Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Revolutionary War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Revolutionary War - Essay Example Many of these tribes remained neutral. For centuries the tribes were dominated by the land-hungry colonists, and these tribes feared that the war would bring back the colonists in place of the British. Hence, there were those tribes, the loyalists, who fought on the side of the British, and battled against the colonists on their own. The patriots considered the Indians as a threat during the war. The Patriots identified the Native Americans as savages which only proved their extreme dislike for the tribes. The American Revolutionary War was in many ways a civil war. This can be said because most of the land oriented wars were fought within the United States. Secondly, loyalists who proved their allegiance to the British crown formed 20 to 30 percent of the population. The loyalist groups in many places openly battled against the patriots.1 It is believed that the neutrals formed the largest group. Since a large number of Americans remained in a dilemma whether or not to support the B ritish crown, the war became a battleground to win the confidence of the wider population. If the Patriots with their propaganda agenda could manage to divert the public psychology towards revolution, then it would be an utter failure for the British. After that, the British would lose the allegiance of the common people even if they could gain military victory. Therefore, the British understood the need to garner support from the American public. Many colonists had threefold reasons to support the British – some supported the British in anticipation of military victory, some joined the British side merely out of loyalty, while there were farmers who sold their lands to the British for profit. The loyalists spread misinformation about the patriots, infiltrated within the patriots. The loyalists persistently planted seeds of discord within the wider population. However, in the long run the patriots managed to garner more public support with their war of propaganda. The patriot s felt threatened by the loyalists on the home front and so did everything to weaken their strength by arresting them, seizing and burning their property. They subjugated the loyalists by using violence on them.2 Eventually, many of the loyalists left the American soil to settle in Canada, Florida, West Indies or Britain. An estimated 100,000 loyalists left America and they were branded as traitors. The public wrath against the loyalists declined in the 1790s and they could again reenter the American mainstream society. Violence against them ceased, although laws against them remained unchanged till the War of 1812.3 The British faced many military limitations to retain the loyalist’s support like they could not use harsh measures to suppress rebellions. This was an advantage for the patriots, although many neutral colonists were forced to join the ranks of the Revolutionaries. II. What role did women and Native Americans play in the Revolution? The American Revolutionary War was essentially a colonial war fought between the British and the colonists. Between 1772 and 1774 when the tension was at peak, many public figures convinced the ordinary citizens to participate in the war against British oppression. Through the means of propaganda the citizens were provoked against the British
Monday, October 28, 2019
Enterprise Resource Planning System for Insurance Sector
Enterprise Resource Planning System for Insurance Sector The Indian Insurance industry is a flourishing one which has several national and international players who compete for excellence. With several reforms and policy regulations, the Indian insurance sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the recent past. India having around 17% of the worlds population is a largely untapped market. Nearly 80% of the Indian population being without a life, health and non life insurance, a growing number of insurance companies are now emerging in the Indian insurance sector. With the opening up of the economy, several international leaders in the insurance sector are trying to venture into the India insurance industry. The growth in the insurance industry directly impacts the reinsurance industry. Reinsurance providers are basically companies that provide insurance cover to insurance companies so as to cover their risk. With the growth in the amount of insurance products sold by the insurance companies their risk component goes on increasing. So as to cover this risk, companies resort to reinsurance. Thus the reinsurance market is all growing at a rapid pace. The growth of the Reinsurance industry in India is coupled with a number of challenges. Challenges faced by the reinsurance industry include shrinking margins, increasing competition etc. In order to meet the challenges, reinsurance companies across the globe have begun leveraging heavily on their information and communication technologies. Reinsurance firms are using enterprise management solutions to increase productivity, save on expenses, to obtain higher customer satisfaction, thereby resulting into customer retention and to improve sales performance. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is the sole reinsurance company in the domestic reinsurance market in India with more than three decades of experience in the Re-Insurance business. GIC is headquartered in Mumbai. In India, GIC provide reinsurance to the direct insurance company as it is the sole reinsurer in the market of domestic reinsurance. It is one of the leaders in the facultative placements and domestic companies treaty programmes. OBJECTIVES FOR ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM The key objectives for initiating ERP implementation were as follows: So as to retain leadership position in the national (Indian) reinsurance market. The intention of emerging as the leader of reinsurance in the Afro Asian markets. To obtain an integrated view of all business transactions. MAJOR BUSINESS CHALLENGES FACED BY GIC RE Customer-Centricity The change in focus of the organization to being customer-centricity created a number of issues for the company. It became important to have optimal knowledge of all the customer segments. Customized products and services were required to designed to meet the needs of each of the identified customer segments. It became important to adopt cross selling of products and services as an important growth strategy. It also became important to provide any time and any place reachability to the customers. Competition The growing number of players in the market created an environment of intense competition In order to sustain such levels of competition it became imperative for the company to adopt new strategies and identify means of securing a competitive advantage over its competitors. Globalization Expansion of company operations across multiple geographical locations also made it necessary for GIC Re to identify means of effective monitoring and control. Expansion also increased the level of competition by adding new competitors from the new geographical locations. Product Commoditization The increase in competition was impacting the companys profit margins. It became absolutely necessary for the company to distinguish its brand from competitors. Lower customer loyalty and increasing price sensitivity were also measure threats to GIC Re. Consolidation It was important to bring about a consolidation across the organization so as to deliver a clear value to its customers. Compliance Expansion of operations across multiple geographical locations made its imperative to comply with multi-national regulations. MAJOR IT CHALLENGES FACED BY GIC RE Data Quality Data maintained by the organization was fragmented by the line of business, the branches, the different geographical locations etc. It was important to consolidate this data and provide high quality of product and operations related data. Process Integration It was important to standardize and streamline cross functional processes and develop and integrated workflow. The company was suffering from value leakage due to non integration of systems. Legacy IT Systems The legacy system used by the company did not reflect the change in focus from being a contract centric to customer centric insurance provider. Reduction of Operation Complexity The company used a number of applications to manage the daily activities. As a result, a number of interfaces had to be monitored and managed which proved to be very difficult. It thus became important to reduce the number of interfaces and bring about standardization across the interfaces. EXPECTATIONS FROM ERP Reduction in overall cost through improved efficiency and increased productivity Drive business innovation To a give a competitive advantage to the company over its competitors Driver for business growth Improve overall customer experience and satisfaction Ensure regulatory compliance Support global operations Create new revenue streams for the company Ensure growth of existing revenue streams CHOICE OF SAP The major factors contributing to the choice of SAP are as follows: Integrated Enterprise platform for transacting GICs business The company required a platform that would integrate all the processes and procedures across the enterprise. The system was required to standardize all processes and streamline set of processes across the organization rather than streamlining large number of procedures. The company expected the have an enterprise wide visibility of business operations. SAP Reinsurance solution being used by Global Industry leaders Munich Re and Hannover Re One of the major contributing factors to choosing SAP was the companys biggest competitor and the global industry leader Munich Re and Hannover Re had implement SAP Reinsurance system. Adoption of the global best practices By 2005, SAP Insurance had almost all insurance service providers running it. SAP had in the past implemented both the insurance and reinsurance packages for multiple clients. This enabled SAP to gain an understanding of the global best practices in the prevalent in the industry. GIC Re hoped to reap the benefits of this knowledge in their own implement of SAP Reinsurance. Most companies who had previously implemented ERP had strong positive experience with SAP for their insurance portfolio ERP IMPLEMENTATION START DATE Early 2005 ERP GO LIVE DATE February 2006 SAP VERSION SAP R/3 Version 4.7 GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE Offices in India, London and Dubai SAP MODULES IMPLEMENTED SAP FS-RI Reinsurance SAP FS-RI is an insurance solution that enables reinsurance firms, direct insurers and brokers to achieve a reinsurance process that is completely integrated and streamlined. SAP FS-CD Collections / Disbursements SAP FS-CD is a solution designed for insurance service providers to standardize and streamline their billing and disbursement activities for their policyholders and agency holders. SAP IM-IC (CFM) Investment Management SAP IM-IC (CFM) module provides useful tools for reporting of WBS which are in progress, PO commitments and assets that have been capitalized. SAP FI-CO Finance The SAP FI-CO module can be viewed as the core of the integrated SAP system as it deals with the monetary impacts on business and other modules of SAP. SAP HR Human Resources SAP HR is the largest module implemented It deals with the management of human resources and human capital SAP BIW Business Intelligence SAP BIW is the business intelligence module that provides analytical, reporting and data warehousing solution IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES First SAP Reinsurance (FS-RI) implementation outside Europe. First SAP FS-CD Implementation in India. First SAP IM-IC implementation in India in an Insurance/Reinsurance environment. One of the few Active Reinsurers in the world using SAP FS-RI Legacy data Migration Customisation of Reinsurance Module (FS-RI) Risk Manager in FS-RI (Facultative Business) had not yet been implemented even in Europe IMPLEMENTATION HIGHLIGHTS Opportunity to critically re-look the companys business processes and practices and incorporate changes wherever required. Elimination of data inconsistency by correcting, validating and cleansing legacy data. Opportunity to streamline the organisation by adopting the global best practices in the industry BUSINESS BENEFITS Tight integration between underwriting and technical Accounting processes thereby providing better business focus. Integrated processes eliminating almost all redundancies and inter-departmental reconciliations. Increased automation reduced manual intervention and improved data quality. Improved reserving process (tracking the development of outstanding loss reserves). FINANCIAL STRATEGIC BENEFITS SAP allowed visibility of all assets Standardized evaluation of all assets were achieved Daily updates to the investment portfolio enable the company to achieve integrated investment management Effective real time risk analysis TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP 95 % of the companys requirements were met by th standard solution offered by SAP and minimal customization was required OPERATIONAL BENEFITS The operation benefits as evaluated by the company after two years of implementation are as follows: KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI) IMPACT Time to measure performance -70% Time to plan for new projects and activities -30% Time to performance market risk analysis -80% Efforts to map sources of risk -80% Reporting Flexibility +90% Quality of Reports +80% Quality of Portfolio evaluation +90% Quality of transaction mapping +90% FUTURE PLANS Up gradation from SAP R/3 Version 4.7 to SAP ECC 6.0 platform Connecting offices in Moscow, Malaysia and South Africa to the upgraded ERP network General Insurance Corporation of India has derived significant benefits from implementation of SAP Reinsurance. From this case it is evident that SAP has the potential of being a measure source of improved efficiency and competitive advantage for insurance service providers. APPENDIX [1] Monitor Performance: Executive Dashboard [2] CEO Dashboard [3] Sales Dashboard
Friday, October 25, 2019
Naturalistic Observation Report Essay -- Childhood Observation Essays
Naturalistic observation is a way of observing applicants in their own natural environment without the contestants realizing the observers are present. My observation took me to different places and settings to complete my assignment where I observed the subjects’ reactions and further relate it with concepts of psychology. This assignment is going to look into the observation at different settings by watching people as they go about their normal activities in their own habitats, and will briefly describe the concepts of superego, egocentrism, operant conditioning, pretend play, and lack of conservation. These concepts are common between the ages 4-6 years of age. The paper will also analyze the interactions using a reflective approach on the psychology of young children. The concept of superego plays an active role in our daily lives. Freud’s interpretation of superego is most simply understood in the natural observation when observing the participants in the school setting, where a boy around 5-6 years of age playing around with bunch of kids saw the $20 bill lying on the playground with no one around it. He took the money and turned it into the school office in case anyone came looking for it. He wouldn’t want to lose $20, and hoped that whoever had lost it would ask about it in the office which leads me to believe that the child may have an overly strong superego because of the fact that â€Å"Once the superego emerges, children have a parental voice in their head that keeps them from violating society’s rules and make them guilty or ashamed if they do†(Sigelman & Rider, 2012, p. 49). According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the superego is the factor of personality composed of our internalized ideal s that w... ...rst step in a research program. In my observation, I studied different concepts of psychology that are critical in influencing a child development and understands different human behavior as they take place in a daily setting. This gave me an opportunity to notice the participant’s natural behavior, which reduces minimizes biases in my observation and also can be further used as a rich source of hypotheses. As one investigator commented, "The major strength of naturalistic observation is that it allows researchers to study behavior under conditions that are less artificial than in experiments†(Weiten, 2008, p. 347). Works Cited Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2011). Human development across the life-span (7th ed.). Belmont Calif: Wadsworth. Weiten, W. (2010). Psychology: Themes & variations (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Acknowledging Sources Essay
For this entry created by the student, the student apparently misunderstood the source materials since although the source mentioned the roughness of the sport, the article that was used by the student as the primary source material did not directly state nor imply that the spectators are included in the roughness that occurs in hockey. Also the student assumed that since the article mentioned that there were â€Å"built-in cooling-off periods†and â€Å"higher emotional temperature than [†¦] baseball or [†¦] football†(qtd. in McGrath 9), there was no cooling-off instances in the game of hockey (Spatt 475). 2.        Have the source ideas been acknowledged with sufficient and accurate documentation, according to MLA style?            The source ideas in this student’s essay were not sufficiently and accurately documented based on the MLA style. This is evident in the lack of an in-text citation at the end of the paragraph of the student’s essay and thus committed an act of plagiarism. According to Spatt, even if the writer may have used his or her own words in order to construct the paragraph, the ideas used by the student were that of McGrath (Spatt 475). Without the ideas provided by McGrath in his article, the student would not have been able to create the said essay paragraph. As such, credit and acknowledgement must be given to McGrath for his insights regarding the game of hockey (458-59). 3.        Have quotations from the source been indicated with quotation marks?            The student borrowed the term â€Å"cooling-off periods†(qtd. in McGrath 9) from the article that was used by the student from the source material without the use of quotation marks. This was the second error of the student that could cause the essay work be classified as a plagiarized essay. Not only did the student not acknowledge the source where the ideas for the essay were derived from, but also the student failed to acknowledge the exact wording used by the author of the source used by the student through the use of quotation marks (Spatt 459). Student Essay B 1.        Has the source been misquoted or misunderstood?            The student had misunderstood the context of the essay presented by McGrath in his article (Spatt 475). Based on the essay that was constructed by the student, the reader of the essay would assume that the passionate emotional outbursts observed during hockey games were crucial in each hockey game (Spatt 475). 2.        Have the source ideas been acknowledged with sufficient and accurate documentation, according to MLA style?            Although the student acknowledged the author of the article from where the ideas for the essay were derived from, the student may have overdid the documentation. Since the student already specified the name of the author whose ideas were used in the essay, the student did not need to use the name of the author in the in-text citation at the end of the paragraph. The specification of the page number at the end of the essay paragraph would have sufficed (Spatt 469). Also, the student placed the in-text citation after a period ending the essay. In creating in-text citation, this should be placed before the period except in instances when the parenthetical citation is located at the end of an indented quotation. It is only when indented quotations are included in the essay where the end of the indented quotation should be ended first with a period and then the parenthetical citation is placed after the period. This is because there are no quotation marks that would state the end of the indented quotation that was inserted in the essay (Spatt 469). 3.        Have quotations from the source been indicated with quotation marks?            As with the first essay, the student borrowed the exact wording from the article used as the source material for the essay. In this case, the student failed to put the words â€Å"cult of toughness†(qtd. in McGrath 9) in quotation marks. Although the student did include an in-text citation in the essay, according to Spatt, there are two things that the student must remember to prevent plagiarism. The first is that the source of the ideas should be acknowledged in the form of in-text or parenthetical citations. The second is that if the student or the writer would opt to use the exact words used by the author in the resource material, the student should also place these in quotation marks (459). Student Essay C 1.        Has the source been misquoted or misunderstood?            The student who created this essay did not misquote or send another meaning to the readers of his or her work apart from what the author of the resource material was trying to imply which was that although hockey was considered a rough sport, the roughness associated with this is embedded in the game similar to that of a ritual (Spatt 475-76). 2.        Have the source ideas been acknowledged with sufficient and accurate documentation, according to MLA style?            The student properly acknowledged the author and the main source from where he or she derived the ideas for the essay from. Since the student already mentioned the name of the author of the article in the paragraph, the student only included the page number from where the article was located. The student also stated the page number where the article was located before the period ending the sentence of the paragraph which is the correct placing for the parenthetical citation (Spatt 458-59). 3.        Have quotations from the source been indicated with quotation marks?            The student had accurately indicated various terms that he or she had used in the essay he or she constructed with the use of quotation marks in order to establish to his or her readers that the student is acknowledging not just the source where the ideas where taken from, but also acknowledging that some of the vocabulary and terminologies that the student used in the essay where also the terminologies and vocabulary that were derived from the article as well (Spatt 459). Student Essay D 1.        Has the source been misquoted or misunderstood?            The student who created this last essay was accurate in delivering the same idea that McGrath had (qtd. in Spatt 475) intended his article to relay to his readers. 2.        Have the source ideas been acknowledged with sufficient and accurate documentation, according to MLA style?            Although the student had acknowledged the source materials used for the essay using a parenthetical citation, the style that was used by the student for the in-text citation was incorrect. The format to be used for using an in-text or parenthetical citation for the MLA style is to specify the last name of the author followed by the page number inside the parenthesis. The last name of the author should not be separated from the page number using a comma. Also, the page number should not be preceded by the letter â€Å"p†(Spatt 466-67). 3.        Have quotations from the source been indicated with quotation marks?            The student had specified quotations from the source with quotation marks. However, there was only ones that needed to be placed in quotation marks which were the phrases â€Å"fistfights to routinely break out†(qtd. in Spatt 475) and â€Å"cult of toughness†(qtd. in Spatt 475) since these were direct quotations from the article written by McGrath. The phrase â€Å"burn at a high emotional level†(Spatt 476) was a paraphrase done by the student from the original text from the article which was written as â€Å"burn at a much higher emotional temperature†(qtd. in Spatt 475). This being the case, the student did not need to put this inside quotation marks. The phrase â€Å"ritualistic pushing†(Spatt 476) should have included three periods in between and after the words â€Å"ritualistic†and â€Å"pushing†because in the original article, there were additional words in between and after the two words. The addition of three periods in between these two words would advise the readers that although this was a direct quotation from the article, the student left out some of the words in order to make the statement or the phrase more cohesive and as such be able to create a clear statement while ensuring that the ideas and thoughts of the author are acknowledge in order to prevent any possibility of plagiarism (Spatt 477). Works Cited Spatt, Brenda. Writing for Sources 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
The Tragic Hero of “Antigone”
Lindsey Folcik Mrs. Monzel Period 1 8 April 2010 The Tragic Hero of Antigone In Sophocles’ play Antigone, both Creon and Antigone display some characteristics of a tragic hero. Creon is the king of Thebes following the late Oedipus and his sons. He decrees that no one should ever bury Polyneices because he was a traitor to his city, while Eteocles would be buried with full military honors. Antigone hears this proclamation and decides to bury her brother, Polyneices, in order to follow the laws of the gods. They could both arguably be the tragic hero of the story. A tragic hero is usually of high birth that has a tragic flaw that causes them to fall from a great height after having a moment of recognition all too late. This comparison between Creon and Antigone will show that Creon best fits the characteristics of a tragic hero. The definition of a tragic hero includes having an anagnorsis, or moment of recognition when they realize their tragic flaw, and this is one way in which Antigone does not qualify as a tragic hero while Creon does. In the beginning, Creon is very stubborn in his decision to kill Antigone for burying her brother. Even after he hears Teiresias’ prophecy, de does not change his mind. It is not until later he realizes that â€Å"it is worse to risk everything for stubborn pride†though it is still much too late for him (235). He sees that â€Å"the laws of the gods are mighty, and a man must serve them to the last day of his life! †(236). He has not served the gods by denying Polyneices a proper burial. By foolishly rejecting the laws of the gods, his â€Å"own blind heart has brought [him] from darkness to final darkness†(242). Now he has recognized the wrongs he has committed against Oedipus’ children, which ultimately causes his downfall. Antigone, on the other hand, is aware of the consequences of her actions from the very beginning. She says to her sister â€Å"I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy†, showing that she has very consciously made this decision. She is also aware of the inevitable outcome of her decision, but it does not stop her as she says to Creon, â€Å"I knew I must die, even without your decree†(208). She ends up accepting her punishment, and still stands by her decision. Even as Creon is about to send her to her death, she says sternly, â€Å"I have not sinned before God†(227). In contrast to Creon’s blind decision making, Antigone made her rash, yet conscious, decision fully aware of the bleak ending, so she never has a moment when she realizes her flaw. In Antigone, Creon is an excellent example of a tragic hero. He has a major tragic flaw and falls from a great height. It could be argued that his tragic flaw is excessive pride. He tries to reason his decision to kill Antigone by asking the Choragos, â€Å"Who is the man here, /She or I, if the crime goes unpunished? †(209). The power of being king seems to have gone to his head. He believes that his â€Å"voice is the one voice giving orders in this city! †, which is true, but his edict is still not popular with many of the citizens (220). He is so prideful, he will even hurt his son, Haimon, to prove his point. He plans to â€Å"Let [Antigone] die before his eyes! †(222). In the end, Creon locks Antigone up in a stone vault to kill her, but he was so full of pride and did not want to be proven wrong that he was willing to hurt his son. Another way that Creon is a very good tragic hero is that he falls from a great height. This great height is the throne of Thebes. Since the death of Oedipus and his sons, he has â€Å"succeeded to the full power of the throne†(196). He is now the most powerful man in the land. Creon states that â€Å"whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed†, and he insists on showing just how much power he holds. However, after he has his moment of recognition and his fortunes are reversed, he has fallen lower that anyone else. He says that now he has â€Å"neither life nor substance†(244). He has killed Antigone unjustly and indirectly murdered his son and wife. There is not much more miserable than that, in great contrast to his once high and honorable position as king. Through an examination of his tragic flaw and fall from grace, it is easy to see why he is a great example of a tragic hero. One of Oedipus’ daughters, Antigone, could also arguably be the tragic hero of Sophocles’ play. She has some of the main characteristics of a tragic hero, like having a tragic flaw, although she does not have a moment of recognition or fall from a great height. It seems that her tragic flaw is also excessive pride in addition to making impulsive decisions. After Creon’s decree, she refuses to give up, claiming â€Å"Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way†(191). Then, when her sister, Ismene, tries to caution her against such a rash and dangerous decision, Antigone rejects her, as she says, â€Å"I should not want you, even if you asked to come†(192). Sometimes, her great amount of pride comes off as insolence. While she is speaking to Creon prior to her death she says rudely, â€Å"Ah the good fortune of kings, / Licensed to say whatever they please! †(210). Ultimately, her pride and lack of thoughtful decision making cause her demise. But even though she has this tragic flaw, she does not fall from a great height. Her status in society is relatively low, especially compared to that of Creon. As her sister puts it, â€Å"We are only women†(191). In ancient Thebes, women are very low on the social ladder. Also, her family’s â€Å"curse†does not help her status as a woman. The Chorus says that they â€Å"have seen this gathering sorrow . . . / Loom upon Oedipus’ children†(215). The story of her father and family has brought her no honor because â€Å"The blasphemy of [her] birth†has plagued her her entire life (226). So, when she has been found burying Polyneices and is condemned, she does not fall from honor, as a true tragic hero would. Even though Antigone does posses some characteristics of a tragic hero, she does not match the definition as closely as Creon does. All in all, Creon is the true tragic hero of Antigone. He is a perfect example of one, because he has a significant tragic flaw, a moment of recognition, and falls from a very high place. Some may argue that the tragic hero is Antigone, because she has a tragic flaw. But she does not have a moment of recognition or fall from a great height. Clearly, through these examples, Creon is the tragic hero of the play. Works Cited Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. The Oedipus Cycle. USA: Harcourt, 1977. 186-245.
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