Problem Solving for Yoga Teacher

What is a problem? A problem is a situation in which there is a goal, but it is not clear how to reach the goal. Main Problems faced by a Yoga teacher: 1. Classes with only a few students Yoga teachers may sometimes teach a small class, maybe less than 5 students, here brings a great challenge to a yoga teacher since you need to build up a good connection with your students to really look into the needs of each of the students rather than in generalized terms. This takes time for you to know more about each of his/her students. 2. Teaching classes in different locationsBeing a yoga teacher, you may have to work in different locations for each class, this will involve a high travelling cost and frustration. 3. Problems on marketing your classes and workshops This is essential for you to be an effective marketer in order to grow your business. Even you are working in a large yoga school providing all the marketing collateral for you, you still have to clearly articulate. If you are not working in such a large company, you must be able to answer a question â€Å"Why students should chose you but not these in the large yoga school? 4. Not enough time to practice yoga for own self Many people may have a misunderstanding that when a yoga teacher is teaching yoga, he/she is practicing yoga as well, however, this is not true, and the yoga you are teaching in a class is never the one you are practicing on your own. You may find that you don’t have enough time to practice yoga. 5. Managing illness and scheduled day-off You must have a clear concept that if you don’t teach, you won’t be paid. This is very important to have a good time management on your working schedule. 6.Thinking yourself is not good enough Teaching yoga is an on-going process, sometimes you may face a situation that the way you are teaching is unfamiliar with your colleague. This may make you think you are not better than the others. Lack of confidence in own teaching style is a b ig problem in teaching yoga. 7. A class with students in different cultures Sometimes a yoga class may not only have local students, but also students from all over the world. This may lead to a communication problem to these from other countries. Strategies to solve problemsHeuristic – Heuristic is a strategy in thinking under uncertainty. It is a solution strategy based on past experiences. Thinking with heuristic will give a quick answer, it may, however, lead an incorrect answer or even no answer, as past experiences may not be exactly the same to the current situation. Algorithm – Algorithm is a step by step problem solving procedure that guarantees a correct answer to a problem. Which Strategy should be chosen as being a yoga teacher? The answer is Heuristic. Although algorithm guarantees a correct, this is very time-consuming.The most important thing is the problem you faced in being a yoga teacher is not a simple mathematics question with an exact answer. For e xample, you are facing a class with on more than 5 students, which teaching methods should be used? In this situation, you even have no time to take a step and step procedure to solve the problem, a quick action must be done! Also, there is no exactly correct answer to you which methods must be better, this is based on your past experience. To know more about your problem solving styles!There are two kinds of problem solving styles: Representativeness Heuristic and Availability Heuristic Representativeness Heuristic is a heuristic for judging the probability of membership in a category by how well an object resembles (is representative of) that category. In general, the representativeness heuristic leads to a bias toward the belief that causes and effects will resemble one another. Availability Heuristic is a phenomenon in which people predict the frequency of an event, or a proportion within a population, based on how easily an example can be brought to mind.An event may be promine nt in our memories because it happened recently or because it is particularly striking or vivid. Questions: Which kinds of problem solving styles you are using Situation 1: When you are teaching a class with foreigners, let says students from USA, they are very aggressive and always ask a lots of questions, so you assume all the students from USA have that kind of culture. Next time when you teach USA students, you refer to your past experience to apply in this situation. Ans: Representativeness Heuristic Situation 2:

Sketches by Boz – Charles Dickens

Sketches by Boz â€Å"The Streets – Morning† The Victorian London streets is a familiar setting of Dicken's works with â€Å"Oliver Twist† and â€Å"A Christmas Carol† being some his most memorable works. In this passage Dickens offers the reader an alternative London, one without the energetic crowds but instead a much more disquieting place where the streets are dull and lifeless. We are met with a silent neighbourhood before the sun has risen and through the use of characters, setting and comparisons the reader receives a rich picture of the sunless streets.The passage begins with the introduction of the Victorian London scene on a summer morning. The reader is taken by surprise by the opening sentence where â€Å"The streets of London on a summer's morning† are described to be â€Å"most striking†. Dickens' interesting choice of words places the pre-dawn London scene in the summer, a time of warmth and sun, however we are offered a ninete enth century London that is typically portrayed with a bleak, grey backdrop.Few people roam this neighbourhood apart from those â€Å"whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of business, cause them to be well acquainted with the scene. † This leads to the belief that each summer's morning starts off like this, colourless and melancholy; the people who happen to be awake at this dreary hour are the rogues who remain. Each just as depressed as the other, and both's search for something more than the blind acceptance of a morose existence the cause of their endurance of this sad atmosphere.It is quiet with â€Å"an air of cold solitary, desolation about the noiseless streets† and the buildings are â€Å"quiet† and â€Å"closely-shut†. It is empty and through the buildings it is shown how lifeless the location is with everything closed off from the outside world, preventing any chance of exposure to the dismal air. Throug hout the day the roads are â€Å"swarming with life and bustle† the comparison of their appearance early in the morning is â€Å"very impressive†.The impression that they leave is one of sadness, something that one who has observed the area at each time will remember due to the vast differences. Dickens shows that this time of day is for the most unruly of people with the impoverished clearing out of the neighbourhood and â€Å"the more sober and orderly part of the population† not yet awakened. Emphasis is put on how miserable the roads are at predawn to the point they are practically uninhabitable, except by those with nowhere else to go.Dickens draws attention to the places where there would typically be masses of people; â€Å"The coach-stands in the larger thoroughfares are deserted; the night-houses are closed; and the chosen promenades of profligate misery are empty. † This creates an image of ghostlike platforms and buildings, usually brimming wit h life and movement during the day, now empty with even the degenerates tucked away. Despite the forbidding, dead mood that permeates throughout the area, the weather is still warm and humid; â€Å"a partially opened bedroom-window here and there, bespeaks the heat of the weather†.Through the hot weather, the atmosphere becomes tense and heavy, and with this tension there is â€Å"sickness† and the â€Å"uneasy† which contributes a feeling of claustrophobia to the passage, making the reader feel the discomfort of the scene. The Victorian London presented to the reader by Dickens is a grim and deserted place where few dare to walk the streets. The rich description of the scene places great emphasis on the lack on habitation and the grey city, and the depression within it before the sun rises.Dickens' use of language in this piece is memorable for his emphasis on several words and phrases, his literary techniques convey the dreariness of the passage and the street scene. The oxymoron of the words â€Å"unfortunate† and â€Å"pleasure† indicates the futility of trying to find happiness on a predawn London street through with the pursuit of pleasure still unpromising. Tautology places extra stress on words with the same meaning such as â€Å"cold, solitary, desolation† conveying to the reader the lonely frigidity of this area of London before sunrise.The awkward juxtaposition at the end of the first paragraph signifies the unease of one in the streets; â€Å"and over the quiet, closely-shut buildings, which throughout the day are swarming with life and bustle, that is very impressive†. With the unusual order of words the reader feels the discomfort that is present in the neighbourhood at this unpleasant time. A play on words with the drunken man who â€Å"staggers heavily along† with â€Å"the burden of the drinking song. † This can translate to the heavy burden of being drunk and having to find one's way home in such state. Dickens' clever phraseology is highly ffective, managing to send the message to the reader with out being too overt, allowing for the text to flow. Alliteration is ever present in the narrative with â€Å"the drunken, the dissipated and the wretched have disappeared† serving as a notable example. The harsh â€Å"D† sounds gives way to the austerity of the streets and slows down the reading of the sentence. Through the placement of â€Å"wretched† in between â€Å"drunken†, â€Å"dissipated† and â€Å"disappeared† focus falls on wretched, thus becoming the strongest word in the sentence to describe the usual patrons within this neighbourhood.Sibilance in the sentence â€Å"the stillness of death is over the streets† evokes the sensation of the silence in the London scene, with the central word â€Å"death† giving it an air of eeriness. The overall colour of the passage is sunless. It begins at predawn bef ore the sun has risen, creating imagery of darkness and changes very little as it progresses eventually leading to the â€Å"grey, sombre light of daybreak† and death is gives it's shade to the streets with â€Å"it's very hue† imparted to them.The colourlessness of the extract links back to the mood of the time, and it's solemn tone with the typical image of nineteenth century London easily visualised. Dickens' style and techniques build up the depression and add discomfort through repetition and the use of sounds and sentence structures, these subtle additions manage to express the solitude on this particular London summer's morning. Recurring themes of loneliness, poverty and vapidity carry the tone of this piece, through these Dickens' communicates the melancholy and dejection faced an hour before sunrise.The loneliness of the streets is continuously referred to with mention of it's situation during the day where it is â€Å"thronged at other times by a busy, eage r, crowd†. By contrasting alternative times Dickens shows the differences between dawn and the day, this relates back to the torpor felt before the sun has risen. When introducing the drunk and the homeless man, they are referred to as â€Å"the last†. The finality of the statement shows that these men are the final remnants of life on the street and when they retire to their hollows then there shall be nothing left but the cold misery.Destitution is conveyed through the â€Å"drunken man† and the â€Å"houseless vagrant†; one who's sorrows has made him look for pleasure in â€Å"the drinking song† and the other whom â€Å"penury and police have left in the streets†. The consonance in â€Å"penury and police† uses the sharp â€Å"P† to place significance on the two things that the beggar would fear the most. There is a pang of sympathy felt for him having to coil â€Å"up his chilly limbs in some paved corner, to dream of food and warmth† and one pities him even more to be left in the dreadful neighbourhood only finding peace when the sun is about to rise.However it further adds to the scene as he has become a part of it. Pre-dawn's remaining occupants are compared with the â€Å"more sober and orderly part of the population† confirming that they are on the lower end of the population, unfit to be seen by the light of day. A lack of life is evident in the location that Dickens illustrates. The â€Å"occasional policeman† is the last man standing, yet he is â€Å"listlessly gazing on the deserted prospect before him† unable to muster up energy to do his duty as he has been so swamped by depression, with no expectations for the rest of the day. A rakish-looking cat runs stealthily across the road†, changing the setting adding a brief flash of excitement. The cat is lively and cunning, he has retained his sense even in this dismal place. When compared with the lethargic polic e man and the uncoordinated drunk his wile is impressive and full of life amongst the somber scene. â€Å"The houses of habitation† present â€Å"no signs of life† another contradiction with even the place where people are living are inanimate.All is silent on this sad poverty stricken street and Dickens makes use of these features to bring out the crippling depression. â€Å"The Streets – Morning† by Charles Dickens presents us with a bleak London scene before dawn overwhelmed with wretchedness and misery. The cold tone and bleak setting described provides the reader with the image of an unhappy place void of any hope for it's inhabitants. Through comparisons and contrast of the lively crowd of the day and the grave souls before the sunrise the reader feels the melancholy of the Victorian street. Ilyana Bell

People Resourcing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

People Resourcing - Coursework Example A contingency plan would have been important for G4S because no matter how well the recruitment was organized and initiated, there were bound to be many variables which can come into play and scupper the process. The contingency plan would have given the company a plan B on all potential disaster scenarios and alternative strategies of how to turn these situations around. When he appeared on Radio 4, Nick Buckles of G4S lacked information regarding details of the recruitment, training and vetting processes. He was not in a position to explain what had gone wrong or confirm a number of issues about the candidates. Communication would have helped to better plan for the whole recruitment process because it was an important contract and controlling the recruitment process can be complex which can benefit from an external perspective. Being an internationally recognized and reputable firm, G4S would have made it a precondition for Wave to ensure that it was involved in the whole process, the reputation of the security firm being at stake. With less than an year and being expected to recruit 8,000 inexperienced staff, the first thing that would need to be done is to ensure have a plan for addressing and managing candidate’s expectations. This will minimize the issue of candidates turning down the offer upon being cleared as successful. G4S faced many such dropouts which affected the recruitment process. In addition, I would address the issue of suitability skills required for the position. The question that many sought answered on the recruited candidates is whether they would speak fluent English, which Buckles could not confirm. Ensuring suitability skills are considered will minimize the issue of having a poor caliber of candidates which will compromise the credibility of the company and the process. Overall, I would ensure that there is a contingency plan to identify issues quickly and speed up the drive to get the perfect candidate

Buyer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Buyer Behaviour - Essay Example By analysing the factors that lead to decision making it is then possible to pre-empt the choices that people make in purchasing products or services. This information is vital for successful marketing. The study is confined to three respondents and to three theories of consumer decision making namely: motivation, values and self/self-identity. The three respondents were interviewed and then asked to complete an evaluation form where they ranked several holiday destinations based on a particular set of criteria. The theories used enable analysis of reasoning, Respondent 1 is a 45-year-old female executive at a pharmaceutical company. She is married to an orthopaedic surgeon and has two children aged 12 and 15. Her job allows her to take two months of the year off, which coincides with school holidays. She enjoys spending time with her children and husband and because of her very demanding work-parenting schedule holidays are an essential part of her life (see Appendix A). Respondent 2 is a 25-year old female. She is unmarried and works as a PR account manager. She does not have any children but has a boyfriend who is working in Japan. They try to see each other at least four times a year. The rest of her family lives in Brazil - her country of origin. Annually, she receives 24 days of leave and often has to supplement with unpaid leave (see Appendix B). Respondent 3 is a 34 year old male computer engineer. He is married but does not have any children. His wife does not work, meaning they only live on his income. Currently, they are savin g to purchase a house. Each year he receives 15 days of leave which is primarily spent vacationing (see Appendix C). 2.2 Rankings Six holiday option sets were given namely: domestic vs. international, backpacking vs. luxury, snow vs. tropical, adventure vs. relaxing, historic vs. contemporary, shopping vs. culinary. Respondents had to rank (6 was very important while 1 was least important) the following factors: cost constraints, time constraints, change in weather, family constraints, adventure and relaxation. Cost

Why men's basketball is better than women's basketball Essay - 3

Why men's basketball is better than women's basketball - Essay Example nt popularity because it was invented before women’s basketball, and this attributed to gaining of numerous fans by the latter compared to the former. In addition, numerous fans watching these games are interested in cheering the best players of the basketball, and it happens that men a good in playing basketball compared to women. Therefore, men’s basketball end up attracting a larger number of fans compared to women’s basketball (Kramer, 1). On the other hand, the notion indicating that men are good at applying various tactics through their talents while playing that the game has made their game is more attractive than women’s are. In this case, this essay will sets out to explore reasons that makes men’s basketball be considered better than women’s basketball. Men’s basketball game has been regarded to be more entertaining than women’s basketball, whereby men tend to be highly talented compared to women. Moreover, numerous people enjoy watching the contemptible dunks and struggles that these men endure to win a game. In fact, men have been identified to play in the upper professional raking perimeter that facilitates employment of various tactics and talents in a way that earns them victory. Furthermore, men’s teams have acquired attention from numerous fans that have a high preference of watching a game played by teams with professional skills (Kramer, 1). Therefore, given that men apply these tactics and their professional skills more than women do, this makes this brings excitement to their game. The mechanics and unique styles applied by men in playing their game have increasingly become attractive to the fans. In this case, men cultivate through the diversity of the athletes and these professional skills more than women do. In fact, men tend to evaluate their immediate situation prior to offering a response (Silverman, 1). There is differentiation between men and women’s styles of learning, which leads to a disparity in the process of

Managerial Finance in a Health Spa Resort Assignment

Managerial Finance in a Health Spa Resort - Assignment Example In the face of looming competition, the company has decided to revamp its operations and in this respect formulate a suitable strategy, taking into account the escalating demand for the services provided by the Health and Beauty sector in the leisure industry, with the aim of sustaining growth and strengthening its market share. â€Å"The method a company uses to expand its business is largely contingent upon its financial situation, the competition and even government regulation. Some common growth strategies in business include market penetration, market expansion, product expansion, diversification and acquisition†. (Suttle, R., 2012) The following important issues have been identified, in connection with the strategies to be evolved, during the discussions at board level. Better marketing and cost reduction exercises could not improve profitability dramatically as the company in these cases cannot push beyond certain limits. The idea of bringing down the debt level, so that the company can plow back the profits generated for investment, is not consistent with the objectives of growth and increasing market share, which calls for new investment. The company needs to think about new strategies to improve profitability and market share. It is in this backdrop, the following strategies have been put forward for consideration after discussion between the board and the management team. This paper seeks to analyze the above strategies and advise the company with regard to the advantages and critical issues related to the strategies put forward and the strategy best suited for the company for achieving its objectives of growth and increase in market share in the long run. It is proposed to acquire the assets of the company New You. Smith, H.T.J. & Moraitis, T. (2009, p.86) state â€Å"The traditional logic of an acquisition is based on inter-assets synergies that are expected to arise when the merged organizations can support activities more proï ¬ tably in combination than they could separately.† New You is a major player in  the industry with a market share of 28% as given in Exhibit 1.  

NIKE CASE STUDY based on Corporate Strategy Essay

NIKE CASE STUDY based on Corporate Strategy - Essay Example By focusing differentition on product, businesses could commnd premium prices for their products. Products represented top-of-the-line offerings in the industry. In this mrket, degree of differentition is not lrge. Nike entrees mrket where competitors cn differentite their products nd tht is why hve less rivlry. Rivlry is reduced where customers hve high switching costs - i.e. there is significnt cost ssocited with the decision to receive products from n lterntive competitor. Nike proposes to its customers competitive prices nd ensure customer stisfction. Nike's min competitor (Dniels et l 2006), dids, follows the strtegy which hs gret impct on competition. The nlysis suggests tht ny superior mtch between compny competencies nd customers needs permits the firm to outperform competitors. In generl, Nike bses its competitive strtegy on overll ledership nd differentition constructing the most efficient fcilities (in terms of scle or technology) nd obtins the lrgest shre of mrket. These dvntges, in turn, give them substntil led in terms of experience with building the service. Experience then leds to more refinements of the entire process of production, delivery, nd service, which leds to further cost reductions. Nike hs mrketble portfolio which ensures its ledership position on the mrket. The study reveled tht Nike does not pursue low-cost strtegies. Within these globl competitive environments, Nike overwhelmingly emphsizes differentition strtegies, where competitive positioning is predominntly bsed on qulity offerings nd brnd imge. Qulity is lmost universlly stressed s necessry determinnt of competitiveness. nother theme evident in the findings is the importnce strtegy-industry fit plys in determining business unit performnce. Here it is recognized tht perceptions of industry pressures my be more importnt thn the ctul pressures in determining strtegies nd hence performnce (Johnson & Scholes 2003). Question 2 In order to improve its strtegies position, Nike should chieve competition dvntge nd re-position itself. The compny cn position itself s premium brnd which proposes exceptionl qulity. While ll businesses my emphsize qulity, some my select strtegy bsed on further differentiting their offerings ccording to the qulity of the products nd services they provide. Indeed, in this study one of the dominnt competitive positioning strtegy types identified is 'high-qulity" (Johnson & Scholes 2003). Here, the emphsis on qulity permetes every ctivity long the vlue chin; qulity is clerly the overriding determinnt of competitive positioning. The exceptionl qulity is crucil for footbll tems nd the 2008 Europen Chmpionship. In this cse, qulity domintes competitive positioning nd differentites businesses in globl scle. Here, qulity is consistent with both innovtion nd speciliztion (Dniels et l 2006). Mngeril perceptions of strong pressures re evidence tht lrge number of businesses competing in globl industries mke imprecise ssessments of globl industry opportunities nd threts. It is possible to ssume tht Nike's competitors will follow cost focus strtegy nd cost differentition. dids, direct competitor of Nike, provides comprble buyer vlue but perform the ctivities less efficiently. In contorts, Nike performs the ctivities in unique wy which rises the vlue to the consumer nd thus llows them to commnd premium price - the

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines Essay

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines - Essay Example A Gathering of Old Men occurs in Marshall Plantation situated in Bayonne Louisiana. The gathering is brought about by the revelations that Beau Baton, the plantations’ work boss, has been brutally murdered at the initial stages of the novel. As a result, she acts quickly and invites everyone staying within the precincts of the plantation. After Miss Merle’s arrival, Candy confesses to her that she was the one who had killed Beau. Merle does not believe her, and together, they decide to bring local men together with their shotguns so that they make it difficult for Sherriff Mapes to solve the crime. All the men arrive with their shotguns and are willing to co-operate. As anticipated, Sheriff Mapes arrive to investigate the crime. The first two people he summons both confess to have commite the crime. Moving to the next person, the sheriff questions Reverend Jameson. The Reverend keeps mum and does not answer him anything. Overwhelmed by anger, the sheriff punches him so hard that he falls to the ground (Gaines 80). The other men watching the scenario reacts to the sheriff’s action and lines up to be slapped too. The sheriff is so amazed by this sense of solidarity and their readiness to confess. He stops questioning them. Charlie’s absence from the men present in Mathu’s homestead is noticeable. This is because he was the one working closely with Beau. However, the sheriff does not pay much attention to his absenteeism since he views him as a weak individual who can not harm any one. His main suspect is Mathu since he has always openly demonstrated his hatred towards the local whites. Therefore, the sheriff believes that Mathu is the only one who can commit the murder (Gillis). On the contrary, he can not make any arrests since he does not have any evidence that links anyone to the murder. Furthermore, more black men come out to confess killing Beau. They claim that they were retaliating the killing of their son for a crime he did not commit, raping of their sisters and the killing of their brothers for no reason. Mapes is compelled to stay at the crime scene since he is confident that Fix, a white man known for lynching blacks will come with his men to avenge Beau’s death (Bryan). As the sheriff, he is bound to stay to maintain law and order. The sheriff strong belief that Mathu could be the murderer prompts him to arrest Mathu. However, before taking him away, Charlie comes to the picture. He confesses that he was the one who killed Beau (Gaines 110). He explains himself that he committed the crime after being threatened by Beau. He also revealed that he had convinced Mathu to take the blame before fleeing. However, he asserts that he had come back to speak the truth and take responsibility of his actions. After revealing his confession, Charlie is arrested by the sheriff. Before they leave Mathu’s compound to the police station, Luke Will and his group of whites arrive demanding Charlie t o be handed over to them for lynching (Attaining manhood). Mapes refuses and they shoot him. On seeing this, the black men immediately withdraw their shot guns and a gruesome battle ensues. The white men did not expect this retaliation and one of them is slightly injured (Attaining manhood). The primary battle takes place between Luke Will and Charlie. The two men strongly fight to finish one another. Eventually, Charlie shoots Luke Will before he is shot. He dies a hero and everyone in the area pays tribute to his dead body. On the other hand, all the individuals involved in the shootout are charged in a court of law and given five years probation each. Analysis The novel, A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines brings out many themes and various

Financial markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial markets - Essay Example So an in-depth analysis has been done to determine if debt or equity will be a good option for raising capital from the market. The data revealed that due to the environment of uncertainty it is better to maintain a portfolio of both debt and equity instruments. The different debt and equity options are discussed in the report so that companies can maintain tradeoff between risk and return and design the financial plans accordingly. ABC is an Australian company listed in Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The company is in service sector and enjoys a high credit rating. It has been found that ABC enjoys sound financial structure as well. At present the company is planning to undertake expansion strategy and for that it has to raise capital. Before finalizing any decision, the management would be interested to evaluate the future of Australian Interest rates in coming months. For determining the future interest rate, a thorough analysis of Australian market needs to be done; taking into consideration all those factors which directly or indirectly influence the interest rate. Emphasis should be given on both domestic as well as international market conditions. This paper will also research to determine the appropriate financing instrument for the company as per the future interest rate condition. The main aim of the management is to develop a balance between cost of capital and risk factors. The research information and data is documented under different section. The first section provides an in-depth analysis of present and future market condition in Australia. The future prospect of interest rate is forecasted undertaking all the factors which influences it. In the second phase a strategy will be developed that helps ABC to finance their business according to the future market scenario and finally in the last section a discussion to support the recommended strategy and how the

Ind.structure of banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ind.structure of banking - Essay Example Some of the financial determinants that bring about financial development are the level of improvement with the quality, quantity and efficiency of financial services provided at an intermediary level (Boyd, De Nicolo and Smith, 2004). The discussion as to whether or not degree of cluster or concentration of banks at a given location brings about financial development continues to go on in literature. Very often, the expectation has been that the market structure should influence competition, which in turn should influence the way the banks should engage in the support of local businesses with financial intermediary services, and thus leading to financial development. Some of these arguments in literature are analysed below. In a study by Boyd and De Nicolo (2005), they observed that with increases in the concentration of the banking sector, there is an induced internal competition among the banks due to the existence of a perfect competition among the banks. The perfect competition existing means to the banks that there is no barrier to new entrants. This also means that they must guide their strategies along the need to maintaining their customers, while and fighting the threat of new entrants (Fama, 2010). Consequently, Boyd and De Nicolo (2005) noted that with increased banking sector concentration, banks are forced to lower deposit interest rates and rather increase loan interest rates. Once this happens, banks are likely to get more customers opening accounts and thus contributing to the overall internal growth of the banks. On the outside also, borrowers are said to be likelier to be engage in more risky projects as a way of covering up for the high loan interest rates. This way, there is lowerin g in the overall level of asset portfolio risk (Boyd and De Nicolo, 2005). Using the case of Caribbean banks, Alleyne and Waithe (2009) noticed that the increase in loan interest

Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis Essay Example for Free

Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis Essay Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis There are plenty of ethical considerations connected to research studies at the SCLOA, for example the right to withdraw, deception, knowledgeable agreement and excessive stress or harm. For example, Festinger’s â€Å"When Prophecy Fails† observation of a doomsday cult has ethical invasions of deception as well as knowledgeable agreement. Festinger and his group of researchers invade a doomsday cult that thought that the world would come to an end on December 21st and aimed to see how they would react when it wouldn’t end. By pretending to be one of them, Festinger violated the ethical thought of asking for their authorization and consequently, since it was a secret observation, he also cheated them. They were incredibly upset when he said who he really was; to be an undercover researcher. It is most likely that Festinger would not have been able to earn a full understanding of the cult’s behaviour and how it played into the social recognise theory if he had not cheated them, as he was observing them on their normal day without any effects influencing their behaviour. However, he cheated on ethics. This is a matter with other observations at this level of analysis as being secret that tricks them and is unethical if they aren’t in a public place, during undisguised influences their natural behaviour that is precisely what you are trying to study. Milgram’s study on people’s willingness to do authority also is an invasion of ethics in terms of cheating, but also with excessive stress or harm and even the right to withdraw. Members that participated were asked to ask a number of questions to someone they were only able to hear and to give a number of electric shocks every time the other person, who was normally only a tape recording, would give an answer to the question incorrectly. The voltage of the shock would be increased per incorrect answer. Although the members that  participated delivering the shocks weren’t able to actually hurt someone, they still became more and more stressed every time the person on the reco rding would sound more hurt or even stop saying something. The whole point of this experiment was to be able to see how far someone would go when carry out authority so some people, when forced by a calm researcher, would deliver shocks that were marked as lethal. When the experiment was over, the people who had done it all the way to the strongest shocks were questioned and told that they hadn’t actually harmed anyone. Nonetheless, they were still tricked and were stressed by the cries of pain or silence that showed that the person was dead. Moreover, the long-term effects of this study on the members that participated, is that they know that they are capable of hurting someone or even killing them, which may traumatize them. Nonetheless, the experiment was controlled, and so was artificial and lacked ecological acceptance. Also, it was done on other people who had sound like they had mental health problems, so this experiment can be easily generalized and used for the SCLOA as it studies how others influence one’s behaviour. As mentioned before, however, Milgram had some problems with the right to pull back, which Zimbardo’s â€Å"Prison Study† also had. Milgram made it able for people to leave if they became uncomfortable; nonetheless, his aim for this study made him to become more uncertain and made them continuously to stay. This is not the case with Zimbardo’s study. In his study, he randomly chose mentally healthy members that participated to the role of a prison guard or a prisoner to search the role of dispositional and situational factors in behaviour. Nonetheless, over the course of this study, Zimbardo and his members that participated became so involved in their roles that they were made to that not only the prisoners were humiliated, physically punished and felt violated and in danger, at some moments they were forcedly undressed and given a piece of clothing that covered little of their private parts; however, they weren’t able to be let out of the study. Only one member that participated with the role of a prisoner was released because of a severe state, but the others members that participated who screamed and cried to be released, couldn’t be released. On top of the excessive stress and harm inflicted on the prisoners and   guards, who might have been traumatized by their actions during this study, none of them could leave the experiment. The researcher was not Zimbardo himself, he became absorbed in his own role as the prison officer, and consequently he is biased when analysing his own study. Overall, this was an unethical study, even though; fortunately the members that participated were questioned and offered psychological counselling because of the long-term effects. It is obvious that deception, knowledgeable agreement, the right to withdraw and undue excessive stress or harm are ethical considerations at the SCLOA. It is frequently hard to keep away of such ethical violations at this level, though, as in order to study someones behaviour and how we are influenced by others in their natural state, the existence of a researcher may affect this behaviour. Therefore, questioning is important in sensitive ethically risky studies such as Festinger’s, Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s studies. However, when studying someone’s behaviour, a researcher must stay a secret, for example, not becoming affected by the group, and keep paying attention to the rights of the members that participate; being denied the right to withdraw has no excuse.

Risk-based Access Control Model for the Internet of Things

Risk-based Access Control Model for the Internet of Things Developing an adaptive Risk-based access control model for the Internet of Things Hany F. Atlam a, c Gary B. Wills a, Robert J. Walters a, Joshua Daniel c a Electronic and Computer Science Dept., University of Southampton, UK b Security Futures Practice, BT Research Innovation, Ipswich, UK c Computer Science and Engineering Dept., Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Egypt Abstract The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a revolution in the number of connected devices. Cisco reported that there were 25 billion IoT devices in 2015 and modest estimation that this number will almost double by 2020. Society has become dependent on these billions of devices, devices that are connected and communicating with each other all the time with information constantly share between users, services, and internet providers. The emergent IoT devices as a technology are creating a huge security rift between users and usability, sacrificing usability for security created a number of major issues. First, IoT devices are classified under Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) that blows any organization security boundary and make them a target for espionage or tracking. Second, the size of the data generated from IoT makes big data problems pale in comparison not to mention IoT devices need a real-time response. Third, is incorporating secure access and control for IoT devices ranging from edge nodes devices to application level (business intelligence reporting tools) is a challenge because it has to account for several hardware and application levels. Establishing a secure access control model between different IoT devices and services is a major milestone for the IoT. This is important because data leakage and unauthorized access to data have a high impact on our IoT devices. However, traditional access control mode ls with the static and rigid infrastructure cannot provide the required security for the IoT infrastructure. Therefore, this paper proposes a risk-based access control model for IoT technology that takes into account real-time data information request for IoT devices and gives dynamic feedback. The proposed model uses IoT environment features to estimate the security risk associated with each access request using user context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs for security risk estimation algorithm that is responsible for access decision. Then the proposed model uses smart contracts to provide adaptive features in which the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal actions from authorized users. Keywords Security, Internet of Things, Risk, access control, Adaptive, Context. The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing in different ways. The adoption rate of the IoT is at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephony [1]. Moreover, it is becoming the backbone of the future of the Internet that encompasses various applications and devices. The IoT devices are interconnected using different communication technologies such as wireless, wired and mobile networks [2]. The concept of the IoT was first mentioned by Kevin Ashton in 1999 [3]. He has said, The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the Internet did. Maybe even more so. Later, the IoT was formally presented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2005 [4]. The ITU defines the IoT as: a global infrastructure for the Information Society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on, existing and evolving, interoperable information and communication technologies[5]. The IoT faces many challenges that stand as a barrier to the successful implementation of IoT applications. The security is considered the most difficult challenge that needs to be addressed. This challenge is more complicated due to the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the IoT system [6], [7]. Authentication and access control models are the essential elements to address the security issue in the IoT. They can prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to system resources, prevent authorized users from accessing resources in an unauthorized manner and allow authorized users to access resources in an authorized manner [8], [9]. The main purpose of the access control is to reject unauthorized users and limit operations of authorized users using a certain device. In addition, it tries to prevent the activity that could cause a security breach [7]. A powerful access control model should satisfy security requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and availability [10]. Traditional access control approaches are static in nature as they depend on predefined policies that always give the same outcome regardless of the situation. They are context insensitive. Furthermore, they require a rigid authentication infrastructure [11], [12]. So they cannot provide for distributed and dynamic environment as the IoT systems [13]. Dynamic access control approaches are more appropriate to the IoT. This is because they are characterized by using not only the policies but also environment features that are estimated in real-time to determine access decisions. The dynamic features can include trust, risk, context, history and op erational need [14], [15]. This paper presents an adaptive risk-based access control model for the IoT. This model can dynamically estimate the security risk associated with each access request to make the access decision. It uses real-time user context attributes, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs to estimate the security risk value of each access request. In addition, the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal misuse. This paper will start by discussing concepts of access control in the IoT in section II; Section III presents access control challenges in the IoT; Section IV introduces different access control models; Section V discusses the concept of risk-based access control model; Section VI presents the proposed model; Section VII illustrates the process flow of the proposed model; Section VIII presents the related works, and Section IX is the conclusion The IoT devices send and receive a variety of information about owners behavior. Therefore, it is important to protect not only the communication process between IoT devices but also authentication and access control of IoT devices [16]. The access control process works with many layers of the IoT reference model that is shown in figure 1. The control process flows from top to down. Therefore, the access control works with different data whether at storage, at motion, or at IoT device itself. Therefore, the access control is a big issue in the IoT that need addressing. Fig. 1. The IoT reference model [16] The main function of access control is to grant access rights only to authorized users. Also, it prevents authorized users from accessing system resources in an unauthorized manner [7]. A powerful access control model should fulfill security demands of confidentiality, integrity, and availability [10]. In the IoT, the access control is required to ensure that only authorized users can update device software, access sensor data or command the actuators to perform an operation [17]. There are three ways to implement access control in the IoT systems; centralized, centralized and contextual, and distributed [18]. In the centralized approach, the access control logic is implemented at a central entity. This entity could be a server with direct communication to IoT devices that it manages or another entity in a different location. Therefore, IoT devices send their data to the central entity that is responsible for making access control decisions [18]. In the centralized and contextual approach, IoT devices are not completely passive entities; this is because they participate in the access control decisions. The access control logic is implemented at a central entity as in centralized approach, but the contextual features from IoT devices are sent to the central entity. These features are used to make access decisions [18]. In the distributed approach, all the access control logic is embedded into IoT devices. These devices are being provided with necessary resources to process and send information to other services and devices. Therefore, IoT devices have to have the ability to perform the authorization process without the need for a central entity [18]. Due to the distributed and dynamic nature of the IoT, there are many challenges that should be addressed when implementing an access control model. These requirements include; Interoperability with multiple users: Access control policies should be designed to support multiple organizations. For instance, each organization creates its own policies and respect other collaborating organizations policies [24]. Dynamic interaction: Access control policies should be predictable and specified in a dynamic and continuous way by considering context changing during the access control process [25]. Context awareness: The context is considered one of the core features since it enables intelligent interactions between users and IoT devices. Using the context will make access decisions dynamically determined based on surrounding environment features [17]. Usability: The access control model should be easily administrated, expressed and modified. It also should provide suitable easy to use interfaces for both consumers and devices needs [26]. Limited resources: The resources associated with IoT devices such as energy, memory, and processing power are limited due to devices lightweight. Therefore, the access control model designed for the loT should support efficient solutions [17]. Scalability: The IoT connects billions of devices. The access control model should be extensible in size, structure, and number of devices [17]. Delegation of authority: In many IoT scenarios, there are many devices that are operating on behalf of a user and other scenarios where a device may operate on a third partys behalf for a specific period of time. The access control model should implement delegation of authority to provide more usability and flexibility to the IoT system [24]. Auditability: Any and every access control needs to be auditable. Hence, collection and storage of evidence necessary for context awareness. This becomes a challenge when utilizing a distributed approach [17]. To ensure confidentiality and integrity of system resources, the access control is used to guarantee that only authorized users granted the appropriate access permissions. There are several access control models which can be divided into two classes; traditional and dynamic access control models [19]. Traditional access control approaches are based on policies that are static and rigid in nature. These policies are predefined and always give the same outcome regardless of the situation. Therefore, this static approach fails to adapt to varied and changing conditions during making access decisions [20]. There are three main traditional access control models; Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Mandatory Access Control (MAC) and Role-based Access Control (RBAC). DAC model was designed for multi-user databases and systems with a few previously known users. All the system resources are under full control from the user. DAC grants access depending on the user identity and authorization, which is defined for open policies. The owner of the resource can grant the access to any user [19]. While MAC model is concerned with confidentiality and integrity of information, so it mainly used in military and government applications. In MAC, the security policy is controlled by a security policy administrator and the user does not have the capability to override it [19]. RBAC model is consists of three elements: users (subjects requesting access), roles (collection of permission) and operations (actions on target resource). Access permissions are related to roles and the appropriate role is granted to the user. A single user can be associated with one or more roles, and a single role can include one or more user. RBAC provides a classification of users bas ed on their roles [21]. Dynamic access control models are characterized by using not only the access policies but also dynamic contextual features which are estimated in real-time at the time of the request [22]. These real-time features can include trust, risk, context, history and operational need [23], [14]. In this paper, we propose a risk-based access control model that uses the security risk as the main criterion for making the access permissions. The risk can be defined as the possibility of loss or injury. Generally, the risk is about some event that may occur in the future and cause losses. One such risk is the leakage of sensitive information by users. The access control is one of the approaches used to mitigate against the security risk [27]. Risk-based access control model permits or denies access requests dynamically based on the estimated risk of each access request [20]. This model performs a risk analysis on each user access request to make the access decision [7]. Mathematically, the most common formula to represent the risk in quantitative terms is: (1) Where likelihood represents the probability of an incident to happen while impact represents the estimation of the value of the damage regarding that incident [20]. Quantified risk-based access control models are divided into two types: non-adaptive and adaptive. The fundamental distinction between adaptive and non-adaptive approaches is that the adaptive model requires a system monitoring process and the risk estimation module adaptively adjusts user permissions based on the users activities during access sessions. While non-adaptive approach only calculates the risk during each session creation and does not have run-time monitoring and abnormality detection capability [11]. Dynamic access control approaches use real-time environment features to make the access decision. One of these features is the security risk associated with the access request, which will be used in our proposed model to make the access decision. The proposed model is shown in figure 2. The proposed model has four inputs: user/agent context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history. These inputs/risk factors are used to estimate the security risk value associated with each access request. The final risk value is then compared with risk policies to make the access decision. To make the model adaptive, the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal actions from authorized users. This model can provide an appropriate security level while ensuring flexibility and scalability to the IoT system. Fig. 2. The proposed adaptive risk-based access control model As shown in figure 2, the user/agent context represents the environmental features that are embedded with the user/agent at the time of making the access request. These contexts are used to determine the security risk value associated with the user requesting the access to the system. Location and time are the most common user contexts [28]. Resource sensitivity represents how valuable the resource/data is to the owner or to the service provider. Data is assigned a level of sensitivity based on who should have access to it and how much damage would be done if it were disclosed. A risk metric is assigned to each resource in the IoT system depending on how valuable the resource data is to the owner. For instance, the higher the data sensitivity, the higher the risk metric associated with the resource. Action severity represents the consequences of a certain action on a particular resource in terms of security requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Different opera tions have different impacts and so have different risk values. For instance, the risk of a view operation is lower than the risk of a delete operation. The user risk history is used to estimate the risk value of each access request. This is because the risk history reflects previous users behavior patterns. Moreover, it is used to identify good and bad authorized users and predict the user future behavior. Risk estimation module is responsible for taking the input features to quantify the risk value that is associated with the access request. The ultimate goal is to develop an efficient risk estimation process. The access decision determines whether access is granted or denied according to the risk policies. Risk policies or access control policies are mainly used by the risk estimation module to make the access decisions. These policies are created by the resource owner to identify terms and conditions of granting or denying the access. The overall risk value is examined with the risk policies to determine the access decision. The proposed model is trying to improve the flexibility of access control by monitoring the user behavior during the access session. In current access control models, if the decision is to grant access to the user, then there is no way to prevent any abnormal and unusual data access from the authorized user. So a monitoring module is needed to adaptively adjust the risk value based on the user behavior during the access session. Applying smart contracts to accomplish this process is a big challenge especially it will be the first time to use the smart contracts in this context. Smart contracts are treated as a software code that runs on a blockchain [29]. It can force a functional implementation of particular demands and can confirm that certain conditions or terms were met or not [30]. Hence, the monitored user behavior information will be compared with the smart contract to ensure that the user acts according to the terms of the smart contract so as to prevent any potential securit y breach during the access sessions. The process flow of the proposed model is shown in figure 3. The flow starts when the access control manager receives an access request from a user. After that, the access control manager asks for the system contexts (user/agent, resource, and action) of the requested user in addition to the user risk history. The risk estimation module uses these contexts with the risk history to estimate the overall access risk value related to the requested user, then the estimated risk value is compared with risk policies to determine the access decision. At this point, we have two decisions: a) If the access is granted, then the monitoring module will track the user behavior. The smart contract will use the monitored data to determine if the user follows the contract terms or not. If yes, then it will keep monitoring the user behavior, while if not, then it will return to the risk estimation module to reduce user permissions or terminate the access session to stop any security breach. b) If the access is denied, then the system asks the user to provide additional proof of identification so as not to block an authorized user and reduce the false-positive rate. If the user provides the required identification, then the access is granted and the flow continues as in the first decision, while if not, the system denies the access. Fig. 3. The process flow of the adaptive risk-based access control model This section provides a brief summary of the models that are related to the proposed model. A number of studies have been conducted the security risk for dynamic access control models. The JASON report [31] proposed three main elements for a risk-based access control model: estimating the risk value associated with each access request, identifying acceptance levels of risk in a certain domain, and controlling information sharing based on the estimated risk and access control policies. Risk Adaptable Access Control (RAdAC) model has been proposed by McGraw [32]. It is based on estimating the security risk and operational needs to grant or deny the access. This model estimates the risk associated with each access request then compares it with the access control policy. After that, the system verifies the operational needs; if the associated operational needs and the policy are met then access is granted. However, the author did not provide details about how to quantitatively estimate risk and operational needs. Also, Kandala et al. [33] have provided an approach that identifies different risk components of the RAdAC model using attribute-based access control approach. A dynamic and flexible risk-based access control model has been proposed by Diep et al. [12]. This model uses the risk assessment to estimate the risk value depending on outcomes of actions in term of availability, confidentiality, and integrity. However, this model did not provide a standard about how to evaluate the risk value for each state of the environment and for each outcome of action, did not use user context, and lacked risk adaptive features. A framework proposed by Khambhammettu et al. [34] that based on estimating object sensitivity, subject trustworthiness, and the difference between object sensitivity and subject trustworthiness using a risk assessment. However, the model did not provide how to estimate the risk value for each situation of the environment. Besides, the model requires a system administrator to give a reasonable value for each input feature in the early state of the risk assessment process and lacked risk adaptive features. A fuzzy Multi-Level Security (MLS) access control model has been proposed to manage risk information flows based on estimating its operational needs, risk possibility and environment features [20]. It estimates the risk based on the difference between subject security level and object security level. Similarly, Ni, Bertino, Lobo [35] have proposed a risk-based access control model that based on fuzzy inferences. It showed that fuzzy inference is a good approach for estimating access security risks. However, both models ignored the past behavior of users in the risk estimation process, lacked risk adaptive features and time overhead of fuzzy inference system is high. A fuzzy-based risk access control model has been proposed by J. Li, Bai, Zaman [27] to estimate the risk of healthcare information access. A risk metric is associated with data sensitivity, action severity, and risk history as a fuzzy value to determine the appropriate control of healthcare information access in a cloud computing. However, this model did not provide how to quantitatively estimate the risk. Also, no clear risk boundaries are defined and lacked risk adaptive features. A dynamic risk-based decision method has been proposed by Shaikh et al. [14]. This method is based on using the past behavior to identify good and bad authorized users. It depends on granting reward and penalty points to users after the completion of transactions. However, the past user behavior (reward/penalty) values are not enough to decide the access decision. Besides, no risk prediction technique is used and lacked risk adaptive features. A risk analysis approach has been proposed by Rajbhandari Snekkenes [36] to provide access decisions dynamically. This approach is based on preferences or values of benefit which subjects can provide rather than subjective probability using the game theory. A simple privacy scenario between a user and an online bookstore is introduced to provide an initial perception of the concept. However, using only benefits of the subject to determine the access decision is not enough to develop a flexible and scalable access control model. Also, it lacked risk adaptive features. A task-based access control model has been proposed by Sharma et al. [37] to estimate the risk value using functions that based on the action a user wants to perform. The risk value is computed in terms of different actions and corresponding outcomes. The outcomes and the risk probability are determined along with the level of data sensitivity. The previous users behavior patterns are then used to estimate the overall risk value. The estimated risk value is compared with the risk threshold to determine the access decision. However, it lacked risk adaptive features. A contextual risk-based access control model has been proposed by Lee et al. [13]. The model gathers all useful information from the environment and evaluates them from the security perspective. Risk assessment with multifactor evaluation process (MFEP) technique is applied to estimate the associated risk value. The risk value is based on outcomes of actions in term of availability, confidentiality, and integrity. This model is evaluated to manage the access control in a hospital. However, this model ignored the past user behavior and risk adaptive features as well. A risk-based access control model has been proposed by Dos Santos et al. [7]. This model employed the notion of quantifying risk metrics and aggregating them. It is based on the idea of risk policies, which allow service providers and resource owners to define their own metrics, allowing greater flexibility to the access control system. However, this model requires a system administrator to ensure the minimum security is achieved. Table 1 provides a summary of the related risk-based access control models. It contains the risk estimation technique used to estimate the risk value in each model, risk factors used to estimate the risk value and the limitations of each model regarding our proposed model. In summary, one can say that the problem of the access control, especially in the IoT, needs more investigation. Current access control models concentrate only on providing access decisions without providing any way to prevent any abnormal and unusual data access from authorized users, whereas our approach is based on providing the access decision and monitoring the user behavior to detect any abnormal actions. The novelty of our approach is based on providing the adaptive features and requesting user context attributes to the risk-based access control in the IoT system. To the best of my knowledge, using smart contracts to monitor the user access behavior will be the first try. Table 1. Some of the risk-based access control models Previous work Risk Estimation method Risk factors Limitations [20] Fuzzy MLS Model Difference between subject security level and object security level The user past behavior has not been used to detect user future behavior and lacked adaptive features. [27] Fuzzy Model Data sensitivity, action severity, and user risk history No clear risk boundaries are defined and lacked adaptive features. [35] Fuzzy Inference Object security level and subject security level Time overhead of fuzzy inference is high and lacked adaptive features. [34] Risk Assessment Object sensitivity, subject trust and difference between them User risk history has not been used and lacked adaptive features. [14] Risk Assessment History of reward and penalty points Limited risk factors, no risk prediction technique is used and lacked adaptive features. [36] Game Theory Access benefits of the subject Limited risk factors and lacked adaptive features. [37] Mathematics Functions Data Sensitivity, action severity, and risk history No risk prediction technique has not been used, lacked adaptive features and user context. [13] Risk Assessment Outcomes of actions Limited risk factors, lacked adaptive features and user context. [12] Risk Assessment Outcomes of actions Limited risk factors, no risk prediction technique has been used, lacked adaptive features and user context. [7] Mathematics Functions Risk policies Limited risk factors and lacked adaptive features. The IoT has become a widely examined subject that takes the attention of many researchers, specialists, and experts. Due to the dynamic nature of the IoT, traditional access control approaches cannot provide required security levels as they are based on a static and complex authentication infrastructure. Therefore, the scope of this paper is to develop a dynamic and adaptive risk-based access control model for the IoT. This model can adapt to IoT changing conditions. The proposed model can be realized by estimating the security risk using IoT real-time features at the time of the access request to make the access decision. The model uses user context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs to estimate the overall risk value associated with each access request. The model provides adaptive features to monitor user behavior and prevents any misuses from authorized users using smart contracts. The above work is still in the first stage. In future work, choosing the most appropriate risk estimation technique for a specific IoT context is our highest priority to proceed to implement the model as well as creating different IoT access control case studies with data to evaluate the model. Acknowledgment We acknowledge Egyptian cultural affairs and mission sector and Menoufia University for their scholarship to Hany Atlam that allows the research to be undertaken. References [1]S. Li, L. Da Xu, and S. Zhao, The internet of things: a survey, Inf. Syst. Front., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 243-259, 2015. [2]M. Elkhodr, S. Shahrestani, and H. Cheung, The Internet of Things: Vision challenges, IEEE 2013 Tencon Spring, TENCONSpring 2013 Conf. Proc., pp. 218-222, 2013. [3]K. Ashton, That Internet of Things Thing, RFID J., p. 4986, 2

Specsavers: SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

Specsavers: SWOT and PESTLE Analysis 1.0 Introduction This report will provide a detailed analysis of Specsavers current corporate appraisal SWOT analysis. This will highlight the companies’ strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, which will help the company’s management, understand where the organisation is now. A Five Forces environmental analysis of the industry will examine the local, national and global influences of political, economic, social and technological factors (in the form of a PESTEL analysis) to understand opportunities and threats facing Specsavers currently and in the future. This will provide an evaluation of the external business environment in which Specsavers operates. This analysis will highlight the fundamental changes that the eye care industry is undergoing, especially; in defence to the unstable environment it faces from exogenous forces (oil prices, inflation etc) and endogenous forces. 2.0 SWOT Analysis of Specsavers Specsavers main strength is in its local knowledge of customers within the UK and Worldwide, providing a trusted eye care service, affordable glasses and contact lenses to a number of countries in Europe and worldwide.. It also has a strong work force with highly trained opticians, who carry out professional eye test using the latest optical equipment. Its major weakness is its lack of luxury designer brand awareness nationally and globally relative to its major competitors like Selfridges. Specsavers faces external threats from existing completion (Boots, Vision Express) in the market place for eye care as well as cheaper low cost brands from the Far East. Changes in Socioeconomic conditions can also play a part in Specsavers future success, as buyers are now more environmentally conscious and ethically educated. The main competitors are all promoting a strong sense of Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. Specsavers must also be mindful of any potential takeover bids from the lik es of Boots and Vision Express Group. See Figure 1 below for a full SWOT analysis of Specsavers. Figure1: Specsavers SWOT Analysis I N T E R N A L STRENGTHS Established for 24 years Wide ranges of products including hearing service UK’s leading eye care service provider – with 830 stores in UK and Europe Value for money – 2 for 1 offers Brand Awareness Human resources –Expert Opticians and audiologists Online Booking Use of latest optical and hearing equipment New Version One System for document management OPPORTUNITIES Develop brand awareness globally Further expansion of stores internationally New designer frames from leading fashion houses Market shift to globalisation New facilities or services Innovation Alliances Diversification E X T E R N A L WEAKNESSES Perception of Low Quality Designer Brand Awareness Does not stock high class brands like DG and Bebe Does not provide same day service like its competitors THREATS New existing competition Volatility in Price of Fuel Consequences of UK recession and credit crunch Market shift to globalisation Takeover bids – Norville Optical Far-East eye care companies expansion Extremely high competition for customers and resources The SWOT analysis of the company shows that its strengths are in its wide range of products and its reputation for carrying out a professional eye care service, large investments in latest optical and hearing aids equipment and its international presence. However, main weaknesses are low brand awareness for designer frames. Currently the company only distributes a number of designer brands of frames and sells it brands mainly through its stores. Therefore, it has opportunities to venture into e-commerce solution through web orders of designer frames. Also access additional capital and consider retail partnerships. The company faces various threats from new and existing competition, economic recession and due to its low brand awareness in designer (luxury) market segment faces potential takeover bids. 3.0 The Five Forces Model Porter explains that there are five forces inherent in a market, which will jointly determine the intensity of competition and profitability of Specsavers and the eye care industry. The first is the threat posed by new entrants, as with the growth in designer frames being offered by Selfridges, Harrods, and Rackhams etc. The second is the threats from substitutes, laser treatment v spectacles, and the growing demand in laser vision correction surgery. The third force is the threats from the bargaining power of buyers, is this strong for both Specsavers and the entire eye care industry with a large number of alternative suppliers, hence, the aggressive pricing strategy, two for one offers etc. This results in a very strong competitive rivalry in the industry. This is intensified as a result of little or no differentiation in the service offered. Finally the threats from the suppliers bargaining power, this is very strong in the eye care industry for two reasons, one is highly speciali sed products supplied by few manufacturers, hence, Norville Optical who can command a very favourable terms and second is the existence of many buyers within the industry. 4.0 External Environment – PESTLE Analysis All of those (political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental) factors will to some extent apply to the eye care industry. POLITICAL – changes in corporation tax in the future within UK and internationally. With operations in Europe and across the globe, is the political regime favourable to foreign investment. The introduction of Carbon Taxation could also pose a future threat to Specsavers. ECONOMIC the high-end eye wear industry is vary recession prawn and also very sensitive to changes in prices. SOCIAL – changes in consumer taste and lifestyle represent both opportunities and threats for the eye care industry. Opportunities in terms of designer branded eye wear are now popular with high disposable income groups and also the growing trend in spectacles as a fashion accessory. The aging population in UK and throughout the globe will have a favourable impact upon the demand for eye care products and services. The threats are in terms of alternative vision correction treatments like laser and lack of skilled labour, will the educational system support future qualified opticians and audiologists, if not there may be a lack of supply. TECHNICAL – Changes in retailing methods as such spec sales via the Internet is now a common place in eye wear, online appointment booking with patients receiving an email containing their appointment details and booking reference when they book online. Paperless operation, the management and administration of the company are undertaken on IT systems, which are accessed through secure servers; provide flexibility in the running of the stores. Specsavers has implemented a new version one system for document management in order to provide a centralised accounting function for its 830 UK and European stores. The development of the next generation lenses will also lead to technological opportunities in terms of cost reduction and improvement in quality of lenses. LEGAL –Threats are in terms of future legislations for health and environmental issues. Specsavers needs to be mindful of data protection act (freedom of information act) as it will store a large amount of patients’ personal details. Do the current (or future) employment laws provide an advantage or disadvantage to the business? ENVIRONMENTAL – The energy sources used, namely oil has vast ecological/environmental implications. The threats are in terms of fines and rise in cost of raw materials. The introduction of Carbon taxation will affect Specsavers future profitability. 5.0 Conclusion Specsavers is clearly an organisation with a strong brand awareness and reputation for providing an affordable eye care service, with operations in a number of countries in Europe and across the globe. Specsavers environmental analysis via the SWOT, PESTEL and Five Forces showed that the eye care industry is experiencing a change in terms of becoming more socially responsible and customer service focused (due to intense competitive rivalry). Specsavers needs to view those environmental changes as an opportunity rather than a risk. In order to succeed in the future Specsavers needs to see employees as the key to competitive advantage in an industry that is highly dynamic. Corporate and human resource strategies are developed concurrently. Specsavers needs to view its human resources as the driving force in the development of its overall business strategy for the future. There needs to be an overriding emphasis on developing optician’s skills through intensive training programme (2 year graduate programme) and continual investment in RD. The future environment of Specsavers will largely be impacted by the introduction of the Carbon tax, which will threaten Specsavers ability to continue to offer affordable value for money glasses and contact lenses, as additional taxes will diminish margins, which could lead to increase prices. The internet will continue to shape the way Specsavers operates as a business, currently using it primarily for online appointment booking, but as the social trends change, consumers with busy lifestyles will prefer to use online shopping for ordering their frames and contact lenses. Specsavers has in recent times implemented an online document management system, to enable it to centrally manage payment of supplier’s invoices. This has resulted in significant time savings and operational costs as a result of improve efficiency and freeing up of storage space. Word Count =1,550 References Bibliography Needle, D. (2004) Business in Context – An introduction to business and its environment 4th Edition, Thomson Worthington, I. Britton, C. (2006) The Business Environment – 5th Edition, Prentice Hall Financial Times ACCA Paper 3.5 Strategic Business Planning and Development (2001) The Financial Training Company Johnson G and Scholes K (1993). Exploring Corporate Strategy Text and Cases. Cambridge: Prentice Hall. Porter M.E (1980) Competitive Strategy-Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors.

Free Yellow Wallpaper Essays: The Dead Paper -- Yellow Wallpaper essa

The Dead Paper of Gilman's Yellow Wallpaper  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This passage from The Yellow Wallpaper clarifies the position of the reader in the story. It brings into question, right on the first page, who the woman (and Gilman herself) is addressing and why. When she writes, "I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind," it is as if she is having an aside with the reader. If she were truly talking to dead paper, why would such a comment be required? The idea of "dead paper" makes one think of something that is written, never to be published or read. In this sense, the caption can make the reader feel as if he or she is looking in privately on this woman's diary. The fact that this is "a great relief" to her mind makes the reader feel slightly less furtive about this, while giving the diary-type style raison d'à ªtre. At the same time, (since this story was meant to be published and read) this comment in and of itself addresses the reader personally, as if to put special confidence in him or her. The issue here is the differenti...

Domain Names Essay -- Internet Computers Web Essays

Domain Names What is a â€Å"domain name†? Domain names are the addresses of the Internet, like www.amazon.com or ry.byu.edu. A domain name is part of a URL or â€Å"Universal Resource Locator;† an Internet Address. Each user on the Internet is identified by a unique IP address, consisting of four bytes (or 32 bits) from 0 to 255 separated by periods, such as 132.112.15.254. To avoid remembering such an unwieldy address, a domain name is used instead. When you type a domain name into your browser, it first looks it up in a â€Å"domain name server† or DNS, which is like a registry or telephone book that associates the name with the correct IP address. What are the parts of the domain name? The final piece of a domain name, the â€Å".com† or â€Å".net† suffix, is called the â€Å"top-level domain† or TLD. There are only a few TLD suffixes that are currently used. The middle portion of the domain name is called the â€Å"second-level domain†, â€Å"sub-domain† or SLD. This is usually the key piece of information that describes the site. The first part of the domain name, the â€Å"www.† or â€Å"email.† is typically used as the name of the computer hosting the information, and is often used to designate a communications protocol, such as www (for HTML) or ftp (for ‘file transfer protocol’). What top domains are allowed? Only seven designations, called â€Å"generic† TLDs, are used in the USA. These are: Unrestricted:  · .com commercial use  · .int international organizations  · .net a network  · .org an organization, usually non-profit Restricted  · .gov US government  · .edu 4-year educational institution  · .mil US military .. ... Consider registering common misspellings as well.  · Position yourself differently from your net competitors.  · Be aware of trademark laws if you intend to trademark your name. If it is merely a contact address, or is descriptive like â€Å"books.com†, it will not be trademark protected. There are numerous other pitfalls, and most domain names do not qualify as protected trademarks. Where can I learn more? An excellent, comprehensive book covering every aspect of domain names was published in 1998 by Ellen and Peter Rony, called The Domain Name Handbook. The table of contents, updates to the book, and many excellent links to domain name news can be found at www.domainhandbook.com. A slightly outdated beginners guide to registering domain names is found at www.igoldrush.com, and some useful related info can be found at www.InterNIC.net. Domain Names Essay -- Internet Computers Web Essays Domain Names What is a â€Å"domain name†? Domain names are the addresses of the Internet, like www.amazon.com or ry.byu.edu. A domain name is part of a URL or â€Å"Universal Resource Locator;† an Internet Address. Each user on the Internet is identified by a unique IP address, consisting of four bytes (or 32 bits) from 0 to 255 separated by periods, such as 132.112.15.254. To avoid remembering such an unwieldy address, a domain name is used instead. When you type a domain name into your browser, it first looks it up in a â€Å"domain name server† or DNS, which is like a registry or telephone book that associates the name with the correct IP address. What are the parts of the domain name? The final piece of a domain name, the â€Å".com† or â€Å".net† suffix, is called the â€Å"top-level domain† or TLD. There are only a few TLD suffixes that are currently used. The middle portion of the domain name is called the â€Å"second-level domain†, â€Å"sub-domain† or SLD. This is usually the key piece of information that describes the site. The first part of the domain name, the â€Å"www.† or â€Å"email.† is typically used as the name of the computer hosting the information, and is often used to designate a communications protocol, such as www (for HTML) or ftp (for ‘file transfer protocol’). What top domains are allowed? Only seven designations, called â€Å"generic† TLDs, are used in the USA. These are: Unrestricted:  · .com commercial use  · .int international organizations  · .net a network  · .org an organization, usually non-profit Restricted  · .gov US government  · .edu 4-year educational institution  · .mil US military .. ... Consider registering common misspellings as well.  · Position yourself differently from your net competitors.  · Be aware of trademark laws if you intend to trademark your name. If it is merely a contact address, or is descriptive like â€Å"books.com†, it will not be trademark protected. There are numerous other pitfalls, and most domain names do not qualify as protected trademarks. Where can I learn more? An excellent, comprehensive book covering every aspect of domain names was published in 1998 by Ellen and Peter Rony, called The Domain Name Handbook. The table of contents, updates to the book, and many excellent links to domain name news can be found at www.domainhandbook.com. A slightly outdated beginners guide to registering domain names is found at www.igoldrush.com, and some useful related info can be found at www.InterNIC.net.

The Poets and Writers of the Harlem Renaissance :: Authors

The Poets and Writers of the Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was a great time of achievement for the black poets and writers of the 1920s and early '30s. Many had a hard life living in the Harlem district of New York city. The foundations of this movement were laid in the social and political thought of the early 20th century. One of the most famous of these black political leaders was W.E.B. DuBois. DuBois was the editor of the influential magazine "The Crisis." In this magazine he repeatedly rejected the notion that blacks could achieve social equality by following white ideals and standards. He strongly strove for the renewal of black racial pride through increased emphasis on their African culture and heritage. Langston Hughes, another writer of the Harlem Renaissance, is known and remembered for writing during the movement, but not being guided by a common literary purpose. The only issue that greatly influenced his writings was his own experiences with being an African American. Langston Jughes poems and writings realistically depicted the life of black Americans. These were lives and situations many people outside their race knew nothing about. His work was of high quality and won a favorable reception from the major publishing houses, who were willing to promote his writings only for commercial reasons. Many of these publishing houses stressed their notion of Harlem as an alien, but also as an exotic and unknown place of strange new wonders. During the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes had four major writings that promoted the African Negritude Movement. The first was a critical essay entitled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Movement," which discussed the excitement of this time period. Later, he would write "The Big Sea," an autobiography stating the hardships in his life due to his race. The other two influentioal writings of Hughes, was his two poems, "The Weary Blues" and "Fine Clothes to the Jew." Both were experimental in content and form, which made Jughes leary of their acceptance. Fortunately, they both were accepted and provided a much needed strength to the movement. Langston Hughes is greatly remembered for his genius for merging the comic and the pathetic. His works also influenced many humorists and satirists. But of all his gifts to society, his most enduring was his belief in the commonality of all cultures and the universality of human suffering.

How Does Stevenson Explore The Notion Of Duality Throughout The Novel Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde? Essay

Robert Louis Stevenson is renowned all over the world today for his contributions to English literature; he makes his skill evident in his ability to utilize the duality of soul concept through example of one Henry Jekyll, showing in many ways what can and does happen when Jekyll decides to experiment with the aspect of his evil side and bring it to the surface as the twisted character of Edward Hyde; incorporating the interplay of good and evil, in his novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, published in 1886. Stevenson creates an effective mystery tale set in Victorian London and does this by presenting sub themes that relate to the central theme of duality. He keeps readers engaged with the developing plot and unravels pieces of the puzzle as the story unfolds, creating an effective mystery tale while his emotions are shown as the nature of humankind and Victorian moralities are explained in one of the most famous novels of the present day. In the story I have noted that Stevenson presents the reader with the complexities of human nature through his portrayal of characters. For example, he describes Utterson as being â€Å"dreary, and, yet somehow lovable†, he then reveals that although he â€Å"enjoyed the theatre† he had not been for â€Å"twenty years†. These descriptions are contradictory and reveal that Utterson has two sides to his personality, one of which he now seeks to suppress, the other a respectable, reliable and responsible man. I believe that Stevenson needs readers to relate to and rely on Utterson as he is the most frequent narrator of the story, therefore he presents him with this censored past where he used to be much more outgoing, yet now he is old and respectable. Also, Victorians were much more impressionable than people of the present day, therefore Utterson’s upkeep of his respectable, sensible side to his personality publicly and the fact that he â€Å"drank gin when he was alone†, which helps us to warm to him even more, was vital to Stevenson’s success in displaying the central theme of Duality through the sub themes of Suppression and Respectability, explored through the character of Dr. Utterson. I think this is successful because even in a character such as Utterson, who we all come to empathise with and rely on, can be susceptible to duality, just as any human being can, therefore it makes us think and question ourselves. Another way in which Stevenson represents Duality is through the setting of the door in the first chapter; aptly titled â€Å"Story of The Door†. The door is situated on a typical, fairly rich Victorian street which is described to have â€Å"cleanliness and gaiety of note†, this gives the impression that this area has a reputation to upkeep, however, the splendid view of the street is ruined by a door which stands out somewhat, â€Å"Blistered and distained† with â€Å"prolonged and sordid negligence†. This description uses great imagery that causes an impact on the reader. One interpretation a reader could have is that, despite the cleanliness and class of the street, duality is shown in the fact that behind closed doors things may not always be what they seem, therefore the are two sides, one which seeks to suppress what is really going on inside, and one which has a respectable reputation to uphold; just like the character of Dr. Utterson. Also, this could be representation of how rich and poor live so close together, as in Victorian times a rich street could be directly adjacent to a poor, therefore Stevenson is demonstrating how different these classes are, yet they are living closely together, another way in which duality is explained. Furthermore, Stevenson could also be relating to his previous life in his hometown of Edinburgh, which was divided into poor and rich, old and new by a single river. Stevenson, who lived on the rich and new side often ventured into the other and gained an insight on how different the two sides were, whilst seeking his inner temptations and leading a double life, therefore duality was recognised within himself. We know that the door is significant in this chapter and it is evident in the fact that the chapter is named about it, therefore it makes us realised that it is important for a reason, and that reason is to represent duality further in a setting. This is successful as there are many different interpretations to make, yet all lead to the same conclusion of duality, and this chapter is vital in letting readers know that duality is, and will be, the key to the story. A further way in which Stevenson explores duality is in the structure of the novel. The novel’s structure is unique in the fact that it isn’t written entirely in first person, as it would have been possible to tell the story in the manner of a confession from Jekyll’s point of view. We are limited to Utterson when reading in an omniscient view for the first eight chapters, however after this in Chapter 9 it switches to first person, where we read â€Å"Dr Llanyon’s Narrative†, and after this it is again first person, where we hear from Dr. Henry Jekyll himself. The structural and linguistic devices employed by Stevenson create an unusual atmosphere of controlled suspense, which surrounds the story. The gradual building up of horror and destruction is achieved through a slow accumulation of unemotional detail. The fact that the story is written in the view of three different, distinct people gives it three different endings, making us go back in time to read from another point of view, this uncovers more of the story and keeps the reader engaged as they can finally see behind the closed doors and find out what they have been dying to find out throughout the story. This notion of suspense keeps the genre of mystery intact as only minor clues are given away until the three different endings, each one gathering more evidence, this is extremely successful because of this and further benefits the theme of duality, and of course mystery. Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale can be interpreted as a coherent warning to Victorian society of the potential effect of such asphyxiated social, ethical and moral conventions and I would agree that some of these still exist today. Through the use of the sub-themes of characters, setting and structure Stevenson makes us realise that duality is present within ourselves, and can be dangerous at times. Furthermore, he explores what it means to be human thus ensuring that his mysterious tale is as revealing, relevant and enjoyable to a reader in 21st century as it was in the 19th.

The war which the world feared upon never happened

The war which the world feared upon never happened, the Cold War. United States of America and the Soviets are preparing for this battle as who among these super powers will really dominate the world. As a means of preparation they are to dominate the seas, especially the under sea navigational fleet, the Submarines.American leaders as a means of preparing for battle put their trust and confidence in their submarine force. Empowered by their own power plants these nuclear submarines are to dominate the seas with unbelievable sophistication and with weapons of incredible destructive power.The idea of submarine came from the Germans who were the ones who pioneered in the creation of the vessel during World War II (Weir, 1998). The US Navy has envisioned that submarines of the future would go deeper and move much faster. Thus as the years passed, the nuclear submarine was created.Under the US military force, the main mission of the first known SSBNs or â€Å"Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear† was for the prevention of war to happen. They are to be deployed to strategic sites for them to guard and thus to prevent war   (Weir, 1998). Because of their relentless power, as the nuclear is used to propel them, they have the capability to submerge and circumnavigate the world with fewer expenses. They can submerge for number of days to avoid detection and can easily guard strategic sites as their main mission. They are considered as the guardians of a possible nuclear war.According to David Munns in his book, the greatest advantage so that submarines, armed with ballistic missiles, can release its relentless power is that they have to be close to the shore. This idea was the main basis for the development of the undersea military force of both United States and the Soviet Union. Throughout the 45-year Cold War both countries developed submarines, especially nuclear powered, to gain intelligence or for espionage, due to its stealth power, and to attack and destr oy any possible enemy surface ships. Its powerful ballistic missiles have the ability to attack ground or land based targets. Both countries develop such powerful undersea fleet and were considered as the most potent nuclear threat for both of them. (Munns, 2004)The main idea was that to counter this powerful surface warships and nuclear propelled missile cruisers and aircraft carries they have to develop more powerful underground fleet (Munns, 2004). With the development of the nuclear power, the first ship that was ever built by the Americans that went to sea is the USS Nautilus. It went to sea on January of 1955. It is propelled by pressurized-water nuclear reactor plant. This firs submarine built by the Americans sets the new standard for submarines (Huchtausen, 2002).The Russians on the other hand, built their first submarine which went to sea on a much later date. The K-3 or also known as Leninsky Komosol, it is a part of the November class of attack submarines only went to se a only on 1958. This submarine was the first Soviet sub who have reached the North pole, only in 1962, which the United States first sub USS Nautilus have already done four years earlier. The November class submrines however had serious problems one example was the accident happened in 1968 of its K-27 due to a radioactive gas lead which killed 9 people (Huchthausen, 2002).The next Class of submarines that was built by the Americans was the Skipjack Class Submarines. Built in 1959, this attack submarine was the first to combine nuclear power which has extraordinary speed. This is more hydronamic which has a new teardrop hull design. All other US submarines that was created was based on this design. The known accident that happened for this class of submarine was on May 21, 1968 when the USS Skipjack Scorpion was lost in the sea and was nowhere to be found even due to extensive military search. All the 99 people aboard the submarine also lost their lives (Compton-Hall, 1999).The Sovi et built the Hotel-class submarines on 1960. This is the first Soviet Nuclear subs which carries with it ballistic missiles. The design of the November Class is much similar to that of the November class, but with much larger compartment to accommodate the ballistic missiles (Compton-Hall, 1999). On the same year the Skipjack Class was created, the US Military built the USS George Washington Class. Built and deployed on 1959, this submarine was the first Nuclear Ballistic missile submarine which was created. The main idea for this ballistic missile submarines was that it would attack land-based targets with its nuclear weapons. They are to be deployed near shore targets so that their long range missiles can easily hit their targets.The Soviets then build the Victor Class submarines in 1967. Their design was to attack enemy submarines and to protect surface ships of the Soviets. The new teardrop hull enabled the Victor Class to attain higher speed. The Soviets however abandoned the c onstruction of the second Victor submarine design after learning through spy information that the NATO forces could easily track them (Compton-Hall, 1999). Due to this, the Soviets created the Victor III submarine.The Americans on 1961 built the Thresher Class attack submarines. This submarine is much stronger, much faster, and can dive much deeper. It is also designed to be quieter than the Skipjack Class, the materials used in this class have more streaming improvements. The name was however changed from Thresher Class to Permit Class when the submarine Thresher sank in New England in 1963 killing all 129 crew (Huchtausen, 2002).In 1967, the Soviets created the Yankee Class submarines. This is the first Submarine that has the same firepower as that of the US submarines. This is much quieter than the Hotel Class due to a new hull shape, a new propeller design, and exterior sound-deadening coatings which is much harder to track. Several modifications were also made on this class, wi th its big design it was enabled to carry miniature submarines.On 1976, the Americans built and deployed the Los Angeles class. This class had 62 vessels built and is considered as the world’s largest nuclear-propelled submarine. This class was designed to primarily protect carriers and other enemy submarine. The purpose of this submarine was the same as that of the Soviet’s Victor Class. This submarine however was much more powerful than the Victor class because of its capability to do other special missions such as deployment of Special Forces on the ground and attacking larger targets. The Los Angeles class was also improved for better ice operations on the North and South Pole (Compton-Hall, 1999).The next class built by the Soviet and one of the last Class is the Typhoon class submarine. During its time, in 1981, it was considered as the world’s largest attack submarine. This improved design which is much quieter compared to its size. This submarine is also more maneuverable even if it is huge. The design of this submarine is much more complicated due to the existence of two pressure hulls which is parallel with each other and a third hull which is on top of them. This design increases its width and had simplified internal arrangements. Being part of a cooperative arms reduction program of the former Soviet states, six of the Typhoon class was dismantled in 2003 (Compton-Hall, 1999).The Ohio-class submarine is the last among the long line of designs of the ballistic-missile submarine fleet of US.   It replaced the old 1960s version and was larger and more capable than its precedents.   These subs can carry more and longer-range weapons, operate more quietly, and dive deeper (Compton-Hall, 1999).   Russia, on the other hand, designed the contemporary of Ohio, the Oscar submarines.   These are Russia’s largest and most advanced and are still active submarines.   Designed to attack U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups, it carries three times as many antiship cruise missiles than its predecessors (Compton-Hall, 1999).Norman Polmar and K.J. Moore, were two naval officials under the US Armed Forces who were interviewed by Munns in his book. They said that â€Å"the United States and the Soviet Union put to sea a combined total of 936 submarines, of which 401 were nuclear propelled,† during the whole Cold war from 1945-1991 (Munns, 2004). The Soviet Union was the one who is aggressive in the development of submarines. This development still continues until after the 1970’s where research and effort to make the vessels more powerful were developed.From the mid-1940s until early 1990s, Cold War was a period of conflict and competition between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.   It was also a period of great technological advancements in the military with no less than the development of nuclear submarines.   Faster, quieter and deadlier weapons were developed. It wa s also this same period which placed the entire world on edge. And knowing the potentials of these weapons, the war that never happened also brought unparalleled relief to mankind.WORKS CITED:Compton-Hall, Richard. The Submarine Pioneers. Sutton Publishing, 1999.Huchthausen, Peter. K-19: The Widowmaker—The Secret Story of the Soviet Nuclear Submarine. National Geographic Books, 2002.Munns, David W. Sea Power. May 2004. Retrieved at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3738/is_200405/ai_n9345820Polmar, Norman and Moore,K.J. COLD WAR SUBMARINES: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines.   Dulles, Va.: Brassey's, March 2004. 336 pp.Weir, Gary E. Deep Ocean, Cold War. Washington: Brassey’s, 1998.Evolution of Subs: U.S. and Soviet Submarine Milestones of the Cold War. National Geographic. < http://www.nationalgeographic.com/k19/evolution_main.html>