Lessons from the Titanic. How the lessons learned from the sinking of Essay

Lessons from the Titanic. How the lessons learned from the sinking of the liner Titanic can be applied to modern projects - Essay Example The sinking of Titanic in Atlantic on 14 April 1912 resulting in death of 1502 passengers is remembered as one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The purpose of this dissertation is to review the historical project of constructing Titanic for operational use. The project also aims at analyzing the reasons from the perspective of project management that led to failure of this huge project of its time and applying the lessons learnt to modern day projects. The research on the subject is mainly based on extensive review of available literature, for which a variety of the references including but not limited to the internet resources only were consulted. In this dissertation two pronged approach was used for research methodology: technical investigation and project management. Titanic Project was studied and analyzed from the perspectives of both technical blunders and project management failures from its conception to operations. The technical investigation methodology aimed to find out the technical and operational reasons for the sinking of the Titanic. Project Management methodology used information from technical investigation to analyze the reasons of failures from the project management perspective and develop an analogy to modern Project Management practices and standards in an attempt to identify the actions that could have prevented the disastrous occurrence. From a technical view point, over confidence in the invincibility of the Titanic led to number of critical compromises like selection of inappropriate material for ship hull, height of bulk heads and changed engine configuration during the design and construction phase of the ship since the team believed that altering the original pans would not affect the safety features of the ship. Besides, compromises were also made during the testing phase of the Titanic where only partial testing was carried out trusting the track record of Olympic liner as excellent, which was not the actual case. From the project management point of view, the major element that was missing from the Project plan of Titanic was risk management. Much efforts were laid to precisely define the functional and nonfunctional requirements; however, more emphasis was laid on functional requirements on the cost of compromising the non-functional requirements. These compromises resulted in risks to the project which were neither identified nor planned for mitigation. Ignoring these risks during the design phase led to the sinking of the Titanic ship. Risk mitigating actions could include introducing double hull, compartmentalization and raising the height of bulkhead, and incorporating and balanced keel for such a large size ship to protect against the wave capsizing. Studying the successful projects can help project managers to apply the common experiences to the new ones, and learning from the failed projects can help to avoid the similar mistakes from recurring. In this report, less ons learned from failure of Titanic were analyzed in analogy with the modern project management practices and were studied for application to present day projects. Table of Contents Chapter Title Page 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview of the Project Titanic 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives 3 1.3 Scope and Limitations 6 1.4 Dissertation Layout and Approach 6 1.5 Summary 7 2 Methodology 8 2.1 Research Methodology 8 2.2 Key Research 9 2.3 Referencing Sources 12 2.4 Methodology for Analysis 13 3 Review and Analysis 15 3.1 Historical Facts

Analyze the Social and Economic Transformations Essay Example for Free

Analyze the Social and Economic Transformations Essay Between 1492 and 1750, the new contacts between Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, socially and economically transformed the Atlantic world. New worlds were discovered, the population was escalating due to the slave trade and booming economy, and the industrial production advanced from man-made to machine-made. The new contacts among Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, lead to the economies improving as crops and food spread around. Economically, in the Americas, European colonists advanced from mining for silver, to farming for crops. All of the goods were traded with other countries. The triangular trade connected imports and exports of different goods mainly between North America, Africa, and Europe. The reason the Atlantic changed into a huge trading port was because many countries were overflowing with resources other countries would love to have. The countries would exchange their resources for another country’s. A vast part of the triangular trade was the Atlantic slave trade. As agriculture became more and more important in daily life, labor was becoming vital. Africa exported slaves to the West Indies and to North America. Socially, the Atlantic was renovated in many ways too. The population was expanding due to the agricultural advancement. The social triangle in Africa and the Americas were drastically changing with the adoption of agriculture. In Africa, of course, people were imprisoned everywhere. Africa was predominately all women because a lot of the men died or were shipped off to another country. Women were not treated as if they were any different than men when came to labor. They were forced to do tiring toil also. In the Americas, the European colonists made new social groups as well, and also had slavery; although, most of the slaves were imported from the West Indies. However, the social structure of Europe remained the same. It remained more self-regulated through out this time period. Over this time period, contacts form and connect trade routes that changed the world forever. These contacts offered resources, and transformations in social structure and economical status. Between 1492 and 1750, the new contacts between Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, socially and economically transformed the Atlantic world.

Pokers Popularity Grows Among Teenagers :: essays research papers

In Chicago, Illinois, among many other cities across the nation, a new trend has swept teenagers like a plague. Poker, or the newly named Texas Holdem, has been the new hobby to most kids, boys in particular. Since the football season has been over, one boy even turned his dining room, a place for family time and bonding, into a full fledged poker parlor with chips, and plenty of decks of cards. Texas Holdem came about sometime in the beginning of the decade, and has become more an more popular among teenagers. Launched from TV competitions between everyday people and even celebrities, kids from even our community have become hooked. In fact, some parents condone it. They think that the game teaches strategy, critical-thinking, and math skills. One parent even compared it to smoking pot, saying he’d rather have his children play Holdem than not know where they are. It’s "safer" because unlike drugs that impair your judgments, the child is occupied with something that, if developed, can be cured by just taking it away. Josh Kohnstamm, father of Josh in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, says "it's become the perfect escape for his studious 16-year-old son, Josh, who ‘takes everything too seriously.’ Allowing him to ‘whoop’ the school's best athletes -- computer geek that he is -- and come away feeling lucky when that is a s ensation that rarely happens in his everyday life." But I could only wonder if the game was more about self-fulfillment and confidence, or critical thinking and math skills? Either way, the child is gaining, isn’t he? But then again there are also the adults who think that the game is a bad habit, and develops bad gambling habits. "It's fun. It's exciting. It's glamorized on TV and in the media in a way that other addictions are not," says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. "There's the impression that through skill you can beat the odds. But randomness is always going to have a bigger factor in determining the outcome than your skill." The fact is, is that gambling is an addiction and has been known to be hard to overcome. However, I don’t think that anyone can actually say that it is forbidden because I really think that no matter what, every person takes a chance which can be considered gambling. I’m not sure where I stand on this issue.

Effects of Google Translate on Vocabulary

Effects of Google Translate on Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension BY traveler0527 Effects of Google Translate on Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension Abstract With the rapid development of technology, more modern ways are applied to English learning. Though technology towards language learning has been extensively studied in recent years, the influences of online translation are seldom examined. This study investigates the effects of Google translate on English vocabulary acquisition and article comprehension. It was hypothesized that Google translate can improve students' performance in both aspects.The research was evaluated by an experiment which needed participants to read one article and finish some related quizzes. To make a comparison, participants were divided into two groups with only one can use Google translate. The results were unexpected. It seems that Google translate does not has a significant positive effect to help students learn English voc abulary and to improve reading comprehension. Students who learn English, teachers who want to help their students make progress and researchers in this area could benefit from this study.Introduction The rapid development of technology in recent decades benefits the education area. Besides traditional teaching methods, more approaches are employed in language learning to help learners make progress. Many studies have focused on impacts of different kinds of technology on English learning. Previous research from Kung and Chuo (2002) affirmed that college students acknowledge the Internet as a useful tool to learn English. Chun and Plass (1996) suggested that with multimedia program to assist high school students in reading articles, the rate of incidental vocabulary learning increased.However, few studies have examined the effects of online translation service on English learning. Research studies both vocabulary learning and reading comprehension is also difficult to find. Therefor e, further investigations are needed. This research is aimed at investigating the influences of Google translate on vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. Google translate is a kind of free online language translation service which can instantly translate text or web pages into numerous different languages. Vocabulary learning is an important and fundamental aspect of English study which stresses cognition and use of words.Additionally, reading comprehension is an ability to understand articles which elated to recognition of content and grasp of main ideas. The lack of previous research on this topic leads to the research question: Do students who use Google translate to help them learn English have higher efficiency than students who do not? It was hypothesized that Google translate will improve students' understanding of unfamiliar words and the content of an article. Methodology Sample The sample participating in this experiment consisted of 1 1 students from Yl- are non- native English speakers.Material Google translate, which is capable to offer translation of text immediately and can un perfectly on laptops, was used as assistance for the experiment group and defined as the independent variable. A relatively new article excerpted from Slate Magazine which is about business and trade was adopted as the test material. With an academic style and approximately 700 words, this article can be difficult to understand. A quiz related to the article consisting of 8 questions about vocabulary learning and 2 questions about reading comprehension was also used.The first 8 questions ask participants to choose the right words to fill in 8 incomplete sentences. The last 2 questions are multiple choice questions. Procedure Several meetings were held to design the experiment and the quiz. After that, the whole experiment was piloted in the researcher team to check the validity of questions and to ensure there would be sufficient time for participants to finish the reading task and the quiz. Another purpose is to make every researcher be familiar with the process. The formal experiment was conducted on 19th April in the EAP classroom.All members of the research team were required to bring laptops in order to run Google translate. First, participants were divided into two groups randomly. 6 tudents in the experiment group were allowed to use Google translate during the reading time. Other 5 students were treated as the control group. Then, a 3-minute- long brief guidance including rules of the experiment was given to participants. Next, paper copies of the article were given out and 1 5 minutes were arranged for participants to read.The experiment group was allowed to use Google translate when they encounter unfamiliar words or sentences, whereas the control group should read through the paper without any assistance. For both groups, taking notes and making marks in the reading paper were forbidden. Afterwards, quiz papers were distributed to evaluate participants' learning outcomes and Google translate is banned to use. Participants were given 15 minutes to finish the quiz. Finally, all the papers were collected. The whole experiment was conducted in the EAP classroom and last for approximately 40 minutes.After the experiment, the research team gathered to mark quiz papers and the results were analyzed by using a data- recording table. Result and analysis The aim of this experiment is to define whether Google translate can help students learn English more efficiently. Without the independent variable, which is Google ranslate, all other conditions were kept the same to both groups. Therefore, it seems fair to say the experiment was conducted in a Just way. The most important finding is one that out of the researchers' expectation. The average grade of control group is nearly 1. 2 times higher than the experiment group (Figure 1).It reflects that the control group had a better performance during the test. Considering the result contraries to the hypothesis, deep analyses were given. The possible reasons are as follows. Firstly, because of the lack of a pre-test to divide subjects, there may be a hance to put students who are good at English in the control group. Secondly, participants who have the privilege to use Google translate may rely on it whenever understanding of the content and the efficient use of context. Thirdly, since participants in experiment group needed to switch between the papers and laptops, it is hard for them to concentrate on the article.Fourthly, as Google translate can only give one simple definition of the word or phrase, this could be inaccurate and sometimes could mislead those students. After data were entered in an Excel spreadsheet, the accuracy of every question was alculated. As the Figure 2 below illustrates, the overall accuracy of the control group is higher than the experiment group except for question 5 and 8. No one in the control group answered correctly to t he fifth question and one third of them gave wrong answers to the eighth question.These two questions are aimed at testing students' understanding of the meaning of new words. Google translate gives the right explanations which are consistent with the meaning in the content. This may indicate that Google translate can help students gain the meaning of some words which have clear and simplex meaning. However, the last question, which is a multiple choice question about reading comprehension, none in the experiment group gave the right answer while almost half of the students in the control group chose the correct one.The data suggests that students in the control group had a better understanding about the main ideas of the article. This may because there was no equipment to distract their attention and all they could do during the first part of the test was to read the whole content thoroughly. Another question that worth being discussed according to the Figure is the sixth question, all participants in he experiment, no matter which group they belonged to, failed to answer it. The question is: Even so, it is unclear how much the shift to inland growth really has. The correct word be chosen from the box is â€Å"momentum†.From the experiment group's perspective, it is proper to surmise that the Chinese translation given by Google translate is inapposite and not related to the content tightly. This made it tough for those who take Google translate as a helper. From the control group' viewpoints, it may perhaps be that the context is complex and the meaning is hard to guess. Another factor that needs to be concerned is the question itself because it is a compound sentence and difficult to understand. To brief summarize, Google vocabulary and improve the comprehension of reading.Conclusion One of the most important findings is that the control group performed better with higher marks on average in the experiment about whether Google translate is helpful for students to learn new words and to understand better about the content when they read an article. Another interesting finding is that Google translate can be very useful when the target word has a definite meaning and at the same time, be very imited when relate to the text comprehension. In general, the findings are unexpected and contradict the hypothesis which claims that Google translate can have positive effects to English learners.It is also contradictory to the findings of Peters (2007), which claims that the use of online dictionary can enhance vocabulary acquisition. To sum up, though Google translate is useful when readers want to find students when they read an article or encounter words with multi-meanings. The unanticipated findings may relate to some limitations of this experiment. First, the topic is limited. Since the research topic is to examine the effects of technology on English learning, it can contain many subareas. For example, reading, listening, speaking an d writing.The research group only focused on 2 English learning aspects: vocabulary and text learning. Even the vocabulary contains lots of inspection points, such as spelling, pronunciation and word meaning. Also, use Google translate to represent technology is one-sided. There are other kinds of technology like software, recorder and e-dictionary. Second, for the experiment, the sample size is too small and lack of diversity. All 11 participants are year 1 students with the same major from the same education background. In addition, the gender proportion is unbalanced.Meanwhile, a pre-test about the English level of the participants is lacked. Moreover, the function of Google translate is inadequate. In brief, the limitations are in two aspects: topic and the design of the experiment and these may lead to the unpredicted findings. The findings of this report lead to some recommendations. Firstly, students who learn English at the beginning level can use Google translate to find th e meaning of the words, phrases and sentences to help them understand the ontent. However, it is not suggested to rely on Google translate to find definitions of every words.Secondly, teachers who want to help their students make progress in English learning could use Google translate as assistance more appropriately and efficiently in the aspect of simplex-meaning word acquisition. It is also advised that teachers should encourage students to think more by themselves actively and avoid using Google translate to find the meaning of every new word. Thirdly, researchers in this area can gain useful information about the effects of online translation service n English vocabulary learning and reading comprehension.

Revisiting the Eclectic Theory of the Choice of International Entry Mode

Theoretical Issues on Marketing UIBE PhD Program Juan Pablo Dominguez Fall 2012 Final Examination for Theoretical Issues of Marketing (Doctoral Course) Nov. 28, 2012 Essay questions for â€Å" An Eclectic Theory of Choice of International Entry Mode † 1. What are the major variables that affect the decision of entry mode? Should they be weighted equally? Why yes or why no? 2. Given that different variables may pull the MNC in the different directions, what approach is suggested by the authors? 3. What theories have been taken as the basis for conceptualization? 4.Considering the nine propositions, do they all make sense to you? In case you find any fault with them, state it with your arguments. 5. Review the methodology adopted by this paper and make your comment on its appropriateness. 6. Discuss briefly what contributions this thesis has made to the theory of international entry mode choice. 7. What do you think of the limitation of this thesis? Revisiting the Eclectic Theor y of the Choice of International Entry Mode During the internationalization process of a company, the decision of entry mode to a particular market is determined by a set of different considerations.The paper â€Å"An Eclectic Theory of Choice of International Entry mode† is a theoretical approach to answer the questions of which factors are relevant and which are not. It reflects on how contemporary studies (particularly, Transaction Cost Theory) had a limited view of the problem by not including a globalstrategy factor in the analysis, therefore the authors try to advance the discussion by enriching the construct of additional variables that were disregarded by economical orthodoxy at the moment. This short paper is aimed to introduce in part the aforementioned document and present more recent findings in the topic.In that fashion I have divided the paper into 4 main parts besides this short introduction. The first section is a brief literature review of the theoretical bac kground behind the understanding of entry mode in the internationalization process given that the paper was published more than two decades ago. The second section aims at synthesizing the main propositions of the paper and what I consider its limitations and contributions. The third section displays empirical evidence that aimed to negate or confirm the different propositions of the authors and finally, the fourth and last section is a set of concluding remarks. Literary reviewThere is no short list about existing research regarding the internationalization process of MNEs?. When focusing on the entry mode (or ownership strategies), one can begin to see that there are three different streams of thought: one stream of research has often framed such a choice as determined by the need for control to minimize transaction costs arising from asset specificity and potential partner opportunism (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986; Williamson, 1985). According to transaction costs theory, for invest ments characterized by high asset specificity, integrated ownership structures, such as whole owned subsidiaries (WOSs), should be sed to enhance MNEs? strategic and operational control over the assets (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986) and to protect MNEs from the risk of knowledge dissemination to their partners (Davidson & McFetridge, 1985; Hill, Hwang, & Kim, 1990). Thus, transaction costs theory advocates the use of ex ante control mechanisms to minimize transaction costs arising from asset specificity and potential partner opportunism (Williamson, 1985). Another stream of research has suggested that the institutional environment shapes such a choice and proposed that MNEs may exchange ownership for legitimacy in the host country (Chan & Makino, 2007; Yiu & Makino, 2002).When foreign ownership is not prevalent or well accepted in the host country industry, MNEs can partner with local firms or keep the ownership level lower (Chan & Makino, 2007). By doing so, MNEs can show the local co mmunities that their activities are not ethnocentric or harmful to local firms, and they also obtain the local identity and legitimacy to acquire the resources that they need in the local environment (Xu & Shenkar, 2002). On the other hand, when FDI is well accepted in the local market, MNEs can pursue integrated ownership structures and high equity shares.Choice of an ownership structure thus does not necessarily reflect MNEs? deliberate efforts to economize on transaction costs for an efficient governance mechanism but may rather be a response to pressures from the institutional environment (Yiu & Makino, 2002). The third stream is as in the case of Hill et al. which posits that in addition to control and legitimacy, MNE ownership strategy is also fundamentally concerned with the choice between flexibility and commitment (Buckley & Casson, 1998; Chi & McGuire, 1996; Kouvelis, Axarloglou, & Sinha, 2001). More recent papers have taken again the same question.Li & Li in 2010 resuscit ated the topic and made a contribution by not only providing a theoretical background proposing similar hypothesis as in the case of Hill, Hwang and Kim in 1990 but also by analyzing the ownership structure and equity shares of over 5,000 new foreign investments in manufacturing industries in China during 2000 to 2006. Explaining the contents of the paper is outside of the objectives of this short essay, but the Li & Li? s took Hill et al style of theoretical constructions one step further and provided stronger empirical evidence (outside the realm of mall sample surveys) that supports the logic behind such framework. Empirical tests of MNEs' initial entry modes are rather limited, even though existing theoretical research has elaborated on the options features of JVs compared with other investment modes (Buckley & Casson, 1998; Chi, 2000; Lee, 2004; Pennings & Sleuwaegen, 2004). Cuypers and Martin (2010) observed that foreign investors are inclined to take a smaller equity share in a JV when they face strong exogenous uncertainty (e. g. , exchange rate uncertainty) rather than endogenous uncertainty (e. . , cultural uncertainty). Brouthers et al. (2008) showed that, in choosing international entry modes, MNEs tend to adopt JVs (over WOSs) under high demand uncertainty. Synthesis What are the major variables that affect the decision of entry mode? Given that different authors have considered variables like country risk, country familiarity, country development stage, technology, and transaction costs, Hill et al. begin their work with a vision to unify the framework and analyze how different factors affect the decision.The first attempt to create a unified framework was carried out by Anderson and Gatignon in 1986 through the use of transaction cost theory. I believe that the authors see the shortcoming of this initial unified proposal in the Ceteris Paribus assumption of Economics that is used only as a theoretical tool to analyze relations among events or va riables. Any theory that treats related events in isolation will be insufficient and that? s why the authors propose the strategic relationship as another vital element of the decision.Their proposal includes the following factors: !†#$%   ! â€Å"#$! ,! = ! (! â€Å"#$%†&, ! â€Å"#$%&'†   ! â€Å"##$%#&'%, ! â€Å"##$%†&'(â€Å")&   ! â€Å"#$#) Should they be weighted equally? Why yes or why no? Different factors in the decision often suggest different entry modes, it is according to the particular weights each company puts in this factors that the final choice of entry is done. In other words, when deciding entry mode different factors have different weights and according to each company’s strategic considerations, such weights will have different magnitudes.Given that different variables may pull the MNC in the different directions, what approach is suggested by the authors? The authors suggest that instead of focusing in a single var iable, the company will have a set of strategic constraints that will limit their decision options. They focus their attention on how much control the company wants, according to the resource commitment they will provide and taking into consideration the dissemination risks of their knowhow. This can be formulated as the following: ! â€Å"#$%   ! â€Å"#$! ,! = ! !†#$%†&, ! #$%&'†   ! â€Å"##$%#&'%, ! â€Å"##$%†&'(â€Å")&   ! â€Å"#$# !†#$†%&'(   ! â€Å"#$†%&'( = ! !†#$%! â€Å"&   ! â€Å"##$%$&'$(, ! â€Å"#$%   ! †   ! â€Å"#$#%&! ‘, ! â€Å"#$%†   ! â€Å"#! $%&'%(â€Å"# !†#$%&†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ(â€Å")*+   ! â€Å"#$†%&'( = ! !†#$%&'   ! â€Å"#$, ! â€Å"#$%&†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ   ! â€Å"#$%$†&$'(, ! â€Å"#$%! !†#$%&%†#', ! â€Å"#$%&#&%'   ! †   ! â€Å"#$%&'&'†( !†#$%#&'()$   ! â€Å"#! â€Å"#$%& = ! (! à ¢â‚¬Å"#$%   ! †   ! â€Å"#$ ? !†#$%&%$   ! â€Å"#$ ? ?! â€Å", ! â€Å"#$! !†#$%&   ! †   ! â€Å"#$ ? ?! â€Å") These factors come from previous research and theoretical constructs. One important analysis that needs to be done is how these factors correlate to each other.One factor that I? m not sure if it? s included in any of these variables is regulation. For example, many automobile giants in the world wanted to enter the Chinese market as WOSs but because of regulation they are forced to enter as JVs. This makes me believe that there is an unspoken assumption that the markets the authors were conceiving in their constructs were open markets with little participation of the government (maybe they include it with country risk? ). What theories have been taken as the basis for conceptualization? This heoretical construct is a criticism to the Transaction Cost analysis to the entry mode decision, but in the words of Hwan, the theoretical heritage of the Eclectic Theory can be traced in part to the seminal work of Perlmutter [1969], which acknowledged the increasing existence of geocentric approaches to multinational management. The geocentric approach outlined by Perlmutter provided a succinct explanation for the existence of and benefits attached to managing subsidiary units not as a portfolio of independent units but as an interdependent network.Another foundation, upon which their argument rests, is the rich body of literature on global strategy (e. g. , Hout, Porter and Rudden [1982]; Hamel and Prahalad [1985]; Kogut [1985a, 1985b]; Kim and Mauborgne [1988]; Yip, [1989]), which has either explicitly or implicitly built upon Perlmutter's geocentric conception. I believe that the biggest theoretical difference from this global-strategy construct and classical economics theory within the entry mode decision is that the overriding objective is overall corporate success, not the maximization of each individual subsi diary unit's efficiency.The second is that in achieving this objective, interdependencies across subsidiary units must be actively managed, meaning that sometimes it would mean that in order to maintain global strategy, some SBUs might even be required to operate at a loss (which is a rationale outside the boundaries of traditional economics). Considering the nine propositions, do they all make sense to you? In case you find any fault with them, state it with your arguments. The first thing I noticed is why are they called propositions instead of Hypothesis? Any theory is based in hypothesis because its aim is to provide chances for something to be proved or not.The second thing I notices is that the propositions are not â€Å"symmetrical†. By this I mean that when you make such kind of propositions, in order to fully understand the relationship of the explanatory variables with the dependent variable, the author must not only look at one side of the coin but at both. For exa mple, Proposition 1: Other things being equal, firms that pursue a multi-domestic strategy will favor lowcontrol entry modes. That is one side of the coin, the other side would be: Other things being equal, firms that do not pursue multi-domestic strategy will not favor low-control entry modes.The value of such construct is that it gives a more robust base for empirical testing. Each proposition is set to analyze the validity of each factor within the whole unified framework, so its validity remains to be tested empirically. Review the methodology adopted by this paper and make your comment on its appropriateness. This paper is a theoretical construct based upon the works of others with the addition of new factors, it does not apply specific methodological tools for testing its validity. In terms of epistemological value, the theory is constructed in the same fashion as Falsificationism (Popper? ) would propose because the validity of the theory that was accepted previously was put into question by the authors and therefore they provided a new set of hypothesis that should accommodate more accurately to reality than Transaction Costs theory. To discuss the appropriateness of such construct without empirical evidence would be to begin an epistemological debate about the validity of theories and their validity into describing â€Å"Truth†. If it were me who wrote the paper I would have not done a theoretical construct without any experimental study about its validity. I believe that? why some of the authors (specifically Hwan) wrote another paper a couple of years later were with the use of surveys they tried to analyze the validity of such constructs. Methodologically speaking, I believe that is a much more fruitful contribution to science than providing list of propositions that may or may not be of use. Discuss briefly what contributions this thesis has made to the theory of international entry mode choice. The biggest contribution of this paper was th e search of different factors that could explain the decision of mode of entry for the internationalization process of a company.Previous studies at the moment had already identified a diversity of variables that influence the entry mode decision decision, and the authors grouped them into one of two categories: environmental or transaction specific factors. Furthermore, according to the theoretical constructs of the time, the studies of the factors had an underlying assumption that each entry decision is made in isolation and is driven essentially by efficiency considerations at the level of the individual entrant or subsidiary unit.This paper made a case directed towards establishing the importance of a third group of factors: global strategic, namely the strategic relationship it envisages between its operations across borders, in reaching its entry mode decision. For a business manager who is in such internationalization process, this theoretical construct can provide him a road map to which variables he/she should pay attention to in order to make the decision of entry.In my opinion, managers tend to first see how other companies enter the market in their initial stages and see if that would be a viable choice and such â€Å"contextual† approach is not included in the factors. What do you think of the limitation of this thesis? The biggest limitation of any theoretical construct is that it remains just a theory and not be applicable. That? s why I took it upon me to see if someone had tried to prove or deny the Eclectic Theory. The results of that search are shown in section three of this paper.Empirical evidence 2 years after the publication of Hill et al. Eclectic Theory, one of the co-writers, Peter Hwang along with W. Chan Kim published the paper: â€Å"Global Strategy and Multinationals? Entry Mode Choice†. The main objective of the paper was to provide empirical tests to the propositions made by the Eclectic Theory. They used a survey f rom ninety-six multinational managers and had a fundamental result that an express incorporation of global strategic variables into an analysis of the entry mode decision is warranted. DataThe survey was a mail questionnaire composed of four parts: modes of entry, global strategic factors, environmental factors, and transaction-specific factors. It was distributed to 629 U. S. based MNE, mostly from the manufacturing sector and targeted senior-level management. 137 questionnaires were returned (22% response rate), of which 41 were disregarded because of incomplete answers. Another 18 were disregarded because respondents provided a positive response to the control question of whether government regulations imposed restrictions on the mode options available.The respondents operations were geographically wide with 25 located in Asia Pacific, 17 in South America, 25 in Europe, 16 in North America, 4 in Africa and 9 in the Middle East. One big methodological problem to measure the validi ty of the propositions is that such variables are not easy to measure. This translates that the nine key variables recognized to influence the focal decision of foreign entry mode are linked to the empirical world only through indicators.Moreover, they appear to be wide-ranging, multifaced constructs. As such, psychometric measurement based on multiple items rather than a single-item proxy seemed a more fitting approach [Peter 1979; Fomnell 1982; Churchill 1979], and was used in the analyses. I personally believe that psychometric variables do not fully reflect the necessary information, but that is just because I am biased towards more robust statistical data and believe that what people think they know is not actually what they know.Continuing with the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to evaluate the foreign venture under discussion across each of these items on a 7-point Likert-type scale. After data collection, an iterative procedure was employed to refine the set of in dicators for each construct. The item-to-total correlation, i. e. , the correlation between the score of each indicator and the total score of those indicators used to capture each construct, was then examined. Following the steps suggested by Nunnally [1978], those indicators with a low correlation with the total score (i. e. , r Revisiting the Eclectic Theory of the Choice of International Entry Mode Theoretical Issues on Marketing UIBE PhD Program Juan Pablo Dominguez Fall 2012 Final Examination for Theoretical Issues of Marketing (Doctoral Course) Nov. 28, 2012 Essay questions for â€Å" An Eclectic Theory of Choice of International Entry Mode † 1. What are the major variables that affect the decision of entry mode? Should they be weighted equally? Why yes or why no? 2. Given that different variables may pull the MNC in the different directions, what approach is suggested by the authors? 3. What theories have been taken as the basis for conceptualization? 4.Considering the nine propositions, do they all make sense to you? In case you find any fault with them, state it with your arguments. 5. Review the methodology adopted by this paper and make your comment on its appropriateness. 6. Discuss briefly what contributions this thesis has made to the theory of international entry mode choice. 7. What do you think of the limitation of this thesis? Revisiting the Eclectic Theor y of the Choice of International Entry Mode During the internationalization process of a company, the decision of entry mode to a particular market is determined by a set of different considerations.The paper â€Å"An Eclectic Theory of Choice of International Entry mode† is a theoretical approach to answer the questions of which factors are relevant and which are not. It reflects on how contemporary studies (particularly, Transaction Cost Theory) had a limited view of the problem by not including a globalstrategy factor in the analysis, therefore the authors try to advance the discussion by enriching the construct of additional variables that were disregarded by economical orthodoxy at the moment. This short paper is aimed to introduce in part the aforementioned document and present more recent findings in the topic.In that fashion I have divided the paper into 4 main parts besides this short introduction. The first section is a brief literature review of the theoretical bac kground behind the understanding of entry mode in the internationalization process given that the paper was published more than two decades ago. The second section aims at synthesizing the main propositions of the paper and what I consider its limitations and contributions. The third section displays empirical evidence that aimed to negate or confirm the different propositions of the authors and finally, the fourth and last section is a set of concluding remarks. Literary reviewThere is no short list about existing research regarding the internationalization process of MNEs?. When focusing on the entry mode (or ownership strategies), one can begin to see that there are three different streams of thought: one stream of research has often framed such a choice as determined by the need for control to minimize transaction costs arising from asset specificity and potential partner opportunism (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986; Williamson, 1985). According to transaction costs theory, for invest ments characterized by high asset specificity, integrated ownership structures, such as whole owned subsidiaries (WOSs), should be sed to enhance MNEs? strategic and operational control over the assets (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986) and to protect MNEs from the risk of knowledge dissemination to their partners (Davidson & McFetridge, 1985; Hill, Hwang, & Kim, 1990). Thus, transaction costs theory advocates the use of ex ante control mechanisms to minimize transaction costs arising from asset specificity and potential partner opportunism (Williamson, 1985). Another stream of research has suggested that the institutional environment shapes such a choice and proposed that MNEs may exchange ownership for legitimacy in the host country (Chan & Makino, 2007; Yiu & Makino, 2002).When foreign ownership is not prevalent or well accepted in the host country industry, MNEs can partner with local firms or keep the ownership level lower (Chan & Makino, 2007). By doing so, MNEs can show the local co mmunities that their activities are not ethnocentric or harmful to local firms, and they also obtain the local identity and legitimacy to acquire the resources that they need in the local environment (Xu & Shenkar, 2002). On the other hand, when FDI is well accepted in the local market, MNEs can pursue integrated ownership structures and high equity shares.Choice of an ownership structure thus does not necessarily reflect MNEs? deliberate efforts to economize on transaction costs for an efficient governance mechanism but may rather be a response to pressures from the institutional environment (Yiu & Makino, 2002). The third stream is as in the case of Hill et al. which posits that in addition to control and legitimacy, MNE ownership strategy is also fundamentally concerned with the choice between flexibility and commitment (Buckley & Casson, 1998; Chi & McGuire, 1996; Kouvelis, Axarloglou, & Sinha, 2001). More recent papers have taken again the same question.Li & Li in 2010 resuscit ated the topic and made a contribution by not only providing a theoretical background proposing similar hypothesis as in the case of Hill, Hwang and Kim in 1990 but also by analyzing the ownership structure and equity shares of over 5,000 new foreign investments in manufacturing industries in China during 2000 to 2006. Explaining the contents of the paper is outside of the objectives of this short essay, but the Li & Li? s took Hill et al style of theoretical constructions one step further and provided stronger empirical evidence (outside the realm of mall sample surveys) that supports the logic behind such framework. Empirical tests of MNEs' initial entry modes are rather limited, even though existing theoretical research has elaborated on the options features of JVs compared with other investment modes (Buckley & Casson, 1998; Chi, 2000; Lee, 2004; Pennings & Sleuwaegen, 2004). Cuypers and Martin (2010) observed that foreign investors are inclined to take a smaller equity share in a JV when they face strong exogenous uncertainty (e. g. , exchange rate uncertainty) rather than endogenous uncertainty (e. . , cultural uncertainty). Brouthers et al. (2008) showed that, in choosing international entry modes, MNEs tend to adopt JVs (over WOSs) under high demand uncertainty. Synthesis What are the major variables that affect the decision of entry mode? Given that different authors have considered variables like country risk, country familiarity, country development stage, technology, and transaction costs, Hill et al. begin their work with a vision to unify the framework and analyze how different factors affect the decision.The first attempt to create a unified framework was carried out by Anderson and Gatignon in 1986 through the use of transaction cost theory. I believe that the authors see the shortcoming of this initial unified proposal in the Ceteris Paribus assumption of Economics that is used only as a theoretical tool to analyze relations among events or va riables. Any theory that treats related events in isolation will be insufficient and that? s why the authors propose the strategic relationship as another vital element of the decision.Their proposal includes the following factors: !†#$%   ! â€Å"#$! ,! = ! (! â€Å"#$%†&, ! â€Å"#$%&'†   ! â€Å"##$%#&'%, ! â€Å"##$%†&'(â€Å")&   ! â€Å"#$#) Should they be weighted equally? Why yes or why no? Different factors in the decision often suggest different entry modes, it is according to the particular weights each company puts in this factors that the final choice of entry is done. In other words, when deciding entry mode different factors have different weights and according to each company’s strategic considerations, such weights will have different magnitudes.Given that different variables may pull the MNC in the different directions, what approach is suggested by the authors? The authors suggest that instead of focusing in a single var iable, the company will have a set of strategic constraints that will limit their decision options. They focus their attention on how much control the company wants, according to the resource commitment they will provide and taking into consideration the dissemination risks of their knowhow. This can be formulated as the following: ! â€Å"#$%   ! â€Å"#$! ,! = ! !†#$%†&, ! #$%&'†   ! â€Å"##$%#&'%, ! â€Å"##$%†&'(â€Å")&   ! â€Å"#$# !†#$†%&'(   ! â€Å"#$†%&'( = ! !†#$%! â€Å"&   ! â€Å"##$%$&'$(, ! â€Å"#$%   ! †   ! â€Å"#$#%&! ‘, ! â€Å"#$%†   ! â€Å"#! $%&'%(â€Å"# !†#$%&†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ(â€Å")*+   ! â€Å"#$†%&'( = ! !†#$%&'   ! â€Å"#$, ! â€Å"#$%&†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ   ! â€Å"#$%$†&$'(, ! â€Å"#$%! !†#$%&%†#', ! â€Å"#$%&#&%'   ! †   ! â€Å"#$%&'&'†( !†#$%#&'()$   ! â€Å"#! â€Å"#$%& = ! (! à ¢â‚¬Å"#$%   ! †   ! â€Å"#$ ? !†#$%&%$   ! â€Å"#$ ? ?! â€Å", ! â€Å"#$! !†#$%&   ! †   ! â€Å"#$ ? ?! â€Å") These factors come from previous research and theoretical constructs. One important analysis that needs to be done is how these factors correlate to each other.One factor that I? m not sure if it? s included in any of these variables is regulation. For example, many automobile giants in the world wanted to enter the Chinese market as WOSs but because of regulation they are forced to enter as JVs. This makes me believe that there is an unspoken assumption that the markets the authors were conceiving in their constructs were open markets with little participation of the government (maybe they include it with country risk? ). What theories have been taken as the basis for conceptualization? This heoretical construct is a criticism to the Transaction Cost analysis to the entry mode decision, but in the words of Hwan, the theoretical heritage of the Eclectic Theory can be traced in part to the seminal work of Perlmutter [1969], which acknowledged the increasing existence of geocentric approaches to multinational management. The geocentric approach outlined by Perlmutter provided a succinct explanation for the existence of and benefits attached to managing subsidiary units not as a portfolio of independent units but as an interdependent network.Another foundation, upon which their argument rests, is the rich body of literature on global strategy (e. g. , Hout, Porter and Rudden [1982]; Hamel and Prahalad [1985]; Kogut [1985a, 1985b]; Kim and Mauborgne [1988]; Yip, [1989]), which has either explicitly or implicitly built upon Perlmutter's geocentric conception. I believe that the biggest theoretical difference from this global-strategy construct and classical economics theory within the entry mode decision is that the overriding objective is overall corporate success, not the maximization of each individual subsi diary unit's efficiency.The second is that in achieving this objective, interdependencies across subsidiary units must be actively managed, meaning that sometimes it would mean that in order to maintain global strategy, some SBUs might even be required to operate at a loss (which is a rationale outside the boundaries of traditional economics). Considering the nine propositions, do they all make sense to you? In case you find any fault with them, state it with your arguments. The first thing I noticed is why are they called propositions instead of Hypothesis? Any theory is based in hypothesis because its aim is to provide chances for something to be proved or not.The second thing I notices is that the propositions are not â€Å"symmetrical†. By this I mean that when you make such kind of propositions, in order to fully understand the relationship of the explanatory variables with the dependent variable, the author must not only look at one side of the coin but at both. For exa mple, Proposition 1: Other things being equal, firms that pursue a multi-domestic strategy will favor lowcontrol entry modes. That is one side of the coin, the other side would be: Other things being equal, firms that do not pursue multi-domestic strategy will not favor low-control entry modes.The value of such construct is that it gives a more robust base for empirical testing. Each proposition is set to analyze the validity of each factor within the whole unified framework, so its validity remains to be tested empirically. Review the methodology adopted by this paper and make your comment on its appropriateness. This paper is a theoretical construct based upon the works of others with the addition of new factors, it does not apply specific methodological tools for testing its validity. In terms of epistemological value, the theory is constructed in the same fashion as Falsificationism (Popper? ) would propose because the validity of the theory that was accepted previously was put into question by the authors and therefore they provided a new set of hypothesis that should accommodate more accurately to reality than Transaction Costs theory. To discuss the appropriateness of such construct without empirical evidence would be to begin an epistemological debate about the validity of theories and their validity into describing â€Å"Truth†. If it were me who wrote the paper I would have not done a theoretical construct without any experimental study about its validity. I believe that? why some of the authors (specifically Hwan) wrote another paper a couple of years later were with the use of surveys they tried to analyze the validity of such constructs. Methodologically speaking, I believe that is a much more fruitful contribution to science than providing list of propositions that may or may not be of use. Discuss briefly what contributions this thesis has made to the theory of international entry mode choice. The biggest contribution of this paper was th e search of different factors that could explain the decision of mode of entry for the internationalization process of a company.Previous studies at the moment had already identified a diversity of variables that influence the entry mode decision decision, and the authors grouped them into one of two categories: environmental or transaction specific factors. Furthermore, according to the theoretical constructs of the time, the studies of the factors had an underlying assumption that each entry decision is made in isolation and is driven essentially by efficiency considerations at the level of the individual entrant or subsidiary unit.This paper made a case directed towards establishing the importance of a third group of factors: global strategic, namely the strategic relationship it envisages between its operations across borders, in reaching its entry mode decision. For a business manager who is in such internationalization process, this theoretical construct can provide him a road map to which variables he/she should pay attention to in order to make the decision of entry.In my opinion, managers tend to first see how other companies enter the market in their initial stages and see if that would be a viable choice and such â€Å"contextual† approach is not included in the factors. What do you think of the limitation of this thesis? The biggest limitation of any theoretical construct is that it remains just a theory and not be applicable. That? s why I took it upon me to see if someone had tried to prove or deny the Eclectic Theory. The results of that search are shown in section three of this paper.Empirical evidence 2 years after the publication of Hill et al. Eclectic Theory, one of the co-writers, Peter Hwang along with W. Chan Kim published the paper: â€Å"Global Strategy and Multinationals? Entry Mode Choice†. The main objective of the paper was to provide empirical tests to the propositions made by the Eclectic Theory. They used a survey f rom ninety-six multinational managers and had a fundamental result that an express incorporation of global strategic variables into an analysis of the entry mode decision is warranted. DataThe survey was a mail questionnaire composed of four parts: modes of entry, global strategic factors, environmental factors, and transaction-specific factors. It was distributed to 629 U. S. based MNE, mostly from the manufacturing sector and targeted senior-level management. 137 questionnaires were returned (22% response rate), of which 41 were disregarded because of incomplete answers. Another 18 were disregarded because respondents provided a positive response to the control question of whether government regulations imposed restrictions on the mode options available.The respondents operations were geographically wide with 25 located in Asia Pacific, 17 in South America, 25 in Europe, 16 in North America, 4 in Africa and 9 in the Middle East. One big methodological problem to measure the validi ty of the propositions is that such variables are not easy to measure. This translates that the nine key variables recognized to influence the focal decision of foreign entry mode are linked to the empirical world only through indicators.Moreover, they appear to be wide-ranging, multifaced constructs. As such, psychometric measurement based on multiple items rather than a single-item proxy seemed a more fitting approach [Peter 1979; Fomnell 1982; Churchill 1979], and was used in the analyses. I personally believe that psychometric variables do not fully reflect the necessary information, but that is just because I am biased towards more robust statistical data and believe that what people think they know is not actually what they know.Continuing with the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to evaluate the foreign venture under discussion across each of these items on a 7-point Likert-type scale. After data collection, an iterative procedure was employed to refine the set of in dicators for each construct. The item-to-total correlation, i. e. , the correlation between the score of each indicator and the total score of those indicators used to capture each construct, was then examined. Following the steps suggested by Nunnally [1978], those indicators with a low correlation with the total score (i. e. , r

USS Boxer (Cv-21) During Korean War

USS Boxer (Cv-21) During Korean War Conceived in the 1920s and early 1930s, the US Navys  Lexington- and  Yorktown-class aircraft carriers were built to fit within the restrictions set forth by the  Washington Naval Treaty. This placed limitations on the tonnage of different types of warships as well as capped each signatory’s overall tonnage. These types of restrictions were continued through the 1930 London Naval Treaty. As global tensions rose, Japan and Italy left the agreement in 1936. With the end of the treaty system, the US Navy began developing a design for a new, larger class of aircraft carrier and one which utilized the lessons learned from the   Yorktown-class. The resulting type was wider and longer as well as incorporated a deck-edge elevator system. This had been employed earlier on  USS  Wasp   (CV-7). In addition to carrying a larger air group, the new class mounted a greatly enlarged anti-aircraft armament. The lead ship,  USS  Essex  (CV-9), was laid down on April 28, 1941 . With the US entry into  World War II  after the  attack on Pearl Harbor, the  Essex-class became the US Navys standard design for fleet carriers. The first four ships after  Essex  followed the types initial design. In early 1943, the US Navy made changes to enhance future vessels. The most noticeable of these was the lengthening the bow to a clipper design which allowed for the addition of two quadruple 40 mm mounts. Other changes included moving the combat information center below the armored deck, installation of improved aviation fuel and ventilation systems, a second catapult on the flight deck, and an additional fire control director. Though known as the long-hull  Essex-class or  Ticonderoga-class by some, the US Navy made no distinction between these and the earlier  Essex-class ships. USS Boxer (CV-21) Construction The first ship to move forward with the revised  Essex-class design was USS  Hancock  (CV-14) which was later renamed Ticonderoga.   It was followed by several others including USS Boxer  (CV-21).   Laid down on September 13, 1943,  construction of Boxer  began at Newport News Shipbuilding and rapidly moved forward.   Named for HMS Boxer  which had been captured by the US Navy during the War of 1812, the new carrier slid into the water on  December 14, 1944, with Ruth D. Overton, daughter of Senator John H. Overton, serving as sponsor.   Work continued and  Boxer  entered commission on April 16, 1945, with Captain D.F. Smith in command. Early Service Departing Norfolk,  Boxer  commenced shakedown and training operations in preparation for use in the Pacific Theater of World War II.   As these initiatives were concluding, the conflict ended with Japan asking for a cessation of hostilities.   Dispatched to the Pacific in August 1945, Boxer  arrived at San Diego before departing for Guam the following month.   Reaching that island, it became flagship of Task Force 77.   Supporting the occupation of Japan,  the carrier remained abroad until August 1946 and also made calls in Okinawa, China, and the Philippines.   Returning to San Francisco,  Boxer  embarked Carrier Air Group 19 which flew the new Grumman F8F Bearcat.   As one of the US Navys newest carriers, Boxer  remained in commission as the service downsized from its wartime levels. After conducting peacetime activities off California in 1947, the following year saw  Boxer  employed in jet aircraft testing.   In this role, it launched the first jet fighter, a North American FJ-1 Fury, to fly from an American carrier on March 10.   After spending two years employed in maneuvers and training jet pilots,  Boxer  departed for the Far East in January 1950.   Making goodwill visits around the region as part of the 7th Fleet, the carrier also entertained South Korean President Syngman Rhee.   Due for a maintenance overhaul,  Boxer  returned to San Diego on June 25 just as the Korean War was beginning. USS Boxer (CV-21) - Korean War:   Due to the urgency of the situation,  Boxers overhaul was postponed and the carrier was quickly employed to ferry aircraft to the war zone.   Embarking 145 North American P-51 Mustangs and other aircraft and supplies, the carrier departed Alameda, CA on July 14 and set a trans-Pacific speed record by reaching Japan in eight days, seven hours.   Another record was set in early August when  Boxer  made a second ferry trip.   Returning to California, the carrier received cursory maintenance before embarking the Chance-Vought F4U Corsairs of Carrier Air Group 2.   Sailing for Korea in a combat role,  Boxer  arrived and received orders to join the fleet gathering to support the landings at Inchon.   Operating off Inchon in September,  Boxers aircraft provided close support to the troops ashore as they drove inland and re-captured Seoul.   While performing this mission, the carrier was stricken when one of its reduction gears failed.   Caused due to postponed maintenance on the vessel, it limited the carriers speed to 26 knots.   On November 11,  Boxer  received orders to sail for the United States to make repairs.   These were conducted at San Diego and the carrier was able to resume combat operations after embarking Carrier Air Group 101.   Operating from Point Oboe, approximately 125 miles east of Wonsan,  Boxers aircraft struck targets along the 38th Parallel between March and October 1951.    Refitting in the fall of 1951, Boxer  again sailed for Korea the following February with the Grumman F9F Panthers of Carrier Air Group 2 aboard.   Serving in Task Force 77, the carriers planes conducted strategic strikes across North Korea.   During this deployment, tragedy struck the ship on August 5 when an aircrafts fuel tank caught fire.   Quickly spreading through the hanger deck, it took over four hours to contain and killed eight.   Repaired at Yokosuka,  Boxer  re-entered combat operations later that month.   Shortly after returning, the carrier tested a new weapons system which used radio-controlled Grumman F6F Hellcats as flying bombs.   Re-designated as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-21) in October 1952,  Boxer  underwent an extensive overhaul that winter before making a final Korean deployment between March and November 1953. USS Boxer (CV-21) - A Transition: Following the end of the conflict,  Boxer  made a series of cruises in the Pacific between 1954 and 1956.   Re-designated an anti-submarine carrier (CVS-21) in early 1956, it made a final Pacific deployment late that year and into 1957.   Returning home,  Boxer  was selected to take part in a US Navy experiment which sought to have a carrier solely employ attack helicopters.   Moved to the Atlantic in 1958,  Boxer  operated with an experimental force intended to support the rapid deployment of US Marines.   This saw it again re-designated on January 30, 1959, this time as a landing platform helicopter (LPH-4).   Largely operating in the Caribbean, Boxer  supported American efforts during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 as well as used its new capabilities to aid efforts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic later in the decade. With the US entry into the Vietnam War  in 1965, Boxer  reprised its ferry role by carrying 200 helicopters belonging the US Armys 1st Cavalry Division to South Vietnam.   A second trip was made the following year.   Returning to the Atlantic, Boxer assisted NASA in early 1966 when it recovered an unmanned Apollo test capsule (AS-201) in February and served as the primary recovery ship for Gemini 8 in March.   Over the next three years, Boxer  continued in its amphibious support role until being decommissioned on December 1, 1969.   Removed from the Naval Vessel Register, it was sold for scrap on March 13, 1971.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   USS Boxer  (CV-21) At a Glance Nation:  United StatesType:  Aircraft CarrierShipyard:  Newport New ShipbuildingLaid Down:  September 13, 1943Launched:  December 4, 1944Commissioned:  April 16, 1945Fate:  Sold for scrap, February 1971 USS Boxer (CV-21) - Specifications Displacement:  27,100 tonsLength:  888 ft.Beam:  93 ft.Draft:  28 ft., 7 in.Propulsion:  8 Ãâ€" boilers, 4 Ãâ€" Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 Ãâ€" shaftsSpeed:  33 knotsComplement:  3,448 men USS Boxer (CV-21) - Armament 4 Ãâ€" twin 5 inch 38 caliber guns4 Ãâ€" single 5 inch 38 caliber guns8 Ãâ€" quadruple 40 mm 56 caliber guns46 Ãâ€" single 20 mm 78 caliber guns Aircraft 90-100 aircraft Selected Sources DANFS: USS  Boxer  (CV-21)NavSource: USS  Boxer  (CV-21)USS  Boxer  (CV-21) Veterans Association

Scientists can use a number of methods to determin Essays

Scientists can use a number of methods to determin Essays Scientists can use a number of methods to determine the concentration of a solution. One way is to make visual comparisons with solutions of known concentrations i.e. ( "Standards") AimTo determine the concentration of coloured solutions. Procedure: Your group will set up a series of standard solutions. You will then be provided with solutions of unknown concentrations. You will attempt to determine how concentrated the unknown solutions are by comparing them to your standards. Apparatus Test tube rack 6 large test tubes ( 20 mL) Water distilled Food colouring Solutions of unknown concentration Burette 50 mL Retort stand and clamp Procedure: Read the method outlined below. Complete a risk assessment prior to performing the experiment Collect your apparatus. Set up the test tube rack with the 6 test tubes. Place a label a number from 1- 6 on the outside of each test tube. Fill each test tube with 15 mL of water delivered using a burette. Add 3 drops of food colouring to the second test tube and shake to ensure thorough mixing. To the remaining test tubes add 5, 7, 9 and 10 drops of food colouring respectively. Shake each test tube to ensure thorough mixing. Record observations about the test tubes. You may take a photo of the test tubes but you must also write a description of what you observe. Collect the test tubes containing solutions of unknown concentration. Compare them to your set of standards and record your results. Compare your results with another group who used the same food colouring. Risk Assessment: Hazard Risk Level of risk Precaution Control measures What to do Discussion Consider the method used in this experiment to determine the concentrations of the unknown solutions. State how reliable you think your method was and justify your decision. Make a list of possible errors that might have occurred in this experiment that could have affected your results. Suggest some advantages of the method used in this activity to determine the concentration of the solutions Suggest some disadvantages of the method used. i.e. Limitations of this method Suggest some improvements /alternative method that could be used in order to determine the concentrations of unknown solutions.

Learning Vocabulary With Word Forms

Learning Vocabulary With Word Forms There are a wide variety of techniques used to learn vocabulary in English. This learning vocabulary technique focuses on using word forms as a way to broaden your English vocabulary. The great thing about word forms is that you can learn a number of words with just one basic definition. In other words, word forms relate to a specific meaning. Of course, not all of the definitions are the same. However, the definitions are often closely related. Start off by quickly reviewing the eight parts of speech in English: VerbNounPronounAdjectiveAdverbPrepositionsConjunctionInterjection Examples Not all eight parts of speech will have a form of each word. Sometimes, there are only noun and verb forms. Other times, a word will have related adjectives and adverbs. Here are some examples: Noun: studentVerb: to studyAdjective: studious, studied, studyingAdverb: studiously Some words will have more variations. Take the word care: Noun: care, caregiver, caretaker, carefulnessVerb: to careAdjective: careful, careless, carefree, carewornAdverb: carefully, carelessly Other words will be especially rich because of compounds. Compound words are words made up by taking two words and putting them together to create other words! Take a look at words derived from power: Noun: power, brainpower, candlepower, firepower, horsepower, hydropower, powerboat, powerhouse, powerlessness, powerlifting, powerpc, powerpoint, superpower, willpowerVerb: to power, to empower, to overpowerAdjective: empowered, empowering, overpowered, overpowering, powerable, powered, powerful, powerlessAdverb: powerfully, powerlessly, overpoweringly Not all words have so many compound word possibilities. However, there are some words that are used to construct numerous compound words. Heres a (very) short list to get you started: airanybackballroomdayearthfiregrandhandhomelandlightnewsrainshowsandsometimewaterwind Exercises for Using Your Words in Context Exercise 1: Write a Paragraph Once youve made a list of a few words, the next step will be to give yourself the opportunity to put the words youve studied into context. There are a number of ways to do this, but one exercise I especially like is to write an extended paragraph. Lets take a look at power again. Heres a paragraph Ive written to help me practice and remember words created with power: Writing a paragraph is a powerful way to help you remember words. Of course, it takes plenty of brainpower. However, by writing out such a paragraph you will empower yourself to use this words. For example, you might find creating a paragraph in powerpoint on a PowerPC takes a lot of willpower. In the end, you wont feel overpowered by all these words, youll feel empowered. No longer will you stand there powerlessly when confronted with words such as candlepower, firepower, horsepower, hydropower, because youll know that they are all different types of power used to power our overpowering society. Ill be the first to admit that writing out a paragraph, or even trying to read such a paragraph from memory might seem crazy. It certainly isnt good writing style! However, by taking the time to try to fit as many words made up with a target word youll be creating all sorts of related context to your word list. This exercise will help you imagine what type of uses can be found for all these related words. Best of all, the exercise will help you map the words in your brain! Exercise 2: Write Sentences An easier exercise is to write out individual sentences for each word in your list. Its not as challenging, but its certainly an effective way to practice the vocabulary youve taken the time to learn.

Role of Relationship Marketing in Online and Traditional Marketing Dissertation

Role of Relationship Marketing in Online and Traditional Marketing Approaches - Dissertation Example This research will begin with the statement that with the introduction of new technological platforms in which to attract customers, the use of online marketing strategies has increased exponentially in recent years. However, there is no clear evidence of how this transition from traditional marketing to online marketing is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. Moreover, the role of relationship marketing in both online and traditional marketing is yet to be explored. Popularity of online marketing has increased in the recent years. With the increase in the numbers of internet users, marketers are more inclined to approach consumers using online sources. Online marketing is providing businesses with an opportunity to attain more with given level of inputs. There is a clear shift from traditional marketing to online marketing however it is yet to be explored how this transition is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. In a comparativ e sense, there are questions of how different online marketing strategies vary from traditional marketing and in what ways they relate to each other. Clearly, there is a link between the two forms of marketing but less evidence exists on the role of relationship marketing in both traditional and online marketing approaches. This study will explore how these two approaches of marketing are similar or different and what is role of relationship marketing in enhancing the effectiveness of these modes.... using the focus group interview methodology has identified major trends and themes in online and traditional marketing techniques used by Virgin Mobile, UK. These results present implications for the players in the telecommunication industry. 1. INTRODUCTION Popularity of online marketing has increased in the recent years. With the increase in the numbers of internet users, marketers are more inclined to approach consumers using online sources. Online marketing is providing businesses with an opportunity to attain more with given level of inputs (Haegele, 2001). There is a clear shift from traditional marketing to online marketing however it is yet to be explored how this transition is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. In a comparative sense, there are questions of how different online marketing strategies vary from traditional marketing and in what ways they relate to each other (Mirzaei, 2012). Clearly, there is a link between the two forms of marketin g but less evidence exists on the role of relationship marketing in both traditional and online marketing approaches. This study will explore how these two approaches of marketing are similar or different and what is role of relationship marketing in enhancing the effectiveness of these modes. 1.1 Research Aims and Objectives The aim of the research is to â€Å"examine the differences and similarities between online marketing and traditional marketing while exploring the role of relationship marketing in both these forms; UK's telecommunication industry (specifically Virgin Mobile) is selected as a case for the assessment†. Following are the objectives of this study: 1 To compare traditional marketing and internet/social-media marketing approaches used by Virgin Mobile, UK from a

Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Annotated Bibliography Example The transition from the application of ratio analysis technique to other models of predicting bankruptcy, following the susceptibility of financial ratio analysis to financial difficulties, is advanced by the article, making it possible to trace the history of bankruptcy over a period of time. The article seeks to advance this study to include the evaluation of multi discriminant analysis (MDA) and Regression analyses, as suitable analytical techniques of evaluating the financial situation of a company, consequently displaying the bankruptcy risks involved. The article is relevant for this study, since it helps in tracing the evolution and advancement of corporate bankruptcy, with a focus on how corporate bankruptcy has been assessed over time. The use of bankruptcy as the recourse for individual and company debts is assessed under this study, with a focus on understanding how bankruptcy have been used to prevent individuals and companies from paying the debts. The article analyses the laws applicable in preventing the abuse of bankruptcy concept, evaluating how well they shield companies from facing bankruptcy suits. Notably, the article concentrates on evaluating how wealthy individuals and companies can use the bankruptcy concept as a loophole to help them have their debts discharged, and at the same time remain with their assets intact. Thus, the role of opportunistic debtors in advancing company bankruptcy in the history of corporate bankruptcy is evaluated. The concepts of involuntary bankruptcy and informal bankruptcy are also studied under the article, with the intention of unearthing the loopholes presented by these concepts, which can accelerate the abuse of bankruptcy. This article is relevant for this study, si nce it helps in creating awareness on various loopholes that have been applied to abuse bankruptcy in the history of company

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 145

Summary - Essay Example In order to convince the opposers, Nomani presented her own life examples and stated that many Muslim women experienced loneliness and suffering in marriage. Mohammad Habash also adhered to the idea of Muslim women’s freedom of choice and claimed women should be only led, advised, and guided but not told what to do. Overall, both Nomani and Habash based their opinions not on the ground of religion; they rather addressed the concept of freedom. It is possible to say that the speakers’ position be well-grounded; despite this one could see that their stance was defensive. Yasit Qadhi, in his turn, opposed to what the proponents of such freedom stated and claimed that if a Muslim did not want to follow Words of Allah and the law, he / she should not be regarded as a Muslim at all because of the initial meaning of this word and the essence of the religion as well. In other words, Qadhi discussed the question not only from the religious point of view but from the perspective of the law. Thuraya Arrayed dealt with the question from the point of view of psychology and from the height of her life experience. Particularly, she said that as young people are not wise enough they should be controlled. These two panelists had educated and religious stance and looked more confident than Nomani and Habash. The audience took an active part in the discussion as well and asked challenging and suitable questions. As can be seen, the issue was left unresolved and every party remained on the same mind. Even though the panelists adhered to opposing views, the note was quite friendly. The opposers to the idea of freedom were more convincing. Despite this, the audience vote for women’s right to choose a husband, which was not a wise decision because the discussed issue was of a religious

Battle leadership by Adolf Von Schell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Battle leadership by Adolf Von Schell - Essay Example f von Schell in his book has explicitly stated that as leaders, there should be some sort of knowledge related with the souls of the soldiers who are giving their best shot in the battleground. According to his own theory and quite rightly so, the soldier is the only person, the living soul with which the war can be started, ended and carried out in the first place as it has to decide whether or not to dismantle a bomb, throw a rocket or anything that has to do something or the other with weapons and ammunition. More than that it is his immense resilience and sense of intellect and understanding that wins him many a war, even in the most difficult of times. He goes on to suggest in this essay that it is the responsibility of the leader in the battle field to make use of his soldiers in the best manner that he possibly can as well as become a role model for them so that they can take heed and give in their best demonstration of courage and bravery. Leaders, according to him are the torchbearers and it is only up to them to instill the confidence and belief in the rest of the army. Without their self belief, nothing is possible. Adolf is of the view that every leadership effort that there is present in the war grounds is reminiscent of the relationship that exists between the leader and his men, especially in the manner through which the same is being transferred to each and every player of the army. This is pretty significant as it says a thing or two about the communication flow that should be the key ingredient of any war, battle or for that matter a discussion that leads up to a war eventually. The values that the leader portrays are very important as this forms the bridge between him and the people who are being led under him. Values thus form the cornerstone of the term called motivation as it in essence forms the basis for a whole lot of avenues in the times to come, not only on the shoulders of the leader for his being true and straight to them but also

Dining Room in Authentic Elizabethan Style Assignment

Dining Room in Authentic Elizabethan Style - Assignment Example A typical building of the period is Wollaton Hall (1588), Nottinghamshire, built by Robert Smythson; it was the first English house to abandon the traditional central courtyard and to place in its stead a high-ceilinged great hall lighted by gallery windows and surrounded by classically proportioned, multi-windowed wings. Bible box - the bible box appeared, these were small side chests designed to hold the family bible. They were later made with a sloping top to facilitate writing and reading. It was the forerunner to the writing desk. They were oak, left natural or finished with oils or beeswax. Colour: During Elizabethan times, color schemes varied depending upon the location of the home. Lighter colors tended to be avoided in town and city dwellings due to pollution. Another factor in color choice was often determined by the availability of pigments. In country areas, interior decorations were often carried out by traveling craftsmen who carried limited supplies. Paint had to be mixed on site with whatever locally available ingredients could be found. For example, the blue-green color wash used on wooden paneled walls in country areas was derived from the earth pigment terra verde, mixed with egg whites and buttermilk. It is, nevertheless possible to make some general statements. For example, during the first half of the Victorian era, walls were usually light colors except for dining rooms and libraries. The second half gave way to much more vibrant, rich colors such as vivid greens and mahogany brown typically found in bedrooms. During this period, the general feeling w as that deep, rich colors enhanced the importance of a room. Owen Jones, architect and theorist of color and ornament, published a handbook, in 1856, called The Grammar of Ornament. The basis of Jones's theories on the use of color was that it was aesthetically correct to use a complex pattern consisting of one main color and many subsidiary colors. Considerable thought was given to creating the right balance of both color and texture between wall, molding, ceiling and woodwork. Adding texture to a room was achieved through the use of wallpaper; stenciling and specialist paint finishes such as sponging, marbleizing and spattering. In most cases it was very difficult to distinguish wallpaper from paint. The simulation of various kinds

Battle leadership by Adolf Von Schell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Battle leadership by Adolf Von Schell - Essay Example f von Schell in his book has explicitly stated that as leaders, there should be some sort of knowledge related with the souls of the soldiers who are giving their best shot in the battleground. According to his own theory and quite rightly so, the soldier is the only person, the living soul with which the war can be started, ended and carried out in the first place as it has to decide whether or not to dismantle a bomb, throw a rocket or anything that has to do something or the other with weapons and ammunition. More than that it is his immense resilience and sense of intellect and understanding that wins him many a war, even in the most difficult of times. He goes on to suggest in this essay that it is the responsibility of the leader in the battle field to make use of his soldiers in the best manner that he possibly can as well as become a role model for them so that they can take heed and give in their best demonstration of courage and bravery. Leaders, according to him are the torchbearers and it is only up to them to instill the confidence and belief in the rest of the army. Without their self belief, nothing is possible. Adolf is of the view that every leadership effort that there is present in the war grounds is reminiscent of the relationship that exists between the leader and his men, especially in the manner through which the same is being transferred to each and every player of the army. This is pretty significant as it says a thing or two about the communication flow that should be the key ingredient of any war, battle or for that matter a discussion that leads up to a war eventually. The values that the leader portrays are very important as this forms the bridge between him and the people who are being led under him. Values thus form the cornerstone of the term called motivation as it in essence forms the basis for a whole lot of avenues in the times to come, not only on the shoulders of the leader for his being true and straight to them but also

Recruitement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Recruitement - Research Paper Example This would then be advertised as appropriate. The Pepsi website often advertises jobs to support recruitment of staff members. Pepsi also recruits from Twitter and LinkedIn. These social media enables them to send job vacancies to people who qualify for them. At other times, they send the vacancy advert to local newspapers. For top level jobs or jobs at regional or international levels, they advertise in international media like global news channels like Al Jazeera and global newspapers like TIME magazine. Candidates apply to Pepsi when they feel they are qualified. Once applications are received for the recruitment exercise, the appropriate HR staff and relevant managers assess the claims and offer jobs. Pepsi is in competition with major companies like Coca Cola. As such, they will need to ensure that they recruit only the best people who can keep Pepsi at the top. This is because if they get the best in the industry, they are likely to overtake their competitors. Pepsi appears to be a friendly organization because they offer people the chance to work with them. Their website shows a lot of details about their recruitment. This presents them as a positive organization to the world. Organizational goals in Pepsi is always matched with the mission and vision declared by the management of the company. As such, recruitment enables the management of Pepsi to ensure that only the best people who can attain a given vision at every point in time are employed. This enables them to use their human resource in the most effective and most strategic way possible. Since Pepsi is a big organization, putting together a recruitment campaign is expensive. First of all, they will have to maintain a big human resource management team that would continue to study the organization and plan recruitment activities. Secondly, the costs of advertising and maintaining the Pepsi website is bloated because of recruitment. Additionally,

Jesus and Mohammad Essay Example for Free

Jesus and Mohammad Essay Religion is the food for the soul, a type of food that never spoils or depreciates. It is the vessel of life, a vessel that is unbreakable and never shudders even from the most destructive outside force. It is the cup of morality, the one that shapes our character and personality. With these different views, one can say that religion is an important aspect of one’s life. It constitutes and contributes to the spiritual well-being of an individual, which is faced today with different options regarding their religion of choice. There are Methodists, Protestants, Muslims, Roman Catholics, and more. However, the two most influential and widespread religion are Islam and Christianity. Christianity is believed to be founded by Jesus Christ, the redeemer of humanity. The beliefs of Christians, which are also shared by Roman Catholics, are summarized in a doctrine called the Nicene Creed. In general, Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, that there are three superior beings: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Believers of this religion grew up with teachings about the creation of the world by God in seven days, the fall of Adam and Eve, the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, and the redemption of mankind (Walsh, 2005). On the other hand, Islam is considered to be founded by Mohammad or Muhammad. Its followers are called Muslims and they believe in only one God, Allah. They believe that Muhammad is the last prophet and Jesus is only one of them. Just like in Christianity, they also believe in the final judgment to be passed on to the blessed and the damned (Braswell, 2000). To know better the concept of these two religions, it may be helpful if one will look at the historical background of the prominent personalities of Christianity and Islam. Jesus Christ, also known as Jesus of Nazareth and the Messiah, was the child of Mary and Joseph and born in the humble stable of Bethlehem during the reign of Augustus. The famous Nativity is described as the birth of Jesus where he was visited by the shepherds and the three kings to give their offerings. He is said to be born without original sin and is said to save humankind from sins. One of the most prominent incidences during his childhood years is when he and his parents visited Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. It was during this time that he was lost for several days and nights, and was found by his parents in the temple teaching about the Word of God. After the incident, Jesus made subsequent visits to Jerusalem allowing him to see how corrupted religion was and the need to reform both its doctrine and practice during that time. He performed miracles and taught the Word of God through fables. Most of his teachings focused on the kingdom of God, how God loves mankind, and how God forgives people when they ask. He became well known and was praised by many people. This caught the attention of the Roman governors and the scribes, who ordered his execution when Jesus claimed that he was God. He was tortured, crucified, and died on the cross. After three days, he resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. Thus, it marks the start of the salvation of humankind (Stalker, 2009). Conversely, Mohammad is the most prominent personality in Islam. Mohammad or Mahomet was born in Mecca in 571 during the reign of Khusro Anosharwan. His father was named Abdallah while his mother was named Amina. His father died several days before his birth. He became an orphan when he was six years old. It was during this time that his mother died while they were in a journey to Medina. Abdl al-Muttalib, his grandfather, took care of him but died when he was eight years old. Finally, he was taken care of by his father’s brother, Abd Manaf, who joined Muhammad on a caravan to Syria (Rodinson, 2002). He became a camel driver on their journey from Syria to Arabia but soon established his career as manager of caravans together with the merchants. On his travel, he met numerous people with various nationalities such as Christians, pagans, and Jews. At the age of 25, he married Khadija whose age is 15 years older than him. Throughout his life, he sought for contemplation and solitude by visiting Mecca and the caves in Mount Hira. On one of his visits, he was visited by Angel Gabriel and asked him to proclaim the Word of God. He was reluctant at first but later accepted that he was the messenger of God after receiving support from Khadija and subsequent visitations of angel. His teachings include worshipping Allah, repenting from evil, and truth about materialism and immortality. He did not perform miracles but only taught what he received. At the start of his struggle as a prophet, he had only 40 followers, who experienced prosecution because his teachings were said to be a great threat to the Meccan life. However, good news came that there was a small group of people supporting his movement in Yathrib, later called Medina. He established his teachings in Medina and began a movement to reclaim his former land, Mecca. After several battles, he regained Mecca and the entire Meccan population was converted to Islam. He returned to Medina in 632 where he died but Islam had already conquered most of Arabia (â€Å"Life†, 2010). The death of both personalities brought immense impact in their respective religion. Without the death of Jesus, Christianity will not be born. It was through his death that Christianity flourished as his apostles began to preach his word across the nation (Ermatinger, 2007). His death became the heart of Christian faith as it became a proof of God’s love for mankind. â€Å"For God so loved the world that He gave us his one and only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life† (John 3:16 New King James Version, 1985). His death allowed people to become closer to God. In addition, his death followed by his resurrection allowed man to have new hope. The first book of Peter stated that: â€Å"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you† (1 Peter 1:3-4 New King James Version, 1985). The death of Muhammad also allowed Islam to spread. It now extends on both sides of the earth reaching the Atlantic on the other side then reaching the borders of China on the other. The success of the spread of Islam can be attributed to the works of the caliphs, Muhammad’s successor with great political and military abilities (â€Å"Life†, 2010). However, the death of Muhammad brought conflict to the Muslims. Debates conjured and are present up to these days whether leadership must be placed upon Muhammad’s direct descendants (according to Shia) or upon the caliphs (according to Sunni) (â€Å"Comparison†, n. . ). In Christianity, the life of Jesus was celebrated starting from his birth up to his death and resurrection. The birth of Jesus is commemorated by Christians every 25 December and is marked by the giving of gifts and sharing of love. Before this day comes, Christians celebrate the season of Advent to prepare their hearts for his coming. His death and suffering are also commemorated by Christians through the season of Lent. During this season, people subject themselves to fasting and reconciliation of their sins. Moreover, Jesus, which is one of the Holy Trinity, is worshipped by most people through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist every Sunday. Unlike Christians, Muslims do not worship Muhammad. They only view him as the last messenger of God but worship Allah alone (â€Å"Comparison†, n. d. ). Even after the death of Jesus and Muhammad, their words and preaching continuously spread. In Christianity, there is the Bible. Bible comes from the word â€Å"biblos† which means book. It is the compilation of the works of prophets recounting the good deeds and mercy of God on humankind. The bible is also divided into two testaments: the Old and the New. The Old Testament, which consists of 39 books, contains the writings of the Jewish people that reflect their philosophy through literary compositions such as hymns and songs (Weatherall, 2009). The New Testament, on the other hand, is a collection of 27 books that provide a significant influence on Christianity and is recognized as a Sacred Scripture by the Christian Church. Included in this part of the bible is the so-called â€Å"Fourfold Gospels† written by Gospel writers with the books of Mathew and Mark recounting the biographies of Jesus Christ (Achtemeier, Green and Thompson, 2001). In Islam, the means of spreading the word of Muhammad is through the Qur’an or Koran. Its contents are revealed to Muhammad in stages for 23 years. It is considered as the holy book of the Muslims where the revelation part is intended to correct the error found in the Old and New Testaments. It has 114 chapters but is divided into 30 parts called juz. During Ramadan, the Muslims read one juz per day until they complete the whole month celebration (â€Å"Qur’an†, 2009). In conclusion, the two most influential religions in the present society have their own similarities and differences. Despite these, what is more important is how people respect and follow the doctrines of their religions. It does not matter whether he or she is a Christian or a Muslim. What matters most is how that people work themselves to build a life of morality and treasures in heaven and not on earth.

Model Of Web Of Causation Health And Social Care Essay

Model Of Web Of Causation Health And Social Care Essay The model of web of causation dates back to 1960, when it was developed to represent different pathways that point on a genesis of a health problem or a disease, giving rise to defined causative risk factors. The model has been used in community health and nursing to explain diseases and disabilities caused by multiple factors and identify possible points for preventive interventions in community health problems. This research paper introduces the conceptual nursing model of the web of causation and uses a community aggregate of children below 18 years diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to discuss conceptual nursing web of causation. Introduction Medicineamigo (2007) defines web of causation as a medical term used to represent a complex group of subjects and relationships that can contribute to occurrence and spread of a disease. The model of web of causation shows that diseases are not distributed randomly in any group but isolation of how they are distributed requires one to study several factors. This implies that there are multiple and heterogeneous causes of any disease, symptom or health condition, collectively forming a web of causation. Clark (2008) argues that the model of the web of causation represents pathway factors that point to a genesis of a health problem and gives rise to or mitigate more precisely defined causative risk factors. Based on this model, one can increase the chances of controlling a disease or a health condition by breaking more links within the web of potential factors in the model. The model offers a solution in conceptualizing health problems that have multi- factoral etiologies such as diabe tes. Historical Development of Model of Web of Causation MacMahon, Pugh, and Ipsen (1960) came up with the model of web of causation; whereby it was used explain the occurrence of icterus for a group of patients who were receiving treatment for syphilis. This was followed by a more sophisticated but generalized web of causation that Stallones came up with in 1966. The purpose of his web of causation was to to describe the interrelationships among the 3 main types of cardiovascular disease. After some further research, Friedman developed a web of causation that was more detailed in 1980. His model was based on causation for the classic heart attack. This development marked the beginning for mapping what is today known concerning the etiology of heart diseases. The model of web of causation has continued to gain popularity since its discovery in 1960 and has proved useful in identifying possible factors for preventive interventions in community health. How Concepts Relate Within the Model of Web of Causation Duncan (2007) points out how the model of web of causation emphasizes on agents in explaining causes of diseases, while providing multifactoral causes that traverse various pathways, mirroring reality. In this model, the disease or a health condition is not only seen to be having different causes, but each one of these individual causes is viewed as a consequence that came from the multiple causes, of which each is an effect resultanting to multiple causes. This web is built using arrows of causation, with each arrow of causation implying that the element at the arrow source is somehow an individual cause of the element at that particular point of the arrow. Using type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children under 18 as an example, the disease can be as a result of new potential risk factor within the neighborhood or a variable in the web of causation representing a toxic environment that leads to diabetes or a variable representing lack of health care for possible underlying causes of dia betes such as high blood pressure or obesity, or having genetic predisposition that leads to diabetes (At Health 2005). Model Application to Nursing Process The model of web of causation can be used in nursing process to explain diseases and disabilities caused by multiple factors such as hepatitis and diabetes, which can be explained using complex relationship in the disease agent, host and environment; integrating factors such as genetic factors, environmental factors and race among others (At Health, 2005). American Diabetes Association (2000) highlights the importance of the model of web of causation in monitoring of diabetes in children and adolescents to avoid further complications resulting from the disease. This can be achieved when families work together with health care providers to help set a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s target for blood glucose levels and develop a personal diabetes plan for healthy meals, regular exercise and oral medication. Duncan (2007) explains how the model can be applied in nursing to address health related threats and conditions such as the problem of teenage pregnancy, which is attributed to complex interaction between several causative and contributing factors such as ignorance, peer pressure and lack of contraceptives among others. Applications Model of Web of Causation to Community Health Problems According to Clark (2008), the model of web of causation is applied in enhancing the understanding of non-communicable diseases. The model has further been used in identifying possible points for preventive interventions in community health problems. Based on this model, prevention of obesity can be used as an intervention measure to protect the target population from being infected with type 2 diabetes. Duncan (2007) explains the importance of the model of web of causation in summarizing community health information for presentation, communication and analysis. He points out the importance of the model in study of distribution of health outcomes in a given population through interpretation of epidemiological relationships. Importance Of Community Partnership In Community Health Projects Community partnership in community health projects brings collaborative efforts to improve health through sharing of resources, combining talents and enhancing opportunities to achieve positive health outcomes (World Health Organization, 2002). According to World Health Organization (2002), involving communities in community health projects is a sign of giving up control and concern about who contributes to success of the partnership. This empowers people to creatively develop skills and build competencies and capacities because better and more sustainable decisions are made by involving communities in decision making. Furthermore, community participation in health projects is a way of extending the democratic process by opening up governance and redressing inequality in power for organizations involved. This offers new opportunities for creative thinking and innovative planning of health projects. Partnership with community in community health project implementation creates dedicated staff in project implementation as communities positively identify with the projects. This ensures ownership and sustainability of the projects, provides a source of information, knowledge as well as experience and eliminates deficiencies in the society, while empowering members to put emphasis on problem solving (WHO, 2002). Conclusion The model of web of causation is an important model that has been used in community health to represent different pathways that point on a genesis of a health problem or a disease, giving rise to defined causative risk factors. It has proved to be a viable model in addressing health problems that have multifactoral causes like the type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Lasting solutions in addressing community health problems can be achieved by involving people at community level in decision making and participation in community health projects.