Components Of Good Customer Service - 1149 Words

Introduction In today’s market, it is important for us to take good care of our customers and show cause for potential customer to allow us to service their needs. In the small town of Morris Run, PA, ‘The Store’ offers convenience items, a dine-in and take out menu, as well as e-commerce products, including several specialty products sold at ‘The Store’. ‘The Store’s’ customer service policy outlines and includes store protocols, which employees must follow to deal with customers, in a manner which demonstrates the responsibility and competence of ‘The Store’. Also included in the customer service policy are details on the employee handbooks and continued education for employees on ‘The Store’s’ goals and vision; including additional†¦show more content†¦Therefore, we train our staff to continue to remind our customers, and potential customers, why it would benefit them to do business w ith ‘The Store’. If we properly train our staff, being expeditious will, not only, keep our customers coming back, but, may even attract new customers. Excellent Listening Skills and Dealing with Difficult Customers Listening skills are most beneficial when employees are dealing with customer complaints. When we listen to our customers, we often learn things about our products and services. We also have the chance to learn more about our customers’ needs, as well as ways to improve our customers’ experience. The best way to show our customers that we have actively listened to their complaint is to validate their complaint or issue, and offer a solution. Often, employees make this decision, on their own, but we encourage them to involve the customer. Finding out what solution would best satisfy the customer helps ‘The Store’ provide better customer service. When we experience a difficult customer, we follow-up with those customers and ask for additional feedback. We want to understand what our customers are experiencing, with our products, with our customer service, and with our employees. After cus tomer feedback is received, we also ensure to follow up with a thank you for making suggestions. Customer Service ExpectationsShow MoreRelatedSupply Chain And Logistics Management1295 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction What is supply chain and logistics? Supply chain management involves various activities from acquisition of raw material to distribution of final goods while logistics involves only transportation of goods. Supply chain plays integral role in business process without effective supply chain management an organization cannot meet its demands on time. So it plays crucial role in business activities. Following activities are involved in supply chain management 1. Procurement 2. ProductionRead MoreStarbucks Case1388 Words   |  6 Pagesbusiness. 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Quantity of people affected and their condition 8.0 The Product Recall Coordinator will also obtain the name, agency or customer and the phone numbers of the persons making the notification. If the notification is coming from the FDA, it is important to determine the status of the investigation. This situation

Reflection Of My English 1102 Course - 932 Words

Reflection of my English 1102 course throughout the semester I learned many new things from English 1102 class. It was not much fun but I learned some interesting things. For my research, I needed a topic that interests me. I first started to search topics from the chemistry field. I could not find any interesting topics then I came across an article that talks about how robots will take our jobs and every one would be jobless. After reading that article, I was really convinced that robots were bad for human society and people should be focusing on improving other fields such as medicine than wasting time and money in inventing a robot, which is one type of luxury and that, will take our jobs. So I chose this topic for my research. For further discussions, I started searching for some more article about robots not good for human society and I found that there was not much about the negative impact of robots in human society other than taking human jobs. So I was stuck but then I found an article that supports the robots. It was a good article and it explains how robots are useful in human society. The Article says that robots will create new jobs and benefit employers, government and disable people. I also found in one article saying that if robots will do our jobs humans can focus on bigger problems like finding cures for diseases, finding solution to prevent natural disasters and many more. Therefore, I decided to support the robot’s positive impact rather than supportingShow MoreRelatedWriting Is A For A Foreign Place Is Leaving Home961 Words   |  4 PagesThe hardest part of adventuring out into a foreign place is leaving home. You do not know what to expect, but you trust that the experience you have gained in your life so far will guide you in the best direction. After reflecting on my experience in English 1102, I would say writing is similar to traveling to foreign places. There is a lot of preparation that is involved in traveling to your final destination, just like how there is a lot of planning for y our final draft of writing. Each conceptRead MoreThe Layers And Cycles Of Writing. Like The Layers On An1487 Words   |  6 Pageslayer. With lengthier papers due in shorter time frames, English 1102 forced me into a more efficient method of writing that still maintained its quality: the method of drafting. Though it meant binding myself into a long term commitment, using drafts solidified my writing process and provided an efficient alternative for my writer’s block. In and of itself, sticking to drafting was a challenge, but it has helped me better explore and develop my thoughts throughout the writing process, leading to aRead MoreThe Reflection Of Ivy As A Writer1001 Words   |  5 PagesReflection of Ivy as a Writer As a writer, I develop more every time I step foot into the classroom. Over the years of learning how to write, I was not always confident. In fact, as of this current year of 2015 I am the most confident as a writer than I have ever been. This year I began college, where I am taking English 1101 with Professor Ricky Weaver. I have learned many different writing strategies in this class, ways to brainstorm, grammar rules, tips to avoid writers block, and so much moreRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagestrademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Used herein under license. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006933904 Student Edition: ISBN-13: 978-0-495-11873-2 ISBN-10: 0-495-11873-7 ââ€"   To my nephews, Jesse and Luke Smidt, who bet I wouldn’t put their names in this book. R. P. ââ€"   To my wife, Sally, and my daughter, Anna C. O. ââ€"   To Carol, Allie, and Teri. J. D. ââ€"   About the Authors puter Teacher of the Year award in 1988 and received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in mathematics

How many are major types of magnetic separator Free Essays

Along with the increasing popular of mining project, more and more people invested in producing stone crusher machine for mining process. And with the development of mining machinery industry, there are many kinds of mining machines in the market, do you know how many kinds of magnetic separator there are? We all know that The Magnetic Separator is suitable for wet magnetic separation of materials less than 3mm such as magnetite, calcined ore, etc. and it can remove the iron in the coal, non-metal and construction industries. We will write a custom essay sample on How many are major types of magnetic separator or any similar topic only for you Order Now And Magnetic roasting can be divided into reduction roasting, neutral roasting and oxidizing roasting according to the principle. Studies have shown that the particle size has significant effect on the magnetic properties. The magnetic susceptibility decreases with the particle size. However, the coercivity value increases with decreases of particle size. Its magnetic system is a ring-shape chain closed magnetic circuit with energizing coils made of copper tube and cooled internally by water. Grooved plates made of magnetic conductive stainless steel are used as magnetic matrix. With the in-depth development of the research work of the domestic and foreign high-performance permanent magnet materials, the industrialization of the magnetic separator and the constant optimization the upgrading and improvement of the magnetic system and the body structure of traditional permanent magnetic separator speed up the process that the permanent magnetic separation equipment gradually replace the electromagnetic magnetic separator. We also actively used the new high and permanent magnet material (NdFeB) to increase the number of poles. The additional poles and compound magnetic field urther enhanced the performance of permanent magnetic separator, matured and expended the ranges of applications, especially in the process of magnetite beneficiation. Of course, maybe my summary is not comprehensive. If you have other supplement, you can comment about my article. We learn from each other, and make progress together. Thank you very much for reading my article. I hope you like it. If you have any other question, you can get int our website. china magnetic separator: http://www. mine-crusher. com/separator. htm How many are major types of magnetic separator? By fengyanyanl 990 How to cite How many are major types of magnetic separator, Papers

International business paln Essay Example For Students

International business paln Essay Business Plan: Johnson Stepps Consulting Johnson Stepps Consulting will be formed as a consulting company specializing in the marketing of high technology products in international markets. The mission at Johnson Stepps Consulting will be to offer high-tech manufacturers a reliable, high quality alternative to in-house resources for business development, market development, and channel development on an international scale. A true alternative to in house resources offers a very high level of practical experience; know how, contacts, and confidentiality. Clients must know that working with Johnson Stepps Consulting is a more professional, less risky way to develop new areas even than working completely in house with their own people. Johnson Stepps Consulting must also be able to maintain financial balance, charging a high value for its services, and delivering an even higher value to its clients. Our initial focus will be development in the European and Latin American markets, or for European clients in the United States market. Excellence in fulfilling the promise completely confidential, reliable, trustworthy expertise and information. Developing visibility to generate new business leads. Leveraging from a single pool of expertise into multiple revenue generation opportunities: retainer consulting, project consulting, market research, and market research published reports. The total projected start up expenses (including legal costs, logo design, stationery and related expenses) come to $73,000. Start up assets required include $3,000 in short term assets (office furniture, etc. ) and $1,000,000 in initial cash to handle the first few months of consulting operations as sales and accounts receivable play through the cash flow. Johnson Stepps consulting is a new company providing high-level expertise in international high-tech business development, channel development, distribution strategies, and marketing of high tech products. It will focus initially on providing two kinds of international triangles: Providing United States clients with development for European and Latin American markets. Developing a market for our European and Latin American clients. As it grows it will take on people and consulting work in related markets, such as the rest of Latin America, and the Far East, and similar markets. As it grows it will look for additional leverage by taking brokerage positions and representation positions to create percentage holdings in product results. The corporation will be based in San Francisco, owned by its principal investors and principal operators. Some services we will provide are expertise in channel distribution, channel development, and market development, sold and packaged in various ways that allow clients to choose their preferred relationship: these include retainer consulting relationships, project based consulting, relationship and alliance brokering, sales representation and market representation, project-based market research, published market research, and information forum events. The company locations and facilities will be established in the Silicon area of California, the heart of the U.S. high tech industry. We will offer our customers the expertise a high-technology company needs to develop new product distribution and new market segments in new markets. This can be taken as high-level retainer consulting, market research reports, or project-based consulting. 1. Retainer consulting: We represent a client company as an extension of its business development and market development functions. This begins with complete understanding of the client companys situation, objectives, and constraints. We then represent the client company quietly and confidentially, sifting through new market developments and new opportunities as is appropriate to the client, representing the client in initial talks with possible allies, vendors, and channels. 2. Project consulting: Proposed and billed on a per-project and per-milestone basis, project consulting offers a client company a way to harness our specific qualities and use our expertise to solve specific problems, develop and/or implement plans, develop specific information. 3. Market research: Group studies available to selected clients at $5,000 per unit. A group study is packaged and published, a complete study of a specific market, channel, or topic. Examples might be studies of developing consumer channels in Japan or Mexico, or implications of changing margins in software. 1. .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .postImageUrl , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:hover , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:visited , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:active { border:0!important; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:active , .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u29048b0d9f17120d7bcd2b0abc9dc5ab:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Resolved: That colleges and universities have a mo Essay The most significant competition is no consulting at all, companies choosing to do business development and channel development and market research in-house. Their own managers do this on their own, as part of their regular business functions. Our key advantage in competition with in-house development .

How to increase global consumer trust in online shopping Research Paper Example

How to increase global consumer trust in online shopping? Paper Abstract Online shopping or e-commerce is developed rapidly and has a gigantic impact in globalization. Many consumers around the world start to trade products or do business using this system. The most crucial factor for consumer who shops online is trust. Grabber-Quarter (1989 p. 43) states Trust can serve as mechanism to reduce the complexity of human conduct in situations where people have to cope with uncertainty. This paper tries to analyze that which method can be use by online merchants to increase their consumer trust. Various action and tools are introduced o increasing customers trust and verify the website information. Amazon. Com is chosen to be the case study. The reason behind this Is the popularity and reliably of the website and It Is ranked in the top website In the world. Introduction Figure: E-commerce market size from 2004 to 2014 Source: Remuneration, International Telecommunication Union; A. T. Carney analysis E-commerce is now widely used and has a huge impact in globalization The graph above shows the upward trend of e-commerce market size which increasing respectively since 2004 and from now on the trend Is also estimated to be rising due o the benefits of It. There are significant reasons behind that why majority of people use this method of trading. First of all, consumers can trade goods easier than by traditional shopping. Consumers can obviously gain convenience when they shop online since they can purchase or sell products without driving to their favorite stores. We will write a custom essay sample on How to increase global consumer trust in online shopping? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How to increase global consumer trust in online shopping? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How to increase global consumer trust in online shopping? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Buyers can effortlessly visit online shopping websites such as eBay, Amazon etc. And then search for the product and finally purchase it by using online transaction. Secondly, most of the prices in online shopping websites are much lower than traditional shopping cause the websites owners need to decrease their profit margin to attract and get more consumers. For example, online merchant needs to discount the price of products to promote the website, which attract buyers and make your business more popular with your lower price. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks for online shopping. First of all, sometimes the trading can be misleading; for example, consumers receive low quality of products because they TLD test the product before buying and also returning product Is very complicated. The following have not good enough security and consumers want to ensure their safety before riding. The time lag between buying and receiving products is also a big annoyance. Due to the item being sent from overseas, it may take up to a month to get the products. According to Amazon. Mom, standard shipping day to United States is 7-12 days, to Thailand is 17-26 business days, and United Kingdom is 18-26 days as can seen that the length of time depends on the distance of each country. However, the advantages of online shopping outweigh the disadvantages. So the majority of consumers are prefer making transaction in the internet process instead of shopping in the stores. Each consumer has dissimilar behavior but most of them consider that trust is the major factor to choosing website because trust can influence the consumers decision directly and indirectly (alley, 2013). Hence, internet merchants should generate trust to their customers in their own website, which lead to the successful of their business. This paper consists of five parts. In the first part is about trust and its impact to e-commerce. Secondly, perceived risk on e-commerce, which is the problem of online shopping. Following by procedures to develop trust in e- commerce that discuss about the solution. Third part is the case of Amazon. Com which is one of the famous online shopping website in the world. The last part is conclusion. Trust as a crucial factor The most crucial factor for consumers who shop online is trust. Trust can serve as mechanism to reduce the complexity of human conduct in situations where people have to cope with uncertainty (Grabber-Quarter, 1989, p. 43). Trust can influence the transactions decision of consumers in e-commerce directly and indirectly through mediators. For the direct effect, there are numerous reasons that why purchasers rust and concerning the online selling website is an essential factor of their willingness to buy. For example, many online transactions are managed across the countries and consumers could not know standard of products. So, trust or belief in the online shopping website delights consumers to take part in online trading regardless of the risk. Furthermore, trust also has indirect impact via two mediating variables, which consist of perceived risk and perceived benefit. Perceived risk can illustrated as the nature and amount of risk perceived by a consumer in contemplating a particular purchase decision (Hong and Chaw, 2013, p. 28). This is a significant variable mediating trust in the website because it is level of consumers uncertainty concerning the result of a purchase decision. Especially in online shopping, consumers always face the risk due to the uncertainty of the shopping website. Perceived risk about shopping online is negatively related to a consumers trust (Hong and Chaw, 2013, p. 929). In contrast, perceived benefit is can illustrate as the knowledge of the positive worth for online customers. A consumers perceived benefit of e-commerce has a positive relationship to a consumers trust. To measure bevel of consumers trust, studying the effect without mediation and examining mediation effect are the key method. This paper will focus solely about perceived risk commerce is to mitigate the lack of consumer confidence (Martin and Cameron, 2009, p. 629). Online merchants should concern about the reliability of their websites (product quality, period of time for shipping and online payment) to improve consumer trust and raise the number of consumers to buy online. For example, Amazon. Com is a business-to-consumer (BBC) company, which sells products to customers by internet directly. The meaning of mediating factor or mediating variable of trust and risk can describe that trust abates the perceived risk. Therefore, perceived risk has a straight negative impact on consumers purpose and trust is the main factor that subtracts the level of consumers perceived risk in online shopping. This paper will find out the mediating role of consumer trust in online shopping like the perceived risk and analyze the method that online merchants increase their consumer trust. Various action and tools are expressed that internet firms can use to verify and keep up trust. The main example is based on Amazon. M because Amazon. Com is one of the reliable online shopping website since this website give precedence to consumers trust. Perceived risk on e-commerce The severe problem for online shopping is the greater risk which leads to less trust as the quality of products are unnoticed since buyers can not touch or see the product (pre-purchase uncertainties and post-purchase uncertaint ies), lack of sellers recommendation (sellers dont provide enough products information to buyers), and the payment method which is influenced by security (input users data) and privacy issues (credit card details). These mean there is the higher asymmetric information about goods and enterprise in online shopping than traditional shopping. This asymmetric information is can illustrated as the case that seller perceives more information than purchaser and vice versa, This problem leads to greater perceived risk for buyers and also results in adverse selection problem. Adverse selection problems occur when one party is unsure about the claims that the other party makes (Eisenhower, 1989; Mishear, 1998). Perceived risk can described as unanticipated outcomes a purchaser dreads may occur as a result of making bad decision. Hence, its hard for consumers to separate between sellers with dissimilar levels of product quality. From the past study it showed that perceived risk reduces the willingness of consumers to buy goods over the Internet and perceived risk is a crucial factor mediating trust in the online shopping (Martin and Cameron, 2009, p. 631). Procedures to develop trust in e-commerce Consumers with high-perceived risk are influenced to keep away from the online shopping as they face the problem of asymmetric information. So internet seller must reduce risk or maintain trust in online shopping in order to attract consumers. There are various useful procedures to build and maintain customers trust. These policies, and reputation policies. Information policies aim at decreasing asymmetric information from customers through the communications such as advertising or get the online website listed on high people-reviewed directory. Get a good-looking web presentation design is also the information policies since the logo, design, and layout can lead too first impression for consumers. Guarantee policies contain many kinds of instrument that certify payments in a case of harm. These procedures give nonusers confidence that if there is an obstacle with a purchase, the retailer assures that consumers will get the product they ordered or get their refund. The third policy is reputation policies, which are the tools for supporting trustworthiness in purchases. Reputation is the result of trustworthy behavior and plays an important part in determining the willingness of others to enter into an exchange with a given actor (Grabber-Quarter, 1989, p. 8). For example, online merchants with better reputation have more advantages when compare with newcomer merchants since consumers are prefer popular website than other. Another way to improve the reputation is to form the community like a group of websites that related to their goods or services. This can make the base for trustworthy communication (Webber and Meyer, 2000). Case of Amazon. Com Amazon is an American e-commerce company which the initiation as online bookstore which attract customers by provide cheap price and free delivery fare. Nowadays, Amazon sell widely kind of products like books, DVDs, MPH, computer software, furniture, food, Jewelry and electronic devices. It is one of the largest online shopping website which has developed a purchaser base of around million people ever the last 10 years. This website gain income by small percentage of the products price that is sold in Amazon. Com and also the advertisement from other firms in its website. Amazon is totally reliable and most powerful businesses in the world. The reason behind that is Amazon provides abundant of information and data, which other sellers may not inform. Amazon has customer services centers around the worlds across North American, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The delivery is quick and accurate. For the payment method, if customers dont want to give credit rd number or bank account number to website, they can choose another method which is mail the money to Amazon but take a risk to be stolen. Amazon also allows customers to rate and review the products in the website which is helpful to other customers. There are other two significant policies in Amazon, which are returns/ refunds policies and exchange items policy. Returns/refunds policies are kind of guarantee policies, which contain many kinds of instrument that certify payments in a case of damage. Exchange policy is for consumers who need to change for a different size or color. If buyers are changing for a dissimilar size, it will cover any cost increase. But if the exchanged item costs more, it will charge the difference in price. Furthermore, it helps consumers to order some products from other sellers.

Affordable Care Act Analysis

Affordable Care Act Analysis Provisions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) that intends to Reduce or Increase Directly the Quantity of Healthcare Consumed The ACA provisions aim at ensuring provisions of quality and affordable healthcare to all Americans. Some of the ACA provisions will alter the quantity of healthcare consumed. The first part of the essay is going to show how these provisions will alter the quantity of consumed healthcare.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Affordable Care Act Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Under the quality and affordable healthcare for all Americans, there is immediate action to expand and preserve coverage. This provision allows citizens to identify affordable insurance coverage options hence enabling many Americans to access healthcare services, thereby increasing the quantity of healthcare consumed; for instance, the formation of a temporary program that covers early retirees under this initiative increa ses the number of health insurance policies. Moreover, the provision on the role of public programs increases Medicaid coverage to low income earners and children. Clearly, this provision increases the quantity of healthcare that the Americans will consume. The hospital readmission reduction initiative, which is under the provision of improving the efficiency of healthcare, is a move towards ensuring that majority of the Americans can afford the re-admission costs; for example, the payments for bone density tests assist both the healthcare providers and patients. In addition, development of new patient care models increases the quantity of healthcare consumed; many patients can be served at a go and even decide on the care model the health providers should accord them. Additionally, the provision to extend healthcare protections and services to rural areas enhances community participation in healthcare programs such as preventing chronic diseases thus increasing the quantity of heal thcare consumed directly.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There is also the provision that aims at improving access to innovative medical therapies and community assistance program. These two provisions work hand in hand towards providing services to the underserved community. Notably, the class program is an insurance benefit program for individuals with functional limitations in the society. The discussed provisions of the ACA clearly will alter the quantity of healthcare that Americans will consume after full implementation of the act. Effects of these Provisions on Expenditures and Health The second part of this essay is going to analyze the effects of the above provisions on expenditures and health. The provision to expand and conserve coverage options among the Americans will lower expenditure on healthcare services. This is because people will be free to choose the coverage that they can afford. On the other hand, the insurance firms will record increased revenues, which will be from the many American who had never been insured before. The qualified health plan will improve the health conditions of the citizens. For example, low income earners who could not afford Medicaid are able to access quality, and affordable healthcare; in this sense, their health conditions improve. The provision for improving access to innovative medical therapies obviously improves the health of the citizens, even though it implies increased expenditure to acquire such services. The current disease complications require innovative medical practices that are under the ACA. The provision on the role of public programs assures improvements in Medicaid services, simplification of Medicaid enrolment and enhanced support for children and low income earners. Undoubtedly, this provision will improve the health of the citizens through their engagement in healthcare progr ams.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Affordable Care Act Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the simplification of the Medicaid enrolment process increases the cost of healthcare in the end, even though the patients do not have a direct feeling of the cost. The ACA initiative aims at revolutionizing the entire American health system in order to provide quality and affordable healthcare to the citizens. Even though it has benefits, there are hidden costs that accompany the initiative which raise expenditures on health; for instance, the tax levied on employers, annual fee for branded importers and manufacturers and increased premiums on insurance covers. Therefore, ACA has effects on both the expenditures and health status of the Americans.

Managing Markering Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Markering Communication - Essay Example Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, basically refers to the process of combining all the tools used in advertising so that they can function together. Promotion, one of the marketing mix’s 4 Ps, has its own combination of communication elements. All of these elements operate better if they are combined together than when they are used in isolation. Their functions are improved when integration incorporates more than the essential communication tools. There are other kinds of integration like vertical and horizontal integration. Horizontal Integration can happen across business functions as well as the marketing mix. For example, communications production, distribution, and finance should operate simultaneously when the telecom service providers seek to channel messages to their consumers. Different divisions like direct mail, sales, and advertising can operate concurrently via data integration. This calls for a marketing information structure which gathers and shares the pertinent information across different corporate divisions. Vertical Integration basically denotes that communications and marketing purposes have to be formed in such a way that they support the higher level commercial goals and objectives. Internal Integration, on the other hand, calls for all the staff to be kept informed and inspired about new advancements. In a telecom service provider, these could mean new corporate identities, new advertisements, new strategic partners or even new service standards.... Internal Integration, on the other hand, calls for all the staff to be kept informed and inspired about new advancements. In a telecom service provider, these could mean new corporate identities, new advertisements, new strategic partners or even new service standards (Schultz and Schultz, 2003). External integration calls for external allies like PR agencies and advertising to work collaboratively in order to avail an integrated and cohesive message. The main principles of integrated marketing communications comprise: Consistency: A major topic in integrated marketing is consistency. It basically speaks to delivering an identical message about a brand or service across all elements of the media. This is a function that can assist a telecom service provider to create a brand identity that is both effective as well as impressive. For example, a corporation with a high-quality brand has to ensure that its message to different media outlets maintain the same timbre of message that conve ys the promise of superb quality (Pelsmacker, Geuens and Bergh, 2004). If the business invests in an effective TV advertisement but cuts costs in its advertisements in print media, the clients will get a mixed message about the service. Distribution Considerations: Integrated marketing is also about the supply-chain outcomes of a service provider. This basically entails working with contractors that have good reputations that will raise the profile of the telecom service provider. It also means utilising information gathered during marketing to enhance services that meet customer expectations while also improving the general experience of the consumer. Interactive: Interactive marketing encourages and supports a two-way communication process with consumers. This

How can a manager motivate a workforce and what are the major benefits Essay - 2

How can a manager motivate a workforce and what are the major benefits of this to a company - Essay Example The paper tells that benefits of the motivated workforce are immense because they need least supervision, efforts and guidance to get best out of them. Motivated workforce helps produce quality goods and efficient services. They learn quickly with fewer efforts on their training. They make fewer mistakes and tend to resolve conflicts quickly. Motivated workforce makes favorable impact on customers and exhibit minimal resistance to change. Away back in 1943, Abraham Maslow's theory explained about 'hierarchy of needs' of the people and that stood to the test of time during the time. A few years later, in 1960, Douglas McGregor proposed his Theory Y – opposing the Theory X, in which he acknowledged and recognized self-motivated people when given a proper environment and freedom to accomplish the given task. In fact, much of the motivational theories of later period find their roots in the Theory Y of Douglas McGregor. Financial incentives do play a role in motivating workforce t o a certain extent but not always, especially during economic downslide, managers’ hands are mostly tied to providing financial incentives and they need to develop other means that can create the motivating workforce in good and bad times. Steve Jobs, though he himself was a tough taskmaster, could inspire thousands of employees to accomplish the task with zeal and vigor. Perhaps, Steve Jobs provided most inspirational leadership to the workforce at Apple through his own commitment and dedication and ability to provide solutions to the problems. Walter Isaacson states that Jobs used to motivate employees to accomplish that at first hand appeared impossible. He states, "Jobs once pushed an engineer to accelerate a Macintosh's boot-up time, even after the employee explained why it would be impossible. In response, Jobs asked, "If it would save a person's life, could you find a way to shave 10 seconds off?" and calculated the overall time spent waiting for Macs to start up aroun d the world every year. Within a few weeks, the engineer reduced the boot-up time by 28 seconds". Thus, manager or leader’s inspirational role can do wonders in motivating employees. Nonfinancial Factors – a Key to Motivation The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) based at the UK conducted a survey to find how organizations, employees, and managers in the UK feel about the various motivating factors in current times. The survey discovers that intrinsic factors such as recognition, praise are weighed highly as motivating elements over extrinsic factors such as financial rewards, performance bonuses. Key motivating factors that emerge from the survey are better treatment by employer, praise and creating a sense of being valued by the employer. Employee value recognition, support, feedback as the important motivating factors and managers who employ these tools to reward their employees are successful in motivating their workforce for more productive outcomes.

Utopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Utopia - Essay Example The term was introduced by Thomas Moore, who invented the term to describe his imaginary Island where the inhabitants of the island enjoy the perfect social, legal and political system. An Island, where nothing is amiss, nothing is wrong and people lead what we can call a â€Å"Utopian or flawless† form of life. In modern Latin, â€Å"utopia† means â€Å"nowhere†. As years passed by, Thomas Moore’s famous word became an adjective to be used to describe not just his island but any state of perfectness. In the lives that we live every day, from the moment we learn about the terms â€Å"happiness† or â€Å"flawless† we start on a journey to pursue them and turn our own little lives into something that we consider blessed. But, the truth is no one is ever really happy or satisfied. I am not saying it s a crime to be not or dissatisfied but the fact is that Thomas Moore’s word â€Å"utopia† has little space in our lives. â€Å"Richa rd Cory† a short, narrative and meaningful poem that I came across, vindicates my argument substantially. He was gracious, generous, well schooled and wealthy yet at the end of the poem he ends up shooting himself in the head. Herein, we see that even though Richard Cory had all the materialistic possessions that a person needs for his survival, he was not satisfied and his life was not worth living at all. At first it seems almost necessary to describe Mr. Cory’s life as a Utopian life since everything seemed so perfect yet the end of his story makes us think otherwise- How can the term Utopia be used for a state that is nonexistent?

Intentionalist vs Functionalist | The Holocaust

Intentionalist vs Functionalist | The Holocaust History of the Holocaust The Functionalist vs. Intentionalist Debate Historians have been attempting to uncover the true reasons behind the Holocaust since the day it ended. Since the 1980s there has been a significant divide between two major groups of historians: those called the functionalists, and those called the intentionalists. The general term intentionalist is typically defined as a person who essentially constructs a case around the decisive impact of particular individuals or events (Claydon, John). A functionalist is one who reacts specifically against the intentionalist approach and builds up a picture of what happened through meticulous research†¦without any preconceived ideas (Claydon, John). Therefore when speaking of the Holocaust, intentionalist historians focus completely on Hitler. They believe that it was his idea (or intention) all along to preserve the Aryan race by exterminating Jews and other racial and ideological groups that the Germans saw as enemies. On the other hand, functionalist historians say that it was not Hitl ers master mining that caused the Holocaust and the Final Solution. They believe in a number of various reasons inside and outside of Germany such as too many failed attempts at emigration, middle ranking German officials putting the idea in Hitlers head, and bureaucratic or economic motives and wartime pressure. This debate was at its prime during the 1980s and early 1990s. Before that, the majority of people completely blamed Hitler, taking the intentionalists side almost without question. Today, more historians have taken a position in the middle, claiming that Hitler was at fault but that it was not necessarily his plan since the first day he came to power. I agree with middle, as I believe its nearly impossible to come to a conclusion on which party is more accurate. Some intentionalist historians include Lucy Dawidowicz, Andreas Hillgruber, and Gerald Fleming among others. They believe that Hitler had his plan from 1920 or earlier, and that was to exterminate the Jewish population. These beliefs come from a variety of different reasons. Some say his childhood corrupted him, causing him to create this blue-print like plan for a genocide (Julian, George). Others blame it on his central role and strong dictator skills, arguing that he controlled everyone underneath him and knew about everything that was happening amongst the Nazi Party, making it inevitable that his actions were to blame. Most intentionalists claim that his plan was written out in his autobiography, Mein Kampf or My Struggle, where he says a few lines which give away his plan, proving that his intentions stemmed long before he came to power, and that it was as if Hitler fantasized of murder. Some, such as Lucy Dawidowicz, say that Hitler saw World War II as the perfect opportunity to implement his plan, but that it had been on his mind for up to twenty years prior to when it actually happened. Andreas Hillgruber often refers to speeches from the Nuremburg Trials, where he quotes Hitler and claims that the genocide never would have happened if it werent for Hitler. One example is Hitler saying, The final goal, however, must steadfastly remain the removal of the Jews altogether (ADL, 2001). Another quote is him explaining, This struggle will not end with annihilation of Aryan mankind, but with the extermination of the Jewish people of Europe (ADL, 2001). The word extermination is key because it is proof that he intended on a genocide at some point. These quotes prove Hitlers evil personality and make it easy to point fingers, but is still possible for a functionalist to argue that in the first quote he used the term get rid of, which could mean deport, and in the second quote, it could have been from 1941 after the final solution was created. This again proves that both sides have strong points and it is nearly impossible to prove one completely accurate. Functionalist historians include Ian Kershaw, Christopher Browning, and Hans Mommsen. Unlike intentionalists who believe the Holocaust stemmed from Hitlers early ideas around 1920, these historians believe that the Holocaust did not actually start until around 1941. The reasons for this is the multiple failed attempts to deport the Jewish prisoners out of Germany, and also the military losses in Russia. Fuctionalists argue that other parties besides Hitler himself had strong anti-semitism views and acted on their own. Extreme functionalists even believe that Hitlers ideas came from middle ranking German officials in occupied Poland and spread to Hitler (Haberer). Aside from other people influencing Hitlers actions, it is also said that the certain circumstances influenced his actions. Proof often used by functionalists to defend Hitler is that he did start out with sterilization acts such as what he used on the disabled, to purify and prevent genetic deviants, but when that didnt wor k he was forced into the final solution. It has also been said that after failing to deport the Jews, the Nazi party was forced into the decision to have to kill them after forcing them into Ghettos and not knowing what to do with them. They say there was no place to put them, so they had no other option but to kill them. This relates to the idea of the Territorial solution that some functionalists believe in. Some say that what they really wanted was simply for the Jews to be in their own, far away land, expelled from Germany. At first, they planned to create a reservation near Poland, but it was vetoed by Hans Frank, the Governor-General of occupied Poland. In 1940 they came up with the Madagascar Plan; the idea to deport the entire Jewish Population to Madagascar. When that didnt work, functionalists argue that the territorial solution turned to the Jewish Question which eventually, in 1941, was forced to turn into the Final Solution. The final solution was the only term that act ually meant extermination. As I stated earlier, I find it nearly impossible to come to a conclusion. Many historians in the middle of the spectrum claim that both sides use the same evidence but just read into it differently. One example is a quote by Adolf Hitler, If at the beginning of the War and during the War, twelve or fifteen thousand of these Hebrew corrupters of the people had been held under the poison gas, as happened to hundreds of thousands of our very best German workers in the field, the sacrifice of millions would not have been in vain (Wasiak, Kjersti). An intentionalist would read this and say that this is proof that Hitler had a plan to kill out the entire Jewish population all along. A functionalist would read this and argue that this was only the solution after previous solutions had failed. Another example is the various quotes from Hitlers autobiography. Many times does he mention getting rid of the Jewish race. The only problem is that intentionalists automatically assume he means kill, whereas the functionalists think it could mean put in another country. I personally would side in the middle of the spectrum along side with historians such as Ian Kershaw and Yehuda Bauer. In their articles and books they seem to have the impression that Hitler was the driving force behind the Holocaust, but was not necessarily to blame. He did at one point want to exterminate the Jews, but it was not necessarily his plan all along from 1920, that some others could have influenced his actions and ideas. For years and years, historians have been struggling to find reasons for the Holocaust, reasons for Adolf Hitlers actions. Over time, two main parties have been created. The Intentionalists put complete blame on Hitler, saying that since 1920 it was his plan to create a genocide and kill off the entire Jewish race. The functionalists argue that many internal and external factors helped create the final solution, including other individuals and their views, countries impacts during the war, and failed attempts to do what the Nazi party originally wanted, leaving no other choice but murder. There are countless essays, books, and articles from both parties, all of which with valuable evidence. For me personally, I believe its difficult to completely side with one party. I believe that Hitler was the main force behind the Holocaust and the Final Solution. Whether or not his idea was implanted in his brain as a child, or the day he came to power, or even in1941 right before the Final Solu tion was made, is still not proven. The debate is ongoing and has evolved as the years have gone on. Immediately following the holocaust, it was automatically assumed by most that Hitler was completely to blame. As more evidence was uncovered, people began to question how one man could be so powerful and so evil, and the functionalist side began to grow. And finally today, although there still remains individuals on the far left and far right, it is common for historians to be in the middle, picking pieces from each side.

Anorexia and Bulimia :: Eating Disorders, Anorexia, Bulimia Nervosa

Why does food become a deadly enemy for some people? Well, society continues to send the message to young women and even to a small number young men (more and more men are becoming victims of eating disorders these days) that to be happy and successful one must be thin, which causes them to starv and/or binge and purge themselves in an attempt to gain what the media considers an ideal figure. The media is full of "toothpick" thin models, in which women desire to be like. Women often need to be in the feel of being in control, it is an ongoing battle they encounter with perfection. Bulimia nervosa is a disorder with psychological, and physiological effects. It is an eating disorder, common especially among young women of normal weight, that is characterized by episodic binge eating. Bingeing is defined as the rapid consumption of a large amount of food, often a bulimic person will eat more in two hours than a normal person would consume in an entire day. Binges are often followed by feelings of guilt, shame, loss of control, anxiety and depression. These negative feelings, especially anxiety and shame lead to bulimic behaviors, such as purging. The most common purging behavior is vomiting, which is a way to dispose of the calories and fat taken in that causes weight gain orally. The other way of diposing calories and fat are the use of laxatives, it is not as common as vomiting. There is more pain caused to the anus when using laxitives, then there is pain to the throat when vomiting, thats why laxatives are a less common way and vomiting is a more common way. Exact causes of bulimia nervousa are unknown even though in studies there is some evidence that an occurring brain chemical may influence eating behaviors, because it is in connection to the regulation of food intake. Growing/constant peer pressure is also a big help of causing bulimia, as well as low self-esteem. Young women with an older sister, mom, or even friend that has an eating disorder is ten times more likely to develop one herself, than any other child on their own. There are psychological factors of body dissatisfaction, self-esteem (as said before), perfectionism and abuse-associated with bulimia nervosa and women. While perfectionism and abuse have been risk factors in the models of bulimia, body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem seem to contribute more to bulimic behavior.

Evolution of Microprocessor

American University CSIS 550 History of Computing Professor Tim Bergin Technology Research Paper: Microprocessors Beatrice A. Muganda AU ID: 0719604 May 3, 2001 -2- EVOLUTION OF THE MICROPROCESSOR INTRODUCTION The Collegiate Webster dictionary describes microprocessor as a computer processor contained on an integrated-circuit chip. In the mid-seventies, a microprocessor was defined as a central processing unit (CPU) realized on a LSI (large-scale integration) chip, operating at a clock frequency of 1 to 5 MHz and constituting an 8-bit system (Heffer, 1986).It was a single component having the ability to perform a wide variety of different functions. Because of their relatively low cost and small size, the microprocessors permitted the use of digital computers in many areas where the use of the preceding mainframe—and even minicomputers— would not be practical and affordable (Computer, 1996). Many non-technical people associate microprocessors with only PCs yet there are thousands of appliances that have a microprocessor embedded in them— telephone, dishwasher, microwave, clock radio, etc. In these items, the microprocessor acts primarily as a controller and may not be known to the user.The Breakthrough in Microprocessors The switching units in computers that were used in the early 1940s were the mechanical relays. These were devices that opened and closed as they did the calculations. Such mechanical relays were used in Zuse’s machines of the 1930s. -3- Come the 1950s, and the vacuum tubes took over. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) used vacuum tubes as its switching units rather than relays. The switch from mechanical relay to vacuum tubes was an important technological advance as vacuum tubes could perform calculations considerably faster and more efficient than relay machines.However, this technological advance was short-lived because the tubes could not be made smaller than they were being made and had to be placed close to eac h other because they generated heat (Freiberger and Swaine, 1984). Then came the transistor which was acknowledged as a revolutionary development. In â€Å"Fire in the Valley†, the authors describe the transistor as a device which was the result of a series of developments in the applications of physics. The transistor changed the computer from a giant electronic brain to a commodity like a TV set.This innovation was awarded to three scientists: John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. As a result of the technological breakthrough of transistors, the introduction of minicomputers of the 1960s and the personal computer revolution of the 1970s was made possible. However, researchers did not stop at transistors. They wanted a device that could perform more complex tasks—a device that could integrate a number of transistors into a more complex circuit. Hence, the terminology, integrated circuits or ICs.Because physically they were tiny chips of silicon, they ca me to be also referred to as chips. Initially, the demand for ICs was typically the military and aerospace -4- industries which were great users of computers and who were the only industries that could afford computers (Freiberger and Swaine, 1984). Later, Marcian â€Å"Ted† Hoff, an engineer at Intel, developed a sophisticated chip. This chip could extract data from its memory and interpret the data as an instruction. The term that evolved to describe such a device was â€Å"microprocessor†.Therefore, the term â€Å"microprocessor† first came into use at Intel in 1972 (Noyce, 1981). A microprocessor was nothing more than an extension of the arithmetic and logic IC chips corporating more functions into one chip (Freiberger and Swaine, 1984). Today, the term still refers to an LSI single-chip processor capable of carrying out many of the basic operations of a digital computer. Infact, the microprocessors of the late eighties and early nineties are full-sclae 32-b it and 32-bit address systems, operating at clock cycles of 25 to 50 MHz (Heffer, 1986).What led to the development of microprocessors? As stated above, microprocessors essentially evolved from mechanical relays to integrated circuits. It is important to illustrate here what aspects of the computing industry led to the development of microprocessors. (1) Digital computer technology In the History of Computing class, we studied, throughout the semester, how the computer industry learned how to make large, complex digital computers capable of processing more data and also how to build and use smaller, less -5- expensive computers.The digital computer technology had been growing steadily since the late 1940s. (2) Semiconductors Like the digital computer technology, semiconductors had also been growing steadily since the invention of the transistor in the late 1940s. The 1960s saw the integrated circuit develop from just a few transistors to many complicated tasks, all of the same chip. (3) The calculator industry It appears as if this industry grew overnight during the 1970s from the simplest of four-function calculators to very complex programmable scientific and financial machines.From all this, one idea became obvious—if there was an inexpensive digital computer, there would be no need to keep designing different, specialized integrated circuits. The inexpensive digital computer could simply be reprogrammed to perform whatever was the latest brainstorm, and there would be the new product (Freiberger and Swaine, 1984). The development of microprocessors can be attributed to when, in the early 1970s, digital computers and integrated circuits reached the required levels of capability.However, the early microprocessor did not meet all the goals: it was too expensive for many applications, especially those in the consumer market, and it -6- could not hold enough information to perform many of the tasks being handled by the minicomputers of that time. How a m icroprocessor works According to Krutz (1980), a microprocessor executes a collection of machine instructions that tell the processor what to do. Based on the instructions, a microprocessor does three basic things: †¢ Using its ALU (Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a microprocessor can perform mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.Modern microprocessors contain complete floating point processors that can perform extremely sophisticated operations on large floating point numbers. †¢ A microprocessor can move data from one memory location to another. A microprocessor can make decisions and jump to a new set of instructions based on those decisions. There may be very sophisticated things that a microprocessor does, but those †¢ are its three basic activities. Put simply, it fetches instructions from memory, interprets (decodes) them, and then executes whatever functions the instructions direct.For example, if the microprocessor is capable of 256 different operations, there must be 256 different instruction words. When fetched, each instruction word is interpreted differently than any of the other 255. Each type of microprocessor has a unique instruction set (Short, 1987). -7- Archictecture of a microprocessor This is about as simple as a microprocessor gets. It has the following characteristics: †¢ an address bus (that may be 8, 16 or 32 bits wide) that sends an address to memory; †¢ a data bus (that may be 8, 16 or 32 bits wide) that can send data to memory or receive data from memory; †¢ RD (Read) and WR (Write) line to tell the memory whether it wants to set or get the addressed location; †¢ a clock line that lets a clock pulse sequence the processor; and a reset line that resets the program counter to zero (or whatever) and restarts execution. †¢ A typical microprocessor, therefore, consists of: logical components—enable it to function as a programmable logic processor; program co unter, stack, and instruction register—provide for the management of a program; the ALU—provide for the manipulation of data; and a decoder & timing and control unit—specify and coordinate the operation of other components.The connection of the microprocessors to other units—memory and I/O devices—is done with the Address, Data, and control buses. -8- Generation of microprocessors Microprocessors were categorized into five generations: first, second, third, fourth, and fifth generations. Their characteristics are described below: First-generation The microprocessors that were introduced in 1971 to 1972 were referred to as the first generation systems. First-generation microprocessors processed their instructions serially—they fetched the instruction, decoded it, then executed it.When an instruction was completed, the microprocessor updated the instruction pointer and fetched the next instruction, performing this sequential drill for each ins truction in turn. Second generation By the late 1970s (specifically 1973), enough transistors were available on the IC to usher in the second generation of microprocessor sophistication: 16-bit arithmetic and pipelined instruction processing. Motorola’s MC68000 microprocessor, introduced in 1979, is an example. Another example is Intel’s 8080. This generation is defined by overlapped fetch, decode, and execute steps (Computer 1996).As the first instruction is processed in the execution unit, the second instruction is decoded and the third instruction is fetched. The distinction between the first and second generation devices was primarily the use of newer semiconductor technology to fabricate the chips. This new -9- technology resulted in a five-fold increase in instruction, execution, speed, and higher chip densities. Third generation The third generation, introduced in 1978, was represented by Intel’s 8086 and the Zilog Z8000, which were 16-bit processors with minicomputer-like performance.The third generation came about as IC transistor counts approached 250,000. Motorola’s MC68020, for example, incorporated an on-chip cache for the first time and the depth of the pipeline increased to five or more stages. This generation of microprocessors was different from the previous ones in that all major workstation manufacturers began developing their own RISC-based microprocessor architectures (Computer, 1996). Fourth generation As the workstation companies converted from commercial microprocessors to in-house designs, microprocessors entered their fourth generation with designs surpassing a million transistors.Leading-edge microprocessors such as Intel’s 80960CA and Motorola’s 88100 could issue and retire more than one instruction per clock cycle (Computer, 1996). Fifth generation Microprocessors in their fifth generation, employed decoupled super scalar processing, and their design soon surpassed 10 million transistors. I n this – 10 – generation, PCs are a low-margin, high-volume-business dominated by a single microprocessor (Computer, 1996). Companies associated with microprocessorsOverall, Intel Corporation dominated the microprocessor area even though other companies like Texas Instruments, Motorola, etc also introduced some microprocessors. Listed below are the microprocessors that each company created. (A) Intel As indicated previously, Intel Corporation dominated the microprocessor technology and is generally acknowledged as the company that introduced the microprocessor successfully into the market. Its first microprocessor was the 4004, in 1971. The 4004 took the integrated circuit one step further by ocating all the components of a computer (CPU, memory and input and output controls) on a minuscule chip. It evolved from a development effort for a calculator chip set. Previously, the IC had had to be manufactured to fit a special purpose, now only one microprocessor could be ma nufactured and then programmed to meet any number of demands. The 4004 microprocessor was the central component in a four-chip set, called the 4004 Family: 4001 – 2,048-bit ROM, a 4002 – 320-bit RAM, and a 4003 – 10-bit I/O shift register. The 4004 had 46 instructions, using only 2,300 transistors in a 16-pin DIP.It ran at a clock rate of – 11 – 740kHz (eight clock cycles per CPU cycle of 10. 8 microseconds)—the original goal was 1MHz, to allow it to compute BCD arithmetic as fast (per digit) as a 1960's era IBM 1620 (Computer, 1996). Following in 1972 was the 4040 which was an enhanced version of the 4004, with an additional 14 instructions, 8K program space, and interrupt abilities (including shadows of the first 8 registers). In the same year, the 8008 was introduced. It had a 14-bit PC. The 8008 was intended as a terminal controller and was quite similar to the 4040.The 8008 increased the 4004’s word length from four to eight bits , and doubled the volume of information that could be processed (Heath, 1991). In April 1974, 8080, the successor to 8008 was introduced. It was the first device with the speed and power to make the microprocessor an important tool for the designer. It quickly became accepted as the standard 8-bit machine. It was the first Intel microprocessor announced before it was actually available. It represented such an improvement over existing designs that the company wanted to give customers adequate lead time to design the part into new products.The use of 8080 in personal computers and small business computers was initiated in 1975 by MITS’s Altair microcomputer. A kit selling for $395 enabled many individuals to have computers in their own homes (Computer, 1996). Following closely, in 1976, was 8048, the first 8-bit single-chip microcomputer. It was also designed as a microcontroller rather than a microprocessor—low cost and small size was the main goal. For this reason, da ta was stored on-chip, while program code was external. The 8048 was eventually replaced by the very popular but bizarre 8051 and 8052 – 12 – (available with on-chip program ROMs).While the 8048 used 1-byte instructions, the 8051 had a more flexible 2-byte instruction set, eight 8-bit registers plus an accumulator A. Data space was 128 bytes and could be accessed directly or indirectly by a register, plus another 128 above that in the 8052 which could only be accessed indirectly (usually for a stack) (Computer, 1996). In 1978, Intel introduced its high-performance, 16-bit MOS processor—the 8086. This microprocessor offered power, speed, and features far beyond the second-generation machines of the mid-70’s. It is said that the personal computer revolution did not really start until the 8088 processor was created.This chip became the most ubiquitous in the computer industry when IBM chose it for its first PC (Frieberger and Swaine, 1984 ). In 1982, the 802 86 (also known as 286) was next and was the first Intel processor that could run all the software written for its predecessor, the 8088. Many novices were introduced to desktop computing with a â€Å"286 machine† and it became the dominant chip of its time. It contained 130,000 transistors. In 1985, the first multi-tasking chip, the 386 (80386) was created. This multitasking ability allowed Windows to do more than one function at a time.This 32-bit microprocessor was designed for applications requiring high CPU performance. In addition to providing access to the 32-bit world, the 80386 addressed 2 other important issues: it provided system-level support to systems designers, and it was object-code compatible with the entire family of 8086 microprocessors (Computer, 1996 ). The 80386 was made up of 6 functional units: (i) execution unit (ii) segment unit (iii) page unit (iv) decode unit (v) bus unit and (vi) prefetch unit. The 80386 had – 13 – 34 registers divide d into such categories as general-purpose registers, debug registers, and test registers.It had 275,000 transistors (Noyce, 1981). The 486 (80486) generation of chips really advanced the point-and-click revolution. It was also the first chip to offer a built-in math coprocessor, which gave the central processor the ability to do complex math calculations. The 486 had more than a million transistors. In 1993, when Intel lost a bid to trademark the 586, to protect its brand from being copied by other companies, it coined the name Pentium for its next generation of chips and there began the Pentium series—Pentium Classic, Pentium II, III and currently, 4. (B)Motorola The MC68000 was the first 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Motorola in early 1980s. This was followed by higher levels of functionality on the microprocessor chip in the MC68000 series. For example, MC68020, introduced later, had 3 times as many transistors, was about three times as big, and was significantly fas ter. Motorola 68000 was one of the second generation systems that was developed in 1973. It was known for its graphics capabilities. The Motorola 88000 (originally named the 78000) is a 32-bit processor, one of the first load-store CPUs based on a Harvard Architecture (Noyce, 1981). C) Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) – 14 – In March 1974, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) announced it would offer a series of microprocessor modules built around the Intel 8008. (D) Texas Instruments (TI) A precursor to these microprocessors was the 16-bit Texas Instruments 1900 microprocessor which was introduced in 1976. The Texas Instruments TMS370 is similar to the 8051, another of TI’s creations. The only difference between the two was the addition of a B accumulator and some 16-bit support. Microprocessors TodayTechnology has been changing at a rapid pace. Everyday a new product is made to make life a little easier. The computer plays a major role in the lives of most p eople. It allows a person to do practically anything. The Internet enables the user to gain more knowledge at a much faster pace compared to researching through books. The portion of the computer that allows it to do more work than a simple computer is the microprocessor. Microprocessor has brought electronics into a new era and caused component manufacturers and end-users to rethink the role of the computer.What was once a giant machine attended by specialists in a room of its own is now a tiny device conveniently transparent to users of automobile, games, instruments, office equipment, and a large array of other products. – 15 – From their humble beginnings 25 years ago, microprocessors have proliferated into an astounding range of chips, powering devices ranging from telephones to supercomputers (PC Magazine, 1996). Today, microprocessors for personal computers get widespread attention—and have enabled Intel to become the world's largest semiconductor maker.I n addition, embedded microprocessors are at the heart of a diverse range of devices that have become staples of affluent consumers worldwide. The impact of the microprocessor, however, goes far deeper than new and improved products. It is altering the structure of our society by changing how we gather and use information, how we communicate with one another, and how and where we work. Computer users want fast memory in their PCs, but most do not want to pay a premium for it. Manufacturing of microprocessors Economical manufacturing of microprocessors requires mass production.Microprocessors are constructed by depositing and removing thin layers of conducting, insulating, and semiconducting materials in hundreds of separate steps. Nearly every layer must be patterned accurately into the shape of transistors and other electronic elements. Usually this is done by photolithography, which projects the pattern of the electronic circuit onto a coating that changes when exposed to light. Be cause these patterns are smaller than the shortest wavelength of visible light, short wavelength ultraviolet radiation must be used. Microprocessor features 16 – are so small and precise that a single speck of dust can destroy the microprocessor. Microprocessors are made in filtered clean rooms where the air may be a million times cleaner than in a typical home (PC World, 2000)). Performance of microprocessors The number of transistors available has a huge effect on the performance of a processor. As seen earlier, a typical instruction in a processor like an 8088 took 15 clock cycles to execute. Because of the design of the multiplier, it took approximately 80 cycles just to do one 16-bit multiplication on the 8088.With more transistors, much more powerful multipliers capable of single-cycle speeds become possible ( ). More transistors also allow a technology called pipelining. In a pipelined architecture, instruction execution overlaps. So even though it might take 5 clock c ycles to execute each instruction, there can be 5 instructions in various stages of execution simultaneously. That way it looks like one instruction completes every clock cycle (PC World, 2001). Many modern processors have multiple instruction decoders, each with its own pipeline.This allows multiple instruction streams, which means more than one instruction can complete during each clock cycle. This technique can be quite complex to implement, so it takes lots of transistors. The trend in processor design has been toward full 32-bit ALUs with fast floating point processors built in and pipelined execution with multiple instruction streams. There has also been a tendency toward special instructions (like the MMX – 17 – instructions) that make certain operations particularly efficient. There has also been the addition of hardware virtual memory support and L1 caching on the processor chip.All of these trends push up the transistor count, leading to the multi-million tra nsistor powerhouses available today. These processors can execute about one billion instructions per second! (PC World, 2000) ) With all the different types of Pentium microprocessors, what is the difference? Three basic characteristics stand out: †¢ †¢ †¢ Instruction set: The set of instructions that the microprocessor can execute. bandwidth: The number of bits processed in a single instruction. clock speed: Given in megahertz (MHz), the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the processor can execute.In addition to bandwidth and clock speed, microprocessors are classified as being either RISC (reduced instruction set computer) or CISC (complex instruction set computer). – 18 – Other uses of microprocessors There are many uses for microprocessors in the world today. Most appliances found around the house are operated by microprocessors. Most modern factories are fully automated—that means that most jobs are done by a computer. Au tomobiles, trains, subways, planes, and even taxi services require the use of many microprocessors. In short, there are microprocessors everywhere you go. Another common place to find microprocessors is a car.This is especially applicable to sports cars. There are numerous uses for a microprocessor in cars. First of all, it controls the warning LED signs. Whenever there is a problem, low oil, for example, it has detectors that tell it that the oil is below a certain amount. It then reaches over and starts blinking the LED until the problem is fixed. Another use is in the suspension system. A processor, controls the amount of pressure applied to keep the car leveled. During turns, a processor, slows down the wheels on the inner side of the curb and speeds them up on the outside to keep the speed constant and make a smooth turn.An interesting story appeared in the New York Times dated April 16 and goes to show that there’s no limit to what microprocessors can do and that resarc hers and scientists are not stopping at the current uses of microprocessors. The next time the milk is low in the refrigerator, the grocery store may deliver a new gallon before it is entirely gone. Masahiro Sone, who lives in Raleigh, N. C. , has won a patent for a refrigerator with an inventory processing system that keeps track of what is inside – 19 – and what is about to run out and can ring up the grocery store to order more (NY Times, 2001).Where is the industry of microprocessors going? Almost immediately after their introduction, microprocessors became the heart of the personal computer. Since then, the improvements have come at an amazing pace. The 4004 ran at 108 kHz—that's kilohertz, not megahertz—and processed only 4 bits of data at a time. Today's microprocessors and the computers that run on them are thousands of times faster. Effectively, they've come pretty close to fulfilling Moore's Law (named after Intel cofounder Gordon Moore), which states that the number of transistors on a chip will double every 18 months or so.Performance has increased at nearly the same rate (PC Magazine, 1998 ). Can the pace continue? Well, nothing can increase forever. But according to Gerry Parker, Intel's executive vice president in charge of manufacturing, â€Å"we are far from the end of the line in terms of microprocessor performance. In fact, we're constantly seeing new advances in technology, one example being new forms of lithography that let designers position electronic components closer and closer together on their chips. Processors are created now using a 0. 35-micron process.But next year we'll see processors created at 0. 25 microns, with 0. 18 and 0. 13 microns to be introduced in the years to come. † (PC Magainze, 1998) However, it's not just improvements in lithography and density that can boost performance. Designers can create microprocessors with more layers of metal tying – 20 – together the trans istors and other circuit elements. The more layers, the more compact the design. But these ultracompact microprocessors are also harder to manufacture and validate. New chip designs take up less space, resulting in more chips per wafer.The original Pentium (60/66 MHz) was 294 square millimeters, then it was 164 square millimeters (75/90/100 MHz), and now it's 91 square millimeters (133- to 200-MHz versions) (PC Magazine, 1998). When will all this end? Interestingly, it may not be the natural limits of technology that will eventually refute Moore's Law. Instead, it's more likely to be the cost of each successive generation. Every new level of advancement costs more as making microprocessor development is a hugely capital-intensive business. Currently, a fabrication plant with the capacity to create about 40,000 wafers a month costs some $2 billion.And the rapid pace of innovations means equipment can become obsolete in just a few years. Still, there are ways of cutting some costs, su ch as converting from today's 8-inch silicon wafers to larger, 300-mm (roughly 12inch) wafers, which can produce 2. 3 times as many chips per wafer as those now in use. Moving to 300-mm wafers will cost Intel about $500 million in initial capital. Still, nothing lasts forever. As Parker notes, â€Å"the PC industry is built on the assumption that we can get more and more out of the PC with each generation, keep costs in check, and continue adding more value.We will run out of money before we run out of technology. When we can't hold costs down anymore, then it will be a different business† (PC Magazine, 1998). At the beginning of last year, the buzz was about PlayStation 2 and the Emotion Engine processor that would run it. Developed by Sony and Toshiba, – 21 – experts predicted the high-tech processor would offer unprecedented gaming power and more importantly, could provide the processing power for the PlayStation 2 to challenge cheap PCs as the entry-level de vice of choice for home access to the Web.PlayStation2 is equipped with the 295MHz MIPS-based Emotion engine, Sony's own CPU designed with Toshiba Corp. , a 147MHz graphics processor that renders 75 million pixels per second, a DVD player, an IEEE 1394 serial connection, and two USB ports. Sony will use DVD discs for game titles and gives consumers the option of using the product for gaming, DVD movie playing and eventually Web surfing (PC World, 2000). Soon, instead of catching up on the news via radio or a newspaper on the way to work, commuters may soon be watching it on a handheld computer or cell phone.Early January this year, Toshiba America Electronic Components announced its TC35273XB chip. The chip has 12Mb of integrated memory and an encoder and decoder for MPEG-4, an audio-video compression standard. According to Toshiba, the integrated memory is what sets this chip apart from others. With integrated memory, the chip consumes less power, making it a good fit for portable gadgets. This chip is designed to specifically address the issues of battery life which can be very short with portable devices.The chip will have a RISC processor at its core and running at a clock speed of 70MHz (PC World, 2000). Toshiba anticipates that samples of this chip will be released to manufacturers in the second quarter, and mass production will follow in the third quarter. Shortly after this release, new handheld computers and cell phones using the chip and offering streaming media will be expected (CNET news). – 22 – It is reported in CNET news, that in February this year, IBM started a program to use the Internet to speed custom-chip design, bolstering its unit that makes semiconductors for other companies.IBM, one of the biggest makers of application-specific chips, would set up a system so that chip designs are placed in a secure environment on the Web, where a customer's design team and IBM engineers would collaborate on the blueprints and make change s in real time. Designing custom chips, which are used to provide unique features that standard processors don't offer, requires time-consuming exchanges of details between the clients that provide a basic framework and the IBM employees who do the back-end work. Using the Internet will speed the process and make plans more accurate.IBM figures that since their customers ask for better turnaround time and better customer satisfaction, this would be one way to tackle this. As a pilot program, this service was to be offered to a set of particular, selected customers initially, and then would include customers who design the so-called system-on-a-chip devices that combine several functions on one chip (CNET news). A new microprocessor unveiled in February 2000 by Japan’s NEC, offers high-capacity performance while only consuming small amounts of power, making it ideal for use in mobile devices.This prototype could serve as the model for future mobile processors. The MP98 process or contains four microprocessors on the same chip that work together in such a way that they can be switched on and off depending on the job in hand. For example, a single processor can be used to handle easy jobs, such as data entry, through a keypad, while more can be brought – 23 – online as the task demands, with all four working on tasks such as processing video. This gives designers of portable devices the best of both worlds—low power consumption and high capacity (PC World, 2000).However, it should be noted that the idea of putting several processors together on a single chip is not new as both IBM and Sun Microsystems have developed similar devices. The only difference is that MP98 is the first working example of a â€Å"fine grain† device that offers better performance. Commercial products based on this technology are likely to be seen around 2003 (PCWorld, 2000). In PCWorld, it was reported that, last September, a Japanese dentist received U. S . and Japanese patents for a method of planting a microchip into a false tooth.The one-chip microprocessor embedded in a plate denture can be detected using a radio transmitter-receiver, allowing its owner to be identified. This is useful in senior citizen’s home where all dentures are usually collected from their owners after meals, washed together and returned. In such a case, it is important to identify all the dentures to give back to their correct owners without any mistake (PC World, 2000). In March this year, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) launched its 1. 3-GHz Athlon processor. Tests on this processor indicated that its speed surpassed Intel’s 1. GHz Pentium 4. The Athlon processor has a 266-MHz front side bus that works with systems that use 266-MHz memory. The price starts from $2,988 (PCWorld, 2001). Intel’s Pentium 4, which was launched in late 2000, is designed to provide blazing speed—especially in handling multimedia content. Dubbed Intel Net Burst – 24 – Micro-architecture, it is designed to speed up applications that send data in bursts, such as screaming media, MP3 playback, and video compression. Even before the dust had settled on NetBurst, Intel released its much awaited 1. GHz Pentium 4 processor on Monday, April 23. The is said to be the company’s highest-performance microprocessor for desktops. Currently priced at $325 in 1,000 unit quantities. The vice president and general manager of Intel was quoted as saying, â€Å"the Pentium 4 processor is destined to become the center of the digital world. Whether encoding video and MP3 files, doing financial analysis, or experiencing the latest internet technologies—the Pentium 4 processor is designed to meet the needs of all users† (PC World, 2001).Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, over thirty years ago, announced that the number of transistors that can be placed on a silicon would double every two years. Intel maintains that it has r emained true since the release of its first processors, the 4004, in 1971. The competition to determine who has produced the fastest and smallest processor between Intel and AMD continues. Infact, Intel Corp. predicts that PC chips will climb to more than 10GHz from today's 1GHz standard by the year 2011. However, researchers are paying increasing attention to software.That's because new generations of software, especially computing-intensive user interfaces, will call for processors with expanded capabilities and performance.

The 5 Best ACT Prep Games

The 5 Best ACT Prep Games SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There’s a new craze in test prep: games. Vocab games, math games, reading games- you might think you could study for the entire ACT with just ACT prep games! Unfortunately for you, this is not really true. The majority of ACT practice games are either downright bad or just far less helpful than completing actual ACT practice questions. In this article I’ll discuss the prep game trend, explain why most prep games aren’t so great, present some criteria on what makes a good ACT prep game, offer some game recommendations, and lend advice on how to incorporate them into your studying. ACT Prep Games: A New Trend The term â€Å"gamification† describes attempts to make regular, tedious life tasks more fun and exciting by making them like games. There are apps that gamify exercise, productivity, chores, finance, and even household shopping. Given the ever-increasing circle of things that have been gamified, it’s no surprise that so many companies have tried to gamify ACT prep. Both tiny app developers and test-prep giants like Kaplan and the Princeton Review have gotten on the ACT game train. The general principle seems to be that if studying for the ACT is fun, you’ll want to do it. Hence, ACT practice games will get you to spend more time preparing. But is this true? And even if it is, is the preparation you get from playing games comparable to that from less fun and exciting modes of studying? If cleaning my apartment was a game, I would probably do it more often. Why Most ACT Prep Games Are Sub-Par The sad fact is that there aren’t actually very many ACT practice games that will provide any kind of substantial help on ACT prep. In fact, some games may even be detrimental because you play them thinking you are getting in some valuable preparation when you really aren’t. The problem with many ACT prep games is that they are often glorified multiple-choice quizzes. Creators try to dress them up with competitive elements, power-ups, and other game-like features, but the fact remains that most operate under a basic mechanic of answering multiple-choice questions. This would maybe be fine if the questions in the games were high quality. But unfortunately, in many games the questions don’t resemble actual ACT questions at all. Answers are sometimes truly ambiguous or unclear, and explanations are often lacking or nonexistent. If a game’s primary conceit is presenting you with â€Å"ACT-style† multiple-choice questions, I advise you to stay away from it unless you can thoroughly vet that the questions actually resemble ACT questions. You are much better off using genuine ACT practice testsif you need more sample questions to prep for the ACT. It might be marginally more fun to see yourself get points for correct questions and advance on leaderboards in an app or on a website, but you’ll be much happier in the long run if you spend that time answering well-written sample questions that actually help you. Get real about the quality of your practice questions! What Makes a Good ACT Prep Game With all those warnings said, that doesn’t mean there are no games out there that might help you prep for the ACT. There are three main things that make a useful ACT prep game: #1: It Targets a Specific ACT Skill or Content Area A game doesn’t necessarily have to be specifically designed for the ACT to be helpful, but it does need to help you learn or review a specific concept or content area that’s tested on the ACT- trigonometry, the scientific method, punctuation, etc. Building skills or knowledge in a specific area you are struggling in will be much more useful to you for the ACT than a game that just offers half-baked multiple choice questions with poorly-worded answers. #2: It's Engaging A prep game doesn’t have to be the most exciting experience of your life, but if it’s really boring, you might as well just take practice tests instead. It needs to engage your brain so that it actually feels at least a little bit fun, or else what’s the point? #3: The Content Is Accurate It’s critical that any prep game (and any study materials you are using, period) present information and content that is accurate. There’s nothing worse than studying from an incorrect source, so be sure to vet any games before you use them! Additionally, in games with quiz-like interfaces, multiple-choice questions should actually resemble real ACT questions. May your test prep content be as accurate as your watch. 5Solid ACT Prep Game Sources There are several sources where you might look for actually useful ACT games. Sheppards Software This site has a variety of simple, educational flash games for pre-K through 12th grade. The math page has games for probability, algebra, geometry, and several other topics that appear the ACT. There are also word games in the Language Arts section that test your skill with punctuation and parts of speech. This is a solid resource if you find yourself getting stuck on a particular concept in math or Englishand you just need to drill recall in a non-boring way. FreeRice FreeRice is an online game in which you answer questions to fill up your bowl of rice; every correct question answered actually provides rice to someone in need, which is cool. I advise using the English grammar mode to study for the English section of the ACT. It will help fine-tune your ability to identify grammar mistakes in sentences. NYTimes Student Crosswords This page has printable crosswords (and answer keys) in a variety of academic subjects, several of which could definitely function as a fun review of some key subject-matter concepts for the ACT. For example, check out grammar, geometry, and algebra. Quizlet With a free account on Quizlet, you can make your own set of custom flashcards with the concepts you really need to learn. Once you make a set, you can play two game modes with the terms. There’s a matching game and a game where you prevent asteroids from hitting the planet by typing the correct answer. You can also access thousands of flashcard sets that others have uploaded to the site, including a variety of ACT prep sets. However, you’ll want to check out a set before you use it to study to make sure it actually has useful (and correct) information. ACT Math Jeopardy You can play this ACT math jeopardy game by yourself or in teams. A fun way to practice your ACT-style math questions. There are also SAT question categories, but they aren’t substantively different from the ACT ones. Find true test prep game love. How To Use ACT Prep Games in Your Own Studying ACT games won’t replace the bulk of your normal preparation activities. However, they can supplement your studying in a few key ways. Use 1: To Target Specific Skills/Concepts If you’re having trouble with a specific skill or concept, a game can be a great way to try to drill down on it. If commas or semicolons stump you, find a punctuation game! If triangles trouble you, play a trigonometry or geometry game. Use 2: To Keep Material Fresh Between Study Sessions A few rounds of an ACT prep game can be a solid way to keep material fresh in your mind during times when you aren’t engaging in dedicated prep for that subject. A couple ACT Jeopardy questions will help keep your math brain running smoothly when you spend a couple days studying English during your set-aside study sessions! Use 3: For Warm-Ups, Breaks, and Rewards Games are useful for warming up your brain at the beginning of a study session. They can also be used for breaks and rewards. This will help keep studying from getting too stressful while still keeping your brain working throughout a session! Another kind of warm-up. Key Takeaways Is it possible to completely gamify your ACT studying and be successful? Probably not. Because most prep games are just poorly-written ACT quizzes, you are better off sticking with more traditional practice problems and tests. However, there are some characteristics that make for a useful ACT prep game: It targets skills and content you need to know for the ACT It’s engaging It presents accurate information There are several sources you might look for to find game-like resources for SAT prep: Sheppards Software - Simple flash games for math and English concepts. FreeRice - Has an English grammar mode that’s useful for the English test. NYTimes Student Crosswords - For reviewing fundamental concepts in a subject. Quizlet - Make your own flashcards and then play games with them! ACT Math Jeopardy - Practice questions in a fun Jeopardy-style interface. While they won’t replace most of your studying, there are some targeted ways you might deploy SAT prep games as part of your preparation plan: To target specific skills/concept areas you are weak in Keeping material fresh between study sessions Warm-ups, breaks, and rewards during studying These tips will help you get the most out of your ACT prep games! What's Next? Looking for more ACT resources? See our master list of ACT study guides. Or see our list of the best 2016 ACT prep books. Stumped on a particular question type? Check out our guide to every ACT question type. Taking the SAT as well? See our ultimate SAT study guide!If you need a score boost, we have 15 tips to improve your SAT score. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial: