German Loan Words in the English Language

English has borrowed many words from German. Some of those words have become a natural part of everyday English vocabulary (angst,  kindergarten,  sauerkraut), while others are primarily intellectual, literary, scientific (Waldsterben,  Weltanschauung,  Zeitgeist), or used in special areas, such as  gestalt  in psychology, or  aufeis  and  loess  in geology. Some of these German words are used in English because there is no true English equivalent: gemà ¼tlich,  schadenfreude. Words in the list below marked with * were used in various rounds of Scripps National Spelling Bees  in the U.S. Heres an A-to-Z sample of German loan words in English: German Words in English ENGLISH DEUTSCH MEANING alpenglow s Alpenglà ¼hen a reddish glow seen on the mountain tops around sunrise or sunset Alzheimer's disease e Alzheimer Krankheit brain disease named for the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), who first identified it in 1906 angst/Angst e Angst "fear" - in English, a neurotic feeling of anxiety and depression Anschluss r Anschluss "annexation" - specifically, the 1938 annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany (the Anschluss) apple strudel r Apfelstrudel a type of pastry made with thin layers of dough, rolled up with a fruit filling; from the German for "swirl" or "whirlpool" aspirin s Aspirin Aspirin (acetylsalicyclic acid) was invented by the German chemist Felix Hoffmann working for Bayer AG in 1899. aufeis s Aufeis Literally, "on-ice" or "ice on top" (Arctic geology). German citation: "Venzke, J.-F. (1988): Beobachtungen zum Aufeis-Phà ¤nomen im subarktisch-ozeanischen Island. - Geoà ¶kodynamik 9 (1/2), S. 207-220; Bensheim." autobahn e Autobahn "freeway" - The GermanAutobahn has almost mythical status. automat r Automat a (New York City) restaurant that dispenses food from coin-operated compartments Bildungsroman*pl. Bildungeromane r BildungsromanBildungsromane pl. "formation novel" - a novel that focuses on the maturation of, and the intellectual, psychological, or spiritual development of the main character blitz r Blitz "lightning" - a sudden, overwhelming attack; a charge in football; the Nazi attack on England in WWII (see below) blitzkrieg r Blitzkrieg "lightning war" - a rapid-strike war; Hitler's attack on England in WWII bratwurst e Bratwurst grilled or fried sausage made of spiced pork or veal cobalt s Kobalt cobalt, Co; see Chemical Elements coffee klatsch (klatch)Kaffeeklatsch r Kaffeeklatsch a friendly get-together over coffee and cake concertmasterconcertmeister r Konzertmeister the leader of the first violin section of an orchestra, who often also serves as assistant conductor Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseaseCJD e Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Krankheit "mad cow disease" or BSE is a variant of CJD, a brain disease named for the German neurologists Hans Gerhardt Creutzfeldt (1883-1964) and Alfons Maria Jakob (1884-1931) dachshund r Dachshund dachshund, a dog (der Hund) originally trained to hunt badger (der Dachs); the "wiener dog" nickname comes from its hot-dog shape (see "wiener") degauss s Gauß to demagnetize, neutralize a magnetic field; the "gauss" is a unit of measurement of magnetic induction (symbol G orGs, replaced by the Tesla), named for German mathematician and astronomerCarl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). delidelicatessen s Delikatessen prepared cooked meats, relishes, cheeses, etc.; a shop selling such foods diesel r Dieselmotor The diesel engine is named for its German inventor, Rudolf Diesel(1858-1913). dirndl s Dirndls Dirndlkleid Dirndl is a southern German dialect word for "girl." A dirndl (DIRN-del) is a traditional woman's dress still worn in Bavaria and Austria. Doberman pinscherDobermann F.L. Dobermannr Pinscher dog breed named for the German Friedrich Louis Dobermann (1834-1894); the Pinscher breed has several variations, including the Dobermann, although technically the Dobermann is not a true pinscher doppelgà ¤ngerdoppelganger r Doppelgà ¤nger "double goer" - a ghostly double, look-alike, or clone of a person Doppler effectDoppler radar C.J. Doppler(1803-1853) apparent change in the frequency of light or sound waves, caused by rapid movement; named for the Austrian physicist who discovered the effect dreckdrek r Dreck "dirt, filth" - in English, trash, rubbish (from Yiddish/German) edelweiss* s Edelweiß a small flowering Alpine plant (Leontopodium alpinum), literally "noble white" ersatz* r Ersatz a replacement or substitute, usually implying inferiority to the original, such as "ersatz coffee" Fahrenheit D.G. Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit temperature scale is named for its German inventor, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who invented the alcohol thermometer in 1709. Fahrvergnà ¼gen s Fahrvergnà ¼gen "driving pleasure" - word made famous by a VW ad campaign fest s Fest "celebration" - as in "film fest" or "beer fest" flak/flack die Flakdas Flakfeuer "anti-aircraft gun" (FLiegerAbwehrKanone) - used in English more like das Flakfeuer(flak fire) for heavy criticism ("He's taking a lot of flak.") frankfurter Frankfurter Wurst hot dog, orig. a type of German sausage (Wurst) from Frankfurt; see "wiener" Fà ¼hrer r Fà ¼hrer "leader, guide" - a term that still has Hitler/Nazi connections in English, more than 70 years after it first came into use *Words used in various rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee held annually in Washington, D.C. Also see:  The Denglisch Dictionary  - English words used in German

To The Hills of Kodaikanal Free Essays

By Pranav R Kalathungal Last March, I, along with my whole family went for a trip to Kodaikanal. Though we travelled in a comfortable airbus, the journey felt very boring. After two hours, we started playing some games and suddenly things started to get interesting. We will write a custom essay sample on To The Hills of Kodaikanal or any similar topic only for you Order Now The games and jokes along with some snacks elevated all our travel sick spirits. We had stared our journey the previous night at nine. After some hours of playful pranks and laughter, slowly everyone started getting drowsy and one by one people started nodding off to sleep. As the noise quietened down and the lights dimmed on the request of elderly people, and I too gradually settled down to sleep. What I saw the next morning when I opened my eyes, took my breath away. We were travelling on a road built into the side of a hill and were flanked by scenic mountains overflowing with luscious beauty on the other side. The scene was heavenly. I can still see the scene in my mind when I close my eyes. Through this heavenly path we reached a homely, beautiful, comfy cottage from where we had our breakfast. After a lovely and stomach filling breakfast, we started a tour of the place. We visited a garden so enriched with natural beauty, that it was paradise itself. The notoriously famous suicide point seemed to me, as if it was inviting people with its deadly beauty, into its treacherous depths. Hours seemed to pass away in minutes in this glorious land and suddenly it was time to go back. And so, thus ended a wonderful journey which will forever remain engraved in the canvass of my mind. I urge you, each and every one of my friends, to undertake a similar journey if you get a chance. How to cite To The Hills of Kodaikanal, Essay examples

ERP System Implementation Journey Free Sample for Students

Question: Why an ERP Systems Journey May Never End. Answer: Introduction This report is based on ERP systems, its usage and its benefits that are gained by business organizations while using these systems for different purposes. The benefits of ERP systems occur over a period of time rather than occurring immediately. It is also believed by some business organizations that the journey of ERP systems is ongoing and benefits of all ERP systems is not same for all. Some companies may gain more benefits than others. According to researchers that differing benefits are result of usage of ERP systems at different stages by business organizations. Now the purpose of making this report is to discuss about the journey of companys ERP systems and how benefits may vary that are provided by ERP systems. Besides this, we will also emphasize on experiences of different companies that are using this system. Some other essential concepts such as why a journey of ERP may never ends, different stages in an ERP systems journey, potential benefits of each stage and identific ation of drivers and barriers for companies to move from one stage to the next. Main Body Now in this segment of report we will discuss above mentioned concepts and arguments about these topics in detail. Journey of Companys ERP Systems and How Benefits may vary The journey of ERP system in a company is related to implementation of ERP system. The implementation of ERP systems in a business organization is a wise and effective decision that helps to control cost. There are various benefits of ERP systems that are invaluable. But according to statistics and major headlines, it has been proven over and over again that implementations of ERP projects are failing to meet more than 50% requirements and expectations. There are many companies exist that have already passed through this. Besides this, it is also my experience that several clients and cost form attendees got disappointed by implementing system that was going to solve their problems. In this way, only implementation of ERP cannot consider as journey of ERP, it is actually related to successful implementation of ERP. To have a successful implementation of ERP, an organization must dedicate to adequate resources of business projects (Jennifer Kinzel, 2017). The beginning of ERP journey is from software that is selected by business organization and definition of processes that will be implemented. It will be better to define needs of business processes before selecting software (Klckner and Nayum, 2017). Besides this, it is essential that all business processes should be planned out to finest detail. But it cannot be done with external parties or consultants because they dont have knowledge about internal transactions of your business and intricacies of the internal business processes. In this case, it is responsibility of a business organization to confirm standard of ERP system and what possibilities of customizations of this system and cost are. It will be a blunder if we think that a fancy ERP system can do everything that we require. Sometimes, special business processes are adapted to fit in ERP systems and it cannot be done at individual basis. So fancy look of ERP cannot defines its capabilities, way of working and effectiveness. There is no doubt to say th at ERP is an ongoing activity. From its pre-installation steps journey begins and end of this journey cannot be defined because after successful installations, staff members training to work with ERP system, continuous modifications in ERP according to changing needs of users and management of data huge amount of data for business successes according to current circumstances of business organizations. So these processes cant stop or predefine. Therefore, in above ways journey of ERP system continues in a company. Case Study to exhibit different companies experience of using ERP As we have already discussed above that how some business organizations are getting different experiences in usage of ERP systems. Now in this segment of report, we will emphasize on companies experiences by using case study examples to highlight different benefits and weaknesses of ERP systems for them (Blogs.infor.com, 2017). As we know that ERP is Enterprise Resource Planning software solution which is an integrated suite of applications that can be used by business organizations to store and manage data at every stage of business. Due to this reason, every business organization prefer to use ERP systems (Searchsap.techtarget.com, 2017). But it is not ensured that for every business, the journey of ERP implementation is successful. To identify this thing, we have analyzed some case studies and two cases have come into our notice that shows how one of two different companies has got benefits from ERP system and another got drawbacks. These two companies and Cadbury and Hersheys (gu ide, 2017). Case Study of Cadbury Cadbury is a British Multinational confectionary company. It is the second largest confectionary brand in the world and big competitor of Wrigleys company (SearchCIO, 2017). There are various brands of Cadbury in India and in other countries like 5 Star, Oreo, Bournvita and Dairy Milk. Cadbury turns out towards implementation of SAP ERP 6.0 i.e. System Analysis and Program Development. The company preferred to use this system because SAP is considered largest global ERP implementation. The ERP was implemented with reduced operational cost in company. More than 10,000 employees were sending data to the SAP solution of company. Besides this, master data management solution of SAP is also added. After implementing ERP system by Cadbury following benefits are found: This company was on rapid paced growth and it could not continue any more with the existing systems. These existing systems were too slow due to some inefficiencies in it. But ERP added efficiency and also guided to enhance growth of business. The implementation of ERP provided a new way to manage warehouse, branches and offices of Cadbury (Bansal, 2013). With implementation of ERP, company enhanced its strength and now competing successfully in competitive market (Hong and Kim, 2002). The initial implementation of ERP was a time-consuming process but after this successive implementations was completed in lesser time and cost. The main advantage of ERP was saving cost in implementation phase of companys projects. The successful results of ERP was an internal process of restructuring and here reaction from competitors does not matter. With the help of ERP system, Cadbury has built-in robust regular feedback system and it is used to monitor the changes and to check that these are working according to predefined plan or not. The whole implementation is cross-functional and it is necessary to have increase in the efficiency. The above discussed are some effective benefits of ERP software solution that has gained by Cadbury Company after making decision to implement ERP. In this way, for Cadbury ERP was proved successful to handle its business issues and to increase growth of business at rapid pace. While selecting vendors for ERP, Cadbury selected best in class vendors and they helped the process in modernized fashion. Due to this, in initial phase of ERP implementation all possible hiccups were avoided. The ERP system eventually set low cost and high result implementation that highlights the success and benefits. Another company that has implemented ERP system was Hersheys, but unfortunately, it did not get benefits like Cadbury. Case Study of Hersheys The largest manufacturer of chocolate in North America is Hersheys. Headquarter of this company is in Pennsylvania. This company was established in 1894 and there are near about sixty countries worldwide where Hersheys is selling its products. The 80% sale of Hersheys business is from chocolate and 20% is non-chocolate. Like Cadbury, Hersheys also decided to implement ERP solution in its organization. The main reason to implement ERP system is to enhance competitiveness of company and customer service. So during late 1996, the management of this company gave approval to use ERP system for handling Enterprise21 project. Therefore, SAPs R/3 ERP software were selected to manage integration among three systems such as Manugistics SCM software, Siebels CRM software and IBM Global Service. The overall cost of project was US$10 Million and recommended time for implementing project was four years. It was also decided by Hershey that Big Bang approach will be used for project implementation r ather than phased approach. Unfortunately, this strategy of implementing ERP system in Hersheys was not right decision and ERP failure occurred. Following ERP failure was encountered by Hersheys Company. The main problems were found in fulfillment of orders, processing and shipping of orders. Hersheys was not able to meet its committed date of delivery. There were many distributors of Hersheys, who had ordered the products, were not able to supply those products to retailers on time. Due to this credibility of ERP was lost in market. Due to announcement of Hersheys in market that delay issues occurred due to malfunctioning of newly installed ERP system, the charged by 8% was encountered in stock price of company in one day. These crucial failures were encountered by Hersheys Company due to implementation of ERP system for handling its business activities and projects. To more elaborate this issue of Hersheys journey of ERP implementation, we would like to discuss about reasons of failure of ERP. Reasons of Failure of ERP in Hersheys Following reasons are brought into notice by Hersheys Company regarding failure of ERP system implementation. The first reason of failure of ERP implementation is over-squeezing in schedules implementation. The selection of Big Bang approach rather than phased approach was not a right decision. For the sake of convenience, sacrificing of testing of systems was a big mistake. In busiest business periods of Hersheys, cutover activities and Go Live was scheduled which was also a main reason of failure of ERP in Hersheys Company. This failure was so much critical for Hersheys Company and this company has learnt a lot from this failure. The main learnings of Hersheys company from this failure are listed as below: The first lesson was that an ERP implementation project should not be forced into an unreasonable timeline. The over-squeezing implementation of schedules is a way to overlook critical issues. In this case, testing phases are considered safety nets that should never be compromised (Ram, 2017). Other essential lesson was that no scheduling should be done during busy seasons. Whether there is best-case implementation scenario in an organization but still companies should learn curves and operational performances tips. From above discussed case studies it is cleared that implementation of ERP systems may successful or unsuccessful for business organizations according to circumstances and strategies of company. The reason of success of ERP in Cadbury is its strategic plans and approaches to run ERP according to business circumstances. But in Hersheys it was not implemented properly, so there ERP was a failure. Now in next segment of report, we will discuss about some other essential concepts regarding ERP systems and its implementation in business organizations (NetSuite.com, 2017). Why an ERP systems journey may never End? In above segments of report, we have already discussed the concept of journey of ERP systems in an organization. On the behalf of above discussion, we can say that it is right journey of ERP may never ends because after completing all installation steps of ERP, the steps of staff training, periodic custom modifications according to business needs never end. That is why ERP systems journey is an on-going activity (Roy, 2017). What are potential stages of ERP Systems journey? The ERP i.e. Enterprise Resource Planning is an important system that is used to handle business activities. This system is powerful enough to store, manage and modify huge amount of companys data in it. It is a user-friendly software but its proper training is required by its users. Otherwise heavy losses can occur like Hersheys company. But there is no need disappoint because Cadbury is also an example of good results of ERP implementation (Venkatraman and Fahd, 2016). There are some essential stages of ERP systems journey that are considered while implementing ERP systems into business organizations. Here in this segment of report we will discuss about these stages of ERP system journey (Managementstudyguide.com, 2017). Pre-Evaluation Screening Evaluation Gap Analysis Training Testing Pre-Evaluation Screening It is necessary for an organization that before looking for an ERP solution, pre-evaluation of business needs and requirements should be done. In this first stage, companies conduct a careful inventory of their needs. The participants from multiple disciplines are included, who will use ERP systems, in this stage of ERP system journey. The main goal of this stage is to gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the needs, tools, resources and challenges of organization (marketing, 2017). Evaluation Stage Under this stage of ERP system journey, different vendors are found out by companies to get best offers by evaluating pros and cons of their products. If a company gets a product according to its requirements and at best cost then that is considered an appropriate match (Workwise LLC, 2017). Gap Analysis Under this stage of ERP system journey, an analysis of gap between the desired solutions and what is available in market takes place. It is a better idea to back to the vendors that is considered by company and to that vendor it can be asking that how these gaps can be addressed (Skyward Techno Blog, 2017). Training Every person in an organization that will use ERP system, he/she needs training. The training program should be created to know about needs, schedules and scope of training (Ganesh and Mehta, n.d.). In some companies, training process may be of one day and in another companies it can be of two-three days (Pcbennett.com, 2017). Testing This is also an important stage of ERP systems. At this stage alignment of systems functionality with the set of requirements for the project are tested. The overlapping among testing and development phases is often seen. But after implementing this step, it becomes easier to identify bugs and errors in a system that can cause issues in overall functionality of an ERP. At the end of this phase, the members of project team can do their jobs with comfort on new systems. It is final step before start using new ERP system in business organization. Besides above discussed stages of ERP system, deployment and ongoing support stages of ERP system can also be considered. Under deployment stage of ERP system journey, organization and vendor will evaluate the whole situation and will make final decision that system is ready to implement or not. Prior to go live, the final data is also validated and loaded. Under this stage, project team also starts training stage for employees who will work on new system. In deployment stage of ERP system journey, all preparations are done to make a product live without any error or fault in it. Once ERP system has gone live in organization, it is essential for vendor to provide ongoing support. Over a period of time with the evolvement, the way of users work within the system also evolves and according to this evolvement different adjustments and changes to the configuration of system are done. This ongoing support never ends and also ERP journey. Potential Benefits of each Stage As we have discussed above some main stages of ERP system journey. Now there are different benefits of each stage that are listed as below: Benefits of Pre-Evaluation Stage The main benefit of this stage is that, an organization is cleared about its all needs and purchase ERP system according to its needs or requirements without any doubt. The ERP system is purchased according to requirements of employees who will work on this system (SearchCIO, 2017). Benefits of Evaluation Stage Under this stage, best vendor can be selected among multiple vendors and best solution can be found (Columbus SC24/7 Staff, 2017). Benefits of Gap Analysis The main benefit of gap analysis is that an organization can aware about the market trends for ERP systems and then can purchase accordingly (Memoire Online, 2017). Benefits of Training By providing training to employees, they can learn best way to implement ERP solution to perform various business activities in secure and reliable ways. Benefits of Testing Through testing stage of ERP system, an error-free system can be used by organization which is necessary to maintain long term security and sustainability of ERP system. Drivers and Barriers for Companies to move from one stage to next The main drivers for companies, those want to implement ERP systems, to move from one stage to next include reviews of overall project scope and planning , review of driving principles for developing project, evaluation of misfit resolution strategies, evaluation regarding attaining benefits and evaluation regarding users and organizational learning (Seo, 2013). On other side we talk about barriers for companies to move from one stage to other is lack in fulfillment of requirements of previous stage that will leave that stage incomplete. So if previous stage will be incomplete then company will not move to other stage (Chiodo, 2017). Conclusion After this whole discussion about ERP system journey we can say that it is an interesting concept to discuss about overall journey of ERP system implementation in an organization and to know about essential things included in it. ERP systems are very popular among business organizations and it is hard for its users to think that ERP systems can be failed. But in this report, we have discussed case study about failure of ERP system. In that case study, it is clearly defined that improper use of ERP systems in organizations lead to failure of projects. On another side, this report also represents the benefits of ERP systems for an organization that has understood its value. Therefore, these essential aspects regarding ERP systems should be taken into account by business organizations those want to implement ERP systems. References Chiodo, T. (2017). The Five Stages of ERP Implementation. [online] Baass.com. Available at: https://www.baass.com/blog/the-five-stages-of-erp-implementation [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Managementstudyguide.com. (2017). Phases of ERP Implementation. [online] Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/erp-implementation-phases.htm [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Columbus SC24/7 Staff, S. (2017). 7 Steps to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems Implementation Success - Supply Chain 24/7. [online] Supplychain247.com. Available at: https://www.supplychain247.com/article/7_steps_to_enterprise_resource_planning_erp_systems_implementation_success [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. marketing, e. (2017). 12 Phases of a Successful ERP Implementation Project. [online] e2benterprise Blog. Available at: https://blog.e2benterprise.com/12-phases-of-a-successful-erp-implementation-project-part-1-of-2/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Workwise LLC. (2017). 3 Stages of ERP History | WorkWise ERP Blog. [online] Available at: https://www.workwisellc.com/stages-erp-history/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Skyward Techno Blog. (2017). 10 Steps to Successful ERP Implementation - Skyward Techno Blog. [online] Available at: https://www.skywardtechno.com/blog/erp-implementation-steps/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Pcbennett.com. (2017). 6 Phases of an ERP Implementation Plan | PC Bennett Solutions. [online] Available at: https://pcbennett.com/blog/6-phases-erp-implementation-plan [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Roy, (2017). case study on ERP success(cadbury) and failure(hershey's). [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/ChitrangadaRoy1/case-study-on-erp-successcadbury-and-failurehersheys [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Jennifer Kinzel, C. (2017). Implementing A New ERP System: Its About The Journey. [online] William Vaughan Company Costing for Profitability. Available at: https://costingblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/implementing-a-new-erp-system-its-about-the-journey/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Ram, J. (2017). Competitive advantage from ERP projects : examining the role of key implementation drivers. 1st ed. Pergamon. SearchCIO. (2017). ERP Project Journey Kicks Off for One CIO - CIO Magazine. [online] Available at: https://searchcio.techtarget.com/magazineContent/ERP-Project-Journey-Kicks-Off-for-One-CIO [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. guide, I. (2017). Implementing an ERP system: a step-by-step guide - South Florida | WhiteOwl. [online] WhiteOwl. Available at: https://www.gowhiteowl.com/2017/01/implementing-erp-system-step-step-guide/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Blogs.infor.com. (2017). Why is a modern ERP system so crucial? One companys journey - From the Source. [online] Available at: https://blogs.infor.com/fromthesource/2016/05/modern-erp-system-crucial-one-companys-journey/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. SearchCIO. (2017). ERP Project Journey Kicks Off for One CIO - CIO Magazine. [online] Available at: https://searchcio.techtarget.com/magazineContent/ERP-Project-Journey-Kicks-Off-for-One-CIO [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Memoire Online. (2017). Memoire Online - Influence of an ERP system on the value chain process of multinational enterprises (mnes) - Bosombo Folo Ralph. [online] Available at: https://www.memoireonline.com/01/10/3095/m_Influence-of-an-ERP-system-on-the-value-chain-process-of-multinational-enterprises-mnes8.html [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Seo, G. (2013). Challenges in implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in large organizations. 1st ed. NetSuite.com. (2017). Do you know what ERP is? Learn how ERP can help your business with this informative article. [online] Available at: https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/erp/what-is-erp.shtml [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Wailgum, T. (2017). ERP Definition and Solutions. [online] CIO. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/2439502/enterprise-resource-planning/erp-definition-and-solutions.html [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Searchsap.techtarget.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: https://searchsap.techtarget.com/definition/ERP [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017]. Klckner, C. and Nayum, A. (2017). Specific Barriers and Drivers in Different Stages of Decision-Making about Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Private Homes. Venkatraman, S. and Fahd, K. (2016). Challenges and Success Factors of ERP Systems in Australian SMEs. Systems, 4(2), p.20. Bansal, V. (2013). Identifying Critical Success Factors for ERP in SMEs through a Case Study. International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, pp.471-475. Ganesh, L. and Mehta, A. (n.d.). Understanding Cloud Based ERP Implementation in Light of Conventional ERP Implementation at Indian SMEs: A Case Study. SSRN Electronic Journal. Hong, K. and Kim, Y. (2002). The critical success factors for ERP implementation: an organizational fit perspective. Information Management, 40(1), pp.25-40.

Sports Essay Example

Sports Essay Sports and sports culture have become one of the biggest sources of revenue for the country as well as for the individuals who play it.   And the higher one is able to rise in this medium, the more pressure there is to stay competitive or risk losing not only their edge on the field, but also the fame and fortune that comes with being the best. In the past few years, as sports, specifically: Football, Basketball and Baseball have become more popular than ever, subsequently, there has been found more cheating than was ever known before. In the 1980’s baseball players like Tim Raines and Steve Sax were known for their illegal drug use and Pete Rose was caught betting on his own team but those instances were not in order to give them an edge on the competition but were in response to their own personal demons that they were dealing with.Today, with steroid use running rampant to the degree that just today, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig commented in a news conference on Februa ry 8th, 2007 that he will not be on hand when Barry Bonds breaks the most important record in sports: the all time home run record held by Hank Aaron and which stands at 755.(Tribune, 2007) Floyd Landis tested positive for drug use twice after he won a spectacular Tour De France race last year and Marion Jones in track and field has tested positive for steroids as well. A small minority of baseball fans in response to the steroid allegations of some of baseball’s brightest stars said that they didn’t care and that the extra homeruns brought on by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the memorable ’98 season was worth it and good for baseball. This would mirror the warped logic and ethics that the statement: We obeyed all the rules and finished last in the conference. Now there isn’t a rule we haven’t broken and where are we? Playing in the biggest bowl game ever would seem to portray. First, it is unlikely that this statement is factual.   The referees and the NCAA are not perfect but student athletic games as well as the booster clubs and the funding that each sports program receives as well as recruitment practices by the coaches are so closely monitored, that such teams would find it impossible to break â€Å"every rule† or even a majority of the rules and not be found out. Also, regardless of any sport, consistently breaking the rules will eventually be found out and more times than not, the cheating is not a fair substitute to hard work and self discipline.The most recent tragedy in sports is that of Mark McGwire. I must confess that the ’98 season was one of the greatest in baseball. After the strike of ’94, a majority of fans, myself included, were dumbfounded at the idea that men playing a kids game and getting paid millions of dollars when I would have gladly done the same for the minimum, went on strike for even more money. The ’98 season brought most of them back as Mark McGwire and Sammy So sa battled all summer long to see who would eventually end up owning the new home run record for a single season. The home runs that Mark McGwire hit which soared more than 500 feet were a sight to see. And with being a Cubs fan, it was all to appropriate to see Sammy Sosa capture the attention of a city as he finally ended up with 66 homeruns for the year. However, when McGwire was made eligible for the hall of fame last year, he received almost no votes. A man with over 500 home runs is guaranteed a spot in the hall of fame.   That is unless it is seen as probable that said individual spent a majority of his professional career using illegal steroids and that the use of these steroids were denied under oath along with Rafael Palmerio in May of 2005 who tested positive for steroids later that year. (Tribune, 2007) This deception put a black mark on the game itself and there are many who will still regard Hank Aaron as the home run king, regardless of whether Bonds hits 800 career home runs.What the above mentioned players was abuse the trust that millions of baseball fans have for them and for the millions of little kids, myself included, who dreamed that one day, we could be playing at Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium during the 7th game of the Worlds Series and that hard work and determination was enough to be successful in life. This is not entirely true but the idea that the athletes we were watching were breaking the rules, cheating in effect, was something that we did not even consider. In baseball, unlike any other sport, there is a respect for the past. The accomplishments of a player are measured against the people that can before him. When a person cheats in any manner, it does a disservice to the great men who came before and who accomplished major feats while staying clean. Every record in sports today should be under scrutiny and in my opinion, every record should have an asterisk around them since they were achieved through cheating. And that s hould disqualify them from receiving our trust, recognition and faith in their supposed great feats of human strength, endurance and skill.Sportsmanship is not what it was in years past. Muhammad Ali is known, and rightly so, as the greatest boxer of all time and one of the most important and influential athletes of all time. But even though I am in the minority in this, I do not regard him as a good person or one who displayed proper acts of sportsmanship. He purposely demeaned his opponent both in and out of the ring and when he was banned from boxing for three years, both Joe Frazier and George Foreman assisted him both financially and emotionally only to be repaid by being called an uncle tom and a monkey to which Joe Frazier is still mad about. This example is a few years removed from contemporary society but he is brought up now because he still has influence on today’s athletes and people still want to act like him. This does a disservice to the idea of sportsmanship.S portsmanship has to do with an individual doing their best, not complaining about one’s coach or other players and to be humble in both victory and defeat. Jeremy Shockey, an average player for the football New York Giants, is quick to blame everyone but himself when the Giants lose another disappointing game. ( Pearson, 2007) Ron Artest, the thug of the NBA, feels that he was fouled and responds by going into the stands are beating up fans. Thomas Jones, running back for the Chicago Bears, held out for more money than he was worth and as a result, missed a good portion of training camp this last year. When scoring a basket in the NBA, half of the attempt is to score the points and the other half is to demean one’s opponent in the process. People lead by their words more than their actions and an oblivious teenage fan is made to believe that is how the game should be played and thus, imitates what he sees on the court. This also does a disservice to the idea of sportsm anship.A shining light in a sport with the biggest egos would have to be Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harris. He is one of the greatest wide receivers in the game today and is on his way to a hall of fame career. Yet, many people do not know of him. That is because is very humble and soft spoken. He realizes that he has a blessed life, and unlike the majority of athletes, feels that he does need the acceptance of millions of strangers in order to be happy. He does not demean his opponent and usually after a touchdown, simply hands the ball to the referee and goes over to the sidelines. Does he pay a price for being humble and a proper sportsman? In the long run he does not because he is starting to receive attention that he deserves and people are now starting to recognize him for the great human being that he is.   If he were more like a Terrell Owens or Keeshawn Johnson; over the top wide receivers who are high on talk and low on talent, he would have been forgotten a long with them. (Owens will be forgotten soon enough) This is the proper code of sportsman ship and Marvin Harris can also rest easy at night knowing that he is a proper role model for the young people who look up to him and try to act as he does. He has a proper respect for the social responsibility that has been placed on him.When Charles Barkley proclaimed that he was not your child’s role model, he was unfortunately mistaken. It would be advantageous to millions of children if their own parents or leaders of the community served as role models but with 70% of African American children being born without a father in the picture and the number of role models that are not rap artists or athletes at a minimum, athletes serve as a role model, whether they like it or not. When Latrell Spreewell chokes his coach and then goes into the locker room to cool down and then comes back to do it again, he is oblivious to his social responsibility. When Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwuire, Jason G iambi, Marion Jones and Floyd Landis all test positive for steroids, they are oblivious to their social responsibility. When athletes hold out for millions of dollars on top of the millions that they are already making to play a game that many would play for free, they are oblivious to their social responsibility. When Michael Jordan is making $30 million a year but complies with NIKE charging upwards of $200 for a pair of shoes, which is marketed to lower income of broken homes and is caught cheating on his wife and losing millions of dollars through gambling, he is oblivious to his social responsibilities. (Pearson, 2007) Sadly, it is the media that perpetrates this injustice as the silent majority who respect the game and the blessings that they have received to play the game, never make the news and are ignored. One exception to this would be Stephan Marbury who plays in the NBA and who spent last summer developing a gym shoe that is only sold for $15 per pair, making it afforda ble for almost every child to dress like a NBA star without having to chose between that and whether or not they will be eating for that month. He is the rare exception of an athlete that recognizes his role within the community and responds accordingly. There need to be more people like Stephon Marbury in the NBA.If individuals or teams are able to cheat, then there is not a level playing field that is present. This is the idea of the salary cap in baseball in order to keep the richest teams from securing a monopoly on the best players. But as seen by The New York Yankees, many rules can be spun as bonuses and good play incentives make the idea of a salary cap non existent. When baseball players ignore the rules of fair play and take illegal substances which push their fly balls to the warning track that now go over the fence, the game and the well respected records are cheapened and the innocence of the fans are lost as they are made cynical at an early age and that type of cynici sm is hard to erase as one gets older in life.When college coaches break NCAA rules by conducting illegal recruitment practices, it puts into jeopardy, the future of the team as well as the funding received by the NCAA as well as the trust that the fans have for their coach. The human element of fair play must always be kept within sports. Many people prefer the college game to the pros.   Even though there is more talent on the professional level, the college game is seen as more pure since it is believed that, for the most part, the corruption that comes with multi million dollar salaries, steroid use and incredibly large egos have not yet been able to taint the college game and is the last bastion of pure sports and fair play. More times than not, they are correct and the professional game, if they care at all about their social responsibility and ethical competition, should take a page out of their playbook.In recent times, fair play and a clean consciousness has been overshad owed by the vague promise of cheating being able to extend one’s career without getting caught or the effects of the mode of cheating, cause permanent health damage to the individual. It may seen overly optimistic, but in the end, a large majority of the people who cheat in American sports get caught eventually and in the process, their entire career and the entire athletic program will forever be under suspicion and in many cases, the punishment made the crime unnecessary. Fair play is the quintessential aspect of sportsman ship but such ideologies are seen as old fashioned and dull in today’s contemporary society and the few who do practice humility and fair play, are overshadowed by the vocal minority and their accomplishments. I do not see much changing for the future however, one can always hope.

A Comparison of Styles and Settings essays

A Comparison of Styles and Settings essays In the short story "Soldier's Home," by Ernest Hemingway, Kreb's rejection of his community's values can be related to Sammy's relationship to his supermarket job in John Updike's "A he never lets readers become personal or emotional to Kreb's. Where in "A unky kid, with a good tan, and a sweet broad soft-looking can, with these two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs" (480). Comments about the girls like this one gives Updike's "A&P" a youthful humor for readers to enjoy. Another example of this is when Sammy thinks to himself, "She did not look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prema-donna legs" (481). Statements like this gives readers comic relief and throughout the rest of the story he refers to this leader of the girls as Queenie. An example of when Sammy refers to her is when he says, "Queenie blushes, though maybe it's Hayes 2 maybe just a brush of sunburn I was noticing for the first time, now that she was so close" (483). There is no light-hearted or uplifting thoughts given from Krebs in "Soldier's Home" just serious, cold, not so happy statements for example, "Krebs acquired the nausea i...

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Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development - Essay Example 'Innovation' has always been a word synonymous with Bill Gates. Even as a child, he would fiddle with software, improving on existing ones and writing his own. Before exploring his history of innovation, however, it would be more prudent to discuss what innovation is first. As already mentioned above, innovation is the one characteristic no entrepreneur would get very far without. Sticking to what works and what is known may allow one to get by and make some money, but the ones who truly make it big are those who are unafraid of challenging conventions and taking risks, and who manage to breathe new life into supposedly exhausted industries. In short, while a conservative approach to entrepreneurship may bring security, it is a more innovative approach that one would be more likely to experience success. That being said, it would be well worth defining exactly what innovation is supposed to be. It is said to be a way of encouraging customer value, which can be done either through meeting new needs or through meeting old, existing needs in new and different ways. From an entrepreneur's perspective, this is most often attained through the introduction of unique products, services, technologies or ideas to the market. What sets innovation apart from mere improvement is that it is more concerned with taking a new, unique and different approach to something, rather than just building on the usual approach. The current environment has evolved such that innovation has become a major, major catalyst for growth, as the greater ease of transportation and communication has made factor endowments and comparative advantage less important in the long run. Instead, argues Schumpeter (1943), companies such as Microsoft need to constantly revolutionize the economic structure, as can be seen from the constant innovation of their products and services. Heyne et al (2010) lend further credence to this statement, describing a pattern among entrepreneurs in which they constantly aim to satisfy customers by continually improving on the quality, durability, service and price of their products, using a combination of technology and organizational strategy