Marriott Cost of Capital Essay

Our objective was to find the hurdle rates for Marriott’s three divisions and for the firm as a whole. Marriott should find the hurdle rates for its divisions separately because its divisions operate in separate industries and therefore face different business risks. Marriott’s vice president says that increasing the hurdle rate by 1% would decrease the present value of project inflows by 1%. Since finding appropriate hurdle rates is critical to accepting or rejecting projects, Marriott should be precise by calculating and using division-specific rates on division-specific projects. We used the WACC method so that our hurdle rates would reflect appropriate cost of debt and cost of equity, as explained in our subsequent analysis. We found Marriott’s hurdle rates: 8.646% for hotels, 10.94% for restaurants, 11.094% for contracts, and 9.688% for the entire company. Marriott should use the division-specific hurdle rates when evaluating division-specific projects. Using the overall WACC to evaluate a project in the restaurant industry, for example, could cause Marriott to incorrectly accept a project, which would destroy wealth. Our analysis also led us to evaluate Marriott’s four financial growth objectives. First, we found that by managing instead of owning hotel assets, Marriott was able to hedge its risks in the currently volatile economy. Second, we were concerned that Marriott’s strategy of maximizing shareholder wealth by treating its projects like â€Å"similar little boxes† instead of using division-specific hurdle rates would decrease shareholder value.

The Final Five Minutes

Here I am lying in my hospital bed and I've just been told, this is it, I'm not sure how I feel, maybe relieved. This Illness has gone on too long and I have lost any energy I may have had for the fight. When the doctor told me, a very nice girl, she had tears down her cheeks and I ended up telling her that it was all right. I think this is the first time since it began I have been able to feel relaxed and calm. Sitting round the bed is my wife and two children watching me and talking about all the things that had happened today. I do not know if I am interested but I must look like I am for them, they are upset as it is and they will not believe I am content about the news I was given this morning. So far my life has been full and happy with my wife and children growing up around me. Although I am sad to be leaving them behind I know they will be OK and supported by my own family and friends and also theirs ass well when they are called upon. I know my family are close and will stick together through thick and thin to cope with the good and bad times together. I am holding my sons hands and telling him that things will carry on without me as normal and he must help his sister to get by being strong and helping his mum when she needs it and act as the man of the house. The nurse is putting something in my arm and saying it is for the pain and it feels like I am on drugs, it feels good and soothes the pain that has overcome my body for so long. I hope they give me enough drugs to help me through and make me leave this world looking ok and so everything is ok when the times comes to say goodbye, I'll be on the right track. Everything seems to be becoming distant and blurred, I wonder if this is the time? I don't know if I am ready yet, I want to say goodbye before I go anywhere. I'm thinking of my own parents and my past like a picture album remembering the good things when I was young. I seem to be going further away and every body is shouting, I wish they would be quiet and let me rest. All of a sudden everything is clear and I can see my family this makes me feel very happy and I am ready to go. Things are getting dark and I think this might be it, I don't care as long as it happens straight away and I do not look to silly. Everything is extremely quite and this is where I find out what really happens at the end.

Asthma as a Relatively Common Lung Disease

Asthma as a Relatively Common Lung Disease Asthma is a relatively common lung disease which causes the airways to become inflamed and, in turn, swell. This causes shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, and wheezing and/or coughing when attempting to breathe. The severity is solely dependent on the case at hand; some people only experience slight discomfort, while others experience extremely painful attacks (Chen, 2015). Attacks are usually triggered by inhaling a certain substance that reacts with the bronchial muscles. Developing a better understanding of the nature of asthma, its effects, contributing factors, and who it affects have contributed to the process of treating asthma. To fully understand the disease, one must understand exactly what it does to the body. With asthma, when a certain substance is inhaled, it will cause the bronchial muscles in the airways to become inflamed. This restricts the amount of air that makes its way to the lungs, causing discomfort and difficulty breathing. The amount of mucus produced may also rise, which can worsen the conditions by making the airways even more narrow. This can become fatal if the airways become completely closed. The exact cause of asthma is currently unknown, though it is believed by researchers that one large contributor for the development of the disease is simply genetics. Like most diseases, if there is a family history of asthma within your kin, you are at risk of the disease as well. Shumaker (2013) believes â€Å"Asthma can also develop due to certain types of respiratory complications during early childhood.† Exposure to certain toxins in the air has also been ruled in as one of the possible factors. This chronic disease can affect anyone at any age, though the majority of cases develop during childhood. This disease can be managed with the help of your doctor. Asthma medicine is typically self-administered through a device called an inhaler. The most popular type of inhaler is known as the beta-agonist bronchodilator. Beta-agonist drugs are used to provide quick relief for the coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness associated with an asthma attack. They work by smoothing the bronchial muscle in the airways that have become inflamed, allowing air to travel to the lungs with considerably more ease. One or two puffs from the inhaler can be taken every four to six hours to safely ensure that the symptoms subside and all discomfort ceases. If the inhaler fails to do its intended job and symptoms continue or worsen, it is very strongly recommended to take a trip to the hospital. In conclusion, asthma is a disease that affects the lungs. For most people, symptoms may be brought on by exposure to things like pollen, pet dander, or large amounts of dust. Exercise and cold air have also been known to be common triggers (Bennett, 2016). Attacks or symptoms of asthma can be avoided by avoiding trigger substances. For the average modern person, coping with asthma is easy and safe with the proper knowledge and precautions.

Why corporate social responsibility matters Essay

Why corporate social responsibility matters - Essay Example Corporate companies are setting up fully fledged CSR departments focusing on the social issues of contemporary relevance. A complex chain of various stakeholders of the company including the community; vendors, customers, investors and the concerned government will be involved in a CSR decision of the company. In other words, a CSR decision of particular company will affect its varied range of stakeholders. The stakeholders will have either comply with the CSR decision or in cases, they will benefit from the CSR initiative of the company. Johnson & Johnson is a multinational company with its presence over 60 countries. It has more than 250 subsidiary companies with human resource strength of 116,000 people. Being a large company and having been using the governmental and natural resources for long years, it becomes the responsibility of Johnson & Johnson to be responsible to issues of social relevance. The objective of this essay is to critically analyze the Corporate Social Responsi bility initiatives of Johnson and Johnson. Managerial Structure of Corporate Social Responsibility Wing The company claims that CSR has been included in the mission statement of the company 60 years ago. Interestingly, in that period CSR was not a point of discussion as a responsibility to be fulfilled by Corporate Companies. The CSR initiatives of the company were started by General Robert Wood Johnson (CSR Globe, 2006) He was the Chairman of the Director Board of the company then. The first initiative taken up by the company in this regard has been claimed by the company to have taken up way back in 1906. The company supported the government to source medical supply for the victims of the earthquake that happened in San Francisco. The CSR representative for the company is the Executive Committee. This makes it clear that the CSR initiatives of Johnson & Johnson is planned and controlled by its top level management. The involvement of senior level management in thus ensured in the process of planning and implementation. The governance of Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives is centrally based from its headquarters. This central approach in governance makes sure that the policy is oriented and focused on the central policies suggested by the Executive committee of the company. This further ensures the top management’s control over the CSR mechanism. The comprehensive Strategy Johnson and Johnson have developed a comprehensive strategy that clearly defines the limits of implementation of CSR. The CSR priorities of the company have been clearly defined to be limited to four sections. First of it is to cater to the company’s responsibility towards nurses, patients, doctors, mothers fathers and others who use the products of Johnson and Johnson. The second priority area is employees all across the world. The third is communities and the fourth one is stockholders. On careful analysis of these priority areas, it is cl early observable that the company has clearly defined the reach of its CSR initiatives. Interestingly, most of the beneficiaries from all the four priority areas belong to their customer base and direct dependents of the company. For instance when the patients who use their products refer to their customer base, the 116,000 people employees who are direct dependants of the company are included in within the limits of the activity. In conclusion, it can be observed that the CSR policy of Johnson and Johnson comprises of a comprehensive strategy clearly defining its limits to business development, human resource welfare, supply and sourcing chain wellbeing and community welfare. Specific CSR Programs The CSR programs of the company focus on three large areas including Environment, Social and Governance and Economic. The

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - Essay Example Based on the target profit of the enterprise the manager can determine the prices he needs to charge to achieve the financial goals of the company. A qualitative technique that the company can use is a focus group of customers. 3. The price sensitivity in the hotel industry is more evident in the lower end of the market. Bargain hotels compete with other hotel chains in a manner that price wars often occur. Price wars are an undesirable business occurrence that hurts the profitability of all companies involved. During the recession people were more sensitive to prices more than ever before due to rising unemployment and lower incomes. 4. Unbundling products in the restaurant industry is a technique that is used to lower the overall prices. Sometimes some of the value added in the bundling for the customers included food items that the customers did not desire. Unbundling enables restaurants the ability to offer lower unitary prices per food items at prices that bring higher profits. 5. Price discrimination occurs when companies charge different prices to different customers (Wisegeek). A socially responsible price discrimination strategy is charging a lower price to senior citizens. Another example of price discrimination is charging higher prices to tourists. 6. A hotel or restaurant can obtain great results from its first revenue management program, but profits are not optimized until the company goes through a process of collecting sales numbers trying different offers and price points in its menu. In the fast food industry the participants are constantly changing their prices. Sometimes companies utilize menu offers that become popular such as McDonald’s $1

Respone essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Response to Afrita Hanem - Essay Example Asfour loves Aleya and he desires to marry her. They experience obstacles in their love life. This is because the father of Aleya is against the marriage arrangement, because of differences in social status. The female genie also falls in love with Asfour and hence tries to manipulate his feelings. The film is superstitious because it involves a supernatural being. The female genie loves and relates with Asfour, through supernatural abilities. The film illustrates several European influences in the Arab or Islamic world. The first influence illustrated the accumulation of wealth, or the desire to accumulate more wealth. The father of Aleya disapproves the marriage relationship because Asfour does not have wealth. He wishes that his daughter should be married by a wealthier man or a person in the same social and economic class. The female genies, also provide Asfour with whatever he desires. Arab tradition and culture are adequately illustrated in the film. The Arab culture illustrates that the consent of the parents is required for a marriage process to take place. The love relationship between Asfour and Aleya, experiences challenges due to the disapproval by the father. The Arab culture illustrates the existence of genies, especially in bottles. The genies are believed to possess powers that grant people their desires; for instance, the desire for love, or wealth. Arab society is adequately explained in the film. The society is divided into social classes involving depending on wealth status. The rich are not supposed to relate freely with the poor; especially on serious issues like marriage. The men and women in Arab society have different roles. The father is supposed to consent to the marriage of his daughter, and the man is supposed to search for a suitable girl and propose marriage. Symbols are applied in the film. The genie being locked in the lamp for one thousand years illustrates the limited freedom that women have in the Arab world due to tradition; for instance, the limited decision to choose their life or marital life.

Assignment critical thinking questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critical thinking questions - Assignment Example ast part of the paper is an analysis of a problem in my workplace and a summary of how I can implement a change that will bring solution to the problem. The problem in discussion is the allocation of shifts among nurses. There have been occurrences of inexperienced nurses being allocated shifts together affecting the effectiveness of the hospital. My recommendation is that a more balanced should be used where experienced nurses are combined with nurses who have little experience. 1. According to Bleach’s tasks of management and Bleach’s tasks of followership, what are the differences? Where do the two tasks overlap? Give specific examples from your workplace for each task and support your answer with scholarly resources. In nursing and generally health care, management skills are very crucial as well as the relationship people in management create with the rest of the staff. According to Grossman & Valiga (2012), the aspects of management and fellowship both are associated with behaviors of either the general organization and that of the individuals in the organization. It is important to know the difference between these two aspects. A better understanding can be established by understanding their different tasks. Management, in a more clear definition are behaviors as well as activities that create a structure and guidance in carrying out patient care as well as organizational functions where the objectives and outcomes to be attained and achieved are known, and where an intended sequence to achieve these outcomes is detailed, either in writing or through past practices founded in the culture of an organization. According to (Roussel, 2013) management in nursing involves constructively using professional power to guide the accomplishment of tasks that are instrumental to clinical as well as organizational success. This success can be achieved through managerial tasks which were outline by Bleich and they include; On the other hand fellowship in nursing

Thorr Motorcycles Inc. Perceptual maps marketing simulation Essay

Thorr Motorcycles Inc. Perceptual maps marketing simulation - Essay Example The using perceptual maps marketing simulation was a great experienced for me. The simulation taught me the importance of product differentiation and positioning. The company showcased in the simulation was called Thorr Motorcycles Inc.The company is dedicated to manufacturing motorcycles. The company holds a market share of 40% in an oligopoly marketplace. Perceptual maps are used in the simulation to develop a positioning strategy. A perceptual map is the visual representation of the customer’s perception of a brand. In the simulation I served the role of marketing manager. In the first round of the simulation I had to choose four marketing parameters to develop the positioning strategy. The first parameter I choose is price. Customers in all industries always pay close attention to the price of the product or service. The second parameter chosen was lifestyle image. A lot of customers in the motorcycle industry purchase motorcycles because of the image it represents. The th ird parameter I choose was service offering. A survey showed that customers perceive the service of Thorr Motorcycles to be poor. The final parameter I choose was quality engineering. Along with price quality is a very important attribute that all customers evaluate when making a purchase. The four parameters I choose were the optimal solution for the company. The second round of the simulation involved making some strategic decisions. I had to create a marketing plan that will reposition the CruiserThorr or launch a new motorcycle. The marketing budget for the plan was $13 million. One of the tools that were provided in the simulation in order to help me make a decision was a SWOT analysis. The four elements of a SWOT analysis are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. One of the threats discussed in the SWOT is that fact that rising unemployment will decrease the expenditure in lifestyle products. The company’s competitors have low-cost motorcycles that are all geared to attract the younger customers. The CruiserThorr has penetrated the market well, but the product has reached the maturity stage of its product lifecycle. I decided against repositioning the CruiserThorr. My solution was introducing the RRoth model. The second step of round two was deciding the marketing mix of the company among the following four variables: price, place, services, and promotion. The marketing mix of a product can be used to implement a differentiation strategy. The price I chose was in the $13,000 to $15,000 range. At that price range the company will achieve maximum customer reach. The places I choose to sell the RRoth were distributors, dealers, and the internet. Young customers in the United States are using the internet more everyday to make purchases. In 2010 e-commerce sales in the US reached $153 billion. The services I decided to offer were training to dealers, customization options, and financial services. The promotion alternatives I decided to im plement were sponsor events such as Daytona, offer insurance and protection plans, hire celebrities for endorsement, and publicize through Hollywood films. The total costs of my marketing plan were $12,385,000. I achieved savings for the company of $615,000. In the third round of the simulation I had to create and rate the perceptual maps of both motorcycle products. The four attributes of the perceptual map of the CruiserThorr were lifestyle image, price, service offering, and quality engineering. My ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 for lifestyle image, price, service offering, and quality engineering were 10,7,6,9 respectively. The four variables I choose for the perceptual map of the RRoth were price, cool, service offerings and lifestyle image. The rating for price, cool service offering, and lifestyle image were 10,9,8,8. The simulation indicated that I should have added the parameter of quality engineering in the RRoth. A differentiation strategy is used to create a unique produc t that that has different attributes than the competition. A positioning strategy is different

External and internal pressures Ukrainian art and culture Essay

External and internal pressures Ukrainian art and culture - Essay Example Whatever gains, however, that Ukrainian arts and culture had during that era soon became ineffective when Stalinization and â€Å"russification† was imposed on non-Russian cultures. This implied a suppression of non-Russian culture and the imposition of Russian culture as a guideline for all artistic and cultural activities. With the death of Stalin in 1953 and the subsequent de-Stalinization of Russian policies during the reign of Nikita Khrushchev in the late 1950s, Ukrainian art became free once again. A historical look at Ukrainian art reveals that despite the influences, forced or otherwise, there exists distinct Ukrainian elements that characterize and separate Ukrainian art from other foreign arts and culture. Ukrainian architecture began to take a distinctive shape in the pre-Christian era. Early Ukrainian structures were made of wood. In the 9th to 10th centuries churches, fortifications and even palaces were made of wood (see Fig. 1). Pieces of timber were horizontal ly placed on top of another to form structures and this tradition of construction was continued even up to the 20th century (My Ukraine). When Ukraine embraced Christianity in the 16th century, churches were built in Byzantine style but adopted the traditional and local Ukrainian methods which can be characterized by â€Å"large central nave with almost square plans and a high framework, windows were situated high above the ground, and the buildings were covered with a vault, hipped roof or cupola,† a roofing type in which is conical in shape and sloping and made of wood, brick or stone. These churches can also be characterized by the placement of the altar, which were located on the east with the door in the west or south.

Self introductory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self introductory - Essay Example The inclination towards radios roots from my passion for music. When I was younger, I took it upon myself to ensure family functions were kept lively through music. Over time, family gatherings held at our house became the most famous as everyone attended. I discovered that music helps me unwind and lighten up after a long day. Particularly, I have a taste for soft rock and neo-soul. Whenever I’m angry, I am certain that listening to some music will calm me down. In high school I formed a group with some of my friends where we would meet and practice dance moves whilst playing loud music. We found this relieved stress especially after exams; also it provided a form of exercise. I endeavor to remain healthy and fit therefore I go for swimming from time to time. During my high school holidays, I volunteered as a swimming instructor at the public pools. This gave me an opportunity to interact with new people and perfect my swimming. I am a reclusive person so this allowed me to work on social skills. I hope to further improve them through this course as I believe it will teach me to understand myself first and then others. Moreover, in terms of behaviorisms I hope to adopt proper habits that will make me an approachable person. As a future engineer, I hope that this course will inculcate a sense of ethical duty to the users of whichever products that I shall participate in manufacturing. This is because it is clear that laws do not encompass all ethical choices, one need to have a personal sense of ethical obligation. I believe that this course will provide the necessary framework to recognize situations of such kind and deal with them appropriately. I acknowledge that I will be faced with ‘gray’ areas that would require prudence. I anticipate to learn and apply such a virtue and that the course will involve application of real life situations. Furthermore, I look forward

The Background of Fairy Tales stories and their Multiple Versions Essay Example for Free

The Background of Fairy Tales stories and their Multiple Versions Essay â€Å"The Background of Fairy Tales stories and their Multiple Versions† In this essay, I am going to discuss the different versions that writers had written about the famous fairy tale â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood† by Charles Perrault, or sometimes known as â€Å"Little Red Cap† by the Grimm Brothers. To start we are going to be arguing a critical essay explaining why fairy tales are created, and what’s the reality behind these stories. First, according to a critical essay â€Å"The trials and tribulations of Little Red Ridding Hood† by Jack Zipes there had been different versions of this famous fairy tale each of them are related to the actual world that we live in. In this critical essay, Zipes talks about the origins of â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood† tale and he also discusses the new version that was updated or recreated by Perrault. As we all know, the character Little Red Ridding Hood has been used to warn kids about the consequences of disobedience or the consequences of talking to strangers. At the beginning of the essay, Zipes says, â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood has never enjoyed an easy life† (P.1). This line grabs my attention because it makes me realize that Little Red Ridding Hood is a character that is meant to reflect the disobedience and its consequences. This girl didn’t have an easy life and she’s never going to get a better one because this world is getting harder, also, I can say that these tales are created to show and teach children about what’s going on around the world, especially to innocent girls because they have to be in guard of wolf/men who want to abuse them. For example, we all know that in the 21st century, there are many wolves that want to eat innocent girls, but as we know those wolves can be very intelligent and show themselves attractive and gentle, but at the end of the day they will show their sharp teeth to attack their prey. Furthermore, Zipes mentions that Little Red Ridding Hood has suffered abused after abused and that seems to be very suspicious. In my opinion, there is nothing suspicious about it, because that was the way that it was on the past where men abused women just because they thought they were superior to women. However, we know that nowadays it is not like that anymore because women have proclaimed equality between men and women. Therefore, I believe that in the 21st century fairy tales show characters that can take control of dangerous situations without the help of  a huntsman, police man etc. In other words, women are more capable to fight for their own safety because they have learned that men are not supe rior to women. The social function of â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood† is to teach children how dangerous it could be to talk to strangers, which makes sense because the scenes of this story describe exactly what could happen to them if they disobeyed their parents advices. One interesting fact that we can see in any version of â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood† is that the girl always deceived the wolf and saves herself without the help of her grandma, hunters, police, or father! This means that kids need to learn how to take care of themselves and learn to be independent because there might be occasions where mom or dad are not going to be there to help them. I believe that kids need to grow up with these tales; tales that are appropriate (and by appropriate I mean tales with no sexual content) to their age. Like that they can learn how to become confident and independent. Now let’s talk about Perrault’s Transformation of the Tale One important fact that I can mention about Perrault’s transformation of â€Å"Little Red Ridding Hood† is that this writer wrote two different versions of the tale (one for children and there is a another one for adults). What I like the most of this fact is that parents can be more confortable that their kids are learning good things from this tale and most importantly, the content is according to their age. For example I can mention a video cartoon that I watched on YouTube entitled â€Å"Red Hot Ridding Hood† in which Little Red Ridding Hood is dancing on a bar and is there when the wolf goes crazy about her. In this video the wolf looked and spoke to the girl in a sexual way. As we see, this cartoon should be classified as an adult program and not for children because sexuality is a strong content in this video, even though, it does not show inappropriate images, but the behavior of the characters is not the best for a child to watch. Therefore, I think that it doesn’t matter how innocent cartoons look, parents should always pay attention on what their kids are watching on TV or on the Internet. In addition, the adult’s version is a good idea of the author, because, young adults can learn from this story too. Some people would say that adults  don’t need to learn about those things, but others would say that it is good for adults to read and learn from this kind of stories. I agree with those people because some adults either women or men don’t really know how to behave in an appropriate way or how take care of themselves. Therefore, I believe that adults should learn from fairy tales, because these stories are easier and faster to learn a lesson from (learn their attributes, good manners, and behaviors). But adults are the ones who choose what they want to learn and which character they want to represent in real life. Another quote that I can bring up is when the writer says, â€Å" It may take another 200 years for us to undo all lessons Red Ridding Hood, and the wolf as well, were forced to learn†(P.9). On the one hand, this line is saying that women need to learn how to behave in a way that a real woman should do it. But on the other hand, it is also saying that there are many men who need to learn how to treat and respect women and give them their place as a woman. In the story we see that the wolf is compared as a man and he’s the bad apple of the story/life, but not every man is a bad apple because we saw that in the fairy tale there was a hunter that became the hero of the tale. Therefore I can say that men have the decision if they want to become a hero or they want to be the bad apple of the story. While I was reading Perrault’s critical version, I learned many things from it, I will point the most relevant and interesting lines that I loved the most. First, he was one of the first writers of children’s books (books that were realistic and related to real life). Secondly, Perrault says, â€Å"Accustomed to being the center of attention, Little Red Ridding Hood stops to listen to the wolf and tries and tarries in woods. The child seek to amuse herself, and she ends her shot life by being the object of the wolf’s amusement.† In other words, sometimes women are responsible of men depravation against them because some women try to catch men’s attention by seducing them, but they end up being men’s victims. Just as my mother always says, â€Å"if women want to be respected by others, they are the one who have to start respecting themselves first † I agree with those words, no one will take care and respect women if they don’t s tart giving themselves the respect they expect to receive from others.

Panera Bread Essay Example for Free

Panera Bread Essay What are the Panera Bread’s primary sources of competitive advantage? In your judgment, are these sources of advantages sustainable? Why or why not? Panera’s primary sources of competitive advantage are: (1) the distinctive nature of its bakery products, (2) its brand strength, (3) the atmosphere of its restaurants, and (4). its position in the restaurant industry Yes,Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) operates the signature restaurant chain Panera Bread, selling hand-crafted breads, sandwiches, salads, and drinks. Panera Bread bakery-cafes are often associated with the concept of â€Å"fast casual†, a mixture between fast food and more upscale casual dining. Customers still pay for their food at the counter, like a traditional fast food restaurant, but Panera arranges tables and chairs to be conducive to group meetings. Most Panera Bread restaurants are located in suburban strip malls and regional malls. As of December 29, 2009, Panera had 1,380 bakery-cafes, spanning 38 states, as well as some locations in Canada. Traditionally, companies like Panera have suffered in recessions, which decrease the frequency with which consumers eat out at restaurants. 1] However, Panera’s strategy during the recession has been â€Å"to stay consistent and not to react to the recession†, keeping costs constant and offering new salads and sandwiches. [2] As a result, Panera’s â€Å"fast casual† niche (between casual dining and fast food) contributes to its relative success; this positioning allowed it to avoid discounting wars and maintain its margins by attracting customers with a higher quality product perceived to be a good value for the money. Panera bread has a great meal of Bacon Turkey Bravo with 28G of fat per meal.

Applications of Semiconductor lasers

Applications of Semiconductor lasers Abstract- Semiconductor lasers have the potential to meet the demands of next generation high speed optical network applications and also have great impact on various other technology domains. Its low cost, easy wavelength tune ability, low power consumption and pure output make it ideal for optical communication applications. This paper is a review of the merits, demerits, current applications, commercial availability and future directions of semiconductor lasers in optical communication. Comparative analysis of these semiconductor lasers with respect to various parameters also been conducted. Keywords: Semiconductor lasers, Fabry-Perot laser, Distributed feedback (DFB) laser, External Cavity Diode Lasers (ECDL), Multi Quantum Well (MQW) laser, Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) i.Introduction The semiconductor lasers were discovered in 1962 by Robert Hall and his team members [1, 2]. With the advent of this technology patents and articles started to publish on this technology but at that time this technology was not mature enough to realize the dreams of the scientists, engineers and physicist. But with advancement in the field and the enabling technologies soon made it possible to produce inexpensive commercially available semiconductor laser. The invention of semiconductor lasers not only revolutionizes the optical communication but it has many applications in other domains also. Semiconductor lasers are one of the popular optical communication light source for data transmission. They are supposed to be the laser of the future, because of their compactness in size, easy integration, more output power, optical pumps for solid-state lasers (primary light source i.e laser diode pumps another solid state lasers) and their rapid improvement. Semiconductor lasers are essentially diodes which produces coherent light through the process of stimulated emission. They uses semiconductor as a gain medium. The gain medium is pumped by an external source, which is electrical in nature in case of semiconductor lasers [3]. As they are basically p-n junctions, so they are compact and can be fabricated on large scale by the use of advance semiconductor IC technology. Semiconductor lasers are very efficient in converting electrical power into optical power [10]. In section.II basic types of semiconductor lasers are described in terms of their basic working procedure, advantages, disadvantages, commercial availability future directions and applications. Section.III produces the comparison of semiconductor lasers with respect to various parameters and section.IV contains the conclusion. II. Types of semiconductor lasers Following are the basic types of semiconductor lasers Fabry Perot (FP) Lasers Distributed Feedback (DFB) lasers Multi Quantum Well (MQW) laser External Cavity Diode Lasers (ECDL) Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) A. Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers In FP lasers, mirrors create the right condition for the lasing to occur. Resonate cavity is formed when two mirrors are put in front of each other. The bouncing of light will take place between these two mirrors, the distance between these two mirrors are adjusted in such a way that this distance is the integral multiple of half wavelength, only is such scenario light will reinforce itself. Wavelengths that are not resonant they undergo destructive interference and deflect. One of the two mirrors is fully reflective and the second mirror allows very small amount of light to pass through [4]. Figure.1.a: Fabry Perot Laser conceptual structure, Ref: [4] Figure.1.b: Fabry Perot Laser structure, Ref: www.scholar.lib.vt.edu A.1. Advantages FP laser gives comb of (Amplified Spontaneous Emission) ASE peak uniform in frequency [5]. FP laser can be used for transmission of data with multimode optical fiber [6]. FP laser also have uniform intensity over Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) [5]. Perfect for optical links where long term power and wavelength stability is required. A.2. Disadvantages High dispersion in high speed and long transmission system because the spectral width can span as much as 5 nm [6]. At 2.5Gbps and higher the wavelength center of FP laser goes out of wavelength tolerance. Not suitable for long distances. With the improvement in VCSELs technology, applications of 1310 nm and 1550 nm applications are moving from FP laser to VCSEL. A.3. Future directions and Applications Increase in bandwidth up to 15 GHz (the running value) by reducing low frequency roll off parasitic effects of bias circuits by injection locking [7]. FP lasers can generate single longitudinal mode laser [8]. FP lasers external optical modulator for optical access network [9]. Spectral width of FP laser allows transmission to distances of 40 Km at 1.7 Gbps.[5] FP offers Corse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) with channels at 1.3ÃŽÂ ¼m and 1.5ÃŽÂ ¼m simultaneously on a single fiber [5]. FP lasers offer benefits in LAN that use one wavelength per fiber [6]. FP laser can be used as multi wavelength source of Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) for spectrum sliced [5]. The 1550 nm FP laser can support Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) [6]. A.4. Commercial availability of FP lasers Multiple Application Platform (MAP) FP laser [9] is FP laser source with key features like single mode or multi mode output, internal modulation, LAN extensions for instrumentation (LXI) compliant etc. This device has weight of almost of half kilo gram is capable of operating on different optical fibers such as Flexcorà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and SMF-28 [10] with operational temperature range of 10à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C to 40à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C. This product is commercially available. B. Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers In FP laser there is feedback of light from the mirrors, this light feedback can be provided in distributed manner by series of closely spaced mirrors/reflectors (means there is a periodic variation in the width of the cavity). There is a corrugated section in the cavity; the incident light passes through section causes series of reflections. If the corrugation period is the integral multiple of half wavelength (Bragg condition) the resulting transmitted wave will add in phase. This mechanism suppresses other longitudinal modes and allow only single longitudinal mode whose wavelength is equal to twice the corrugation period. [11] Figure.2. DFB laser structure [4] B.1. Advantages DFB lasers provides better wavelength stability than cleaved end face laser [12] The line width of DFB is less than that of reflective end face lasers [12]. Low chirp [13] Better wavelength selectivity. DFB laser is used in high performance system because of its narrow spectral output width [6]. B.2. Disadvantages The amplitude of the standing wave is fixed because of gratings Emitted wavelength near threshold current cant be controlled [14] Wavelength chirp is associated with the spatial burning of the carrier holes. Some values of rare facet phase give unacceptable performance. B.3.Future directions and applications of Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers All optical flip-flop is one of the building block for fast optical packet switching as it temporary stores the header information while the payload is routed to the correct output port. Single distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode based, all optical flip flop can be used to serve this purpose. Experimental results shows that DFB lasers can provide optical memory in an economical way and at the same time shows fast switching of optical packets (as low as 45 ps can be achieved). Using DFB lasers as an all optical flip flop 40 Gbps can be switched. [15] Used in DWDM system where tune ability of signals are required. Used in the sensing of extreme narrow line width of the signal. B.4. Commercial availability of Distributed Feedback laser The production of Quantum dot pure Green laser [16] is possible by using DFB laser technology. DFB laser gives high reliability for optical communication to form quantum dot crystal with a wavelength of 1064nm [16]. There is significant amount of reduction in power consumption for converting 1064nm quantum dot laser from electricity to light by the use of DFB laser. C. Multi Quantum well (MQW) lasers In Quantum well lasers the active region is very narrow which causes quantum confinement to occur. The wavelength which emits is dependent on the width of the active region rather than the band gap. This feature gives shorter wavelength than conventional lasers [17]. Figure.3. Cavity structure of MQW laser [4] C.1. Advantages Enhanced gain due to quantum well structure and gain co-efficient is usually 3 times or more than single layer FP laser [13] Produce shorter oscillation wavelength Smaller linewidth enhancement factor (ÃŽÂ ±), at larger linewidth enhancement factor the laser instability is enhanced [13]. Small optical losses Better confinement of laser actions because of multiple active regions. Low threshold current High modulation speed Low temperature dependency C.2. Disadvantages The internal structure of MQW laser is designed such that it is more susceptible to back reflections. C.3. Future directions and Applications Modulating retro reflector combines optical retro reflector and optical modulator (MQW lasers). Strained quantum well technology can become the core technology for high performance semiconductor device by expanding the flexibility of band engineering [18]. Optical repeaters, as it gives saturated output power to about 3dBm. C.4.Commercial availability of MQW lasers SANYO GaAlAs index guided laser diodes with MQW structure, these are infrared powerful lasers source [19] of maximum power up to 200mW and wavelength range of 782nm to 830nm is commercially available. SONY GaAlAs index guided laser diodes with MQW structure; these are infrared powerful lasers source [19] gives optical power range from 90mW up to 60W. This huge optical output power gives high brightness. D. External Cavity Diode Lasers (ECDL) ECDL can also be used to achieve the single longitudinal mode wavelength. ECDL is a semiconductor based laser with one end of the laser diode has anti reflective coating and laser resonator is completed with collimating mirror and external mirror. As they are tunable lasers so for wavelength selection they use diffraction gratings. End mirror contains collimating lens and diffraction grating. The anti reflective coated end of the diode gets feedback from the diffracted beam. Tuning of the emitted wavelength is done through the rotation of the diffracting grating. There is some more variation for this setup. [11, 20] Figure.4. EDCL setup Ref: www.clu-in.org D.1.Advantages Side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) is better than -40 dB and has narrow intrinsic line width Pulse repetition rate can easily be selected [21] Filter can be inserted for the fixing of emission wavelength in mode locked diode laser [21] etc. D.2. Disadvantages The direction of output beam changes by rotating the diffraction grating which not suitable for many optical communication applications. In fixed direction of the output beam, the zero order reflection of the beam bounced by the mirror is lost. D.3.Future directions and applications Tunable continuous wave THz radiation can be generated by the use of dual mode ECDL from 250 MHz to several THz [22] Without mode hopping wavelength tuning over 40 nm around 1550 nm is expected by new configuration of EDCL with all dielectric thin film Fabry Perot filters. [23] Atomic clock: ECDL is used in the optical system of the atomic clock; it is used for the cooling and the detection of clock transition. [24] Mode locked ECDL are mostly used in optical communication (DWDM) for data transmission. [21] Testing and measurement in optical fiber communication Non-linear frequency conversion. D.4. Commercial availability of ECDL TEC-100 and TEC-120 [25] External cavity diode Littrow laser system gives optical output power up to 200mW and running range (mod-hop free) up to 30GHz. DLX-100 [26] External cavity tunable diode gives output power up to 1W and mod-hop free tuning up to 15GHz. E. Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) VCSEL achieves single longitudinal mode operation in different manner. The active region is placed between two highly reflective surfaces/mirrors. These two reflective surfaces have alternated high and low refractive index. The reflectivity of the surfaces is between 99.5-99.9% that is why light oscillates perpendicularly through the layers and emits from the top or the bottom of the device. [27] E.1. Advantages It has high wavelength stability It is less sensitive to temperature (can operate reliably up to 80 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C) Less refrigeration is required for VCSEL as it operation do not emit much heat. It provides high powered per unit area ( up to 1200W/cm2) It emits circular beam as a transmitter which leads to small optical loss. Figure.5. VCSEL structure [4] E.2. Disadvantages Because of high mirror reflectivity in the VCSEL internal structure lowers the optical output power. They emit low output power (in mW) because of their small active medium volume. InP based VCSEL suffers from having low conduction band offset, low conduction band offset means low confinements of electron which results improper temperature stability of active material gain. To produce longer wavelength in VCSEL, mechanism of double fusion is used. This mechanism increases the cost as it is complicated procedure [28]. E.2. Future directions and applications of Vertical External Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VECSEL) [20, 32] There is an issue of optical power supply for Si-photonics transceiver which are being developed for high density optical interconnect on parallel processors can ideally solved by VECSEL as the emits in 1330 nm and 1550 nm. [29] High speed modulation up to 25 Gb/sec can be achieved by using VCSEL at low current of 7.4 KA/cm2. [30] Fast modulation frequency (in GHz) made its use in optical fiber communication as transmitter Ideal for local and metro area networks as they produce low output power. Threshold less laser [31] etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ E.3. Commercial availability of (VCSEL) VCSEL technology has flourished and gives wide range of products with ultra low noise, narrow line width, high optical output power (up to 1kW) and high speed modulation (speed >5GHz) [27]. For high optical output power up to 1KW, a module for cooling of this system is used and fiber is pigtailed for high brightness VCSEL array. VCSELs are commercially available in blue, green and UV lasers [27]. iii. Comparison of semiconductor lasers In this section DFB, ECDL, MQW and VCSEL are compared with respect to different parameters and their suitability as optical transmitter in different optical networks. Parameters Tuning agent Output power ( in dBm) Tuning speed Modulation speed Lasers DFB Temperature 13 Slow (m-sec) Fast (multi-GHz) MQW Quantum confined stark effect ~7 Fast( Fast(multi-GHz) VCSEL MEMs Optically pumped 6 Electrically pumped -3 Fast(ÃŽÂ ¼-sec) Fast ( few GHz) ECDL Peizo transducer ~13 Slow(m-sec) Slow ( Table.1: Comparison of semiconductor lasers Table.1 shows relative analysis of semiconductor lasers. Each semiconductor laser has got competitive advantage with respect to different parameter. Table.2 gives a comprehensive view of the semiconductor lasers and their application in a specific network type as an optical transmitter. Semiconductor Laser Network type FP laser Short to medium range (Local Metro) Networks DFB Laser Long haul network MWQ Laser Short to medium range (Local Metro) Networks ECDL Long haul network VCSEL Short to medium range (Local Metro) Networks Table.2: Semiconductor lasers with their network type support Lasers Max spectral output width FP 5 nm VCSEL 0.5 nm DFB 0.1 nm Table.3: Spectral width comparison of short range lasers Spectral output width measure the range of the wavelengths produce by a laser. From table.3 it is evident that DFB laser has the narrowest spectral output width, which makes DFB laser the best choice for high performance short range optical transmission systems. iv. Conclusion This paper gives a review on the semiconductor lasers, their working, applications, commercial availability and future directions. Relative analysis of these lasers shows that they have competitive advantage in one or other laser parameters and this analysis also shows that which semiconductor laser is appropriate to which type of optical network. Semiconductor lasers have wide applications in optical fiber communication. Lots of exciting research is going on in this field and there is still room of improvements.

Contrasting Lucas Beauchamp of Go Down, Moses and Joe Christmas of Light in August :: comparison compare contrast essays

Contrasting Lucas Beauchamp of Go Down, Moses and Joe Christmas of Light in August  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Lucas Beauchamp, found in Intruder in the Dust and Go Down, Moses, is one of William Faulkner's most psychologically well-rounded characters. He is endowed with both vices and virtues; his life is dotted with failures and successes; he is a character who is able to push the boundaries that the white South has enforced upon him without falling to a tragic ending. Living in a society which believes one drop of black blood makes a person less than human and implies criminal tendencies, a society in which men like Joe Christmas are hunted and killed for fear of racial mixing, Lucas is a character who contradicts all that we have come to expect from a typical tragic character of mixed blood, such as Joe Christmas or Charles Bon. By contrasting the Lucas Beauchamp we find in the "The Fire and the Hearth" section of Go Down, Moses to a model tragic figure such as Joe Christmas from Light in August, one can measure Lucas' success by his own merit, not by his white ancestry. Environment is key to understanding Faulkner's characters.  Ã‚   Daniel J. Singal argues Faulkner's intentions of creating Lucas Beauchamp as a "model transitional identity," a bridge from Jim Crowism to the end of segregation (268).   Segregation produces a structure of society that feels threatened by that which cannot be arranged into the roles of hierarchy. Andre Bleikasten states, "To divide is to pass judgment, to name the categories of good and evil, to assign them to fixed locations, and to draw between them boundaries not to be crossed" (326). Jefferson society divides its citizens into categories of black and white. Each individual knows where he or she stands; each knows at a glance which category every other citizen belongs to, and treats others accordingly. Any deviation from this structure is a threat to the society (326). In Light in August, Joe Christmas poses such a threat to Jefferson society because he is able to cross the boundaries. He looks white, but allege dly has black blood. He never acted like either a nigger or a white man. That was it. That was what made the folks so mad. For him to be a murderer and all dressed up and walking the town like he dared them to touch him, when he ought to have been skulking and hiding in the woods, muddy and dirty and running.

A Jungian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh Essay -- Epic Gilgamesh es

A Jungian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper will provide a unique, psychological perspective on a timeless story that is alive with mythological and religious splendor. I must state clearly that this is not the first time that Gilgamesh has been viewed in the light of the philosophy of Jung.   One of two Jung essays I happened upon while preparing my research was the Psychology of Religion. Although I initially felt that this source would provide little help with my paper, I was very mistaken. On the seventeenth page, I have discovered Jung directly referencing Gilgamesh himself. While researching, I consulted the many translations of Gilgamesh found on the web. It seemed that the more sources I sought, the greater the amount of differing opinions and convoluted versions I uncovered. In an effort to remain true to the epic, I will mainly be referring to the book, World Mythology, written by Donna Rosenberg with a few inclusions from Kovacs' translations. Although Rosenberg's version lacks the flair of the latter, it provides a simple doorway opening to a complicated, yet profound, tale of the first great epic that brings time, mortality, and the anguish of humanity into a world of personal destiny basically related to our own (Campbell, OM, p. 87-90). The essay is written with the understanding that the reader has prior knowledge of the main subject matter, Dr. Carl Jung's theories of the unconscious, and Joseph Campbell's idea that myths are synchronistically reproduced across time. Archaeologists and historians feel confident that Gilgamesh was originally written by the Sumerians and later adapted by the Babylonians who kept the identities of Sumer's original gods and goddesses. According to Mauree... .... (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989) Jackson, Danny P.,ed. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1992. Maier, John ed. Gilgamesh. A Reader. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997. Mason, Herbert. Gilgamesh. A Verse Narrative. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970. Sandars, Nancy K. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Harmmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1968, 1971. Temple, Robert, He Who Saw Everything: A Verse Version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. London: Rider, 1991 Thompson, R. Campbell. Gilgamesh: Text, Translation, and Notes. Oxford: Clarendon, 1930. Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Creative Mythology. New York: Penguin Books, 1968, pp. 4-14, 78-79. Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology. New York: Penguin Books, 1964, pp. 9-10, 87-92.   Woolley, C. Leonard. THE SUMERIANS. New York: AMS PRESS, INC., 1970, p. 22.   

Fear in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and The Scarlet Letter :: comparison compare contrast essays

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Scarlet Letter To Live With Fear   Ã‚  Ã‚   To live with fear and not be overcome by it is the final test of maturity. This test has been "taken" by various literary characters.   Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter both appear to have taken and passed this test.   Ã‚  Ã‚   It first seemed as though the Chief was going to fail this test of maturity in the mental ward that he was committed to.   He had locked himself up by acting deaf and dumb.   He had immense fear of the "Combine," or society, that ruined things and people and treated them like machines, giving orders and controlling them.   Soon enough to "save" the Chief, McMurphy arrived. He was lively, and not scared;   the complete opposite of the Chief.   This courage eventually passed on to the Chief.   At a meeting, when McMurphy was holding a vote to prove that the patients wanted to see the World Series, the Chief voted for it.   At first he said that McMurphy controlled his hand.   Later on he admitted that it was he who raised it. He even talked to McMurphy one night, and began laughing at the situation at hand.   One day when McMurphy and the Chief tried to help another patient who was being taken advantage of by orderlies, they were caught and sentenced to electro-shock therapy (EST).   The Chi usually blacked out in a fog when confronted with problems;   however, this time (he had endured over 200 EST sessions previously) he did not.   However, McMurphy was deteriorating, and the two seemed to be reversing positions.   McMurphy eventually was sentenced to a lobotomy, which left him as a helpless, pathetic person, as the Chief had once been.   The Chief now had the courage to put McMurphy out of his misery, despite what the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, the symbol of the combine to the Chief, would do to him.   He smothered McMurphy, and afterwards, escaped by lifting the control panel, which McMurphy told him that he could lift but the Chief saw himself as "small," a symbol of his strength against the combine, and breaking a

American Islam Female Converts Essay

Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion by number of conversions each year. Despite’s Islam beginnings in Arabia, today more than 80% of all Muslim believers life outside the Arab world (Records, 2009). Surprisingly, many of this new converts are women who despite Islam’s numerous female restrictions, many have affirmed a new found joy and harmony in their lives. Islam laws for women are seen by many as coercive because they regulate important aspects of women’s life such as clothing, social relationships, marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc. I would be examining the different reasons why this western women converts decided to make such a radical change to their lives. To achieve my goal successfully I would like to use various qualitative and quantitative methods to identify eligible individuals to interrogate further and to measure multiple variables that might be interconnected. I will be examining different factors such as age, education, time living in the US, time they have been a Muslim, marital status, religion of their significant other, religion of their parents, and degree of religiosity while growing up. Many of these new converts are fellow Americans who have found multiple benefits practicing their new religion. I therefore think my research is important because it portrays what Islam teacher and has to offer to its believers from people that we can easily relate to. Literature review Many people claim that Muslim women are restricted by their religion because of the immense amount of rules that it is imposed to them. One particular research conducted by Zaidi and Shuraydi (2002: 507) interviewed 20 Pakistani women in the United States in an attempt to study the different perceptions of arranged marriage among women living in western society. The study concluded that â€Å"Muslim feminist have to cope with a prevalent double standard governing the behavior of males and females†. This means that while the Koran claims that men and women are the same, in reality they are treated with fewer privileges than men. To support their claim they presented that while women are prohibited from courting potential mates, men are given tacit approval. Despite the many claims against Islam, new women converts often argue that the Islamic religion and the Arab culture are sometimes confused. Researchers Maslim and Bjorck (2009: 98) claim that many times â€Å"the culture rules try to oppress women while the religion in turn promotes positive cultural views of gender roles and ethnic diversity†. Their research mainly focused on the reasons why so many women were switching to Islam. To study this topic, the authors to contact the editors of a North American Magazine to get the sample group and then posted an online surveys that the participants could answer. The results showed that while there are a variety of reasons why women switch their religion to Islam, the most common ones included dissatisfaction with their previous faith, marriage requirement, and because of Islam’s significance and meaning. To understand further their point of view we have to compare Islam to other religion practices at the time Islam was instituted. One study performed by J Sechze (2004, 263-274) tried to evaluate different religious practices against women at the time Islam was created. The research found that many practices such as female infanticide, traditionally common in Christian communities, was ruled out when Islam was implemented. Additionally, it is suggested that polygamy was instituted in Islam to protect Muslim widows, whose husbands were killed during wars. This historical comparison makes us understand that Islam does support some feminist principals that lacked in other religions at the time. Methodology My study will use a quantitative and a qualitative method to gather the data necessary to answer the research question presented on the introduction part. I have organized a short ten question essay that will allow me to collect quantitative information. The survey will ask for variables age, education level, time living in the US, time they have been a Muslim, marital status, religion of their significant other, religion of their parents, and degree of religiosity while growing up. All of these questions will try to find different correlations among the different variables that might be important to consider when creating interview questions. The interview will be based of the survey taken by the individuals here. The idea is to contact people that took the survey that might be interested on meeting with the researcher and let us learn more about them. Interview will hopefully provide insight information about the survey answers that will further help us identify patterns that might answer why they switch to Islam. The interview place will be up to the participant, they will sign release paperwork and the interview will be recorded for further analysis. I would like to base my research question entirely on the survey correlations and therefore I do not have the interview questions pre- prepared. However, I will provide a list of possible interview questions that will be pose to change with the survey answers. Conclusion This paper is a proposed research study of the different reasons why western non –Muslim born women change their religion to Islam in their adulthood years. This is a fairly controversial topic since many people see Islam as oppressive to women because of its countless provisions regarding women’s clothing, marriage and other social affairs. While many previous researches support this notion and further give evidence of Islam women having to live in a double standard, other numerous studies suggest that Islam religion does not support such a thing and instead argue that it actually protects women that have help many women find faith and peace in their lives. To be able to conduct my study I will be using surveys and interviews that will provide me with quantitative and qualitative data to analyses and further interpret.

Health care challenges Essay

Our country is set to face a new way of managing health which could potentially change the environment on how nurses deliver care. As our nation prepares for the implementation of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nursing as a healing profession has to be open to what the future of health management holds. The goal is to have all registered nurses reach a high level of understanding and acquire tools necessary to provide the best possible way at a low cost. It is both moral and professional obligation of our leaders to ensure that highly competent and well trained nurses are available throughout this transition. To achieve this goal, nurse educators are the key players to train both novice and seasoned nurses to the change based on the new policies and evidence-based research. However, our Nurse Educators are overwhelmed with their current workload hence causing faculty shortage in the country. A recent study published on 2011 aimed to explore the relation of nursing faculty shortage to their workload, determine if there are evidences that the faculty workload is not equitable and the implication/effect to the nursing research and nursing academic. According to this study, there are multiple factors that influence the nursing faculty shortage such as lack of interest from the nurses to try academic careers, time spends to clinical practice defers pursuance into academic positions, low salaries, high educational costs, nursing education dissatisfaction and most importantly low institutional funding for additional nurse educator positions. Nancy Falk stated in her article that â€Å"despite current critical shortage and growing demand for nurses and nurse educators, federal funding falls far short of addressing these healthcare workforce challenges. Workforce projections suggest that the US will face a shortage of 285,000 nurses by 2015 and 500, 000 by 2025.† (Mason, Leavitt & Chaffee, 2012, p 58). Also, American Association Colleges of Nursing reported on 2011-2012, that nursing schools turned away 75,587 applicants who are qualified for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs because of inadequate nursing faculty including clinical preceptors. These challenges ultimately impact the future of patient care if not addressed. Faculty leaders must work in partnership to create a strategy that will help prevent further faculty shortage by focusing on balanced faculty workload to avoid burnout. This article emphasized on the continuous support by government officials especially adequate funding to nursing education. AACN is allocating its resources to protect federal funding for academic development programs, identify strategies to prevent nursing educator shortage. Additional solution is to create a mentorship program for nurse faculty. This strategy was confirmed by various literature and studies to promote nursing faculty recruitment and retention. Mentorship brings encouragement and direction to clinical educators who are new to the role and prevent burnout. Health care system will be lost without nurses in our society. Statistic shows that there are currently 2.9 million nurses in the United States but nurses with special skills such as in education is extremely needed. Nurse Educators, in some ways, affect the lives of everyone. It is through this role where highly competent, compassionate healers such as nurses are produced. â€Å"The future of the nursing profession depends on a steady supply of nurses to provide the quality care to patients† (Cowen & Moorhead, 2011, p. 60)

Business plan †CoViTek Essay

CoViTek is an Atlanta based company that offers a unique value added service to the $11 billion dollars video rental industry. CoViTek will revolutionize the industry by renting movies through its video vending machines. These machines are already experiencing tremendous success in Europe, where they were invented. Customers will now be able to rent videos twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in a timely and efficient manner at the lowest price. Our machines can be implemented anywhere, even in locations that are not accessible to our brick and mortar competitors, and we will therefore focus our efforts on all the strategic locations. Reve-lution Int. will offer a unique business-to-consumer service for the rental of videos and DVDs. The technology, containing a fully automated system, will facilitate continuous rental and return of movies bridging the gap between video stores, who only are open 15 hours a day, and services such as the nonexistent Kozmo. com, who offer video delivery for a premium price. The company has a cost-per-action (CPA) pricing structure. CoViTek’s target customers will include universities with a student body of at least 10,000 in addition to the rest of the city of Atlanta for the first six months of operation. CoViTek will provide their clientele with a complete set of integrated tools within the machine to make accurate and enjoyable purchasing decisions. CoViTek will give video rental customers the freedom of rental 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. CoViTek will build the world’s truly first convenient and efficient rental system†¦ Target Customers Movie rentals have proven to be an integral part of the everyday lives of the American population. With more than $11 billion dollars in rental sales in 1999, we acknowledge the aggregate demand for the video rental industry. Constantly seeking immediate gratification, video rental stores want the most efficient and cost-effective methods of satisfying their customers. CoViTek will make rentals simple by providing consumers the most efficient tools for with which to initialize a rental process. With the killer application technology used in these machines, the customer will be able to conduct multiple searches in order to rent the movie of their desire. CoViTek will further assist them through the provisions of an active preference search, which is currently being used by Amazon. com. This application will determine what the customer rented last and list the preferred movies of that category the customer will like based on past rental behavior. CoViTek’s potential customers will represent the bulk of video rental households who value rental outlet convenience and flexible payment plans. CoViTek will strive for the most efficient, cost-flexible payments and active searches for preservation of quality time. Market Growth Perspective According to analyst Paul Keagan & Associates, at home movie consumption expenditures will increase approximately 40% by 2005 to $27 billion, almost triple the amount spent in 1990. The vast majority of these expenditures, about 83%, will be for video/DVD rentals and retail. However, movie consumption will also encompass pay-per-view and video on demand (VOD) available through cable and satellite services. Video Production Companies Ninety percent of our videotapes will come from one of the six major production companies: 1. Buena Vista 2. Warner Bros. 3. Universal 4. Fox 5. Paramount, or 6. Columbia-Tri-Star The power of these suppliers is very high, as they hold the exclusive rights to the movies they produce. One of our late competitors, Kozmo. com, has built a unique strategic partnership with these production companies. They have developed a profit sharing system with the major production companies requiring no initial investment in the videos, but agreeing to give 40% of the revenue generated by the rentals to the producer of the movie. We believe that this profit sharing system is financially unattractive, although it will allow us to reduce our initial investment costs; it minimizes our profits which in turn will delay our expansion strategy. We will use an initial video vendor, Video Bicicling, based out of Texas to supply us with our videos and DVDs. They will provide us with the most up-do-date movies for competitive prices. Competitor Differentiation CoViTek differentiates itself from its competitors in several key areas. While companies such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Entertainment offer the same features, only CoViTek will incorporate all of the features described below in a way that gives consumers the ultimate ease of use, active preference search, and extremely convenient locations of operations. Time Availability CoViTek’s competitive advantage is based on its time availability for rentals. The machines will be open and available for usage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. CoViTek will keep customer service readily available even throughout holidays. Strategic Locations CoViTek will implement the vending machines in key strategic locations after performing a detailed demo-geographical analysis of the city of Atlanta. Locations will initially be university campuses and later the urban areas of the city. Each machine will be located in areas where there is heavy human traffic. Payment Flexibility Our pricing will be flexible depending on the amount of time the video is out. Since CoViTek is a system that is open 24 hours a day there are no late fees associated in our model. Our standard rental time for DVDs is â€Å"midnight of the following day† for a price between $2. 50-$3. 00. Each additional day will be between $1. 50-$2. 00. Video Cassettes will be $3. 99 and if returned within 24 hours $1will be credited back. Each additional day will be $1. 99. (Based on new releases) Active Search CoViTek will use an innovative application technology which actively searches for videos categorized by title, actor, new releases, type of movie (action, thriller, comedy), and most frequently rented movies. Relative Competitive Factor Blockbuster Video Hollywood Video Kozmo. com CoViTek Relative Product Quality and Differentiation i i i i Flexible Payment Plan i E-commerce Based i i Brand Recognition % 100% 63% 40% N/A Locations around campuses i i i i Locations on Campuses i i Large video selection.i i Number of employees less than 5/ location i One of the most compelling aspects of the CoViTek model is its portability into untapped realms of video rental opportunities. This will provide the company with a critical advantage-the flexibility to transform itself in response to competitive challenges or to shifts in the video rental market environment. CoViTek’s flexibility will give downside protection to its owners by insuring that new, innovative means of generating cash flow can be realized. Future elements of CoViTek may include: National Expansion. Video rental opportunities in selected national markets such as: Washington D. C. , Los Angeles, Miami and Huston. Washington D. C: our second location has similar features to our first city of operation. It has a few large universities, widely used public transportation, and high pedestrian traffic. The schools we target will be American University, George Washington University, and Georgetown University. Our downtown locations will depend on areas where there is an intersection of the public transportation lines and high pedestrian traffic. Data Distribution. Future plans may include the sale of CoViTek’s proprietary online consumer data to the major video production companies. Specialized Machine Content Another growth opportunity for CoViTek in the future is the implementation of machines with customized video selection. The content of these machines will be select videos and DVDs targeted toward an audience based on specific themes. These machines will be placed in strategic locations based around their themes. Some possible â€Å"themed† machines may include: classic movie machines, foreign movie machines with Spanish subtitles or dubbing, and award-winning movie machines. The placement of these machines will require careful market analysis and planning, and therefore we plan to wait before implementation to gather enough data about the market and the purchasing patterns of our customers. Investment Needs Michel Khoury founder of CoViTek, has accumulated cash in excess of $10,000 for the development and the start-up cost of the company. CoViTek is now prepared to obtain financing through establishing a line of credit and implementing an equipment loan for its initial machine. It will later apply for loans as needed in order to buy more machines as it expands its operation. Using the machines and earnings as collateral CoViTek should have sufficient funds to obtain a line of credit that will secure its implementation of strategy. The initial stage of funding will be used to complete Web-site development, obtain one machines, invest in computer hardware and software, lease location space needed for the machines and market CoViTek during the first 12 months of operations. After 12 to 18 months of operation, CoViTek will require an infusion of an additional $15,000 to expand its brand image and increase its service offerings at an accelerated pace. Successful development and operation of CoViTek will allow it to be self-sufficient within approximately 9 to 12 months of initial operation. CoViTek will be a for-profit company incorporated in the state of Georgia. CoViTek – Start up costs Machines $20,246. 64 Inventory: video tapes $9,210 Cash/ month $2,808 Advertising $8,000 Legal & Accounting $7,000 Insurance $3,000 TOTAL $50,264. 64 Management team Michel Khoury Chief Executive Officer Founder While founding CoViTek, Michel Khoury is Assistant Managing Director at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. He is working hand in hand with the Managing Director of the company in order to implement a system of bringing foreign investment to the company. He has had significance experience with young ventures as he has participated in the creation of several companies nationally and internationally. Michel Khoury is also consultant to the CEO of Santege Capital Asset Management Group in New York City. Michel Khoury graduated in May of 2001 from Emory University with a Bachelor of Business administration with concentrations in Finance, Consulting, Venture Management and Marketing.

Genuine Progress Indicator

Alexander Di Franco TA Victoria Fast Geography 108 18 November 2012 The Motor City: Industrial Hero to Zero The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a fantastic model to measure the overall well being of the economy in great detail. Opposed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which only takes into account total dollar value, the GPI does just that, but also includes figures that represent the cost of the negative effects related to economic activity. It gives the important details of the economy and the state of the citizens within in it that the GDP simply cannot.Look at Detroit, Michigan; the â€Å"Motor City†, was at one time one of the most prosperous cities in the world, and a global industrial giant. Today, it’s a ghost town, not to mention a hellhole. The collapse of the automotive industry from the early 2000’s to the present has completely destroyed the former global giant in every way. The precipitous decline of the Detroit economy can be substantiated by using both the GPI and GDP method. Using academic and popular media references, these two approaches will be compared using the issue of the collapse of the automotive industry in the â€Å"Motor City†.The GPI approach represents this situation most accurately, and is most relevant because it not only takes the financial state of Detroit into consideration; it takes the environmental and well-being factor of the citizens into consideration as well. The GDP does not. Through the disappearing population, the rising rates of unemployment and poverty, and the exploding crime rate, it is clear that the costs of the overall well being of this city are much more important than just the economic costs.The city of Detroit, Michigan was once the most prosperous, ‘booming’ cities in the world, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. This was thanks to their automotive industry, ‘the Big 3’. ‘The Big 3’ included Ford, General Moto rs, and Chrysler, who all have their world headquarters located in Detroit and its vicinity. During this time period, ‘Big 3’ sales had soared from 6 million units in 1950, to 17 million in 2000. To break this time period down in depth, from 1950 to 1991, the sales of the units increased by double-digit percentages annually.In contrast to that, from 1992 to 2007, figures of annual sales rarely fluctuated by more than 3 percent per year (Klier, and Rubenstein 36). Consumers had an insatiable appetite for American vehicles manufactured by the ‘Big 3’; they were on top of the world so to speak. This surge in sales was not only bringing in great amounts of money into Detroit and its vicinity, it was bringing in great job opportunity, whether it was factory jobs or office jobs. This was truly the golden era for Detroit, and its populous prosperity was to be found everywhere.The statistics don’t lie, stating that Detroit’s population peaked at aroun d 2 million in the 1950’s (Linebaugh). During that time, it was the fifth largest city in the USA only behind New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, and was in the top 10 as recently as 1990 (Linebaugh). With all going so well, it was just a matter of time before things turned for the worse. As the saying goes, â€Å"all good things come to an end†, and this describe Detroit’s ugly, disastrous transformation in a nutshell. According to CNBC, Detroit is the 3rd worst city to live in the USA, and is the most dangerous (Crowe).What was the catalyst for this metamorphosis from prosperity to urban decay? It’s quite simple; their automotive giants were getting out performed by foreign competitors such as Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai. One of the factors that lead to this was that the ‘Big 3’ became complacent and arrogant due to the fact that they had little to no foreign competition prior to this decade. Thus they had an extremely large po rtion of the North American market share. Because of this arrogance and complacency, both quality and reliability began to suffer.The foreign automakers rated consistently higher in both quality and reliability. Another was the fact that the ‘Big 3’ depended critically on selling large volumes of light trucks (minivans, SUV’s, and pickups); these vehicles were their backbone (Klier, and Rubenstein 36). As gas prices began to rise, and eventually soared, consumers were looking for more affordable alternatives, with regards to fuel-efficiency. This was one characteristic all of the ‘Big 3’’s light trucks lacked. What was the alternative? Foreign-headquartered automakers (such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. fuel-efficient vehicles. These vehicles would cut down the time and money consumers would spend at gas pumps, which was extremely attractive. The statistics of the ‘Big 3’’s production of light trucks from 2007 to 2009 do not lie. In 2007, 10. 4 million light trucks were produced. In 2009, this number decreased by a staggering 46% to 5. 4 million (Klier, and Rubenstein 36). The foreign automakers fuel-efficient vehicles took the market by storm in that period, and completely dominated the US automakers in the market share.This was the nail in the coffin for the city of Detroit. The one main thing that drove their economy through its history was becoming more and more irrelevant as the time passed. No one was buying American made vehicles. It got to the point where General Motors and Chrysler had to be bailed out by the government. To Detroit’s fairness, the economy is on its way back up today, and the automotive industry is starting to regain some ground, but the city of Detroit will never be the same, not even close to what it used to be.How has this historical collapse affected the â€Å"Motor City† today? It begins with the population. As previously mentioned, Detroit’s popula tion peaked at about 2 million people in the 1950’s. This is the highest their population was, and ever will be. Kate Linebaugh of The Wall Street Journal states that as of 2010, Detroit’s population had fallen back 100 years. The population as of that date was 713,777, the lowest it has been since 1910, 60 percent less than it’s peak in the 50’s, and 25 percent less than it had been in 2000 (Linebaugh), which is absolutely unbelievable.Also, Detroit is now the nineteenth largest city in the USA behind Indianapolis, and Columbus (as it used to be in the top 5, and top 10 as previously stated) (Linebaugh). The population is literally disappearing as time moves on. Along with this issue, is the skyrocketing poverty and unemployment rate. The current unemployment rate is 19. 6 percent, which is almost double the national rate, and the highest the city has even seen (Daily Mail Reporter). This number has been on a steady rise within the past decade, and as a result has put ore and more people on the streets, being homeless. 34. 5 percent of Detroit’s population is below the poverty line (US Census Bureau). Also, the rate of violent crimes is at 2,137 per 100,000 residents, which is the highest in the USA above St. Louis and Oakland. This statistic makes the â€Å"Motor City† America’s most dangerous city for the fourth year in a row (Fisher). The city is in complete ruin; it seems like absolutely everything is going downhill. With all going so wrong, especially in the last decade, how on earth could the GDP of Detroit increase at all?Take a look at the numbers from the recent decade. From 2001, there is a steady increase in the GDP until 2007, until a short but steady decrease until 2009, where it goes up again from there (BEA: US Department of Commerce). This is a completely inaccurate representation of the state of Detroit overall. With the collapse of the automotive industry, which lead to all the problems previo usly mentioned (population diminishing, poverty and unemployment rate rising, and crime rate sky rocketing) the GDP is not an appropriate measure or representation of the Detroit economy overall.This is due to the fact that the GDP just takes into account total dollar value, and not the well being of the citizens or any environmental factors. According to the GDP, Detroit has been brining in increasing amounts of money from one year to the next in some periods of this collapse, but the overall state and well being of the city and its population has been on a constant downward spiral. To truly understand and represent the real state of the Detroit, and what is really going on within the economy and the well being of its citizens, the GPI must be used.If the GPI were taken in contrast to the GDP of Detroit since 2001, it would steadily be going downhill and opposed to the fluctuating GDP, which was mostly increasing (with exception to 2007-2009). All the situations Detroit is encounte ring as a result of the auto industry collapse bring the GPI downward. For example, take the cities record high unemployment rate. In Clive Hamilton’s article about the GPI, he talks about the issue of unemployment and underemployment. He says that social costs of unemployment lead to declining levels of health, increased amounts of suicide, and increasing levels of crime. Also there are the psychological osts of unemployment, which include trauma, stress, and family breakdowns (Hamilton, 20). Therefore, unemployment is a major negative factor on the GPI. Also, Hamilton talks about defensive expenditures, saying that GDP counts them as additions to output, however GPI deducts them, because they are undertaken to offset some decline in social welfare (Hamilton, 16). For example, this means that the record-high crime levels in Detroit create additions to the GDP because there would be a need for more police, more medical staff, and things would need to be repaired. On the other hand, the crime would deduct the GPI.This is because the cost of more police, medical staff, and repairs are undertaken to offset the decline in social welfare that crime causes. Lastly, the diminishing population of Detroit is a ‘no brainer’ as a deductive quality of the GPI. Clearly people want to leave, or avoid living in the city of Detroit in this era. The social welfare of the citizens is at an extreme low. It is clear that the GDP cannot represent the economic state of an area in nearly as much detail as the GPI can. This is why in my opinion the GDP is not relevant in terms of an indicator of an economy’s overall well-being.I strongly believe that the GPI gives a more accurate representation of the overall state of the economy thus should be used as the primary economic measure rather than the GDP. Detroit’s GDP was on the rise for most of this decade, even through the historical collapse of its worldwide automotive industry. However, it is clear that the welfare of its citizens and the state of the city are and will continue to be at a devastating low. This is made clear through Detroit’s disappearing population, the rise of unemployment and poverty rates, and the skyrocketing crime rate.With all of these factors considered in the GPI, as well as dollar value, the GPI ultimately triumphs over GDP and gives people a true assessment of an economy overall, that the GDP simply fails to do. Works Cited Klier, Thomas H. , and James Rubenstein. â€Å"Economic Perspectives. † Economic Perspectives. Q II (2012): 35-54. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. Linebaugh, Kate. â€Å"Detroit's Population Crashes. † Wall Street Journal 23 3 2011, n. pag. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright - Essay Example The protection helps in preventing entry of illegal people and weapons into the country. With this protection, the country is able to lead to economic prosperity. This project aims at discussing in details the measures taken by the department of homeland security in ensuring that the air territory is well protected and avoid repeat of the 9/11. The paper also aims at discussing the fundamental stride taken by the department of homeland security in training and educating the public on any terrorist threats. The paper also proposes in details the security measures taken to prevent leakage of information especially in the cyberspace in addition to protection of information that might be of national interest. Cyberspace is one of the most important tools that terrorist will use while planning an attack. Department of homeland security ensures that the cyberspace is protected to prevent terrorism from hacking into their systems. However, the infamous 9/11 attack severed a blow to the United States security services and the whole nation. The properly planned terror attack led to the loss of over 3,000 lives and destruction of property. Arguably, American intelligence learnt of the situation before its occurrence but several factors harbored the intended articulation of the information to establish measures that would result to a counter attack before precision and attack of the terrorists. According to Wright, America failed to condone the situation because of the bureaucratic system of governance that secured decision-making on security issues as a state held responsibility of the top officials. Homeland security should ensure that firewalls are used in detecting any form of hacking into their systems. Most of the air-controlled systems are controlled and closely monitored to prevent terrorists from hacking them. This is by homeland security dealing with the threat of hacking into government-controlled systems such as that of the airspace. In addition to this,

Kristopher Scholl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kristopher Scholl - Essay Example leaders have dazzling social intelligence, gusto for any change, and to crown it all, a vision that enables them to focus their sights on issues that really benefit the attention of the followers (Greenleaf & Spears, 1998). A higher authority is necessary for regulating and supervising other people as well as setting an example of a dedicated and a hard worker. Any effective leader should possess competence, courage, and compassion. Character as majorly discussed, is possibly the most significant characteristic a leader should have. An individual’s real character is who they happen to be when they are placed to face difficult scenarios. It is the morality and the decisions of a great leader that awards them the respectable character that other people seek to follow. Having character is essential for any leader since a leader requires that capability to see what others are unable to see, the needed sacrifices that should be made, even if it means that the sacrifices are of their own or a different individuals. Most of historical effective leaders are crowned charismatic; this may bring the need to define charisma, whether it is inborn or attained somewhere in life. At the same time if all charismatic leaders are generally effective. Basically, charismatic leaders are very skilled in their communication styles (Greenleaf & Spears, 1998). These are persons who are born verbally eloquent, at the same time they are able to communicate to most of their followers on an emotional, deep level. These are leaders who are capable of articulating a captivating or a compelling vision, and have the power to arouse very strong emotions in most of their followers. Charisma is basically a process. An interaction that takes place between the leader and the followers and the situation that calls out for the leader such as a need for change or settles a crisis. Most political leaders develop the needed skills to communicate to their followers or even convince the donors, this

Apply Design Guidelines to Human-Computer Interaction Methods Essay - 1

Apply Design Guidelines to Human-Computer Interaction Methods - Essay Example The information herein is usually tipped on the interface through the use icons while others are contained in the menu among other features. Nonetheless, the contextual texts help in facilitating to explain controls, functions, and processes. Additionally, the web design shall employ the use of icon, menu, and tooltips to help the user interact effectively and conveniently with the user. Moreover, there will be the use of hyperlinks to link users to others related information. Finally, there will be the use of the system message to inform the user of the system state at any point of the work or the error conditions that may be made in the entry boxes. It should be noted that the design will employ the hypertext since the application and usability website to be designed will be used everywhere around the globe that will also engulf hypertext markup language. There are numerous online Documentations, and the commonly used online documentation is the online help. Regardless of the interface designing, some help facilities are often considered and incorporated into the design. The commonly used help methods that shall be incorporated in the web design include that contextual help, procedural help, referential help, and the conceptual help. Notably, these helper methods are top deployed since they are highly compatible with the Microsoft that may users are likely to use in using the website designed. In addition, each of these helpful resources has a distinct format that must be incorporated as well as spelling the how the text contained in each should be written. Furthermore, their formats often range from short phrases to lengthy explanation depending on the text help method in use. As had been mentioned, the Hypertext often serves two vital roles in defining the protocols that help in defining the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) (Heim, 2008) and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) both of which play significant roles  in the functionality and usability of the World Wide Web.  

Aging aircraft wiring problems and solutions Essay

Aging aircraft wiring problems and solutions - Essay Example Aging aircraft wiring has been a cause of significant threat to both invaluable human life and material. It is almost certain that a smart wiring alone will not be the solution to this problem considering the working conditions of an aircraft. Keeping this scenario in mind this paper is trying to consider a few of the most pressing safety problems in aviation today. The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) later determined the cause of the TWA 800 accident to have been a wiring failure that led to an ignition spark in the fuel tank. The Swissair disaster is believed to have been caused by electrical arcing originating from an in-flight entertainment cable. These disasters provided the initial impetus to begin reshaping commercial wiring policies' (Kevin R. Wheeler and Dogan A. Timucin 2007).A TWA747, flight 800, heading for Paris and Rome with 230 from JFK international airport on the night of July 17, 1996, exploded shortly after take off and during initial climb out. The hug e aircraft was blown up killing all the passengers and crew aboard. One of the most extensive aircraft investigations in the history was initiated following the crash. After many findings the initial fear of a terrorist missile attack was vanished. Enormous efforts were vested on the recovery process along with the FBI and NTSB investigations. The search was supported by FAA, US Navy Boeing and hundreds of contractors. Finally, the remains of the aircraft were recovered from Atlantic. To the continuing frustration of conspiracy theorists, investigators determined that the aircraft was not downed by a bomb or missile, but rather fell victim to a much more insidious enemy - faulty wiring. Hot or chafed wire is believed to have ignited the fuel vapors in the empty center wing tank, creating a massive explosion and in-flight breakup of the aircraft. The similar incidents occurred in the aviation industry at regular intervals. Obviously the wire and connector fault detection and prognosis problem is difficult and each agency is doing the best that it can with the resources given (J.S. Barrett and M.A. Green 1994). Thus, developing the appropriate theoretical approach, using simulations and data collection for development and eventually leading to requirements definition for all aspects of the wiring fault detection problem seem to be a huge task. The terrific crashes remind us that the aircraft electrical system malfunctioning can lead to tragic eventualities in terms of human life and monetary loss. Wiring problems often lead to troubleshooting nightmares, and canceled missions. With miles of wire bundles running through barely accessible compartments, inspecting and repairing wiring problems can eat up your maintenance budget and resources in a very short time. To help maintenance managers address these types of issues, we investigated the tools and techniques that can be used to minimize down time and improve safety. Jim sparks (2004) felt that 'wiring in aircraft has been installed without much thought given to the overall life. The concept has been one of "fit and forget." Various failure modes and their severity may not have been considered during the design or modification process. Maintenance programs often did not address the impact of insulation breakdown and resulting arcing, nor was consideration given to the probability of splices