An Evaluation of WKMNs A Newbies Guide to Wireless Networks Tutorial Research Paper

An Evaluation of WKMNs A Newbies Guide to Wireless Networks Tutorial - Research Paper Example    These concepts include the radio frequency technology, mobile telephony, wireless area network (LAN), wireless personal area network, fixed wireless wide area networks (WAN), practical applications of these technologies in various business set-ups and other references that can be useful to the student who wants to learn more. Each of these topics contains subtopics that are detailed to the technology. Although the terminologies can give a complex impression especially to hearing of it for the first time, the tutorial is designed to ensure a simplified translation of such concepts that can be comprehended in the understanding level of its students. How the student grasp the concepts and ideas are critical to the objectives of creating this newbie tutorial as it will determine the productivity that they can make out of this wireless technology knowledge that a student will gain after going through the tutorial. I believe that WKMN has done an effective tutorial for this Newbieâ₠¬â„¢s Guide to Wireless Networks. The tutorial can be both beneficial to a beginner in wireless technology and someone who has a background already on this topic. The colorful multimedia design of the slide lessons itself included with audio, animation, text, and innovative quizzes allow the tutorial to impart the basic concepts of wireless LANs, mobile telephony networks, fixed last-mile wireless networks, personal area networks, and Bluetooth. It also discussed other important aspects to consider in employing wireless technology in a business such as the costs and efforts associated with physical cabling and the basics of radio frequency technology. There is also a segment on how the different frequency band-sharing schemes work which is another critical aspect. It simplified teaching the process on how analog and digital channels are cut by time or by frequency by using animations. The contents are also presented in what it calls â€Å"bite-sized nuggets† to maintain its s implistic approach and ensure the focus on conceptual understanding of the student. With the thousands of websites and resources available on the internet today, it is indeed easy to be overwhelmed especially on wireless technology topics. Since this is an online course, it caters to university students or company professionals who have little time for extra activities like this.  Ã‚  

Report on the UK Petrol Market Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report on the UK Petrol Market - Coursework Example Even the retailers of petrol have declined drastically owing to this wave of competition. The fall in petrol prices is also attributed to the increased competition among dealers of petrol in the UK. But there is a notable difference in prices between the rural petrol outlets and the urban ones. This could be justified by the additional costs of distribution and the low volume of sales in the rural areas (Harrison, 2011). Objectives of the Report To explain the meaning of ‘opportunity cost’ and ‘substitution’ To show how the concepts of ‘substitution’ and ‘opportunity cost’ could be used to analyse the changes in the equilibrium price in the UK petrol market. The concepts of Substitution and Opportunity cost Opportunity cost is the value of the next best forgone alternative. It results because of the scarcity of resource required to meet people’s needs. For example if one has $100, they can buy either a book or a watch. If the y choose to buy a book, then the benefit they could have enjoyed if they had bought a watch would be an opportunity cost (Samidi et al., 2008). Opportunity cost can also result if as a result of price increase, the quantity bought reduces. For example if before price change a 100 litres of petrol at could be bought at$4,000 but only 80 litres could be bought with the same amount of money. In this case, the value of the 20 litres that is forgone after the price increase is an opportunity cost. This scenario also shows a substitution effect which is the difference between the quantity bought before and after the price change (Duguid, 2005). Substitution also results in a case where one is making a choice between two substitutes such as wheat and rice. If the price of rice is increased, the consumption of wheat is likely to be increased. Therefore, the difference between the quantity of wheat consumed before and after the price increase of rice is termed as a substitution effect. Equil ibrium Price in the UK Petrol Market The figure below shows the changes in shifts in the equilibrium position as a result of the changes in the price of petrol. The X-axis represents the quantity of petrol while the Y-axis represents the Price of petrol (per Litre). X0, X1 and X2 represent the various equilibrium positions. Q0, Q1 and Q2 represent the litres of petrol bought at various prices. D0 is the demand of petrol while S0, S1 and S2 are the supply the supply curves. The Graph of Volume of petrol and its Price per litre                S1                                                                                  S0                                        X1                Pe1                      S2 Price per Litre       X0             Pe0                                                                X2          Pe2                                                                         D0                                                                                              Q1 Q0 Q2                      Quantity (Litres)             Figure 1: Petrol Market Discussion The initial equilibrium position (where the supply curve, S0, intersect with the demand curve, D0) was represented by X0. At this equilibrium position, the consumer was able to buy Q0 Litres of petrol at a price of Pe0 per Litre. But if the price of petrol was increased to Pe1 per Litre, the consumer has to reduce the quantity consumed to Q1 litres from Q0 litres. The reduction of Q0-Q1 Litres is the volume of petrol forgone by the consumer owing to the price increase by P1-P0 dollars. The value of the foregone Litres of petrol is an opportunity cost which the consumer has

The economic globalization of football

The economic globalization of football Abstract Football is not only the most popular sport of the world, but also the most globalized one. With its popularity and passion, football attracts the support of billions of people and sponsorship of international companies almost every single corner of the world. This paper examines the globalization of football in accordance with the concepts consumption and empowerment with concrete examples. The paper addresses economic globalization of football by considering the worlds major clubs turning into multinational corporations (MNCs); and affirms the utility of football as an important strategy for the empowerment, particularly in less-developed and developing countries. There will be given place to the initiatives that are being carried out by FIFA, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) where football is the main strategy. Keywords Football, Globalization, Consumption, Empowerment, FIFA, UNICEF Introduction: Problem Description â€Å"I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.† says English novelist and essayist Nick Hornby in his worldwide famous book ‘Fever Pitch.[1] As it is looked at the popularity and passion of the football that surround billions of people from all around the world, Hornby was totally right. There is no other ‘thing which is more global than football. History of humanity witnessed tons of actors who were trying to establish huge empires: Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler. However, none of them even came close to the magnificence of this gigantic empire: Football In this research paper, firstly, I will give a place to the history of football briefly and then I will focus on the globalization process of football that started as a local phenomenon and then became a global passion. ‘Does the globalization of football encourag e people for the consumption? and ‘Is it possible to use football as a strategy for empowerment? will be the questions which are going to be answered with concrete examples. Background: History of Football There have been different types of games that were playing by ‘foot and ‘ball in different corners of the world. â€Å"There are claims that suggest ball games were played earliest in Ancient China, maybe as early as 2500 BCE.†[2] Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), world governing body of football, also declared that â€Å"football, with the name of ‘cuju, was born in the Shandong Province of Linzi during the West Han Dynasty. A primitive version of football existed in China centuries before it was modified and given rules by English scholars to become association football†[3]. The evaluation of football took place in Britain and football, with the type which is very close to the modern style, was first played in Britain in the late nineteenth century. As an inventor of modern football, British were also effective in the spreading of football to the continental Europe and overseas countries with the help of railways and sea ways. When the English sailors and merchants give a break in the harbors, they performed this game, and the indigenous people imitated them very easily. That is why, in the continental Europe, first football teams were established in the harbor cities such as: Le Havre Athletic Club (France), Genoa Football Club (Italy), Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona (Spain), Hamburg and Hannover 96 (Germany).[4] The spreading process of football to Africa and Asia took place in a different way; they met with football through colonial powers. For this reason, British colonies met with football earlier than the other nations.[5] Globalization of Football In the 1930s, the evolution of radio accelerated the spreading of football. However, football started to become more popular with the help of television. At the beginning, TV and football were not very good friends since those who were responsible from the football were blaming TV to unload the stadiums. In the following decades, the relation between football and television became better and latterly it started to base on bilateral benefit. The first football broadcasting on television, namely on BBC, was the final match of the English Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) in 1938. The 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland was the first world cup that was broadcasted on TV. Football- television partnership was conquering the world; however, â€Å"the most important factor that has reinforced the restructuring of football and football clubs has been the arrival of cable and satellite television†.[6] The 1966 FIFA World Cup in England was broadcasted via satellite and the fin al match of the tournament was watched by 400 million people from 36 different countries. The statistics of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France shows that, the final match of this tournament between Brazil and France attracted 2 billion viewers.[7] â€Å"Television coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was the most extensive to date with 376 channels showing the event. What is more, the 2006 event had TV coverage in 214 countries. The tournament had a total cumulative television audience of 26.29 billion.†[8] Another point, which came to the fore as a result of this football-television partnership, is the broadcasting right agreements between football federations, football clubs and television channels. In 1960, European Football Championships broadcasting rights were sold for only 8,000 pounds. As a natural result of globalization and industrialization of football, the broadcasting rights agreements, which cost billions of dollars/euros, started to be signed. For example, the br oadcasting rights of the English Premiere League were sold to the British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB) for a fee of 1, 65 billion pounds in 2000.[9] I believe that it is very helpful to look at the numbers again in order to understand the globalization process of football. The shift from 8000 pounds to 1, 65 billion pound proves that television has great influence on the globalization of football and there is a double-sided benefit between them. TV has helped to the ball to bounce in whole world, and the ball has helped to the successes of the TV.[10] Another indicator, that proofs the globalization of football, is the selection of rival teams. First international football matches were played between neighbor countries such as; England- Scotland (1872), Portugal- Spain (1923), Sweden- Norway (1908), Costa Rica- Salvador (1923) and Japan- China (1917).[11] However, nowadays, it is very common to see football matches between England- Brazil, Australia- Uruguay, Turkey- Costa Rica, or Leba non- Vietnam. Besides these, football shifted from bilateral concept to the multilateral one with the help of tournaments like World Cup, European Cup, and African Nations Cup. The passing of football from local to the international arena firstly took place in the World Cup in Uruguay, where 13 national teams attended, in 1930. At this point, it is very helpful to look at the statistical datas of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, in order to see evolution of football better. For the last world cup in Germany, 198 national teams attempted to qualify, and 32 of them from six different continents competed in Germany.[12] Football and Consumption[13] Within the framework of globalization process, another important concept is the marketing, promotion, and as a natural result of these, consumption of football. Football is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular (probably the first one) sports in the world, and the marketing of football has become an increasingly significant issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs started to become multinational companies (MNCs) in parallel to the globalization, and they perform like a company in order to increase their revenues with the help of different marketing techniques and financial strategies. Football clubs from all around the world use the mass media as an important tool not only attracting the people into the role of football spectator but also to associate football with the consumption of products through commercials.[14] Moreover, most of the major football teams have their own TV channel, radio or magazine in order to market their ac tivities, organizations and licensed products; and to increase their brand value. For example, the official Manchester United magazine, ‘Inside United is sold in China with a circulation of 50,000 copies.[15] Examples can be increased; Italian football club Juventus has 1200 fan clubs in all over the world. The TV channel of worldwide famous Spanish team Real Madrid ‘Real is watched in 40 different countries.[16] Another strategy, which is popularly used by big clubs, is to increase their visibility in Asia, North America and Middle East. Football clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, arrange training camps or friendly games in China, Japan, the USA, and United Arab Emirates; thus they aim to enlarge their market and to increase the number of potential customers. Major football clubs open stores in various cities where their Asian, American, Middle Eastern fans can find official products of their European clubs, such as jersey, cap, scarf, shirt, flag etc. Football clubs are trying to reach their overseas fans not only by arranging camps or opening merchandising stores; but also by developing interactive services where fans follow their team all year long. For example Manchester United and FC Barcelonas webpage has Chinese, Japanese and Arabic version. At this point, it is remarkable to remember the declaration of former president of Italian football club Lazio , Sergio Cragnotti: â€Å"In the era of globalization, when people have more leisure time, football is the most global business of the lot. You tell me another product that is bought off the shelf by three billion consumers. Not even Coca- Cola comes close†.[17] In the same manner, transfer of David Beckham from Manchester United to Real Madrid can be a good example how globalized football icons affect the balance sheets of football clubs and encourage supporters to buy official products of their clubs. â€Å"Apart from benefiting from his football ability, this transfer gives the Spanish club an opportunity to profit from merchandising, especially in the Far East, where Beckham is enormously popular.†[18] Real Madrid paid $50 million for David Beckham in 2003. But, later â€Å"Real had put some hard numbers on the players off-the-field impact in his four years at the club. The club sold à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬440 million ($600 million) worth of shirts and other soccer mercha ndise during that time, increasing merchandising profits by 137%†[19], according to the Real Madrids marketing director Jose Sanchez. Football is getting more industrialized day by day and accordingly; businessmen, Russian oligarchs, Arabian oil barons, old prime ministers started to perceive football as a business and invest on football clubs in order to gain their profit, to get prestige or for some other reasons. Former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatras purchasing of English football club Manchester City and latterly selling it to the Emirati businessman Sulaiman Al-Fahim can be a good example how this football thing perceived as an income channel by business world. The same relation between business world and football can be seen in the examples such as; Russian businessman Roman Abramovich- English football club Chelsea; Russian-born Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov- Scottish football club Hearts and American businessman Malcolm Glazer- English football club Manchester United. Another dimension of football-consumption concept is the usage of football clubs and players as an icon, product or service by international brands. The broadcasting rights agreements which cost billions of dollars/euros with television channels (Eurosport, Fox, BskyB, etc.), sponsorship agreements with sports equipments suppliers (Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, etc.), transportation agreements with automobile and airline companies (Audi, Mercedes, Fly Emirates, Thomas Cook, Turkish Airlines, etc.), communication agreements with electronic companies and GSM operators (Samsung, Vodafone, Philips, etc.) are all big income channels for both football clubs and those multinational companies themselves. In the world economy, football is an important and popular tool, especially for the companies in the consumption and service sector, to promote themselves and their products. Until the beginning of 21st century, only interaction between companies and football clubs was mostly based on simple a greements such as jersey advertisements. However, especially in the last years, international companies sign more comprehensive and significant amounted sponsorship agreements with the football clubs. Football clubs stadiums (Commerzbank Arena, Emirates Stadium, Philips Stadion, Bolton Reebok Stadium), names (FC Red Bull Salzburg), even their leagues (Ireland Eircom Premier League, Romania Liga I Gamebookers.com, Turkey Turkcell Super League, Portugal Carlsberg Cup) where they are competing have begun to be known with the name of international brands. These kinds of agreements are not only take place between global companies and football clubs but also between global companies and football players. Many football stars such as David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic earn large sums of money not only for their sporting abilities but also through sponsorship agreements. The gain is mutual; while football players make a lot of money thanks to those sponsorship agreements; international brands have chance to expand their markets and increase the number of their potential customers with the help of football icons. Moreover, these kinds of agreements among football players and companies may affect players professional career as well. â€Å"Pepsi and Adidas played a big role in forcing David Beckham to move to Real Madrid. For Pepsi, it would be more profitable for them to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid because Real Madrid has three other players that have sponsorship deals with Pepsi. But the biggest influen ce came from Adidas, which is the main sponsor to David Beckham. Manchester Untied is sponsored by Nike, Adidas biggest competition in the industry and Real Madrid is sponsored by Adidas, so it would be so much better for Adidas to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid instead of Manchester United.†[20] Another remarkable example is the transfer of worldwide famous Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, from Manchester United to Real Madrid that is sponsored by Adidas. Nike, which is the personal sponsor of the player, sent him to the official unveiling in Madrid with a T-shirt where a big Nike logo on it. Football and Empowerment Football is one of the most globalized concepts of the era that has tons of followers in all around the world. They play this game in stadiums, dusty streets, beaches, deserts, in the middle of war zones; in the rainy, snowy, windy weather. On the other hand, the same people are suffering as a result of armed conflicts, ethnic and religious disputes, poverty and HIV/AIDS in almost every corner of the world, especially in less developed and developing countries. But even in dreadful situations, children played/are playing/will play football in every chance that they have. Football is a universal language for all those children from all around the world. â€Å"Football is more than ‘just a game, it is a positive lifestyle. It teaches children to trust each other, lures them away from drugs and violence and provides them with a protective environment where they can grow up healthy, fit and self-confident.†[21] It is obvious that those people (especially children) in the pr oblematic areas of the world should be empowered. The question is that is it possible to use football as a tool for empowerment? The World Bank defines empowerment as â€Å"the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.†[22] When it is looked at the social economical and cultural effects of the football, yes it is possible to claim that football can be used as a tool for the empowerment of people who live in the problematic areas of the world. By those, who noticed the importance of sports as a tool for development in the last years; sport, particularly football, has been started to use as a strategy for the empowerment of people (especially children) worldwide. International, regional and local organizations, governments, NGOs and individual activists launched and are still launching programs and campaigns, where football is the main strategy, for the empowerment of children and woman especially from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world. All those organizations have their own techniques, methods and ways of working; but they all have one purpose: to improve the lives of children and women by fostering empowerment. With its popularity and passion; football surrounds billions of people and â€Å"reaches more youth than any other recreational activity in the world.†[23] According to the UNESCO report, related with the variety of sports activities in 48 less developed countries which are located in Af rica, America and Asia-Pacific region, only three sports are practiced in all of those countries: athletics, football and basketball.[24] And football is the only sport that is being performed in every single corner of all those countries. As a result of an idea â€Å"Harnessing the power of football, a universal language that all children understand, can translate into an effective tool to combat violence and conflict, enabling children to grow up in more peaceful societies.†[25], football is being used as an important empowerment strategy by many international organizations such as UNICEF, FIFA or football clubs. Since 1999, UNICEF and FIFA have many collective campaigns under the framework of â€Å"Unite for Children†[26] for the rehabilitation and development of children especially in problematic areas of the world by using football as a strategy. The main purposes of those programs are to â€Å"prevent children from being recruited as child soldiers, inform them about the dangers of HIV/AIDS through education and discussion, and promote educations for girls, among many other objectives.†[27] To reduce the damage of HIV/AIDS is one of the priorities of campaigns which held by UNICEF and FIFA. According to the 1998 numbers, 2.2 million people died from AIDS just in Sub- Saharan Africa.[28] The diseases like malaria or HIV/AIDS are serious threats to economic, social development and stability of developing countries both in Africa and in some other regions of the world. In January 2000, the former secretary- general of UN Kofi Annan stressed the seriousness of health problems, particularly AIDS, for African countries with these words: â€Å"The impact of AIDS in Africa was no less destructive than that of warfare itself. By overwhelming the continents health and social services, by creating millions of orphans, and by decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises which in turn threaten political stab ility In already unstable societies, this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict. And conflict, in turn, provides fertile ground for further infections.†[29] Yes, that is obvious that football can not eliminate those health problems by itself, it can not realize the development by itself; but it is again obvious that it can help the empowerment of people in those less- developed and developing countries by using its popularity and attractiveness. Another campaign that was launched by UNICEF and supported by FIFA is ‘Say Yes for Children, that â€Å"urges people to pledge their commitment to improve and protect childrens lives.†[30] Recently, the campaign has more than 94 million supporters from all around the world. The 2002 World Cup, which was organized by Japan and the Republic of Korea, was dedicated to the children of the world by FIFA in order to support ‘Say Yes for Children campaign and attract the attention of world to this humanitarian cause: children. â€Å"Girls and women face a disproportionate number of life challenges, which reduce their ability to achieve their full potential. Recent studies show that despite formal guarantees of equality, the overall rate of progress for women, particularly those from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world has been slow.†[31] In this manner, the campaign â€Å"‘Go Girls! Education for Every Child is UNICEFs public outreach campaign to raise awareness, generate public support and mobilize resources for girls education in countries around the world.†[32] Accordingly, FIFA dedicated ‘Womens World Cup 2003 to this campaign. During the tournament, a lot of advertisements and promotions were held about the campaign, and at the same time â€Å"FIFA has also donated more than 600 ‘sport-in-a-box kits to support UNICEF programmes around the world.†[33] Those kits which contain equipments to play football, aim to attract girls to the school and en courage them to do sport. â€Å"In Guinea and Djibouti, for example, UNICEF is using the sports kits as a way of improving girls attendance in schools, empowering girls and changing attitudes towards girls.†[34] Football takes a very significant place at UNICEFs agenda and the cooperation between UNICEF country offices and FIFA national associations is held in more than 75 countries. Campaigns such as in Fà ºtbol para la Vida (Football for Life) in Honduras and Fà ºtbol para la Paz (Football for Peace) in Colombia are two other examples where football is being used as an empowerment strategy. Both during and after the conflicts in Balkans, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Georgia or Sudan, football was used as an important tool to decrease the trauma of conflict. There are also some education programmes, where football is used as a tool, in Kenya, Liberia and Honduras tosupportHIV/AIDS preventioncampaigns. Apart from UNICEF and FIFA campaigns, there are various empowerment initiatives to provide a better and safe environment for the children and women of countries which are affected by war, poverty and HIV/AIDS particularly in Africa and Latin America. ‘Womens Soccer Unity in Rwanda is a project which aims â€Å"to empower girls and women through football in all regions of Rwanda and to create a solid womens football federation.†[35] After the education program in Kigali, participants return to their hometowns; found and develop their own female football teams on a volunteer basis. â€Å"They also take on the development of peace and reconciliation and the eradication of gender based violence by using football as a platform for outreach and education.†[36] ‘AFESCO; a campaign that deals with teenage girls and women who were displaced from their homes and live in refugee camps in Democratic Republic of Congo, has â€Å"initiated a project in 2008 with approxim ately 50 girls and women learning football skills and partaking in education about womens rights, overcoming trauma and peace and reconciliation.†[37] ‘Moving the Goalposts (MTG), a community based organization in Kenya, is helping more than 3000 girls and women (between the ages 9 and 25), who are participating in football tournaments and ongoing leagues. â€Å"Participants are encouraged to be active in leadership roles such as: committee membership, coaching, refereeing, first aid, peer educating and counseling. Moreover, MTG has used football projects successfully to address reproductive rights and economic empowerment, for in school and out of school girls.†[38] ‘Family in Need Trust organization is â€Å"dedicated to reducing poverty and empowering girls and women†[39] who are suffering and can not participate actively in the social life as a result of political situation in Zimbabwe. The organization is supporting sport activities, particularly football, as well as professional education for 300 girls and women. ‘Kroobay Women and Girls Sport in Sierra Leone is a womens rights organization, that aims sustainable development and gender equality through sport movement for girls and women who were affected negatively from the war between 1991 and 2004. The organization â€Å"uses different sports (running, football, volleyball) to reach 200 girls and young women in the Kroobay community in order to increase their physical endurance, learn conflict management, develop their leadership skills, and develop a higher self-esteem and pride in themselves.†[40] ‘Associacià ³n Bogota Colombia is another community based NGO which â€Å"develops projects for homeless and excluded people facing problems of social disparities, poverty, discrimination, violence, insecurity and conflicts.†[41] The method of the association is using street football as a uniting element for the girls between the ages 15 and 19. Tha nks to the campaign, participants are also being engaged to the income generation projects, community service, and education programmes. The Homeless World Cup, which aims the empowerment of children in all around the world, has been held annually since 2003. The Homeless World Cup is an international football tournament that aims to combine young homeless people from all around the world and to give them a chance to represent their country and meet other young people from different countries. â€Å"It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 70 nations working with over 30,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year. The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.†[42] The organizations such as UEFA, UN; football clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid and football players such as Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand a re some of the supporters of the initiative. Another contribution to the empowerment of children, in problematic areas of the world has come from football clubs. Manchester United is one of the first football clubs that started to work with UNICEF to support children which were affected by HIV/ AIDS. â€Å"The club that has been working with UNICEF since 1999 under the name of the ‘United for UNICEF â€Å"has raised over 2 million for UNICEF programmes and has benefited over 1.5 million children worldwide.†[43] Another football club that supports UNICEF is Barcelona FC. For the first time in the clubs 107 years history, they signed an alliance with UNICEF in 2006, â€Å"which included an annual contribution of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5m to the charity for the right to wear the UNICEF logo on the Barcelona jersey. Barcelona and UNICEFs global partnership has supported more than 100,000 children, notably in sub-Saharan Africa.†[44] For example, in the first year of this agreement, the donation was canalized for the rehabilitation of children affected by AIDS in Swaziland. As a result of education and sport programmes there was a remarkable improvement in the better protection, support and care of orphans and vulnerable children. Besides, the public awareness to the AIDS has risen as well. Another Spanish football club Real Madrid launched a partnership with UNICEF in 2004, to work for childrens right. â€Å"The club works to improve the lives of children by harnessing the power of football and the global influence of the team and drawing attention to childrens issues.†[45] Real Madrid FC also welcomed four Somali youth in 2004 under the framework of an education programme jointly held with the UNICEF Somalia, and provided them two week summer football camp. Conclusion Football has always been a popular sport, but especially after the globalization process it has become a business as well. The marketing of football has become an important issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs have started to act like MNCs. They follow strategies which aim to increase loyalty of fans to their teams and to encourage them for more consumption. Even if globalized football triggers the consumption, amateur spirit in football should be kept in order to maintain its passion that attracts billions from all around the world. I believe that ‘Football Empire will never collapse unlike the previous ones which were established by Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler; since it grew and spread up by acceptance not by force. â€Å"Football is Old Europe and New Europe. It is Brazil and the rest of Latin America, along with Africa, Asia, Australia, and the United States. It is the Islamic world. Every World Cup is a celebration of a happier globalization than the one we all know. The nations of the world come together for a contest between peers, with no single party calling the shots. Football can be our role model for a just world order.†[46] Football should not be extremely overestimated or underestimated. Football, by itself, can not cause a tension or a war between two countries that have good relations. Football can not stop a conflict without the political will of actors. However, it can be used in one of these fields. In its own measure, football can be effective to increase or help the detente of violence. Football can be an important tool for the empowerment of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America; it is obvious that it can not finish the poverty, malaria or HIV/AIDS; it can not provide economic stability or political order by itself; but it can help to create a more secure and peaceful environment within its own concept. Bibliography Books Boniface, Pascal, Futbol ve Kà ¼resellesme, NTV Yayinlari, 2007. Boyle, R. Haynes R., Football in the New Media Age, Routledge, 2004. Hornby, Nick, Fever Pitch, England: Clays Ltd, 1992. Snarr M. T. Snarr D. N., Introducing Global Issues. UK: Lynne Rienner Publication, 2008. Articles Internet Resources Andelman, B., Bud Bowling for Dollars, http://www.whymenwatchfootball.com/ch19.html, [2009-12-23] Bilgià §, A. U., ‘Top Artik Dikdà ¶rtgen, http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2haberno=7008, [2009-12-28] Croci, O. and Ammirante, J, 1999, ‘Soccer in the Age of Globalization In: Peace Review Volume 11 Issue 4 David Beckham, http://www.123football.com/players/b/david-beckham/index.htm, [2009-12-28] Dolles, H. Sà ¶derman, S., Globalization of Sports- The Case of Professional Football and its International Management Challenges, German Institute for Japanese Studies, 2005, http://www.dijtokyo.org/doc/WP05_1GlobalizationOfSportsProfessionalFootballDollesSoederman.pdf, [2009-12-26] Empowering Girls and Women through Sport and Physical Activity, Woman Win, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/EmpoweringGirlsandWomenthroughSportandPhysicalActivityFinal.pdf, [2010-01-06] Family in Need Trust, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/FamilyinNeedTrust.pdf, [2010-01-05] FIFA and UNICEF join forces to â€Å"Say Yes for Children†, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/news/newsid=80114.html, [2010-01-03] Fourie, P Schà ¶nteich, M (2002) ‘Die, the Beloved Countries: Human Security and HIV/AIDS in Africa In: Politeia Girls education campaigns- FIFA Womens World Cup 2003, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_fifa.html, [2010-01-05] Girls education campaigns- Go Girls!, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_gogirls.html, [2010-01-04] Headline Figures at a Glance, http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/ffprojects/ip-401_06e_tv_2658.pdf, [2009-12-27] Host Country, http://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/destination/hostcountry/index.html, [2009-12-20] Kroobay Women and Girls Sport, www.womenwin.org/Kroobay.doc, [2010-01-06] Kurbjuweit D., What Football Says about our Wo

Body For Life by Bill Phillips Essay -- Health Fitness Diet

1. Body For Life 2. Author Bill Phillips, is the chief editor of Muscle Media Magazine and a fitness guru. Dedicating his life to physical fitness, Phillips’ work is known universally throughout the world of bodybuilding and nutrition. Phillips is also an executive officer of EAS (Engineered and Applied Sciences), the leader in sports nutrition and supplementation. Along with his professional business background, Phillips is a certified personal trainer, whose teaching is acknowledged world-wide. 3. Copyright 1999 4. Published by Harper Collins Publishers 5. The intended audience of this book is anyone, and everyone, ages 18 and up, who want to change the way they feel, think, and live! 6. The purpose of this diet is to help people attain the body that they always wished for. It’s meant to help lose weight in a healthy fashion, while incorporating another helpful weight-loss method, physical activity. This type of diet incorporates working out as well as balanced healthy nutrition. 7. The main principle of the Body For Life Diet is consuming portions of healthy foods, instead of having the burden of counting calories, and weighing foods. Participants eat six smaller meals a day, each containing a "portion" of carbohydrates and proteins. A portion is measured as the size of the palm of your hand. So, an equivalent size of chicken is a breast the size of your hand. These meals are spaced out over equal time periods. Consuming six smaller meals speeds up your metabolism, because your body doesn’t get a chance to stop digesting. Also, incorporated in the meals are two to four servings of vegetables or salads. Water is also a major factor in the diet. 8. Here is a sample day in the Body For Life program: 8am- Glass of cold water, Egg Omelet (1 whole egg, 4 egg whites) w/salsa, a regular sized banana. 11am- Glass of cold water, Turkey Sandwich with lettuce and honey mustard on wheat bread. 2pm- Myoplex Strawberry Cream Protein Shake. 5pm- Glass of cold water, salad with fat-free dressing, portion of lean pork loin, green beans, and an apple. 8pm- Glass of cold water, salad with fat-free shredded cheese, sliced chicken breast, salsa, and baked tortilla chips. 11pm- Myoplex Cinnamon-Swirl Protein shake. 9. The estimated number of kcal for this program is going to depend upon the size of your body. In my case, for the 3 weeks that ... ...s products. Its takes a lot to have me believe in a product, and his is one that I believe in totally. As far as a writer, Phillips does an excellent job of making it seem that he is talking directly to you as an individual while you read the Body For Life book. The book is quick, easy to read, and inspiring. The way Phillips writes it, he will hook you into reading the whole thing in one night. 15. On a final note, I would urge anyone, that’s right anyone, who is unsatisfied with the way they look, feel, or live to give this program a try. I tried it and now I too am a believer. A good thing about this program is your not alone. About 100,000 people have transformed their lives with this program this year! Any information that someone needs about this program can be found on the Body For Life web site (given in section 10). On the site you can find everything from inspirational pieces, pictures, to actual daily postings of people who are on the program. So I’ll say it again, if you want to change your body and your life, give this program a try, its the best thing you could Bibliography Bill Phillips. Body For Life, 1999, Harper Collins Publishers Word Count: 1277

Freedom vs Happiness in Brave New World Essay

There are many things that people pursue, such as wealth, prestige, or the latest technology. Of our many pursuits, the most essential are happiness and freedom. However, a question arises: can we possess both happiness and freedom? Most people may not have a clear answer for that. Brave New World, through the actions of its characters, reveals that there exists a conflict between the possession of the two ideas. Lenina, having been conditioned to be happy, has unconsciously given up the ability to have freedoms. From birth, she was assigned the role of beta plus, trained to not seek art, science or relationships. All of her material needs and wants are met. Nothing can make her feel sadness or desire. Thus, her motive to pursue freedom is non existent. If something against her conditioning comes up, she will feel confused and uncomfortable. While on vacation at the Savage Reservation, she witnesses the savage society, where people have families, religion, and natural aging. She feels disgusted by it, â€Å"Too awful† (pg 116), so she goes on Soma holiday to forget about what she has seen. While over the roaring waves of the English Channel, Lenina cannot come to admire the beauty of nature, â€Å"She was appalled by the rushing emptiness†¦ among the hastening clouds† (pg. 90). When John professes his love to her, Lenina is unable to understand his feelings, she’s on ly familiar with physical/sexual relationships, â€Å"For Ford’s sake John, talk sense†¦ you’re driving me crazy† (pg. 191). Although her body is free, she lacks spiritual freedom, whether it be in terms of relationships, natural, or cultural beauty. Opposite to Lenina, John grew up sharing the values of the Indians and William Shakespeare, which are in opposition to those of the World State. Once he comes in contact with â€Å"civilization†, he realises that his values are rejected by the â€Å"civilized† people. For example, he loves Lenina very much, but gets angry and insulted when she doesn’t understand his motives and tries to initiate sex, â€Å"get out of my sight or I’ll kill you† (pg. 194). When his mother dies, he becomes upset with the death conditioning of the children and interferes with it, â€Å"The savage looked down at him†¦ did not even look round† (pg 207). Finally, frustrated with the â€Å"civilized† world, he tries to lead a group of Deltas by warning them on the negative effects

SAS Institute Case Analysis

1. Basic Business Model The business model of SAS is such that it in general it offers services coupled with software. Unlike typical firms in the industry it follows an annual software subscription model. Rather than sell its software, SAS leases to its customers – a strategy of immense importance in understanding the company’s relationship to its users. The fact that leases must be renewable annually creates a tremendous emphasis on customer satisfaction and quality in addition to stabilising its revenue. Furthermore, its products are made based on what customers require and its developmental process is almost wholly customer driven. There is also a strong focus on employee satisfaction leading to customer retention and loyalty which SAS believes is directly linked to customer satisfaction. As seen by the SAS Institute, the leasing strategy helps keep the company sharp by ensuring that technological advances are driven solely by customer needs. 2. Capabilities and Core Competencies to execute its Business Model SAS possesses many capabilities and competencies to help execute its business model effectively. These include flexibility from being a private company, an effective tacit leadership, unique corporate culture, strong brand, dedicated human capital and a considerable amount of financial resources which they efficiently allocate to certain projects whenever required. Being private, it is able to focus on the long term, continue to implement activities which have a strong focus on employee satisfaction and focus on slower but steady growth, something that would have most likely have not been possible had SAS been a public company. With a strong leadership spearheaded by CEO Jim Goodnight, coupled with a strong brand, SAS is able to recruit and retain the key talent it requires to execute its business model. Having a corporate culture which is egalitarian and based on mutual trust and respect also plays a significant role in retaining talent and keeping employees loyal and happy. With a dedicated human capital striving to continue the company’s growth, SAS does not only come up with innovative products which increase its revenue, it also saves more than $100million due to its low attrition rate. Key Success Factors The key factors are its unconventional management philosophies, customer driven developmental process and it being a private company. Unlike other software companies that focus on monetary benefits, SAS’s management philosophy is mainly employee centred with the provision of many intangible benefits. It also believes in a long term view of all issues and does not actively strive to reac h specified short term financial goals. These have led to a build up of a loyal and talented workforce and sustainable long term growth. Moreover, its products are built on customer needs and customer feedback is taken very seriously. Using the Voice of the Customer (VOC) approach, customer opinions and suggestions are compiled and used to guide the development process. Being a private company with no debt has allowed Goodnight to have a long term view of issues and also implement the abovementioned policies to provide employee satisfaction and consequently customer satisfaction as well. . Building of Capabilities and Core Competencies via People Management Practices With attraction and retention of talent central to the company’s continuing success, it has developed certain principles in its recruitment, compensation, employee benefits and outsourcing policies. It has a stringent recruitment process to ensure the cultural fit of its new hires and thereafter gives its employees as much autonomy as possible. It also actively promotes a work life balance and egalitarian culture with a promotion of non financial incentives, unlike other software firms thus creating a unique corporate culture, â€Å"One of cooperation, teamwork and mutual respect† . Moreover its flat organization structure, open door policy and informal work environment encourages communication at all levels of the organization.. This has also led to the development of a strong brand and increased employee satisfaction which not only enables the company to attract but also retain talent. As shown in the diagram above, this leads to increased customer satisfaction and thus increasing revenues. All in all, these practices have helped promote the building of its capabilities and competencies to a large extent ?Is the SAS Model perfectly in balance? With SAS focussed on long term growth and emphasizing non monetary benefits for its employees, this model has been almost perfect for them. It is not fair to say that the model is perfectly in balance as a firm’s model is largely determined by its capabilities and core competencies. A public company for instance would not enjoy the flexibility that SAS enjoys. It would not be able to provide such extensive employee benefits or focus on long term growth at the expense of short term profitability. No model can fit all organizations and be perfectly in balance and SAS is not different. For example, if its model is in balance, its attrition rate despite being low would be 0 and not 4%. 4. Difficulties in imitating SAS’s approach Being such a differentiated company compared to the rest of the industry in many aspects, it is difficult to duplicate SAS’s approach which is based heavily on intangible assets. â€Å"†¦intangible assets almost never create value by themselves. They need to be combined with other assets. † Hence, not only do these intangible assets such as SAS’s unique corporate culture take years to implement, it is also hard to imitate as the social complexity of a company's culture is so ambiguous that it is almost impossible to find out how it works and combines with each other. ?Why few firms have tried to implement many of its People Management Practices Big companies with strong brands such as IBM could follow its stringent recruitment process but would not be able to imitate its unique culture as easily. With most companies providing incentive compensations and stock options, it would not be easy to eliminate that and emphasize non-monetary incentives. This is especially so when public companies would have to go through its board just to provide employee benefits on a similar scale as SAS. It would also be unfeasible to bring outsourced functions back in-house as it would most certainly drive up labour costs and hence be blocked by a hard-nosed board. 5. Extent to which SAS is dependent on continuation of its CEO With a flat organization structure and having 27 direct reports, Goodnight also appears o be very much on top of all the details of the organization. Conversely, he appears to give his direct reports a clear direction of where SAS Institute is going on the product or technology front, and then let them run their own areas. Even though Goodnight is no longer directly involved with most decisions related to SAS’s work culture, his original vision has spawned a self-perp etuating culture, and â€Å"new† decision makers now share his vision, which governs the variety of philosophies, strategies, and practices adopted by the company since its inception. Even though the culture looks so strong that it would survive a change in leadership, the new CEO would not only have to possess business leadership ability but also shares the same values as Goodnight so that SAS does not deviate from its current approach to its business and management. Hence, with no formal succession planning and still being heavily involved in almost all aspects of the organization, the SAS institute approach to its business and management is heavily dependent on Goodnight’s continuation. . Theory of Human Motivation and Behaviour underlying SAS’s Management Approach Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy seems to underlie SAS’s approach to people management. 7. Barriers in implementing knowledge of how SAS manages its people Firstly, a barrier in trying to implement freedom and autonomy coupled with possessing employees with intrinsic motivation is not only the lack of talent but finding talent with the required characteristics. Secondly, extensive employee benefits such as a gym, day-care and the absence of commission-based pay for its account representatives would most likely not been possible if a company is public. Thirdly, a lack of explicit support and encouragement from top management would be another barrier as this is important for the promotion of an egalitarian culture based on trust and mutual respect on top of a family-friendly atmosphere. 8. Major Challenges SAS may face in the next 5 years and its Impact Due to the changing dynamics of the software industry and increasing global competition, the company has to expand its talent pool which is already in shortage. Hence, there might be a need for the company to come out with new ways to attract talent. Practices such as providing more career advancement opportunities would be important in retaining them. Another challenge would be to develop current staff to meet future needs whilst nurturing its talent to fulfil their potential. SAS might have to change its current unstructured approach where employees are free to come up with and develop their own projects and idea. A more structured approach to its job design could be considered to help nurture and develop staff. In general, SAS’s practices have been working for them and look to be able to continue to help them succeed. However, certain aspects could be improved in the future to overcome potential future people management problems such a new generation of workers demanding a different set of benefits than the one SAS currently offers. . Lessons drawn By paying extraordinary attention to its customers and employees, the company has differentiated itself from other companies in the competitive industry, and subsequently has created this â€Å"wheel of loyalty† which resulted in both employee and customer retention. For various HRM practices such as recruitment and selection, great care must be taken to ensure all practices are designed to fit t he company’s business model and culture and at the same time also highlights its strengths, to promote a competitive advantage. For instance, during recruitment, SAS took great care to hire people to ensure a cultural fit. In addition, its job design was such to fit into its philosophy of trust and autonomy between its employees. There should also be a strong relationship between management and employees to produce competitive advantage, hence SAS’s promotion of an egalitarian culture. ?Future of HRM in firms like SAS The future of HR should be one that is committed to working with line managers to improve SAS’s bottom line, create service value for customers and create workplace value for employees. Leadership and management training should be initiated for senior managers while knowledge sharing within the HR function would be vital for SAS to move forward and expand globally. HR should also become a champion for employees while working to increase employee contributions, specifically commitment and ability to deliver results, be an agent for continuous transformation, and cultivating a culture that will improve SAS’s capacity for change.