Thursday, October 31, 2019

The relationship of ethical climate Research Paper

The relationship of ethical climate - Research Paper Example The wars fought to be a monarch, the brawls between various political parties, the rivalry for becoming the head of department and the intense competition to become the CEO symbolizes the inborn fancy humans have for Control ,command and to have immense clout to pilot people. This task is however not a piece of cake, while leading and managing people a person is not merely administering a subordinate or an inferior. If we place ourselves in the shoes of a manager or a higher authority, it would be an easy deduction that one has to tackle a substantial array of different ‘’psychological’’ conducts and has to knob the infinite mood swings at times. There are some evils linked with supervision particularly in organizations, the most treacherous to handle is the problem employees. This special clan of people creates problems falling in an either inconsequential category or a colossal group that instigates the employer to take some imperative action instantly. F or instance there are a number of reasons an employee can motivate an employer to show them the door: Insubordination, theft, excess absences and tardiness etc (J, 2006). The high turnover of the employees multiplies the ordeals for the management.   Therefore the employers chalk out diverse strategies to correct the awkward actions or simply opt for the termination approach. But the employee turnover can hurt the overall productivity and is often a symptom of other difficulties. (J, 2006).  ... There are some evils linked with supervision particularly in organizations, the most treacherous to handle is the problem employees. This special clan of people creates problems falling in an either inconsequential category or a colossal group that instigates the employer to take some imperative action instantly. For instance there are a number of reasons an employee can motivate an employer to show them the door: Insubordination, theft, excess absences and tardiness etc (J, 2006). The high turnover of the employees multiplies the ordeals for the management. Therefore the employers chalk out diverse strategies to correct the awkward actions or simply opt for the termination approach. But the employee turnover can hurt the overall productivity and is often a symptom of other difficulties. Other costs of turnover are associated with selecting, orienting and training new workers (Billikopf, 2003). So the healthier alternative is to craft some on-job techniques and corrective measures th at can improve the working ambiance. Details: Around the world the managers and officials are trying to manage the digressions of their problematic subordinates. There are different procedures that are chalked out by people to direct the trouble-creators. For instance confrontation, 360 degrees feedback, termination, environmental upgrading and augmentation in incentives are the few things that are commonly practiced to humanize the negative mind-sets. But if certain sociological theories of deviance are considered profoundly they portray another side of the picture. As in the ‘’labeling theory’’ states that the deviance is socially constructed process in

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Included in the description Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Included in the description - Research Proposal Example conflict is the family-to-work conflict where a person is not able to fulfill his work responsibilities due to family demands (Medalia & Jacobs, 2008, p.138). However, in today’s competitive and fast paced world, the most dominant and common type of work-family conflict that is found in people’s life is the ‘work-to-family’ conflict. However, the aspect of work life that is playing a major role in causing work-family conflict is the â€Å"long work hours†. Long work hours are not only disrupting the fulfillment of family responsibilities, but are also posing a strong threat to the unity, bonding and peace between the family members by causing lack of family time, dissatisfaction in need fulfillment, emotional distress and poor role performance by working adults (Medalia & Jacobs, 2008, p.138). To resolve the work-family conflict, it is highly important to understand how â€Å"long work hours† have become a major threat to the peace of the soci ety by affecting the family lives of professionals. Hence, the purpose of this research is to study and review the literature in the field of family psychology, industrial/organizational psychology and occupational psychology to explore the ways in which â€Å"long work hours† destroy the marriage lives and the family lives of the adults who work. The first and major types of work demands that causes the work-family conflict are the time based work demands (Medalia & Jacobs, 2008, p.138). Working on weekends, night shifts and non-standard work schedules are the different time based demands that disrupt the family routines and family roles of the adults who work (Medalia & Jacobs, 2008, p.138). However, the type of time based work demand that proves most hazardous to the family life of a person is the â€Å"long work hours†. â€Å"Long work hours† have various negative effects on the life of a person who works and hence, harms the peace of the family in many ways. This research is intended to find out in what ways do long

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Asda: Strategic Management And Leadership

Asda: Strategic Management And Leadership INTRODUCTION This case will critically examine links between strategic management and leadership, impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions and how leadership styles adapted to different situations. Here I am going to use a case study from the choosing an organisation (ASDA) to view the relation between strategic management and leadership, and analyse how a new Strategic decision effect on the management and leadership. 1.1 ASDA ASDA is the second biggest supermarket chain in the UK. Since 1999 ASDA has been wholly owned by Wal-Mart which is the largest company in the world. ASDA was formed in 1965 by a group of farmers from Yorkshire, and its activities are still mainly based in north of Britain. [Corporate watch: ASDA Wal-Mart: overview]. 1.2 ASDA Mission, purpose and values ASDAs mission is: to be Britains best-value retailer exceeding customer needs always. ASDAs purpose is To make goods and services more affordable for everyone. ASDA also has a series of values. ASDAs values are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Respect for the individual à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Strive for excellence à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Service to our customers. 2. Strategic management and Leadership 2.1- Strategic management- strategic management is the process of organisational objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve their objectives, and allocating resources to implement the plans. It is usually performed by the companys top management level such as CEO, Stakeholders and executive team. It provides all direction to the whole organisation. It can be described as a way of achieving overall organisational objectives. It is the process that involves analysis of external and internal environment, resources and competencies of the company. Basically it is a set of managerial decision and action that determines the long-run performance of an organisation. Peter Ducker, 1954. 1.2- Leadership- For every problem there is a solution. It often happens that the person best fitted to solve the problem is someone not directly connected with or influenced by it. Michael J. Dreikorn, 2003. Leadership is the position in an organisation that leads and motivates people to achieve the organisational goal. Leadership inspires others to take the appropriate action. In an organisation there should be a leader to lead the people or group. They take responsible of their people and support them through training and development in order to encourage effective contribution toward meeting organisational objectives. 2- Link between strategic management and Leadership The management and Leadership are basically the words referred to as equivalent and in most cases are comparable from the same position. Management and leadership are the two vital discipline of the organisation. These are most important for the people who are involved in managing a team, business, and organisation. Leadership and management are the skills that an organisation should possess through its chosen leader with the support of its management. Leadership is driven by the person in an organisation who guides the group to achieve the company goal. There is good understanding between the leader and group people to determine the ability and articulate visions and goals. Management is the process of planning, organising, maintaining, controlling the efforts of the organisation member and using all the organisational resources to achieve the stated organisational goal. James A.F stoner and Chales Wankel, 1986. Leaders stand out by being different. They question assumption and are suspicious of tradition. They seek out the truth and make decisions based on fact, not prejudice. They have a preference for innovation. John Fenton, 1990. 2.1- Strategic Management and Leadership (ASDA) As one of the UKs fastest growing retailers, the aim of ASDA to committed to building and operating stores in a sustainable for the benefit of the environment and the communities they serve. Its strategy is centred on its mission, purpose values, which guide to make business even better. Wal-Mart has carried out a plan, to grow ASDA over the next five years to become number two in grocery and British biggest non-food leader. ASDA Corporate website. ASDA people are the companys most important asset and source of competitive advantage. Its success depends on the strength their management, which build from manage with a disciplined process led by the CEO and the senior leadership team. Employees are working seriously going above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done under leadership. Every department has a good team leader to lead the employee in a proper manner towards the organisational goal. Wal-Mart management which owns ASDA appointed Andy Clarke as the new CEO. Andy Clarke joined ASDA in 1992, during his tenure Andy Clarke has been groomed by the dynamics of ASDA by working in variety of leadership roles. He used to work as a business unit director such as frozen, bakery and grocery. He has good leadership skills in which he can lead his people in store in effective manner. In a statement of Doug McMillan, the president and chief executive of Wal-Mart international, said: At Wal-Mart and ASDA, we have a robust succession planning and talent development process and Andy Clarke has long been identified as a leader. He joined at a difficult time when the company has slowdown in sales because of the food price inflation effect the sales across the sector. But Clarke has done a fantastic job within a couple of week and that leads him to high designation. He has announced a great deal with the deep discounter in UK called Netto. ASDA bought 193 Netto stores worth  £778m. The new CEO will lead the retailers efforts to become an even better food retailer, a broader non-food retailer and a leader out its plans to open a new chapter in its story and that over the five years. It had to be market leader in general merchandise and food. (www.your.asda.com, posted by Asda press team on 11May 2010). 3- Impact of Management and Leadership in ASDA The acquisition with Netto could get strength like small Tesco stores that will help to achieve its goal and becoming Britains biggest retailer of general merchandise. It is a great idea that ASDA can be a part of the market with the small stores in high streets. It is also targeting Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Home base. During its past five year strategy ASDA has increased its sales from  £15bn a year to  £20bn. It has created more than 30000 jobs in the process with opening new 70 stores in UK. CEO Andy Clarke has believed to have again creating thousands of new jobs at every level of growing business. Andy Clarke, CEO and president of ASDA said Through a combination of opening new stores, extending existing ones, converting Netto stores, and continuing to expand our grocery home shopping service we will create 7500 new roles throughout the country. We also currently have nearly 3000 vacancies on our jobs website. www.asda.com/press-centre. Conclusion As one of the largest retailer in the UK, in order to be successful, An organisation should think about customer satisfaction. It helps to the business to achieve their mission, purpose and values. The study reviewed, argues that the companies that demonstrate perform to a highly invest a lot of time placing customer at the centre of their strategy. However it also recognises that the challenging of managing people is one of the most difficult jobs for a manager. Introduction A leading in an environment which is characterised by useful resources, an uncertain and unpredictable economic environment where the competition is constantly increasing and extremely challenging as no clear direction of an organisation. In an organisation change is tough and always has been. When change has become the order of the day, it is most important is having the right leadership team. This is why having a leadership strategy is the key. Change is tough and always has been. Many executives arent good at leading change because they dont understand the importance of making critical changes in how their companies are led, not just in how they operate. William Pasmore, 2008. When we planning to adopt a new strategy, we do have always some questions, which are- à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What style of leadership will be required? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How would we need to lead differently? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Do we have the right leaders to lead? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ If not what are we going to do about it? Leadership Theory Many leadership theories have been suggested for a leader to support an organisation. An earlier most of the leadership theories are based on the behaviour and qualities of successful leaders but later on it focused on the role of associates and follower. The following review and discussion of leadership theories may argue that demanding new approaches that encourage a more collective and unpredictable rearrangement view of leadership and leadership development and sharing the role of leader more widely within organisation. Situational Leadership Theory The theory is more likely tied to using the style needed to be a successful leader in work environment. The leader is able to create much leadership style as changing situation. The Hersey-Blanchard Model of leadership also takes a situational perspective of leadership. In this theory the developmental situation of a leaders subordinates play the biggest role in determining. It is based on the amount of task behaviour and relationship behaviour. In task behaviour the leader engages in duties and responsibility to an individual or a group. The task behaviour is like, what to do, how to do, when to do, where to do and whos to do it. In this behaviour the leaders are used one-way communication. In other way the relationship behaviour is the extent to which leaders are communicating in two-way by creating socio-emotional support. When determining the appropriate leadership style, according to Blanchard the key situational variable is the developmental level of subordinates. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Directing: The leader produce specific directions and clear instructions. For the low follower this is the best matched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Coaching: The leaders two- way communication helps to build confidence and motivation of the follower. The leader has responsibility and controls decision making. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Supporting: In this style the share decisions making between the leader and followers expect the relationship to be directive. Participating style is the best preferred to a moderate follower readiness level. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Delegating: In this style the leader is still involved in decision making with the group. It helps to make solution of the problem but the control is with the followers. In this style the followers are decide when to take the leader involved. Transformational leadership Theory The transformational leadership theory is occurring when one or more people engage, in which the leader and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation. For an example Mahatma Gandhi is a transformational leader. He satisfied the required of the followers. But instead of riding those require he remained seek to high purpose. The transformational leadership theory is focused on the hypothesis that the leaders can satisfy a need of the follower. The needs are always high order needs and are closely aligned with the internal motivation of the follower. Bernard Bass developed the transforming leadership where the leaders transform the followers. It is very closer to the prototype leadership in which the follower have in mind they describe their leader and provide a role model in which subordinates want to identify. He purposed that there is a special power in transforming leadership with leaders may transform both leaders and followers. Transformational leadership- à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Is preoccupied with purposes and values, morals and ethics. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Builds on a mans need for meaning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Is orientated along long-term goal and focuses more on missions and strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identifying and developing new idea à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Designs and restructure jobs to make them meaningful and challenging Leadership Strategy of Shell Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies. The parent company of the Shell group is Royal Dutch Shell plc. This is incorporated in England and Wales. The strategy of this group is seeks to reinforce the position as a leader in the oil and gas industry in order to provide a competitive shareholder. The leadership strategy used by Shell includes these elements as bellow; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Builds shared vision à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maximises business opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Champions customer focus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Demonstrates professional mastery à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Displays personal effectiveness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Motivates, coaches and develops à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Values differences à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Delivers results With a current market capitalisation of 292 billion dollars (2009), 278 billion dollars in annual review, operation in more than 150 countries, Shell is one of the largest businesses, but never as one of the fastest. With its 100 year history, its deep sense of tradition, and its carefully and longevity, but never as one of creativity or innovation. They use old traditional theory like authoritative style of leadership which based on upward directions. Leaders are creating strategy for the team and work with the subordinates on these policies. The rules and regulation made by the leaders are followed by the team members. Steve Miller, group managing director of the Shell group of companies, who guide the day to day activities, but two year after the company had lunched transformational leadership style. The upper level managers had shown their efforts, but employee morale continued to slip. Suggestion A successful organisation depends on leadership and a new approach to providing it. The leader has to find the proper vision to empower these frontline people, to challenge them, to provide them with their required resources and hold them accountable. As the followers are struggling with challenge, the leader becomes their coach, teacher and as well as facilitator. As employee move upwards in an organisation, they get caught up in board strategic issues, legal issues, stakeholder issues. They need a common understanding of the business which drives execution. Conclusion The review of leadership theory and example in use to the Shell group of company it would conclude that a limited version of transformational leadership is being promoted. The qualities and behaviour exhibited by the leader that encourages the followers participation, development and commitment. Leader is seen to act as a visionary equipped with a set of goal though communication, problem solving, people management, decision making, etc. that can be applied a diverse range of situations. TASK-3 Planning For Leadership Introduction Today the business environment is quite fast paces with the changing economy rapidly. There is a need for an organisation to implement competitive advantage, such as identify the sources of competitive advantage, implementing them and how to defend them. Organisations are using financial resources to get an edge over their competitors. They could also reliable their human resources or another is through implementation of technological changes. With all these, it can be tricky for an organisation to balance the three aspects. Porter, 1985. Virtual Organisation The word virtual organization is to be called as a network of independent organisation. The firms are temporarily join together to produce a service or product. It is consult with such term as virtual teams, virtual office, and virtual leadership. Advance information technology becomes an important element. That is why the success of a virtual organisation. Computerised information systems allow employees from geographically dispersed location to link up with one another. Virtual team members need to learn new skills like they are total lack or face to face contact. So they need the skill is the ability to interact with everyone in an effective manner. Another one is the ability to assimilate quickly and effectively into new teams. They may need computer based technologies as well as intercultural skills to work effectively in multinational organisations. Virtual leaders required new skills to lead in the different environment to virtual operations and sustain virtual relationship with internal as well as external constituents to support their team. For an example; like Apple computer and Sun Microsystems. When Apple computer linked its easy- to-use software with Sonys manufacturing skills in miniaturization, Apple was able to get product to market quickly and gain a market share in the notebook of the PC industry. Mergers and Take Overs Mergers and takeovers are an action of an organisation. They turn two companies in a single legal entity. Two organisation combine together to improve the organisational performance and shareholders value over the long time period. Historically mergers are occur in periodic burst, typically included by economic shocks such as, changing environment, cost of goods, deregulation, technology, political uncertainty and demand reduction. During the period of corporate change leadership has a profound effect on stakeholders. ASDA has announced in May 2010 that it is to take over Netto store. This is the great example of horizontal integration. This will increase their market share and to compete with Tesco. e- Leadership E-Leadership means a balancing many roles and carrying them out via communications technologies. Leadership is not only a job or a position; it is a way of being the world. As an e-leadership in the world today, it need to bring people together around the world, through national, geographic and cultural, using communications technologies tools to achieve the strategic goal. E-Leadership takes place in the context of e-environment in which the work is mediated by information technology particularly the internet (Hani, 2001). Development of leadership skills Everyone can develop their capacity to lead a party or a committee, or a group. When someone already committed, and practised using their capabilities in their life, they can develop their own skills as a leader. Mainly leadership skills are the skills that can use in various situations. This type of skills called as situational theory. It does not mean that assessing the leadership styles will identify the strength and weakness, but it can be develop the leadership skills. Golden Rule at Work- The skills which we used at work every day like the way treating others is wish to be treated. It is not always easy as it sounds. In an organisation leaders need to keep balance of short term results and long term job satisfaction. Coaching and Teaching- some leadership skills has to develop with the help of coaching and teaching as well. This is especially effective, where leaders may be lead as expert and should be interested in the development of the group or people. In this situation leader can develop coaching skills by face to face with others. Delegating Task- Delegating task is not only giving the work to someone and runaway. It is not only extra knowledge or experience for the co-worker, but it works in trust. This type of skill can be develop by giving less task, which could be complete by the certain time with a good result. As the task become easy to do and comfortable leader can start delegating more and more difficult tasks. Democracy at Work- This type of skill we said simply encouraging independent at work. It allows the co-workers to believe they have right direction the team is going. It can be say democratic leadership styles. Among them they discussing with others that often comes with freedom to take any decisions, while it takes a long time. Emotional Intelligence Leadership Skills- Emotional intelligence skills are in natural and leading other with successfully interacting through people. The skill helps the leader to understand the dynamic of those interactions. Self-Awareness is our ability to determined that the position of the leader by self. It is the ability to understand the emotions, moods, and motivations. Self-Regulation is the skills that more responsibility with control the emotions. It controls the emotions which will be counter productivity to desire the goal. Motivational Skills- Motivation skills come from external source, like managers recognition for a job well done, and internal sources like self-motivation or internal motivation. As a leader it is very important to identify the key which motivates more at work. Empathy Skills- It is the skills that involves in the relationship with the co-worker. It is ability to understand someones point view. The skill has the ability to understand the impact change on someone else. Social Skills- To develop these skills you need to be socialise others. It works in networking style in a work setting. The followers need to listen their leader and take interest on listening. Need to be able to develop and guide followers using social skills. Conclusion Without any leadership, most strategic plans of an organisation will end up as dead piece of paper.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Macbeth :: essays research papers

MACBETH The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare contains many interesting themes; Shakespeare has taken a time of great change in Scottish history and used it to suit his of purposes. He uses the rise to power of a man to examine issues and ideology of Elizabethan times. The people of the Elizabethan timer believed in the divine right of kings, to put simply the king is gods chosen representative on earth, he speaks to god, to kill a king would bring about horrendous repercussions an turn a peaceful world into chaos. A good example of this chaos is when Macbeth kills Duncan; the day after Ross tells us That the day became as dark as night, a falcon was killed by an owl and that Duncan's horses turned wild and ate each other. Another theme from Macbeth, which is linked to the idea of divine right of kings, is Individuals disrupting the natural order of events. Unnatural acts such as murder and witchcraft are linked to unnatural events in nature. Using the example of duncan's horses, we see, after Macbeth committed an unnatural act (killing Duncan) we learn that his horses ate each other an act that is not natural to horses. Considering both of these, Macbeth had to decide whether it was right for him to change events, but also if he kills Duncan will it mean he, himself may fall victim to someone's vaulting ambition. "Bloody instructions which, being taught, return to plague the inventor" Macbeth Act 1 scene 4 Macbeth is also plagued with the idea of kingship. A bad leader will always equal unhappy times. When Maclom lists the qualities in a king ( Act 4 scene 3)he lists Justice, Verity, Temperance, Stableness, bounty, Perseverance, Mercy, lowliness, Devotion, Patience, Courage, Fortitude. How many of these qualities do we see in Macbeth? The role of good and evil, another major theme in Macbeth is important, because although Macbeth and lady macbeth are comsidered evil, they show weaknessess. It is clear they have got in to deep. I consider the witches to be evil as they corrupted a good man leading him from the values he was brought up to respecthowerve, I do not see Banquo as good. For the reason he did not voice his beliefs that macbeth was the killer, nor Macduff, although he appears as a good man he did abandon his family, leaving them to the wrath and injustice of Macbeth Macbeth :: essays research papers MACBETH The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare contains many interesting themes; Shakespeare has taken a time of great change in Scottish history and used it to suit his of purposes. He uses the rise to power of a man to examine issues and ideology of Elizabethan times. The people of the Elizabethan timer believed in the divine right of kings, to put simply the king is gods chosen representative on earth, he speaks to god, to kill a king would bring about horrendous repercussions an turn a peaceful world into chaos. A good example of this chaos is when Macbeth kills Duncan; the day after Ross tells us That the day became as dark as night, a falcon was killed by an owl and that Duncan's horses turned wild and ate each other. Another theme from Macbeth, which is linked to the idea of divine right of kings, is Individuals disrupting the natural order of events. Unnatural acts such as murder and witchcraft are linked to unnatural events in nature. Using the example of duncan's horses, we see, after Macbeth committed an unnatural act (killing Duncan) we learn that his horses ate each other an act that is not natural to horses. Considering both of these, Macbeth had to decide whether it was right for him to change events, but also if he kills Duncan will it mean he, himself may fall victim to someone's vaulting ambition. "Bloody instructions which, being taught, return to plague the inventor" Macbeth Act 1 scene 4 Macbeth is also plagued with the idea of kingship. A bad leader will always equal unhappy times. When Maclom lists the qualities in a king ( Act 4 scene 3)he lists Justice, Verity, Temperance, Stableness, bounty, Perseverance, Mercy, lowliness, Devotion, Patience, Courage, Fortitude. How many of these qualities do we see in Macbeth? The role of good and evil, another major theme in Macbeth is important, because although Macbeth and lady macbeth are comsidered evil, they show weaknessess. It is clear they have got in to deep. I consider the witches to be evil as they corrupted a good man leading him from the values he was brought up to respecthowerve, I do not see Banquo as good. For the reason he did not voice his beliefs that macbeth was the killer, nor Macduff, although he appears as a good man he did abandon his family, leaving them to the wrath and injustice of Macbeth

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Infectious Disease

* What is the infectious agent (pathogen) that causes this infectious disease? For example, the name of the bacteria, virus, or parasite. Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that comes from the Hepatitis A virus (HAV). There isn’t a treatment for the disease once you get it. How is this infectious agent transmitted through food or water? Hepatitis A is contracted from eating food and drinking water contaminated with human feces. Eating raw and undercooked fish that was in contaminated waters contribute to the disease. Sometimes eating raw produce that have been contaminated can also cause the illness. Foods that have been sitting out in the air and have had bacteria growth on it and eaten also contribute to the disease. * What is an example of a real life outbreak of this foodborne illness in the United States? * What are the clinical symptoms, duration of the disease, and treatment if any? During Hepatitis A some symptoms of the disease are fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay colored bowel movements and joint pain. In 70% of the cases Jaudice is the most common symptom. Symptoms can last up to 2 months. The average time of incubation is 28 days. Once contracted, there is no treatment. The individual has the illness to run its course. * What steps can be taken to prevent further outbreaks? Include individual as well as environmental precautions and methods. To prevent further outbreaks, people should have good hygiene including wash their hands often especially when they deal with food preparation. There has also been a vaccination created for Hepatitis A that is given to children between their first and second birthday. Others that should get vaccinated are men having sex with men, people traveling to Central and Southern America, Mexico, Asia (except Japan), Africa and eastern Europe and people that use street drugs. Once you are immune to Hepatitis A you can’t get it again. To prevent the spread of Hepatitis A in water, chlorine is added to the water in US.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A Hotel Restaurant Practicum Report Essay

STRENGHT As an intern i observed some strenghts within Fernandina Hotel, first is that all the staffs are friendly and they will give you the best services they can offer, i can also say that the location is good because there are nearby malls and other business institutions located within the area. Sanitation and cleanliness is well proven in the hotel they are very strict when cleanliness is involved and they train their staffs to become aware of the health of their guests. WEAKNESSES The one thing that can be a weakness of this hotel is that they lack manpower to accomodate their guests, for me this is a big deal as a weakness because this can lead to the downfall of the hotel.The guests will not appreciate the stay if the staffs that will serve them are minimal and cant give them the whole service they want. INTRODUCTION In 1572, Spanish conqueror Juan de Salcedo founded Villa Fernandina in the Philippines and named it after Fernando, the firstborn son of King Felipe II. The Seat of Nueva Segovia bishoporic and capital of the Ilocos Region, the romantic Fernandina boasted of stately Spanish homes where the aristocrats of old savoured the simple yet elegant setting of a classic era. As a tribute to its namesake, the Fernandina 88 Suites at the heart of Araneta Business and shopping center is a masterful blend of contemporary and classical architecture. From the exquisite exterior design of the building to the finest details of each unit, Fernandina 88 boasts of both artistic flair and elegant style. Fernandina 88 suites is designed to suit the tastes of hardworking young professionals and business traveller who appreciate the art of gracious living. This Fernandina 88 suites Owned and Operated by ALCAT Inc. 222 P. Tuazon Boulevard, AranetaCenterCubao Quezon City Philippines 1109. And we are affordable in 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms types of suites. The mission vision of the company is all to the officers and staff of Fernandina 88 suites hotel dedicate ourselves to provide peaceful harmonious  and secure accommodation to our customer clients and guests characterized by quality suites. To this end our aim is to serve our guests in a manner that would exuberate an enthusiasm in service, and the name of the owner of this company is Mr.Joselito Alvarado. and in Fernandina 88 suites we have 3 functions namely 1572 reataurant& ballroom located at 12th floor, the vigan conference hall located at 6th floor, and executive hall located at 2nd floor building. STATUS ANALYSIS ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Sir Bench (Officer in Charge) Benjamin Adriatico 1. Raphael Araneta Antero Molave 2. Jonas Robles Ramon Medina (Food Attendant) Ariel Cruz Ben (Steward) (Steward) Yes the employees do their duty and responsibilities well inside the restaurant, also all the employees in morning and night shifts are hardworking and responsible. OPERATION SYSTEMS & PROCEDURES Breakfast buffet starts at 7AM-10:30AM Always serve a coffee and hot tea Last call for the breakfast buffet at 9:30AM Lunch buffet starts at 12-2:30PM Always serve water Last call for the breakfast buffet at 2:00PM All of the employees and trainees are following the everyday procedures and rules and regulations of the hotel. And prove to the guest that we are always happy to serve them and always smile even we are tired. FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT Soup Tureen- is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews. Ramekin- used for the preparation and serving various food, dishes. Percolator- is a type of pot used to brew coffee by continually cycling the boiling or nearly boiling brew. Consomme- is a type of clear soup that many guest can use. Olstoria- (coffee espresso machine) Coffee Grinder- is the process of turning coffee beans into a beverage. All the uncommon equipments are working properly, for me it’s a big deal because if these equipments are gone or is not working properly it will not be easy to serve the guests or we can’t give them the good service they want. MANPOWER SCHEDULING All of the AM shifts are starts from 7AM-3PM while the PM shifts are starts from 3PM-10PM that are the prepared scheduled of the restaurant. Yes it’s very effective because In morning shift i can start from 7AM – 3PM after that I have a lots of time to get rest in house. While the night shift starts from 3PM-10PM WORK ATMOSPHERE For me its yes we can move and serve properly inside the restaurant because there is a big and wide space for the guests. And it’s not difficult to move inside the restaurant, it is design to accommodate many guests at once. USE OF MATERIAL RESOURCES Purchase Order – First we go to purchasing area to get some stocks and after that we need to write from a piece of paper the item that they get. One for the am shift and one for the pm shift are assigned to do the inventory every day and all the stocks are enough every day. And so if ever we need to purchase we can just go to purchasing area to get what we need. SANITATION PROCEDURES 1. We always use solution for whipping the tables. 2. We always do the bass out after the guests are done with the dirty plates. 3. We are always segrate all the utensils like spoon, fork, knife and teaspoon. 4. Wear clean proper and tidy attire when they are at work. 5. Keep their finger nails short and clean. 6. Do not wear accessories or jewelry ask they may drop into the food. 7. Keep hair neat and tidy. CLEANING THE WORKING AREA 1. Dining Area 2. Bar Area 3. Buffet Area

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

An Example of Dividend Policy Irrelevance Essays

An Example of Dividend Policy Irrelevance Essays An Example of Dividend Policy Irrelevance Essay An Example of Dividend Policy Irrelevance Essay AN EXAMPLE OF DIVIDEND POLICY IRRELEVANCE An example provides insight into the dividend irrelevance proposition. Suppose that now is time 0, and one year from now is time 1. Carter Company just paid its time 0 dividend (assume dividends are paid once per year), and plans to publicly announce its dividend policy for the next year. It is considering the following two policies (all dollar amounts in $millions). Policy I: At time 1, dividends = $110, new share sales = 0, treasury stock purchases = 0 Policy II: At time 1, dividends = $121, new share sales = $11, treasury stock purchases = 0 The time 1 total equity value (the $2,200 in column (3) of the exhibit below) is the time 1 market value of all shares (shares that were outstanding at time 0 and new shares issued at time 1. It is the ex-dividend (post time 1 dividend) value of the firm’s equity at time 1. This amount ($2,200) is the same under policies I and II because the firm’s assets and financial structure are exactly the same under I and II (implying the same time 1 total value of all the equity outstanding at time 1). We assume that the buyers of the new time 1 stock pay a fair price for the stock. Dividend policy (1) Time 1 dividend (2) Time 1 total equity value (time 0 shares + new time 1 shares) (3) Time 1 value of new time 1 shares (4)Time 1 value of old time 0 shares [= (3) ? (4)] (5) I$110$2,2000$2,200 II$121$2,200$11$2,189 Now let’s compute the time 0 value of the Carter stock if Carter announces policy I, and if it announces policy II. Assume an equity discount rate (k) of 10%. = = = $2,100 (1) = = = $2,100 (2) In the numerator of (2), ($2,200 ? $11) is the time 1 value of the time 0 shares (the shares that were outstanding at time 0, which equals the value of all the shares at time 1 minus the value of the new shares issued at time 1). The time 0 value of those shares is independent of dividend policy. At time 1, under policy II, the time 0 shareholders give up an $11 ownership interest in the firm’s shares in exchange for an $11 dividend payments; the transaction is a wash. This wash effect holds for any dividend policy change if there are no personal taxes.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Tarantulas

Tarantulas Free Online Research Papers Tarantulas. Large, hairy, gross and scary are all word that have been used to describe them. Most people think that they are menacing and quick to attack. But truly, unless you are a bug, small rodent or small bird, they are relaxed and non-aggressive arachnids. One of the tarantulas many, and most useful adaptations is that they are nocturnal. This allows them to hunt at night, while other animals, such as rodents, small birds, and other prey, are sleeping. A complementary adaptation to this is their eight padded feet, for easier stalking and sneaking. These pads make their slow steps even more silent, allowing it to get closer to a delicious meal, such as a mouse or vole. Then, when it is close enough it will leap, one to two feet in the air, on top of their unsuspecting prey. They will deploy their retractable claws, to hold onto it, and sink its razor sharp fangs into the prey. The fangs will then pump out venom that liquefies the prey’s organs and insides. As you can see, all these aspects work together to help the tarantula to get its prey. But what if the tarantula is the prey? Surprisingly, this happens quite often, especially with the tarantula hawk. The tarantula hawk is a wasp like bug that stings tarantulas. This sting kills the tarantula, which the tarantula hawk lays its eggs on. However, the tarantula doses not just accept this â€Å"sting of death.† It still has tricks up its hairy arms. First, those 8 padded feet can do more than just stalk around. A full grown tarantula can burst up to ten miles per hour. If a predator does catch this speedy spider, the tarantula can fire his sharp back hairs at the predator, making him terribly itchy. If the tarantula can make it back to his borrow, sometimes two feet deep in the ground. Here, it can either hide from his attacker, or if the predator is stupid enough to follow him down into the nest, fight him in the very dark nest. The tarantula has extremely good vision at close range, and will probably kill his enemy. Not only can this super spider hunt, but he can defend himself, jump, run, even borrow down in the ground. They have probably formed such a bad reputation because of their size. Some tarantulas can be as big as a dinner plate! But really, tarantulas will not hurt you if you keep your distance, and don’t agitate this super arachnid. Research Papers on TarantulasThe Hockey GameHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Spring and AutumnThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsMind TravelThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraGenetic EngineeringAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Direct Managers Letter of Recommendation for an Employee

Direct Manager's Letter of Recommendation for an Employee SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What does a good recommendation letter look like? Below you’ll find a sample letter written by a direct manager for an employee who works in software sales. If you’re responsible for managing or leading a team, chances are you’ll be called upon to write similar letters. Read on to see how this manager endorses one member of his sales team, and then check out the breakdown of what this letter does well. Sample Letter #1: Written by a Manager for a Full-Time Employee Ms. Greta JohanssenSales ManagerStreambase Corp.66 Western BoulevardSanta Fe, New Mexico 87500 Dear Ms. Johanssen, It’s my pleasure to provide this letter of recommendation for James as he seeks employment in software sales with Streambase. As James’s sole direct manager at Waretech, I’ve worked closely with him over the past three years, sharing the same open office space the majority of the time. James showed excellent communication skills and consistently exceeded company quotas. On a personal level, he’s charismatic and well-spoken, both qualities that have served him well in his role as software sales professional. Due to his wife’s cross-country transfer, James is seeking employment out west. All of us at Waretech will be sad to see such a valuable employee go, but our loss is truly your gain. Allow me to point out three examples of James’s strengths. First, James brought great value to Waretech by consistently exceeding quotas and selling in the top 15% of his peers. James has an understanding of market trends and instincts for identifying and pursuing qualified leads. Not only does he provide stellar service to existing clients, but he’s established a number of new business-to-business and business-to-customer accounts during his time at Waretech. Last fall, for instance, he added Voxacorp to our client list, a huge acquisition, and has been working closely with its IT department ever since. James has the combination of business acumen and communication skills that makes him an outstanding salesperson. Second, James has a very strong grasp of technology. He knows our software inside and out and helps relay technical information to customers in an accessible way. He explains our products clearly to customers and makes the most of technological avenues to gain new leads and customize his sales pitch to clients. During an early review, I observed him discuss in detail with a prospective client the specific ways that our software could boost the sales of her online bakery. By monitoring clients’ presence across our website and blog, he provides each one with personalized service to meet his/her needs. James makes the most of technology to find new prospects, provide modern solutions, and drive results. Finally, James has proven himself to be a strong cultural fit here at Waretech. He’s always ready to lend a helping hand to his teammates and contributes during brainstorming sessions and meetings between the sales and marketing teams. Last month, James co-led an enlightening meeting on content marketing and account management. Outside of official events, James also takes turns leading weekly spin classes at our in-house gym. James is an active member of the Waretech team and supports his colleagues professionally and personally (not to mention athletically!). In closing, I’d like to restate my strong support for James’s application to the role of software sales professional with Streambase. I’m confident that he will surpass your expectations in this new role. James is driven, self-confident, proactively helpful, and smart, and I know he will continue to find success in sales. Please feel free to contact me at (866) 8-5546 or ssaasman@waretech.com with any other questions. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Samuel SaasmanSales ManagerWaretech, Inc.ssaasman@waretech.com(866) 8-5546 Based on this letter, should James pack his bags and get ready to move out west? Recommendation Letter 1: The Breakdown This first recommendation letter sample represents a common type of letter,one written by a direct manager for an employee who’s applying to a new company. Right off the bat, the writer gives a strong statement of support for James by saying that it’s his great pleasure to provide the recommendation. If he started by simply saying, â€Å"I am writing this letter of recommendation for James,† it wouldn’t have quite the same impact. Samuel Saasman incorporates the first key feature of strong letters by stating who he is and how he got to know James. He also indicates the reason that James is applying elsewhere. Including this information can be useful for the hiring manager, especially if it’s followed by a statement of support like, â€Å"Our loss is truly your gain.† Samuel structures his letter by presenting three of James’s major strengths: his sales record, his use of technology, and his relationships with his co-workers. This structure can be an effective one for recommendation letters; some writers might choose to use bullet points to clarify their thinking. Samuel writes about James’s qualifications while incorporating specific examples in each paragraph to illustrate his work performance. Since James is applying to a similar position in software sales, all of the strengths described relate directly to the requirements of his target job. Samuel recommends James with highly positive language. He repeats his strong support of James several times and his confidence in his future success. He seems to have chosen with words carefully, using strong descriptors like â€Å"charismatic,† â€Å"driven,† and â€Å"proactively helpful.† As is the custom for recommendation letters, he concludes by inviting the hiring manager to contact him with any further questions. Overall, Samuel writes a glowing letter for James’s application to a new job in software sales. His high opinion is evident, and his examples prove that James has the qualifications to excel in his next position. What's Next? Ready for the next recommendation letter sample? Click hear to read a sample letter written by a principal for a teacher applying to a new school. Want to learn more? If you want to readabout what goes into a strong letter of recommendation or find additional samples, you can head tothe full guide here. Want to provide a strong recommendation for your employee, but don't have the time to craft the perfect letter? PrepScholar's new recommendation tool, SimpleRec, takes you from good intentions and a blank page to a fully written and formatted letter of recommendation in under 5 minutes. All you need to do is give us some simple pieces of information about your employee and your experience working with them, and we'll do the rest. Try out SimpleRec risk-free today: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Rebecca Safier About the Author Rebecca graduated with her Master's in Adolescent Counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has years of teaching and college counseling experience and is passionate about helping students achieve their goals and improve their well-being. She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University and scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. 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Saturday, October 19, 2019

Role of a nurse in nutrition management of diabetic patient Literature review

Role of a nurse in nutrition management of diabetic patient - Literature review Example Its impact on the patient, with its related complications is very much costly. Its health complications also include multiple organ damage. There are various interventions for diabetes, but lifestyle modification is one of the primary forms of prevention and management for the disease. Partnered with medications, the burden of the disease is reduced and complications are prevented. Lifestyle changes include the modification of the patient’s nutrition and the increase in his physical activities. Programmes on nutrition and lifestyle changes have been generally effective in preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes (Ory, Jordan, & Bazarre, 2002; Department of Health 2004) and also in fulfilling treatment objectives in the management of risk factors associated with the disease (Dusenbery, Brannigan, Falco & Hansen, 2003). Educational programmes have generally been advantageous and effective for individuals suffering from the disease, especially where they also comply with the health recommendations indicated by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). These lifestyle modifications are however diffic ult to implement for the patient especially with the major issues related to the food and diet available in the current food industry today. Foods high in cholesterol, sodium, and sugar have saturated the market, even foods which are touted by food companies as ‘healthy’ foods have components which are not healthy for the human body. Fast foods have become more affordable to the people, pushing up their mass appeal. As a result, obesity and all its related complications has become an even more common disease across different age groups and different ethnicities. The relevance of nutrition in the management of diabetes has increased. As one of the front-line healthcare givers, the role of nurses is considered very much important in disease

Friday, October 18, 2019

Mid Course Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mid Course Exercise - Essay Example This is the real case in which firms try to differentiate their product or service offerings just to be able to gain considerable market share in the midst of an ongoing competition. The threat of new entrants on the other hand is alarming to the existing firms of the same industry. This is because the new entrants try to remarkably prove themselves and share something new that will create a significant impact in the market (Porter, 1980). Threats of substitute products or services bring forward the opportunity for customers to have various choices. As a result, customers have strong market power because of their chance to choose for the best price, quality and other intrinsic features of a product or service offering (Porter, 1980). Bargaining power of buyers may happen if there are various product or service offerings to choose from. This happens in a highly diversified market where there are existing competition trying to diversify their product or service offerings resulting to b etter substitutes at remarkably lower prices or even higher quality, the bottom line is to extend market power (George, Joll, & Lynk, 1992). Bargaining power of sellers on the other hand can affect the level of competitive intensity within an industry by taking advantage of maximizing their opportunities. They could either monopolize the industry under a monopolistic competition (McEachern, 2011). This is evident in the case of Philippine Petroleum Industry and other third world countries which are under the bargaining power of multinational corporations on petroleum products. Relative power of other stakeholders is also influential on the competitive level of an industry. One basic example is the ability of Apple Incorporated to successfully penetrate the mobile phone industry with its innovative smart phone technology (Apple Incorporated, 2011). This happened because Apple is supported by various stakeholders for the successful promotion of its breakthrough technology. As noticed, the market today is bombarded with different styles and options for smart phone technology. 2. What information is needed for effective strategy formulation? Why? Answer: An organization must be able to measure the level of commitment of its top personnel such as the managers or supervisors in order to be able to understand how well they would want to continue its vision (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2010; Zanini, 2007; Hitchcock & Willard, 2009). In fact, it is found that a strong commitment among top managers in an organization is associated with effective strategy implementation outside the bound of environmental dynamism (Willauer, 2005). This only implies that an effective strategy formulation does not only ensure finding the right information about the competitors’ strategic moves or the external environment in general, but more so, there is a need to understand the internal environment because it definitely affects how the entire organization would function in great detail in the midst of its entire business operation. For instance, we know how the economic downturn in 2008 affected the United States and the business firms. However, such external factor sometimes may be overlooked but one thing that could not be missed out is the information about employee commitment. In times of crisis like this, employees would most likely to consider many issues and on top of them it might be about their concern on sustainability. How they could feed their family, or ensure making both ends

Critical analysis of the Urbanisation (cause-effect fram work) Essay

Critical analysis of the Urbanisation (cause-effect fram work) - Essay Example This is reflected in the increased importance given to health and environment concerns in the formulation of national plans for sustainable development, by many countries. It is essential that these plans are supported and implemented by all sectors contributing to economic development. It is essential that long-term intervention is directed at reducing the driving forces that generate the environmental health threats. Successful public health interventions concentrate on improving human environments and promote a more holistic perspective on health (Corvalan et al, 1999: 656). New tools are needed to ensure that intersectoral action is implemented in the way that the health sector functions. Improving coordination might be one of the most important ways in which we can help put the planet back on a healthy and sustainable path, states Schimding (2002: 632). forces that generate environmental pressures, creating changes in the state of the environment and eventually contributing to human exposures, states the World Health Organisation Report (1997: 2). Kahlmeier & Braun-Fahrlander (2004: 104) support the use of the frame-work. mediated health hazard may be the immediate cause of ill health, the â€Å"driving force† and â€Å"pressures†leading to environmental degradation may be the most effective points of control of the hazard. The â€Å"network† of connections within the framework can be used to identify cause-effect â€Å"pathways† or â€Å"trees,† depending on whether the framework is used to analyze the multiple health effects of a single driving force (eg, transport policy relying on car transport leading to increased motor vehicle related injuries, effects on the respiratory system, noise disturbance, etc) or to analyze the multiple causes of a single health effect, for example: acute respiratory infections in children resulting from driving forces such as poverty, household energy policies, housing policies, and agricultural policies

How to improve the poor customer service rating Research Proposal

How to improve the poor customer service rating - Research Proposal Example This research will help readers take corrective action in relation to customer satisfaction and improve their customer service rating. The increased use of Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs) has hindered personal interaction between consumers and the service providers, leading to dissatisfaction and discontentment of consumers. Therefore, there is a need to rectify this problem and divert to more consumer interactive models of customer service. The goal of this investigate is to provide an interactive customer service model that will increase customer service and in turn increase customer satisfaction and service ratings. Case studies have shown that by eliminating the barrier between customers and service providers, the customers feel more appreciated and better served. It has also been proven that this increases customer retention rates. This will be done by adopting a face to face sale of company’s products to consumers, a process that will be very interactive through product sampling, answer query session and feedback about the product. The customer will be able to interact personally with the service provider and ask questions about the product i.e. how it works, what ingredients have been used to make it, what its limitations are, how long the product will serve the customer among other questions the customer might have. This solution will also enable the customer feel well served since his/her complains/concerns will be handled immediately without the hustle of having to follow up through phone calls. By eliminating barriers, more customer interactive model will be adopted that will hel p accomplish the first objectives of this research, i.e., to make customer service interactive and also the second objective by ensuring that customers are satisfied with services provided. Most customers are not satisfied with the service they

Thursday, October 17, 2019

First Lady Fashions and Frank Knight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

First Lady Fashions and Frank Knight - Essay Example He is the pioneer of the â€Å"mix and match† fashion style. On the other hand, Frank Knight is Harry’s nephew and company’s treasurer. The paper will discuss the challenges that Frank faced in the enterprise. Sarah is Harry’s sister and is the corporation’s vice-president in charge of administration. The organizational structure clearly states that Frank and Sarah are at the same management level. However, apparently Frank is subordinate to Sarah. Frank lacks independence in his position as the company’s treasurer. For instance, Frank is not allowed to approve any expenditure exceeding 30,000 dollars without Sarah’s informal approval. The fact that Sarah’s support is merely informal clearly shows that the management tends to undermine Frank’s authority. The need for Sarah’s assent poses a significant challenge to not only Frank but also the company as a whole. Sarah is rash, hires and fires employees without consulting anybody and objects any proposed changes without any reasonable explanation. Sarah sacked the vice president of industrial relations despite the annual 170,000 dollars per year contract with the company. This action by Sarah negatively influenced the company’s expenses and financial welfare. Frank’s contribution to the well-being of the firm is inadequate merely due to Sarah’s interference in his job. Secondly, lack of coordination among the firm’s department hinders Frank’s workmanship. Conflicts among the departmental managers occurred on a daily basis. The managers would fiercely argue if any of them disagreed with the sales forecasts merely because the forecast jeopardised the interests of a departmental they were in charge. Moreover, the sales forecast are distributed to the top-level managers, including Frank, located in the firm’s headquarters offices. The constant disagreements and amending of the sales forecast interfered with Frank’s role as the Treasurer. Frank had to adjust financial plans continually in accordance with the frequently proposed changes.  Ã‚  

First world war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

First world war - Essay Example Germany tried to free Morocco so that the coalition between Britain and France could be broken. In June, 1914, a Bosnian worker killed Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand along with his spouse. The worker was employed by a Serbian terrorist organization. Austria-Hungary saw it as a reason enough to attack Serbia. Austria-Hungary seeked help from Germany because they needed protection against Russia. On 28 June, the war was declared. Russia jumped in to assist Serbia. Russian government fully mobilized the troops for war on July 29. In turn, Germany resolved to fight Russia and France on 1 August and 3 August respectively. Germany was declared war upon by Britain on 4 August. By 4 August, 1914, a vast majority of the powers in Europe had plunged into the battlefield. The war ended with great changes in the world map. German Empire was transformed into a republic country. Britain took away German colonies. Liberal democracies were knocked off by dictatorship regime in Germany. Many new countries surfaced in Middle East as well as in

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

First Lady Fashions and Frank Knight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

First Lady Fashions and Frank Knight - Essay Example He is the pioneer of the â€Å"mix and match† fashion style. On the other hand, Frank Knight is Harry’s nephew and company’s treasurer. The paper will discuss the challenges that Frank faced in the enterprise. Sarah is Harry’s sister and is the corporation’s vice-president in charge of administration. The organizational structure clearly states that Frank and Sarah are at the same management level. However, apparently Frank is subordinate to Sarah. Frank lacks independence in his position as the company’s treasurer. For instance, Frank is not allowed to approve any expenditure exceeding 30,000 dollars without Sarah’s informal approval. The fact that Sarah’s support is merely informal clearly shows that the management tends to undermine Frank’s authority. The need for Sarah’s assent poses a significant challenge to not only Frank but also the company as a whole. Sarah is rash, hires and fires employees without consulting anybody and objects any proposed changes without any reasonable explanation. Sarah sacked the vice president of industrial relations despite the annual 170,000 dollars per year contract with the company. This action by Sarah negatively influenced the company’s expenses and financial welfare. Frank’s contribution to the well-being of the firm is inadequate merely due to Sarah’s interference in his job. Secondly, lack of coordination among the firm’s department hinders Frank’s workmanship. Conflicts among the departmental managers occurred on a daily basis. The managers would fiercely argue if any of them disagreed with the sales forecasts merely because the forecast jeopardised the interests of a departmental they were in charge. Moreover, the sales forecast are distributed to the top-level managers, including Frank, located in the firm’s headquarters offices. The constant disagreements and amending of the sales forecast interfered with Frank’s role as the Treasurer. Frank had to adjust financial plans continually in accordance with the frequently proposed changes.  Ã‚  

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Importance of Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Gender Differences Essay Example for Free

Importance of Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Gender Differences Essay The United States is and will continue to be a very diverse place. More than 8 million legal immigrants came to the U. S. between 1981 and 1990, and an undetermined number of undocumented immigrants enter the United States each year. In addition, the United States includes people of many religions, languages, economic groups, and other cultural groups. In order to be a successful manager in today’s very diverse society a manager needs to be open and understanding of cultural differences, different ethnicities, and gender differences among employees. Diversity is the presence of people from a wide range of backgrounds all possessing different traits. Some possible contributors to diversity include but are not limited to differences in age, race, ethnic origin, culture, physical abilities, religion and sexual orientation. As the text book states, ‘bringing diverse workers into an organization is seldom a seamless transition. ’ People tend to prejudge and place stereotypes or generalized beliefs that all members of a group possess the same characteristics from different cultures, race, or sex; this must be overcome. To be effective, managers and employees need to recognize, respect, and capitalize on each other’s differences. By being diverse in its employees, a business has a better opportunity for new ideas and growth potential. As discussed this week in class, when the department head turned down the Jamaican friend for the position, even though he seemed better qualified, it showed stereotyping and prejudices can have a negative effect in the workplace. The situation made for an uncomfortable, even negative environment in the workplace. By the department head’s negative behavior it caused a barrier for productivity and potentially harmed working relationships. It is essential in today’s business world for managers and professionals to understand the importance of cultural, ethnical and gender differences to make a positive work environment possible. While performing the ball and sock experiment, I was put outside of my comfort zone and was forced to see what it was like in someone else’s shoes. I found the lefty experiment to be awkward and difficult. I started in the early morning as I was getting ready for work. The seemingly thoughtless tasks that I completed every morning such as showering, brushing my teeth and hair, and eating breakfast now became hard and tedious. I continued the experiment when I returned home from work. Preparing dinner as a lefty was virtually impossible and almost dangerous. Most tasks as a lefty were manageable after some time and practice, but operating a knife was not. I am sure that with a little time and patience these tasks could have become easier to me. I can see how it could be frustrating living as a lefty in a right handed world. This is the same concept as being from a different culture, ethnicity, and gender then those in your workplace. Although the transition into a new company can be difficult, with time and some adjustment it is possible. I can relate the ball in the sock experiment to the importance of understanding cultural, ethnic, and gender differences in the work place because adjusting to something that we are not accustomed to can be challenging. It is important to understand that people we come into contact with everyday come from a background that we may not know much about. It can be difficult to adjust when meeting new people or entering a new work environment. I believe an organizations success can be attributed to its ability to embrace diversity and appreciate the benefits. A workplace who supports diversity can supply an assortment of solutions to problems. A diverse workplace can facilitate a broader service range. It can allow a company to provide their service to those all around the world. I think the most significant benefit to supporting diversity in the workplace is the inspiration it gives to all of its employees to perform to their greatest capacity. Diversity allows employees to come together to accomplish a common goal as a team. Employees will feel comfortable to share their viewpoints and ideas to execute a goal or solve a problem. I believe diversity opens the door for workplaces to achieve higher productivity, result in higher profits, and benefit the community. Diversity may not be something that people are familiar with and may even have a difficult time adjusting to, which is similar to trying to using your opposite hand in daily tasks. I believe understanding diversity will show employees the importance of it in the workplace and how it can enhance the quality of work.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Formative Role of Video Games

Formative Role of Video Games Introduction As a long time fan of computer games, Ive always wondered how video games have reached this point in time, I wanted to know how Nintendo became Nintendo, how games went from the arcades to home consoles and how games changed from two dimensions to three dimensions. The following was originally planned to be purely a discussion on the development of the games industry however once this project began I soon realised that video games owe most of its early years and breakthrough development to other entertainment industries, particularly film. After much research on the topic I altered my discussions focus away from purely the games industry to the broader entertainment industry, mainly because it is very difficult to separate the two, both now owe each other so much, in video games early years it took much from the entertainment industry but in the last few years things have changed, revolutionary techniques are being developed by the game industry and now are being adapted by the film industry, in this dissertation I wanted to see video games long term effect on the entertainment industry and whether it has been one of a negative or positive effect and my predictions for the future of both mediums. The Birth of the Computer Game The modern video game has evolved much from its very humble and almost accidental beginning in 1958 when William Higinotham a nuclear physicist while working on a small analogue computer in the purpose of describing various curves on a cathode-ray tube noticed the curved and bouncing effect reminded him of tennis(Brookhaven, 2009). He altered the amplifiers of the balls motion so bounding space on the screen could be controlled by the turning knobs on the machine. Higinotham designed the game from first conception in two hours and it took him only a brief few hours over a few days to alter the existing technology. The budget for first game known only as Tennis For Two was almost zero as it was made for existing parts. Too think of a modern game been designed in two hours or completed in a few days is just incomprehensible, not only would it be almost guaranteed to be a terrible game but making it functional to the player would be a impossible task, and the budget would be another imp assable road block. The current generation of video games if they are to be a success spend months in the design and concept phase and take anywhere from 16 months to over four years to finish and have a budget that matches Hollywood blockbusters. The 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar, 2008) spent 6 years in development and the final expenses rose to over  £100 million. However the developers perceived the risk of financial failure if the product did not sell as a necessary risk in order to live up to the fans expectations, this game was a sequel in a long line of a series known for breaking sales records and having a fan base like none other. This game however is not the exception either, many recent games have had budgets of over  £100 million and spent years in production, these high expenses are expected to rise when every generation of consoles are releases not only because of the technology behind them but the players demand for more, including highly designed graphics, unique art design and realistic effects rendered to a quality of CGI films. Hollywood My research is discovering videos games effect on the entertainment industry but more specifically the film industry and the aspect of them competing against one another but also with the rare and generally unsuccessful case of the merger of film and games. When video games first began to sell successfully in the early 1970s film had already been established as the main attraction for visual entertainment with strings of great releases and new releases that broke viewer and financial records one after another, the 1970s seemed an unlikely time for another visual medium to develop however video game managed to do that, by the late 1970s video games seen the releases of many classic games such as Pong (Atari Inc, 1972), Asteroids (Atari Inc, 1979) and Space Invaders (Taito Corporation, 1978). At the time however these releases were still nothing to be recognised by the critics of the entertainment industry, they seen them as nothing but toys, not to be taking seriously. These classic g ames didnt even make a mark on the film industry in regards to financial success, however this was primarily because the home console didnt exist yet and games could only be played in arcades where the owner of the arcades took all profits with only the initial cost of the machine ever to be the income of the early game designer. In the early 1980s arcades changes, they werent now purely for the gaming youth, the non-gamer began to discover this alternate entertainment medium and it became a regular event for them to occasionally visit an arcade, this is when the time began known as the Golden Years particularly in the United States and Japan when teenagers and adults alike would enter the arcade and discover a game that would just entrap them, video games started to become a area to look into for potential designers as games beforehand where only created for the love of it but now as a designer you could now make a living out of designing games, this is mainly because the fans of t he early games where mostly diehard fans where they would enter quarter after quarter to finish the game. Brian Garside (2009) of RadicalHive Remembers putting quarter after quarter, hour after hours into arcade game, and it was for the same reasons as everyone else was there, a very simple attraction, The games were very loud and very bright, and brought one thing most gamers wanted, instant gratification the more quarters you had the longer you had to play, the difficulty level was extreme, there was no lives* or saves* you just tried to get to the finish before you ran out of quarters, and if you did then you became an elite member of the gaming public because you got to put your name on the screen, where it could be seen every day by every gamer, that was the main goal of the early gamer, to say you finished an arcade game, this was something rare because of the difficulty*. Arcades borrowed much from the film world in its early years including the cinema building layout itself, the general arcade includes, the games, popcorn machines, snack and hotdog bars and generally in the centre area would be pool tables, it represented a meeting place, the arcade became a place to hang out, friends would meet up at the arcade and not even play a game, it was almost a staging place, you would go there before heading to the movies or after a movie you would return there for a few minutes to let yourself lose, aside from the games the arcade became a place to just hang around and let loose. The Home Console It wasnt till the home console when games took a firm place in the entertainment industry, the development of the designed home console brought around games that were developed past the loud noises and ghastly lights, the home console brought around the era of the complex stories in games with gripping narratives, moving performances and of course the Pixelated hero*. Fairchild Channel F(Fairchild Semiconductor, 1976), a unknown games company who today if you mentioned them to a gamer most likely you would get a puzzled response and even in the early years of game development they where an unknown company however their games machine left a mark on the industry because they coined a phrase which is used by every single person in the games industry, Console*. Video games now had a place in the 1970s home but they still hadnt changed much form the arcade, bright lights and ghastly sounds where everywhere, game after game were effectively the same but with a different name. This slur of games eventually lead to the great video games crash*of 1983-84 triggered by a non-ending market of low quality games and by far too many overpriced consoles, another involving factor was that the market was considered to be at full saturation, the critically slammed game of the successful film E.T.(Atari, Inc, 1982) was the breaking point, the rising popularity of the home computer(PC) and the personnel computer also was deemed to be part responsible for the crash particular with their aggressive advertising campaigns such as this scrupulous ad by Microsoft Why buy your child a video game and distract them from school when you can buy them a home computer that will prepare them for college?(Global Oneness, 2009). This crash brought an abrupt end to the current generation of video games and almost crippled the new games industry particularly in north America, many games companies collapsed and with the few that survived none maintained any high level of success after the crash. It wasnt till the end of 1985 that the games industry started to recover and that was with the immediate success of the now legendary Nintendo Entertainment System(1985). The 8-bit* generation had begun with a bang with launch games consisting of ExciteBike (1985) and Super Mario Bros.( 1985), gamers could not resist but buy the NES even with doubts after the many years of terrible releases just preceding this new line up and generation. Aside from the games Nintendo also standardised many console features such as controller ports, gun controllers and the Quality seal of approval*. In the early 90s things started to heat up again in the games industry, Nintendo now had a fierce competitor in the industry, SEGA. SEGA (19 90) released its Mega Drive, which they hailed as the first 16-bit gaming console and it proved that by displaying graphics which were unheard of at this time. But Nintendo hit back by releasing their Record breaking Super Nintendo Entertainment System(1990). This fierce competition between the two drove developers to become better designers and it was proved as much with hugely successful and critically acclaimed hits been released for each console, this home console war ended any chance of the arcades recovering, gamers had finalised there move from the arcades back to their homes, the home console had become the core choice by the games and also by the developer. The 3D Generation Video games where successful in their early years but they were never hugely successful, they never get anywhere near close to the popularity of the film industry nor did the game releases of films get anywhere closer and in fact generally sold much worse. Designers made a profit but it was only a sustaining profit, enough to keep the company going, pay the staff and develop future games but they just didnt have the financial backing of the film industry, games were rarely advertised and certainly didnt have any sort of vast marketing displays and if there even was a marketing team at all it would consist of very few people and have a simple budget as can be seen by the low quality of games advertisement in the 1980s, the advertisement stood close to what the game was, bright lights and loud noises. It wasnt till the 5th generation of gaming consoles or the 3d generation as its also known did games reach a level of popularity that could not quite yet match the film industries figures but certainly put a mark against it, their where many success stories but also many failures in this generation, it saw the fall of Atari, the 3DO, SEGA and the rise of Sony with the Playstation(1994). Nintendo where the only existing company to the enter the 3D generation and continue to be successful. Not much changed with the Nintendo strategy and it didnt need to, they released once again hit after hit until the end of this generation when in 1995 the disc based Sony Playstation overtook the Nintendo 64(1996) in terms of sales and it began to build a strong fan base including taking a good portion of Nintendos key market. The Playstation was the first home console to sell more than 100,000 million units worldwide, this is now the time the games industry started to be compared to the film industry in terms of sales and success. Aside from commercial success, the Playstation also changed the console development plan, the success of the disc was the final nail in the coffin on the old cartridge system previously used by Nintendo. The stability of the disc medium, cheap manufacturing expenses in using disc based games where the main reasons for its success. At the end of this gener ation SEGA fans had lost faith in their beloved console with few games being released on the console mainly because developers jumped ship to the more successful Nintendo and Sony and while there was still yet to be another SEGA console in the form of the SEGA Dreamcast(1999), this was the turning point in SEGAs decline and their eventual retreat from console development. Even with the great success of the Playstation, neither Nintendo or Sony ever seemed to publicly announce or display a challenge for financial success against the rest of the entertainment industry, advertisement still stayed low budget and was purely aimed at making existing gamers aware of future products rather than attracting new potential game players. The Changing Generation The following Generation displayed much of the same as the previous generation, The Sony Playstation 2(2000) was effectively the same as the first one just much more advanced with a few new features, the same can be said for the Nintendo GameCube(2001) except now Nintendo had adopted disc based technology. There was a new entry in the market place now, Microsoft seeing the potential of the games industry entered the market in 2001 with the Xbox. The Xbox didnt design its games or console any differently to Nintendo and Sonys consoles however it did add one thing, it is possible the most important new feature to games design since the 3D era took hold, the Xbox introduced online multiplayer through a service known as Xbox LIVE*. This new feature was the only thing that kept the console from complete failure as the games that accompanied the console where of a lower quality and Microsoft struggled to attract a strong fanbase, however though XBOX LIVE proved so successful that online mu ltiplayer is a standard now for most modern games. While this was going on, in the background Nintendo where busy working with the handheld market, before now everyone considered this market purely for kids and only a gimmick at best, Nintendo wanted to change that and they did with the Game Boy Advance(2001). They did this by developing games of a standard of the home consoles and Marketing the device as a independent handheld console separate to that of the home consoles. Because of the new advanced graphics available to developers, a completely realistic game could be made but this lead to huge criticism of the games with releases of ultra graphic Mortal Kombat(Midway Games, multiple) and the portrayal of criminal behaviour seen in Grand Theft Auto series(Rockstar Games, Multiple). These controversial games aloud non-gaming public to become much more aware of the games industry, although this was potentially dangerous criticism against the games industry, it is seen as exactly wh at the games industry was looking for. Sony particularly began marketing mature games for mature audiences, with advertising campaigns aimed purely for the an age group of 18 and above. The content in these games led to the ESRB and PEGI age rating system to inform parents that there are games available in the market that are unsuitable for their children. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time(Nintendo, 1998), Grand Theft Auto 3(, Rockstar Games, 2001), and Halo: Combat Evolved(Bungie, 2001) were the first game in the industry to be marketed in the way of a summer blockbuster, they all sold hugely successful and these games are seen by many as the turning point where games left the old mentality behind of being just for the arcade gamer and now was at a position to enter the next generation as a strong competitor to Hollywood, by the end of this generation in 2006 total film sales reached an estimated $16.6 billion in North America for the film industry compared to the games industries $13.5 Billion (Breckon, 2007). Entering the late 2000s, the still young games industry is nearly as valuable as over 100 year old film industry. The Next-Generation. The 7th Generation seen many advancements, Blu-Ray disc technology, Massively multiplayer games(MMOs), High Definition technology and motion tracking as seen by the Nintendo Wii(2006). Microsofts Xbox 360 launched first into this generation in 2005 and it proved a success, aside from being first into this new generation it fully launched Xbox LIVE and multiplayer as a standard throughout the industry. The Xbox 360 now stands firmly second place in between Sonys Playstation 3(2006) and Nintendos Wii in the console battle. It has a strong game to console attach rate*, with loyal fans and marketing team any Company would want, these factors will guarantee its success into the next console generation. The Sony Playstation 3 launched a full year after the Xbox 360 and some believe this to be the main reason it had poor launch figures as well as the fact that there were a limited supply of Blu-ray diodes for the consoles main feature. The console to date has still struggled to compete with its competition with many of its games selling poorly, Xboxs leading exclusive game Halo 3(2008) sold over 10 million copies as for Sonys PS3 most successful exclusive game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(2008) sold only a little over 4 million copies, however it has grounded itself, it is now financially a success and has guaranteed a place in the next generation line up. Nintendo on the other hand are on a completely different level compared to its rivals, it sales have been record breaking since its launch two weeks after the PS3. The Wii has sold almost more than both the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined with current sales figures at 52.29 Million units sold for the Nintendo Wii, 31.30 Million units sold for the Xbox 360 and 23.16 Million units sold for the PS3 (VGchartz, 2009). The key to the success of the Wii is the widening of the demographics, Nintendo completely changed their approach to selling and developing games, in previous generation Nintendo only developed games for the hardcore gamer(strict loyal fan) but now they are developing for a mixture of hardcore games and casual games(general public). Nintendos main aim for the Wii was not to beat its rivals but to get new people playing games, Satoru Iwata stated in(2006) at a Press conference in Tokyo that were not thinking about fighting Sony, but about how many people we can get to play games.. This is reflected in Nintendos Advertisement campaigns throughout the world, Nintendo dramatically changed their method of advertising to new much more successful methods such as featuring celebrities and even the advertisement developed by academy award winning directors. Their audience grew hugely with this advertising strategy including a varied assortment of game players including, children, adults and g randparents, their campaign is aimed at people of all ages. The success of these ads can be seen in the wide audience, a 103 year old pensioner was reported to be regularly playing the Wii, the Queen of England is was even reported to have a Nintendo Wii(Rousewell, 2008). With the games industry going from strength to strength it is hard not to see the games industries eventual overtaking of the film industry as the leading section of the entertainment industry. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot (2007) expects the games industry to grow an additional 50% in the next four year, casual gaming and the newly introduced in-game advertisement are expected to be the key factors to gamings take over. The gaming industry is also growing in other parts of the world, The Asian market alone is expected to reach $28.8 billion in sales by 2011 with a total sales for the games industry at $65(Breckon, 2007). By then the film industry is only predicted to grow to a total sales of $25.8 billion in sales, less than half of the predicted games sales. However High definition is now becoming a standard in the film industry as well as the re-introduction 3D films, both advancements could bring a new lease of life to the film industry, it can also be considered that at â‚ ¬60 a game compared to the film industries â‚ ¬10 cinema admission or â‚ ¬25-â‚ ¬40 for DVD/Blu-ray income might make up impressive figures however as for the individual customer using each medium the actual numbers of people still lean greatly towards the film industry. It could be questioned why are they seen as competition and not simply compared as separate mediums in the entertainment industry, many game adaptations of films and vice versa have been released mostly with only slight success but all have been critically slammed, ever year the two industries become closer and closer and with that will be massive financial gain, James Camerons Avatar: The Game(Ubisoft, 2009) and film (Cameron, 2009) is seen as the first step towards bringing these two entertainment industries together. Chapter 2: Literature review What is a game? This is a very common question and it is a very important one, I wish to make it clear that the great success of video games in the last few years have mainly due to the changes behind in the design room and in the studios not just in the way games are now being marketed, the general games design theory is seen as a factor in the success. Defining what a game is or a theory behind it is one that you can spend a great deal of time arguing over and even with a set of results it still is a open question. The definition will in general influence how one decides to design a game, so it is critical when designing a game that you completely understand the purpose for it. There are multiple ways we could define a game, with varying ranges of features. Greg Costikyan (1994) states A game is a form of art in which participants, teamed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. This meaning is questionable, it may of defined what a game wa s back in the early years but because of the constant technology advancements if a designer was to define what a game was it would be more like, a game is a form of art in which participants single or multiple make decisions according to the narrative design in order to resolve game world situations and finish the game as the ultimate goal, this would be my definition of defining the modern computer game. The essential problem with defining a game is that depending on the era a definition will make sense in one decade but not the next because of the rapid growth of the gaming medium. This rapid growth is changing the industry, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins(2008) stated that video games have converged different entertainment platforms that allowed producers of these content to exercise new ways of stretching the viability of their intellectual properties. A single general theory only works when one looks at a genre of game type or who the player of the game will be, at the core reasoning for games, they only exist to be played, it is an interactive medium the only kind which is visual, audibly, interactive and within that a multiplayer component which allows many people to play at once and with the internet the numbers are almost infinite depending on the game. As with the genre and medium some are considered entertaining and some are considered a task, challenge is however a general the me with games design. As with every industry, once games design was established as a valuable medium, competition quickly arose as seen at Quakecon(Nok, 2009) and in a new medium players want quickly to become the best at it or be the first to finish it, to design a game to suit this want is a challenge and that is the general reason a games design theory was sought after in early game development. As the basis of games design is that every game or most games have a beginning, middle and an end, the game starts and ends at your own discretion and with a set of rules for you to manipulate or use to at your means. Playing the game is down to the player, but if there is a desire to understand games and game design, we must first clearly establish the purpose of it. We must determine the characteristics of all games, but discovering that outlines and establish a set of attribute for each game genre rather than what characterised games as a whole. Hoffman (2008) believes that outside of computer games, playing a game in general is an important part of life. I wish to discover does game design need a theory? Other medium generally have some sort of theory behind them but they are much more closely related in their genres as game design is very diverse and has a interactive aspect in design and game playing, what people want, and the level of scale and longevity are maybe too diverse for a game design theory to exist. Changes in games design: For the Better or worse? Defining games design is still widely regarded as a difficult task, what a game is though differs constantly and when it enters production depending on the type of game the design methods behind it are much different from a racing game to a action game. That is the first problem, it is complex to place the games design program in any one meaning. The actual study of engine design, physics and application of games design is much more closely connected to mathematics rather than traditional design practices, if this study was literally taken into practice than it would be a great oversight, designing a game using only mathematics and programmers instead of a blend with designers would only lead to failure. Ideally, a games design studio should be as interdisciplined as any other large field, it should consist of, programmers, designers, artists and engineers. Richard Rouse III(2005) states that the game design is what determines the form of the gameplay, however that is not always so a s seen by top-down or bottom-up design*. The features set in game design determines what choices players will be able to make in the game-world and what consequences those choices will have on the rest of the game. Bernd Kreimeier(2002) states that Games design like any other profession requires a means to document, discuss and plan. In the last few years with the advent of the growing online design community, a designer could refer to the growing online library of previously released games for general ideas and quick inspiration. In the early days of games design, designers generally referred to board games for their inspiration as there was no other means to compare work, without some sort of comparison it would of been very risky to release a game without any sort of knowledge of whether a similar product has been successful in the past. Hoffman (2008) believes that the main problem with game design is deciding where to place it, creating a game through a subset of sociology or a dedicated studio and these decisions are what make defining a game so complex. However while knowledge about games has grown rapidly, it could be said even more so than any other media industry, little progress has been made to document individual experiences to interweave into design practices and theories. Kreimeier (2002) states that on the base line of design theory, games design needs a related library to name the modelling assets been created, designing and a set of rules to express how these design techniques fit together, a case for design patterns could exist. Help from Hollywood? Games design is uniquely many thing, but at the basis of design it comes down to a few little things, coming up with the initial idea through thought and discussing, the idea to see it is not only a workable product but is it actually a good idea and from that point heavily expanding on the original idea until any team of designers could implement the design and achieve a expected result. Evidently if that was all designers had to go on it was be extremely difficult for anything to be created. Since the beginning of games design, games designers have worked around these initial problems by relying on design techniques and theories adapted from other media such as film and storytelling. Noah Falstein (1997) writes that part of the problem with encounters of people from Hollywood was their lack of respect. This problem though has been rid away with over the years but it was a huge problem back in the 1970s and 1980s when young game companies searched for aid in development from Hollywo od studios but received little help. Games are not only a interactive medium but they are a visual medium and game designers have been increasingly relying on design techniques developed from film such as motion capture however this is not to be taken as a side of weakness from game designer and should not question that games are the same as film but the film practices are investigated in an effort to identify methods which are suited in favour of games. Nevertheless this was not always enough, games design theories started to develop solely to do with games and without influence from other medium, Kreimeier (2002) also believes that games as an individual medium needs its own practices and if borrowed techniques were enough then there be no need to develop any practices specific to games design theories. These collective theories are individual but there has been much discussion on them and it could be probable that these individual theories could be developed into one universal ga mes design theory although the most likely result would be a flawed design theory. The open use of gaming terms promotes an over perceived meaning of our own belief of what games are, The academic public overly ignore the uniquely and complexity of game design. Junior designers whose own skill are limited generally embark upon designing games with no further research than their own experience as game players, this methodology is sure to fail, the desire to success, what people in reality like to play can be much different than what the designer actually likes, this is unfortunately a common problem in traditional game design, this is a problem Pederson (2003) states as critical for lead game designers. Those who overrate their own understanding will undercut their own potential from learning and further more it will lead to the same result as failure. Ambiguity and ambiguity of play are a important aspect of design brought up by Smith (1997), applying the principle and concepts to gaming have watered down the original medium and meanings, there is no longer a clear focus to the ideology of game design we desire to understand. This watered effect is creating genres, levels of design, innovativeness, expenses and lastly the technology are effecting this medium more than any other, price ranges in not only the technology but the actual developing of the game can be astronomical, the latest version of Grand Theft Auto(Rockstar Games, 2008) a sandbox* style game cost over $100 million to design and develop included over 1,000 members of staff and took of three years to finish(Linde, 2008). If you were to look for game design theory in this game, after much search you would result with a unanswered question, putting aside the budget and expenses to develop this game the sure scale of this project is enough to put a stop to the idea of needing or there ever existing an underlying games design theory. The style of game for the GTA series is not alone, other genre such as first person shooters(FPS), action based and role playing games(RPG) are also pu t in this bracket, it would be hard pressed to find a game theory where each of these genres could fit in, meet there goals and be overall a success. A Common Design Theory? There are a few genres of games where there is potentially a underlying game design theory that could be developed for any new game yet to be developed and this could exist in the racing genre, it is this genre where the same practices of desig Formative Role of Video Games Formative Role of Video Games Introduction As a long time fan of computer games, Ive always wondered how video games have reached this point in time, I wanted to know how Nintendo became Nintendo, how games went from the arcades to home consoles and how games changed from two dimensions to three dimensions. The following was originally planned to be purely a discussion on the development of the games industry however once this project began I soon realised that video games owe most of its early years and breakthrough development to other entertainment industries, particularly film. After much research on the topic I altered my discussions focus away from purely the games industry to the broader entertainment industry, mainly because it is very difficult to separate the two, both now owe each other so much, in video games early years it took much from the entertainment industry but in the last few years things have changed, revolutionary techniques are being developed by the game industry and now are being adapted by the film industry, in this dissertation I wanted to see video games long term effect on the entertainment industry and whether it has been one of a negative or positive effect and my predictions for the future of both mediums. The Birth of the Computer Game The modern video game has evolved much from its very humble and almost accidental beginning in 1958 when William Higinotham a nuclear physicist while working on a small analogue computer in the purpose of describing various curves on a cathode-ray tube noticed the curved and bouncing effect reminded him of tennis(Brookhaven, 2009). He altered the amplifiers of the balls motion so bounding space on the screen could be controlled by the turning knobs on the machine. Higinotham designed the game from first conception in two hours and it took him only a brief few hours over a few days to alter the existing technology. The budget for first game known only as Tennis For Two was almost zero as it was made for existing parts. Too think of a modern game been designed in two hours or completed in a few days is just incomprehensible, not only would it be almost guaranteed to be a terrible game but making it functional to the player would be a impossible task, and the budget would be another imp assable road block. The current generation of video games if they are to be a success spend months in the design and concept phase and take anywhere from 16 months to over four years to finish and have a budget that matches Hollywood blockbusters. The 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar, 2008) spent 6 years in development and the final expenses rose to over  £100 million. However the developers perceived the risk of financial failure if the product did not sell as a necessary risk in order to live up to the fans expectations, this game was a sequel in a long line of a series known for breaking sales records and having a fan base like none other. This game however is not the exception either, many recent games have had budgets of over  £100 million and spent years in production, these high expenses are expected to rise when every generation of consoles are releases not only because of the technology behind them but the players demand for more, including highly designed graphics, unique art design and realistic effects rendered to a quality of CGI films. Hollywood My research is discovering videos games effect on the entertainment industry but more specifically the film industry and the aspect of them competing against one another but also with the rare and generally unsuccessful case of the merger of film and games. When video games first began to sell successfully in the early 1970s film had already been established as the main attraction for visual entertainment with strings of great releases and new releases that broke viewer and financial records one after another, the 1970s seemed an unlikely time for another visual medium to develop however video game managed to do that, by the late 1970s video games seen the releases of many classic games such as Pong (Atari Inc, 1972), Asteroids (Atari Inc, 1979) and Space Invaders (Taito Corporation, 1978). At the time however these releases were still nothing to be recognised by the critics of the entertainment industry, they seen them as nothing but toys, not to be taking seriously. These classic g ames didnt even make a mark on the film industry in regards to financial success, however this was primarily because the home console didnt exist yet and games could only be played in arcades where the owner of the arcades took all profits with only the initial cost of the machine ever to be the income of the early game designer. In the early 1980s arcades changes, they werent now purely for the gaming youth, the non-gamer began to discover this alternate entertainment medium and it became a regular event for them to occasionally visit an arcade, this is when the time began known as the Golden Years particularly in the United States and Japan when teenagers and adults alike would enter the arcade and discover a game that would just entrap them, video games started to become a area to look into for potential designers as games beforehand where only created for the love of it but now as a designer you could now make a living out of designing games, this is mainly because the fans of t he early games where mostly diehard fans where they would enter quarter after quarter to finish the game. Brian Garside (2009) of RadicalHive Remembers putting quarter after quarter, hour after hours into arcade game, and it was for the same reasons as everyone else was there, a very simple attraction, The games were very loud and very bright, and brought one thing most gamers wanted, instant gratification the more quarters you had the longer you had to play, the difficulty level was extreme, there was no lives* or saves* you just tried to get to the finish before you ran out of quarters, and if you did then you became an elite member of the gaming public because you got to put your name on the screen, where it could be seen every day by every gamer, that was the main goal of the early gamer, to say you finished an arcade game, this was something rare because of the difficulty*. Arcades borrowed much from the film world in its early years including the cinema building layout itself, the general arcade includes, the games, popcorn machines, snack and hotdog bars and generally in the centre area would be pool tables, it represented a meeting place, the arcade became a place to hang out, friends would meet up at the arcade and not even play a game, it was almost a staging place, you would go there before heading to the movies or after a movie you would return there for a few minutes to let yourself lose, aside from the games the arcade became a place to just hang around and let loose. The Home Console It wasnt till the home console when games took a firm place in the entertainment industry, the development of the designed home console brought around games that were developed past the loud noises and ghastly lights, the home console brought around the era of the complex stories in games with gripping narratives, moving performances and of course the Pixelated hero*. Fairchild Channel F(Fairchild Semiconductor, 1976), a unknown games company who today if you mentioned them to a gamer most likely you would get a puzzled response and even in the early years of game development they where an unknown company however their games machine left a mark on the industry because they coined a phrase which is used by every single person in the games industry, Console*. Video games now had a place in the 1970s home but they still hadnt changed much form the arcade, bright lights and ghastly sounds where everywhere, game after game were effectively the same but with a different name. This slur of games eventually lead to the great video games crash*of 1983-84 triggered by a non-ending market of low quality games and by far too many overpriced consoles, another involving factor was that the market was considered to be at full saturation, the critically slammed game of the successful film E.T.(Atari, Inc, 1982) was the breaking point, the rising popularity of the home computer(PC) and the personnel computer also was deemed to be part responsible for the crash particular with their aggressive advertising campaigns such as this scrupulous ad by Microsoft Why buy your child a video game and distract them from school when you can buy them a home computer that will prepare them for college?(Global Oneness, 2009). This crash brought an abrupt end to the current generation of video games and almost crippled the new games industry particularly in north America, many games companies collapsed and with the few that survived none maintained any high level of success after the crash. It wasnt till the end of 1985 that the games industry started to recover and that was with the immediate success of the now legendary Nintendo Entertainment System(1985). The 8-bit* generation had begun with a bang with launch games consisting of ExciteBike (1985) and Super Mario Bros.( 1985), gamers could not resist but buy the NES even with doubts after the many years of terrible releases just preceding this new line up and generation. Aside from the games Nintendo also standardised many console features such as controller ports, gun controllers and the Quality seal of approval*. In the early 90s things started to heat up again in the games industry, Nintendo now had a fierce competitor in the industry, SEGA. SEGA (19 90) released its Mega Drive, which they hailed as the first 16-bit gaming console and it proved that by displaying graphics which were unheard of at this time. But Nintendo hit back by releasing their Record breaking Super Nintendo Entertainment System(1990). This fierce competition between the two drove developers to become better designers and it was proved as much with hugely successful and critically acclaimed hits been released for each console, this home console war ended any chance of the arcades recovering, gamers had finalised there move from the arcades back to their homes, the home console had become the core choice by the games and also by the developer. The 3D Generation Video games where successful in their early years but they were never hugely successful, they never get anywhere near close to the popularity of the film industry nor did the game releases of films get anywhere closer and in fact generally sold much worse. Designers made a profit but it was only a sustaining profit, enough to keep the company going, pay the staff and develop future games but they just didnt have the financial backing of the film industry, games were rarely advertised and certainly didnt have any sort of vast marketing displays and if there even was a marketing team at all it would consist of very few people and have a simple budget as can be seen by the low quality of games advertisement in the 1980s, the advertisement stood close to what the game was, bright lights and loud noises. It wasnt till the 5th generation of gaming consoles or the 3d generation as its also known did games reach a level of popularity that could not quite yet match the film industries figures but certainly put a mark against it, their where many success stories but also many failures in this generation, it saw the fall of Atari, the 3DO, SEGA and the rise of Sony with the Playstation(1994). Nintendo where the only existing company to the enter the 3D generation and continue to be successful. Not much changed with the Nintendo strategy and it didnt need to, they released once again hit after hit until the end of this generation when in 1995 the disc based Sony Playstation overtook the Nintendo 64(1996) in terms of sales and it began to build a strong fan base including taking a good portion of Nintendos key market. The Playstation was the first home console to sell more than 100,000 million units worldwide, this is now the time the games industry started to be compared to the film industry in terms of sales and success. Aside from commercial success, the Playstation also changed the console development plan, the success of the disc was the final nail in the coffin on the old cartridge system previously used by Nintendo. The stability of the disc medium, cheap manufacturing expenses in using disc based games where the main reasons for its success. At the end of this gener ation SEGA fans had lost faith in their beloved console with few games being released on the console mainly because developers jumped ship to the more successful Nintendo and Sony and while there was still yet to be another SEGA console in the form of the SEGA Dreamcast(1999), this was the turning point in SEGAs decline and their eventual retreat from console development. Even with the great success of the Playstation, neither Nintendo or Sony ever seemed to publicly announce or display a challenge for financial success against the rest of the entertainment industry, advertisement still stayed low budget and was purely aimed at making existing gamers aware of future products rather than attracting new potential game players. The Changing Generation The following Generation displayed much of the same as the previous generation, The Sony Playstation 2(2000) was effectively the same as the first one just much more advanced with a few new features, the same can be said for the Nintendo GameCube(2001) except now Nintendo had adopted disc based technology. There was a new entry in the market place now, Microsoft seeing the potential of the games industry entered the market in 2001 with the Xbox. The Xbox didnt design its games or console any differently to Nintendo and Sonys consoles however it did add one thing, it is possible the most important new feature to games design since the 3D era took hold, the Xbox introduced online multiplayer through a service known as Xbox LIVE*. This new feature was the only thing that kept the console from complete failure as the games that accompanied the console where of a lower quality and Microsoft struggled to attract a strong fanbase, however though XBOX LIVE proved so successful that online mu ltiplayer is a standard now for most modern games. While this was going on, in the background Nintendo where busy working with the handheld market, before now everyone considered this market purely for kids and only a gimmick at best, Nintendo wanted to change that and they did with the Game Boy Advance(2001). They did this by developing games of a standard of the home consoles and Marketing the device as a independent handheld console separate to that of the home consoles. Because of the new advanced graphics available to developers, a completely realistic game could be made but this lead to huge criticism of the games with releases of ultra graphic Mortal Kombat(Midway Games, multiple) and the portrayal of criminal behaviour seen in Grand Theft Auto series(Rockstar Games, Multiple). These controversial games aloud non-gaming public to become much more aware of the games industry, although this was potentially dangerous criticism against the games industry, it is seen as exactly wh at the games industry was looking for. Sony particularly began marketing mature games for mature audiences, with advertising campaigns aimed purely for the an age group of 18 and above. The content in these games led to the ESRB and PEGI age rating system to inform parents that there are games available in the market that are unsuitable for their children. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time(Nintendo, 1998), Grand Theft Auto 3(, Rockstar Games, 2001), and Halo: Combat Evolved(Bungie, 2001) were the first game in the industry to be marketed in the way of a summer blockbuster, they all sold hugely successful and these games are seen by many as the turning point where games left the old mentality behind of being just for the arcade gamer and now was at a position to enter the next generation as a strong competitor to Hollywood, by the end of this generation in 2006 total film sales reached an estimated $16.6 billion in North America for the film industry compared to the games industries $13.5 Billion (Breckon, 2007). Entering the late 2000s, the still young games industry is nearly as valuable as over 100 year old film industry. The Next-Generation. The 7th Generation seen many advancements, Blu-Ray disc technology, Massively multiplayer games(MMOs), High Definition technology and motion tracking as seen by the Nintendo Wii(2006). Microsofts Xbox 360 launched first into this generation in 2005 and it proved a success, aside from being first into this new generation it fully launched Xbox LIVE and multiplayer as a standard throughout the industry. The Xbox 360 now stands firmly second place in between Sonys Playstation 3(2006) and Nintendos Wii in the console battle. It has a strong game to console attach rate*, with loyal fans and marketing team any Company would want, these factors will guarantee its success into the next console generation. The Sony Playstation 3 launched a full year after the Xbox 360 and some believe this to be the main reason it had poor launch figures as well as the fact that there were a limited supply of Blu-ray diodes for the consoles main feature. The console to date has still struggled to compete with its competition with many of its games selling poorly, Xboxs leading exclusive game Halo 3(2008) sold over 10 million copies as for Sonys PS3 most successful exclusive game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(2008) sold only a little over 4 million copies, however it has grounded itself, it is now financially a success and has guaranteed a place in the next generation line up. Nintendo on the other hand are on a completely different level compared to its rivals, it sales have been record breaking since its launch two weeks after the PS3. The Wii has sold almost more than both the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined with current sales figures at 52.29 Million units sold for the Nintendo Wii, 31.30 Million units sold for the Xbox 360 and 23.16 Million units sold for the PS3 (VGchartz, 2009). The key to the success of the Wii is the widening of the demographics, Nintendo completely changed their approach to selling and developing games, in previous generation Nintendo only developed games for the hardcore gamer(strict loyal fan) but now they are developing for a mixture of hardcore games and casual games(general public). Nintendos main aim for the Wii was not to beat its rivals but to get new people playing games, Satoru Iwata stated in(2006) at a Press conference in Tokyo that were not thinking about fighting Sony, but about how many people we can get to play games.. This is reflected in Nintendos Advertisement campaigns throughout the world, Nintendo dramatically changed their method of advertising to new much more successful methods such as featuring celebrities and even the advertisement developed by academy award winning directors. Their audience grew hugely with this advertising strategy including a varied assortment of game players including, children, adults and g randparents, their campaign is aimed at people of all ages. The success of these ads can be seen in the wide audience, a 103 year old pensioner was reported to be regularly playing the Wii, the Queen of England is was even reported to have a Nintendo Wii(Rousewell, 2008). With the games industry going from strength to strength it is hard not to see the games industries eventual overtaking of the film industry as the leading section of the entertainment industry. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot (2007) expects the games industry to grow an additional 50% in the next four year, casual gaming and the newly introduced in-game advertisement are expected to be the key factors to gamings take over. The gaming industry is also growing in other parts of the world, The Asian market alone is expected to reach $28.8 billion in sales by 2011 with a total sales for the games industry at $65(Breckon, 2007). By then the film industry is only predicted to grow to a total sales of $25.8 billion in sales, less than half of the predicted games sales. However High definition is now becoming a standard in the film industry as well as the re-introduction 3D films, both advancements could bring a new lease of life to the film industry, it can also be considered that at â‚ ¬60 a game compared to the film industries â‚ ¬10 cinema admission or â‚ ¬25-â‚ ¬40 for DVD/Blu-ray income might make up impressive figures however as for the individual customer using each medium the actual numbers of people still lean greatly towards the film industry. It could be questioned why are they seen as competition and not simply compared as separate mediums in the entertainment industry, many game adaptations of films and vice versa have been released mostly with only slight success but all have been critically slammed, ever year the two industries become closer and closer and with that will be massive financial gain, James Camerons Avatar: The Game(Ubisoft, 2009) and film (Cameron, 2009) is seen as the first step towards bringing these two entertainment industries together. Chapter 2: Literature review What is a game? This is a very common question and it is a very important one, I wish to make it clear that the great success of video games in the last few years have mainly due to the changes behind in the design room and in the studios not just in the way games are now being marketed, the general games design theory is seen as a factor in the success. Defining what a game is or a theory behind it is one that you can spend a great deal of time arguing over and even with a set of results it still is a open question. The definition will in general influence how one decides to design a game, so it is critical when designing a game that you completely understand the purpose for it. There are multiple ways we could define a game, with varying ranges of features. Greg Costikyan (1994) states A game is a form of art in which participants, teamed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. This meaning is questionable, it may of defined what a game wa s back in the early years but because of the constant technology advancements if a designer was to define what a game was it would be more like, a game is a form of art in which participants single or multiple make decisions according to the narrative design in order to resolve game world situations and finish the game as the ultimate goal, this would be my definition of defining the modern computer game. The essential problem with defining a game is that depending on the era a definition will make sense in one decade but not the next because of the rapid growth of the gaming medium. This rapid growth is changing the industry, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins(2008) stated that video games have converged different entertainment platforms that allowed producers of these content to exercise new ways of stretching the viability of their intellectual properties. A single general theory only works when one looks at a genre of game type or who the player of the game will be, at the core reasoning for games, they only exist to be played, it is an interactive medium the only kind which is visual, audibly, interactive and within that a multiplayer component which allows many people to play at once and with the internet the numbers are almost infinite depending on the game. As with the genre and medium some are considered entertaining and some are considered a task, challenge is however a general the me with games design. As with every industry, once games design was established as a valuable medium, competition quickly arose as seen at Quakecon(Nok, 2009) and in a new medium players want quickly to become the best at it or be the first to finish it, to design a game to suit this want is a challenge and that is the general reason a games design theory was sought after in early game development. As the basis of games design is that every game or most games have a beginning, middle and an end, the game starts and ends at your own discretion and with a set of rules for you to manipulate or use to at your means. Playing the game is down to the player, but if there is a desire to understand games and game design, we must first clearly establish the purpose of it. We must determine the characteristics of all games, but discovering that outlines and establish a set of attribute for each game genre rather than what characterised games as a whole. Hoffman (2008) believes that outside of computer games, playing a game in general is an important part of life. I wish to discover does game design need a theory? Other medium generally have some sort of theory behind them but they are much more closely related in their genres as game design is very diverse and has a interactive aspect in design and game playing, what people want, and the level of scale and longevity are maybe too diverse for a game design theory to exist. Changes in games design: For the Better or worse? Defining games design is still widely regarded as a difficult task, what a game is though differs constantly and when it enters production depending on the type of game the design methods behind it are much different from a racing game to a action game. That is the first problem, it is complex to place the games design program in any one meaning. The actual study of engine design, physics and application of games design is much more closely connected to mathematics rather than traditional design practices, if this study was literally taken into practice than it would be a great oversight, designing a game using only mathematics and programmers instead of a blend with designers would only lead to failure. Ideally, a games design studio should be as interdisciplined as any other large field, it should consist of, programmers, designers, artists and engineers. Richard Rouse III(2005) states that the game design is what determines the form of the gameplay, however that is not always so a s seen by top-down or bottom-up design*. The features set in game design determines what choices players will be able to make in the game-world and what consequences those choices will have on the rest of the game. Bernd Kreimeier(2002) states that Games design like any other profession requires a means to document, discuss and plan. In the last few years with the advent of the growing online design community, a designer could refer to the growing online library of previously released games for general ideas and quick inspiration. In the early days of games design, designers generally referred to board games for their inspiration as there was no other means to compare work, without some sort of comparison it would of been very risky to release a game without any sort of knowledge of whether a similar product has been successful in the past. Hoffman (2008) believes that the main problem with game design is deciding where to place it, creating a game through a subset of sociology or a dedicated studio and these decisions are what make defining a game so complex. However while knowledge about games has grown rapidly, it could be said even more so than any other media industry, little progress has been made to document individual experiences to interweave into design practices and theories. Kreimeier (2002) states that on the base line of design theory, games design needs a related library to name the modelling assets been created, designing and a set of rules to express how these design techniques fit together, a case for design patterns could exist. Help from Hollywood? Games design is uniquely many thing, but at the basis of design it comes down to a few little things, coming up with the initial idea through thought and discussing, the idea to see it is not only a workable product but is it actually a good idea and from that point heavily expanding on the original idea until any team of designers could implement the design and achieve a expected result. Evidently if that was all designers had to go on it was be extremely difficult for anything to be created. Since the beginning of games design, games designers have worked around these initial problems by relying on design techniques and theories adapted from other media such as film and storytelling. Noah Falstein (1997) writes that part of the problem with encounters of people from Hollywood was their lack of respect. This problem though has been rid away with over the years but it was a huge problem back in the 1970s and 1980s when young game companies searched for aid in development from Hollywo od studios but received little help. Games are not only a interactive medium but they are a visual medium and game designers have been increasingly relying on design techniques developed from film such as motion capture however this is not to be taken as a side of weakness from game designer and should not question that games are the same as film but the film practices are investigated in an effort to identify methods which are suited in favour of games. Nevertheless this was not always enough, games design theories started to develop solely to do with games and without influence from other medium, Kreimeier (2002) also believes that games as an individual medium needs its own practices and if borrowed techniques were enough then there be no need to develop any practices specific to games design theories. These collective theories are individual but there has been much discussion on them and it could be probable that these individual theories could be developed into one universal ga mes design theory although the most likely result would be a flawed design theory. The open use of gaming terms promotes an over perceived meaning of our own belief of what games are, The academic public overly ignore the uniquely and complexity of game design. Junior designers whose own skill are limited generally embark upon designing games with no further research than their own experience as game players, this methodology is sure to fail, the desire to success, what people in reality like to play can be much different than what the designer actually likes, this is unfortunately a common problem in traditional game design, this is a problem Pederson (2003) states as critical for lead game designers. Those who overrate their own understanding will undercut their own potential from learning and further more it will lead to the same result as failure. Ambiguity and ambiguity of play are a important aspect of design brought up by Smith (1997), applying the principle and concepts to gaming have watered down the original medium and meanings, there is no longer a clear focus to the ideology of game design we desire to understand. This watered effect is creating genres, levels of design, innovativeness, expenses and lastly the technology are effecting this medium more than any other, price ranges in not only the technology but the actual developing of the game can be astronomical, the latest version of Grand Theft Auto(Rockstar Games, 2008) a sandbox* style game cost over $100 million to design and develop included over 1,000 members of staff and took of three years to finish(Linde, 2008). If you were to look for game design theory in this game, after much search you would result with a unanswered question, putting aside the budget and expenses to develop this game the sure scale of this project is enough to put a stop to the idea of needing or there ever existing an underlying games design theory. The style of game for the GTA series is not alone, other genre such as first person shooters(FPS), action based and role playing games(RPG) are also pu t in this bracket, it would be hard pressed to find a game theory where each of these genres could fit in, meet there goals and be overall a success. A Common Design Theory? There are a few genres of games where there is potentially a underlying game design theory that could be developed for any new game yet to be developed and this could exist in the racing genre, it is this genre where the same practices of desig