Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Comparative paper examining some aspect of the legal regime governing Essay
Comparative paper examining some aspect of the legal regime governing media in Hong Kong and in the United States - Essay Example Under this principle, the media are the voice of the ruling Party and play by its rules and policies. Apart from that, the Party controls all activities of the media that pertains to news production and delivery to the public. Thus, the media only delivers what is authorized by the Party to the public. On the contrary, in America, the media operates freely with minimal interference from the government. Additionally, the media functions as a â€Å"watchdog,†which evaluates and monitors the actions and activities of the government. Defamation laws in these two countries clearly bring out the differences and similarities in media activities and regulations in America and China. Defamation in law is the act of making statements about a person, which damages the reputation of the individual in question. When in written format, defamation is referred to as â€Å"libel†and â€Å"slander†when in spoken form. In order to understand how defamation law works in China, it is essential to explore the structure and function of the legal system in China as it pertains to matters of the media. Thus, the first section of this paper will explore the legal system in China while drawing on any similarities and differences with the United States legal system. The second section will look at the background of defamation law in the United States and Chinese, and finally, the last section will draw on comparison between defamation law in China and the United States. This provision is similar to what is found in the United States Constitution, and at first, one may think that the Chinese media enjoys the same rights as that in America. However, application of the Chinese Constitution is different from that of the United States constitution. Unlike the Americans, citizens of China enjoy neither economic nor civil rights enjoyed by their American counterparts. This ineffectiveness in the application of the Constitution in China is because of the
Monday, October 28, 2019
The opening of a novel Essay Example for Free
The opening of a novel Essay Charles Dickens was a 19th century writer who is renowned for his fantastically written novels and his knack for story-telling. Originally a journalist, he wrote for the Victorian magazine All the year round which captivated its readers who would purchase it every week just for the next addition to one of Dickens novels. An enthusiastic social campaigner, Charles Dickens liked to explore and challenge the ways of Victorian society and culture in his novels, rarely basing his stories in past times in this way he was like a soap writer of his time. His writing appealed to anyone and everyone who had the ability to read, especially those who were working class as his characters were like them, and could be related to. His novels also allowed audiences of this type to indulge and fantasise in his stories, Dickens took his readers to a place where they could escape, and experience the adventures that his characters did, and this is perhaps why he was so popular. One particular novel that he started in 1860 was called Great expectations a tale about a boy named Pip; in this novel Dickens explores the social barriers of Victorian society. In the Victorian era life was hard, a large percentage of the population were working class people who were considered bottom of the social hierarchy. These people had to work for a living, and as they usually were poorly educated which meant any form of work they endured was laborious and caused both physical and mental strain on them. There was little pay and unfortunately this way of life was a continuous cycle, few rarely breaking free of the social barriers that condemned them to a life of continuous strenuous physical endurance. Those who were born into a family like this often took on the role of their parents, boys would inherit their fathers job and girls would be married off to other families, their life mainly consisting of housework, reproducing and attending to their husbands needs. This was all because of the lack of money. Without a large amount of money coming in from somewhere, educating children was simply unaffordable, and therefore they had no hope of getting a job that would have a much larger pay and wouldnt consist of any hard labour. It is made clear to us that Pip is a child born into a working class family as Dickens explains that most of Pips siblings died in early childhood: five little brothers of mine who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that universal struggle. This would not have happened if Pips family had the money to cater for their health. In universal struggle Dickens refers to life indicating that life at that time was hard, and reinforcing the points I made earlier. The novel starts with Dickens having Pip tell us that his mother and father are dead, and that he couldnt remember either of them and never knew what they looked like in the form of the words I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them. Pip also tells us their days were long before the days of photographs, referring to the historical context and telling the readers that it is set in Victorian times, or rather, when it was written, in the present. The fact that Pips parents and most of his siblings are dead creates an image that Pip is a very lonely little boy, and makes us feel sorry for him. After explaining that most of Pips family are dead, Dickens aquatints us with the current setting marshland, 20 miles from the sea. Dickens says a raw afternoon towards evening which indicates that it is growing darker, and with no-one about this puts Pip in a very vulnerable position. Dickens then goes on to describe the setting in a way that would be frightening, especially to a child, if you were alone in such a place. He uses phrases like bleak place overgrown with nettles, dark flat wilderness and distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing and one would usually associate features like these with fear. Dickens also tells us of Pips realisation that he is alone, at such a time I found out for certain that Phillip Pirrip and also Georgina wife of the above were dead and buried and that his parents arent with him, they were six feet under. He was alone and unprotected. Dickens says all of this in a very long sentence, which would build up tension and the impression that Pip was in a very frightening place. The most effective part of doing this is the way Dickens ends the sentence and that the small bundle of shivers going afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip hed built up this terrifying image of a setting and then in the middle of it all was a frightened little boy who was completely alone and vulnerable a brilliant use of juxtaposition.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Homosexuality in the Works of Oscar Wilde Essay -- Biography Biographi
Homosexuality in Oscar Wilde's Work     "I turned half way around and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself" (7). During the Victorian era, this was a dangerous quote. The Victorian era was about progress. It was an attempt aimed at cleaning up the society and setting a moral standard. The Victorian era was a time of relative peace and economic stability (Marshall 783). Victorians did not want anything "unclean" or "unacceptable" to interfere with their idea of perfection. Therefore, this quote, taken from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, brimming with homosexual undertones, was considered inappropriate. Due to the time period's standards, Oscar Wilde was forced to hide behind a thin layer of inference and parallel. Wilde was obsessed with the perfect image. Although he dressed more flamboyantly than the contemporary dress, it was to create an image of himself. Wilde was terrified of revealing his homosexuality because he knew that he would be alienated and ostracized from the society. Through his works, Oscar Wilde implicitly reflected his homosexual lifestyle because he feared the repercussions from the conservative Victorian era in which he lived.  Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 and led a normal childhood. After high school, Wilde attended Oxford College and received a B.A. in 1878. During this time, he wrote Vera and The Importance of Being Earnest. In addition, "for two years Wilde had dressed in outlandish outfits, courted famous people and built his public image" (Stayley 317). Doing so earned Wilde a job with Rich... ...me, to make no mystery of his fall, and to regard him as a star which, looking at its own reflection in some dank marsh, fell down and smirched itself, and then became extinct ere it had time to soar aloft again" (Graham qtd. Tucker).   Work Cited Wilde, Oscar. The Portable Oscar Wilde. Aldington, Richard, ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. "The Making of the Motion Picture Wilde." (Online)(Internet) Samuelson Entertainment. 6/16/99. Available: http://www.oscarwilde.com Kilvert, Ian Scott, ed. British Writers. Vol. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982. Marshall, Kristine E., ed. Elements of Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997. Stayley, Thomas T., ed. The Dictionary of Literary Biograph. Vol. 34. Michigan: Book Tower, 1985. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: The Modern Library, 1992.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Hope Essay -- essays research papers fc
                                                  White 2 Hope      Stephen King published his novella â€Å"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption in 1982. In 1994 this novella was turned into a movie called The Shawshank Redemption. Frank Darabont wrote the screenplay. A good adaptation will capture the same overall essence of the written book or novella. Darabont did a wonderful job of adapting this novella into a movie. He captured the overall essence in a way that makes a heart rejoice in happiness and relief. The adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption is very well done. One of the major motifs of the story is â€Å"get busy living, or get busy dying.†This phrase sticks out the most in the movie. In the novella it is said once by Red just before he leaves to go to McNary, Texas, where Andy Dufresne crossed the border into Mexico after he escaped. Red was contemplating not going. He figured that so much of his life was already gone and wondered if it was even worth the trouble. But he told himself, â€Å"get busy living, or get busy dying†(King 105).      In the movie this phrase is first said by Andy in the prison yard just before he escaped. At this point in the movie Andy seems to be completely depressed. Throughout the movie, Andy always seemed to have a little smile on his face, but at this point it seemed as all hope was gone from him. He was talking to Red about Zihautanejo, Mexico. This is the place Andy wanted to go to after he got out of Shawshank. He talked about how beautiful it was and how he wanted to go down there and start a hotel                                                   White 3 on the ocean. Red told him to stop dreaming those â€Å"shitty pipe dreams.†This is when Andy said, â€Å"Get busy living, or get busy dying.†After that Andy tells Red about a place in Buxton where under a rock there w... ...ed. He stated, â€Å"It was great-too great, I thought, to be produced by any company in California†(King).                                                   White 6 Works Cited Cannon, Damian. â€Å"The Shawshank Redemption.†Movie Reviews UK 1998. 6 pars. 23 Apr. 2000 . Darabont, Frank, and Stephen King. The Shawshank Redemption: The      Shooting Script. New York: New Market Press, 1996. Washington Post. â€Å"The Shawshank Redemption.†Washington Post. 23      Sep. 1994. 23 Apr. 2000 . King, Stephen. â€Å"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.†Different      Seasons. Penguin Group, NY: Signet 1983. 15-106. The Shawshank Redemption. Niki Marvin, exec. prod. Frank Darabont, dir.      Videocassette. Castle Rock Entertainment. Warner Home Video, CA: 1997.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Attitudes Towards War in A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Essay
Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential writers of the Modern period. After being rejected from the army, Hemingway entered the war in 1917 as an ambulance driver on the Italian front. Hemingway’s relationship with the war could have been his reason for writing his novel A Farewell to Arms. A Farewell to Arms takes place in Italy in World War I. The novel tells of the conflicts of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front, Frederick Henry, and his difficulties with war, love and death. In this particular novel, Hemingway expresses several different attitudes towards war through the characters Frederick Henry, Lieutenant Rinaldi, and Gino. World War I has no extreme effect on Frederick Henry. He feels as though it is not his war to fight since his country has very little to do with it. Henry does not even realize the seriousness of the war until it takes its toll on him. Frederick Henry mentions, â€Å"Well, I knew I would not be killed. Not in this war. It did not have anything to do with me. It seemed no more dangerous to me than war in the movies†(37; ch. 7). The war is no more than another adventure to Frederick Henry. It seems he is in the war just to have something to do. Catherine says to Henry †‘Why did you join up with the Italians?’ ‘I was in Italy,’ I said, ‘and I spoke Italian'†(22; ch. 5). Clearly Henry does not care much for the war. He feels uncomfortable with the passion others feel for it, such as Gino, and Henry exemplifies this when he mentions, â€Å"I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, sacrifice and the expression in vainâ₠¬ (184; ch. 27). He goes on to say, â€Å"I had seen nothing sacred, and the things that were glorious had no glory†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (185; ch. 27). Lieutenant Rinaldi’s outlook on the war is depressing, and he feels as thought he war has torn his entire world apart. Rinaldi used to the happy go lucky man who always had a couple of drinks and a good time until the war truly takes its toll on him. â€Å"The war is killing me. I am very depressed by it†(167; ch. 25). He is telling this to Frederick Henry after a long separation period when Henry was in the hospital. Rinaldi has clearly changed and Henry notices right away. Unlike Henry, Lieutenant Rinaldi seems to get a sense of belonging from the war, and he felt like he was needed as a talented surgeon. As soon as Rinaldi is no longer needed for operating anymore, he no longer feels he is needed in the war, and his place in society becomes unclear. Rinaldi comments to Henry, â€Å"I don’t operate now and I feel like hell. This is a terrible war baby. You believe me when I say it†(167; ch. 25). Gino is the man who shows Henry around Gozoria after Henry’s return from Milan. Gino thinks of the war as a big opportunity to show loyalty for his country. All he wants to do is make a difference in the army, and he almost refuses to admit to the harsh realities of war. Gino believes that all great acts are done strictly out of the goodness in people’s hearts and are done only to be loyal patriots. Gino says to Henry, â€Å"We won’t talk about losing. There is enough talk about losing. What has been done this summer cannot have been done in vain†(184; ch. 27). Gino clearly thinks all men should be as patriot as he is, and does not seem to understand those who are not. Henry realizes this and respects Gino’s opinions and beliefs. â€Å"Gino was a patriot, so he said things that separated us sometimes, but he was also a fine boy and I understood his being a patriot. He was born one†(185; ch. 27). Frederick Henry, Lieutenant Rinaldi, and Gino are very different characters with very different attitudes towards the war in the novel A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway uses his unique style to show the different opinions through his Hemingway heroes. All of these characters have different views on war, and this shows Hemingway’s respect for all of these opinions.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Free Essays on Maslow
Abraham Maslow Abraham Harold Maslow was born April 1, 1907 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the eldest of seven children born to his immigrant parents. While growing up, Abraham’s parents pushed their children hard toward academic success. He was very lonely as a boy, and sought refuge in his schoolwork. To please his parents, He went to study at the City College of New York. His father hoped he would study law, but he went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin to study psychology. While in attendance there, he met and married his cousin Bertha Goodman, and met his cheif mentor Harry Harlow. At Wisconsin, he began a study of primate dominance behavior and sexuality. He went on to further research at Columbia University, continuing similar studies. There he found a new mentor Alfred Adler, who was one of Sigmund Freud’s early followers. From 1937 to 1951, Maslow was an instructor at Brooklyn College. Here he met Ruth Benedict and Max Wertheimer, whom he admired g reatly. These two were so accomplished, and such wonderful human beings in his opinion, that he began taking notes on them and their behavior. This was the beginning of his lifelong research on mental health and human potential. He wrote a great deal about the subject, borrowing from other theorist but adding significantly to them, especially the concepts of a hierarchy of needs, met needs, self-actualizing person’s, and peak experiences. Maslow became the leader of humanistic school o0f psychology that emerged in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He spent his final years in semi-retirement California, until June 8, 1970, he died of a hear attack after years of bad health. During and after his death, Maslow has been very inspirational figure in personality theories. In 1960’s, people were tired of the reductionistic, mechanistic messages of the behaviorists and physiological psychologists. They were looking for meaning and purpose in their lives... Free Essays on Maslow Free Essays on Maslow Abraham Maslow Abraham Harold Maslow was born April 1, 1907 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the eldest of seven children born to his immigrant parents. While growing up, Abraham’s parents pushed their children hard toward academic success. He was very lonely as a boy, and sought refuge in his schoolwork. To please his parents, He went to study at the City College of New York. His father hoped he would study law, but he went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin to study psychology. While in attendance there, he met and married his cousin Bertha Goodman, and met his cheif mentor Harry Harlow. At Wisconsin, he began a study of primate dominance behavior and sexuality. He went on to further research at Columbia University, continuing similar studies. There he found a new mentor Alfred Adler, who was one of Sigmund Freud’s early followers. From 1937 to 1951, Maslow was an instructor at Brooklyn College. Here he met Ruth Benedict and Max Wertheimer, whom he admired g reatly. These two were so accomplished, and such wonderful human beings in his opinion, that he began taking notes on them and their behavior. This was the beginning of his lifelong research on mental health and human potential. He wrote a great deal about the subject, borrowing from other theorist but adding significantly to them, especially the concepts of a hierarchy of needs, met needs, self-actualizing person’s, and peak experiences. Maslow became the leader of humanistic school o0f psychology that emerged in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He spent his final years in semi-retirement California, until June 8, 1970, he died of a hear attack after years of bad health. During and after his death, Maslow has been very inspirational figure in personality theories. In 1960’s, people were tired of the reductionistic, mechanistic messages of the behaviorists and physiological psychologists. They were looking for meaning and purpose in their lives... Free Essays on Maslow Abraham Harold Maslow Abraham Harold Maslow was born on April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the oldest of seven children born to his parents, who were uneducated Jewish immigrants from Russia. His parents, wanting the best for their children in the â€Å"new world†, pushed him hard in his academic studies. He was smart but shy, and remembered his childhood as being lonely and rather unhappy. He sought refuge in his books and studies. His father hoped he would study as a lawyer, and Maslow enrolled in the City College of New York. After three semesters at CCNY, he transferred to Cornell and then back to CCNY again. He married his first cousin Bertha, against his parents wishes and moved to Wisconsin, where he would attend the University of Wisconsin for graduate school. Here he met his chief mentor Professor Harry Harlow, and became interested in psychology, and his schoolwork began to improve dramatically. He pursued a new line of research, investigating primate dominance behavior and sexua lity. He recieved his BA in 1930, his MA in 1931, and his PhD in 1934, all in the field of psychology, all from the University of Wisconson. Ayear after he graduated he returned to New York to work with E.L. Thorndike at Colombia, where he studied similar topics. From 1937 to 1951, Maslow worked full-time on staff at Brooklyn College. In NY he found two more mentors, anthropologist Ruth Benedict and Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer, whom he he admired both professionally and personally. These two people were so accomplished in what they did and such â€Å"wonderful human beings†, that Maslow began taking notes about them and their behavior. This would be the foundation for his lifelong research and thinking about mental health and human potential. He wrote extensively on the subject, taking ideas from other psychologists and adding significantly to them, especially the concepts of a hierarchy of human needs, metaneeds, self-actualizing per...
Monday, October 21, 2019
Incredible India Essays
Incredible India Essays Incredible India Essay Incredible India Essay Dinner Transportation etc. Travel in IndiaWelcome Ceremony An auspicious and ceremonial welcome in Indian Traditional style at the Hotel with Shehnai Nagada wadan (music) at the entrance, with caparisoned camels / elephants at the gate with men women showering flower petals. The Barat (bridegrooms entourage) are greeted by with a ritual called aarti followed by tikka. Accomodation: A suit in Haveli for one night for newly Weds on complimentary basis. A special discount on Room rent to accommodate other guests. Bridal Make Up ; Costume: Bridal make up at Salon ; Costume can be arranged. Bridegroom: Leading him in procession, often-on horseback or caparisoned elephants for the Bridegroom to the marriage venue accompanied by the brass band. Bride: A silver chariot for the Bride ; Bride maids to ride to the Jaimala site. Vidaai (Concluding ceremony): Vidaai, the ceremony of seeing off the bride after the wedding, is a emotional moment for her family. We can make it all the more poignant with the lilt of the shehnai and transporting her in a tastefully decorated palki. Decoration: * Decoration of lights on trees. Decorated lights on Haveli ; Hotels ; Swimming pool. * Floral Decoration of Mandap. Rangoli ; Flower decoration, special Floral decoration ; Diyas along the pathways. * Decorative lights on the main entrance gates. The Art of Mehndi The wedding season is on! Its May already, which means the wedding seasons in full swing! Indian weddings are noisy colorful family get-togethers, which wouldnt be complete without certain things the religious ceremonies, the feast for the gue sts, and of course, the beautiful mehndi designs adorning the hands and feet of the bride and her friends. Read about mehndi, the ancient Indian body art thats reinvented itself as a modern fashion accessory. Its safe and painless since it does not require the skin to be pierced. Its completely natural and non-toxic. Its fun, exotic, beautiful, and as simple or complicated as you want it to be. It can last for a couple of days or as long as a month. Its a 5000 year old tradition and a modern craze. It was used by our grandmothers and their grandmothers and their grandmothers but our daughters and granddaughters also think its cool . It goes by the name of mehndi, and its the ancient Indian art of adorning the hands and feet with intricate designs and patterns, using a paste made from the finely ground leaves of the henna plant. The term refers to the powder and paste, the design on the skin, as well as the party or ceremony. It originated in Egypt and in Middle Eastern countries during ancient times and it slowly spread to India and other hot climates like Malaysia, Persia, Syria, Morocco, Sudan and North Africa. LANGUAGES Indias official language is Hindi in the Devanagri script. It is the primary tongue of 30% of the people. The States are free to decide their own regional languages for internal administration and education, so there are 18 official languages spoken throughout the country. Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri and Sindhi, are among the official languages which are also widely spoken. Sanskrit though an official language is hardly ever used except in rituals and ceremonies. While English enjoys associate status, it is widely spoken and is one of the most important languages for national, political, and commercial communication. In all there are 24 different languages, each spoken by a million or more persons; as well as millions of other languages and dialects.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Biographical Profile of William Wordsworth
Biographical Profile of William Wordsworth William Wordsworth, with his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge, began the Romantic movement in British poetry with the publication of their Lyrical Ballads, turning away from the scientific rationalism of the Enlightenment, the artificial milieu of the Industrial Revolution and the aristocratic, heroic language of 18th century poetry to dedicate his work to the imaginative embodiment of emotion in the ordinary language of the common man, seeking meaning in the sublimity of the natural environment, particularly in his beloved home, England’s Lake District. Wordsworths Childhood William Wordsworth was born in 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumbria, the scenic mountainous region of northwest England known as the Lake District. He was the second of five children, sent away to Hawkshead Grammar School after his mother died when he was 8. Five years later, his father died, and the children were sent to live with various relatives. The separation from his orphaned siblings was a severe emotional trial, and after reuniting as adults, William and his sister Dorothy lived together for the rest of their lives. In 1787, William began his studies at St. John’s College, Cambridge, with the help of his uncles. Love and Revolution in France While he was still a university student, Wordsworth visited France during its revolutionary period (1790) and came under the influence of its anti-aristocratic, republican ideals. After graduating the next year, he returned to continental Europe for a walking tour in the Alps and more travels in France, during which he fell in love with a French girl, Annette Vallon. Money difficulties and political troubles between France and Britain led Wordsworth to return alone to England the following year, before Annette bore his illegitimate daughter, Catherine, whom he did not see until he returned to France 10 years later. Wordsworth and Coleridge After returning from France, Wordsworth suffered emotionally and financially, but published his first books, An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches, in 1793. In 1795 he received a small legacy, settled in Dorset with his sister Dorothy and began his most important friendship, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In 1797 he and Dorothy moved to Somerset to be closer to Coleridge. Their dialogue (really â€Å"trialogue†Dorothy contributed her ideas as well) was poetically and philosophically fruitful, resulting in their joint publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798); its influential preface outlined the Romantic theory of poetry. The Lake District Wordsworth, Coleridge and Dorothy travelled to Germany in the winter after the publication of Lyrical Ballads, and on their return to England Wordsworth and his sister settled at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, in the Lake District. Here he was a neighbor to Robert Southey, who was England’s Poet Laureate before Wordsworth was appointed in 1843. Here also he was in his beloved home landscape, immortalized in so many of his poems. The Prelude Wordsworth’s greatest work, The Prelude, is a long, autobiographical poem which was in its earliest versions known only as â€Å"the poem to Coleridge.†Like Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, it is a work that the poet labored over during most of his long life. Unlike Leaves of Grass, The Prelude was never published while its author lived.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Any Nursing Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Any Nursing - Research Proposal Example Some health care workers have died of occupationally acquired human immunodeficiency virus infection and drug-resistant tuberculosis (Radford, 2004). Extensive illness results from many other occupationally acquired infections (Philips, 2004). Rather than receiving displays of public sympathy, however, health care workers with occupationally acquired diseases may be ignored or ostracized, their health care benefits imperiled (Greenberg, 2005). This study would help assess the student nurses who are engaged with their related learning experiences at the clinical areas. This study certainly promote health by practicing the preventive measures that are learned in school. Furthermore, the study would promote awareness on the detrimental effects that may precipitate when their compliance to the universal precautions fall short. Consequently, this study would provide health awareness to the
Friday, October 18, 2019
Direct marketing plan for expatriate sports and health centre Essay
Direct marketing plan for expatriate sports and health centre - Essay Example The direct market plan for developing the club will: i. First, create the overview of health and sports marketing to create the required brand’s message ii. Next, proceed to determine how the message fits the club’s development, and match the opportunities with the new brand message. iii. Finally, the health and sports club should be determined by the strategic business formula, and a clear, concise and meaningful approach applied. The centre will begin providing sports and health services in the city for expatriates and their families. The centre will start operating from January 2012 as per the schedule program. 1.0 Introduction The market focus for the direct marketing plan is provided by an extensive market fronts in Expatriate Sports and Health Centre and the larger global markets. The composition of business growing levels brings about the Expatriate Sports and Health Centre’s relevance into the significant market exploration of Real’s product bases. This is competitively provided in view of the marketing strategy process and within the evidenced market penetration, the business explains its promising role in exploring the potentially rich sporting markets in Expatriate Sports and Health Centre. ... 1.1.2 Business Description The children and/or adults can spend all the time in the centre taking part in a number of activities including multi-sport coaching programs offered. The club will offer a number of sessions that are intended to help built and improve the participants’ health and in some instances professional wellbeing. The centre will cover several types of sports including cricket, football, tennis, hockey, dance and martial arts. On the health side, a modern gym will be set up to gather for the general physical exercises such as weight loss programs. 1.1.3 Management description The overall management will be vested on the members of staff. The top level managers will be undertaken by the board of directors. Individual day-day responsibilities will be done by the management. The appropriate strategy for running the centre will be based on relevant laws and regulations. Specific areas which would require an inclusive leadership would also be determined. 1.1.4 Pur pose of the direct market plan This plan is intended to propose a project which will include developing a structure that offers a range of facilities from fitness to social connection. The layout and atmosphere will certainly meet internationally accepted standards. Further, the club will be completed with luxuriant steam rooms, plunge pools and saunas. There will be an extension which will be based on customized needs. For instance, the plan will have secluded sessions for treatments. It will also have other secluded areas for rejuvenating toning and also for slimming regimes. The direct market plan will make a proposal including relevant feasibility study evaluations and operational determinations. 1.2 Strategic Plan The strategy
Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets - Essay Example As such, this analysis will concern itself with analyzing the argument against exotic pets based on the following areas: the practice is disrespectful to animals that are not predisposed to being pets, the practice encourages harm to the natural habitat and environment from whence the exotic pet is taken, the practice encourages the illegal trade and black market sale of such animals, the practice puts many already endangered species at risk of extinction, the practice creates a perception in the mind that ownership of such creatures is both normal and moral, and lastly, the practice encourages the transfer of animals for non educational purposes to live out the remainder of their lives in captivity. The first of these reasons hinges upon the fact that animals that are not predisposed by nature to being pets are kept in such a manner. As anyone with experience with animals that for generations have been kept and handled as pets can attest, the evolutionary nature of these animals has shifted to create normalized relations between pets and humans that are the result of many hundreds (even thousands) of years. With the dog or cat, for instance, the earliest known examples of civilization refer to the fact that these animals have been living side by side with humans, enjoying a symbiotic relationship that has developed over long lengths of evolutionary history (Hessler 43). However, the same cannot be said for the recent trend towards exotic pets.Â
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals - Essay Example â€Å"In 2005, the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) was about 810 km (503 miles) from the Geographic North Pole. The NMP was in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada. The South Magnetic Pole (SMP) was about 2,826 km (1,756 miles) from the Geographic South Pole. The SMP was off the coast of Antarctica in the direction of Australia†(Russel). The presence of earth’s magnetic field can be explained through the dynamo effect. Deep inside the earth’s core is a solid iron ball with temperatures reaching as high as that on the sun. This inner core is surrounded by a molten mass of iron, called the outer core. The molten mass of iron circulates relative to the motion of the earth. Convection currents within this region generate our planet’s magnetism (Phillip). Over years, many scientists have proven that the earth’s magnetic field is changing. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting journey during which his ship got stuck. No one retrieved it until four years and when they did, they noticed that the pole had shifted from its original position, even though by a small amount. The next observation occurred in 1904 when Ronal Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved almost fifty kilometers since the days of Ross. This movement of the magnetic poles has hastened in the recent past. â€Å"The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating to 40 km per year (Phillip). This sparked interest of researchers to study this phenomenon in detail. It has been discovered that iron and other heavy metals, present inside molten lave, align themselves in the direction of the external magnetic field when solidifying to form hardened rock. By studying the various layers of these rocks, scientists have measured the historical directions of the Earth’s magnetic field and concluded that the Earth’s poles
Racial Profiling- Reflection Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Racial Profiling- Reflection - Coursework Example his of course led me to research the alternatives and to look at how we could stop the use of racial profiling, while still retaining a positive approach to the reduction of crime and terrorism specifically. I discovered that our history was not extremely bright with regards to the approach to race and criminal justice. Through our past indiscretions and current problems I learned that this was an approach that required drastic change for the future well-being of the criminal justice system in our nation. My desire to pursue and realize true equality met with the reality of our current system and while slowed in my approach I have become more focused on this as an issue that must see relief. I am sickened by the use of racially motivated approaches within the system, and feel very strongly that these approaches can only further hinder our progress and the modernization of the system as it stands today. It is my desire to see an end occur regarding racial profiling and in fact any use of race as anything more than a designator within the current criminal justice system. Overall the information that I discovered in research has allowed me to approach this issue from a completely different angle than I would normally take it. That of history and the desire to be more than our
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals - Essay Example â€Å"In 2005, the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) was about 810 km (503 miles) from the Geographic North Pole. The NMP was in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada. The South Magnetic Pole (SMP) was about 2,826 km (1,756 miles) from the Geographic South Pole. The SMP was off the coast of Antarctica in the direction of Australia†(Russel). The presence of earth’s magnetic field can be explained through the dynamo effect. Deep inside the earth’s core is a solid iron ball with temperatures reaching as high as that on the sun. This inner core is surrounded by a molten mass of iron, called the outer core. The molten mass of iron circulates relative to the motion of the earth. Convection currents within this region generate our planet’s magnetism (Phillip). Over years, many scientists have proven that the earth’s magnetic field is changing. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting journey during which his ship got stuck. No one retrieved it until four years and when they did, they noticed that the pole had shifted from its original position, even though by a small amount. The next observation occurred in 1904 when Ronal Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved almost fifty kilometers since the days of Ross. This movement of the magnetic poles has hastened in the recent past. â€Å"The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating to 40 km per year (Phillip). This sparked interest of researchers to study this phenomenon in detail. It has been discovered that iron and other heavy metals, present inside molten lave, align themselves in the direction of the external magnetic field when solidifying to form hardened rock. By studying the various layers of these rocks, scientists have measured the historical directions of the Earth’s magnetic field and concluded that the Earth’s poles
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Film review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2
Film review - Essay Example Special treatment comparable with the best humanitarian attitude was noticed from the actions of Stephanie LaFarge and Laura Ann Petitio towards Nim. Once even Stephanie LaFarge decided to breastfeed Nim as she did to her other human children. To my mind, this step evidences that Nim was delivered the most favorable treatment than one can imagine. Stephanie had been brought Nim up for approximately 18 months. As ordinary human children, Nim also was wearing nappies, became sometimes vulnerable and needed to be fed. Nevertheless, he was treated as a human baby. The author finds interesting the experience used by one of Nim’s teacher – Joyce Butter. If Nim misbehaved, Joyce bitted his ear. And this kind of treatment helped people connected with Nim to be successful with him. Upon this behavior, Nim knew his place and understood that this person was more powerful that he was. At the same time, Nim respected people who bitted him. And if one let the weakness to be shown, Nim noticed it and at his earliest convenience exploited that. Despite the favorable treatment towards Nim described above, I would like to note some situations that shocks me a lot during the whole documentary. Nim likes to smoke pot and drink beer. I kindly understand that experiment provides that subject should be taught with the majority of skills; however drinking beer is not useful one. Simultaneously, to teach Nim with sign language, Dr. Terrace organized sessions during which graduate students taught Nim signs in a windowless room at Columbia University. From author’s point of view, this behavior should not take place at any case. Nim, as a living creature, shall has right for the proper attitude and duties towards him in form of responsibility. The author asserts that people involved in the experiment were responsible before Nim on what the primate received and what he
21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay Example for Free
21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay 1 Introduction This is not a research paper. Rather, it is a teaching report in which I describe the use of the so called beer distribution game (or beergame) – a logistics and supply chain simulation game – in teaching business-to-business eCommerce. The aim of the paper is twofold: First, I want to demonstrate how the beergame can be used to provide students with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in contemporary supply chains to exchange information and to facilitate collaboration. Second, I want to share both my experiences and my materials for using the beergame in eCommerce courses with the IS community, i.e. those scholars that teach (business-to-business) eCommerce or supply chain management courses. The beergame is a role-play simulation game in which students enact a four stage supply chain. The task of this supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer units until it reaches the customer at the downstream end of the chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each of the four groups has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer by placing orders with the next upstream party. Since communication and collaboration is not allowed between supply chain stages, the players invaria588 bly create the so called bullwhip effect. With ‘bullwhip’ we refer to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies upstream in the supply chain towards the production end, thus causing a range of operational problems. The bullwhip effect is a well-known phenomenon and a prominent symptom of coordination problems in supply chains. In using the beergame to create the bullwhip effect students experience first hand, not only the problems of lack of information sharing and collaboration in supply chains, but also the main causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Henceforth, in introducing eCommerce measures in the later sessions of the course, students can relate to these topics through their own experiences. The paper ties in with a recent discussion on the ISWorld eMail list on â€Å"how to make relevant IS teaching for students with little or no practical experience†. In teaching information systems (IS) and specifically B2B eCommerce we frequent ly experience problems of making relevant those topics for students. The challenge is to get them to appreciate the relevance of IS and also to provide them, not only with a superficial knowledge of the topics, but with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in practice. Against this backdrop I want to show how the beergame can help demonstrating the role and need of eCommerce technologies in a topic area in which the students not only lack practical knowledge (i.e. with regards to supply chains), but typically also do not have their own frame of reference to be able to relate to the topics we teach. To this end, I will introduce the beergame, demonstrate its use in a classroom setting, present typical results created by playing the game and show how I embed the game in a typical B2B eCommerce syllabus. I begin with introducing the game and the bullwhip effect (in section 2). In section 3, I then describe the application of the beergame in a classroom setting; I give an overview of a beergame session and present typical results. Section 4 demonstrates how typical supply chain problems (and the causes of the bullwhip effect) can be deduced from the beergame experience in order to motivate the introduction of eCommerce measures for improving supply chain coordination. The section is concluded by a synopsis of typical eCommerce topics that can follow the beergame in a typical B2B syllabus (section 4.3). 2 The Beergame In the following I will first give a brief introduction to the bullwhip effect before I introduce the beergame itself, i.e. its history, structural setup and the rules of the game. 2.1 Bullwhip effect as symptom of typical supply chain problems The bullwhip effect is a well-known symptom of typical coordination problems in (traditional) supply chains. It refers to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies as one moves upstream in the supply chain towards the production end (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). Even in the face of stable customer demand small variations in demand at the retail end tend to dramatically amplify upstream the supply chain with the effect that order amounts are very erratic, and can be very high in one week and almost zero in the next week. This phenomenon was discovered and first described by Forrester (1961) who did research into the relationship between ordering and stock keeping patterns using simulation models (Warburton 2004). The term itself was first coined around 1990 when ProcterGamble perceived erratic and amplified order patters in its supply chain for 589 baby diapers. The effect is also known by the names whiplash or whipsaw effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a), which refers metaphorically to the visualisation of order patterns moving upstream the supply chain (see figure 3). As a consequence of the bullwhip effect a range of inefficiencies occur throughout the supply chain, e.g. high (safety) stock levels, poor customer service levels, poor capacity utilisation, aggravated problems with demand forecasting, and ultimately high cost and low levels of inter-firm trust (Chopra Meindl 2001; Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). While the effect is not new and a lot of research has been conducted and supply chain projects have been initiated since its discovery, it is still a timely and pressing problem in contemporary supply chains. Various research studies have quantified the effect and estimate that profitability in most supply chains might improve by up to 30% by eliminating the bullwhip effect (Metters 1997; McCullen Towill 2002). 2.2 Beergame setup and rules Having introduced the bullwhip effect and its implications for the supply chain and its players I will now introduce the beergame, its setup and rules. I begin by providing a brief history of the game before I present the general structure and the rules of the game. 2.2.1 History of the beergame The beergame (or beer distribution game) was originally invented in the 1960s by Jay Forrester at MIT as a result of his work on system dynamics (see Forrester 1957). While the original goal of the simulation game was to research the effect of systems structures on the behaviour of people (â€Å"structure creates behaviour†), the game can also be used to demonstrate the benefits of information sharing, supply chain management, and eCollaboration in the supply chain (Li Simchi-Levi 2002). A range of different versions of the beergame have emerged over the years. The original beergame was realised as a board game (Sterman 1989). Meanwhile a table version (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002 ) and also computerised simulations (Hieber Hartel 2003) have been developed. In this paper I predominantly draw on a table version, which I adapted from the so called Klagenfurt design (cp. Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002); the structural setup of the table version is shown in figures 1 and 2. I will briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different game versions in chapter 3.1 where I discuss the administration of the beergame in a classroom setting. 2.2.2 General structure of the game The beergame simulates a supply chain that consists of four stages (retailer, wholesaler, distributer and factory), each of which is played by one or better two or three players (Goodwin Franklin Sr. 1994). Hence, a supply chain is typically played by 8 to 12 people, while more than one supply chain can be administered in one class at the same time. The task of each supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer un its until it reaches the external customer at the downstream end of the supply chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each sub group has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer. The retailer receives an externally predetermined customer demand and places orders with the wholesaler; the wholesaler sends orders to the distributor, who orders from the factory; the factory finally 590 produces the beer. Hence, orders flow in the upstream direction, while deliveries flow in the downstream direction of the supply chain. An important structural aspect of the game is delay (i.e. time lag) in order to account for logistics and production time. Each delivery (and production order) requires two rounds until they are finally delivered to the next stage. In the structural setup of the game this is represented by two shipping delay fields located in between the supply chain stages as well as at the production end (figure 1). Order flow Delay Delay Delay Delay Factory Factory Distributor Distributor Wholesaler Wholesaler Retailer Retailer Product flow Figure 1: Supply chain setup in the beergame table version Student Outgoing order Play sheet Incoming order Wholesaler Delay Distributor Distributor Outgoing delivery Delay Factory Incoming delivery Student Student Figure 2: Detailed table layout 2.2.3 Rules of the game The game is played in rounds, which simulates weeks. In each round the following steps have to be carried out by the players: 1) receive incoming orders, 2) receive incoming deliveries, 3) update play sheets (outstanding deliveries and inventory), 4) send out deliveries, and finally 5) decide on the amount to be ordered. In doing so, deciding on each round’s order amount is effectively the only decision that players are able to make throughout the game; everything else follows a set of fixed rules. The first rule is that every order has to be fulfilled, either directly (should the players’ inventory be large enough) or later in subsequent rounds. In the latter case, players have to keep track of their backlog (backorder) (Coakley et al. 1998). Secondly, inventory and backlog incur cost – each item in stock costs EUR 0.50 per week, while each item on backlog costs EUR 1.00. Consequently, the primary aim of ea ch subgroup is to keep their costs low. Hence, the optimal strategy for the players is to run their business with as little stock as possible without being forced to â€Å"move into backorder†. Thirdly, players are not allowed to communicate. The only information they are allowed to exchange is the order amount; there is no transparency as to what stock levels or actual customer demand is; only the retailer knows the external demand (Rafaeli et al. 2003). Moreover, the game is based on the simplification of unlimited capacity (in stock keep591 ing, production and transportation) and unlimited access to raw materials at the production end (Hieber Hartel 2003). 2.2.4 The external demand In playing the game the external demand is predetermined and usually does not vary greatly. In the beginning, the supply chain is pre-initialised with inventory levels (e.g. 15 units), orders (e.g. 5 units) and beer units in the shipping delay fields (e.g. 5 units). In order to induce the bullwhip effect to the supply chain the external demand remains stable for a few rounds (e.g. 5 units for 5 rounds) before it suddenly shows one steep increase (jumps to 9 units) before it remains stable again at this higher level for the remainder of the game (usually 40 to 50 rounds in total). However, the one increase in external demand is enough to induce variance into the supply chain, which will inevitably lead to the creation of the bullwhip effect and to a destabilisation of ordering patterns throughout the supply chain. 3 Using the beergame in class Having described the idea, the structural setup, and the rules of the beergame, I will now discuss the administration of the game in a classroom setting. This is followed by the presentation of typical results generated by beergame applications in eCommerces courses. These results are very useful for deriving the causes of the bullwhip effect in discussions with students in a so-called debriefing session (see section 4). For a session outline of a B2B course that uses the beergame please refer to appendix 2; the experiences shared in the following sections are more or less based on this session outline. 3.1 Administering the beergame 3.1.1 Choosing a beergame version As mentioned above, different versions of the beergame exist for use in classroom settings. The traditional version is a board game in which tokens are physically moved on the board to represent orders and stock. The upside of the board version is that people relate well to moving actual objects. However, there are two downsides: firstly, the board game is too slow, cumbersome and complex to administer; secondly and more importantly, because physical objects are used to represent inventory on the board, people enjoy an unwanted transparency of inventory levels of other supply chain stages and can thus strategically act upon their knowledge of incoming stock. The table version of the beergame was originally developed by a team at the University of Klagenfurt (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002). It shows several improvements to the original design such as a leaner and more pragmatic approach to moving orders and stock in the supply chain. Essentially this is done by using paper slips on which numbers are written by the players. However, it still shows some administrative overhead such as a bookkeeping pe rson that takes stock of all things happening within the supply chain using a computer. While this functions as a built-in safety net in case something goes wrong, it is still a hurdle to the application in a classroom setting and it also slows down the game, which results in long sessions and the students being bored throughout the game. Henceforth, I have adapted the table version and essentially eliminated the bookkeeper in order to achieve a more straightforward progression of the game. The 592 risk however is that students make mistakes in calculating order amounts or stock levels using the paper play sheet. While it helps to start slowly and to doublecheck the play sheet calculations during the first few rounds, in a few of my first beergame applications some people indeed miscalculated stock levels, which led to problems with interpreting the data later on. For this reason, today I use MS Excel and a laptop computer on each table for people to fill in their play sheets; this effectively eliminates the risk and ensures a quick progression of the game (see appendix 1 for a play sheet example). 3.1.2 Schedule of a beergame session The first step in administering the beergame is the preparations of the tables. As is illustrated in figure 2, four fields have to be marked on each table, which is done by fixing to the table 4 sheets of paper using sticky tape. The same is done with the delay fields. Furthermore, cardboard boxes (or plastic cups) and envelopes have to be filled with small paper slips to pre-initialise the supply chain with orders and deliveries. Then, every table has to be prepared with a stack of order and delivery slips that will be used by the players during the game. Finally, paper slips with the external demand progression (see above) have to be prepared that are handed to the retailer groups during the game. Also, for administering more than one supply chain, (student) assistants are needed to help with moving boxes and envelopes during the game. The second step is briefing the students; in doing so I provide a short introduction to the idea of the game, its history, structure, and rules (see above). When playing in more than one supply chain I stress the fact that groups of each stage are competing with one another (e.g. retailer vs. retailer), in order to get the students to take playing seriously. The third step is to start playing some initial trial rounds with the pre-initialised supply chain and to make sure that everyone gets used to filling in play sheets and order/delivery slips. Then, in the fourth step, the speed of playing the game is increased and the game is played for a number of 40 to 50 rounds. The game is then stopped abruptly so that the students do not have time to react strategically to the coming end of the game. The fifth and final part of the session is a short discussion directly after the game, where I ask students how they felt throughout the game and what they think the average customer demand was. The next session after the beergame session is the debriefing session, for which the data that the groups produced throughout the game has to be consolidated, plotted and analysed. Typical beergame results and their creation are presented in the next section; the debriefing session is described in section 4. 3.2 Typical progression and results of a beergame session Every beergame session follows roughly the same scheme, so that the progression of the game shows a recurring pattern. I usually start playing the game at a slow pace for people to get used to moving objects, taking stock and filling in the play sheets. What typically happens during these first few rounds is that people try to get rid of some of the inventory (e.g. 15 units) in order to manage their costs; hence they often only place small orders in the beginning (for an example see weeks 1-7 in figure 3). Consequently, when the customer demand jumps to the higher level in round 6 the supply chain has adjusted to a low demand scenario. After the steep increase many retailer groups tend to wait one or two rounds in order to see if the increase is permanent (as in figure 3). When they then place the first large order they invariably initiate a bullwhip effect that perpetuates through593 out the chain. Typically, the order amount increases with every stage in the supply chain (as in figure 3). What happens then is that the groups move deeply into backorder (see figure 4), because due to the delivery delays it takes quite some time for the beer to move through the supply chain to the retail end. Getting increasingly desperate players often try to send signals and place more large orders; in the end they typically lose track of what they have ordered and order way too much. The consequence is that the supply chain is flooded with beer and the inventories overflow (see weeks 2035 in figure 4). The effect is that people cease ordering entirely; e.g. a lot of very small orders are placed. This is especially true for the higher stages of the supply chain (see table 1). In the end, while the retailer groups often manage to stabilise their business, the higher stages have no idea of the actual customer demand and are left frustrated. Bullwhip Effect 70 60 50 Customer Orders 40 30 20 10 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 3: Plot of order distribution, visualising the bullwhip effect Figure 3 shows the order distribution over 40 weeks and a typical bullwhip effect. Figure 4 shows the inventory fluctuation, with negative inventory representing back order. Table 1 finally shows the decrease in customer demand information upstream visualised by the average order amount by the four stages of the supply chain in this example. More importantly, the increase in order fluctuation upstream the supply chain is illustrated by the largest amount having been ordered in each stage and the number of small orders that were placed. This translates into an increase in inventory fluctuation as well. All this information is being used in the following debriefing session to discuss the bullwhip effect, its implications and the reasons for its existence. 594 Out of stock = Serious lack of service level! 200 150 100 Inventory 50 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 -50 -100 -150 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 4: Example of inventory fluctuation (negative inventory = backorder) Key figures Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory ∅ order amount (units of beer) 8.33 8.68 8.75 9.95 Largest order amount 25 40 50 60 No of small orders (0-2 units) 4 11 14 18 Inventory fluctuation range 84 81 170 165 Table 1: Example of key figures derived from the beergame 4 Learning from the beergame results Having presented the way in which the beergame is administered and a typical progression of the game and its results, I will now first show how a debriefing session can be used to illustrate supply chain coordination problems and to derive typical causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Based on these causes one can then quite easily motivate eCommerce measures and ICT-based supply chain reform initiatives that aim at reducing the bullwhip effect and improving supply chain coordination. 4.1 The debriefing session The debriefing session follows the beergame session (see appendix 2). I usually begin the session with a brief discussion of students’ experiences throughout the game. Typically, the following questions are being discussed: Did you feel yourself controlled by forces in the system from time to time? Or did you feel in control? Did you find yourself blaming the groups next to you for your problems? Did you feel desperation at any time? This discussion typically shows that people indeed were blaming their neighbouring supply chain partners for not doing their jobs right (either not ordering in a 595 sensible way or not being able to deliver); desperation and frustration are common feelings during the last rounds of the game. A first learning from this discussion is that it is the structure of the game (i.e. the supply chain) that causes the behaviour. This is precisely what its inventor (Forrester) intended to achieve and what is referred to as the effects of systems dynamics. A second set of questions can then be discussed in order to reflect upon the beergame itself and its degree of simulating real world conditions: What, if anything, is unrealistic about this game? Why are there order delays? Why are there production delays? Shipping delays? Why have both distributor and wholesalers; why not ship beer directly from the factory to the retailer? Must the brewer be concerned with the management of the raw materials suppliers? Using these questions and by stressing the fact that real-life supply chains are much more complex (a huge variety of products and supply chain partners e xist, as well as complex criss-crossing networks of relationships) the students can quickly be convinced that real-life conditions favour the emergence of the bullwhip to a much greater extent and that the beergame is indeed a good vehicle to simulate the creation of the effect. Having established this necessary bit of legitimisation, the session can then proceed with presenting the beergame results and with identifying the underlying causes. Hence, the next step essentially is to present, for all supply chain groups, the data (table 1) and figures (3 and 4) presented above. In doing so, I typically have a very interactive and lively discussion. I ask what people thought while playing the game and what led them to, for example, place a huge order at a particular point in the game. In discussing the extreme examples, the class usually shares a laugh, which, as a nice by-product, leads to a more casual atmosphere and contributes to setting an open tone for the remainder of the course. I also honour the winning supply chain teams at this point in time. This is also the time where I introduce the concept of ‘cumulated supply chain cost’, e.g. by pointing ou t that the product at the customer end has to earn all (cumulated) costs of all supply chain parties; this insight serves as a first step in establishing the idea of global thinking and chainwide optimization, which essentially requires eCollaboration technologies. At this point in the session one can then either go straight to identifying the causes and effects of the bullwhip effect (see below), or take a little (useful) detour in discussing a teaching case to corroborate the results and to give the results of the beergame some more credibility. In doing so, I use the case of Italian pasta manufacturer Barilla, one of the first documented cases in which a company launched a project to identify the causes of the bullwhip effect and to introduce some countermeasures (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003, p. 91). 4.2 Identifying the causes of the bullwhip effect The bullwhip effect, as simulated in the beergame, is mainly caused by three underlying problems: 1) a lack of information, 2) the structure of the supply chain and 3) a lack of collaboration and global optimisation. These three causes can be identified in an interactive session with the students by discussing the beergame experiences and then be corroborated with insights from practice and the literature. 596 4.2.1 Lack of information In the beergame no information except for the order amount is perpetuated up the supply chain. Henceforth, most information about customer demand is quickly lost upstream in the supply chain. Moreover, no other information is being shared. With these characteristics the beergame simulates supply chains with low levels of trust, where only little information is being shared between the parties. Without actual customer demand data, all forecasting has to rely solely on the incoming orders at each supply chain stage. In reality, in such a situation traditional forecasting methods and stock keeping strategies contribute to creating the bullwhip effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a; Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky SimchiLevi 2003). Unexpected increases in orders from downstream partners translate into even higher order increases upstream, because when players regard the increase to be permanent and want to avoid running out of stock, they need to update their safety stock levels; hence they place an even larger order. Later, when it turns ou t that an increase was only temporary, safety stock levels are lowered and players might order nothing for a while, hence contributing to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.2 Supply chain structure The supply chain structure, with its design as separate stages and the long lead times, contributes to the bullwhip effect. The longer the lead time, i.e. the longer it takes for an order to travel upstream and the subsequent delivery to travel downstream, the more aggravated the bullwhip effect is likely to be. With traditional ordering, the point in time where an order is typically placed (the order point) is usually calculated by multiplying the forecasted demand with the lead time plus the safety stock amount, so that an order is placed so far in advance as to ensure service level during the time until the delivery is expected to arrive (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Hence, the longer the lead time is, the more pronounced an order will be as an reaction to an increase in forecasted demand (especially in conjunction with updating the safety stock levels, see above), which again contributes to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.3 Local optimisation Local optimisation, in terms of local forecasting and individual cost optimisation, and a lack of cooperation are at the heart of the bullwhip problem. A good example for local optimisation is the batch order phenomenon. In practice, ordering entails fix cost, e.g. ordering in full truck loads is cheaper then ordering smaller amounts. Furthermore, many suppliers offer volume discounts when ordering larger amounts. Hence, there is a certain incentive for individual players to hold back orders and only place aggregate orders. This behaviour however aggravates the problem of demand forecasting, because very little information about actual demand is transported in such batch orders. And batch ordering, of course, contributes directly to the bullwhip effect by unnecessarily inflating the orders. This might lead to lower local cost in the short term, but translates into higher overall cost at the chain level. 4.3 eCommerce measures to tackle the bullwhip effect Having identified and discussed the three problem areas with regard to both the beergame and their real-world counterparts, I then present three areas of improvement that directly correspond to the three problem areas: 1) information sharing in terms of electronic data interchange, 2) ICT-enabled supply chain re597 design, and 3) supply chain collaboration for global optimisation (see figure 5). In terms of teaching, these three bundles of eCommerce measures and initiatives can then be briefly introduced in one session (see appendix 3) or in more (technical and organisational) detail in three separate sessions (see appendix 2). In the following sections I give a brief overview of what can be part of those sessions. 1 Information loss upstream the supply chain Without direct communication, forecasting is based on aggregated, inaccurate information. This causes large stock, high cost, poor service levels. Improvement Efficient communication and information sharing 2 Supply chain structure Long lead times lead to increasing variability upstream making planning nearly impossible: large safety stock is required, variability increased. Slow downstream product flow causes poor service levels. Improvement Supply chain redesign: processes, tasks roles 3 Local optimization Independent planning and local optimization lead to inefficiencies, such as local forecasting, batch ordering, inflated orders, etc. Improvement Cooperation to achieve global optimization Figure 5: Summary of bullwhip causes and areas of improvement 4.3.1 Efficient communication One of the most basic learnings from the beergame is to improve information sharing along the supply chain (e.g. of point-of-sale customer demand data); information sharing is the first step towards more advanced supply chain coordination (Muckstadt et al. 2001). Henceforth, the first step in teaching eCommerce measures is to present the principles and technologies of electronic data interchange. In doing so, I first of all discuss with the students the â€Å"principles of digitally mediated replenishment of goods†by Johnston (1999), essentially a collection of principles for effective inter-organisational electronic data interchange, such as the â€Å"once-only data entry principle†or the â€Å"synchronicity principle†. Based on these fundamental principles I discuss the ways in which traditional document-based ordering can be reformed using electronic data interchange. While these topics might seem to be outdated from a modern information systems perspective, it lays the foundation for a step-by-step increase of complexity that aims at providing the students with a more substantial knowledge of the problems and ideas behind ICT-enabled supply chain reform than can be achieved by a simple presentation of the latest communication technologies. The next step in this endeavour is to introduce technologies that are needed to enable effective inter-firm data interchange and electronic ordering, such as product numbering schemes and automatic product identification technologies. In most supply chains physical products have to be handled; hence ways are needed to attach information to these objects. Consequently, I introduce the following technologies: †¢ Standardised product numbering schemes: Here, the history, proliferation, functioning and impact of numbering schemes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC), the European Article Numbering (EAN) code and more special598 ised codes like for example container codes (SSCC) are introduced. Most of these codes today are administered by the standardisation organisation GS1 (2005). †¢ Automated product identification technologies: The technology with the greatest diffusion in the market is the barcode; while specialised barcodes exist in some industries, the most common one is the UCC/EAN-128 (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996). The second, much newer technology to be discussed here is Radio Frequency based Identification (RFID). †¢ Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): EDI is the basis for electronic ordering. Here, traditional EDI standards, such as the UN/EDIFACT, which was jointly developed by ISO and the UN (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996), can be discussed, as well as newer techniques such as Internet-based WebEDI and XML-enabled order exchange. In discussions with the students these enabling communication and data exchange technologies can then be related back to the beergame experience in that they 1) speed up the order process, thus reducing lead time and 2) enable more sophisticated information sharing of POS data. Moreover, they are the basis for the next step, the ICT-enabled redesign of supply chain structures. 4.3.2 ICT-enabled supply chain reform initiatives The second building block in dealing with the bullwhip effect comprises a range of different supply chain reform initiatives that can be subsumed under the concept of efficient replenishment. As such, two distinct types of measures can be distinguished: 1) inventory management concepts that aim at changing the ways in which actors in the supply chain carry out their roles of stock keeping and ordering and 2) logistics concepts that aim at improving actual material and information flow. Efficient inventory management is based on the idea that suppliers have timely access to POS data and can thus eliminate traditional forecasting and change the way ordering and inventory management is carried out (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997b). Three concepts with increasing degrees of complexity can be distinguished: †¢ Quick Response: The idea behind this concept is for the supplier to become more responsive to changes in customer demand through the sharing of POS data. Retailers still prepare individual orders, but suppliers are better prepared. †¢ Continuous Replenishment: Suppliers continually receive POS data from retailers to prepare shipments at agreed-upon levels. †¢ Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI): Under this initiative the suppliers manage all inventory aspects for their own products at the retailer end. Suppliers decide on shipment levels without any orders from the retail end to be placed. In fact, the retailer has very little to do with the operational aspects in VMI (Waller, Johnson Davis 1999). The second type of efficient replenishment measures is efficient logistics (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Here, two main building blocks can be discussed: †¢ Warehousing and delivery concepts: Depending on the kinds of goods that are moved along the supply chain, different kinds of warehousing and delivery can be applied in order to achieve an optimal flow of goods. Cross docking is a concept i n which warehouses function as inventory coordination points rather than actual inventory storage points; hence, goods are only re-shuffled 599 between trucks coming in from suppliers and trucks leaving for stores. This instrument can be used for fast selling products. For bulk products central warehousing can be used; while fresh products benefit from direct delivery. †¢ Full-blown just-in-time delivery (JIT): Most commonly found in the automotive industry, ‘just-in-time’ describes a concept, whereby supplier and manufacturer align their logistics and production processes to a degree that no (or very little) inventory is needed. Goods can be directly delivered from the production at the supplier to arrive just in time to be used in production at the manufacturer end (e.g. Johnson Wood 1996). Changing the way in which inventory is managed means to effectively change the supply chain structure. For example, by implementing VMI the supply chain partners eliminate one stage of ordering, thus eradicating one step in the typical bullwhip chain of events. Moreover, by speeding up product flows using the logistic s concepts lead time is being reduced, which in turn softens the bullwhip effect. Consequently, all measures discussed in this section can be directly motivated by the beergame. In presenting this block to the students I also point out, for every singly concept, the role of information systems and eBusiness technologies. 4.3.3 eCollaboration: joint planning and global optimisation The third block of eBusiness measures for tackling the bullwhip effect is the most sophisticated one and builds on the first two blocks. Global optimisation of supply chain processes can only be achieved through the collaboration of supply chain partners under a joint initiative. I present the Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) initiative as an example from the Grocery industry (VICS 2001) and also discuss (sometimes only briefly) joint product development initiatives in the automotive industry. CPFR as a concept builds on and extends concepts such as VMI by aiming at establishing a long-term planning of joint promotion activities. CPFR is based on the observation that a combination of inventory management and logistics concepts (see section 4.3.2 above) can reduce the bullwhip effect for day-to-day deliveries, but that these concepts still can not cope with demand variations induced by promotion activities. Hence, CPFR aims a t jointly planning promotions and to create transparency as to the expected demand increases induced by these promotions. The concept is based on the use of shared eMarketplace infrastructures, which I also discuss in some detail in this section. Again, the application of eCommerce technologies can be nicely illustrated using the beergame. 4.3.4 Summary The discussion of the three building blocks of eCommerce measures culminates in the development and presentation of an integrated model of eCommerce-based supply chain management informed by the key learnings from the beergame. The model is presented in figure 6. Following the line of argument in the last sections, it becomes obvious that the beergame can be used to motivate and substantiate large parts of a typical eCommerce masters course (as in appendix 2). In the next section I draw some final conclusions and briefly reflect upon the use of the beergame in a classroom setting. 600 Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Tactics Operations Infrastructure Improvements Improvements Suppy Chain Suppy Chain problems problems trade-offs trade-offs Information loss Joint Planning CPFR (promotions, product introduction), Category Mgmt, Production scheduling Collaboration Strategic alliances for global optimization Efficient Replenishment Inventory Management: Quick Response, CRP, VMI, SBT Redesign ICT-enabled supply Chain re-structuring S.C. structure Materials information flow: Direct delivery, Warehousing, X-docking Local optimization Communication Information sharing, Electronic ordering Efficient Communications Infrastructure, EDI, AutoID, Product numbering, Process simplifications Figure 6: A comprehensive eCommerce and supply chain model 5 Conclusion and outlook I have introduced the beergame and demonstrated its usefulness in teaching B2B eCommerce and supply chain management. To the present day, I have used the beergame mainly in eCommerce masters courses at different Universities in different national contexts. The experiences and also the teaching evaluations have always been positive and very encouraging. While I believe that the beergame, and the way it is embedded in my B2B eCommerce syllabus, works well in providing students with both a profound understanding of the underlying wisdoms of eCommerce, as well as with a good overview of eCommerce measures, there is more to it than that. Playing the beergame is great fun, for the teacher and for the students, and it is always a good experience in itself. As such, the beergame is also very helpful for the general course atmosphere and the creation of positive team dynamics in the group. For the future, we are working on a software version of the beergame, which can be used in a classroom setting in the same interactive role-play style, but avoid some of the still remaining problems of the table version. While software versions today only provide a simulation (instead of role-play) mode and are not built for classroom use, a client-server software version of the game might replace the cumbersome logistics aspects (the moving of boxes) and help in gathering data that can be used for debriefing straight away. Moreover, it would be great to be able to play the beergame with different setups, e.g. with implementing effective sharing of (customer demand and inventory) data in order to demonstrate, in a second round of play, the usefulness of information sharing in reducing the bullwhip effect. To this end, our software will be flexible enough to incorporate such exploration of different supply chain modalities.1 1 For further information please see: http://www.beergame.org. 601 Appendix 1: Beergame play sheet The following table shows the play sheet of a retailer group that was filled in during a beergame session. The ‘incoming order’ column shows the external customer demand with its increase in round 6. During the game the students only have to fill in the white columns – the ‘incoming delivery’ and the ‘incoming order’ are taken from the incoming paper slips, while in the ‘your order’ column the students have to fill in their order decision for the respective weeks. Having done that, the play sheet shows exactly what has to be written on the outgoing order and delivery slips (in the dark columns). All orange columns are calculated automatically, so that students can easily keep track of their inventory and cost progression. After the beergame this data is then put together and consolidated with the data that was collected in the play sheets of the other groups of the same supply chain. It is then plotted to create figures 3 and 4 and table 1 (see above). Week Incoming Delivery Available Incoming Order Your Delivery Backorder Inventory Cost 7,5 15 22,5 30 35 37 40 45 49 52 64 78 86 100 118 137 159 180 201 223 244 265 283 295 303 316 317,5 321 324,5 328 331,5 335 338,5 342 345,5 348,5 351 353 355 357 Your Order Please fill out play slips: Delivery Order 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 5 5 5 5 0 3 2 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 13 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 20 20 20 20 15 13 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13 13 13 5 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 4 3 12 14 8 14 18 19 22 21 21 22 21 21 18 12 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 15 15 15 15 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 4 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 602 Appendix 2: Syllabus for a beergame-based B2B course The following table gives an overview of how the beergame can be incorporated in a typical (B2B) eCommerce (masters) course (e.g. 12 weeks with 3 hour sessions). The beergame and the subsequent modules can cover up to 6 sessions. After presenting the three blocks with eCommerce improvements, an additional session can be used to discuss management challenges of inter-firm collaboration, covering issues such as trust, managing interfaces, ICT standards etc. Throughout the course, cases from the grocery and the automotive industries might be used for illustration purposes and to facilitate discussions. Depending on the setting, background readings might also be handed out to the students. Sessions (3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40-50 rounds) d. Brief discussion afterwards 2. Debriefing a. Discussion of experiences and game setup b. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) c. Teaching case Barilla: bullwhip causes [optional] d. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect e. Short presentation of three areas of improvement and the schedule for the next three sessions 3. Information sharing a. Short discussion: why is information sharing important? b. Principles of electronic data sharing c. Attaching information to physical goods: standardised product numbering, Automated product identification technologies: barcodes, RFID d. Electronic Data Interchange: EDI, WebEDI, XML-based ordering 4. Supply chain reform a. Overview: efficient replenishment initiatives b. Efficient inventory management: Quick Response, Continuous Replenishment, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) c. Efficient Logistics: Warehousing, Direct Delivery, CrossDocking d. Just-in-Time Delivery in the automotive industry [Kanban] 5. eCollaboration a. eCollaboration in the supply chain: idea and philosophy b. Collaborative Planning Forecasting Replenishment (CPFR) c. Joint product development in the automotive industry 6. Management of inter-firm collaboration a. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives b. The role of trust and social capital in inter-firm relationships c. Interoperability of ICT d. Managing inter-firm interfaces 603 Appendix 3: Session outline for a beergame-based workshop The following table shows a short workshop format based on the beergame. Such a workshop can be incorporated in other (general IS) courses or be a stand-alone event, for example as an executive teaching offering. The workshop is essentially made up of two sessions – the actual beergame session and a combined debriefing and learnings session. As an example industry the Grocery industry can be used to illustrate the application of the eCommerce initiatives and technologies. Sessions (~3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40 rounds) d. Discussion of experiences and game setup 2. Debriefing eCommerce initiatives a. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) b. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect c. Discussion of three areas of improvement: a. Information sharing: Product numbering, AutoID, EDI b. Supply chain reform: Inventory management logistics concepts c. eCollaboration: CPFR d. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives 604 References Chopra, S., Meindl, P. (2001): Supply-Chain Management, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Coakley, J. R., Drexler Jr., J. A., Larson, E. W., Kircher, A. E. (1998): Using a computer-based version of the beer game: Lessons learned, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 416-424. Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., Langley, C. J. (1996): The Management of Business Logistics (6th Ed.), St. Paul. Forrester, J. W. (1957): Industrial Dynamics. A major breakthrough for decision makers, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 37-66. Forrester, J. W. (1961): Industrial Dynamics, Cambride, MA. Goodwin, J. S., Franklin Sr., S. E. (1994): The Beer Distribution Game: Using Simulation to Teach Systems Thinking, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 7-15. GS1 (2005): About the EAN/UCC System, Available: [http://www.ean-ucc.org] (2007-12-13). Hieber, R., Hartel, I. (2003): Impacts of SCM order strategies evaluated by simulation-based ‘Beer-Game’ approach: the model, concept and initial experiences, Production, Planning Control, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 122-134. Johnson, J. C., Wood, D. F. (1996): Contemporary Logistics (6th Ed), Upper Saddle River. Johnston, R. B. (1999): Principles of Digitally Mediated Replenishment of Goods. Electronic Commerce and Supply-Chain Reform, in Electronic Commerce: Opportunities and Challenges, S. M. Rahman M. Raisinghani, (eds.), Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp. 41-64. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997a): The Bullwhip Effect in SupplyChains, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 93-102. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997b): Information Distortion in a Supply-Chain: The Bullwhip Effect, Management Science, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 546-558. Li, M., Simchi-Levi, D. (2002): The Web Based Beer Game Demonstrating the Value of Integrated Supply-Chain Management, Available: [http://beergame.mit.edu/guide.htm] (2007-08-25). McCullen, P., Towill, D. (2002): Diagnosing and reduction of bullwhip in supply chains, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 164-179. Metters, R. (1997): Quantifying the bullwhip effect in supply chains, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 89-100. Muckstadt, J., Murray, D., Rappold, J., Collins, D. (2001): Guidelines for Collaborative Supply-Chain System Design and Operation, in Technical Report of the Cornell University School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Nr. 1286, Ithaca, NY. Ossimitz, G., Kreisler, B., Zoltan, M. (2002): Simulation von Supply-ChainManagement Systemen, Available: [http://www.uniklu.ac.at/~gossimit/pap/bg_endbericht.pdf] (2007-02-11). Rafaeli, S., Raban, D. R., Ravid, G., Noy, A. (2003): Online Simulations in Management Education about Information and Its Uses, in Educating Manag- 605 ers with Tomorrows Technologies, C. Wankel R. DeFillippi, (eds.), Greenwich, pp. 53-80. Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., Simchi-Levi, E. (2003): Designing Managing the Supply-Chain (2nd ed), Boston, MA. Sterman, J. D. (1989): Modeling Managerial Behaviour: Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiment, Management Science, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 321-339. VICS (2001): Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), Version 2, Available: [http://www.vics.org/committees/cpfr/voluntary_v2/CPFR_Tabs_061802. pdf] (2008-01-07). Waller, M., Johnson, M. E., Davis, T. (1999): Vendor Managed Inventory in the Retail Supply-Chain, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 183-203. Warburton, R. (2004): An Analytical Investigation of the Bullwhip Effect, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 150–160.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Alternative Sources of Toxicology Tests
Alternative Sources of Toxicology Tests Careful analyses of the community of insects encountered on a decomposing body, combined with knowledge of insect biology, ecology, and local environmental conditions, can often provide valuable forensic insights. These can include the estimation of time since death, movement of the remains after death, indication of antemortem injuries, and the presence of drugs or toxins. Over the past two decades, there has been an apparent increase in the incidence of drug-related deaths reported within the United States and other countries. Decedents in such cases are, in many instances, not discovered for a substantial period of time (days or weeks). The resulting state of advanced decomposition and environmental recycling typically encountered in these situations often dictates the employment of various entomological methodologies. The entomological techniques most frequently utilized are based on comprehensive analyses of the insects and other arthropods associated with the remains, their development, and patterns of succession (Goff and Flynn 1991, Goff and Odom 1987, Lord et al. 1986). The accuracy of entomological estimates in deaths involving narcotic intoxication has been subject to debate in recent years, as few available studies have explored the effects of drugs contained in decomposing tissues on fly colonization and ovipositional behavior, or on the rates of development of carrion-frequenting insects feeding on such food sources (Goff 1993). Additionally, relatively few studies have examined the effects of other tissue contaminants, such as toxins or environmental pollutants on these behaviors or the developmental patterns of the insects colonizing such tissues. In recent years, interest has also focused on the potential use of carrion-frequenting insects as alternative toxicological specimens in situations where traditional toxicological sources, such as blood, urine, or solid tissues, are unavailable or not suitable for analysis. The use of anthropophagic fly larvae (maggots) as alternate toxicological specimens is well documented in the entomological and forensic science literature (Miller et al. 1994). Detection of various toxins and controlled substances in insects found on decomposing human remains has contributed to the assessment of both cause and manner of death (Lord 1990, Goff and Lord 1994, Nolte et al. 1992). With the development of hair extraction technologies, attention has recently focused on the analysis of chitinized insect remnants that are frequently encountered with mummified and skeletonized remains (Miller et al. 1994). In such cases, the standard toxicological specimens are often absent. Studies of the use of carrion-feeding arthropods as alternative toxicological specimens, and of the impact that tissue toxins and contaminants have on the development of immature insects feeding on these substances, currently comprise the major avenues of exploration in the emerging field of entomotoxicology. The potential value of larval and adult carrion-feeding insects, and their chitinous remnants, as alternative sources of toxicological information has been clearly demonstrated. As with other emerging technologies, however, great care must be taken in the interpretation and use of such data, particularly within the forensic arena. Given recent advances in analytical procedures, it has become more practical to use even decomposed tissues for analysis (Tracqui et al. 2004). The situation may still be encountered where for various reasons there are no tissues remaining and the arthropods remain the only available material for analyses. In these instances, a qualitative analysis will be of value, but any attempt at quantitation must be viewed with skepticism. Much more research is required before the full potential of this discipline can be recognized. Forensic toxicologists qualitatively and quantitatively identify drugs and poisons which may be relevant to cause and manner of death. In most cases, toxicological specimens are collected at autopsy. Alternatively, if a body is badly decomposed, bone, hair, and insect larvae and pupae are collected and analyzed. The use of insects and insect remnants as toxicological specimens is well documented. Insect tissue or remnants (pupal cases, frass, etc.) can be used to identify drugs and toxins present in decomposing tissues. Literature to date has cited the use of arthropods as an alternative toxicological source since 1980. Beyer was one of the first to use maggots to qualitatively assess drug presence in a suspected suicide case. A body of a 22-year old female was found skeletonized except for the skin. Larvae were collected and homogenized with the proteins precipitated out of solution. Gas chromatography was used to identify a phenobarbital concentration of 100 ÃŽ ¼g/g in larval tissue. The larvae were identified as Cochliomyia macellaria (Beyer et al. 1980). Levine et al. (2000) described a case in which an unidentified male was found by a river and was decomposed and skeletonized. An empty bottle of secobarbital was found near the body. Calf muscle and maggots were sent for toxicological analysis. No substances or drugs were detected in the calf muscle, but secobarbital was identified in the maggots by electron ionization gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In a similar study, Wilson et al. (1993) reared Calliphora vicina on human skeletal muscle from suicidal overdose victims of co-proxamol (propoxyphene and acetaminophen) and amitriptyline. Third instars were transferred to drug-free muscle or allowed to feed on drug-laden muscle for two more days prior to harvesting. The drug concentrations in the muscle food source were 0.48 ÃŽ ¼g/g amitriptyline, 0.38 ÃŽ ¼g/g nortriptyline, 0.99 ÃŽ ¼g/g propoxyhene, and 14.3 ÃŽ ¼g/g acetaminophen. The mean ratios of drug concentrations in larvae to the food source were 0.5, amitriptyline; 0.5, nortriptyline; and 0.06 for propoxyphene. In all stages no drugs or metabolites were detected in puparia, pupal cases, or adults (Wilson et al, 1993). Malathion, an organophosphate insecticide, was identified in larvae found on a decedent thought to be a suicide victim. Malathion was detected at a concentration of 2,050 ÃŽ ¼g/g of larvae in specimens collected from the decomposing remains. Malathion exhibits low toxicity in mammals, yet a high toxicity to adult insects. In this case, the maggots were developing normally despite concentrations of malathion that were toxic to rats and adult species of blowfly (Gunatilake and Goff 1989). This case illustrates the importance of studying the effects many drugs and toxins have on insect species since drugs and toxins may affect insect development, mortality rates, and PMI. The effects of various drugs and toxins to carrion-feeding insects have been investigated, but this area of study is still expanding. Tracqui et al. (2004) examined 29 necropsies in which various organic compounds (including benzodiazepines, barbiturates, antidepressants, phenothiazine, opiates, cannabinoids, meprobamate, digoxin, and nefopam) were detected in arthropod larvae sampled from human corpses. Larvae were collected from multiple sites on the cadaver, weighed, washed, and dried. The larvae were mechanically homogenized and then extracted using solid or liquid phase extraction procedures. Sample extracts were then analyzed by gas or liquid-chromatography. The results indicated that the concentrations of the drugs in insect tissues tended to be lower than those of cadaveric samples, and that concentrations varied between anatomic sites (i.e. within anatomic sites when larvae were grouped according to their site of sampling). Tracqui et al. (2004) also found only weak correlat ions between the concentrations of drugs in biofluids at the time of death and those in the larvae sampled from the cadaver at a later time. Goff has conducted a number of entomotoxicology experiments with various drugs (Goff et al. 1989, Goff et al. 1991, Goff et al. 1992, Goff et al. 1993, Goff et al. 1994). When Goff did his studies he administered the drug to a living animal. He did this so that known and reproducible concentrations of drugs and metabolites in animal tissue could be used to approximate amounts normally encountered in human fatal overdoses. Hà ©douin et al. (1999) established concentrations of morphine in an animal model before rearing larvae on tissues. Morphine, a metabolite of heroin, was injected intravenously into rabbits. The kinetics of morphine elimination from blood after a single intravenous injection of morphine and the concentrations of morphine in tissues following a continuous perfusion were established. Morphine concentrations were determined using radioimmunoassay techniques. The rabbits that received a single injection received 2 mg/kg of morphine hydrochloride. Three rabbits received 2 mg/kg of body weight of morphine hydrochloride per hour for a period of 3 h using a continuous perfusion through a plastic catheter in the ear. Results from the continuous perfusion showed that the concentrations of morphine differed according to the organ analyzed, but were reproducible for organs between animals. This study permitted known and reproducible concentrations of morphine in the rabbit to be used as a subst rate for rearing of larvae in entomological studies. Goff used rabbits in his entomotoxicological studies of cocaine and heroin on Boettcherisca peregrina (Goff et al. 1989, Goff et al. 1991). The rabbits in the heroin study were given 6, 12, 18, and 24 mg of heroin by cardiac puncture. Boettcherisca peregrina were allowed to feed and develop on liver tissue containing heroin. From hours 18 to 96, larvae feeding on liver tissue containing heroin developed more rapidly than those feeding on the liver from the control. Time required for pupation was also greater for larvae that fed on tissue from heroin dosed rabbits than for the control larvae. The rates of development were sufficient to alter PMI estimates based on larval development by up to 29 hours (Goff et al. 1991). In a similar study, three domestic rabbits received dosages of 35, 69, and 137 mg cocaine in 5 mL saline via cardiac puncture in the cocaine study. The dosages represent one-half the LD50, the normal LD50, and twice the LD50. Boettcherisca peregrina were allowed to feed and develop on tissues containing cocaine. From hours 30 to 70, larvae developed more rapidly on tissue containing cocaine from rabbits injected with 69 mg and 137 mg of cocaine than on tissue from rabbits injected with 35 mg of cocaine or no cocaine. Total development times required for pupation and adult eclosion were also shortened. Differences between larvae developing on cocaine-dosed rabbit tissue compared to a control were sufficient to alter PMI estimates based on larval development in decomposing human tissues by up to 24 h (Goff et al. 1989). Goffs results indicate that an opiate (e.g., heroin) and a stimulant drug (e.g., cocaine) can both increase the rate of development in the Boettcherisca peregrina (Goff et al. 1989, Goff et al. 1991). Bourel et al. (1999b) administered morphine chlorhydrate to three rabbits each at a different concentration. The three concentrations were 12.5, 25.0 and 50.0 mg/h of morphine chlorhydrate via ear perfusion. A fourth rabbit was used as a control. Following administration of the drug, rabbits were sacrificed and 400 eggs of Lucilia sericata were placed in the eyes, nostrils, and mouth of each rabbit. Larvae were sampled daily to determine growth rate and weight. Puparia and emerging adults were also sampled. In this study, the larvae reared on the control and the rabbits that received 12.5 and 25 mg/h of morphine developed at similar rates from hours 41 to 69, while larvae reared on the carcass given 50.0 mg/h of morphine developed at a slower rate. From hour 91 to 165, the larvae from carcasses that received 12.5 and 50.0 mg/h developed at the same rate, which was slower than the control colony. Overall, the effects of morphine appear to be dose dependent as the larvae feeding on the rabbit that received the greatest dosage were the slowest to develop. Based on results from this study, between hours 91 and 165 estimations of larval age based on total length can be significantly in error if the presence of morphine in tissues is not considered. The error can be as great as 24 h for Lucilia sericata larvae measuring from 8 to 14 mm total length. In another case Bourel et al. (2001) used approximately 100 larvae of L. sericata reared on seven 250 g portions of minced beef combined with morphine hydrochloride solutions. After egg hatch, 10 specimens of second instar, third instar, post-feeding third instar and pupae were sampled and immediately frozen. After adults emerged, they were kept in a jar until they died and desiccated. Samples were homogenized, centrifuged, and the supernatant analyzed for morphine content using a specific radioimmunoassay. Concentrations of morphine were high in second and third instar larvae, almost proportional to concentrations in minced meat, but almost no morphine was detected in pupae. The results indicate that larvae excrete the drug during the post-feeding stage. A quantity of morphine is sequestered in the cuticle of pupae, but at minute concentrations. Morphine is sequestered in the cuticle during larval growth and in the formation of puparia (Bourel et al. 2001). Elimination of drugs or toxins prior to metamorphosis has been shown in other studies. Sadler et al. (1995) was able to detect trimipramine, trazodone, and temazepam, in the larvae of Calliphora vicina, but was unable to detect the drugs in the pupae. The fact that drugs do not bioaccumulate throughout the life of the larvae suggests that elimination mechanisms are present. Drug concentrations decreased when larvae were taken from drug laden meat and placed on drug free meat. The results of these studies indicate the importance of collecting larvae for toxicological analysis from those feeding actively on a corpse. Introna et al. (1990) reared Calliphora vicina larvae on liver specimens from 40 cases in which cause of death had been determined to be opiate intoxication. Analysis of larvae and liver for opiates (morphine) was accomplished by radioimmunoassay. The concentration of opiates for all cases was found to range from 8 to 1,208 ÃŽ ¼g/kg for larvae and 26 to 1,769 ÃŽ ¼g/kg for the liver specimens. A significant difference was found between the opiate liver and larval concentrations. Goff and Lord (1994) reviewed various studies in entomotoxicology and concluded that entomotoxicological testing was essential to accurate forensic entomology conclusions. Data indicating the presence of drugs allow for corrections to the data in cases when drugs affect insect development. Future trends in forensic entomology The precise estimation of PMI is the most important goal of forensic entomology by refining the techniques used. Developmental and succession data, consideration of a greater number of geographical regions and a range of death scene scenarios are essential. Moreover there are several parameters which need further attention. It is important to consider factors that might alter the time of oviposition, such as covering corpses with branches or tight wrapping with blankets, carpets or plastic bags, and indoor placement, because these factors may delay initial oviposition (Higley and Haskell 2001). Seasonal influences, such as cold and rainy weather, may inhibit or even prevent fly activity and delay oviposition (Erzinclioglu 1996). However, Faucherre et al. (1999) observed flying as well as ovipositing Calliphora vicina under extreme conditions in the Swiss Alps, colonizing a corpse in a 10-m deep cave at a temperature of about 5_C. The generally accepted assumption that activity of necrophagous flies ceases below an air temperature of 10_C (Williams 1984) or even 12_C (Smith 1986; Erzinclioglu 1996) may be questionable (see also Deonier 1940; Nuorteva 1965). However, the case described by Faucherre et al. (1999) occurred at an altitude of 1,260 m and therefore a cold-adapted population of C. vicina may have been involved. Blowflies usually show peaks of oviposition activity in the early afternoon (Nuorteva 1959a; Baumgartner and Greeenberg 1984, 1985; Greenberg 1990). These insects are not active at night and generally do not lay eggs during nighttime (Greenberg 1985). A postmortem interval estimation based on that assumption has to consider the possibility that a corpse which was found about noon and was infested by recently hatched maggots, could have been deposited there in the late evening of the previous day. Hence, fly eggs detected on a corpse during the night would lead to the conclusion that death occurred during the previous day or earlier (Nuorteva 1977). Greenberg (1990) presented the first experimental evidence of nocturnal oviposition by three forensically important blow flies, Calliphora vicina, Phormia regina and Lucilia (Phaenicia) sericata. On the other hand, Tessmer et al. (1995) reported that blowflies fail to lay eggs at night bot h in urban (with lighting) and rural dark habitats. However, Singh and Bharti (2001) supported the findings of Greenberg (1990). Hence nocturnal oviposition is a possibility and should be taken into consideration. Diapause, the period during which growth and development of insects is suspended, is still a challenge for the forensic entomologist (see also Ames and Turner 2003). Depending on the insect taxa, the major influences on larvae or pupae are photoperiod and temperature. Declining day length and/or decreasing temperatures indicate approaching winter and induce diapause, preventing development under unfavourable environmental conditions. In many forensically important blowflies, diapause is under maternal control and exposure of females to short day lengths induces diapause in the offspring (Vinogradova 1991). Species with a large geographical range have to face changes in day length throughout the year. The critical day length which induces diapause will be longer in populations from a northern range than in southern populations (McWatters and Saunders 1998). The forensic entomologist working in a temperate region investigating a sample of dead maggots collected from a corpse during late September has to consider the possibility that these maggots had already entered diapause. Besides day length, temperature may also influence the incidence of diapause (Vinogradova and Zinovjeva 1972). Unlike photoperiod, temperature is not a noise-free signal, as it is subject to considerable variation both within and between years (McWatters and Saunders 1998). Increasing constant temperature is known to reduce the incidence of diapause in forensically important Dipteran species, such as Liopygia argyrostoma (Saunders 1975), Protophormia terraenovae (Vinogradova 1986) and Calliphora vicina (McWatters and Saunders 1998). The duration of diapause is another important parameter. McWatters and Saunders (1998) showed that in C. vicina kept at temperatures of 15_C and 20_C, respectively, diapause was terminated in most larvae within 30 days. However, the diapause ended earlier in larvae whose parents had been kept at 20_C than those whose parents had been kept at 15_C. These observations should be a caveat for the forensic entomologist and points to the need for further studies on other species. Competition may affect development and growth of the larvae. Smith and Wall (1997a, 1997b) presented data which indicate that the larvae of Lucilia sericata in carcasses experience significant levels of competition and that the intensity of this competition may be sufficient to reduce the numbers of adult L. sericata able to emerge successfully. Reiter (1984), Smith (1986) and Erzinclioglu (1990) pointed to another factor which could complicate the estimation of the postmortem interval-precocious egg development in flies. In some female flies, eggs may be retained in the oviduct, having been fertilized as they pass the spermathecal ducts in advance of the act of oviposition (Wells and King 2001). In cases where a suitable oviposition site is not available, the eggs may remain inside the fly until they have completed embryonic development. It has been reported for several species of the tribe Calliphorini, including the forensically important Calliphora vicina, that the larva hatches from such eggs immediately following oviposition (Erzinclioglu 1990; Wells and King 2001). Precocious eggs are more likely to be found in bluebottles (Calliphora spp.) than in other lineages of carrion-feeding blowflies and the proportion of wild flies carrying an egg that is about to hatch can be quite high (Wells and King 2001). Parasitoid larvae feed exclusively on other arthropods, mainly insects, resulting in the death of the parasitoids host (Godfray 1994). The majority of parasitoids are either members of the order Hymenoptera or Diptera, representing an extremely diverse group and constituting about 8.5% of all described insects (LaSalle and Gauld 1991; Godfray 1994). They also attack necrophagous taxa and therefore could appear on carrion. Fabritius and Klunker (1991) listed 83 parasitoid species, mainly wasps, which attack the larval and pupal stages of synanthropic Diptera in Europe. There are few reports on the use of parasitoids in forensic entomology (Smith 1986; Haskell et al. 1997; Amendt et al. 2000; Anderson and Cervenka 2002; Grassberger and Frank 2003b). The life-cycles of the common parasitoid species are known (e.g. Geden 1997) and, even if the adults have already emerged and left the host, the pupal exuviae of the parasitic wasps can be identified for a long time afterwards (Geden et al. 1998; Carlson et al. 1999). The parasitoid developmental times can then be calculated and added to the time of development of the blowfly host. Pupal parasitoids of blowflies may play an especially important role in the estimation of the postmortem period because their time of attack is often restricted to a small, well-defined window of time at the beginning of the pupal development of the host insect (Anderson and Cervenka 2002). An example of the practical application of these wasps involved a case where the early colonizers, individuals of the blowfly Protophormia terraenovae, had finished their development and already left the scene but adults of the parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) were just about to emerge. These wasps need, at a constant temperature of 25_C, 350 accumulated degree days, equating to about 14 days, to reach adulthood (Whiting 1967; Grassberger and Frank 2003b). By contrast the host P. terraenovae needs about 9 days at this temperature to reach the stage appropriate for the parasitoids oviposition (Marchenko 2001; Grassberger a nd Reiter 2002a). It can therefore be assumed that the flies had access to the body for at least about 23 days before the corpse was found. The calculation of developmental times for the host and the parasitoid allowed the estimation of a greater minimum postmortem interval than the estimated development time of Protophormia terraenovae alone. This enabled the criminal investigators to disprove the testimony of a witness who claimed that he had seen the victim alive 20 days before the corpse was found. However, when thinking about the potential influence, especially of larval parasitoids, it is important to remember that this specialized group might also create significant problems for forensic entomology. Holdaway and Evans (1930) described, for example, the change in developmental times for Lucilia sericata after the attack of its parasitoid Alysia manducator, which resulted in premature pupariation. The role of freshwater and marine fauna in forensic investigations has received very little attention (Payne and King 1972; Nuorteva et al. 1974; Goff and Odom 1987; Haskell et al 1989; Catts and Goff 1992; Vance et al. 1995; Sorg et al. 1997; Davis and Goff 2000). Knowledge about the role of aquatic arthropods during decomposition is still scanty (Keiper et al. 1997; Tomberlin and Adler 1998; Hobischak and Anderson 1999, 2002; Anderson 2001; Merrit and Wallace 2001; Anderson and Hobischak 2004). Compared with terrestrial habitats, decomposition in an aquatic environment is completely different. It occurs at a rate roughly half that of decomposition on land, mainly due to the prevention of insect activity and cooler temperatures (Knight 1991). Merrit and Wallace (2001) have distinguished six decompositional stages ranging from submerged fresh, floating decay to sunken remains. Aquatic insects of forensic importance belong to the Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Trichoptera (caddis flies) and Diptera (true flies); the latter are mainly represented by Chironomidae (midges) and Simuliidae (black flies). However, these insects, unlike their terrestrial counterparts, are not obligatory saprophages, but instead use the submerged carrion both as a food source and a breeding site. The use of these insects for estimating the time of death is therefore more difficult and depends on the season and on other conditions of the aquatic systems. No successional insect model exists which describes the different waves of colonization of a corpse in aquatic habitats (Merrit and Wallace 2001). Finally, forensic entomology may help in investigations dealing with living, but ill, people by revealing neglect. The occurrence of maggots in the wounds or natural orifices of living persons may indicate such a neglect. Estimating the age of these maggots can reveal how long the neglect has been happening (Benecke 2003).
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