ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Executive Summary Furniture is the most important aspect of any building’s appearance or look. No house, office, restaurant, college, university or even a shopping mall looks complete without furniture. Even at outlets and parks, benches and tables are found. With the passage of time, fashion has been changing and things are getting more beautiful day by day due to improvement and enhancement in skills and technology. Current furniture market is quite change than the earlier times. Not only the furniture itself is influenced by general advancements but also the providers and manufacturers have been expanding their businesses worldwide with the help of innovations in the field of Information Technology. This paper analyzes the processes and operations of one of the Wholesale Furniture Brokers, Kamloops. Kamloops is located in the interior of British Columbia and has been doing pretty well in the furniture industry due to its strong wholesale buying group. Kamloops has a network of more than 50 manufacturers from all over the world. WFB Kamloops believes in providing products of premium quality and also believes in the usefulness of ecommerce. Kamloops displays its product over the internet and delivers the products to the buyers at their doorstep. All their operations and processes are discussed in this paper to analyze the activities. In order to be effective and efficient, WFB Kamloops decided to acquire a software Blueprint , designed by Lombardi, to allow stakeholders, workers to participate actively to process discovery and to improve the business procedures. This approach could be successful in coming out of traditional complications. Blueprint is web based application that is not only easy to use but is quite collaborative as it can be accessed from different locations by different authorized people. Blueprint platform can become the central communication platform for collecting, sharing and improving processes and operations of any organization. This paper aims to connect WFB Kamloops with the Lombardi software. With the help of which, WFB Kamloops planned to document all its activities and processes that would be an essential tool to diagnose places where the cost can be controlled and the benefits can be maximized. Introduction To decorate a home, furniture plays an important role. It is like the pearl in the shell. There are different purposes of furniture; from office use to eating places, from homes to offices. The styles and looks are different but there use is almost the same. The manufacturers make and design products that attract buyers to buy new items for every now and then. In this modern world, fashion changes every day and so is the furniture.
KEVIN, FATE and the Jehovah Witnesses are three totally different groups each with their own independent religious allegiances and policies on diverse issues. KEVIN is an Islamic fundamentalist group while FATE is an animal rights group. On the other hand, there are the Jehovah Witnesses who do not approve of the research being carried out on Future Mouse and have staunch rooting in their beliefs. The thematic significance that the author brings out is the way that different families of mixed ethnicity actually strive with matters of heritage and legacy and try as they may, escaping from the past is virtually impossible. Another theme that is depicted is that differences in cultural or religious beliefs do not necessarily mean that unity is elusive in issues that affect all of them in general. This basically shows that groups with diverse interests can form a liaison of sorts when it comes to issues pertaining or infringing on their beliefs or policies. As the title depicts, the differences are put aside because they all have “white teeth”. When the three organizations congregated on the presentation of Future Mouse by Marcus Chalfen, they each planned their own agendas separately, but with a similar or common intention of protesting against the Future Mouse presentation. KEVIN is protesting Future Mouse with the help of Millat, as is the case with FATE the animal rights group, who gets help from Joshua. The same is the case with Jehovah Witnesses who are planning to protest and are supported by Ryan. On the relation of the groups to the event and vice versa, each group is in attendance with the sole purpose of protesting against the research being carried out i.e. the alteration of the genes that makes the mouse develop cancers at different times in its lifespan, and the subsequent presentation on the Future Mouse research. Ryan and the Jehovah Witness plans to go on a hunger strike as their way of protest. Joshua who is affiliated with FATE plans to humiliate his father and Millat with KEVIN plans to use violence as a form of protest. They all do not agree with the presentation and they were there to express their concerns regarding the presentation. The three groups all have diverse interests but have all come together to attain a common goal. At the same time each group has individual family members who are part and parcel of the Future Mouse presentation whether as key players or minute roles such as the Jones’s. They were just out to quench their curiosity. The author’s views which are depicted by her portrayal of them are that the past is inescapable. It shows that history has a way of repeating itself. Some characters will try to reject their past like in the case of Clara who left the Jehovah Witness and would not go back as much as Ryan Topps tried to win her back. They cannot get away from their pasts which keep coming back to them as was the case with Samad when he went to hush the Jehovah Witnesses and returns onl
Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) facilitates and improves the system’s ability to maintain combined and joint operations in an investment strategy taken as a whole. The JTA is responsible for ensuring an interoperability of all strategic, tactical, and maintenance of systems. It also authorizes guidelines and standards for acquisition and system development that largely trims down development time and cost, as well as fielding time for enhanced systems (Gartner 2011). All this is achieved while ensuring that the effect on the program performance is minimized as much as possible. JAT was developed in 1997 by DoD with the aim of providing the least set of standards that ensured streaming of information which could guide the war fighter, when implemented (Perks and Beveridge 56). In order to ensure that the upcoming technologies are readily controlled by the future’s military systems, JTA is designed to impact on the standards-based product development that is produced by the industry. This architecture makes it possible for DoD to use commercial products since communication to the industry is enhanced, and use of open systems products and implementation is also improved. Consequently, acquisition of the best products and low cost strategy is achievable (Zachman 52). The components of JTA are budding and consist of interfaces, services areas, and standards that are compatible with the requirement of the DoD’s architecture. The DoD’s JTA version 3.0 encompasses information technology and its associated standards that enhance transmission of services or information across a functional, joint or organizational border. Information technology in this case may be taken to mean any system or equipment that can be applied for storage, mechanical acquisition, manipulation, management, movement, interchange, transmission, switching or reception of information. This includes communication systems, computers, software, and services, among other related resources (Zachman(b) 25). Although JTA is not responsible for the selection of a particular standard, it offers a variety of standards to select from. A selection methodology is notably used to accompany the progress of the standards profile for addition into a standard-based envir
Introduction Corporate reputation refers to the values and the association created in the mind of a customer based on organisational communication and other areas of contact between the company and customers. Factors that contribute to corporate reputation include pricing, promotions, leadership, employee attitudes and customer service, among others. A company with a positive corporate reputation is also characterised by market growth and maintenance of competitive advantage. In addition, such a firm has an excellent brand equity and customer loyalty (Bick 2009). Although Ryanair operated successfully for a long time with a negative corporate reputation, profit warnings in financial reporting highlighted the need to change the bad image of the company occasioned by poor communication and insulting of stakeholders (BBC News). The current study focuses on understanding the corporate reputation of Ryanair, identifying contributing factors to negative reputation and proposing measures to improve reputation of the firm. Background – Ryanair The airline company is one of the best performing businesses in Europe. In fact, it is characterised by the lowest charges. With regard to the number of passengers on an annual basis, the organisation is the second-best performing airline in Europe (Ryanair 2014). The company, founded in 1985, is named after its founder Christopher Ryan. Under the management of Michael O’Leary, the airline adopted and perfected the low-cost model pioneered by Southwest Airlines and most people associate the affordability and ancillary revenue to Ryanair. While other airlines continued to seek ways of increasing ticket prices, Ryanair focused on reduction and making up for the lost revenue through ancillary sources such as shopping on board, hotel booking, car hire and internet gaming. When providing the low-cost services, Ryanair has no frills, operates from point to point, maximises utilisation of aircrafts, has less delayed flights, charges lowest fares, has standardised fleet, and uses small airports. In spite of being among the most popular airline firms because of its low-cost model, the company’s corporate reputation has been questioned by many people on the premises of low quality of customer service (Ryanair 2014). The current situation The stakeholders’ theory is helpful in understanding the current situation in the airline, as poor reputation impacts on internal, external and connected stakeholders. As discussed in the background, the company faces a problem with its corporate reputation. In fact, customers complain of low-quality services, rudeness and limited attention from staff members; survey ratings put the company at the bottom in terms of customer satisfaction. Customer complaints, especially in the social media, deal a blow to the Ryanair’s corporate reputation. The situation is made worse when the CEO asserts that the low-quality services are the value of the lowest charges that the firm adopts (Topham 2013). The huge blow to corporate reputation resulted in the company’s stakehold
Introduction Principles of management are inclined in management concepts and theories to ensure successful management is achieved. The essay will integrate management principles and theories in ‘The Godfather’ movie to help us understand the degree to which management practices and applied. Management principles vary from organization to organization and are regarded as necessary and helpful components of successful management. In striving to reach organizational goals and utilizing scarce resources, the analysis compares and contrasts leadership and management skills in an effort to accomplish these goals. To achieve this, management processes have been divided into principles that include ethics, decision making, planning, organizing, team building, culture, motivation influencing and controlling and leadership. Motivation Lamp (1968) analysis provides that good leadership skills are valuable resource in an organization and in employees’ lives. The movie ‘The Godfather’ (1972) covers the main principles of management and presents concepts and theories very prevalent in day to day running of organizations. Motivation plays an important role in creating and influencing the opinion of employees in an organization. It does this by linking the ideas of the organization with their employees whereby the manager pass down their themes to their team members hence changing the way they perceive certain issues. Sound management requires strategic planning and setting of an organization in combination with the coordination and assembly of resources and employees with the goal of reaching objectives. According to Lamp (1968) there exists a direct relationship between motivation and what the employees are giving the organization. In this relationship the role of manager employee is to generate information from a chain of relations and influences and the role of the managers is to infer and evaluate the information from the employees and generate other information external of the media perspectives. Sound management requires strategic planning and setting with the coordination and assembly of resources and employees with the goal of reaching organization objectives. Collaborative efforts from employees and other resources alongside what Lamp (1968) states as “knowing what you want people to do, then getting them to do it in the best way” (p.1) is required of good management and leadership skills in influencing goals in an organization. In relation to The Godfather (1972) movie Don Corleone argues to Sollonzo that…. I said that I will see you because I had heard that you were a serious man, to be treated with respect. But I must say no to you and met me give you my reasons. It’s true I have a lot of friends in politics (1). To achieve this, management proc
Classification Botanical name: Diervilla sessilifolia Common name: Southern Bush Honeysuckle Plant family: Caprifoliaceae General characteristics Diervilla sessilifolia is a low and soft-wooded shrub. It grows up to five feet tall, but it spreads out from the bottom. The leaves are opposite, simple, and deciduous. They are also toothed with short petioles, but in some cases, the petioles are lacking (Cullina 110). The twigs are slender, and they have longitudinal ridges with multiple of these ridges extending downwards starting from the lines linking opposite leaf petioles or leaf scars where leaves are absent. The twigs’ colors range from brown or greenish-brown to straw. Bud scales are abundantly found at the base of young twigs. The buds have the same colors as the twigs. This plant has terminal buds except in cases where terminal flower or fruit clusters have displaced the buds. The buds are covered with multiple keeled and pointed scales. The leaf scars are only raised slightly, and their forms vary from crescent to V-shaped (Cullina 110). The opposite leaf scars converge at the stem, but in some cases, a transverse ridge joins them. They have three bundles of scars, but they lack stipule scars. The fruits are capsule-like with an oval shape, and thin neck and they are borne at the terminal or subterminal clusters ranging from two to six, and the fruiting occurs mainly in the winter. Leaves have petioles, which are normally less than four millimeters, but in some cases, they may be absent. The twigs are almost square on the cross-section side. Also, the leaves are opposite with lance-like shape and toothed finely with a rounded base and narrow apex. Conventionally, the leaves’ sizes lie from five to eighteen centimeters. In most cases, the petioles are lacking, and if present, they are less than four millimeters as aforementioned. The flowers are sulfur yellow, and they occur
Introduction Walt Whitman’s 1871 Passage to India, celebrates the interlinked themes of scientific and technological advances and spiritual transformation. Whitman was greatly impressed by three great engineering achievements: the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), the laying of the transatlantic undersea cable (1866), and the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads at Utah to produce the nation’s first transcontinental railway (1869). These events resulted in improved communication and travel, thus creating a shorter passage to India. But in Whitman’s poem, the completion of the physical journey to India is only a prelude to the spiritual pathway to India, the East, and, ultimately, to God. These advances open his imagination to the hope of “the earth… [being] spann’d, connected by a network,/ The races, neighbors, to marry and be given in marriage,/… The lands to be welded together” (343). He employs India as a symbol of the most ancient wisdom and knowledge on earth and thus, the poem also refers to the exploration of knowledge and truth in a spiritual, transcending sense. Major engineering achievements The poem was inspired, however, by two major engineering achievements: the opening of the Suez Canal and the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad. Walt Whitman mentions these two improvements that have made India and the Orient more accessible to the western countries of Europe and America. “I see, in one, the Suez canal initiated, open’d, I see the procession of steamships, the Empress Eugenie’s leading the van;” (44-45) “I see over my continent the Pacific Railroad, surmounting every barrier; I see continual trains of cars winding along the Platte, carrying freight and passengers;” (50-51) The title “Passage to India” can have three different meanings – physical, intellectual, and spiritual. In the first place, it celebrates the physical interconnection and linking of the nations of the earth. The poet assumes that life began somewhere in Asia, possibly in India itself and he supposes that man spread eastward and westward until the two movements came together in America and so completed the circle of the earth. Thus Walt Whitman visualizes America as the greatest nation in the world – formed by the long process of political and economic evolution. “Lands found and nations born, thou born America, For purpose vast, man’s long probation fill’d, Thou rondure of the world at last accomplish’d”. From this physical union of East and West Whitman deduces that there should be an intellectual union leading to the fulfillment of the vast purpose which he assigns to America: “For what is the present after all but a growth out of the past?” Then, metaphorically, Whitman says that the marvels of modern science should also include the mind
One of the major factors behind the collusive behaviour of firms in an oligopolistic market structure, according to the case study on the car industry in the UK, is price leadership. In July 1999, for instance, Volvo admitted to entering secret agreements to keep British car prices high, with available evidence demonstrating that firms in the car industry have been inflating car prices using selective and exclusive distribution (Sloman para. 2). This system removes any form of competitive behaviour as car manufacturers only supply the finished products through ‘official’ dealers, who then sell the products as listed by the manufacturers or at small pre-arranged/premeditated discounts. In the literature, price leadership is explained as a scenario whereby a dominant firm establishes the prices of products and also controls price shifts for other firms in the sector to adopt and follow (Gisser 1035). In the case study, it is clear that Volvo and other car manufacturers in Britain have adopted price leadership to facilitate tacit collusion at the expense of consumers, owing to the fact that they have demonstrated a predisposition to set the car prices high enough that the least cost-efficient car dealership in the industry will definitely earn some return above the competitive level (Felli & Villas-Boas 254). The second factor behind the collusion behaviour of firms in the UK’s car industry is anticompetitive pricing practices. These practices “include threatening mainland European car dealers with losing their dealership if they sell to British buyers, and delaying the delivery date of right-hand drive models to mainland European dealers in the hope that British buyers change their mind and go back to a British dealership” (Sloman para. 4). In the literature, anticompetitive pricing practices in an oligopolistic market structure have been largely associated with lack of market efficiencies and innovative capacities, inadequate incentives for product differentiation, insufficient consumer protections, lack of improvements in the quality of products and services provided, inadequate customer welfare responses by failing to provide consumers with a broader choice at increasingly competitive prices, and other adverse outcomes for consumers including high switching costs and trade-offs between price and quality (Avlonitis & Indounas 343-345). The third factor behind the collusion behaviour of manufacturers in the UK’s car industry is restrictiveness. For instance, it is demonstrated in the case study that before regulations were changed to deal with this oligopolistic challenge, car distributors were not allowed to set up dealerships in different countries and to sell multiple brands of cars within their showrooms, not mentio
To begin with, Qing China is known to have benefited heavily from the collapse of the Ming dynasty (Rowe 34). In other words, Qing China came into power after 1644 when the Ming dynasty failed to sustain its rule. It took several advantages out of the failure of the Ming dynasty. Second, Qing China was also comprised of the Manchu people. These were largely non-Chinese settlers located in the northern region. In addition, their traditions were heavily borrowed from Ming cultural practices (Rowe, 73). The traditions of this dynasty hardly welcomed external ideas. The Manchu people were highly reserved, and as a result, they confined themselves to deep traditions without embracing foreign ideas. It is also vital to mention that the dynasty never allowed any trading activities among its people. Trading among members of Qing China was only permitted to a very limited extent. In terms of administration, only the educated elites were allowed to govern in different positions. For example, the eunuchs and Confucian scholars were tasked with the role of running the daily affairs of the government. The relationship between Qing China and Europeans was eventually ended. Perhaps, this was attributed to the fact that the dynasty hardly accommodated external ideologies and lifestyles. On the other hand, Tokugawa Japan came into existence after the rival between samurai and feudal lords was concluded (Mason 190). In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu gained the total leadership of the dynasty. He assumed the second most powerful position after the Emperor. He was also referred to as the shogun. Due to the powerful nature of the shogun, most of the internal affairs of Japan were strictly controlled by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Unlike the Qing China, Tokugawa Japan was finally made accessible by the outside world. This took place in the 19 th century. The Americans compelled the opening of Tokugawa Japan. It was apparent that Europeans were never taken seriously by the Muslim Empires (Mason 204). This was one of the reasons that made it easy for the Europeans to open up Japan to external influence. In terms of legacy, China ended up as a victim nation for close to half a century. It can be recalled that the country was initially in the position of world preeminence. In contrast, Japan became an Imperialist nation after a long wave of struggle. For a long time, all the advances from Europeans were dismissed by China. It retained this level of arrogance largely due to fear of external influence. Nonetheless, this was not the case with Tokugawa Japan. The latter gave some attention to the advances made by the Europeans (Smitka 87). A case in point was the adoption of the western Dutch learning known as Rangaku. In clearer terms, Tokugawa Japan embraced a more liberal leadership than Qing China, which was mainly conservative in its governance principles (Rowe 102). Finally, the Qing’s dynasty Emperor was a key religious figure referred to as the Son of Heaven. He held special heavenly powe