Demographic Factors Research

Running head: DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS RESEARCH Demographic Factors Research University of Phoenix MMPBL 560 Managing in a Cross-Cultural Environment October 19, 2009 Organizations around the world are experiencing the effects of cultural and global diversity. Kellogg, Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Arbor are four companies introduced in this paper. They have been researched in order to identify how each company is affected by demographic factors, how these factors are managed, and what systems are implemented to enhance the success of the business; thus, this paper illustrates the key course concepts and their application to the best practices of these companies. The dynamics and dimensions of diversity in an increasingly global business environment can challenge the demographic factors of most organizations. Basically, Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) declare, â€Å"In the 21st century, the overwhelming majority of the world's population, along with a large percentage of the populations of the United States and Canada, will be descendants of the non-Western groups† (Ch. 1, p. 29). In other words, organizations will need to learn how to manage the complexities of a diverse workforce. Among these complexities, organizations will encounter demographic factors such as age, race, education level, religion, political party preference, sexual orientation, and gender (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003). Because of these diverse factors, organizations need to be prepared to recognize the individuals’ behavior that is influenced by culture, values, and beliefs. To illustrate, culture refers to people’s identity in their traditions, customs, and way of life (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003). In fact, Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) declare that culture is all encompassing. In essence, it is important for organizations to know that individuals are influenced by popular culture as well. Therefore, individuals in a diverse workplace need to understand and respect each other’s differences. It is not enough to know that the workplace is composed of people with different views in life, values, and attitudes. Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) state that â€Å"Ethnic diversity may be associated with positive group interaction and coexistence or with conflict† (Ch. 5, p. 12). Knowing that diversity can be beneficial to the organization will help management integrate appropriate value systems within the company. However, in the event that conflict exists as a result of diversity, management would need to consider alternative best practices to address the organizational conflict. Given the complexities of a diverse workforce, organizations need to examine constantly alternative solutions to help them manage the demographic factors within the company. Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) declare that â€Å"Failure to achieve an accurate account and appreciation of a race-based group of people results in racism† (Ch. 6, p. 3). Certainly, organizations need to mitigate any potential and undesirable outcomes that can negatively affect the reputation and profitability of the business. To put it differently, â€Å"The great sociopolitical paradox of the contemporary world is that both integration and disintegration are increasing† (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003, Ch. 3, p. 5). In addition, globalization is contributing to the workforce diversity around the world, and organizations are continually being challenged to learn new ways to manage these changes. Organizations are not only challenged with internal changes but also with external forces such as economic and political factors. The importance of understanding the presence and influence of diversity that affect the contemporary American culture can prove enormously beneficial for any organization. In effect, organizations need to learn how to effectively manage the effects of demographic factors involving their planning and decision making in motivating and rewarding individuals (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003). Consider for instance, Kellogg started its business more than 100 years ago and has quickly expanded into new geographies, leading to a stead fast growth plan that provided them with a global business, which still stands strong today. While remaining a superior global food company, Kellogg’s management realized that they had to have the strongest possible resources to support their business growth in a diverse and competitive environment (Kellogg, 2009). Likewise, Starbucks is managing its competition challenges; the current economic conditions are factors that Starbucks needs to consider in order to market the new products to preserve its clientele and bring in new customers. Hence, Starbucks is wise to use the four P’s model; Price, Product, Place, and Promotion, to determine the course of action best suited to stay ahead of the competition. To be clear, both Kellogg and Starbucks are managing the effects of postmodernity; that is, â€Å"postmodertnity describes our time and situation—today's world in flux, with people on the move who have learned to manage multiple identities depending on place and context† (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003, Ch. p. 29). To manage the influence of postmodernity within the context of demographic factors, Kellogg and Starbucks are implementing strategic approaches to aid them in their success involving global and cultural diversity. For example, Kellogg committed itself to developing a comprehensive and ground-breaking supplier diversity program. This program was to cultivate strategic procurement relationships with W/MBE-owned, controlled and operated businesses while supplying products and services Kellogg purchased; this would allow them to foster the growth of their business while marketing the long-term growth of Kellogg (Kellogg, 2009). Similarly, Starbucks expanded the menu to include products to target non-coffee drinkers, with the introduction of blended or iced cold coffee drinks, frappuccino’s, lattes, mocha’s, and teas. Starbucks creatively integrated a diverse menu consisting of bold aromas to creamy sweet flavors, attracting a range of customers to Starbucks at various times and for various reasons. Starbucks’ intention to satisfy the demographic factors has prompted management to add items on the menu for anyone willing to try; among them, Professionals heading to an early morning meeting needing a â€Å"stout† cup of coffee, housewives stopping for a late morning latte with friends after dropping the children at school and the high school and college students in search of Wi-Fi connection and snack (Kembell, 2002). Another company that has continued to strive for cultural adaptability in a diverse global environment is McDonald’s. This company is an organization that can be found in every country, servicing nearly 47 million customers around the world. Because of McDonald’s unique demographic factors, managers are trained through a comprehensive Management Development Program. This program encompasses McDonald’s core values and principles along with the dedication to serve customers, the community, and employees (McDonald’s, 2009). One of the demographic factors affecting McDonald’s management planning involves the aging population in Australia. In other words, McDonald’s management is challenged with having to change its marketing approach in order to reach the newly identified groups (Monash University, 2009). Similar to Kellogg and Starbucks, McDonald’s management is searching for effective systems to help aid the company in addressing the increasing changes in demographics. Fortunately, McDonald’s continues to find strength on its business models in which McDonald’s management is â€Å"committed to exceeding [†¦] customers' expectations in every restaurant every time† (McDonald’s, 2009). Accordingly, McDonald’s management recognizes that the company’s core values go beyond demographics, for this reason, McDonald’s philosophy declares, â€Å"We will seize every opportunity to innovate and lead the industry on behalf of our customers† (McDonald’s, 2009). Effectively, the best practices of McDonald’s, Starbucks and Kellogg demonstrate the dedication and commitment to learn and adopt successful systems that will help them serve customers regardless of demographic factors. Unquestionably, these organizations need to also integrate rewards and motivation systems to help them sustain a diverse workforce anywhere in the world. For example, Arbor Education and Training is a leading provider of workforce development services to job-seekers, workers, employers, and communities nationwide (Arbor E & T, 2009). Arbor employees come from many different walks of life, employees of all ages, religions, and other factors; these employees are treated equally within the organization in decisions concerning rewards and performance. Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) state that â€Å"Cultural diversity refers to variation in institutions, traditions, language, customs, rituals, beliefs, and values† (Ch. 4, p. 6). In summary, organizations are required to continually scan their business environment in order to identify the challenges that come with a diverse workforce. Overall, Kellogg, Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Arbor are challenged with cultural diversity, yet each company is finding the way to integrate successful best practices in the workplace. As noted, the dimensions of diversity in relation to each demographic factor play a crucial role in how Kellogg, Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Arbor cope with the increasing changes of the business environment. Accordingly, the practices of these companies serve to address the presence of a diverse workforce in a constantly changing society. Synopsis of Kellogg by Wendy Harris Kellogg Company, a company with many competitive advantages in global communications, started its company more than 100 years ago and quickly expanded into new geographies. With a stead fast growth plan that provided them with a global business which still stands strong today. While remaining a superior global food company, Kellogg Company realized that they had to have the strongest possible resources to support their business growth. A great deal of that strength was acquired through raw materials and other products and services from the widest and best foundation of resources. During the building process, Kellogg Company committed itself to developing a comprehensive and ground-breaking supplier diversity program. This program was to cultivate strategic procurement relationships with W/MBE-owned, controlled and operated businesses while supplying products and services Kellogg purchased; this would allow them to foster the growth of their business while marketing the long-term growth of the Kellogg Company. Kellogg’s code of conduct, their management staff is required to hold certain employees to special responsibilities under the Code. Kellogg believes it’s their managers’ responsibility to create and maintain a work environment in which all employees and agents know that ethical and legal behavior is expected of them at all times. Each manager is expected to model the highest standards of ethical business conduct and encourage discussion of the ethical and unethical as well as the legal implications of business decisions. It is the mangers responsibility to make sure that anyone needing additional information in an effort to do his or her job receives appropriate policies and training. It is the managers’ responsibility not to hire or retain any employee or agent who they feel may engage in unlawful conduct or unethical activities. In 2005, Kellogg incorporated an awards program called the W. K. Kellogg Values Award, which is given annually to one individual and one team of employees who best exhibit the K Values while working. This program initiated to support their code of conduct as well as the company’s mission. Synopsis of Starbucks by Colleen Holdahl Young urban professionals consuming specialized coffees were the first to patronize Starbucks. Today the popular coffee chain attracts 25 million people each week and draws a large demographic of patrons varying in age and ethnic backgrounds (Hanft, 2005). The most common customer Starbucks attracts is of course, the coffee drinker, yet the company expanded the menu to include products to target non-coffee drinkers, with the introduction of blended or iced cold coffee drinks, frappuccino’s, lattes, mocha’s, and teas. With the presence of bold aromas to creamy sweet flavors, a range of customers are frequenting Starbucks at various times and for various reasons. Starbucks has items on the menu for anyone willing to try: Professionals heading to an early morning meeting needing a â€Å"stout† cup of coffee, housewives stopping for a late morning latte with friends after dropping the children at school and the high school and college students in search of Wi-Fi connection and snack (Kembell, 2002). Adding new products is a challenge as Starbucks must consider many factors. For example when the new Creme Frappuccino was created, Starbucks took into consideration the demographic areas to launch the drink, the market to target, and the packaging of the new product. Introducing the Creme Frappuccino, Starbucks faces a competition that the company has not previously experienced, with competitors imitating the Creme Frappuccino. Competition and the current economic condition, both are factors Starbucks needs to consider how to market the new products to preserve current patrons and bring in new customers. Starbucks is wise to use the four P’s model; Price, Product, Place, and Promotion, to determine the course of action, best suited to stay ahead of the competition. Emotions are potent internal influences described by Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, and Best (2007) as â€Å"strong, relatively uncontrollable feelings that affect behavior† (p. 364). Starbucks is in a controversy over the supposed injustice and treatment toward coffee growers in Ethiopia. The controversy deals with negative emotions of customers, due to the report that Starbucks deprives the Ethiopian growers of $90 Million annually by opposing the Ethiopian government’s efforts to trademark three locally grown coffee beans (Economist, para. ). The Creme Frappucino gives Starbucks an opportunity to offer a guilt-free alternative to non-coffee drinkers or patrons who oppose the Ethiopian controversy, during the time the legal and public-relations situation is in transition. Synopsis of McDonald’s by Marisela Jimenez McDonald’s is an organization that can be found in every country, servicing nearly 47 million customers around the world. Because of McDonald’s unique demographic factors, managers are trained through a comprehensive Management Development Program. This program encompasses McDonald’s core values and principles along with the dedication to serve customers, the community, and employees (McDonald’s, 2009). Hence, the demographic factors affecting McDonald’s vary from each country, yet management understands that by following McDonald’s philosophy, their planning can help mitigate the effects of each demographic factor. To illustrate, some of the demographic factors affecting McDonald’s management planning involves the aging population in Australia, the decline in birth rate, the changing family, the increase in ethnic diversity, and the population growth. In other words, McDonald’s management is challenged with having to change its marketing approach in order to reach the newly identified groups (Monash University, 2009). To address this organizational conflict involving the demographic factors, McDonald’s management focuses on its services and products. Accordingly, McDonald’s management is trained to approach each conflict with honesty and integrity (Monash University, 2009). Not only is McDonald’s management keeping up with the rapid demographic changes, they are also continuing to manage conflict by remaining committed to their principles. This means that McDonald’s management is â€Å"committed to exceeding [†¦] customers' expectations in every restaurant every time† (McDonald’s, 2009). Fundamentally, McDonald’s best practices on dealing with organizational conflict are strongly carved on its philosophy; that is â€Å"We will seize every opportunity to innovate and lead the industry on behalf of our customers† (McDonald’s, 2009). Hence, McDonald’s management recognizes that their focus is every customer, regardless of age, ethnicity, sex, and location. McDonald’s is an organization that understands how to motivate and reward people. Consider for instance, McDonald’s has what is called People Promise. This means that McDonald’s promises to â€Å"value each and every employee, their growth and their contribution – every day in every way† (McDonald’s, 2009). McDonald’s managers recognize and respect each employee; each employee is empowered and coached. This organizational practice is found in every McDonald’s around the world, for this reason, McDonald's prides itself on offering â€Å"more than a pay check to our employees. Our Crew members enjoy flexible schedules, paid training and the chance to have fun working with friends while learning valuable life skills† (McDonald’s, 2009). Synopsis of Arbor E&T by Eduardo Mata Arbor Education and Training (Arbor E & T) is a company with offices throughout the United States and have a very diverse workforce that demonstrates a unique demographic factor. Arbor Education and Training is a leading provider of workforce development services to job-seekers, workers, employers and communities nationwide (Arbor E & T, 2009). Arbor employees come from many different walks of life, employees of all ages, religions, and other factors and these employees are treated equally within the organization when it comes to decisions concerning rewards and performance. Founded in 1968, Arbor E&T is now the largest single supplier of job-related education, counseling and employment assistance under federally funded programs such as the Workforce Investment Act and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs (Arbor E & T, 2009). Management planning for many of its customers receiving federally funded assistance requires that certain guidelines are followed and because of being federally funded and services provided must meet the customer’s requirements and expectations along with the government regulations. Arbor E & T provides services to a wide variety of customers seeking employment, education or training and also provide excellent services to migrant and seasonal farm workers and United States Veterans seeking employment and other services. Training is provided to the entire workforce in providing the best services possible to each group. Arbor management is committed to providing the leadership, training, and resources required to enable our employees to consistently adhere to regulatory requirements, to tirelessly seek improvement of our processes, and to continue to provide world-class services to all of our customers. We are dedicated and caring people who form a company providing excellent human services that enhance the lives of individuals. The company rewards its employees based on employee performance and whether their goals were met for the preceding year. As found in Arbor E & T (2009): Our goal is to be known by our clients and by the workforce development community as the leading provider of services in the markets we serve, i. e. , One-Stops, TANF, youth, early childhood education, and vocational training programs. Our quality management system is a critical element of our effort to achieve this goal. † References Arbor. (2009). Arbor education and training. Retrieved October 17, 2009 from http://w ww. arboret. com/ Hanft, Adam. (April 1, 2005). What you can learn from starbucks. Retrieved October 13, 2009 from http://www. inc. com/resources/marketing/articles/20050401/starbucks. html. Hawkins, D. , Mothersbaugh, D. and Best, R. (2007). The Economist. Consumer behavior: building marketing strategy. Retrieved October 13, 2009 from http://highered. mcgraw- hill. com/sites/0073101370/information_center_view0/revision_changes. html. Kellogg Company. (2009). Kellogg company. Retrieved October 17, 2009, from http://www2. kelloggs. com/General. aspx? ID=466 Kellogg Company. (2003). We act with integrity and show respect in everything we do. Retrieved from http://files. shareholder. com/downloads/K/749861120x0x196418/ ec25a03a-7081-450d- a942-16ee7ad2ee1b/GlobalCodeofEthic. df Kembell, B. (April 2002). Catching the starbucks fever: starbucks marketing strategy. Missouri State University. Kottak, C. P. , Kozaitis, K. A. (2003). On being different: diversity and multiculturalism in the north american mainstream. (2nd ed. ). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies. McDonald’s. (2009). Our story. [Online]. Available: http://www. mcdonalds. ca/en/aboutus/index. aspx (2009, O ctober 16). Monash University. (2009). Briohny’s report. [Online]. Available: http://www. monash. edu. au/lls/llonline/writing/business-economics/marketing/3. 3. 2. xml (2009, October 16). | |MMPBL/560 Demographic Factors Research Rubric | |Week 2 | | | | | | | |Criterion |Unsatisfactory |Satisfactory |Exceptional |Score | |Knowledge of Course Concepts (40%) | |Describe the Effects of Demographic|Demonstrates a level of knowledge|Demonstrates a level of knowledge |Demonstrates a level of knowledge that |2. 00 | |Factors on Management Planning. that is below the requirement |that meets the requirement |meets or exceeds the requirement and is | | | | | |well supported | | |Analyze the Role Demographic |Demonstrates a level of knowledge|Demonstrates a level of knowledge |Demonstrates a level of knowledge that |1. 33 | |Factors Play in Contributing to |that is below the requirement |that meets the requirement |meets or exceeds the requirement and is | | |Organizational Conflict. | |well supported | | |Examine the Influence of |Demonstrates a level of knowledge|Demonstrates a level of knowledge |Demonstrates a level of knowledge that |1. 33 | |Demographic Factors on Individual |that is below the requirement |that meets the requirement |meets or exceeds the requirement and is | | |Rewards and Recognition. | | |well supported | | |Research (20%) | |Provide Benchmark Research on |The benchmarked companies’ |The benchmarked companies’ |In addition to meeting the requirements of|  2. 0 | |Organizational Applications of |situations do not relate to the |situations relate to the course |satisfactory, the benchmarked companies’ | | |Course Objectives |course concepts, or are not |concepts and are researched from |situations provide a thorough coverage of | | | |researched from academic or trade|academic or trade publication |course objectives | | | |publication sources |sources. The score is ranged | | | | | |between satisfactory and | | | | | |exceptional. | | | |Critical Thinking (15%) | |Demonstrate Critical Thought in |Does not demonstrate critical |Demonstrates critical thought in |In addition to meeting requirements of |1. 0 | |Analyzing Information |thought in the analysis of the |analyzing the information by |satisfactory, synthesizes information | | | |information, or analysis is |presenting various perspectives on|across concepts effectively | | | |disjointed |the concepts | | | |Written Communication (15%) | |Demonstrate Quality and |Written communication is |Written communication is effective|In addition to meeting requirements of |2. 5 | |Effectiveness in Written |ineffective, with numerous | |satisfactory, the paper is engaging to the| | |Communication |spelling and grammatical errors | |reader with concise and clear | | | |or poorly constructed sentences | |communication | | |Format, Style & Citation Standards (10%) | |Adhere to University of Phoenix |Numerous errors in format, style,|Few errors in for mat, style, or |Virtually no errors in format, style, or |1. 25 | |Writing Style (APA) Requirements |or reference citation |reference citation |reference citation | | |Final Score==> |12. 1 | | | |Team B, | | | |The overall submission was interesting and well written. The concept of management planning was thoroughly researched and discussed. All of the companies clearly | |described the organizational conflict except for Arbor and Starbucks omitted the section on research and recognition. All of the companies were demonstrated as | |benchmarked companies that addressed the concepts; however, in some instances a piece was omitted. The score was reduced under critical thought because only | |comparisons were addressed and not all concepts were covered. The written communication was well done and only a minor APA formatting issue was noted. Your research | |section as the instructor’s plagiarism checker noted consisted of an 13% plagiarism rate. The instructor’s plagiarism checker also checks past student papers, as well| |as a more thorough Internet search. Not everyone turned in their team evaluation; however, by the way it looks everyone participated equally in the group. Good | |work! | | |

Comparing Diverse African Cultures Essay

Throughout every culture there are many similar customs, however it is the personal experiences that make the cultures different and diverse. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character Okonkwo lives in Umofia until the tribe exiles him for accidentally killing a man in his village. After seven years the people of his village allow him to return to Umofia, among his return there are white missionaries in his village that have come to introduce christianity to his people. Okonkwo quickly realizes that his village is now unrecognizable. The short story Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu by Abioseh Nicol, expresses the strong relationships between the living and the dead that are present in African culture. The religious beliefs, social structures and attitudes toward the dead represented in Things Fall Apart are equally similar and different to the concepts present in the short story Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu. Death is a natural part of the circle of life, and the way the dead are treated varies from culture to culture. In Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu, a grandmother (Bola) and her granddaughter (Asi) receive an unexpected visit from the spirit of their son/father Meji. Except it is unknown to Bola and Asi that their loved one is a spirit until after he leaves them. Mr. Addai announces Meji’s death to the village on Monday, â€Å"‘But I tell you, he was here on Friday and left Sunday morning,’ Bola said. ‘He couldn’t have died on Friday.’† (Abioseh 10). The spirit of Meji had come back to his family to say his final goodbyes and thank his mother for all she had done for him. In the African culture they worship and praise the dead, as the dead are a huge part of their lives and culture. Similarly in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s people believe in spirits of the Nigerian tribes, also called the egwugwu. The people of Umofia both fear and respect the egwugwu, â€Å"A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. And when, as on that day, nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle.† (Achebe 78). The people of Umofia believe that the egwugwu have magical powers, and know that when they are present someone will most likely be taken as a sacrifice to the gods. The people of African descent treat the dead with great respect and think highly of them. There are many different types of religion in the world, in many African cultures the people are polytheistic. In Things Fall Apart not only do they worship gods and priestesses but they idolize spirits too; like the ojbange. The ojbange is a child who has previously passed away, but has come back to haunt the mother and be reborn. â€Å"Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death, or took pity on their mothers, and stayed.† (Achebe 70). Some of these children did continue their lives and grow into adults, but most of them die as young children or infants. Also in Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu the mothers of ojbange children are ridiculed and mocked by the village people. â€Å"All the years of their married life, people had said she was a witch because her children had died young.†(Abioseh 6). Even though most likely it is not the fault of the mother that their child had died, the people of the village overlook that and continue to outcast them for their â€Å"witchcraft†. A major social custom in African culture and many other cultures is food. Food has the power to bring a lot of people together. In Things Fall Apart we see this during the feast for Obierika’s daughters wedding shower. â€Å"As the evening wore on, food was presented to the guests. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup. There were also pots of yam pottage. It was a great feast.† (Achebe 104). Everyone, all over the world, eats food; it is the recipes and different dishes that make the experience diverse. Similarly in Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu, Bola uses food to welcome home her son. â€Å"We must make a feast, we must have a big feast. I must tell the neighbors at once.† (Abioseh 3). Bola’s excitement that her son is home calls for a celebration. When having people over nine out of ten times food will be involved in some way. Food is something that most all people have in common, and is something they think about everyday. The religious beliefs, attitudes toward the dead and social customs make Things Fall Apart and Life Is Sweet At Kumansenu equally similar and different. Two different African stories, from the same culture but that have different traditions and techniques is what makes our society different and diverse.

Narrative Essays

1 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Generic application software Software Software refers to computer programs. A program is a sequence of instructions that tells the computer’s processor what to do. There are two types of software: †¢ system software †¢ application software. System software: manages the computer hardware provides a uniform environment for application programs to run performs housekeeping and monitoring tasks.Application software: allows the user to do useful tasks with the computer such as playing games, writing a letter or monitoring hospital patients †¢ is often supplied as a package †¢ can be generic (off-the-shelf) and is general purpose †¢ can be bespoke, where it is custom-written for a specific task. Application programsApplication programs commonly have facilities for: †¢ working in a graphical user interface (GUI) †¢ managing data files and working on multiple files †¢ navigating through the work and changing the ‘zoom level’ †¢ importing files and inserting embedded objects †¢ creating and editing drawings †¢ formatting text and graphics and editing content using insertion, deletion, cut-and-paste, copyand-paste and find-and-replace and Undo and Redo commands †¢ language checking †¢ saving and using templates †¢ viewing a file as it will be printed (WYSIWYG) †¢ creating macros and assigning them to buttons and images †¢ hyperlinking †¢ exporting files in other formats †¢ printing files. Generic application programs You may be asked to justify your choice of a type of generic application software (no brand names) for a particular purpose. For the particular features of each type of software, refer to the  coursebook, especially if you do not have practical experience of it. Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 1 Generic Application software desktop publishing (DTP) word processing spreadsheet General use of software ublications with complex layout, e. g. posters, newsletters and magazines text-intensive material, e. g. letters, business/legal documents, and mail merges repeatable financial, scientific and engineering calculations, mathematical modelling and simple databases input, storage and retrieval of records to provide useful information on screen and in printed reports fax, telephony, video-conferencing, email and instant messaging web authoring, for producing HTML and scripting code for interactive web pages database management system (DBMS) communication web browser search engine graphics computer-aided design (CAD) computer-aided manufacture (CAM) multimedia authoring or interactively accessing information in the form of text and other media from remote web servers a web application for finding information available on Internet servers drawing and editing images, both bitmap and vector for drawing product designs for manufacturing products from CAD designs producing multimedia ‘movie files’ for animated advertisements and games within web pages or presentations, whole websites, or cinema films for creating slideshows (successions of multimedia pages), or multimedia or printed posters for recording data automatically for scientific, engineering and statistical purposes writing, compiling and debugging computer programs presentation data-logging programming Customising generic application programs Off-the-shelf generic application programs are readily available, relatively cheap and well tested. They can be customised to the purchaser’s requirements by: †¢ hiding the standard menus and toolbars †¢ creating new menus or toolbars with just the essential requirements †¢ making cosmetic changes to the colour scheme and logo †¢ creating macros run by toolbar buttons or keyboard shortcuts.A macro is program code recorded automatically or written in a scripting la nguage to improve access to existing commands or to create new ones. Bespoke software Bespoke software (custom-written) is software specially written to suit the needs of a particular customer. It is often very efficient because it does exactly what is required, is easy to learn and has good customer support and maintenance. Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 2 Comparing off-the-shelf with bespoke software Off-the-shelf software has a number of advantages and disadvantages relative to bespoke software. Off-the-shelf software’s advantages t is immediately available it is usually much cheaper to buy it may have many powerful features developed  over many years if it belongs to a suite, it is likely to be able to exchange data and files easily with other programs in the suite it is well tested by previous users there is support available from experienced trainers and user groups Off-the-shelf sof tware’s disadvantages it may be overly complex and difficult to learn it may be a compromise between the requirements of different types of users an organisation may be forced to adapt its business procedures to the software errors may not be fixed rapidly Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 3

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Law - Essay Example This is the tort of omission of a lawful act or failure to perform a legal duty without malicious intent, which causes damage. It is failure to do something that you were legally supposed to do without the intention of harming. Nells act of sleeping was not ill intentioned since she had started doing so only when cafe was not busy. She failed to be in the cafe available to serve any customers who came in. As a result, customers could be coming in and leave when they fail to be served making the business lose sales. Incase Nell took the case to a court of law then the cafe owner would have to prove that this act actually caused harm to the business and to him too (Emerson 2009). The cafe owner may also urge on the grounds that the act was a dereliction of duty by the employee. That is failure to conform to the rules and regulation of the work place, failure to perform their duties assigned in a satisfactory manner. In his case, Marvin would have to produce as evidence a copy written rules and regulations that govern the conduct of employees at the cafe. She would also have to give evidence that every employee has access to the said rules and regulation, and they were not unavailable to them (Blum 2007). The regulation should have clear and explicit statement on the cause of action in case sleeping during work hours and being in a different location of the work premises other than the assigned duty station. Marvin would also have to provide a copy of the contract signed by Nell during her recruitment giving the conditions for relieve of duty. It should explicitly state the cause of action as a result of sleeping during work and the mode of communication used to imply the cause taken by the employer of the employee. Nell can on her side sue the employer for compensation for the loss of income and the psychological impacts of being dismissed by her employer without prior notice. She can also claim for her benefit after

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Employment Law - Essay Example These changes will have a great impact in the operations of human resource departments in organization. It is therefore critical that firms and organizations should acquaint themselves with the provisions of the spirit as the stipulations imply to avoid litigation. Sexual discrimination is one of the institutionalized vices that has dogged the working place. However, with the passing of the anti sex discrimination statute, the situation has since changed. According to the statute, no employee should be subjected to unfair treatment. Even in the case of a male employee, the statute outlines the course of action to be taken. The statute stipulates that no employee would be granted special attention in terms of sex. The exception comes in the case of women in view of pregnancy and childbirth. A case example of the anti sex discrimination state is the case of Eversheds who appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal where he was awarded 100,000 pounds in compensation. The case of Evershed s was that his employer exhibited unfair favoritism towards female employees which worked against him. Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, an agency worker is obliged to offer services to the agency, but whose services benefit a third party firm which has a contract with the agency. The definition of agency worker has been subject to intense debate and academic authorities are divided on which particular cadre of agency staff qualifies to be considered under this statute (Howard 2011). He further argues that such a definition as provided for in the statute may as well include workers who are providing services under a master services agreement such as cleaners. Another stipulation which protects the right of the employee is the TUPE regulation. Under the regulation, an employee working for a business or other premises is protected by law from unfair dismissals even on acquisitions. Under the stipulations, an employee can only be dismissed under technical or economical conditi ons. A case example of this stipulation was the Spaceright Europe Ltd v Baillavoine & Anor. Mr. Baillvoine was wrongfully dismissed from work and he was subsequently compensated. The question of who is actually an agency worker is debatable. Before arriving at a conclusion that one is an agency worker, considerations should be made in reference to the working arrangements. There are avenues for shortchanging the system through the use of umbrella corporate bodies to act for and on behalf of the hirer (Harvard Law Review, 2012). In this scenario, the umbrella corporate handles all the human resource issues fro other companies including paying dues. One of the rights that apply ab initio is the right to be given access to the same collective facilities as comparable employees or workers of the hirer. The implication of this right is that the hirer has to ensure that the agency works have equal access to the company’s resources as the permanent staff. Significantly, this will me an that the Human Resource department will have to put in place mechanisms that identify all the workers of the company including agency workers on an equal basis. The other right that applies right from the start of the workers’ assignment is the right to be informed of any arising vacancies by the hirer as comparable staff would be informed. This means that the employees are under legal obligation

Managing People in Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managing People in Engineering - Essay Example However, since improvement is a continuous process, thereby certain changes and improved are desired which can be carried out in a collective way. Aims and objectives: The aims and objectives in the generic and simple terms can be defined as the overcoming of challenges faced along with the exploration of the new openings and horizons which would allow the company to perform further better and stand an edge over the compatriots in the same industry. Keywords: Market share, customers’ satisfaction, quality services. Challenges faced: Every new day brings along a new challenge with itself in the global scenario of organizations especially when the organization works on global trends and international level. Lantex is no exception and it is faced with equal number of challenges and this has caught the attention of the top management and thereby they have decided to investigate the overall scenario and look deep into the various sections and entities of the organization. Their eff ort in this regard is a multi fold and they aim to address not just the processes rather the individual performances and the relationship between the employees within and also the relationship with the other stakeholders and most importantly the overall attitude and response towards the clients and customers in a direct and indirect manner. As a Management consultant: the task is being assigned to a management consultant in form of being an overhead entity and watchdog to monitor the overall performance and investigate the areas of importance and improvement in the overall system and determine what level of improvement is possible and needed in each of the area. Task of the management consultant: Management consultant is an impartial individual who is assigned and hired for his services to determine the overall scenario and standing of the organization and determine what is being done, what should be done and how should it be done, against the processes and functions of what should be avoided, and how should it be avoided. Tasks at hand: Identifying the problems in the processes Identifying the loopholes Identifying the areas of improvement Over viewing the working relationship between the members Assessing overall management processes within the organization Evaluating the Human Resource aspect of the organization Creating the clear definition of legislation that allows for better performance and privileges enjoyed by the workers and employees at different levels within the organization. Comparing the different companies performance and take on the similar areas of operations How is the workforce planning is used to assess staffing requirements. In time delivery and ensuring the reach to the far regions speaks for the effective policy of the company that has been in place in order to meet the customers’ requirements. Vigorous planning is being induced into the network with due consideration of the kind of knowledge being required in each domain and als o the kind of expertise needed to ensure the in time delivery to the various segments. For example while the near areas delivery is being ensured on 24 hours bases from the time and point of order placement, the long distance orders may take long yet with the regard and consideration of keeping it to the least amount of time possible and

Network Security Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Network Security - Annotated Bibliography Example Jackson’s book takes a very specific approach to computer network security at all levels. It examines the importance of network security in organizations and the importance of protecting data. It further analyses the security requirements of an organization and how to meet the desired customer satisfaction by proving them with solutions that make economic sense and those that help protect their data. The classification of data into several states; confidential, normal priority and critical, gives more light to the importance of having secure networks. The book does for a fact live up to the state of being a comprehensive reference to all issues related to auditing and network security. It covers all key areas around network security and those relevant to information security. By and large this is a reliable source and a current source. It has been published in recent years, precisely 2010, and as such the content is still within the valid bounds. This is because the information technology sector changes so fast and if the book was written any earlier the content therein could be to a large extent obsolete. The book further examines and projects the future of networking and specifically security in networks which gives it an edge over the past publications. The book by Jackson is based on facts and reports directly about network security. The research put into the book is objective and for this reason the author has greatly minimized the personal accounts of the subject and opinion. It has well documented facts on security breaches from the world’s largest security devices manufacturers, for example, VeriSign. The author is highly certified person with specific certifications in CISCO equipment. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and has authored many whitepapers and initiate innovations of his own under CISCO systems. The source fits perfectly into the research and contains very relevant material to the course work. It is a specific source and does not explore the network security field as a general subject but rather squarely focuses on the nitty-gritty of securing computer networks. It helped narrow down my understanding of network security by providing me direction and grounds to be open minded and a lso recognize facts from fiction in network engineering. Harrington, Jan. Network security: A Practical approach. Massachusetts: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2005. Print. Probably this is the most incisive and educative book about networking security that has been written. In this book Harrington tears a part skills based network security and provides practical examples of network scenarios with security breaches. The constant reference to past security threats to known multinational companies serves as a vivid image of how critical this field is. Harrington gets into the mind of network security professionals and brings out the important role and task of network professionals, in the process she outlines the routine maintenance tasks and schedules necessary and that are required for network administrators. The book is a comprehensive resource for anyone who implements or plans to dive into network security field, including the practitioners and managers. The dual perspective on secu rity: how you need to act in the network inside and how hackers and crackers view your network and want to get inside gives a solid understanding of the subject. Further, readers get hands-on technical advice they need to make it through the field without hustle. The Practical approach used in writing this book makes it a bit subjective since the author writes from his own experiences. However, these experiences have been supported by facts and history information on the subject of network security. The author is also a credible source and has been referenced in numerous books. Harrington has written more than 30 books and has been writing about computers since 1984. She has taught

Critical Thinking - Basic Concepts of Quantitative Reasoning; Research Paper - 1

Critical Thinking - Basic Concepts of Quantitative Reasoning; Hypothesis Formulation - Research Paper Example An individual suffering from mild traumatic brain injury may lose perception for a few seconds or minutes or may remain conscious throughout. Other mild traumatic brain injury symptoms include confusion, headache, lightheadedness, blurred vision, dizziness, ringing in the ears, fatigue, bad taste in the mouth, sleep pattern changes, mood or behavioral changes, nausea, slurred speech, temporary loss of memory, attention, concentration or thinking capacity (Cifu et al, 2010; Murdoch & Theodoros, 2001). On average, more or less 2 million traumatic brain injuries transpire per year, either as isolated cases or by the side of other injuries. Common symptoms of moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries are abnormal social behavior, deficits in social judgment, frequent loss of attention, processing speed and executive functioning. Anyone with signs of traumatic brain injury ought to receive immediate medical attention; based on the fact that traumatic brain injury is a health risk. As a starter, medical personnel try to stabilize a person with traumatic brain injury and focus on preventing additional injury since little can be done to correct the initial brain injury resulting from the trauma; this is regarded as an initial treatment for traumatic brain injury. The primary concerns include ensuring proper oxygen supply, ensuring adequate blood flow, and maintaining normal blood pressure. Imaging tests help in diagnosing a traumatic brain injury patient (High, 2005). Patients with m ild to modest traumatic brain injury undergo skull and neck X-rays to check for bone fractures or spinal irregularities. Moderately to severely injured patients have to undergo rehabilitation depending on individual symptoms. Such therapy programs include speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physiatry, psychology/psychiatry, and social support (Murdoch & Theodoros,

Basic Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Basic Critical Thinking - Essay Example The European debt crisis is one of the most critical financial huddles encountered by the global economy, but the problem is also perhaps the hardest to appreciate. The global economy has undergone slow growth since the financial crisis of 2008, which revealed the unsound fiscal policies of European countries and other countries across the globe (Rushe, 2012). Greece, which engaged in vigorous spending for years, was unable to institute financial reforms; thus was one of the initial countries to suffer the consequences of weak growth. This problem is relevant to the modern financial world since it reveals how slow growth causes slow tax incomes, resulting in exceedingly high and unsustainable budget deficits. The magnitude of the problem became evident as Greece announced that the country’s debts exceeded the entire size of its economy. In order to curtail the European debt crisis, the European Union established a series of bailouts for the troubled economies, beginning with the 2010 110 billion Euro bailout for Greece, and subsequent bailouts for Ireland and Portugal in 2010 and 2011, respectively (Lynn, 2010). The EU and IMF establishe d a debt restructuring strategy for the countries experiencing debt issues. However, the action plan moved quite slowly because the EU requires consent from all union members before dispatching bailouts to troubled countries. It is hence critical that the EU develops effective and timely strategies to assist its member countries recover from the debt crisis. The problem essentially concerns European countries’ inability to pay off their debts, owing to their dwindling economic capabilities. The boundaries of the problem situation are essentially the bounds of the European Union, and some of the most viable alternatives include seeking financial assistance from the international community so as to bail out all countries affected by the debt crisis. The greatest advantage

Robert Frost Poetry Coursework Essay Example for Free

Robert Frost Poetry Coursework Essay Robert Lee Frost was an American Poet born in San Francisco, his life spanned from March 26th, 1874 to January 29th, 1963. He moved to New England with his family when he was eleven years old. He discovered his love of reading and writing poetry during his high school years when he was in Lawrence, Massachusetts. After Harvard he began writing his own poetry but it was only after his conference with the poet Edward Thomas in London that he truly discovered his voice. On his return to America he published two collections of poems, the most famous of which was North of Boston. The two poems I will be looking at are Home Burial and Mending Wall. The very first thing I noticed about the two of these poems is that they are both examples of the breakdown of communication between people. The first poem Home Burial is an example of an eclogue. The title Home Burial has both connotations of a warm, comfortable home and also a burial, which is both related with death and mourning. It is on the whole written in dialogue but has some narrative. The second poem Mending Wall and its title have meanings on human communication also. Mending meaning to fix and also it is present tense meaning its ongoing and Wall is an object that can be used either as a barrier between humans or something to keep them together. Many people say this poem is Frosts most enduring and most typical dramatic monologue I will look at Home Burial first and display Frosts ideas on human understanding and contact first. By starting the poem with He this already seems to make the man the main character even though her is at the top of the stairs making her the more dominant of the two. She in unconscious of him, but when she realises he might be there she looks over her shoulder at some fear however if they are married why does she fear him? He then asks her what is it you see from up there always? for I want to know. (at this point the dominant role is passed onto him) which shows that they have never actually talked about why she always looks out that window until that moment. At the same moment she no longer fears him and her faces turns from terrified to dull when she realises he is only being curious. However he then asks her again and mounts over her until she is cowering meaning she fears him. This shows that he feels the only way to get it out of her is to frighten her. But this contradicted right away when he says I will find out now you must tell me, dear. The use of the comma and word dear shows that he is now trying to appear as non-threatening to her. However even this doesnt work as she refused him any help. She seems very stuck to being misunderstood and even when he tries to help her, she will not help, in the hope that he will discover it himself but she knows he wont. She even lets him look out knowing that he wont see because he is a blind creature. However after a while of looking out he says oh [] its just that I can see. However by this point the word see has lost a lot of its meaning by being repeated so often. But even after saying this she challenges him on what he sees by saying you dont [] tell me what it is He then launches into how he would have noticed it, had it not blended in with the background. But whilst talking he upsets her by talking about their child in the grave almost in passing. Its not the stones, but the childs mound The man is shocked when she starts telling him to stop and asks why he cant mention his late son. She then, instead of staying and communicating to him, decided to leave for some fresh air. But he then tells her how she should stay and talk to him instead of bringing their problems to other people. He then tells her how he would like to ask her something to which she replies that he doesnt know how to ask. This to me shows that she knows what he is going to ask before he actually does, so I think although they dont talk they do have an understanding of each other even if its on a small level. She then says My words are always nearly an offense. This illustrates how even if he does try to communicate she does not listen or else does not take the correct meaning from what he says and just sees the negative side from everything he says. He then says a man must give up being a man with womenfolk. This brings in the subject if gender can be a barrier between human communication and understanding. But there is also a meaning in the subtext of how he doesnt think any of the blame should be put on him because she finds everything he says as offensive. He then goes on to plea for her to speak to him, to give him one more chance to redeem everything that is wrong with their communication problems, but she needs to stop being so over-reactive to everything. His statement evokes a sense of equality as he is saying that he will try to mend his wrong-doings if she agrees to do the same with hers. However once he says that her sense of loss over her child should be satisfied she sees the negativity in this and says that he is sneering. To which he replies Im not, Im not. This shocks me as this is just what they had been discussing about how they should give each other a chance and try and not be so quick to judge each other and straight away they are at it again. This, I think, is the point where the woman begins to truly open up as she then says to her husband about how he should have more to talk about and more to feel about their dead son, especially to the fact that he was the one to bury him. And then she gets even more annoyed by how when he came in from digging the grave he talks off average, mundane even, topics. She then talks of how if he cant grief over his son, he wont be able to grief for anyone, and if he continues like this he will be unaware of how alone he really is. She then remarks, If I can change it. Oh, I wont, I wont! meaning that she will keep to her grief. Then the husband says There, you have said it all and you feel better. You wont go now. Which sounds very patronizing like he wasnt even paying attention and that he only cares that she wont leave the house for people to see her in her state. And then to prove even more that he wasnt paying much attention to what she was saying he says Amy! Theres someone coming down the road! This is exactly what she had been talking about what she hated him doing and he does it. If he did it to annoy her or that he simply wasnt listening to her it isnt apparent, but it shows a great void in their communication and understanding of one another. The woman is so distraught to how he directly ignores everything she was saying that her sentences are all broken up. She then opes the door wider to leave as she is in a frenzy. The poem then ends with him using violence again to try and get her to stay, so even after they had this long and deep conversation they both returned to how they originally dodged conversation, fleeing and using violence. Now I will go onto talk about the poem Mending Wall and how it is used to convey human barriers between communication and understanding. The writer uses first person singular in this poem to create a persona, and so he can put his own views into the poem easily. It begins with Something there is that doesnt love a wall this is an inverted syntax which creates a tone in the poem and contains the word love which is a very strong word especially for an inanimate object like a wall. The next part says that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it; this made me think that he is possibly using frost on purpose as it is his name. It also contains an active verb to create an ongoing sense in the poem. The active verbs are carried on in the next two lines. makes and work these are the two other active verbs. He then says I have come after them and made repair this shows how he and his neighbour have went out year after year to fix this wall. I think the major part of this poem is if the wall is to be thought of as a barrier or as a magnet which almost brings him and his neighbour together. On one level it is separating their homes from one another, but it also brings them together once a year to repair it. Every year he goes to his neighbour and tells him of how the wall is in need of mending again and they both stay on their own side of the wall picking up the rocks which have fallen out and placing them back in. He talks of how they use spells to make the rocks balance, this shows how the persona of the speaker is very imaginative, but it is also shown in the poem how the persona spends a lot of the poem ruminating over different, small things. And then in the actual spell there is an exclamation mark to add to it. He finds it fun calling it an outdoor game almost like how a child would treat it. He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says Good fences make good neighbours. This paragraph I think shows how he wishes to take down the wall, but instead of directly asking him decides to show him that there is no point in keeping the wall. The neighbour replies with a quote which he has obviously learnt from generations before him and hasnt actually put much thought into. I think this is a classic case of how bad communication can come up, this man has no views on the wall and is only using views of which he has heard from his father possibly and doesnt even consider what his neighbour is saying. Before I built a wall Id ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. This is where the poet realises he has no need for this wall and wishes it wasnt there. I also think he is actually offended buy the way his neighbour doesnt want to take it down by the way it says to whom I was like to give offence. There is repetition of the phrase something there is that doesnt love a wall. But this time instead of thinking of an animal I think you are made to think of how the neighbour doesnt listen to the poet and decides to keep the wall up. And however, much he would like to make the neighbour realise the wall is doing no good, he wants him to want the wall down without him saying anything. The poet then notes how his neighbour moves in darkness or in other words is unaware of how there is no need for the wall. So in this poem I think there is a very large barrier in the way of their communication between each other. The poet tries to reason with the neighbour to show there is no need for the wall, but the neighbour prefers to stick with his old quote, because it is one he has already though of a lot. Between these two poems I prefer Mending Wall to Home Burial because of its rhythm throughout it and also I like the very child-like views in it as it makes me feel like I can relate to it more. Home Burial also used terms and wording structure which I found very hard to understand. I think there is also a lot of differences in the culture in these poems and that may determine why the characters could not understand or communicate with each other. The fact that Mending Wall was set in a farmland could mean there is not many other people there and that could determine people and their communication skills. And Home Burial is set between a couple who seem to argue a lot so that doesnt show how every human has trouble understanding each other, just them two.

What is churn? An overview

What is churn? An overview Churn is the phenomenon where a customer switches from one service to a competitors service (Tsai Chen, 2009:2). There are two main types of churn, namely voluntary churn and involuntary churn. Voluntary churn is when the customer initiated the service termination. Involuntary churn means the company suspended the customers service and this is usually because of non-payment or service abuse. Companies, in various industries, have recently started to realise that their client set is their most valuable asset. Retaining the existing clients is the best marketing strategy. Numerous studies have confirmed this by showing that it is more profitable to keep your existing clients satisfied than to constantly attract new clients (Van Den Poel Larivià ¨re, 2004:197; Coussement Van Den Poel, 2008:313). According to Van Den Poel and Larivià ¨re (2004:197) successful customer retention has more than just financial benefits: Successful customer retention programs free the organisation to focus on existing customers needs and the building of relationships. It lowers the need to find new customers with uncertain levels of risk. Long term customers tend to buy more and provide positive advertising through word-of-mouth. The company has better knowledge of long term customers and they are less expensive with lower uncertainty and risk. Customers with longer tenures are less likely to be influenced by competitive marketing strategies. Sales may decrease if customers churn, due to lost opportunities. These customers also need to be replaced, which can cost five to six times more than simply retaining the customer. 1.1.Growth in Fixed-line Markets According to Agrawal (2009) the high growth phase in the telecommunications market is over. In the future, wealth in the industry will be split between the companies. Revenues (of telecommunication companies) are declining around the world. Figure 2 shows Telkoms fixed-line customer base and customer growth rate for the previous seven years. The number of lines is used as an estimate for the number of fixed-line customers. Figure 2-Telkoms fixed-line annual customer base (Idea adopted from Ahn, Han Lee (2006:554)) With the lower customer growth worldwide, it is becoming vital to prevent customers from churning. 1.2.Preventing Customer Churn The two basic approaches to churn management are divided into untargeted and targeted approaches. Untargeted approaches rely on superior products and mass advertising to decrease churn (Neslin, Gupta, Kamakura, Lu Mason, 2004:3). Targeted approaches rely on identifying customers who are likely to churn and then customising a service plan or incentive to prevent it from happening. Targeted approaches can be further divided into proactive and reactive approaches. With a proactive approach the company identifies customers who are likely to churn at a future date. These customers are then targeted with incentives or special programs to attempt to retain them. In a reactive targeted approach the company waits until the customer cancels the account and then offers the customer an incentive (Neslin et al., 2004:4). A proactive targeted approach has the advantage of lower incentive costs (because the customer is not â€Å"bribed† at the last minute to stay with the company). It also prevents a culture where customers threaten to churn in order to negotiate a better deal with the company (Neslin et al., 2004:4). The proactive, targeted approach is dependent on a predictive statistical technique to predict churners with a high accuracy. Otherwise the companys funds may be wasted on unnecessary programs that incorrectly identified customers. 1.3.Main Churn Predictors According to Chu, Tsai and Ho (2007:704) the main contributors to churn in the telecommunications industry are; price, coverage, quality and customer service. Their contributions to churn can be seen from Figure 3. Figure 3 indicates that the primary reason for churn is price related (47% of the sample). The customer churns because a cheaper service or product is available, through no fault of the company. This means that a perfect retention strategy, based on customer satisfaction, can only prevent 53% of the churners (Chu et al., 2007:704). 1.4.Churn Management Framework Datta, Masand, Mani and Li (2001:486) proposed a five stage framework for customer churn management (Figure 4). The first stage is to identify suitable data for the modelling process. The quality of this data is extremely important. Poor data quality can cause large losses in money, time and opportunities (Olson, 2003:1). It is also important to determine if all the available historical data, or only the most recent data, is going to be used. The second stage consists of the data semantics problem. It has a direct link with the first stage. In order to complete the first stage successfully, a complete understanding of the data and the variables information are required. Data quality issues are linked to data semantics because it often influences data interpretation directly. It frequently leads to data misinterpretation (Dasu Johnson, 2003:100). Stage three handles feature selection. Cios, Pedrycz, Swiniarski and Kurgan (2007:207) define feature selection as â€Å"a process of finding a subset of features, from the original set of features forming patterns in a given data set†. It is important to select a sufficient number of diverse features for the modelling phase. Section 5.5.3 discusses some of the most important features found in the literature. Stage four is the predictive model development stage. There are many alternative methods available. Figure 5 shows the number of times a statistical technique was mentioned in the papers the author read. These methods are discussed in detail in Section 6. The final stage is the model validation process. The goal of this stage is to ensure that the model delivers accurate predictions. 5.5.1Stage one Identify data Usually a churn indicator flag must be derived in order to define churners. Currently, there exists no standard accepted definition for churn (Attaa, 2009). One of the popular definitions state that a customer is considered churned if the customer had no active products for three consecutive months (Attaa, 2009; Virgin Media, 2009; Orascom Telecom, 2008). Once a target variable is derived, the set of best features (variables) can be determined. 5.5.2Stage two Data semantics Data semantics is the process of understanding the context of the data. Certain variables are difficult to interpret and must be carefully studied. It is also important to use consistent data definitions in the database. Datta, et al. (2001) claims that this phase is extremely important. 5.5.3Stage three Feature selection Feature selection is another important stage. The variables selected here are used in the modelling stage. It consists of two phases. Firstly, an initial feature subset is determined. Secondly, the subset is evaluated based on a certain criterion. Ahn et al. (2006:554) describe four main types of determinants in churn. These determinants should be included in the initial feature subset. Customer dissatisfaction is the first determinant of churn mentioned. It is driven by network and call quality. Service failures have also been identified as â€Å"triggers† that accelerate churn. Customers who are unhappy can have an extended negative influence on a company. They can spread negative word-of-month and also appeal to third-party consumer affair bodies (Ahn et al., 2006:555). Cost of switching is the second main determinant. Customers maintain their relationships with a company based on one of two reasons: they â€Å"have to† stay (constraint) or they â€Å"want to† stay (loyalty). Companies can use loyalty programs or membership cards to encourage their customers to â€Å"want to† stay (Ahn et al., 2006:556). Service usage is the third main determinant. A customers service usage can broadly be described with minutes of use, frequency of use and total number of distinct numbers used. Service usage is one of the most popular predictors in churn models. It is still unclear if the correlation between churn and service usage is positive or negative (Ahn et al., 2006:556). The final main determinant is customer status. According to Ahn et al. (2006:556), customers seldom churn suddenly from a service provider. Customers are usually suspended for a while due to payment issues, or they decide not to use the service for a while, before they churn. Wei and Chiu (2002:105) use length of service and payment method as further possible predictors of churn. Customers with a longer service history are less likely to churn. Customers who authorise direct payment from their bank accounts are also expected to be less likely to churn. Qi, Zhang, Shu, Li and Ge (2004?:2) derived different growth rates and number of abnormal fluctuation variables to model churn. Customers with growing usage are less likely to churn and customers with a high abnormal fluctuation are more likely to churn. 5.5.4Stage four Model development It is clear from Figure 5 that decision tree models are the most frequently used models. The second most popular technique is logistic regression, followed closely by neural networks and survival analysis. The technique that featured in the least number of papers is discriminant analysis. Discriminant analysis is a multivariate technique that classifies observations into existing categories. A mathematical function is derived from a set of continuous variables that best discriminates among the set of categories (Meilgaard, Civille Carr, 1999:323). According to Cohen and Cohen (2002:485) discriminant analysis makes stronger modelling assumptions than logistic regression. These include that the predictor variables must be multivariate normally distributed and the within-group covariance matrix must be homogeneous. These assumptions are rarely met in practice. According to Harrell (2001:217) even if these assumptions are met, the results obtained from logistic regression are still as accurate as those obtained from discrimination analysis. Discriminant analysis will, therefore, not be considered. A neural network is a parallel data processing structure that possesses the ability to learn. The concept is roughly based on the human brain (Hadden, Tiwari, Roy Ruta, 2006:2). Most neural networks are based on the perceptron architecture where a weighted linear combination of inputs is sent through a nonlinear function. According to de Waal and du Toit (2006:1) neural networks have been known to offer accurate predictions with difficult interpretations. Understanding the drivers of churn is one of the main goals of churn modelling and, unfortunately, traditional neural networks provide limited understanding of the model. Yang and Chiu (2007:319) confirm this by stating that neural networks use an internal weight scheme that doesnt provide any insight into why the solution is valid. It is often called a black-box methodology and neural networks are, therefore, also not considered in this study. The statistical methodologies used in this study are decision trees, logistic regression and survival analysis. Decision tree modelling is discussed in Section 6.1, logistic regression in Sections 6.2 and 6.3 and survival analysis is discussed in Section 6.4. 5.5.5Stage five Validation of results Each modelling technique has its own, specific validation method. To compare the models, accuracy will be used. However, a high accuracy on the training and validation data sets does not automatically result in accurate predictions on the population dataset. It is important to take the impact of oversampling into account. Section 5.6 discusses oversampling and the adjustments that need to be made. 1.5.Adjustments for Target Level Imbalances From Telkoms data it is clear that churn is a rare event of great interest and great value (Gupta, Hanssens, Hardie, Kahn, Kumar, Lin Sriram, 2006:152). If the event is rare, using a sample with the same proportion of events and non-events as the population is not ideal. Assume a decision tree is developed from such a sample and the event rate (x%) is very low. A prediction model could obtain a high accuracy (1-x%) by simply assigning all the cases to the majority level (e.g. predict all customers are non-churners) (Wei Chiu, 2002:106). A sample with more balanced levels of the target is required. Basic sampling methods to decrease the level of class imbalances include under-sampling and over-sampling. Under-sampling eliminates some of the majority-class cases by randomly selecting a lower percentage of them for the sample. Over-sampling duplicates minority-class cases by including a randomly selected case more than once (Burez Van Den Poel, 2009:4630). Under-sampling has the drawback that potentially useful information is unused. Over-sampling has the drawback that it might lead to over-fitting because cases are duplicated. Studies have shown that over-sampling is ineffective at improving the recognition of the minority class (Drummond Holte, 2003:8). According to Chen, Liaw Breiman, (2004:2) under-sampling has an edge over over-sampling. However, if the probability of an event (target variable equals one) in the population differs from the probability of an event in the sample, it is necessary to make adjustments for the prior probabilities. Otherwise the probability of the event will be overestimated. This will lead to score graphs and statistics that are inaccurate or misleading (Georges, 2007:456). Therefore, decision-based statistics based on accuracy (or misclassification) misrepresent the model performance on the population. A model developed on this sample will identify more churners than there actually are (high false alarm rate). Without an adjustment for prior probabilities, the estimates for the event will be overestimated. According to Potts (2001:72) the accuracy can be adjusted with equation 1. It takes prior probabilities into account. With: : the population proportion of non-churners : the population proportion of churners : the sample proportion of non-churners : the sample proportion of churners : the number of true negatives (number of correctly predicted non- churners) : the number of true positives (number of correctly predicted churners) : the number of instances in the sample However, accuracy as a model efficiency measure trained on an under-sampled dataset is dependent on the threshold. This threshold is influenced by the class imbalance between the sample and the population (Burez Van Den Poel, 2009:4626).

Rising Gas Prices in the United States Essay -- The Oil Industry

Once upon a time Americans hopped into their cars on warm spring days and took long drives to admire the beauty of nature. Teenagers took joy rides around town to meet friends and rode from one â€Å"hot spot† to another. Those were the days when gas prices were affordable to the average American. Over the past few years, gas prices in the United States have been on the rise. What is causing the increase in gas prices? To understand the increase in gas prices, one must first identify the distribution of dollars paid per gallon at the pump. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia) in 2010, the annual average paid at the pump consisted of 68% crude oil, 7% refining, 10% distribution and marketing, and 15% taxes (see Fig.1). This shows an increase of crude oil over the 2000-2009 average of 51%. (e. I. Administration) Currently, the most important factor in the rise of gas prices is the increasing cost of crude oil. Unfortunately, the United States has three percent of the world’s oil reserves. (Horsley) In 2009, the United States was third in crude oil production as well as the world’s largest petroleum consumer. (e. I. Administration) Such consumption required and still requires the United States to import petroleum/crude oil from other countries. Mainly, the United States imports petroleum products and crude oil from Canada 23.3%, Venezuela 10.7%, Saudi Arabia 10.4%, Mexico 9.2%, and Nigeria 8.3%. (e. I. Administration) In addition, approximately 77 other countries import to the United States. (e. I. Administration) Worldwide, there are many factors contributing to the increase in cost per barrel. Most recently, Libyan rebels, inspired by the success of their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbors, are up... ... Oil Production.† 10 March 2011. 19 March 2011 . Press, Associated. â€Å"MSNBC Oil Prices Fall as Libya Promises Ceasefire.† 18 March 2011. 19 March 2011 . Press, Associated. â€Å"Oil Hits Highest Levels Since Recession.† 25 March 2011. 25 March 2011 . Press, The Associated. â€Å"IEA Says Libyan Oil Exports Halted.† 15 March 2011. 25 March 2011 . Reuters. â€Å"Factbox: Libyan Oil Production, Exports, Customers.† 11 February 2011. 20 March 2011 .

Alzheimers Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer’s Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is the lost of thinking, remembering and reasoning so bad it screws up ability to do daily functions and eventually resolves in death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s first discovered the disease in 1906. Since then research has developed a deeper understanding of the changes in the brain. Warning sign’s of Alzheimer's are memory loss that affects home and job skills, problem in speaking, poor judgment, and difficulty in learning. The last stage of Alzheimer's disease is when you’re unable to take care of yourself. The disease can last from 3 to 20 years from the time of onset of symptoms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alzheimer’s disease affects as many as 4 million Americans. It can affect almost any age but still is more common in the ederly. As age ing population continues to increase, so does the disease. Today, 3% of the people ages 65 to 75 have alzheimer’s, 10% of those aged 75 to 85 have alzheimer’s and half the age 85 may have it to. Without a new cure it is estimated that alzheimers will affect over 14 million people by 2050. The elderly are the most infected with the disease and its still spreading. Other disease in common with Alzheimer’s is multi-infract dementia, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, and Parkinson disease. People wonder if Alzheimer is genetic â€Å"meaning runs in families† the answer is the evidence isn't clear. Doctors and Physicians say if you have a by blood family member with Alzheimer's there's a slightly greater chance of getting or having the Alzheimer's disease. Many wonder if memory loss is a natural part of aging. The answer is yes and no, everyone has forgotten where he or she parked their car or the name of an acquaintance a one time or another . And many healthy individuals are less able to remember certain kinds of information as they get older. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are much more severe than simple memory lapses. This chart will kinda help you understand the difference. Activity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A person with Alzheimer’s Disease  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Age- associated memory loss Forgets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whole experiences  Ã‚  Ã‚  &... ... for home repairs or products they don’t need. 6.Problems with abstract thinking, balancing a checkbook may be hard when the task is more complicated than usual. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease could forget completely what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them. 7.Misplacing things, anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or key. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer, a wristwatch in the sugar bowl, or a sandwich under the sofa. 8.Changes in mood or behavior, everyone can become sad or moody from time to time. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease can show rapid mood swings-from calm to tears to anger-for no apparent reason. 9.Changes in personality, people’s personalities ordinarily change somewhat with age. But a person with Alzheimer’s disease can change a lot, becoming extremely confused, suspicious, fearful, or dependent on a family member. 10.Loss of initiative, itâ€⠄¢s normal to tire of housework, business activities, or social obligations at times. The person with Alzheimer’s disease may be very passive, sitting in front of the television for hours, sleeping more than usual, or not wanting to do usual activities. Alzheimer's Disease Essay -- Alzheimer's Disease Essays Alzheimer’s Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is the lost of thinking, remembering and reasoning so bad it screws up ability to do daily functions and eventually resolves in death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s first discovered the disease in 1906. Since then research has developed a deeper understanding of the changes in the brain. Warning sign’s of Alzheimer's are memory loss that affects home and job skills, problem in speaking, poor judgment, and difficulty in learning. The last stage of Alzheimer's disease is when you’re unable to take care of yourself. The disease can last from 3 to 20 years from the time of onset of symptoms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alzheimer’s disease affects as many as 4 million Americans. It can affect almost any age but still is more common in the ederly. As age ing population continues to increase, so does the disease. Today, 3% of the people ages 65 to 75 have alzheimer’s, 10% of those aged 75 to 85 have alzheimer’s and half the age 85 may have it to. Without a new cure it is estimated that alzheimers will affect over 14 million people by 2050. The elderly are the most infected with the disease and its still spreading. Other disease in common with Alzheimer’s is multi-infract dementia, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, and Parkinson disease. People wonder if Alzheimer is genetic â€Å"meaning runs in families† the answer is the evidence isn't clear. Doctors and Physicians say if you have a by blood family member with Alzheimer's there's a slightly greater chance of getting or having the Alzheimer's disease. Many wonder if memory loss is a natural part of aging. The answer is yes and no, everyone has forgotten where he or she parked their car or the name of an acquaintance a one time or another . And many healthy individuals are less able to remember certain kinds of information as they get older. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are much more severe than simple memory lapses. This chart will kinda help you understand the difference. Activity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A person with Alzheimer’s Disease  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Age- associated memory loss Forgets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whole experiences  Ã‚  Ã‚  &... ... for home repairs or products they don’t need. 6.Problems with abstract thinking, balancing a checkbook may be hard when the task is more complicated than usual. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease could forget completely what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them. 7.Misplacing things, anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or key. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer, a wristwatch in the sugar bowl, or a sandwich under the sofa. 8.Changes in mood or behavior, everyone can become sad or moody from time to time. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease can show rapid mood swings-from calm to tears to anger-for no apparent reason. 9.Changes in personality, people’s personalities ordinarily change somewhat with age. But a person with Alzheimer’s disease can change a lot, becoming extremely confused, suspicious, fearful, or dependent on a family member. 10.Loss of initiative, itâ€⠄¢s normal to tire of housework, business activities, or social obligations at times. The person with Alzheimer’s disease may be very passive, sitting in front of the television for hours, sleeping more than usual, or not wanting to do usual activities.

The Difference Between Logical And Physical Design Of A Network :: Networks Telecommunications

Abstract This paper will explain several differences between a logical network design and the physical design of a network. Most people tend to think of it as the logical meaning the functional part and the physical as the seeing it part. With saying that one must understand that there is more to the logical and physical design of a network than just the functional and seeing parts. In order for one to understand the differences of how the two operate and work from one to the other, one would need more information than just the functionality and seeing parts. In the following paragraphs of this paper, by trying to outline what makes up the differences between logical and physical design of a network one should then understand his/her purpose. Connecting computers together to create a network greatly increases the communication capabilities and can even save a company substantial amounts of time and money. A well thought out network design from a small home network to a large corporate intranet can be a deciding factor in the success of a network. Two important steps in the designing of a successful network are the logical designing phase and physical designing phase. The difference between the two and the importance of each are explained in the following pages. When speaking of the network design world, one must understand the importance of what the logical network design is and how it works; in addition, one must know and understand what the physical network design is. These two common design types are different in several ways but first let's understand what they are. When looking at a logical network design, it easier to describe it as how the network will be structured, basically it focuses on all the logical aspects of the network. According to Webopedia, "the logical topology is the way that the signals act on the network media, or the way the data passes through the network from one device to the next without regard to the physical interconnection of the devices." http://www.bibiesse.org/digitctionary/logical_topology.shtml In a logical network layout, IP addresses are shown to be associated with each part of the network. "In most cases, the logical network is in a Class C network such as 192.168.0.0 with the default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Therefore, this type of network allows up to 254 hosts to be connected directly to it without the need of any routing." http://www.

Child centered educstion

The concept of child-centred education implies that the child occupies the central place in the educational process. The old concept of education emphasised the importance of the teacher who always remained at the giving end. The modern concept of education gives the pride of place to the child and places him at the centre-stage. Capacities, Needs and Interests of Child: As noted above, in child-centred education, the child is the centre of activity.This means, all programmes are geared to his requirements. In the Dictionary of Education, Prof. P. M. Lohithakshan elaborates the concept of child-centred education by saying that in this type of education â€Å"educational activities are designed and implemented on the basis of the capacities, needs and interests of children. Curricula, teaching methods, evaluation, co-curricular activities, etc. are all planned accordingly. † In the words of Prof. G. L.Arora, â€Å"Child-centred education means that for the rganisation of diffe rent processes of education, child's point of view-his needs, interests and aptitudes should get precedence over the teacher's, curriculum developer's or evaluator's point of view. † Educational programmes meaningful to Children. In child-centred education, educational programmes make learning more interesting and meaningful to children. Children-active participants In child-centred education, children become active participants in the teaching- learning process. They receive ample opportunities for active learning, social nteraction, problem solving and creative work in the classroom†, says Prof. Lohithakshan. Caters for individual differences Child-centred education caters for individual differences. Psychology and experience tells us that children differ in their innate capacities. So, child-centred education compels the teacher to plan his educational methods to suit individual differences. This means, a teacher cannot employ a particular method without taking into c onsideration the n s and requirements ot children.Child's balanced development Child-centred education leads to balanced development of the child's potentialities and his personality. This results from satisfaction of basic needs of children. Summing up: To sum up, the concept of child-centred education is â€Å"based on the assumption that individual's life is self-contained and self- sufficient . That the individual is the end and not the means. According to this view, social institutions exist only to make the individual life better, richer and happier. † Child-centred education fulfils this mission.

Animal Farm Analysis Essay Essay

The Tragedy Of Oppression â€Å"Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress†. These are the words that rolled off the French General Napoleon Bonaparte’s tongue. This relates to Animal Farm because all of the farm animals do not like oppression but they have a bunch of oppressors among them. The pigs control the farm animals in every way possible and frankly they are sick and tired of it. Animal Farm by George Orwell shows that oppression is at the heart of so much sorrow in life, and that the abuse of power is at the heart of oppression. Napoleons violence and Squealers mind-control are the two forms of power and abuse that keep the poor animals oppressed. Napoleon was violent in many ways. First of all, he used his power to raise an army of dogs to become mean and violent just like him. Napoleon had the dogs under his wing; they would do whatever he told them to do. For example, Napoleon was trying to get the animals to admit to working with snowball. When and if they did admit to this he would command the dogs to kill them. This is one of many examples of how Napoleon uses his power to abuse the farm animals. Napoleon hated Snowball; they disagreed on everything so he definitely didn’t want any of his farm animals working with his enemy. That’s not all Napoleon had the dogs, or in other words his â€Å"slaves† do. Another example of violence is when Napoleon commanded the dogs to chase Snowball off of the farm. He didn’t like the idea of sharing the power with Snowball; he wanted the power all to himself! He tried to control everyone through violence and fear. As a result of this power struggle he abused not only the farm animals but also the dogs by trying to control them. Napoleon verbally, mentally and physically abused everyone in his path. Squealer is also guilty of abusing his power. Squealer’s choice of abuse is mind control. He is capable of making a bad situation seem as if it were meant to be. Like the time when the farm animals got suspicious when the pigs started sleeping in beds. Everyone on the farm knows that sleeping in bed goes against the commandment that states, â€Å"No animal shall sleep in a bed† When the animals built up the courage to ask the pigs what was going on, the pigs simply stated â€Å"A bed merely means a place to sleep in. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?†(Orwell67). This is an  example of slippery slope because in other words Squealer is telling the animals that if the pigs aren’t allowed to sleep in beds then they will not be able to do there duties because they will not get a good night sleep and if they cant do their duties then eventually Jones will come back. Squealer does things like this all of the time. He is know n for verbally abusing the farm animals by controlling their minds. This all leads up to one thing, oppression. Oppression is caused by the abuse of power. Napoleon wanted to be in control of everything and everyone because he was a very selfish and controlling pig. His need to be this way caused severe oppression on the farm. The farm animals were all unhappy and felt like there was no way out. Anytime they confronted the pigs, they were always given some excuse or reason why things were not the way they were supposed to be. Boxer was the hardest worker on the farm, yet he got treated the most unfair. He might not have been the most intelligent of the animals but he sure was strong and worked more than any of the others. One day, Boxer collapsed while pulling stone for the windmill. The pigs said that he would be taken to a hospital. When a cart arrived to pick Boxer up the farm animals got suspicious because the cart was sent from the slaughterhouse. Squealer quickly denounced the rumor saying that the hospital had bought the cart from the slaughterhouse and never painted over the writing. The animals were relieved after hearing the â€Å"good news† until squealer announced that Boxer had died in the hospital. â€Å"I will work harder† and â€Å"Napoleon is always right†(Orwell 39). were Boxers two slogans. Boxer thought of Napoleon as a role model and all Napoleon thought of Boxer as, was one of his many workers. Boxer loved Napoleon. It is very sad that he was never appreciated or loved in return by Napoleon. At least Boxer will always be in the hearts of the farm animals because he was truly loved by them. This was a great and unnecessary loss, which caused much sorrow to the farm animals. This clearly shows that oppression can cause great sorrow. The abuse of power is the cause of great sorrow for many people all around the world. The Novella Animal Farm by George Orwell proves this in the life of the farm animals. Napoleon caused a lot of unhappiness and sorrow to the farm animals, which lead to great oppression on the farm. In order to keep h is power, Napoleon used violence to get his way. He used Squealer to play mind games on the animals to keep his power and to trick them into believing his lies. Oppression is a disheartening reality that affected the farm animals and continues to affect the lives of many people today.

A deeper meaning of family and

Even ants have families.   ‘Family’ stands for many things, and it is ironic that many times, the rational human being, blessed with the propensity to value emotion and the intangible, should claim that family or the home does not exist or is immaterial.More discouraging than ironic is the fact that this concept of family and the home definitely exists, but because of certain human conditions, it looses significance.Many times it is not the physical family or home that humans find value in but the concept that these physical establishments represent;   this concept exists on various levels and, unfortunately, for some, these levels are all but cherished or treasured.   In Robert Frost’s lyric poem, ‘The Death of a Hired Man’ a farm couple, Mary and Warren, argues over the return of a hired hand, Silas.During their conversations various impressions of Silas emerge clearly giving meat to how Warren or Mary perceives this return and Silas in genera l.   There are reasons in the poem indicating why Silas returns to the couple after quite a while, and the reasons given all fall apart in the end when Mary vindicates her statement that Silas has ‘come home to die’ (114) because true to her words, Silas does die in the end.While there is very minimal reference as to the kind of person that Silas is, one thing is clear in the poem – that Silas did not return to the couple to do any more work but because he considered the couple as his only family; hence, the poem, lends a deeper meaning to the concept of family.The word ‘family’ comes from the Greek word ‘famulus’ which means ‘servant’ or ‘servant of the household’; despite this literal meaning of the word being quite unorthodox in comparison to the modern definition of family, Frost’s poem allows a different level of interpretation of this word in his poem through the relationship between Mary and Sila s.If the Greek literal meaning is to be considered, with Silas being the hired help or the ‘servant’ in the poem, this literal meaning is given more significance in that Silas considered the farm couple to be his family.   Mary considered Silas to be part of the family as well.   This can be easily proven from lines in the poem that show this unlikely relationship between the servant and the ‘served’.There are two concepts of ‘family’ referred to in the poem if Mary’s and Silas’ situation is closely analyzed – one would be that while humans would consider the physical ‘family’ as representative of the concept of ‘blood-related ties’, the poem alludes to the possibility of the development of the concept of ‘family’ beyond what would be allowed by simple blood relations.The second concept that emerges from the poem is that ‘family’ is more of a concept that is dependent on the individual than it is a concept resulting from the inevitable consequence of relation, whether by blood or affiliation.Winston Churchill once said that, â€Å"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained†; here, Churchill admits to the fact that certain things in a person are developed within the ‘physical’ family.   In reference to this quote, it is quite easy to conclude that ‘family’ as a concept, and not the ‘physical’ family, might as well be one of the concepts that is developed in a person.This idea is as well clearly illustrated in Frost’s poem in two ways; first in the way Mary perceives the person of Silas; and in the other way around, in the way Silas’ actions, as narrated by Mary, prove that the man has developed a ‘family-sense’ for the farm couple.   Initi ally, when Mary went out to meet Warren, this particular ‘favor’ for Silas is shown in the lines, â€Å"â€Å"Silas is back.† / She pushed him outward with her through the door / And shut it after her.â€Å"Be kind,† she said.† (5-7).   Mary here, knowing that Silas was sleeping inside the house, rushed to warn her husband, but the warning was not out of concern for what would happen to her husband, but out of her assumption that her husband would not be happy with the arrival of Silas, and concern for what unfavorable act her husband might do to Silas, hence, she says, â€Å"Be Kind,†. (7)   As early as these lines, Mary is now shown to have a soft heart for the hired hand who had returned.   This ‘developed affinity’ of Mary to Silas is ground by Frost in the lines, â€Å"I sympathize.I know just how it feels / To think of the right thing to say too late.† (79-80) and â€Å"Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk, / And nothing to look backward to with pride, / And nothing to look forward to with hope, / So now and never any different.† (102-105).   In the first set of lines (79-80)   Mary invokes sympathy as her reason for developing a certain closeness to Silas; her admission that she ‘she knows just how it feels’ (79) indicates that she identifies herself with Silas and so considers herself to have had the same life-changing experience as Silas.This denotes that the development of the closeness was because of a commonality of experience of which sympathy is simply a consequence.   In the second set of lines, the idea of the development of family in Mary’s perception of Silas is further reinforced by Mary’s virtuous perception of Silas, hence, Silas is ‘so concerned for other folk’, (102)