Board Game and Total Cycle Time

X-Opoly Inc. X-Opoly, Inc. , was founded by two first-year college students to produce a knockoff real estate board game similar to Monopoly. Initially, the company’s purpose was to produce a board game based on popular local landmarks in their small college town, as a way to help pay for their college expenses. However, due to big success and since they enjoyed running their own business, the founders decided to pursue the business full-time after graduation.X-Opoly has growth over the last couple of years attributed to its designing and producing custom real estate trading games for universities, municipalities, chambers of commerce, and lately even some businesses. The company fills orders from a couple of hundred to several thousand and projects that its sales will grow 25 percent annually for the next five years. X-Opoly’s Process X-Opoly’s clients request either a new game board that has not been produced or repeat orders for a game that was previously prod uced.Once the request for a new game is received from a client, a meeting is arranged with a graphic designer from X-Opoly’s art department and the actual game board is designed. The approved designs are transferred electronically to the printing department where they are loaded onto personal computers and printed on special decals. The printing department is also responsible for printing the property cards, game cards, and money. The money is then moved to the cutting department, where it is cut into individual bills. Similarly, property cards and game cards are produced with the exception of using material resembling poster board.In addition to cutting the money, game cards, and property cards, the cutting department also cuts the cardboard that serves as the substrate for the actual game board. After being cut, game boards, money, and cards are stored in totes in a work-in-process area and delivered to the appropriate station on the assembly line as needed. X-Opoly Operati ons Efficiency Measuring X-Opoly’s performance is the key to improving its service to customers. The company currently operates 19 stations with a total cycle time of 6 min 45 sec per job.In my opinion, X-Opoly should consider combining assemblies within stations to reduce the number of stations. This process would allow some components to be partially assembled for the next station. This reduces the number of jobs involved in making multi-level products and keeps inventory to a minimum. Adopting a lean approach starts with a simple question: â€Å"What's essential? † Whether X-Opoly is simply trying to survive or conducting an assessment of their productivity, it is imperative to determine that every activity they engage in is essential in the value chain to providing a competitive product.This involves analyzing each phase of the product lifecycle from innovation, to design and development, to testing and, eventually, manufacturing and removing the waste from those p rocesses. For example, the company’s production line maximum capacity/day is would increase by reducing the waste and redundancy in design and development which would increase the company’s efficiency. To further improve X-Opoly’s efficiency, I would recommend developing a more formal manufacturing system (Flow Manufacturing). Flow manufacturing is a time-based process that pulls material through a production system without any interruption. (SAE. rg) This can be achieved by striking the proper balance between new technology and the proper amount of skilled labour. Flow manufacturing would reduce total cycle time, lessen inventory and increase X-Opoly’s productivity. The increase productivity would assist the company in meeting and possibly exceeding future demands. Finally, I believe X-Opoly would benefit from eliminating is non value added time to improve its efficiency. References Jacobs, F. , and Chase, R. , (2011). Operations and Supply Chain Managem ent (13th ed. ). McGraw-Hill, New York, NY SAE. org (2011). Thinking of Lean Manufacturing Systems. Retrieved October 2011

Ap Human Geography Chapter 2 Study Guide

AP Human Geography Chapter 2 Study Guide Terms: population density – a measurement of the number of people per given unit of land  ·arithmetic population density – the population of a country or region expressed as an average per unit area  ·physiologic population density – the number of people per unit area of arable land  ·population distribution – description of locations on the Earth's surface where populations live  ·dot maps – maps where one dot represents a certain number of a phenomenon, such as population  ·megalopolis – term used to designate large coalescing supercities that are forming in diverse parts of the world  ·census – a periodic and official count of a country's population  ·doubling time – time required for a population do double population explosion – rapid growth of worlds human population during the last century  ·natural increase – population growth measured as excess of liv e births over live deaths  ·crude birth rate (CBR) – number of live births yearly per thousand people  ·crude death rate (CDR) – number of live deaths yearly per thousand people  ·demographic transition – multi stage model of changes in population growth in countries undergoing industrialization  ·stationary population level (SPL) – level at which national population ceases to grow  ·population composition – structure of a population in terms of age, sex, and other properties  ·population pyramids – visual representation of age and sex composition of a population  ·infant mortality rate (IMR) – describes the number of babies that die within the first year of their lives  ·child mortality rate (CMR) – number of children that die between the first and fifth year of their lives  ·life expectancy – how long, on average, a person may be expected to live  ·AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome à ‚ ·chronic diseases – long lasting afflictions now more common because of higher life expectancies  ·expansive population policies – government policies that encourage large families  ·eugenic population policies – government policies to favor one racial sector  ·restrictive population olicies- government policies to reduce the rate of natural increase Notes  ·Change in population is calculated using the following: Global Population Formula – p1 = p0 + b(irths) – d(eaths) Sub-Global Population Formula – p1 = p0 + b – d + i(mports) – e(xports) Net Migration Formula – p1 – p0 + RNI + nm  ·Types of population density: arithmetic density, agricultural density, physiological density, urban density, residential density  ·Major World Population Centers – China, India, Russia, Central Europe, Asia, Northeast Africa, Northeast U. S.  ·Overpopulation – a generally undesirable condition where an o rganism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitatMalthus’s Theory, though incorrect, states population rate increases geometrically and the rate of food increase grows arithmetically.  ·Demographic Transition Model (http://www. main-vision. com/richard/demographic. htm) Stage 1: Stage one of the demographic transition model is the most primitive of the stages where there is a high fluctuating birth and death rate. Because of this there is no great population growth. These countries or even tribes have very basic living standards such as those in the Amazon rainforest where they hardly have any education, medicaments or birth rates such that population is based on food supply, health of tribe members etc.Other factors involved are no family planning therefore many children or because of the faith of the people which may look at large families as a sign of verility etc. Stage 2: In this stage of the demographic transition model there are a lot of births, however t he death rate has gone down to about 20/1000 infants who die. This results in a rise in population due to the fact that more infants are surviving. Reasons for which more people may be surviving may be better health care, improved sanitation such as water etc, more transport and medical care as well as inventions relating to this. In other words this stage involves a slight modernisation in health care raising people's living standards as well as there life expectancy.Stage 3: Stage three is the stage at which there is already a low death rate as well as a declining birth rate therefore leading to a slight increase in population. The reason for the fall in births may be due to family planning, better education, lower infant mortality rate, a more industrialised way of life and the want for more material possesions as well as women being able to go out to work. In other words these countries are in the final stages of becoming like the western countries such as the states and those i n Europe. Stage 4: Stage four is the one at which Switzerland is. There is a stable population whithout much change because both the death and birth rate are low and in some cases there are more deaths than births therefore leading to a possible stage five. Possibly a stage five? A country such as Sweden is currently entering into the negative growth rate meaning that there are less births than deaths so that the country's population size is decreasing leading to problems which will be discussed later on this page.  ·A population pyramid, also called an age structure diagram, is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a population (typically that of a country or region of the world), which forms the shape of a pyramid when the population is growing.  ·There is a predicted stage 5 of population growth that will level off at 10 billion people. The world’s population will progressively increase until it ultimately reaches this point.  ·Geography of health is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care. Epidemiological transition is a phase of development witnessed by a sudden and stark increase in population growth rates brought about by medical innovation in disease or sickness therapy and treatment, followed by a re-leveling of population growth from subsequent declines in fertility rates. The epidemiological transition model represents the developments resulting from epidemiological transition (disease and treatment).  ·The People's Republic of China has pursued anti-natalist policies, notably the ‘one-child’ strategy, for over a decade. While anti-natalist government policies may be instrumental in lowering birth rate, state coercion may have unexpected and damaging results; reports in 1995 suggested that abortion of female children had become common in China, so that male : female sex ratios at birth had become grotesq uely imbalanced.

Decision Evaluation and Implementation Assignment

Decision Evaluation and Implementation - Assignment Example While creating a constructive decision making environment, Alan ensures that he does his planning one by one in a clear way. He keeps all the details about what he has done before, what he is doing and what he intends to do in his records for reference purposes. He, then can be termed a very organized CEO. Alan also remembers to involve his management team when developing ideas that should be used to make decisions in the company. He gets committed to his work until he achieves what he wants. Alan usually goes for what people wants. He is a leader who likes solving people’s problems. He, therefore helps the generation and evaluation of alternatives through listening to the people and his team. The major strategy that Alan tends to apply when generating alternatives is through outsourcing of these alternatives. Mulally tries to carryout adequate environmental scanning to find where the problem in the company is. After that, he seeks for the best specialists in the market who can provide the solution to the problem. The specialist sought is recommended to work with Mulally’s team to provide the alternatives. This way, Mulally has, on various occasions been accused of sometimes â€Å"leaving his team out of the loop.† The second way he uses to generate alternatives is through investing in his team. He wants that they succeed as a team. Mulally knows clearly, that team work, in the kind of company he was heading, was very useful and important. He, theref ore, requires that his team be coached and given a good training that can help them get equipped with the required knowledge and capacity to develop new ideas. Mulally insists that many people should be added to the decision-making process to help in generating as many ideas as possible. He believes that he cannot do it alone, without his team. To be able to evaluate his alternatives, Mulally hires a different team to interview his team to establish which decisions have been developed and

Emotions in Conflict Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emotions in Conflict - Coursework Example Also, the stress itself becomes a problem. Emotions of tension make the resolution process hard since the parties are not comfortable talking to each other. Emotions of sadness and hopelessness are also bad. The mediators may also experience emotions of favoritism and bias toward one party and this is very harmful for the other party because the final decision would be one-sided. Thus, it is important for the conflicting parties and also for the mediator to control their emotions. It is a misconception that emotions makes the parties understand each other. To remove this misconception, it is important for both the parties to know what emotions they are possessing. One party should know if the other party is angry or excited or if it is tense or relaxed itself. This helps build a strong communication platform where the two parties share their interests and goals and a better resolution is achieved. References Faw, B. (2009). Staying positive in negative times. New Hampshire Business R eview, Vol. 31 (25).

HP at a Strategic Crossroad Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

HP at a Strategic Crossroad - Assignment Example But, the company was not able to take up the challenge thrown up by the rapid advancements in technologies and some of the competitors. Fiorina had proved herself at AT&T by bringing about a successful spin-off at its equipment and research branch. With such a legacy she joined HP and started her mission to refurbish the image of HP and implementing the requisite changes. For introducing changes in an organization and its functioning, the manager is supposed to take into confidence the team leaders, departmental heads and other support staff. The CEO will be able to plan and execute the strategies effectively if she had fullest support from other managers and the governing board. In this case it appears that Carleton Fiorina didn't believe in collaborative or democratic type of functioning. Instead she took pride in imposing her decision and carrying through her plan irrespective of what others have to say on that particular decision. She gained notoriety for placing her interest ove r the interests of the organization. This is a serious shortcoming for being an able and acceptable leader. To manage an organization, the manager has to manage the human resources, the machinery and the strategies. The leader will be termed as successful, if she is able to take active cooperation of the human resources in managing the machinery and planning & executing the strategies. But in this case Fiorina resorted to 'ambush marketing' from the very beginning. Without caring for the tradition or conventions at HP, she started imposing her plans. It can very well be argued that in this era of cut-throat competition, an organization has to plan out its strategies according to the demand from market, but expecting the change to take place overnight, proves detrimental for the health of the organization. This is exactly what Fiorina did after joining HP. It is said that, companies and organizations are made for people and by the people, and obviously their effectiveness depends on the behavior and performance of the people running these companies. Howard Good (2006), the former president of Highland Central School Board in Highland, NY, says, "Being board president brings power and prestige, but you must inspire and help others to be successful". A team leader therefore plays the central role in making or breaking the team. It is the team leader who can synergize the efforts or just wither away the advantage, with his actions. A team leader is supposed to delegate the powers and responsibilities amongst his/ her team mates, inspire the team members by being an example and motivate his team with appropriate motivating factors. A leader can synergize the efforts by; Eliciting the contribution from all concerned Organizing the team members by assigning them the responsibilities, and Developing an information system for monitoring and coordination activities. It can very well be argued that HP had become a bureaucratic type of an organization and was on the verge of loosing the status of being a leader in innovation. World's first scientific calculator was given to the world by HP way back in 1967. The company has been a market leader in printing and imaging business solutions since 1985. But somehow the company could not keep pace with the changing technology and the competitors like IBM and Dell overtook it. The revenue figures started declining. A dynamic leader

The Pros and Cons of Globalization for India Research Paper

The Pros and Cons of Globalization for India - Research Paper Example Because of globalization, various connections have taken place in global arena. Cultural and economic interactions have become more pronounced (Steger 49-89). Moreover, creations of free flow of people, goods, and services. Communication advancements have streamlined the globe and the world has now been viewed as a one village. Interconnections have increased rapidly due to advancement in technology. India is one of the countries that globalization has influenced in all aspects (Steger 123). This paper seeks to discuss pros and cons of globalization in India. Globalization has ensured India open up to the rest of the world. Various changes have taken place in India due to globalization. Globalization led to Indian government waiving restriction of its market to foreign interventions in the 1990’s. Consequently, Indian economy saw a tremendous growth that was unprecedented. Various sectors of the economy improved with a marginal rate such as steel industry, medical companies, a nd the energy (Nayak 113-115). Moreover, inflow of foreign income increased. In addition, the number of foreign investors in India increased and more jobs were created. Likewise, crucial areas of the economy such as the rails and roads were rebuilt due to increased source of revenue. The rate at which foreign companies and firms engaged with India also increased and the number of working class rose due to demand of workforce by industries that were built because of globalization. Most of the Indian industries adopted new technological advancement was distributed evenly in global arena. Secondly, relations between countries and India have improved significantly. This is due to thrust on the industry and trade in India. Consequently, this has led to improved accumulation of revenue and communication between trading partners. This has instilled a level of reliance and reciprocated confidence. In addition, globalization has led to proliferation of Indian pharmaceuticals companies especi ally in Africa. Indians have been outsourced to various countries due to cheap provision of labor. Such country like America have benefited from Indian worker since early 1990’s. Indian doctors have been outsourced to various part of the world (Mazumdar and Sarkar 141). In addition, the number of patient seeking specialized treatment in India has improved significantly in the last decade. The rise of foreign industries and product has given consumers chance to have a wider variety of good to choose from. However, even after the tremendous changes that were achieved after globalization there were still negative impact of globalization to the republic of India. India depends largely on its own company for growth and revenue acquisition. However, this has been hindered by globalization. Due to heavy investment by foreign companies in India, the rate of competition has increased. Majority of Indians consumer have changed their preference and taste and this made them to opt qualit y good manufactured by foreign companies. This affected Indian major companies such as steel and pharmaceuticals companies that were perceived to produce lower quality goods. Most of the companies that brought competition are from China and America. Additionally, high level of foreign investment to a country does not correlate to improved revenue. This is because most of the acquired profit is usually shipped back to mother country for

Family of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family of Law - Essay Example The judges will study other cases of theft from the past and extract their principles, and then use them to punish her. The kind of punished will be the same as the punishment given to other thieves in precedent theft cases. Gender and nationality of the friend cannot affect the ruling of the judges as long as she committed the theft offense in the Great Britain territory. The law is fair because it ensures that the guilty party is judged according to the judgments of the past similar cases. In France, the main type of law applied is the civil law. This type of law entails private laws on property, inheritance, family, and contract laws (Bell, 1998). Disputes are settled by allowing the two parties to engage in agreements, and if the agreements are broken by one or both parties the courts intervene by applying constitutional laws and statutes to pass resolutions. The theft of the friend could be death with in France by applying the civil law. The theft can be reported by the offended party to the relevant authorities who then apply the property law to enhance fairness to the owner of the property stolen. The friend may be required to pay for damages or can be jailed in court for a number of years determined by the law. The fact that the friend is a foreigner or a lady cannot influence the decision of the authorities in France under the civil law because the statutes and the constitutional laws apply to all cases committed in France. The law is fair because it follows the statutes and the constitution which are used to protect the rights of the citizens, e.g. the right to own property. The third country that can be considered in this essay is Saudi Arabia. The family of law that may apply in Saudi Arabia is theocratic law. This type of law depends on the doctrine of religion which suggests that the ruler of the people is God or the gods (Hirschl, 2010). Disputes are

Personal Financial Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Financial Management - Research Paper Example Following are my observations while reviewing the plan. During the first week while I was reviewing the expenses, it was an eye opening situation that the major spending were on account of food stuff, clothing and spending leisure time. The total expenses were $1,312/- excluding my credit card payments, rental payments and groceries. I then thought for remedial measures to curtail my expenditure and sort out the problem with the fact that if I start cooking myself, search for the discounted items and spend less to spent leisure and by doing this I can not only manage my finances, live my life accordingly but also save something for the rainy day. While reviewing the data of the second week I noted that I certainly curtail my expenses on food stuff by 33% and the overall expenses reduced from $1,312/- to $ 850/- in second week excluding my house rent and credit card payments which shows betterment and my interest towards savings, but still the major expenses were made on account of gr oceries where I spent $223.83/- and for spending leisure I spent $118.81. I realized that the daily log is helping me in managing my finances and I immediately checked my spending and realized that I must engage myself instead in some sports activities for spending leisure time rather to go to the massage parlor or some other places where I spend much more than sports and for the prosperous future I have to develop future goals and by realizing the importance of savings, I immediately create three stages of my future goals through which I can live a prosperous, happy and comfortable life and the stages are: Short Term Goals, Intermediate Term Goal and Long Term Goal. Short Term Goals are those that can be achieved within a year and can increase my future saving. For e.g. If I purchase a car it will save my transportation cost and the amount which I am expensing out every week will be saved. Intermediate Term Goals are those that can be achieved with in the period of 2 to 5 years and includes things that will certainly increase my savings. For e.g. If I purchase house it will be a onetime investment but it will save my monthly mortgage installment on which I have to pay interest. Long Term Goals are those that can be achieved after six years with no upper limit like my retirement plan which has no upper limit and more I save money during my employment, happier I will live my life after retirement. While selecting the amount which is to be expensed out on weekly basis in order to achieved the target, I set the priorities and assign education the highest priority with the weekly expense of $170/- and the total expense were of $420/- per week accumulating $1,818/- per month. My Intermediate Goals are several including purchase of house, starting own business, education and buy a new car. For this purpose after thorough discussions with my friends, I have once again given highest priority to the education with the expense amount of $350/-per week accumulating $18,2 00 per year and by doing this much saving I will be able to achieve the college funds for my children by the end of 2016 i.e. in 3 ? years. My final goal is to save something for myself which can be used in case of need and this the financial plan helps me lot and by the help of the plan, I not only opted a semi retirement plan but also plan to save some thing for the cruise which I always aiming for and for the accomplishment of both the aims I have started saving $5/- per week for the cruise and $250/- per week for

What Is Your Field of Interest Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What Is Your Field of Interest - Research Paper Example Being with students and communicating with them will help me understand the diverse opinions of students and even develop my level of knowledge (Mlynarczyk & Babbitt, 2002). The ability to deal with each student separately has correspondingly enhanced my credibility to meet with the individual needs of the student and develop my ability to impart knowledge in a better way to the students (Mullamaa, 2010). Dealing with adult students needs to be handled in an effective manner. Adult minds are quite complex and has a huge amount of diligence. The effective communication skills and my interest towards developing the linguistic abilities among masses are going to act as an added advantage for the development of individual skills of the students (Mullamaa, 2010). Furthermore, I have always been interested to develop my individual interest to meet with the diverse challenges of handling individual students. This credibility has further enhanced my abilities to handle diverse situations and manage the individual needs of the adult students. Although imparting linguistic knowledge has always been a tough job, it has provided with an effective method to communicate with the greater and diversified section of the society. Moreover, as imparting linguistic knowledge has been a credible source to identify needs of students, it has even acted as an area of interest for me to communicate with larg er community (Richards 2011; Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002). Motteram, G. (2013). Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching. Retrieved from

Prison makes bad people worse Essay Example for Free

Prison makes bad people worse Essay In the year 2002, there were just over 68,000 persons in prison in England and Wales, 6,000 in Scotland and 1,200 in Northern Ireland. In the case of England and Wales, this is a few thousand more than in 1999, but at this time the plateau stood in marked comparison to the trend up to 1997-8 and it was by no means certain that this could be maintained, (Morgan, 2002). These findings serve to highlight the progressive increase in rising prison numbers in the UK the causes of which are continually in debate and beg the question; what happens when there is no more room left in our prisons? For the purpose of this essay, this author assumes that the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† infers that an offender, who serves a custodial sentence, is more likely to re-offend upon release. Before evaluating this statement and reaching a conclusion, this author will introduce a brief history of the prison system in an attempt to offer an understanding of how imprisonment has become the most severe penalty imposed on offenders in the UK today. Prisons all over the world have existed for many years for the purpose of confining those in society who have committed a crime serious enough to warrant such a sentence. The purpose of prison is now not only to inflict a punishment but also to attempt to rehabilitate offenders contrasting with the early days of imprisonment where little rehabilitative work was done. A custodial sentence is now the most severe penalty that an offender can be sentenced to in the UK following the abolition of the death penalty in 1965. Imprisonment is intended to punish offenders through restricting freedom and liberty as well as unfavourable living conditions in the name of ‘less eligibility’, (Morgan, 2002). This in no way is intended to suggest that conditions in prisons are inhumane although reports exist from previous investigations that would suggest otherwise. Punishment for offenders was served in a very different manner prior to the nineteenth century. Punishments at this time in the main consisted of physical punishment which would often involve torture, public humiliation and even execution. After decades of this type of punishment being administered, the torture and public humiliation elements ceased. The infliction of physical pain was replaced by the principle that the loss of rights and wealth would serve as an adequate deterrent for further offending. Although this altered form of punishment apparently focused on the mind of the individual, it could still be argued that custodial sentences still impose an element of physical torture indirectly by food rationing, sexual deprivation and solitary confinement. These aspects of punishments are still relevant within the penal system today, (Flynn, 1998). Many different explanations exist for why this change from physical punishment to imprisonment came about, one of which argues that the reason for the shift was due to humanitarianism and reform which would offer a more humane and civilised alternative to the methods of previous years, (Wilson, Ellis, Mikulski, Nash, 2003). An opposing argument suggested that this was not the case and that the defining of a new age and more effective punishment by focusing on the reform of offenders into the ‘disciplined subject’ were the main reasons for this shift in operation, (Foucault, 1977). Despite this argument, one of the most influential factors associated with how prisons operate in the UK today is the concept of human rights. The 1998 Human Rights Act governs these rights. Along with this, the Prisons Inspectorate introduced guidelines on what factors should constitute a healthy custodial environment based on international human rights principles. Arising from the World Health Organisation’s influence, four tests are used to identify whether a healthy custodial environment is present. Firstly, prisoners must be held in safety. Secondly, they must be treated with respect and dignity as human beings. Thirdly, they must be able to engage in purposeful activity, and lastly, prisoners must be prepared for resettlement into the community prior to release, (Owers, 2003). Because of the unpleasantness of imprisonment it is necessary for this type of punishment to be justified. Prison can be very unpleasant for many offenders as their liberty is severely reduced, their contact with family and friends is minimised, and it can infer many social disadvantages that may lead to offenders becoming socially excluded upon their release from custody. In order to justify imprisonment as a viable punishment, numerous theories or arguments have been introduced in an attempt to support this sentencing option. One argument that attempts to justify imprisonment is the concept of Reductionism. This argument suggests that custodial sentences reduce the number of crimes committed. Those in agreement with this theory also argue that the number of crimes committed will be less if someone is punished in this manner, than there would be if no punishment were imposed at all, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This theory also suggests that society as a whole, has a greater influence than the individual and therefore an offender would be powerless to justify not going to prison if he/she had committed a crime that endangered public safety, (Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 1988). However, it could be argued that this theory suggests that crimes are only committed by those who are in prison ignoring the concept that there are many in society committing crimes that have never been caught. Deterrence is another theory used to justify imprisonment as an appropriate punishment by arguing that people will not offend because they are too fearful of the consequences should they be caught as the punishment is seen as too severe. There are two elements to this theory, firstly there is individual deterrence which suggests that an offender will not re-offend because the punishment they received last time was so severe that it has deterred them from doing it again. Secondly, there is general deterrence which argues that a punishment imposed on one offender for a crime will deter others from offending, as they know exactly what the consequences are. At first glance, deterrence theory appears to hold validity, but in reality research findings have indicated that sentencing offenders to custodial sentences has a more influential effect. Once an offender has been in prison they may find themselves labelled by the rest of society and categorised into a stereotype with unfavourable connotations. This may hinder their attempts to live lawful lives for example; problems getting a job and even psychological effects, which may become apparent in their behaviour, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This evidence could be used to support the argument that prison does make people worse. Rehabilitation theory suggests that some forms of punishment can actually reduce the likelihood of re-offending and alter an offender’s behaviour and attitude. Together the prison service and the probation service are heavily involved with rehabilitation as well as the treatment and training of offenders, (Wilson et al, 2003). As a main aim of the prison service to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders, the provision of accredited programmes such as PASRO (Prisons Addressing Substance Related Offending) and ETS (Enhanced Thinking Skills) attempt to address prisoners’ offending behaviour whilst in prison. However, a report by the Social Exclusion Unit found that the prison experience causes such damage to an offenders’ rehabilitation that it outweighs the effectiveness of the programmes, (Solomon, 2003). Another criticism of the penal system is that many offenders are sentenced to such short periods of custody that they are unable to gain access to any rehabilitative interventions. This evidence could also suggest that prison can make bad people worse. The theory of incapacitation implies more emphasis on public protection rather than the behaviour of offenders which coincidently is another main remit of the probation service. Quite simply, this theory argues that if an offender is in custody they are unable to commit crime and therefore ensuring public safety for the duration of the sentence giving piece of mind to members of society, (Ainsworth, 2000). It could be argued that this theory fails to recognise that crime often occurs within prisons including violence, bullying and drug offences. Another criticism of this theory is that as mentioned earlier, the public will only be protected in this manner for the duration of a sentence. Lastly, retribution theory holds that punishment is imposed on an offender to redress the balance between offenders and their victims in making sure that the offender suffers for their crime. Ainsworth (2000), recognises that seeing an offender incarcerated may make the victims feel that justice has been done. However, this is often not the case as many offenders receive sentences that the victim may feel does not reflect the harm that has been caused to them as a result of the offence. Now that some of the justifications for imprisonment have been discussed, it is now possible to explore conformity within prisons which may assist in reaching a conclusion on whether the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† can be justified. Conformity, a theory closely linked with labelling theory, suggests that an individual may conform to social rules or may even assume a social role because it is recognised as the norm in their environment. Heavily influenced by the levels of power, social roles exist predominantly in the prison environment especially between prison officers and offenders. One study that attempted to explore power dynamics and how easy it is to assume a role was conducted in August 1971 by psychologist Philip Zimbardo and was named the Stanford Prison Experiment. Twenty-five male volunteers took part in the experiment and were taken to a mock prison where each person was assigned a role of either prisoner or guard. The guards had the authority to dictate 24 hour a day rules to the prisoners the results of which were shocking and are still referred to today. A number of prisoners had to be released due to mental health illnesses arising from the trauma of the situation. The experiment, which was intended to last for two weeks, was terminated after six days due to the pathological reactions of the prisoners who ironically had been selected for their normality. The findings were that the environment transformed the participants and after a few days, the role dominated the person, (Alexander, 2001). This experiment highlighted social power as the being the major factor in the participant’s behaviour as all the guards at some point displayed abuse, authoritarian attitudes, and appeared to enjoy being in control. Zimbardo argued that this abnormal behaviour is a product of transactions within an environment that supports this behaviour. The labels placed upon the participants became valid in this environment and pathological behaviour was the outcome, (Wilson et al, 2003). This experiment still has implications for the prison system today in that Zimbardo argued that the current prison system is guaranteed to cause severe pathological reactions within prisoners causing a debasement of their humanity, low self esteem and making it difficult to integrate into society outside of prison, (Wilson et al, 2003). This would suggest that labelling and conformity theories are a case for prison making bad people worse. Whilst in prison an offender may assume a role that could be continued upon their release. Zimbardos’ experiment provides an adequate basis for discussing the sociological theory of a prison subculture sometimes referred to as the inmate code. The prison society exists apart from the rest of society and therefore it is understandable that norms and values are very different between the two. Sykes (1958) found that the inmate code is something that may give a prisoner an identity and help them to cope with the effects of imprisonment. The code is thought to include certain rules such as not fraternising with staff, acquiring a position in the inmate ‘pecking order’, and giving the impression of toughness in emotion and physical appearance. Clemmer (1940) argued this to be part of the prisonisation process which arguably reinforces criminal behaviour as prisoners become used to opposing authority which is likely to continue in the outside world, (Cited in Morgan, 2002). Therefore, attempts at rehabilitation may be hindered by this and could be used to argue that prison makes bad people worse. So what statistical evidence is there to support the statement â€Å"prisons make bad people worse†? Reports into the subject have found that prisons have a poor record in reducing re-offending and that 59% of offenders are reconvicted within two years of release. For male youths under the age of twenty-one, the reconviction rate is 74% over the same period of time. Research findings from the Social Exclusion Unit have indicated that re-offending by ex-prisoners costs society approximately ? 11 billion each year and that they are responsible for one in five recorded crimes, (Solomon, 2003). This evidence would appear to suggest that people who have served custodial sentences have been made worse by the experience and that imprisonment is not an effective punishment. Contributing to this argument is the theory that these statistics are only obtained from recorded crime suggesting that the figures may in reality be significantly higher as many crimes are not recorded. In conclusion it would appear that there is much evidence to support the claim that prison makes bad people worse such as the statistical evidence revealing reconviction rates. On the other hand, there are also arguments for prison as an effective punishment such as the justifications for imprisonment including rehabilitation and deterrence theories. It would appear that prison does indeed have an influence on some prisoners re-offending but it would be difficult to assume that this is the case for all offenders who have served a custodial sentence. This would suggest that for some offenders prison is effective and for others it is not. Having said this, it is important to recognise that prison does ensure public safety from offenders who pose danger to society, but only for the period they are in custody unless they emerge from prison rehabilitated. For those offenders who could be dealt with in another manner, community penalties offer the versatility in sentencing options necessary to provide effective punishment without contributing to the growing problem of increasing prison numbers. It is therefore vital that the most appropriate punishment is imposed individually taking the crime and the offenders’ circumstances into account when sentencing.

Resource Based View (RBV): Advantages and Disadvantages

Resource Based View (RBV): Advantages and Disadvantages This report reviews the empirical studies of the resource based view (RBV) and examines the benefits and limitations of RBV as the best strategy route in the developing a firms strategy. By having a clear and focused strategic intent, it mobilises an organisation towards achieving the desire position. Firm would be able to achieve sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) by analysing its internal and external environment using the RBV and Porters industry analysis (IA) respectively, The significant of RBV is through an understanding of the relationships between resources, capabilities, competitive advantage, and economic rent. The RBV identified characteristics of advantage-creating resources such as value, rarity, imitability and Organisation (Clulow et al, 2007; Barney, 1991). In contrast, Porters IA focuses on lower cost and product differentiation in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Despite the conflicting issues, the RBV has examined issues and new directions that will help to clarify the value and boundaries by integrating with Porters industry analysis. Porters framework and the RBV of the firm essentially perceived the primary role of strategy in attaining a SCA (Hax A. C. and Wilde II D. L., 2003). Thus, both frameworks are complementary as they emphasised in different dimensions of strategy (Hax A. C. and Wilde II D. L., 2003). (183 Words) Introduction The RBV is one of the contemporary strategic management concepts to develop a firms strategy. The objective of this report is to accept or reject the contention that RBV analysis has a strong relationship with firms performance in attaining a SCA. This report reviews the literature on competitive advantage and firm performance. It is divided into five main components. The first section summarizes the literature on competitive advantage from two viewpoints, the RBV and Porters IA. The second section discusses on the strengths of the RBV in reviews with the literature on strategic intent, threshold resources, capabilities, competitive advantage, core competencies, SCA and VRIO. The third section illustrates Porters IA in reviews with cost, differentiation, and market focus. The fourth section deliberates the criticisms of the RBV. The fifth section illustrates how researchers have overcome some of these boundaries. It reviews an integration of the RBV and Porters IA in the proposed model of core competencies, competitive advantage and firm performance (Chabert J. M., 1998) (165 Words) The Resource Based View of the Firm Thompson et Al (2010) point out that RBVÂ  [1]Â  uses a companys VRIOÂ  [2]Â  strengths and competitive capabilities to deliver value to customers in an approach that rivals find it difficult to imitate. The RBV emphasises on the internal capabilities of an organisation in formulating strategy to achieve SCAÂ  [3]Â  in its markets and industries (Henry, 2008). It holds that firms can earn sustainable abnormal returns if and only they have superior resources and its protected by an isolating mechanism preventing their diffusion throughout the industry (Value Based Management.net, 2011). The Resourced Based View Assumptions The RBV assumed that resources are diversity and immobility (Barney, 1991; Mata et al, 1995). According to Mata et al. (1995), resource diversity concerns whether different firms possess bundles of different resources and capabilities; while resource immobility refers to a resource is difficult to obtain by competitors because the supply is inelastic or costly. These two assumptions can be used to determine whether an organisation is able to create a SCA by providing a framework to determine whether a process or technology provides a real advantage over the marketplace (Brown, 2007). Thus, the RBV tends to focus on the types of resources and the characteristics of these resources that make them strategically important. The RBV as the best strategy route in developing a firms strategy Today managers are moving manufacturing offshore to lower costs of labour, streamlining product lines to capture global scale economies, instituting quality circles and JITÂ  [4], and adopting Japanese human resource practices (Hamel and Prahalad 1989). It was believed that the application of concepts like strategic fit (between resources and opportunities), generic strategies (low cost, differentiation and market focus) and the strategy hierarchy (goals, strategies, and tactics) have often aided the process of CAÂ  [5]Â  (Hamel and Prahalad 1989; Andrews, 1971). Most companies have approached competitor analysis that concentrates on the existing resources like human, technical and financial of current competitors. Whereas, companies are only aware to the resources that able to increase the future margins and market share as their primary threat. There are few Japanese companies possessed RBV, manufacturing volume or technical competence of U.S. and European leaders. For instance, Canons first halting steps in reprographics business looked very small compared with the $4 billion Xerox powerhouse (Hamel and Prahalad 1989). Strategic Intent In addition, strategic intent envisions a desired leadership position and establishes the criterion of adding value to the RBV of the organisation, for instance, Komatsu set out to encircle Caterpillar (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989). The concept emphasises on an active management process that involved focusing the organisations attention on the principle of winning. For example, the Apollo program where landing a man on the moon ahead of the Soviets was as competitively focused as Komatsus drive against Caterpillar. It also motivates people through shared value, enabled individual and team opinions, sustaining enthusiasms as environments change and using intent consistently to guide allocation of resources (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989). Barney (1991) and Peteraf (1993) point out that a firm is said to enjoy superior performance comparative than its competitor when the firm can produce economically and higher customer satisfaction, thus empowered them to attain CA. Whereas, Porter (1985) defined CA as the ability to earn returns on investment consistently above the average for the industry by focusing on the companys external competitive environment and how they position themselves against that structure (Halawi L. A., Aronson J. E, and McCarthy R. V., 2005). In contrast, the RBV of strategy points not to industry structure but to the unique cluster of RCÂ  [6]Â  that each organisation possesses (Henry, 2008; Collis and Montgomery 1995; Stalk et al, 1992). Firms Outperform and Maintain Competitive Advantage The Benefits of RBV RBV is best applied for the assessment of a firms existing resource portfolio or when exploiting the firms resources to move into new product markets (Sheehan and Foss, 2007; Barney 2001; Penrose 1959). There are two essential reasons for using the RC as a substance to its strategy. It provides a direction for firms strategy and they are the primary source of return for the firm. The RBV perceives the value derived from management skills, information capabilities, and administrative processes as scarce factors that able to generate economic rents (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). Firms as bundle of Resources Threshold resources are defined as the unique combination of assets and capabilities within a firm that enable firms to develop and implement strategies to meet customers minimum requirements and to improve its overall performance (Scholes J. G., and Whittington, R., 2008). It can be classified as either tangible or intangible resources. Tangible resources refer to the physical assets that a firm possesses. In order to add value, these physical resources must be capable to respond to marketplace changes. Intangible resources comprise of human and organisational capitals. It may be embedded in cultures and practices that have developed over time within the organisation (Henry, 2008). It involves knowledge based economy, the tacit knowledge and specialist skills of many employees which are difficult for competitors to imitate (Henry, 2008). Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) classified knowledge as explicit and tacit. A communication that can be readily transferred is known as an explicit knowledge; hence, it requires protection like copyright. While, tacit knowledge is discovered through its application and acquired through practices such as beliefs and perspectives and cannot be codified (Henry, 2008). RBV and Organisational learning The RBV stresses the significance of developing and enhancing those resources that are distinctive as distinctive capabilities (Olavarrieta and Ellinger, 1997). Ten3 Business e-Coach (2001) defined capabilities as the capacity for a set of resources to interactively perform a business process. Capability is a source to SCA as it is based on organisational routines and processes that are socially complex, knowledge-based and difficult to imitate. A firm is able to possess dynamic and operational capabilities, where dynamic capabilities are defined as those processes that allowed the firm to change its resources based on techniques to meet the differences in strategic and competitive challenges (Zubac et al, 2010; Helfat et al, 2007). The perception of a dynamic capability was developed to expound why some firms have been able to outperform their competitors over long periods of time and despite significant changes in the marketplace (Teece et al, 1997). It is specific and identifiable processes involved conceptualisation, product development and strategic decision making (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000, p. 1105). Conversely, an operational capability is the firms capacity to combine, assemble and deploy the firms assets using pre-determined activities, routines, processes and the skills of its employees to make goods and services that are a source of potential profits to the firm available to its customers (Spanos and Lioukas, 2001). However when a firm is adopting a differentiation strategy, they would focus on new product development, whereas a firm which implementing low cost strategy would focus on improving manufacturing process efficiency (Henry, 2008). Capabilities are not built in short period; they are dependent on employees, knowledge based, understanding of the marketplace and customers requirements and operations (Olavarrieta and Ellinger, 1997). The Competitive Advantage of RBV Competitive advantages and disadvantages in resources are equivalent to strengths and weaknesses respectively, which stimulate cost and differentiation advantages or disadvantages in competitive product markets (Valentin K. E., 2001). When an organisation implements a value creating strategy where it is not implement by the rivals then it is said to have CA (Halawi L. A., Aronson J. E, and McCarthy R. V., 2005; Barney, 1991). CA can be created in various methods through size, location and accessibility to resources (Halawi L. A., Aronson J. E, and McCarthy R. V., 2005; Ghemawat, 1986). The CA gained by these RC is then reflected in superior performance of the firm in financial terms such as higher profits, increased sales or market share (Clulow et al, 2007; Hunt and Morgan, 1995; Collis and Montgomery, 1995; Fahy, 2002; Wilcox-King and Zeithaml, 2001). The Competencies of an Organisations Henry (2008) evaluated competency as the internal capabilities that firms require in order to be able to compete in the marketplace. In addition, Zubac et al (2010) defined CCÂ  [7]Â  as the collective learning of individual members within the firm and their ability to work across organisational frontiers. Prahalad and Hamel (1990, p. 82) stated that: The skills that together constitute core competence must coalesce around individuals whose efforts are not so narrowly focused that they cannot recognise the opportunities for blending their functional expertise with those of others in new and interesting ways. Thus, a CC or strategic capability can be thought as a collection of features that a firm possesses which enables them to achieve CA. Honda and BMW are examples of the organisations that have achieved CC in a way they configure their value chain respectively (Henry, 2008). RBV and Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) Barney (1991) suggested that there can be heterogeneity or firm-level differences among firms that enabled them to attain SCA. Ten3 Business e-Coach (2001) describes SCA as the continued benefit when an organisation is implementing a value-creating strategy that is not being implemented by potential competitors and incapable to imitate the benefits of this strategy. Therefore, the RBV emphasises on strategic choice, structuring the management of the firm with the important task of identifying, developing and deploying RC to maximise returns (Value Based Management.net, 2011). Bharadwaj et al (1993) propose a framework of SCA for a firm is derived from the RC of the firm. The extent of the service firms SCA is essentially determined by the degree of imitability inherent in the firms resources. Kerin et al (1992) presented an integrative framework of the literature on first mover advantage, suggesting that the realisation of SCA, through market pioneering, is contingent on the resources that a firm possesses (Olavarrieta and Ellinger, 1997). Strategic resources and Superior performances As a source of CA, RC must have four attributes which is VRIO in order to outpace others. A resource must be valuable as it empowers the firm to perceive or implement strategies that enhance its efficiency and effectiveness through lower costs and incline of revenue (Ecofine, 2010). Substitutability states that there must be no strategically equivalent valuable resources that can be exploited to implement the same strategies (12manage, 2008). For instance, Wal-Mart sells most of the same merchandise as its major competitors, but the effectiveness and innovation of its logistics system ensures that it is the market leader in the industry. Wal-Marts valuable and imitability point-of-purchase inventory control systems and cross-docking distribution plants have resulted in competitive advantage relative to its major competitors (Olavarrieta and Ellinger, 1997; Barney, 1995). Porters Framework Porters Industry Analysis Porter (2008) illustrates CA as an understanding of industry structure that guides managers toward productive possibilities for strategic action that includes positioning the company to be better cope with the current competitive forces, anticipating and exploiting shifts in the forces, and shaping the balance of forces to create a new industry structure that is more favourable to the company. There are three sources that is irreproducible, for instance, market structure that limits entry, a companys history which by definition will require time to imitate and tacitness in relationships refers to the routines and behaviours which cannot be imitate since the organisations themselves are unsure how they work (Henry, A., 2008). Porters mentioned that there are only two generic studies to compete either through low cost or product differentiation that lead to superior performance (Hax A. C. and Wilde II D. L., 2003). To assist managers in understanding, improving, and implementing a low cost or differentiation strategy, Porter (1985) developed the value chain framework; it is a generic activity that is used to decompose the firm into the individual activities it undertakes to create value for the customer (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). Economies of Scale Cost leadership is achieved through the aggressive pursuit of economies of scale, product and process simplification, and significant market share that empower companies to exploit experience and learning effects (Hax A. C. and Wilde II D. L., 2003). Dell being one of the organisation are protected by scale economies in their direct-sales method, efficient lean-manufacturing approach, expertise in logistics and supply-chain management. Hence, these capabilities provide it with CA and which its competitive incapable to imitate (Henry, 2008). Differentiation and Core Competencies It requires firm to differentiate for creating a product that customer perceives as highly valuable and distinctive (Hax A. C. and Wilde II D. L., 2003). The first-mover advantage refers to firms which benefit from the learning and experience they acquire as a result of being first in the marketplace like Toyota has achieved CC in the production of petrol-and-electric hybrid cars (Henry, 2008). Hence, a CC should provide access to a diversity markets, make significant contribution to perceived customer benefits of the end products and difficult to imitate. Honda is one of the organisations that focuses on the technical excellence of 4-cycle engines, have facilitated it to leverage its CC to compete in markets from motorcycles to automobiles to a broad range of gasoline-engine products (Grant, M. R., 2001). Market focus Strategy can be viewed as building defences against the competitive forces or discovering the weakest forces in the industry. For instance, Paccar, a firm with heavy-truck market, has chosen to focus on owner-operators group of customers. They have customised the value chain to work immensely with the forces in the segments. Thus, Paccar has earned a long-run return on equity (Porter, 2008). Criticisms RBV Implications The RBV of the firm is a contemporary theory that provides insights on both strategic and organizational issues. An often-recurring critique on the RBV is that its core logic contains circular reasoning in the specification of the relationship between rents and resources (Truijens, 2003). It resulted based on the assumptions of firm heterogeneity and economists preference (Truijens, 2003). Rents are frequently used as firms critical resources which acknowledged by comparing successful firms with unsuccessful firms (Truijens, 2003; Mosakowski et al., 1997, p.2). The RBV also emphasises on the role of human capital in the creation of CA, which at the same time caused issues for accountants in terms of total business and intangible asset valuation (Toms, 2010). Accountants equally are concerned with controls which prevent misappropriation of resources that ultimately are shareholders property. Thus, a theory of value also needs to be accountability (Toms, 2010). Conclusion Porterian thoughts on value chain activity actually ways in which to configure and coordinate internal RC in various ways to achieve value at every stage until it results in SCA, and ultimately, achieving strategic intent, i.e. a desired leadership position. Porters value chain model was a contribution that helps complement his views on strategic positioning and CA. His views on analysing the industry five forces and selecting one of the generic strategies ultimately require the firm to look into its value chain activities. If, for example, the goal is to achieve cost leadership, then every activity, resource and capability in the value chain will be configured, coordinated, combined and utilized in such a way as to bring down costs and achieve greater productivity and higher profit. The strategic intent may be to attain no. 1 position. But cost leadership as a generic choice becomes the driver that guides all RC decisions and activities in the value chain. Activity-based drivers and RBV has many similarities, both influence a firms cost and differentiation position, and both need managerial involvement in a way that drivers must be made controllable, while resources must be organised (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). Although these frameworks have often been presented as conflicting views; they can contribute greatly to the development of a strong business strategy. By integrating these frameworks, it enables activity-based view solves implementation issues that are unresolved when using the RBV (Sheehan and Foss, 2007; Barney and Arikan, 2001). It enhances many of the individual weaknesses of the two views. The activity-based view is weak in its assumptions about factor markets, which would be addressed by the RBV (Sheehan and Foss, 2007; Teng and Cummings, 2002). Thus, Porters IAÂ  [8]Â  remains crucial and the choice should not be seen as one of either but rather one of complementarity.

Free Color Purple Essays: It Was the Worst of Times :: Color Purple Essays

The Color Purple Essay: It Was the Worst of Times The book The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker.   The book was not written in a conventional manner.   It was a series of letters spanning the life of Celie, the main character.   Most of the letters were written by Celie and some by her sister Nettie.   The theme of the book is to be true to yourself in spite of difficulties and never let go of what you believe in.   Do not let people make you think you are something that you are not, then you have the will to survive during the worst of times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Color Purple is about Celie’s life.   In the beginning of the novel, we learn that Celie was raped by her father.   We also learn that Celie’s mother is ill and is unable to take care of the family.   Celie is forced to cook and clean for her family.   Celie conceived two children because of her father’s continuous raping.   She never sees her children and believes that her father killed them.   A man from town wanted to take Celie’s sister Nettie as a wife, but her father convinces the man to take Celie instead.   Celie is now forced to marry an older man who already has children.   Celie’s husband constantly beats and rapes her without any remorse.   He even made Celie nurse Shug Avery, his mistress, when she was ill.   It is now that Celie learns from Shug Avery about love.   Shug Avery encourages Celie not to take the abuse from her husband anymore and that she deserves bette r.   Celie would finally leave her husband when she found out that he kept her sister’s letters from her.   Nettie was the sole reason why Celie had managed to survive.   Celie could not tolerate any more abuse and left with Shug Avery and Mary Agnes.   Mary Agnes was Celie’s stepson’s mistress.   Celie eventually meets up with Nettie and her two children whom she believed to be dead.   She than goes back to her husband who has drastically changed since Shug Avery and Celie left.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This novel was set in the early 1900’s.   During this time, the black people were oppressed by white people.   They were abused and taken advantage of.   Not only were the black people were oppressed but also women were oppressed.   They had little freedom and were unable to be self-sufficient.

The Eight Themes that OHenry uses are: Essay example -- English Liter

The Eight Themes that O'Henry uses are: Beauty :Della is worried that Jim won't think she is beautiful with short hair, but Jim loves her for more than just her beautiful hair and how she looks. If you really love somebody, they are beautiful no matter how they look. Family :Jim and Della are husband and wife and they love each other. Jim's watch was given to him by his father and has been in his family for many years. Still, he sacrifices it out of love for Della. Giving :Della and Jim both feel that it is important to give nice gifts to each other to express their love. Identity :Della learns that Jim loves her for just for being herself, not because of her hair or the Christmas present she buys him. Wisdom :Della and Jim were wise because they were willing to make sacrifices to show their love for each other. Sacrifice :Both Della and Jim give up valuable possessions so they can buy Christmas gifts for each other Money :Della and Jim sell valuable things to get money to buy gifts for each other, because they are poor. Love :Because Jim and Della love each other, there is really no need to :prove their love by buying gifts for each other. Love is the greatest gift The Gift of the Magi :Special allowance for a period of translated fiction will probably have to be made in the history of the 20th century Russian literature, just as it had to be done for the Russian literature at the beginning of the 19th century, when work done for the Russian literature at the beginning of the 19th century, when work by a Russian author was a rarity. Perhaps this is not so much in the context of history of literature as in that of the history of the Russian reader and publisher, granted the possibility... ... relationships is stating that relationships are tough because even though Michael's wife told him she don't want him looking at other women he still does, but he knows that he have to sacrifice that to saved his marriage.They are similar because thier both about married couples, where one of the couples make a sacrifice to make the other happy such as Michael gives up looking at other women to make his wife happy in "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses". Della have hair cut to buy her husband a present in "The Gift of The Magi". Their different in the way their story lines are told and the way the problems are solved. I think in both stories it was good that couples made sacrifices because it shows what love is really about. O. Henry said "There are stories in everything. I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands."

Difference Between Coe and Ece

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Some of the entering college students have the misconception that Computer Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering are only the same. But these are definitely different. This research will specify the differences between COE and ECE. It will give information in choosing their career and it will also use as a guide for incoming freshmen. Basically Electronics and Communication Engineering, deals in the study of communication and signals. It is a combination of electronics and communication. Communication like what we have nowadays; radio waves, spectrum, etc.It requires also a study in electronics, which deals with circuits. It deals more with hardware like integrated circuits. Logically it is also interlinked with computers. Computer Engineering is about the whole understanding of the concepts of computer. Such as operating system, programming, database, networks, software, hardware, etc. as this concept are esse ntial for who will take this course. Based on the definition of the two mentioned course, the differences between can be seen. It only means that they are not the same because they differ on field of study.In terms of job they can get, of course they also differ. As this research continues, it will cite more differences of ECE and COE. This research will help the incoming freshmen to their toughest decision in choosing in their career. Statement of the Problems/Objectives What is the distinction between the courses of Computer Engineering and the Electronics and Communication Engineering? †¢ Why is that most of the students considered that the Computer Engineering course is under the Electronics and Communications Engineering? †¢ Why is Computer Engineering course does not have its own board examination? What are the differences of their fields, duties and specialization? †¢ Is it true that COE came from the concept of ECE? Significance of the Study The researchers co nduct this research for the benefits of the: †¢ Incoming first year students of Computer Engineering in Bulacan State University to give them the vision of what COE is and how it is differ from ECE. †¢ The current second year students of the university to help them to choose between COE and ECE, and decide in third year either to stay in COE or shift to other courses of Engineering like ECE. Readers of this research to give them knowledge about the COE and ECE courses of College of Engineering in Bulacan State University. Scope and Delimitation The research is about the comparison of the courses of COE and ECE in terms of citing some of their differences and the details of each course and to prove that Computer Engineering is not under Electronics and Communication Engineering. The research also resolves the problem of COE being recognized as a major or course under ECE.

Time Is More Valuable

â€Å"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. † In the essay â€Å"How America Has Run Out Of Time†, Nancy Gibbs discusses how the inclusion of technology into the workforce has a negative impact on the lives of Americans. Technology was designed to make work easier and faster providing extra time that can be spent freely. Instead, it had the opposite effect causing longer work hour and less time for family. I believe technology in the work place may have a deeper impact American life. Technology has helped to change the nature of the work.Technology like the Internet has helped to connect businesses internally as well as globally with information. Communication has become fast and simple with the use of email and video or phone conference, but at the same time it has made the work place impersonal. With this it reduces the need to meet face to face. Socialization within the work place decrease and there is less â€Å"wat er cooler moments† where employees meet and have conversations. There is a decrease sense of trust, bonds and teamwork present. With the decline in trust there is a decline in work-life balance.Technology provides us with a limitless supply of information and a way to stay connected. â€Å"There are phones in the car, laptops in the den, and humming fax machine eliminates the once peaceful lull between completing a document and delivering it. (602)† The constant connectivity slowly blurs the line between work and leisure. In a sense people are always working. People are able to continue their work at home after leaving the office or even work from home. Even when they are not working, employees can access and reply to email messages from work via their computer and cell phone.As work days increased, negative health effects did as well. Long working hours does not only affect a worker's productivity. Long hours meant less time for an individual to rest, which can create sleeping problems and increase the chance of being in a work related accident. Another result can be the rise of stress due to the need of a competitive advantage. The stress can lead to either high blood pressure and heart disease or bad health habits such as smoking and unhealthy eating. More time spent working meant less time with the family.Some parents feel strained and fatigued trying to juggle the responsibilities at home and at work. Most times this breaks the bond between parent and children because there is less focus on the child. As parents are working, the child is taken care of by a babysitter. Other times the child might take up the parental role and take care of themselves while the parents are away. â€Å"The very culture of children, of freedom and fantasy and kids teaching kids to play jacks, is collapsing under the weight of hectic family schedule. 605)† The structure of American life has changed since technology was introduced in the work force. People ar e on a fast pace schedule to deal with the time constraint caused by work. The accessibility of technology is causing people to overwork to combat the competition faced in the economical market. Overworking causes strain on our own lives and the family life, whether it is neglecting the responsibilities and duties as a parent or not spending time with our spouse. As the sun set and comes close to the end, ask yourself if you are able to find some free time from work?

Federal Government on Public School Curriculum Essay

Education is the one which build the molders of the society. It has been one of the major issues tackled during election campaigns and debates. Of all the issues in governance and in leading the nation, federal role in education receives less attention. The federal programs that exist in our country are lacking the ability to meet the standards that would qualify for a world quality yet government-funded education. In the educational system history, less help come from the federal government that worsens the scenario of schools specially those that are considered public. Aside from the role of the federal government in funding education particularly public schools, it is also important for the federal government to make sure that the curriculum be in its world quality standards of learning. The curriculum guides an educational system to be in its right path to reach the proper knowledge and learning. However, the Federal government was prohibited to control education under the General Education Provisions Act of April 18,1970 that was cited at 20USC(52)I §3921 of the Education Security Act of August 11, 1984. This prohibition is followed by the Controlled Substance Act that prohibits all professional competence in drug control. Another prohibition is the non-sponsorship of the federal government of any kind of testing that is provided for and enacted by law. Consequently, these prohibitions make the responsibility left behind with the States. Each States should have their own means of providing education to their respective youths. The congress had legislated an unconstitutional attitude that pertains to such education that prohibits good governance. This also limits the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The exclusion of the federal government is not applicable at this time and thus, many (including those in the congress) suggest giving the proper education aid as soon as it should be. As an improvement, Former President George W. Bush passed â€Å"The No Child Left behind Act of 2001† which intends to increase the federal government’s support and involvement to education was legalized. The Federal government together with the US Department of Education should allow the idea of a national curriculum for public schools. In this way, the State and local educational offices will only maintain and enforce the standards without even evaluating the curriculum. The Department of Education upon their approval of national curriculum should always have their assessment at each half of the year to make sure that the standards for curriculum are well enforced. Reference ERIC.Government and the Public School Curriculum. Retrieved April 3, 2009 @http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ270398&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ270398

Cebu Philippines †Queen City of the South Essay

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines and the main center of industry, commerce, trade and education in the central and southern parts of the archipelago. Cebu-City Cebu-City is also called as the Queen City of the South and has become one of the great tourist destinations in the Philippines. It is the capital and the main city of the island of Cebu and one of the oldest cities of the country Cebu, aside from being a growing city also provides a great quality of life and relaxed atmosphere within a tropical paradise. The people of Cebu The people living in Cebu speak Cebuano but can also speak Tagalog and English. So it’s easy for you to communicate with them. Cebus people are open minded towards foreigners, hospitable, patient and very friendly. Tourism Holidaymakers come from all over the world to enjoy the long stretches of white sand beaches and clear turquoise waters. The beach resorts of Cebu are unrivaled in the world. Nature Unlike the barren mountainous part of the island, the coastal zones are extraordinarily fertile. Maize, coconuts, bananas und a lot of other fruits grow here, as do the world famos Philippine mangoes. Luxurious vegetation which could not be more tropical anywhere, and countles rivers and lakes form the bizarre, dreamy, sublime landscape of the island. Fiesta – Sinulog St. Nino de Cebu – Festival – Philippines The big annual attraction in Cebu City is the Sinulog Festival,held every third Sunday in January. The Sinulog is Cebu’s biggest and showiest fiesta in honor of the Infant Jesus or Seà ±or Santo Nià ±o. To the sound of the drums the dance moves two steps forward and one step backward. The 9-day fiesta celebration of sinulog in honor of Santo Nino starts on a Saturday followed by the grand street parade on the next day. The exact route varies every year as the festival grows. Visit www.sinulog.ph for more information. Hotels in Cebu ara usually full during sinulog. Before His grand day the image of the Child Jasus will be leaving His home in the Basilica del Santo Nino and will be stay with His foster father in the St. Joseph Parish in Mandaue City for a day and a night. After these stay with His father, He will be voyaging the way to His mother in Lapu-Lapu. In a glas case decorated with blossoming flowers the Holy Child Jesus will be carried by a spanish galleon toward His destination. The exact route varies every year as the festival grows. Visit www.sinulog.ph for more information. Every barrio and barangay trains its school children for months. And the boys on these days? It’s not easy for them to come in the picture. Origin | Page 1 of 3 Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Nino. The dance moves to the sound of the drums and this resembles the current (Sinulog) of what was then known as Cebu’s Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, they say it’s Sinulog. More than just the meaning of the word is the significance of the dance. Historians now say that Sinulog, which is of pagan origin, is the link between the country’s pagan past and its Christian present. Let’s trace its history. Historical accounts say that before Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan came to Cebu on April 7, 1521 to plant the cross on its shore and claim the country for the King of Spain, Sinulog was already danced by the natives in honor of their wooden idols and anitos. Then Magellan came and introduced Christianity. He gave the Santo Nino (image of the Child Jesus) as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Cebu’s Rajah Humabon who was later named Queen Juana. At that time, not only the rulers were baptized but also about 800 of their subjects. Unfortunately, however, shortly after the conversion, Magellan went into a reckless adventure by fighting the reigning ruler of Mactan, Rajah Lapulapu, with only a handful of men. He died in the encounter. That was on April 27, 1521. The remnants of Magellan’s men were however able to return to Spain to report the incident and the possibility of conquest. It took 44 years before a new group came and started the formal Christianization of the islands. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565. His ships bombarded the village and in one of the burning huts, one of his soldiers named Juan Camus found inside a wooden box the image of the Santo Nino lying side by side with native idols. Historians now say that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legaspi, the natives continued to dance the Sinulog. This time however, they danced it no longer to worship their native idols but a sign of reverence to the Santo Nino which is now enshrined at the San Agustin Church ( renamed Basilica Minore del Santo Nino). Of course, through the years since 1521, the dance was a small ritual danced by a few in front of wooden idols or before the Santo Nino. In fact, at the Santo Nino Church where the image is consecrated, only the candle vendors could be seen dancing the Sinulog and making offerings. During the Santo Nino fiesta which falls on the third Sunday of January, children dressed moro-moro costumes also dance the Sinulog. This was really no big event for Cebu City. In 1980, however, David S. Odilao Jr., then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), organized the first ever Sinulog parade. He invited the physical education teachers for a meeting to discuss the organization of a Sinulog street dance parade. Nang Titang Diola of Mabolo was invited to give a demonstration at the Cebu Doctor’s College. The steps were analyzed and further enhanced by steps used by the candle vendors who performed in front of the church– The Basilica del Sto. Nià ±o. With seven schools and universities, the physical education teachers spearheaded the first Sinulog Street Dance Parade. With financial support from then MYSD Regional Director David Odilao and Department of Education Culture and Sports, the schools were given an era to represent the history of Cebu from the primitive times to the present. Member schools of the Cebu Physical Education Association the University of San Carlos, Southwestern University, University of San Jose-Recoletos, University of Cebu, University of Southern Philippines, Cebu Institute of Technology and Cebu Doctor’s University. The street dance parade started from the Plaza Independencia and caught the imagination of the City of Cebu, which then thought of making the Sinulog a festival that would rival other festivals being held yearly in the country. Thus, under the direction of Cebu City Mayor Florentino S. Solon and through the help of Manuel S. Satorre Jr., the late Juan B. Aquino Jr., also late Xavier Ledesma, Robert Grimalt and Antonio R. Aseniero Jr., Odilao turned over the Sinulog project to the Cebu City Hstorical Committee under Kagawad Jesus B. Garcia Jr. through Garcia’s committee, the Sinulog organization came into being. The first task of the organizing committee was how to conceptualize the festival and make it a big event. The committee then came up with the idea of having a Sinulog logo that would identify the event yearly if it were to be institutionalized. The group didn’t however want to use the Santo Nino image itself because this would have been a sacrilege. And it had to look for something that would identify the project. This was the coat of arms of the Santo Nino, which is quite visible as they are being embossed in the benches, architecture and banners of the old San Agustin Church. The coat of arms of the Santo Nino bears a two-headed hawk, the mark of the House of Hapsburg (Hamburg) in Europe which then ruled most of the known world from the 15th century to 20th century. Spain was under the Hapsburg dynasty when it sent the expeditions out across the globe to spread the Faith and expand the influence of the dynastic house to be unknown lands beyond the oceans. The royal origin of the Hapsburg started with the ruling family on Austria in 1276 and for centuries until the 20th century the house rule most of the kingdoms in Europe. The Hapsburg established the Holy Roman Empire in 14552 and it was at the height of their power under Charles 1 of Spain (who was also Holy Roman Emperor Known as Charles V1) the first expedition under Ferdinand Magellan which discovered the Philippines for Spain was sent initially to look for the Spice Island. His son, Philip 11 who ruled Spain for 42 years from 1556, sent Legaspi the second expedition under Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. In fact, the Hapsburg rulers continued to hold power until 1700 not only in Spain but also in the colonies under the Spanish regime while the Austrian line of the Hapsburg dynasty also ruled Central Europe until about the same time. Thus, the Hapsburg emblem, now the coat of arms of the Santo Nino, was influential in many kingdoms in that time. The two-headed hawk emblem was in some of the banners brought by Magellan’s men to Cebu settlement in 1521. The same emblem was carried all the way from that time, through the Legaspi expedition of 44 years after Magellan and the others that would come to the country in those days such as Loaisa, Saavedra and the Villalobos expeditions. The emblem of the two-headed hawk at the peak of the power of the Hapsburg dynasty represented the twin purpose of the House, which was to stand as â€Å"Champion of Catholicism and Defender of the Faith.† With the background, the Sinulog committee used a native warrior’s shield on whose face is imprinted the coat of arms of the House of Hapsburg that now represents the Sinulog logo as interpreted by Ms Olive Templa, who coincidentally is a Cebuana. The native shield figure symbolizes the country’s continued resistance to colonization. It speaks of the Filipino’s readiness to defend the country from all forms of foreign incursion and to resist any move that may endanger the country’s self-determination. The coat of arms of the Santo Nino on the face of the shield on the other hand, traditionally symbolizes the country’s acceptance of Christianity as European rulers brought it to the settlements in 1521. Sinulog ’81 was then organized. Practically all sectors in the Cebuano community got involved. To distinguish the festival from the popular Ati-atihan Festival in Aklan, the organizers decided to use the parade to depict the history of the Sinulog which, as had been said, is the dance, which links the country’s pagan past and Christian present. Seven floats were created to depict seven different periods of history. Dancers wearing costumes depicting the periods followed each float. They all danced the same beat. The Sinulog parade started at 1 P.M. at the Cebu Provincial Capitol and ended about past midnight at the Fort San Pedro-Plaza Independencia area. And the show continued until the wee hours of the morning. To the credit of the Sinulog Foundation prime movers, particularly Executive Director Juan â€Å"Dodong† Aquino, Jr. the Sinulog Festival always jazzes up every year or so with new features, all meant to invite wider participation. There’s always something in there for everyone, be he a participant or spectator, be she a verbalist or visualist, an artist or symbolist. Government agencies, the private sector, commercial and industrial establishments, academic institutions and barangays can pit their skills in making float, the paper mache â€Å"higantes† on route arches, on-site decors, fluvial contests and photography. Organizations could also compete in discovering pulchritude via the Miss Sinulog ’88 now known as Ms. Cebu which was eventually taken as an annual project of the Cebu City Tourism Commission. The quality of participation definitely gets better year after year. In 1983, the Sinulog project was still relatively new. Naturally, it had its complement of dents and scrapes, among which were participants on floats and on the streets wearing highly inappropriate and outspoken costumes. Wisened by that, the judges thereafter fine-tuned the qualifications to avert any form of irreverence. Irrelevance, too, was pre-empted. In the first five years the contingents also included â€Å"guests† who, as the afternoon drew and grew, reveled too much after having one too many. Also kibitizers weaved themselves through, sometimes against, the flow, smearing black paint on the spectators. The former have been weeded out of the parade, and the latter are thinning out in number. An improvised detention cell right smack by the roadside has been an effective deterrent. n the early years, Sinulog the ritual and the beat was a total strangers to young and new participants. Too often, it was mistaken for Aklan’s Ati-Atihan, complete with painted faces and war-like, martial beat. Too often, therefore, many a would-be winner, while beautiful in execution and precision, eventually got sidelined by such criteria as relevance and over-all impact. To prevent repetitions of such sorry instances, Sinulog workshops and demonstrations have been conducted annually thru the help of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission Culure and the Arts (NCCA) and the Philippine Folk Dacne Society. Greatly instrumental in this activity is Ms.Dolores Suzara, another mainstay Sinulog judge, and P.E. instructor/choreographer. The incidences of â€Å"misplaced† contingents have definitely waned since then. For the first five years, judging was a test of true grit lasting 20 hours. So that the contest could begin, judges had to be up with the birds. And so that the results could officially sign for the next day’s news, the judges had to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning, bird or no bird. But all judges complained not. They, too, paid homage to the Santo Nià ±o in ways requested of us. The entry of TMX’s Engr. Rogelio Q. Lim and naturally, technology introduced system and speed in results identification breathe better. In 1988, the plum prize for first prize winners in the parade participation was only P12,000.00. In the year 2005, it has risen to P500,000. Grand total is close to P8,000,000.00. Contest participants used to be purely from Cebu City. For about two decades now, the Festival has brought forth dramatic performances (and eventual winners) from all over the country, such as Surigao City, San Carlos City, Southern Leyte, Agusan del Sur, Camiguin, Iligan City , Tangub City , Tacloban, Ilo-ilo, Paranaque City, Naga City, Masbate, Sultan Kudarat , Iligan, Butuan among others. Prior to 1986, spectators came from Cebu City and province. Since the Balik-Cebu program in 1986, however, creating direct Cebu-San Francisco flights, the festival has packed in a million pilgrims and thousands of overseas visitors. With the present set up of the Sinulog Foundation Inc. introduced new contest categories such as the search for the Festival Queen (Sinulog lead dancer), the Puppeteers category, Visual Merchandising Contest (malls and department stores), Photo Contest , the Sinulog Short Film Festivals, the See Cebu on Carousel , huge lighted billboards which features various tourism and historical sites in Cebu displayed along the Carousel parade route. . The Foundation also commissioned artists to come up with a distinct Sinulog music, to date, the Foundation has produced varied Sinulog music, from the traditional beat, to techno funky beat and the overture of Sinulog (music provided by the Philippine Peace Philharmonic orchestra). For the past three years, since 2006, the Sinulog Grand parade can now be seen live in international audiences thru live TV broadcast and Webcast, reaching out as far as US mainland, Australia , some parts in Europe and some parts in Asia. Website, sinulog.ph has also been updated regularly and promotional videos uploaded in Youtube and internet. At present the word Sinulog and the logo is now patented and registered in the Intellectual Property Office, the first ever granted to a Festival. Crowd control has been the Sinulog organizers’ perennial headache. Varied, tried and tested, the approach and strategies have so far been elusive, however. And yet, this could be the dark side of the moon, the light side being that as the crowd swells year after year by millions, the Sinulog parade and activities became bigger and better. This made Sinulog †¦the country’s biggest and grandest cultural festival. What began as a revival of an old dance brought government, business establishments, schools, pilgrims, artists and private individual together like never before. The attempt to enhance cultural awareness gave the Cebuanos a shared passion, a collective identity. In the end the Sinulog did give Cebu a culure. And a name. Pit Senyor! The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Philippines and Balingasag, Misamis Oriental[1] The festival commemorates the Filipino people’s pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism. The main feature is a street parade with participants in bright coloured costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Nià ±o. There is also a â€Å"Sinulog sa Kabataan† performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the parade. Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is usually held in the Cebu City Sports Complex. Festival The Sinulog celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Nià ±o carried on a pump boat from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing (that is, the acceptance of Roman Catholicism) of Cebu is performed. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the event. Background | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which roughly means â€Å"like water current movement;† it describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language. The Sinulog dance steps are believed to originate from Rajah Humabon’s adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon’s grief when Baladhay was driven sick. Humabon ordered his native tribe to bring Baladhay into a room where the Santo Nià ±o was enthroned, along with the other pagan gods of the native Cebuanos. After a few days passed, Baladhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with utmost alertness. Baladhay was questioned as to why was he awake and shouting. Pointing to the image of the Santo Nià ±o, Baladhay explained that he had found on top of him a small child trying to wake him and tickling him with the midrib of the coconut. Greatly astonished, he scared the child away by shouting. The little child got up and started making fun of Baladhay. In turn, Baladhay danced with the little child and explained that he was dancing the movements of the river. To this day, the two-steps forward, one-step backward movement is still used by Santo Nià ±o devotees who believe that it was the Santo Nià ±o’s choice to have Baladhay dance. History | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| On April 15, 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory for Spain. He presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Nià ±o, as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, mother of Carlos I. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Roman Catholic Church. At the moment of receiving the holy image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing this image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog. This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Nià ±o to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Nià ±o in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits. Arrival of Là ³pez de Legazpi | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| After Magellan died on April 27, 1521 on the shores of Mactan, the remnants of his men returned to Spain. The Spanish explorer Miguel Là ³pez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565 and occupied the villages ruled by Rajah Tupas. In one of the huts of the burning village, one of Là ³pez de Legazpi’s soldiers named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the statue of the Santo Nià ±o lying amongst several other native idols. Historians later said that during the 44 years between the arrival of Magellan and Là ³pez de Legazpi, the natives of Cebu continued to dance the Sinulog but no longer to worship their anitos (god) but to show their reverence to the Santo Nià ±o. The Augustinian friars that accompanied Là ³pez de Legazpi in his expedition proclaimed the statue performed miracles and built a church on the site where it was found. The church was called San Agustin Church, later renamed to Basilica Minore del Santo Nià ±o. Letter to the King of Spain | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| After Juan Camus found the Santo Nià ±o in the burning village, Là ³pez de Legazpi was said to have included the incident in his report, entitled â€Å"Relation of Voyage to the Philippine Islands†: â€Å"Your Excellency should know that on that day when we entered this village (Cebu City), one of the soldiers went into a large and well-built house of an indio where he found an image of the Child Jesus (whose most holy name I pray may be universally worshipped). This was kept in its cradle, all gilded, just as if it were brought from Spain: and only the little cross, which is generally placed upon the globe in his hands, was lacking. The image was well kept in that house, and many flowers were found before it, and no one knows for what object or purpose. The soldier bowed down before it with all reverence and wonder, and brought the image to the place where the other soldiers were. I pray to the Holy Name of his image, which we found here, to help us and to grant us victory, in order that these lost people who are ignorant of the precious and rich treasure, which was in their possession, may come to knowledge to him† Today | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| Since 1521, devotion to the Santo Nià ±o has grown and has taken root in Philippine popular piety, particularly in the Visayas; pilgrims from different parts of Cebu and the rest of the Philippines make their yearly journey to the church to take part in the procession and festival. Starting in 1980, the Cebu City government organized the Sinulog Festival and eventually gave incentives to tribal dance groups. The first Sinulog parade was held in 1980, organized by Dà ¡vid Odilao, then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports, and Youth Development. The parade was composed of students dressed in Moro costumes, dancing the Sinulog to the beating of drums. The idea caught and thus, under the direction of the Cebu City Mayor Florentino Solon with the help of several influential Cebuanos, Odilao turned over the Sinulog project to the Cebu City Historical Committee under Kagawad Jesus Garcia. It was the task of the Committee to conceptualize the Sinulog festival and make it into a yearly event from then on. In 1981 the following year, the concept of the Sinulog Parade was actualized involving not just Cebu but also representatives from other provinces in the Philippines . Marking its difference from another popular festival, the Ati-Atihan in Aklan, the Sinulog focuses not on the ritual itself but on the historical aspects of the dance, which, as it has been said, represents the link the country’s embrace of Christian faith. Sinulog coat of arms | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2011)| The Cebu City Historical Committee, which was responsible for the conceptualization of the Sinulog as a provincial event, decided to adopt a logo for the Sinulog to identify it as an institutionalized yearly event. They turned to the coat of arms of the Santo Nià ±o which consisted of a two-headed hawk that was the mark of the ruling House of Habsburg in Europe. The emblem represented the twin purpose of the Habsburg dynasty as â€Å"Champion of Catholicism and Defender of the Faith.† At the time when Spain sent expeditions to the Philippines, they were under the Habsburg dynasty. The Sinulog committee then incorporated the two-headed eagle to a native warrior’s shield. The native shield is supposed to symbolize the Philippines resistance to colonization while the Santo Nià ±o’s coat of arms printed on its face represented the country’s acceptance of Roman Catholicism.