Best Practices and Strategies Essay Example for Free

Best Practices and Strategies Essay Ex: functional, conglomerate, and divisional. For this list of practices we will use the divisional design. a. Divisional Design aka M form (the M stands for multidivisional): Is made up of separate, semi autonomous units or divisions and each division has its own goals to accomplish. 6) Culture: Refers to the set of values that helps its members understand what the organization stands for how it wants to accomplish what it wants to accomplish, and what it considers important. 7) Human Resource Strategy Implementation: Requires an understanding of undamental individual and interpersonal behavioral process. b. Individual Process: Psychological Contracts; Personality; Motivation; and Stress. c. Organizational system and Process: Understanding of the causes of stress, the process by which stress affects individuals can cope better with stress in organizational settings. d. Interpersonal Group Process: Group Behavior; Leadership; and Communication. Select one (1) the corporate strategies discussed in Chapter 4 and formulate a human resource strategy that will support the corporate strategy. Cost leadership strategy is one that focuses on minimizing the cost as much as possible. This strategy allows the firm to charge the lowest possible prices for its products, thereby presumably generating an overall level of revenue. A human resource strategy that will support this corporate strategy would be: a. Efficiency Ratio: keeping expenses low with earnings being high. b. Learning Curve: maintaining training and continues training of employee’s. c. Good Purchasing approach: acquiring goods or services to accomplish the goals of the firm. . Maintaining latest technology: helps maintain inventory control, which in return helps ensure products to customers. e. Strategic marketing mix to help ensure market leadership f. Superior customer service: series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction. Competitive or above average pay, employee advancement, and employee incentivizes. g. Product leadership: concept which describes delivering state of the art products in the market. Discuss the Fruit Guys business strategy. Identify three (3) other businesses that could use the five (5) questions the Fruit Guys used to determine effectiveness and identify three (3) businesses in which the business strategy would not work well. Provide a rationale for your answer. The business strategy that the Fruit Guys uses is the defender strategy. Defender strategy: works best when a business operates in an environment with relatively little uncertainty and risk and high degree of stability. The goal of the defender is to identify for itself a relatively narrow niche in the market and then to direct a limited set of products or services at he niche. After reviewing the website of the Fruit Guys, their niche is to provide fresh â€Å"healthy brain food† as the fruit guys refer to it as such to the premises of the workplace. As healthy foods to the office â€Å"can boost productivity, improve wellness and help companies improve their bottom line†. The Fruit Guys fills thousands of business of businesses in America with seasonal fresh fruit varying from small family businesses, to major Fortune 500 companies. With their customers sharing their idea on health, and the environment, this helps bring stability to the company, while their employees bring in pride, giving high productivity levels. The five questions that the Fruit Guys have based their strategy on is: I. Have we been respectful to the people we work with employees, coworkers, and customers? II. Have we been responsible to their needs? III. Have we been realistic with them about what we can or cannot do? IV. Can we take personal responsibility for the situation? V. Are we going to be remembered positively? Three companies that could use the five questions to work for their businesses are: a) Car Dealerships (especially Used Car dealerships) b) Construction Companies c) Cleaning Company Three Companies that would not benefit from the use of the five questions are: a) Jc Penny’s b) Walmart c) BJ’S Wholesale Club (ex: Costco) My reasoning behind my choices for the use of the five questions are these companies are more hand’s on with their companies, and actually rely on word of mouth business and repeat business. Without these referrals and repeat business these companies would have to rely a lot on marketing and advertising strategies. My reasoning behind my choices for these businesses that would not benefit from the five questions is because these companies are very well expanded. With many stores in many different locations of one state and through-out many states these companies do not rely on word of mouth or repeat business. As their marketing strategies, advertising strategies, and sales are what continuously brings in repeat customer, and new customers.

Digital Tools Used In Gojira And Godzilla Film Studies Essay

Digital Tools Used In Gojira And Godzilla Film Studies Essay Humans have been around for thousands of years. Today, many movies have been created based on stories and legends of influential people and life-changing events that were recorded in history. Inspiration for the 1954 film Gojira came about as a result of World War Two during the twentieth century. The devastation brought on Japan by the two nuclear bombs had inevitably raised a wide spread awareness about nuclear weapons and its radioactive destruction (Ragone 2007). Both, Gojiras and Godzillas creation were linked to the nuclear bomb. With reference to the 1998 film Godzilla, it can be seen that the creation of the terrible lizard was linked to French nuclear weapons testing in the French Polynesia. Similarly in the Japanese context, Gojira was shown to be linked not only to the atomic bombs, but the hydrogen ones as well. With the devastation of the two atomic bombs still fresh in the Japanese minds, further H-bomb tests were carried out near Japan and eventually, the radiation fallout directly impacted on the Japanese fishing industry, causing a sharp decline. With all these tragic events occurring within a short span of time, Gojira was concocted out as an incarnation of the war itself (Ragone 2007 pg. 35) as the producers wanted a real-world scenario that reflected the Japanese concerns that time. In order to effectively protray the nature of destruction caused in the films Gojira and Godzilla, visual effects became increasingly important as it was necessary to provide an acceptable level of realism for audiences who will be watching the film. Therefore, this led to the development and creation of different visual effect techniques. Then with the advancements in technology, some older techniques were modified and re-developed accordingly. In this investigation, it will bring to light the common, yet contrasting comparisons of filmmaking between the analogue and digital eras. 2| Scene Selection | I will be comparing two parallel special effects sequences in both Gojira and Godzilla. A breakdown of this complex scene will be accompanied with a description of its technical aspects in laymans terms. The scenes involve the two animals going on a rampage through a major city at night causing massive damages. It also includes military forces trying to eliminate the creature. These two scenes were specifically chosen as I will like to highlight the core visual effects elements that can be found throughout the films. 3| The Character| It was called Gojira, but was later known as Godzilla for the American audiences. (Godzilla, King of the Monsters 1998) In the 1954 Gojira, visual effects director Eiji Tsuburaya pioneered a technique called Suit-mation. The main reason for the introduction of Suit-mation was because of the need to complete the job within a short timespan (Ragone 2007). If stop-motion technique was used, it would have taken them seven years to complete the film. The suit was constructed mainly from hand-stirred latex and then refined subsequently. Even after refinements, the suit could only be worn for several minutes due to the unbearable heat and almost non-existent ventilation within. Due to its flexibility limitations and tremendous weight, the first suit was scrapped as the actor inside could not even move. In certain scenes where only the legs of Gojira were filmed, the suit was cut into two and attached to suspenders, allowing the actor to be more comfortable while filming (Godzilla, Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). Figure |Man in halved Gojira suit Development on analogue visual effect techniques can be seen clearly in the 1998 Godzilla, when Tsuburayas technique of Suitmation was used. Trained professional puppeteers were hired for shots that needed more physical realism with the miniatures that they were interacting with. Eventually, the Godzilla suit would be replaced with a CG Godzilla. Animatronics, a technique similar to the Suitmation technique, was introduced. In this case, instead of Human actors in the creatures costumes, machines were used to replace them. This method allowed many close-up interaction shots which enabled a high level of realism (Aberly 1998). The suit was not entirely presented as a guy-in-a-suit. Primitive visual effects were added to give Gojira a scarier feel. In the shot where Gojira was tearing up Tokyo and boasting its bright flashing hind fins, hundreds of cells were hand drawn frame by frame (Ryfle 1998). In several shots where Gojira was using its atomic breath, the creature was actually a hand puppet (Godzilla 2005). With much use for puppetry and animatronics, computer generated graphics still triumphed as the best tool for visual effects in the digital era. In addition, with the developments of computer animation software and techniques, realism took to a new height. Puppeteers whom took the role of Gojira would soon be replaced with computer animators sitting behind the desk. While the actor in the Gojira suit was acting for the scene, he would be filmed using a high speed camera at around 240 frames-per-second. The film would then be projected at 24 frames-per-second giving the feel of weight and size (Faller 2010). Using modern day tools to make Godzilla (1998) move, instead of shooting a guy-in-a-suit at a high frame rate, Centropolis FX had Godzilla key-frame animated in the computer. Due to the difficulty of animating such a huge creature, the team of animators grew from twelve to sixty (Martin 1998). Subsequently, After many failed attempts of animating a proper walk cycle, the team managed to get the same feel of the high speed camera shots by animating Godzillas movement at a slower speed (Martin 1998). From using chicken wires and glued latex for the construction of the 1954 Gojira (Designing Godzilla featurette 2005), polygons and NURBS took over in the digital era. The Gojira suit was made by wrapping thin wires and bamboo with chicken wire. Cushions and fabric were also added for the actors comfort. Hand stirred latex was later applied onto the suit as skin (Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). Even though CGI was of an advanced technology, there were still setbacks. Modelers had to split up their work of digitizing the entire creature by manually using a stylus to draw out every single mesh into the computer. Furthermore, the software was not perfect and had its limitations. A Special Projects team was sent from Soft Image to trouble-shoot problems encountered by the CGI crew (Aberly 1998). Ideally, Gojira was thought to have suffered burns and scars from the H-bomb test. The textures and the suit of Gojira were hand crafted by two people. Tireless hours were spent modeling the skin bumps by using latex and then gluing it onto the skin (Godzilla, Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). However in the modern day Godzilla, there was the technology of displacement mapping whereby the 3D geometry of Godzilla would be displaced using a texture map that contained details of the skin. With the model rendered out in different passes (Martin 1998), the process was more effective and also gave compositors more freedom in manipulating the image to create a realistic Godzilla. 4| The Set | As the two Godzillas enter the city and begin their trail of destruction, the set they were on had to look real. Although both movies used miniatures for filming, this special effects technique was inevitably developed and refined extensively due to technological advancements. 4.1| Miniatures | Miniatures for Gojira (1954) were made for use as a city scape. Tsuburaya had the miniatures built mostly in the 1/25 scale, with the exception of the Diet building which was a 1/33 scale (Ragone 2007). With reference to the scale of the Gojira suit with the miniature set scale, it created an illusion of Gojiras large size. Buildings were made in a forced perspective method where buildings closer to the camera were built bigger and those at the horizon smaller. The sets were actually built on wooden platforms to allow cameramen to do low angle shots, making the buildings look even bigger (Ryfle 1998). Thin plaster and wood were used for the buildings framework. Elaborate planning of the citys construction included custom made streets that would create footprints when being stepped on. Plaster was poured over sawdust to create that effect (Ryfle 1998). Digital techniques such as CG effects animation helped the 1998 Godzilla in creating street cracks. With the help of Thomas Hollier, a senior technical director, street impact technology was created. This allowed a pipeline for a more effective way for animating pavements that would crack under Godzillas weight (Martin 1998). Miniatures were also widely used in the making of Godzilla (1998). Huge 1/24 size models were built to accommodate Godzillas path of destruction. Huge 1/10 models were also built for close-up shots. The buildings were much more detailed with some featuring plumbing and even desks. There were several miniature buildings that were reused from The Hudsucker Proxy and The Fifth Element. With this, a great amount of production time was saved as redesigning of the rest of the set was no longer required. Although both Godzilla movies incorporated miniatures, Godzilla (1998) added extensive digital compositing over its miniatures to give it more realism (Martin 1998). Techniques adopted for destroying the miniature buildings were much more sophisticated in the newer film. In the 1954 version, kerosene soaked rags were used to set the miniatures ablaze (Ragone 2007). For those that were to be destroyed by Gojiras fiery breath, explosives were set behind the buildings. Several buildings even had gasoline sprayed on them to make them burn more easily. For buildings that were supposed to be destroyed by physical contact, small cracks were made in those miniatures so that it would crumble in a more believable fashion when Gojira crushed it. It was a daunting task for the actor inside as he had to get it right on the first take as there was not enough budget and time for a rebuild (Ryfle 1998). In 1998, there were more types of pyrotechniques available and one such example would be the military type. Different methods were developed to be used on the different types of destruction. As Godzilla races through the city with its tail in free motion causing damages to buildings, cable pulls were attached to sandbags in the buildings interiors. When they were pulled, a trail of damage would occur as if Godzillas tail had swept through them. Mechanical rigs were also used to blast through a building with the CG Godzilla to be composited in later. The Chrysler Building in the scene which was destroyed by a misfire from the attack helicopters were very complex mechanical rigs. Right after the top floors exploded, it was orchestrated to shift and descend towards the camera (Aberly 1998). On the whole, miniature destruction could be choreographed with more control. Miniature vehicles were also used on the set for both films. The military elements used in the Gojira scene were tanks. Extensive pyrotechnical effects were used for the firing of the tank weapons. When the tank shells hit Gojira, blasts were created by wire rigged charges (Ryfle 1998). Comparing this to a similar scene in the 1998 movie, instead of tanks, CG Apache attack helicopters were used. Tracer fire, blasts including debris and smoke from the damage were all entirely computer generated. In addition of the rain and lighting effects which included the volumetric searchlights, RenderMan shaders were developed solely for the wet look of the helicopter. However, at the shot when Godzilla decides to lash out at the attacking military helicopters, a miniature was used. With creative ingenuity, a 1/8 scale model was made loaded with pyrotechnics and detonated (Martin 1998). 4.2| Atmosphere | To create the perfect terrorising atmosphere, Gojira (1954) was shot using a low-key lighting effect (Biodrowski 2007). This is because Low key lighting would create a darker toned picture with contrasting bright contours which is more suitable for dramatic shots. The grainy cinematography would also feed an extra punch to the eerie effect throughout the film (Ryfle et al. 2007). With the advancements in technology, analogue methods would be often replaced by colour grading and compositing. In Godzilla (1998), instead of using a low-key effect to give the dramatic shots, the environment was given a CG rain touch up. This was a complicated scene where many effects animations were applied. Not only was computer generated imagery used, acquisition footage was also being recorded for the environments. From rain to shattering windows, these footages would later be composited at different scales to tie up the scene together with the CG Godzilla (Martin 1998). Lighting was a key element in creating the perfect environment. Real lights from orange and bluish street lamps had to be reflected onto the CG Godzilla. Due to location shots where real lights were aimed at buildings when Godzilla was supposed to be in the foreground, artists had to rotoscope out the real lights and animate the CG ones. More complications had arisen when Godzilla rampaged and took out the real street lamps. Firstly, lights from the real lamps had to be rotoscoped out. A CG lamp would then be created and animated to flip or be destroyed (Martin 1998). Although this entire sequence would seem small compared to the main character, it made the scene look believable. Another small detail to add on is the stationary cars from the live action footage that underwent rotoscoping when Godzilla stomped past them. Compositing artists had to create rotoscope mattes for the vehicles and animate their bounce by hand. The add-on of the camera shake at post-production level also helped with the realism (Martin 1998). 5| The Conclusion| In my chosen scenes which depict the destructions from the streets of Tokyo to Manhattan, both Gojira and Godzilla held similar iconic symbolisms and metaphors. In the 1950s when Gojira was made, there were many underlying reasons for its creation. The focal point was the atomic bombs. Since Japan had directly experienced the impact of the bombs, it would have held a deep significance for them. To a certain extent, it was believed that without the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gojira would not have surfaced. Gojiras rampage through Tokyo would serve as a reminder of the recent devastating nuclear attack on Japan to the survivors of the atomic bombs as well as to the rest of the Japanese. Gojira also created awareness on new nuclear weapon testing and how our interference with Mother Nature might one day prove apocalyptic and leave a trail of death and devastation. Today, in the modern world context where technological advances are ever improving and as well as relative peace, Godzilla (1998) still carries the same essence as it did 44 years ago. With the threat of existing nuclear weapons and even deforestation which leads to Global Warming, metaphorically, Godzilla still serves as a reminder and warning of an impending disaster if we do not change our ways. Iconically, Godzilla would be referred to as a present doomsday movie. From comparing the different special effects techniques that were used in 1954 to those used in 1998, one could see how the technology leap into the digital era made a big difference in improving film quality and the workflow efficiency of special effects artists. Even though gone were the days where analogue techniques such as filming in front of glass mattes were regarded as the modern methods of special effects, several analogue techniques are still considered relevant with the present world. The integration of both analogue and digital effects proved to be a success in creating a hyper-real Godzilla. With the age of computers and constant development on digital techniques and tools, no one knows what the future might hold for us as special effects artists. However, like all foundations of buildings, the journey of learning the history and methodology of analogue techniques should be deemed as equally important for future developments. 6| Bilbliography| BOOKS Aberly, R., 1998. The making of godzilla. London: Titan books. Kalat, D., 1997. A critical history and filmography of tohos godzilla series. 2nd ed. USA: Mcfarland and company, inc. Ragone, A., 2007. Eiji tsuburaya: masters of monsters. San Francisco: Chronicle books. Ryfle, S., 1998. Japans favourite mon-star: the unauthorised biography of the big g. Canada: ECW press. JOURNALS Martin, K., 1998. The sound and the fury. Cinefex, 74(3), 84-107. WEBSITES Faller, G., 2010. Tsuburaya, eiji. Available from: http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ta-Vi/Tsuburaya-Eiji.html [Accessed 9 October 2010] Biodrowski, S., 2007. Gojira(1954)/Godzilla, king of the monsters(1954)-Film and DVD review. Available from: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/11/godzilla-1954-film-dvd-review/ [Accessed 25th October 2010] Ryfle, S. and Goldstein, B., 2007. Godzilla 50th Anniversary Pressbook. Available from: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007/12/06/godzilla-50th-anniversary-pressbook/ [Accessed 1st October 2010] DVD Godziszewski, E., Ryfle, S. and Aiken, S., 2005. Godzilla. DVD. UK: British Film Institute. Godziszewski, E., 2005. Godzilla-Designing Godzilla featurette. DVD. UK: British Film Institute. VIDEO Godzilla, King of the Monsters, 1998. Video. UK: BBC Video.

E Business Strategy: An Analysis

E Business Strategy: An Analysis Bank is an institution that deals with money as well as credit. It accepts deposits from the public, makes funds available to those who need then and helps in remittance of money form one place to another (Macesich, George, 2000, p-42). Modern banks today perform a wide range of functions that makes it difficult to give an apt and precise definition of it. One of the famous economists, Crowther had said, a bank collects money from those who have it to spare or who are saving it out of their incomes, and lends this money to those who require it. In short, the term bank in modern times refers to an institution that deals with money i.e. accepts deposits and advances loans; has the ability to create credit which basically implies expanding its liabilities as a multiple of its reserves; creates demand deposits and it is a commercial institution that aims at securing profits. Citibank is a subsidiary of Citigroup. Citibank was founded as City Bank of New York in the year 1918. According t o the latest statistics, it is now the third largest bank holding company in the United States by the total assets after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. The bank has its retail banking operations spread over more than 100 countries and territories around the world (Harold, Cleveland Huertas, 1985). Apart from the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers credit cards, insurance and other investment products. Their online services have earned them appreciation from every nook and corner, making them the most successful in the field. The 15 million online users bear testimony to the stated fact. The key people involved in the management of the bank are: Vikram Pandit (CEO), John Gerspach (CFO), Douglas Peterson (COO) and Willliam R. Rhodes, the Chairman. Strategy literally means the way an action is planned to achieve the desired results. Every company has certain aims that it hopes to conquer. It has a vivid description of what it desires to achieve. The vision statement that company has is an idealized picture which inspires it, energizes its efforts towards directing its actions towards the expected goals (Hambrick and Chen, 2007, p 935-955). Strategic Decision Making, in context of a firm or an organization, is the framing of long term plan of action that aims at resulting in success and profits for the products and services marketed by the company, for instance (Triantaphyllou, 2000, p 320). Strategic decision making is important to outperform the various other competitors in the market. The process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving organizational objectives and thereby accomplishing organizational purpose is known as Strategy formulation. In todays era of cut-throat competition in the business environme nt budget-oriented planning or forecast-based planning methods are insufficient for a large corporation to survive and prosper. The firm must engage in strategic planning that clearly defines objectives and assesses both the internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments as necessary to stay on track (Kepner and Tregoe, 1965). A strategy thus formulated, should reflect on environmental analysis, basing on sustainable business. It should lead to the materializing of the vision of the organization, as to where the organization sees itself in the years to come and result in achievement of organizational objectives. It basically comprises of the following steps: Setting up mission and objectives: The mission statement describes the companys business vision, including the unchanging values and purpose of the firm and forward-looking visionary goals that would guide the pursuit of future opportunities and lead to its long term stance in the business world. Measures such as sales targets and earnings growth are the organizations financial objectives. Strategic objectives are related to the firms business position, and may include measures such as reputation in the market and market share. Environmental Scanning: The environmental scanning includes the internal analysis of the firm, external macro-environment and the analysis of the firms task environment. Various scientific analysis have been developed which assist in the process of environmental scanning. A deep rooted internal analysis of the firms strengths and weaknesses and external analysis of the threats and opportunities gives us a clear picture about the firms stance. And a profile of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is given by the SWOT analysis. It gives us proper information regarding the concerned firm which helps us in matching the firms resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates (Menon et al, 1999, p 18-40). Strengths are used in developing the rudiments for a competitive advantage. Strengths include exclusive access to high grade natural resources, patents, strong brand names, favorable access to distribution networks and good reputation among cus tomers. The weaknesses are high cost structure, lack of access to the best natural resources, lack of access to key distribution channels, a weak brand name and bad reputation among customers. Opportunities are chance occasions for growth and prosperity. They may include: removal of international trade barriers, loosening of rules and regulations, introduction of new technologies and an unfulfilled customer need (Hill and Westbrook, 1997, p 46-52). The changes in the external environment may pose serious threat to the organization. For instance, emergence of substitute products, new regulations, increased trade barriers and shifts in consumer tastes away from the firms products. The external macro environment can be tested on the PEST analysis scale. The acronym PEST (or sometimes rearranged as STEP) is used to describe a framework for the analysis of these macro environmental factors. It is the Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis. Political issues include Governm ents policies and legal issues like Tax policy, employment laws, trade restrictions and tariffs and political stability. Economic growth, Interest rates, Exchange rates and Inflation rates determine the Economic conditions of the market. Social factors include career attitudes, age distribution, population growth rate, health consciousness and emphasis on safety. The various factors like Automation, research and development activity, technological incentives and the rate of change of technology, influence the technological aspect of the functioning of the organization. A framework developed my Michael Porter known as Porters five forces can also be used in drawing industrial analysis. Strategy formulation: Keeping in mind the strengths and the weaknesses of the organization, it charts out its strategy that helps it in optimizing its resources and gaining maximum profits out of it. Business trends analysis, Market analysis, Competitive analysis, Market segmentation, Marketing-mix, SWOT analysis, Positioning analyzing perceptions and Sources of information are all studied closely and accurately and then strategies are formulated on the basis of the three generic strategies. The Cost Leadership strategy focuses on being the low cost producer in an industry for a given level of quality (Chaffee, 1985). The firm sells its products either below the average industry prices to gain market share or at the average industry prices to earn a profit higher than the market rivals. In the situation of a price war, the firm can maintain some profitability while letting the competition suffer losses. Even without a price war, as the industry matures and prices decline, the firms that can produce more cheaply will remain profitable for a longer period of time. The cost leadership strategy usually targets a broad market. The internal strengths that lead to success in cost leadership strategy are: High level of expertise in manufacturing process engineering, Skill in devising products for efficient manufacturing, having access to required amount of capital for investing in production assets and efficient distribution channels. The second generic strategy, i.e. The Differentiation Strategy triggers the development of a product or service that offers unique attributes that are valued by the customers and that customers consider it to be better than or distinct from the products of the competition. That means it gives ultimate utility and satisfaction to the consumer. Factors like access to leading scientific research, strong sales team that has the inherent ability to put forward the perceived strengths of the product in the market, highly skilled and creative product development department and corporate reputation for quality and innovation, result in the success of Differentiation Strategy (Mulcaster, 2009, p 65-70). The third generic strategy that is the Focus Strategy, finds its essence in a narrow segment within which it tries to achieve either a cost advantage or differentiation. The basic idea is that needs of the group are better serviced by focusing entirely on it. Strategy Implementation: The strategy thus finalized is then implemented using budgets, programs and procedures. The firms resources are organized and allocated and proper motivation is given to the work force to achieve its objectives and thus the strategy is implemented. The way in which the work force perceives the strategy is different. It is logical, that the people who formulated the strategy and the people who will implement it are very different from each other and thus there might be a conflict of opinions, if proper care is not taken to communicate efficiently. Misunderstanding may lead to chaos. Evaluation and Control: The implemented strategy has to be followed up and monitored in every step, and adjustments, if any required, will be made to adapt to the changed scenario of the market. Evaluation would primarily revolve around defining parameters to be measured, defining target values for those parameters, performing measurements, comparing measured results to the pre-defined standard and making necessary changes. E-BUSINESS: The application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business is known as Electronic business or e-business(Louis Gerstner,1996, p 172). Commerce deals with the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as one of the most essential activities of any business. The application of Information and Communications Technology to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses is what Electronic commerce is all about. Electronic business methods empower companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and adaptably, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers (Timmers, 2000, p-31). In practice, e-business is far more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce aims to gather revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and nurture relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency (Miller, Roger, 2002, p741). Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge systems. E-business involves business processes spreading the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, handling customer service, processing orders electronically, and cooperating with business partners and catering to their needs online, via internet. Special technical standards for e-business enable the exchange of data between various companies. Basically, electronic commerce (EC) is the process of buying, transferring, or exchanging products, services, and/or information via computer networks, including the internet. EC can also be benefited from many perspective including business process, service, learning, community. EC is often confused with e-business. . E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the web, the Internet, intranet and extranet or a combination of these. E-BUSINESS STRATEGIES: With the arrival of the Internet facilities and plenty of web development technologies all over the world, e-business is the new talk of businesses in todays world. E-business, like any other emerging field, is changing fast and in the process is changing the way businesses formulate their strategies and conduct their business through realization of those strategies. : E-business scores over the traditional sphere of business by adding speed to the business activities and giving a totally new dimension and definition to businesses worldwide be it whether partnerships, joint ventures or large corporations. It makes transactions quicker in this world of fast pace (Andam, 2003) . The intranet, internet, cellular networks and various other forms of digital technology have resulted in formation of a niche value chain among clients, employees, suppliers, stakeholders and traders coordinated and interlinked in the world of web marketing. The equipments and pillars of e-business strategies include acceptance of payments over the Internet, online advertising, on-line trading and auction deals over the Internet. E-business strategies differ for small and medium-sized businesses. Apart from regular sources, e-business strategies can generate revenue made from paid marketing alliances, revenues derived from franchisees and subscriptions and revenue from maintenance of current channel integrity. E- Business technology provides organizations with a great opportunity to nurture relationships with external and internal parties across its value and supply chains, to realise its competitive advantages. In doing so, however, the solution is not in the application of technology alone, to develop an effective e-Business strategy and for a successful implementation to be realised, existing business interactions must be modeled and scrutinized to trace the interactions that will benefit from this paradigm. The business processes supporting these interactions must be reformulated and designed to effectively perform the procedures behind the interactions. These changes to the business will drive changes to the supporting technology and to the stakeholders that perform the business processes using the technology. The use of Internet has helped and garnered the worldwide development of business that reaches out to a wider consumer base and advertises their products more effectively and ef ficiently. E business has been added as the latest domain in business and has become a must-have in the highly competitive technology driven open market. E Business Strategy can be summed up as the overall strategies that govern E Businesses through calculated information dissemination or scattering. Information dissemination has been widely regarded as the strongest attribute of e-business, which uses information technology in a most effective and exhaustive manner. Not only has e-business has come to play a significant role in the scenario of world trade; there is no business without an accompanying e-business in todays world. E business gives a business the opportunity, the chance to open its base to the global market and become a part of the global business community. The most important feature of e-business is that the helps businesses move on to the international scene at maximum efficiency using minimum cost. E-business has achieved unparalleled levels of success as business models (Business Software Alliance. 2001). For instance: Materials Requirement Planning (MRP), EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). The essential features of e-business strategies are Supply Chain management and email marketing. A state-of-the-art E Business Strategy would generally include: Supply chain management: According to Harland, the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision product and service packages as required by the consumer is known as Supply chain management. The supply chain spreads all over from governing the storage and movement of raw materials to the inventory of the production process and the finished goods, from the origin point till the point where it is finally consumed (Mentzer et al., 2007, p 1-25). The effective management of supply chain can be taken care of with the help of e-business strategies, which will ensure better coordination and understanding between the wholesalers and the retailers of various products that are launched into the market. Better integration of the supply chain right from the source till the final delivery of the product can be effectively put to work using e-business strategy (Hines, 2004). This also leads us to the point of e- commerce where a parallel network of selling and buying can be seen using dissemination or scattering of information over the Internet. Everything ranging from automobiles to electronic gadgets can be bought over the Internet in a hassle free manner under the aegis of sound supply chain management. Customer service and customer relationship management: Effective e-business strategies would involve better customer service and customer relationship management ensuring the highest level of consumer satisfaction. E business is targeted at providing the services that are customer friendly, which would include the delivery of goods right at the doorstep of the consumer, right on time. Inventory and service management integration: E business strategies can also help in improved inventory and service management integration through formulating certain specific plans for accumulation of inventory and purchasing of machinery and equipment which will avoid unnecessary purchases that would ultimately lead to higher expenditures and entail different tax implications. Tactical operations alignment: Tactical operations implying towards short-term goals as opposed to strategic planning aimed at long term goals can be better coordinated by implementing the e-business strategies. Implementing Business Strategy: Implementing e-business strategy is a major task and to ensure its success, from the beginning itself, objectives need to be identified and measurable goals need to be chalked down. This will include finding out steps in a business process, minimizing errors by eliminating paper-based transactions, introducing new market opportunities or improving information access among managers, departments or strategic business units. The costs and impacts of the establishment are measured in terms of resources, time and money. The impact of business should be anticipated, well ahead of time. The introduction of e-business technology across multiple strategic business units will require a major commitment of IT department. Since e-Business applications are transparent to all major hardware platforms, operating systems and databases, thus, using an open architecture configuration eliminates this concern (Charlesworth, 2009, p 49) . If an effort to make clarifications regarding the value of the strategy to the stakeholders is made, then the process of implementation becomes smoother. For instance, e-Procurement applications add value at the purchasing department level by reducing errors and streamlining the processes involved. At the organizational level value is added by facilitated purchasing in groups which cuts costs and vendors receive added value because they have quick and prompt access to information so they can track invoices and payments. The execution of the business interaction model is expected to place us in a position to clearly identify and apply values that can be quantified to the four issues discussed above, the net resul t of which is the formulated e-Business strategy itself. E-business strategy in Citibank: Banks today are up-to-date with both the pros and cons of the internet. They are aware of the opportunities and threats that are associated with the Web. Not a single traditional bank is brave enough to face investment analysts without an Internet strategy. But even a very thoughtful approach to the Web may do no good to the company/ organization. The main purpose behind launching online banking services is to provide the customer an alternative way which is more responsive and less expensive i.e. is cost friendly. CitiDirect is the centre of the Citibank global e-Business strategy. The Business strategy of Citibank is to : CONNECT their customers to their web enabled services, TRANSFORM their capabilities into new Internet offerings and EXTEND our reach into new markets via integrated infrastructure solutions and partnerships with technology companies or e-Commerce market makers. They have innovative e-business solutions like: 1) CitiPhone 24 hours Phone Banking Service 2) ATMs- Automated Teller Machines 3) CitiAlert GSM notifications service 4) E-Card Internet Shopping Card 5) CitiDirect Corporate Internet Banking Service, and 6) Citibank Online Retail Internet Banking Service. Citibank is committed to an e-business strategy-Connect, Transform and Extend-was to web enable its core services, develop integrated solutions and reach new markets. (McCauley Khan, 2002, p.1). Their strategy is to position Citibank as the embedded Financial Services engine that powers the Internet economy. Citibank tries to differentiate itself from competitors by using its customer service efficiently. Several services are offered to their clients. Citibank offers telephone hotlines, customer relations managers to give individual care and attention to address the issues of their customers, and service experts. Citibank has been investing in technology for the front and back end of the banking systems, consistently for a long time now. Citibank was also committed to its customers. According to the case study, Citibanks vision was to become the worlds leading e-business enabler. Citibank had over 268,000 employees located in over 100 countries and their focus was to embed their ser vices into the everyday lives of the local population. Its a bank that has its roots spreading all over the country as deep as any local indigenous bank, offering diverse products, building a broad customer base, actively participating in the social community and recruiting staff and senior management from the local population and hence guaranteeing employment and stability to the economy. Apart from being committed to employees and customers all over the world, Citibank has strong brand recognition and continues to invest in technology. The leading Citigroup formed alliances with Oracle, Commerce One, Inc., SAP AG, Wisdom Technologies and Bolero.net to help metamorphosis of its company to an e-business model, to place itself strongly within the technology sector. In 2000, four companies got together with Citibank to form Financial Settlement Matrix.com It is a company that connected buyers and sellers in e-marketplaces with credit, payment processing and other services through multiple participating banks and financial service companies. Citibank is always open to adjustments to adapt to the ever-changing business environment and thus it obtains the place of one of the most successful banking chains in the world. Citibank, in its pursuit of transforming its traditional assets to digital assets has established departments necessary to manage the process. Citibank form ed the Internet Operation Group which shouldered the responsibility of distributing Internet activities among e-Citi and all other business units. Shortly after that, e-Consumer and e-Business segments were established with the aim of infusing internet to the entire customer and corporate banking activities and services. After a while, e-Capital Markets and e-Assets Management departments were also established. The e-Business unit has the task of developing the software needed to set clients up with electronic business accounts, utilizing both IT and business people. The e-workplace gave a tremendous boost to Citibank when it was in its pursuit of transitioning from the traditional way of doing business to the electronic way. Constant attention is given to development in order to make upgrades in the e-business model. The key to manage the flow of money, for its corporate consumers through the World Wide Web was delivering an integrated solution that would enable its corporate custo mers to conduct transaction on-line. Citigroup desired to be the middle intermediary between buyers and sellers for any sort of transaction. Their strength is the customer-centered approach including response time, technology and support which gains the confidence of the customers on the products of the bank. Citigroup is dedicated towards creating products that cater to different industries and business needs by taking appropriate steps, be it investing thousands of millions of dollars in the online technology or starting e-business groups. By the end of 2000, customers had begun demanding electronic invoicing, online payments guarantees and digital receipts stored online and automatic application of payments to account receivables. Citibanks strategic intent is to convert its traditional money management business into an e-business framework. Porter had accorded two main ways for a company to compete on the global front. One was cost advantage and the other was differentiation {Po rter, M.E (1980)}. And Citibanks strategy was not to compete on price and was bored rooted to the differentiation aspect. Since there are many other companies which market similar products and services, Citibank bases its differentiation on customer service. Traditionally, offering telephone hotlines, product consultants who provided service expertise, relationship managers who understood clients needs and expectations, and most important, continuous involvement in investing in technology to support both the front-end and the back-end electronic banking systems. In order for the transformation of traditional assets into digital assets, to be successful, the company must maintain or enhance its differentiation. Since the companys differentiation is based on customer service, that means that in the transformation from traditional to digital assets the company must continue to be highly responsive to the customers current and future needs and cater to the expectations of every single c lient without any fail or bias, and must do so to a higher level than the competition and set a higher standard than that set by the other competitors in the market. The alliance with the four companies Oracle, Commerce One, Inc., SAP AG, Wisdom Technologies and Bolero.net helped the Citigroup to transform and grow. In earlier occasions, the company had invested millions of dollars on its own in multiple areas of e-business, and had miserably failed. As technology is not Citibanks field of expertise, it found keeping in sync dealing with constantly changing technology to be an expensive battle, which it ultimately lost. However, by 2000 Citibank learnt form its failure. Taking lessons from its experience it changed its strategy to one of garnering alliances and using its partners strengths to create the technological infrastructure that the company needed to access markets and meet its customers changing demands. Working through alliances increased its effectiveness, reduced Citiban ks risks and costs, and allowed it to remain pliable in meeting changing technological and customer demands. Both in the short term and long term, the customers demands vary. According to McCauley and Kahn (2002), one of the most important hurdles for Citibank to overcome in canalizing customers from traditional to digital service was addressing their deep seated concerns about security. While to some extent this troubled Citibanks efforts in rolling out Web-based applications, it did actively implement multi-layered security architecture public and private access keys, single-use passwords and multiple authorization controls in order to meet customer needs (McCauley and Kahn 2002, p. 9). To add to it, with digital processing it aspired to transform repeatable processes that could be commoditized into an efficient digital factory. The transformation of goods and services (or things that may not normally be regarded as goods or services) into a commodity is known as commoditization. Commoditizing repeatable processes improves efficiency, but also gives scope to resources for additional regional emphasis i.e. localization. The strong brand name of Citibank is a resource that translates into increased trust as a trusted provider when competing with Deutche Bank and other competitors. In fact, most Fortune 500 companies assign value to Citibanks specific offerings, and prefer it to other international payment providers. Citibank, then, offers multiple areas of value to customers. The evidences of constant work in the field of imbibing recent technologies and adjusting to the changing business environment are many. The cooperation of the software giant, Microsoft and financial giant, Citibank led to the reinforcement of high standards. With a global network spanning more than 100 countries, Citi will benefit from this collaboration because the CitiDirect BE platform will help monetize its best-in-class service offerings and broad geographic coverage, while taking f ull advantage of Microsofts expertise in platform engineering, development of independent software vendor communities, and product life-cycle management, read an article on internet. Thus the commitment of Citibank to deliver global services and enhanced value through world-class partnership and innovative e-business solutions that meets the customers expectations in very evident and worth trusting. But the question that is worth focusing on now, is whether this value translates into a competitive advantage which translates into additional profits. The focus now would shift to question how unique are the solutions offered by it. Soon the cutting edge technological capabilities might become hygiene factors which will be considered to be required and not a competitive advantage and thus would not qualify for differentiation. Potential growths in e-business are always happening and continuous developments are indispensable. More and more companies are willing and opting to do everything from banking to purchasing to marketing online. Thus it becomes very essential for Citibank to align itself with the right partners in order to maintain their standards and their sta nce in the e-business sector. Company executive Tom Edgerton stated, In the future, it wont be what your company can do, but what the network of companies you work with can provide. In order for Citi to continue to grow, it must evolve in its e-Business model and develop unceasing updates to its online products. Expanding on their existing good reputation, enhanced web features and exceptional customer service, would be the fundamental opportunities for Citibank. According to Edgerton, Citibank brings considerable value to potential alliance partners. Theyre interested in our brand, our financial services expertise, our global presence, our strong customer relationships and position as a trusted provider, as well as our knowledge of specific industries and international markets. The regionalization and specialized processing centers that Citibank has developed has provided them with scale and continual improvement opportunities. Like all other sectors and organizations, Citibank is also dedicated towards improving information management practices. This in turn improves the efficiency of business processes, the demands of compliance reg

Time Machine :: essays research papers

The Time Machine Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent, a few miles from London, the son of a house-maid and gardener. Wells died in 1946, a wealthy and famous author, having seen science fiction become a recognized literary form and having seen the world realize some of science fiction's fondest dreams and worst fears. Wells mother attempted to find him a safe occupation as a draper or chemist. Wells had a quick mind and a good memory that enabled him to pass subjects by examination and win a scholarship to the Normal School of Science, where he stayed for three years and, most importantly, was exposed to biology under the famous Thomas H. Huxley. Wells went into teaching and writing text books and articles for the magazines that were of that time. In 1894 he began to write science-fiction stories. -James Gunn Wells vision of the future, with its troglodytic Morlocks descended from the working class of his day and the pretty but helpless Eloi devolved from the leisure class, may seem antiquated political theory. It emerged out of the concern for social justice that drew Wells to the Fabian Society and inspired much of his later writing, but time has not dimmed the fascination of the situation and the horror of the imagery. The Time Machine brought these concerns into his fiction. It, too, involved the future, but a future imagined with greater realism and in greater detail than earlier stories of the future. It also introduced, for the first time in fiction, the notion of a machine for traveling in time. In this novel the Time Machine by H. G. Wells, starts with the time traveler trying to persuade his guest's the theory of the fourth dimension and even the invention. He tries to explain the fourth dimension before he shows them the time machine so they don't think of him as a magician. H. G. Wells uses details about the fourth dimension to teach the reader the theory about it to capture your attention. Also Wells character the time traveler says "Scientific people", "Know very well that time is only a kind of space". In this quote he is clearly using persuasion tactics. He tries to attack there consious by saying that, scientific people know that this is only a kind of space. He says this in hopes that they will believe what he says just because other

Machiavellis The Prince: Still Relevant after All These Years Essay

Machiavelli is â€Å"a crystal-clear realist who understands the limits and uses of power.† -- Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jared Diamond (2013) Written almost 500 years ago, Niccolo Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† brings forward a new definition of virtue. Machiavelli’s definition argued against the concept brought forward by the Catholic Church. Machiavelli did not impose any thoughts of his own, rather he wrote from his experience and whatever philosophy that lead to actions which essentially produced effective outcomes in the political scene of Italy and in other countries. While Machiavelli is still criticized for his notions, the truth is that, consciously or subconsciously we are all thinking for our own benefit and going at length to achieve it. On matters of power where there is much to gain and a lot more to lose, the concept of Machiavelli’s virtue of â€Å"doing what needs to be done† applies rigorously to our modern politics and thus â€Å"The Prince† still serves as a suitable political treatise in the 21st century. The subject of human nature has great emphasis in â€Å"The Prince†. Human beings are viewed as rational decision makers who try to maximize their self-interest. They are inclined to help whoever will give them the most benefits and by definition, may easily betray someone to whom they were previously loyal seeing a better opportunity. A large part of being a prince or a politician is being able to lead people, and therefore it is of utter importance in how to deal with their behavior. â€Å"Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will fin... ... to the times of kings and princess, however it must be noted that the underlying human emotions and their motivations can only be dealt with decisiveness and deep plotting. The concepts discussed are applicable to all leaders and politicians holding offices. Bottom line is, some things never changes. Even though a lot has changed, principles of Machiavelli’s Prince are adapted and used widely yet secretly in a complex world of growth and prosperity with a greater demography and geography. Bibliography 1) Machiavelli, NiccoloÌ€, and Robert Martin Adams. "Chapter 17." The Prince: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations, Marginalia. New York: Norton, 1992. 46. Print. 2) Machiavelli, NiccoloÌ€, and Robert Martin Adams. "Chapter 18." The Prince: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations, Marginalia. New York: Norton, 1992. 49. Print.

Aging Workforce

When searching through the help wanted ads there seems to be thousand and thousands of available jobs; this number increases daily as companies have employees leave the organization. More and more employees are retiring or are nearing retirement age; once these employees leave so does all the years of experience acquired during their tenure with the company. This is going on in many industries and one industry that I am personally familiar with is corrections. The corrections industry has a vast number of older, seasoned employees retiring and with each year more are leaving the workforce. Added value of aging workforce when recruitingThe population is aging and as people get older more are leaving the workforce. As those known as baby boomers age and begin to leave the labor force their will be fewer workers available to fill those positions. The majority of specialized jobs, professionals such as educators and managers, and government workers are older workers. With the changing wo rk environment, such as the utilization of technology the HR recognizes the need of older workers in particular to acquire or refresh their skills. New technologies may intimidate older workers that are reluctant to learn the skill; which lack of the skill may limit advancement opportunities.However, more employees are working past the age of 65. This may be for several reasons. Some older people work longer because of a desire to feel â€Å"alive† and needed. Others work because of insufficient retirement plans or financial distress. Whatever the reason is there are many workers passed retirement age still active in the work force. At the state prison where I am employed the majority of managers and supervisory staff are over fifty. There was little room for advancement for new employees because the older workers were not retiring, but working after thirty even forty years of service. Challenges/Issues HR faces from aging workforceOne major issue that employers face with an aging workforce is retaining older employees. Compared with the past, older the number of older workers can be expected to grow disproportionately in the years to come. Organizations losing experienced employees that have skills and knowledge critical to the success of the organization make efforts to convince aging employees to remain with the organization, if only on a part-time basis. When an organization loses experienced workers the HR managers anticipate a loss of knowledge and talent and also offer benefits and flexible scheduling in order to retain employees.Currently, my organization is facing the exact dilemma. In the Records department there are ten employees, six which have been employed over twenty five years and are eligible to retire. Of these six eligible employees, there are four employees that are retiring this year; two of which are the office supervisors. Since HR has learned of their intention it has offered bonuses, salary increases, promotions, and flex schedu les to convince them to stay. None of them have taken the offers and did not consider the option. Another issue is numerous job vacancies in the near future.The recruitment process will be draining on resources such as time, staff, and compensation because of the dwindling pool of younger workers. Moreover, it may be difficult to find new workers with the appropriate skills required to perform job duties effectively. Another issue is health issues such as chronic conditions which may lead to excessive leave time taken by aging employees. However, the implementation of better wellness programs and similar initiatives offers possible ways of avoiding excessive time off for illness. Another issue with the aging workforce will be age discrimination.With older Americans still in the workforce, an increasing number of lawsuits regarding age can be anticipated in the future. â€Å"Thriving† employer brand An employer brand is the image of that an organization. It is a positive way t o promote the organization either among employees or stakeholders. It is that employer brand that attracts potential employees and stakeholders. It is what makes someone want to invest capital and be connected to the organization in some way. According to Minchington and Estis there are six steps to an employer brand.These six steps are determine how branding is viewed within the organization, define the employer brand and project scope, relation between HR, marketing, and communications, discovering the employer brand, CEO and senior management involvement, and communications planning (2009). In my organization the â€Å"thriving† brand is public safety, public service, social responsibility, and striving for excellence. The organization has received a lot of recognition for its efficiency and its stellar performance in keeping the community safe and giving back to the community.The name of the organization alone is a brand in itself and several of our compliance officers tr avel throughout the United States to assist other agencies with becoming a â€Å"thriving† brand as well. There are always new people looking to become employees or those that are writing stories or articles on the organization. Qualitative and quantitative data HR may gather to show value added by aging workforce Qualitative data is characterized attributes and characteristics; quantitative data is measured numerically.HR can use some quantitative data to measure employee productivity. Some of examples would be number of units produced, number of days missed, number of errors, and number of disciplinary action. This information can be tracked monthly, quarterly, or yearly. This can help HR determine if the employee is an average, poor, or great employee. Personally, I think this information can be leading because it does not take contributing factors into account such as illness. An employee could have had no absences for years and then may become ill and had to miss many da ys.If the data collected only shows attendance for the past month it looks as if the employee has poor attendance; which is not true but merely a recent and isolated incident (www. smallbusinesschron. com). Qualitative data is what is gathered through human observations. These observations can include observing workers work habits, attitude, behavior, or any factor that may affect his/her ability to perform their job effectively (www. smallbusinesschron. com). This is reliable information to a point because everyone works differently. What seems counterproductive to one may be effective for another.One also has to consider the observer may not be objective and may see things through tinted glasses. Using both methods can add value to an aging workforce but it can also devalue it as well. Conclusion The aging workforce is definitely a concern for HR because once these people leave the organization there will be many vacancies to fill and a small pool of qualified workers to fill thos e vacancies. Although workers are working longer the future of many organizations are definitely are in jeopardy. As the baby boomers retire and begin to enjoy their golden years there will be no one left in the workforce to replace them.

Compare and Contrast about the Village Life and City Life Essay

Sometimes, I think about where my own future house should be; in a city or in a village. I like to live in the two areas because they have many different interesting aspects. Therefore, I can’t make up my mind. After I compare the air, the technology and the schools of the two areas, I finally make a decision to live in a city. The first thing I considered was the air. Both people from rural villages and city dwellers breathe the same air. But that is where the similarities end. The air in the village is purer and more serene then the air in the city because the village has a lot of plants and a few vehicles. Although the city which has a lot of business centers or factories would help to improve the standard of living, it also causes air pollution. Other reasons which cause air pollution are that the city usually has a lot of vehicles and people in the city cut a lot of plants to make way for commercial, industrial and residential buildings. see more:living in the countryside Then, I pay a lot of attention to the technology. The technology of the village is similar to the technology of the city. People who live in the two areas might have and use many different kinds of technology such as smart phones, Iphones, computers, laptops, etc. However, people who live in the city can have more opportunities to access to new technologies than people who live in the village. For instance, the new products are often sold in large stores of the city first so people in the city may have and use the new products earlier than people in the village. The schools in the two areas have the most influence on my decision. Both the schools in the city and the schools in the village have similar standards of education and have many good teachers. However, the city has many schools which have excellent academic reputation, but it is less common in the village. In addition, the schools in the city have big libraries and a lot of pieces of equipment such as many computers, projectors, chemical laboratory equipment, etc. In contrast, the schools in the village usually have small libraries and might not have enough equipment. In a nutshell, after taking everything into consideration, I think I made the right decision. My decision is that my future house will be in a city because I need to have a good and convenient location for my studies; in addition, I like to see or buy new products of technology as soon as they are released. Therefore, I believe that I will probably be happier if I live in a city.