Business Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Business Decision Making - Essay Example The term often is ambiguous in this case and different respondents will interpret it in different manner. For instance, some of the respondents will answer that they use library services 5 times a month while other may respond twice a week. It is difficult to quantify data from such types of response. To make this question more reliable, it should provide multi choices in the form of common time horizon: Once a Week 2-5 times a Week 6-10 times a Week More than 10 times a Week Question 2) How many books or publications have you borrowed from the library? 0 1-5 5-10 10-15 20-50 50-100 This question has three flaws inherent in it. Firstly, the answers are overlapping as we find some of the answers in more than one option. A respondent who has borrowed 5 books is unclear on whether it selects the option 1-5 or 5-10 since both of them contain the same answer. Secondly, this question neglects many of the options in between the answers. It leaves out the category for 16-20 and more than 100 books. Finally, this question requires the respondents to perform mental arithmetic. It’s difficult for the respondents to memorize that how many times they have exactly borrowed books or publications from the library. The answers should be wide in range. For instance, it should start with the option of less than 10 rather than 0. Question 3) The last time you visited the library, what was the purpose of your visit? Search for a book Search for a periodical Get information from a librarian Study peacefully This question also provides limited information regarding the answers. It neglects several other alternative options which are not provided in the list of answers. To make it easier for respondents, there should be an option for â€Å"If Other than Please mention below† Question 4) Were your needs satisfied? Yes/No Now this question forces the respondent to answer either their needs were satisfied or not. There can be a case that few needs were satisfied while other s were not, so how does a respondent answer under such circumstances. This should not have been treated as a dichotomous question but rather it should have answers in the form provided below: Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied Question 5) How satisfied are you with the quality provided by the library and the attitude of the library staff? 1 2 3 4 5 This question lacks additional details regarding the rating scale. Some individuals might consider 1 to be excellent while other might consider 5 to be excellent. Therefore, a note should elaborate on the details of the rating scale. Secondly, this question asks about two separate elements in a single question which is inappropriate. The quality and attitude of the library staff are two separate things and they should be treated separately. Question 6) What do you dislike about the library? This question assumes that all the respondents dislike something about the libra ry. Hence, it is compelling the respondents to think negatively and find some negative aspect about the library. The question should have first asked whether there are any issues inherent in the operations of the library. If the answer had been yes than it should have asked what you dislike about the library. Question 7) Are there any improvements that could be made to the library to provide a better service? Yes/No This question simply asks whether improvements could be made to the library but it does not discover the improvement initiatives

ERP and Electronic Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

ERP and Electronic Commerce - Essay Example In the past, business entities concentrated more on fetching benefits through supply of standardized products to a stable and wide consumer markets. The role technology involved here was to optimize the well defined, discretely functioning areas within the enterprise. This was limited to the development and maintenance of individual software aimed at automating certain business activities. However the expansion of the realms of business made entities to indulge in varied range of activities. The scope of ecommerce in fact widened the variety in the business activities Curran A, T. Ladd A (2006, p.17-18). With reference to these developments, for the companies to respond better to the market demands, they have to adopt a business process orientation and a global supply chain perspective. The essential prerequisite for the optimization of varied activities involved in modern business scenarios like e-commerce is the integration of information system. This would allow the clear cut exploration of the possible value additions within the company and would aid the design of business process that would minimize cost and maximize the profits. However this process of integration of the multitude of business activities involved a number of challenges. These challenges made the business engineers think of the possibility of a single database clustering the data from different departments within itself and providing a tailor made query system. This resulted in the development of Enterprise Resource Planning systems and it gradually evolved and expanded to serve as a single window solution for business data and process management. It served as a single interface for data entry for people involved in the company, despite the variation in department or geographic position. The da ta entry was to be made only once making the whole

Effects of Media on Public Discourse

Effects of Media on Public Discourse MICHAEL GANIDEKAM DO SOCIAL MEDIA ENCOURAGE OR DETRACT FROM MEANINGFUL  PUBLIC DISCOURSE? When one is asked a question on â€Å"What is the greatest power evident in this 21st Century?† answers and thoughts will cut across recent powerful countries like the US or China, or other great transnational businesses. But that really depends on the person’s perception on how he/she defines power. Anything that has the ability to bring about change and status is how I define power that is why I consider the internet as the greatest power in the 21st Century. The impact and contributions this technological invention has brought on human life and the world cannot be denied or silenced about. Mangold and Faulds (2009) points how Social Media has influenced and contributed in many aspects of stakeholder behaviours in relation to how information is received and consumer attitudes towards a product or service. Social media as defined by Lindsey (2011) refers to internet-based applications which allow communication and sharing of information and resources between people. It also provides a means by which people can connect to each other through the internet. Social media can also be identified as a group of internet-based applications intended to build on ideological and technological foundations that allow the establishment and exchange of content generated by users (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Social Media can also be considered as technology-facilitated dialogue driven through platforms like social networking, social bookmarking, wikis etc. to connect with the public. (Reilly and Hynan, 2014). Social media comprises of a wide range of online channels. They include word-of-mouth forums which include blogs, discussion boards sponsored by companies and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer email, internet discussion platforms and forums, social networking websites and more. Examples include Face book, Twitter, YouTube, wikis, blogs, LinkedIn, MySpace etc. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) observed how social media use has evolved in wonder through the past decade from frequent changes affecting communication through new technologies to help interact and share information. According to McLuhan’s medium theory for new media, it states that, â€Å"any advanced modern society is shaped by the various media technologies that are available to it† (Laughey, 2007). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) identified two key elements of Social Media, related to the theory of media research which is Social Presence and Media Richness. The social presence theory states that, media vary in the degree of social existence and allow the merging of two communication partners. The higher the social existence, the larger of influence that communication partners have on each other. And other key element, media richness theory bases its assumption that the goal of any communication is the resolution of ambiguity and the lessening of uncertainty. Because media vary in the level of richness, some media are more effective in resolving ambiguity and uncertainty than others. Connecting the theories to Social Media, we assume that, a classification can be made based on the richness of the medium of communication and the level of social existence it allows. Van Dijk (1997) identified discourse in three dimensions which are language use, communication of beliefs and interaction in social situations. He further noted how the use of language is not only limited to speaking but also encompasses written text communication where ‘text’ is defined as the product of writing. Written texts are integral in how one wants to communicate with language through speaking and writing and the modes for this discourse is what Van Dijk (1997) termed as ‘Users’, who include authors and readers. This theory is appropriate in Social Media where texts play a vital role in the communication and interaction process. Meaning is another important element in a discourse. Laughey (2007, as cited in Hall, 1982) observed that, â€Å"Meaning is a social production, a practice. The world has to be made to mean. Language and symbolism is the means by which meaning is produced†. He further explained that, language is made to mean something by encoding by the producers and this is then made to mean something through decoding by audiences. The encoding and decoding model of semiotic theory for meaning creation helps to know if Social Media messages have meanings rather than just reflecting meanings (Hall, 1993). In understanding meaning in a discourse, Van Dijk (1997) postulates two notions; Topic and Reference. ‘Topic’ is the general meaning that defines the unity of a discourse and most often are expressed in sectors of media as headlines, posts or summaries and an example can be seen on either of the social networks posts. He also posit that, topics are usually the best remembered part of a discourse which I agree to because when one has about 500 friends on Facebook and posts a content with the topic â€Å"Ebola in Scotland†, the topic easily circulates and be remembered when the reader or recipient might not have been able to remember the whole detail of the information. The other notion is ‘reference’ and this is the way a discourse and its meaning are linked to imagery events that is been talked about or trending as we call it in Twitter. Therefore in achieving a consistent discourse resulting in a meaningful one, Van Dijk (1997) argues the text of the content must be about events or situations that relate at least with the speaker or sender. A meaningful discourse can therefore be defined as a process of partnership and social negotiation with the goal of sharing different viewpoints and ideas and to collaborate on solving problems and knowledge building activities (Gilbert and Dabbagh, 2005 as cited in Duffy and Cunninggham, 1996). Let’s consider one of the Social Media platforms in perspective and how it is lessening meaning in a discourse. Twitter is a social networking platform where users send and receive text-based updates called tweets (Fairclouth, Mulderrig and Wodak, 2011). These tweets can be delivered and read web based or via instant messaging clients. On this platform, users choose whom they want to follow either an individual or a group or even strangers; they then receive all updates written and posted by them. About engagement on this platform, a Twitter user follows a range of people and some of these people do post updates of which some offer useful words of advice, links, news or amusing tales. But many of these messages might just be scanned through, no much concentration, appeal and sometimes put the person off. Sometimes the intimacy of Social Media contexts is not always positive as Crawford (2009) postulates. It can create discomfort, confusion or resentment. She therefore mentione d that sometimes Twitter users may require dexterity based on its demands of news updates to messages, information about what is trending in the day or what somebody had for breakfast. Korschun and Du (2012) argues that Social Media users are not passive audience but rather are active co-creators of worth but Asur et al. (2011) rebuts that, Social Media generates a never-ending wealth of content and that only few messages and topics manage to attract enough attention and engage in public discourse. In this technological age, one is able to express his/her opinions, ideas, and thoughts freely via the Social Media at no cost or charge. No form of regulation is binding users for signing in/up, liking a post on someone’s page, or following someone on Twitter. The only thing evident is the attainment of information. With Social networks like Facebook and Twitter, ‘liking’ something is assumed as the determinant of worth to the one who posted that information. Liking does not necessarily mean anything to the recipient because we cannot argue if just liking something on a page describes how the recipient is feeling or thinking when doing that (Zappavigna, 2012). I can testify to this myself as an ardent Social Media freak that, most often, the thought process in liking something on a page maybe absent hence done passively. A Facebook user can log into his/her account only to be welcomed with a well of texts or posts and even begging you to see more. When messages are posted on Social Media and become disturbing to the recipient, they lose meaning and thus become ‘noise’ to audiences or users. Any undesired uncertainty of message or information received is called noise (Nunes, 2011). He also mentioned that noise can reduce the potential of communication in a discourse. This case of noise cuts across all the platforms of Social Media for example with one of the social networking platforms called Twitter. This system can provide pop up messages on users screens whenever messages called ‘tweets’ are received passively serving as disproportionate fracas (Zappavigna, 2012). Social Media users have come to trade commitments with engagements or interactions for a pat on the back, and this discourse is eroding that true culture of dialogue and the ability to nuance values we actually like. Think about it in this way, the majority of content posted on a social/web page each day and contrast that with interacting in real life. Which is meaningful? About content on Social Media, Lee (2014) posit that, it is not a discussion but a statement and this makes the internet an accumulation of statements, thereby resulting in dialogue lost for a meaningful discourse. One can testify to how information presented in person through interaction in real life feels. Another limitation for a meaningful discourse is when content is ignored and considered unworthy to recipients and when content is in the viral state. When a user is present online, his/her account cannot disallow posts from trawling onto the page but the only remedy is to ignore them. Lee (2014) identified virulence on Social Media as the circulation of a statement online which does not offer room for discussion. An example of such incidence is the confusion on mislabelling a missing student as the suspect following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Somebody jokingly posted his name on Twitter and his name ended up trending nationally, though he had nothing to do with the attack. All these factors account for the depreciation of the worth to address and discuss issues in depth. The proliferation of misinformation on Social Media is in influx and easily goes viral. Examples of such include posts on misguided drug use/health, false organisations or individuals appear to deceive or fraud people, false information circulating and many more. An example can be traced to the recent first diagnosis case of ‘Ebola’ virus in the United States on September 30, 2014. The patients were tested and proved negative but Social Media users on Twitter kept ‘tweeting’ as if the virus was running rampant in the country. There is nothing wrong with how Social Media use has helped in engaging and communicating with a large and diverse virtual community of people but the argument here is that it does not provide fulfilment on the platform. Interaction between individuals physically confers a much better way to dialogue and know who the person is and how well trust can be expressed on them. The anonymity of oneself on cyberspace allows others to in some way disassociate with their ideas, thoughts and even actions. One may argue of having friends on Facebook for example but that does not define what a true community is but is rather classified as a virtual presence. Interaction on this platform is not face-to-face even if the friends appear online to be engaged in an interaction. How can you justify if the supposed friends are the real people you are engaging with at that time? Sometimes unperceptive arguments are started online for example in politics and before you realise feelings are sparked unleashing a swath of ridiculous and offensive comments making it look so dramatic. Social Media discussions are becoming so much dramatic and provocative much more than the usual physical interactions would have been (Beirut, 2009). Social Media in my opinion detracts from meaningful discourse; the concept of engagement and presence is one of the challenges that has been forfeited and relegated for the virtual presence. Social Media evolution has brought about a lot of impacts and contributions but the reality is this, it is teaching us to know the better forms of interaction and engagement that is deeper and truer within a meaningful communication discourse. References ASUR, S., HUBERMAN, B.A., SZABO, G. and WANG, C., 2011. Trends in social media: persistence and decay. ICWSM. BEIRUT, 2009.Why do people really tweet? The psychology behind tweeting!Retrieved November 5, 2010. [online] Available from: http://blog.thoughtpick.com/2009/08/why-do-people-really-tweet-the-psychology-behind-tweeting.html [Accessed on 15 November 2014] CRAWFORD, K., 2009. Following you: Disciplines of listening in social media. Continuum: Journal of Media Cultural Studies, 23(4), pp. 525-535 FAIRCLOUGH, N., MULDERRIG, J. and WODAK, R., 2011. Critical discourse analysis. Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction, pp. 357-378 GILBERT, P.K. and DABBAGH, N., 2005. How to structure online discussions for meaningful discourse: A case study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(1), pp. 5-18 HALL, S., 1993. Encoding, decoding. The cultural studies reader, 4, pp. 90-103 KAPLAN, A.M. and HAENLEIN, M., 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), pp. 59-68 KENT, M. L., MAUREEN, T., WHITE, W.J., 2003. The relationship between website design and organizational responsiveness to stakeholders. Public Relations Review, 29(1), 63-77. KIETZMANN, J.H. et al., 2011. Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business horizons, 54(3), pp. 241-251 KOLLER, V., 2005. Critical discourse analysis and social cognition: evidence from business media discourse. Discourse Society, 16(2), pp. 199-224 LAUGHEY, D., 2007. Key themes in media theory. McGraw-Hill International. pp. 60-90 LINDSAY, B.R., 2011. Social media and disasters: Current uses, future options, and policy considerations. Congressional Research Service. MANGOLD, W.G. and FAULDS, D.J., 2009. Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business horizons, 52(4), pp. 357-365 NUNES, M., 2011. Error: glitch, noise and jam in new media cultures. New York: Continuum. pp. 13-18 REILLY, A.H. and HYNAN, K.A., 2014. Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: Its not easy (really) being green. Business horizons, 57(6), pp. 747-758 SIFFERLIN, A., 2014. Fear, misconception and Social media complicate Ebola fight. [online] Available from: http://time.com/3479254/ebola-social-media/ [Accessed on 14 November 2014] VAN DIJK, T.A., 1997. The study of discourse. Discourse as structure and process, 1, pp. 1-22 ZAPPAVIGNA, M., 2012. Discourse of Twitter and social media: How we use language to create affiliation on the web. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Is yawning contagious :: essays research papers

Is Yawning Contagious? Yawning is contagious. You can "catch" a yawn. I had to stifle many yawns as I read and wrote about this phenomenon. Yawning is probably programmed into us as stated by Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of S. Alabama Knollwood Hospital. Yawning is not contagious from species to species. You will not see a baboon for instance yawn when he sees a human yawn. If a chimpanzee or baboon yawns another will follow. And vise versa. The only animal that had an affect on the human response was the yawn of the lion. Observing people with their mouth wide open does not produce a yawn, but show a person with his or her mouth wide open and covered with a hand has a yawning effect. This is a visual response. Most people will tell you that a good yawn gives them great satisfaction. Especially when it involves stretching the body along with the facial muscles. A stifled yawn is unsatisfactory and leaves us incomplete and irritated. Not everyone exposed to yawning, whether visually or simply reading about it will be affected. A persons personality enters into the equation. People who are sensitive to another persons dilemma or problem are most likely to be contagious yawners. The level of empathy for others seems to be directly related. Yet excessive yawning may be a warning to a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. This study also suggests that to yawn is to be aware of oneself. We can identify ourselves in a mirror for instance. An infant does not have that ability so the success of a contagious yawn is small. I observed older people in a nursing home. Many cannot identify themselves in the mirror. Yawning to them created no reaction. They had a rather "flat" effect. People with schizophrenic tendencies also had no reaction to visual yawning. Schizophrenia being one of many psychotic disorders that make it impossible to deal in reality, withdrawal, delusions. A study on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) showed the higher the SPQ score the lower number of contagious yawns. So the question remains.... Why do we yawn? The answer seems to lie in our brains. Our behavior and state of mind will make us more vulnerable to catching a yawn.

A Leap from Art To Biology Essay

I have always been so sure that I wanted to earn a degree in the field of art. I believe that I posses the skills of a budding artist and the talent that will make a superb artist one day. I have imbibed the doctrines and have started sketching in my pad what I picture my colorful professional life would be while I was studying art in Korea. Little did I know that later, during my stint in the College of Arts, when I started studying at California State University, Northridge for my baccalaureate degree would pave the way for a new discovery about myself: there is a biologist in me! Thus, as much as I am thrilled about capturing the different colors in a butterfly’s wing on canvass, I am now more excited to study the molecular basis of this mosaic. Being enrolled at the California State University, Northridge was instrumental for my career revolution. CSUN has opened up various opportunities that have enticed me to change paths from art to science. It was truly a difficult decision, and a big leap from a totally different field, but it was well worth it. I discovered a different side of me and I realized that I have a knack for science and math, thus, I chose the field of biology to develop my newfound aptitude. Later, I have learned to be more analytical in solving problems and the concepts of nature, which I find enigmatic before, have offered exciting possibilities of solving practical problems. The curriculum of the Department of Biology and its design has unlocked learning opportunities for me. This is the reason why I would like to enroll in an advanced degree in Biology at CSUN. Of particular interest to me are the fields of functional anatomy, physiology, genetics, and embryology and I would be very willing to pursue a research on these topics for my Master’s degree. CSUN’s resolve to focus on the needs of its community as it continues to earn global appeal is moving students like me to continue to give back what I have learned here to my own community in Korea. In the future, I plant to return to my home and introduce them to the new person I have become, molded by the experiences this place, and learning science has burgeoned in me. I hope to share my knowledge, passion and expertise to solve our most pressing problems. The environment in CSUN and its friendly nature to international students has been a motivating factor to my desire to continue studying here. Outstanding mentors and professors who inspire students to increase their zest for learning biology highlight the department. I am also excited to witness and become part of this 50-year old institution’s growth. The artist in me continues to thrive and I believe that earning my Master’s degree in Biology at CSUN complements my aspirations to be a biologist with a heart and appreciation for the beauty of life.

Really Trying to Mean

It is no accident that the best writers tend to be amongst the most voracious and most thoughtful of readers. To be called into meaningful existence a text cannot stand by itself; that is, it cannot live outside of culture. When we say that a particular text means something, we are incorporating our own ideas as readers into what we think the author meant, ultimately producing another version of what the text really means. This is a significant delineation that brings forth the notion of reading, writing, and interpretation in the realm of discourse. Worlds collide in the act of interiorizing alphabetic literacy. Truth and meaning become contingent upon the heterogeneity of thought that is necessary to determine how a text relates to the reality of the reader. In Ong’s words, â€Å"The text has no meaning until someone reads it, and to make sense it must be interpreted, which is to say related to the reader’s world. † Following this lead we can say that we create meaning but we are not the original creator because the reading from which we base our conceptions has been in existence since before Socrates himself. To build from this past, Jaspers locates the reality and the implications of historical thought when he writes, â€Å"It is impossible not to form an image of the historic Socrates. What is more, some image of Socrates is indispensable to our philosophical thinking. † We have an indispensable point of reference to discourse in the image of Socrates in our reading of Socrates so that ‘today no philosophical thought is possible unless Socrates is present, if only as a pale shadow. † The import of this type of reading, a reading with a historical point of reference to the current reality, is in the veins of Western thought going back to Socrates while at the making Socrates present in today’s dialogue, if only as a pale shadow. Jaspers and Ong are alluding to the notion of a certain kind of synthesis, as Taylor will help to flesh out. Taylor questions what this all ultimately means to philosophy and to our lives, â€Å"What is the real significance of Socrates in the history of [Western] thought? [Simply put, he] created the intellectual and moral tradition by which [Western civilization] has ever since lived. The role of Socrates is, as Ong and Jaspers also believe, is a never ending presence in the paradigm of Western civilization. Socrates is therefore still very much alive in philosophy today. His image alone represents the ongoing debates taking place at conferences, in mid-terms, and in the public dialogue. The reality of his death defies the fact t hat he maintains a presence today. Speaking of letters and reading between the lines of history will allow us to create another reality than the one of alarm clocks, lunch breaks, and taxes – a debate that resonates all the way back to before Socrates drank the hemlock.