ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Going by the surge in digital crime and terrorism activities, it is clear that the role of curbing these vices does not rest in one law enforcement agency. However, the US law enforcement system is characterized by the activities of different agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I), Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (among others) (Randol, 2010). The functions of these departments vary. For example, the functions of the F.B.I is to investigate criminal offenses and gather internal intelligence (among other functions) while the functions of the US Department of Homeland security is divided into different areas including secret service functions, US immigration and customs enforcement functions (among others) (Randol, 2010, p. 1). The nature of these agencies poses different challenges to their efficiencies because some of their functions are independent of one another while others are shared. Challenges that result from the independent nature and shared Characteristics of US law Enforcement Agencies The independent nature of US law enforcement agencies poses a challenge to their efficiency because their independence implies a lack of coordination in security activities. Similarly, the cost-effectiveness of running different security agencies to fight one cause is illogical because the independent nature of the security agencies implies that each security agency will have to be funded independently (Bjelopera, 2011). The shared characteristics of the US law enforcement agencies also pose a problem to the fight against crime and terrorism. For example, there is a high possibility of redundancy in intelligence gathering and surveillance activities when different security agencies run parallel units on the same crime. Similarly, there may be laxity in one security agency if they have the impression that another security agency will work on a given case (Randol, 2010). For example, state security officials may be inefficient in their operations if they have the impression that the F.B.I is also working on similar cases. Comprehensively, there is a strong need to eliminate the challenges resulting from the independence and parallel functions of US law enforcement agencies. How the U.S. could align its efforts to better protect the nation against digital crimes and Terrorism This paper acknowledges the efforts of the US government in establishing the Joint Terrorism Task Force and proposes that strong support in the functions of this task force is the best measure to be taken in aligning the government’s efforts towards protecting the nation against digital crimes and terrorism (Bjelopera, 2011, p. 13). Therefore, the weaknesses of the Joint terrorism task force should be reviewed to revamp it to an effective state agency. An effective task force offers immense advantages to tackling some of the shortcomings of the current nature of US security agencies. Albeit, the advantages of revamping the joint task force are immense, it is important to explain that the joint terrorism task force will provide a “one-stop shopping for information rega
Introduction The film Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder is one of the first films noir adapted for American viewers. The film contains the classic plot when wife, Barbara Stanwyck forces her lover, a successful insurant agent Walter Neff, to kill her husband to preserve the double indemnity. The two major characters mentioned above are the leading figures interwoven in the foul play based on mercenary love. The film is the story of the murder for financial reward and lustful desire. Anyway, many scholars and critics consider the film as an enormous contribution to cinematography and the actors’ performance as the best play for their whole career. The plot Although the plot of the story seems to be simple and predictive, the film is still regarded as one of the best thrilling stories due to the intricate scenes saturated with suspicion and captivating intrigues. Barbara Stanwyck, who played the part of the wretched wife, Phyllis Dietrichson, represents the fatal woman who feels at ease while manipulating other people’s lives. She is a confident personality that knows exactly what she wants. Her major power is her seductiveness and sexuality that she properly uses to achieve her goals. In the film, the actress manages to successfully render the emotional remoteness of the main heroine for males are only a means to gain money. Her character is brightly represented in the intense dialogues with her lover. She is the embodiment of patience and strong character that could be traced in the way she behaves and even the way she is dressed. Anyway, Phyllis is a classical movie stereotype of a femme fatale whose features were fully embodied by Barbara Stanwyck. Hence, everyone could comprehend the real nature of the character judging only upon her sharp look and outright behavior. Characters A talented actor Fred MacMurray played the male leading part of Walter Neff, an insurance agent and a desperate lover of indifferent Phyllis. The actor discloses a narrowly framed personage meeting the traditional view on the victim of seduction. Many critics and Robert Elbert in particular consider this hero as rather boring and predictable. I partially agree with Elbert’s opinion that MacMurray’s hero is rather handsome and respectable but still he is rather boring as nothing extraordinary could be told about him (Elbert 147). However, this image is rather relevant to that plot as the film implies that Walter Neff is exactly the type of character for the film noir. On-screen chemistry The fascinating scenes revealing the relations between Phyllis and Walter keep the viewers in anticipation of further actions. The on-screen chemistry between the lovers saturated with mesmerizing and erotic scenes left no one to be indifferent. The interaction between the main characters entails the viewer to perceive the deceptive atmosphere that Billy Wilder initially meant to create. Throughout the character’s deeds and their behavior, one could easily guess heroes’ real intentions. The created images were supported by skillfully selected costumes and perfect hairstyles that reflect the character traits of the leading personages. The main line of
Despair of overwhelming depth is expected, inherent even, in these two texts by William Shakespeare and John Milton. Upon reading King Lear one notes the harrowing grief of the spurned King, that his heartache is what propels the play forward and manifests in his debilitating madness and a rough storm. As we take a broader glance we see that all the characters are in peril, all suffering from feelings of loss and abandonment. Lear’s story is mirrored in that of Gloucester and his sons. One son in particular, Edmund, allows the pain of being born a bastard and the rejection of his father to skew his view of the world and the intentions of his ambition. In his unyielding fight to take his father’s title and the wealth and reputation of his brother Edgar, he becomes a closer resemblance to Satan of Milton’s Paradise Lost than a pitiful but harmless illegitimate son. Satan’s obsession is also for power. He is defiant of God and seeks to overthrow his control of heaven to become, in a sense, “king”. Though critics have argued over the true protagonist of the work, Paradise Lost is widely considered the story of Lucifer and his struggle for control. To examine the connection between ambition and despair in both of these works, one must see the misguided ways of each character. Edmund is driven by selfish ambition because of the rejection by his family and the prevailing popular opinion that bastards were, more or less, a worthless product of sin. The despair that comes from this drives him to commit acts that bring devastation on all characters, and ultimately, more despair to himself. In Paradise Lost Satan’s despair is spawned from rejection as well—after a failed uprising against God, Satan has been banished in disgrace to the underworld. This despair leads to perhaps the most famous ambition in English literature, which comes in the form of a desire to organize another uprising and ultimately his ascent to earth to tempt Adam and Eve away from their paradise. In the attempt to pursue their ambitions to ease despair, Satan and Edmund both succeed and fail. Though they wreak havoc on the characters they resent, they are never able to fix whatever caused them their initial despair and are thusly just as low as the characters they seek to destroy. Like Satan in Paradise Lost, Edmund’s story is presented as a secondary plot line that becomes as relevant and telling as that of the main characters. In the beginning, when asked for a lavish display of fatherly love, Cordelia tells her father, “I love your majesty/ According to my bond; no more nor less” (I.i.93-95). This sets the tone for the play and emphasizes the theme for which Edmund and his father are a foil: the role of a child and father. We are first introduced to Edmund’s father Gloucester, a loyal follower of the King, who is described as an adulterer with two sons; the first, legitimate Edgar, eventually leaves because of Edmund’s scheming, only to ret
Introduction After product development and having done a thorough scrutiny of the target market, the next step is to develop a product launch plan. This plan will address the necessary steps that will help increase production, develop marketing strategies, develop programs for training of sales personnel, and preparation of how to set up or support the product. A well-prepared product launch plan results in faster and more effective marketing and coordination of activities (Lodato, 2008). Having a product launch plan is very crucial for the success of every business. The product launch plan of Sun Block cream for both local and international markets (United States and Kenya, Africa) will have the following approach. Understanding the target market Under review of the product launch process; there are certain things that should be put into consideration such as identification of needed activities, system requirement, and organizational responsibilities. A clear understanding of the target market is necessary in any product launch plan. This is because products launched on markets where most of the audience are not interested results in terrible failures (Lodato, 2008). One has to have a thorough understanding of his audience. From the previous research on the target market (United States and Kenya) it has shown that the targeted audience (both male and female) are interested on the new sun block cream. From the recent past, people especially Kenyan citizen are becoming more concerned about their beauty and they are almost ready to test every product that comes into the market. Demand is still high in both markets and therefore the producers of this product should put more emphases on its quality so as to fetch a bigger market share when it is finally launched. The sun block for male and female need to be tested and certified before it is launched in the market. In Kenya it has to go through Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) before it is allowed into the market. Manuals on how to use the product have to be prepared and attached on the product. A design of sales and distribution should be prepared as well as performing a market testing. Process improvement After reviewing the product launch process, the next step is to develop a process improvement. This involves making improvement on the marketing strategies, organization responsibilities, and design of the product. In order to achieve an effective improvement process, the best way to go about this is to market and pre-sell the sun block products in the targeted markets before the actual date of launching (Lodato, 2008). Different methods of advertising may be used to drive the message home. The aim of this pre-selling is to help the product developers get some feedback from the audience of which that they can be able to make the necessary adjustments before launching the product. Integrate organization Once the process has been reviewed and necessar
Denim products are among the customers’ favorites, as they are perfect for everyday wear. Most of the designers include a couple of denim products in their ready-to-wear show. For instance, one of the denim trends that could be observed on the F/W 2017 runways is the exposed zipper (Satenstein par. 1). Another trend that was popular on the runways throughout the S/S 2017 season is an embellishment (Farra par. 6). Christian Dior’s Fall 2017 ready-to-wear collection featured a surprisingly high amount of denim products, with the main trends being slouched form and washed-out look (Mower par. 1). However, these trends are not revolutionary, and they have been impacting denim designs for the past several seasons. In the future, on the other hand, the designs may become bolder. For instance, 5forecastore’s denim trend prediction projects the rise of patched denim during the S/S 2018 season (par. 2). Trotman, however, predicts that prints and embroidery will be among the favorites in the S/S 2018 denim looks (par. 2). Lastly, one general trend that may affect denim products in 2018 is “psychotropic,” referring to bold, bright color combinations (Gordon par. 2), which may increase the variety of color options for denim products. The primary target customer of H&M denim products is a middle-class American female. The age range among which the products are most popular is between 18 and 25 years old, so college students and recent graduates form the majority of customers. H&M is popular both in urban and suburban settings; however, its denim range is more likely to be attractive to people living in the city. The target customer of H&M denim lives a moderately active lifestyle and has a variety of interests, including fashion. However, despite the interest in new trends, her top priority for the clothes is to be comfortable and flexible enough to allow for many variable combinations and looks. Leisure activities and pop culture would be the main sources of influence on the customer’s choice of clothes. The racial background of the target customer includes white Americans, Hispanic, and African Americans, whereas the prevalent religious background would be either Christian or non-religious. The ratio of tops to bottoms in the H&M’s denim products is 1/4, with the majority of products sold being regular jeans. All of the models offered by H&M are for casual wear, as they f
Based on the team literature review, a hypothesis can be drawn that: The main reasons why customers switching service providers in a tourism-based encounter is either due to the pricing matters, the initial failure, and non-committal of the firm to address the initial failure problem. In formulating the null hypothesis, the researcher needs to develop an alternative hypothesis that will be accepted if the collected data values are significantly unattainable within the null hypothesis. The articulate formulation of the null has inferences to the alternative hypothesis. In the case of Swanson and Hsu (2009), a null hypothesis can be stated: The only reason for customer switching service providers is due to the pricing, initial failure, and failure to address the initial failure. After formulating the null hypothesis, the researcher should ascertain the significance level of the data obtained. The null hypothesis is only reliable if it can ascertain the probability of the information set in certain parameters from it. In this case, there are other parameters that lead to customer switching service providers which have to be considered: The benefits accruing to establishing a long-term clientele are recognized by marketers since no-returning clients are foregone business opportunities. There are various reasons for customer defection apart from the above reasons and the company should understand the reason why its clients do not return to nurture a zero defection culture of customers (Swanson &Hsu, 2009). There will be variations in future outcomes on whether the customer would repurchase from the firm. This depends on the customer experiences in the previous encounters. A customer may be satisfied with one recovery transaction but the initial transactions were dissatisfying. The past transactions with the service provider will have a ripple effect on the current transactions, and a single satisfying transaction cannot lead to customer repurchase. Another parameter to consider is testing the null hypothesis is the effect of customer’s causal implications on customer’s attitude towards a particular service provider. According to the attribution theory, a client’s attitudes, decisions, and emotions are influenced by the client’s judgments on cause and effect correlation. Other factors can be attributed to customers switching service providers including national cultural diversity, different perceptions of the service recovery plan. If the data observed contradicts the estimation of the null hypothesis, it can be concluded that the null hypothesis is false, or the occurrence observed had a minimal significance level. This gives the researcher high confidence level in the falsity of the null hypothesis that can be improved by doing many observations as possible. Nevertheless, accepting the alternative hypothesis only leads the researcher to a difference in observed constants; it does not validate the theory is estimated if such a variation is valid because the difference is a result of outlying factors not assumed by the principle. If the null hypothesis is rejected and
Executive Summary “United Breaks Guitars” is a song that has gone viral on the Internet since its release on 17 July 2008. The case of the “United Breaks Guitars” is a classic example of the power of the Internet in affecting reputations of organizations that do not offer effective customer care services. One of the customers of United Airlines, Dave Carroll, had a bad experience on his trip because employees of the airline broke his guitar. When he complained about it, the management of the airline ignored him. After a period of nine months, the management told him that they could not compensate him because the period of filing a complaint had elapsed. Owing to dissatisfaction, Dave Carroll decided to compose the song “United Breaks Guitars” as a way of revenging the treatment the employees gave him instead of compensating for the damaged guitar costing $3,500. The song has made a great impact on the reputation of the airline and customer care because it has attracted about 13 million viewers to date. The main causes of the crisis are the poor handling of the customer’s property and deprived public relationships. The crisis calls for effective decision criteria, which solves the crisis, satisfies the affected customer, prevents future occurrences, and restores the reputation of the airline. Situational crisis communication theory and model of ethical problem solving are useful in determining the decision criteria for solving the crisis. The theory and model are instrumental in crisis management as they provide a useful framework in implementing the criteria. Additionally, diminishing, bolstering, and compensation are among the alternatives that the airline can employ to restore its reputation successfully and solve the crisis. Diminishing and bolstering the problem increases the harm on the airline’s reputation because the information held by viewers is concrete, and the company cannot deny them. Conversely, the suitable solution for the problem is compensation as it focuses on compensating the aggrieved client and facilitates the restoration of the airline’s image. The choice of compensation is effective since the crisis falls under a preventable cluster, and thus, requires an emphasis on the victim. Since compensation, provides a solution to the present and future occurrences, it serves as a long-term solution that the airline can employ in handling similar occurrences. Issues “United Breaks Guitars” is a song that expresses dissatisfaction with Dave Carroll, one of the clients of United Airlines, who complains about the broken guitar. During one of his flights, the employees of United Airlines mishandled his guitar and broke it. As a result, the affected client raised a complaint to the management of the airline and received poor treatment. The song asserts that people should not use the airline because it breaks guitars. 1 The conduct that employees demonstrated in handling the valuables of the clie
Introduction Utilizing consultancy services has become one of the most ignored practices by large corporate and SME’s due to diverse issues which include corporate-style practices, unwillingness and the view that purchasing consultancy services is a risky and expensive investment. Research done by Antony Buono in his book Current trends in management consulting investigates and compares the practice of business consultancy among small and medium-sized business enterprises (SME’s) with large business organizations. It indicates that the former has thriftily and infrequently used consulting services in their daily operations. This has been largely attributed to the levels of doubt and mistrust which SME’s have on the reliability and efficiency of consultants’ expertise, and which has greatly impacted on their annual turnover. Sturdy (2009, p. 7) argues that SME’s, just like bigger companies, have consulting needs in areas of developing effective marketing strategies and leadership. As analyzed in this paper, and with reference to a study on consultancy methodologies done by Executive grapevine International Limited in the book UK Directory of Executive Recruitment , consultation services are imperative for improving the ability of SME’s to perform optimally in the competitive global market environment. Additionally, research evidences have shown that most SME investors find it cumbersome to cope with the possible risks in the process of improving their businesses (Neumann, Kellner & Dawson-Shepherd, 1997, p.4). For this reason, there is need for SMEs to seek consultation services in order to enhance standard management practices in their operations. For some time now, it has been perceived that consultancy services are only meant for well established companies (Harrison, 1995 p.40). Further evidence has demonstrated that sole traders and family businesses have not been able to track the techniques and tools that are essential in running sound investments (Block, 1999 p. 34). This has raised controversy on the view and thus the paradigm has highly being criticized. Due to the fact that the world of business is prone to unremitting changes and challenges, consultancy services need to be incorporated even in small businesses. Indeed, small businesses will be in a position to survive more complex risks and uncertainties such as inflation, natural disasters a