Success of a Paint Company: Berger Paints

In 1971 Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited has started its journey in Bangladesh. The shareholders were Jenson & Nicholson (J & N), Duncan Macneil & Co. Limited and Dada Group. Duncan Macneil subsequently sold their shares to the majority shareholder J & N Group. The Dada Group’s share ultimately vested with the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh after the independence of the country in 1971. The name of the company was changed from J & N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited on January 1, 1980. Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited (BPBL) is stated to be the market leader in Bangladesh and has a wide range of products such as Decorative Paints, Industrial Paints, Marine Paints, Color Bank, Textured Coatings, Heat Resistant Paints, Roofing Compounds, Wood Solutions, and Wood Adhesives. It gives a comprehensive and sustainable painting solution and providing the best customer service through Home Decor. BPBL’s corporate strategy is to build larger market share through providing quality and speedy service. It’s primary focus is to strengthen its current position by providing value added customer service. BPBL is committed to get highest consumer satisfaction. The main objective of this report is to gain overall practical knowledge about the internal communication techniques of Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd. and corporate success evaluation and also recommend on the basis of business communication. Aim and Rational of the project: The objective of this project is to gain overall practical knowledge about the organization and analyze the communication techniques developed by the company. To be more specific, this project contains the following subjects: †¢Historical background of Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Organizational structure †¢BPBL’s internal communication structure †¢Tools used in the existing communication system †¢Positive aspects of the system being used and recommendations for improvement Significance of the Study: The significance of the study can be explained in many ways. From this project we will learn about the business communication practices followed by Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd, the market leader in paint industry of Bangladesh. It will help us to enhance our knowledge about the relationship between different departments, how they communicate with each other and organizational environment. Methodology: The report will be based on both primary and secondary data. †¢Primary Data: It is obvious that the research will require a lot of primary data. Face-to-face interviews will be conducted with the manager of the BPBL. We have planed to supply them questionnaire to be filled out as well as read them out whenever needed and explain if any clarification is required. †¢Secondary Data: For secondary resources, we will use the web site of BPBL, product profile, and relevant journals by Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd. For the organization part of the report, a lot of secondary resources will also be used. †¢Data Collection Method: We have decided to conduct personal interviews as data collection method. The questionnaire will be structured and includes both open and close-ended questions. †¢Questionnaire: For the survey purpose, we will prepare questionnaire which meet the objective of the project. It will include different issues and important factors regarding internal communication techniques. For the questionnaire we will use simple, direct and familiar words, so that the respondents understand it easily. †¢Data collection: We will conduct Face-to-face interviews with the manager of BPBL to collect the data. We will also collect the necessary data from company website, magazine etc. †¢Report Format: The report will contain mainly two parts. The organizational part shall give the idea about Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd.’s historical background and Organizational structure. And the project part shall contain BPBL’s internal communication structure, tools used in the existing communication system, positive aspects of the system being used and recommendations for improvement and conclusion. Limitation of the Study: The collection of primary data is always a difficult thing because it is hard to ensure the authenticity of the data. Managers of the company may hide some information for the confidentiality. Time is also a limitation as we have to interview the manager, analyze the data and prepare project at a very short time. Despite of these limitations we will try our best to collect accurate and useful data through the survey so that we can generate quality results from the data analysis and give recommendation where it is necessary.

Fourty famous studies that influeneced psychology Essay

Born First, Born Smarter This study involves a person’s intellectual development in correlation to the order in which they were born in relation to their siblings. Two research psychologists, Robert B. Zajonc and Gregory B. Markus, developed a theory in an attempt to explain the relationship between birth order and intelligence. They conducted this study by gathering information from previous research and applied it to the data they collected themselves. A research project was conducted n the late 1960’s that involved testing the intellectual abilities of children born at the end of WWII. They found a strong relationship between the birth order and the Raven test scores. The ones born first scored higher, and the score decreased with the declining birth order. However, the average Raven score for the first born in a two family is only about 5 points higher then that for a last born in a family with nine children. So the more children you have, and the smaller the gap between each child is, the more intelligent each child in succession will be. In Control and Glad of It Researchers Ellen J. Langer and Judith Rodin conducted a field experiment using elderly people in an elderly home to test the outcome of when people are given control as opposed to when people have everything done for them. Langer and Rodin’s prediction was that if the loss of personal responsibility for one’s life causes a person to be less happy and healthy, then increasing control and power should have the opposite effect. Two floors of the elderly home were randomly selected to be observed. One floor was given options for certain things such as there furniture arrangement and which movie they would like to attend. The other floor, was given no such options and had everything arranged and done for them by the staff. The staff was asked to fill out questionnaires about the patients on their floor (the staff new nothing of the experiment). The questionnaires had questions on it to comment about things such as if the patents were sociable, happy, alert, and even how much they visited other patients. The differences between the two groups were incredible. They determined that overall, the increased responsibility group’s condition improved over the three weeks of  the study, while the no-control group was doing progressively poorer. They concluded that when people who have been forced to give up their control and decision-making power are given a greater sense of personal responsibility, their lives and attitudes improve, as is true with the opposing side. More Experience = Bigger Brain Mark R. Rosenzweig and Edward L. Bennett wanted to find out if the brain changes in response to experience. Because this experiment involved long periods of observation and even autopsies to observe the changes in the brain, the two researchers couldn’t use human subjects, so they used rats for the experiment. Three male rats where chosen to participate and assigned to one of three conditions. One rat remained in the colony cage with the rest of the colony. One rat was placed in an â€Å"enriched environment† and one was placed in an â€Å"impoverished environment†. There were 12 rats in each of these conditions for each of the 16 experiments. The standard cage had many rats and had adequate space with food and water always available. The improvised environment was a slightly smaller cage, isolated in a separate room, where the rat was alone with adequate food and water. Finally, the enriched environment was a large cage filled with many toys and furnished with e very luxury a rat could want. The results indicated that the brains of the enriched rats were highly different from those of the impoverished rats. The cerebral cortex of the enriched rats was significantly heavier and thicker then those of the impoverished rats. Also, the study found a significantly greater number of glial cells in the enriched rats’ brains compared with the rats raised in the dull environment. After 10 years of experiment and research the researchers could clearly and confidently state that â€Å"there is no doubt that many aspects of brain anatomy and brain chemistry are changed by experience.† However, many scientists were skeptical of there findings because there were factors that Rosenzweig and Bennett didn’t take into consideration. The enriched rats were handled more which could have been a brain stimulus and the impoverished rats could have been stressed from having no contact with anyone or anything at all. See Aggression†¦Do Aggression One of he most famous and influential experiment ever conducted in psychology history demonstrated how children learn to be aggressive. This study by Albert Bandura and his associates Dorothea Ross and Shelia Ross was carried out in 1961 at Stanford University. The researchers asked for the help of the Stanford University nursery in obtaining thirty-six boys and thirty-six girls raging from ages 3-6. The average age for he children was 4 years and 4 months. Twenty four of the children were assigned to the control group which was the group that wasn’t exposed to any model. The rest of the children were divided into two groups: one exposed to aggressive models and one exposed to non-aggressive models, they were also divided by sex. They eventually had 8 experimental groups divided by gender and level of aggression. First, the experimenter brought a child from one of the groups to a playroom with an adult model. The adult model beat a Bobo doll with a fake mallet while the child played with other toys. Another child was brought in after and the adult model ignored the Bobo doll. This went on for all the groups. 1) The children who were exposed to the violent models tended to imitate the exact violent behaviors they observed when left alone with the Bobo doll. 2) Overall, girls were more likely to imitate the verbal aggression toward the Bobo doll, while the boys showed more physical violence. 3) Boys were significantly more physically aggressive then girls in nearly all the conditions. 4) The boys used the mallet significantly more then girls in almost all of the conditions. 5) The control group was generally less violent then the experimental group.6) in cases with a non-aggressive female, the children used hardly any aggressive language. What You Expect Is What You Get This study involves teacher’s expectancies of pupils and how that affects the students I.Q. gains. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted a study where they theorized that when an elementary school teacher is provided with information (such as I.Q. scores) that creates certain expectancies about a student’s potential, either strong or weak, the teacher might unknowingly behave in ways that subtly encourage or facilitate the performance of the students seen as more likely to succeed. An elementary school was chosen and  all the children grades 1-6 were given an I.Q. test near the beginning of the year. The teachers were told that there students were taking the â€Å"Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition†. This was told to them because this test was supposed to be a predictor for a child’s academic blooming. Teachers believed that students that scored higher would enter a period of increased learning abilities. This was also not true. Children were chosen at random to be within the top 20 percentile of this test and the teachers were informed of this. All other children were the control group of this experiment. At the end of the year the children were tested again using the I.Q. test and the children originally chosen for the top 20% showed a significantly increased score then those of the control group in grades one and two. In grades 3-6 the difference was not so great. The reason for the 1st and 2nd grade development was thought to be because of how younger minds were more malleable then older children and how younger children don’t have a reputation from previous school years. I Can See It All Over Your Face Researchers Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Freisen conducted a study about how facial expressions and emotions are a universal language. The first problem with this experiment was that the researchers had to find subjects that had never been exposed to media or magazines because this would enable the subjects to not truthfully identify a certain emotional expression. Ekman and Freisen found a group of people like this in the Southeast Highlands of New Guinea called the Fore people. They were an isolated Stone Age society with not much contact of any other people outside there environment, let alone any media. They had not been exposed to emotional facial expressions other then those of there own people. The two researchers showed there experimental groups of adults and children pictures of different facial expressions of people from the United States and told them a sentence. They asked them to identify by pointing, to the correct matching facial expression. The adults were given three pictures to choose from and the children were given two. There was not much difference between male and female recognition of expressions, however the children did fair a little better in the experiment. This could have been attributed to the fact that  the children only had to choose between two pictures instead of three. The results for both adults and children clearly support the researcher’s theory that particular facial behaviors are universally associated with particular emotions. The only trouble that the Fore people had was distinguishing between fear and surprise, and this was because these people closely associated fear and surprise as one emotion. Racing Against Your Heart Using their earlier research and clinical observations, two cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman, developed a model of traits for a specific type of persons behavioral pattern that they believed was related to growing levels of cholesterol and to heart disease. The first pattern, pattern A, had characteristics such as a drive to achieve your goals, a competing personality, multi-tasking that involves meeting deadlines, and extreme alertness. Following this is another type of people, called pattern B. Pattern B is the exact opposite of pattern A. They lacked drive, ambition, desire to compete, and involvement in deadlines. A third set of behaviors developed was called pattern C. This was very much like pattern B but involved anxiety and insecurity. Friedman and Rosenman interviewed about 166 men for there experiment. They first questions they asked them were about there family’s medical history, so they could see if they had CHD. While in this interview the researc hers categorized each man into a pattern A or B category by the way he answered questions, or his tone, or body language. Each subject was asked to keep a log of there diet over the course of a week and blood tests were taken from each of the men to measure cholesterol levels. Friedman and Rosenman matched each man into pattern A and pattern B easily. Each man fit into one of the developed patterns. The researchers found that the men in Pattern A group had significantly higher chances of heart disease and that type A behavior was a major cause of blood abnormalities. However there could be other reasons why Type A had higher chances of heart disease such as, there family’s history. More men in the pattern A group had parents with heart disease. Another difference was that pattern A men smoked more cigarettes a day then did the subjects in group B. This study was very important in the history of psychology for a few  reasons. One way was that it proved certain behavioral patterns can cause major heart related illness. Another is that this study began a new line of research and questioning into t he relationship between behavior and CHD. The largest long-range outcome from this study that has played an important role in creating a new branch of psychology called health psychology. Not Practicing What You Preach This study involves attitudes and actions toward different racial groups. It was determine if what people say is actually what they will do if they come face to face with the problem. Richard T. LaPiere traveled extensively with a young Chinese couple in 1930 and 1931. The couple was very nice and personable and he was glad to be traveling with them. During this time there was a lot of prejudice in the U.S. against Asians. So, LaPiere was very surprised when the Asian couple was graciously accommodated at a very fine hotel that had a reputation for greatly disliking Orientals. Two months later he called the same hotel and asked if they would accommodate a very important Chinese man and they said defiantly not. LaPiere then developed a theory that stated â€Å"What people say is often not what they do†. The study was conducted in two separate parts. First, LaPiere went with his Chinese friends to many hotels and restaurant throughout the U.S. over the course of two years. He took record of how the couple was treated and made sure to first stay out of site of the managers of the establishments to ensure that the couple wouldn’t be treated differently in his presence. The second part of the experiment was for LaPiere to wait 6 months after there trip (to make sure the effect of the Chinese couples visit had faded), and then call each establishment that they went to or stayed at, and asked them if they would accommodate a Chinese person. After almost three years, LaPiere had enough information to make a comparison of social attitudes social behavior. Out of the 251 hotels and restaurants they attended, only one refused the couple and LaPiere service because of the couple’s race. Aside from that instance, all other places accommodated them with average or above average service. When he received most of the letters back with an answer from the hotels and restaurants over 90% of them said they would absolutely not accommodate anyone of the Chinese race. This confirmed LaPiere’s theory that what people  say, is not always how they will act. The Power of Conformity Research psychologist Solomon E. Asch conducted a study to see if people will give into peer pressure and conform to there friends ideas. A person was let into a room (Subject A) with seven other subjects. These seven people, without subject A knowing, were not participants in the experiment, they were helping the experimenter. Each person was asked which line was longer on a card that was shown to them. Subject A went first and then followed was the seven other subjects and then subject A was asked again. They did this several times until one time, all the other subjects disagreed with subject A and all picked the same one, different form his choice. When the card came back to subject A he picked the one everyone else picked. Seventy-Five percent of the time the first subject will conform to the group’s consensus at least once. The powerful effects of group pressures to conform were clearly demonstrated in Asch’s study. There are four factors that could have an effect on the reduction of conformity. These factors are social support, attraction and commitment to the group, size of the group, and gender of the group. If you have people on your side you are more likely to stay with your answer rather then conform. Crowding Into The Behavioral Sink The effects of crowding on our behavior are something that has interested psychologists for decades. One man in particular, John B. Calhoun was especially interested in it when he conducted this study on crowding and social pathology. It may be hard to believe but rats do have a social side. The reason Calhoun used rats were because he needed many subjects for long periods of time that were willing to crowd together for a while. Humans wouldn’t be very good at this. He used a 10Ãâ€"14 foot room and divided it into 4 sections. Section one was connected to section 2 by a ramp, section 2 was connected to section 3 by a ramp, and section 3 was connected to section 4 by a ramp. The walls were electrified so in order to get from section 1 to section 4 you needed to go through all the rooms. The rooms were also filled  with shreds of paper, in order for the rats to make nests. The experimenter filled the rooms with rats. They started with about 4 rats and waited or the rats to multiply until they reached 80. When over 80 were reached some rats were removed so they always had a constant number. When the rats got older, they started to fight with each other for space even though it wasn’t necessarily too crowded. The two end rooms were soon fought for because they got the most space and privacy so the rat that won the fight always stayed on guard at the end of the ramp for security. Some rats became submissive and others always fought. Some of the rats were very sexually active and some wanted nothing to do with it. Some of the mothers in the two middle pens became inadequate. They often left their children and lost all maternal abilities. One environment where the same thing that happened to the rats might happen to humans is in an overcrowded prison. It was found in a very crowded prison where each inmate has approximately 50 square feet, as opposed to one with more room, there were more cases of homicides, suicide, illness, and disciplinary problems. Crowding also has negative effects on problem-solving abilities. When in a small room that’s crowded subjects had a more difficult time listening to a story and putting tighter a puzzle, then did another group with more space and the same tasks. Relaxing Your Fears Away Researcher Joseph Wolpe was a research psychologist specializing in the systematic desensitization treatment of neuroses. The word phobia comes from Phobos, the name of the Greek god of fear. Phobias are divided into three main categories. Simple phobias are phobias that involve irrational fears of animals or specific situations such as small spaces or heights. Social phobias are irrational fears about interaction with others. Agoraphobia is the irrational fear of being in an unfamiliar, open, or crowded space. These are all irrational and all can be treated in similar ways. Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique that was credited to Wolpe as perfecting and applying it to the treatment of anxiety disorders. Systematic desensitization is the way of unlearning a learned behavior. Reciprocal inhibition is when two responses inhibit each other, and only one may exist at a given moment. There are three steps that a patient must follow in order  to rid themselves of a phobi a. Wolpe says that you cannot be in a complete relaxed state and have an irrational fear at the same time, so the first step is relaxation. He taught the patient to go into a deep state of relaxation whenever they wanted or needed too. The process involves tensing and relaxing your muscles until you have reached a state of complete relaxation. Wolpe also incorporated hypnosis to ensure full relaxation. The next step in the process is for the therapist and patient to develop a list of high anxiety-producing situations involving your phobia. Starting with the least stressful and ending with the most stressful. The final stage is called the unlearning stage. The patient has to go into a deep state of relaxation and the therapist will read off to you your fears of the list. If at any point you feel anxiety the therapist stops you return to your relaxation mode and the therapist will continue. This process continues until the therapist can go through the entire list with you feeling the least bit anxious. The success of their therapy was judged by the patients own reports and by the occasional direct observation. He had a success rate of 91% with the 39 cases he had. The average number of treatment sessions needed was 12.3. Wolpe said that he hasn’t had any patient relapse after a complete desensitization recovery. Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway? David L. Rosenhan conducted an experiment with sane people going into mental facilities claiming to hear voices, to see if the patients would be immediately released if acting completely sane. Rosenhan questioned whether the characteristics that lead to psychological diagnoses reside in the patients themselves or in the situations in which the observers find the patients. Eight subjects including Rosenhan committed themselves to eight different mental hospitals. Each subject was completely sane and in perfect mental health. When committing themselves to the hospital they complained of hearing voices and all but one where admitted and on record as having schizophrenia. Each patient once admitted, acted perfectly sane and showed no signs of schizophrenia yet were treated as though they did have a mental illness throughout their entire stay. They were given medication which they disposed of and were not treated as normal people. It was as if because they  were in the mental hospital, they were automatically considered to not be a real human being. Rosenhan’s study demonstrated rather strongly that normal â€Å"patients† cannot be distinguished from the mentally ill in a hospital setting. According to Rosenhan, this is because of the strength of the mental setting has over the patient’s actual behavior. Once patients are admitted to such a place, there is a strong inclination for them to be viewed in ways that strip them of all individuality. This study surprises me. I’m taken aback that these professionals that have worked with mentally ill patients cannot decipher between a truly mental patient and a completely mentally-healthy patient. It is extremely unprofessional that the staff member/nurse did at one of the facilities by adjusting her bra in front of patients as if they weren’t real people. Thanks For The Memories One of the leading researchers in the area of memory is Elizabeth Loftus at the University of Washington. She has found that when an event is recalled it is not accurately recreated. Instead it’s what’s called reconstructive memory. Loftus defines a presupposition as a condition that must be true in order for the question to make sense. For example, suppose that you have witnessed an automobile accident and I ask you, â€Å"How many people were in the car that was speeding?† The question presupposes that the car was speeding. One experiment done by Loftus was having students in small groups watch a car accident video that was about 1 minute long. After the film ended the students had to answer questions. For half the students the first question was â€Å"How fast was car A going when it ran the stop sign?† The other students had a question that read â€Å"How fast was car A going when I turned right?† The last question for both groups was â€Å"Did you see the stop sign?† In the group that had been asked about the stop sign 53% of the subjects said they saw a stop sign for car A, while only 35% in the â€Å"turned right† group claimed to have seen it. Based on these and other studies, Loftus argues that an accurate theory of memory and recall must include a process of reconstruction that occurs when new information is integrated into the original memory of an event. There is little doubt that in the course of criminal prosecutions, eye witness reports are subject to many sources of  error such as post event information integration.

The Girl In Dream Of The Designer

Fan Bing bing, a Chinese actress, singer, producer, and wickedly awesome dresser. She is 31 year old, stunning beauty with height 168 cm and weigh 52. 5 kg. Known for her very large eyes and small proportional face, Fan has been dubbed â€Å"goddess† by her Chinese fans and is a lightning rod in the fashion community, a topic of constant discussion and excitement. She has slim and lovely body which suit her very much with tied fitted dress. She also goes very well with low cut dress which make her look sexy and elegant. Bing bing often appear in public is with elegant long dress. She is also often boldly dress up with stunning and catchy design. Her dress could be overwhelmed to some but she stands out beautifully and gracefully with her ways of having fun by playing dress up. Bing bing always find the spirit of the dress, she also refined in developing strong personal appearance. That's why Asian beauties stand whenever appearance. Page Redcarpet compare Bing bing as â€Å"the girl in the dream of the designer†. Each occurrence of the events, large and small, Bing bing are characterized by different styles. Oriental facial features, body shape, elegant and a little pride †¦ all impress beautiful Asian beauty and allure. Fan Bing bing not bind itself in a certain style. So in the event, fans are nervously waiting for the image that she will bring. Actors dared to try a variety of outfits and very smart in the coordinate map, so she completely mastered what jacket on people, making them beauty Fan Bingbing way. In late 2012, many world famous fashion website ranked Bing bing in the first position in the list of best-dressed female artist in 2012. The voting results indicate that taste in fashion world Bing bing is confirmed. Progresses in the field of cinema, the way to behave more sober, mature, Bing bing gradually rid label â€Å"vase† to become a celebrity due to the power of art. Fan Bing bing ranked first in the list of the most powerful female character in the Chinese fashion fans does not surprise. She is the most prominent face of the overseas Chinese beauty the fashion week as well as his excellent show at the International Film Festival of Cannes, Tokyo, Pusan †¦ Page 1 Bing Bing also shows the outstanding taste. Not loyal to a certain style, she always gives the audience the unexpected. Sexy, sexy – innocence, purity, from classic to modern, from the firing to the sprawling †¦ but the combination of her always praise. The red carpet shows that she isn't just one of the most beautiful women in China, she is one of the most beautiful women in the world! As much as flamboyant designs that she h as appeared before , I would love to design cocktail dress that hopefully will bring out the best of her. With her youth busty and tall figure and lovely bodyline, she will look natural, sexy and youthful with short dresses. She will look stunning sexy in lower cut and backless cocktail dress. Tied fitted short dress will allow her to show off her lovely bodyline, long modally legs and as well as her silky skin. Cuts simple, novel for the hand feels comfortable, modern and sophisticated,' LBD ‘cocktail dress are always chic and classy, is always popular regardless of the transition of the time and the fashion trends. â€Å"Simplicity is beauty! Fang Bing bing is simply a beauty of the world! Dress that is complicated with too much floral designs or lacy designs could not bring out the real beauty of Bing bing. If we look at Fan Bing bing features of large eyes with small proportional face , sharp chin with long silky black hair, and often her makeup is simple yet elegant. LBD cocktail dress would be matching her in the best simplicity way and yet most elegant at the same time. I a m very certain ‘LBD' dress with plain colored, knit Fabric will not only simply enhanced her beauty, and it will could be everyday dress too.

Write a well-developed response to the following Essay

Write a well-developed response to the following - Essay Example This is the reason why, when Confucianism was to syncretize Judaism, it would not be as easy compared to syncretizing other religions. Judaism believes that there is only one God, the creator of all things, humans and animals and that He is above all his creations, able to deicide on what to do with them according to his personality, that is, Provider, Healer, Righteous Judge, Sanctuary and many more. They strongly believe in a God who is able to do impossible things like the seemingly mythological events in the Jewish Bible. They recognize their being chosen as a people to enjoy the protection and power of God. They believe that the patriarch Abraham was appointed to sire a son who would become a great nation, Israel. During his old age, the promised son, Isaac was born but God gave him a great test that endangered the life of his son. Nevertheless, Abraham obeyed God by faith and he was rewarded with the life of Isaac being spared. Israelites admire and look up to Abraham for the example of faith that he has shown, but they do not worship him because they understand that Abraham is but a man like them. On the oth er hand, Confucianism worships Confucius, the founder of the religion, a mere man like his followers, a despicable act in the eyes of Judaism. One of the strong characteristics of Judaism is monotheism. They worship only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth not like other religions which believe in a higher power but still worship men who walked this earth. Such strong belief is strengthened by the face to face interaction of the Jewish forefather, Moses who brought the Israelites out of bondage from Egypt to the wilderness where they stayed for forty years before going to the Promised Land, Israel. God gave his commandments to the Israelites through Moses and on top of the list is the avoidance of worshipping other gods like the sun,

Business law 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Business law 1 - Essay Example Black hackers could penetrate company websites and steal information that would be fundamental to them. This trend has led companies to hire hackers whose primary function is to counter the work of the black hackers. The skyrocketing use of social media has created a cyber threat. Apart from individuals, businesses are getting into social media which has substantially increased the threat of attack. Companies have taken a step beyond policies and procedures and developed tactics to combat these attacks. File log systems, data leakage prevention and enhanced monitoring of the network are among the advanced technologies developed to curb cyber attacks on companies. Research has advised that large firms should look into developing specialist policing and forensic computer resources for easy detecting and mitigation of cyberspace strikes. Law enforcement agencies are targeting social media sites are they are the easy places to find data. The unwarranted use of social media is giving a rise in cyber harassment, identity theft, and cyber stalking. Users are being tracked, and their data stolen, and illegally used on other platforms. The biggest challenge to social media legislator is mitigating the risks to the users and providing appropriate remedies to the victims. Corporations have come up with the e-signature technology where individuals can sign documents online and deliver them with embedded sign on the owner. It has the same impact legally as the hardcopy signature and enables identification. However, with knowledge asymmetry in the internet usage, ill-intentioned users can hack and impersonate others for selfish reasons. It can also amount to identity theft. Trespass as a cyber tort may include sending spam emails and spyware that if negligently handled, may gather data from one computer and send back to the source of the email. The other emerging trend is the need for the

MoD 3 FIN501 Risk and Returns Protfoli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MoD 3 FIN501 Risk and Returns Protfoli - Essay Example We can use the following models to determine a company's required rate of return: 1) Dividend Discount Model: The dividend discount model is an example of a present value model of stock valuation in which dividends are used as stream of cash flows and the present value of the stream of dividends is defined as the value of the stock. The basic assumption of this model is that an investor who buys a share receives return only in the form of dividends. This assumption strictly holds for dividend paying stocks and for companies that are stable and pay a constant amount of dividend to its share holders. Companies that are categorized as high growth companies do not pay out dividends to their share holders since the excess funds are invested elsewhere in the business to exploit the existing growth opportunities (Madura, 2008). Hence DDM is not a suitable model to use for high growth companies that do not pay out dividends to its shareholders. Another assumption of the model is that there a re no taxes and transaction costs. This is a false assumption since dividends earned are taxed in most of the countries. DDM is one of the oldest and easiest model to calculate a company's required rate of return. ... The required rate of return is very sensitive to the inputs used in the DDM constant growth formula and hence the value of required rate of return is as good as the assumptions used by an analyst. DDM also assumes that the prices are efficient and the intrinsic value of a stock is equal to the market price of a stock. This assumption does not hold in equity market indices of developing markets. In conclusion, DDM is appropriate for valuing a company's required rate of return when its key assumption of steady future dividends hold. Most of the Equity market indices of developed markets satisfy this assumption. Lastly, an analyst should be aware of the fact that the output of the model is very sensitive to the inputs used and the model's accuracy largely depends on the assumptions used by an analyst. 2) Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): CAPM is an equation that can be used to calculate the required rate of return of a stock. CAPM is one of the widest used models in finance to calcula te the required rate of return because of its comparatively objective procedure of calculating a company's required rate of return (Jaffe, Westerfield, & Ross, 2005). Following equation can be used to calculate the required rate of return in CAPM: One of the assumptions of CAPM is that the shareholders are risk averse and they make the decision to invest in a stock based on the mean return and variance of returns of their total portfolio . This assumption does not hold in developing markets where investors are not very knowledgeable about the concepts of portfolio management. Another assumption of CAPM is that there are many investors in the market and all of those investors are price takers. This assumption does not hold true if the financial markets are not

Counter-Point Written Response to Reading Essay

Counter-Point Written Response to Reading - Essay Example To avoid going to court and risk getting being convicted and suffer its dire consequence, pretrial arrangements are usually resorted to as a damage control measure of corporations who are subjected to a criminal charge. The most common measures employed to control the collateral consequence of litigation comes in the form of pretrial agreements. Types of Pretrial Agreements a. Plea agreements Plea agreement is the most common form of pretrial agreement whereby a corporation pleads guilty to the most provable charge in the indictment. It requires an admission of guilt as a mitigating factor and in exchange for a lesser punishment including the avoidance of a jail term. The following memoranda sets the guidelines of a plea agreement between government prosecutor and the corporation investigated of a corporate crime. The Thompson Memo The Thompson Memo guidelines, Plea Agreement with Corporations set the limit of a prosecutor’s ability to bargain. Per Thomson memorandum, prosecut ors should only bargain to the most serious cases which is also known as â€Å"top count† policy. This memorandum requires the accused corporation to plead guilty on the charge and its provisions ensure â€Å"punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, and compliance with the agreement. The deterrence mechanism of this policy comes in the hefty fines, mandatory restitution and compliance measures. The McNulty Memo The McNulty memo was drafted by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty as Guidelines for Prosecuting Corporate Fraud. This new memo removed few of the restrictions in the Thompson Memo to ensure the complete and fruitful corporate cooperation. The provision that were removed from the previous memo includes; â€Å"that the corporation waive attorney-client and work product protection, make employees and agents available for debriefing, disclose the results of internal investigation, file appropriate certified financial statements, agree to governmental or third-party aud its, and take whatever other steps are necessary to ensure that the full scope of the corporate wrongdoing is disclosed and that the responsible culprits are identified and prosecuted†. Filip Memo The Filip Memorandum is a revision of McNulty Memo and was updated on August 28, 2008. This process of revisions of the policy culminated in the incorporation in the final policy form into the United States Attorney’s Manual (USAM). This memo requires the prosecutors to ask permission from DOJ before requesting waivers of attorney-client privilege and work product protections during criminal investigations. In summary, Filip Memo; Prohibits prosecutors from asking protected materials from charged corporations. Not to treat refusal of such request as non-cooperation Prohibits prosecutors from including the disciplinary action of corporations in their evaluation of cooperation; and Refusal to cooperate in the part of corporation is not an admission of guilt b. Deferred prosecuti on agreements (DPA) The usage of deferred prosecution agreement as a resolution to a corporate criminal investigation is rare. It is an alternative disposition towards a corporate criminal case whereby government files the charge against the corporation in a court and agrees to â€Å"defer† the prosecution of the case and to dismiss the charge if the corporation pays the fines and rehabilitate itself. c. Nonprosecution agreem

Comparison of two Asian Megacities Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparison of two Asian Megacities - Term Paper Example Also the internal migration brought about a rapid change with regard to the economical, social, political and demographic aspects of these cities which in turn became mega cities. It will be interesting to study Mumbai and Bangkok in the above mentioned context. Demographics: Mumbai-formerly known as Bombay until 1995- is the capital city of Maharashtra state, India; but is well deservingly called the commercial and financial capital of India. It is also one of the world’s most densely populated mega cities. Its population of lately has reached a whooping 16 million mark. As per the wikipedia information â€Å"As of 2009, Mumbai was named an Alpha world city. Mumbai is also the richest city in India and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West or Central Asia.† Mumbai is popularly known as a cultural melting pot as one finds migrants from all regions of India settled here and many more pouring in daily. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. Its population is ab out 9 million. It is the largest urban city of Thailand popularly known as the city of angels. Bangkok is perhaps the most apt example of a city representing a population of diverse cultures. Referbangkok.com confirms that â€Å"Bangkok has a true international culture with a sizable population of immigrants from China, Japan, India, America, Europe, Taiwan, South Korea, Nigeria, Malaysia and Singapore. Bangkok is also believed to be a host for a good number (approx. 400 – 600 thousand) of illegal immigrants from Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, China, and other countries.† Economy: In older times Mumbai’s economy revolved around its cotton textile industry. Textile industries still bear a lot of importance in Mumbai’s economy. But as a result of globalization Mumbai has emerged as an epicenter of a large number of economic activities. City-data.com gives the current account of Mumbai’s financial str engths mentioning that â€Å"Mumbai is home to some of India's largest and wealthiest industrial conglomerates, such as the Aditya Birla Group, Godrej, and Tata & Sons. More specialized economic activities are diamond cutting, computers, and movie making (in sheer numbers, Mumbai, or "Bollywood," produces more movies than any other city in the world, including Hollywood). In addition to manufacturing, Mumbai is a leading commercial and financial center. The city is home to the Reserve Bank of India, the Mumbai Stock Exchange, and a variety of other major financial institutions. The government and service sectors are also important in the city's economy.† Bangkok too is the financial center of Thailand. At one time, the major source of income in Bangkok was agriculture. But over the period of time it has solidified Thailand’s economy through establishing itself as the commercial center of not only Thailand but also Southeast Asia for imports and exports. Referring to Ba ngkok industries City-data.com reveals that †Food processing, textiles, and the production of building materials are the chief manufacturing enterprises. Other industries include cement, electronics, petroleum refining, and tourism.† The presence of Bangkok stock exchange and a majority of banks in Bangkok confirm the city’s status as the financial center of Thailand. Environmental Issues: The local politicians, administrators play an important role in the growth of a city in general. But Mumbai perhaps is the worst example

Expatriate Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Expatriate Management - Essay Example Strong human resources management practices come in handy especially in the international context whereby managers are engaged in foreign assignments. They need to be trained to ensure that they are effective in accomplishing the duties assigned to them. Nevertheless, training of expatriate managers is faced with various challenges. This paper presents a critique of challenges such as identifying the time to train, type and level of training, parties to be involved in training as well as the expatriates’ capabilities to relate with the foreign culture. There are also challenges related to the learning capabilities, interest and willingness of the expatriates to undertake the training. Determining the appropriate time to train presents a major challenge as trainers try to evaluate the training needs of expatriates. They can either be trained before leaving their home organization or immediately after travelling to the foreign country (Bird and Osland, 2005). Both strategies are significant in equipping the manager with the desired knowledge to cope with the new environment, but choosing one of them rather than undertaking the two may be effective in saving time and resources. Planners are faced with a dilemma of determining which strategy would be more appropriate. For example, training before the managers leave the organization instills them with a sense of purpose for their mission. They are capable of imagining the organization’s situation after they successfully complete their mission. Yan et al. (2002) observe that training expatriates before they leave their home country motivates them to work towards accomplishment of the organizational goals to impr ove the situation at hand. When they are trained in the foreign country, they are fascinated by the new environment; either due to its magnificence or otherwise lower standards. The new environment may influence learning and therefore the training might not accomplish the organizational objectives (Chew,

Hong Kong film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hong Kong film - Essay Example This research will provide you a ability to examine the workings and products of the creative and hugely accepted current Hong Kong film industry, contribution you the chance to investigate your interests about the connections among popular culture, national personality, and the commercial realities of filmmaking. All along the way we'll dissimilarity some Mainland Chinese film work with Hong Kong films to appreciate the complexities of the Mainland's sight of itself and of Hong Kong film industry. I have also focus to pursuing explore on the growing interface among the Hollywood and Hong Kong film industries, identifying and analyzing latest trends in mutually (moreover, the growing use of CGI in Hong Kong; the claim of Hong Kong construction methods to film series like the Matrix and Lord of the Rings trilogies), and will like tentative Hong Kong's advance to reinventing traditional accepted film genres. In this research I have argue a well-known question: what do we make of film as industrial product and film as cultural body For the purposes of this research on hong kong film culture I use 'film culture' in a limited sense to submit to film expenditure, or the globe of movement of the cinema between different audience groups. At the very beginning I hope to spot out that I create a number of statements, at times challenging ones, devoid of given that suitable clarifications or proof. This is suitable method to deal with hard problems. Though, It may be pardon for opting for the simple way out in the glow of the constraints of space. 'Kung Fu: Negotiating Nationalism and Modernity' According to the article writer movies, as a shape of art, too, exemplify the vision of its audiences. A few celebrate its charming originality; others derogate its delusive diversion. Whether optimistic or pessimistic, it is no doubt that cinematic vision possesses its exclusive meaning and its secure association by realism, mutually psychical and physical. In the late twentieth century, or to put it further exact, in the 70's, kung fu genre, pioneered by the unending star Bruce Lee, arose, moving a marvelous tempest in the movie industry. The vision of Bruce Lee's kung fu movies is clear, and has been discussed in numerous researches. For instance, David Desser, by analyzing "the heart of kung fu's fandom" in the United States, that is, "black youth in the inner city and the rural South", says that kung fu movies "was the genre of the underdog, the underdog of color fighting against colonialist enemies" . Or as experts has seen in Lee's kung fu globe, there exists the option of pol y-culturalism which "accepts the differences in cultural carry out" (Lee, Joanna Ching Yun,2002 , PP129-147). The desire, apparently an anti-colonial one, envisioned by Bruce Lee's kung fu movies is also one factor that contributes to its success. Though, as Joel Stein, the columnist of Time, scornfully comments on Bruce Lee's three free movies in America: one of which was unwatchably awful, the further two of which were watchably awful", the plot of kung fu movies is just droning, boring and unsurprising. In fact, what the audience actually loves concerning Lee's films is other than his thrashing up the Japanese or

How did notions of the traditional woman develop in the 20th century Essay

How did notions of the traditional woman develop in the 20th century and what purposes did this serve - Essay Example Pulling against traditions was a sense of urgency, progress and movement so evident in the industrial, geographical, technological and political changes distressing the society. Women’s roles were intended to stabilize all this uncertainty; however, women could not help except see a breakthrough for themselves in this growth. Opportunities opened up in the factories, retail establishments as well as offices, offering single â€Å"modern girl† new options. Education was now mandatory for both men and women in most states (Kipgen, 2010, p. 218). Women sought after higher education, first in all female institutes, then in co-ed environments. Advocacy for rights of women, with suffrage in the lead, also gathered momentum. In spite of these changes, throughout the 19th century, 95 percent of married women stayed "at home." While the 20th century witnessed a distinctive change in ideas respecting sex relations at a level of social philosophy, far from a traditional notion of â€Å"traditional woman†, supremacy towards a modern girl idea of gender equity was robustly contested and by all means achieved. Important legal, professional, educational, and personal changes did take place, however, by 1901 full, indisputable gender equality stayed almost as the utopian as in the 1800. Research collaboration explores how the â€Å"modern girl† came out as a worldwide phenomenon in the beginning of the 20th century. By pursuing romantic love and wearing provocative fashions, â€Å"modern girls† universally appeared to disregard the responsibilities of loyal daughter, wife and mother. The â€Å"modern girl† developed as a heuristic category which allows new insights into the forces of globalization as well as manifestations of gendered modernity. According to a case study of a cosmetic advertising in India, China, Germany, South Africa, and the United States, it was evident the â€Å"modern girl† in every locale was

Spring by Edna St. Vincent Millay and the Sick Rose by William Blake Essay Example for Free

Spring by Edna St. Vincent Millay and the Sick Rose by William Blake Essay The first poem is called, Spring, by Edna St. Vincent Millay and the second poem is called, The Sick Rose, by William Blake. The two poems are similar in the way that the personas express their feelings towards life. Beauty, the seasons of life, and the meaning of life are the focuses of both poems. What is the meaning of life?: a question that has been asked since the beginning of mankind. This question is asked in the beginning of Spring. The narrator of the poem seems really depressed because of the way she expresses her attitude towards life. In the very beginning of this poem the narrator is asking what the purpose of life is. So from the start this poem seems to be very gloomy. We seem to ask what the meaning of life is more, when we are sad, depressed or maybe something/someone has turned against us; Like in the poem, The Sick Rose. In this poem the narrator says, O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm, That flies at night, In the howling storm. In my opinion the narrator is saying that life isnt worth living and we are all like worms in a storm. Basically he/she is saying that life is a very confusing and frustrating place sometimes. In my opinion the deeper meaning is that in reality a worm is so tiny compared to the rest of the world. When the narrator says, That flies at night, this just emphasizes even more about how small and invisible this worm is. When it is dark outside you can hardly see anything, so it would clearly be impossible to see something invisible. I think that what this poem is trying to portray is, that we as human beings are very tiny compared to the whole world and that we as individuals are invisible. So in theory, I think that this poem is about how the narrator thinks that one person cant make a difference in life. In a way this is similar to the first poem because the author has a negative attitude towards life and does not think highly of it, Life in itself Is nothing Both poems have a very negative outlook on life. Although there is one major difference and this comes at the end of both poems. Though both may seem to end on a negative note, Spring (the first poem) seems to end more positively, April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing with flowers. In the end of the poem the narra tor seemed to end negatively but yet still recognized the beauty in life. In, Spring, the narrator feels that she is not beautiful enough. I think  that she is trying to portray that everyone wants to be beautiful but not everyone is going to be. This is similar to, The Sick Rose, because in this poem beauty is destroyed by love just like in the first poem when beauty is eventually destroyed because death is inevitable. Both poems show a different attitude towards beauty. Spring, ends by recognizing beauty while, The Sick Rose, ended by killing it. Both poems have a season theme. In the first poem the season is obviously Spring. The narrator in this poem Spring talks about the, strewing flowers, but she does not set the mood for spring. In this poem it is very depressing when it should be happy, with flowers blossoming, animals coming out of hibernation, leaves are just starting to bud on the trees, and so on. That is how Spring should be, but in this poem it is portrayed as the worst of all four seasons. In, The Sick Rose, poem the season must be Autumn because everything is gloomy, the leaves are falling off the trees, flowers are withering, and its always raining. The mood in this poem fits the season perfectly. In conclusion, both poems discuss the meaning of life. The first ends more positively but they both still have negative attitudes. In, Spring, the narrator does not like beauty but by the end she changes her opinion while the second poem is interpreted as beauty being killed by those who love it. Both poems incorporate the seasons of life but the season fits the mood better in the second poem. True beauty and the meaning of life can only be discovered by actually living life itself.

The Nz Aviation Sector Tourism Essay

The Nz Aviation Sector Tourism Essay The NZ aviation sector has grown from strength-to-strength in the recent years. New Zealand has a very high involvement with the aviation industry than many other countries. The aviation industry over here is world-class and the kiwis are air minded too. This made the aviation business a large one. Moreover, from the past few years, the innovation and technology has allowed the aviation industry to grow significantly. anz.png Air NewZealand has a very special brand image among the New Zealanders and it is the sole largest airline in the country. The report is presented by Narendra Inti, a PG Dip Business student at UNITEC, Auckland. The first part (Part A) of the report speaks about the history of Air NewZealand and provides an overview about the Managing Team, the organizations mission-vision-values and the prime elements of the organizations existence. By identifying the key values, the report also focuses on the key strategic-elements of the organizational strategy that helped to establish the firm. Environmental scan, both at the micro and macro levels is included in the report. Environmental analysis would expose the issues that need to be addressed for a business to become successful. The report also emphasizes on those areas in business where commendable performance is required to forecast success. 2. INTRODUCTION The Air NewZealand originated as TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) in 1940. TEAL was a flying-boat organization operating between Australia and NZ. Later, in 1965 TEAL was completely owned by NZ government and took the new name as Air NewZealand. Though it was privatized largely in 1989, the majority stake was took over by the NZ government in 2001 after the tie up with Ansett (an Australian carrier company) failed miserably due to the financial issues that prompted to fold the operations of Ansett. The recent figures show that about 12.8 million passengers are carried annually by Air NewZealand. Currently, it operates on a mighty fleet that comprise of the Boeing-747, Boeing-767, Boeing-777 and an Airbus-A320 on the international routes. Air NewZealand also operates domestically with its regional subsidiaries: Air Nelson Eagle Airways Mount Cook-Airline Air NewZealand achieved the Airline of the Year awards for the years of 2010 and 2012. Air nz.jpg 2.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW Company name: Air New Zealand Limited Company Type: Public Company Size: 10,001+employees Industry: Air lines/ Aviation Website: http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/ Registered Office Air New Zealand House185 Fanshawe Street, Auckland1010 NEW ZEALAND Stock-Exchange Listing NZX trading code: AIR ASX trading code: AIZ 2.2 Key People CHIEF-EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Rob Fyfe CEO DESIGNATE : Christopher Luxon DEPUTY CEO : Norm Thompson CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER : Rob McDonald GROUP GENERAL MANAGERS: Group General Manager Short-haul Airlines :   Bruce Parton Group General Manager People Technical Operations: Vanessa Stoddart General Manager Airline Operations and Safety : David Morgan General Manager Marketing and Communications : Mike Tod General Manager Strategy : Stephen Jones 2.3 OBJECTIVES The global economy has been facing a challenging environment due to the ongoing recession and this combined with a heavy competitive market has slowed down the economic activity. This has resulted in a great change in the peoples attitude towards the mode of travelling. The highly competitive market has compelled the organizations to deal more strategically. Present global economic crisis has limited the peoples ability to spend and so they look for something that is cost effective and at the same time very useful. The report mainly focuses on the strategic-foundations of Air NewZealand. Narendra Inti has conducted the PESTEL analysis as a part of the environmental scan while dealing with the macro-level analysis of the Air NewZealand followed by the Porters five frame-work to analyze at the micro level. The findings from the environmental scan are used to address the key level strategic issues and thereby help the organization to grow and be successful consistently. 3. STRATEGIC FOUNDATIONS 491591_orig.jpg CSL_mission2.png An organization comprises of the following strategic-foundations Mission Vision Strategy Values 3.1 THE MISSION Air_New_Zealand.png The tag line Worlds warmest welcome clearly suggests that Air NewZealand is committed to provide the best service to the people and that is what they have been doing since their inception. About 13 million people all around fly on Air NewZealand , annually. It could happen only because of the warmest service they have been providing and this is what is differentiating Air NewZealand from the other airlines. The commitment towards their mission Worlds warmest welcome has fetched them international acclaim. It is not just the kiwis who love to enjoy the service of this airlines, also people from many other countries do. Apart from the best airlines award for the years of 2010 and 2012, it has been continually winning Best Passenger-Service Award presented by ATWMA (Air-Transport World  magazine-award). 3.2 THE VISION Vision of Air NewZealand: Air NewZealand will strive to be number one in every market we serve by creating a workplace where teams are committed to our customers in a distinctively New Zealand way, resulting in superior industry returns. Values 3.2.1 PROVIDING THE BEST SERVICE Air NewZealands approach towards the customers begins by knowing the customers need. They enquire its customer where they are traveling and how many people, why when, and what is that they value during the journey. This helps them to decide the network and their schedule; and the service and process is tailored to match needs of the customer during the journey. Every employee of Air NewZealand commits himself to make-a-difference to their customers and their business. 3.2.2 COMMUNITY SUPPORT Air NewZealand is the top sponsor of most of the major events conducted in New Zealand. It holds a record for sponsoring a lot of groups and supporting many charities by donating huge amounts and providing travel assistance. 3.2.3 EnvironmentAL CARE Air NewZealand is highly dedicated to minimize the aviations impact on the environment. ANZET (Air NewZealand Environment-Trust) has been making donations to support the development for conservation the research projects in NZ. 3.2.4 Customers AIRLINE They value their customers and that has made them the customers choice. They constantly study about peoples changing tastes and give top priority to the customers needs. That is the reason their quality in service has been always above the customers expectations. 3.3 KEY ELEMENTS OF PLANNED STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS Air NewZealand want to build a competitive advantage in their businesses with the help of its employees innovation and creativity. Air NewZealand is highly committed to champion and also promote NZ and kiwis, business and the culture both at home and abroad. They believe in teamwork and its great committed team aiming for the growth of its organization and vitality of New Zealand. Air NewZealand wants to always be the customers choice of airline, when people travel to/from or within NZ. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN The Environmental scanning helps to find out current or forthcoming changes because it thoroughly focuses on those areas the organization might have neglected previously. So there are 6 elements/segments of the generic environment that has its effect on an organization. The impact caused due to these segments differs from organization to organization. The organization need to mainly concentrate on researching, monitoring, reporting and analyzing the data. The resultant findings of this analysis can be used as the tools that convert uncertainty into strategy (Aaker, David, Michael and Mills, 2005). 4.1 MACRO ANALYSIS Business environment surrounding an organization comprises of external influences which affects an organizations decisions and its performance. So the PESTEL analysis provides a methodological approach to find out and analyze those macro environmental segments that could affect the strategies involved in business, and also helps to forecast how these factors might influence the performance of the business in the current and future scenarios. The environmental study starts with the study of six factors of the PESTEL analysis. The six factors are interrelated to each other and each factor cannot be viewed as a unique one. During the analysis one need to take in to consideration a lot of macro-environmental-factors so that the strategic process of policy formulation can be more useful to the current and future scenarios. The factors discussed below gives an insight for the strategy makers as to what to incorporate in the organization strategy to make it efficient and those environmental factors that are very essence of a business strategy. According to their organization needs, the strategy makers need to assess other factors too that could have the potential to influence the organizations output, which is not mentioned below. Therefore the mantra is to concentrate on the key factors that need to be addressed in order to be successful. (Grant, 2010) pestlee.png 4.1.1 POLITICAL factors Political factors can have either a positive or a negative impact on a business and that pure depends on the current scenario in a country .So, understanding and monitoring the political environment is very crucial for every business because this factor can significantly affect any business. Some key questions that are a part of the political environment which the strategy makers need to find the answers before proceeding further are: whether the government is stable?, what type of a government is it?, what type of economic policy do they have?, What type of trade policies the government has?, what are the Diplomatic proceedings in the neighboring countries?. Once the strategy makers get the answers for the above questions, they need to incorporate the findings in the strategy making process and this helps them to forecast the future. Almost 74% of the stake of Air NewZealand being owned by the NZ government, there seems to be no trouble for Air NewZealand from the political front as for as New Zealand is considered. Moreover policies were framed to benefit the organization since the NZ government strongly believed that it is something related to the integrity of the nation. But the organization needs to constantly monitor and adapt to the policies of the overseas governments as the policies, taxes and regulations change very frequently. ECONOMIC factors The economic factors which can affect a business and the factors that need to be considered are: demand for service or goods, regulation, interest and the inflation rates, access to the credit and un-employment proportion. The above mentioned factors can directly affect the market competition, demand and the supply. Though the global economy is gloomy, the local economic conditions in New Zealand are far better than many other developed countries. The major areas like Australia, Singapore and Gulf countries where Air NewZealand flees to and from are also in good shape economically. So there are no concerns as of now for Air NewZealand in this segment. 4.1.3 SOCIAL factors Social factors are very crucial and they can play a key role in influencing a business. Social factors include several components like lifestyle, trends, wealth distribution among the people and ethnicity. Human beings are social animals and so the social factors that influence are interrelated to peoples culture, opinions and changing tastes. The Air NewZealand is very good at marketing themselves in a way that appeals to the people. They focus on diverse cultures and that can been seen in their service, which address and values the culture. To give an example, during the recent rugby world cup few planes were painted in black to support the All Blacks rugby team of NZ. This clearly shows that they give a lot of importance to incorporate the social factors in the strategy making process. Also the way Air NewZealand staff address the people of different cultures is another classic example too. 4.1.4 TECHNOLOGICAL factors Businesses should continually implement new technologies to give the best service in the market. Companies with good vision look out for the best technologies that are apt for their business and implement those technologies to take an advantage in the market. Air NewZealand is very good in terms of implementing new technology. As their company vision states, they always strive to provide competitive advantage blended with creativity and innovation. When few airlines are still with old technology in the seating facilitiesetc, Air NewZealand constantly monitors the technology advancements and updates them regularly to their services. 4.1.5 DEMOGRAPHIC factors New Zealand is a place of great ethnic mix. People from all over the world have come and settled here. Every year there is a great increase in young generation pouring from all the over the world for good study and job opportunities over here. This is a great advantage for the Air NewZealand as the immigrants fly to home countries very frequently. This is also a reason that boosted up the Air New Zealand business. 4.1.6 Legal factors The legal factors include the regulations of employment, health, safety and service. Air NewZealand has to abide by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Act 1990. 4.2 MICRO ANALYSIS The micro-environment involves organizations/individuals that are dealt by the firms regularly. Stakeholders groups in business viz. suppliers, competitors, distributors, employees and customers come under the micro-environment. All the stakeholder groups can show their impact on a firm directly. Managers need to often interact with the stakeholders since their decisions have direct impact on the business. Therefore the micro-environmental factors play a critical role in organizations behavior and success. Many frameworks and models are recommended to analyze an organizations micro-environment where it operates. Porters Five Forces Of Competition Framework In 1979, Michael.E.Porter, a professor from Harvard Business School proposed a frame-work known as Porter Five Frame-Work. This framework was very useful for business strategy-development and for the ongoing industrial-analysis. These five forces are useful to analyze the competition in a given environment of the market and help to improve the strategy (Michael, Duane, and Robert, 2005). The forces of Porters five framework are based on the S-C-P paradigm (structure and conduct performance) in organizational-economics. This can be applied to diverse scenarios and different range of problems and thereby help the businesses to be more profitable (Porter, 1979). D:AUT SEM 2SMAssignmentporters_five_forces.png The five forces were referred as micro-environment by Michael E.Porter. The micro-environment consists of the forces that are close to the organization which can affect the ability of an organization to serve the customers and its profitability. Firms would be able to apply its core competencies, network or the business model to gain profits over industry average. 4.2.1. Bargaining power of suppliers The term suppliers can be referred to all the sources of input required to provide the goods or the services. A service industry needs infrastructure, labor and the other supplies. This requirement has lead to supplier-buyer relationship between the firm that provides material and the industry that provides goods or services. If the suppliers are powerful, they could exert influence on the industry that provides goods or services, by selling the material at very high prices with an intention to capture the industrys profit. Supplier bargaining-power could be high in the following scenarios: If the market is completely dominated by very few giant suppliers. If there are no substitutes for those products. If the buyers are fragmented, the bargaining power would be low. Sometimes switching to a different supplier could cost more. In the case of airlines, are there several-buyers and few principal-suppliers? Yes, in the case of airline industry there are many buyers like Air NewZealand and only two suppliers viz Boeing and Airbus. So the power is in the hands of those two suppliers. Is the suppliers brand image strong? Yes, Boeing and Airbus have a very strong brand image and they are the only suppliers of aircrafts for many airline service providers like Air NewZealand. Can the suppliers raise prices? Suppliers have all the power to increase their prices, but currently they might not do so as the airline industry is struggling with low profits due to heavy competition. Can the suppliers find new customers? Yes, it is easy to find new customers but not many are jumping into this sector so easily. 4.2.2 Bargaining power of buyers The buyer bargaining power of Porters five forces refers to the consumers pressure in-order to get the better quality service and lower prices. According to the Porters framework of industry analysis, buyer bargaining power is one among the five forces that shape the structure of a completion in an industry. The main idea here is buyer bargaining-power in any given industry affects the competitive-environment for the seller and thus influencing the sellers profitability. If the buyers are strong, they could pressure the sellers to improve quality of the product, provide more services and to reduce the prices. Buyers play a key role in creating demand in an industry. Are there very few leading-buyers and many sellers in airline industry? The entire population of New Zealand and other users from many different countries form the customer base and this is too high when compared to airlines operating. Are the services standardized? Yes. The customers demand a wide range of high quality services at low prices. Are the buyers forced to be tough? No. Is it easy for the buyers to switch their suppliers? Yes. There are many airlines operating currently and so the customer can easily switch if they find that they are not getting what they prefer from the current airlines. 4.2.3 Threat of NEW ENTRANTS The new entrants can be referred to the new firms that pop in and emerge in any given industry and thereby giving a tough competition to the existing already established firm. New entrants cannot actually compete on equivalent terms on the already established and recognized firms. There are many risk factors involved that need to be considered by the new entrants. There is minimum scope for the new entrants to come up on a large scale. The three main barriers for a new entrant are brand loyalty, economies-of-scale and absolute-cost-advantages (Hill and et al, 2007). Going by the current scenario, it is not so easy for the new entrants to survive in an airline industry, because this particular industry is very congested and has very high entry barriers. Moreover airline industry is less attractive due to high initial investment required and very less profits to gain. So there is no threat of new entrants to Air NewZealand. 4.2.4 Threat of substituteS The substitute refers to the alternatives that are available in the market to the buyers. The alternatives that are available for the customers are referred to as substitutes. Speaking in context to airlines, alternative transport methods like roadways, railways and waterways can be a threat to domestic airlines as a train or ship can be used for leisurely travel purpose. But still airlines secure the position of fastest mode of transport and it would continue its dominance in the international market of transport. 4.2.5 RIVALRY BETWEEN ESTABLISHED COMPETITORS The business that is providing similar services or goods is referred to as rival. It exists if there are more many firms in a market. These firms constantly try to capture the markets of the other firms to better their position and get an edge over the others. Normally the competition is on the product basis, cost, customer service and promotional campaigning to achieve a better place in the market. This force gives a clear idea about the competition intensity between the current players in the market. High competition results in lowering the prices margins and this affects the profitability of every single firm in the industry. Though Trans Tasman market zone in airlines is completely dominated by Air NewZealand and Qantas, other competitors like Virgin Blue and Emirates play a vital role in determining the prices in the market. Competition and intensity of rivalry in airline industry is likely to be high when the following happens: Competition Structure The rivalry would be more when it has small sized competitors vice versa when there is single largest market leader. Strategic objectives The competition increases if the competitors take up fierce growth plans. It would be a different scenario if they only aim for the profits. In the airline industry, the competition is more focused on advertising, pricing structure and customer satisfaction. The main competitors of Air NewZealand are listed below: Qantas Airways its subsidiary Jetstar Airlines Virgin Australia Airlines Emirates Airlines 5. KEY STRATEGIC ISSUES The aviation industry has seen drastic changes from the recent past. Airlines have become very competitive as the airlines are more focused on capturing the market share of the others. As far as the Trans Tasman zone is considered, the environment for aviation is in good shape. Understanding The Markets and Customers To survive and effectively compete in the aviation sector it is essential for the airlines to understand the market and the changing tastes of the customers. Airlines can retain a customer only if they provide the best in their service. So retaining has become one of the key issues for airlines. Therefore, Air NewZealand should constantly check their SLs, frequentness and connectivity. They should constantly survey and update accordingly to meet the customer taste and expectations. Increasing use of loyalty marketing A concept that aims to encourage the customers to use a product or service frequently by instilling a loyalty sense in them is called loyalty marketing. There are various loyalty program adapted by the airlines. Air NewZealand provides a frequent-flyer loyalty program that gives a chance for the customers to win points during their trips. Once the customer has sufficient points, he could redeem them in order to avail some free benefits. re-align procurement strategies Recession has taught many good lessons. It has clearly shown how trends could become volatile. The current global economic crisis has urged the aviation industry to realign the procurement-strategy. Therefore it is very necessary for Air NewZealaand to establish an efficient strategy and procurement system in order to succeed in any uncertain conditions and be successful. 6. CONCLUSION Aviation industry is a very hi-fi industry. Air NewZealand has to make sure that their staff is providing the WOW factor in their service that a customer would always expect. They need to strategically plan all their moves and should always strive to provide the best market rates and the best service in the market. Air NewZealand has been constantly receiving aviation industry awards for its operations and it has got excellent honor of services. It enjoys a giant 52 % of total market share in the Trans Tasman aviation zone. Therefore Air NewZealand should always strive to be the best by providing the best.

A healthy heart

A healthy heart abstract A healthy heart is the key to good life .The heart is a vital organ of the human body which ensures the effective pumping of blood throughout the circulatory system. Due to our sedentary lives and food habits, the heart is prone to malfunctioning, and heart attack (i.e. coronary artery disease), is one of the primary cause of death [1]. Heart attack is caused by a blockage of the coronary arteries, typically at a site of narrowing (stenosis) caused by atherosclerosis. It is difficult to accurately determine the degree of atherosclerosis in arteries, particularly in the early stages of disease. One method that has been introduced is the intravascular ultrasonic catheter (IVUS), which sends a pulse of sound from a receiver and uses the returned echo to deduce the properties of the arterial tissues. Doppler Ultrasound is a similar a diagnostic, noninvasive technique which can effectively evaluate the blood flow velocity in the coronary arteries by passing the high frequency ultrasound waves into the blood using a single receiver. Our group has found that an improvement in velocity estimation can be obtained if the returned Doppler ultrasound echo is collected by multiple receivers and the information from those receivers is combined. The research proposed here will use simulation methods to determine the extent to which this same concept can be applied to multiple IVUS receivers. 1. introduction Doppler ultrasound provides a measure of the velocity distribution of blood throughout the volume of the artery. Because the signal is a superposition of echoes from multiple scatterers, the red blood cells, distributed in space, the signal at the receiver is subject to constructive and destructive interference. This phenomenon is called coherent scattering and is the primary reason that Doppler ultrasound signals are inherently noisy. The same phenomenon applies to ultrasonic imaging (B-mode imaging), in which the Doppler shift is ignored and only the magnitude of the returned signal is used to form an image of the tissue. However, in B-mode ultrasound, the scatterers are variations in the acoustic impedance of the tissue. Figure 1 shows a typical IVUS image [6]. Whereas it is possible to differentiate between the lumen, media and adventitia, the exact boundaries are difficult to determine as a result of the coherent scattering effects. 2. background 2.1. Principles of Ultrasonic B-Mode Imaging B mode imaging is typically used for ultrasound imaging as it facilitates the display of the echoes at various brightness or gray levels corresponding to their amplitude.[ee handbook] Most B-mode systems in use today create an image in 0.1 s or less, so that the image is displayed in real-time for viewing of moving structures, such as structures in the heart or the fetus moving within the womb. This is not possible with the typical magnetic resonance or computed tomography system. Most of these systems use the Doppler principle, but some use time domain detection. In Doppler detection, if the ultrasound is reflected from a target moving at some speed vt toward (away from) the source at an angle q with respect to the beam axis, the frequency of the transmitted signal f is shifted up (down) by an amount fD, the Doppler shift, according to the following relation: (116.4) In principle a measurement of fD, when f, c, and q are known, will yield the speed of the target vt. However, it is often difficult to determine q because the angle the transducer axis makes with a blood vessel, for example, is often unknown. Even when that angle is known, the flow is not necessarily along the direction of the vessel at every location and for all times Two-dimensional B-mode display: Echoes from a transducer, or beam, scanned in one plane displayed as brightness (or gray scale) versus location for the returned echo to produce a two-dimensional image. Duplex ultrasound: Simultaneous display of speed versus time for a chosen region and the two-dimensional B-mode image. B-mode display: Returned ultrasound echoes displayed as brightness or gray scale levels corresponding to the amplitude versus depth into the body fig 6 in devts in cardio vascular ultrasound.pdfdescribes input signal used B -mode (Brightness mode) ultrasound is the most commonly applied ultrasound technique for intracoronary artery visualization. B-mode images are made up of one dimensional signals from transducer crystals aligned in an arrays,which can also be displayed in two dimensional in the form of a sector[August et al].In This mode of imaging, depth and the brightness are the measure of radial axis and echo intensity. 2.1.1. Scattering of sound echo description fundamental sources of errors 2.1.2. Relationship between sound intensity and scattering coefficient The size of the scattering shadow is called the effective cross-section (s [cm2]) and can be smaller or larger than the geometrical size of the scattering particle (A [cm2]), related by the proportionality constant called the scattering efficiency Qs [dimensionless]: The scattering coefficient  µs [cm-1] describes a medium containing many scattering particles at a concentration described as a volume density s [cm3]. The scattering coefficient is essentially the cross-sectional area per unit volume of medium. Scattering coefficient: The factor that expresses the attenuation caused by scattering, e.g., of radiant or acoustic energy, during its passage through a medium. Note: The scattering coefficient is usually expressed in units of reciprocal distance. Attenuation: The decrease in intensity of a signal, beam, or wave as a result of absorption of energy and of scattering out of the path to the detector, but not including the reduction due to geometric spreading. [After JP1] Note 1: Attenuation is usually expressed in dB. Note 2: Attenuation is often used as a misnomer for attenuation coefficient, which is expressed in dB per kilometer. Note 3: A distinction must be made as to whether the attenuation is that of signal power Measurement of the intensity distribution of laser radiation using by VV Morozov 1979 Related articles All 4 versions of interaction between the light and sound, i.e., in which the scattering coefficient would depend linearly on the sound intensity. 2.1.3. Constructive and destructive interference Sound travels in the form of waves.These waves are associated with frequency and amplitude.From basic laws of physics it is known that intensity is directly proportional to amplitude of the wave which is the discriminating factor between different modes of ultrasound imaging.When these sound waves interact with each other interference occurs.The type of interference is determined by measuring the amplitude of the resultant wave formed by interaction of 2 sound waves.If the amplitude of 2 waves is either positive or negative then the resultant wave has larger amplitude.This phenomenon is known as constructive interference(or in phase interference). If the interacting waves have opposite amplitude then the resultant wave has a lower amplitude.This phenomenon is known as destructive interference(or out of phase interference). The interference type depends on the difference in distances that each wave has to take. In this context,if the ultrasonic signals are emitted from a single transmitter and captured from multiple receivers separated by a distance of half the wavelength, then we can observe constructive interference of returned echo amplitudes of the scaterrers locate d in region of interest at one receiver and destructive interference occurring at the second receiver located half the wavelength apart.[cite reference wu thesis book]. 2.1.4. Signal processing for B-Mode images (e.g. envelope detection) Intracoronary ultrasonic is done on envelope detection of the sum of (returned) echo signals from each receiver .there are many/three ways of envelope detection. One simpler method of doing it is to perform a full wave rectification on the returned echo followed by a low pass filtering to remove the side lobes of the signal. [rectify/demodulate the signal and process it by passing it through a low pass filter to remove the side lobes of the returned echo].though this method of envelope detection appears to be simpler, the operating center frequency for each of the returned signal is to be known and possibly tracked from time to time for changes. The second/another yet complex method of envelope detection is using Hilbert transform to get /generate/create a rational /methodical representation of the returned signal from each scatterer at each receiver. The advantage of using this method is that it is independent of the dampening effect present in the returned signal. (i.e. the changes in center frequency of the echo with time).The magnitude obtained from the complex signal is used as the final signal for ultrasonic imaging/next stage of converting into polar plots and plotting it using weighted average method . (refr:sprab12 page 11 and B-mode handbook).quadrature detection can also be used for extracting the envelope of the signal.refrce(high resolution ultrasound) 2.2. Current implementations of intracoronary imaging Heart disease can be diagnosed with the aid of Doppler and B-mode ultrasound, where the Doppler method provides a measure of flow rate and B-mode ultrasound provides an image. Generally these techniques, as typically used, do not have the spatial resolution to examine flow in the coronary arteries. Coronary artery geometry is diagnosed by injecting a radio-opaque dye into the artery with a catheter and taking x-ray images. However, this method does not specifically provide the locations of atherosclerotic lesions. It provides the internal geometry of the arterial lumen. Intracoronary Doppler ultrasound is a method in which a Doppler-tipped catheter is inserted into the coronary artery to measure blood velocity. IVUS uses a more complicated catheter that has an array of ultrasound crystals arranged in a ring at the tip of the catheter, and each crystal transmits an ultrasound pulse radially and then receives the returned echo. With multiple crystals, a 2-dimensional image of the cross -section of the arterial lumen can be reconstructed. This technique is currently capable of providing real time cross sectional images in vivo [3]. The main objective of Doppler ultrasound is to extract the flow velocity measurements and interpret them in physiologically significant variables through assumptions and velocity calculations [2]. The most fundamental quantity we consider is the flow rate as it best describes the extent of perfusion of blood in the region of interest [2] (i.e. a section of the coronary artery). The objective of IVUS is to obtain a mapping of the make-up of the artery as an image. Although IVUS uses several transmitter-receivers, only a single receiver is being used to capture the reflected ultrasound wave and to view the circumferential view of the artery. The problem involved by using a single receiver is that we miss many precise details about the physiological status of the artery due to its limited view and the obtained images are noisy because of coherent scattering. The possible solution can be to use multiple receivers to look at the region of interest from different angles to get a detailed view. The doctor can get a clear picture of the artery in terms of velocity, flow rate, the size of plaque present inside artery and can treat the patient in a better way. 2.2.5. Geometry of the transducers. We assume transducer as a point size spherical shaped piezoelectric crystal. Papers: B-mode handbook.pdf sprab12.pdf page 7 2.2.6. Transducer frequency response characteristics. The phrase frequency response characteristic usually implies a complete description of a systems sinusoidal steady-state behavior as a function of frequency. 2.2.7. Specifics of the transmitted signal from program 2.2.8. Signal conditioning and signal processing 2.3. Limitations of intracoronary imaging (particularly coherent scattering/scattering from multiple scatterers) One of the main problems encountered with Doppler and B-Mode ultrasound velocity estimation is coherent scattering of noise. Coherent scattering error is caused by the changes in phase of the reflected echo as the red blood cells enter and leave the sample volume. This phase depends on the distance of the transmitter to the scatterer and then to the receiver [5]. The main research objective is to simulate this process of multiple receiver Doppler ultrasound using Matlab simulation software and to see how well it improves the understanding of image quality and clarity. Even the state of art of image is to be observed using the simulations. paper : basic model of ivus.pdf page 8 Intravascular ultrasonic image quality remains poor due to speckle noise, imaging artifacts and shadowing of parts of vessel wall by calcifications. (Refce: intravascular ultrasound image segmentation.) 2.4. Previous work done on multiple receivers independence of coherent scattering noise in Doppler signals when receivers are sufficiently far apart. Velocity Measurements made/obtained over the region of interest (ROI) in an intracoronary artery have inherited velocity estimation errors due to coherent scattering. One of the methods to reduce these estimated errors is the use of multiple receivers .The echo received from each of the receivers will have some complementary information which not only improves velocity estimation, also contributes in enhancing the image clarity in a B-mode ultrasound image processing. [Jones, Krishnamurthy 2002] Improvement in velocity estimation is observed if returned Doppler ultrasound echo is collected and combined from all the multiple receivers. Most importantly the returned echo signal obtained at each receiver is independent of coherent scattering noise in Doppler signals when receivers are sufficiently far apart. In the case of an intracoronary artery, the RBCs are the major kind of multiple scatterers distributed in artery space. Since the returned echo signal detected/obtained at each of t he receiver is a summation of all the echo amplitude signals from multiple scatterers in the region of interest, they are subjected to constructive and destructive interference This way multiple receivers in B-mode can improve the image quality of B -mode intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images. Initially a 2 dimensional geometry for the artery would be simulated. The transmitted signal would be generated using by a piezoelectric crystal in an ultrasound in real time applications. But in this proposed research, using Matlab, we first try generating a discrete signal using the pulse generator. Based on the defined parameters such as the frequency, pulse width, amplitude, pulse repetition time, artery geometry[r (?)], angle of transmission of the transmitted and received signal, the image would be extracted. Primarily, the signal from a single scatterer is modeled. In the advanced stages, multiple scatterer signals would be modeled. The following questions would be answered while doing the actual simulation. Each scatterer is modeled as a point source that reflects the transmitted signal with a set reflectivity. The scatterer does not alter the signals phase, but alters the amount of power that is returned to the receiver. Each receiver therefore is subjected to a signal that is the sum of returns from all of the scatterers, where it is important to keep track of the phases of the signals from each scatterer so that coherent scattering is adequately accounted for. The signal at each receiver is rectified and then averaged in time with a moving window to produce a signal that represents scattered power as a function of time. The range, corresponding to the location in the image, is proportional to the delay time of the returned signal. Each receiver will provide an image, and a composite image will be produced as the average over all of the receivers. 3.4.1. Transmitter/Receiver characteristics (transmitted frequency, beam width) 3.4.2. Speed of sound 3.4.3. Scattering coefficients for (1) Background and (2) Plaques The fraction of the incident energy reflected or scattered is very small for soft tissues like elastin collagen etc. [ee handbook] The differential Backscattering coefficient/scattering coefficient is the aspect that expresses the attenuation caused by scattering, of acoustic energy, while passing through a medium. The scattering coefficient ( µs) is usually expressed in units of reciprocal distance. There certainly lies a difference between the normal aortic intima and various kinds of atherosclerotic plaques. More than 90% of normal vessels usually have scattering coefficients in the range of 15 mm-1 to 36 mm-1 ,where as atherosclerotic plaques like the lipid rich blocks, fibrocalcific plaques have scattering coefficients lesser than 20 mm-1 [Levitz, Andersen et al ].The fibrous plaques which constituted elasin ,lipids and collagen demonstrated a relatively large variations in terms of scattering coefficient. Out of the three kinds of atherosclerotic plaques, fibrocalcific sample s do not show up as sharp regions in any kind of image and hence can be assumed as in homogeneities within the tissue wall having highly scattering coefficient. 3.4.4. Random numbers (particle location and scattering coefficients) 3.5. Signal Analysis (envelope detection) http://www.mathworks.com/products/demos/shipping/dspblks/dspenvdet.html Hilbert Transform can be used to generate a time domain envelope. The point is to create a rectified signal that is more suitable for calculating a smooth envelope. In the frequency domain, magnitude data is already all positive, so I dont know why youd use Hilbert Transform. To get a spectrum envelope, just average several spectrum frames together. The key then is to choose correct frame size prior to FFT, which should be based on the nature of your data and the sampling rate you are using. Averaging will help your SNR and maybe you can differentiate key frequencies between good and damaged bearings. x = Hilbert (xr) returns a complex helical sequence, sometimes called the analytic signal, from a real data sequence. The analytic signal x = xr + i*xi has a real part, xr, which is the original data, and an imaginary part, xi, which contains the Hilbert transform. The imaginary part is a version of the original real sequence with a 90 ° phase shift. Sines are therefore transformed to cosines and vice versa. The Hilbert transformed series has the same amplitude and frequency content as the original real data and includes phase information that depends on the phase of the original data. If xr is a matrix, x = Hilbert (xr) operates column wise on the matrix, finding the Hilbert transform of each column. x = Hilbert (xr, n) uses an n point FFT to compute the Hilbert transform. The input data xr is zero-padded or truncated to length n, as appropriate. The Hilbert transform is useful in calculating instantaneous attributes of a time series, especially the amplitude and frequency. The instantaneous amplitude is the amplitude of the complex Hilbert transform; the instantaneous frequency is the time rate of change of the instantaneous phase angle. For a pure sinusoid, the instantaneous amplitude and frequency are constant. The instantaneous phase, however, is a saw tooth, reflecting the way in which the local phase angle varies linearly over a single cycle. For mixtures of sinusoids, the attributes are short term, or local, averages spanning no more than two or three points. Reference [1] describes the Kolmogorov method for minimum phase reconstruction, which involves taking the Hilbert transform of the logarithm of the spectral density of a time series. The toolbox function rceps performs this reconstruction. For a discrete-time analytic signal x, the last half of fft(x) is zero, and the first (DC) and center (Nyquist) elements of fft(x) are purely real. http://dip.sun.ac.za/~weideman/research/mfiles/hilb1.m function h = hilb1(F, N, b, y)% The function h = hilb1(F, N, b, y) computes the Hilbert transform% of a function F(x) defined on the real line, at specified% values of y (y could be a scalar, vector, or matrix.) 8. bibliography http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/white_papers/heart_health_ch_wp/digital08_landing.html, last accessed on 02/26/2008, 08:30 pm. Jones SA, Fundamental Sources of error and spectral broadening in Doppler ultrasound signals, Crc critical reviews in Biomedical Engineering, page(s):399-483, 1993. Van der Steen AFW, Cespedes EI, de Korte C.L, Carlier S.G , Li W, Mastik F, Lancke C.T, Borsboom J, Lupotti F, Krams R, Sermys P.W, Bom N,Novel developments in intravascular imaging, Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings, IEEE, Volume 2, page(s):1733 1742, 1998. Kumar P and Shoukri MM, Copula based prediction models: an application to an aortic regurgitation study, BMC Medical Research Methodology, page 7:21, 2007. Jones SA and Krishnamurthy K,Reduction of coherent scattering noise with multiple receiver doppler, Ultrasound in Med. Biol., Volume 28, page(s): 647-653, 2002. Zhu H, Oakeson K D, and Friedman M H, Retrieval of Cardiac Phase from IVUS IVUS Sequences, Medical Imaging 2003: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, Volume 5035, 2003 page(s): 1605-7422.