ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Business managers should be aware of emerging issues such as competition and changing customer expectations. Firms that ignore such concerns increase their chances of becoming obsolete. This discussion explores the unique malpractices and cognitive errors that affected Mattel’s performance. The paper also outlines specific aspects of organizational culture and innovation that could have been considered to transform the situation. Why Mattel’s Managers Failed to Change Decision-Making and Cognitive Errors The case study indicates that Mattel was losing over 30 percent of its profits due to its inability to support meaningful decision-making processes (Nash & Duvall, 2005). Several reasons explain why the managers at Mattel were unable to implement such changes. The first reason was the leaders’ failure to transform with the times. Mattel continued to market its dolls without examining its customers’ needs (Nash & Duvall, 2005). The managers ignored the need to innovate and produce new dolls. Ineffective leadership was the second reason that led to inappropriate decision-making processes. For example, Robert Eckert was a conservative leader who ignored the concept of business intelligence. The malpractices delayed the strategy, thereby making it impossible for Mattel to change its business model and products. The internal hurdles and inability to improve its main product also affected the company’s profitability. Similarly, some cognitive errors might have contributed to the problem. The first one was the illusion of control. This error explains why the leaders overestimated their control and knowledge of various situations (Nash & Duvall, 2005). Mattel’s managers trusted the performance of the Barbie doll in the market. They assumed that the emergence of a competing brand would not be a threat. The second error was that of overgeneralization. The managers assumed that Barbie’s success could be replicated much faster. The error resulted in ineffective performance after Bratz dolls were introduced. Factors Related to Innovation and Organizational Culture Successful companies establish desirable organizational cultures using appropriate behaviors, norms, practices, and values. At Mattel, the leaders failed to capitalize on the strengths that had made the corporation successful (Nash & Duvall, 2005). Some factors related to innovation and organizational culture within Mattel’s setting could have led to improved performance. The first one was the presence of skilled employees and teams. These groups could present meaningful insights and produce superior dolls that resonated with the changing needs of every customer. Additionally, the company’s business intelligence was composed of adequate human skills and technological systems. This strength could have been embraced to ensure the organization was moving in the right direction. Mattel’s skilled leaders were capable of promoting desirable organizational practices. They could ensure the corporation’s resources were ut
Description From the first glance, I can see a person at end of the house on the left where the photograph is taken. I also see three cats in the air and some clear liquid being splashed towards the left. The liquid could probably be water. The landscape appears to be indoors because of the presence of a wall and ceiling. There are two people in the photograph. One of them is a male since his dressing code is masculine but it is not possible to fully identify the sex of the second individual since only the hands are visible. The colours in the photograph are unidentifiable since the photograph is in a black and white format. The lighting is intense since there are clear shadows of the cats and other objects in the photograph. In addition, there is a stand, and the three cats seem to be moving from some sort of screen. The floor has two carpets, and the man is jumping while holding something in his hands. One cat is above the others and appears to be completely washed with the liquid. The lighting and contrast are well defined, and the viewer can get a clear glimpse of the whole situation in proximity. Analysis As I view this photograph, my eyes keep moving from the right section to the left where someone is holding a chair. This movement happens mainly because of the flow of the fluid from the right and the cats are moving in the same direction. The man is moving to his left to avoid the fluid and the cats. Apart from the cat that is flying higher, the two other cats seem to be struggling for some space as if they are fighting (Pellizzi 56). Interpretation I do not feel happy or sad looking at this photograph. I feel scared from the events that are depicted in the photograph. First, I am scared because I am afraid of cats and the reaction that the individuals in the photograph show towards the events. The story is told in the photograph shows some sort of disturbance whose source is not clear. Besides, the cats appear to be moving in a way that suggests they have been disturbed from the far end. In my view, the photograph is somewhat controversial in an intrinsic manner (Pellizzi 55). Judgment In general, I think the photograph is unique and great. I enjoy the colouration and clarity of the images. Additionally, I find the image more intriguing since the major structures are represented clearly and professionally. As an artist, I like the reality in the photograph. However, if it were on sale, I would not buy it due to my fear of cats. Conclusively, the piece is an excellent one. Works Cited Pellizzi, Francesco. A nthropology and Aesthetics . Texas: Harvard University Press, 2011. Print.
Corporate governance refers to the set of laws, policies, and processes that impact on the way a company is governed. At Wal-Mart, there are only two things that the company has always strived to achieve: tell the Wal-Mart story and stay the course. This philosophy has enabled the company to grow and become the success story it is today. Policies and practices at the company are designed to ensure a good working environment for its associates. The company has continued to expect feedback from its associates. Based on the feedbacks, it has managed to create an inclusive and equitable working environment for its employees. In order to improve management of employees, Wal-Mart has always engaged in training and development of its employees for leadership skills. Additionally, it ensure diversity within the workforce and The Wal-Mart way not only consists of giving low prices or being the number one global retail chain but to give the customers a value for their money. This is why the company has consistently maintained an annual growth rate since 1970. Its net sales cost of sale, net income, and number of store have seen steady growth over the last forty years. For instance in 1970, Wal-Mart had only 18 stores and this increased to over 1000 by 1990. This increase was witnessed because the company decided to venture into markets outside the United States. Its first ever market outside the US was Mexico and by 2002 the retail chain became the most successful in the US with over 5000 stores worldwide including in every states and province in Canada, US and Mexico. Social Responsibility Before lowering the price of a particular product, the company has to analyzed its true value and come up with a price that measure to this. However low pricing can lead to low returns for both the company and its competitors especially when the main focus for lowering prices is to edge out competitors. The idea behind below the market pricing is that over time the cost of enterprise goes down making it possible to lower prices in order to build a large customer base. Wal-Mart has been in the retail industry for a long time now and it has also tried its business in various markets successfully while in other cases failed. Using coupons as a promotion strategy, the company has been able to target various segments of the market such as the low end and the high end. Coupons are a good way of discounting products to attract customers at the same time promoting the brand in the market. Having a competitive product position with a low pricing of the products ensures that the company offers its customers a good deal. They (customers) are able to find just any product that they need for use on daily basis. The retail market is also faced by high competition as operators try to outdo one another. To gain competitive advantages, organizations could choose to reduce prices such that consumers identify their products with economic purchases as opposed to those of the highly priced competitor products like it is in the case of Wal-Mart Evaluation and Control Wal-Mart began its discount strategy in 1962
The question of what effects bitcoin would have when it becomes a widely adopted form of payment for goods and services globally leads to highly speculative answers. There are positive and negative outcomes that can arise from the adoption. To understand the eventual outcomes, it is also important to have a general view of bitcoin’s journey to becoming a relatively popular alternative payment option. A general verdict of the digital currency’s outlook is that it is graduating to become similar to traditional currencies. The current difference is that bitcoin is not yet dispensable by retail bank institutions or businesses, but there are establishments that are supporting such functions in some non-formalized ways. People can bank their bitcoins or even invest them. Another similarity that is developing is in exchange forums. The normal currencies have forex services that allow people to change one currency to another. As bitcoin becomes popular, its value is also becoming predictable and people can use the coin base to make exchanges. There are payment processors serving the bitcoin network too. According to a report by Jessop, bitcoin’s rise in popularity since 2007 has been due to convenience for particular types of transactions online (1-7). The alleged originator of Bitcoin was Satoshi Nakamoto in 2007, but the formal journey as a payment option began in August 2008 when three individuals, Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry, opted to seek a patent that would protect the encryption application they had developed. The individuals also registered a domain name that would help to coin the name of the alternative payment option. They registered the domain on a website that allowed anonymous registrations. By that time, the alleged founder had released a white paper report explaining the idea of a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that could be used in every part of the world for transactions. Important features of bitcoin Bitcoin is a digital currency that is generated with encryption techniques that regulate its availability and verify transfers. The currency operates without a central bank. Bitcoin is the name for a single unit while many units of the digital currency are called bitcoins. Bitcoin comes from the encryption processes of a specialized application that requires significant computing power to accomplish. People and businesses around the world generate Bitcoins by running computers in different parts of the world to solve mathematical problems using a type of software. No one, in particular, develops or prints a bitcoin currency. Without a central bank, there is no way to create more bitcoins deliberately as other currencies currently do in central banks around the world. The creation of Bitcoin is known as a mining activity because computers work constantly to solve the mathematical problems, and the result is the presentation of encrypted keys that are used as coins. Overall, the computers work in a networked environment. The distributed network forms the bitcoin exchange platform, thereby allowing individuals and businesses to process transactions in bulk or singles that are made using
Introduction The drama of the self-inflicted death of Sylvia Plath has detracted a significant portion of public attention from her only novel— The Bell Jar —which was published in 1963 (McCrum, 2015). However, after the shock caused by the writer’s suicide had waned, the book was republished in 1966 and became a modern classic (McCrum, 2015). The Bell Jar is a story of the transformation of a young woman who despises the idea of being servile to men into a person who serves them in order to escape the psychiatric institution to which she has been committed because of her numerous suicide attempts. It is also a story of male domination, victimization, and control as seen by a woman who struggles to find self in the intricate and glamorous maze of New York City. The book’s protagonist—Esther—is caught in a trap of madness that manifests in a feeling of being placed under a bell jar that stifles and alienates her. The book is filled with culturally-ingrained imagery of women that was so common in the 1950s. As the story unravels and the woman’s life starts spiraling out of control, the suffocating presence of a glass jar becomes even more static and tangible, allowing readers to see in it the reflection of the male world with its destructive forms and aggressive language. The aim of this paper is to explore how the protagonist’s attitude toward men changes over the course of the story. It will also examine what role her self-protective response to the treatment of women plays in her disease and recovery. Analysis At the beginning of the novel, Esther knows nothing about men. She lacks enthusiasm and is utterly disinterested in things that move other girls of her age. Even though Esther is depressed, she passes herself off as girlish and comparatively happy in front of her acquaintances. Her lack of life experience makes her instantly believe her best friend Doreen that all men at Yale are dumb, leading her to the conviction that Billy—a Yale student—is also not particularly bright. Her disillusionment with life in the big city is exacerbated by an encounter with a short, older man who exudes boredom and, arguably, male dominance. Moreover, she witnesses how her friend’s romantic escapade with Lenny ends in disappointment and bitter frustration. It is clear that she thinks of men as overbearing, dominating figures because she associates the stern talk of Jay-Cee—a female character—with the authoritative manner of speech of Mr. Manzi. Moreover, she feels guilty about her deception of the chemistry teacher, thereby displaying an unconscious desire to play the submissive role of a woman who is not allowed to transgress against social norms put in place by patriarchy. Therefore, it can be argued that at the beginning of the novel, Esther only discovers the male world and her place in it. As the story progresses, her knowledge of men contributes to her alienation, thus exacerbating her disillusionment with the traditional female role, which eventually drives her insane. In the middle of the book, the protagonist becomes completely disappointed in men as well as in the traditional role of a mother as prescribed to h
Introduction The main purpose of a database is to collect and organize data. Nowadays, most databases are computerized, but even some list that is written on paper could be considered as a database. It is an extremely useful tool for storing large amounts of data, but it also requires a lot of costs, as well as time for development and maintenance. Database is an integral part of business and enterprise operation, whether it be a bank, airline or even college. It helps to provide security by keeping all data in one place, and it also helps to deal with redundant information you don’t want to go through. Essentially, usage of databases can save your time and various costs, as all the information there is organized and protected. Purpose of college database Users of database systems consist of individuals and organizational entities. Colleges are also using such systems for various purposes. It can help them to keep track of students, courses and its’ instructors, grades and other various activities. ( Introductions to database concepts, n.d.) Financial and personal information for enrolled students is also stored in the college’s database. It may even contain information about students enrolled in previous years. All this data is rather necessary for college to properly function. Entities of college database College databases include several entities, such as students, instructors, courses, departments, sections and schedules. Each of these entities has various attributes. Student’s attributes are student’s name, student’s number, social security number, current address and phone, permanent address and phone, birthdate, sex, class, major or minor department and degree program (Singh, 2011). Instructor’s attributes include instructor’s ID, college id, instructor’s name, rank (instructor or professor), type (full time or adjunct), and the department ID. Department attributes are department ID, department name, department chair’s instructor ID, contact phone and email. As for courses, their attributes consist of course name, description, course ID, number of semester hours and department ID. Each section has its ID, name, course, semester and year number, schedule and instructor ID. ( Database Design , n.d.). Schedules usually have their ID, name, day, start time and end time. Business rules Business rules are very important to the database design. Their purpose is to specify relationships between database entities, thus creating a correct data model. They help to classify entities, attributes, relationships and constraints in a proper way (Andreescu & Mircela, 2012). In college’s case, the following examples of business rules can be made: student enrolls in a course, every professor must teach a course, and every course must be taught by some professor, each graduate student has a student advisor. Another example would be that professors can teach the same course in several semesters (Ramakrishnanetal, n.d.). Such business rules may influence the possible structure of databases. For instance, any student can be enrolled in multiple courses and any course can have multiple students. Because o
Introduction Until 2007 when a serious financial crisis engulfed the financial services sector, the mechanisms through which money circulated in the economy were considered as fully mastered by bankers, particularly central bankers. As such, central banks could effectively control these mechanisms by playing around with monetary control tools. On their part, depository institutions and depositors were also considered to play a largely defined role in the money supply. The shattering impact that the financial crisis had on monetary supply led to the need to relook into the traditional roles of these institutions which, together with the changes that have occurred in the way central banks control money supply, are explored in this paper. The role of central banks in determination of money supply A Central Bank (referred to as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States) is the financial institution mandated with the responsibility of controlling a country’s (or an economically unified region’s, like the European Union’s) monetary policy, value of currency, and credit supply. It also serves as banker to the government as well as of financial institutions, issues currency and ensures stability in the financial system of an economy, among other roles. The central bank in the United Kingdom is the Bank of England. Established in 1684, it served as banker to the government of England until late in the 18 th century when its control was expanded to cover the whole of the UK. In regard to its role in determining the amount of money circulating in the economy as well as how the money moves around, the central bank is the sole issuer of national currency (the sterling pound) in England and Wales. The central bank determines the optimal amount of money that should be circulating in the economy (monetary stability) through several monetary tools. One of the main tools is open market operation where the central bank, on behalf of the government, sets or manipulates the official interest rates on government securities such as Treasury Bills which, in turn, influences financial markets ‘prevailing lending rates. By setting, for example, the yield of Treasury Bills to be higher than the market rate of lending, the central bank is able to control the amount of money circulating in the economy (in this case the amount of money in circulation is reduced as people are induced to buy and hold short-term government securities which would earn them a decent return in the short-term, unlike cash which does not earn interest) (Adrian and Shin 2009, p.13). Manipulation of interest rates also helps the central bank to control the rate of inflation in an economy as well as improve the strength of the currency of the country or an integrated monetary region. Manipulation of overnight lending rates, otherwise referred to as short-term interest rate setting, is yet another important tool through which a central bank is able to
The recent advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence have the potential to automate a wide range of human activities and to dramatically reshape the way people live and work in the coming decades. Initially, robots were only limited to the manufacturing industry, but today they are increasingly becoming part of people’s everyday tasks. It is evident that nowadays, more people are relying on intelligent technological types of equipment compared to the past due to advancement in technology. According to Smith and Anderson (2017), the robotics industry around the globe is constantly innovating, integrating artificial intelligence with vision to suit the needs of aging population. It other words, the industry is constantly looking for new ways of making people’s work a bit easier, faster and efficient. In essence, robots are a gift from science to mankind because of their high productivity rate coupled with an increased speed of production, quality and greater workplace safety. First, the use of robots increases productivity when they are applied to perform tasks that require more efficiency. In the recent past, many industries have shifted their focus to implementing robots that improve productivity and fulfill the demands in the market. Most of them argue that robots work by eliminating the element of human error,thus allowing them to perform tasks at the same level of consistency. In fact, many organizations are already using them to help maximize inventory and, at the same time, improve quality. According to Scheiber (2019), Amazon has implemented palletisers, which are robotics arms with grippers, in their 26 fulfillment centers worldwide to lift the heavy totes and packages from conveyor belt. These palletisers provide robotic muscle for daily operations: they substitute man-hands for their productivity in the effort to cut down on human wear-and-tear. Overall, robots increases productivity by performing tasks at a faster rate but with the same consistent level of quality and quantity than humans. Secondly, robots are increasingly being adopted in task-performance because of their high speed: they do not easily get distracted. Companies around the globe are focusing more on meeting customers’ demands which explains why high-speed robots are being sort after due to their ability to work 24/7 without any breaks or vacations (RobotWorx, 2021). In fact, it is common to find robots that move at a high speed than humans making them more preferable in ensuring fast production lines,especially in manufacturing companies. A good example of how robots work by improving speed is in the case of Factory Automation System Inc., located in Atlanta which is part of the Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services Industry (Mena Report, 2021). With automation, the company has managed to supply parts to agricultural manufactures with the growth of 150 percent than before while meeting their targets within three hours—five hours less th