The Body Shop Free Essays

The Body Shop Table of contents Introduction  :2 Section A3 A comprehensive strategic analysis of the industry  :3 Question 13 1)The external strategic analysis of The Body Shop3 1. 1 ° Synopsis of the beauty industry: Macroenvironement and trends3 1. 2 ° The competition: immediate industry and competitive environment5 1. We will write a custom essay sample on The Body Shop or any similar topic only for you Order Now 3 °The key success factors of the beauty industry and The Body Shop7 1. 4) The SW(OT) analysis of The Body Shop8 Question 2:8 Applicability and effectiveness of new CEO Patrick Gournay’s strategies8 SECTION B10 Question 3:10 Vision and Mission10 Question 4:11 Financial and strategic objectives:11 Question 5:12 Corporate and business strategies12 Question 615 Balanced scorecard for The Body Shop15 References Introduction The cosmetic industry is one of the biggest industries in the world. The worldwide annual expenditures for cosmetics is estimated at U. S. $18 billion. There is a strong competition in this industry all over the world. To compete and obtain a competitive advantage, companies have to invest a lot. They always have to innovate, to invest in advertising campaign in order to be known and to be successful. The Body Shop decided to be different, their products are natural, it is an ethical organisation, associated with environmental friendliness. But how The Body Shop takes part in the cosmetic industry? What are their vision and mission and what strategic directions should be recommended to the Body Shop in order to perform successfully in this industry? Section A A comprehensive strategic analysis of the industry Question 1 The cosmetic industry is a very aggressive and challenging market, in order to be more competitive and to gain market shares and customer loyalty, companies as The Body Shop have to understand their environment. After analysing the external environment (major trends of the industry, competitors and driving forces), the key success factors as well as the strategic issues will be evaluate, in order to provide a SWOT analysis. 1) The external strategic analysis of The Body Shop 1. 1 ° Synopsis of the beauty industry: Macroenvironement and trends The PEST model in as interesting tool to understand and study all the components and trends that affect the beauty industry. This environment analysis permits us to understand the strategy of beauty brands as The Body Shop. To identify the importance of each components of the industry, it is necessary to quantify them. In the last column, O will represents â€Å"opportunity† however T will represent â€Å"threats†. Moreover, a number will be associated to see the impact of each element. PESTE model for the Body Shop |Importance of the regulations concerning the launching of new |T 5 | |Political environment (legislation and |products in the markets: (allergies†¦) | | |regulations) | | | | | | | | | | | | |Globalisation (driving force) |T8 | | | | | | |Strong local and foreign competition |T9 | | | | | | |Increase in prices | | | | |T6 | |Economic and international environments |Increase in the budget bound for beauty | | |(general economic conditions) | |O6 | | |Cosmetic industry: huge market | | | | | | |Alliance groups in the cosmetic industry to attract new customers |O8 | | |(driving force) | | | | |O7 | |Societal environement (societal values and |Growth of the free time: importance to take care of our body and |O6 | |lifestyles) |beauty | | | | | | | |Importance of well being | | | | |O8 | | |Importance of the beauty (driving force) | | | | |O8 | | |Be young and stay young | | | | |O8 | | |Ageing of the population (segmentation of products) (driving force) | | | | |O7 | | |New market for men (new products.. ) (driving force) | | | | | | | |Companies and customers have more and more social responsibility |O8 | | | | | | Different needs and preferences according to the countries and the | | | |skin differences |O7 | |Societal environement (societal values and | | | |lifestyles) |Important demand variations and fashion effects in terms of |O6 | | |cosmetics | | | | | | | |Growth of the worldwide market of cosmetics (driv ing force) | | | | |O6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |T8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |O7 | | | | | | |Use of internet to buy products (driving force) |O6 | | | | | | Rapid innovation (waterproof †¦) (driving force) | | | | |T7 | | |Need of strong technological capabilities | | |Technological environment | | | | |Strong marketing innovation (driving force) |T7 | | | | | | | | | | | |T8 | | | | | | |Respect the environment |O10 | | | | | |Environmental aspects |Sustainable development |O10 | | | | | | |Fair trade |O8 | | | | | | |Bio market and products (driving force) |O9 | | | | | |Environmental aspects |Ecology | | | | |O8 | After this analyse of the trends, components and driving forces of the industry, it is interesting to see the place of the competitors in the industry. 1. 2 ° the competition: immediate industry and competitive environment In order to understand the dynamism of The Body Shop, we have to understand the competitive structure of th e cosmetic industry. The â€Å"competitive structure† of this market and the â€Å"critical rules of the game set by the industry† can be explained by using the â€Å"Porter’s model of competitive forces† in the cosmetic market. The Porter’s model is composed by five forces, the nature and strengths of the competitive pressures associated with these five forces have to be examined force by force to identify the specific competitive pressure which each comprises and to decide whether these pressure constitute a strong or weak competitive force. (Hough, J et al: 2008:101). It permits us to establish how important the market is to current and potential competition. Porter ‘s model of competitive forces in the beauty market [pic] These forces are explicated in this table: |- High local and international competition | | | | | |- The Body Shop has to face the direct competition in the domestic and international markets | | | | | |- Face the numerous cheaper competit ors | | | |Rivalry competition |- Lots of competitors as: supermarket, beauty institutes, hair dresser, perfumery †¦ | | | | |HIGH |- Big brands with strong image: Dior, Yves St Laurent, Estee Lauder †¦ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Rivalry competition | | | | | |HIGH | | | |- Too much brands | | | | | |- Too difficult to obtain a brand image and customer loyalty | |Threats of new entrants | | |LOW |- Numerous regulations | | |- There are not really substitutes products but there are lots of others brands.. | | | | | |- The substitutes products will be : | |Threat of substitute products | | |HIGH |- Cheaper products, no name brands | | | | |- Products tested on animals | | | | | |- Non natural products | | | | | |- Imitative products | | | | |Bargaining power of suppliers |Their impacts are not too big | |MEDIUM | | | |- High expectation in terms of quality and services | |Bargaining power of buyers | | |HIGH |- New generation with internet, buyers can c ompare prices | After this analysis, we can follow with the key success factors of The Body Shop. 1. 3 °the key success factors of the beauty industry and The Body Shop â€Å"Key success factors are the products attributes, competencies, competitive capabilities, and market achievements with the greatest impact on future competitive success in the marketplace. † (Hough, J et al: 2008: 97) In order to succeed and to be competitive, The Body Shop has to manage key success factors. So we can say that cosmetics brands have: – To be innovative and to propose new products – To obtain global distribution capabilities To have strong e-commerce capabilities (friendly website†¦) and the possibility to buy online products – To have an excellent and famous branding image: customers could identify them to the brand and its values. – To be different – To maintain high level of quality and services in order to improve customer satisfaction and loyal ty In the next part, we can realise a SWOT analysis to evaluate if The Body Shop meets these key success factors. 1. 4) The SW (OT) analysis of The Body Shop The SWOT analysis provides an overview of the firm’s situation and it is an essential component of crafting a strategy tightly matched to the company’s situation. (Hough, J et al: 2008: 138). The SWOT analysis is composed by the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We have already done the opportunities and threats in the macroenvironment analysis that is why we just evaluate here the strengths and weaknesses of The Body Shop (internal environment). | | | |STRENGHTS |WEAKNESSES | | | | |Global business Lack of new products | | | | |Ethical business |To slow to get new market share | | | | |High social responsibility |Stores too old, need a new design | | | | |Respect of human rights |Unpopularity of the Body Shop in the city and in the business | | |community | |Present all over the world (in 47 countries) | | | |Lack of enthusiasm | |Anti animal testing practices | | | |Failure in different countries: ex France, USA.. |Good manufacturing and wholesale | | | |Big problems with franchises | |Reorganisation to the firm to a management group | | | |Lack of adaptation to the needs and preferences of overseas markets | |Importance of the environ mental friendliness |(ex: USA) | | | | |Strong corporate culture in the firm ( involvement of the staffs in |Not a strong retailer | |the campaigns) | | |Important financial losses | |Products naturally made | | | |Products and concepts easily imitated | |Uniqueness of the products in term of its packaging | | | |Too much importance in launching environmental projects and too less| |Strong identity |in running business | | | | |Different suppliers from different ethnics and groups |Followers in cutting prices | | | | |A. Roddick: ethical and strong leader |Prices more expensive than the other competitors | | | | |Importance of staff selection |Lack of advertising | Question 2 Applicability and effectiveness of new CEO Patrick Gournay’s strategies P. Gournay was a business man with experiences. He wanted to create a new strategy for The Body Shop in order to be a unique brand, different to the others. This strategy was focus on different point: – Be faster to launch new products (less than one year). – Redesign the stores to satisfy the customers and to improve the brand’ image. – Cut the number of products by 25%, to be focus on â€Å"heritage† products. – Acquisition with Cosmo Trading for ? 7 million to have more control on European operations – Restructuration New products with a strong Body Shop’ identity: Hemp, differentiated products – New leadership – Reclarify the mission and vision of the company: be a strong reta iler – Outsource manufacturing and find manufacturing partners in each region – Cut administration costs – Decentralization in 4 main regions – Focus on customer satisfaction Even if some problems were still present in UK and USA, and if some periods were more critical than the others as Christmas for example, the P. Gournay’s 2000 strategy was a new life for The Body Shop. After some mistakes due to bad choices and a lack of experience in the cosmetic industry P. Gournay planed a real revolution in The Body Shop organisation. In a result of this revolution, profits rose by ? 9 million to ? 271 million compared with the same period in 1999 and most of his objectives were achieved. These elements show a very good execution of his strategy. It is always easier to plan a strategy but the implementation of it relieve to strong efforts in leadership and management. The organisational changes that is to say the restructuration as well as the decentralization of the company were very good strategic changes. It permits to share the responsibilities and to involve more the employees in this new strategy. P. Gourmay is a strong leader, he had the capacity to believe in The Body Shop future and to be fast to react. It understood the needs of the markets in creating new products as well as new services as home selling. He also wanted to be more customer oriented, improving the brand image thanks to the redesign of the shops and developing marketing tools as customer loyalty program in UK. Even if his lack of experience in the beauty industry was claimed, he was able to refocus the company to be a strong retailer. The results of his strategy have been done by better profits, share value and sales. Gourmay looks to be a good communicant, he explained numerous times his choices and the aim of his strategy, this step is important to create a strategy-supportive culture. The applicability and effectiveness of his strategy have been recognized by analysts, by the business community but also by all the company. Section B Question 3 Vision and Mission †¢ A mission statement focuses on current business activities — â€Å"who we are and what we do† The Body Shop is a global business, based on ethics, his products are known and famous for their naturally and because they are not tested on animals. The Body Shop is an organization with strong values and identity. The Body Shop was one of the first organization focuses on social responsibility and fair trade. The Body Shop offers natural cosmetics and personal care products. They have services as home selling and massages in their shops. With ageing of population and the importance of well being nowadays, customers have strong expectations in terms of quality and excellence. The sustainable development is a recent value in our society and customers expect companies as The Body Shop to respect it. The Body Shop is a good retailer; it has manufacturing partners in each of his four region area. This organization has the capacity to create new 100% natural products and to be involved in social causes. †¢ A strategic vision concerns a firm’s future business path — â€Å"where we are going† The Body Shop should gain market share and extend his leadership position in the cosmetic industry worldwide. They should be more famous and extend their brand awareness all over the world. The Body Shop will follow with his ethical values and develop new products and services in order to be more competitive. In other words, The Body Shop has to create new opportunities to leverage their brand globally. To achieve these goals, The Body Shop has to pursue and to improve the broader corporate goals of profitable growth and continuous improvement. The Body Shop should: – Achieve world-class performance by attaining a strong competitive position in target markets. – Exceed customer expectations for quality and value. – Earn in excess of the cost of capital over a business cycle. These elements can be reaching thanks to: – The distinguished brand The heritage of integrity and teamwork. – The advanced skills – The special relationships that have long existed between the company and the employees, customers, dealers and other business partners around the world The Body Shop has to pursue his natural products based more on well being th an beauty. They have to follow their politics about ethics and fair trade and stay oriented by the environmental friendliness. The Body Shop has to be focus on customer satisfaction. The management has to be more profits oriented and be more aggressive in order to survive. †¢ Types of business , the body shop should be in: The Body Shop should open his shops to new customers. Nowadays there is a new market with men and old people. They should segment their products and adapt them to new consumers’ needs and expectations. They also should create and develop a friendly website where customers could see all of their range of products and buy them online. Question 4: Financial and strategic objectives: Financial objectives: Outcomes focused on improving financial performance ? Achieve revenue growth of 10% per year This objective is important and it is achievable. Indeed, thanks to P. Gourmay they have reached very good performances in term of profits and sales. This objective will be the consequences of the new strategy implementation. It also will be the results of a better customer satisfaction and brand awareness. This objective can be reach thanks to an internal growth as I said before but also thanks to an external growth. It will be interesting for The Body Shop to realize alliances with big actors of the cosmetic industry. ? Increase net profit margins from 2% to 4% As we can see in The Body Shop case, that during Christmas period they have interesting margins. This objective can be the results of scale economies, and costs reductions. Strategic objectives; Outcomes focused on improving long-term, competitive business position. Different strategic objectives could be developed: ? Have more attractive products than rivals Be more focus on customer satisfaction ? Gain customer loyalty ? be more innovative ? Gain recognition as a leader in natural products We are going to focus on 2 main objectives: ? be more focus on customer satisfaction This element is key point to ensure the future of the Body Shop, they ha ve to be more customer oriented, to understand their needs and expectations. If customers are satisfied and feel considered, they will be naturally more loyal. As we know, a loyal customer is cheaper than a new customer. Different tools will be developed in the new strategy in order to reach this objective. Moreover, The Body Shop will have a new strategy to obtain new customers. Gain recognition as a leader in natural products The core competency of The Body Shop is his capacity to create natural products. To gain market share, they should use this element and work on it in order to be recognize as a leader in the natural cosmetics industry. This element will give to the Body Shop an excellent and famous branding image. The Body Shop will have an image of â€Å"specific† companies, with strong skills and know-how. Question 5 Corporate and business strategies In order to reach the financial and strategic objectives gave above, The Body Shop has to realise some actions to be m ore and more competitive during the five next years: The Body Shop has to follow his strategy of differentiation by launching natural Products with elements from all over the world. â€Å"The essence of a broad differentiation strategy is to be unique in ways that are valuable to a wide range of customers. † (Hough, J et al: 2008: 152) To be very effective, The Body Shop has to study consumers ‘needs and behaviours to understand what they consider important, what they think has value and what they are willing to pay for. This buyers study will help them to create new products and services perfectly adapted to consumers’ expectations. It they follow this strategy and tried to be totally different, the consumers will accept to paid more and will be able to identify them to the brand. This strategy needs also to have a strong corporate culture based on innovation, the human resources have a strategic role, they have to recruit creative employees. The employees have also to be trained in order to be innovative and creative. – Have a bigger brand awareness is necessary for the Body Shop. That is why they have to invest more in marketing. They already have a strong identity but they have to diffuse it thanks to new media opportunities. The communication is an important element, more advertising campaign will add value and increase brand awareness. A powerful world advertising campaign will be interesting. As the Body Shop is a brand with strong values and politics, they should realise a different campaign as â€Å"Benetton† has done few years ago. In this campaign, they have to be different and to communicate about their natural products, that is to say their specific skills, their high quality and excellence. The campaign will be a â€Å"paper† campaign or a TV one, if the budget allows these expenditures. – As I said before, The Body Shop has to be customer oriented. They should realise a friendly website where customers will be able to see their range of products and services and where they would be able to buy online products. It will permit to customers to have good references and to be easily found on the world wide web. The website will permits to the organization to be more attractive and to attract a maximum of internet users. The organization should develop his customer loyalty programs all over the world. People like to be considerate as a specific customer and expect to have a â€Å"specific treatment†. The loyalty card encourages consumers to be loyal in order to receive presents and special o ffers. – They also could extend their services: Selling at home should be proposed in numerous countries. Customers love being the main interest of the companies. With this service they feel caring and have the feeling to have customized services. We have also seen that additional services as massages have increase the sales. People after having a nice moment want to buy the products used during this time. The Body Shop should propose services as sauna and hammam for example. – The Body Shop should not stay a niche market. The new trends and lifestyles give them big opportunities. They should realise a segmentation of their products that is to say they should have specific products for men and old people for example. They have to innovate and to adapt them to the changes. – The Body Shop is already a global company but they should be present in other market as India, an emerging market. The beauty is an important value on this country, and the Indian beauty is known all over the world thanks to L’Oreal’s muse. This new market can ensure new sales and market shares, it is a new opportunity. The Body Shop should adopt a more aggressive strategy; the competition should not be underestimating. The company has to be more profit oriented. To reach their objectives, they can realise some alliance with a big brand as L’Oreal. Indeed, this alliance will permit them to shares their resources and capabilities in technology and innovation for example. It will help them to realise new products. – The creation of new products will also be strategic elements in specific period as Christmas. The Body Shop should realise limited products to give exclusivity to some customers. With specific range of products for this specific period, The Body Shop will improve his differentiation. All these changes require strong involvement of the management and employees, The Body Shop has to be more reactive, and they have to adapt them of their environment: lifestyles etc. As Gourmay done, the company has to change its structure when it is not adapted in order to be profitable and to promote innovation in the company. The culture has to be supportive and be oriented on differentiation and creativity. The resources are necessary to invest on an advertising campaign for example, but these marketing tools can lead to an increase on sales, market share and profitability. The company has to think regionally and globally in order to be present in new market as emerging market. The control is an important step, it is important to evaluate the actions done and to learn from the mistakes. The evaluation permits to have a continuous improvement, The Body Shop should be more control oriented. Question 6 Balanced scorecard for The Body Shop |THE BODY SHOP | |HEAD OFFICE | |MAIN OBJECTIVE: | |Increase their market share all over the world, be a leader in natural products and have a better brand awareness | FINANCIAL |CUSTOMERS |INTERNAL |LEARNING AND GROWTH | | | | | | |- Refocus on retailing |- Increase their satisfaction |- Reinvention of The Body Shop |- Training of employees to be | | | |brand |more creative and innovative | |- New market shares: |- New products and services | | | |Selling in new market: India |(massages.. |- New structure |-Profiling the staff | | | | | | |- Revenue growth of 10% per year |- Better adaptation to each |- New strategy, plans and |- New staff: recruitment | | |countries’ needs and preferences |leadership | | | | | |- I nnovative culture | |- Increase of the share price |- Better communication |- Products line and distribution | | | | |channels rationalized | | |- Selling new products |- Customer retention | | | | | |- Decentralization of the | | |-Selling to new consumers |-Customer acquisition |management | | | | | | | |- Alliance with cosmetics |- Redesign the stores, better |- New values: quality and | | |companies: L’OREAL for example |brand image |excellence | | | | | | | | |- More customer information |- Regulatory control | | | | | | | | |- More prominently |- Be a good corporate citizen | | | | | | | | |- More loyalty programs | | | References – Hought, J. Arthur, A. Thompson, Jr. Strickland III, A. J Gambie, J. E. 2008. Crafting and Executing Strategy. McGraw Hill International Edition. – Piercy, N. The Body Shop. A case for burial or rising from the grave? – The Body Shop values report. 2007. How to cite The Body Shop, Essay examples

Redundant Storage-Data Manipulation & Networking and the Internet

Question: Describe about the Storage Redundancy,Data computation-"Moore's Law" and Transport Layer Protocol? Answers: Storage Redundancy Storage redundancy involves the duplicity in the storage of data. It is a condition that is created within a database in which the same is place in two separate spaces. Storage redundancy is commonly known as data redundancy. It can be two different fields in a single database, or in multiple software platforms. Whenever data is repeated, this is known as data redundancy. Storage redundancy may occur by accident, but sometime it is also done intentionally for backup and recovery purposes. In a general manner data redundancy has different classifications that are based on what is most appropriate in database management, and what is wasteful or excessive. Wasteful storage redundancy normally occurs when a given data need not to be repeated, but it ends up being duplicated because of coding inefficiency or process complexity. Cons and pros of Storage redundancy A positive approach of data redundancy works as a safeguard for data that promote consistency. Many web masters consider it acceptable to store data at multiple places. The key point is to have focused master space for this data to be stored, so that it gives a way to update all of the places wherever data redundancy occur, via that central access point. On the other hand, data redundancy will be a big problem if there is no central access point, with data inconsistency, where update in one does not automatically update another. As a result, the data that are supposed to be same end up with different values. So storage redundancy is not perfect, and has its pros and cons. Pros of storage redundancy: The most obvious virtue of storage redundancy is that it protects data in case of drive failure in real time. It means if the internal drives in a RAID fails, when you are working on a file but one of the storage device is working normally. It will indicate that one of your internal drives has encounter error or fails, and offers you to the chance to back up your important data and replace the drive. Then your device will blend the replaced drive itself to become part of the RAID. During that time, the storage device is still available. In short, storage redundancy gives you the facility of data protection and though internal part will fail another will be there to back up the data. Cons of redundancy: The first limitation of redundancy is the cost; you have to spend bugs on multiple drives. For example RAID 1 setup, basically requires spending just double on internal drives. Another disadvantage of storage redundancy is that it doesn't provide protection to data against physical disaster, like fire or flood. Storage Redundancy also doesn't offer facility of versioning, which include the data saving in different versions. Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk RAID is a virtualization technology used to store data that combines the number of disk drives into a logical unit to improve the data redundancy and performance. RAID enables the information to access several disks. Many techniques such as striping (RAID Level 0), mirroring (RAID Level 1), and parity (RAID Level 5) are involved in RAID to achieve redundancy, increased bandwidth, lower latency, and maximized ability to recover. RAID distributes pieces of data across every drive in the array. Then RAID breaks down the data into chunks. Then each chunk is written to the hard drive in the RAID in accordance to the employed RAID level. When the data is read, the process will be reversed, showing illusion that the number of drives is actually one large drive. Below are several levels choices that are most commonly used. RAID 0 Striping RAID 0 level consists of striping, without parity or mirroring. The capacity of a RAID 0 is the sum of the disks capacities in the set. There is no additional data redundancy to handle disk failures, just as a spanned volume. Therefore, failure of one disk causes the entire RAID 0 volumes lost. It reduces the possibilities of recovery of data while compared to a broken volume. Data Striping distributes the files contents roughly among all disks, which makes concurrent write or read operations on the numbers of disks. The concurrent read or write operations make the profit of most write and read operations that is equal to the output of one disk multiplied by the multiple disks. Increased output is the big profit of RAID 0 i.e. Striping. RAID 1Mirroring RAID 1 is also known as mirroring, without striping or parity. In this approach, data is written to two or more drives, producing a "mirrored set". Any read request will be serviced by any drive in the mirrored set. If a request is broadcast to each drive in the given set, this request can be serviced by the drive which first accesses the data, improving the performance. Sustained read output, approaches the sum of outputs of each drive, just as for RAID 0. Actual throughput of most RAID 1 is slower than the fastest drive. RAID 2 RAID 2 includes a bit-level striping with Hamming-code parity. All the disk spindle rotation can be synchronized and the data is striped in such a way that each sequential bit is placed on a different drive. Hamming parity is evaluated across the corresponding bits and finally stored on one parity drive. RAID 3 RAID 3 includes the byte-level striping with concerned parity. Rotation of all disks spindle is synchronized and the piece of data is striped in such a way that each byte is on a different drive. The parity is evaluated across corresponding bytes and finally stored on a dedicated parity drive. RAID 4 RAID 4 includes the block-level striping with parity. This striping was previously used by Net App, but has now replaced by an implementation of RAID 4 with two parity disks. RAID 5 RAID 5 includes the block-level striping with dedicated parity. In this approach, parity information is divided among the distinct drives. It requires that all the disks drives but one to operate. On the failure of single drive, subsequent reads can be evaluated from the distributed parity in such a way that no data is lost. It requires at least three disks and seriously affected by trends and chance of failure during rebuild. RAID 6 RAID 6 includes the block-level striping with double parity. Double distributed parity gives fault tolerance for two failed drives. It makes larger RAID groups especially for high-availability systems. The large-capacity drives take longer to restore. In single drive failure reduce the performance of entire array. The larger the size of drive capacities and the larger the size of array results to choose RAID 6 instead of RAID 5. Data computationMoores law Moores Law is a computing term which came into existence in around 1970. The most simplified version of Moores law states that the overall processor speeds, or power for computers will be double in every two years. The technicians from different companies of computer prove that the Moores law is not very popular but the formula is still accepted. To divide the law even further, it is specifically said that the number of transistors that are embedded on an affordable CPU would get double in every two years but more transistors is more accurate. In fact, the next-generation of processors, have to contend with a memory bottleneck which is known as the bandwidth between the CPU and a computers memory channels or the instruction level parallelism (ILP) or the availability of discrete parallel instructions and the chips temperature and power consumption. The power wall now defines the limit of the speed of the modern CPU. As the processors have become more capable, the heat production as well as energy consumption has grown rapidly. Due to this problem, chip manufacturers have been forced to create systems on a chip smaller, specialized processors. What is Interrupt Request? An interrupt request is a signal that is sent from a device to a processor. It indicates that attention is required in order to process a request. A hardware interrupt request is induced by hardware peripheral while a software interrupt request is induced by software instruction. The result of both IRQ in processor status savings, and revert IRQ serving use an interrupt handler routine. Interrupts are used for computing multitasking and eliminate the requirement for the processor to sample the lines when waiting for external events. An interrupt request is made to the processor by using programmable interrupt controllers (PICs) that manage the interrupts. It can be level-triggered interrupt or edge-triggered interrupt. Level-triggered indicate that the line is held via the device at active level, interrupt triggering until it is served. Edge-triggered indicate that the device interrupt the line from level 1 to 0. Interrupt request levels are assigned to devices so that it indicate their identities. IRQ can be categorized into the following types: Maskable interrupt (IRQ): A maskable interrupt is a hardware interrupt that can be ignored through setting bit in an interrupt mask register's (IMR). Non-maskable interrupts (NMI): It is hardware interrupt that deficient an associated bit-mask. Non Maskable Interrupts are used for the maximum priority tasks like timers. Inter-processor interrupts (IPI): It is a special interrupt case that is generated by one processor to another processor in multiprocessor system. Software interrupt: It is an interrupt that is generated within a processor by instruction. Software interrupts are used for system implementation because they give subroutine call with a CPU. Spurious interrupt: It is an unwanted hardware interrupt that are typically generated by conditions of system like electrical interference through incorrectly designed hardware. Processors have an internal interrupt mask that allows software to ignore external hardware interrupts. Setting this mask can be faster than interrupt mask register (IMR) access in a PIC. It also disables interrupts in the device itself. Interrupts disabling and enabling act as a memory barrier that may actually be slower. An interrupt which leaves the well defined machine is called a precise interrupt. These interrupt has four properties: The Program Counter (PC) is saved in a known place. The instruction pointed to execution state by the PC is known. No more than one pointed instruction has been executed by the PC. All instructions by the PC have fully executed. Internet and computer networking errors Data transferred on internet sometimes become changed between the receiver and senders time. This may be occurs for a various reasons, but modern network protocols now support "error checking and correction. The numeric values of all the data bytes in the packet are added up, the output is then used to know whether the received packet was correct or not. This process is known as checksum. If receiving node detects wrong packet means if the received checksum doesn't match the sum of received bytes , the request message is sent for the another copy of packet. Transport layer protocol The TCP/IP Transport Layer suite has many protocols that operate at the Transport level. Transport Layer is responsible for establishing the connection. It manages connection oriented streams, reliable transport, flow control and multiplexing. Following are the two most important protocols for the transport layer. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) It handles the transmission of the data packets from the Application Layer. If a large file needs to be received, TCP manages the IP packets from the below layer. TCP arrange the packets into sequential order. It also takes smaller IP packets and merges them into the originally sent file. If a data packet is not received, TCP send an acknowledgment message for packet retransmission. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) UDP is similar to TCP, but there is no guarantee of delivery in this protocol. UDP has a minimum overhead as it does not send the acknowledgments of packet receipt or order of receiving or retransmission of data. If the packets are out of order or lost, then theses packets are skipped. What is the difference between Client-Server and Peer to Peer Network in distributed computer system? Peer-to-peer (P2P) network is a decentralized communications model in which either party can initiate a communication session. The client/server model is a centralized communication model in which the client makes a request and the server will fulfills their request. The main difference between peer to peer and client-server systems is that in the client-server model, there are clients that request for services and the servers provide services to the clients, but in peer to peer systems, peers act as both consumer as well as service providers. Further, client-server systems has a central file server and its implementation is expensive than peer to peer model. While in the client-server model, a dedicated file server provides an access level to the clients, by providing better security. But in peer to peer systems, the security is handled by end users. Moreover, peer to peer networks also suffer in performance as the nodes increases, but client-server systems are stable than P2P and could be scaled as per the need. Therefore, selecting one is dependent on the environment that of implementation. References 1. Jacobson, Michael B., et al (1995). "Memory systems with data storage redundancy management." U.S. Patent No. 5,392,244. 21 Feb. 1995. 2. Kimmel, Jeffrey S., Sunitha S. Sankar, and Tomislav Grcanac (2009). "Lost write detection in a storage redundancy layer of a storage server."S. Patent No. 7,549,089. 3. Vachuka, J., and M. VoboÃ…â„ ¢il (1971). "Kinetic data computation from non-isothermal thermogravimetric curves of non-uniform heating rate." Thermochimica Acta 2.5: 379-392. 4. Yan, Zhixian, et al (2013). "Semantic trajectories: Mobility data computation and annotation." ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST) 4.3: 49. 5 Singh, Hartej, et al (2000). "MorphoSys: an integrated reconfigurable system for data-parallel and computation-intensive applications." Computers, IEEE Transactions on 49.5: 465-481. 6. Comer, Douglas E (2000). The Internet book: everything you need to know about computer networking and how the Internet works. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 7. Perkins, Charles E (1998). "Mobile networking in the Internet." Mobile Networks and Applications4: 319-334. 8. Goleniewski, Lillian (2002). Telecommunications essentials: the complete global source for communications fundamentals, data networking and the Internet, and next-generation networks. Addison-Wesley Professional.

Miracle Worker Essays - Films, Helen Keller, Teleplays,

Miracle Worker In my opinion, all the types of conflict occur in "the Miracle Worker". There is internal conflict such as man versus self. There is also external conflict such as man versus man, man versus nature and also man versus society. An example of man versus self, is in act, scene eight. In this scene, Annie is struggling with her own memories of her dead brother jimmy and of the state alms house. There is another example of conflict in the story. This one is of man versus man. It is all of act II, scene three. Annie spends the entire pantomime struggling and fighting with Helen for control. Annie ends up winning and Helen ate with a spoon on her own and folded her napkin. An example of man versus society is in act II, scene two. Here, the whole family is seated around the dinner table and Jimmy and Captain Keller are having a conversation about the Civil War. Helen is taking what she pleases off of everybody's plate. When Annie stands her ground and tries to discipline Annie, the whole family tries to stop her because of the pity that they feel. Annie is there for in a struggle for power in the household. "The Miracle Worker" is a story mainly about man versus nature. The whole play is an example of this. Annie is always struggling against her blindness and defness.

Adoration of Jenna Fox - Essay free essay sample

Jenna Fox is a mentally unstable adolescent because, after waking up from a yearlong coma, she has no memory of her friends or family. She soon recognizes how her actions toward her parents, and grandmother, have different effects on their expressions and body language, but she still does not understand what she is supposed to be feeling. â€Å"I don’t remember my mother, my father, or Lily. I don’t remember that I once lived in Boston. I don’t remember the accident. I don’t remember Jenna Fox,† (Pearson, 7). This excerpt from the novel explains that Jenna is lacking the knowledge of who she is. She doesn’t understand how she cannot remember the people that were closest to her. As the story progresses, Jenna wonders if she has ever had friends, â€Å"Did I have friends? †¦ I may not remember everything, but I know there should be these things. Something. I know when someone is sick that people check on her. What kind of person was Jenna Fox that she didn’t have any friends? Was she someone I even want to remember? Everyone should have at least one friend,† (Pearson, 17). Using the psychological lens, the quoted thought of Jenna Fox explains to the reader that she knows from her instinct that it is normal to have friends. She starts to question herself as an individual, creating an unstable self-esteem. Throughout the novel, Jenna starts to acquire a few friends, making her self-esteem and psychological state become more positive. The first person that Jenna meets, that isn’t a family member, is Mr. Bender. He acts as a type of guardian to Jenna when her father is in Boston for his occupation. For example, he happens to help Jenna out in a particularly difficult situation with the neighbor boy, Dane, â€Å"Mr. Bender comes through the woods, making a show of his golf club, swinging it more than he is using it for balance on the hillside,† (Pearson, 217). Psychologically this makes Jenna feel more secure and comfortable when she knows that Mr. Bender is in her company. Ethan is also another person that helps Jenna feel at ease. He becomes Jenna’s significant other and is also, ironically, the only person that Jenna, herself, shares information about her genetically engineered body with. After sharing that information with him, he says to her, â€Å"†So I know what a monster is, Jenna, and it’s not me, and it’s not you,†Ã¢â‚¬  (Pearson, 165). His words send a comforting message to Jenna, which helps her feel a bit more positive about herself. In addition to Ethan and Mr. Bender, Allys achieves a positive role in Jenna Fox’s mental-state. Allys is the first friend to actually express positive feelings toward Jenna, â€Å"†¦I just sit there with satisfaction wrapping around me. I like you. That’s what she said. I like you, Jenna,† (Pearson, 76). The words that Jenna repeats to herself explain to the reader that she feels accepted socially into the world, even though (herself included) nobody except for her parents know what is truly different about her composition. Having friends plays a major role in the life of someone who is mentally unstable and has a negative view of their self. In the novel, when Jenna had times of struggle, she felt concealed away from her family because she couldn’t remember her relationships with them. From what she had watched on videotapes is the only remembrances she had, making the little pieces of family structure very important for her mentally. When her relationships would build with them, she was careful to keep them strong. The person that Jenna went to hoping for advice and somebody to trust is her grandmother, Lily. For example, Jenna seeks answers, and she turns to Lily in her mental time of need, â€Å"†You’re the only one I can ask,† I add. â€Å"The only one I know who will tell me the truth,†Ã¢â‚¬  (Pearson, 148). From the quote, Jenna’s knowledge of the importance of her and Lily’s relationship is recognized, and linked to how Jenna feels about being treated fairly by being told the truth. Accordingly, Jenna’s father works in Boston, but when complicated situations arise in her life, he makes the commute as quickly as he can back to their home in California. For example, Jenna confronts her mother about what she hasn’t been told, and her father comes home immediately, â€Å"A shadow of stubble is on his cheeks. His hair is uncombed. His eyes are hollow. He looks like he could have run here all the way from Boston,† (Pearson, 121). From the description of her father, the reader can recognize that the bond between family members is strong, and without them, people wouldn’t have anyone to help them in mental hardships. By reading Mary E. Pearson’s, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, using the psychological/psychoanalytical lens, the constant theme of family and friends being important in a person’s life, is recognized in a variety of different ways. When a person has nobody to turn to in a time of mental need, a part of that person’s identity becomes questionable. Family and friends provide a positive mental part of identity that is unique and extremely important to every human being.

What to Do If Youre Placed on Academic Probation

What to Do If Youre Placed on Academic Probation Being placed on academic probation while in college is serious business. You may have known it was coming, you may have had no idea it was coming- but now that its here, its time to sit up and pay attention. What Exactly Is Academic Probation? Academic probation can mean various things at different colleges and universities. Usually, however, it means that your academic performance (either in a series of classes or through your GPA) is not strong enough for you to be making acceptable progress toward your degree. Consequently, if you dont improve, you may be asked (translation: required) to leave the college. Learn the Specifics of Your Probation Just like schools can have different definitions of academic probation, students can have different terms for their academic probation. Read the fine print of your warning letter and make sure you understand everything thats in there. How do you need to change your academic standing? To what? By when? What happens if you dont do so- will you need to leave the college? Leave just the residence hall? Not be eligible for financial aid? Get Help No matter how confident you felt, clearly something did not work out if youre on academic probation. Check in with people for help: your academic advisor, your professors, a tutor, other students in the class, and anyone else you can utilize as a resource. Sure, it may be awkward to ask for help, but doing is almost certainly less awkward than having to leave college before you had planned to. Keep Getting Help Lets say you reach out for help, get a tutor, and work, work, work to study for your next chemistry test- which you promptly ace. Your confidence goes up and you start to feel like you may not need as much help as you thought you did. Be extra careful not to let yourself fall into your old patterns- you know, the ones that got you into academic probation in the first place- and to stick with getting help throughout the term. Prioritize Your Other Commitments If youre placed on academic probation, youll need to do a serious assessment of your other commitments. Passing your classes now becomes your number one priority (as it should have been from the beginning). Be honest with yourself about your other commitments in college and, as hard as it may be, cut out as much as you need to in order to make sure your academics are getting the time and attention they deserve. After all, you cant be involved in all you want to do if youre not allowed back in school next semester. Make a list of what you need to do (like working) versus what you want to do (like being heavily involved in your Greeks social planning committee) and make some changes as needed.

El Greco essays

El Greco essays There were many inspiring and fantastic painters in the 1500s. Europe had many painters who made a big impact on the world. El Greco was a Greek painter who moved to Spain and is regarded as one of the greatest religious painters and a master portraitist. El Greco is one of the most famous painters of all time, and the story of his young life and emigration to Spain is a great one. El Greco was born in Candia, Crete. Not much is known about his childhood. He grew up and was trained as a icon-maker in a monastery and then went to Venice around 1560, where Titian became his greatest mentor. El Greco met Michelangelo and was very influenced on his Italian style of painting, which is noticeably different from other works. Not much is known about his parents; it is speculated that they died when El Greco was very young. El Greco is the Spanish name of the painter. His true Greek name is Domenicos Theotocopoulos, which was the name he used when he signed his documents, including Spain where he was known by his Spanish name. El Greco started out small as did most famous painters and worked his way up. El Greco was a true rags to riches story considering he was an artist. El Greco grew up and learned much in his early career and had been taught by many of the greatest painters. As a young painter he moved around a lot and once out of Crete went to Venice and then onto Spain. In 1563, with the closing of the third and final session of the Council of Trent, known in European history as the Counter Reformation which commenced with it the institutionalization of Catholic life in accordance with the rules made by the Conciliar Fathers. This led to El Grecos inspiration to be a religious painter. Two worksthat are signed by Master Domenikos who was an icon, in Athens and a small portable triptych, which have been attributed to El Greco. However, their authorship cannot be established with certainty. After W...

Biography of Julián Castro, 2020 Presidential Candidate

Biography of Julin Castro, 2020 Presidential Candidate Julin Castro is a Democratic politician who has served as city councilman and mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Under President Barack Obama’s administration, he served as U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. In 2019, he announced his decision to run for president of the United States. Fast Facts: Julin Castro Occupation: Attorney and politicianBorn: September 16, 1974, in San Antonio, TexasParents: Rosie Castro and Jesse GuzmanEducation: Stanford University, Harvard UniversityKey Accomplishments: San Antonio mayor, San Antonio City Council, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 2020 presidential candidateSpouse: Erica Lira CastroChildren: Cristin Julin Castro and Carina Castro.Famous Quote: â€Å"Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps, and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can’t do alone.† Early Years Julin Castro grew up in San Antonio, Texas, with his identical twin brother Joaquà ­n Castro, who is younger than him by just a minute. His parents never married but remained together several years after Castro and his brother were born. The couple took part in the Chicano Movement; Castro’s father, Jesse Guzman, was an activist and math teacher, and his mother, Rosie Castro, was a political activist involved in the political party La Raza Unida. She served as Bexar County chairwoman for the group, helping register people to vote and organizing political campaigns. She eventually launched her own failed bid for the San Antonio City Council in 1971. In an interview, Rosie Castro told the Texas Observer that as Julin and Joaquà ­n grew up, she spent most of her time trying to make enough money to raise them as a single mother. But she remained politically active. Aware of their mother’s sacrifices, both Julin and Joaquà ­n Castro excelled in school. Julin Castro played football, tennis, and basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School, where he graduated in 1992. He and his brother won admission to Stanford University and, later, Harvard Law School, graduating in 1996 and 2000, respectively. Julin Castro has credited affirmative action with helping him get into Stanford, pointing out that his SAT scores were not competitive. Political Career After Julin Castro completed his studies, he and his brother worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld, and later left to start their own firm. Both brothers also pursued political careers, making Rosie Castro’s influence on them evident. Julin Castro won election to the San Antonio City Council in 2001, when he was just 26 years old, making him the youngest councilman to ever serve the city. Later he set his sights on a mayoral campaign, but lost his initial bid. Joaquà ­n Castro won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 2003. In 2007, Julin married Erica Lira, an elementary school teacher. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Carina, in 2009. That same year Castro was finally elected San Antonio mayor, serving until 2014, the year his son, Cristin Julin Castro, was born. During his tenure as mayor, Castro gave an inspiring keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that earned him comparisons to the speech Barack Obama, then a U.S. senator, had made at the convention eight years earlier. In his keynote, Castro discussed the American dream and the sacrifices his family had made to help him achieve it. â€Å"The American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay,† he said. â€Å"Our families don’t always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people’s houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.† The speech helped draw national attention to Castro that grew when President Obama named him the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2014. The then 39-year-old was the youngest member of Obama’s cabinet. Serving as HUD secretary did not just thrust him into the national spotlight, though, it also landed him in the middle of a controversy. The HUD Controversy During his tenure at HUD, the department sparked concerns about its handling of mortgage loans. Specifically, HUD was accused of selling mortgages to Wall Street banks, causing lawmakers like U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren to call out the agency. Warren criticized HUD for selling off delinquent mortgages without first giving borrowers the opportunity to modify their loan terms. Rather than financial firms, Warren wanted nonprofit organizations to manage these mortgages and help struggling borrowers. Although Castro took the heat for HUD’s management of mortgage loans, the agency’s practices in this area predate his appointment as secretary. A 2015 Bloomberg analysis found that since 2010, HUD had sold 95 percent of such loans to investment firms. That’s four years before Castro came on board. Still, critics of Castro continue to hold him accountable for the problem, some arguing that it should disqualify him from serving as vice president or president. HUD’s stipulations for selling delinquent loans was subsequently changed. Presidential Run Since his keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, speculation that Castro would one day run for president has followed him. The speculation intensified when Castro’s memoir,  An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up From My American Dream, debuted in 2018. Many politicians write books to personalize themselves to the public and broadcast their political views. On Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio, Texas, Castro officially announced his presidential candidacy. During his speech, he provided an overview of the issues that have been important to him throughout his career, including early childhood education, criminal justice reform, universal healthcare, and immigration reform. â€Å"We say no to building a wall and say yes to building community,† Castro said. â€Å"We say no to scapegoating immigrants, and yes to Dreamers, yes to keeping families together, and yes to finally passing comprehensive immigration reform, Castro said to applause. Castro has also been a longtime supporter of LGBT rights and of Black Lives Matter. If Castro wins the Democratic nomination, he would be the first Latino to earn that distinction.   Sources Baugh, Josh.â€Å"From Political Matriarch Rosie Castro, the Sons Also Rise.† San Antonio Express-News, Sept. 30, 2012.Cirilli, Kevin. â€Å"Julian Castros 5 Notable Lines.† Politico.com, Sept. 4, 2012.Cranley, Ellen. â€Å"Heres how Julin Castro came to be a 2020 presidential contender and what might be next.† Business Insider, Jan. 13, 2019.Garcia-Ditta, Alexa. â€Å"The Interview: Rosie Castro.† Texas Observer. Merica, Dan. â€Å"Julin Castro Officially Announces 2020 Presidential Bid.† CNN, Jan. 12, 2019.â€Å"Elizabeth Warren Protests Sales of Distressed Home Loans to Wall Street.† Al-Jazeera America, Sept. 30, 2015.