Saturday, August 31, 2019

Finders keepers my ethical dilemma Essay

Introduction My mother always told me I must learn to think for myself, question a situation and most importantly, I must learn to say ‘NO’, cause when the devil shows or makes you an unbelievable offer it’s harder than you think to say ‘NO’. Regardless of ethnicity, religion or culture when faced with a moral dilemma there is no telling how you would react or what your decision will be, even if you grew up as a devout Catholic like I did, and were expected to obey the Ten Commandments till the day you die or ‘burn for eternity in hell!’, or if you are lucky, spend part of eternity in purgatory atoning for you sins. Often we are placed in situations that test our ethical resolve. Lapses in ethics due to a dilemma can occur because of the simplest of issues like a need or fear. A dilemma is a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives. An ethical dilemma can also be known as a moral dilemma or temptation. Moral temptations are viewed as â€Å"the right choice verses the wrong choice†. The right choice is not necessarily the easy choice. Any situation in which there are two choices to be made, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion nor provides a satisfactory outcome for the chooser adequately describes a dilemma. Ethical dilemmas assume that the chooser will abide by societal norms, such as codes of law or religious teachings, in order to make the choice ethically impossible. Knowing how to best resolve difficult moral and ethical dilemmas is never easy. Situation I Found Myself In Three years ago I left my job as a teacher to work in an employment agency to gain ipractical accounting experience. Not long after I started working the owner fired her sister and sister-in-law leaving me as the only member of staff. In December of that same year a pastor well known to my employer came into the office and placed an envelope on the chair next to where he sat down. He got up and left the envelope there. Firstly, I had no idea the envelope contained. So when I saw the envelope I thought it was empty and I was pretty annoyed that this man had left an empty envelope on the chair and didn’t have the courtesy to throw his rubbish in the bin!! So instead of taking the initiative to throw the envelope in the bin, I left it there. Yes I left it there on the chair. Secondly thing you should know is that my boss and I were not on the best terms. My boss obviously irritated that I made no attempt to throw the envelope in the bin asked me to do so. As I picked up the envelope I realized it was not empty, I looked inside only to become conscious that not only was it not empty, but it actually contained a large sum of money in one hundred dollar bills. In fact it contained thirty thousand dollars. Yes, THIRTY THOUSAND! My dilemma at that very moment was whether to confirm to my boss that envelope was empty throw it in the bin and take the money when she left the office or let her know the envelope contained a large sum of money and it is possibly belonged to the pastor. But what if it did not belong to the pastor? I would lose out on some much needed money and besides, if it did not belong to the pastor we may not be able to find out who it belonged to. And I believe in my heart of hearts if we did not find who it belonged to my boss would have claimed the money herself. Finding the rightful owner could have been a challenge, as a great deal of different people passed through the office on a daily basis, most of whom we did not know and the pastor was not the only one in the office at the time. I needed the money, Christmas was right around the corner and getting presents for the family that year was going to be a challenge as my salary was less than it was previously. Here I was faced with a way out, but what should I do? It will help, surely help and with a little left over for the future it couldn’t hurt! This predicament can be examined through the paradigm of right verse right or right verses wrong. A paradigm refers to the framework or pattern of thought we use to determine and perceive events surrounding us. It is considered as the lens we see our life through, helping us to interpret the world around us and determine how we interact with this world. Our paradigm is infused with prejudice, assumptions, expectations and beliefs from which our values ethics and rules flow. On one hand wrong argues ‘finders keepers’, how it could be wrong to keep something that may not make it to the right person any way. On the other hand right argues that keeping something that don’t belong to you without trying to genuinely find the rightful owner or taking an action that will deny the rightful owner the opportunity to recover their lost item is as good as stealing. It is against the law to take something that doesn’t belong to you and you can go to jail if caught and convicted. Regardless of religion or social strata, honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect and compassion are considered the five main values. You only need to fail in one; if you’re not honest you will still be considered unethical even if you’re fair, responsible, and deeply compassionate. Without realizing it our actions and response to ethical situations is guided by the principles of ethical decision making. According to Kidder there are three such principles. The first is called Ends-Based Thinking: doing whatever is needed to produce the greatest good for greatest number. The second is The Rule Based Thinking: which focuses on what we ought to do rather than what we think is best and or might work. Third is the Care– Based Thinking: which is chiefly based on the golden rule â€Å"do onto others as you will have them do unto you†. The use of these principles is to help you determine the correct course of action when faced with a dilemma, not provide an automatic solution to moral problems and issues. So here I am with thirty thousand dollars in my hand. I had no idea it was that much at the time and the only thing I can think is I started asking myself questions and turning over the answers in my mind. The first thing I asked is what are the benefits of keeping this money? Is it fair? What if the person trace back their steps what would I say? What if it is for something important? If I was in this same situation how will I feel? Will I want this person to do everything in his power to give me back my money? WHAT IF I GET CAUGHT? What then? Is this the person I want to become? And my answers at the time was ‘Screw religion yes it is fair, I found it fair and square’. I don’t have to worry about getting what I need done I have more than I need now. So what if he comes back it’s just not here and if I am really good, which I was and still am, I won’t get caught. But if I were in that situation I would be devastated and would want whoever found it to remember me and try to get it to me. But I also did not want to become that person who has to think twice about being honest. So when my boss passed by and asked is there anything in the paper I opted to do unto others as I will have them do unto me as the care base thinking commands. I turned to her and said ‘yes’ with a shocked expression on my face ‘it has money a lot of money. I think it belongs to the pastor’. The money was returned to the pastor; I was out an extra thirty thousand dollars and had a guilt free conscience. In the end when dealing with moral issues and dilemmas riddled with moral complications we must deliberate for ourselves, keeping a careful eye on both the facts and on the ethical considerations involved. No situation is just cut and dry. Having good intentions and intuition is not all. Living an ethical life, being a good person, requires a disciplined commitment to think and act in accordance with the fundamental principles of right and wrong. Bibliography 2009 Loyola Marymount University. (n.d.). Resolving an Ethical Dilemma. Retrieved July 28 th, 2013, from http://www.lmu.edu/copyright LoveToKnow, Corp. (2013, May Wednesday). Ethical dilemma Examples. Retrieved july 29th, 2013, from Your Dictonary Examples: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/ethical-dilemma-examples.html  © Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.. (2013). dilemma. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28th, 2013, from Dictonary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dilemma Free Dictionary. (2013, January). paradigm-difinition of paradigm by the free online dictonary,thesaurus and encyclopedia. Retrieved July 27th, 2013, from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/paradigm Heathfield, S. M. (2013, January). Workplace Ethics- Did you bring your Ethics To Work Today. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from About.com Human Resources: http://humanresources.about.com/od/businessethics/qt/workplace-ethics.htm Josephson, M. (2010, December 4th). The Groung Rules of Ethics. Retrieved August 2 nd, 2013, from Business Ethics and Leadership: http://josephsoninstitute.org/business/blog/2010/12/the-ground-rules-of-ethics/ R.Komives, S., Lucas, N., & R.McMohan, T. (2007). Chapter 6 Leading with Integrity and Moral Purpose. In Exploring Leadership second edition (pp. 179-211). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. The Contrarian . (2013, January). The Paradigm Problem: Everything You KnowIs Wrong. Retrieved August 1st, 2013, from Contrarianism An assult of thought on the unthinking: http://www.contrarianism.net/2011/04/04/the-paradigm-problem-everything-you-know-is-wrong/

Friday, August 30, 2019

Pest Analysis of Tyre Industry

PEST ANALYSIS OF TIRE INDUSTRY Tire Market in India is growing strongly and their production increasing from every year. In 2005, there were 40 tire manufacturing companies working in India which was consisted of major big brands in tire industry such as Good year, MRF, Falcon Tires and Bridge stones etc. we apply pest analysis on this market to check at what extent political, economical, technological and social factors are affecting this tire industry in India. POLITICAL: The government policy is much favored too local manufactures as said by the managing director of Goodyear India in 2005 that the tire market in India was almost exclusively dominated by local players and 90% of all tires on the Indian market were made and sold by the local Indian companies so Big companies like Good year, Michelin etc are hardly visible in India Tire Industry â€Å"Indianized† Government is providing more leverage to the local market that the foreign tire companies coming towards India. In 1926, when big giants in tire manufacturing like Dunlop, American firestone, Goodyear and Italian Ceat had much capital started their production plant in India than this had been a big treat for the local tire market. So Indian Government Immediately took an action and made a policy that if any foreign tire manufacturing company wanted to start their tire business in India than they had to act as locally and their names also seemed like locally such as Dunlop changed into Dunlop India and from Goodyear to Goodyear India. This â€Å"Indianized† process speeded up with the acquisition of most of the subsidiaries of foreign companies that operated in India: Firestone was bought by Modis in the early 1980s and Ceat and Dunlop were taken oven by RPG. Agreements with other foreign companies: There are many contracts and agreement of Indian companies with other foreigner companies which are as follows: * Under the Bangkok agreement, car and two wheelers tires were imported from china and South Korea at 10 percent custom duty. These imported tires had an average price 30 percent lower than tires sold by Indian companies. Some Indian companies like Apollo and JK tires tried to collaborate with Chinese companies in order to jointly produce cross ply tires. * In 1984, there was a agreement between the Indian and Japanese companies to get the model of Maruti 800 from Japanese company. * Ford and Dacia Logan are soon to be manufacture under the agreement by the Indian company with the foreign companies. ECONOMICAL: Growth of tire industry: The tire industry is growing in India day by day. In 1926, first tires were made by British company Dunlop. This gave rise to flourish of tire industry in India. When Cross ply tires were first introduced than 65 % of tire sales in India were covered by cross ply tires. But with the introduction of radial tire, radial tires represented 85% of car tire sales by volume. All the tire manufacturing companies are increasing their shares because tire industry in India is grooming with every year. In 2005, MRF, Apollo and JK tires had a tough competition and had a tough competition between them. Increases price of raw material: The prices of natural rubber and petroleum, which are essential components for the manufacturing of tires, becoming higher and higher which is badly effecting the tire manufacturing industry. TECHNOLOGY: SOCIAL:

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Auguste Escoffier - one of the greatest chefs

Auguste Escoffier - one of the greatest chefs Who was this Auguste Escoffier? He was considered the â€Å"chef of kings and kings of chefs† by many people. This is because he was one of the greatest modern chefs having to change the outlook of not only French cuisine but cuisine in general. Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846, in a small village called Villeneuve Loubet, near the city Nice, France. His parents were Jean-Baptiste and Madeleine Escoffier. His father was a blacksmith. Escoffier grew up in a very joyful family surrounding. Escoffier even once dreamed of becoming a sculptor, but at the age of 13, those dreams faded away when he was sent to Nice. Escoffier’s career began when he was 13 years old; when he was sent to work at his uncle’s restaurant in Nice. Escoffier learned great deals from his apprenticeship by working hard and determination to succeed. At the age of 19, Escoffier left his uncles restaurant in Nice for apprenticeship in Paris, France. While there the Franco-Prussian war began. Escoffier enlisted and served as an army chef. During this time of duty Escoffier became well acquainted with canning; Escoffier undertook an in depth study of canning and the techniques for preserving foods such as meats and vegetables. He used this knowledge later in life. After his time with the army, Escoffier returned to Paris to resume his career as a chef. While there, he built an illustrious reputation for himself. The fact that he was a chef of notable rank that served for the public directly raised his popularity; especially considering the greatest chefs at that time strictly worked only for royalty, nobility, or private clubs. It was not until Escoffier met Cesar Ritz that his career really took off. They both met while Escoffier was running the kitchen of the Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland. The two men created a great bond and they both opened The Carlton in London on 1899. Unfortunately, due to a nervous breakdown Ritz had in 1901, Escoffier was left to run The Carlton himself until 1919, shortly after Ritz death. It was also during this time that Escoffier learned about the practice of the a la carte menu. In 1935, Escoffier died at the age of 88 shortly after his wife; he was buried in the village he was born in, Villeneuve-Loubet. During his lifetime, Escoffier wrote many books and won many awards. One of his most important book, â€Å"Le Guide Culinaire† is a staple in learning French Cuisine. What made Escoffier so great was not just his impact on the culinary world, but that persuaded other endeavors as well. He was very philanthropic and created many programs and organizations to help feed the hungry and provide financial assistance to retired chefs. This led him to being awarded the â€Å" Legion d’Honneur† in 1919, being the first chef to receive this honor. It must also be noted, that before Escoffier, french cuisine was overly complicated and over the top, disguising the ingredients in dishes. Escoffier brought a new outlook to the industry. To simplify the art of cookery Escoffier eliminated grandiose shows of nutrient; cut back on the figure of class served during a repast and emphasized the uses of lighter sauces and seasonal nutrients. He was besides a house truster in sanitation and organisation in the kitchen. The impact Escoffier made not merely in Gallic Cuisine but besides in the universe is enormous. â€Å"La bonne cuisine est la base du và ©ritable bonheur.†, which means â€Å"Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness† by Georges Auguste Escoffier.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Where are you going, where are you from - Joyce Carol Oats Assignment

Where are you going, where are you from - Joyce Carol Oats - Assignment Example n the two of them, like her mother used to be the same was once and understands what she is going through, and that Connie somehow knows this and so there’s that different level of their relationship as well. Connie’s belief that her mother likes her more also suggests this. What’s more interesting though, and even a little bit disturbing, is the way that Connie reacts to Arnold Friend. Even the first time she saw him Connie was put a bit off center, and I immediately knew that he was going to play some sinister role in the story. I was not disappointed, and the scene where he comes to her house and talks to her, which is most of the story actually, gave me the chills. But at the same time Connie seems to expect things to turn out the way that they do, and there are some sentences in the story that make me wonder if that’s not actually the way she wants it to turn out. For instance, she goes out to the door and flirts with him, and even enjoys his attention, even though he has apparently been stalking her or worse and knows all sorts of things about her. His last name, â€Å"Friend,† makes him somehow seem even more evil than his speech when he talks. The way that he talks and the things that he says definitely play a big role in it, though, because he seems to be just saying things without any real understanding of what they mean beyond knowing that they are the sorts of things that a person like him should say. I almost wonder if he’s supposed to be Satan or something like that, but in the end he seems not quite as evil as that because the tone of the story doesn’t really make it sound like we’re supposed to hate him entirely. He is still a very creepy character, but the way he keeps his promises and doesn’t do anything extremely violent makes me wonder how creepy we’re supposed to find him. I think one of the main things Oates was trying for in this story is to show the confusion and the not always happy things that are involved in

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

American Airlines vs. Southwest Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Airlines vs. Southwest - Term Paper Example As the report declares Southwest is found to be continually winning over American Airlines in terms of economies of scale. American Airlines is fast losing upon its consumer base which has compelled it to operate over a lower scale compared to its low cost rival. Economies of scale imply the accrual of profit over the long run on account of an expansion in the scale of operation. This paper stresses that LRAC is a combination of a large number of short run average cost curves which too assume a similar U-shape. However, their minimum point continues to shift lower and the LRAC is the locus of the minimum points of all these short run average cost curves. Normally, a company does not continue its production operations after having reached the point of minimum long run average cost. This is the reason why the long run average cost curve is often held similar to the supply curve of the concerned producer. He will generally produce at the point where his short run average cost is lowest and thus, when the loci of all those points are obtained, it yields the long run supply curve of the organization concerned. In the present case, the situation could be interpreted as follows. Southwest Airlines has been growing in size on account of an expansion in its customer base and its average cost of operation over the long run is being reduced simultaneously as well. Howev er, the situation is found to be quite different for American Airlines, which although has a prospect of operating over the large scale, cannot do so on account of a reduction in its customer base. ... The fall in the cost of production has been interpreted as long run average cost (LRAC). Actually, LRAC is a combination of a large number of short run average cost curves which too assume a similar U-shape. However, their minimum point continues to shift lower and the LRAC is the locus of the minimum points of all these short run average cost curves. Normally, a company does not continue its production operations after having reached the point of minimum long run average cost. This is the reason why the long run average cost curve is often held similar to the supply curve of the concerned producer. He will generally produce at the point where his short run average cost is lowest and thus, when the loci of all those points are obtained, it yields the long run supply curve of the organization concerned (McEachern, 2011). In the present case, the situation could be interpreted as follows. Southwest Airlines has been growing in size on account of an expansion in its customer base and it s average cost of operation over the long run is being reduced simultaneously as well. However, the situation is found to be quite different for American Airlines, which although has a prospect of operating over the large scale, cannot do so on account of a reduction in its customer base. A reduction in average cost accompanied by a hike in production implies the incurrence of higher profit margins as well. This could be well evinced through the fact that during the first quarter of 2009, Southwest Airlines reaped a profit of nearly USD 5 million while its passenger base increased by approximately 12 percent. Over the same period, American Airlines incurred a huge loss and its passenger traffic expanded by a nominal 1.6 percent (CBS News, ‘Airline

Monday, August 26, 2019

Team builders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team builders - Essay Example Synergy (2001) reports, â€Å"If one studies highly effective groups, one finds that the most successful groups over the long haul tend to address both the technical needs and human needs. These groups are at the same time competent in the work they perform and highly functional in their interpersonal relationships†¦factors that emerge about successful teams (are) camaraderie, fellowship, and loyalty.† Team builders provide motivation in the health care setting. Motivation is extremely important n all areas of life especially the workplace. Without motivation there is no desire or drive to do anything. â€Å"Needs† such as sustenance, safety, security, belonging, recognition, and a sense of growth and achievement are motivators, or drivers, which leads us to behave and act in a certain way. (Synergy, 2001.) Motivation is particularly important in the health care setting because health care providers and staff are caring for those who are facing with health problems and issues. Having health-related problems causes one to be fearful, stressed, overwhelmed, and discouraged. Health issues not only affect a person’s (and their loved ones) physical, mental, and spiritual status but also their finances, daily responsibilities and schedules, etc. Working in the health care industry can be discouraging and a negative setting for all. Employers must see that their staff members work as a team (synergy) in order to stay motivated as their level of motivation, teamwork, quality of work affects the motivation and physical, mental, and spiritual levels of their patients in the setting. Many health care providers and settings provide motivation via a professional working environment, music therapy, counseling, mentors, etc. Those who enter the health care industry usually do so in order to help others. People who do so usually are motivated by their desire to make a difference in the

Poverty and Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Poverty and Pollution - Essay Example This paper outlines that Cubatao in Brazil, which may be the most polluted area in the whole world, has about 100,000 people living in the valley. Inhabitants have refused to sell their land and resettle elsewhere because of the readily available jobs from the industries and the cheap life around. This paper will examine the ethical implications of pollution in the third world, pollution as the price for progress, moral right to human beings of a livable environment, and global pollution standards. Additionally, the paper will examine whether the wealthy nations have an obligation to provide poorer nations with resources to develop greener industries. Ethical implications of businesses polluting in a third world country are common. First, every animal, plant, and other living things have a right to a better environment. It is unfortunate that pollution destroys their habitat shortens their lives. Additionally, pollution causes the extinction of some animals resulting in an incomplete life cycle of such animals. Living things depends on one another for survival and human beings depend on them. It is unethical that a human decision can result in death and loss of livelihood. Although human beings are superior to other beings, they have an obligation to other human beings and nonhuman beings. Secondly, right to bodily security supersedes all another human right including the right to property. The health of the environment is more important than all other rights because they protect human life. Therefore, pollution is unethical as it undermines a basic human right. Some businesses may conduct operations in a third world country and disregard any standards of pollution control. To reap the benefit of cheap labor and circumvent the strict conditions of working, many companies have moved their factories to third world countries.  

Sunday, August 25, 2019

AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE AND AUDITOR SCEPTICISM Essay

AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE AND AUDITOR SCEPTICISM - Essay Example To justify these responsibilities an auditor must possess certain personal qualities such as honesty and ethicality. To be precise, the auditor whether internal or external, has his responsibilities towards the governance of an organisation and its quality (The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2005). However, in the realistic phenomenon auditors have been constantly judged on their personal qualities, which directly indicate to the appropriateness of the concept of auditor independence and scepticism. The concept of auditor independence and scepticism were both raised with the focus on the nature of responsibilities which a professional needs to abide while ensuring the quality of the financial statements of a company (Kleinman & Et. Al., 2001). Nature of Auditor Independence and Auditor Scepticism The Nature of the Auditor Independence To define the term ‘Auditor Independence’, authors have referred it as the foundation of auditing in a realistic behaviour. Relying on th e nature of auditing, auditors need to identify, control and eradicate the inefficiency of the financial statements produced by the accountants of a firm in order to ensure the accurate status of the financial health of the organisation. Auditor independence, in this scenario assists the auditor to render value-added services to the client and the community at large. Auditor independence is strongly influenced by the audit process. The process instigates from the selection procedure and ends by reporting the findings and opinion of the auditor. Therefore, the concept of audit independence emerges to be crucial with due consideration to its importance and nature. It is in this context, that audit independence is implemented based on three basic principles, i.e. the auditors must belong to the external environment of the organisation and therefore are prohibited to be a part of the client organisation, the auditors are also proscribed to audit their own workings and cannot play any ad vocacy role to support the organisation if found guilty (Rezaee, 2007). Nature of Auditor Scepticism Auditor Scepticism is another concept introduced in the auditing practices, which refers to the personal skill of the auditors to challenge the management’s statements in order to critically evaluate the accuracy of the financial statements of an organisation. However, scepticism needs to be controlled due to the fact that challenging almost any and every assertion of a well established company will in turn affect the willingness to publish the financial statements (Peursem, 1989). The factors which play a crucial role in determining the appropriateness of scepticism are the regulations prescribed in relation to auditing and the financial practise of the company and the nature of the corporate. To be precise, the nature of auditor scepticism indicates to be an attitude of questioning the management and identifying and eliminating the probable chances of producing misstatements related to error or deception. It is of vital importance due to the fact that it not only ensures the auditing to be confirmed with extra professional efficacy but also proves supportive in performing the task rigorously. However, the level of

Saturday, August 24, 2019

DQ3_07 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DQ3_07 - Assignment Example began in 1948 and conducted among 5209 adult participants in Framingham, Massachusetts, has assisted to provide much of the now known knowledge in regard to heart disease. The Framingham Heart Study has proven as an outstanding work in regard to its scope, duration, and information. The study helped to provide understanding on the influence of lifestyle, environmental factors and inheritance on cardiac health. The study provided the origin of the term ‘risk factor’ (FHS, 2015). The study helped to identify major CVD risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and physical inactivity. Prior to the start of the study, medics had little knowledge in relation to the prevention of heart diseases. The study helped to show the necessity of weight management, a healthy diet, and regular exercise in preventing heart diseases. The study also assisted to reveal the differences in the risk of heart diseases between men and women. The study has expanded to encompass research on the role of genetics in contributing to

Friday, August 23, 2019

Company briefing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Company briefing - Essay Example This reformation helped injecting the profitable seeds of investment, creative ideas and advanced management methods into the main bloodstream of the organization. The expansion after this transformation has been at an electric pace, alongside with helping the sustainment of the century old tradition. Not only did it continue an ever-lasting tradition, it also expanded the brand out of China and into the world market. Numerous Formidable Fist Products LXL is a skilled operator, when it comes to creating maser pieces like the moon cake, from the lotus seed paste. In the long journey of about 120 years, LXL has evolved the quality of the moon cake, incorporating premium materials and traditional techniques. The moon cake is one of the brand-names of Guangzhou, used as a souvenir and also exported to various countries of the world like Japan, America, England, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa and part of East and South Asia. A fact that highlights the success of the product was the recommendation in the Asian Games 2011, to the list of recommended souvenirs. This small moon cake was an instant hit amongst the atheletes and people all around the globe. There are over a thousand traditional cakes and Dim Sum; such as Shrimp Dumpling, Beef ball etc, other than the moon cake, which the LXL produces and is famous for. The said products are made with traditional techniques to sustain the original taste and finesse texture of the product. The modern freezing technology has ensured the freshness and constant supply to the restaurants and hotels all around the world. Servicing the 5 Star Way The advancement of LXL is not confined by only the cakes and Dim Sum. LXL group has ventured in 5-star restaurant business as well, the restaurants ranking in the top 100 China at this present time. The main restaurant, placed at the ShangXiaJiu road, has a century old history associated with it. The history still reflects in the ancient style furniture and decorat ion style. Another branch restaurant located at Liwan Lake Park, where the best feature of this place is the option of enjoying high quality Cantonese cuisine in a genuine and quite Cantonese garden looking over the LiWan Lake. LXL has not compromised over fresh ingredients and top chefs in the city to ensure best quality food of the Cantonese nature. The high quality food is not the only reason for their success but also the amazing premium services they offer, has increased their fame many-a-folds in the industry as well as among the customers. The main target of LXL is the providence of a warm and comfortable environment for the customers to enjoy while they enjoy a fabulous dine-out experience, wither with their families or their business partners. The orders can also be customized according to ones own choice and liking. The customer satisfaction is the utmost priority on the wish list of LXL. Novelty: Our Driving Force Since the transformation of 2006, LXL has moved up to new heights of success. In the present market, LXL group offers catering, cakes, trading and food processing. Presently, 5 restaurants, over 30 cake houses and 2 food processing factories are being run by them. A cold ware house of over 30 tons storage capacity and imported machineries from Japan for advance food processing ha been set up to ensure optimum quality of the products. Creativity never stops

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Portfolio Trading Strategies Essay Example for Free

Portfolio Trading Strategies Essay Profits in equity are a function of timing and costs. Trading strategies are essentially focused on maximizing profits through cost maximization which in turn is linked with transaction costs. Thus cost of trading in also a consideration for determining trading strategy. Transaction costs are said to include commissions, execution and opportunity costs. (Collins. Fabozzi : 1991). Commissions are most easy to define as these are fixed and relate to the fees paid for trading. However there is a problem of measuring execution and opportunity costs as these are neither fixed nor can be easily measured. While a number of approaches have been developed for measuring opportunity and trading costs, a method to suit all circumstances has not been evolved thus far. The complexities involved and since minor differentials make major variation in profits an effective strategy to constantly provide yield is difficult. Investment strategies thus attempt to rationalize trading to provide benefits from execution as well as opportunity costs. Since there is no uniform strategy that can assure trading profits it is very difficult to balance the large number of factors which affect trades. Timing in fact is a constant which affects both opportunity and execution costs. Opportunity Costs and execution costs are both a variable component of transaction costs. Thus profits in transaction are determined by opportunity and execution costs and the balance that will be maintained between these. Opportunity costs are the performance shortfall that arises from a failure to execute the desired trade at the desired time. These indicate the difference between actual investment and the performance of a desired investment. This is adjusted for fixed and execution costs. Thus opportunity cost is incurred for not being able to implement the desired trade. Since opportunity costs are missed investment opportunities, these could in some respects be called hypothetical costs and thus are difficult to calculate. (Collins. Fabozzi : 1991) Execution costs arise out of the demand for immediate execution and are said to reflect the demand for liquidity and the trading activity at the time and date of conducting trade. (Collins. Fabozzi: 1991). These vary with the investment style and trading demands of the investor. Both information motivated traders and information less traders could use strategies to benefit from execution costs. The information motivated trader acts in the belief that he has superior information to that available to the average dealer. Thus he executes the trade using this information for making profits. This style of trading has a large price impact. On the other hand the information less trader allocates wealth based on a price which has been factored in the trade. These have a lesser impact than information motivated traders. The problem measuring execution costs occurs as the difference in the price of the costs in absence of a trade is not observable. (Collins. Fabozzi: 1991) Execution costs are determined by market impact and market timing costs. Market impact costs are the bid/ask spread and a price concession that compensates the buyer or seller for the risk that the investor’s transaction is information motivated.   The Market timing costs arise due to the fact that at the time of execution of the trade the asset’s price moves for reasons which are not related to the transaction.   Market impact measurement is dependent on the pre trade measures, the post trade measures and also average measures which can be undertaken throughout the day. These approaches aim to define the fair value of the trade at a particular time. It is this that determines execution costs. Market making strategy thus attempts to balance opportunity and execution costs. Patient trading strategies may result in high execution costs while aggressive trading strategies could impact the other way. (Collins. Fabozzi: 1991). On the other hand the cost management methodology is designed to capture maximum elements of the transaction process. (Collins. Fabozzi: 1991). Execution costs are also shown to be higher in an automated trading process in Paris relative to the New York Stock Exchange with floor based trading with human intervention. The lower execution in floor based system suggests that there is benefit in human intervention in the trading process. This is possible as the NYSE specialist is able to maintain narrow spreads, can anticipate future order imbalances and also helps reduce the volatility of transitory movements in share prices. Thus as specialist and floor traders use the human intellect to make time preferred trades, execution costs in manual trading are considerably lower than those in automated trading. This is also supported by the role played by market makers in forming prices and providing liquidity in the securities market as per example gleaned from the trading behavior of market makers on the New York Stock Exchange. (Madhavan. Smidt: 1993).       Reference Madhavan, Ananth. Smidt, Seymour. (1993). `An Analysis of Changes in Specialist Inventories and Quotations`, Journal of Finance, Vol 48, 1993 2. Venkataraman, Kumar. `Automated Versus Floor Trading: An Analysis of Execution Costs on the Paris and New York Exchanges, Journal of Finance, Vol 56, No. 4 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Collins, Bruce M. Fabozzi, Frank. (1991).   `A Methodology for Measuring Transaction Costs`, Financial Analysts Journal, March/April 1991. Preferred language style: English(U.K.)

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Indian or Singaporean English Essay Example for Free

Indian or Singaporean English Essay Indeed, language has been one of the most fundamental elements of culture. As such, culture and history brings about a language. However, in today’s society, English is slowly becoming a global language. This is to say, many people are learning English as their second language and because of this, dialects are starting to form out of English. These smaller versions of English bring to it the culture of those trying to learn it – whether they are African-Americans, Hispanics or Asians. Because each is unique and is a reflection of different cultures, the label of Standard English used by Americans is a bit inappropriate. To say that there is one standard means that the others are less formal or different from the norm. In fact, it is not the deviation from the standard that sets these apart but culture and history, which is brought about by these dialects. For me, Hispanics speaking English brings into the language the passion and intensity of the Spanish language. It should not be looked down upon as is the case of Ebonics or Black English. Some words that are not normally used by pure white Americans may be included in such dialects but it is not because it is slang or informal, but because it is a reflection of the heritage that speaks them – whether it be African Americans or Hispanics. People should be proud of how they speak even though it may not be classified as â€Å"standard† because the way they speak shows who they are. In learning English, it is not good to simply copy how the majority speaks English but to learn the language but still let our native culture and heritage to shine through. This is why I feel that it is very appalling when people think a dialect is uncultured or uneducated when in fact it is simple a different kind of culture and education that is being shown by the dialect. In fact, the assumption of a â€Å"standard† only means that the people who define which are the norms are the ones in power. They use â€Å"standard† English and therefore, they want their type of language to be the best. They themselves are proud of their way of speaking and want everybody to understand the beauty of their type of English. However, this is also the case for everyone. Now, if only minorities would see their dialects in the same way then they too can consider their dialect as, not only valid, but also equally respectable and normal. Growing up and learning English as my second language has helped me gain a respect for my Hispanic-Anglish language. It shows that even if I speak a different language than my native tongue, I am still able to hold on to who I am and still my culture and history is brought out whenever I speak. This certain kind of pride helps me to feel respected and part of the norm. However, I know that society is a tough crowd. Even though I may feel my brand of English is beautiful and at equal footing with the â€Å"standard†, officially, I know that there is a certain type of success associated with some variations of English. The language as spoken by Americans or English will still be considered as better and more educated by most people. That is why I am hoping my daughter will be given the same benefits as local Americans or naturally English speaking people because her first language and my husband’s first language is English. I do not feel there is something else I can do to change this fact, since I know it is integrated already into the mindset and system of society. It is institutionally and culturally accepted. However, for me who is learning English, I do not feel compelled to make other people speak â€Å"standard† English in order to treat them better or to look upon them with more respect and/or admiration. I know for a fact that most people learning another language puts in the time and effort that deserves such respect and/or admiration. Therefore, I am not afraid to show and give it to them. I do hope that one day, the people who are naturally speaking English, can look upon those studying and taking English as their second language at the same level. Some words may be different. Some accent may be present. But the fact of the matter is, English is just an expression of emotions and feelings and thoughts and opinions. It should not be a means of segregating people and classifying them as a lower class or a less educated class. In fact, it should be the opposite. Language should be used to connect people and to integrate different experiences and culture. The fact that people like me are studying English bringing in our experiences and culture to it means we are breathing in new life to English and enriching it. Even people who are not in America who are adopting English to their own language commands such respect. Indian or Singaporean English have become an entity of their own. They bring in new words and means of expressions while retaining English as the backbone of the new language being developed. This is a means of enriching English instead of breaking it down and destroying it. Instead of just carrying the same expressions and words, the exotic experiences and everyday lives of these foreigners are forging with English and therefore, creating a livelier language. People who speak English in their own land while keeping intact their own first languages therefore makes English a more global language and are uniting the world and making people feel closer and more connected with each other.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Influence Of Christianity On Culture Religion Essay

The Influence Of Christianity On Culture Religion Essay The novel, Things Fall Apart, was written by Chinua Achebe and was first published in 1958. The book deals with Okonkwo, the main character in the book, and his approach towards Christianity and the new Umofia after his exile. The novel shows us the impact of a western culture on the Igbo society and how the citizens have to adapt to the new changes and beliefs. Achebe, through this story, wants to show the readers that, things, culture and relationships do fall apart as we read it. White men arrived in Africa as traders, missionaries and administrators. In this essay, I will talk about the influence of Christianity on the Igbo culture. Is the Igbo culture civilized or barbaric? Was the arrival of the white missionaries in Things Fall Apart positive or negative? My essay will be divided into four sections, each giving a different influence of Christianity on the Igbo culture. I will discuss the four main influences. Christianity has influenced the Igbo culture in many ways. The main influence is on the religion that tribes follow. The white missionaries bring a different set of beliefs and laws which are incompatible with Igbo traditions and practices. The church which is built by the Christians, contributes to the destruction of the clan. Many Umofians decide to convert to Christianity, as they feel they will get more freedom, comfort and they can be and do what the clan does not agree to. The converts are outcasts, people with no titles and women who had twins. Such people are mistreated in the lgbo society. Christianity is giving such people dignity. The converts have the chance to find their true identity. The missionaries begin to establish themselves through the church. The white mens power increases as they survive the Evil Forest. The missionaries say We have been sent by the Great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you d ie. The power of the traditional gods is challenged by the survival of the missionary hut in the Evil Forest, in which, the unfortunate people, twins and ogbanje children are thrown. Christianity points fingers to the beliefs of the Igbo culture. For many, Christianity is an answer for all their queries. People think that converting to Christianity means peace and was better than the Igbo religion and its superstitions. Three converts had gone into the village and boasted openly that all the gods were dead and impotent and that they were prepared to defy them by burning all their shrines. This shows that the converts and the missionaries no longer respect the views and beliefs of the Igbo clan. The converts know that they are protected by the white men and the feel that they have a greater god than the lgbos. In Chapter 18, with the episode of the python, the belief of the Igbos in god strengthens and the death of the convert responsible proves that the gods still exist and do justi ce to its people. In a sense, despite the influence of Christianity, some of Igbo people still have firm belief in their gods. The second major influence is on the legal system in the Igbo tribes. It has a major hand in the collapsing of the clan. The new rules also apply to the Igbo tribe members, which has people who do not wish to convert to Christianity. The imposition of an alien legal system confuses the lgbos and adds up to the hatred the Igbos have towards the white men and the converts. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ stories were already gaining ground that the white men had not only brought religion, but also a government. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umofia to protect the followers of their religion. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary. Before the coming of the white men, decisions are made by the heads of the clan, the men with high titles. But now, these men have lost their place and there is the police to pass laws and give final verdicts and punishments. The new legal system proves to be neither just nor deserves praise. While the egwugwu frequently settle land disputes both effectively and fairly, the colonial courts decisions result in conflict and murder. The previously accepted traditions now are punishable offenses. Soon, the prison is full of men who had offended against the white mens law. Some of these prisoners have thrown away their twins, while some have molested Christians. This shows that to a great extent, the Igbo members of the society neither fear the Christians, nor are they scared of the new legal system and its laws. By building the Christian church and establishing a new legal system with their own western laws, the colonial government gradually makes the tribal legal procedure less effective and destroys traditional beliefs. This shows that the western culture is interfering in the day-to-day running of the Igbo government. The third influence is on the education given by the lgbos. Educating people of different age groups in Umofia helped those who were eager for self-advancement, who soon realize the potential of the schools. Hence, by educating the people of Umofia, the Christians do well to the place. The people are able to widen their knowledge. There is no harm in educating somebody. Mr. Brown, one of the missionaries, teaches the ambitious students. Mr. Brown is, understanding, patient and friendly, which make the people, feel welcomed and they would thus want to continue studying to become responsible. More people came to learn in his school, and he encouraged them with singlets and towels. They were not all young, these people who came to learn. This shows that Mr. Browns school produced quick results. A few months in it were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk. Those who stayed longer became teachers. This tells us that Mr. Browns school is effective and good. The studen ts can become successful and can even educate others, keeping the trend of education. On the other hand, through education, Mr. Brown is luring the Umofians to convert. By aiming at the different age groups, he wants the maximum number of converts who will accept the religion and its beliefs. The singlets and towels are forms of bribe as the Igbo have never used them. These items, therefore, symbolize luxury and also the mode of living of the white. By using such stuffs, they will feel superior to their fellow Umofians. Mr. Brown tries to become godly figure in the eyes of the people. Mr. Browns polite and caring nature helps him in his strategy to attract Umofians to convert. The last striking influence is that on trade. Christianity takes hold over the community but the clan also benefits from the trade and prosperity which it brings with it. In Chapter 21, the influence is introduced. The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he had also built a trading store and for the first time palm oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umofia. The coming of Christians brings money indirectly to the Igbos. By trading, they grow their knowledge about trading and other countries. Trading helps Umofia as they now have a trading store and get money to improve the place. The traders mostly trade palm oil and kernels. This buying and selling of goods changes Umofia. People now believe in the white missionaries and trust them better. This shows that the coming of Christianity in the Igbo society brings both positive and negative changes. This dealing requires manual skills and special training which might be given in Mr. Bro wns school. But in Umofia, before the arrival of Christianity, money was not of great value as sharing and borrowing existed. The appearance of money, through trading, decreases fraternity and friendship that was once there among the citizens. In a sense, the evil has been introduced in Umofia. There is competition and people want to be rich, unlike before. To conclude, the Igbo culture, in Things Fall Apart, is presented as both good and bad. Achebe manages to a great extent, to destroy the myth of the African savage. He impresses the reader by the fact that the white men are not bringing civilization, but are destroying the society. It shows that the colonization of Africa by western powers perpetuated the stereotype of primitive African savage. In Part 1 and Part 2, Achebe portrays a long-established and orderly African society with its strict hierarchy of gods, elders and titled men and with its own customs and religious beliefs. As from the end of Part 2, the white missionaries decide to destroy the culture and create hatred among its citizens. I think that each culture has the right for its own systems and other modern cultures, intruding, will just result in misunderstandings and hatred among the people who belong to the separate cultures. The arrival of the white missionaries makes few positive effects but also brings detestatio n in Umofia. Nevertheless, it also contributes considerably, as the Africans can learn new languages and modern techniques. 1550 words.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Comparison of the Gospels :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you think of Sabbath, you think of a holy day, a day of rest and relaxation for both man and animals. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word meaning â€Å"day of rest†. The Sabbath day is God’s day of relaxation after he finished the creation of the earth. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tell about the Sabbath dispute, but each gospel tells their story differently. Matthew chapter 12 begins with Jesus walking through the cornfields with his disciples when they became hungry. Because of their hunger, they plucked ears of corn and began to eat. The Pharisees disagreed with them doing this, not because they were eating someone else’s corn but for doing it on the Sabbath. They complained to their master about them doing what was against the law on the Sabbath (v 5). Jesus came to his disciples’ defense by referring to two incidents. The first incident is of David, where he and his followers ate bread that was for priest only. (v 3-4). The other incident is of the priest where they break the Sabbath by working proving that they could break one law to keep another, so Jesus could violate the Sabbath law in the interests of the Kingdom of God (v 5). He then argues that if the temple service would justify what the priests did, then the disciples doing what they did would be justified much more because they were in presence with him (v 6). Jesus goes on to say that God will have sympathy and not sacrifice meaning he will not criticize those who are not at fault. Finally, he states that â€Å"the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath† meaning that he instituted the Sabbath because he is the Son of Man. Mark, on the other hand, is parallel to Matthew. The first difference is that Matthew says they plucked ears of corn when Mark states that they plucked heads of grain (v 23). The Pharisees for a second time want to know why they are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath. Jesus defends his disciples again and gives the same example of David that Matthew did but there is a slight difference. Mark tells who the high priest is whereas Matthew says does not reveal who he is. Mark additionally states whom the Sabbath is for. By this, he said that the Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind made for Sabbath (v 27).

Importance of the Eunuchs in Elizabeth Inchbald’s The Mogul Tale Essay

Importance of the Eunuchs in Elizabeth Inchbald’s The Mogul Tale The eunuch is an integral part of the 18th century play The Mogul Tale, by Elizabeth Inchbald. He serves a historical role by being the Mogul’s advisor, watchman, and, most importantly, harem guard. Eunuchs are generally defined as castrated males and are thus excellent choices to guard the Mogul’s women – no fear of the guard taking the ladies for himself. Inchbald reinforces these noble positions by showing the eunuch as the Mogul’s â€Å"right-hand man†. But with the passing of time these traditional roles have died along with the people who embraced them. Eunuchs now exist in an India that has all but forgotten their position as protectors. They are now part of a larger, marginalized group that exists on the fringe of Indian society - the hijras1. Hijras include such minorities as eunuchs, hermaphrodites, transvestites, transsexuals, and homosexuals and â€Å"literally means neither male nor female†2. Most hijras undergo a secretive castration operation as part of their religious rites. Because of this secrecy it is unknown as to the exact number of hijras in India. They are described, and describe themselves, as the â€Å" ‘third sex’ – somewhere inbetween and beyond male or female†3. They see themselves as existing inside and above society. Even so, theirs is a day-to-day existence. Hijras make their money one of three ways: as beggars, as entertainers at traditional ceremonies, and as prostitutes. As beggars hijras are aggressive. Three to four will confront individuals, clapping and making hand gestures. If they are given money, they extend bountiful blessings of fortune and fertility to the giver and his family line. But if they are... ...oduction of Hijras in Comtemporary Indian Politics.† Social Research v70.1 (spring 2003): 163(39). (Reddy 181) 6 Reddy 165 7 Reddy 176 8 Butalia 5 9 Reddy 177 10 Reddy 164 11 â€Å"In from the Outside: India’s Long Mistreated Eunuchs are Teaming Up to Demand Equal Rights and Better Health Care.† Time International v156.11 (Sept 18, 2000): 25. (In from the Outside 25) 12 Allahbadia and Shah 49 13 Allahbadia and Shah 49 14 Slijper, Froukje M.E. â€Å"Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India.† Archives of Sexual Behavior v26 n4 (Aug 1997): 450(4). (Slijper 452) 15 Pimlott 46 16 Pimlott 47 17 â€Å"In from the Outside† 25 18 Allahbadia and Shah 48 19 Reddy 166 20 Reddy 164 21 Reddy 166 22 â€Å"In from the Outside† 25 23 Reddy 178-9 24 Reddy 166 25 Reddy 164 26 Reddy 167-8 27 Reddy 170

Sunday, August 18, 2019

diz ish onli fer yOo babe... :: essays research papers

Alexander Hamilton was a man of vision as well as economic genius. While he was Americas Secretary of Treasury, he wrote three major reports to Congress. These included: Report Relative to a Provision for the Support of Public Credit, The Reports on Public Credit II, and The Report on Manufacturers. His views expressed in these three reports laid the foundation upon which the economic success of modern day America was built. Although many of his policies have since been tweaked modified or re-named, the fundamental ideas he expressed have been consistent throughout. The amazing staying power of Alexander Hamilton's economic policies and the success that they have produced are clearly evident in today's modern economy. One of the most profound things about the visionary economic policies of Hamilton is that they not only solved the immediate problems facing the United States, but they also accounted for many of the challenges that the United States would be forced to contend with in the distant future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When George Washington first appointed Alexander Hamilton Secretary of Treasury, the most pressing issue was the payment of the debt acquired while financing the Revolution. He tackled this issue in his first report to Congress entitled: the Report Relative to a Provision for the Support of Public Credit. ?It is agreed on all hands, that part of the debt that has been contracted abroad, and is denominated the foreign debt, ought to be provided for, according to the precise terms of the contracts relating to it. The discussions, which can arise, therefore, will have reference essentially to the domestic part of it, or that there is not the same unanimity of sentiment on this part, as on the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Secretary has too much deference for the opinions of every part of the community, not to have observed one, which has, more than once, made its appearance in the public prints.... It involves this question, whether discrimination ought not to be made between original holders of public securities, and the present possessors, by purchase. Those who advocate a discrimination are for making full provision for the securities of the former, at their nominal value; but contend, that the latter ought to receive no more than the cost to them, and the interest: And the idea is sometimes suggested of making good the difference to the primitive possessor....   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Secretary, after the most mature reflection on the force of this argument, is induced reject the doctrine it contains.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Extract One: Explore how the author presents Hyde in this extract Essay

Hyde is presented as an ugly, deformed creature in the first extract, who seems to be naturally evil and causes others to feel so much hatred towards him. His actions instantly show his evil character when he â€Å"trampled calmly over the child’s body†. The verb, trampled shows his aggressions and his intent to harm the child. It was clearly deliberate. However, it also uses an adverb â€Å"calmly† which is an oxymoron because it contradicts the violent motion of trampling. This oxymoron shows how he is hurting the child with no care, sympathy or regret. His calm composure with no signs of regret continues as Mr Hyde remained â€Å"perfectly cool and made no resistance†. Using â€Å"perfectly† before cool emphasizes that he showed no care or remorse at all, although he has clearly hurt the girl, who was â€Å"screaming†. It portrays Hyde as very heartless and evil, particularly as he had trampled on an innocent girl, who would have not created any motive for Hyde to hurt her. The fact that she was a girl makes her seem more vulnerable too, presenting Hyde as more merciless. Furthermore, his lack of speech further reveals his nonchalance and disregard to the girl’s pain. He does not speak at all throughout the whole of the extract, even when Enfield â€Å"collared him†, so is not trying to defend himself or apologize for his terrible actions; he shows very little care in what has happened. Hyde’s hideous and ugly appearance is also portrayed in the first extract. Hyde’s look was described as â€Å"so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running†. When saying that it was â€Å"so ugly†, it emphasizes how obnoxious Hyde’s appearance was. In addition, sweating is usually an instinctively response to something which you cannot control. The fact that by looking at Hyde, Enfield had an instinctive response to be frightened and sweat, shows how there is something different about Hyde that makes the people loathe him. Enfield also described Hyde as â€Å"some damned Juggernaut†, presenting him as a senseless man who is doing crazy things, with no regard to other people. The adjective, â€Å"damned† emphasizes the hatred Enfield felt towards him and the fact that it has a religious connection implies that the disgust was so great. Finally, the reaction of the doctor towards Hyde after he tramples on the girl shows that the hatred was instinctive. Enfield described the doctor â€Å"as emotional as a bagpipe† and so clearly the doctor must not be affected too much by the screaming girl, especially as the girl was not seriously injured at all. However, he turned â€Å"sick and white† every time he looked at Hyde. It must therefore be an instinct to loathe Hyde as a usually emotionless man is feeling so much hatred towards him, although he has not done too much to hurt the doctor. In addition, the doctor also had â€Å"the desire to kill him†. This is heavily ironic as he is a doctor, who is meant to save and cure people, but has been affected so much that he wants to kill Hyde. The word â€Å"desire† emphasizes how much he wanted to kill Hyde and it felt as if it was the doctor’s goal. This shows that the detestation is clearly an instinct as it would never be a characteristic of a doctor to want to kill someone so much. However, it was not only the doctor who was affected and in fact Enfield accepts he also wanted to kill Hyde. Hyde had been so hateful that a group of respectable people had been changed so much into becoming animalistic with desire to kill someone. It clearly indicates that the hatred Hyde has towards him is so different from others and is almost like a human instinct

Friday, August 16, 2019

Nokia Applying Art of War Essay

Sun Zi Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. It had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics and beyond. In this assignment, we will apply Sun Zi Art of War Theories into companies chosen, Nokia Firstly, our assignment is based on Chapter Four (Disposition of the Army) of Sun Zi’s Art of War. One of the key points of Chapter Four is about a skillful general will ensure undefeatedness when waiting the opportunity to offend or defend the enemy. In business circles, we have to create opportunities to defeat and set conditions to ensure that we would not be defeated by rivals. Furthermore, a skillful general should possess to evaluate the chances of victory. There are five stages that need to look into. There are estimating the degree of difficulty, assessing the scope of operation, calculation of own forces, comparison of forces and establishing the chances of victory. All of these stages are useful till today’s business practices. Nokia is a company involved in digital technologies, including mobile phones, telecommunications network, wireless data solutions and multimedia terminals. Nokia’s history is from 1865 when engineer Idestam established a wood-pulp mill in southern Finland and start manufacturing paper. The beginning of Nokia’s journey into telecommunication was is in 1960, Nokia? s Cable Work’s Electronics department started to conduct research into semiconductor technology. Content Related to our topic-Weaknesses and Strengths, we would like to use a mobile phone company as an example, which is Nokia. Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. Nokia is engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile telephones and it produces mobile devices for every major market segment . Offending and defending is one of the elements in Sun Zi concepts. Sun Zi said: â€Å"Those who were skillful in warfare ensued that they would not be defeated and then waited for opportunities to defeat the enemy†. It means that we not only need to attack but need to defend too. Besides waiting for hances to attack, we need to defend ourselves from being defeated by competitors too. This concept is being applied on modern business strategies and practices. We can see that Nokia is skillful in warfare (business world). Besides produces mobile phone, Nokia also offers Internet services such as applications, games, music, maps, media and messaging. Apart from that, Nokia also comes out with assorted model of mobile phone, for example, N-series, Xpress Music series, Supernova series and others with different function to attract different range of mobile phone users. Besides that, Nokia’s subsidiary Nokia Siemens Networks produces telecommunications network equipment, solutions and services and it also engaged in providing free digital map information and navigation services through its wholly-owned subsidiary Navteq. From this we can see that Nokia not only attack its competitors by producing different kind of cell phone but also defend itself by having other products and services other than cell phone. At the same time, Sun Zi also mentioned that â€Å"the ability that is preventing defeat depends on oneself, while the opportunity for victory depends on the enemy†. Nokia has its own preventing defeat ability by having their own professional designer and Research & Development department. Their designers are assigned to design some new and attractive model to attract different level of mobile phone users while research and development are carried out to invent some new function to improve the quality and value of the cell phone. Apart from that, Nokia is now planning to have collaborations with competitors. Alongside pursuing this goal of nurturing more innovative partnerships, Nokia will also be looking to explore new product categories for Symbian and Smartphone technologies, extending the reach of higher-end technologies into mid-range devices after they addresses a need for many people looking to downgrade to less expensive products, especially in such fragile economic times. Nokia also comes out with Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as it offers unique value for those who want to experience their music on the move, after found that all touch screen devices are sold popularly worldwide. Besides that, Sun Zi also said: â€Å"Defend when military strength is weaker than enemy and attack when forces are stronger than enemy. † This means that we should defend when forces and resources are inadequate and attack when forces and resources are more than abundant. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nokia ran into serious financial problems due to its heavy losses by the television manufacturing division and businesses that were just too diverse. The company responded by streamlining its telecommunications divisions and by divesting itself of the television and PC divisions. After the strategic change, Nokia gained a huge increase in sales from Finland to North America, South America and Asia. The exploding worldwide popularity of mobile telephones had made the company the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer. With solid foundations and sound financial situations, Nokia has recently plans to develop Salo plant operating mode to further increase production speed and efficiency for a growing Smartphone market. Besides that, Nokia also merge with Intel to be software platforms for future computing devices. Sun Zi said: â€Å"A skillful general studies the ways that can lead to victory, and set up proper organizational structure and control, and maintain law and order which will lead to victory. † The person adept in warfare not only cultivates his moral code but maintains law and order. In this way, he is able to develop policies that determine victory and defeat in war. For example, Nokia has a proper organizational structure and control. Nokia comprises three business groups which included Devices, Services, Solutions and Market. The four units receive operational support from the Corporate Development Office which is also responsible for exploring corporate strategic and future growth opportunities. The Devices division is responsible for developing and managing Nokia’s mobile device portfolio, including the sourcing of components. The Services division operates in five areas of consumer Internet services: music, maps, media, messaging and games. This group works with companies outside the telecommunications industry to make advances in the technology and bring new applications and possibilities in areas such as online services, optics, music synchronization and streaming media. On the same time, the Solutions division is responsible for Nokia’s offering of solutions, where the mobile device, personalized services and content are integrated into a package for the consumer while the Markets division is responsible for the management of the supply chains, sales channels, brand and marketing functions of the company. Discussions When we discus about Nokia is company which the first enters into the business field has the priority to gain the market and has advantages over other companies. Actually, this is not easy being a marketing leader in this industry; the rick was also instrumental to take in Nokia’s worldwide effort to assure the financial strength and flexibility. This strong financial are help the company able to have a very strong and efficient human resource team. This strong financial background help company to attack its competitors by producing different kind of cell phone and also defend itself by having other products and services other than cell phone. Nokia believes it should be easy to share information and content between our cell phone and other devices you use everyday such as PC and the web. This way it is easy to keep everything synchronized and ensure people always have access to the things they love, such as music, and the services they use, such as navigation, whenever and wherever people need them. The average person spends between one and two hours per day in their car. Given that their cell phone not only holds their favourite music but now, if it is a Nokia cell phone, comes with free worldwide navigation services (Maps), the next logical step is to provide an easy way to connect their cell phone to their car. This way services and content from the mobile can be fully integrated with the in-car speakers, displays and control systems. Just as importantly, though, this connection should be two-way so that the cell phone can access performance information from the vehicle itself and provide more relevant information to the driver. Nokia company not only responsible for corporate and technology strategy, strategic alliances partnerships, research, standardization, intellectual property rights, and venturing. Nokia has a well-defined and efficient human resources team that is organizational HR, Business HR, and CPD. These groups work closely with employees and management to create and carry out all people initiatives. They also responsibility for all human resources activity including employee development, management and leadership development, compensation, benefits, staffing and global diversity. The human resource manager also acts as the ‘hosting manager’ for Workplace Resources. This role involves helping Workplace Resources achieve their goals by being a discussion partner for him and his leadership team. Sun Zi said: â€Å"The purpose of raising such a large army is to achieve wsift and decisive victories. † It mean in such a big increase in troops is aimed at achieving wsift and decisive victory, before a company want to be success they must raising the employees welfare and their fight heart. Recommendation As we know, Nokia, which has entered into the mobile phone business since early 1980s, has more advance history than other mobile brand like Sony Ericsson, which entered the field on October 2001. Thus, Nokia should keep on improving their mobile phone and devices by using the element of Sun Zi Art of War. Sun Zi said: Those who arrive first at the battleground will have sufficient time to rest and prepare against the enemy. Those who arrive late at the battleground will have to rush into battle when they are already exhausted. In other word, company which the first enters into the business field has the priority to gain the market share and has advantages over other companies. Since the trademark of Nokia has been well-known by mobile phone users, Nokia can gain a number of its loyal customers. Nokia also continually to modify and innovative its mobile phones and devices, and more expensive multimedia and enterprise-class devices. Moreover, Nokia has more experience than Sony Ericsson in communication sector. Furthermore, Nokia Company suited with flexibility, adaptability and shaping with their products when the environment factor occur, like economic recession or inflation. Indeed, it should not seek to conform, but to transform itself to suit the environment. Based on chapter six, the person who gains victories by adapting to the changing conditions and situations of the enemy can be considered a legend in warfare. When the company meets the obstacles, they also should be flexible like water by changing their tactics to overcome the difficulty to ensure they are undefeatness by the opponents. The Nokia Way emphasizes the speed and flexibility of decision making in a flat, network organization, clearly stated by Nokia’s official corporate culture manifesto. The trademark of Nokia has been well-known by mobile phone users, but Nokia company also should redefine its values by develop Nokia’s official corporate culture manifesto. The trademark of Nokia has been well-known by mobile phone users, but Nokia company also should redefine its values by develop their product to satisfy customer needs and expectation. Its comes out with the slogan, that is â€Å"Engaging You, Achieving Together, Passion for Innovation and Very Human† in May 2007. More troops would be committed when the situation dictated so. In addition, Nokia Company need to matching strategies with ground characteristics in the business environment. This is evident in the various descriptions given to each type of group and the different strategies advocated for them. Based on chapter eleven, Sun Zi emphasized the importance of understanding and exploiting these different grounds. He said that the effective deployment of troops, whether they are strong and weak, depends on the understanding and exploitation of the terrain. Nokia Company should exploit different branch to selling various type of mobile phone device over the country by fitting the affordable consumer’s needs at the right place, in a right time. For example, Nokia offers a free personalized service to its subscribers called My Nokia which located at my. nokia. com. Registered My Nokia users can avail free services as tips and tricks alerts through web, e-mail and also mobile text message. My Nokia Backup is the service needs GPRS connection to get a free online backup service for mobile contacts, calendar logs and also various other files. Besides, numerous ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, games and other things can be downloaded free of cost. Then, Nokia develop some strategic to merchandise their product by using market basket analysis or organize a Nokia Fair by promote product at a cheaper price in order to gain more market share in this modern world. Conclusion Through our assignment report, we know that many Sun Zi’s Art of War concept has been applied in today modern business strategies and practices. This has proof by our assignment’s research. The studies of Sun Zi’s theories are use in today business based on the example company we choose, which is the Nokia mobile phone company is very useful and effective. Our research had discovered that Nokia had applied the Sun Zi’s concept of Disposition of the Army as a guideline for achieving the company goals. As a conclusion, the first knowledge we learned through this report is we cannot always attack but need to defend based on different situation. As we waiting for chances to attack, we need to defend ourselves from being defeated. Secondly, we also learned that we can build an invincible defend to make the competitor difficult in attacking us. However, to defeat the competitors, one has to attack and the chances of victory depend on how strong the competitors can defend. The next thing we learned is we should defend when forces and resources are inadequate and attack when forces and resources are more than abundant. Lastly, we also learned that the person adept in warfare not only cultivates his moral code but maintains law and order. In this way, he is able to develop policies that determine victory and defeat in war.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

The Effect of Retention Interval on the Confidenceâ€Accuracy Relationship for Eyewitness Identification

Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 DOI 10. 1007/s10979-009-9192-x ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Effect of Retention Interval on the Confidence–Accuracy Relationship for Eyewitness Identification James Sauer ? Neil Brewer ? Tick Zweck ? Nathan Weber Published online: 22 July 2009 O American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41 of the American Psychological Association 2009 Abstract Recent research using a calibration approach indicates that eyewitness confidence assessments obtained immediately after a positive identification decision provide a useful guide as to the likely accuracy of the identification.This study extended research on the boundary conditions of the confidence–accuracy (CA) relationship by varying the retention interval between encoding and identification test. Participants (N = 1,063) viewed one of five different tar- gets in a community setting and attempted an identification from an 8-person target-present or -absent lineup either immediately or several week s later. Compared to the immediate condition, the delay condition produced greater overconfidence and lower diagnosticity.However, for choosers at both retention intervals there was a meaningful CA relationship and diagnosticity was much stronger at high than low confidence levels. Keywords Eyewitness identification Confidence–accuracy Retention interval Calibration Criminal justice systems often use eyewitness identifica- tion evidence when assessing the likely guilt of a suspect or defendant. Yet, the likelihood of eyewitness identification error is well documented by laboratory- and field-based research demonstrating that, when presented with a lineup J.Sauer N. Brewer (&) T. Zweck N. Weber School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia e-mail: neil. [email  protected] edu. au Present Address: J. Sauer Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK and asked to make an identification decision, witnesses sometimes (a) misidentify innocent lineup members as the culprit or (b) fail to identify the culprit when (s)he is present in the lineup (Cutler & Penrod, 1995; Innocence Project, 2009; Pike, Brace, & Kynan, 2002; Wells et al. , 1998). Such dentification errors divert investigative attention from the actual culprit and are likely to under- mine the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. Their impact has motivated a substantial amount of research aimed at identifying markers capable of discriminating accurate from inaccurate identification decisions. Eyewitness confidence is one possible marker of iden- tification accuracy that has been used by forensic decision makers. Not only has confidence been endorsed by the U. S. Supreme Court as one of the criteria to be considered when assessing the likely accuracy of identification evidence (Neil v.Biggers, 1972) but there is also a substantial literature demonstrating that eyewitness confidence influences assessments of likely identification accuracy made by police officers, lawyers, jurors, and jury-eligible samples (e. g. , Bradfield & Wells, 2000; Brewer & Burke, 2002; Cutler, Penrod, & Stuve, 1988; Deffenbacher & Loftus, 1982; Lindsay, Wells, & Rumpel, 1981). Moreover, there are sound theoretical grounds for pre- dicting a meaningful confidence–accuracy (CA) relationship for eyewitness identification decisions, which are a form of recognition memory decision.A number of theories of decision making and confidence processing—such as signal detection theory (Egan, 1958; Green & Swets, 1966; Mac- millan & Creelman, 1991) and accumulator models of decision making and perceptual discrimination (Van Zandt, 2000; Vickers, 1979)—suggest a shared evidential basis for response and response confidence in recognition memory tasks. Both classes of theory hold that confidence stems from the same evidence that drives the decision-making ? 123 338 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 ?process and, consequentl y, conditions facilitating accurate responding (e. . , long exposure durations, focused atten- tion, short retention intervals) should also produce high confidence. Conversely, conditions that hinder accurate responding should also lead to decreased confidence. Although there have been repeated demonstrations of weak or, at best, modest, CA correlations (e. g. , Bothwell, Deffenbacher, & Brigham, 1987; Sporer, Penrod, Read, & Cutler, 1995), empirical support for the diagnostic utility of eyewitness identification confidence—under certain con- ditions—has grown (e. g. Brewer & Wells, 2006; Juslin, Olsson, & Winman, 1996; Lindsay, Nilsen, & Read, 2000; Lindsay, Read, & Sharma, 1998; Sauer, Brewer, & Wells, 2008; Sauerland & Sporer, 2009; Weber & Brewer, 2004). Continued research interest in the CA relationship has been stimulated by two lines of enquiry suggesting that the early correlational work underestimated the CA relationship. First, Lindsay et al. (2000, 1998) arg ued that the homo- geneity of encoding and testing conditions (e. g. , exposure duration, witnesses’ attention to the target stimulus, retention interval, etc. evident in most correlational investigations of the CA relationship for eyewitness iden- tification tasks restricts variation in the quality of participants’ memories for the target. Thus, variations in accuracy and confidence are constrained, and the CA relationship underestimated. Lindsay et al. demonstrated substantial CA correlations across participants making a positive identification when witnessing conditions were varied to produce changes in the quality of the witness’ memory for the target.Second, Juslin et al. (1996) argued that the point-biserial correlation provides only a limited perspective on the CA relationship, whereas an alternative approach—calibra- tion—provides (a) a more detailed representation of the CA relationship and (b) more forensically useful information. The cal ibration approach compares the objective and sub- jective probabilities of a response being correct, determining the proportion of correct responses at each confidence level (typically measured on 0–100% scale).Perfect calibration is obtained when, for example, 100% of all responses made with 100% confidence are accurate, 90% of all responses made with 90% confidence are accurate, etc. This informa- tion is typically plotted on a graph, with the resulting calibration function compared to the ideal function, to assess the CA relationship. In addition to visual inspection of the curve, the calibration approach incorporates a number of statistical tools for assessing the CA relation. First, the cal- ibration (C) statistic indexes the degree of correspondence between the subjective assessment (i. e. confidence) and the objective probability (i. e. , accuracy) of correct recognition, and varies from 0 (perfect calibration) to 1. To calculate the C statistic, the difference between proportion correct and confidence level is computed, and squared, for each confidence level. These values, each multiplied by the number of judgments at the respective confidence level, are then summed and divided by the total number of judgments in the sample. Second, the computation of an over/under- confidence (O/U) statistic indicates the extent to which participants are, generally, more or less confident than they are accurate.The O/U statistic is calculated by subtracting the mean accuracy from the mean confidence of the sample. The O/U statistic can range from -1 to 1, with negative and positive scores indicating underconfidence and overconfi- dence, respectively. Finally, resolution (like the CA correlation) assesses the extent to which confidence dis- criminates correct from incorrect decisions. The Normalized Resolution Index (NRI) ranges from 0 (no discrimination) to 1 (perfect discrimination).The forensic utility of the cali- bration approach, when compared to correlati on, lies in its indication of probable accuracy for each level of confidence. As Juslin et al. (1996) note, the knowledge that the CA correlation is, for example, . 28 does not help assess the accuracy of an individual identification made with 80% confidence. On the other hand, knowing that 80% (or 70, or 90%) of identifications made with 80% confidence are cor- rect provides a guide for assessing the likely reliability of an individual identification decision.Studies using the calibration approach have not only provided detailed information on the CA relationship but, in so doing, have also demonstrated robust CA relation- ships when participants positively identify a lineup member as the culprit (e. g. , Brewer & Wells, 2006; Juslin et al. , 1996; Sauerland & Sporer, 2009), provided confi- dence is assessed immediately after the identification is made (Bradfield, Wells, & Olson, 2002; Brewer, Weber, & Semmler, 2007). The reason for the poor CA relations typically observed for non- choosers remains unclear.However, it is well understood why delaying the assess- ment of confidence is harmful to the CA relation. As outlined above, the relationship between memory quality, confidence, and accuracy is fundamental to the CA rela- tionship. However, confidence can be shaped not only by memory quality but also by various social, environmental, and meta-cognitive influences (see Wells, 1993). As the influence of these non-memorial factors increases, the degree to which confidence reflects the evidential basis it shares with accuracy decreases and, in turn, the CA relation weakens.Research testing the boundary conditions for CA cali- bration is under way. The difference in CA relations for choosers and non-choosers, and the deleterious effects of delaying assessments of confidence on the CA relationship, are well documented. Brewer and Wells (2006) examined the effects on CA calibration of varying instructional bias, foil similarity, and target-absent base rates, while Weber and Brewer (2003) tested the effect of varying the 123 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 339 confidence scale on CA calibration in basic face recogni- tion tasks. The present study further probes the boundary conditions for CA calibration by investigating the effects of varying the retention interval between encoding and the identification test on the CA relationship. Retention interval is a variable of particular interest for three main reasons. First, witnesses to actual crimes com- monly experience delays ranging from hours to months between viewing an event and being asked to make an identification decision. For example, Pike et al. 2002) report UK survey data revealing a median delay of over 10 weeks between police requesting and administering a lineup, although they noted that more conservative esti- mates put the average delay at just over a month. Regardless, it seems safe to assume that the average retention interval for the witness (i. e. , between viewing the c rime and viewing the lineup) is longer. In contrast, retention intervals employed to date in laboratory-based investigations of CA calibration for eyewitness (e. g. , 15 min in Brewer & Wells, 2006) and face recognition memory tasks (e. . , 3–10 min in Weber & Brewer, 2003, 2004, 2006) are considerably shorter and less varied in range. Juslin et al. ’s (1996) CA calibration study provides an exception by employing 1 h and 1 week retention intervals, and their findings are addressed below. The emphasis placed on confidence by decision makers in the forensic setting makes understanding the effect of length- ened delays on the efficacy of confidence in discriminating accurate from inaccurate identification decisions a matter of forensic significance.Second, theories of recognition and recall memory function suggest that, in general, the quantity, quality, and/ or accessibility of information stored in memory decreases over time. This claim is supported by a large body of research literature demonstrating that, across a variety of memory task paradigms, increases in retention interval generally produce decreases in recognition and recall memory performance (e. g. , Deffenbacher, Bornstein, McGorty, & Penrod, 2008; Ebbinghaus, 1964; Schacter, 1999). Thus, variations in retention interval should produce variations in accuracy.While memory strength is the pro- posed basis for both confidence and accuracy (e. g. , Egan, 1958; Green & Swets, 1966; Macmillan & Creelman, 1991) and, hence, variations in memory strength should affect both components of the CA relationship, it is unclear whether the effects on confidence and accuracy will be equivalent. Previous research demonstrates that changes in accuracy are not always accompanied by equivalent changes in confidence (e. g. , Weber & Brewer, 2004) and, further, that various manipulations can influence confi- dence, and the CA association, independent of effects on accuracy (e. . , Busey, Tunnicliff, Loftus, & Loftus, 2000). Investigations of the CA relation for eyewitness recall memory suggest that repeated questioning produces con- fidence inflation (Shaw, 1996; Shaw & McClure, 1996). For recognition memory, providing post-identification feedback, encouraging witnesses to reflect on whether their encoding conditions were likely to facilitate or hinder identification accuracy, and having witnesses consider their behavior during the identification process all produce variations in the CA relation, without affecting accuracy (e. g. , Bradfield et al. 2002; Brewer, Keast, & Rishworth, 2002; Kassin, 1985; Kassin, Rigby, & Castillo, 1991). In sum, it is clear that despite the strong theoretical link between confidence, accuracy, and memory strength, non- memorial factors can lead to CA dissociation. Thus, while the effect of increased retention interval on memory strength (and accuracy) is predictable, the effect of increased retention interval on CA calibration is not. Third, while numero us studies have investigated the effect of varied retention interval on recognition and recall memory accuracy (see Deffenbacher et al. 2008 for a review), studies probing the effect of varied retention interval on the CA relationship are scarce. Lindsay et al. (1998) varied retention interval, but it was manipulated in conjunction with a number of other variables in an effort to exert a compounded effect on memory quality. Further, they assessed the CA relation using correlation and, thus, their findings do not allow specific predictions regarding CA calibration (see also Lindsay et al. , 1981). As men- tioned above, Juslin et al. varied retention interval and found no ifference in CA calibration for identifications made after retention intervals of 1 h and 1 week. However, Juslin et al. ’s investigation is limited in two important ways. First, their manipulation of retention interval exerted a negligible effect on accuracy (correct identification rates were . 69 and . 64 fo r the 1 h and 1 week conditions, respectively). Thus, there is no evidence that participants’ memories were challenged by the additional delay, and these findings are unable to speak to the effect of delay- induced memory degradation on CA calibration. Juslin et al. resented an additional CA calibration curve, based on a different dataset from that described in the article, which (a) combined data from a 1 week and 3 month retention interval condition and (b) suggested a meaningful CA relation in the upper half of the confidence scale. However, for three reasons, this curve is not informative regarding the effect of retention interval. First, the exper- imental methodology and data underpinning this curve remain (to our knowledge) unpublished. Second, the absence of any accuracy data precludes an assessment of any decline in memory associated with the increased retention interval.Third, derivation of a calibration curve given such a small sample required collapsing data acros s retention interval conditions, and no indication was given of the relevant contribution of data from each retention 123 340 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 ?interval condition. Thus, we have no way of knowing to what extent this curve reflects the influence of either the shorter or longer of the two retention intervals. Simply put, Juslin et al. ’s initial manipulation of retention interval was not strong enough to affect memory quality, and the introduction of the additional data did not overcome this limitation.Second, after presenting a lineup but prior to making an identification decision, Juslin et al. (1996) had participants rate their confidence that any lineup member was presented at encoding. Brewer et al. (2002) found that having par- ticipants consider encoding conditions prior to rating confidence improved CA calibration. In a similar way Juslin et al. ’s initial rating task may have aided calibration. For example, if a participant rates the likeli hood that a lineup member was present at encoding as high, (s)he is likely to pick and do so with high confidence.Alterna- tively, if (s)he rates this likelihood as low but still chooses, confidence (and accuracy) is likely to be low. This pre- decision rating task may have improved CA calibration. Further, other research suggests that encouraging witnesses to consider confidence prior to making an identification can alter the decision making process and decision accuracy (e. g. , Fleet, Brigham, & Bothwell, 1987). In addition to these two major limitations, two idiosyn- crasies in Juslin et al. ’s (1996) methodology may have affected the CA relation observed.First, Juslin et al. used a target-absent base rate of . 25, rather than the . 50 base rate typical of eyewitness CA calibration research (and used in this research). While there is no reason to assume a . 50 target-absent base rate in the applied setting (with the typ- ically used . 50 target-absent base rate perhaps re presenting a considerable overestimation), differences in the target- absent base rate affect CA calibration (Brewer & Wells, 2006). Second, the researchers provided instructions on calibration and interpretation of the confidence scale.Prior to eliciting confidence estimates, Juslin et al. informed participants that a positive identification accompanied by a confidence estimate of 0% amounted to a contradiction. While this logic may be sound, positive identifications are sometimes made with very low (even 0%) confidence, and this instruction may have influenced participants’ confi- dence estimates and, consequently, the CA relationship observed. Taken together, these differences are sufficient to raise doubts about the generalizability of Juslin et al. ’s findings.Specifically, given that accuracy was barely affected by the manipulation, and that the rating task and lower target-absent base rate may have enhanced calibra- tion and reduced underconfidence (cf. Brewer e t al. , 2002; Brewer & Wells, 2006), Juslin et al. ’s (1996) study does not represent an adequate test of the effect of increased reten- tion interval on CA calibration. CA calibration in Juslin et al. ’s shorter retention interval condition was already strong. Thus, any over-estimation of the CA relation resulting from Juslin et al. s methodology would most likely also manifest in the longer retention interval, increasing the likelihood of obtaining similar CA relations across conditions. CA calibration research in the eyewitness identification area is in its infancy. The paucity of research in this area is understandable given the large number of participants required to generate stable estimates of CA calibration. Indeed, most of what is currently understood in this area relies on laboratory research using a limited range of stimulus materials. Only one study has previously exam- ined CA calibration using a field study methodology (Sauerland & Sporer, 2009).The pres ent research advances understanding of the CA relationship in three main ways. First, we used the CA calibration approach to examine the effect of retention interval on the CA relation, contrasting the CA relation for a virtually immediate identification test with that for one conducted between 3 and 7 weeks after the encoding event (and producing lower identification accuracy). Second, we used five different sets of encoding and test stimuli and, third, we tested the robustness of the CA relation in a field setting that provided varied and more realistic encoding conditions (cf.Lindsay et al. , 1998). METHOD Design A 2 (retention interval: immediate test versus delayed test) 9 2 (target-presence: present versus absent), between- subjects design was used to test the effect of varied retention interval on the confidence–accuracy relationship using multiple target stimuli in a field setting. Participants A total of 1,063 (548 female) participants provided data for this research . Participant ages ranged from 15 to 85 (M = 29. 21, SD = 14. 33). A functional grasp of the Eng- lish language was the only prerequisite for participation. MaterialsPhotographs of the target were cropped to present the individual, from the shoulders up, against a plain white/ gray background, and were approximately 55 mm 9 55 mm in size. Non-target (i. e. , foil) photographs were selected from our laboratory’s large database using a match-description strategy, with foil selection requiring agreement between the researchers and the experimenter from each pair that the foils matched the target’s 123 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 341 ?description. In sum, five different sets of target-present and target-absent lineups were constructed.For each target, identical foils were used for target-present and -absent lineups. Target-absent lineups were created by replacing the target with another foil photograph. However, as dis- cussed in the ‘‘Resultsâ€℠¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ section, because the designation of individual foils as target-replacements was arbitrary, the target-replacement is not analogous to an innocent suspect. Procedure Ten female, third-year honors psychology students col- lected data as part of a work experience course-component. The 10 students split into pairs with one acting as the researcher and the other as the target.Targets were of either Caucasian or Mediterranean appearance. Data were collected at various locations ranging from on-campus to city streets to parkland areas. While the target remained out of sight, the researcher approached members of the public (individually) and asked if they would like to participate in a psychology experiment. If the individual agreed, the researcher signaled to her partner who moved into the participant’s view, and remained in view for 10 s. Targets were viewed at a pre-measured distance of 10 m, and participants were instructed to attend to the target for the full 10 s.Afte r encoding, participants were allocated to either an immediate or delayed testing condition. Data were obtained from 691 participants in the immediate condition and from 372 participants in the delayed condition (i. e. , only about 55% of participants approached in the delayed condition responded). Participants in the immediate con- dition were asked to perform an identification task. The researcher read the following instructions to the partici- pant: ‘‘I’m now going to ask you to try and pick the person you just saw out of a group of photographs on this sheet†¦ ’ The researcher then presented the participant with a laminated piece of A4 paper displaying eight, clearly numbered, color photographs organized into two rows of four faces. The instructions continued: ‘‘The person may or may not be present in the lineup. If you think the person is not present, please say ‘not present’. Please indicate the number of the person who is the person you have just viewed’’. The researcher then recorded the participant’s response, asked the participant to indicate their confidence in the accuracy of their response on an 11-point scale (0–100%), and collected some demographic information.Participants in the delayed condition provided an email address and were contacted approximately 18–21 days after encoding, and provided with a link to an online data collection system. Actual retention intervals ranged from 20 to 50 days (M = 23, SD = 5). When entered into the system, participant email addresses were matched to the relevant researcher/target pair to ensure that each partici- pant viewed the correct lineup for their target stimulus. Participants accessed the online system and were presented with instructions generally identical to those reported above.However, rather than indicating responses verbally, participants in the delayed condition made identification decisions by either (a) c licking the photo of the lineup member they believed to be the target, or (b) clicking a button labeled ‘‘Not Present’’ at the bottom of the screen. Similarly, participants entered their confidence estimate by clicking one of eleven on-screen buttons representing the levels of confidence indicated above. Participants in the delayed condition were asked for the same demographic information as those in the immediate condition.Target- presence was counterbalanced in both the immediate and delayed conditions to achieve an equal number of target- present and -absent trials. RESULTS Retention Interval and Accuracy Chi-square analyses performed on response accuracy for the delayed and immediate conditions found predictable effects of retention interval for both choosers, v2(1, N = 614) = 11. 59, p . 001, w = 0. 14, and non-choosers, v2(1, N = 449) = 13. 85, p. 001, w = 0. 18.In both cases, accuracy was greater in the immediate condition (62 and 82% for choosers a nd non-choosers, respectively) than in the delayed condition (47 and 66% for choosers and non- choosers, respectively). Thus, the effect of increased retention interval on identification accuracy was consistent with the expected reduction in memory quality. As found by Juslin et al. (1996) and Sauerland & Sporer (2009), accuracy rates for non-choosers were significantly higher than for choosers in both the immediate, v2(1, N = 691) = 32. 24, p . 001, w = 0. 22, and delayed condi- tions, v2(1, N = 372) = 13. 4, p . 001, w = 0. 19. The present non-chooser accuracy and diagnosticity data (see below) lend support to previous research demonstrating that lineup rejections can inform assessments of the likely guilt of a suspect (e. g. , Clark, Howell, & Davey, 2008; Wells & Olson, 2002). Retention Interval and the CA Relation To enhance the stability of the plotted CA calibration functions, confidence data were collapsed from the 11 initial confidence categories (i. e. , 0–100%) t o five (i. e. , 0– 20%, 30–40%, 50–60%, 70–80%, 90–100%) (see Brewer & Wells, 2006; Juslin et al. , 1996).Moreover, because foils are known in advance to be innocent, we excluded target- 123 342 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 ?present, foil identifications from our calibration analyses (see Brewer & Wells, 2006). However, as there was no actual police suspect in the target-absent lineups, all false identifications of foils from target-absent lineups were included in calibration analyses, a practice that necessarily inflates the degree of overconfidence. 1 Table 1 presents the distributions of confidence ratings for choosers and non-choosers, in the immediate and delayed conditions, according to identification response.Given the well-documented differences in the CA rela- tion for choosers and non-choosers, we present CA calibration analyses separately for these two groups (see Tables 1 and 2, and Fig. 1). In both retention interval conditio ns, meaningful CA relationships for choosers are apparent. Visual inspection of choosers’ CA calibration functions (Fig. 1) shows increasing accuracy as confidence increases for both retention intervals. Moreover, in the upper section of the confidence scale, the immediate and delayed condition curves are almost identical.While reli- ance on visual inspection may appear to lack rigor, the standard error bars for each confidence interval permit an estimation of the stability of the results obtained. Over- lapping standard error bars (evident for the two highest confidence intervals of the chooser curves) denote non- reliable differences between groups. Table 1 presents the diagnosticity ratios for each con- fidence category. Diagnosticity ratios indicate the likely reliability of an identification decision, in this case, according to the level of confidence expressed.Chooser diagnosticity ratios compare the likelihood that a guilty suspect will be identified to the likelihood that an innocent suspect will be identified. The procedure for separating suspect from foil identifications from target-absent lineups is complex. In contrast to the forensic setting, the labora- tory setting provides no basis for designating any particular member of a target-absent lineup as the suspect (cf. Brewer & Wells, 2006). Accordingly, we calculated target-absent suspect identification rates by dividing the total number of target-absent false identifications by the number of lineup members (i. e. , eight).Non-chooser diagnosticity ratios compare the probability that the witness responds not- present, given the target is not-present, to the probability that the witness responds not-present, given the target is present. Both retention interval conditions show increased diagnosticity at each successive confidence interval. Thus, when a suspect is identified, an increase in witness 1 Including only target-replacement identifications as false identifi- cations from target-absent lineups resulted in only 13 and 6% (in the immediate and delayed conditions, respectively) of all target-absent misidentifications being available for calibration analyses.Split over the five confidence intervals, these data is insufficient to provide stable estimates of calibration. Table 1 Diagnosticity ratios and number of responses (according to response type) for each confidence interval, for choosers and non- choosers in the immediate and delayed testing conditions ? Condition & response Confidence level (%) 0–20 30–40 50–60 70–80 90–100 Overall Immediate—choosers Correct 5 identification Foil identification 1 False identification 9 Overall 15 Diagnosticityratio 6. 68 SEDiagnosticity 2. 71 Delayed—choosers Correct 1 identificationFoil identification 5 False identification 9 Overall 15 Diagnosticity ratio 1. 56 SEDiagnosticity 1. 66 Immediate—non-choosers Correct rejection 6 Incorrect rejection 4 Overall 10 Diagnosticity ratio 1. 01 SEDiagnosticity 0. 57 Delayed—non-choosers 12 40 103 90 250 6 18 12 4 41 13 31 43 18 114 31 89 158 112 405 8. 87 11. 08 18. 74 37. 79 17. 80 2. 40 1. 91 2. 56 8. 61 1. 49 5 16 39 38 99 5 8 9 3 30 11 25 24 10 79 21 49 72 51 208 4. 02 6. 28 13. 63 20. 47 10. 12 1. 83 1. 52 2. 63 6. 23 1. 11 11 42 91 84 234 2 10 22 14 52 13 52 113 98 286 4. 68 3. 91 4. 23 6. 35 4. 44 5. 91 1. 31 0. 89 1. 71 0. 0 Correct rejection Incorrect rejection Overall Diagnosticity ratio SEDiagnosticity 5 10 25 41 27 108 2 9 16 14 14 55 7 19 41 55 41 163 1. 48 1. 01 1. 23 2. 79 2. 87 1. 92 1. 62 0. 35 0. 30 0. 74 0. 76 0. 25 ? confidence is accompanied by an increase in the probability that the identified suspect is guilty. There are, however, some differences apparent between the two retention interval conditions for choosers. A modified jackknife procedure (Koriat, Lichtenstein, & Fischhoff, 1980; Mosteller & Tukey, 1968) was performed on the C, O/U, and NRI statistics obtained for each rete ntion interval condition.The jackknife procedure involves repeated calculation of each of the three statistics above, with each calculation omitting data from a different, individual participant. As many calculations are run as there are participants. This permits the calculation of mean and standard error data (Table 2) for the statistics obtained which, in turn, allows an assessment of differences in the relevant measures between groups. While these jackknife mean and standard error data cannot be subjected to inferential testing, they are intended to allow researchers to ? 123Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 343 100 80 60 40 20 Table 2 Calibration (C), overconfidence (O/U), and Normalized Resolution Index (NRI) statistics, for choosers and non-choosers, in the immediate and delayed testing conditions Measure Statistic C Value Jackknife SE O/U Value Jackknife SE NRI Value Jackknife SE Choosers Non-choosers Immediate Delay Immediate Delay 0. 01 0. 04 0. 00 0. 01 0. 09 0. 1 9 0. 02 0. 03 0. 10 0. 17 0. 03 0. 05 0. 03 0. 04 0. 01 0. 02 -0. 08 0. 01 0. 02 0. 04 0. 02 0. 02 0. 02 0. 02 ?Immediate Choosers Delayed Choosers 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 n the immediate condition. This produces differences between conditions in three measures of the CA relation: the visual appearance of calibration function, the O/U statistic, and the NRI statistic. First, the calibration curve for the immediate condition flattens out in the lower half of the confidence scale, rather than following the ideal func- tion. Further, the curve for the immediate condition shifts from overconfidence in the higher confidence intervals to underconfidence in the lower confidence intervals, a pattern not observed in the delayed condition.In addition to pro- ducing a visual flattening of the curve, this transition from overconfidence to underconfidence has important effects on two of the statistical measures of the CA relationship. It drives the immediate condition O/U statistic toward its mid-po int (i. e. , 0). Consequently, although the immediate condition curve exhibits noticeable underconfidence and overconfidence at the relevant extremes of the confidence scale, this is not reflected in the O/U statistic for that condition, thereby exaggerating the apparent difference in overconfidence between conditions.Finally, as evidenced by the NRI statistics (Table 2), it reduces the overall level of discrimination provided by confidence in the immediate condition. This discrepancy between conditions at the lower confidence extremes is addressed further in the ‘‘Discussion’’. The second difference between the CA relations for choosers in the delayed and immediate conditions is evident in the diagnosticity ratios reported for each confidence interval (Table 1).Consistent with the reported overall drop in identification accuracy associated with the delayed con- dition, the degree of diagnosticity at each confidence interval is greater in the immediate than delayed condition. Further, although no difference in overconfidence is appar- ent between conditions in the higher confidence brackets, the difference in diagnosticity persists. Nonetheless, as outlined above, the finding of increased diagnosticity with increased confidence is consistent (for choosers) across conditions.In sum, the CA relations observed for choosers in the two retention interval conditions differ in terms of the Confidence 100 80 60 40 20 ?Immediate Non-Choosers Delayed Non-Choosers 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Confidence Fig. 1 Confidence–accuracy (CA) calibration curves for choosers (upper panel) and non-choosers (lower panel) in the delayed and immediate testing conditions. Error bars represent standard errors draw inferences in conditions where data violate assump- tions of conventional inferential testing techniques (Sheskin, 2004).Because the jackknife means replicated the original values in every case, only the original values are reported. Inspection of the calibration functions, together with the O/U statistics (Table 2), suggests greater overconfidence for the delayed compared to the immediate condition. However, two aspects of the calibration information justify qualification of this general observation. First, for the two highest confidence categories, the standard error bars for the two functions overlap suggesting no meaningful dif- ference in over/underconfidence.The applied value of this similarity at the higher confidence intervals is addressed in the ‘‘Discussion’’. Second, the overall difference in over- confidence between conditions is, in fact, exaggerated by underconfidence in the lower half of the calibration curve 123 % Correct % Correct 344 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 ?general overconfidence and discriminability, due primarily to the trend toward underconfidence at low confidence levels in the immediate condition. However, in the upper half of the confidence scale, the conditions pr oduce highly similar calibration functions.For non-choosers, both retention interval conditions produced the typically weak CA relations observed in previous CA calibration research. Further, any variations in diagnosticity between confidence levels were small and unsystematic in both conditions. While this absence of resolution might normally be taken as an indication that a confident rejection should not be given any special status, this needs to be considered in the context of accuracy rates for rejections usually being high. Thus, from an applied perspective, provided the conditions are such that non-chooser accuracy is high (e. . , unbiased lineup instructions, good encoding conditions), it is important to note that a highly confident rejection is as good a guide to (in)accuracy as a confident ID. Importantly also, an unconfident rejection is also likely to be as accu- rate as a confident ID. The CA correlation patterns are generally in line with previous research (e. g. , Lind say et al. , 1998; Sporer et al. , 1995). CA correlations of moderate strength were found for choosers in both the immediate (r (405) = 0. 32, p . 001) and delayed conditions (r (209) = 0. 41, p . 001).While these values lie toward the high end of typically reported CA correlations, the relationships are still only moderate in size. Consistent with previous research, correlations for non-choosers were weak and non-significant in both the immediate (r (286) = . 09, ns) and delayed conditions (r (163) = . 06, ns). DISCUSSION While the dominant perspective in eyewitness identifica- tion research has been that the CA relationship is, at best, a weak one, recent research—underpinned by theoretically motivated changes in design and analysis techniques—has demonstrated meaningful CA relationships when certain pre-conditions are met.The present study extends this research, providing an important test of the boundary conditions of the CA relation. Variation in retention inter val is (a) theoretically linked to variation in memory quality (and, thus, confidence and accuracy), (b) typical in the forensic setting, and (c) atypical in psychological investigations of the CA relation. Further, the emphasis placed on confidence when assessing the reliability of identification evidence in the forensic setting makes the effect of varied retention interval on the CA relationship an issue of applied and theoretical relevance.The most striking feature of our examination of the effect of retention interval on the CA relationship is the consistency of the findings across retention interval con- ditions. Consistent with previous calibration research in the eyewitness and face recognition paradigms (e. g. , Brewer & Wells, 2006; Juslin et al. , 1996; Sauerland & Sporer, 2009; Weber & Brewer, 2003, 2004, 2006), confidence and accuracy were meaningfully related for choosers in both the immediate and delayed conditions, particularly in the upper half of the confidence scal e.Further, both conditions show systematic increases in diagnosticity with increased witness confidence. Compared to the immediate condition, the delayed condition demonstrated an increase in general overconfidence and a decrease in the absolute levels of diagnosticity. However, such differences are equally likely to occur when retention interval is held constant but target stimuli or instructional bias are varied (e. g. , Brewer & Wells, 2006).Of primary importance is the finding that the fundamental nature of the CA relationship, as evidenced by the shape of the calibration functions and the systematic relationship between confidence and diagnosticity, did not vary meaningfully between conditions. As Bruck and Poole (2002) note, albeit it in a different context, when assessing consistency across conditions, patterns of findings are often more informative than individual numbers. While our conclusions may be similar to those of Juslin et al. 1996) in that CA calibration was still e vident when the retention interval was extended, our findings add sig- nificantly to our understanding of the effect of retention interval on the CA relation. Whereas there was no evidence that Juslin et al. ’s retention interval manipulation affected memory strength, our manipulation clearly affected rec- ognition memory performance and yet evidence of CA calibration persisted. Moreover, CA calibration was evi- dent at the longer retention interval in our study, despite the absence of several methodological features contained in Juslin et al. s research that may have buttressed the CA calibration detected at their longer retention interval. This suggests that these idiosyncrasies were not sufficient to affect the CA association. Additionally, by providing data from a field setting using multiple sets of encoding and test materials, our study provides an important pointer to the likely generality of the above conclusions. The improved diagnosticity in both retention interval conditions evident at the upper confidence levels has significant forensic implications.Highly confident identi- fications, when compared to those made with low confidence, are likely to have a greater impact on police investigations and jury decision making. For example, in the absence of other compelling evidence, police are more likely to proceed with a case given a highly confident identification than given an identification made with low confidence. Further, compared to an identification made with low confidence, an identification made with high confidence is likely to be more persuasive in the 123 Law Hum Behav (2010) 34:337–347 345 courtroom, and thus exert a more pronounced effect on juror assessments of likely guilt. Thus, it is reassuring that the identification decisions likely to exert the greatest influence in criminal justice system are those for which (a) diagnosticity is greatest and (b) there was no significant variation in CA relationship associated with inc reased retention interval. We emphasize here, of course, that we are talking only about relationships detected when confi- dence was measured and recorded immediately after the identification, and not when opportunities for influencing confidence judgments had occurred.A potentially interesting difference between the CA relations obtained in the two conditions presents in the lower half of the confidence scale for the chooser curves. As previously outlined, while the immediate condition curve exhibited underconfidence in the lower confidence levels, the delayed condition curve maintained its resem- blance to the ideal function (i. e. , low confidence ratings were accompanied by equivalently poor identification performance). As noted earlier, confidence judgments may be shaped not only by memory strength but also by various non-memorial factors.It may be the case that, because the immediate condition provided virtually no time for the memory trace to degrade, very low confidence esti mates in this condition reflected the influence of misleading meta- cognitive inferences. In contrast, the delayed condition allowed for significantly greater degradation in memory trace, and, consequently, a greater drop in identification accuracy than did the immediate condition. In the delayed condition, very low confidence was perhaps more likely to reflect poor memory quality and, consequently, predict very poor performance.Thus, in this condition, confidence and accuracy corresponded more closely at the lower confidence levels, and the overall level of confidence-based discrimination increased (as evidenced by the NRI statis- tics). The improved resolution associated with the longer retention interval in the present study supports claims made by Lindsay et al. (2000, 1998) that the CA relation (and, in particular, resolution) is likely to be most evident in con- ditions that produce greatest variability in witnesses’ memory strength.However, given the low number of data points for these confidence categories, any conclusions must be tentative. Moreover, from an applied perspective, the data clearly show that low confidence identifications are associated with low accuracy (regardless of the exis- tence of over- or underconfidence). We should note three features of this study that might possibly have influenced the pattern of results obtained. First, despite email reminders to participants in the delay condition, there was still significant attrition.If it turns out that those conscientious enough to respond were also more conscientious—and, importantly, effective—when deter- mining confidence judgments, then it is conceivable that the strength of the CA relation is overestimated in our delay condition. However, we know of no evidence that could sustain an argument either way on this issue. Second, our retention interval manipulation was confounded with method of responding. Participants in the immediate test condition provided their r esponses during face-to-face interactions with the researcher, while delayed condition participants responded via computer.As previously noted, social influence can undermine the confidence–accuracy relationship. However, given (a) the similarity of CA rela- tionships evident between conditions in this experiment and (b) the similarity in CA relationships between the imme- diate condition in this experiment and previous work using similar (i. e. , relatively short though not immediate) reten- tion intervals and non-face-to-face responding (Brewer & Wells, 2006; Weber & Brewer, 2003, 2004, 2006), there is no reason to believe that method of responding exerted a significant effect on the results obtained.Third, for ethical reasons the encoded event in our field study did not involve a crime. Whether this might influence the CA relationship is also not known, though there is no obvious reason why this variable should interact with retention interval. What we do know, of course, is that the most reliable determinant of variations in the degree of over/underconfidence is task difficulty (see Brewer, 2006; Weber & Brewer, 2004), with our various stimuli providing tasks of sufficient difficulty to produce over- rather than under-confidence and, predict- ably, greater overconfidence in the delay condition.In sum, this research asked: Does an increase in retention interval undermine the meaningful CA relationships reported in recent research? These results suggest not, at least not for retention intervals in the range used here. For choosers in both the delayed and immediate conditions, increased confidence was associated with increased proba- ble accuracy. While this finding is encouraging, one important caveat is required. Although retention interval did not affect the CA relationship observed, many factors capable of distorting the CA relation over time in the forensic setting (e. g. confirming feedback/interaction with co-witnesses, repeated post-event quest ioning) were not addressed in our approach. It would be premature to suggest that, in the forensic setting, confidence-based discrimina- tion of accuracy will not ever vary with increased retention interval. Simply increasing retention does not, by itself, seem to dampen the CA relation, but increased retention intervals may be associated with increased exposure to other factors likely to affect the relationship between con- fidence and accuracy. 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