of International HRM is to understand the cultural differences in different countries such as the cultural difference and the cross-culture influences among the people living on those places. IHRM should take a lead in the development of organisations intercultural competence as well as in managing groups and teams, (Tung, 2008). The growing concern about the cross cultural activities includes the awareness of culture by learning making a suitable multicultural environment where people from different cultural background will work together as a cross-cultural perspective. Political dimension: Because of globalisation companies are moving towards the global business environment because of revenue generation and expansion of market share in the emerging market. The political dimensions towards the international markets are growing but there are some risks associated with the international business. The different political risks are affecting the firms such as political philosophies in different countries made by the local government, social unrest, terrorism or arm conflict, rising nationalism, competing between the religious groups or the newly created international alliances, (Collinson, et al., 2009, p. 392). In contrast, the careful planning and implementation of HR planning can help the HR managers to reduce the political risk in the internal market. Conclusion: International HRM is a challenging issue in modern business environment and the HR managers need to carefully implement those policies and procedures related to the IHRM. The role of HR managers is to adopt the new cultural diversity and employee diversity in the workplace. It can be done by the training and development activities and employee empowerment. Employee empowerment can help the organisation to increase the profit and to get the competitive advantages by the use of flexible working team and rewarding the employees who made a big contribution in getting the results. International recruitment policy making need to be effective by selecting the employees from different locations such as outsourcing or offshoring for example, Unilever and PG are one of the most successful organisation for making the outsourcing activities in the world market, (Edward Rees, 2009). Furthermore the international compensation plan needs to be in line with the countrys rules and regulations and government policies and procedures. The concept of competitive compensation can be a solution for the international HR managers to overcome the challenges in the global market. Finally, globalisation is affecting the HRM in different ways and the managers role is to fit them according to the requirements of the company. The overall objectives of an organisation are to maximize their profit and the HR managers need to be concerned about fulfilment of the companys goals and objectives. Some of the limitations need to be considered when making this essay such as the limited amount of sources of information in an international country and the limited accessibility of the sources of information. However, this essay can give an idea about the IHRM and their uses and disadvantages in the international context.

Narrative Essay -- essays research papers

Narrative Essay problems with format It was a normal Friday in March except for the fact that I got my license. So my friends and I thought about what we were going to do now that I have my license. Well, we cruised around town thinking we were hot stuff and that we were better that most kids in school since I had my license before many of my friends. We decided that we'd go off-roading since I had the huge truck. It was a hunter green 1979 Ford F-250 Custom. It had huge 33-inch tires, a loud crackling exhaust, and a unique 2-inch thick oak plank flatbed. It really was a beast. So we roared around the backroads hitting bumps and flying into fields just causing a little mischief not doing too much harm. After a week of horsing around in the truck, we became quite bored. So we decided to do something else. We sat around pondering what to do, nothing really came to mind. So my friends and I decided to go to a girl in our class's birthday party at the local recreation center. So on the way to the party we contemplated what we'd do afterward. My friend Chris brought to our attention the he just bought a brand new paintball gun. So with that in mind, we decided that we'd cruise around after the party and shoot houses with it. So we went to the party. We danced, talked with friends, flirted around with the girls, and had an all-around good time. So at the party we discussed who and where we'd go shoot the paintballs. We unanimously chose to shoot a girl's house that we really disliked. Till this day, neither of us knows why we dislike her. But anyway, Shannon Everett was her name and her house was the target. So as the party came to a close, Chris, Sise, and I sprinted to the truck excited about the attack on Shannon's house. We speeded to Chris's house so he and Sise could change and to get the Trracer, the beautiful new gun. While waiting for them, I could only feel the adrenaline pump in my body. As Sise and Chris pounced down the stairs, Cathy, Chris's mom asked why we were all dressed in black at 10 :30 at night. She asked what kind of mischief we were going to cause tonight. We just snickered and said we were going up to my house for a nice friendly game of Night Capture the Flag. Little did she know that what we were doing was nothing of the sort. So Sise and I meandered to the truck while Chris scurried off behind the house. A couple seconds later we sa... ...s wrong what I did. He then informed me that he had the State Police investigation called off. I was like, you had an investigation on us, damn. So afterwards, I hung up and called Sise and told him the story on what to do. He too agreed to call right away and apologize since I mentioned the State Police investigation. After that, I called Chris to see what was up. Turned out that our mischief and lying cost him a month of groundation, no phone privileges no paintball gun for 3 months, and no driving with me school for the rest of the year. Even though he got into a lot of trouble, I was scot free, and so was Sise. My parents didn't find out till my senior year when were shooting the word about paintball gun crimes in our area. Chris and I were there and stated that we made the precedent of the Lehighton Paintball Militia. We then explained what and when we did it. Still the troubling question of how Mrs. Everett found out was on all our minds. Turned out that my cousin Derek ove rheard us at the party talking about our little attack and decided to rat us out. Till this day, we still mention about the incident and bust on Derek for ratting us out and we know never to do this again

Nursing Diagnosis Essay -- Clinical Reasoning Cycle

J.P., a 58 year old female, presents to the Emergency Room on March 18th. She has a past medical history of cervical cancer, atheroembolism of the left lower extremity, fistula of the vagina, peripheral vascular disease, neuropathy, glaucoma, GERD, depression, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and sickle cell anemia. She complains of right lower extremity pain accompanied by fatigue, a decreased appetite, increased work of breathing, burning on urination, and decreased urine output for three days. On admission, a complete physical assessment was performed along with a blood and metabolic panel. The assessment revealed many positive and negative findings. J.P. was positive for dyspnea and a productive cough. She also was positive for dysuria and hematuria, but negative for flank pain. After close examination of her integumentary and musculoskeletal system, the examiner discovered a shiny firm shin on the right lower extremity with +2 edema complemented by severe pain. A set of baseline vitals were also performed revealing a blood pressure of 124/80, pulse of 87 beats per minute, oxygen saturation of 99%, temperature of 97.3 degrees Fahrenheit, and respiration of 12 breaths per minute. The blood and metabolic panel exposed several abnormal labs. A red blood cell count of 3.99, white blood cell count of 22.5, hemoglobin of 10.9, hematocrit of 33.7%, sodium level of 13, potassium level of 3.1, carbon dioxide level of 10, creatinine level of 3.24, glucose level of 200, and a BUN l evel of 33 were the abnormal labs. After a thorough examination, J.P. was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). â€Å"DVT develops most often in the legs but can occur also in the upper arms†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Due t... ...diagnoses that cause physical pain, but also problems that can cause emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial trauma. After the implementation of the stated interventions, the patient made physical and emotional progress towards the aforementioned goals. The above goals were not only met, but exceeded expectations of the patient and the nurses who provided care. Works Cited Ackley, B. & Ladwig, G. (2010) Nursing diagnosis handbook:an evidence based guide to planning care. Maryland Heights, MO: Mosbey. Ignatavicius, D. D., & Workman, M. L. (2013). Care of Intraoperative Patients. Medical-surgical nursing: patient-centered collaborative care (7th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier. Taylor, C. (2011). Introduction to Nursing. Fundamentals of nursing: the art and science of nursing care (7th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

The search for self in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye :: essays research papers

Search for self in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone wants to know who they are, and why they were put here. People often wonder about their futures and what kind of person they really are. In the novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye, both of the protagonists, despite the different settings, the other characters, their restrictions and the different people that they are, are searching for the same thing - themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a timeless tale of a young boy who escapes his society that keeps trying to â€Å"sivilise† him and retreats down the Mississippi river with a runaway slave. On his journey he meets many different kinds of people on the banks of the river, some bad and some good, they all help Huck on his journey to self discovery. Catcher in the Rye is a story of a young boy named Holden who leaves his prep school in New York and ventures alone into the city. On his journey he meets a number of people. Holden is quite cynical and he denigrates nearly everyone he meets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Set in pre-civil war America, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place along the Mississippi river. As Huckleberry travels along it he learns lessons about life, society and most importantly; himself. Surrounded by a world of prejudice and racism, Huck is forced to learn to make decisions on his own. He is able to learn from the imperfections in the rest of the world as he views them. While on the river, Huck and Jim are at peace. The river symbolizes freedom for both Jim and Huck. The river is Jim’s path to freedom from slavery, and it is Huck’s freedom from society. When Jim and Huck journey onto the banks of the river they see the inhumanity to man that goes on in the world. This juxtaposition of the river and the land help emphasize the peacefulness of the river in comparison to the crazy society on land. Huck learns to think for himself, and tries not to conform to the ways of the people on the land. Although the world that he lives in teaches him to be a racist, his journey down the river teaches him to use his own mind, and find out what he really believes in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York city is the setting for this more contemporary novel, yet it has many similarities to the older, more timeless Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Once More to the Lake

During his vacation White notices that although the arrival to the lake was deferent, as well as the boats which were on the lake, the lake Itself had not changed at all. The commute to the lake had changed from what E. B. White had originally experienced as a child. The trip to the lake was now a completely new experience. Originally, getting to the lake was a long, highly anticipated Journey, starting with the train station and loading luggage onto horse buggies which would take them on a ten mile trip leading to the lake. The anticipation would grow as the carriage got closer to the lake.Coming over the last hill to see the lake and other campers cheering for your arrival was full of excitement. Now, there was no train station and there was no carriage ride. The excitement had been diminished by the newer paved road which led to within one half mile of the lake. The road now was the cause of campers to pull right up to their camp and unload in a quick amount of time and without be ing detected by fellow campers. Another change which had transpired was the updates of the camp Itself. The path to the lake was not the only one that had changed through the years.Walking three tracks in the road, but two. There used to be a middle track that was made by the horses pulling the carriages of people to dinner at the restaurant. Now, the path no longer was one for horses. Also, the store's parking lot used to be dirt and gravel, but is now paved for customers driving their cars to buy â€Å"manufactured drinks† rather than the root beer and birch beer White would buy when he was a child. Change was expected by E. B. White, but the one change he did not enjoy was the motor boats cruising across the water of the lake.Their newer designs with the outboard motors were unsettling to White and disturbed the peacefulness of the lake. The older boats had an inboard motor which was a much softer, relaxing sound which aided in the relaxation of a summer vacation. Even the way the boats were operated had changed as well. The older boats were not equipped with reverse, so landing the boat at the dock required a more sense of confidence, so you didn't crash into the dock with a speedy approach. Though there were many changes, one thing had not changed and that is the lake itself.Through all the changes E. B. White still managed to grasp the feeling that time had not really passed by because the lake remained the same to him. It is the one thing that kept people returning. The smells of the lake, the activities done by people on the lake, the fish that swam in its water, the people and the people too all had remained as White once knew it. He is fishing with his son at one point and a dragonfly lands on the end of his fishing pole and he describes that moment as if no mime had passed since he went fishing with his own dad as a boy.Even the paddle boat they were fishing from was the same color and had the same details as he remembered as if it were the e xact boat he paddled in before. One of the afternoons of their week-long stay a thunderstorm came and sent everyone returning to their camp. There White watched the storm come in Just as he had before. It was a fascinating spectacle for him to see the lightning, hear the thunder, and watch the rain fall on the lake as the storm moved on. As the storm left, people would come ace out to the lake in their swimsuits to swim in the rain. Once More to the Lake During his vacation White notices that although the arrival to the lake was deferent, as well as the boats which were on the lake, the lake Itself had not changed at all. The commute to the lake had changed from what E. B. White had originally experienced as a child. The trip to the lake was now a completely new experience. Originally, getting to the lake was a long, highly anticipated Journey, starting with the train station and loading luggage onto horse buggies which would take them on a ten mile trip leading to the lake. The anticipation would grow as the carriage got closer to the lake.Coming over the last hill to see the lake and other campers cheering for your arrival was full of excitement. Now, there was no train station and there was no carriage ride. The excitement had been diminished by the newer paved road which led to within one half mile of the lake. The road now was the cause of campers to pull right up to their camp and unload in a quick amount of time and without be ing detected by fellow campers. Another change which had transpired was the updates of the camp Itself. The path to the lake was not the only one that had changed through the years.Walking three tracks in the road, but two. There used to be a middle track that was made by the horses pulling the carriages of people to dinner at the restaurant. Now, the path no longer was one for horses. Also, the store's parking lot used to be dirt and gravel, but is now paved for customers driving their cars to buy â€Å"manufactured drinks† rather than the root beer and birch beer White would buy when he was a child. Change was expected by E. B. White, but the one change he did not enjoy was the motor boats cruising across the water of the lake.Their newer designs with the outboard motors were unsettling to White and disturbed the peacefulness of the lake. The older boats had an inboard motor which was a much softer, relaxing sound which aided in the relaxation of a summer vacation. Even the way the boats were operated had changed as well. The older boats were not equipped with reverse, so landing the boat at the dock required a more sense of confidence, so you didn't crash into the dock with a speedy approach. Though there were many changes, one thing had not changed and that is the lake itself.Through all the changes E. B. White still managed to grasp the feeling that time had not really passed by because the lake remained the same to him. It is the one thing that kept people returning. The smells of the lake, the activities done by people on the lake, the fish that swam in its water, the people and the people too all had remained as White once knew it. He is fishing with his son at one point and a dragonfly lands on the end of his fishing pole and he describes that moment as if no mime had passed since he went fishing with his own dad as a boy.Even the paddle boat they were fishing from was the same color and had the same details as he remembered as if it were the e xact boat he paddled in before. One of the afternoons of their week-long stay a thunderstorm came and sent everyone returning to their camp. There White watched the storm come in Just as he had before. It was a fascinating spectacle for him to see the lightning, hear the thunder, and watch the rain fall on the lake as the storm moved on. As the storm left, people would come ace out to the lake in their swimsuits to swim in the rain.

Online railway reservation project Essay

Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Objective 1.2 Product Scope 2. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION 2.1 Requirement Analysis 2.2 Requirement Specification 3. SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS SPECIFICATION 3.1 External Interface Requirements 3.1.1 Hardware Requirements 3.1.2 Software Requirements 3.1.3 Display Mode 3.2 Project Description 3.2.1 Performance 3.2.2 Reliability 3.2.3 Availability 3.2.4 Security 3.2.5 Maintainability 3.2.6 Portability 4. Design and Technical Specification 4.1 Context Diagram 4.2 Data Flow Diagrams 4.3 Data Dictionary 4.4 ER diagram 4.5 Table Description 4.6 Architectural Diagram 5. Code Development 5.1 Flowchart 5.2 Component Level Design(Pseudo Code) 6. Testing Document 6.1 Black Box Testing with Test case design 6.2 White Box Testing 6.2.1 Flow graph 6.2.2 Independent Paths 6.2.3 Cyclomatic Complexity 7. Project Management 7.1 Function Point and Effort 7.2 Schedule 7.3 Risk Table 7.4 Timeline Charts 8. Best Practices for Software Development 9. References Introduction This project aims at development of an Online Railway Reservation Utility which facilitates the Railway customers to manage their reservations online, and the Railway administrators to modify the backend databases in a User-Friendly manner. The Customers are required to register on the server for getting access to the database and query result retrieval. Upon registration, each user has an account which is essentially the ‘view level’ for the customer. The account contains comprehensive information of the user entered during registration and permits the customer to get access to his past reservations, enquire about travel fare and availability of seats, make afresh reservations, update his account details, etc. The Railway Administrator is the second party in the transactions. The administrator is required to login using a master password, once authenticated as an administrator, one has access and right of modification to all the information stored in the database at the server. This includes the account information of the customers, attributes and statistics of stations, description of the train stoppages and physical  description of coaches, all the reservations that have been made, etc. The railway administrator has the right to modify any information stored at the server database. The Indian Railways have been described as the best way to travel through India, as it is only a train journey that can truly help you connect with the country and its people. The Indian Railways have been divided into different zones namely: The Central Indian Railways Eastern Indian Railways Western Indian Railways Northern Indian Railways Southern Indian Railways The Indian Railways were divided under these categories to facilitate management and functionality and even though the booking system for Indian Railways is centrally computerised, managing such a huge network can be challenging and hence the Indian Railways decided to introduce online railway reservation to make booking train tickets easier and more convenient. To take advantage of the Indian Railways online railway reservation users need to go to the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd) website (https://www.irctc.co.in), in addition to making bookings one can check the status of departing and arriving trains, train itineraries, ticket accessibility, postponing and cancelling railway bookings, make tatkal reservations, Indian Railways time table among others. The special benefits of using the online railway reservation facility is that passengers can reserve their tickets from the comfort of their home or office without having to stand in long queues at railway stations or having to take the trouble to go to a travel agent. An online railway reservation can be done up to 90 days before your desired date of departure, but it is advised to plan your journey way ahead as the availability of tickets can be difficult, especially during vacation and wedding season. An online railway reservation can be made right till the final reservation  chart is made, that is usually 6 hours before the train leaves the station. The person in whose name the online booking has been made needs to prove his identity and may need the produce an identity document during the course of his journey. These identity cards must be issued by a reputed organization in the Central/State Government and include: PAN Card Voter ID Card Drivers license Student ID Card Passengers travelling on tickets that have been booked online need to take a print out of the e-ticket and keep it with themselves during the course of the journey a produce it when required 1.1 Project Objectives Designing the application and of Railway Reservation System for the purpose of reserving railway tickets and database maintenance about train and passenger details by the railway department only. This database helps railways to retrieve data as and when required in future. 1.2 Project Scope The scope of project included evaluation of the application and was primarily concerned with the transactions related to booking of tickets from the terminals operated by the railway personnel. Application controls and simulation were used to evaluate data validation and program logic. The selected data, as made available, for substantive checking of the completeness, integrity and consistency of data using computer assisted applications such as MS Access. The records maintained in the database of the railways reservation centre were also reviewed. Discussions were held with the database users to gain understanding regarding the various functional aspects of the system. The booking database has passenger’s details like- Name, Age, Gender, Total Number of Passengers Traveling, Date of Travel and Class of Travel. The train database has train details like- Train Name, Train Number, Route, From, To, Train Time, AC First Class, AC 2 Tier, AC 3 Tier, Sleeper, Second Sitting and Quota Management like General, Takkal. 2. Requirements The train details consist of train name, train no, destination reached by the train, number of passengers traveling and number of seats available. We can add a new train details. We can delete it in case of his repair. We can modify the train details in case of any Inconvenience the name and number of train can be changed its destination can also be changed. The reservation details consist of passengers name, age, and sex destination they wanted to reach, ticket numbers, and seat number. 2.1 Requirement Analysis- Due to this development project it will be easier for the railway system to make the customers journey as comfort as possible and so that to maintain the financial crisis of the system. Internet facilities can’t be provided within the time schedule. The integration of this software with existing system is more complex in the limited schedule. 2.2 Requirement Specification- The need for railway reservation system is to organize the records of railway system in the computer based software. The main objective of this system is to provide an automated method to organize the files in order for easy observance. This system will allow adding, removing, modifying and updating the details of the trains and customer to database. 3. SYSTEM SPECIFICATION 3.1 External Interface Requirements 3.1.1 Hardware Requirements: 1. Processor – Pentium 4 2. RAM – 1 GB 3. Hard Disk – 40GB 4. Mouse – Standard Mouse 5. Keyboard – Logitech Keyboard 6. Processor Speed – 2.4GHZ 3.1.2 Software Requirements: 1. Operating System – Microsoft Windows XP With Service Pack 2 2. Front-End – Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 3. Back-End – Microsoft Access 2003 3.1.3 Display Mode: 1. Color Quality – Highest[32 bit] 2. Screen Resolution – 1024 by 768 Pixels Development and operating environment- This project is developed by, Using WIN 32 platform. Designing of screen shots with VB.Net. Coding by VB.Net Slide representation by MS power point. Documentation by MS word. 3.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3.2.1 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Functional requirement for this project is Function 1: â€Å"Train Details† The staff of railway system must be able to view the details of the train (i.e.) name, numbers of the train, destination, etc. of the train. Description: When a customer approaches they must be able to update the train details for customer convenience. INPUT: Details of train (internal and external). SOURCE: Trains. OUTPUT: Number of passengers. DESTINATION: Area to be reached. ACTION: To update the train details we require the train name, number, destination, timing, number of seat available. REQUIRES: The Database table having the details of the trains. PRECONDITION: None SIDE EFFECTS: None Function 2: â€Å"Railway Reservation Details† The staff of railway system must be able to view the customer details for their reservation (i.e.) customer name, age, sex, seat number, ticket number. Description: When passenger approaches they must be able to update the train details for passenger’s reservation in particular train. INPUT: Passengers details. SOURCE: Trains. OUTPUT: Reserved seats for the passengers. DESTINATION: Area where the passenger to be reached. ACTION: To update the reservation details we require name of the passenger, age, sex etc. REQUIRES: The data base having the details of the reservation. PRECONDITION: The customer’s approach a week prior. POSTCONDITION: None. SIDE EFFECTS: None. 3.2.2 NON- FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS 3.2.1 Reliability- The system is realiable enough as the database permanently stored and backups can be kept easily , as well as the hard copies of various reports also plays major roles here. 3.2.2Availability- The system should be available all the time as and when required .The availibility may be complete for administrator or partial for others. 3.2.3 Security- The system is secure enough , as limited peivilages are given to other . They cannot make any modification to database. 3.2.4Maintainability- The system should be easy to maintain for the administrator . PROCESS MODEL DESCRIPTION- 1. Administrator: He is the super user responsible for managing system users, taking system backup,generating reports, maintaining organization details, Starting Sessions and ending Sessions and alsomanages various requests from different Types of users. Providing UserName, Password and other information required for the users to start an account. Starting Sessions: The Administrator creates the system users and will be assigned with the different roles. He is also responsible to start the session when a particular user wants to use the system every time(It is automatically managed setup). Managing Data Backup: The Administrator is responsible for managing entire details by taking the backup periodically. He also takes the Backup of the database in order to prevent loss of data on system crashes or inorder to prevent malfunctioning. He can take a backup of entire database or a particular section. Crash Recovery: The Administrator manages the crash recovery at the time of system crash orfailure occurs. Ending session: The administrator is responsible for ending the session when the particular user logged out of the system(It is automatically managed setup). 2. Train Master The Train Master is Admin side module. The Administrator only can Add, modify and Delete the train Details. The Train Master contains the following details. a) Train Name b) Train No c) Source d) Destination e) Departure Time f) Arrival Time g) Total Seats h) Kilometers i) General Seats (1A, 2A, 3A, 2S, SL, CC) j) Takkal Seats (1A, 2A, 3A, 2S, SL, CC) k) Routes and Timings 1.TICKET BOOKING The Ticket Booking is user (Employee of Railway Dept.) side module. The user can book the ticket using this module. The user should follow the steps for the ticket booking. a) First you should select the Source and Destination. b) Next, you should select the Date. While the date textbox got focus, the calendar will display. By clicking the calendar, the date will be selected. And you can’t select the yesterday and before date. c) Select the Quota (General or Takkal). d) Click the Find button to find the trains which are available. Note: 1. If you select the Takkal Quota and the date is day after tomorrow in the sense, you can’t book the ticket for Takkal Quota for that day. The Takkal Quota will enable only today and tomorrow only. e) After clicking the find button, the available train list will be displayed in the flex grid. f) By clicking the train number or train name in the flex grid, the â€Å"Route† button enabled. By clicking the route button, the corresponding train route, timings, and kms. g) By clicking the class column to the corresponding train whichever you want to travel, then â€Å"Book† button will enable. h) Click the â€Å"Book† button to enter the Name, Age, Sex and Berth. i) After Enter the details, Click the Proceed Button. j) The frame will display the overall details like Source, Destination, Travel Date, Booked Date, Total Members, Quota and Total Fare. k) Click the â€Å"Confirm† Button to confirm the details. Then only the Booking details will be stored and PNR Number will be generated. TICKET CANCELING The Ticket Canceling is also user (Employee of Railway Dept.) side module. The user can cancel the ticket using this module. The user should follow the steps for the ticket Cancel. a) Enter the PNR Number in the Textbox and Click Find. b) It will show the details like Train No., Train Name, Booked Date, Travel Date, Source, Destination, Class, Quota, Total Fare, Kms in the Frame. c) It also shows the passenger names, Age, Sex, Berth, Class, Fare and status in the flex grid. d) Click the Name in the flex grid which you want to cancel and where the status is â€Å"Booked†. e) Click the â€Å"Cancel† Button to cancel the ticket. REPORT The Report Module is also user (Employee of Railway Dept.) side Module. The user can take two types of reports by giving the PNR Number. a) Booked Tickets b) Canceled Tickets 3. Design and Technical Specification 4.1 Context Diagram- DATA FLOW DIAGRAM- Data flow diagram is graphical representation that depicts information flow and the transforms that are applied as data move from input to output. The basic form of a data flow diagram, also known as a data flow graph or a bubble chart. The data flow diagram may be used to represent a system or software at any level of abstraction. The data flow diagram are mainly classified into two module they are, Level 0 data flow diagram Level 1 data flow diagram LEVEL 0 DFD- The level 0 data flow diagram is also called as a fundamental system model or context model represents the entire software element as a single bubble with input and output data indicated by incoming and outgoing arrows, respectively. Additional Processes and information flow paths are represented. The level 0 data flow diagram of our project consists of module like passengersdetail, train detail, display etc. DFD for getting Display Train details. LOG ON Display TRAIN DFD Requesting For Booking Request for Booking Get Tickets Response LEVEL 1 DFD – The level 1 data flow diagram is similar to level 0 diagram, but here the modules where explained in detailed manner. But in this module the clear explanation for the project is represented. Data Dictionary: Here the data dictionary is again classified into two important data base they are Train Details. Reservation Details. DATA BASE NAME: Railway system. TABLE NAME: Train Detail. TRAIN NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER SPECIFIED FOR A PARTICULAR TRAIN NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TRAVELLING NUMBER NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TRAVELLING TICKET NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER SPECIFIED FOR A PARTICULAR TICKET NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE NUMBER NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE DATA BASE NAME: Railway System. TABLE NAME: Reservation Detail. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE DESCRIPTION PASSENGER NAME TEXT NAME OF THE PASSENGER PASSENGER AGE NUMBER AGE OF THE PASSENGER SEX TEXT SEX(i.e.) MALE/FEMALE TRAIN NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER OF THE TRAIN DESTINATION NUMBER DESTINATION REACHED BY THE TRAIN TIMING DATE/TIME TIME OF DEPATURE ER-Diagram- The other tool for problem analysis is the Entity-Relationship Diagram, often called as ER Diagram. In other words, a model that represents system data by entity and relationship sets is called E-R (Entity-Relationship) diagram. It is a detailed logical representation of the data for an organization. The entity-relationship (E-R) diagram is based on a perception of a real world which consists of a set of basic  objects. E-R diagram is consists of three main constructs, i.e. Data Entities, Relationships and their Associated Attributes. Entities: – An entity is a person, place, thing or event of interest to the organization and about which data are captured, stored or processed. For example, an employee is an entity. Relationship: – An association of several entities in an entity-relationship diagram is called relationship. There are three types of relationship exist among entities. These are: One-to-One One-to-Many Many-to-Many Attributes: – Each entity type has a set of attributes associates with it. An attribute is a property of characteristics of an entity that is of interest to the organization. I use an initial Capital Letters, followed by Lowercase Letters in naming an attribute. If an entity is something about which I want to store data, then I need to identify what specific pieces of data I want to store about each instance of a given entity. I call these pieces as data attributes. Code Development Flowchart- The program flow chart shows how the system proceed from the input from to the outout from of the system. It explain how the system is actually processed step. It represent the flow of control as the system is processed. There are three types of program flow chart: 1. Input flow chat- This flowchart depicts the basic input operation in the system. In railway reservation system, first of all the password is checked then if the password is valid then we process the input from if the data valid then the entries are updated in the data base otherwise the from id refilled. 2. Output flow chart- This flowchart depicts the basic output operations in the system. The user is required to enter the criteria for output. If it is for the reservation then the availability of seats is checked. If the seats are available then the confirmed ticket is generated  otherwise the user is asked for waiting and if he wants then waiting ticket is generated. If the user wants the seat to be cancelled it is done and the cancelled ticket is generated for the user. The information about all the above transaction is then transferred to the related databases. 3. Report flow Chart- This flow chart depicts the basic operations for the generation of reports. If the entries fr om basic operations for the generation of reports. If the entries from the processed database are valid the concerned report are generated otherwise the process will have to be repeated Component Level Design(Pseudo Code) 6.Testing Document Testing is basically a process to detect errors in the software product. Before going into the details of testing techniques one should know what errors are. In day-to-day life we say whenever something goes wrong there is an error. This definition is quite vast. When we apply this concept to software products then we say whenever there is difference between what is expected out of software and what is being achieved, there is an error. Software testing also provides an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software implementation. Test techniques include, but are not limited to, the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding software bugs. Software testing can also be stated as the process of validating and verifying that a software program/application/product: 1. meets the business and technical requirements that guided its design and development; 2. works as expected; and  can be implemented with the same characteristics. Software testing, depending on the testing method employed, can be implemented at any time in the development process. However, most of the test effort occurs after the requirements have been defined and the coding process has been completed. As such, the methodology of the test is governed by the software development methodology adopted. 6.2 Black Box Testing with Test case design- Black box testing is a method of software testing that tests the functionality of an application as opposed to its internal structures or workings . Specific knowledge of the application’s code/internal structure and programming knowledge in general is not required. The tester is only aware of what the software is supposed to do, but not how i.e. when he enters a certain input, he gets a certain output; without being aware of how the output was produced in the first place. Test cases are built around specifications and requirements, i.e., what the application is supposed to do. It uses external descriptions of the software, including specifications, requirements, and designs to derive test cases. These tests can be functional or non-functional, though usually functional. The test designer selects valid and invalid inputs and determines the correct output. There is no knowledge of the test object’s internal structure. Typical black-box test design techniques include: 1. Decision table testing 2. All-pairs testing 3. State transition tables 4. Equivalence partitioning 5. Boundary value analysis White Box Testing- White-box testing (also known as clear box testing, glass box testing, transparent box testing, and structural testing) is a method of testing software that tests internal structures or workings of an application, as opposed to its functionality (i.e.blackbox testing). In white-box testing an internal perspective of the system, as well as programming skills, are used to design test cases. The tester chooses inputs to exercise paths through the code and determine the appropriate outputs. This is analogous to testing nodes in a circuit, e.g. in-circuit testing (ICT). While white-box testing can be applied at the unit, integration and system levels of the software testing process, it is usually done at the  unit level. It can test paths within a unit, paths between units during integration, and between subsystems during a system–level test. Though this method of test design can uncover many errors or problems, it might not detect unimplemented parts of the specification or miss ing requirements. White-box test design techniques include: 1. Control flow testing 2. Data flow testing 3. Branch testing 4. Path testing 5. Statement Coverage 6. Decision Coverage