ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Today, coffee is a big and attractive business area. Most people can hardly imagine their lives without it either in the morning or during the day. If they choose to have a cup of coffee out of home, in most cases, they will grab one at Starbucks. Founded in 1971 in Seattle, this American company has turned into a real global giant represented in more than 60 countries worldwide and employing more than 20,000 people. The number of licensed stores and those operated by the corporation exceeds 21,000 (Starbucks Corporation, 2015). The company’s current position in the global economy and worldwide recognition of the brand itself is fascinating. However, one cannot deny the fact that reaching such spectacular results would be impossible without thorough planning and strategy based on the decision to go global and win customers in many countries across the globe. Review of the company Nowadays, Starbucks is one of the central players in economic globalization. It stands in one row with Apple, Ikea, Google, and McDonald’s (Smallman & Brown, 2015). In addition to it, the company is a bridge connecting the poorest countries with the richest ones by providing them with coffee of premier quality. This linking effect derives from the company’s ethical considerations and its promise to serve people identically without regard to the level of living in the country of a Starbucks store location. Moreover, it comes from the very nature of the phenomenon of globalization, which results not only in boosting the scale of a company’s operation but also increasing human connectivity and promoting exchanging lifestyles and cultures (Hult & Hill, 2015). It means that Starbucks’ expansion implies the exports of not only coffee products and desserts of high quality but also the perception of leisure time and luxury because even though hanging out in one of its stores is a costly experience, it is viewed as the synonym of fun and high standards of living (Campbell, McKinnon, & Stevens, 2010). There are numerous opinions regarding Starbucks’ decision to go global. Some scholars believe that once the company has become a global corporation, it has lost its identity and turned into a moneymaking machine putting the desire to make economic profit higher than the initial wish to satisfy the customers’ needs in high-quality coffee (Enz, 2010). Others view it as a threat to cultural diversity because, as was mentioned above, the company exports a certain image of an acceptable lifestyle adding to the establishment of universal global culture (Elliott, 2015). However, the homogenization of culture is a direct outcome of globalization itself, not Starbucks’ decisions. Conclusion Still, it is paramount to investigate the influence of globalization on the company instead of the role it plays in global processes. That said, this paper will provide an overview of Starbuck’s globalization progress. The research will start with studying the foundation of the company and opening its first coffee sto
The need for literacy programs that focus on critical information literacy Since the emergence of Google, many scholars around the globe today are giving information literacy little or no intention. Many have been carried away by the ease of getting information online, that Google has brought along. This, with other factors, has made most libraries deserted and books left to the librarians to keep. Critical information literacy can basically be termed as the capability of critically evaluating the social and human strengths of human beings, including their intellectual limits, potentials, and the benefits of information technologies. Its need is inevitable as it helps a person recognize a void in information, and be in a position to locate, analyze and utilize the information effectively. Is the library a support agency or the basic source for information? In as much as some quarters may try to label the meaning of the word library as just a mere support agency, the truth is that it is more than that. Literacy programs evidently exist in libraries. Libraries are part of our lives, and offer opportunities for all. They have information that is affordable, accessible, and available for all who have the desire to learn. With the presence of librarians, who are the ultimate search engines, all the information you are looking for, ranging from videos, books and websites, is easily obtained. By making sure that everyone has all the skills and resources that are needful to him/her, the information gap is closed and so, the expertise provides more than facts (Riedling, 2007). Information literacy skills that are taught by librarians are important to students in their jobs and lives, and this makes the task of visiting a library for students an inevitable one. This fact clearly shows that the library is not just a support agency, but also a very critical source in the quest for information. Agencies that would effectively push for information literacy The agencies that would effectively push for information literacy in community would be the schools themselves. Through school programs, the population that is in need of these programs would be reached easily, hence the realization of an information literate society. The students on the other hand are the pivotal population that ought to be the greatest beneficiaries of these
Biographical Information Judy Brady was born in 1937 in San Francisco, California. In 1962 she graduated from the University of Iowa and earned a bachelor degree in painting. She had been married for several years and had two daughters. In 1969 Judy Brady joined a women’s movement. Today she is known as a feminist author writing about such issues as gender roles, cancer, and environment protection. Judy Brady is an activist and a freelance author. She performed as an editor for “Women and Cancer” published in 1990 and “One in Three: Women with Cancer Confront an Epidemic” released in 1991. She also worked at Greenpeace Magazine promoting various environmental issues of the modern days. Her essay called “I Want a Wife” was written in a satirical key and published in 1972. It first saw the world from the pages of “Ms. Magazine”. The essay reflected the lifestyle of a typical wife during the 1970s and was a very radical and fresh point of view for that time. Later, in 1990, the article was reprinted with a title “Why I Still Want a Wife” (Judy Brady, par. 1). General Summary The essay “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady is designed to demonstrated the demands and pressure put on married women by their husbands and the society. The author shows what men want to see in a good wife. She writes, “I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after me”(Brady, par. 4). The author skillfully employs the device of repetition in order to emphasize all the multiple duties a wife has. Brady’s writing shows the one-sided perspective
Introduction Biological diversity, also known as biodiversity, is the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. This diversity is evidenced by differences in the morphology of living organisms which make them suitably adapted to various ecosystems. The following paragraphs discuss the importance of biodiversity on our planet and some of the different aspects of biodiversity. Importance of biodiversity As mentioned above, biodiversity is important because ecosystems that support life on earth have various characteristics that make them only suitable for specific species. Each organism has a specific role to play in an ecosystem. The human species derive multiple benefits from a diverse biological ecosystem that we can not imagine how life would be sustained without biodiversity. Natural products from plants and animals are used by human beings to provide food, medicine extracts such as penicillin, fertilizers, and pesticides. Plants and trees use carbon dioxide giving out oxygen which is used by human beings. Diversity in plants and animals form the basis for scientific inquiry into different realms such as evolutionary science, anatomy, and ecology. Last but not least biodiversity is beautiful, many recreational facilities benefit from biodiversity; hence biodiversity is often the subject of aesthetic interest (Wilson, 2008, p. 32s). Loss of biodiversity will have a disastrous effect on the human species. Food security will be compromised in case of species become extinct; this will lead to malnutrition and eventually death. Trees are a cheap energy source for many poor communities in developing countries around the world. Loss of trees will make such communities vulnerable to disease and malnutrition due to lack of heat to cook food and boil water. Continued deforestation and destruction of water bodies will decrease the amount of clean water that is needed to support life. Oxygen levels will decrease drastically leading to increased levels of carbon dioxide gas which will cause severe breathing conditions eventually death (Wilson, 2008, p. 57). Aspects of biodiversity Aspects of biodiversity fall under three major categories namely genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecological diversity. Genetic diversity is a term used to refer to the dissimilitude of organisms of the same species. Species diversity is used to refer to dissimilitude of organisms in a given region. Species diversity presents the richness of a variety of species on a single region. Ecological diversity is a variety of biological communities or ecosystems in a given area (Wilson, 2008, p. 53). For example varieties of biological communities that interact with one another and with their physical and chemical environments. All the aspects of biodiversity promote better species which are more resilient to diseases; genetic biodiversity reduces relatedness within the same species
The hotel industry is one of the most competitive in the world. Many famous resorts offer an abundance of hotels to potential visitors, often located across the street from one another. Despite being different in shapes and sizes, hotels are very similar regarding services. Thus, the quality of service becomes one of the primary differences between a successful and failed hospitality venture. At the same time, the hospitality industry does not have any uniform standards of quality like the manufacturing industry. Although there is a star system in place, the differences between two five-star hotels in terms of service quality can be rather significant (UNWTO, 2015). In light of the following statements, implementing Six Sigma and TQM methods in the hotel industry offers substantial gains in the long-term perspective. Optimizing speed, quality, and cost-efficiency of processes would help improve existing services, save money, and attract potential customers (Goetsch & Davis, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing processes utilized by the Escargo Hotel and provide suggestions for improvement using the principles of Six Sigma. Process Improvement at Escargo Hotel Qualities that Affect Customer Perception of Hotel Service Qualities that affect customer perceptions of hotel service are many. Research conducted by Lu, Berchoux, Marek, and Chen (2015) identified 38 items that customers utilize in order to describe their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the provided service. However, these items can be split into three large groups. These are as follows:   * The accuracy of service – the ability to deliver services and goods that were promised in a timely manner.   * The speed of service – how much time it takes for the customer to get what they want. The quicker – the better.   * Quality of service – the largest group, which contains everything from room design to tidiness and politeness of the staff. Six Sigma and TQM help increase performance in all three groups that define customer satisfaction. However, due to the complexity of the processes occurring in the hospitality industry, it is often difficult to identify cause-and-effect connections between customer satisfaction and performance. Still, many processes within the organization can be measured and evaluated with relatively high rates of accuracy, thus enabling the utilization of Six Sigma in order to improve the efficiency of internal hotel processes. Check-in and Checkout Processes Check-in and checkout processes are what any hotel stay begins and ends with. Giving a good first and last impression often means the difference between a sa
Introduction Based on the definition from Encyclopedia Britannica, a cult can be defined as a group of people who usually follow a charismatic leader that enforces an excessive devotion to their persona or a certain belief system that they developed. Both religious and non-religious cults exist, with many of them being connected to demonstrations and sinister practices. According to Goetz, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh became one of the most significant figures in the field of cult-related discussions due to his strong efforts aimed at the development of the Rajneesh cult (50). The commune that went by Rajneesh’s name was located in north-central Oregon, with more than several thousand individuals joining the movement. The current paper is going to discuss how the Rajneesh cult utilized language to attract and retain followers while remaining a sinister organization that easily masked drugs and lust under the shape of enlightenment and universal peace. Using Language to Convince People One of the essential ideas that have to be covered when dwelling on Rajneesh being able to convince people to join is that his brainwashing was perceived as something comforting. Almost none of the local residents who began siding with the Rajneesh cult realized they were supporting disturbing ideas aimed at self-destruction (Goetz 53). Thus, Rajneesh’s cultist talks only appealed to the people who wanted to believe in his persona. As the leader of the cult, Rajneesh had to complete the difficult task of raising confidence inside his followers’ heads and avert them from blaming him for their own mistakes. Over time, it allowed Rajneesh to exploit locals and push them into new extremes over and over again while maximizing his profits (Abbott 428). Consequently, Rajneesh used language to cultivate lower self-esteem in his followers and get them to believe in his ideas by enforcing confirmation bias and other fallacies. With almost no resilience from the locals, Rajneesh had the opportunity to say whatever he needed his followers to believe. As for the process of having to convince people to stay, Rajneesh mostly operated emotionally charged slogans that helped him grasp the communal attention. According to Abbott, Rajneesh did not have any problem with instilling his ideology because he used mantras and chants that eventually left people believing they could blend spirituality with materialism (419). On the other hand, the Rajneesh cult was positive about justifying questionable behaviors. Rajneesh convinced numerous individuals to keep up with the cult by gaslighting his followers into believing there was something wrong with their own reality. Through his motivating speeches, Rajneesh achieved excessive power and gained eno
Ever since American Revolution, United States has embraced American Imperialism. Imperialism is a practice whereby powerful nations or persons seek to maintain and expand his control or create influence over weaker parties. The dichotomy in the politics of America, which involves way in which the nation operate has greatly influenced other nations. In addition, American’s occupation which involves both the trade sector as well as the culture has as well created an influential impact towards other nations. This gave a rise on an imperialistic policy which America has adopted by taking over other countries. A number of factors which were rationalized contributed to adoption of this policy in America. First, economic advantage was the major factor that made the United States to adopt imperialism policy in 1890s. This was the greatest contributor of the policy expansion aimed at controlling economic, political and military institutions. Seeking for markets in other nations was seen as the easiest way of colonizing them since America had noticed and identified investment opportunities in other nations such as Hawaii and Philippine and was determined to have power over them. Additionally the Americans considered the cheap labor that the oversea territory had which promised production at low cost. More importantly, these oversea lands were rich with raw material that American manufacturing could use easily (May, E. R 1968). Secondly, according to Perlo (1951), Nationalism facilitated to the adoption of imperialism in America. The extreme nationalist or the jingoists amplified the Americans attitude of “we’re as good as European nations”. This created awareness of the Anglo-Saxon benefit on the west shore of Atlantic, resulting into America expanding its growth, which was incorporated with protection of its existing territories as well as the oversea territ
Africans have a way of understanding the world, which is not seen; for instance, they have a particular way of interacting with the supernatural world of spirits and believe in spiritual powers that influence different aspects of life, such as the way people interact with diseases. Despite the concept of Western medicine that was introduced to Africans during the colonial period, many communities in Africa and diaspora still believe in the supernatural powers and spiritual world having an influence on their health; hence, the practice of traditional healing. This concept can be used to understand the religion of African people in terms of spiritual practices during the care process for a sick person. Paris stated that African spirituality is not disembodied; instead, it is connected with the dynamic movement of life (22). This implies that spirits, which are forces of life, influence different aspects of existence. The healing process in Africa is anchored in the belief in sacred cosmos, which is created and preserved by a supreme deity. Therefore, the following paper is an examination of African traditional healing with the main focus on some cultural practices in Ghana. Care and Healing Practice in Ghana In many parts of Ghana, whenever a sick person is presented to traditional healers, they first consult the spiritual world in order to identify what caused the disease. The divination process establishes whether the sick person could have violated community orders or the existence of a bad spell from evil people. A healing and care process follows the determination of the cause of the disease. The healing process is understood as holistic; Paris noted that health consists of components of spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental states (22). Therefore, healers provide the treatment of spiritual, psychological, and social factors. Ghanaian cultural healers do not separate these factors; instead, they address them as one major perspective. The elaborate care process entails protection and curative undertakings. The spiritual protection is carried out as the initial action if the healer believes that attacks by evil spirits caused the sickness. Protection, on the other hand, involves the use of various rites to drive away evil powers. In some cases, based on the culture, sacrifices are incorporated as part of the care. During the healing process, the Ewes community can slaughter or burry animals alive, depending on the type of illness and its causes. In addition, the sick person is cleansed by the blood of a specially slaughtered animal. The process entails pouring blood on foot and head of the sick as a purification measure. Prayers that are carried out during the pouring of libation also accompany the healing process; the liquid poured can be palm wine, coconut water, and, in some cultures, milk. Among the Akan community of Ghana, the pouring of libation involves invocation and supplication. Invocation entails calling the names of ancestors and their spirits in order to welcome them in the community; this is then followed by
Description of the business, its general pattern of change of market models and how such a change impacts its business operations AT&T is a renowned corporation that was initiated with an objective of providing quality telecommunication services to customers. Since its inception, the company that started its operations in a monopolistic business environment has been recording exemplary performance (Costello 1). The exemplary performance is attributable to its effective operating policies, market model, quality of products and fair pricing. Notably, the company operated under a monopoly market model before changing to oligopolistic model. The change to oligopolistic model was prompted after the unpredicted entry of new companies in the market. The companies that are its main rivals include Verizon, sprint and T-mobile. Their entry made the company to change its mode of operations and pricing strategies since it no longer operated as a single service provider (Costello 1). The change in the model of operation has made the company to loose its sole determination capacity of trade practices and pricing guidelines. Due to this, the company has now lost its monopoly power of setting prices and determination of quality standards of products (Kirzner 263). Presently, it has to consider the actions of its rivals in various aspects that include product quality and pricing of services or products before making any decisions. Hypothesis of the basic short-run and long-run behaviors of the model in the business Hypothetically, both monopoly and oligopoly market models affects market economies in diverse ways (McGuigan, Moyer and Harris 5). For instance, the oligopolistic market model that the company is currently operating under provides the company and other players in the sector exclusive powers to set product prices. The cartel like model ensures that the few market players operate under a cartel to eliminate competition (Kirzner 263). It presents various short and long term benefits. Firstly, it enables companies to set prices effectively, set stringent barriers to entry into the market to discourage more newcomers and enjoy long run proceeds. Oligopoly model also enable companies to avert unhealthy competition, set favorable terms of work, product quality standard and profit maximization conditions. The model is bound to enable AT&T Company and other players to benefit immensely from economies of scale and large market share (Fingas 1). Major factors that affect the degree of competitiveness in your business Based on the performance data presented, the oligopoly market model aspects have enabled the company to progress well especially after the entry of new service providers in the market. This is shown clearly since the company’s key performance measures that include productivity, quality and market share indicate positive growth rates. For instance, the company’s performance levels is at 6% higher than its two main rivals whose performance levels stands at 32% respectively. Rationally, the