Monday, September 30, 2019

Money: Descriptio Essay

Money Money is a very essential factor in our lives. In this world everyone needs money in order to survive. The reason why our world it's active, it's because we are all seeking for this medium. Money has a great influence on every society, it gives people a different perception of life and can lead to change people's lifestyle. Money can have an effective impact people's lives ,likewise it can lead to some negative impact. Indeed Money is what the world is about , what our lives depends on and what we are all living for. In fact money is necessary in today's global society.This medium is the center of all activities , everyone needs for their whole life; for clothes, for food, for a shelter and all other things to live comfortably. There are some people who have enough money to provide themselves more than these basic needs , they are usually referred as rich or wealthy people , some have enough to buy a town or even a country. For example, the wealthy can travel across the ocean o r the desert if they so desire, whereas the poor must deny themselves such pleasures and focus on simply having enough money to make it to the end of the month.Money is money is not equal across different classes in a social hierarchy,apparently it is based on productivity. Furthermore ,although we can see class distinctions economically , these classes are equal on some level. For instance one of the richest people in the world cannot buy love, health, joy peace or feelings . Money has it limit ,money can only buy mostly concrete and material things. After all , we are all motivate to get it , because our lives depends on it .Money cannot provide every single things nor resolve every problems , but it can make our lives less miserable. Certainly without it our living conditions would be poor hard to meet the basic needs in life . Moreover, a part from those advantages ,money has brought us a lot of downsides. . Money often makes people conceited, grasping , envious . Usually we are never satisfied of enough money we have ,everyone want to get more , even the wealthy people want earn as more as possible . Earning money legitimately is a difficult task , but some people want it to be an easy one.For instance there are people who are willing to do any kind of things in order to get it , they will steal, cheat, break the law, lie , do harm to others to fill their pocket. This medium has taken over our lives, it is without doubt very valuable in life ,the more materials we get . In conclusion , money brings a lot of advantages as see ,we all know that it is necessary for survival . Whether money does us good or harm it depends greatly on our perception of it. Money is not necessary to be happy, though it is essential to remain happy. For this reason making money is the first common goal on everyone's life .

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Impact Of Attitude And Information

Abstraction: This survey investigated the effects of pupils ‘ attitude, instruction and larning methodological analysis on accomplishment in mathematical geometric building. The survey was carried out as a consequence of uninterrupted hapless public presentation in geometric building in Senior Secondary Schools, a 3 twelvemonth progressive educational plan in Nigeria. A purpose sample comprised of 35 Male and 27 Female pupils from two integral categories of different private secondary schools in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State was used for the survey. A 28 ( 28 ) – point questionnaire titled, â€Å" Survey of Attitude to Mathematicss † ( SAM ) , to happen out the pupils ‘ attitude to mathematics by and large and geometric building in peculiar, and A 3- point word- job type, teacher made Mathematics Achievement Test in Geometric Construction ( MATGC ) instruments were used to carry on the survey. An experimental group was taught utiliz ing computing machine and based on constructivist theory of larning for a period of 12 contact hours over a period of 4 hebdomads. The responses of the questionnaires were subjected to descriptive analyses while the MATGC tonss were subjected to t-test, Pearson correlativity coefficient and arrested development analysis. Consequences revealed that attitude appeared to play a minimum function in accomplishment of geometric building in mathematics. In malice of divergent earlier findings on impact of instructional methodological analysis on accomplishment and attitude, this survey revealed the constructivist attack as a better attack in learning as it had a positive impact on accomplishment and attitude towards the subject. The survey farther revealed that male pupils performed better than female pupils. Deduction of all these findings calls for reappraisal of mathematics curriculum by inclusion of Assisted Delivery Method in learning geometric building in schools. A farther survey is recommended for rural and public school scenes as against the urban and private school scenes. It is besides recommended that an ADM attack be applied to other countries of mathematics where pupils perform ill. Keywords: Attitude, Computer, Constructivist TheoryIntroductionEducation, such a critical force and major participant in a state ‘s economic system, liberates the head and opens up broad chance to whoever acquires it. An educated people can utilize available technological developments to his/her advantage. Today the power of a state is determined non by its portion size of economic wealth but by its technological art. â€Å" The distinction, safety, and wellbeing of states have been entwined for centuries with the ability of their people to cover with sophisticated quantitative thoughts. Leading societies have commanded strong mathematical accomplishments to maintain them on the taking border in scientific discipline, medical specialty, and engineering ( National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Foundations for Success, 2008 ) . Despite the fact that some people do n't hold much preference for mathematics and see it as an highly hard topic, it is a necessity in all aspects of society. Two chief grounds for troubles of larning mathematics are the abstract construction of mathematics and instructors ‘ attempts to do pupils memorise the capable alternatively of assisting them internalise mathematical cognition ( Summers, 2006 ) . In add-on, math learning methods may hold a positive impact on pupils ‘ apprehension and public presentation in this capable country. Information Communication Technology ( ICT ) an country that has pervaded every aspect of human life with the command of computing machine applications giving a competitory border to persons in the school every bit good as occupation markets. ICT can be used to leverage instructional methods in the schools. Harmonizing to Chung ( 2004 ) who noted that mmethods of learning mathematics are founded upon and straight affected by the pedagogue ‘s probes of larning. Teachers must look into and utilize best instruction patterns to impact pupil larning. Computer-based instructions will no uncertainty be a utile method to present mathematical constructs most particularly those viewed as hard subjects. Performance is a map of attitude and ability. To get accomplishments, be it cognitive, affectional or otherwise one must be mentally and emotionally prepared. A incorrect attitude could turn a superb pupil who is capable of doing As into an mean pupils who achieves merely Bs and Cs. Despite the fact that mathematics is a nucleus capable taught at both the Junior and Senior Secondary degrees of Education in Nigeria, pupils continue to execute ill in this topic ( NPE, 2004 ) ; a topic described as the ‘queen of the scientific disciplines ‘ by the celebrated German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. The Chief Examiners ‘ studies ( Nigeria ) of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination all said that pupil ‘s public presentation in mathematics continues to be hapless, but laid accent on geometric building as one of the countries where pupils performed ill ( May/June 1998, Nov/Dec 1998, Nov/Dec 2003 and Nov/Dec 2004, Table 1. ) . Reasons for this amongst others were attributed to: Poor appreciation of the inside informations needed for replying inquiries Insufficient borings and tutorials from instructors and deficiency of sufficient single assignments and undertaking The suggestions made for betterment were: Students should organize survey groups and exchange thoughts Students ‘ cognition of the basicss of English Language should be improved More drills and tutorials should be given by instructors. Sufficient single assignment and undertaking should be used to prosecute pupils. Year Campaigners ‘ Strengths Campaigners ‘ Failing May/June 1998 Logarithm Linear Equations Statisticss Linear EquationsGeometric buildingTrigonometry Coincident Equations Set Theory Nov/Dec 1998 Logarithm Statisticss Set TheoryGeometric buildingBearings Trigonometry Nov/Dec 2003 Statisticss Number bases Longitude and LatitudeGeometric buildingWord job on Inequalities Bearings Nov/Dec 2004 Probability Commercial Arithmetic Linear Equation Explicating Algebraic Expression Geometric Construction Bearings Set Theory Use of Four Figure tabular array â€Å" Table 1 † : Performance in subjects examined at the SSCE Examination The issues raised above and the fact that good cognition of geometric buildings ( The mathematics of the belongingss, measuring, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids ) are of import foundations for pupils who will wish to foster their instruction in such countries as mathematics, technology, natural philosophies and other subjects under Science and Technology ( S & A ; T ) – an country of Education the Federal Government of Nigeria is passionate about its function in national development. These are what necessitated this survey.Purpose of the surveyThe intent of this survey was to: Investigate possible differences between the impact of traditional method of learning geometric building and the aided find method Show the importance of appropriate methodological analysis in teaching/learning, particularly in Mathematics. Look for any relationships between public presentation and instructional methods Investigate whether attitude and methodological analysis impact pupils ‘ public presentation in mathematical geometric building Suggest ways that can be used, to guarantee betterment in instruction of geometric building in mathematics.MethodologyResearch inquiriesDepartment of energies attitude play a function in accomplishment in geometric building in mathematics? What are the impacts of the traditional method of instruction and the aided find method on pupils ‘ accomplishment in mathematics geometric building? Does Gender hold any function in accomplishment in geometric building in mathematics?Research HypothesissStudents ‘ attitude will non significantly affect their accomplishment in geometric There is no statistically important difference between public presentation of computing machine and chalkboard groups There is no statistically important difference between male and female pupils in the combined dependant variables that make up the acquisition resultsDesign of the StudyThis survey made usage of both study and experimental designs, get downing with a study to find pupils ‘ attitude to mathematics by and large and geometric building in peculiar, followed by four hebdomads tutorials to two integral categoriesPopulation of the surveyThe population of the survey comprised the SS2 Students in Private Secondary Schools in Lagos State. ( Since Mathematics is compulsory )Sample and Sampling TechniquesThe sample size comprised of 62 pupils was used for the survey. These pupils were drawn from two indiscriminately selected Private Secondary Schools from a Local Government Area of Lagos State, one of the 36 provinces doing up Nigeria. The pupils were selected from integral SS2 categories in the schools comprising of 35 male and 27 female. There were 33 pupils from Science integral categor ies of one school and 29 pupils from Social Science integral categories ( Commercial ) of another school. The SS2 pupils in these schools had a pretest. The pretest books were graded out of 30marks. The average mark for a Social Science category was 9.45 while for the scientific discipline category it was 11.18. These agencies were used as benchmarks to sort the pupils into More Knowing Others ( MKO ) and Less Knowledgeable Others ( LKO ) . Any pupils hiting above the mean were classified as MKO while pupil hiting below the mean was classified as LKO. The scientific discipline category and societal scientific discipline categories were assigned as experimental and control group severally. The ground for this was that the schools where the scientific discipline sample was drawn had all the installations needed for computer-based instruction, such resources as computing machines, internet entree, changeless power supply, and a contributing research lab. Students could utilize the bundle at their free periods which afforded them the chance to make single farther work. The MKO and LKO were indiscriminately mixed in the category to accomplish a collaborative acquisition consequence ; the purpose of this randomisation was to neutralize all immaterial variables such as sex, personality, age, race, parents ‘ educational position, hapless nutrition, etc. that may impact the findings of this research work. However such step ining variables as fixed mathematics course of study, clip available after categories, decrease in attending and assimilation which may be due to tire after normal school hours could non be controlled.Research InstrumentsThe research instruments used were: Twenty-eight point questionnaire titled â€Å" Survey of Attitude to Mathematicss † ( SAM ) to happen out pupils ‘ attitude toward mathematics by and large and geometric building in peculiar. And A three-item word-problem type, teacher made Mathematics Achievement Test in Geometric Construction ( MATGC ) was administered as a pre trial to command and experimental group for classification of the MKO and LKO. The same trial was administered to both the control and experimental group as a station trial. The MATGC was drawn from past West African Examination Council ( WAEC ) , Secondary School Certificate Examination ( SSCE ) inquiries ( 1998-2008 ) . The pick of WAEC, SSCE inquiries was based on the fact that they are standardised trial inquiries which had already undergone cogency and dependability trials by WAEC. It is besides the scrutiny the pupils will take at the completion of their Senior Secondary Education.Method of Data CollectionThe pupils were divided into two groups, a control and experimental group. The SAM was administered to both groups by the research worker with the aid of the mathematics instructors of the categories used. The pupils were encouraged to reply a ll inquiries in the questionnaire while the benefits that will accrue from the research were clearly explained to them. Deduction of non replying all inquiries in the questionnaire was besides explained to them. The Students were given codifications alternatively of utilizing their names to conceal their individuality in order to promote them to take part in the research. These codifications were written on the single Survey of Attitude to Mathematics ( SAM ) . Method of informations aggregation for the MATGC: The three-item trials were administered to the experimental and control group with the aid of their category instructors. The engagement of the instructor was necessary if the pupil will take the research earnestly and for meaningful informations aggregation. The same designation codification used for the SAM by an single pupil was used for the MATGC. This enabled the research worker to fit the documents of the pupils together. The pretest books were graded out of 30 Markss utilizing a marker usher which was developed and used for rating the trial. The tonss were analyzed in order to place the More Knowing Others ( MKO ) and Less Knowledgeable Others ( LKO ) in the experimental group. A mark above the experimental group category mean ( Mean=7.58 ) qualified a pupil for MKO class while a mark less than the average qualifies a pupil for LKO. The MKO and LKO were made to sit alternately in their several categories to accomplish the collaborative acquisition consequence ; the purpose of this randomisation was to neutralize all immaterial variables such as sex, personality, age, race, parents ‘ educational position, hapless nutrition etc that may impact the findings of this research work. However, such intervening variables as fixed mathematics course of study, clip available after categories, decrease in attending and assimilation which may be due to tire after normal school hours could non be controlled. The two groups of pupils ( i.e. the experimental and command groups ) were now taken through a four hebdomads learning of one hr per twenty-four hours for every other twenty-four hours ( i.e. Mondays, Midweeks and Fridays ) . Classs were conducted after the stopping point of the regular categories, which was designed to take attention of non interrupting the normal mathematics categories and seting those taking portion in the experiment at a disadvantage. The research worker took the experimental groups while the controlled groups were taken by their single mathematics instructor who had been before taught how to utilize the lesson program drawn up by the research worker. The entire figure of contact period came to three hours a hebdomad and a sum of 12 hours for the full period of learning. Consent from school authorization and parents had been antecedently sought. Students in the experimental group were taught utilizing the ADM method, a collaborative-based group learning utilizing the computing machine. The ADM was an cyberspace based geometric building tutorial developed by John Page on hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mathopenref.com/ . The pick of this bundle is the simpleness with which it taught geometric building, utilizing lifes and graphical illustration. Students of the experimental group have entree to computing machines and to the bundle at school during their free periods or if they have internet entree at place thereby larning further on their ain. The bundle is synergistic, provides good visual image for the pupils, it is free for all users, intriguing and captivates the pupils ‘ involvement. It hence provides good apprehension for pupils. Students were now required to execute buildings affecting angle 750, 150O, 1050 angles. Any angle which are non basic have to undergo some uses such as add-on or minus. This was the major jobs the pupils faced. At this point they were allowed to join forces in add-on the MKO were to help the LKO to acquire to a point they could use the construct and build the assorted angles on their ain. The control groups who were taught by their several instructors were taught utilizing the chalkboard, chalkboard compass, and swayer as a medium of direction. They were taught how to build basic angles, , how to bisect angles, buildings affecting angle 750, 150O, 1050, i.e angle which have to undergo some uses such as add-on or minus. No coaction was allowed in this group. Drills and assignments were given to both the experimental and control groups at the terminal of each contact period, while two group undertakings were given to both groups after the terminal of the contact periods. The SAM and the MATGC were now administered to the control and experimental group as station intervention. The responses to SAM and the trial documents were collected, scored and analyzed.Method of Data AnalysisAll informations gathered were organized and analyzed utilizing the undermentioned stairss. The responses from the pre and station SAM were placed against the four- point Likert Scaling, Strongly Agree ( SA=4 ) , Agree ( A=3 ) , Strongly Disagree ( SD=2 ) and Disagree ( D=1 ) for positive statements while the points were reversed for negative statements i.e. ( SA=1 ) , ( A=2 ) , ( SD=3 ) ( D=4 ) . Descriptive analyses was used for the SAM. There were no uncomplete responses to any questionnaire since the filing of the questionnaire was closely monitored by the research worker to guarantee all inquiries were answered by pupils. The MATGC was scored out of 30 Markss utilizing a marking strategy. The pre and station tonss from MATGC were subjected to Pearson Correlation coefficient analysis for variables that can be ranked and ordered, e.g public presentation and attitude, while t-test statistics was used for variables with no order such as relationship between attitude and instructional method while relationships amongst multiple variables such as attitude, public presentation and methodological analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis of discrepancy ( MANOVA ) . Arrested development analysis was besides used to happen out the part of each of the independent variables to the dependent variables. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 degree of significance.FindingssIn this research, three research inquiries and four hypotheses were posed. The consequences of the pre-test and post-test of MATGC were analyzed utilizing agencies, standard divergence ( S.D ) , t-test statistics. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 degree of significance. A p- value ( deliberate value ) & lt ; than 0.05 leads to rejection of the void hypothesis, otherwise it is accepted. HYPOTHESIS I- Students ‘ Attitude will non significantly affect their accomplishment in geometric building Table1a: The Pearson correlativity between attitude and accomplishment before interventionVariablePre-Attitude markPre-Achievement markPearson correlativity ( R ) 1.000 0.038 P – value 0.684 Nitrogen 62 62Pre – Accomplishment markPearson correlativity ( R ) 0.038 1.000 P – value 0.684 Nitrogen 62 62 Table1b The Pearson Correlation between Attitude and Achievement after interventionVariablePost-Attitude markPost-Achievement markPost attitude mark Pearson correlativity ( R ) 1.000 0.005 P – value 0.955 Nitrogen 62 62Post – Accomplishment markPearson correlativity ( R ) 0.005 1.000 P – value 0.955 Nitrogen 62 62 From Table 1a above, the Pearson-correlation coefficient between accomplishment mark and the attitudinal mark before intervention was positive but weak ( r=.038 ) . The p-value which is the important value of correlativity between the two variables ( pre- accomplishment mark and pre-attitudinal mark ) is r=0.684 which was greater than 0.05 demoing that the correlativity was non important before intervention. From Table 1b shows the Pearson-correlation coefficient between accomplishment mark and the attitudinal mark after intervention ( r=.005 ) , which was positive but weaker than earlier intervention, while the p-value which is the important value of correlativity between the two variables ( post accomplishment mark and station attitudinal mark ) was p=0.955. The values showed a farther weakening of the relationship between attitude and public presentation. Since this is greater than 0.05 i.e P & gt ; 0.05, it follows that the correlativity was non important. Therefore there was no important relationship between the station accomplishment mark and station attitudinal mark. The attitude of pupils hence did non significantly affect their accomplishment in geometric building. HYPOTHESIS II- There is no statistically important difference between public presentation of computing machine and chalkboard groups. Table 2a: T-test analysis of pretest tonss for control ( Blackboard ) and experimental groups Treatment group Nitrogen Mean S.D df tcalc p-value Experimental Group 33 8.58 6.37 60 1.634 0.108 Control Group 29 6.17 5.02 Table 2b: T-test analysis of station -test tonss for control and experimental groups Treatment group Nitrogen Mean S.D df tcalc p-value Experimental Group 33 11.18 8.59 60 0.932 0.355 Control Group 29 9.45 5.48 The pre-test as shown in table 1a above, the mean of the experimental group ( = 8.58 ) is higher than that of the control group ( = 6.17 ) . The p-value which is the important value shows that the difference is non important ( p & gt ; 0.05 ) . The hypothesis is hence upheld for the pretest. Table 2b presents the post-test tonss and the t-test analysis which showed that the experimental group maintained the lead with a mean of 11.18 over the control group with a mean of 9.45. The t-test analysis shows that the important value of 0.355 is besides greater than 0.05. Again, the hypothesis is upheld in the station trial tonss. In drumhead, from the tabular arraies 2a and 2b above, the experimental group ( computing machine group ) performed better in both the pre and station trials than the control group as evidenced by the agencies ; but the difference in the average public presentations of the two groups is non important. It so follows that the impact of the computing machine assisted direction is non noticeable. HYPOTHESIS III: There is no statistically important difference between male and female pupils in the combined dependant variables that make up the acquisition results Note: The variables that make up the acquisition outcomes in this survey are Students ‘ accomplishment ( tonss ) in geometric building scrutiny. Students ‘ attitude to geometric building. A one-way between groups Multivariate Analysis of Variance ( MANOVA ) was performed to look into sex differences in larning results ( accomplishment and attitudes ) . Two dependent variables ( Achievement in geometric building scrutiny and attitude to geometric building ) were involved. The independent variable was gender. There was a statistically important difference between males and females on the combined dependant variable: F ( 2, 58 ) = 3.763, P = 0.029 ; with lambda = 0.885 ; Eta squared = 0.115. when the consequences for the dependent variables were considered individually utilizing 0.05 alpha degree of significance, the lone difference to make statistical significance was the accomplishment mark after intervention: F ( 1,59 ) = 6.713, P = 0.012 ; Basque Homeland and Freedom squared = 0.102. An review of the average tonss indicated that males reported higher tonss ( intend = 13.154, SD = 7.00 ) than females ( average = 8.457, S.D = 7.01 ) . HYPOTHESIS IV: There is no statistically important difference between computing machine and chalkboard groups in the combined dependant variables that make up the acquisition results. Note: The variables that make up the acquisition outcomes in this survey are ; Students ‘ accomplishment tonss in geometric building scrutiny. Students ‘ attitude to geometric building A one-way between groups Multivariate Analysis of Variance ( MANOVA ) was performed to look into differences in larning result ( achievement and attitudes ) . Two dependent variables ( Achievement in geometric building scrutiny and Attitude to geometric building ) were involved. The independent variable was instructional methodological analysis. There was no statistically important difference between computing machine and chalkboard groups on the combined dependent variables: F ( 2, 59 ) = 0.591, p=0.557 ; Wilks ‘ lamda = 0.980, Eta squared = 0.020. When the consequences of the dependent variables were considered individually, none of the differences reached statistical significance. An review of the average tonss indicated that the computing machine group performed better in both achievement tonss in geometric building scrutiny and attitude to geometric building than the chalkboard group. Below are the agencies and standard divergences. The Hypothesis is hence upheld that ther e is no significance difference between the two groups in the combined dependent variables. Dependent variable Group Mean S.D Achievement trial in geometric building Computer group 11.18 8.59 Blackboard group 9. 45 5.48 Attitude to geometric building Computer group 71.97 4.24 Blackboard group 70.76 10.13DiscussionThe credence of this hypothesis provides replies to the research inquiry, â€Å" Does Assisted Discovery Method of direction affect pupils ‘ accomplishment in geometric building positively † . The hypothesis may non be important and does non uphold Rosen ‘s ( 2007 ) survey on â€Å" Different Learning Environments Provide Different Learning Experiences † where he stated that overall constructivist acquisition environments are more effectual than traditional 1s, but to the contrary to outlooks, traditional scenes did non differ from constructivist 1s when traditionally-appropriate steps were used. The consequences of this probe were able to reply some of the research inquiries: What are the impact of the ADM and traditional method of learning on pupils ‘ accomplishment in mathematics geometric building? Harmonizing to hypothesis two, the mean and standard divergence of both the pre and station trial was non statistically important therefore there may non be any noticeable impact that instructional engineering had on public presentation of both the control and experimental group. The ADM attack nevertheless, harmonizing to hypothesis four revealed a better attack in footings of betterment in both accomplishment and attitude of the experimental group. There was merely a little impact in attitudinal alteration after the intercession from the experimental group. The ground for this could be attributed to the involvement pupils have in computer-based instruction as supported by earlier findings of ( Salami 2008 ) that pupils taught mathematics with computing machine engineeri ng achieved cognitively higher than those taught without computing machine engineering. Further research by Julia in ( Salami 2008 ) stated â€Å" computing machine tutorials, developing through World Wide Web etc can be a rewarding utile experience for pupils † . The Impact Gender played in attitude and public presentation to geometric building survey revealed that male ( average =13.154 ) as against female ( mean=8.457 ) performed better in geometric building than females. This may be topic specific as there are surveies to demo that mathematic public presentation is non gender particular.DecisionThis research has been able to demo that both the traditional method of direction and the computing machine based method plays an of import function in learning and larning.The deduction for this is a demand to:Deduction to PracticeStudents ‘ attitude is cardinal to larning and instructors should make all possible to instill in pupils the right attitude. ADM attack should be applied to other countries of mathematics where pupils perform ill.Deduction to PolicyBetter on mathematics curriculum by seting more accent on usage of Instructional AIDSs in instruction and acquisition. The accent should be on the usage and non which specific one as from this survey the attitude of pupils to whether traditional or computer-based was non important, but the impact of instructional method was noticeable in public presentation.More teacher preparation development plan in current instructional methodological analysisFemale pupils should be given more encouragement in larning mathematics.Further SurveiesA farther survey is recommended for rural and public school scenes as against the urban and private school scenes used for this survey.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Li Bai. Poetry and the Tang Dynasty Research Paper

Li Bai. Poetry and the Tang Dynasty - Research Paper Example The birth of Li was at the point when poetry had the court sponsorship and was a mandatory element of every administrative and public education. At the time of his demise, the whole country was restless and under the turmoil of civil rebellion which had gravely effected the prosperity of a blooming nation and the tone of Li’s poetry. The poetry of Li Bai during the Tang Dynasty is the clear depiction of art, love, romance, loss, might, failure and gratitude. The rise and the fall of the Tang dynasty is an epic story of love, hatred, betrayal, rise and fall of one of the greatest civilizations of the world. The Tang dynasty was established by the Duke of Tang, Li Yuan, who was the victor of the civil war that ended in 617AD and claimed himself by the name of Emperor Gao-Zu. When he became the emperor of China, he not only reunited China but also ruled it efficiently from 617AD to 626AD2. The emperor was then disposed by his son Li Shimin in 626 which resulted in the blood feud among the sons to become the inheritor of the rule and eventually the winner was Li who became the next ruler known as the Emperor Taizong. The rule of the Emperor Taizong is one of the golden ages in the Tang dynasty who helped promote the art and literature across the country3. Through his reformist administration, and love for art and literature, he is still known as one of the greatest rulers of this great civilization. After his death in 649AD, his son Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne who proved to be a very weak ruler. The rule of the Emperor Gaozong was from 649 to 683 making it more than 34 year but the prime ruler during this era was Empress Wu Zetian. Empress Wu was the concubine of the emperor who used her influence and charm over the emperor and got the wife the emperor murdered and promoted herself as the empress4. The rule of Empress Wu is one of the cruelest eras in the history. She sent to exile and got murdered everyone in the entire country who she thought could be a hurdle in her rule as Lewis states: "Through the examination and her own personal choices, Empress Wu promoted several poets of humble birth who themselves became patrons of others from local elites or even poor families."5 However, with old age, the empress was not able to keep herself in control and was disposed in the favor of Emperor Zhongzong in 705AD. Emperor Zhongzong did not love for ling to rule and with his death in 710AD, the throne was taken control of by his spouse Empress Wei. The empress tried to rule like empress Wu but did not last long and was eventually disposed in 712AD and Emperor Xuanzong was placed on the throne. The rule of Emperor Xuanzong is the longest in the Tang dynasty, which lasted from 712AD to 756 AD making it just about 44 years. Emperor Xuanzong was an efficient ruler in the beginning of his career but later he was greatly influenced by the Taoist spirituality which shoed his weak administrative capability and giving rise to many insurgencies across the rule. Of the major insurgency was the An Lushan Rebellion, which also affected the later years Li Bai’s poetry. Not only this, the weakness of Emperor Xuanzong’s rule resulted in the rise of Islamic influence along the Central Asia who became the major influence holders of the silk route. After the Emperor Xuanzong fled the throne during the rebellion, Suzong became the next ruler of China. The

Friday, September 27, 2019

IT Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IT - Research Paper Example Thus, it is advised by computer experts to keep a backup of the information and resources that are stored on computer systems. This paper will focus upon the various storage devices that can be used by computer users to keep a backup of their information and resources, and the differences between redundant and backup data storage and how systems fail and how can they be protected. Backup Media Various forms of backup media available to users include: optical storage methods such as writeable and re-writable CDs and DVDs, external and internal hard disks that can be mounted on the systems and flash memory systems such as pen drives, USB drives and memory cards. Information stored on optical drives can last for very long period of time if these drives are kept safely, secondly these drives are even available in write once only form. This is an advantage because the data that is stored on these drives cannot be replaced or over-written. These drives even come in re-writable form; this m eans that same drive can be used do over write if old information is no longer needed. These drives are easy to move from one pc to another, these drives can be used in several systems but one system can use it at a time. Another downside of optical drives is that the time taken by these drives to write data and store information on them is considerably high if compared to the time taken by flash drives and other forms of memory drives. Another form of backup media that can come in handy for computer users is installing a second hard drive internally or externally. The advantages of having a second hard disk are enormous. Firstly, the second hard disk can act as a backup for files stored on your system; this will come in handy if the files from the first hard disk are deleted. Another advantage of using an extra hard disk is that the process of backing up files in a second hard disk is faster as compared to backing up these files in an optical drive or a USB flash memory drive. Havi ng a second hard disk is even of advantage as the files and the resources that have been downloaded over time on the computer system can be safe and the users d not have to take the pain of downloading and saving these resources again. All the operations conducted in a computer system take place on the first hard disk or the primary hard disk, due to this continuous usage, the hard disk becomes old and starts wearing out and ultimately the user has to replace it. When two hard disks are involved in the process of running a computer system, the burden of running the computer system is shared and both the hard disks gain higher functional life time. Disadvantages associated with installing a second hard disk are few in number. Firstly, hard disks have to be dealt with extra care, misuse may easily damage or corrupt the hard disk and data loss may occur, secondly, if the drive is installed inside the system, moving the drive to another system might become difficult and during the trans fer, the chances of damage are quite high. One of the best backup media designed to-date is USB flash memory drives/sticks. The advantages of using this media are: they are very small in size and can hold huge amount o information, they are easy to move and do not contain parts that might get corrupted if they are mishandled. These drives are even better than optical drives as they cannot be destroyed due to scratches and dust. Installing them is much easier than installing hard disks as they do not need

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis of President Obamas Inaugural Speech Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of President Obamas Inaugural Speech - Essay Example The speech feels like the fresh morning dew that soothes our doubting soul as we traverse the scorching heat and difficulty of a financial crisis. The speech intended to lift us from our debilitating skepticism about ourselves and our world to believe once more in the enduring spirit that made America â€Å"the prosperous, most powerful nation on earth†. It is a speech where all the three rhetorical concepts of pathos, ethos, and logos were astutely utilized not only to deliver a message but also to touch and affect its audience. To underscore further President Obama’s message of hope, he used pathos or emotion as a primary medium for him to get his message across and for the audience to relate to him. It is very noticeable in that inaugural address, that the word â€Å"I† was sparingly used and was only mentioned twice. First, it was only mentioned in the opening statement which was in the context of humility that he is grateful of the trust that was bestowed up on him and â€Å"mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors†.   The second time that President Obama mentioned it was in a collective context involving the audience by saying â€Å"today I say to you that the challenges we face are real†. ...He was inviting sympathy without even asking by subliminally hinting that he, a black man, suffered too just like many of the audiences yet the opportunity of America enabled him to rise above his circumstances and now bestowed a position of great honor. Subconsciously, he was playing an underdog while calling for America to rise above the challenge, to unite and to once more take the challenge of leadership. In a way, he was subconsciously saying that if he was able to be where he is right now when before blacks cannot be even served at a local restaurant, then the rest of America can also overcome the challenges that they are facing as he did. President Obama’s used of emotional appeal or pathos is reinforced by hi s own credibility or ethos. As a political leader, he is known as a man of integrity and has never involved in any compromising political situation.  

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Statistics 401 Mod 5 Case - Multiple Regression Analysis Coursework

Statistics 401 Mod 5 Case - Multiple Regression Analysis - Coursework Example In the normal regression analysis, we usually use regression to establish the relationship between a variable and another variable. In such a case, it is establish whether or not the changes in one of the variables affect the other variable. The one which is affected is the dependent variable because it depends on the changes of the other so as to have its changed value. The one which is being depended upon to change is the independent variable because it changes on its own. This is for instance in the case where harvest from a corn field is being tested to establish whether or not it has a relationship with the amount of rainfall in the year. The harvest is the dependent variable while the rainfall amount is the independent variable. In the case of multiple regression analysis, the independent variables are more than one. ... In this analysis where in this case assignment we were looking at housing starts again, this time we added another variable to the equation.   The historical values above give interest rates, lumber prices (dollars per board-foot) and number of starts.  Ã‚  We computed a  multiple regression equation  using these variables, with starts as the DV.   Interest and price are the IVs.  Ã‚   From the computation of the regression analysis, I obtained the results shown above using the excel multiple regression. The regression analysis involved using the Housing stats as the Y variables in the excel regression file, and both the interest rate and the Price per board foot as the X variables. Based on the results of the regression as shown in the excel except above, the regression formula that I computed is of the form Y = a1*X1 + a2*X2 + b Where Y = number of housing starts X1 = interest rates a1 = regression coefficient of interest rates X2 = lumber prices a2 = regression coeffic ient of lumber prices b = constant. The values of a1 and a2 correspond to the values on the Regression coefficients table shown above. The value of a1 is that on the interest rates coefficients which is -1203318. Likewise, the value of a2 is that on the price per board foot coefficient which is -17836.8. The value of the constant b is also found on the coefficients table. It is the value of the sample estimate of the standard deviation of the error In this case it has the value 155138.1. X1 and X2 are of course variables that correspond to the interest rates and the price per board foot respectively. In turn, the formula thus becomes:- Y = -1203318*X1 + -17836.8*X2 + 155138.1 Using this formula, it is now much easy to do

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Dengue in Brazil, Situation, transmission and control Research Paper

Dengue in Brazil, Situation, transmission and control - Research Paper Example The first reported incidences of dengue in Brazil were in 1923 in Sà £o Paulo and Niteroi in which 11000 people were infected. DENV-1 and DENV-4 were the strains reported, both of which came from the Caribbean and South America over the Venezuelan border (Teixeira, 2008). The Ae aegypti virus was new in Brazil hence was quickly eliminated. DENV1 reappeared in 1986 in Nova Iguaà §u and spread rapidly, with 35000 and 60000 reported incidences in 1986 and 19887 respectively (Marzochi, 1994). DENV-2 came about in Rio de Janeiro and Nova Iguaà §u, where 462 cases and eight deaths took place. Aedes aegypti extended the spread of DENV1 and DENV-2 all over Brazil. DENV-3 serotype was responsible for the 2001 outbreak of dengue in Brazil, with 800000 cases reported. In 2008, 700000 infections and 45000 hospitalizations were reported. Since 1990 to 2008, lethality of 7.4% has occurred due to dengue. Children are the most affected by dengue in Brazil as of 2008 (Teixeira & Barreto, 2008). Preventing and controlling the spread of dengue is a nightmare because of lack of a reliable vaccine and the high competence of the dengue viruses. Ae. aegypti especially is adapted to breeding in highly populated areas and is, therefore, hard to eliminate. Wet tropical conditions also aid these mosquitoes to breed. The control of dengue also involves means that are harmful to the environment since the insecticides used are poisonous, and there are insufficient funds to carry this task (Marzochi, 1994). America stressed on controlling the spread of dengue rather than its elimination since the latter was proving impossible. However, dengue has still been a problem because its strains can spread even in places with fewer vectors. Two projects have been carried out to control it spread but both proved futile due to financial and political limitations. To control its spread, Brazilians have been educated about it through corporate events (Dione &

Monday, September 23, 2019

Quality tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quality tools - Essay Example Thus, the check-in and the check-out processes should be smooth and genuinely welcoming, with all effort directed to make the guests feel at home. The Hotel Escargo chain has tried to present winning guidelines to their frontline guest registration staff about what they should do when registering guests. However, a room for improvement exists and it is important to analyze measurements for check-in, check-out and room change requests for the hotel. This brief write-up presents a discussion about application of quality tools to reception performance measurements for Hotel Escargo. This write-up presents a discussion about ways for improving the check-in and check-out system at Hotel Escargo. The mission statement of Hotel Escargo clearly presents values related to serving business and leisure travelers by making customer satisfaction highest priority and providing quality service, amenities, comfortable surroundings and friendly employees. However, a recent review undertaken at the Hotel Escargo chain indicated that amongst other improvements, it was possible to enhance the quality of the check-in and check-out systems implemented by the Rooms Division of Hotel Escargo. By improving procedures and interactions with guests, improved perceptions of service quality emerge and this results in improved customer satisfaction (Salvendy, 2001, Pp. 621 – 623) and (Bardi, 2007, Pp. 185 – 187). Thus, it makes sense to apply quality tools to the Hotel Escargo check-in and check-out system by collecting measurements for processing using quality tools. Appendix A presents the observations for front office operations at Hotel Escargo and measurements for the check-in and check-out system. Quality tools use the measurements collected to try to discover what improvements are possible. Quality tools that are widely used for analysis of quality issues in businesses are presented in

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Summery - Essay Example An ethical decision, according to this model, requires ethical awareness, ethical judgment, ethical intention, and ethical behaviour. The Multidimensional Ethics Scale is then used by the authors to evaluate the level of justice and ethical decision making power in the accounting students. For the purpose of this study, the authors use samples of accounting students from 2 different countries, the US and Taiwan. The study aims to examine how culture affects the ethical decision making power of accounting students specifically. The four dimension model used with MES revealed that US students were more motivated to use egoism for decision making in the given 3 scenarios. On the other hand Taiwanese students used deontology dimension. The relativism is often ignored by the US students, whereas, Taiwanese students gave it more consideration in one of the scenarios presented. The individualism is a leading concept in the US culture. Hence, it can be related to the egoism that is apparent in the judgements of the US students. Taiwanese place more emphasis on uncertainty avoidance for rules and contracts; hence, deontology in the Taiwanese ethical judgements is expected as per their cultural practices. Hence, the study achieves its aim of concluding that there, indeed, is a relationship between ethical judgments and cultural

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Using Picture Books in the Secondary Classroom Essay Example for Free

Using Picture Books in the Secondary Classroom Essay There are many reasons to use picture books in middle and high school classrooms (Albright, 2002, 418). Picture books are very useful in all subject areas and all content areas that are taught to secondary students (Albright, 200, 418). There are three stages of planning and implementing that must be considered and understood when utilizing picture books in instructing older children (Albright, 2002, 419). In order to effectively use picture books during read aloud, the secondary teacher must plan, prepare and produce (Albright, 2002, 419). A teacher must plan what book will go with what lesson and ensure that the text is age appropriate (Albright, 2002, 420). The teacher must also prepare a lesson that will make use of the picture book in such a way that students will be engaged in the text within the book (Albright, 2002, 421). Finally, the teacher must produce learning using the selected picture book. In other words, the teacher must be able to observe students learning the intended outcomes while listening to and learning from the picture book (Albright, 2002, 421). â€Å"The primary focus of using picture books in higher grades is to increase students’ literacy skills and ability to analyze short stories† (Tiedt, 2000, 1). Picture books have a great deal to offer middle and high school students (Tiedt, 2000, 1). There are four major reasons why teachers should consider using picture books in teaching secondary students (Tiedt, 2000, 1). The first is that picture books are useful resources for promoting good classroom discussions (Tiedt, 2000, 1). Second, picture books provide engaging models for teaching writing (Tiedt, 2000, 1). Third, students can improve their oral language skills as they read out loud, performance dramatic reenactions and tell stories (Tiedt, 2000, 1). Fourth, can use picture books as models to write their own picture books and therefore enhancing their own individual creativity (Tiedt, 2000, 1). There are many reasons why picture books are so useful and should be incorporated into secondary classrooms (Young, 1). The themes of many picture books are appropriate for all ages and they include many genres that cover topics of importance to students of all ages (Young, 1997, 1). Second, many new picture books are published each year and older students may not have had the benefit of reading these new books. Using new picture books in secondary school settings exposes older students to resources they may otherwise have missed as new picture books incorporate better artwork and more high quality metaphor and description (Young, 1997, 1). Third, picture books are incorporating many more real world events and topics than they have in the past. For example, more picture book writers are writing about such issues as war, global warming and nuclear destruction (Young, 1997, 1). Fourth, the short format of books allows for easy incorporation into lessons. The material in short picture books is easy for secondary students to comprehend and therefore students are able to quickly grasp the subject so they can move on towards creatively applying the material to the topic or subject being studied (Young, 1997, 1). Finally, picture books the pictures in picture books can be used as a comprehension aid for secondary students (Young, 1997, 1). In the current age of television and video games, secondary students have become accustomed to using pictures to make connections so picture books build on this ability. The visual cues in pictures allow students to easily comprehend what they are reading and use those applications in the lesson material (Young, 1997, 1). One subject where picture books can be enormously useful is in math (Spicer, 2004, 1). Typically, picture books that discuss math concepts are only used in the primary levels of school. However, there are a great many picture books that can get even high school students excited about math (Spicer, 2004, 1). For example, elementary school students will gain a firm grasp on geometric concepts when reading Sir Cumference and the First Round Table. The book details the efforts of Sir Cumference and his son Radius, in showing the knights how they can all sit peacefully at a square table (Spicer, 2004, 1). High school students would enjoy the silliness of this book as well as reviewing basic geometry concepts (Spicer, 2004,1). Similarly, there are many picture books that can be applied to high school life. One good example is The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics. This book is about a love triangle. The straight line is in love with the dot that is in love with the squiggle. By the end of the story, high school students will learn that when a line bends a little, a vector is created (Spicer, 2004, 1). Students of all ages love picture books (Spicer, 2004, 1). There are many fun and easy ways to incorporate picture books into secondary math lessons (Spicer, 2004, 1). Students can choose a book from a list provided by the teacher and write a report about the math concepts included in the story (Spicer, 2004, 1). They can also write mathematical sequels or prequels to books that are read aloud in class (Spicer, 2004, 1). Utilizing picture books as part of math lessons will ensure that weeks later secondary students recall both the story and the lesson (Spicer, 2004, 1). Another way that picture books are useful in the secondary classroom is in assisting struggling readers (McEwan, 2007, 1). Generally, high school students read very long and complex textbooks (McEwan, 2007, 1). The problem lies in the fact that struggling readers cannot use these textbook to learn because they are not fluent enough readers (McEwan, 2007, 1). Therefore, picture books can help struggling readers become better readers at the same time that they are learning the same concepts as the other students (McEwan, 2007, 1). In addition, background knowledge is important when teaching nonfiction concepts to secondary school students (McEwan, 2007, 1). Easy nonfiction books should be collected and provided to students who need alternative resources when textbooks are too challenging for them (McEwan, 2007, 1). Further, when students gain the necessary background knowledge and learn key concepts through reading easy nonfiction picture books, they are able to gain the confidence to try the more challenging textbook material (McEwan, 2007, 1). In order to assist struggling readers, a comprehensive list of nonfiction picture books aimed at math, science and other subjects should be compiled and made available to teachers and students (McEwan, 2007, 1). Writing is another subject area where picture books provide an enormous benefit to secondary students (Culham, 2000, 1). Picture books are a readily available but untapped resource that many secondary teachers are just beginning to discover (Culham, 2000, 1). Picture books can be highly visual and motivating in teaching students to become better writers (Culham, 2000, 1). Picture books can be used as models to help writing students organize their thoughts in meaningful ways, to explore new topics and share different viewpoints about various topics (Culham, 2000, 1). Using picture books can show students how other authors use word choice, and editing to create a polished piece of written work (Culham, 2000, 1). In addition, picture books can enable students to use a small amount of text to find a large amount of meaning (Culham, 2000, 1). There are a wide variety of topics available in using picture books and these topics can inspire creativity in writing students (Culham, 2000, 1). Picture books explore current and relevant topics that can further enhance writing ideas (Culham, 2000, 1). Finally, picture books can often inspire fresh creativity about old ideas that can lead to better writing (Culham, 2000, 1). Social studies is another area where picture books can be easily incorporated into lesson plans (Young, 1997, 1). The study of people places and cultures are natural compliments to picture books (Young, 1997, 1). The true life events of the past and present can be portrayed through the eyes of the characters and current events can be explored (Young, 1997, 1). Events such as World War II, the Vietnam War and Paul Revere’s ride teach about these historical events in easy to follow formats (Young, 1997, 1). In addition, current events such as homelessness can be described through short picture books that incorporate pictures and text to convey the seriousness of such issues (Young, 1997, 1). Science can very easily incorporate picture books (Young, 1997, 1). An obvious example would be the Magic School Bus series that explores various science concepts through and elementary classroom and its use of the magic school bus to take field trips (Young, 1997, 1). These books explore science concepts that are easy for elementary school students to understand but are also relevant to secondary school students as they provide good introductions into science concepts that can then be built upon (Young, 1997, 1). These books provide a way to explore science through the eyes of children and include a great many side notes and text that describe such concepts as the solar system, the human body, the earth and the water cycle (Young, 1997, 1). Finally, picture books can be successfully incorporated into vocabulary lessons (Bartell, 2005, 57). In fact, picture books can be used as an alternative to traditional vocabulary instruction (Bartell, 2005, 57). Traditional vocabulary instruction often makes students copy words and their definitions into notebooks but picture books allow students to as models to create their own picture books. The use of alphabet books gives students the creative ideas necessary to write their own text and therefore increase vocabulary as they write (Bartell, 2005, 57). The nature of picture books allow for high levels of vocabulary and the illustrations provide further avenues for students to make connections between pictures and words (Bartell, 2005, 57). Picture books in the hands of skilled language arts teachers can create lessons of extraordinary educational value (Young, 1997, 1). The content of the picture books are important in increasing secondary students reading and writing abilities but their value goes far beyond this content (Young, 1997, 1). The pictures used in children’s literature can also help students build awareness of language as well as explore illustrations as a way to communicate meaning in a non intimidating way (Young, 1997, 1). Therefore, teachers need to be cautious when choosing picture books to incorporate into lesson plans. They must choose picture books based on the quality of the art and the quality of the text (Young, 1997, 1). The pictures and the text need to work together to provide a comprehensive book that will be easily incorporated into the lesson plan (Young, 1997, 1). In order to successfully picture books into secondary classrooms, some important changes need to be made (Young, 1997, 1). The first is the attitude that picture books are children’s literature. Instead, picture books should simply be viewed as literature (Young, 1997, 1). Once this attitude is changed then educators can start seeing the curriculum opportunities that picture books offer (Young, 1997, 1). Picture books entertain students and provide information about a wide variety of topics that can then lead to a greater understanding of the world (Young, 1997, 1). Picture books are another tool that literacy teachers should know about, have access to and incorporate into their lesson plans (Young, 1997, 1). Teachers have been reading aloud to elementary school students for centuries (Guignon, 2001, 1). Research has shown the value of reading out loud to emerging readers (Guignon, 2001, 1). However, once a child learns to read on his or her own, being read to out loud often decreases or stops altogether (Guignon, 2001, 1). Reading aloud to students of any age helps them improve the important literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening (Guignon, 2001, 1). Students listen to stories read out loud on a higher level then they read on their own and so hearing stories read out loud stimulates their understanding of vocabulary and language patterns (Guignon, 2001, 1). There are some important guidelines for teachers when reading out loud to secondary students (Guignon, 2001, 1). The first is that the teacher and students must make time to discuss the story in order to expand student understanding of the topic the story covers (Guignon, 2001, 1). Second, the illustrations should be used to encourage prediction and interpretation. Using the illustrations can add to the students’ understanding of the events in the story (Guignon, 2001, 1). Third, read out loud gives students the opportunity to learn more about different authors and illustrators. It also allows them to look forward to reading other books by favorite authors (Guignon, 2001, 1). Fourth, hearing picture books read out loud gives students the chance to relate the stories to their own experiences (Guignon, 2001, 1). Finally, reading out loud brings in more curriculum related topics that are of special interest to the class (Guignon, 2001, 1). Teachers are often wary of presenting controversial and private topics into their curriculum and instruction (Bartell, 2005, 57). Picture books provide an outlet for these issues by presenting the material in non threatening way (Bartell, 2005, 57). Secondary students are often facing many stressors as they are not quite grown yet but are no longer children. Their bodies are changing as are the nature of their social situations (Bartell, 2005, 57). Picture books provide a way for students to explore the issues that present themselves at this point in life by exposing them to characters going through similar experiences (Bartell, 2005, 57). Picture books are short and get right to the point so they provide an easy way to show secondary students how to deal with situations that they are experiencing (Bartell, 2005, 57).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce

Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce Effects Of Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce Introduction The Internet is no longer a niche technology it is mass media and an utterly integral part of modern life. As our lives become more fractured and cluttered, it isnt surprising that consumers turn to the unrivalled convenience of the Internet when it comes to searching and buying product. Introduction To E-Commerce The rise of the WWW gives birth to new phenomena in our daily lives, one of which is e-commerce. The internet has played a fundamental and key part to promote selling products and services online which makes life convenient for the audience, which in an inter-connected world, is well, the whole world. E-Commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet. E-commerce system seeks to add more revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with partners and clients and to improve the systems efficiency. E-commerce has given rise to the concept of absolutely online shops selling products and services, proficiently catalogued and available for the convenience of customer. There are several websites that stockpile everything from books, electronic appliances lifestyle items, collectibles etc. The level of e-commerce use can be measured by using an e-commerce capability indicator. E-commerce capability indicator by Molla and Licker: No e-commerce indicates a company without e-mail or an Internet connection. Connected e-commerce represents a company that has an Internet connection and e-mail. Informational e-commerce indicates a company using a Web site to publish basic information about the company and its products/services in a static manner. Interactive e-commerce refers to the ability of users to search the companys product catalogue, make queries, and enter orders. Transactional e-commerce allows online selling and purchasing of products or services including online payment and customer service. E-business applications can be divided into three categories. First is an internal business system in which customer relationship management (CRM), Enterprise resource planning (ERP), and Human Resource management (HRM) type of systems are involved. Second is enterprise communication and collaboration such as content management system (CMS), business process management (BPM) and web conferencing etc. Third is e-commerce that includes Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and Business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce. Online shopping comes under this category on which this study is conducted. Several e-commerce service providers are available on web that provides professional personalized web designing services that suit their clients needs. Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following: Online Shopping (Web Shop) Online Banking Online Marketing CRM etc Online Shopping Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services over the web. Online shopping is a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The term web shop also refers to a place of business where web development, web hosting and other types of web related activities take place (Web refers to the World Wide Web and shop has a idiomatic meaning used to describe the place). Service Quality The level of service received on a website. Dependent on reliability, responsiveness and availability of staff and the web site service. Service quality is comprised of five dimensions. These are: Tangibles as the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and written materials (Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler, 2006). Reliability is the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Assurance describes as the employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Responsiveness termed as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Empathy is defined as the individualized attention given to customers.   Service Quality Dimensions In E-Commerce Systems Lets examine how customers judge the five dimensions of service quality in perspective of e-commerce systems. Tangibles refer to the physical appearance of an e-commerce website, its structure, layout, theme etc and referred as â€Å"website structure†. Reliability represented as â€Å"website adequacy† which provides the relevant and needed information provided by an e-commerce system when customer clicked or requested for. Assurance termed as â€Å"website security† refers as the trustworthy service provider that could include a well reputable website, reliable payments methods etc. Responsiveness is the prompt and relevant response to the specific request of users described by â€Å"website response†. Empathy knows internal customers as individual; understanding individual needs and concerns such as by providing recommendations that matches the customers needs which is termed as â€Å"website customization† in world of web. Service Quality Framework (SERVQUAL) SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding or knowing the customer and tangibles. By the early nineties the authors had refined the model to the useful acronym RATER. Reliability Assurance Tangibles Empathy, and Responsiveness SERVQUAL has its disbeliever and is considered overly complex, subjective and statistically unreliable. The simplified RATER model however is a simple and useful model for qualitatively exploring and assessing customers service experiences and has been used widely by service delivery organizations. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which customers are happy with the products and services provided by a business. Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey techniques and questionnaires. Gaining high levels of customer satisfaction is very important to a business because satisfied customers are most likely to be loyal and to make repeated orders and to use a wide range of services offered by a business. The basic definition of customer satisfaction says that Customer satisfaction is a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is an abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product or service. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organizations products or services. Customer Satisfaction Based On Perceived Service Quality Of E-Commerce Systems The overall satisfaction of e-commerce customers can be attained by providing the level of service quality that customers perceive in that system. The five dimensions of service quality are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The website structure of an e-commerce websites is all about the tangibility dimension. The reliability dimension in this study is measured by the attribute called website adequacy. The website response variable indicates the responsiveness dimension. Website security as another attribute of an e-commerce system refers to the assurance dimension and the empathy dimension described by the website customization The overall customer satisfaction is based on the five service quality dimensions representing various service attributes. These five dimensions are tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. The detailed model used in this study is presented in figure A. The website design elements are characterized into five different types which are supposed to influence the five service quality dimensions. This study hypothesizes that some website attributes that are based on service quality dimensions has an impact on an online customer satisfaction. In other words, customers satisfaction level will increase if the e-commerce system provides a higher level of service quality through different website attributes. Increased Trend Of Online Surfing And Shopping In Pakistan The trend of an online surfing is increasing rapidly due to the increased benefits by the use of e-commerce business environment. People visit e-commerce web sites not only for buying but for several other reasons and the smart retailer just should not only focus on boosting online browse-to-buy conversion rates, but should also try to grab the attention of an online visitors who came in for review so as they could become a customer later. Many people feel it comfortable to review the products through an extensive knowledge provided over the internet before actually buying a particular product. For this purpose, e-commerce website provides an interface to the buyers to write their reviews and share their after-purchase experiences. Thus, the e-commerce systems reduce the time and efforts required for the first step of information search in consumer decision making process. That is, by just few clicks a consumer can have a concise analysis for what matches his/her needs. There are some factors emerged as a results of the changes in lifestyle and habits of consumer which has promoted the trend of online searching and shopping in Pakistan. Some of these factors are lack of time, need of convenience and easy access to the desired object. Moreover, e-commerce websites facilitates the visitor in many ways to boost up online browse-to-buy conversion rate. Whenever a new customer lands on an e-commerce website, he/she must be having many questions in their minds regarding the products and services. A well-framed ecommerce site has an enquiry page for their customers. This gives the chance to the visitor to post an enquiry with the website. Main aim of this page is to gather all relevant and necessary information from the customers so that they can be given response in an apt manner. Within the past decade, e-commerce has matured and grown exponentially. The result shows that now there are many types of e-commerce payment methods available online. If a customers credit is bad and customer cannot afford a merchant account, there are alternative methods of payments on e-commerce websites which can help the customer. The e-commerce systems give customers controlled access to the data they need. In other words, through an e-commerce systems company is not only managing the relationship with its customers, but giving the customers the tools to manage their relationship with the company. Thesis Structure This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the problem about which the research was carried out and in general about the trends of online shopping in Pakistan. Chapter 2 is about the literature review and the theoretical background is developed. In Chapter 3, researcher describes the research method adopted including sources of information and data collection procedure is discussed. In chapter 4, the empirical data collected through questionnaire is analyzed and results are concluded on the basis of a survey. In Chapter 5, Conclusions are drawn and necessary recommendations are suggested. Statement Of The Problem â€Å"Effects of website attributes on customer satisfaction in e-commerce.† The main purpose of this research is to find out the different attributes which encourage consumers to visit, search and shop on a particular website. Objective The purposes of this study are as follows: To identify the most important website element of e-commerce with respect to the customer satisfaction. To examine what is important to the customer regarding website attributes in e-commerce with perspective of website builders. Possible Research Findings The research will also provide the following significances. Help the organization to better understand what customers expect in e-commerce and how those expectations impact customer attitude. The study will examine what the customer views as major attributes of website in e-commerce. Able to investigate the major customer attitudes associated with website structure in e-commerce. The study will indicate the link between the website attributes and the customer attitudes. Hypotheses H1 Website structure has a significant association with customer satisfaction. h3 Website adequacy has a significant association with customer satisfaction. h3 Website security has a significant association with customer satisfaction. H4 Website response has a significant association with customer satisfaction. H5 Website customization has a significant association with customer satisfaction. Introduction To E-Commerce The propagation of WWW has originated few facts in our daily lives, one of which is e-commerce. A transaction between two or more participants through an electronic medium is defines as e-commerce (Kalacota and Whinston 1997). As an e-commerce is rapidly raising field, therefore for accomplishing success in this market, a top quality information system is necessary (Margherio, Henry, Cooke and Montes 1998). An e-commerce system is designed by selectively integrating many technical (e.g. search system) or managerial (e.g. the level of information related to product) design elements (Lohse and Spiller 1998). It is still very difficult, if not impossible; to make use of all the design factors presently available for the e-commerce system although many design factors have been suggested to improve the overall quality of e-commerce system (Selz and Schubert 1997, Lohse et al. 1998). This is because of the recent arrival of new design factors resulted by an increase in the interest of Internet (Selz et al.) The main goal of this paper is to explore important design elements that have significant influence on the customer satisfaction regarding the performance of e-commerce systems. In this paper, the study presents a conceptual model of e-commerce websites that includes concrete design elements, perceived level of website quality and the customer satisfaction (Kim and Lee 2002). There is remarkable potential for e-commerce in developing countries. Online shopping makes it easy to find things, merchants and best offerings and thus economical in terms of time and effort offerings (Balasubramanian, 1997). According to the Malone, Yates and Benjamin (1989), communicating a same piece of information through communication networks results in decreased cost and improved speed. There is tremendous potential for e-commerce in developing countries because the use of an e-commerce can potentially reduce transaction costs. As per Malone et al. (1989) observation, the search costs such as cost of identifying a market (from where to buy a product) and /or a product or service are likely to reduce with the use of e-commerce systems and can be defined as potential e-commerce cost savings. From an organizations perspective, e-commerce systems provide the organization with the better market reach and an ability to provide their customer a customized service that suits their individual needs and preferences. For example the exchange between â€Å"richness† and â€Å"reach† can be minimized by e-commerce (Evans and Wurster 2000). Richness refers to the quality and quantity of information in terms of accuracy, relevance, customization, etc. and reach measures the number of people who can be got in touch with that information. Service Quality Dimensions The overall customer satisfaction can be measured by the level of service quality of an e-commerce system that customer perceives. Some researchers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988) stated that consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction is as an ancestor of service quality. Conversely, modern evidence recommends that it is an outcome of service quality (Woodside, Frey and Daly 1989; Cronin and Taylor 1992). Service quality attributes are the most important factors for the success of an e-commerce systems For example Liu and Arnett (2000) found that organizations that involve in e-commerce can only ensure the success of their system by keenly looking for the ways to improve their service quality. The customers decision whether to continue using a particular e-commerce system is based on the perceived quality of service (Bhattacherjee, 2001) as the service quality impacts the overall satisfaction of a customer. Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality. (Parasurama, Zeithaml and Berry 1985, 1991; Pit, Watson and kavan 1995). The tool that is being used in this study to measure the dimensions of service quality is SERVQUAL. This instrument has been proved valid and reliable and hence used in various domains. (Brown Churchill and Peter 1993; Fisk, Brown and Bitner 1993; Parasuraman et al. 1993). On the basis of previous researches, service quality despite being a main interesting field in services marketing for the past two decades (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra 2000); electronic service quality is still in its early stages in research area. Riel, Liljander and Jurriens (2001) concluded that there has been no theoretical conceptualization emerged for customer evaluation of electronic services that could have been accepted generally. Cox and Dale (2001) has supported this conception by the fact that most out of the dominant research on service quality cannot even be valid to e-business environment. By the year 2002, the existing studies on the determinants of electronic service quality were based on measuring B2C interactions (Gilbert, 2000; Barnes and Vidgens 2000, 2001 and 2002) and few exploratory researches on website quality and e-service quality by Zeithaml et al. (2000). In early stages of service quality research, researchers were required to find out what is service quality from customers perspective (Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff 1979; Lehtinen and Lehtinen 1982; Gronroos, 1982). It was normally approved that the judgment of service quality came from comparisons between what customers feel a service provider should offer (expectations) and the actual service performance of the company (perceptions) (Zeithaml et al. 2000). This view was reinforced by Zeithaml et al.; Parasuraman et al. (1985) in their study of service quality in different service industries with which they discussed the concept of service quality as a function of expectations-perception gap. Parasuraman et al. (1985) identified the 10 dimensions that customer uses in their assessment of service quality. These 10 service quality dimensions then shaped the source for the development of a scale (SERVQUAL) to measure service quality in direct service interactions. Research extended in other context and as a result refined the scale and reduced it to 5 dimensions (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles) Since the SERVQUAL scale has been widely used to measure service quality in many studies across a range of settings (IS Departments; Airlines; Universities; Ocean Freight Shipping; Professional Services; Health Providers; International Markets; Purchasing; Advertising; Banking; E-commerce). (Burgess). Initially the concept of services were created to capture the nature of service encounters (Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree and Bitner 2000) which may not be sufficient to capture the characteristics of customer interactions with self-service technologies such as e-services (Dabholkar, Thorpe and Rentz 1996). Later on, many approaches have been proposed to study online service. (Gilbert, 2000; Gronroos, Heinonen, Isoniemi and Lindholm 2000; Parasuraman and Grewel 2000; Kaynama and Black 2000; Zeithaml et al. 2000) proposed the use of existing service theory as a first type. The second type utilizes generated new categories for self-service technologies such as e-services (Szymanski and Hise 2000; Riel et al. 2001; Wang and Tang 2001; Ruyter, Wetzels and Kleijnen 2001). Third type develops information systems and web quality theory (Barnes et al. 2000, 2001 and 2002; Aladwani and Palvia 2001). These researches have centered on customer interactions with a variety of self-service technologies such as automated call centre technology, ATMs and Web sites and touch screen technologies. A redefined SERVQUAL instrument to measure the service expectations and perceptions of customers of Internet businesses was used by Gilbert (2000) in which he concluded that to measure online service quality, the altered SERVQUAL scale was a practical instrument. The features that are useful, accurate, relevant and comprehensive information reflect the reliability of quality information (Bailey and Pearson 1983). Bailey et al. also identified that website reliability depends on to what level the information provided on the website about the product or service is true, precise and also depend to what level a customer can rely on a particular website that it provides enough amount of information available regarding each product. (Luedi, 1997) stated that website personalization based on the ability of website to deliver individualized interface for a specific user which generated dynamically as per users needs. This may involve making purchase recommendations and /or providing the list of other relevant products that matchs the customer needs. This can be extracted through the previous data available regarding an individual user such as buying behavior, cart items and the current session contents. Providing customized services is the best way to create a loyal customer and make repeat visits on a website (Luedi, 1997). The concern over security continues to plague the online world. Variables like perceived security, reputation were included in this study to examine the customer attitude towards buying process (Lightner, 2003). Even though the understanding of credit card transactions perceived secure like a waiters and waitresses, still security is the top concern of people who shop online (Salisbury, Pearson, Pearson and Miller 2001; Luo, 2002; Wilson and Abel 2002). Likewise security is the reason why people do not shop online (Luo, 2002). The research variable of Security reflects trust in the online system and the variable reputation reflects trust in the specific vendor. Discovering whether vendors receive repeat business reflects the overall buying attitude of consumers. Overall customer satisfaction at online shopping measures which attributes helps the website meets expectations. Website Elements The first phase of consumer decision making process that is the information search starts the minute customers look at the interface of e-commerce website and ends until they decide whether to place the purchase order or not (Schmid, 1995). The role of website structure remains important during the phase of information search process such as site maps, navigation, content settings and layout of website etc. The content, structure and website elements should be portrayed explicitly on the e-commerce interface. Website structure that includes the presentation of design elements determines how the information is actually displayed on the screen to acquire the customer attention (Morris and Hinrich 1996). Convenient website structure defined as to what extent a customer feels that the e-commerce website is user friendly, simple and instinctive. (Chung and Shin 2008) Website adequacy describes the quality and quantity of the information provided in the e-commerce system. Content based on usefulness and comprehensiveness involves the type and scope of information to be included in the system (Morris et al. 1996; Kim 1997). After the collection of appropriate information regarding the identified products or services, the contents must be placed in a well organized manner so that the customer can understand the interface easily (Gronroos, 1982; Rosenfeld and Morville 1998). A well-defined and properly placed content is a feature of website which indicates the ability to made information easily available to visitors (Chung et al. 2008). When adequate and reliable information has been properly dispersed across different web pages within the structure of the e-commerce website, an efficient interaction system must be provided to enable the customer to switch between different pages easily (Kim and Yoo 2000, Park and Kim 2000). (Ballantine, 2005) has found the impact of interactivity and product related information on customer satisfaction in an online trade setting. He argued in his study that the amount of product-related information affected consumer satisfaction of online shopping. An important design element that relates to the interaction system includes the involvement of website response and website customization ability. Website Customization is referred as the extent to which an e-commerce website can identify a customer and then modify the choice of products and shopping experience for that customer (Srinivasan, Anderson and Ponnavolu 2002). (Coupey, 2001) in their research argued that the improved accessibility of information on internet is likely to result in informed customers. And educated customers are able to make better quality decisions and will then experience more satisfaction with the visits and purchases they make. The connection between all of the five individual variables describes the basic architecture of web pages (Steinmetz and Nahrsted 1995). The overall satisfaction of e-commerce customers can be attained by providing the level of service quality that customers perceive in that system. Satisfied customers have more potential to spread positive word-of-mouth (Gremler and Brown 1999), and they avail further services (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1996). The five dimensions of service quality are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1991; Pit et al. 1995). Attributes related to the website structure such as physical appearance of e-commerce websites are represented by tangibility dimension. For example, the tangibility measures the appeal of the website design of e-commerce system presents to their customers. The ability of the website to provide the dependable, accurate service is represented by reliability dimension. (Pit et al.1995). For example, the reliability dimension measures how often an e-commerce system provides useful and comprehensive information regarding the relevant products or services. The responsiveness dimension indicates how prepared the website is to promptly response the customer with the clicked option. (Parasuraman et al. 1991). For example, the responsiveness dimension measures how often an ecommerce system voluntarily provides services that are important to its customers such as less loading time. Or it can be measured by how often a website provides accurate and rich information after a user clicked a particular product. The trust and confidence encouraged in the customer by the information provided on e-commerce system refers to the assurance dimension (Parasuraman et al. 1991). For example, the assurance dimension can be measured by extent to which a website is able to give a secure feeling to an online buyer. The empathy dimension described as the individual attention to the customer that is being provided by the dynamic e-commerce website (Pit et al. 1995). For example this dimension measures how often an ecommerce system voluntarily offers recommendations that match to its customers needs in order to provide the individual customers benefit. In summary, the overall quality of an e-commerce system can be measured by the service quality level perceived by its customers and ultimately leads to the customer satisfaction (Kim et al. 2002). (Parasuraman et al. 1988, 1991) in study on SERVQUAL found that the interactive elements of e-commerce systems are e-business features that help in building relationships with customer and are fall into five main sets that are tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. Due to the consistency of research findings stated in literature, it become easy to propose that the five main determinants of e-commerce include website structure, website adequacy, website security, website response and website customization (Horn, Feinberg and Salvendy 2005). In an e-business structure, the customer interaction with the business is through the e-commerce website. Therefore, several original SERVQUAL items were modified to focus on e-commerce website. The definition of an empathy dimension was extended to include personalization or customization, which is the concept of web gurus as they believe the emotional connection between customer and web business (Peppers et al. 1999). The overall appearance and structure of e-commerce website shows its tangibility. The performance of promised services and adequacy of information explains the reliability of an e-commerce website. Responsiveness is the ability of e-commerce system to help and provide prompt response to the website user. The individualized attention and customized service provided by the e-commerce system to an individual customer is described as empathy. Security is the trust on an e-commerce system in protecting personal and financial information (Horn et al. 2005). The major factors that impact the customer attitude are the five main attributes of e-commerce system. The model in Figure 1 describes how these attributes of e-commerce system work together to achieve customer satisfaction. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction of customer is defined as an emotional response to a specific consumption experience (Swan and Oliver 1989). It is determined by to what extent a consumer perceives that the service fulfills his/her needs, wants or desires. Satisfaction is a â€Å"state† inconsistent in that a consumer can be â€Å"very dissatisfied† or â€Å"very satisfied† (Tse, Nicosia and Wilton 1990). Survey Sources Of Data Collection: According to experts, the best approach and way of building an e-commerce site is by using services of website development providers. A professional team of web developers would take care and work for the e-commerce designing project and give regular feedback about the proceedings therefore for conducting this research, professionals from web development area was selected from five different firms. A survey was conducted by going to the software organizations that are involved in business of web development. Out of the five selected firms, few were chosen from the list of organizations registered on PASHA website and few were preferred on the authentic source of information about the adequate web development experience of these firms. The respondents were web developers, web architects and project managers. Questionnaire The instrument co

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay --

Teddy Roosevelt had a very eventful life including many political positions. He was known as very enthusiastic and energetic boy. When he was a kid the doctors told him he had a weak heart and told him to get a desk job. His family was very wealth as a kid he traveled around the world and due to his illnesses he was taught by tutors and he went through a very intense physical training regimen including boxing and weightlifting. He had a very brief military life, but he received many awards including Congressional Medal of Honor. Roosevelt life is split into his early life, Political life, and assistant secretary of US navy. Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27, 1858. Teddy as a young boy hated the nickname Teddy. His father Theodore Roosevelt Sr. of Dutch heritage and his mother Martha Bulloch was known as a southern belle. His family owned a glass import business. He spent most of his early life in his family’s home getting homeschooled due to his asthma and illness. This is where Teddy found his love for animal life, but by his teens his dad made him follow a physical routine that included weightlifting and boxing. He went to college at Harvard and by his second year his dad passed away and that caused him to work harder to achieve his goals. He was distraught because of his father’s death and wrote in his journal â€Å"the aim and purpose of my life had been taken away†. One of Roosevelt’s quote on hard work is â€Å"Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing†. Roosevelt graduated Harvard with high honors magna cum laude in 1880 and then he enrolled at Columbia Law School and fell in love with Alice Hathaway Lee of Massachusetts. Instead of finishing Law schoo... ...nd ten days later they were out of combat and by august they were home and the war was over. Teddy later in life said this about the war â€Å"the only trouble was that there was not enough war to go around†. This war gave Roosevelt many opportunities because of his actions at the Battle of San Juan hill he led his men up a hill on a risky charge exposing himself to the enemy. He was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, and then he was elected governor of New York in 1898. Roosevelt died in his sleep on January 6, 1919 in Long Island home. He was buried in the Young’s Memorial Cemetery in New York. Roosevelt throughout his life wrote more than twenty five books on history, biology, geography, and philosophy. Roosevelt was the first ever president to get the Medal of Honor. Roosevelt help fight for the hundreds of million acres of national forests in the US.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Exxon Mobil Essay -- Business Analysis

ExxonMobil is the largest publicly traded oil and gas producing company. ExxonMobil does business in 200 countries world-wide (1). Some countries are designated for exploring gas and petroleum, and some are designated for manufacturing chemicals, lubricants, and market fuels (1). ExxonMobil's world-class petroleum portfolio gives access to proven reserves of 21.9 billion oil-equivalent barrels of oil and gas, which is the highest in the industry (1). The company's discovered resources consist of 72 billion oil equivalent barrels of oil and gas. On average, each day, they produce 2.5 million barrels of oil and 10.5 billion cubic feet of gas (4). Their asset base, includes more than 60,000 production wells in 1,800 fields in 25 countries. With activities in some 40 countries, ExxonMobil's oil and gas fields extend from West Texas to West Africa and from Australia to Alaska (1). The company operates in deep seas, arctic ice and deserts in some of the world's most remote regions (1). Ex xonMobil is the world's largest nongovernmental marketer of equity natural gas. The company has access to 56 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and discovered resources of more than 185 trillion cubic feet. It has gas sales in 25 countries and across five continents (4).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oil is Exxon’s primary means of revenue. In the Oil industry there are competitive forces that function in the industry, but none stronger than the barriers of entry. One of the major barriers to entry is finding a supply of petroleum or gas. The cost of research, discovery, and output of gas and petroleum can easily reach the 100’s of millions of dollars. Another problem a new company would face, is receiving permission to develop oil in a foreign country. Because of the amount of money involved in oil, countries tend to produce oil on their own, rather than share the profits. The large investment in capital and the political connections needs to enter the industry, make it almost impossible to start a new oil company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second force that affects the oil industry is the bargaining power of suppliers. In the industry, suppliers have all the power. There is no international trade commission, so oil can be dispersed at any pace and be sold at what ever price suppliers want. The inelasticity of oil and the constant fear that oil is on the verge of running out, gives suppliers absolute power in the ... ...d. The have more than enough money and resources to work on alternative energy sources. Whether it is hydrogen or electricity, they can reap both the financial and humanity rewards. For Exxon to end with oil would be a tremendous blunder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Exxon is not a company that needs to worry about competition. In the oil industry it is all about raw materials. The more a company has the more control they have. Exxon also has no need to be concerned with competition because gas is gas. No one is going to pay a dollar more for Exxon’s gas than Texaco. Another factor that eliminates competition from the industry is a unwritten theme that gas prices move together. It is rare to see two gas stations on the same block with significance in price. When oil prices go up, gas prices follow. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ExxonMobil’s Official Website 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TexacoShell’s Official Website 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yahoo Finance ExxonMobil stock information and financial reports. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ExxonMobil’s Official Website Products and Services Subsidiaries and info about. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TexacoShell’s Official Website 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ExxonMobil stock information and financial reports. Historical Stock Prices   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚