Personal Narrative Essay - Crickets :: Personal Narrative Writing

Personal Narrative- Crickets I’ve never liked bugs. Grasshoppers are gruesome, and wasps are menacing. Even butterflies seem to flaunt their grace by fluttering in your face. Recently, however, I’ve realized that one insect cowers below the others as the most scheming of the six-legged world. I’ve discovered that I hate crickets. These bugs are way too happy for their own good. Not only black, smaller versions of the grasshopper, crickets are masters of hide and seek. The inky bodies blend flawlessly into the shadows beneath a bush or inside the garage. Each crunchy creature also must have a shrinking ability. Squeezing into cracks and crannies in walls, even the cockroach is shamed by the cricket. Once hiding within thirty feet of my presence, the despicable beast begins to sing its wretched, repetitive tune. Echoing in my ears, magnified by the silence between chirps, the song rattles in my head. Forget studying, forget writing and solving problems, forget sleeping, because I am irritated. Each shrill note pierces my skull, drumming inside my head as though pressuring my brain. "Find me," it taunts, "if you can." Concentrating becomes isolated, like a special filter is funneling only the vibrato-filled song into my mind. Eyes wide and furious, I hunt, following the gnawing chirp. Listening with ears attuned only to the shriek, I creep so slowly, so focused my muscles ache with the strain. Zoning in on a tiny area, suddenly repulsed by the thought of cricket skin brushing my delicate fingertips, I seize a sandal from the step. I can hear it. I know it’s only a few inches away.

Act Three Scene Three of Journeys End by RC Sheriff Essay examples --

Act Three Scene Three of Journey's End Journey's end, written in 1918, is a short play set in the trenches of World War One. The English trench is opposite a German trench with only sixty or so yards of 'no mans land' between them. The play tries to show the reality of war through ideas or comradeship and the way that the characters interact under pressure of everyday life in the trenches. The play also displays ideas of heroism through respect for other soldiers or characters. Overall it is the horror of war itself that is conveyed in this play, shown mainly through death and the lifestyle that had to be lead. Act three Scene three is the very last scene of the play. From almost the very beginning we have known that an attack from the German army is to be expected. However, the characters in the play are not sure when it will take place or in what form. As the attack could transpire at any given moment the tension is high throughout the play. This is not the only anxiety in the script at the beginning of Act three Scene three. Raleigh and Stanhope, the plays two most prominent characters, have had a large argument about the death of a mutual friend, which they do not resolve before the beginning of this scene. The strain between these two characters has been immense for the duration of the play. They were previously well acquainted but Stanhope feared that Raleigh, a recent member to the company, would think badly of him as he has become an alcoholic, and therefore refuses to acknowledge him as a friend, but just a colleague. Raleigh has found this very hard to accept. The audience is not only expecting the attack, but also for Stanhope and Raleigh to clear the air once and for all so they can re... ...is about working successfully with others in one big machine. If the parts of that machine do not work together then it will break down. He also wanted to portray the absolute horror and injustice that war has to offer. He does this extremely successfully as he makes the audience feel encapsulated in the whole experience of war. Even though he is telling them what it is like, he leaves freedom for them to develop their own view on it. Overall, I think that R.C.Sherriff was trying to say that the human side of war is futile. Nobody wins, a lot of people die without accomplishing a great deal, and from whatever angle you chose to look at it, the whole idea is pointless, causing more pain than is necessary. Should all this commotion be vital, just to gain another thirty metres, which will most probably be return to the rightful owner in due time anyway?

Porter’s generic strategies Essay

Introduction Porter’s generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation and focus can be (and often are) adopted by competitors in any given industry and can be provably successful in 21st century business. According to Porter: Effectively implementing any of these generic strategies usually requires total commitment and supporting organizational arrangements that are diluted if there is more than one primary target. . . . [These] generic strategies are approaches to outperforming competitors in the industry. Porter (1980: 35). Furthermore, Porter argues that â€Å"the firm failing to develop its strategy in at least one of the directions–a firm struck in the middle–is in an extremely poor position† and is doomed to essentially low profitability. Porter (1980: 41). In cost leadership situation an organization sets out to be the low-cost producer in its industry. It caters for many industry segments. If an organization can achieve and sustain overall cost leadership then it will achieve superior performance. Cost leadership can be obtained by focusing on key accounts, reaping economies of scale, controlling costs† (Sultan Kermally; 2003, 66-67). Main Body In order to achieve an proper competitive positioning and above average performance, Porter has proposed the following strategies which are termed as generic strategies: Cost leadership A differentiation strategy Focus strategy Cost leadership (attaining the lowest cost position) is clearly not within every firm’s ability to strive toward and attain. In fact, not more than one or two firms in any industry can give value arising predominately from cost-effective operations. By far the majority of firms succeed through the implementation of one of the other two strategies. Even in the case of supposed commodities, companies strive to raise other dimensions of value given to consumers rather than seeking just to compete on a cost basis. Mobil and Exxon are amongst the petroleum firms that attempt to position their gasoline as being superior in quality (anti-clog, non-freeze, etc.), additionally to which their service stations stock an increasing array of convenience items. Mercedes Benz focuses on the prestige and image-conscious end of the automobile market, while Toyota’s manufacturing efficiency gives it a cost and quality facilitator which is reinforced by its marketing wizardry. Combinations of these strategies are also probable, as when instant oil change (focus) specialists look to establish a low-cost position due to the high volume of business generated by a sensible response to customer’s minor automobile service needs. The cost leadership strategy frequently requires a `lean’ culture and is usually perceived as `unattractive’ with the constant focus on cost management and efficiency. A leaning to be production or operations led therefore emerges. This produces a concentration on standardization of products, components as well as processes with the minimization of variations/derivatives. A fine balance needs to be attained between maintaining a contracted range of products/services and meeting the varying needs of diverse customer groups. It is these tensions between either giving a differentiated approach to match customer require and gain competitive advantage, or pursuing cost leadership to gain profit margin and value advantage, that frequently leads in practice to a mixed approach. This means that the advantages of neither competitive position are attained. This being `stuck in the middle’ yields no competitive advantage and corrodes the position of the business unit. Differentiation would involve an organization in providing something unique to its target customers. The uniqueness can be related to products, the way it delivers its goods and services, the way it markets its products or anything that shapes a customer’s perception in relation to differentiation. This could be the way products and services are branded or designed and the customers perceive such offerings as unique† (Sultan Kermally; 2003, 66-67). The differentiation strategy is often the most `attractive’ in that it gives the opportunity for a more resourceful approach to the market. For this reason the organization tends to be marketing led. It is fundamental in these business units that the cost/benefit analysis of any new type of differentiation is thoroughly evaluated. In addition, sensitivity analysis should be used to look at the capability of the associated cost base at different levels of sales performance and in diverse market conditions. The primary challenge with differentiation is one of competitor replication, where the benefit is temporary and, once replicated, becomes an increase in the industry/market cost base for all competitors. This growing migration of the cost base can over time destroy an attractive market segment. According to Grant (1991): â€Å"Differentiation is different from segmentation. Differentiation is concerned with how the firm competes — in what ways the firm can proffer uniqueness to its customers. Such exclusivity might relate to consistency (McDonalds), dependability (Federal Express), status (American Express), quality (Marks & Spencer), and innovation (Sony). Segmentation, in terms of market segment choices is concerned with where the firm competes in terms of consumer groups, localities and product types†. Whereas segmentation is a feature of market structure, differentiation is a strategic choice by a firm. A segmented market is one that can be partitioned according to the characteristics of customers and their demand. Differentiation is concerned with a firm’s positioning within a market or a segment in relation to the product, service and image characteristics that influence customer choice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Sultan Kermally; 2003, 66-67). Michael Porter also has addressed the issues of competitive advantage in relation to the nations. In his book ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’ (1990), Porter’s view has an impact in relation to global competition and consequently global marketing. He puts forward a view that national conditions influence a firm’s competitive advantage in globally competing industries. Then comes focus strategy that â€Å"involves an organization being selective in terms of the segments it wants to serve and focusing on these segments to the exclusion of other segments. The focus strategy can either be cost focus or differentiation focus. If an organization does not choose generic strategies it wants to focus on then as Porter puts it, it will be ‘stuck in the middle’. The extent to which a generic strategy can be sustainable will depend on competitors’ behavior and action. The organization constantly has to be a step ahead of its competitors† (Sultan Kermally; 2003, 66-67). Porter’s generic strategies are based on the competitive methods and possibility of the organization, both of which compromise its strategy. His recommendations have perceptive appeal. Unfortunately, Porter does not cite any contributing literature in the development of his typology. It is also unfortunate that Porter’s deductively derived typology was not convoyed by an attempt to validate its contents empirically. However, separate research efforts have been directed at subjecting Porter’s conceptualized typology to empirical verification. One of the first empirical tests of Porter’s hypothesis was conducted by Dess and Davis, who examined 22 firms in the paint and related products industry (Dess and Davis, 1984). A total of 78 executives from these firms completed questionnaires by representing the importance of 21 competitive variables (Woo and Cool, 1983). The resulting correlation matrix of this distinctiveness was subjected to factor analysis to isolate the competitive dimensions linked with Porter’s three generic strategies. The principal factor solutions hold three elements that were matched against Porter’s generic strategies. A panel of seven academicians was then surveyed to establish the importance of each competitive means for each of the generic strategies. Overall, general agreement was attained between the panel’s definition of cost leadership and differentiation and that resultant via the factor analysis. However, disagreement existed over the panel’s idea of focus strategy and that which was labeled through the beginning. So as to differentiate firms according to discrete patterns of strategic behavior, Dess and Davis entered the factor scores of each firm into a group algorithm. Performance data (return on assets and annual sales growth) were provided for 15 of these firms. The authors observed four separate clusters, of which three were hold as pursuing distinct generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, or focus). They labeled the fourth cluster â€Å"stuck in the middle.† Return on assets for both the cost leadership and differentiation strategies were considerably higher than that generated by the â€Å"stuck in the middle† strategy, lending some support to Porter’s argument that generic strategies produce superior performance. However, the focus cluster was also shown to have the lowest profitability, signifying that Dess and Davis’s results were not conclusive. The authors also raised questions concerning interpretation of factor scores, given concerns they had with the constancy of factor loading in the sample set. The study is also limited in that it implicated only one industry. In a separate study, White examined 69 business units from 12 different businesses from the Profit Impact of Marketing Strategies (PIMS) data base in order to determine the â€Å"proper† organizational requirements approved for Porter’s three generic strategies (White, 1986). A differentiation strategy was operationalized by high relative cost and price, whereas a cost leadership strategy was distinct by low relative price and cost. The organizational â€Å"context† of the business unit was operationalized along three dimensions: autonomy, frequency of reports/reviews, and functional coordination. Performance was determined according to return on investment (ROI), real sales growth, relative market share, and cash flow from investment. By statistically comparing different organizational characteristics, White was capable to demonstrate that businesses within a common strategy class had similar organizational contexts within the overall corporation. For businesses that followed a cost leadership strategy, higher ROIs were linked with low autonomy and more frequent reviews and measures of performance. For businesses following differentiation strategies, higher ROIs were linked with an opposite set of interorganizational characteristics. These results were reliable with Porter’s contention (Porter, 1980). However, when White employed other measures of performance (for instance, real sales growth), the previously mentioned relationships did not always hold. In addition, the combination strategy of both low cost and differentiation produced the highest overall ROI results and higher real growth consequences than a simple pure cost strategy. This suggests that, differing to Porter’s hypothesis, some successful businesses follow a combination of two or more â€Å"generic† strategies concurrently. Another study based on testing Porter’s hypothesis was performed by Woo and Cool. The primary aim of this study was to contrast the performance of Porter’s differentiation and cost leadership strategies with non-generic strategies. The study concentrated on domestic manufacturing businesses over the period from 1976 to 1979 and used the PIMS data base. Woo and Cool chose relative price and cost as representative of the major dimensions that reflect Porter’s differentiation as well as cost leadership strategies. Performance was represented by four factors: return on investment, real sales growth, relative market share, and cash flow to investment. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure was performed that designated mixed results for the generic strategies. According to Woo and Cool, â€Å"In all cases, non-generic strategies as a group seem to achieve as well as the generic strategies.† (Woo and Cool, 1983, 17). These results seem to corroborate those findings of White. In addition, the use of discriminant analysis recognized differences in the functional components of Porter’s two generic strategies and revealed that (1) differentiation strategy was recognized with higher product quality and product R&D and (2) cost leadership was linked with lower discretionary spending and a heavy emphasis on forward integration. In all, Woo and Cool’s conclusions challenged two aspects of Porter’s hypothesis, namely, that generic strategies produce superior performance and that the useful components of particular generic strategies are static and deductively particular The generic strategies make the postulation that the company intends to persist in a concentration mode, that is, limit its horizons to a single product/service or attain a predominant portion of its sales in one industry. Few large or medium size firms confine their product horizons. Characteristically it is small businesses that start with such a focus. With success and growth usually comes a desire to reduce dependence on any one product/market. Diversified firms have more established sales and earnings. Risk reduction unquestionably helps improve shareholder value. Most firms have historically been uncomfortable about â€Å"sticking to their knitting† lest they knit a sweater that’s no longer in style or that someone else can make at half the price (perhaps with a machine they’ve just invented). The unwillingness to place all one’s eggs in one basket is quite comprehensible since it could result in binding the company’s future to just one product, a product that might be rendered obsolete or alternated by alternate products. Also, competitors could prove to be more competent at value formation by identifying the desired components of value more accurately or delivering them more efficiently. Continuous value enhancement in a single product area is positively laudable, but prudence dictates that other stakeholders’ needs (shareholders, employees, creditors, and suppliers, for instance) also be taken into thought. Diversification is an important strategy in assuring that the needs of a diversity of stakeholders are given careful enough attention to merit their strong support. Moreover, expanding the product as well as market scope of the firm widens its range of customers, providing even more opportunities for delivering value in completely novel ways. Diversification has, of late, come under fire for being the reason of many firms’ declining ability to compete with domestic and foreign rivals. It is, however, conglomerate diversification that distracts a firm from its work of value. When a firm has numerous product and service offerings, few of which have any association to each other, the objective becomes to exploit shareholder value (stock price and/or dividend). Commitment to a product line or to its customers is noticeably absent at the corporate level. Conglomerates not simply keep their eggs in different baskets, they often forget where their baskets are! On the other hand, concentrically diversified firms–General Electric, Matsushita, Procter and Gamble, IBM, and Honda, to name a few–seek new product or market opportunities with a view to ongoing their prior success in value creation. IBM, for instance, has excelled at providing engineering, installation, maintenance and other types of services to customers. This source of value has been deliberately developed and maximized regardless of whether the product is a mainframe computer, a microcomputer or peripheral equipment. Procter and Gamble, whether in consumer non-durables or in its more recent food/pharmaceutical ventures has, certainly, always been known for its clear conceptualization and faultless construction of value? However, its capability to unerringly communicate the value inhabiting in its products–through timely and well-planned distribution, superb promotion, and rapid assimilation of customer comments-is what enables P & G to exploit value in its erstwhile as well as new product areas. Thus, Porter three generic strategies are alternative, workable approaches to dealing with the competitive forces.†Ã‚   However, the uniqueness of Porter’s cost, differentiation, and focus strategies has been empirically supported by Dess and Davis, White, and Woo and Cool. These same researchers have also suggested that various combinations of these strategy taxa (cost, differentiation, focus) often result in superior performance. Here, the central matter is focused on the proper level of abstraction in conceptualizing generic strategies. As such, cost, differentiation, and focus (or their derivatives) have been equally viewed as representative of lower levels of concept and as such are more appropriately measured as strategy â€Å"types† or â€Å"strategic factors† that in combination make up the taxa or composite strategies. Conclusion Porter’s generic strategies can be linked directly to the competitive positioning strategy. Product specialization, high-quality offerings, and product innovation are all derivatives of Porter’s differentiation strategy; the combination strategy type recognized in this study relates to Porter’s cost and differentiation strategies. Porter also suggests four strategic alternatives in global industries: broad line global competition, global focus, national focus, and protected niche. These broad patterns resemble aspects of the internationalization dimension. For instance, the domestic strategy type identified in this study is closely linked to Porter’s national focus strategy. Porter also does not mention either exporting or mixed international strategy types. Porter has yet to differentiate fully his conceptualization of global strategy in terms of internationalization and competitive positioning. Indeed, his own perspectives of global strategy seem to have matured with time, perhaps as a consequence of mounting criticism leveled against his cost/differentiation generic strategies. To Porter, the essence of a global strategy can be captured through strategic focus. Yet by defining global industries throughout international parameters, it becomes imperative to determine both whether and how member businesses are in fact competing internationally. Later Porter expands his earlier conceptualization of global strategy by defining it as â€Å"one in which a firm seeks to gain competitive advantage from its international presence through either concentrating configuration, coordination among dispersed activities, or both.† (Porter 1986a: 20) With this definition, global strategy is no longer portrayed as just a function of the one-dimensional geographic experience captured by strategic focus. Rather, it is reflected in the essence of internationalization captured in this study. Porter has always faced a complex challenge subordinating his own four–largely internationalization–strategy types to his leading generic strategies. Indeed, by identifying global strategies through predominantly internationalization, Porter is seen implicitly supporting an agreeing strategic emphasis on both competitive positioning and internationalization. For instance, a broad-line global competitor will compete either on the basis of low cost or differentiation. Thus, cost and differentiation are dimensions of a global strategy, and the same a global strategy is rooted in cost or differentiation advantages. Work Cited Dess G., and Davis P. ( 1984). â€Å"Porter’s (1980) generic strategies as determinants of strategic groups’ membership and organizational performance†. Academy of Management Journal, 27, 467-488. Grant, R.M. (1991). The Resource-based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation. California Management Review, Spring, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 114-135. Kim, Eonsoo, Dae-il Nam and J.L. Stimpert (2004) ‘The Applicability of Porters GenericStrategies in the Digital Age: Assumptions, Conjectures, and Suggestions’ Journal of Management, 30:5, 569–589 Millar, D. (1992), ‘The Generic Strategy Trap’, Journal of Business Strategy, 13, 37–41. Parnell, John A. (2006) ‘Generic strategies after two decades: a reconceptualization of competitive strategy’, Management Decision, 44:8, 1139–1154 Parnell, John A. and Lewis Hershey ‘The strategy-performance relationship revisited: the blessing and curse of the combination strategy’, International Journal of Commerceand Management, 15:1, 17–33. Porter M. ( 1986a). â€Å"Changing patterns of international competition†. California Management Review, 28, 9-40. Porter M. E. ( 1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. Sultan Kermally; Gurus on Marketing Thorogood, 2003 White R. ( 1986). â€Å"Generic Business Strategies, organizational context and performance: An empirical investigation†. Strategic Management Journal, 7, 217-231. Woo C., and Cool K. ( 1983). Porter’s (1980) generic competitive strategies: A test of performance and functional strategy attributes. Working paper, Purdue University.

Definition of Marketing Research

The first thing that an organization must concentrate upon when going into operations is to analyze the current situation of the environment that it is a part of. The organization must know of the current happenings in the environment and the kind of competitors that it is directly affected by and indirectly affected by as well. All these factors must be analyzed clearly and thoroughly so that the organization can decide its strategies and run them effectively. In order to do so, the organization must use marketing research as its tool because it is known to be extremely useful and it never provides false results. Through research, the organization can know what the competitors are planning to do and what their line of action is. Marketing research can be defined as â€Å"Market research is broader in scope and examines all aspects of a business environment. It asks questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business environment.† (Wikipedia, 2006) Techniques used for Marketing Research Any organization can use marketing research as one of its strongest tools for being competent in a market. It is known to be the research and development area that has allowed the organization to grow and become stronger in the competitive environment. The organization must concentrate on this aspect to grow in any environment. There are several techniques that can be used for marketing research and will be explained below. The broader categorization of marketing research is out into four topics as: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Qualitative Research 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Quantitative Research 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Observational Research 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Experimental Research (Wikipedia, 2006) The techniques within these topics are surveys, focus groups, observations, personal interviews and field trials. Surveys can be defined as have a list of questions pertaining to the topic of the research and then having the target market, selected for the research, to fill out and answer these questions. The survey allows the organization to have an easy statistical overview of the data representing the market so that the organization can understand what features of the product must be concentrated upon to optimize. There are various different kinds of surveys such as telephone surveys, mail surveys and even in person surveys which means that an individual is asked these questions so that the organization can understand the individual’s requirements and satisfaction from the product or service that the organization is willing to offer. Focus groups are conducted with a group of participants chosen from the target market of the research to understand what emotions and important points can be derived from the discussion of these participants with one another. The organization can also use personal interviews where the same problems could be discussed face to face rather than having a group of people. In this way, only the idea and the perception of that individual can be understood. The observational techniques depend upon the non verbal communication of the target market. There could be people from the organization who could be sitting at certain areas where the competitor’s products are sold and then could observe as to how the people look into the products and what their requirements are or specifications of the product. There could be the possibility that a customer may need a certain color that was demanded by many other customers and many other features. The organization must also look into the field trials which is really the experimental portion of the research. The organization would first collect all the data from the internet and other sources and then analyze the data in order to understand how the product is to be changed in order that the customers needs from the research results can be reached. Once the product is created, it must first be tested in an environment to see whether the product has any flaws in them or not. The organization can then make required changes in the product and then eventually launch their product in the market. This is the entire process of research that is usually followed by many organizations. However, there is a greater participation of internet in this process because of the availability of data at all times. Internet and Its Usefulness in Marketing Research Internet is known to be a very strong tool for research because internet holds all the information that can be available for an individual. The internet can provide laws and regulations imposed by governments on different sectors of a country or the research results of various other companies and individuals who also tried to understand the market. All this information can be sued by an individual or company as secondary data as well as a support for their primary research. A company known as Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited has grown to be a multinational and is continuing to grow globally. The main aim of this company was to allow the farmers to have higher yield with better products to embed in the soil. Looking at the environmental aspect of agriculture and using the laws and regulations of the government imposed upon agriculture, Engro came up with new technologies along with products to help the farmers grow. The company went through a number of websites and internet sources to understand the requirements of farmers all over the world and got hold of secondary data to understand the gaps within the agricultural sector globally. The company sort out the products that it can produce and then customized them for its market. This provided the company with a competitive edge over all other locally based companies that are still struggling to gain the market. Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All Business. (2006). Market Research Techniques. Retrieved on November 19, 2006 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Asia Market Research. (2002). Research Techniques. Retrieved on November 19, 2006 from: http://www.asiamarketresearch.com/news/cat_research_techniques.htm 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited. Retrieved on November 19, 2006 from: www.engro.com 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Infospan, Inc. Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques. Retrieved on November 19, 2006 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wikipedia. (2006). Marketing Research. Retrieved on November 19, 2006 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_research      

Legal Process Essay

The scenario for this paper states that John is an employee in a private sector organization and he wants to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and explain in detail what the legal process is for filing such complaint. The paper will also explain the part that the courts play in these types of complaints. Every case is different so the paper will explain how these laws potentially apply to John. John has decided to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. However, John is not sure how or what needs to be done in order to do this so he must first do some research. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created to protect employees like John from discrimination violations. The laws against discrimination at work include race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability (Bennett &Anderson, 2007). All these laws are enforced by the EEOC. The law states that if a person believes that they are a victim of discrimination they must first file a complaint through the EEOC before filing a lawsuit against the employer (EEOC, 2013). John has several ways that he can initiate the process of filing his complaint he can choose to file in person at a nearest location or he can file through mail. He will need to disclose some information in writing like his name, phone number, employer’s name, address, and a brief but detailed summary of the violation/s with dates and locations. All these things are very important because the EEOC can determine whether or not an investigation is needed. According to the EEOC John has 180 days to file a complaint but if in his state there are any laws against discrimination it can extended to 300 days to file a complaint. Also it is important to know that in some cases there are state and local laws that prohibit discrimination in the work place so the EEOC will automatically file the charge with the Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPA) which protect the victim under both federal and state law (EEOC, 2013). Now that John is ready to file his complaint with the EEOC he know just needs to wait for them to handle the charge. The EEOC must notify the employer within 10 days of receiving the complaint. Depending on the case that John may have the EEOC may offer that both parties participate in mediation as a way to resolve the issue. However if the case is more severe and or if this doesn’t resolve the issue the case will be given to an investigator for the case to be looked into with more detailed (EEOC, 2013). The EEOC will establish the priority level of the claim and if any laws have been broken. Of course at any point during the process a settlement may be pursued; however if it is not workable, the investigation will carry on and once the investigation is complete the EEOC will make a decision on the case. If the investigation determines that there was no breach of the law the discrimination charges will be dismissed. Notification is then provided to John as a right to sue and he may then file a lawsuit against his employer. In some cases there may not be an investigation because the EEOC finds that John has very little evidence and that there really was no discrimination violation they may choose to close the complaint. If that is the case John would also be notified by mail and he has the option of filing a civil lawsuit against his employer. Once John decides to proceed with the civil lawsuit the courts would now get involve. At this point it would be a good idea for John to hire an attorney who specializes in employment law. In this type of lawsuit the employer can request to have a jury present, if that is the case the jury would listen to both sides of the story, their evidence and their witnesses. A judge will make the final decision in instances such as this. If however, the losing side feels the verdict is unjust they are still able to request an appeal of the verdict. The Appeals Court renders the final judgment except in cases in which a petition is filed with the US Supreme Court. Discrimination has become difficult to distinguish in the global workplace, for the protection of the employee and the employer; businesses must be mindful of relevant state and federal employment laws and the procedure for tackling discrimination. Companies must communicate the â€Å"no tolerance policy† for discrimination to all employees because employee rights are esteemed. Discriminatory acts can be found in varied workplace environments, the employment hiring process, the office setting, and even during the termination of an employee. When a discrimination suit is filed against an employer, the process can be long and extensive. These discrimination laws have been made available to employees to use when individuals believe that a violation of employee rights has occurred in the workplace.

Oxidation of Benzoin and Rearrangement of Benzil to Produce Benzilic Acid Essay

The objective of the lab was to produce benzilic acid from benzoin. Benzoin was successfully oxidized with nitric acid to form benzil. The percent yield of benzil was 59.26% and the melting point range was 94.1-95.5Â °C. The literature melting point of pure benzil is 95Â °C, which indicates the correct product was obtained. Benzil was then rearranged using potassium hydroxide to form benzilic acid. The percent yield of benzilic acid was 57.94% and the melting point range was 147.9-149.8Â °C. The literature melting point of pure benzilic acid is 150Â °C; this also indicates that the correct product was isolated. Crude products were formed through crystallization and then recrystallized to obtain pure products. Melting points were taken of each product to prove its identity. Introduction The purpose of the experiment was to create benzilic acid from benzoin. This reaction would occur in a two-step process of oxidation of a ÃŽ ±-hydroxyketone to form the ÃŽ ±-diketone, benzil. Then, a rearrangement would occur to form the ÃŽ ±-hydroxyacid, benzilic acid. Benzoin is an organic compound consisting of an ethylene bridge bound to phenyl groups and with hydroxyl and ketone functional groups. The nitric acid would readily oxidize benzoin to benzil, a diketone, itself would reduced to nitrous acid, which would decompose to oxides of nitrogen and water. Additional water was added after the initial reaction to act as a base and facilitate removal of the hydrogen on the carbon that initially held the hydroxyl functional group. This indicated the removal of NO2, and generated the carbonyl to complete the oxidation. The conversion of benzil, an ÃŽ ±-diketone, into the salt of ÃŽ ±-hydroxyacid by means of base treatment is generally referred to as the benzilic acid rearrangement. As potassium hydroxide was added to benzil, the stable salt, potassium benzilate, was formed. The salt was acidified by the addition of hydrochloric acid until the pH of the solution became acidic and solid benzilic acid precipitated. The ability to be able to produce benzilic acid is vital. Benzilic acid is used in organic synthesis as a base point for preparation of glycolate pharmaceuticals. After the oxidation of benzoin, the melting point characteristic of the product would prove that the benzil was produced. If the melting point range were narrow, it would indicate that few impurities existed in the benzil product. Again, after the rearrangement of benzil, a melting point would be taken to prove that benzilic acid was produced and how pure the final product was. Crystallization through ice bath is important in this process, so that the solid crystal product could be obtained as a precipitate from the reaction solution. After the crystals are obtained, it is important to recrystallize to remove impurities. This allows the most accurate and precise melting point to be taken of the product and also gives the most accurate percent yield of the product, without impurity being weighed into the final product. To avoid errors, it would be best to make sure the benzil produced in the first step had a narrow melting point range. If the benzil contained many impurities, it would most likely produce inaccuracies in the next step of the process when benzil was rearranged to benzilic acid. Procedure 0.30 grams benzoin, 1.5 mL of concentrated nitric acid, and a spin vane were placed into a 5-mL conical vial with an attached air condenser. The mixture was heated in a 70Â °C water bath for approximately 90 minutes, while being stirred, until the red nitrogen oxide gases were no longer present in the air condenser. Afterwards, the mixture was removed from heat and transferred into a beaker that contained 4 mL of ice-cold water. The mixture was cooled in an ice bath and then crystals were collected by vacuum filtration using a Hirsch funnel and rinsed with cold nitric acid. The dried crystals were then recrystallized using 95% ethanol. The pure benzil product was weighed and a melting point was taken. Then, 0.100 grams of pure benzil, 0.30 mL of 95% ethanol, and a spin vane was placed into a 3-mL conical vial with an attached air condenser. The mixture was heated with an aluminum block at 100Â °C, while being stirred, until all the benzil had dissolved. Using a pipet, 0.25 mL of an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution was added drop wise into the conical vial through the air condenser. The mixture was boiled at 110Â °C while being stirred for approximately 15 minutes and the reaction mixture changed from deep blue-black to brown in color. The vial was removed from heat and allowed to cool to room temperature. The mixture was crystallized in an ice bath and the crystals were collected over a Hirsch funnel using vacuum filtration and rinsed with ice-cold 95% ethanol. The solid crystals were transferred to a 10-mL Erlenmeyer flask that contained 3 mL of 70Â °C water. The flask was swirled while 0.50 mL of 1 M hydrochloric acid was added to the flask. With each drop added a white precipitate formed immediately. The solution was checked to have a pH of 2, if it was not, more acid was added to the flask. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and then cooled in an ice bath. The crystals were collected by vacuum filtration using a Hirsch funnel and rinsed with ice-cold water. The pure benzilic acid crystals were weighed and a melting point was obtained.

The secret life of bees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The secret life of bees - Essay Example olding of occurrences at the household of the Boatwright sisters and the community of worshippers of Our Lady of Chains, the Black Madonna, accorded opportunities for Lily to find what she was looking for. The primary character and narrator of the story is Lily, who was searching for answers regarding her mother’s past, prior to the event of her death. The struggles she was subjected to h encompasses theories of psychosocial framework delving into concepts of trust (in oneself and in T-Ray), guilt (due to the death of her mother), isolation (feeling alone and lonely), role confusion (her perception of being a girl and not acting like one) and feelings of despair (due to the loss of Lily’s mother). The story evolved in finding solutions to her dilemma through the assistance of a group (the Boatwright sisters and the community of worshippers) who were instrumental in giving her the much needed support and love, as well as the answers she was looking for. Her experiences of living and working with bees gave her the strength to accept the things that she could not change (being abandoned by her mother, the way her father treats her, racial inequalities, among others) and the resilience to accept what she has (her talents in writing, taking care of bees, being in love with Zach despite racial differences). The lesson of learning to accept the need to reveal the truth, despite its painful memory, as she revealed everything to August set her free and provided the impetus for understanding the facts about her mother’s abandoning her and T-Ray. This enabled her to move on and to actually forgive his father and to open herself to the love that Boatwright sisters and the community of worshippers give her. The Secret Life of Bees presented an analogy between Lily, as a bee, in search of her mother (the Queen). The secret she kept from the Boatwright sisters, though not immediately revealed, has caused her fear, anxiety and insecurities with regard to her relationships