Essay Biography of Aaron Copland - 1169 Words

Aaron Copland was born November 14th 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. He is the youngest of five children to Sarah Mittenthal, his mother and Harris Copland, his father. He had two brothers, Ralph and Leon and two sisters Laurine and Josephine. As early as the age of nine, he began making up songs on the piano and two years later, his older sister Laurine began giving him piano lessons. In 1914, Copland began studying with his first professional piano teacher, Ludwig Wolfsohn in Brooklyn, New York. His first public performance as a pianist was in 1917, one year before his graduation from high school in Brooklyn. Upon it’s grand opening in 1921, Copland attended the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, a music conservatory designed to†¦show more content†¦Aaron Copland died on December 2nd 1990 in North Tarrytown, New York at the age of ninety. Without question his most famous work is his Pulitzer Prize winning â€Å"Appalachian Spring† with which he received the prestigious award in 1945. Commissioned by American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham in 1943, Copland finished the work a year later while teaching at Harvard. The song had a traditional American sound much like his previous works, â€Å"Quiet City† and â€Å"Billy the Kid† and won immediate success with audiences when it debuted in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 1944. The material of the piece is largely folk and even incorporates an old shaker song called â€Å"Simple Gifts† by Elder Joseph Brackett written in 1848. One song, a patriotic piece called â€Å"A Lincoln Portrait† was written at the beginning of World War II after Copland was commissioned to write a musical portrait of an eminent American political figure. He quoted original folk songs of the time such as the well-known â€Å"Camptown Races† and also included material from letters and speeches Lincoln had given. When looking at the characteristics of his work, Copland could most likely be described as an experimentalist. He often enjoyed mixing various stylistic ideas of Jazz and Mexican dance rhythms into his music and did not shy away from including these styles into his film scores andShow MoreRelatedThe Concert Hall, Raleigh, Concert, By Paul Randall And Composed By Bill Evans1721 Words   |  7 Pagestrumpet were held for emphasis and as the tempo shifted. There were many dynamics used in this tune. The tune started from really soft to really loud with a crescendo and stayed in this routine until the ending when the pattern was reversed. â€Å"Aaron Copland† was for me a tune of a love affair from the time the very first note started. The tune was hot and enthusiastic and shown dialogue without using any words. The ensemble played this piece by Cassia Lee supplied the drawn-out conversation that sounded

Applying for the University of Texas for a Master in...

Statement of Purpose I am applying to University of Texas at Dallas to pursue Master of Science program in Computer Science with special reference to Operating Systems and Computer Architecture. Ten years from now, I envisage myself as research professional in an organization or a faculty at one of the leading university. Ultimately, my objective is to seek Ph.D. Degree. 21st century is harbinger for major transition in terms of information technology industry for India. I have seen the technology changed lives of people for the better. Because of this impression and innate inquisitive nature, I coupled myself with the dream to start undergraduate studies in Computer Engineering. I was 99th in Maharashtra state among all†¦show more content†¦Ltd, Pune. The aim of research project RAM-DISK IO Mode In UNH-iSCSCI Target, was to use the portion of RAM as a block device (disk), to export RAM-DISK from target to initiator as a Virtual SCSI device and to utilize this exported virtual SCSI device for storing data. We have written the device driver to achieve the goal and also tested it using dd, iostat, bonnie++ tools. Moreover, the research project won the state level project competition Impetus and Concepts at Pune Institute of Computer Technology, Pune in storage systems domain. I am very glad to bring your attention that I presented the research paper RAM-DISK IO Mode in iSCSI Target based on this work in the International Conference on Information and Network Technology, Chennai. Because of ill health during the time of examinations, I could not make good grades in some of the semesters. However, I could achieve good grades in the lab examination. Also because of persistent efforts in 8th semester, I achieved GPA of 8.61 with award for research project. My first tryst with professional software development happened in Calsoft. I am working on PillarOracle MQFS File system since 2.5 years for the product called Axiom/Flash Storage. My initiative and urge to understand new things always gave me the opportunity to develop modules like Filesystem Quotas, Snapshot Scheduler and Management Interface of MQFS. Because of lot of development, debugging and bug fixingShow MoreRelatedThe Technology Behind A Computer1256 Words   |  6 Pagesrealized that the technology behind a computer’s operation could be used to solve a myriad of problems my interest in the field went far beyond browsing the net or playing computer games. My interest was further piqued by my elder sister who explained the intricacies involved in the projects she worked on during her Masters in Computer Application. After that, assured of her guidance, I opted for C++ as an elective in high school, and went on to enjoy the experience of successfully writing programs forRead MoreMechanical Engineering : Electrical Engineering1277 Words   |  6 Pagesincandescent lamp, and the first central generating plants. Electrical power engineers design generators, power stations, and electricity supply systems as well as electric motors and transport and t raction systems. Electrical engineering is an applied science involving mathematical skills and a knowledge of physics, in addition to the basic engineering subjects† (The Macmillan Encyclopedia). Electrical systems have always fascinated me since childhood, and figuring out the engineering behind everythingRead MoreWhat Makes Ut Austin?1923 Words   |  8 Pagesup watching my Texas Longhorns win the National Championship in 2005 against USC Trojans, My brother went nuts when they won the National title. I could barely remember it but it is just one of those moments that you just won’t forget for the rest of your life. My Brother, and cousins are in UT as of now. When your roots are from your surrounding’s or Family, Those traditions, and values are your core, and will be passed down to my own kids. I have also visited The University of Texas Austin, MultipleRead MoreLooking Through The Tax Accounting Career1594 Words   |  7 Pages30% of filers used a compute r program like TurboTax. Nonetheless, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are still being needed to file complex returns, such as those from corporations, partnerships, or advances tax returns that computer programs are not able to perform. The minimum educational requirement for a tax accountant entry level job is a bachelor s degree in accounting, and firms prefer job candidates who are CPA or are eligible for taking the exam, and have a master in accountancy. (StudyRead MoreThe Infinite Stupidity of Humans and the Universe Essay2754 Words   |  12 Pageswhat it’s like to be a astrophysicists. Stephen Hawing, 1959 entered Oxford University, which at the time was occupied by mainly upper class and male students. They had their own servants called scouts. Students who came from upper class families saw themselves as privileged and special. They didn’t mix well with other students like Hawking who came from the middle class. In 1962, Stephen Hawking entered Cambridge University. Cosmology appealed to Hawking more than elementary particles, because itRead MoreStatement of Purpose4243 Words   |  17 Pagesunprecedent growth. So I appeared for MET and got admission in Punjabi university regional centre for IT and management, Mohali Phase VII. I Completed my MBA with Finance as my major and Marketing as my minors. While MBA I developed an interest towards Investment Management which led me to join summer internship in Tiger wealth Management; a subsidiary of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . Objectives behind I.B IB amused me right through my masters as a result of which I wished to opt for I.B. as my Minor subject butRead MoreFolio Kerjaya5367 Words   |  22 Pages- Need By Society And Community | 8 | 6. | E - Entry, Training And Prospects | 9-14 | 7. | R - Related Occupations | 15-20 | 8. | S - Succesful Personal Attributes | 21-22 | 9. | ACCOUNTANCY IN MALAYSIA | 23-28 | 10. | UNIVERSITY THAT OFFER ACCOUNTING | 29-34 | 11. | Are The Monthly Salaries For Accountant. | 35 | What is an Accountant? An  accountant  is an individual who performs accounting tasks for individuals or companies. The exact material that an  accountant  handlesRead MoreFinding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do4016 Words   |  17 PagesChapter 02 Case No. 01 Case Incident: â€Å"Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do† Executive Summary Trilogy Software, Inc., of Austin, Texas, is a fast-growing software company (with earning in the $100- $200 million range), prides itself on its unique and unorthodox culture. Many of its approaches to business practice are unusual. There is no dress code and employees make their own working hours; Responsibility is heavy and comes early, with a â€Å"just do it now†attitudeRead MoreEssay about Infosys ® Technologies Ltd.7152 Words   |  29 PagesInfosys ® Technologies Ltd.: Growing Share of a Customer’s Business James A. Narus D.V.R. Seshadri* March 2004 * James A. Narus is Professor of Business Marketing, Babcock Graduate School of Management, Wake Forest University in the U.S.A. D.V.R. Seshadri is Visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India. We gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions of Infosys executives and managers in providing case information. CASE QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS 1. LookingRead MoreCase Infosys13356 Words   |  54 Pagesineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, e-mail the Case Writing Office at: cwo@gsb.stanford.edu or write: Case Writing Office, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet

Gawain And Green Knight Essay Example For Students

Gawain And Green Knight Essay What is Sir Gawains true personality like? Sir Gawain has two sides to hispersonality. The first side to Sir Gawains personality is the way in whicheveryone else expects him to be. Sir Gawain has a certain honor to uphold as thenoblest knight of the Round Table. Sir Gawain is expected to be chilvarous bybeing courageous, loyal, honest, courteous, the best at everything in which heattempts, and have a strong will to resist temptations of evil nature. Everyonebelieves Sir Gawain to be the perfect epitome of the knights. The way that SirGawain shows his courage and nobility is by accepting the challenge given to theknights of the Round Table by the Green Knight. Gawain accepts this challenge torelease King Arthur. King Arthur was faced with the challenge and humilitybecause there was no response to the challenge from the knights before SirGawain accepted. Sir Gawain also shows his loyalty and honesty by upholding hisend of the challenge and making the journey to find the Green Knight and takehis return blow of death from the axe. The second side to Sir Gawainspersonality is the way that he is actually proven to be. When Sir Gawain istested by fate he reveals that he is just as human as anyone else andshouldnt be put on such a high pedestal of heroics. Sir Gawain isnt ashonest and courageous as everyone believes him to be. Sir Gawain proves himselfto be imperfect. The way that Sir Gawain shows his imperfections is when hesuccumbs to Bercilaks wifes advances. Sir Gawain accepts the green girdlefrom her and doesnt tell Bercilak. Sir Gawain is breaking a pact between himand Bercilak and lies to him by omitting the gift from his gains won on thatday. Sir Gawain shows another flaw when he shrinks away from the GreenKnights first attempted stroke from the axe. Sir Gawain feigns a cheerfulface but deep down he is full of fear that wasnt expected from such a nobleknight. In conclusion, Sir Gawain is not the perfect knight even though hestrives his best to be. Through the Green Knights tests, Sir Gawain is provento be just as human as anyone else is. The other knights of the Round Tableforgive him for not being absolutely perfect and learn from his mistakes and howhe upholds his chilvaric code. Even though Sir Gawain is proven to be human, heis still in the end a courageous and noble knight. Baldesar Castiglione: TheBook of the Courtier Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince Does everyones idealleader have the same qualities and talents? How do Baldesar Castiglionescourtier compare to Niccolo Machiavellis prince? The courtier and the princehave many similar qualities, but they also have some different qualities thatset them apart. The courtier and the prince are similar in their roles ofleadership. They should both be strong leaders with good reputations. Bothshould have virtuous qualities and seem compassionate and not cruel. Both shouldalso be very intelligent in the qualifications of their positions and how tostay in control of their people. The prince should have a stronger militarybackground and greater control over others than the courtier who doesntcontrol as many people. The prince and the courtier are very different in theiraspect of how others perceive them and the way that they actually are. Theprince should have virtuous qualities, but only to use them to his betterment.This keeps the prince from being marked as virtuous which can only bring himblame or shame. .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .postImageUrl , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:visited , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:active { border:0!important; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:active , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Princely Courts of the Early Renaissance Essay The prince should be thought compassionate and not cruel to gainrespect and be feared to stay in control of his people. On the other hand, thecourtier should show compassion for others and be bold, strong, and loyal towhomever he serves. The courtier should be bold and stern among the enemy butgentle, modest, and reserved with his kinsmen. The courtiers day is expectedto have all of the hours filled with honorable and pleasant exercises designedfor the body and the mind. These exercises are for the courtier to stay incontrol and have the respect of his people. The prince uses wit and trickery tostay in control of his people. In conclusion, both the prince and the courtiershould seem to have the same qualities and talents to everyone else. The princeuses his trickery to stay in control, but the courtier uses his born talent andhard work from his exercises to stay in control. Each man is an ideal leader,but the courtier is a more down to earth leader. The courtiers qualities arelike an updated version of the typical Renaissance man. The courtiersqualities are easier to achieve, because they are more like natural humantraits. The courtiers qualifications are not as far-fetched as theprinces.

Commercial Law Aldi Supermarkets

Question: Discuss about the Commercial Lawfor Aldi Supermarkets. Answer: Introduction In the present case, the issue is if Tamara can sue Aldi supermarkets in negligence as C. had suffered any injury when she slipped on puddle of ice cream on the floor and broke her back. As a result of this injury, Tamara had to spend many months in hospital and the general damages alone exceeded $700,000. Therefore, now Tamara wants to know if she can successfully sue Aldi supermarkets in negligence. On the other hand, it has to be seen if a difference is available to Aldi supermarkets if it can establish that the supermarket aisles are inspected by a staff member and any spillage is cleaned every 40 minutes. In order to decide this issue, the general principles related with lock negligence have to be discussed and seen if the all the necessary elements of negligence can be established by Tamara. In case where one person has a duty of care towards the other, negligence can be described as doing something or the failure to do something that would be done by some other reasonable person and due to which an injury or damage has been caused to the other person. The provisions of Civil Liability Act are used to decide the presence of negligence and the liability faced by them due to their negligent acts. If a person is going to sue another in negligence, the person seeks financial compensation for the damage suffered by it. In such a case, the purpose is to put the person in the same place in which he or she would have been if the negligence would not have taken place. In order to decide if negligence has taken place or not, it has to be seen if the below mentioned poor questions are satisfied or not. Hence, it has to be considered if the defendant had a duty of care towards the plaintiff, if this duty was violated by the defendant, if an injury has been suffered by the plaintiff and if such injury or the damage experienced by the plaintiff was the direct consequence of this contravention of duty on part of the defendant. The law provides that all the above mentioned factors should be satisfied. On the other hand if any one of these factors is not satisfied, then it cannot be established by the plaintiff that there was negligence on the part of the defendant. In such a case, it needs to be considered what they don't duty of care means. In this context, duty of care is the legal obligation according to which a person is required to evade causing damage to others. Such a duty arises when the harm is reasonably foreseeable in case reasonable care is not exercised. In this regard, it is also required that are sufficient relationship of closeness (proximity) should also be present between the two persons so that it can be said that the duty of care exists on part of the defendant. For example, drivers have a duty of care towards the other road users and such duty is also present in case of the relationship between a doctor and patient. The Civil Liability Act has imposed certain qualifications on the duty of care, like food donors and good Samaritans. The next requirement is to see if there is a violation of this duty. For evaluating if the duty has been violated, first of all the court will consider the standard of care that is applicable in a particular case under the circumstances. This standard of care needs to be determined by taking into consideration what would have been done by some other reasonable person in like conditions. If the defendant had acted unreasonably or if the actions of the defendant were well below the standard that can be expected in such a case, it can be said that the duty has been broken by the defendant. It is also required that the injury/damage experienced by the plaintiff should be caused by the breach of the duty of care. While in some cases, it can be easily stated that the breach of duty was the obvious cause of the injury. For example when a person had fallen on the wet floor, a clear connection exists between the wet floor and the injury that has been suffered by such a person. On the other hand, in some cases it may be difficult to decide the exec cause of the injury. For instance, there can be more than one event that may have caused the injury. In the present case, Tamara knew that her favorite brand of chocolate was only available at Aldi supermarkets. Therefore, when one day she saw that only one chocolate bar was left for sale at the far end of the confectionary aisle of the local Aldi supermarket, she starts to run towards it. When another shopper appears, Tamara starts to run even quickly. But when she reached for the chocolate bar, there was a puddle of ice cream on the floor. Consequently, Tamara slipped on it and fell on the floor. She broke her back. On the basis of the principles of negligence that have been mentioned above, it can be said in this case that Aldi supermarket had a duty of care towards all the persons who visited the store. In this case it is clear that this duty has been violated by the defendant, Aldi supermarkets when they failed to clean the floor immediately. As a result of this breach of duty, Tamara had suffered an injury and this injury was the direct result of the breach of duty by Aldi sup ermarkets. Even if Aldi supermarkets establishes that a staff member cleaned the spillage every 40 minutes, the supermarket will be liable to Tamara for the loss suffered by her including the general damages of more than $700,000. References Deakin, Simon; Angus Johnston; Basil Markesinis (2003) Markesinis and Deakin's Tort Law, Oxford University Press Kujinga, Benjamin (2009). "Reasonable Care And Skill The Modern Scope Of The Auditor's Duty". GAA Accounting Tomasic, Roman; Bottomley, Stephen; McQueen, Rob (2002) Audits and Auditors Corporations Law in Australia, Federation Press Case Law Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Grant v Australian Knitting Mills (1933) 50 CLR 387 Shaddock Associates v Parramatta City Council (1981) 150 CLR 225 Wyong Shire Council v Short (1980) 146 CLR 40

House of Quality Essay Example

House of Quality Paper The House of Quality by John R. Hauser and Don Clausing Harvard Business Review Reprint Design is a team effort, but how do marketing and engineering talk to each other? Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, ATT, and ITT are getting started with it. Ford and General Motors use it at Ford alone there are more than 50 applications. The house of quality, the basic design tool of the management approach known as quality function deployment (QFD), originated in 1972 at Mitsubishis Kobe shipyard site. Toyota and its suppliers then developed it in numerous ways. The house of quality has been used successfully by Japanese manufacturers of consumer electronics, home appliances, clothing, integrated circuits, synthetic rubber, construction equipment, and agricultural engines. Japanese designers use it for services like swimming schools and retail outlets and even for planning apartment layouts. A set of planning and communication routines, quality function deployment focuses and coordinates skills within an organization, first to design, then to manufacture and market goods that cus HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW May-June 1988 tomers want to purchase and will continue to purchase. The foundation of the house f quality is the belief that products should be designed to reflect customers desires and tastes so marketing people, design engineers, and manufacturing staff must work closely together from the time a product is first conceived. The house of quality is a kind of conceptual map that provides the means for interfunctional planning and communications. People with different John R. Hauser, at the Harvard Business School as a Marvin Bower Sloan School of Management. He is the author, with Glen L. Urban, of Design Marketing of New Products (Prentice-Hall, 1980). We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Don Clausing is Bernard M. Gordon Adjunct Professor of Engineering Innovation and Practice at MIT. Previously he worked for Xerox Corporation. He introduced QFD to Ford and its supplier companies in 1984. Copyright 1988 by the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. HOUSE OF QUALITY Whats So Hard About Design David Garvin points out that there are many dimensions to what a consumer means by quality and that it is a major challenge to design products that satisfy all of these at once. l Strategic quality management means more than avoiding repairs for consumers. It means that companies learn from customer experience and econcile what they want with what engineers can reasonably build. Before the industrial revolution, producers were close to their customers. Marketing, engineering, and manufacturing were integrated in the same individual. If a knight wanted armor, he talked directly to the armorer, who translated the knights desires into a product. The two might discuss the material plate rather than chain armor and details like fluted surfaces for greater bending strength. Then the armorer would design the production process. For strength who knows why? he cooled the steel plates in the urine of a black goat. As for a production plan, he arose with the cocks crow to light the forge fire so that it would be hot enough by midday. Todays fiefdoms are mainly inside corporations. Marketing people have their domain, engineers theirs. Customer surveys will find their way onto designers desks, and RD plans reach manufacturing engineers. But usually, managerial functions remain disconnected, producing a costly and demor- alizing environment in which product quality and the quality of the production process itself suffer. Top executives are learning that the use of interfunctional teams benefits design. But f top management could get marketing, designing, and manufacturing executives to sit down together, what should these people talk about? How could they get their meeting off the ground? This is where the house of quality comes in. Consider the location of an emergency brake lever in one American sporty car. Placing it on the guaranteed that women in skirts could not get in and out gracefully. Even if EXHIBIT II Japanese automaker with QFD made fewer changes than U. S. company without QFD U. S. ompany Design changes problems and responsibilities can thrash out design priorities while referring to patterns of evidence on the houses grid. Japanese company of total Japanese changes complete 20-24 Months 14_17 1-3 +3 Months Job #1 Months EXHIBIT I Startup and preproduction costs at Toyota Auto Body before and after QFD January 1977 pre QED April 1984 post QED (39% of pre QFD costs) Preproduction costs S tartup costs Source for Exhibits I and II: Lawrence P. Sullivan, Quality Function Deployment, Reprinted by permission. the system were to last a lifetime, would it satisfy customers? In contrast, Toyota improved its rust prevention record from one of the worst in the world to one of the best by coordinating design and production decisions to focus on this customer oncern. Using the house of quality, designers broke down body durability into 53 items covering everything from climate to modes of operation. They obtained customer evaluations and ran experiments on nearly every detail of production, from pump operation to temperature control and coating composition. Decisions on sheet metal details, coating materials, and baking temperatures were all focused on those aspects of rust prevention most important to customers. . David A. Garvin, Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality, HBR November- December 1987, p. 101 . 4 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Today, with marketing tech EXHIBIT III iques so much more sophisticated than ever before, compacustomer attributes and bundles of CAS nies can measure, track, and for a car door compare customers perceptions PRIMARY SECOND ARY TERTIARY of products with remarkable acEasy to close from outside curacy; all companies have opStays open on a hill Easy to open from outside EASY TO OPEN portunities to compete on quali AND CLOSE DOOR Doesnt kick back ty. And costs certainly Justify an Easy to close from inside emphasis on quality design. By Easy to open from inside looking first at customer needs, Doesnt leak in rain then designing across corporate No road noise and use Doesnt leak in car wash functions, manufacturers can rel SOLATlON No wind noise duce prelaunch time and afterDoesnt drip water or snow when open Doesnt rattle launch tinkering. Exhibit I compares startup and Soft, comfortable ARM REST In right position preproduction costs at Toyota Auto Body 1977, before QFD, Material wont fade INTERIOR TRIM Attractive (nonplastic look) to those costs in 1984, when QFD was well under way. House of CLEAN Good appearance Easy to clean No grease from door quality meetings early on reduced costs by more than 60%. Uniform gaps between matching panels Exhibit II reinforces this evidence by comparing the number f design changes at a Japanese auto manufacturer noise. Some Japanese companies simply place using QFD with changes at a U. S. automaker. The their products in public areas and encourage potenJapanese design was essentially frozen before the tial customers to examine them, while design team first car came off the assembly line, while the U. S. embers listen and note what people say. Usually, however, more formal market research is called for, company was still revamping months later. via focus groups, in-depth qualitative interviews, and other techniques. Building the House CAS are often grouped into bundles of attributes hat represent an overall customer concern, like There is nothing mysterious about the house of open-close or isolation. The Toyota rustquality. Th ere is nothing particularly difficult prevention study used eight levels of bundles to get from the total car down to the car body. Usually the used to its conventions. Eventually ones eye can project team groups CAS by consensus, but some bounce knowingly around the house as it would over a road-map or a navigation chart. We have seen companies are experimenting with state-of-the-art research techniques that derive groupings directly some applications that started with more than 100 rom customers responses (and thus avoid argucustomer requirements and more than 130 engiments in team meetings). neering considerations. A fraction of one subchart, CAS are generally reproduced in the customers in this case for the door of an automobile, illusown words. Experienced users of the house of qualitrates the houses basic concept well. Weve reproty try to preserve customers phrases and even duced this subchart portion in the illustration clich? ©s knowing that they will be translated siHouse of Quality, and well discuss each section multaneously by product planners, design engistep-by-step. eers, manufacturing engineers, and salespeople. Of course, this raises the problem of interpretation: What do customers want? The house of quality What does a customer really mean by quiet or begins with the customer, whose requirements are easy? Still, designers words and inferences may called customer attributes (CAs) phrases cuscorrespond even less to customers actual views tomers use to describe products and product charand can therefore mislead teams into tackling probacteristics (see Exhibit Ill). Weve listed a few here; lems customers consider unimportant. a typical application would have 30 to 100 CAs. A Not all customers are end users, by the way. CAS car door is easy to close or stays open on a hill; can include the demands of regulators (safe in a doesnt leak in rain or allows no (or little) road HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 5 EXHIBIT Relative-importance weights of customer attributes BUNDLES RELATIVE IMPORTANCE AND CLOSE DOOR Easy to close from outside Stays open on a hill 7 ISOLATION Doesnt leak in rain 3 2 A complete list totals 100% side collision), the needs of retailers (easy to display), the requirements of vendors (satisfy assembly and service organizations), and so forth. Are all preferences qually important? Imagine a good door, one that is easy to close and has power windows that operate quickly. There is a problem, however. Rapid operation calls for a bigger motor, which makes the door heavier and, possibly, harder to close. Sometimes a creative solution can be found that satisfies all needs. Usually, however, designers have to trade off one benefit against another. To bring the customers voice to such deliberations, house of quality measures the relative importance to the customer of all CAs. Weightings are based on team members direct experience with customers or on surveys. Some innovative usinesses are using statistical techniques that allow customers to state their preferences with respect to existing and hypothetical products. Other companies use revealed preference techniques, which Judge consumer tastes by their actions as well as by their words an approach that is more expensive and difficult to perform but yields more accurate answers. (Consumers say that avoiding sugar in cereals is important, but do their actions reflect their claims? ) Weightings are displayed in the house next to list totaling 100% (see Exhibit V). Will delivering perceived needs yield a competitive advantage? Companies that want o match or exceed their competition must first know where they stand relative to it. So on the right side of the house, opposite the CAs, we list customer evaluations of competitive cars matched to our own (see Exhibit V). Ideally, these evaluations are based on scientific surveys of customers. If various customer segments 6 evaluate products differently luxury vs. economy car buyers, for example product-planning team members get assessments for each segment. Comparison with the competition, of course, can identify opportunities for improvement. Take our car door, for example. With respect to stays open on hill, every car is weak, so we could gain an advantage here. But if we looked at no road noise for the same automobiles, we would see that we already have an advantage, which is important to maintain. Marketing professionals will recognize the righthand side of Exhibit V as a perceptual map. Perceptual maps based on bundles of CAS are often used to identify strategic positioning of a product or product line. This section of the house of quality provides a natural link from product concept to a companys strategic vision. How can we change the product? The marketing domain tells us what to do, the engineering domain ells us how to do it. Now we need to describe the product in the language of the engineer. Along the top of the house of quality, the design team lists those engineering characteristics (ECs) that are likely to affect one or more of the customer attributes (see Exhibit VI). The negative sign on energy to close door means engineers hope to reduce the energy required. If a standard engineering characteristic affects no CA, it may be redundant to the EC list on the house, or the team may have missed a customer attribute. A CA unaffected by any EC, on the other hand, presents opportunities to expand a ars physical properties. Any EC may affect more than one CA. The resistance of the door seal affects three of the four customer attributes shown in Exhibit VI and others shown later. Engineering characteristics should describe the product in measurable terms and should directly affect customer perceptions. The weight of the door will be felt by the customer and is therefore a relevant EC. By contrast, the thickness of the sheet metal is a part characteristic that the customer is only by influencing the weight of the door and other engineering characteristics, like resistance to deformation in a crash. In many Japanese projects, the interfunctional team begins with the CAS and generates measurable characteristics for each, like foot-pounds of energy required to close the door. Teams should avoid ambiguity in interpretation of ECS or hasty Justification of current quality control measurement practices. This is a time for systematic, patient analysis of each characteristic, for brainstorming. Vagueness will eventually yield indifference to things customers need. Characteristics that are trivial will make the team lose sight of the overall design and stifle creativity. EXHIBIT V Customers evaluations of competitive products CUSTOMER ATTRIBUTES Worst 1 CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS 5 Best How much do engineers influEASY TO OPEN Easy to close from outside 7 AND CLOSE ence customer-perceived qualiDOOR ties? The interfunctional team now fills in the body of the house, the relationship matrix, indicating how much each engineering characteristic affects each customer OUR CAR DOOR attribute. The team seeks consenCOMPETlTOR AS sus on these evaluations, basing COMPETITOR BS them on expert engineering experience, customer responses, and tabulated data from statistical studies or controlled experiments. course, there might be an entirely new mechanism The team uses numbers or symbols to establish that improves all relevant CAs. Engineering is crethe strength of these relationships (see Exhibit VI). tive solutions and a balancing of objectives. Any symbols will do; the idea is to choose those The house of qualitys distinctive roof matrix that work best. Some teams use red symbols for rehelps engineers specify the various engineering fealationships based on experiments and statistics and tures that have to be improved collaterally (see Expencil marks for relationships based on judgment hibit X). To improve the window motor, you may or intuition. Others use numbers from statistical ave to improve the hinges, weather stripping, and studies. In our house, we use check marks for posia range of other ECs. tive and crosses for negative relationships. Sometimes one targeted feature impairs so many Once the team has identified the voice of the cusothers that the team decides to leave it alone. The tomer and linked it to engineering characteristics, roof matrix also facilitates necessary engineering it adds objective measures at the bottom of the trade-offs. The foot-pounds of energy needed to house beneath the ECS to which they pertain (see close the door, for example, are shown in negative Exhibit VI). When objective measures are known, relation to door seal resistance and road noise the team can eventually move to establish target reduction. In many ways, the roof contains the values ideal new measures for each EC in a remost critical information for engineers because designed product. If the team did its homework they use it to balance the trade-offs when addresswhen it first identified the ECs, tests to measure ing customer benefits. benchmark values should be easy to complete. Enlncidentally, we have been talking so far about gineers determine the relevant units of measurethe basics, but design

Female Circumsicion Essays - Female Genital Mutilation, Free Essays

Female Circumsicion Essays - Female Genital Mutilation, Free Essays Female Circumsicion CULTURE OR TORTURE? Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is an ugly monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. It can attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding a knife. Usually, it is performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of pregnancy (Samad, 52). Women that have gone beyond the primary level of education are much less likely to fall victim to the tradition (Men's..., 34). The average victim is illiterate and living in a poverty-stricken community where people face hunger, bad health, over-working, and unclean water (Female..., 1714). This, however, is not always the case. As one can see in the following story of Soraya Mire, social classes create no real barriers. Soraya Mire, a 13-year-old from Mogadishu, Somolia, never knew what would happen to her the day her mother ca lled her out of her room to go buy her some gifts. When asked why, her mother replied, I just want to show you how much I love you. As Soraya got into the car, she wondered where the armed guards were. Being the daughter of a Somolian general, she was always escorted by guards. Despite her mother's promise of gifts, they did not stop at a store, but at a doctor's home. This is your special day, Soraya's mother said. Now you are to become a woman, an important woman. She was ushered into the house and strapped down to an operating table. A local anesthetic was given but it barely blunted the pain as the doctor performed the circumcision. Soraya was sent home an hour later. Soraya broke from her culture's confining bonds at the age of 18 by running away from an abusive arranged marriage. -2- In Switzerland, she was put in a hospital emergency room with severe menstrual cramps because of the operation. Seven months later, the doctor performed reconstructive surgery on her. Now in the U.S., Soraya is a leading spokeswoman against FGM (Bell, 58). In addition to being active in the fight against FGM, she is an American filmmaker. She has come a long way. Being well educated about the facts of FGM also brings to light the ugly truth. It is happening on American soil, insists Soraya. Mutilations are occurring every day among innigrants and refugees in the U.S. (Brownlee, 57). Immigrants have also brought the horrifying practice to Europe, Australia, and Canada (McCarthy, 14). Normally, it is practiced in North and Central Africa (Men's..., 34), the Middle East, and Muslim populations of Indonesia and Malaysia (Female..., 1714). Although it seems to have taken root in Muslim and African Christian religions, there is no Koranic or Biblical backing for FGM (Men's..., 34). Many ti mes female circumcision is treated as a religion in itself. It can be a sacred ritual meant to be kept secret forever. As a woman told poet Mariama Barrie, You are about to enter Society sic}, and you must never reveal the ritual that is about to take place. (Barrie, 54). The ritualistic version of FGM is much more barbaric than the sterile doctor's world that Soraya Mire passed through. Mariama Barrie had to endure the most severe form of FGM at the tender age of ten. Mariama's torture is known as infibulation. There is also excision and sunna. Infibulation consists of the removal of the entire clitoris, the whole of the labia minora and up to 2/3 of the labia majora. The sides of the vulva are sewn or held together by long thorns. A small opening the size of the tip of a matchstick is left for the -3- passage of menstrual blood and urine. Excision is a clitoridectomy and sometimes the removal of the labia minora; Sunna is the only type that can truthfully be called circumcision. It is a subtotal clitoridectomy (Female..., 1714). To put this in perspective, infibulation would be like cutting off a man's penis completely, cutting the testicles to the groin, and making a hole in them to have the semen siphoned

Insurance Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Insurance Model - Essay Example The consumers have standard preferences defined over consumption. If P is the probability of the loss, then the consumers expected utility is: Thus, we can have the following indifference curve: It is simple to show that this leads to negatively sloped convex indifference curves. The slope of the indifference curves are: The high risk and low risk groups differ in their probabilities of incurring the loss. The probability of accident of an individual consumer belonging to the high risk group is PH and that of one belonging to the low risk group is PL, where PH> PL. Figure 1 below shows the indifference curves for a particular utility level for representative agents from the two groups. Observe that since PH> PL the indifference curves for the high risk type will have flatter slopes (less negative). Figure 1: Indifference curves for the high risk and the low risk consumers The monopolist The monopolist’s objective is to maximize its expected profits or alternatively minimize it s expected costs by trading with the consumer. The monopolist offers a pair of contingent claims (G,B) which realize in the good (No loss) and bad (loss) states in return for the consumers initial endowment. The expected costs of the monopolist are equal to: We can form the Iso-cost function for the monopolist as follows: Evidently, these are straight lines with a slope of . Observe that since PH> PL the Iso-cost line for the high risk type will have a flatter slope (less negative). Thus, the iso-cost lines for the High risk type and the low risk type can be drawn as follows: Figure 2: The iso-cost lines for the monopolist insurer for high risk and low risk contracts – C(H) represents the iso cost line for the high risk types and C(L) represents the isocost line for the low risk type. The separating equilibrium under asymmetric information Recall that asymmetric information is a situation where one or some of the players of the game have private information. In the present co ntext the asymmetric information is manifested in the form of consumers having private information since they know whether they belong to high risk or low risk groups. The firm does not know any particular agents type. However, the monopolist is perfectly aware of the exact probability distribution of consumer types. A separating equilibrium in the present context would be one where the high risk types choose a contract that is different from the contract chosen by the low risk types. The monopolist firm’s objective is to minimize its costs subject to the participation constraint or the individual rationality constraint and the incentive compatibility constraint of the consumer. The participation constraint requires that the contract offered by the firm provides him at least as much expected utility as the consumer’s initial endowment. This implies that for any consumer to accept the firms offer, the contract has to lie on or above the indifference curve through the in itial endowment. The incentive compatibility constraint on the other hand requires that consumers of either type do not find it beneficial to accept the contract devised for the other type. It is essentially the satisfaction of this constraint that leads to the separating equilibrium. In terms of indifference curves, the incentive compatibility constraint requires that the contract for the high type lies on or below the low types indifference curve