Defender of the Faith/ Philip Roth.

â€Å"l refuse, I can't stop being me, that's all there is to it†. Tears came to his eyes. â€Å"It's a hard thing to be a Jew. But now I understand what Mackey says- it's a harder thing to stay one†. He raised a hand sadly toward me. â€Å"Look at you. † Defender of the Faith/ Philip Roth. The quote above is the part in the Defender of Faith which is a conversation between Crossbars and Marx. Crossbars asks Marx to go out of the army to attend thePassover dinner. Throughout the story we come to understand that Crossbars is taking advantage of the fact that both he and Marx are Jewish for his own benefit. Crossbars tries to â€Å"bond† with Marx on the basis of their common religion, but soon we realize that he uses this common fact to try to get benefits and other privileges. At some point Marx understands that Crossbars is being selfish and is using the religion for his own needs, and gets tired from Crossbar's requests.Crossbars insists that he shouldn' t be treated like everyone else; because he claims that he is better. In addition he throws at Marx accusations saying that he is denting his roots and his family. Crossbars says this only because he is unhappy and doesn't get from Marx what he wants, he calls him a go. â€Å"You even talk like a go. † â€Å"It's a hard thing to be a Jew. But now I understand what Mackey says- It's a harder thing to stay one†.

Jackson vs. Calhoun and the Nullification Crisis Essay

It has been rare in American history for presidents and vice-presidents not to get along, but it has happened on a few occasions: Adams and Jefferson, Kennedy and Johnson, and Eisenhower and Nixon are a few examples (Jackson vs. Calhoun-Part 1 1). However, the most controversial relationship between president and his assistant was between Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. Their disagreements began very early on in Jackson’s administration, and lasted until after the resolution of the Nullification Crisis. Nullification is the refusal of a state to recognize a federal law within its boundaries and deem that law unconstitutional. In this case, South Carolina, led by John C. Calhoun, refused to recognize the protective tariffs in 1828, and 1832, saying that they benefited the North and injured the South. At this point in time, the American system of government was fairly new and the struggle between state and federal power was in full swing. Towards the end of the crisis, Calhoun went so far as to threaten to secede from the Union to show Jackson and the rest of America that individual state governments were indeed powerful. When the quarrel had reached its peak, Jackson had had enough and decided it was time to put an end to the crisis. The actions and decisions made by President Andrew Jackson in regards to John C. Calhoun and the Nullification Crisis not only enabled the Union to remain together, but proved the power of the federal government. Before reviewing Jackson’s actions during the Nullification Crisis it is important to understand where the disagreements between the two men originated. In 1829, just shortly before Jackson was inaugurated, John Eaton, a friend and soon to be secretary of war under Jackson, married the widow and non-reputable Peggy O’Neale Timberlake. Because Timberlake was now the wife of a man in office, the other women would have to accept her as an equal, which they were not happy about. Jackson, however, refused to believe that the women were justified in their behavior, for he considered Peggy to be â€Å"chaste as a virgin† (Barzman 56). After Jackson ordered the wives of all of his associates to regard Mrs. Eaton as a social equal, they all complied except for one; Floride Calhoun, the wife of John C. Calhoun. Calhoun later claimed to Jackson he could not (or would not) change the mind of his strong willed wife. This enraged the newly elected President and began the tumul tuous nature of the two men’s relationship. The main aspect which fueled their poor relationship was their differences in political opinions. Although both men were from similar parts of the country and both were dedicated to the welfare of their home states, they disagreed on one very important area. Jackson was a nationalist, who believed strongly in preserving the Union and placing federal power over that of the individual states. Calhoun, on the other hand, was exactly the opposite. Although prior to 1830, he had been a nationalist, Calhoun was now an extreme states’ rights advocate (Barzman 56). This colossal difference in political philosophy set the scene for the most important argument between president and vice-president and foreshadows Calhoun’s plans for South Carolina. Calhoun had been gathering his information and formulating his ideas for the future of South Carolina for quite some time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to reveal his master plan. He wanted to declare nullification because his home state of South Carolina was economically depressed, fearful about the future of slavery, and thought the new tariffs supported the North at the expense of the South (The Nullification 1). Jackson had an idea that Calhoun was planning something radical so at the Jefferson Day Dinner on April 30, 1830, he stated that â€Å"Our Union–it must be preserved†. To this Calhoun replied, â€Å"The Union. Next to our liberties, most dear† (Barzman 58). After publicly declaring his dedication to South Carolina before the Union, Calhoun resigned the vice-presidency and served in the South Carolina Senate. Less than two years later, on April 24, 1832, Calhoun sent the South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification to Jackson, in which he declared, â€Å"The people of the state of South Carolina declare the duties imposed by said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be null and void. We do further declare that we will not submit to the application of force on the part of the Federal Government† (Hamilton 1). Jackson, appalled by this direct threat to the Union and the Federal Government, was determined to put Calhoun in his place and do anything he could to preserve the Union. Although Calhoun had stated in his Ordinance that South Carolina would not  respond to any forceful acts by the government to attempt to get Calhoun to back down, Jackson found a way to outsmart his opponent. Jackson had congress pass a bill in 1833, â€Å"which allowed him to use soldiers to enforce the tariff measures† (Nullification Crisis 1). After the Force Bill was passed, Jackson sent several warships and hundreds of soldiers to Charleston to enforce the laws of the government. Some people argue that what Jackson did was wrong because based on the constitution, Calhoun had the right to declare Nullification for South Carolina. However, what Jackson did was also constitutional and enabled the United States of America to remain as one. Had Jackson not passed the Force Bill immediately after South Carolina’s Ordinance was received, Calhoun’s scheme may have succeeded and South Carolina would have seceded from the Union, proving that the Federal Government really did not have any power over that of the individual state. After the terms of the Force Bill were set into place, Calhoun began to realize the trouble he had gotten himself into and wanted to find a dignified way to redeem himself and his home state. At first Calhoun attempted to find other states willing to support and join his cause, but no other Southern states seemed to agree with his theory of nullification. In order to resolve the issue, Calhoun went to Henry Clay, the â€Å"Great Compromiser†, for assistance. Towards the end of 1833, Clay was able to draft a compromise which â€Å"pacified South Carolina while allowing the Federal government to stand firm† (The Nullification 2). This negotiation gradually reduced the tariffs over a period of ten years until they returned down to the level which had existed in 1816. Jackson and Calhoun both signed the compromise and the crisis ended without bloodshed. Many people argue that it was due to the negotiating skills of Henry Clay, not Jackson, which enabled the Union to remain in tact. However, had Jackson not passed the Force Bill initially, Calhoun never would have been pressured into seeking out Clay for assistance. With the conclusion of the Nullification Crisis its significance to the growth of the American government became apparent. By Jackson defeating Calhoun, and essentially defeating the argument of states’ rights advocates, he accomplished two important things. His first accomplishment was that he  had â€Å"proved the power of the Federal Government to enforce laws, even when states disagree with them† (Jackson vs. Calhoun – Part 2 2). This not only gave the American people more confidence in the Federal Government, but made them begin to realize that having state governments stronger than the Federal government would not be beneficial to the nation. Jackson’s second accomplishment was that he enabled the Union to remain intact. He had postponed any bloodshed over the issue of states’ rights – but only for 30 years. Had Calhoun’s wishes been fulfilled, the Union may have fallen apart and his home state of South Carolina would have become a powerful self-governing territory. The difference in political philosophy between Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun was the root of their tumultuous relationship, which began early on in their executive life together. The confrontational nature of their relationship led America into the Nullification Crisis during which Calhoun put the welfare of his home state above that of the union, trying to secede and show the power of state government. Jackson would not have states overpowering the government, and passed the Force Bill allowing him to use the Federal Army and Navy to get South Carolina to obey the laws the Federal Government had made. State Government and Calhoun lost their battle and the Federal Government proved its powers. Although he was not able to erase the problem of states’ rights, were it not for Jackson’s intelligent decisions during the Nullification Crisis, the United States may not have existed, as a single union, as it does today.

Shake the salt habit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shake the salt habit - Essay Example The sodium in the American diet does not significantly come from the saltshakers but in the abundance of processed food consumption. It should be noted sodium is usually used to enhance the flavor, stabilize, and preserve processed food. Accordingly, sodium intake can be reduced by opting fresh, whole food closest to their natural state. Another option is to look for canned food which are sodium-free or with reduced-sodium content. The DASH (Dietary Approach to Solving Hypertension) eating plan, which prescribes a diet comprised of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy food, and food with limited saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, is clinically proven to dramatically reduce blood pressure by infusing enough levels of potassium in the body to counter the effects of sodium. It has been verified by the Tulane University Health Science Center that adequate potassium intake may lower systolic blood pressure by 3 points and diastolic by 2 points. The level of sodium in the body as well as its effect is tied to an individual's physiological sensitivity to salt.

French Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

French Language - Essay Example Although Standard French has in fact undergone centuries of human intervention and language planning, popular opinion, however, contends that Standard French should consist solely of the rulings by the Acadmie franaise in France, or in standardization from terminological work by the Office qubcois de la langue franaise in Quebec. There is further perceived or actual linguistic hegemony in favor of France by virtue of tradition, former imperialism, and a demographic majority. Such notions hinge on linguistic prestige rather than on a linguistic norm. Also, despite the existence of many regional varieties of French in the Francophone world, Standard French is normally chosen as a model for learners of French as a foreign or second language. The standard pronunciation of Metropolitan French is, out of concerns for comprehension or social stigma, sometimes favored over other standard national pronunciations when teaching French to non-native speakers in Francophone nations other than Fra nce. Though the French complain about the incursion of English into their language, they don't fight it nearly as much as French-speaking Canadians do. Whereas stop signs in France say stop, their Qubcois counterparts say arrt. Le week-end in France is known as la fin de semaine in Qubec. And of course, the word chosen to replace "email" in France was the Qubcois term courriel. Thus Canadians feel that their French is actually better than that spoken in France and should be the standard. Therefore, French-Canadians have started a petition to have their French become the standard by which all other variations are measured. Jean Charest, Premier of Qubec, had this to say: Au Qubec, on parle franais. Notre langue n'est pas un petit dialecte franco-canadien et elle n'est pas remplie de franglais comme le franais hexagonal. Nous insistons dsormais que notre franais, c'est la norme. (In Qubec, we speak French. Our language is not some "French-Canadian" dialect, and it's not full of franglais like the French in France. We insist that from now on our French is the standard.) (french.about.com/od/francophonie/a/4_1_05a.htm - 24k - Cached) French (Franais) is a Romance language spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (principally Quebec), northern New England (especially the state of Vermont), the state of Louisiana and in many other countries and regions formerly or currently governed by France. It is an official language of more than 25 countries. French is spoken as a mother language by 72,000,000 people and as a second language by some other 52,000,000. It is one of the five official languages of the United Nations. Origin and History French dialects developped from the Vulgar Latin which was brought to Northern Gaul with the Roman conquest in the 1st century B.C. (see Rome). The history of French language is divided into 6 main periods:

AQCI #4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

AQCI #4 - Essay Example This is influenced by the fact that cultural beliefs generate ones religious beliefs. Hall highlights representation as one of the most important inclusions in a culture†¦ †³Representation attaches language and sense to culture†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ³ (15). Representation is defined as a way in which a person may explain something meaningful to other people but in the same culture. This means that different cultures have different ways by which they perceive representation depending on factors such as language. Depending on one’s culture, they would represent something in different ways. However, there are basic steps in which something useful may be explained or defines in any cultural paradigm. While comparing the two arguments, it is a notable assumption that the two texts recognize the influence of culture anthropology. The two text define two important social requirements but in respect to culture. Generally, the two texts share the assumption that cultural beliefs shapes one perception in the

Analysis of qualitative research article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of qualitative research article - Essay Example Inappropriate assessment of patients by nurses may result in high incidences of suicide. Both qualitative and quantitative assessment methods are available for use and the method used may be depend on the setting. Purpose The purpose of the research was to understand how nurses conceptualize suicide among patients in addition to the strategies they use in the process of assessment. Due to the emerging trends in suicide assessment inappropriate assessment might fail to pick potential suicide patients. Research design and research tradition The traditional phenomenography which analyses the different ways in which people experience, conceptualize, identify, and familiarize themselves with various aspects of phenomena in the world around them was used in this study. This method is frequently used in health care research and was utilized in an inductive, qualitative and descriptive approach to help understand the conceptualizations of suicide by psychiatric nurses and the strategies that psychiatric nurses utilize when conducting a suicide evaluation. Sampling A convenience/snowball sampling method was utilized in the study to recruit six psychiatric-mental health nurse participants for the ten months study period. The participants were obtained from two advanced practice nurses agencies in different psychiatric settings and different Northeastern states with the help of nurse managers. One of the settings chosen was a psychiatric hospital's emergency assessment unit while the other was an inpatient psychiatric unit of a general hospital. Five of the six participating nurses were females with four of them having more than 15 years experience while the fifth had nine months experience as a psychiatric mental health nurse and more than five years experience as a mental health worker. The sixth participant was a male nurse with more than 15 years experience. All the participants were white with one having a master’s degree in nursing, three with bachelorâ€℠¢s degree and two with associate degrees in nursing. Data collection The research methods used for data collection were approved by the University of Rhode Island’s Institutional Review Board. Before data collection began consent was sought from both the participating nurses and the patients. The inclusion criteria for the patients included more than 18 years of age, ability to understand and speak English in addition to giving informed consent. The patients were also informed that their participation or non participation in the research would not affect the care they received from the institution. The data in this study was mainly obtained through interviews with the psychiatric nurses after suicide assessment of adult patients. The assessment sessions varied from between 15 minutes to one and a half hours among different patients. The interviews with the psychiatric nurses were recorded in a private room and were guided by a few questions. The nurses were however allowed to express their perceptions, in a clear and systematic manner, of how they conceptualize suicide and the strategies they use in the suicide assessment process. In a bid to obtain as much information and as possible the participating nurses were encouraged to think out aloud, deliberate, and even to pause before answering the questions if they need to. All the participating

SAP ERP Implementation [ A Case Study of Nestle USA] Research Paper

SAP ERP Implementation [ A Case Study of Nestle USA] - Research Paper Example Providing real time data for distributed systems gives power to the users and thereby the company to work efficiently. Company employees, even though they are working from different locations, would have access to the data and moreover, would be getting the same view of data. But, quite obviously, all this cannot be achieved free of cost. There are different kinds of costs involved including monetary crunch, issues with putting all this into practice, and also people management issues. But, all said and done, each and every ERP implementation has important lessons to be learned from. This leads to say that for a company, what so ever be the result of ERP implementation, the lessons are always significant. The case I would be taking into consideration is the Nestle case. In the year 2000, Nestle SA management team became conscious of the fact that if they want to maintain their position in the hugely competitive market, they need to streamline their processes and upgrade their systems . To serve this purpose, Nestle SA signed a bond with SAP. Nestle SA wanted to implement an ERP system across all its systems, they wanted all the employees and hence, the company to benefit with the ERP system. Back then, Nestle SA had its presence in 80 countries with a total of 230,000 employees overall. A huge sum of $80 million was assigned for the consultation, maintenance and up gradation of the existing systems. A time frame of three years was decided upon in order to complete the ERP implementation for the most competitive sites of Nestle. After the ERP implementation of these sites is completed, the other sites would be dealt with. The implementation included most aspects of a company’s product and operation management processes. They ranged from finance and monetary aspect handling, to supply chain, forecasting, capacity planning and BI segments. Another Nestle ERP implementation was that of Nestle USA. Nestle USA had quite a few different ledgers and customer acce ss points. The objective of implementing ERP implemented in Nestle USA was to consolidate these different data points to just one. Nestle USA faced a lot of challenges in implementing ERP. This was because of the fact that every location for Nestle USA was inclined to make their own decisions. There was a communication gap between decisions made by different locations and this lead to adverse effects on ERP implementation. A classic example of this was the story of Vanilla wherein each and every Nestle USA location had a different deal for vanilla price with the retailer, and the different locations were not even aware of this fact. (Ben, 2002) In spite of which subsidiary of Nestle is observed, the reasons and objectives for implanting ERP were the same. The goal involved grouping, synchronizing and merging all the operations of the firm despite of the distributed locations and nature of working. The ultimate objective was to increase revenue and to maintain the name of Nestle bran d in the highly competitive market. In addition to the mentioned goals, there was an essential necessity to unify and integrate all the company information so that the forecasting activities as well as different forms of data analyses could be done more easily. This would also lead to greater accuracy in deriving trends while doing market research and demand forecasting. Nestle USA did

General Planning Process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

General Planning Process - Case Study Example After full analysis of the performance of the company, the analysts found that one of four project managers has lefted the company and since then the company has failed to accomplish around seven projects which totally worth around $30000 dollars. Having no control of managers for these projects, has caused the wrong assignment of web designers, web developers and web programmers to the projects which has caused an average of two weeks delay on project delivery. There are three ways that can be applied to the problem, first is to ask some of the developers that have no manager now, to leave the company. Second, is to ask the remained managers to have the control of the projects that have no manager right now, this means that three left managers should have the power to control seven more projects per month. The third and last option is to add a new manager to the company. The first option, will not help the company to re-gain the lost income since it only asks the additional work force to leave the company. The second option will force a more work pressure to the managers.Even if we consider that they they will do their best, they need to be paid more because of the more work they do. The third option is the same as the second option in costs to the company but it has less pressure on the quality of work. The owner of the company decides to choose ... This is a temporary but useful way to reduce the loss of income till a new manager arrives and the the studio goes back to it's normal

Human resources management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human resources management - Essay Example This is what creates financial profits for business. However, from the employee’s point of view, job satisfaction is likely to be the primary variable people look for in their job. Riggio states that ‘job satisfaction consists of the feelings and attitudes concerning one’s job’ (1990: 186). Judge et al (2001) acknowledge that there is a high correlation between job satisfaction and job performance, and Landy (1989) goes as far to describe this relationship as the ‘Holy Grail’ of industrial psychologists. However, Drenth et al claim that ‘there is no support for the widely held view that satisfied employees achieve higher and increased effective levels of performance’ (1998: 284). It is therefore the purpose of this assignment to discuss if a happy workforce is a productive workforce. In order to determine how increased job satisfaction could lead to increased productivity, I believe that it is important to discuss the factors that make people want to work in the first place in order to gain a holistic perspective on the issue. This is the same approach Vroom (1995) took in her analysis on the motivational bases of work. Vroom highlights five motivational factors that encourage people to work. Firstly, she acknowledges ‘work roles provide wages to the occupant in return for their services’ (1995: 35). Secondly, working keeps people busy and active, and stops people becoming idle. Thirdly, jobs can provide employees with continually engaging environments in which to work. Fourthly, there are many social satisfactions derived from work, and social psychologists have emphasised the fact that work is a social activity, requiring interaction with other people. Finally, Vroom (1995) highlights that sociologists have emphasised the importance a person’s occupation has on their social status, and the respect it can generate. There therefore appears to be two types of conditions that affect the like lihood that people will work; economic incentives and motivational factors. Herzberg et al’s (1959) Two Factor Theory receives a lot of interest from many managers in work organisations, who wish to discover how employee satisfaction can improve job productivity. In their study, respondents of mid-level administration staff were asked to examine the points of their career at which they’d experienced the most positive and negative feelings. They were asked to indicate the causes of this and the effects that arose. The most positive feelings that led to higher employee satisfaction were ranked, and are as follows; Achievement and recognition from senior management for successful completion of tasks The work itself, i.e. how much of a challenge it was, responsibility concerns such as working without a supervisor, being promoted and being put in charge of other workers Salary and a rise in wages Other factors with lower frequency including status, the policy and management of the company The factors leading to dissatisfaction related to the working environment and were labelled as ‘hygiene factors’, such as working conditions. Factors relating to job satisfaction were labelled ‘motivating factors’, and included intrinsic factors such as the possibility of promotion or increased responsibility within an employee’s job (Hollway, 2000). Herzberg et al (1959) concluded that ‘feelings of self actualisation and growth are the key to

Answer the question to 2 page essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer the question to 2 page - Essay Example Interaction between the general public and disabled should not be a taboo based on false perceptions. The first perception for a person with a disability is these people need extra help or assistance from the public. Many in the general public will help a disabled person when asked, but feel pity or disgust. Disabled individuals will ask for help, but generally have a plan for the day. People with disabilities do not wake up and go out in public to depend on assistance from random people. For example, an individual in a wheelchair will have a van that is wheelchair accessible, or even a car that can be driven with hand controls. These people can get in and out of their cars and into their chairs with or without help. If help is needed a paid caregiver, or family member might help. It is rare that a person in a wheelchair will wait in their car to approach the public for assistance. Normally people with disabilities have canes, wheelchairs, service dogs, and other means to help them navigate in public. For an individual that is disabled, they are used to their disability. For example , if a person without a disability does not have a car, but need a ride to work, they plan that ride with family or friends. Disabled people do the same when help is needed. They plan around their disability. The perception of a person can be cured of their disability in order to fix them is a popular one. This can be a helpful approach, but can overlook the needs of the disabled at the moment. For example, a deaf person might benefit from new surgeries. That is a good goal for doctors, but the general public should not wait for this to happen. In order to interact with the deaf individual, the public needs to accept the situation in the here and now. If the disabled person does not feel valued unless being ‘fixed’, then the disability can be depressing and debilitating. Hearing individuals can learn to sign, or learn to look at a deaf

Cyberspace and real Space Essay Example for Free

Cyberspace and real Space Essay The real space is a backdrop where human entities are controlled by the sovereign codes or constitution of the land based on particular demographics. For instance, people need to have passports for them to be legitimate to drive vehicles; they also need passports with visa stamps for them to be able to roam about in different territorial precincts. Whereas the cyberspace is a backdrop that persons are, inherently, free from the control of real space sovereigns. Licenses determine one’s individuality, they say who they are, and if they have been involved in any criminal activities. These are internal passports of many contemporary societies. This environment is characterized by the decentralized nature of the internet that has created the world a global village. Contrary to the underlying connotations, the cyberspace like the free world is subject to monumental regulations that are now evident with the emerging technological advances. Ideally, the cyberspace has the probability of being the most enormously and extensively controlled space in our very existence. So the prospects of a space of freedom shouldn’t arise. Bolter J. D (1999) Presently as in authentic freedom, myriad restrictions control character in the cyberspace. The legal framework for instance has documented the cyberspace patent law, defamation law, sexual harassment law, to control character of the cyber space just like it is curtailed in the real world. The cyberspace at present has incorporated regulatory models that administer attitude and renders persons to approve from others. This also works in the cyberspace as customs operate in real space, aggressive punishments expressed by a society. The bazaar hampers in cyber space, presently as in the actual space. Change the value of access, the restrictions on access varies. Differentiate the architecture of pricing access and the regulation of marginal access shifts dramatically as well. Bukatman S (2000) The cyberspace in this argument hinges on the architecture inclined on the coding system. How persons interact and co-subsist in the cyberspace backdrop is therefore determined by clustered protocols, the set of rules, implemented or codified, in the software of cyberspace itself. The cryptogram architecture in the real space sets the terms that also apply in the cyberspace. Life in the real space is subject to the code in the same way just like life in real space is subject to the architectures of real space. Bukatman S (2000) The essence of the constrictions of code in cyberspace differs, although the comprehension of it does not fluctuate. The cyberspace infrastructures have been made in a way that prompts password verification before one gain an access into the network or database. At some point transactions processed by individuals offers map out that guide transactions. In some backgrounds one can opt to speak a language that the recipient can only comprehend, and in other regions, encryption in not an option. Bukatman S (2000) The variations are represented by the code of these conflicting places. The cryptogram or program or design or code of behavior of the spaces constructs these prototypes. These are typically prototypes determined by code writers; they hold back some performances by making other performances probable. Bukatman S (2000) In actual sense these clustered rules like the designs inherent in the real space, regulate character in cyberspace. Code and market and norms and law together control the cyberspace then as architecture and market and norms and law regulate in real space. Based on research findings, real space depends on architecture configurations. Clustered rules and traditions and the bazaar could easily differentiate alongside various types in real space. In real space hiding is a bit problematic. Evidently, a kid can don a mustache, and position on stilts and endeavor to pierce a porn shop to purchase porn. Cyberspace and real spaces are two separate entities, even though it has been assumed that clustered regulations operating between the two spaces are moreless similar. The default in cyberspace is ambiguity. Since it is easy to conceal the identity and enhance perversity on the net, it is pragmatic that codes and norms to apply in the cyberspace are a bit tricky. Regulation of behavior in the cyberspace is an intricate affair as it is evident in the real space. This is attributed to the amorphous nature of the coding design that make-up the cyberspace. McCaffrey L (1999) Politically the cyberspace architecture portrays differences in political regimes of liberty and political regimes of monopoly. They follow divergent ideological differences between the West and the East Germany; flanked also by the USA and the former USSR; in addition to the Republic of China and the Mainland China. In a nutshell these spaces are about divergent philosophies of admittance. The underlying principals construct differences between control and freedom and these differences are manifested through design and structured rules. The coding platforms have been enhancing political mores. With the advents of contemporary scientific advances, the choices in terms of the architecture are as imperative as the constitution that governs the land. Essentially the clustered rules governing the cyberspace are simply its constitution. This code establishes terms through which individuals obtain entry; the codes also determine the regulations and fashion the traditions. Implicitly, the coding system is the cyberspace authority regulating this particular backdrop just like the realspace is regulated by the constitution. Much as the Internet configuration has been celebrated as a conduit of freedom, so much in response to the system is changing under our consciousness. The misconception that the net enhances a liberal society is practically undergoing serious metamorphosis. There has been a shift in the coding system from freedom to monopoly. This change is rather inevitable and it’s being implemented without interference by state machineries. Both the political class and also pundits representing the interests of the political elites have invaded the evolution of the coding structures. They are indeed shifting the design from a freedom-based backdrop to despotic kind of network. McCaffrey L (1999) With the enormous rates by which technology is changing, it is evident that probabilities are very high to the uprising of despotic authorities that would be rather worse off hypothetical than any sovereignty in the real space ever was. Scientific structures of control are prospective, although very expensive to support. The extravagant monetary aspect inherent with the cyberspace is one aspect that fosters potential liberty. Inefficient Real space monopolistic technologies are tantamount to real space liberty. No sooner than soon the cyberspace culture is translating into a culture visible in the real space. The direction technology is heading will soon bring about a costless database collecting persons statistics at no cost, without interfering with persons endeavors. Tabbi J (2000) Soon or later the cyberspace just like the real space will witness massive authorization to monitor behavior. However, the scrutinizing effect in the cyberspace would be less expensive in comparison to the tracking architectures in the real world. The monitoring factors function in stealth modes on the background of the cyberspace, but effectively and invisibly. The cyberspace system is an awful system of control that is much more significant than real space systems in the history of humanity. The system to some extent professes the notions of liberty as well as freedom from government. What is imperative in terms of the coding structure is to find possible means by which salient and fundamental the modern day freedom platform of the net could offer. Benjamin F (2005) What is however fundamentally true in the evolution of the Cyberspace, is that the coding industry should perceive how these clustered laws are emerging sovereign omnipresent, omnipotent, gentle, efficient, expanding and it should be constructed contrary to the authority and precincts that have been industrialized not in favor of real space crown heads. In the real space, law controls in myriad ways as well. It controls, indirectly and directly. It regulates indirectly when it controls these other modalities of constraint in the sense that they regulate differently. Dry law controls the norms divergently, whereas it regulates the market and at the same time the market controls differently; it also controls design in the sense that architecture could control separately. Spinard N (2000) In the real space the government of the day can co-opt, the other configurations in the sense that this structures constrain to the governments end. The same is applicable in cyberspace. Nonetheless, the government can control the Cyberspace so that character in the Cyberspace becomes rather governable. By the use of encryption, the government could easily regulate to particular substantive ends. Most regimes in this case have been curtailing on encryption in bid to controlling privacy and the ability to hide the content of communications from the eyes of an eavesdropping third party. With the technological advances present, the US has dominated the market with encryption that offer a backdoor open for the government to enter. Benedict. M (1999) The real space scenario, passports were symbolically badges that gave persons admittance. They controlled what in the Russian state Russians could come to know. It is until the issue of the passports were abolished is when Russian people obtained their democratization of citizenship in Russia. In essence the real space or rather the real world is controlled by certain constraints. Law controls by imposing sanctions, in the event that taxes are not duly paid, the consequences are so tough that they could lead someone into jail. If you steal some one car you could easily end up behind bars. Dry law is consequently a highflying constraint. Social mores also do regulate, in terms of how persons should contact themselves. This mores are enhanced through various code laid down by different societies. The market constraints also act as control mechanisms that curtail the amount of expenditure on attires. Through the structures of price, the market constructs opportunities as well as regulations. Lastly but not least nature functions as an aspect of regulation in the real space. This is categorically, the constraint of the world as it is. The fact that you cannot see what lies behind this or that mountain is imperatively nature limitation of the perception. Bell, D (2002) References: Bell, D (2002) A study of the Cyber traditions. Britain Rout ledge. Benedict. M (1999) the Cyberspace, Oxford University Press. Bolter J. D (1999) Space Coding: Technology and the evolution of coding, hypertext. Hillsdale. Bukatman S (2000) Workstation Distinctiveness. The Virtual themes in Contemporary scientific fiction. Harvard University Press. Dery M (2000) Get away Swiftness. Cyber traditions at the end of the century. Minnesota University Press. Jordan T (2000) Cyber Authority: the traditions and politics of the cyber world. Cambridge University Press. McCaffrey L (1999) Invading the Practical Studio: study on the cyberpunk and contemporary scientific fiction. Birmingham University Press. Penley et al (1999) the techno culture. Minneapolis: University of Leeds press. Tabbi J (2000) Contemporary Sublime: American scientific revolutions from mail to cyberpunks. Oregon University Press. Cavallaro D (2005) Cyberpunk and the Real space: scientific fiction and the works of Gibson William. New York press. Benjamin F (2005) trouncing up the scientific flight path Post Modern identity and Political Alternatives. Modern fiction. Cambridge University Press. Spinard N (2000) The Necromantic Cyber experts; Science fiction in the real world. Carbondale, Illinois University Press.

Formal Sales Process in Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME) Essay Example for Free

Formal Sales Process in Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME) Essay Introduction History and evolution of formal sales process Formal sales process refers to sales strategies that provide organization sales management with the direction on how to ensure effective and efficient sales. The process can also refer to the steps taken by the management to ensure satisfaction of customers buying process in a more successful way. Notably, formal sales   process allow companies especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their competitive advantage, and ensure effective sales by teaching sales teams how to succeed. The sales process dates back to ancient times but for the purpose of this study I will be focusing on post World War Two. It is surprising that there is little research on the history and development of the sales process as sales are vital to the survival of business. The earlier sales process models stem from the behavioral model AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action) attributed to E. St. Elmo Lewis in 1898.   This was developed to help guide the sales force (Kotler 1999; Sheth and Sharma 2008). The sales process is inextricably linked to the buying process, which has developed significantly over the decades. It has changed from a transactional activity into a strategic supply chain function looking to add value to the business (Axelsson and Wynstra 2002; Cousins and Spekman 2003; Ketchen and Hult 2007). Through the development of the sales process there have been three key changes. The first is the development of the ‘seven steps of selling’ (Dubrinsky 1980) which is based on the AIDA model. The second is the ‘evolving selling process’ (Moncrief and Marshall 2005) which expands on Dubrinsky’s model and brings it up to date, with the advent of the internet and changes in the buying process. Third is ‘value based selling’ (Rackman and DeVincentis 1998) which analyses each element of the sales process, with specific focus on the buyer’s ‘problem’ and the real ‘implications’ of the problem. This model provides focus to the sales process into adding value to the customer. In their report, Davies et al, highlight the fact that ‘no-one was measuring true sales ability’ and goes on to study the behaviors and skill set of sales professionals. Regarding measurement, Sharma said ‘what gets measured gets improved’ which start to address the critical issues of visibility and what to measure. Neely states, ‘an organization need to identify an appropriate set of measures to assess their performance’ (Neely 2007; p149).   Regarding behavior, Covey (1999) talks about responsibility and accountability which is a critical area of any sales process, be it formal or not. Weather, or not, an organization has a sales process, the world, and customers, are changing and the approach to sales has to change to ensure complacency does not set in (Kotter 1996). The culture and management of an organization will also impact the sales process, and vice versa, in positive and negative ways (Handy 1991). Womack and Jones (2003) are pioneers in lean thinking and believe manufacturing processes and the elimination of waste can be transferred into the back office side of the business including sales. One of the key themes that have surfaced from initial reading is that sales is a process, which needs to be followed, measured and improved to help increase the sales funnel, or pipeline, in order to grow sales (Miller and Heiman 1994; Zoltners, Sinha and Lorimer 2004; Thull 2010; McClay 2010). Porter (2004) believes that when working with customers it is important to add value and create a competitive advantage. In addition to this, Doyle suggests that the sales process can add value and create competitive advantage, which will ‘contribute to achieving the company’s objectives of growth and profitability though meeting the needs of the customers’ (Doyle 2002: p.2).   When a formal sales process has been implemented, there is much evidence to support that the sales process should be aligned to the sales strategy and to the company strategy (Kaplan and Norton 2006; Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008; De Wit and Meyer 2010). In contradiction to the majority, Adamson, Dixon and Toman (2013) challenge the need for a formal sales process and believe the sales function’s approach should be based on insight and judgment. Effects of a formal sales process on an SME and its people Selling is a communal as well as a business activity and can be defined quite simply as â€Å"making a sale† underpinned by several strategies and personal skills across a range of tasks and promotion situations (TAS Group, 2014). The sales task within a business is accountable for the vital creation of revenues, delivers financial stimuli and forms the fundamental connection between a business and its customers (McClay, 2010; Moncrieff and Marshall 2005). Moreover, business dealings rely on persons and more so how they transact with customers, making the buyer-seller edge a highly capricious interface. On the other hand, formal sales process is the sales strategies that provide the sales management force with the direction on how to sell.   It is the process that allow companies especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to scale their sale force by teaching sales teams how to succeed. According to Johnson et al (2006), formal sales process provides the sales management team with a framework from which to manage and enable measurement and continuous improvement of the sales force performance. More specifically, a formal sales process enables sales managers maintain control over specific sales behaviors as dictated by the system adopted in Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs).   Formal sales processes in the SMEs context help sales management teams. They also help managers understand which measures should be adopted for understanding prospecting, qualifying and performance measurement. Additionally, formal sales processes enable sales managers learn how to replicate good behaviors and eliminate undesirable ones besides recognizing problems before they turn to be major roadblocks (Lii, 2011). If there is one component of the selling system that is most taken for granted is the sales process. Although executives spend some of their times forming strategies, developing   entrepreneurial skills and measuring performance   of their employees, they hardly strategize on the formal sales process; that is the activities their salespeople must execute to   shift an activity from lead generation to closure (Lii, 2011). In a broad spectrum, the sales process, be it be formal or informal is the backbone of any sales force.   According to Lii (2011), the formal sales process is selling strategy, which was introduced to facilitate a sell-aside process in sells concerning public mergers and acquisition context. Moreover, the sales process is a much more advantageous in the sales process involving Small and Medium Enterprises’ and is quite distinct from the traditional means of executing sales.   Notably, for a sales process to be termed as good and successful, the right steps at the right time should be initiated and adopted within the Small and Medium Enterprises   vicinity as well as   making the right decisions. As argued by Blair (2005), for the formal process to work in the SMEs, the sales management team should work  Ã‚   tirelessly to keep the correct movement in track. This owes to the fact that without a good flow in selling and buying for the prospective customers to follow and for the sales management team to follow, the sales will remain to be low and potential customers may look elsewhere (Blair, 2005). Formal sales process allows SMEs to scales its sales force by teaching its sales people how to success. Contrary to the informal process that is normally adopted by many and characterized by unorganized techniques, formal sales process in SMEs measures and manages the sales force. Consequently, Sales management teams understand this and strive to develop standard operating strategies for their workforce to follow hence the formal sales process (Johnson et al., 2006). Essentially, the nature of sales process has critically changed. Sales organizations are being reinvented to better address the needs of the changing marketplaces. More evidently, there are different drivers of change in diverse sales organizations that have been identified in reinventing sales organizations and are perceived to help an organization compete successfully in today’s selling environment. With the use of the formal sales process, different Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have realized a measurable change in the levels of sales they acquire. The formal sales process has enabled SMEs to build long-term relationships with their customers. According to (Dar, 2006),this is because formal sales process is a structured line of attack that enables time-to-time assessment of customer’s value hence focusing on the high- priority customers. Secondly, formal sales process aids in creating sales organizational structures that are more nimble and adaptable to the needs of different customer groups. It is in this perspective that formal sales process is beneficial in that it enables Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) compete well in the entire markets when willing to customize   their sales efforts to meet their customers preferred ways of doing business (Adamson et al., (2013). In addition, in the modern markets; especially SMEs related markets, flexibility which is important to the formal sales process is viewed as an asset, which can determine the level of sales. Thirdly, according to Dar (2006), with the adoption of formal sales process, SMEs gain greater job ownership and commitment from sales management team. Moreover, this is only accomplished when the formal sales team removes functional barriers within the sales organization more so by leveraging the teams experience as a whole. More importantly,   formal sales process helps shift the sales management style from commanding to coaching. In this, the sales management team and managers create a conducive environment that allows the sales team uses their talents and abilities to secure, build and maintain relationships with the profitable customers. Davis et al (2011) discuss that for the formal sales process to work efficiently and yield the desired results, the management style has to change. Nevertheless, the other visible formal sales impact on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is that formal sales process enables leveraging of the available technology for the success of the sales management team ( Dar, 2006). For instance, formal sales have greatly changed the traditional (informal) sales process in that, its adoption leads to adoption of technological tools. Therefore, sales teams that use the available technology well have a strong competitive edge over others. Consequently, firms globally are investing millions of money in technological advancement in the sales sector to help improve their sales performance. Finally, According to Hayes, (2003), the integration of the formal sales process in then SMEs sales platform encourages the acceptance of better integration mechanisms for sales-team performance evaluations.  Ã‚   Essentially, a real weakness of the informal sales process in the verge of the Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs is on how to evaluate and ultimately reward the sales personnel. However, the use and integration of the formal sales process has solved these problems and instead provided well-marked evaluation strategies hence bringing a positive image of the SMEs and works successfully as a strategy for sales Different sales processes A sales process or strategy is not all about closing business deals; it is about defining a sales process that vividly reflects the image of the organization or firm, the firm’s customers, the products or services it offers and the solution that it offers in the market. By truly understanding its customers and by desiring to solve its customer’s problems, a business can plan to execute a sales process that will accelerate the likelihood of reaching its ultimate goal (Sales educators, 2006). According to the sales educators (2006), there is no specific best way to conduct the sales process. A company’s personality and the sales team desire to achieve as well as the firm’s background determines the type of sales technique that best suits its sales endeavors ( Porter, 2004).   Even though every company in the corporate world has its own sales methodologies, it is always advised that trying different sales processes is healthier. This is because new sales methods keep a company out of rut and may even work better than expected. Therefore, many salespersons even those operating in the B2B environment use a combination of different approaches (Rackman DeVincentis, 1998). The different sale processes mostly utilized by different sales teams include; older takers, inside sales, outside sales, the guru, the consultant, the networker, the hard seller and active sales among others. Most importantly, every sales process is aimed at increasing the sales to the current customers and finding new ones. However, different businesses and organizations deploy numerous sales processes with shockingly ineffective results. In some cases, when sales management teams use more than one sales process, customers are to same point confused by the different methods of every firm and probably cross selling is limited (Neely, 2007). Sales processes vary significantly according to how much a seller adapts to different selling situations and how much the selling team adapts to customer encounters during the entire sells encounter. According to Neely (2007), among the best sales processes or approaches are the problems solving models, needs satisfaction and consultative selling. Among the three mentioned types of selling processes, in terms of rethinking the sells process, researchers endorse their use to fit any situation on the ground. Neely (2006) argues that consultative selling process is appropriate when the customer is willing to share strategic priorities with the seller and sees the seller as being capable of supporting the customer’s strategic initiatives. Universally, every business is inimitable, hence it should have exceptional sales process to sell service and manage different customers under diverse conditions (Kotter, 1996). Therefore, sales researchers including sales managers across the world are disturbed by the question on whether business should adopt generic sales processes or implement and strengthen a specific sales strategy.   Since business aim at working with the most profitable strategies, studies prove that nonspecific approaches are demanding and possess numerous demerits that include; lack of custom customer profile, lack of metrics that matter, and its association with inflexible business management approaches among others (Johnson et al., 2008). Therefore, sales process needs to be specific. How a formal sales process can improve performance and competitive advantage? According to Thull, (2010), sales process is one of the most components of the selling system that for many decades has been abandoned by many Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). The author eludes that failure to effectively execute a well established formal sales process acts as an impediment to performance and successes of the organization. As a matter of fact, sales process is a vital component in an organization that if well implemented can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and performance or an organization. TAS Group, (2014), affirms that sales process is the backbone of an organization and should not be overlooked at any cost. Notably, most sales managers in many organizations spend most of the time coming up with strategies, building tools, measuring performance and developing skills (Rackman and DeVincentis, 1998). Nevertheless, the author affirms that only a few organizations consider and ensure effective implementation of a well established and organized formal sales process. A sales process in this case is regarded as series of task that must be undertaken by salespeople within an organization to tap and generate opportunities from the lead to closure (Thull, 2010). In a broad spectrum, sales process is an essential component of any sales force in an organization and if carefully and effectively implemented can impact on the success of the organization even in a highly competitive business environment (Thull, 2010). According to Rackman and DeVincentis, (1998), overlooking sales process within an organization hinders sales performance and output even though the organization sales executive have laid down well established sales strategy, tools, skills and metrics in place. Without doubts, this implies that effective of formal sales process implementation in a SME is a strategy of enhancing the performance or the company (Rackman and DeVincentis, 1998). More importantly, sales process can be used to improve the competitive advantage of an organization especially when the process is aligned properly with the customer’s target. In this case, effective alignment of the two lead to enhanced competitive advantage through creation of a world class sales force (TAS Group, 2014).   Performance of an organization is enhanced by the sales process in the sense that the process provides mechanisms of measuring performance. According to Rackman and DeVincentis, (1998), an organization has nothing to measure if it does not have a process.   The author adds that it is difficult improve organization performance if there are no mechanisms of measuring the current performance. Ultimately, sales process is undoubtedly an effective component in an organization to stir performance as it provides mechanism of determining the current performance of the organization and propose changes that need to be effected to improve the performance in the long run.   Essentially, the sales process is critical in SME as it provides a logical framework with various activities, milestones and targets that are used to measure performance (TAS Group, 2014). In this case, an organization which effectively implements sales process is likely to have improved performance. Use of diverse measure in the process of sales process such as calls reports by the salespersons are vital in ensuring they work hard and thus improve the overall performance of the Small Medium Enterprises. According to TAS Group, (2014), the major focus to enhance the organization performance and competitive advantage is simply ensuring effective alignment; implementation and renewal of sales process faster and efficiently than other competitors. Sales process in some way behaves like manufacturing process. In this case, improving sales productivity within a SME, various measures must be put in place stating from the initial sales stage to the end point (TAS Group, 2014). Development of measures ensures that the sales process adopted and implemented by a particular organization is able to address all the need and expectations of the customers through effective alignment of the buying and selling processes. The process of formal sales in SME can never be undermined owing in mind that the process aims to ensure a close relationship between the buyers and the sellers through the use of salespersons. Creation and maintenance of a good relationship between the two parties is imperative as it ensure the needs, concerns and expectation of the buyers are addressed in time and thus result to loyalty (Thull, 2010). This in turn helps to improve the performance of an organization since there will be enhanced sales volume. The presence and implementation of formal sales process is evidently a vital component in ensuring organization have close contact with their customers including prospective customers. In a broad spectrum, development of an effective relationship and alignment of the buying and selling process is crucial in ensuring customer’s loyalty. In this regard, improved customer’s loyalty creates confidence to the organization in terms of increased sales volume and thus enhanced competitive advantage compared to its rivals (Thull, 2010).   In addition, the relationship helps the organization to work harder to ensure maximum satisfaction of the customers need and concerns through addressing various challenges facing the process and discovering opportunities that may arise. This also helps to improve the performance and competitive advantage of organizations especially Small and Medium Enterprises. Essentially, sales process aims to ensure an effective alignment of the salesperson’s selling process with the customer’s buying process. Effective alignment of the two processes is vital to organizations as it ensures needs and expectations of the customers or rather the buyers are met in every step of the buying process. In addition, the alignment leads to an effective and efficient sale in the long run hence improved performance (Porter, 2004).Similarly, if the customer’s needs and expectations are carefully addressed through the sales process, it is more likely that the competitor will not have the opportunity to entice the same buyer to turn to their organization in this way, sales process helps to enhance competitive advantage of Small and Medium Enterprises (Porter, 2004). A critical assessment of how a sales process aligns with a customer buying process According to Davis et al, (2011), sales have two different sale view points, that is, the seller’s and the buyer’s perspective. However, the two sale point differs based on their importance. The buyer’s perspective is more essential compared to the seller’s point of view due to the fact that satisfaction of the buyers is the utmost objective of the sales process. Davis et al, (2011), affirms that organizations have to ensure diverse initiatives and means to ensure satisfaction of the buyers needs and expectations as their purchasing power depend wholly on their perception on organization’s effort to ensure satisfaction (TAS Group, 2014). The buying and selling process are mirror images of each other. Notably, buying process refers to the various steps that current customers use to identify and fulfill their need and expectations (Zoltners et al, 2004). Buying process may vary in time based on the type of product or services a customer want to purchase. However, being short or long, the work of a seller is to ensure buyer or rather customer satisfaction in every step. On the other hand, selling or sales processing is simply the steps or activities that are undertaken by sellers to ensure accomplishment of buyer’s goals, needs and expectations. According to Handy, (1991), buying and sales processes are mirror image of each other in an effective sale.   The two processes align together in that they usually start together and end together having common steps or activities between them. According to Kaplan and Norton, (2006), successful alignment of sales or selling process with the buying process in as essential component within an organization especially SME as it ensure effective and efficient sales. The author affirms that the alignment is based on the way the buyer go from one step to another (buying process), as fast as possible with the aim to find goods and services that satisfy their needs and expectations from the seller, while the seller undertakes and closes all steps with the aim to meet customers or rather buyer’s need throughout the process (Handy, 1991). Dubinsky, (1980/81), suggests that when selling and buying process work together, the result is that sales will be successful and efficient and most importantly, the expectations and the needs of the buyer will be met. In broad spectrum, the alignment of buying and sales process tends to ensure that every step of buying process correspond to a particular step of the sales or the selling process (Dubinsky, 1980/81).   The figure below illustrate how the customer’s buying and salesperson selling processes are aligned to ensure satisfaction of buyers at every step and ensure effective and efficient sales within and organization over a given period of time. Aligning buying and selling processes Customer’s buying process Salesperson selling process However, if there is no close relationship between the two process (customers’ buying and salespersons selling processes), the entire sales process is likely to be inefficient and ineffective. In this regard, the expectations and needs of the customers will not be fully met by the salespersons. According to Kaplan and Norton, (2006), sellers should be keen during sales process to ensure they do not omit any step or in other words ensure every buying process step correspond with a particular selling process step. According to Kaplan and Norton, (2006), misaligning the two processes has greater negative impacts to an organization. For instance, omitting a particular step in the sales process that is aimed to correspond to a particular step in the customer’s buying process means that specific need and expectations of the buyers will not be met. This in turn interpret that the customers will turn to other organizations that keen in addressing their needs thus losing their competitive advantage and lead to decline in performance (Dubinsky, 1980/81). Critical assessment of alignment of customer’s buying process and the salespersons selling process brings out the need for SME to adopt and implement an effective sales process within their organization to ensure they meet their customers need and enhance sale, competitive advantage and performance in the long run (Kaplan and Norton, 2006). Factors to consider when designing, or redesigning, a formal sales process and to make recommendations to the owners of an SME Traditionally, the sales departments have operated informally, with each sales person acting in their distinct ways that in most cases are non-documented, personally derived and non-measured. With the current escalating competition in terms of sales, price war and technological development and design of new and redesign of the existing formal sales processes is inevitable. In response to these forces, small and medium size enterprises need to plan, implement and control their personal contacts programs in order to achieve sales and profit motives of the firms. Designing of formal sale process is a complex and critical undertaking that requires careful scrutiny and a logical examination in its development since it is core in the success of a business (Rickman and DeVincentis, 1998). The going concern of a business entity largely relies on the effectiveness and operativeness of the sales processes in place. Small and medium size enterprises exist with a view to making profit and there fore effort should be made to ensure that they remain competitive and retain a reputable status in the market. Due to, the fragility and sensitivity of formal sales process design and redesign, several factors should be put into considerations in order to safeguard the successful life of the firms. For instance, competencies and skills available in the firm, encompasses the qualification and experience of employees especially management and the Sales department staff. For example the less experienced low level manager spend most time in staffing, monitoring and giving directives to salespersons. The top managers on the other hand, are generally concerned with complex issues of planning, budgeting organizing and coordinating sale strategies with other objectives of small and medium size enterprises. The new design should accommodate the available skill and technology. In the event of limitation of the part of staff qualification, it is worthy to reconsider redesigning the sales strategies, to make them possible to implement operate and eventually achieve the objectives set by the management.   According to Lodato (2006), business sale strategies should be implemented with efficiency with the sole priority of increasing sale despite the completion from rivals. Further more, a look at the geographical coverage and the nature of clients helps determine the correct direction to take. Expansion of business to include a wide coverage necessitates redesigns of sale s process to incorporate the needs and worried of new clients explored. This is through studying and examining their lifestyles, culture and believes and the consumption behavior (Tas Group, 2014).The formal redesign will be there fore necessary in as a way of reinforcing new ways of behavior. Additionally, the sales price and the customers’ economic status should be put into attention. It is worth noting that people consumption pattern entirely depends upon their social economic position and the value of goods and services offered in the market. Visions of the firm should not be trodded underfoot in the process of designing and redesigning the firm’s formal sale process. The necessity of vision and plan in implementation of firms’ objectives is immense (Porter, 2004), Incorporating the vision of the firms is instrumental in determining whether or not the existing strategies are sufficient or not and the need to streamline them to preserve attractive culture of internal work. Solely adding more marketing and sales people is not sufficient .however it should be back up by the firms operational capabilities may produce sale revues needed to increase continuous growth and improvement. Other issue to reflect in designing of formal sales process (FSP) is the workers’ motivation. The current level of employee’s inspiration should be assessed and its effectiveness determined. According to Lauby (2005), motivated workers are highly productive compared to their counterparts irrespective of the qualification and skills possessed. There for the factor that drives employees to their peak performances are determined, followed by implementation of the motivation program. Since not every employee is motivated by the same thing, there is need to include diverse programs ranging from bonus pools individual recognition rewards and group performance acknowledgment. This makes workers feel appreciated for the job well done (Lauby, 2005, p.291) With a view to improving the sale level with business organizations, the manager and owner need to make realignment and readjusted of the operations within the entity and incorporate mechanisms to link product buying process and formal sales process. Majorly, emphasizing on the competence of sales and marketing staff to ensure the easy and efficient implementation of developed marketing strategies at all level of business operations. Recruiting personnel with high qualification that met the current market demands and cope with the stiff competition. The owners should use this as a competitive advantage to maintain their status and reputation. Additionally they ought to explore the nature of their customers with respect to culture, social economic and consumption behavior and pattern especially in new markets discovered. Moreover, the owners should institute programs aimed at motivating the workers. Establishing individual and group recognition reward will make employees feel acknowledged for their work well done and as a result stimulate their peak performance. References Adamson, B., Dixon, M., and Toman, N., 2013. Dismantling the Sales Machine. Harvard   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Business Review Axelsson, B., and Wynstra, F., 2002. Buying Business Services. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ltd. Blair, C. (2005). Four characters of selling: Speak the way your buyers listen, listen the way   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   your buyers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   speak. 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Growth Characteristics of Bacteriophage

Growth Characteristics of Bacteriophage CHAPTER 4 GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF BACTERIOPHAGE INFECTING AQUACULTURE BACTERIAL PATHOGENS 4.1  Introduction Bacteriophage are naturally occurring viruses that predated on bacteria (Clokie et al., 2011). They self-replicate exponentially and leave the commensal flora unaffected makes them useful for industrial application (Tsonos et al., 2014). However, the high number of bacteriophage in environment (Clokie et al., 2011) provide the challenges to the discovery of the most effective phage in treating bacterial pathogens (Lindberg et al., 2014). Even there were many extensive reports on bacteriophages, the clinical outcome of therapy trials are variable (Tsonos et al., 2014). This indicates that there are still many parameters which are unclear that may contributed to efficacy of the phage therapy. Previously, the most common practice to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of phages was from in vivo studies. However, Lindberg et al. (2014) provide the alternative to evaluate the efficacy the phage treatment. The information could be assessed from the important phage traits such as adsorption, lysis time and burst size (Ackermann et al., 2004). Besides that, there are various physical and chemical factors like temperature, pH and salinity which could determine the occurrence and stability of bacteriophage (JoÅ„czyk et al., 2011). These factors reported to cause the inactivation of phage through damage of the phage structure (head, tail or envelope) or DNA structural changes (Ackermann et al., 2004). Therefore, the next section in this study is aimed to characterize the bacteriophage isolates (VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5) based on their adsorption profile, one step growth profile and stability to various range of temperature, pH and bile salt concentration. 4.2  Materials and Methods 4.2.1  Bacteriophage Isolates The bacteriophage isolates that were used in the third chapter were further characterized in this chapter. The bacteriophage isolates were designated as VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. 4.2.2  Bacteriophage Adsorption Assay The bacteriophage adsorption assay was carried out following the method described by Hsieh et al. (2011) with few modification. In adsorption test, the host bacteria was first grown to OD600 1.0 or equivalent to ~108 cfu/ml and diluted to ~105 cfu/ml with TSB media. About nine ml of the host bacteria was mixed with one ml of phage lysate (~103 pfu/ml) to MOI of 0.001. Then, 100  µl of the bacteria-phage mixture was taken to determine the initial phage titer. The mixture was then incubated at 28 °C with no agitation. After 10 min, one ml of the samples was collected and centrifuged at 16,000 xg for 2 min to precipitate the absorbed phages. The same was repeated every 10 min for a period 50 min. The count of unabsorbed free phages in the supernatant was determined. Then, the free phage particles over the initial phage particles was calculated and expressed in percentage. The accuracy of the free phage count was improved by triplicate separate experiments. 4.2.3  Bacteriophage One Step Growth The one step growth assay was determined following method described Hsieh et al. (2011) with slight modification. First, host bacteria (OD600 1.0) was diluted to ~106 cfu/ml. Then, 100  µl of bacterial suspension was mixed with 100  µl of phage lysate (~103 pfu/ml) to a 1 ml of final volume with sterile TSB media (MOI 0.001). Second, the phage was allowed to adsorb into bacterial cells for 30 min at 28 °C. Then the bacterial cells were precipitated by centrifugation at 16,000 xg for 2 min. Third, the bacterial-phage pellet was suspended in 50 ml sterile TSB. Subsequently, 1 ml of the bacterial-phage suspension was precipitated by centrifugation and plated to determine the initial phage count. Then, two sets of bacterial-phage suspension concurrently collected every 12 min for a period of 84 min (for VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5) and 132 minutes (VHLPKM4) for the determination of latent period, eclipsed period and burst size. The first set was subjected to above treatment to determine t he latent period and burst size while the second set was added with 40  µl chloroform, mixed and incubated at 28 °C for 5 min before centrifugation to determine the eclipse period. The free phage count in the supernatant was determined in triplicate. The latent period and burst size was determined according to Middleboe et al. (2010). The eclipse period was determine according to Sillankorva et al. (2008). The accuracy of the free phage count was improved by triplicate separate experiments. 4.2.4  Bacteriophage Tolerance Test The stability of the bacteriophage isolates was test in different range of temperature, pH and bile salt concentrations. The temperature test was conducted for one hour, while, the pH and bile salt concentration tests were conducted for 24 hours. a.  Temperature Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different temperature was done following method described by Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon (2010) with slight modification. The bacteriophage solution was set to approximately 105 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. About 900  µl of sterile phage buffer was distributed into sterile empty 1.5 ml microfuge tube. The tube was incubated in the dry bath at desirable temperature (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C) at least for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, about 100  µl of bacteriophage solution (~104 pfu) was added into the preheated tube and mixed immediately. The tube was incubated again at desirable temperature for an hour. After incubation, the tube was placed in ice-warm bath to cool the bacteriophage solution. The titer of the survival phage was calculated by double layer method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. b.  pH Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different pH was done following method described by Hsieh et al. (2011) with slight modification. The pH of phage buffer was adjusted into desirable pH (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) using pH meter (brand). The phage buffer was sterilized using autoclave machine at 121 °C for 15 minutes. The bacteriophage was set to approximately 107 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. The bacteriophage suspension was diluted to 105 pfu ml-1 (1/100) in phage buffer with different pH. The initial phage count was calculated and the bacteriophage solution was incubated at room temperature for 24 hours. After incubation, the bacteriophage solution was diluted using normal phage buffer and plating to calculate the survival phage by double layer method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. c.  Bile Salt Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different bile salt concentration was done following method described by previous. The stock of bile salt (Brand) in phage buffer was prepared by filter sterilized to final concentration of 5 %. Then, the phage buffer was adjusted into desirable bile concentration (5000 ppm, 6000 ppm, 7000 ppm, 8000 ppm and 9000 pm). The phage buffer which used for the dilution of bile concentration was presterilized using autoclave machine at 121 °C for 15 minutes. The bacteriophage was set to approximately 107 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. The bacteriophage suspension was diluted to 105 pfu ml-1 (1/100) in phage buffer with different bile concentration. The initial phage count was calculated by serial dilution in normal phage buffer. The treated bacteriophage solution was incubated at room temperature for 24 hours. After incubation, the bacteriophage solution was diluted again using normal phage buffer and plated to calculate the survival phage by double laye r method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. 4.3  Result 4.3.1  Bacteriophage Adsorption Assay In the adsorption analysis, all isolates have two adsorption phases, rapid and slow adsorptions. The rapid adsorption of VALLPKK3 was occurred within 10 minutes where almost 80% of the phage adsorb to the host (Figure 4.1). This result was similar to the VHLPKM4 (Figure 4.2). Meanwhile, the rapid adsorption of VPLPKK5 showed that around 60 % of the phage adsorbed to the host (Figure 4.3). After 10 minutes, the slow rate was occurred to all isolates. The number of unadsorbed phages was approximately below 20% within 40 minutes in all phages. The increase of phage count in VPLPKK5 was occurred after 40 minutes. The increase in free phages after 50 minutes indicates that the newly formed phages are being release from the infected cells (Figure 4.3). Figure 4.1: Adsorption of VALLPKK3 to V. alginolyticus ATCC ® 17749TM Figure 4.2: Adsorption of VHLPKM4 to V. harveyi VHJR7 Figure 4.3: Adsorption of VPLPKK5 to V. parahaemolyticus VPHG1 4.3.2Bacteriophage One Step Growth The one step growth was performed to identify different phases of the phage infection process. During the initial stage, the phage-bacteria cell was separated from the free phage during the adsorption since the adsorption result showed the availability of free phage after 30 minutes of incubation. After the infection, the phage growth parameters (latent period, eclipse period and burst size) were determine from the average of three independent curves. The analysis showed that the latency and eclipse periods of VALLPKK3 (Figure 4.4), VHLPKM4 (Figure 4.5) and VPLPKK5 (Figure 4.6) were 48 and 36 minutes, 60 and 36 minutes and, 36 and 24 minutes, respectively. The latent period of VHLPKM4 was longer compared to VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5. Meanwhile, the eclipse period of VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 was similar, while, the eclipse period of VPLPKK5 were shorter than those two isolates. The VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 showed a burst size of ~174, ~52 and ~180 phage per infected cell, respectively, at the 28 °C. Figure 4.4: One step growth curve of VALLPKK3 infected with Vibrio alginolyticus ATCC ® 17749TM at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. Figure 4.5: One step growth curve of VALLPKK3 infected with Vibrio harveyi VHJR7 at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. Figure 4.6: One step growth curve of VPLPKK5 infected with V. parahaemolyticus VPHG1 at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. 4.3.3  Bacteriophage Tolerance Test The activity of all phage isolates was stable at 40 °C and declined at 50 °C following heating for 60 minutes. The activity was disappeared entirely when heated at more than 60 °C for 1 hour (Figure 4.7). When compared among the isolates, the activity of VHLPKM4 were decline dramatically to less than 20 % when incubated at 50 °C. The activity of VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5 were dropped to 80% and 40%, respectively. The activity of bacteriophages VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 can be measured after incubation at pH 4 to pH 9, but disappear completely at pH 2 and pH 3 (Figure 4.8). When compared among isolates, the VALLPKK3 was sensitive to wide range of pH. Almost all of the VALLPKK3 activity was drop to 20 to 40 % after 24 hours incubation. Meanwhile, the activity of VHLPKM4 was decline to 60 % at pH 4 and 5, relatively stable at pH 6 to pH 8 and decline again to less than 60 % at pH 9. However, the activity of VPLPKK5 relatively stable at wide range of pH (pH 4 to pH 9). Meanwhile, the activity of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 can be detected after incubated at bile salt concentration from 5000 ppm to 9000 ppm (Figure 4.9). Among the isolates, VALLPKK3 was more sensitive to the bile compared to VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. Figure 4.7:The temperature stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of temperature (40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C, 70 °C, 80 °C, 90 °C and 100 °C) for 1 hour. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. Figure 4.8:The temperature stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of pH (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) for 24 hours. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. Figure 4.9:The bile salt stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of bile salt concentration (5000, 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 ppm) for 24 hours. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. 4.4  Discussion The phage adsorption of VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 was fast (more than 80% after 10 minutes) compared to Vibrio phage PW2 (60% after 10 minutes) (Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon, 2010). Meanwhile, the adsorption of VPLPKK5 was comparable to PW2. This might due to both phages were belonged to same family (Sipboviridae). However, the phage adsorption was reported dependent on various condition. According to Binetti et al. (2002), the phage adsorption was shown to be affected by the presence of ion calcium, physiological state of the cell, pH and temperature. The one step growth is a method to assess the life cycle of the phage (Middleboe et al., (2010). The latent period was the time from adsorption to the release of new progeny from host cell, and the burst size was the number of new virus particles liberated from a single bacterial cell (Bao et al., 2011). When compared to other vibriophage infecting same host species, there were difference in term of the burst size of the phages Ñ„As51 and Ñ„A318 (Liu et al., 2014). The V. alginolyticus phage VALLPKK3 showed high burst size compared to those two (72 and 10 PFU/infected cell). Similar finding with VPLPKK5. This V. parahaemolyticus phage was different to other V. parahaemolyticus phage VP-2 (15 PFU per infected cell) (Silva et al., 2014) where it showed bigger burst size (180 PFU per infected cell). Meanwhile, the VHLPKM4 showed different finding. This study showed smaller burst size and longer latent period compared to previous report on V. harveyi phages цžH17-7b and Ñ„H17-8b (Okano et al., 2007). They reported that where the latent period and burst size of Ñ„H17-7b and Ñ„H17-8b were 35 minutes and 100 particles, and 40 minutes and 170 particles, respectively. Thus, the findings showed that the life cycle of each phage isolates was different from each other. However, the significant of the differences was unclear since the dissimilarity was influenced by the host, medium, temperature and its own growth rate (Carey-Smith et al., 2006). In this study, the bacteriophages VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5 showed a short period of latent period and large burst size. The shorter latent period and large burst size showed that the bacteriophages replicated more quickly and the new virus particle release more efficiently (Bao et al., 2011). This characteristic showed good candidacy of phage therapy (Silva et al., 2014). Finally, both adsorption and one step growth of phage are important to determine the phage fitness (Wang, 2006) since the phage fitness would determine the efficacy of the phage therapy (Lindberg et al., 2014). The stability in various stress condition were useful for the application of bacteriophage to inhibit the target bacteria (Lee et al., 2014; Krasowska et al., in press). In this study, the resistance to heat, pH and bile was investigated to determine the efficacy of those phages for biocontrol of V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus infections. Phage which can withstand various environmental stress may be useful for the application in aquaculture (Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon, 2010). The temperature is a important factor that affects bacteriophage survivability (Olson et al., 2004). It plays important roles in the bacteriophage attachment, penetration and multiplication (JoÅ„czyk et al., 2011). In this study, the result showed that all phages were stable at 40 °C. However, the viability was reduced after one hour incubation at 50 °C. All phage were completely inactivated in temperature over 60 °C. The phage in this study showed that they are sensitive to high temperature. This findings was different to the findings by Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon (2010) where the phage can withstand high temperature. However, in the natural environment, the temperature usually fluctuated at the range of 28 to 32 °C (Albert and Ransangan, 2013). Since the isolates in this study were stable at the temperature up to 40 °C, the isolates would survive when release to natural environment. Nevertheless, the period of viability of these isolates after release to natural environment was unknown. In the natural environment, the phage was also facing the other stress factor such as pH. According to Krasowska et al. (in press), the acidity and alkalinity of environment are other important factors influencing phage stability. It was also reported that low pH influences phage aggregation and reduce their adsorption on bacteria cell (Langlet et al., 2007). Therefore, it was important to access the stability of the current phage isolates in different pH. The VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 showed resistance to acid (pH 4) and alkaline (pH 9). This showed that the member of Myoviridae family stable at acid and alkaline condition (Krasowska et al., in press). Similar to the other isolates, VPLPKK5 was also showed resistance to acid and alkaline condition. This is similar to the finding by Lasobras et al. (60) where the member of family Siphoviridae were most resistant to adverse conditions. However, this finding was different to phage ARà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , a member of Siphoviridae, which is only a ctive in a narrow pH range (Krasowska et al., in press). The result of the phage tolerance to pH indicated that they were tolerant to wide range of pH. In aquaculture, oral administration was the most practical delivery method for immunization (Yasumoto et al., 2006) due to low cost and less stress to fish (Pal et al., 2009). However, the viability of orally administered phage might be rapidly reduced the presence other digestive compounds such as bile (Joerger et al., 2003). In this study, the phage isolates were exposed to various concentration of bile concentrations and result showed that the phage were still survived after incubation. However, there were reduction on the viability of the phage isolates which might showed the adverse effect of bile. With the addition of pH and other enzymes, the phage might not persist for long time in gut environment (Ma et al., 2008). 4.5  Conclusion In summary, the VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 were characterized by the growth and tolerance. The life cycle of the current isolates might be different when conducted different time and with different media. Therefore, the optimization was required for optimum phage multiplication which generally required for large scale production. This optimization was also contributed to the development of phage therapy. All phages are inactivated at high temperature but showed stability at temperature 40 °C. They are also stable at wide range of pH but not low pH. But, they could tolerate normal fish bile content. However, the study need to be conducted to collect the information of the period of phage survival in fish body. This information would be beneficial for the phage administration of disease treatment.

Morals :: Religion, Ethics

Who’s to Blame One night, a few years ago, I was watching television with two of my younger brothers. As I flipped through the stations I could not help but notice that on every channel was an interview of our President, Bill Clinton. The discussion was about President Clinton’s involvement with another women. They questioned him if he had â€Å"oral sex† or â€Å"committed adultery† with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Neither of my brothers commented at the time on what they saw or heard but I just started to imagine what could be running through their heads. â€Å"Well if the President can, why can’t I cheat and lie?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This, just one of many, is an example of how a child’s morals may be misguided. A young child may be looking at the wrong person or people as role models. If the situation rose in which a kid has the chance to cheat on a test will he? Would that child realize what he is doing wrong when people like the president are committing acts that may give that child the wrong impression on what is the right thing to do? These are just some questions that may be brought up on the topic that schools are teaching children bad morals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people say that schools are not to blame for children holding bad morals. Some may ask, â€Å"Is it the schools responsibility to teach children good morals or is it the parents job?† Some parents are â€Å"too easy† on their children. In today’s world most parents defend their children rather than punish them. For example, a child is caught doing drugs or alcohol, and instead of the kid receiving a punishment from the police, his parents hire a lawyer and find loop holes in the system to â€Å"get the kid out† without a punishment. This proves to kids that although they did something wrong they can get out of it so it’s no big deal, bad morals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another problem that rises is that in today’s schools teachers can not use any type of a faith or religion as a guideline for morals. Today’s laws prohibit teachers from teaching religion in public schools. Teachers are also told not to involve personal feelings in their teaching. It is very difficult for teachers to teach about morals without involving what they feel is the â€Å"correct way to act.† Some parents ask, â€Å"who are they to say what is right way for my child?