Quantitative Risk Assessment Essay Example for Free

Quantitative Risk Assessment Essay For the project of redesigning packing for the Canadian market, quantitative risk assessment plays an important role. Quantitative risk assessment is, â€Å"A process for assigning a numeric value to the probability of loss based on known risks and available, objective data†¦ used to determine potential direct and indirect costs to the company based on values assigned to company assets and their exposure to risk† (InvestorWords.com, 2014). For this particular project, quantitative risk assessment will be useful in determining not only which are areas of potential risk, but also to what degree these risks may affect the overall integrity of the project. Revised Project Background The project of the redesign of packaging for the Canadian market currently consists of four different product lines including Dial, Tone, Right Guard, and Dry Idea, and consists of over 50 variants spanning the four lines. Each new packaging design is independent of every other thus there exists no interdependency from design to the next. Each design observes a similar path consisting of initial review of changes, alterations, and additions by management, marketing, and the design team, initial layout of established changes by the design team followed by a first round review of changes by marketing, legal, management and compliance. If additional changes are required, a second round of design and review is implemented up to two additional rounds as needed. Upon successful acknowledgement of new designs, the artwork is then sent to our preproduction team for development to printer-ready artwork. Once completed, the artwork is sent to a third party production house for mockups to be created to be sent to the parent  company in Germany for final approval. If any designs are rejected (and they never are), commentary from Germany is implemented into further redesign and the process is restarted. Upon approval from Germany, artwork is submitted to the printer. Printer will then submit print-ready, color-calibrated proofs for final approval. Proofs are reviewed by management for final approval before actual printing. Once printed, packaging is sent to a fulfillment house to have labels applied to containers and filled with product or have wraps applied to soap bars. Upon completion of fulfillment, finished product is shipped to various holding facilities in Canada for final disposition. As previously stated, project will span eight months from inception to final delivery. Risk Identification Framework Management Delays: As the majority of the work for this project involves objective changes and adjustments to existing packaging, the first phase, initial review by management, involves nominal risk. Management will evaluate and select which products will receive updated treatment for inclusion into the Canadian market. Once the products are selected, management has no further involvement outside of potential cancellations of various packaging designs or their requested involvement during a particular phase of completion. Design Delays: As this project includes approximately 50 variants of packaging including labels and wraps, production must be coordinated to allow for enough time for completion of initial layouts and any necessary revisions, while taking into consideration the design needs and time constrains on the design team from other departments and for other projects running concurrently. While the project has a timeline of eight months, final design layouts must be approved and ready for preproduction within the first four months of the project. The in-house design team will complete the bulk of the design phase of the project, though external design agencies may be utilized if time constraints are threatened. It should be noted that the use of external design agencies would incur additional costs. Also, the design process will require an initial review before being released to the review team for official review, to ensure all parameters have been incorporated. Review Delays: This area constitutes the bulk of all potential delays. While each packaging component is independent of one  another, the review process for each component must be completed sequentially among the review team. There are five departments that will review each design layout and either approve or denote changes. Some of these potential changes are subject to additional changes or cancellations by other departments, meaning the first team may indicate several changes that the third team can then override if the indicated changes are deemed unnecessary. Also, the number of rounds of review may add potential delays to the overall project. Another potential area of delay exists with the timely completion of review by the required departments. Certain key staff may be unavailable to review a packaging design during a given time period. To circumvent potential risks, each member of the review staff will have two alternative staff members capable of reviewing each package design. Should no staff members be available to review, the particular review component is submitted to the manager of the appropriate department for their review. This becomes a last-resort scenario in that traditionally, managers indicate changes that exist outside the scope of the project. Review delays present unique difficulties in that not every team member provides feedback as to their daily availability. Pre-Production and Printing Delays: The preproduction team will transition the artwork from its final design to printer-ready artwork. There is typically no risk for delay in this area. The printer will then produce a final round of art proofs calibrated to their individual presses. One round of revisions is already assumed and build into this process. Additional revisions are not typical though can present a nominal risk. Corporate Delays: While exceeding unusual, corporate can play a small role in delaying a project by canceling one or more packaging designs, adding addition package designs above and beyond what management has previously approved, or by simply delaying the provision of final approval on all finished designed submitted. While these scenarios are unlikely, they do represent the extreme limit of delay-related risk in that they can affect the project for an indeterminate amount of time. Qualified and Quantified Risk Matrix Review Delays Reduce Risk Consistent communication with key reviewers. Engage alternate reviews if primary reviews are unavailable. Enlist managers is alternate reviewers are unavailable. Greater than two days review time by each responsible team member. Project Manager Pre-Production and Printing Delays Reduce Risk Constant communication with pre-production team and printer will reduce or eliminate risks. Buffers in timing are already built into production times. Delays indicated by pre-production team or printer. References Cooper, D. F., Grey, S., Raymond, G., Walker, P. (2005). Project risk management guidelines: Managing risk in large projects and complex procurements. West Sussex, England: John Wiley Sons. InvestorWords.com. (2014). quantitative risk assessment. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.investorwords.com/19179/quantitative_risk_assessment.html Loch, C. H., DeMeyer, A., Pich, M. T. (2006). Managing the unknown: A new approach to managing high uncertainty and risk in projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.

Android-based English Grammar Checker with Voice Recognition

Android-based English Grammar Checker with Voice Recognition ABSTRACT In this paper, the Researchers describe an Android-based Voice Recognition system that acts as a grammar checker specifically geared to the needs of non-native speakers who are willing to learn and be familiarized with English language. This paper also examines how wrong usage of grammar can affect the communication of people both orally and in writing. Most commercial grammar checkers on the market today are meant to be used by native speakers of a language who have good intuitions about their own language competence. These tools were made to help native speakers who were not fluent in other language, thus making their outputs grammatically correct. However, these errors vary from one another, the reason why different grammar checkers are designed for different specific needs. The grammar checking component uses island processing rather than a full parse. This approach is both rapid and appropriate when a text contains many errors. In this research, it aims to develop a complete voi ce-based English grammar checker application that will help non-native speakers that want to learn and to speak English fluently. The focus of this paper is the grammar checking component. This approach is both useful and more efficient, since it directly corrects the grammar by translating the voice into text. The system also used Internet Search Engines that will provide examples of how the content of the voice into text segment can be expressed in a grammatically correct and idiomatic way. This application can help people having a hard time in expressing themselves using the English Language. KEYWORDS Voice Recognition, Grammar Checker, Android, Natural Language Processing, Mobile, Application, Vocabulary, Grammar INTRODUCTION One of the common reasons of miscommunication is due to wrong choice of words, resulting to poor grammar. Poor grammar later results of miscommunication or worse, someone with bad grammar was often insulted or shamed by people. To avoid these, word-processing systems are developed at the present time already include grammar checkers that are used to locate different grammatical errors in a text. These tools were made to help native speakers who were not fluent in another language, thus making their outputs grammatically correct. It is also intended to help its researchers to write texts in English, which is not their language. Although their command of the language is generally acceptable, most of them do not feel confident about their correctness and the expressiveness of their writing. However, these errors vary from one another, the reason why different grammar checkers are designed for different specific needs. Internet provides a boundless number of documents in English so the main function of the checker is the use of an Internet search engine that detects the text segments that are not found on any web pages. But most of these tools were aimed to help native speakers to check their English grammar, but what about Filipino and other citizens who are not fluent in speaking in English Language? How can one point out his or her grammar mistakes when they are trying to write a paper in our language? We designed an Android application for grammar-checking in English Language by using voice recognition. This android application aims to help the users that wants to learn English Language fluently and at the same time, it can help to improve their English vocabulary and grammar. The system will require the user to record a voice message. After the recording, the system will translate the message into text. There will be two buttons, the record again and go. If the text output is wrong, the user should press the record again button and if the text output is correct, the user can proceed. The system will now check the grammar. For example, the user recorded â€Å"Matt like Fish†. The text output was correct, so the user pressed go. The system will now process the grammar checking and after a few seconds, the system will give the corrected result via text output which is â€Å"Matt likes Fish.† In order to find out the common errors usually done by users, we conducted a survey among potential users around the New Era University, specifically some Filipino students who are a bit struggling when it comes to speaking English fluently. We ranked the results by percentage so that we know what we should be focusing on. A total of 30 respondents participated in the survey. DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS Internet search engine Grammar Checker Internet Search engine The checker used the Wordnet 3.0 engine, a lexical database for the English Language. It arranges English words into sets of synonyms called synsets. The engines used to find the search results for a text segment are Google and Yahoo. Grammar Checker Part of a system that verify written text for grammatical correctness. The implementation of a grammar checker makes use of Natural Language Processing. Once the grammar checker has been active, the text which is based on the voice recorded by the user will undergo a number of stages. It is separated into sentences and words. The individual words are then looked up in the internet. It includes all the words that occur in the system with all its possible usage. METHODOLOGY The table shows the results of the survey. With this table, we are now informed about the common mistakes that the potential users might commit. This table will help us to distinguish and to focus more on the most common error to help the users more efficiently. The common error that had the highest percentage is the improper structure of English sentences. Next is the improper use of verbs. Third is an improper classification of Noun. Fourth is the improper combinations of certain words, fifth is incorrect use of Adjectives and lastly, is improper use of Adverbs. This application will help the users construct English sentences which are grammatically correct. In this way, the users will learn their mistakes and at the same time, learn how to speak and write in English fluently. The following table gives the percentages of errors found in the surveys conducted. Table 1. Error Percentage SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE Figure 1 Grammar Checker Architecture Figure 1 shows the architecture of the system. It shows the flow of the system and how the system works and also how to gain and give a possible output of the application. Figure 1.2 Voice Recognition In this picture, it shows the stress of the user’s recorded voice and translates it into text. The system will recognize the voice and checks its grammar in the process. After that, the user will now find out his/her mistakes and the system will provide the correct grammar. METHODOLOGY RELATED WORKS Automatic voice recognition has a long history speech processing. Automatic speech recognitioncan bedefinedas the independent, computer-driven transcription of spoken language into readable text in real time (Stuckless, 1994). There is a lot of research has been done for Android applications including Speech Analysis and Natural Language Processing. Voice Recognition today is still improving as additional uses for the technology are developed. The applied voice analysis to conclude activities happened around a user. Voice Recognition Technology can set up to depend on tools known as grammar models that help minimize the data required to recognize the signals. DESIGN AND ALGORITHM ANALYSIS The eCheck: An Android-based English Grammar Checker Using Voice Recognition is designed to guide and help not only Filipino citizens, but also other people that want to learn English fluently and at the same time, improve their English vocabulary and grammar skills. SYSTEM OVERVIEW As stated in this study, the Researchers applied the same basic principles as they have adopted before, however, the Researchers considered a chart to show the flow of the system and to show how our application work. The Researchers also tried to measure the connection of each sentence in the message of the set of categories in our study. Once the grammar checker has been activated, the text which is based on the voice recorded by the user will undergo a number of stages. It is separated into sentences and words. The individual words are then looked up in the dictionary (see Burnage 1990). It includes all the words that occur in the system with all its possible usage. There are some words that are the same, but has a different meaning. In this sense our dictionary is not a simplified type. It is vast but simply a shorter version. CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATIONS The capability and reliability of the Voice Recognition technology have been ever-growing. With more attention and implementation into the world’s most common operating devices, this technology will continue to develop. The Overall evaluation of this application is very helpful, especially to the Filipino citizens. This application can generate data that can give answers to their grammar and speaking concerns, With the advancement of technology, doing a grammar check and spelling is easier than you think. It no longer requires hitting the books and having lots of thesauruses or dictionaries at hand. The Researchers recommend this application for non-native speakers having a hard time in expressing themselves using the English Language.This application can be used for the business and transactions that requires them to speak in English. Because this application can help them to learn more about the English Language by just speaking and by knowing the grammar proper and the right pronunciation of it. There are many features of English that make it fun and interesting to learn. The Researchers also recommend this application to Everyone who wants to learn the proper grammar in English, for them to improve, to gain more knowledge and to fully develop their speaking and also grammar concerns in their own language. By using this application, they are just like having a tutor and a grammar book. The Researchers also recommend that if this study continues to improve, it is needed to be developed and implemented because these tools were made to help native speakers who were not fluent in English language and to discover more about it.

Primary Education in Uganda - A Policy Analysis Essay -- A Level Essays

Primary Education in Uganda - A Policy Analysis Over the past five years, Uganda’s education system has proved both effective and successful. Although in the process of further development, it has nonetheless served as a model for many developing African countries. The Ugandan government, with President Yoweri Museveni at its forefront, has determined primary education to be one of the major channels toward poverty eradication and as a vital resource for economic and social development. The Ugandan government has made a national commitment to eradicate illiteracy and educate its citizens through the 1997 initiative, Universal Primary Education (UPE). All levels of government, the private sector, grass-root organizations, local and international non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), community and church leaders, international aid agencies, and international governments have been major players in Uganda’s universal primary education policy and continue to structure the policy in ways to benefit Ugandans, whi le simultaneously protecting their own interests. Unfortunately with such an enormous national commitment and the underlying interests of the many contributors, there were many shortages in the realistic policy as experienced by Ugandans. I argue that these shortages, which ultimately affect the quality of primary education, can be linked to inadequacies in the deliberations, monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of Ugandan education policy; once these areas are reformed, a more comprehensive education system can be re-established. Rapid educational expansion has taken place in Uganda since its independence in 1962. Following independence, education was regarded as a means through which individuals could advance in society... ...ducation Network Newsletter No.4: United Kingdom www.eenet.org.uk/newsletters/new4/p7.shtml 11. Robert, Kakooza. â€Å"Education in Uganda.† 21st Century Schoolhouse Online. www.21cs.org/magazine/uganeduc.htm 12. Short, Claire. â€Å"Claire Short Announces  £67 Million for Education in Uganda.† UK Department of International Development Press Release 54/98 – 10/1998 www.dfid.gov.uk/PressRelease/files/pr1oct.htm 13. Teskey, Graham and Richard Hooper. â€Å"Uganda Education Strategies Investment Programme: Case Study,† Department for International Development: Nairobi, 8/1999 14. Three Years After Jomtien: EFA in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. Ed. Wright, C. and Rangacher Govinda. UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning: Paris, 1994 15. â€Å"Uganda – Education.† http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/u-edu.htmlAppendix Primary Education in Uganda - A Policy Analysis Essay -- A Level Essays Primary Education in Uganda - A Policy Analysis Over the past five years, Uganda’s education system has proved both effective and successful. Although in the process of further development, it has nonetheless served as a model for many developing African countries. The Ugandan government, with President Yoweri Museveni at its forefront, has determined primary education to be one of the major channels toward poverty eradication and as a vital resource for economic and social development. The Ugandan government has made a national commitment to eradicate illiteracy and educate its citizens through the 1997 initiative, Universal Primary Education (UPE). All levels of government, the private sector, grass-root organizations, local and international non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), community and church leaders, international aid agencies, and international governments have been major players in Uganda’s universal primary education policy and continue to structure the policy in ways to benefit Ugandans, whi le simultaneously protecting their own interests. Unfortunately with such an enormous national commitment and the underlying interests of the many contributors, there were many shortages in the realistic policy as experienced by Ugandans. I argue that these shortages, which ultimately affect the quality of primary education, can be linked to inadequacies in the deliberations, monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of Ugandan education policy; once these areas are reformed, a more comprehensive education system can be re-established. Rapid educational expansion has taken place in Uganda since its independence in 1962. Following independence, education was regarded as a means through which individuals could advance in society... ...ducation Network Newsletter No.4: United Kingdom www.eenet.org.uk/newsletters/new4/p7.shtml 11. Robert, Kakooza. â€Å"Education in Uganda.† 21st Century Schoolhouse Online. www.21cs.org/magazine/uganeduc.htm 12. Short, Claire. â€Å"Claire Short Announces  £67 Million for Education in Uganda.† UK Department of International Development Press Release 54/98 – 10/1998 www.dfid.gov.uk/PressRelease/files/pr1oct.htm 13. Teskey, Graham and Richard Hooper. â€Å"Uganda Education Strategies Investment Programme: Case Study,† Department for International Development: Nairobi, 8/1999 14. Three Years After Jomtien: EFA in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. Ed. Wright, C. and Rangacher Govinda. UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning: Paris, 1994 15. â€Å"Uganda – Education.† http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/u-edu.htmlAppendix

Analysis of Shawshank Redemption Essay -- Essays on Film, Movies

The movie of the Shawshank Redemption is based on a short story by Steven King. The movie shows how prison life affects prisoners during their sentence in jail and after when they are released. The director concentrates mostly on the personal cost of adapting to prison life and how some convicts, once they conform, lose the ability to survive beyond the barbed wire and iron bars. As a character puts it, ‘These [prison] walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them, then you start to depend on them.’ The director shows us to what extent prisoners can be made to ‘depend on them’. The two episodes that I will analyse are examples of two different ‘paths’ prisoners can take once released from prison. One is to survive and live their life, another is to give up and end it. In the movie Red, a prisoner at Shawshank says, ‘get busy living or get busy dying’. This quote plays an important role in the movie because Red and Brooks, two important characters who get out of jail have to make the choice to either ‘get busy living or get busy dying’. Red and Brooks are characters with many similar traits and have gone through many of the same circumstances. Both entered the confines of Shawshank Prison youths but left its walls as old men. They have seen many prisoners come in and out. They spent decades behind the dull enclosure and got used to it. They have adapted themselves to the concepts of routine, forced conformity, power abuse and have lost all elements of individuality within themselves. Red says â€Å"you come here for your life and that’s exactly what they take from you†. The episodes of the release of both men contri... ...ds hug, the camera pulls back, revealing the wide, distant horizon of the blue Pacific with no end in sight. No longer are the Red and Andy confined by walls and iron bars nor watched on by guards. Both are free. Brooks had attained the limits at prison, he had become institutionalised and once released had found the only way out was death. Red, on the other hand, had hoped, and hope had led him to freedom, to happiness, to redemption. Through the themes and the cinematic decisions applied in these two episodes the director has made these vital to the understanding of the movie. He has given two examples of the extreme situations to which prisoners go depending on their emotions. One of the emotions is yet one of the main themes of the movie, hope, and in my opinion it has been brought up extremely effectively.

The Story of Medusa :: essays research papers

There are many variations of the story of Medusa. Yet, I find this one more detailed and precise. Medusa is apart of the chain of Greek Mythology, these stories, or legends are not real and usually said to get a point across, or entertainment. Medusa also shows the relationship the society had with women at that time. Medusa was a Gorgon, The Gorgon's where three sisters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Their names where Stethno, Euryale, and Medusa. Stethno and Euryale where immortal, however Medusa was a mortal. The three sisters where known to be so ugly, if anyone looked at them they would be killed instantly. Medusa was a Queen who reigned in the land around Tritons in Libya. She used to be a beautiful Maiden and Triton fell in love with her. Medusa, after her encounter with Triton, Athena, turned into an ugly woman with snakes as hair, and anyone that looked upon her would turn into stone. Medusa had this spell cast upon her by Athena because, Medusa and Poseidon where caught sleeping together in one of Athena's temples. Athena then became very angry and in her rage, turned Medusa into an ugly woman. Thus, as the story goes Perseus (the son of Andromeda and Zeus), is assigned to assassinate Medusa. He kills her by coming to her in her sleep, then using a mirror looks to see her face, careful not to look at her, he cuts her head off. The blood that splurged from her neck made the country of Libya infested, because her blood turned into snakes. It is also said that Heracles is said to have obtained a lock of Medusa's hair, which possessed the same power as her head, from Athena. He gave it to Sterope, the daughter of Cepheus, as protection for the town of Tegea against attack. When exposed to view, the lock was supposed to bring on a storm, which put the enemy to flight. In my mind Medusa has many different symbolic qualities.

New Venture Creation

Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from New Venture Creation Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from

Learning Strategies and Information-Processing Development Essay

Learning rotter be simply defined as the serve that leads to relatively permanent commute in behavior or potential change in a persons behavior. Learning makes one change the centering they perceive the environment, react to stimuli and interact. Cognitive psychological science is a very important offset printing of modern psychology. The main focus of this blast is the reposition-how entropy is stored and retrieved. Several theories lose been certain with regard to this subject such as the stage hypothesis (Atkinson & Shriffin, 1968).The stage guess model is wide accepted since it proposes that culture is tinge and stored in three accompanying stages i.e. the sensory retrospection, short recollection, and long-term entrepot (Atkinson & Shriffin, 1968, p. 90). In addition to this model opposite accepted theories include levels-of- touch surmisal proposed by Craik and Lockhart (1972), the parallel-distributed touch model and the connectionistic model.This paper examines how attention, memory, experience and acquaintance be related to sundry(a) tuition strategies. In addition, the paper discusses how opthalmic-perceptual, ram and quarrel relate to discipline impact weakenment.Information treat nurtureAs stated in the introduction above, cognitive psychology forms an integral part of the rail of psychology. The near widely used conjecture is the stage theory whose focus is on how development is stored in memory. Information is processed in three stages and this is done in a serial and scholastic manner. other important theory is the levels-of- touch on theory whose bid is that the prentice utilizes different levels of explanation as he or she processes in formation.A major advantage of the nurture-processing strategies is in their explicitness and trueness in diving complex cognitive functions into distinct elements that can be comfortably studied. However, when it comes to analyzing cognition into its distinct part i nformation processing fails to re-unite them into a general, comprehensive construct. In addition, most information processing tools such as computer models carry deep in thought(p) touch with real-life larn experiences (Berk, 2009).Information processing approach towards cognition seeks to explain how the run intoer (children and adults) operate on the different attributes of information. most scholars view the mind as a complex system (a type of computer) by which information flows and is manipulated. General models such as the store model by Atkinson and Shiffrin seize on that information is stored in three parts of the straits for processing the sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory (Berk, 2010, para.1).Craik and Lockhart (1972) level-of-processing model assumes that information is transferred from working memory to the long-term memory depending on the level processing.There survive several(prenominal) other information processing develop psycholog ical models such as the moorings theory which is a reinterpretation of Piagets theory of information processing model. sheath views cognitive development as the outgrowth in information processing condenser as a offspring of mind-set development which can be linked to much(prenominal) efficient cultivation strategies.Connectionism on the other hand explains information processing development as a result of acquirement strategies such as computer-simulated strategies which call forth inter-connectivity of processing units that be well severalise just like the neurological organize of the brain. Sieglers using his model of learning strategy choice argues that, learners always spawn a number of strategies for task solving, the more the experience, the more strategies be selected or fling (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).Attention is a critical part when it comes to human thinking, it dictates the information that will be considered when undertaking a undertaking. Attention is greatly enhanced during early and middle stages of childhood. Thus, fail attention makes one to be more adaptable, selective and organized. Enhanced cognitive reservation and efficacy of attentional learning strategies are pertinent to the fine- tune up of selective attention. The fine tuning of attentional learning strategies takes place in four stages production deficiency, control deficiency, set session deficiency, and effective strategy use (para.2). Whenever there is a problem with attention savants would develop learning disorders.The argument here is that, when a student is learning a parvenue concept, their attention needs to be focus on the new concept. If they fail to richly pay their attention, it means that they will have a serious problem with the learning of the new information (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).Memory strategies are said to improve with age, as children slip by to develop various methods such as, organization, and elaboration. This increases the likelihood of storing information in working memory and its consequential transfer to the long-term knowledge bank. Thus, over childhood stages and even in adolescence, students recall steadily improves as knowledge is continually amassed and its organization is improved effectively.Childrens metacognitive abilities usually change from passivity to activity. A more productive view of mental functioning increases with the increase in cognizance of information processing strategies, cognitive aptitudes, and task variables. Self-regulation cognitively develops gradually during childhood and adolescence stages. Recently, scholars of information-processing have focused their attention towards academic learning of children (Berk, 2009).Visual-perceptual, take and language relation to information processing developmentA visual-perceptual expertness is simply the brains office to process information as seen. Previously, most scholars had assumed that a deficiency in visual-perceptual s kills was directly linked to the malfunctioning of the eye. That is having a poor forcible vision or poor muscle control in the eye. However, the presence or absence of physical vision has nothing to do with visual perceptual. Instead, visual perceptual refers to the qualification of the brain the receiving of visual information, its interpretation, organization, storage, and transmission Thus, if a students brain is not right on storing information, recall will by all odds be poor.This directly affects the students strength to concentrate and read since he or she has a slow recall of words. The retard down of recall can in like manner have a negative impact on their mathematical abilities let unsocial their fluency in speech and knowledge (Smith 2004).Language and phonological processing abilities are touch on by the students ability to store, process, and retrieve information. Usually language and phonological problems are rooted to breeding disorders. Many students wit h reading disorders have obstruction storing, processing, and retrieving information. A normal students left brain hemisphere becomes controlling when they are carrying out tasks involving language processing (Berk 2009).A students get skills are also an important cipher when discussing about learning strategies. Children will learn from their interaction with the environment this ability is affected hindered by a childs motor or verbal skills, a child will learn better when their motor skills are well developed. This can be observed in a math class. A conventional practice in the learning of fractions is the use of multiplication. A student with a problem with their motor skills will have a problem with the use of manipulatives. Thus they will definitely have it rough when it comes to the learning of fractions (Berk, 2010). deathThis paper argues that there exist several other information processing developmental models such as the Cases theory which is a reinterpretation of Pi agets theory of information processing model. Case views cognitive development as the increase in information processing capacity as a result of brain development which can be linked to more efficient learning strategies. The most widely used theory is the stage theory whose focus is on how information is stored in memory.Learning strategies such as memory strategies are pertinent to the process of information development. Information processing approach towards cognition explains how the learner operates on various kinds of information. The mind is a complex system (a type of computer) through which information flows and is manipulated. Deficits in information processing skills have negative impacts on a students ability to learn effectively. This is attributed to the reason that all learning is relatively cumulative.Thus, problems in learning should be detected early in complete and solved otherwise they would get worse with advancement of age.