The Great Baby Einstein Scam free essay sample

The text â€Å"The Great Baby Einstein Scam† was written by Mira Jacob. It’s a magazine text that has the sole purpose of informing the public of Disney’s inconspicuous way of apologizing for their attempt at misleading parents to believe that they had developed a â€Å"Baby Einstein† video for babies. The language used by the writer is bold, to the point and seems to promote a â€Å"Hell Yeah† or â€Å"duh† attitude within the reader. Unlike most articles the writer formulated her thoughts to obtain a reaction from the readers. To stand up for themselves and let the large corporations know that we are paying attention. This is a consensual argument that made its point which sparked into a tradition argument of, â€Å"What do we do about it to win. † Clearly the writer is upset with the â€Å"deceptive advertising† used by Disney. A video produced by Disney that will allow your infants to become some sort of wonder kid? Her article and view was supported by documentation provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommending that children under the age of two should stay away from television screens. We will write a custom essay sample on The Great Baby Einstein Scam or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This support leads a class-action lawsuit by public health lawyers hired by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Refunds were offered to minimize any major damage to Disney and to give the buyers a since of winning. Although I’m not one of the parents that were fooled into buying one of the videos I can truly relate to the viewpoint of the writer. It was a very well thought out marketing plan to utilize an educational foundation babies to build upon to stimulate the impulse to buy the video. Who wouldn’t want to give their child a shot at becoming a Genius? The only problem with all of this is the video didn’t work. Parents need to just take a moment when they hear or see something that seems to be â€Å"too good to be true† because it most likely is.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Essays

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Essays Strategic Petroleum Reserve Essay Strategic Petroleum Reserve Essay For over a period of 60 years and above some of the technical organizations, government agencies, and regulatory bodies have introduced the nomenclature for the definition of the reserves in petroleum. The organizations later gained acceptance, and they became the standards for the reserves classification across more industries. The definitions of reserves in petroleum will be discussed with relevant to different agencies since they will have an impact on the industry, affecting changes that would bring about the industries acceptance. United States Petroleum Reserves According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 1978 agency, the reserves are defined according to the intended purpose which according to the agency is reporting securities. The other parameter used is a qualitative description which is commercially recoverable (Parshall, 2009). It makes no proved reserves that are below the lowest known hydrocarbon as it makes positive revisions should the performance history indicates the need for more. They are usually limited to directly offsetting the DSU. The reservoirs are supported by seismic wire line that conveys sampling, logs, and cores. Its classification to enhance recovery exists in the poorer analogous quality reservoir (Parshall, 2009). It contains both the developed and undeveloped reserves where the reserves are obtained through the wells that exist. The additional gas and oil are supposed to be fetched by the injection of fluid or other recovery techniques. An increased recovery is set so as to notify when the pilot project is done, and the program is allowed in the context of increase in production. The agency considers the reserves that are recovered from wells that are new on the undrilled acreage to be a significant expenditure for completion (Harrell Gardner, 2005). The estimates of the reserves can be done using the deterministic methodologies. To them, treatment of unconventional hydrocarbons includes the conventional hydrocarbons. The mined bitumen is also a mining reserve and not a petroleum reserve. Reserves should have limits to quantities and are expected to be produced during concessions and leases. The assumption to carry out a renewal should only be made if the registrant has a history demonstration of getting them. According to SPE/WPC Reserve Definitions : 1997 the definition of the reserves with the economic conditions that were current at that time (Harrell Gardner, 2005). The agency allowed coal bed methane to be classified as proved reserve if the recovery was to be economical. Their definitions were to be used for the determination of quantities of oil and gas reserves. The agency believes that there should be probabilistic analyses, and the disclosed quantities should be defined in the deterministic data. For the agency reserves served a general application and not a country specific. It reasonably curtailed to a commercially recoverable since its qualitative description was not proven. Petroleum Reserves in United States There seemed to be no proven reserves that were below the lowest known hydrocarbon. Reserves were to be obtained from the wells similar to the ones behind the pipe. They were to be improved from intervals that were estimated since the improved recuperation reserves are considered developed as the enhanced project becomes operational (Harrell Gardner, 2005). The reserves that are not produced rather they can be taken from the different reservoir or where a significant expenditure is required so that installation of a well or transportation can occur, additional drilling, deepening existing wells. The reserves approximation is being prepared using the deterministic or probabilistic methods. The proved reserves are based on the existing economic conditions while the unproven are based on the price and cost forecast. About the United States Geological Survey (USGS), 1980, the definition of reserves of petroleum lies on various factors. The agency is responsible for the assessment of the US and world resources like petroleum (Greene, 2003). The agency states that the resources include reserves and all the accumulation that can eventually be available with those that are not recoverable under the economic situations. The identified resources are however considered to have a specific geologic timeline and information. The classification is done depending on the feasibility of the recovery made by the economy and also due to the marginally economic and sub-economic. Marginal reserves are considered to be a part of the reserve base which on the borders of being economically producible and a perfect time for determination, it can give essential characteristic to the economic uncertainty (Greene, 2003). Uncertainty is only registered because of the discovered and undiscovered potential of recoverable resources. Resources that are discoverable are classified according to either being inferred, measured or being indicated. How Much Oil Reserves does the US Have The estimates made of the total crude gas, natural gas liquids and natural gas to be recovered in the reservoirs and also the field to increase the development and production also increases. As a result, the additions will be commonly the reserves (Greene, 2003). The growth of a reserve is the part of the resource that is identified over and above all the measured reserves that are estimated to be added to the existing fields and also in the defined time frame that was defined. The growth of the reserves occurs due to the delineation of hydrocarbons, new reservoirs, improved recovery, and recalculations. The agency had classified the reserves according to three types of technically recoverable resources which are the oil and natural gasses from the untested cells of continuous accumulations, undiscovered conventional accumulations and natural gas and potential future additional reserves. According to Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), 2001, reserves in petroleum does not depend on the definitions made of commercial or sub-commercial factors, but it depends on the status of the categories although no regard for decisions was made. Contingent resources are considered as the resources of petroleum that have been discovered without any decisions being made (Denney, 2007). The reserves with license include the projects that are yet to be approved by the authorities or the plan that need to be granted exemption after that. The differentiation from the contingent resources depends on the approval of the internal committee so that the development can be continued. The government gives approval of the plan development occasion that aligns the interest and the way that development takes place. The primary principle that is used in the definition system of NPD is that the original recoverable resources can be found in the field or discovery according to their position in the development chain and up to the identification stage until the completion of production (Denney, 2007). The NPD reflects the current understanding of the extension, the characteristic of the recovery made and the estimation of the stochastic method. It uses the quantification of probabilistic just like the SPE. There is no precision in consideration of the economic and the technical criteria that define the reserves. The U.K. Statement of Recommended Practices (SORP), 2001 approaches the definition of reserves in providing recommended evaluation practices. The reserves can be disclosed at the choice of the company according to this agency. The developed and undeveloped oil and gas reserves are mutually exclusive (Odo, Ani, Obialor, Ugwunta, 2016). It concentrates however on the fact that the quantity of the recoverable reserves will be more than the amount estimated as proven should be 50% (Odo, Ani, Obialor, Ugwunta, 2016). Reserves can be considered to be either proven or probable if the producibility is supported by the actual production or the conclusive formation test.

The impact of port privatization on economic development in Nigeria Essay

The impact of port privatization on economic development in Nigeria - Essay Example This however does not necessarily mean that the government stays away from the entity (Obed & Emeghara, 2012). It sticks to its role as a regulator of laws regarding the activities of the body. Port, privatisation in relation to ports, has two degrees of variation (Ogwezzy & Bello, 2013). One is comprehensive privatisation where the successor company becomes the sole owner of the entire ports and all the land and water areas including assets within the port. This is the same as selling the whole port to a private company (Ogwezzy & Bello, 2013). Partial privatisation is a scheme where only part of the assets and activities of a public port are transferred to the private sector. An example of this is where the government sells its existing berths to a private company or where the government concedes with a private company to build and operate a specialised port facility (Ogwezzy & Bello, 2013). Privatisation, therefore, expands the role of the private sector in the ownership and development of existing port facilities, together with developing new services. Economic development is the progress in the economy which usually involves the change of policies, adoption of new technologies and improvement of living standards. It is measured by the level of economic productiv ity. Economic productivity is the ratio of outputs to a volume measured by inputs to a volume measured by inputs. The growth of productivity of ports means that they can produce more output from the same level of input given before (Ogwezzy & Bello, 2013). Development and operation of ports in Nigeria started in the middle of the 19th century. Efforts to provide facilities for vessels using the ocean began with the opening of Lagos Lagoon in the early 1990 (Nwanosike, Tipi & Warnock-Smith, 2012). Development of the Apapa Port, which is the South West of Nigeria was allotted in 1913 and started in 1921. In 1913, the

Japanese city Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japanese city - Research Proposal Example Kobe has once been considered the most earthquake safe part of the country until 1995 when the great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the city. Kobe is known for its delicious cakes and coffee, "row of historic houses and precious cultural assets and various other delights" (asiatravelling.net). It also boasts of a rich natural heritage as relics are displayed in the museums. In fact, one of the great places in Kobe is the Kobe Archaeological Center which sorts, stores and exhibits artifacts from excavations of remains in the city (Kobe Convention and Visitors Association). Kobe is known as an "international city" with a diverse population of foreign residents. It is highly industrializes, with a variety of industries such as production of parts to manufacture of finished products, the leading edge R&D and the growing information technology (Overview of Kobe). Being a port city, some of its industries are port-related such as steel production, ship-building, foodstuffs, shipping and warehousing. Blessed with abundant natural resources such as the bodies of water, Kobe government has moved from the traditional method of fishing to modern aquaculture (Overview of Kobe). One of the most bankable and easiest jobs for me in Kobe is an English teacher. There are numerous opportunities for teaching jobs in Kobe, in elementary, middle school and high school. With formal education in English and a TESL certification, one can easily teach the English language in Kobe and there are various institutions such as "public schools, conversation schools, language and research institutes and corporate English training centers in Kobe" (NaukriHub). As Japanese seek to learn the English language, there is a vast opportunity for English teachers in Japan. 3. Being an "international city", there are various facilities and amenities by and for the foreign communities such as "international schools with foreign language-based curriculum, places of worship for a vast number of religions, businesses geared to foreign visitors and both short-term and long-term residents, as well as multitude of dining establishments representing almost all of the world's cuisine. (Overview of Kobe). "It is the base for many multi-cultural friendship organizations and has a great many facilities for such activities and for assisting non-Japanese residents of the city and the surrounding areas and there are also a number of places to study the Japanese language and culture" (Overview of Kobe). The city also boasts of a large number of parks where people can meet, with 16.61 sq.m of parkland per person. 4. There are a large number of beautiful places to visit in Kobe. Its parks are truly calming to the souls and satisfying to the eyes. Among these famous parks are Fruit and Flower Park which also houses hotels and hot springs with an admission fee of 500 yen, the Kobe City Suma Rikyu Park which is a blue expanse of water and of course the Sorakuen garden which is a Japanese style garden with important cultural properties. Kobe is blessed with beautiful bodies of water, therefore cruising is one of the precious activities one can have while staying there. At the Harborland/Meriken

Business Analysis of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Dissertation

Business Analysis of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream - Dissertation Example 4. Critical review of the existing strategy: position, alternatives and options as well as 5. Recommendations on how the existing strategy can be improved. In attaining the objectives above, the paper will undertake a review of the case study of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. This will provide a primary source of information and ideas. There will also be an evaluation of secondary sources to identify relevant theories and concepts that define the landscape and set the scope for the cases at hand. Question 1 What makes Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream a Successful company? In order to assess the reasons for the success of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, there is the need to conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis involves the examination of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organisation in order to make inferences about the components of the business (Bailey, 2004 p17). Ben and Jerry's successes can be attributed primarily with how they utilised their strengths to take advantag e of opportunities. Also, they minimized their weaknesses and threats in order to navigate through tough times to be able to attain their current status. Strengths 1. A clear vision and an efficient effort to attain the vision: This led to the creation of a successful business model for Ben and Jerry's. The business model of Ben and Jerry's is so strong that it can enable the company to create numerous brands and also expand its operations to different parts of the world. The main operations in USA, Europe and Asia provide high turnover that enables the company to attain extremely high results. 2. Focus on healthy products and brands to build a strong customer base: The company has managed to build a reputation for the production of healthy products. This has caused the company to become popular amongst major customers around the globe. These brands can thus be well promoted and marketed throughout the world. 3. A strong corporate social responsibility system and environmentalism: B en and Jerry's have a strong reputation for being socially responsible. In consolidating the company, they had a policy of spending up to 7.5% of their profit before tax on corporate social responsibility (Greenfield and Cohen, 1997: Hopkins, 2004). This amounted to as much as $1.1 million annually. With such a commitment to giving back to society, Ben and Jerry's created a reputation of being a socially responsible organisation. With this feat, they could convince customers that they were more interested in the development of the society with their money than the profit motive. This boosted Ben and Jerry's Ice Creams' image and enabled them to gain a solid reputation. 4. A heavily diversified range of ice creams: Although Ben and Jerry's specialized in ice creams, they have a wide range of ice cream, frozen yoghurt and ice-cream novelties. This way, they were able to serve different customers with different brand requirements. This enabled them to continue generating revenue in all situations. This is because their range seemed to fit all potential ice cream demand. Hence, they managed to capture a large share of the market. 5. A strong network of shops: Ben and Jerry's have a strong network of shops throughout the world. They have maintained a powerful system of franchising that enables them to get entrepreneurs to invest capital in their

Theories of Work and Identity

Theories of Work and Identity Discuss: Work is a big portion of a person’s life. To say that work is a big portion of a person’s life is a understatement of large proportions. Children are raised with one or both parents who make it a priority. They are raised to make it a priority. They work virtually all their lives. They retire from it. It can be intrusive and ubiquitous and the fact that it is both a noun and a verb does not begin to hint at the complexity of it. In beginning to consider it, a nature path would be to define its nature. Is it feathered or scaled, or more accurately, is it to be relegated as a science of economics, sociology or something else entirely? Many regard it as a pure function of applied economics (Block, Berg, Belman 2004, p. 94). It seems right to regard it as such as at its most basic level it is a about an exchange relationship in which two parties trade something the one owns for something the other owns. Whether this exchange is of time, expertise, property, or ideas is irrelevant. The exchange takes place in a form of a market while both discrete and often not-so-discrete forces are at ‘work’ to set the value of the exchange. These forces, laws of supply and demand, invisible hands and the like seek to maximize the utility of the trade to both parties. As a consequence of the nature of the relationship being able to be characterized by an ‘exchange’, work can also be considered by a legal or contractual basis. By virtue of this, there are certain very explicit rules that govern the conduct of either party with regard to the fulfillment of their respective duties. Such laws, as for example in the United States, often fall under a Department of Labor and generally includes such standards as a forty-hour work week, harassment and discrimination provisions, minimum pay and pay frequency specifications as well as provisions regarding collective bargaining. The goal of such a perspective is to serve as something of a bridge between not only the economic interests of both parties but the social impact of work to the workers. In modern world, a typical exchange takes place between the individual and the organization. With this type of exchange, there are a number of additional concerns and issues that become relevant. In the first place there is generally an asymmetry of power in which the owners of capital employ individuals in masse to literally make up the corporate body and to wield profit maximizing power on employees. This imbalance is potentially offset by the previously mentioned ability of certain workers to partake in collective bargaining actions such as the formation of unions that ultimately can help to give the individual worker a larger voice. This power is wielded as a consequence of the corporation’s greater resources to enforce the often contractual nature of the exchange. Also, as corporate budgets generally exceed those of individuals the ration of the loss to the total ‘budget’ is greater. In addition, as a corporation does not have emotions, the consequences of a ‘failed agreement’ are often of significant magnitude to the individual. Though the worth of the individual worker is indeed significant to the corporation for, without him, the corporation would ‘die’, the time horizon of the two parties is vastly different. This idea is eloquently expressed by Adam Smith, â€Å"In the long-run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate† (Smith 1976, p.84). As the nature of work is at least partly economic, to ignore the basic issues of business management would be unpardonable. From Taylor’s beginning of scientific management to the â€Å"high performance work systems† of today, the nature of managing the individual worker presents a range of methods devised in order to maximize the economic return of work. While Taylor’s command-and-control methods largely regarded the average laborer as incapable of being able to self-manage, they did nonetheless create vast increases in efficiency and paved the way for the development of very large organizations. Interestingly enough, these techniques, or at least, the implementation, of them has been supplanted by the like’s of Stanford’s Pfeffer is able to rigorously document the superlativity of a complete system of seven key human resource practices that, when fully integrated into an organization produce superior financial returns to the organization. In place of timed work, close supervision and continuous thrusts for greater efficiency through centralized decision-making, consider the characteristics of the ‘modern’ high performance organization (Taylor 1917; Pfeffer 1998, pp. 64-65): Employment security Selective hiring Decentralized decision-making Comparatively high compensation Extensive training Egalitarian work place Extensive information sharing. Despite the fundamental economic nature of work, there is another side that, were it go unmentioned, the discussion would utterly fail to consider the other perspective on work: that of the individual employee. Even as an economic premise entirely, the goal of which is to increase the profit and well-being of the individual, the sociological aspects of work merit full consideration (Stiglitz 2002, p. 1). In consideration of the individual, it is reasonable that one might consider the very contractual nature of work to be akin to that of a â€Å"social exchange† process through which individuals and groups of individuals engage in transactions (Dreher Dougherty 2002, p. 41). These exchanges are clearly governed first by applicable laws and regulations, perhaps secondly by organizational policies and procedures and thirdly and perhaps most notably, they are regulated by the very nature of individuals to ascribe to something that might resemble a common values system. In this system is the seemingly natural component of a sense of â€Å"fairness†. This guides innumerable behaviors as the individual inevitably seeks a form of â€Å"reciprocal altruism† in which, in addition to following self-serving fulfillment of their own needs, individuals appear to operate on the assumption that there is a bigger picture of morals and the â€Å"right thing† involved (Fred erick Wasieleski 2002, pp.284). An additional consideration of the social nature of work and ensuing issues is the idea that, for many, work is the process by which â€Å"identity† is established. Consider the typical introduction at a party or other function†¦ first, one gives their name and then, almost inevitably either their occupation or work relation status to the host (i.e., â€Å"I work with Ted†, â€Å"I am a client†, etc.). This phenomenon, Social Identity Theory, is quite relevant to the workplace in that it forces one to consider the psychological implications of doing business (Ashforth Mael 1989, pp. 20-21; Stiglitz 2002, p. 1). Bridging this concept with the representation that work is fundamentally an exchange relationship is the idea of the psychological contract. Just as there are explicit rules governing work expectations, so too are there implicit rules. The rules are communicated by the culture of the firm, the seemingly accepted behaviors of others in a similar posit ion and other verbal and non-verbal queues. The conditions of the contract are primarily mediated by the individual’s manager, the immediate representation of the organization in the mind of the individual (Rousseau 2000, February). Thus, it is through the social processes of work that an individual gains an understand of who they are but also gain particular knowledge of the mutual obligations of the economic exchange. In summary, work is. It is: what, why, how, when. It is the noun and the verb, the result as well as the process. A discussion of which cannot omit the fundamental economic nature of it yet one cannot ignore the precepts of sociology and psychology woven into every single ‘unit of production’, the individual worker. Any discussion of work which does not give full deliberation the simultaneous dichotomy is to only give half the argument and less than that for the appreciation of what work represents, to the organization, the individual and to society. Works Consulted Ashforth, B. F. Mael. (1989). â€Å"Social Identity Theory and the Organization†. Academy of Management Review (14), 1, pp. 20-39. Block, R., Berg, P. and Belman, D. (2004). â€Å"The Economic Dimension of the Employment Relationship†, in Coyle –Shepard, J. Shore, L. Taylor, M. and Tetrick, L., (eds.). The Employment Relationship: Examining Psychological and Contextual Perspectives. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. Dreher, G. and Dougherty, T. (2002). Human Resource Strategy: A Behavioral Perspective for the General Manager. McGraw-Hill Irwin: Boston, Massachusetts. Frederick, W. and Wasieleski, D. (2002). â€Å"Evolutionary Social Contracts†. Business and Society Review, (107), 3, pp. 283-308. Pfeffer, J. (1998). The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First. Harvard Business School Press: Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Rosseau, D. (2000, February). Psychological Contract Inventory Technical Report. Carnegie Mellon University: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA . Smith, A. (1976). An Inquiry into the Nature and the Causes of the Wealth of Nation., R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner, eds. Clarendon Press:. Oxford, UK Stitlitz, J. (2002). â€Å"Employment, Social Justice and Societal Well-Being†. International Labour Review, (141), 1-2, pp. 9-29. Taylor, F. (1911). The Principles of Scientific Management. Harper: New York, New York.

Censorship of the Internet for Children Essay -- Computers Technology

Censorship of the Internet for Children The Internet is one of the most profound and important technological advancements of this era. It has touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. The Internet has become so embedded into our everyday life that for many, life would almost be unbearable without an internet connection. The Internet has enabled so many people who are so far away from each other a means of communication. It eased the burden of contacting loved ones across the world from each other. Not only does the Internet provide a digital communication playground for users, it also provides them with a sea of invaluable resources. The wealth of information that is available on the Internet is both overwhelming and incredible. Almost everything imaginable to the human mind can be found on the Internet. Whether or not some of this information is legitimate, it still exists and is available to anyone who wants to access it. The Internet has empowered the individuals who are connected t o it with an abundance of resources and information. The Internet has brought about a new means of doing business. It seems that all business models today include the Internet some how. On the surface, the Internet may seem great, wonderful and ingenious however, the ability for everyone to access the Internet is both a blessing and also a curse. It is beautiful that the Internet and its contents are available to everyone, but that â€Å"everyone† includes children who are under the age of 18. The implications of this type of access are extremely problematic both socially and ethically. According to Internet World Stats, the estimated population of the world is about 6.45 billion people with approximately... ...itehouse.com/ â€Å"Whitehouse.com† [11] http://www.craiglist.com â€Å"Visit the Best in Adult Sites† [12] http://www.snapshotspy.com/stats.htm â€Å"Child Computer Usage Statistics† [13] http://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarian.htm â€Å"Utilitarianism† [14] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031025-1.html â€Å"Protection From Pornography Week, 2003†, President of the U.S, Oct. 25, 2003 [15] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58610-2002Nov15.html â€Å"Congress Approves ‘Dot-Kids’ Measure†, David Maguire, Nov. 12, 2002 [16] http://www.kids.us/sitelist.html â€Å"Current Site List† [17] http://www.icra.org/ â€Å"Internet Content Rating Association† [18] http://www.icra.org/_en/about/ â€Å"ICRA At A Glance† [19] http://www.isc.meiji.ac.jp/~sumwel_h/links/linkJ04.htm â€Å"Laws of Japan† [20] http://www.ageofconsent.com/japan.htm â€Å"Age of Consent for Japan†