Our Iceberg Is Melting

[pic] CSC2114 E-Commerce Theory and Applications Individual Assignment Questions Compare and contrast traditional markets with digital markets. Write a report. (Work on the topic you are assigned with and elaborate on it. Write a report of the topic, which includes the following 🙂 1. Introduction (Define traditional markets, define digital markets) 2. Content (When is it used, why is it used, how is it used and etc. ) 3. Advantages and Disadvantages (for each type of market) 4. Conclusion You may include necessary sections which you deem useful. *Attention: †¢ References should be cited properly. †¢ Penalty for late submission: o 1 day late: minus 20% o 2 days late: minus 50% o 3 days late: minus 100% †¢ Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated NOTE: Your report should be between 5 – 6 pages long. Use Arial font size 12, with 2. 0 spacing. Insert footer as your name and ID No. You are required to submit a hardcopy of this report. Include the coversheet (with proper signature) and marking scheme upon submitting. [pic] ASSIGNMENT COVER PAGE Details to be completed by Student | | |Full Name | | | | |Assignment: | | |Student’s ID | | |1 | |Course Code | |Due Date: |Week 8(Monday) | | |CSC 2114 | | | |Section / Group | |Session: |Jan 2013 | | | | | | Student declaration I declare that: ? I understand what is meant by plagiarism ? This assignment is all my work and I have acknowledged any use of the publisher or unpublished works of other people. ? I hold a copy of this assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost or damaged Signature___________________ |FOR EXAMINER’S USE ONLY | | | | |Examiner’s | |Comment | | | | | | | |Late submission |Extension Granted |Deduction |Final Marks | | | | | | | | |YES |NO |YES |NO | | | Lecturer has, and may exercise, the right NOT TO MARK this assignment if the above declaration has NOT BEEN SIGNED and if the above declaration is FOUND TO BE FALSE, appropriate act ion will be taken which would lead to ZERO marks being awarded for this assignment. [pic] ASSIGNMENT MARKING SCHEME CSC2114 E-Commerce Theory and Applications | | | | |NO |DESCRIPTION |SCORE |FULL MARKS | | | | | | |1. |Introduction | |/ 20 | | | | | | |2. |Content | |/ 40 | | | | | | |3. |Advantages & Disadvantages | / 20 | | | | | | |4. |Conclusion | |/ 20 | | | | | | | |TOTAL SCORE | |/ 100 | ———————– Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Kfc-Stratefy for Developing

Kentucky Fried Chicken Strategic Plan-Part One Jeanette Cortez, Autumn Crowther, James Hopper Fernando Manaloto, Joe Newkirk, and Rita Salem International Strategic Planning and Implementation STR/GM 581 March 31, 2011 Dr. Tim Becker, MBA Introduction Kentucky Fried Chicken has been established as a franchise in Latin America and the focus of this plan will be the El Salvador franchise. The strategic management process is vital and a well laid out plan is necessary. Consequently, by evaluating the background of KFC, the outcome should lead to a clear mission and vision statement outlining the purpose and goals of the company.Also, the mission and vision will keep all shareholders informed of the objectives that should be met by KFC. â€Å"Defining the company mission is one of the most often slighted tasks in strategic management† (Pearce II & Robinson Jr. , 2009, p. 42). A mission lays out the organization’s goals and basically specifies the purpose of the organization . Decisions and strategies can be established after environmental scanning is done along with a Situational Analysis (SWOT). The strategic process also involves frequently assessing the industry structure and choosing strategic plan options that help expand global operations.The two chosen strategic options that will be discussed will be product differentiation and cost leadership. This plan should give clarity on how the options and recommendations fit with both the competitive situation and the organizational situation. Background Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) corporation is touted as the â€Å"world’s most popular chicken franchise† (KFC, 2011). KFC serves over 12 million customers in 109 territories and countries throughout the world (KFC, 2011).Famous for its Original Recipe Fried Chicken, there are â€Å"more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world† (KFC, 2011). This company whos e inception was in a gas station back in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders is now owned and operated by Yum! Brands, Incorporated. As of 2008, Yum! had revenues in excess of $11 billion and was ranked #239 on the Fortune 500 list (KFC, 2011). KFC Mission Statement, Vision and Strategy KFC’s Mission Statement is: â€Å"’The Association of KFC Franchisees, Inc. s united to protect, promote and advance the mutual interests of all member franchisees and the Kentucky Fried Chicken system. † (Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, Inc. 2006). KFC’s parent company is Yum! Brands (Yum! ). Yum! ’s vision and strategy is â€Å"committed to continuing the success realized during our first ten years. Our success has only just begun as we look forward to the future, one which promises a long runway for growth, especially on an international level† (Yum! , 2011). KFC El Salvador also falls under Caribbean and Latin America Franchisee Association (CARIBLA).CARIBLA’s mission statement and objectives are â€Å"the mission of the CARIBLA Franchisee Association is to represent, promote, and protect the general interests of all member YUM franchisees in Latin America and the Caribbean† (CARIBLA, 2011). Objectives – Contribute to maintain and improve the profitability the restaurants for the short and long term (supply chain management projects). – Represent the members' interests in different areas. – Defend and protect franchisees contractual rights. – Communicate as one voice with YUM Restaurants International. (Association Mission and Objectives,  para. 1). Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats | |Beneficial |Harmful | |Internal |Strengths |Weaknesses | | |1. Purchase power of consumer is rising. |1. Frachise cost is high. | | |2. More than half of Salvadorans income is spent on food. |2. Competition is high in the industry. | |3. Recognized worldwide brand name (15,000 w orld-wide locations. |3. Small country population. | | |4. Quality and freshness regulated throughout every franchise. | | | |5. Offers choices of local food on menu. | | |External |Opportunities |Threats | | |1. Online Sales assist profits. 1. Foreign products are currently fashionable but interest could | | |2. Introduction of new products. |decrease. | | |3. Expansion due to rising economy (Continual Growth) |2. Economic climate stability. | | |4. Only current location in capital city – San Salvador largest |3. Local suppliers are minimal. | | |hub for travelers. |4. â€Å"Pollo Campero† is a Salvadorian brand and well established | | | |chicken eatery. | | | |4.Many fast food competitors such as Burger King, McDonalds, | | | |Pizza Hut, etc. | Product Differentiation The goal of product differentiation is to increase profits by increasing consumer demand and decreasing the demand of price elasticity. Organizations typically attempt to differentiate their products t hrough physical characteristics, location, service, and subjective image differences. KFC’s product differentiation is most impacted by location, service, and physical characteristics.Consumers value a variety of products and because each consumer has different tastes, the organization will attempt to pry consumers away from current competitors by offering physically differentiated products. KFC must differentiate itself vertically, meaning the company will set itself apart from competitors by the actual quality of its products (Waldman and Jensen,  n. d. ). However, KFC’s management must wisely choose upon its locations. The company’s largest competitor, Pollo Campero, operates in 14 different locations in El Salvador and poses a high threat to the company.In addition to location, an organization’s products are highly differentiated by service. With the presence of Pollo Campero, KFC must not only rely on good food but also provide exceptional customer service that will retain its customer base. Cost Leadership The cost leadership strategy targets a broad market. KFC has developed strong relations with suppliers that use cheap ingredients. Additionally, the organization has the capital required to increase production in assets. While this type of investment represents a barrier to entry that many organizations may not overcome, this is an advantage for the organization.Furthermore, KFC’s flexibility in supply chains, product differentiation, and ease in their productions gives the organizations a competitive edge over its competitors (QuickMBA. com,  2010). Conclusion KFC is based in Louisville, Kentucky and is subsidiary of Yum! Brands, and operates in over 109 countries. A KFC store in El Salvador operates under three mission statements of Yum! , the Association of KFC Franchisees, and CARIBLA. KFC has recognizable strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to be evaluated before further expansion in El Salvador. Product differentiation and cost leadership are advantages that KFC utilizes in edging out competitors. Recommendations KFC has choices to make in expanding in El Salvador. One recommendation is for KFC to contact the lone KFC operator in El Salvador to persuade him/her to open more franchises in San Salvador with a goal of gaining more name recognition to expand into other El Salvadoran cities. KFC’s strengths and name recognition will create more opportunities in El Salvador. Another recommendation is to have the lone franchisee to find out if interest in opening new KFC stores exists among El Salvador’s entrepreneurs.The franchisee could be paid a bonus for recruiting applicants that receive franchise approval. Both of these recommendations depend on KFC equaling or surpassing food quality and customer service of chief rival, Pollo Campero, and by using product differentiation and cost leadership. References Kentucky Fried Chicken (2011). Retrieved from KFC website on March 27, 2011: www. kfc. com. Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, Inc.. (2006). Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, Inc.. Retrieved from http://www. kfcf. com/history. htm CARIBLA Franchisee Association. (2011). CARIBLA. Retrieved from website on March 28, 2011: http://www. caribla. com/association_mission. htm Pearce II, J. A. , ; Robinson Jr. , R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed. ). Waldman and Jensen. (n. d. ). Product Differentiation ; Strategy. Retrieved from http://courses. umass. edu/resec732/docs/Waldman%20and%20Jensen%20Chapter%2013. pdf QuickMBA. com. (2010). Strategic Management. Retrieved from

How was the plot to kill president Garfield created and carried out Essay

How was the plot to kill president Garfield created and carried out Please use specific examples from book - Essay Example He had a very high means of opining about himself. He felt that he deserved to get a very powerful job in United States, and James Garfield was in the best position to offer him that job (Millard 2012). However, the president did not offer him his wish; so he plotted to assassinate him. Charles Guiteau was a republican like James Garfield and Ulysses Grant. Prior to the elections of 1880, James Garfield and Ulysses Grant were running for the presidency and James Garfield won the Republican nomination to face Democrat Winfield S. Hancock in the general elections. Guiteau had engaged in several ventures before joining politics. He then supported the Republican presidential candidate James Garfield after his favourite Stalwart candidate Ulysses Grant lost in the nomination. Stalwart was a Republican faction allied to the former president Ulysses Grant. The other faction was Half-Breeds led by President Garfield. The vice president Arthur who later took over as president after the assassination of President Grant was a Stalwart. Guiteau wrote a speech called Grant vs. Hancock which he later changed to Garfield vs. Hancock in support of Garfield (Millard 2012). He later said that his intention was to unite the two factions of the Republican Party; and one of the reasons why he murdered the president is because he thought it was the best way to resolve the divisions in the Republican Party which, according to him, were caused by President Garfield. With these political sacrifices he made, Charles Guiteau hoped that the Republican government would offer him a good job. He aimed at a diplomatic post in Vienna, and later asked for the same position in Paris. During the 1880 campaign he was all over the Republican headquarters in New York City seeking rewards for his efforts which he believed to have caused the narrow win of Garfield over Hancock. Later after the inauguration of Garfield in March 5, 1881, he went to the White House in Washington and

Sport Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sport Development - Essay Example At the same time, we find that the level of participation of children in sports is not evenly distributed within a populace; some children participate more in sports than others. Some of the variables observed with the participation of children include the sex of the child, the social background from where the child comes and the class of the child. The United Kingdom after realizing the importance of the participation of the children in sports implemented a policy that would ensure all children participate in sports. They considered the differences in the household's economic and social status thus came up with the notion of the importance of all the children to participate in sporting activities. This led to the giving of a number of incentives to the willing but unable children probably as a result of economic difficulties to participate in sporting activities. The family, in its central role of bearing and nurturing the children, has a great role it plays in the determination of the sports inclination of the children. This is so because of various factors that affects the family in the promotion of their children's participation in sports. The issues of economic and moral support arise within the family and they impact on the children's inclination towards sports. In general, the participation of children in sports is affected by a complex association of factors that in most of the time work within the family to either offer a chance for the children to participate or to pose as a stumbling block towards the participation of the children in sports. The focus of this paper is to look at the effects that the factors within the family have to do with the participation of children in sports. Main body The family has acted as a means of socialization in sports. The family especially the parents have been known to influence the participation of children in sports in their early childhood. The parents may either prevent their children from participating in sports by explicitly instructing their children not to engage in sports for one reason or another or encourage them to do so by instructing them to do so. At the same time, parents influence the type of the sports their children engage in by asking them to participate in the sports of their own liking and discouraging them from engaging in the kind of sports that may not appeal to them. The amount of time taken for the children to participate in sports is in more often than not regulated by the parents (Hylton and Braham 2008p7). This shows the great influence that the parents have on the development of sports in their children in their early ages. This period in life has been known to be a very crucial time period when the child i s learning the basics of life and therefore, any information relented to the children either through implication or explicit instructions at this period in their lives are stored within their mental faculties and judged as the right thing or approach to take within a course. In the course of this socialization into sports, the skills required for successful participation into the particular sports of the parents choice; ideas, coordination, stamina, speed power, attitude and agility, are developed. This then may make the children take up the sports or sporting activities that are influenced by their

Ethics of Rationing Healthcare for the Aging Research Paper

Ethics of Rationing Healthcare for the Aging - Research Paper Example Over time, statistics designate that maximum life span has improved from 103 in 1978 to 122 years in 1997 (Vaupel, 2010). It is not indistinguishable with the natural life expectancy. In reality, natural lifespan is susceptible to infections, viciousness, or calamities while maximum lifespan depends on the proportion of aging. In ‘Just Health; Meeting Health Need Fairly’, Norman Daniels argues that age rationing is an ethically allowable approach to handle the complications society experiences, for instance, scarce resources. He argues that age rationing should not be paralleled to discernment. When there are limited alternatives, choices must be thought out appropriately. Habitually, such choices affect others positively and others negatively. Age rationing is one way of making these choices. However, detractors discard Daniels commonsensical lifespan account on grounds that it undercuts egalitarianism. She argues on the foundation of capability theory. In this theory, everybody capabilities should be maintained at threshold level that is satisfactory for all human beings. From this argument, life extending upkeep for those who have reached normal lifespan can be repudiated. Those who maintain that age percipience is not as good as to race discernment or any other system of discrimination consider that everybody will become timeworn sooner or later. This is the validation of age discrimination. For that reason, apportioning resources based on age will value everybody in the long run. With racial discrimination, there are no adequate reasons or justification of apportionment of resources to one race and refuting the other. Racial discrimination means that those who are victimized against will forever lose. In contrast, in age discrimination, everybody benefits ultimately. On the other hand, those who are strongly divergent to this perspective maintain that distribution based on full life

Operation Management - Maritime, Oil Spills Research Paper

Operation Management - Maritime, Oil Spills - Research Paper Example Discussion Oil spillage has extreme negative impacts on the environment in terms of pollution. This affects the communities that heavily depend on water for their lively hoods and their survival. The most directly affected by oil spills are the marine plants and animals because they live in the same environment that spillage takes place. Spillage can be as a result of oil seeping from the underwater reservoir, accidents of ships carrying oil and also from land sources. The sea animals are subject to both indirect and direct repercussions of oil spillage. According to Neff (2002), some of the direct effects include; inhalation problems, which commonly affect whales, dolphins and sea turtles. These animals require oxygen for their survival. They animals usually come to the water surface constantly to inhale oxygen. The inhalation of dangerous materials can cause irritation, pneumonia or inflammation of their respiratory organs. Negative impacts can also be felt on their digestion mecha nisms where these animals are unable to either digest or absorb food. Human beings are also directly affected by oil spills. When oil spills, it creates a vapor in the air which is as a result of evaporation of oil in the air since oil is a semi –volatile product. ... Oil spill also affects mangrove trees whose rate of growth tends to be slow when their prop roots are covered with oil (Burger, 1994). Oil spillage has posed a very significant challenge on fisheries which also acts as a food reservoir. Oil spills has affected the genetics of some fish which has affected their egg bearing. Oil spillage may also lead to extinction of certain types of fish in the sea in the near future which may lead to the closure of fisheries if several types of fish become extinct in the sea. Oil spills may cause loss of color on fish and lead to their loss of weight the reasons that may cause fishing to be closed for some time because this fish will be unfit for human consumption thereby causing food shortage (Neff, 2002). Boats and other sea vessels are prone to destruction because of running on viscous and thick layers of oil which have resulted from oil leaked from pipes in the underwater. Some thick oil globules present in the water due to oil spillage may be s ucked in the boat’s systems, which definitely affect the functioning of the boat due to the fact that all systems draw water into the boat near the surface. For it to function well, a very strategic cleanup process is used to disperse and manage the mess. Many ships, boats and other sea vessels may tend to avoid their travelling schedules until the oil spillages under control thus causing congestion of traffic and goods to be transported (Burger, 1994). Trade may also be adversely affected by oil spillage due to various factors. One of factors may be due to interruption of transportation lines where boats and other marine vessels may fail to operate due to oil

Alternative Pain Therapy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8750 words

Alternative Pain Therapy - Research Paper Example Tragedies that could otherwise been avoided have motivated me to do the research and study options of minimizing pain and assess whether they are better compared to the conventional methods being used. I would like to acknowledge my friends and family for their unwavering support throughout the research time. I would also like to thank and acknowledge my course professor and supervisor whose support and guidance really helped me to successfully complete this research paper. Abstract This project was titled alternative chronic pain treatments due to the idea that came up to me as result of the several tragic fatalities linked to analgesics that have occurred. Analgesics have been used to treat pains for quite a long time, but an incident in Afghanistan where a soldier massacred seventeen people due to side effects of the drug raised lots of concern. The literature review will further look at the various researches that have been associated with the side effects of analgesics. Differen t statistical reports and researches are illustrated in the literature review to back up these numerous theories. The motivation for this paper was large due to the fact that when solving a problem, there is always the endeavor to make the situation better than it was. However, this was not the case for the analgesics. As we will see in the literature review, soldiers are tremendously being affected by side effects of analgesics. From this observation, it can be said authoritatively that the study into the alternative pain relief methods is justified. The methodology went ahead and used descriptive statistical technique for its reliability and for the fact that it can be used comprehensively with both qualitative and quantitative statistical techniques. This gave room for the data to be collected through the various ways associated to the two different techniques. The data collection was done through structured questionnaires that were well pre-tested and administered to the target population. The data analysis was performed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and the data presented using tables and figures. CHAPTER ONE Introduction Pain in human bodies always reflects an injury that requires medical attention and care. The nervous system is triggered to send information and alert the brain of a possible injury within the body. On the other hand, chronic pain is a very persistent and constant pain that never goes, it keeps occurring causing a lot of discomfort and inconvenience to an individual (National Institute of Health, 2013). Body pain causes a lot of discomfort to an individual irrespective of the short period of time they may take. Therefore, constant and repeatedly painful occurrence such as chronic pains should be addressed with the seriousness they deserve. Effective methods of handling the pain and helping the affected people feel relieved and better is indispensable (National Institu

Consumer Behaivour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer Behaivour - Essay Example For an example, laptop computers have become necessity for the modern tech savvy people. The buying behaviour or an individual is controlled by many factors some of the major factors are price, quality, reputation and many more. Lifestyle is another major factor which influences the buying behaviour of an individual. It has been seen that many time a same person changes his or her buying attitude according to the lifestyle (O'Shaughnessy: 1995). The factors which influence the buying process can be categorised into two major factors and they are internal factors and the external factors. These two factors are closely related to each other. However, the external factors come from the market and these factors are created by the marketers with great marketing and branding effects. The internal factors are the behavioural traits of the individuals. I am clear about these factors which have forced or rather helped me to take the final buying decision. I have understood the behavioural tra its of my buying behaviour with the thorough study of the may last ten prominent buys. I have realised that most of the products which I have bought are all branded and high end products. Some of them are highly expensive and top of the line products. I have also realised that I take sudden decisions about buying while I love the product. For an example, I bought Tom Ford (Bois Marocain) Perfume from David Jones as I liked the perfume. The aroma made me obsessed about the perfume so I bought it in a sudden manner while I was not at all thinking of buying a perfume. This shows that I am not majorly influenced by the price factor but I am influenced by the emotion. The factor analysis: The personal behaviour and perceptions create a lot of sense at the time of buying process. The personal traits are the major factors to execute the buying decisions. The individual perceptions towards products vary due to many internal factors like attitude, status, perception, lust and many other fact ors. However, to identify my buying behaviour I would like to take the help of the factor analysis of my behavioural traits towards buying relations. Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory: Famous psychologist Gordon Allport (1961) realised that there are majorly three trait factors which help to understand the human nature or the uniqueness of the individuals. And these three factors are central traits, secondary traits and the cardinal traits (Pastorino, and Doyle-Portillo: 2008). The central traits: The central traits focus on the behavioural factors which can be treated as the general nature of an individual. For an example if a person is friendly in most of the situation then the friends would take his friendly behaviour as the central trait. Same way in case of buying the openness and price sensitive nature can make the central traits of the person towards the buying behaviour. In this case my central trait is to buy products which are upgraded in nature and branded offcourse. T he price sensitivity is not at all the central trait of my buying behaviour. From the VAIO notebook to the YSL bag, Bobby Brown cosmetics to iPhone 4 each of them are the top of the line products. The luxury is another primary trait which controls my buying behaviour. Raymond Cattell’s factor analysis: Raymond Cattell introduced the statistical technique to identify the different

Sustainability-Led Marketing in Whole Foods Market Essay

Sustainability-Led Marketing in Whole Foods Market - Essay Example It is therefore directed to the market but also focuses on the environment. Sustainability-led marketing is characterised as due to influence of different influencing factors. In a questionnaire carried out, Whole Foods Market was asked to state the extent to which each stakeholder in terms of socio-ecological aspects has influenced their marketing(Mohr, 2011). Internal and external influences in Whole Foods Market lead to sustainable marketing. Internal influence in Whole Foods Market towards sustainable marketing include the public exposure of the company’s sales, market share, brand awareness, number of employees and the mandatory disclosure of company data. Sales per volume in Whole Foods Market and the number of employees working in company influences sustainable-led marketing. It is observed that Whole Foods Market is correlated with sustainable-led marketing strategies (Martin, Diane, and John Schouten, 2012). It is assumed that when sustainable products escape the market slot, the market extent of the company was less important thus serves as a driver towards the marketing. Therefore, it can be said that the structure of Whole Foods Market companies is borne in mind Market shares and brand awareness has beneficial performance towards sustainable-led marketing. Large market share and brand awareness as Public exposure is interpreted as an influencing factor towards sustainable-led marketing. Whole Foods Market Company need to disclose their data to consumers to the highest extent. This is a drive towards sustainable-led marketing where Whole Foods Market discloses their data to the consumers on a regular basis (Emery, 2012). Internal stakeholders i.e. the owner of the Whole Foods Market Company, its top managers, and shareholders in Whole Foods Market provide a drive towards sustainable-led marketing strategies. The top management of companies are the

Working in teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Working in teams - Essay Example As we progressed, there were a series of in-group conflicts especially due to conflict of ideas as some members wanted their ideas to get priority than others. With time, such conflicts were resolved and the members grew closer leading to achievement of great cohesion. ï » ¿Trust was also an important component in our team development as proposed by Bass and Ryterband (1979) since it allowed our team members to slowly learn to accept the group norms, virtues and values thereby enhancing conformity. This move was essential in assisting us to have a common voice as a team and also in minimizing resistance and conflicts while ensuring effective coordination that allowed for successful presentation delivery (Bass & Ryterband 1979). Team Tasks were assigned based on Meredith Belbin’s Team Roles Theory in terms of the behavioural strengths and weaknesses (Henry & Stevens 1999). The content of the presentation was divided among members in small chunks in order to merge it after individual contribution. Members were delegated individual tasks by the leader based on observation of their behaviour to identify who is better in what area. This enabled us to compensate for each other’s weaknesses while improving our strengths. As such, we were able to ensure that each member made a contribution to the final output. Participating in the group taught me a lot of skills and gave me experiences I didn’t have before. I learnt the importance of interpersonal skills, trust, communication skills, empathy, listening skills among others. According to Brooks (1993), teams have emerged to be essential pillars of most organizations and, therefore, relevant skills are required since even the most brilliant person can miss out for lack of such skills. Furthermore, working in teams enabled us to establish a sense of belonging due to formation of

The Ghosts of My Lai Essay Example for Free

The Ghosts of My Lai Essay Sometimes events in a person’s life can have dramatic effects long after the incident is over. If the problems are serious enough, psychological and mental imbalances can occur. Such is the case with John Wade. His participation in the My Lai massacre in Vietnam never leaves his consciousness. It haunts him in the forms of dreams and affects his self perception and behavior. Ultimately, it casts upon him the suspicion of murder. Throughout the details of John and Kathy’s days at the cabin, John’s nights are troubled by dreams of his time in Vietnam. He dreams of shooting his trenchmate and of other amorphous yet frightening memories. His lack of sleep and the anxiety these dreams cause haunt him during the day as well. His mutterings of â€Å"Kill Jesus† are a concise manifestation of this problem. Other than the dreams, John still internalizes his persona as a sorcerer. From his childhood, John turned to magic to make his problems disappear, or as he notes, â€Å"where he could turn bad things into good things and just be happy† (O’Brien 66). His father’s taunts at his weight and his father’s alcoholism were made easier to bear by his ability to perform tricks. When he goes to Vietnam, he internalizes his role as the magician even more and is given the nickname Sorcerer by his platoon mates. However, when he cannot make all the death and destruction disappear, the doubts begin to creep in. He accidentally kills one of his own men, makes him disappear, and this constantly affects him through dreams. Later, in the My Lai massacre, he adopts the name Sorcerer himself, perhaps as a way to disengage himself from the murders he was committing and from his ultimate crimes. Once home, he continues this need to control. He creeps around and spies on Kathy while she is at college, deriving a sordid feeling of power from this secrecy. He acknowledges that â€Å"The trick then was to be vigilant. He would guard his advantage. The secrets would remain secret – the things he’d seen, the things he’s done. He would repair what he could, he would endure, he would go from year to year without letting on that there were tricks† (O’Brien 46). It sounds as if John cannot separate his experience with death and fear in the war with his fear that his wife will somehow leave him. These feelings followed them throughout their lives, never letting up. Alcoholism also impeded upon their lives. He refuses psychiatric help. Infidelity and the ghosts of Vietnam eventually erupt to the surface, ruining John’s political career. He finds he has lost control of his life, and with the disappearance of his wife, of Kathy herself. At the end, he loses himself, leaving only speculation of what could have happened to his wife. The stress that Wade endured in Vietnam, particularly his role in the My Lai massacre, coupled with the dysfunction in his relationship with his father all led to a frightened but controlling husband in John Wade. The mystery continues.

Functional Relationship Network Architecture

Functional Relationship Network Architecture A computer network, is referred to as a network, it is a harvest of computers and instruments interconnected via communication channels that enables communications among users and permits users to allocated resources. Networks may be classified according to a wide range of characteristics. A computer network permits sharing of resources and knowledge among interconnected devices. Fig1:Block diagram of computer network Connection method Computer networks can be classified according to the hardware and software engineering that is accustomed to interconnect the individual devices in the network, such as optical fiber, Ethernet, wireless LAN. Functional relationship (network architecture) Computer networks may be classified according to the functional relationships which exist among the elements of the network, e.g., active networking, client-server and peer-to-peer architecture. Network topology Computer networks may be classified according to the network topology upon which the network is grounded, such as bus network, star network, ring network, mesh network. Network topology is the coordination by which tools in the network are organized in their rational family members to one another, independent of physical arrangement. Even if networked computers are physically placed in a linear arrangement and are joined combined to a hub, the network has a star topology, alternatively a bus topology. In this regard the visual and operational aspects of a network are distinct. Networks may be classified grounded on the process of knowledge adapted to carry the data; these include digital and analog networks. Fig2. Mesh topology Fig3. Star Topology Fig4. Ring topology What is a firewall? Fig5. firewall A firewall is a component of a computer system or network that is arranged to avoid unauthorized access where letting agent communications. It is a implement or set of tools that is configured to sanction or turn down network transmissions grounded upon a set of administers and other criteria. Firewalls can be implemented in either hardware or software, or a combination of two. Firewalls are commonly adapted to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks joined combined to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or withdrawing the intranet surpass through the firewall, which inspects each outcome and prevents those that do not find the specified protection criteria. There are several types of firewall techniques: Packet filter: Packet filtering checks each packet that is passing through the network and accepts or refuses it based on particular IP addresses that is user defined. Although difficult to configure, it is effective and mostly transparent to its users. It is vulnerable to Internet Protocol spoofing. Fig6. Packet filters This type of packet filtering pays no heed to if a packet is part of an older stream of traffic (i.e. it stores no information on connection state). Instead, it filters each packet based only on information contained in the packet itself . TCP and UDP protocols consists most communication over the net, and because TCP and UDP traffic by convention uses well known ports for some types of traffic, a stateless packet filter can differentiate between, and hence control, those types of traffic (such as web browsing, remote printing, email transmission, file transfer), untill the machines on each side of the packet filter are both using the same non-standard ports. Packet filtering firewalls work mainly on the initial three layers of the OSI reference model, which means most of the work is done in between the network and physical layers, with a little bit of peeking into the transport layer to find out source and destination port numbers. When a packet originates from the sender and filters through a firewall, the device finds matches to any of the packet filtering rules that are configured in the firewall and removes or rejects the packet accordingly. When the packet goes through the firewall, it checks the packet on a protocol/port number basis (GSS). Application gateway: Applies security mechanisms to some applications, such as FTP server. This is effective, but can degrade the performance Fig7.OSI reference model The benefit of application layer filtering is that it can understand applications and protocols and it can also detect if an unwanted protocol is sneaking through on a non-standard port or if a protocol is being used in any harmful way. An application firewall more secure and reliable as compared to packet filter firewalls as it works on all 7 layers of the OSI reference model, from the application to the physical layer. This is similar to a packet filter firewall but here it also filters information on the basis of content. In 2009/2010 the focus of the best comprehensive firewall security vendors turned to expanding the list of applications such firewalls are aware of now covering hundreds and in some cases thousands of applications which can be identified automatically. Many of these applications can not only be blocked or allowed but copied by the more advanced firewall products to allow only certain functionally enabling network security administrations to give users functionality without enabling unnecessary vulnerabilities. As a consequence these advanced versions of the Second Generation firewalls are being referred to as Next Generation and bypass the Third Generation firewall. It is expected that due to malicious communications this trend will have to continue to enable organizations to be truly secure. Third generation: stateful filters Fig8. Stateful filter Third-generation firewalls, in addition to what first- and second-generation look for, regard placement of each packet within the packet series. This technology is generally referred to as a stateful packet inspection as it maintains records of all connections going through the firewall and is able to determine whether a packet is the start of a new connection, a part of an existing connection, or is an invalid packet. Though there is still a set of defined rules in such a firewall, the state of a connection can itself be one of the criteria which trigger specific rules. This type of firewall can actually be exploited by certain Denial-of-service attacks which can fill the connections with illegitimate connections. Circuit-level gateway: Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established. Once the connection has been done, packets can go between the hosts without checking further. Stateful filters Fig8. Stateful filter Third-generation firewalls, in addition to what first- and second-generation look for, regard placement of each packet within the packet series. This technology is referred to as a stateful packet inspection as it maintains records of all connections going through the firewall and is able to determine whether a packet is the start of a new connection, a part of an existing connection, or is an invalid packet. Though there is still a set of static rules in such a firewall, the state of a connection can itself be one of the criteria which trigger specific rules. This type of firewall can actually be abused by some Denial-of-service attacks which can fill the connection tables with false connections. Proxy servers Checks all messages entering and leaving the network. The proxy server hides the right network addresses. Fig9.Proxy server In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, asking for some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource, available from a different server. The proxy server processes the request according to its filtering rules. For example, it may filter traffic by IP address. If the request is passed by the filter, the proxy provides the resource by connecting to the relevant server and requesting the service on behalf of the client. A proxy server may alter the clients request or the servers response, and sometimes it may pass the request without contacting the specified server. In this case, it caches responses from the remote server, and sends back subsequent requests for the same content directly. Types of proxy Forward proxies Fig10.Forward proxies A forward proxy taking requests from an internal network and forwarding them to the Internet. Forward proxies are proxies where the client server names the target server to connect to. Forward proxies are able to get from a wide range of sources. The terms forward proxy and forwarding proxy are a general description of behavior (forwarding traffic) and hence ambiguous. Except for Reverse proxy, the types of proxies described on this article are more specialized sub-types of the general forward proxy concepts. Open proxies Fig11.Open proxies An open proxy forwarding requests from and to anywhere on the Internet. An open proxy is a forward proxy server that is accessible by any Internet user. Gordon Lyon estimates there are hundreds of thousands of open proxies on the Internet. An anonymous open proxy allows users to conceal their IP address while browsing the Web or using other Internet services. Reverse proxies Fig12.Reverse proxies A reverse proxy taking requests from the Internet and forwarding them to servers in an internal network. Those making requests connect to the proxy and may not be aware of the internal network. A reverse proxy is a proxy server that appears to clients to be an ordinary server. Requests are forwarded to one or more origin servers which handle the request. The response is returned as if it came directly from the proxy server. Reverse proxies are installed in the neighborhood of one or more web servers. All traffic coming from the Internet and with a destination of one of the web servers goes through the proxy server. The use of reverse originates in its counterpart forward proxy since the reverse proxy sits closer to the web server and serves only a restricted set of websites. There are several reasons for installing reverse proxy servers: Encryption / SSL acceleration: when secure web sites are created, the SSL encryption is often not done by the web server itself, but by a reverse proxy that is equipped with SSL acceleration hardware. See Secure Sockets Layer. Furthermore, a host can provide a single SSL proxy to provide SSL encryption for an arbitrary number of hosts; removing the need for a separate SSL Server Certificate for each host, with the downside that all hosts behind the SSL proxy have to share a common DNS name or IP address for SSL connections. This problem can partly be overcome by using the SubjectAltName feature of X.509 certificates. Load balancing: the reverse proxy can distribute the load to several web servers, each web server serving its own application area. In such a case, the reverse proxy may need to rewrite the URLs in each web page (translation from externally known URLs to the internal locations). Serve/cache static content: A reverse proxy can offload the web servers by caching static content like pictures and other static graphical content. Compression: the proxy server can optimize and compress the content to speed up the load time. Spoon feeding: reduces resource usage caused by slow clients on the web servers by caching the content the web server sent and slowly spoon feeding it to the client. This especially benefits dynamically generated pages. Security: the proxy server is an additional layer of defense and can protect against some OS and Web Server specific attacks. However, it does not provide any protection to attacks against the web application or service itself, which is generally considered the larger threat. Extranet Publishing: a reverse proxy server facing the Internet can be used to communicate to a firewalled server internal to an organization, providing extranet access to some functions while keeping the servers behind the firewalls. If used in this way, security measures should be considered to protect the rest of your infrastructure in case this server is compromised, as its web application is exposed to attack from the Internet. VPN A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure such as the Internet to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organizations network. It aims to avoid an expensive system of owned or leased lines that can be used by only one organization. It encapsulates data transfers between two or more networked devices which are not on the same private network so as to keep the transferred data private from other devices on one or more intervening local or wide area networks. There are many different classifications, implementations, and uses for VPNs. Fig13 VPN Vulnerabilities:- Unauthorized access: This simply means that people who shouldnt use your computer services are able to connect and use them. For example, people outside your company might try to connect to your company accounting machine or to your network file server. There are various ways to avoid this attack by carefully specifying who can gain access through these services. You can prevent network access to all except the intended users. Exploitation of known weaknesses: Some programs and network services were not originally designed with strong security in mind and are inherently vulnerable to attack. The BSD remote services (rlogin, rexec, etc.) are an example. The best way to protect yourself against this type of attack is to disable any vulnerable services or find alternatives. With Open Source, it is sometimes possible to repair the weaknesses in the software. Denial of service: Denial of service attacks cause the service or program to cease functioning or prevent others from making use of the service or program. These may be performed at the network layer by sending carefully crafted and malicious datagrams that cause network connections to fail. They may also be performed at the application layer, where carefully crafted application commands are given to a program that cause it to become extremely busy or stop functioning. Preventing suspicious network traffic from reaching your hosts and preventing suspicious program commands and requests are the best ways of minimizing the risk of a denial of service attack. Its useful to know the details of the attack method, so you should educate yourself about each new attack as it gets publicized. Spoofing: This type of attack causes a host or application to mimic the actions of another. Typically the attacker pretends to be an innocent host by following IP addresses in network packets. For example, a well-documented exploit of the BSD rlogin service can use this method to mimic a TCP connection from another host by guessing TCP sequence numbers. To protect against this type of attack, verify the authenticity of datagrams and commands. Prevent datagram routing with invalid source addresses. Introduce unpredictability into connection control mechanisms, such as TCP sequence numbers and the allocation of dynamic port addresses. Eavesdropping: This is the simplest type of attack. A host is configured to listen to and capture data not belonging to it. Carefully written eavesdropping programs can take usernames and passwords from user login network connections. Broadcast networks like Ethernet are especially vulnerable to this type of attack Here are a few examples of firewalls :- Untangle Fortiguard Netnanny Websense ClearOS These firewalls can be affected by the above vulnerabilities. One way how a firewall/web filter can be bypassed is by using VPN. As studied above we can VPN to some external network and use that network. So we can bypass the firewall by doing VPN to a remote network and using its default gateway. Below are the precise steps how to setup a VPN server, Client, AD and LB configurations. Complete VPN Configuration Below is the complete procedure on how to setup VPN server and client side Note:- Windows XP and Windows 7 both have the capability to act as VPN servers VPN Server Configuration Open Network connections and follow the below :- Click next on the welcome page Select the options highlighted in the below snags :- Once you have followed the steps above you are done with the server side configuration. VPN Client Configuration Below snags show the client side configuration Once the above steps are followed the client side is also setup The work is still not over Port Forward Port needs to be forwarded from the modem/LB etc Follow the instructions below to get it rolling :- Dial in Rights on AD The final step is to give the user permissions to VPN First RDP to the AD Login Open Active Directory Find the user and go in properties Follow the snag it once the above is done :- The best firewall:- According to the first hand experience we found Untangle to be the best firewall as it is free and has a host of functions too. Below is a screenshot of the untangle dashboard:- Fig14. Untangle dashboard Conclusion:- Our aim was to explain what a firewall is and expose a few vulnerabilities in it. We have studied how a firewall works, its architecture, types of firewalls and vulnerabilities. We have thus compared the firewalls on various parameters and have concluded that Untangle is the best firewall with reference to the features and cost of it.

Effects of the Type of Training Models on Job Motivation

Effects of the Type of Training Models on Job Motivation Service industry is now focusing more and more on providing valuable training opportunities to its employees in order to improve the quality of its services and benchmarking them as its competitive advantage. This research has attempted to understand the effects of the Business Embedded Training Model and the Traditional Training Model on employees job motivation. A sample of 80 organizations and 1000 respondents was taken and Group t-Test and Log Linear Logit techniques were used to evaluate that which training model is preferred over the other by the service industry and which training model has more positive effects on employees job motivation. The study revealed that Business Embedded Training Model has more positive effects on employees motivation than the Traditional Training Model. Key words: Training, Motivation, Performance, Employee Satisfaction INTRODUCTION In nearly every modern market a large portion of the business world provides training and development opportunities to their employees to improve the level of their performances, thereby adding value to their company growth and success (McDougall Beattie, 1998). One of the noticeable issues with training is the question on why do people need training? Are they interested in training for monetary benefits/growth opportunity/self realization? Does training really impact positively on motivation? Practically all employees receive some form of training during their job. Certainly, individuals rely on training to develop their existing skill sets and to learn new proficiencies. However, to maximize the benefits of training, researchers and practitioners must know more than whether it worked. Many authors have called for greater research attention to understanding why training works. In particular, several have suggested that developing a better understanding of participants training rela ted motivation would provide useful insights into a neglected area related to training effectiveness (Mathieu, Tannenbaum Salas, 1992). Training motivation is always considered to function side by side as any one of it cannot work without the support of the other one. Knowing the relevant dimensions of employee motivational information is vital to anyone concerned with organizational performance, as it gives the ability to make objective assessments of what people expects from their employment. Whether it is formulating personal policy, strategic plans, or reengineering processes, keeping employees motivated is necessary to reach goals of productivity and efficiency (Turkiewicz, Massey Brown, 1998). The problem discussed in this paper is the Effects of Business Embedded Traditional training models on employees job motivation since the way training is provided has a very significant effect on employees job motivation. In order to address the concerned problem the following two hypotheses are tested H1: Business Embedded Training Model has a higher level of preference in the service industry than the Traditional Training Model. H2: Business Embedded Training Model has more positive effects on employees job motivation than the Traditional Training Model LITERATURE REVIEW In this new era of learning and development, organizations success and competitiveness mainly depends upon continually improving performance by reducing cost, improving and creating new products and process, enhancing quality and productivity, increasing speed to be the first to the market and all aspects of the organization must demonstrate their ability to positively impact performance (Wells, Layne Allen, 1991). Nevertheless many practices of human resource management are implied in the development of internal as well as external resources, but training is considered to be a vital activity in order to have well qualified, flexible and well prepared human capital to achieve the higher standards of performances. According to various authors, training is considered as one of the most significant processes in the Human Resources Management functions in the organizations. It plays a critical role in maintaining and developing the capabilities of both individual employees and the organ ization as a whole and in contributing to the vital process of organizational change as well. At present the business world is characterized, among other things, by an increasing competitiveness, market globalization, continual technological advances and changes in work organization; therefore, the survival of a company implies the prosecution of sustainable competitive advantages and theories placing the origin of these advantages outside the company are now losing validity in the interest of those centered on internal elements, especially the theory of resources and capacities (Sa ´nchez, Arago Sanz-Valle, 2003). So keeping in view the prime importance of training, organizations triumph mainly depends upon continually improving its performance levels by making training as a permanent factor in the development of the organization so that it can demonstrate its ability to positively impact its performance. Considering the significance of training is not only important but it is also critical to know that what kind and how much of training is required for a particular job function. In considering what adequate training is, we need to determine who should be trained, what areas of training should be covered, what methods and resources can be used, and who should conduct the training (Hoff, 1970). The prime importance of training can be viewed from the point of view of a company, in a way that the employee training truly starts to pay off once it can see the impact of its investment translated into increased productivity. The value of a company automatically rises when an employee is able to successfully put into practice the skills he or she has acquired from training. Any business with the willingness to invest in employee development and training, enjoy great results and satisfactions both in the short and long terms (Valle, Martin, Romero, Dolan, 2004). Understanding the phenomenon of employee training and development requires understanding of all the changes that take place as a result of learning. As the generator of new knowledge, employee training and development is placed within a broader strategic context of human resources management. The strategic procedure of employee training and development needs to encourage creativity, ensure inventiveness and shape the entire organizational knowledge that provides the organization with uniqueness and differentiates it from the others (VemiĆ¡, 2007). Employee training and development does not mean only to obtain new knowledge, abilities and skills, but also the possibility to promote a learning culture, introduce employees to changes, encourage the changes of their approach, introduce the employees to important business decisions and involve them actively in the process of decision making (Sa ´nchez, Arago Sanz-Valle, 2003). Usually, the point of training is to ensure that employees can successfully delivers of what is expected of their jobs. The business situation as of today has changed drastically, with severe strain on organizations to stay ahead of their competition through improvement enhancement (Cauwenbergh Cool, 2000). In the view of the above, in order to contribute to the companys success, training activities should help the company achieve its business strategy by developing the necessary skills and the knowledge required to raise the standard of performance of the individual employee. The link between business strategy and individual performance occurs in part through organizational capacity to create and embed people process along a number of dimensions: vertical linkage (to create alignment with short term business needs); horizontal linkage (to create cohesion); and temporary linkage (to perform to meet future needs) (Gartton, Hailey, Stiles Truss, 1999). So by linking training with th e adopted business strategies can greatly help employees to develop necessary skills and knowledge needed to perform their jobs effectively, which directly affects the required business needs and giving them such opportunities to improve and develop their businesses for future obstacles. According to various research studies, in order to train the employees the management first must create a learning culture or a learning organization and then do the transfer of training which can be described as a systemic organization which has the capacity to change adapt in difficult situations. Learning and development is usually conceived of as an individual phenomenon, and it is true that beneficiaries and practitioners can learn as individuals. If the process of organizational learning and development does not take place, organizations cannot alter/adapt to new circumstances as they develop. To avoid this state of affairs, the organizations need to explore ways to originate, motivate and en courage the learning and development not only to certain individuals but also on the part of the organization as a whole (VemiĆ¡, 2007). Explanation of the Effects of Business Embedded and Traditional Training Models on motivation: The Business Embedded Model is characterized by five competencies: Strategic Direction, Product Design, Structural Versatility, Product Delivery and Accountability for results. The most noticeable difference between the BE function and a traditional training department is its structure. Model to study the Effects of Business Embedded Traditional Training models on Motivation: Strategic Direction Program Structure Versatility Training Program Design Training Delivery Accountability for training outcomes Employee Motivation Levels [Source: S.S Mcintosh, Envisioning Virtual Training Organizations. Training Development (May 1995):47, Book (), Chapter 2, page 78-79. Please note that the above figure is modified as per the Research problem.] The traditional training organization trends to operate with a fixed staff of trainers and administrators who perform very specific functions such as instructional design. Whereas, the BE function makes sure that the training process is delivered, well communicated and the resources are shared (Noe, 1996). For the understanding of the effects of the two models, motivation is considered to be a prime cause. It helps to understand more clearly every element of the model at the strategic level, design level, delivery level, structural level and finally at the accountability of the training outcomes. (a). Strategic Direction A brief historical review of the literature suggests that many changes have taken place in the corporate orientation and strategy followed by corresponding changes in the training provided by the firms to their employees (Valle, Martin, Romero Dolan, 2000). Technological, economic, and social changes are causing organizations to depend more and more on training to accomplish their objectives. Business objectives are accomplished when training practices, procedures, and systems are developed and implemented based on organizational needs, that is, when a strategic perspective to training and development is adopted (Baird Meshoulam, 1988). In this era of continuous changes developments a flexible strategic direction of a company helps it to effectively run its activities (such as production, finance, marketing, HR others) to fulfill certain needs, objectives to reach specific goals that the organization desires. Strategic arrangement of training and development directly encourages organizational business goals and objectives. By working from a point of view of the intended strategic initiative an individual gradually learns new skills and develop new business relationships, thereby acquiring new human and social capital (Lovas Ghoshal, 2000). A strategic direction of a company should clearly communicates its objectives of training and ultimately provide solutions that could cater the real needs of the customer. To a company in order to achieve its true potential from its strategic direction, top management ensures their undivided attention (Simon, 1993). (b). Training Program Design When managing any training process, it is very important that company leaders work closely with functional departmental heads and Human Resources personnel in a systematic approach to training (Sa ´nchez, Arago Sanz-Valle, 2003). A comprehensive review of the subject material (and subject matter experts) is also crucial. Goals and performance objectives must be well set, and a plan to analyze the training should be developed. Instructional materials and strategies must be acquired, prepared, and pre-tested (Rouda Kusy,1996). Designing of a training program involves a series of steps that can be grouped into stages like needs assessment, instructional objectives, design, realization and final valuation. To be effective and well-organized, all training programs must begin with a needs assessment. Long before any actual training occurs, the training manager must determine the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of training. The training objective usually clears what goals/objectives are required to be accomplished at the conclusion of training (Lewis, 1998). Without the clarity of what is needed to be done, training efforts are at finest randomly useful and at worst, useless. The end result is the more precise picture of training needs, which can lead to a performance oriented improvement training program and better results for training (Brown, 2002). With reference to above authors it becomes very clear that it is highly essential to understand the training objectives needs that the company is aiming to develop before designing a training program. For this purpose however the main responsibility lies with the instructional designer, however HR professionals, concerned managers and even sometimes the involvement of the important clients/customers also becomes a vital aspect to ensure the success of developing a more value adding and effective training system which could contribute to the overall busine ss strategy and improved outcomes for training (Rouda Kusy, 1996). (c). Training Program Structure Versatility A training program should always be flexible enough to accommodate the changes as per the training audience. In order to structure an effective training program following guide lines must be covered: The content of the training program should be according to the job. In order to be effective, the trainer must know the common characteristics of each participant in advance, thus moderating the delivery of training more successfully. The audience of a training program should be educated to enhance their participation with the faculty and to reduce crossfire amongst them. The direction of the training must always be to convey the usage of the right method for the development of skills/knowledge/experience/ expertise, which can be job-oriented, for business development or for building culture in a right mix, suitable to the audience (Rajan, 2004). While developing a through structure for an effective training course companies should involve all the concerned parties related to training and the program must be developed in such a manner that it should accommodate/ manage resources for the best of trainees to contribute to the value adding factors of the organization. With a strong structure, the training program is more organized, flexible and the content flow is logical. The best reward out of this would be the greater increase in the motivation levels of the employees, thus enabling them to perform out of the ordinary for the betterment of the business (Milliman, Glinow Nathan, 1991). (d). Training Delivery In todays fast-paced business environment, if your employees are not learning, then the company may just be falling behind. After all, companies learn as their people do. But no matter whether organization has 5 employees or 5,000 employees, there are some tried ways to achieve and/or improve the successes yielded by those training investments (VemiĆ¡, 2007). Training needs to be executed in a manner that gives your employees the information, skills, and motivation they need to aid your organization in the achievement of its strategic goals. To do this, consider conducting a thorough needs analysis. This exercise may be time consuming but, if done correctly, should force management to look at the need for process changes (Martin, 1999). While delivering an employee training and development program it must be realized that its success mainly depends upon its proper execution, including the development of methods to identify training needs that correspond with corporate goals . If the training is targeted at achieving specific business goals, any financial considerations resulting from the training becomes indeed essential investment in the longevity of your business (VemiĆ¡, 2007). (e). Accountability for Results In todays environment of increased accountability, the training evaluation process is a critical component of an organizations training program. Organizations administering the program not only are accountable for what employees learn, they also are accountable for ensuring that employees transfer their knowledge to their work performance. While traditional training evaluation methods focus on using the assessment process to improve training delivery, information should also be collected to determine whether training is assisting the organization to improve its business performance (Carr, 1999). Evaluation methods/procedures should be determined based on the goals of the training process and should meet the demands of the various stakeholders involved. Every business has several stakeholders and not everyone within the business has the same information needs. Typically, organizational stakeholder groups include the training division, employees and other business units. Furthermore, t he participants in the training program can also play a vital role in the valuation process as well (Miller, 2008). That is why the evaluation process is not possible without the joint effort/ comments of all the concerned groups. When training is not evaluated, the investment and its effects cannot be tested and resources can be wasted in inadequate activities. Sometimes, training evaluation is avoided because it is considered as an expensive and time-consuming process. At other times, the reason is the lack of measurement systems for determining the changes arisen from training. (Sa ´nchez, Arago Sanz-Valle, 2003). The training evaluation process has the potential to provide useful information to further improve the training process/ systems. It also helps in providing valuable information to the trainee, thus motivating him to further improve his performance to achieve his individual goals which ultimately contributes to the overall success of the company (Miller, 2008). Training Motivation Organizations are constantly looking for new methods of training, methods that motivate and encourage learning. To meet this challenge and provide effective training, a re-examination of the way we orchestrate training, together with an examination of our fundamental beliefs of how we consider the learner and our instructional role are required (Dwyer, 2002). Numerous studies have established that motivation has a significant impact on training outcome. To our knowledge, with the exception of one empirical study motivation has been positively linked to learning in training. Training and motivation has also been correlated with post-training satisfaction and with transfer of knowledge acquired to the work situation (Sylvie Sire, 2001). The element of employee motivation becomes very important when the management wants to develop an effective training program which could bring the desired outcomes or results (Bodimer, 2009). While designing or developing a training program that can effectively motivate employees, the companies must create a value adding training content/material and should organize the training program in such a way that it can accommodate the changes that could occur during the training course, thereby keeping it flexible to the needs for the company. As every employee brings a different set of skills and talents to a company, therefore ultimately it becomes the prime responsibility of the company to manage such valuable Human Assets by keeping them motivated through effective trainings to further develop and enhance their skill for the betterment and the success of the company (Sylvie Sire, 2001). METHODOLOGY This research paper finds out the Effects of the Type of Training Models on Employees Job Motivation. The direction is to find out the overall effectiveness of the Business Embedded and Traditional Training Model on employees job motivation levels, finally concluding to perfection in overall performance. For this purpose detailed surveys and interviews were carried out with different levels of managers. The instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire comprising of 18 dimensions of training included in the Business Embedded Training Model developed by Mcintosh in 1995. Managers were asked about their practice related to each of the dimension and also their opinion as to how these dimensions effect the motivational level of the employees. The Cronbachs Alpha of the instrument was 0.89 and it was pretested on 20 employees working at various levels in the organizations and subject experts to assess the validity of the instrument. A sample of 80 key companies from the serv ice sector of Pakistan was taken and a total of 1000 employees of different levels were asked to fill the required questionnaire. Key points were also discussed with the managers of these companies to find out whether the training impacts employee motivation and at what levels. The software used for evaluating and interpreting the questionnaires into meaningful data for resulting analysis was Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Since the data contains only one independent variable and a dependent variable therefore a Group t-Test and Log Linear Logit techniques were used to test the two hypotheses. The Group t-Test technique was used to determine the comparison between the two models and the Log linear Logit technique was used because there were more than two categories present in the data. Note: All the above statements have been tested at 5% significant level. The p-value is P Through the analysis it is revealed that there is a significant effect of Business Embedded Training model on the level of employees motivation. The reason is that the Business Embedded Model allows the companies to achieve the benefit of centralized training but at the same time ensuring that the training programs, their substance the delivery techniques should meet the specific needs of the business. The statistical interpretations given above show the level of significance of each training model, the acceptance and rejection of result depends upon the significance level i.e. p > 0.05 is not acceptable where as p CONCLUSION This study indicates that the Business Embedded Training Models does have a significant impact on employee motivation. The Business Embedded Training Model has a more positive impact on employees motivation as compared to Traditional Training Model. It takes more responsibility for learning and evaluating the training effectiveness, providing customized solutions of training according to the customers needs and determining when, where and how to deliver training. Similar to other studies our data also indicates that Business Embedded Training is being practiced more in todays corporate world because it allows the companies to gain the benefits of centralized training but at the same time ensures that the training can provide programs, content and the delivery methods that meet the needs of the specific businesses. It not only views trainees as customers but also the managers as customers who make decisions to send employees for training. Motivation is an important factor in comparing the two models; it basically decides which one of the two training models has more positive effect on motivation, leading to elite performance levels. It significantly helps to understand the practicality and the usage of the two models in terms of the business strategic direction, training design, effective delivery, training program structure versatility and the accountability for training outcomes. By studying the effects of the two models on motivation it is now very clear that, it has greatly help to determine and even bench mark the training practices which could benefit the overall success of the company and employees can also benefit from it by further developing their talents/skills and realizing their true potential for the betterment of the company. RECOMMENDATIONS More and more companies should now focus their efforts on adopting the Business Embedded Model of training as compared to Traditional Training methods which can greatly help them to achieve better results by spending lesser money, effort and time. As the Business Embedded approach allows the companies to gain the benefits of centralized training but at the same time ensures that the training programs, content and the delivery methods must meet the needs of specific businesses. The Business Embedded training model is actually more practical in usage because it smoothly facilitates the process of learning by making the content /material easy to understand and customizes it to the extent of applicability, which provides the participants more alternatives to enhance their skills for the betterment of their careers. Another significant aspect of this research indicates what is highly recommended by a number of senior managers that by giving the training participants more options for learn ing can help immensely to improve their motivation towards their own career development.

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe       Throughout his writing career, CS Lewis has been known for writing many books with a hint of biblical connotations in them. As Kathryn Lindskoog states, "CS Lewis is known for opposing the spirit of modern thought with the unpopular Christian doctrines of sin and evil" (2083). Lewis himself has said, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you" (Freaks 60). Although his belief in God has not yet presented itself in that manner, he continues to devote his time to the artful presentation of what he believes to be true about God and man, as observed by Dr. Bruce Lockerbie (177). The second book in the Narnia Series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is no exception. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis uses the vehicle of a children's fantasy novel to present latent Christian theology and beliefs.    Children who read the Narnia Series do so for the action and excitement. Authorities say that they are likely to accept the actions and ideas without doubts of how real the story may be (Who's Who 29). Lewis uses childlike images to create deeper meanings than what might otherwise be accessible. One of the most noticeable is the fact that throughout the Narnia Series, the use of children as the main characters establishes a physical connection with young reader. When the main characters grow older, they are told they are not to come back. In Prince Caspian, after the children have helped to defeat Miraz, Aslan warns Peter that he and Susan are too old to enter Narnia again (236). Lewis keeps the main characters young, keeping t... ...m. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2092-2094. 6 vols. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Pattering of a Fantastic World." Folio Bound Views. CD-ROM. Folio Corp. 1994. NIV Collegiate Devotional Bible. Gran Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House., 1998. Fisher, Margery. Who's Who In Children's Books. New York: Holt, 1998. Lewis, C[live] S[taples]. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperTrophy, 1950. ---. Prince Caspian. New York: HarperTrophy, 1951. Lindskoog, Kathryn, Ann. " Lewis, C. S.". World Literature Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2082-2084. 6 vols. Lockerbie, Dr. Bruce. "LEWIS, C(live) S(taples)." Contemperary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale. 1973. 177. 21 vols. DCTalk., and Voice of the Martyrs. Jesus Freaks. Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1999.

Character Monologe of John Yosarian :: essays research papers fc

Hello my name is John Yossarian, I am a captain in my squadron of pilots that runs bombing missions during this retched war. All my life I’ve hated war I think it’s utterly pointless, men losing their lives only to ensure their freedom.. I do not know why I am being forced to fight, but the way I look at it is ‘lets just get it over with’, this type of attitude helps me try to complete my missions as soon as possible. While that may sound like an easy task the truth is it isn’t, the main reason why is because of my damn colonel†¦ Catchcart is his name and he keeps â€Å"lifting the bar† on the number of missions required by us before we can be sent home. At first I didn’t even want to have to fight, so I tried all means to get out of this blasted battle. I even said that I had a pin in my liver and was sent to the hospital, but that turned out to be more trouble then it was worth. After being discharged from the small Italian facility I could only seem to wonder why no one else saw the pointlessness of all these â€Å"heroes† fighting an endless massacre, the question never could seem to leave my mind†¦ I guess its just one of those questions that has no real answer. Some of the men in my squad are Milo Minderbinder, who had was a leader of a underground black market and the head of the mess hall, Hungry Joe, well what can I say about Joe†¦ he used to be a photographer for Life magazine and he has an obsession with naked women, quite the oddball if you ask me. McWatt, he was always a happy one, rarely caught him without a smile on his face. Clevinger, rest his poor soul, he was always an optimistic, always had a question for everything and he was usually very opinionated. You know, every man has his own limits in life, and I’ve just about reached mine with all of these missions, this war has nothing more to offer me and I nothing to offer it. So I refused to fly any more missions. I am now on the streets of Rome, but my â€Å"freedom† was short lived, an officer arrested me for not having a pass.

Drama Films

Drama Films are serious presentations or stories with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between. Each of the types of subject-matter themes have various kinds of dramatic plots. Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre because they include a broad spectrum of films. See also crime films, melodramas, epics (historical dramas), biopics (biographical), or romantic genres – just some of the other genres that have developed from the dramatic genre. Dramatic themes often include current issues, societal ills, and problems, concerns or injustices, such as racial prejudice, religious intolerance (such as anti-Semitism), drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness, corrupt societal institutions, violence toward women or other explosive issues of the times. These films have successfully drawn attention to the issues by taking advantage of the topical interest of the subject. Although dramatic films have often dealt frankly and realistically with social problems, the tendency has been for Hollywood, especially during earlier times of censorship, to exonerate society and institutions and to blame problems on an individual, who more often than not, would be punished for his/her transgressions. Social Problem Dramas: Social dramas or â€Å"message films† expressed powerful lessons, such as the harsh conditions of Southern prison systems in Hell's Highway (1932) and I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), the plight of wandering groups of young boys on freight cars during the Depression in William Wellman's Wild Boys of the Road (1933), or the lawlessness of mob rule in Fritz Lang's Fury (1936), or the resourcefulness of lifer prisoner and bird expert Robert Stroud (Burt Lancaster) in John Frankenheimer's Birdman of Alcatraz (1961), or the tale of a framed, unjustly imprisoned journalist (James Cagney) in Each Dawn I Die (1939). In Yield to the Night (1956), Diana Dors relived her life and crime as she awaited her execution. A tough, uncompromising look at New York waterfront corruption was found in the classic American film, director Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954) with Marlon Brando as a longshoreman who testified to the Waterfront Crimes Commission. The film rew criticism with the accusation that it appeared to justify Kazan's informant role before the HUAC. Problems of the poor and dispossessed have often been the themes of the great films, including The Good Earth (1937) with Chinese peasants facing famine, storms, and locusts, and John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940) about an indomitable, Depression-Era Okie family – the Joads – who survived a tragic journey from Oklahoma to California. Martin Scorsese's disturbing and violent Taxi Driver (1976) told of the despairing life of a lone New York taxi cab driver amidst nighttime urban sprawl. Issues and conflicts within a suburban family were showcased in director Sam Mendes' Best Picture-winning American Beauty (1999), as were problems with addiction in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000). Films About Mental Illness: Two films from different eras that dealt with the problems of the mentally ill and conditions in mental institutions were Anatole Litvak's The Snake Pit (1948) with tormented Olivia de Havilland's assistance from a psychiatrist, and Milos Forman's adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) with Jack Nicholson as a rebellious institutional patient who feigned insanity but ultimately was squashed by Nurse Ratched and the repressive system. Bette Davis played a neurotic and domineering woman in John Huston's In This Our Life (1942). Sam Wood's Kings Row (1942) examined the various fears and phobias in a small-town. Repressed and prohibited from consummating her love with Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood exhibited signs of insanity in Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961). Another teenager (Kathleen Quinlan) felt suicidal tendencies due to schizophrenia in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). And 1930s-40s actress Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange) tragically declined due to a mental breakdown and subsequent lobotomy in Frances (1982). The repressed emotions and tragic crises in a seemingly perfect family were documented in Robert Redford's directorial debut Best Picture and Best Director-winning Ordinary People (1980). Films About Alcoholism: A hard look was taken at alcoholism with Ray Milland as a depressed writer in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945) and Jack Lemmon (and Lee Remick) in Blake Edwards' Days of Wine and Roses (1962). An aging alcoholic singer (Bing Crosby) desperate for a comeback was the theme of The Country Girl (1954) – the film that provided Grace Kelly with a Best Actress Oscar. Susan Hayward acted the decline into alcoholism of 1930s star Lillian Roth in Daniel Mann's biopic I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955). More recently, Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway played the parts of two fellow alcoholics in Barbet Schroeder's Barfly (1987). Films about Disaffected Youth and Generational Conflict: Juvenile delinquency, young punks and gangs, and youth rebellion were the subject matter of Dead End (1937), Laslo Benedek's The Wild One (1953) with biker Marlon Brando disrupting a small town, Richard Brooks' The Blackboard Jungle (1955) with Glenn Ford as an idealistic teacher in a slum area school, and Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955) with James Dean as an iconic disaffected youth. Race Relations and Civil Rights Dramas: Films that were concerned with race relations included Hollywood's first major indictment of racism in producer Stanley Kramer's and director Mark Robson's Home of the Brave (1949), the story of a black WWII soldier facing bigoted insults from his squad. Then, there was John Sturges' Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) about small-town Japanese-American prejudice uncovered by a one-armed Spencer Tracy, Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones (1958) with Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier as bound-together escaping convicts – and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) about an inter-racial couple (Sidney Poitier as WHO doctor John Prentiss and Katharine Houghton as SF socialite Joanna Drayton) planning on marrying who needed parental approval from Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (in their ninth and last film together). Also, In the Heat of the Night (1967) featured a bigoted sheriff and a black homicide detective working together to solve a murder, and Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989) – about racial tensions and eventual violence during a hot Brooklyn summer. Strong indictments toward anti-Semitism were made in Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement (1947) with writer Gregory Peck posing as a Jew, and Crossfire (1947) about the mysterious murder of a Jew. The Japanese film classic from Akira Kurosawa titled Rashomon (1951) examined a violent ambush, murder and rape in 12th century Japan from four different perspectives. Courtroom Dramas: See also AFI's 10 Top 10 – The Top 10 Courtroom Drama Films Courtroom legal dramas, which include dramatic tension in the courtroom setting, maneuverings between trial opponents (lawyers, prosecutors, and clients), surprise witnesses, and the psychological breakdown of key participants, were exemplified in films such as the following: * William Dieterle's film noir The Accused (1948), with Robert Cummings defending college professor Loretta Young's self-defense murder * 12 Angry Men (1957) with Henry Fonda and eleven other jurists in a tense deliberation room * Billy Wilder's intriguing and plot-twisting Witness for the Prosecution (1957) based on an Agatha Christie play * Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959) with James Stewart as a defense lawyer for accused murderer Ben Gazzara * Compulsion (1959) the Navy court-martial trial based on the Herman Wouk play of the same name in The Caine Mutiny (1954) – a film with a memorable performance of Humphrey Bogart as Captain Queeg * the historic Scopes Trial battle in Inherit the Wind (1960) pitting Spencer Tracy against Fredric March in a case brought against a schoolteacher for teaching Darwinism * the social drama regarding the Nazi war crimes trials in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Burt Lancaster as a Nazi judge defended by Nazi defense attorney Maximilian Schell in a 1948 court ruled by Chief Allied Judge Spencer Tracy * the defense case of a black accused of rape in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), adapted from the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Harper Lee about civil rights In addition, director Robert Benton's Best Picture-winning Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) focused on the subject of a nurturing father (Dustin Hoffman) trying to win a child custody case with divorced Meryl Streep. An Australian film, Breaker Morant (1980) was another tense courtroom drama – the true story of soldiers in the Boer War who were used as scapegoats by the British Army. The award-winning drama, Sidney Lumet's The Verdict (1982) featured Paul Newman as an alcoholic, has-been Boston lawyer fighting a case of medical malpractice against James Mason. Glenn Close defended lover/client Jeff Bridges in Richard Marquand's who-dun-it Jagged Edge (1985). Assistant DA Kelly McGillis defended the bar-room gang-raped Jodie Foster (an Oscar-winning role) in The Accused (1988). A Soldier's Story (1984) examined racial hatred in a 1940s Southern military post in a dramatic courtroom murder/mystery. And A Few Good Men (1992) portrayed the courtroom conflict (known for its catchphrase: â€Å"You can't handle the truth! â€Å") between established Marine Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson) and two young Naval attorneys (Tom Cruise and Demi Moore) regarding the circumstances surrounding the hazing (â€Å"Code Red†) death (by asphyxiation due to acute lactic acidosis) of Private Santiago – a Marine stationed at Guantanamo Naval Air Station in Cuba. Jonathan Demme's AIDS drama, Philadelphia (1993) examined discrimination against AIDS and the legal defense of an AIDS sufferer (Tom Hanks) who was fired. Political Dramas: Political dramas include Frank Capra's two political tales – State of the Union (1948) with Tracy/Hepburn, and his classic story of a naive Senator's fight against political corruption in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Conversely, the award-winning, potent story of a corrupt politician was dramatized in Robert Rossen's All the King's Men (1949) with Broderick Crawford as the rising politician. Alexander Knox starred as President Woodrow Wilson in Henry King's epic, big budget bio Wilson (1944). In Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent (1962), stars Charles Laughton (in his last film), Franchot Tone, and Lew Ayres portrayed scheming Senators during Henry Fonda's crisis-threatened Presidency. The controversial The Manchurian Candidate (1962) questioned the Cold War brainwashing of a Korean War hero. Michael Ritchie's The Candidate (1972) examined the harsh reality of the campaign trail with political hopeful Robert Redford starring as an attorney running for the Senate. Oliver Stone's conspiracy-centered drama, JFK (1991), attempted to disprove the theory that President Kennedy's killer acted alone. Journalism, the Press and Media-Related Dramas: Dramatic films often center around the theme of journalism, the world of reporters and news. Often regarded as the best film ever made, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) was an insightful character study of a newspaper magnate. Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men (1976) was a docu-drama of real-life journalists Bernstein and Woodward investigating the Watergate scandal. Sidney Lumet's Network (1976) with Peter Finch as a despairing newsman was a critical look at TV news, while Sydney Pollack's Absence of Malice (1981) told about an over-earnest journalist (Sally Field) and a wrongly-implicated defendant (Paul Newman). James L. Brooks' Broadcast News (1987) focused on the world of network news shows, editors, and reporters. Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957) showed how a down-home country boy (Andy Griffith in his film debut as Larry â€Å"Lonesome† Rhodes) could be transformed into a pop television show icon and political megalomaniac. Through the eyes of a cameraman, Haskell Wexler's docu-drama Medium Cool (1969) covered the corruption and events surrounding Chicago's 1968 Democratic Convention. In Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously (1962), Mel Gibson played the role of an Australian journalist working during the time of President Sukarno's coup in mid-60s Indonesia. And in Oliver Stone's Salvador (1982), James Woods played the role of a photographer in war-torn El Salvador. WWII Homefront Dramas: Dramatic films which have portrayed the â€Å"homefront† during times of war, and the subsequent problems of peacetime adjustment include William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver (1942) about a separated middle-class family couple (Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon) during the Blitz, Clarence Brown's The Human Comedy (1943) with telegram delivery boy Mickey Rooney bringing news from the front to small-town GI families back home, John Cromwell's Since You Went Away (1944) with head of family Claudette Colbert during her husband's absence, and another William Wyler poignant classic The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with couples awkwardly brought back together forever changed after the war: Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo, Fredric March and Myrna Loy, and Harold Russell and Cathy O'Donnell. History-Related Dramas: Films that have dramatized portions of the American past include W. S.  Van Dyke's San Francisco (1936) on the eve of the 1906 quake, John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda facing marauding Indian attacks at the time of American independence, Howard Hawks' Sergeant York (1941) with Gary Cooper as the gentle hick-hero of the WWI trenches, the gothic drama of a turn of the century family in Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and of course Gone With The Wind (1939) during the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras. Exquisite, nostalgic family dramas include John Ford's How Green Was My Valley (1941) – a flashback of Roddy McDowall's childhood in a Welsh mining village, and George Stevens' tribute to a Norwegian immigrant mother (Irene Dunne) raising her family in San Francisco in I Remember Mama (1948). Sp orts Dramas: Dramatic sports films or biographies have created memorable portraits of all-American sports heroes, individual athletes, or teams who are faced with tough odds in a championship match, race or large-scale sporting event, soul-searching or physical/psychological injuries, or romantic sub-plot distractions. Fictional sports films normally present a single sport (the most common being baseball, football, basketball, and boxing), and include the training and rise (and/or fall) of the underdog or champion in the world of sports. Typical sports films (with biographical elements) include the sentimental biography of the Notre Dame football coach, Lloyd Bacon's Knute Rockne: All-American (1940). One of the best films ever made about pro-football was Ted Kotcheff's North Dallas Forty (1979) which examined the brutal fact of labor abuses and drug use in professional football – loosely basing its story on the championship Dallas Cowboys team. The tearjerking made-for-TV sports film Brian's Song (1970) used professional football as the backdrop for its sad tale of the death of a Chicago Bears running back (James Caan). Burt Reynolds starred in The Longest Yard (1974) as scandalized ex-professional football quarterback Paul Crewe in prison who must organize a team of convicts to challenge a prison-guard team (and then face the additional challenge of throwing the game). Recently, Cameron Crowe's sports romance-drama Jerry Maguire (1996), famous for the phrase â€Å"Show me the money! † starred Tom Cruise as a hard-driven major sports agent, and Academy Award-winning Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a football player. One of the best sports biopics was Sam Wood's The Pride of the Yankees (1942) with Gary Cooper in a fine performance as New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig. In The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), the famed black player who crossed the major-league ‘color-line' and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers portrayed himself. Director Barry Levinson's mythical and romanticized film about baseball titled The Natural (1984) featured Robert Redford as Roy Hobbes – a gifted baseball player who led his New York team to the World Series. Ron Shelton, who was an actual ex-minor leaguer, wrote and directed the intelligent comedy/drama Bull Durham (1988) which used as its backdrop minor league baseball to tell the story of a baseball groupie (Susan Sarandon), a veteran catcher (Kevin Costner) and a dim-witted pitcher named Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). The immensely popular fantasy/drama Field of Dreams (1989) concerned the creation of a ball diamond in the middle of an Iowa cornfield by a farmer (Kevin Costner). Writer/director John Sayles' Eight Men Out (1988) dramatized the infamous episode in professional baseball of the scandalous 1919 World Series that was fixed – with its final sepia-toned shots of banned ball-player â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson (D. B. Sweeney) in the minors. And Tommy Lee Jones starred as the legendary baseball great Ty Cobb in Shelton's Cobb (1994). Basketball-related sports dramas are rare: three notable ones were Spike Lee's He Got Game (1998) with Denzel Washington as the convict father of a promising basketball athlete, David Anspaugh's Hoosiers (1986) about an underdog 50s basketball team (coached by Gene Hackman) that won the state championship, and Ron Shelton's play-filled, trash-talking court action film White Men Can't Jump (1992) with its two basketball hustlers/con-artists (Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes) and their scenes of two-on-two tournaments. Kevin Costner portrayed a talented pro golfer in Ron Shelton's romantic sports film Tin Cup (1996). And Paul Newman portrayed swaggering, upstart poolshark gambler Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) in the world of professional pool, shooting against the great champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Downhill Racer (1969) starred Robert Redford as an American downhill skier training to become an Olympic superstar. The Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire (1981) told the parallel stories of two English runners (one a devout Protestant, the other Jewish) competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Autoracing in the Daytona 500 was featured in the action/drama Days of Thunder (1990). And one of the most memorable ice hockey films was Slap Shot (1977), with Paul Newman as inspiring player-coach Reg Dunlop of a minor-league team. Although a comedy, Caddyshack (1980) was about an elitist country club for golf, a mischievous green-destroying gopher, and a crazed groundskeeper (Bill Murray). Films about boxing are perhaps the most numerous sub-genre. One of the best boxing films ever made, along with Robert Wise's classic film noirish The Set-Up (1949) starring Robert Ryan as aging boxer Stoker Thompson, was the realistically stark Body and Soul (1947). It starred John Garfield as boxer Charlie Davis who ‘sold his soul' to unethical promoters but then had a change of heart in the last three rounds of a championship fight during which he was supposed to take a dive. Others included King Vidor's classic The Champ (1931), an award-winning story of a prizefighter and his young son, Champion (1949) with Kirk Douglas as the young fighter, the brutal boxing drama The Harder They Fall (1956) (Humphrey Bogart's underrated last film in which he portrayed Eddie Willis – an aging, crooked sportswriter), Ralph Nelson's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) with Anthony Quinn as punch-drunk, washed-up professional boxer Louis ‘Mountain' Rivera, Martin Ritt's The Great White Hope (1970) with James Earl Jones as black boxer Jack Jefferson, and Karyn Kusama's independent feminist film Girlfight (2000) with a great performance by Michelle Rodriguez as a struggling Brooklynite and teenage Latino boxer. One of the best films of the 80s decade, Raging Bull (1980) was Martin Scorsese's tough, visceral and uncompromising biopic film of the rise and fall of prizefighter Jake La Motta with a remarkable performance by actor Robert DeNiro. The stylized scenes in the ring included flying blood and sweat, exaggerated flashbulb camera flashes, slow-motion and violent punching sounds.