The lack of IT systems within the logistics department of TATCO Yemen Literature review

The lack of IT systems within the logistics department of TATCO Yemen - Literature review Example Tatco-Yemen is a branch of Abudawood Group,a diversified group of companies that operates in the Middle East,Europe and the United States.The company specializes in the professional management of assets in different sectors including trading,sales and delivery of commodities,real estate,education and training of staffs,and financial investment. The company’s logistics focuses on supplying various products to consumers, an area where it has registered significant successes in the recent past. However, due to the rapid growth and expansion of its consumer base, stark challenges in the company’s management of inventory continue to exist. Tatco grapples with multiple problems related with the lack of Information Technology systems within the logistics department; these include, delays in the arrival of hard copies of important documents like invoices, causing unnecessary delays in customs clearance. Moreover, cargoes remain in the Yemeni port for longer due to lack of stora ge; and wrong information about the date of product. These problems have proved to be costly to the company. The paper explores the challenges of lack of IT systems in Tatco’s logistics department. Generally, logistics is an all-encompassing aspect of business involving planning, controlling and organizing the movement of goods and services, communications, real-time facts and people from the one point to another (Slater, 2012). Most of successful companies such as Tatco have in place strong a logistical department that supports the movement of its various assets across the country. The main problem with Tatco, however, is that most of its logistics processes are not properly integrated and built around IT systems. Processes such as handling of the materials, storage, information, shipment, packaging and inventory still lag behind, with the old paper work methods still in place (Safadi, 2003). The company suffers from ineffective logistical support and as such geographical restructuring of unfinished products, and the cleared inventories have been largely unpredictable, leading to products delays and rising operational costs (Von Der Gracht, 2008). Farooquie and Nasir (2010) in dicated that in any organization, the logistics department is expected to deliver on everything related with logistics by ensuring that the processes are developed in line with the organizational objectives of cost reduction and maximization of efficiency. However, the lack of IT systems within the organization present grave challenges to the organization’s storage processes distribution of wares, warehousing, and transportation of goods (Raj, 2009).

Business case for an IT Solution for solution to a real healthcare Research Paper

Business case for an IT Solution for solution to a real healthcare issue in Population Healt Management - Research Paper Example This has made it hard for the organizations to meet their set goals or targets. Even though the EHR (Electronic Health Records) provides many of the health facilities with clinical data in raw form, there have still been some challenges. The challenges include ensuring that the data is accessible and the same time usable. An additional challenge has been reporting the outcomes of the data that has been accessed and used (Health Catalysts, 2015). According to WPRO, the integration of information systems in the health sector can be defined as, â€Å"the process of combining different components of health information systems so that they function in a more coordinated and unified manner† (Lum, Bennet & Whittaker, 2009). Information technology can be used to integrate and share the data in the health sector. The data integration can occur in different number of levels in the system of health information. These levels include: contents, data management, data quality assurance and analysis, organization support, data dissemination and sharing and donor inputs. The contents include the information or indicators while the data management involves the information technology use with a central repository. Quality of data assurance and analysis include the use of statistical and analytical techniques that are standardized. The organization support entails capacity building and training of the human resource. The sharing and dis semination of data is where there is the use of visual analytics. The donor inputs entail and not limited to, resource sharing. The art of integration of data entails effort being put in place to link data elements that are independent. The different sources of data that have different types of data or media of storage are integrated to develop new information. This is made possible through the use of information technology in the health facilities. Data integration covers all data handling

Commercial Property Insurance Essay Example for Free

Commercial Property Insurance Essay When starting up a new business, one of the most important factors for a business owner to decide on is the location of that business. With a white-water rafting business there are several important factors that a company must look at before they can proceed. First item is the legal aspects of acquiring, holding, and disposing of both real and personal properties. This aspect is more important because it is the first steps that the client needs to make to get their business up and running. The next item is to analyze the business for insurance purposes. White water rafting can be a dangerous sport, and therefore it is essential that the business is protected from injury lawsuits. The final item that any business needs to be aware of is the environmental issues and other regulations that come with the location. In order to determine the best location for the client’s white water rafting business should be located, we will look at three locations in Florida, Ohio, and Texas to compare which location will be the best fit for this business. Evaluate the Legal Aspects of Acquiring, Holding, and Disposing of Real Property In the U.S. the River-Rafting business is considered to be real property, this due to riverbeds and banks being owned by the state. If a river is physically navigable, then is considered to be pubic property. According to Cheeseman (2007), â€Å"Real property is immovable or attached to immovable land or buildings, whereas personal property is movable† (p. 755). Real property has a major role in the United States economy of property and ownership rights. Real property deals with the legal rights of property rather than physical attributes of tangible land. When acquiring real property it is important to understand the concepts the property and how to transfer rights of the property so that the execution of the property can take place. There are normally two classifications of property, personal and real. Most commonly real property takes the place of land. Landowners purchase surface rights to the land which gives them the  right to occupy the land. This allows the owner the right to enjoy, develop, and use the property as needed, however can be subject to applicable government regulations. In the State of Florida the legal aspects surrounding the acquirement, holding, and disposal of real property are that the buyer must record all deeds with the public records office of the specific county courthouse. This recording suggests that the property has been sold and any subsequent purchases should be careful. The title of the property holds the rights and ownership to the said property and is considered documentary ownership. The company is also given a warranty deed which provides protection to the purchaser. This is proof that the purchaser is the legal owner of the purchased property with no outstanding mortgages, liens, or other holds against the property. The State of Ohio works in a similar way to Florida by requiring a deed, mortgage, lease, or another similar document that spells out who the ownership is being transferred too and contains a detailed description of what the property is that is signed by the grantor and then notarized. The buyer is then also given a warranty deed that verifies and protects the property. Texas also requires a deed, mortgage, lease, or other form of verification of property ownership once it is purchased. Land is also considered real property so if our client wants to purchase the land to put his mobile home on, the purchase will most likely be funded by a community bank or rural land lenders that are familiar with the lending of land. If after time our client would rather construct their building for business, they can write off the interest on the construction of the property if it will also be his residence (East Texas Land, 2014). In the state of Texas, if an entity wants to sell their real property, they need to get a letter by the potential buyer of the property making an offer for either the purchase or lease of the property. The current owner of the property has to disclose all current and existing appraisal reports to ensure that the owner’s opinion of the value of the property is backed up. Taxes will also have to be paid to the state of Texas for any real property that is purchased in the state. Evaluate the Legal Aspects of Acquiring, Holding, and Disposing of Personal Property The U.S. economic system is formed by the private ownership of personal property. According to Cheesman (2007), â€Å"Personal property is tangible  property such as automobiles, furniture, and equipment, and intangible property such as securities, patents, and copyrights† (p. 739). Personal property consists of a person’s rights related to possession and ownership of property, including land, structures, or buildings on land and the materials beneath land. In the state of Florida all tangible personal property is taxed at the local level and varies from county. As of 2007, Florida no longer taxes on intangible personal property. Fee Simple Deeds are the most commonly used form of ownership for property in Florida. Fee Simple Deeds gives the owner the rights to sell, posses, and use as security, improve land/buildings, and pass on to beneficiaries. For Ohio, personal property rights vary by the type of personal property. When buying personal property make sure to check into specific laws for different items, but know that most have some type of transferable clause in them if anything would happen to the owner. The state of Texas has the authority to tax any and all tangible personal property purchased in the state. Intangible personal property is only taxed if the property is owned by a resident of the state, or if the personal property is located in the state and is used for business purposes (Tax Code). For our client, he will be taxed for all equipment purchased and used for his river-rafting business. The current tax rate will be used at the time of purchase. Analyze the Business of Insurance for Various Risks There are a several forms of insurance that will need to be acquired to minimize the risk of performing a River-Rafting business. Injuries are the main risks a River-Rafting company face. They need to be concerned with injuries that could potentially happen to both the clients and employees. Other risks would be the damage that could occur to the rafts and other equipment used for rafting as well as the flooding of the mobile home office. In addition to the insurance need for performing the business, there are also several types of insurance that minimize monetary loss and professional  liability. The professional liability insurances include workman’s compensation insurance, property insurance, and business interruption insurance. The property insurance will provide compensation to the company in the event that a flood occurs and business interruption insurance covers lost revenue that occurs due to a disaster. The two forms of liability insurance that would need to be acquired are on-water and floater liability. These policies provide compensation to the clients in the event an injury occurs while rafting. The insurance also covers any physical damages that may have occurred to the raft or other equipment. Florida’s insurance premiums are fairly low due to their enhanced tort reforms. Florida has fairly low caps on punitive and non-economic damages, which lower the total damages provided by the insurer to the plaintiff in the event of a claim. This in turn increases the insurer’s profitability and lowers premiums. The state of Texas would also require the same type of insurance as the other states. Along with employee and customer protection, a business would also need to protect their property from damage. There are three different types of commercial property policies in Texas that our client can choose from which are basic form policies, broad form policies, and special form polices. These policies will provide either replacement cost coverage, actual cash value coverage, or a combination of both. Depending on where the client chooses to open their business and operate, an insurance company in Texas may exclude windstorm and hail coverage so our client may have to purchase additional policies if they want to be covered (Commercial Property Insurance, 2014). Identify Environmental Issues and Regulations Related to the Site The land that we are suggesting to purchase is a piece of land in Volusia County Florida close to Gemini Springs County Park. This piece of land is used by rafters often and would be a great location to start up a rafting business. If you choose to purchase this piece of land, your company needs  to cautious about any environmental hazards you could be held liable for. We suggest that an evaluation of the land be done to ensure these hazards do not exist. Your company also needs to keep in mind that the land must be purchased in the parts of the county that rafting is allowed by the local government. Keep in mind that any hazardous emissions, contaminations, or underground oil leaks could fall under the liability of the company as the new land owner. Any changes to the land purchased need to be permitted by local, state, and federal regulations. The location in Ohio that we suggest is a spot down the Great Miami River. This location is located near the Cincinnati area that is currently home to several white water rafting sites. This particular location is less crowded and therefore less prone to direct competition from other rafting locations (Whitewater). Since there hasn’t been a lot of rain in Texas in the last few years, most of the Texas rivers and lakes are very low. The place that we would recommend for our clients business is along the Guadalupe River. Customers can experience a nice scenic view with a variety of trees, cliffs crowned with mesquite, and rocky bluffs and rolling hills. Our client needs to make sure that they do not disrupt natures order and comply with all environmental laws. Our client needs to make sure that the water level of the river is adequate for rafting and that depending on the water level of cfs, different rules may apply. Best decision for our client Most of the property laws are the same among Florida, Ohio, and Texas so when deciding where to start a new river-rafting business for our client, we believe that Texas would be their best option. Texas has many rivers that our client can choose from and may be able to choose a place where windstorm damage is covered under their insurance policy. Some parts of the state do have low water levels but with the great size of Texas, there are still plenty of options to choose from. References Commercial Property Insurance. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/consumer/cb021.html East Texas Land. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.easttexasland.com/faq/ Part VIII: Property Law. (n.d.): n. pag. Ohio State Bar Association. Web. . Tax Code. Retrieved from http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TX/htm/TX.11.htm Whitewater Paddling Rivers in Ohio. Ohio White Water Rivers and Paddling Spots. N.p., n.d. Web. . State of Florida.com. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=29 Cheesman, H. R. (2007). Business Law: Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issues, 6e. Prentice Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company.

Definition And Classification Of Humor

Definition And Classification Of Humor Humor is a common phenomenon, which plays an important role in many aspects of our daily lives. Over thousand of years humor has been extensively studied in many fields, such as psychology, physiology and philosophy, anthropology, and sociology. Until recent times, it has been studied within the scope of linguistics. The English term humor derived from the Latin word for liquid, fluid or moisture. As time went by, the word humor lost its original meaning and came to be used in its present sense. As to the definition of humor, no agreement has been reached yet. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, it is defined as (1) capacity to cause or feel amusement (2) a persons state of mind. In Longman Dictionary of English Language Culture, it is defined as the ability to understand and enjoy what is funny. Although the definitions are not completely the same, we still can find something in common: Firstly, there should be human participants in the act. The speaker and the hearer play an important role in the humorous utterance. Secondly, the occurrence of humor should refer to the ability of people who are capable of producing and receiving what is funny and laughable. Thirdly, in any case something must happen in a humorous act, which refers to something people have seen, heard or thought. As to the classification of humor, Pocheplsov (Pocheplsov, 1981: 25) divided humor into two kinds. One is situational humor, the other is linguistic humor or verbal humor. Situational humor is situation-oriented, such as Monkeys mimic human beings behavior, and little babies learn to walk. Both of their awkward and vivid postures are situational humor. Verbal humor refers to text-oriented humor, both written and spoken. It is realized by languages. In this paper, verbal humor will be mainly discussed. 2. Humor created by flouting the cooperative principle In the next part, the theories will be briefly introduced and how the humorous effect is achieved will be discussed in details. 2.1 A brief review of cooperative principle In the process of communication, participants must abide by some basic principles, especially cooperative principle to ensure that the conversation goes smoothly well. We know that quite often a speaker can mean a lot more than what is said and the hearer can arrive at the speakers meaning. A philosophy and logician, H. P. Grice believes that there must be some mechanism governing the production and comprehension of these utterances. He suggests there is a set of assumptions guiding the conduct of conversation. This is what he calls the Cooperative Principle (CP). He then formulates the principle and its maxims as follows: Make your conversational contribution as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the exchange in which you are engaged. To put it more specific, there are four maxims under the general principle. The maxim of quantity Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange ) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. The maxim of quality Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack the adequate evidence. The maxim of relation Be relevant The maxim of manner Avoid obscurity of expression Avoid ambiguity Be belief Be orderly (Grice, 1969: 58, cited in Wen Liu, 2006: 154) Grices CP is, with no doubt, one of the most important pragmatic principles ever existed and also one of the focuses of this thesis. However, not everyone obeys these maxims in the process of communication. Although speakers sometimes may violate these maxims intentionally or unintentionally, they are still cooperative and the communication can be successful. Humor is one of the cases like this .In the pragmatic study of verbal humor, violation or flouting of the four maxims has frequently encountered. In the following parts, I will talk about how humorous effect comes out on flouting of CP maxims in details. 2.2 Humor created by flouting of the maxims 2.2.1 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of quantity On the one hand, when the information is not as informative as is required, the sense of humor can be felt. For example, 1) That is not my dog An old lady was strolling through the park when she saw Jamie with a dog. Does your dog bite? she asked. NO. said Jamie. When the lady tried to pet the dog, it almost bit her finger off. I thought you said your dog does not bite! screamed the old lady with blood dripping from her hand. That is right, answered Jamie, my dog does not bite -but that is not my dog. In this story, Jamie violates the CP in that she does not answer the ladys question without adequate information. But the lady takes it for granted that that is Jamies dog. So when she complains, Jamies smart answer causes this humorous effect. On the other hand, when the information is more informative than is required, the humorous effect can also be felt. A good case in point is the conversation between The Soprano and the Contralto. 2) S: Did you notice how my voice filled the hall last night? C: Yes, dear. In fact I noticed several people leaving to make room for it. This humor lies in the over-loaded information of the Contraltos answer. The Soprano is proud of her voice and she wants to get others affirmation. So she asks the Contralto. In fact the first part of her answer is enough. From the extra part we can deduce the implication that the Soprano sings so badly that some audience can not bear it and start to leave. The contrast between the Sopranos expectation and the results she gets produce humorous effect. It is not hard to imagine how embarrassed and lost she was at that moment. 2.2.2 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of quality We have mentioned that the quality maxim requires the utterance to be true and reliable. The following story will fully explain how the humorous effect will be achieved by flouting the quality maxim. 3) The Barbers Explanation Once a boy went into a barbers shop and he asked for a shave. The barber told him to sit down, soaped his face and then left. The boy waited and waited and at last he lost his patience. Well, he shouted, why are you leaving me here for all the time The barber replied, Im waiting for your beard to grow. In this humorous story, the little boy is probably too eager to become an adult. So he asked for a shave, but the humorous barber did not refuse him directly .Instead, he left the boy waiting there and explained when the boy lost out of his patience. Obviously the barber violate the maxim of quality for it is known to us all that it will be many years before the boy grows beard. His real purpose is that he wants to tell the boy that there is no need for him to shave. His humor exists in disagreement between his utterance and actual objective facts. The following story will produce the same effect. It is about a horse or a mistress. The following is the story. 4) A horse or a mistress A woman came up behind her husband while he was enjoying his coffee and slapped him on the back I found a piece of paper in your pant pocket with the name Marylou written on it , she said ,furiously, you had better have an explanation. Calm down, honey! the man replied, Remember last week I was at the race? That was the name of the horse I bet on The next morning his wife sneaked up and again slapped him, what was that for? he complained. Your horse called last night. In this story the husband explained that Marylou was the name of his horse. Obviously he lied and violated the maxim of quality- Say something you believe to be false. The next morning when he asked why his wife beat him. His wife deliberately violated the maxim of quality and said his horse called last night. From this we can feel the wifes anger and her humor. Another aspect about deliberately flouting the maxim of quality is saying something lacking of evidence. For instance, 5) She: how old do you think I am? He: you dont look your age. In this piece of humor, the mans answer is vivid and humorous in that in western culture age is a taboo for ladies in a conversation. You dont look your age is quite a good answer for however old the lady is, it will not embarrass her. The violation of quality maxim is actually lying. In order to achieve humorous effect, speakers often apply rhetorical devices, such as personification, irony, hyperbole. Hence the hearer infers that the speaker meant something informative instead, for example, 6) Tom has wooden ears, this sentence can be interpreted that Tom do not appreciate classical music so we should not invite him to the concert. 2.2.3 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of manner In Grices cooperative principle, the maxim of manner requires the addresser and addressee to avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguity, be brief and orderly. However in our daily life, it is easy to break one or two, thus producing some unexpected humorous effect. Firstly, humor is created by intentionally saying some obscurity of expressions. 7): Lady (standing in the middle of a busy street): officer, can you tell me how to get to the hospital? Policeman: Just stand where you are and you will find how to get to the hospital. In example 7), the policeman did not answer the ladys question directly but indirectly warned her not to stand in the middle of road. This kind of conversation will make the seemingly boring transportation a little interesting. Secondly, people achieve humorous effect by making use of ambiguity of words. The following dialogue is the oral test to American registered electorate. 8) Where is Washington? He is dead. I mean the capital of the United States. They loaned it all to Europe. Now do you promise to support the constitutor? Me? How can I? I have got a wife and six children to support. In this conversation there are many words easy to be misunderstood for they have multiple meanings. Washington not only refers to one of American cities but also can refer to the first president of United States. Capital also has two meanings, city and money. Support can be used to agree with somebody and it also mean raise somebody. The questioned skillfully make use of polysemy to produce ambiguity. Thus, he can avoid answering the questions directly. It not only vividly reflects his sense of humor but also criticizes American politics. Thirdly, another way of producing humor by violating the manner of maxim is not to be brief. There is an old story which can best illustrate this point. Example 9): There was a man who played the chess for three times continuously. Later when he was asked how it was .He winked his eyes and answered: I did not win in the first time, the second time I did not lose and the third time I wanted to draw, but he disagreed. In actual fact, the man lost three times but he did not want to admit it. So he answered in the way that violates the third rule. However, this clever answer not only save his face but also left a deep impression on people who wanted to know the answer. Last but not the least is that the speaker deliberately says something random, illogical but the hearer can sense the humor by inferring from what he says. There is an example, 10) Her files of pins extend their shining rows; puffs; powders; patches; bibles; trifles; billet-doux. From this sentence the author put pins, make-ups of women and love letters sacred bible together. It is hard not to laugh when you get the pragmatic meaning that the woman was not loyal to God and Christian briefs. 2.2.4 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of relation The relation maxim requires us to speak something relevant. But in a conversation something completely irrelevant to topic maybe underlying something deep unsaid. Sometimes ridiculous words can also achieve humors effect. Example 11): There is a bug in the bottom of my cup! howled a customer in greasy-spoon cafà ©. What does this mean? Listen, mate, growled the owner, if you want your fortune told; go to find you a gipsy. In this example the customer needs a reasonable explanation about the bug, but the owner answer totally different thing irrelevant to his question. It violates the relation principle but achieve humorous effect .another example is listed to illustrate this point. A young man pretended that his eyesight was very poor when examined, so he was not called up for army service. That evening he went to a movie only to find that the doctor who had examined him was sitting beside him. Immediately he said to the man doctor, Excuse me, maam, but doesnt this bus go to Main Street? The young mans question has nothing to do with the context. He deliberately flouts the relation maxim to make the doctor believe that he is indeed short-sighted. In this way he covered his lie but it adds into the whole story a humorous effect. 3. Humor created by flouting the speech act theory 3.1 Theoretic review of speech act theory The speech act theory is one of the important theories in pragmatics; it is initially put forward by the British linguistic philosopher John L. Austin in his lectures at Harvard University in 1955. It is a philosophical explanation of the nature of linguistic communication. It aims to answer the question What do we do when using language? According to Austin, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act. Locutionary act: the act of saying the literal meaning of the utterance. Illocutionary act: the extra meaning of the utterance produced on the basis of its literal meaning Perlocutionary act: the effect of the utterance on the hearer, depending on the specific circumstance (Liu Wen, 2006: 149). 3.2 Humor created by misunderstanding illocutionary act Example 12): Teacher: what is the shape of the earth? Jonny: it is round. Teacher: How do you know it is round? Jonny: All right, its square then. I dont want to start an argument about it. From the teachers question, How do you know it is round? We can infer the teacher didnt blame the students answer, but wanted the student to tell him the evidence or causes for his answer. However, the student thought the teacher suggested him that the answer was wrong, so he changed his answer. Example 13): Waitress, shouted the impatient diner, do I have to sit here and starve all night? No, sir, we close at nine oclock. It is obvious that the customer is dissatisfied with the restaurants slow service, and he expressed his complaint. But the cute waitress deliberately understood the complaint on the locutionary act, and she hinted the customer she wont make him stay too long for his business hour was not all-day round. In the above two examples, humor is produced by misunderstanding illocutionary act. 3.3 Humor created by understanding illocutionary act In the following example, the seeming unconnected conversation between husband and wife is very coherent on a speech-act level on the condition that both of them understand the illocutionary act. 14) a. Husband: Thats the phone. b. Wife: Im in the bathroom c. Husband: Ok. This is an exchange between husband and wife when the telephone rings. In (a) The husband is not describing something it is a thing that needs no description to his wife .In (b), the wife is not describing her action either people do not usually need to assert that they are in the bathroom. Its illocutionary act are a refusal to comply with the request and issuing a request to her husband to answer the phone instead .In (c) the man accepts his wifes refusal and accepts her request, meaning all right, I will answer it In this piece, the humor lies in getting implied meaning from the seeming unconnected conversation. They both can understand each other without saying something directly. 4. Presupposition and humor Presupposition can be defined in linguistics as any kind of background assumption against which an expression or utterance makes sense or is rational. Presuppositions refer to the conditions that must be met in order for the intended meaning of a sentence to be regarded as acceptable (Yang, 2008: 177). Presupposition can be divided into semantic presupposition and pragmatic presupposition. Semantic presupposition can be easily figured out with presupposition triggers. However, pragmatic presupposition is the presupposition of the speaker or those directly involved. It concerns not only knowledge (whether true or false), but also concerns expectations, desires, interests, claims, attitudes towards the world, fears etc. The presupposition in linguistic is affected by some factor or the context. Pragmatic presupposition is the background knowledge of the two parties of communication, and the mutual knowledge is an important factor involving the construction of context. When the mutual knowledge is negated, the presupposition of the previous utterance is cancelled. In some situations, the speaker may deliberately make use of the defeasibility of presupposition to create humorous effect. The following examples are good cases in point. Example 15): If youre going to work here, young man, said the boss, one thing you must learn is that we are very keen on cleanliness in this firm. Did you wipe your feet on the mat as you came in? Oh, yes, sir. And another thing was we are very keen on is truthfulness. There is no mat. In this story, when the boss asked the young if he wiped his feet on the mat when he came in, the presupposition is that there is a mat on the floor. For this question, not only the young man, anyone would think that there is a mat on the floor. In fact, the boss set a trap to the candidate through a false presupposition to test whether the candidate is honest. 16) How often do you cheat in your exam? if you are asked by your teacher, how will you answer ¼Ã… ¸ There is a presupposition that you do, in fact, cheat in examinations. If you simply answer the how often part of the question by saying the words like very seldom, you are behaving as if the presupposition is right, that is, you admit that you have cheated in the exams. In this way we can touch the humorous effect of English. Presupposition is a precondition of an utterance and the implicit information it contains plays a role in normal progression of conversation. Ignoring the presupposition of an utterance, making a false presupposition and contradicting the presupposition to an utterance cause the abnormal comprehension to an utterance between the speaker and the hearer. In this way the effect of humor is produced. It is interesting and important to note that while conversation participants nearly always observe the CP, they do not observe these maxims strictly. Sometimes in order to achieve humorous effect, they will deliberately flout one or two of these maxims. The so-called sense of humor is the ability to produce or appreciate humor. The violation of one or two of these maxims is one of the main reasons to create humor. So many examples have been used to illustrate that violating this maxim could produce humor. But how can we sense it? Another pragmatic principle comes up-Conversation implicature. 5. Conversational implicature and humor Grices basic idea is that in communication, speaker aims to follow the CP and its maxims, and that hearers interpret utterances with these maxims in mind. According to Grice, utterance interpretation is not a matter of decoding messages, but rather involves taking the meaning of the sentences together with contextual information, using inferences rules, and working out what the speaker means on the basis of the assumption that the utterance conforms to the maxims. The kind of meaning that is not literally contained in the utterance is called conversational implicature. Conversational implicature is the key notion to appreciate English humors. In other words, appreciating English humor is no more than getting the implied meaning from the utterance. How can we get the implied meaning and what knowledge do we need? The correct inference of the conversational implicature presupposes the hearers mastery of the following knowledge: (1) the conventional content of the utterance (2) the cooperative principle and its maxims (3) the content of the context (4) some background knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. The speaker can produce the implicature in two ways: observance and non-observance of the maxims. In actual speech communication, it is often the case that speaker do not or can not observe the CP and the maxims. For example, the sentence he is a tiger literally is false, openly against the maxim of quality, for no human is a tiger. But the hearer still assumes that the speaker is being cooperative and then infers that he is trying to say something distinct from the literal meaning. He can work out that probably the speaker means to say that he has some characteristics of a tiger. Thus humorous effect can be sensed by such kind of expression. Metaphor and irony are standard examples of the flouting of the maxim of quality. However, the least interesting case is when speaker directly observe the maxims so as to generate conversational implicature. 15) Husband :where are the car keys ¼Ã… ¸ Wife: Theyre on the table in the hall. The wife has answered clearly(manner)and truthfully(quality),and has given just the right information(quantity)and has directly addressed her husbands goal in asking the question(relation).She has said precisely what she meant, no more and no less, and has generated her conversational implicature. From the above examples we can see clearly that this pattern of conversation of inference can work only on the assumption that the interlocutors share some background knowledge mentioned above. 6. The politeness principle and English humor The cooperative principle alone cannot fully explain how people talk. It explains how conversational implicature or English humor gives rise to but it does not tell us why people do not say directly what they mean. Why, for instance, do people say Could you give me a lift? instead of Give me a lift? The reason has to do with another principle which applies to conversation in addition to the Cooperative Principle Polite Principle (PP). In most cases, the indirectness is motivated by consideration of politeness. Politeness is usually regarded by most pragmatists as a means of strategy which is used by a speaker to achieve various purposes, such as saving face, establishing and maintaining harmonious social relations in conversation. Leech (leech, 1983: 165) looks on politeness as crucial in accounting for why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean. He thus puts forward the Politeness Principle so as to rescue the Cooperative Principle in the sense that politeness can satisfactorily explain exceptions to and apparent deviation from the CP. Following Grices presentation of the CP, leech puts forward six maxims of the polite Principle which run as follows: Maxim of tact Minimize the cost to the other Maximize the benefit to the other Maxim of generosity Minimize benefit to self Maximize cost to self Maxim of approbation Minimize dispraise of the other Maximize praise of the other Maxim of modesty Minimize praise of self Maximize dispraise of self Maxim of disagreement Minimize disagreement between self and the other Maximize agreement between self and the other Maxim of sympathy Minimize antipathy between self and the other Maximize sympathy between self and the other (Wen Liu, 2006: 254) Briefly, this principle requires speakers to minimize the expression of impolite beliefs, give credit to the other person in its positive aspect and not cause offense to the other person in its negative aspect. 6.1 Humor created by abiding the politeness principle It has been mentioned that interlocutors should observe the maxims of Cooperative Principle in order to keep the communication go smoothly. However, in some situation interlocutors would rather sacrifice the Cooperative Principle than appear impolite. Interestingly, sometimes interlocutors abide by the Politeness will also create humorous effect. The following is such a case. The story happened when Regan held the post of the American President. During his first official visit to Canada, the demonstrators against the USA interrupted his public speeches off and on. The Canadian Premier Pierre appeared quite embarrassed. Then, Regan with a smile said to Pierre, Such a demonstration happens quite often in America. I guess these people must be coming from America o purpose to your honorable country. They just want to make me feel at home. (Xie, 2004: 125) Regans humorous speech immediately made Pierre joyful. When he saw the Premier felt tough to deal with the situation, President Regan applied the generosity maxim and the sympathy maxim in due course. His humor relieved Pierre from the embarrassment and at the same time saved his own positive face. Humor aroused by abiding by the Politeness Principle. The other maxims are also very important in explaining why certain forms are more acceptable than others. The maxim of approbation will explain why a compliment like what a marvelous meal you cooked! is highly valued while what an awful meal you cooked is not socially accepted .Thus when criticism is evitable; understatement is preferred as a show of reluctance to dispraise. (Her composition was not as good as it might have been.) The maxim of modesty accounts for the benign nature of utterance like how stupid of me and the offensive nature of how clever of me. A: The book is well written. B: Yes, well written as a whole, but there are some rather boring patches, dont you think. Regulated by the maxim of agreement, people tend to exaggerate their common ground first, even when much difference is to follow. In the following example, notice how much effort speaker B puts into trying to hide the fact that he disagrees with A. A: She is small, isnt she? B: Well, shes sort of smallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦certainly not very large à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but actuallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I would have to say that she is large rather than small. Bs answer is better than answer directly. 6.2 Humor created by violating the politeness principle For some special communicative purposes, the interlocutors may violate the maxims of Politeness Principle. Teacher (to a boy slow at mathematics): You should be ashamed of yourself? Why at your age George Washington was a surveyor! Boy: Yes, sir, and at your age he was President of the United States. According to the maxim of Politeness Principle, we can see the teacher firstly violated the maxim to approbation .Faced with the dispraise, the boy struck back the teachers dispraise, and he also violated the maxims of approbation .However, in this example, the student saved his own face by violating the maxim of politeness principle. It is argued that when the CP and PP are in contradiction, it is generally the CP maxims that get sacrificed. When the truth cannot be told for politeness sake, a white lie may be offered. In fact the PP is so powerful that people are often encouraged to violate its maxims in order to ensure a cooperative discourse .Irony is a means to solve the conflict between the CP and PP-when the truth is too offensive to be told, an ironic utterance assumes a polite surface while delivering an unpleasant true message underneath. Conclusion Just as Chinese scholar Lin Yutang puts it, humor is part of life. As a phenomenon peculiar to human beings, it can be found everywhere. The study of humor can help us better understand humor. This paper studies the general knowledge of humor and how it is caused. Conducting a pragmatic approach to the understanding of verbal humor makes it clear why humor is humorous and how to understand and create verbal humor effectively and efficiently. Through the employing of pragmatic theories to analyze the creation of humor, it can be found that the Cooperative Principle has strong explaining force to the analysis of verbal humor. According to Grice, conversational implicatures can arise from either strictly and directly observing or deliberately and openly flouting the maxims, that is, speaker can produce implicatures in two ways: observance and non-observance of the maxims. According to Leech, the politeness principle is not just an addition to Grices CP, but a necessary complement needed for cases where the CP fails to offer a reasonable explanation. Besides, the speech act theory also plays an important role in appreciating English humor. Through the illocutionary act, extra meaning of the utterance can be produced on the basis of its literal meaning. Presupposition is also an important fact in understanding humor and not getting cheated by others. From the perspective of its function, humor can be used to activate atmosphere, get rid of conflict, attack and counter-attack, and save ones faces. In our daily life, people create humor not only for humors sake, but also for some special communicative purposes. Through the study, people can find the power and charm of humor. If more and more people can be encouraged to use humor in their daily life, the whole society will be more friendly and harmonious.

BinOptics Corporation :: essays research papers

The Company BinOptics Corporation is a privately held high tech start up company located in Cornell’s Business and Technology Park in Ithaca, NY. BinOptics, the company, was based on key technological inventions made at Cornell University. CEO and co-founder, Alex Behfar, worked on the proprietary technology under Professor Valentine during his student tenure at Cornell, while earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering. In November 2000 CEO, Alex Behfar and President, Darius Forghani founded BinOptics. BinOptics received its first round of venture capital funding in January 2001 for an undisclosed amount. Currently, BinOptics houses over twenty employees and they hope to grow to forty by the end of the fiscal year. BinOptics is now in its fourth year of operation and will amassed $2 million in annual revenue. So what does BinOptics produce? BinOptics designs, develops, and manufactures monolithically integrated optoelectronic components based on the proprietary technology developed at Cornell University. It also produces integrated photonic components, which include its lasers. These components can be integrated into indium phosphide and other semiconductor materials, which give BinOptics a competitive advantage. This unique platform allows the company to meet commercial requirements with higher reproducibility, more elasticity for product innovation, considerably lower costs, and higher performance than alternative processes. BinOptics’ products address high growth datacom applications, parallel optical interconnects, PON and CWDM (Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing), as well as advanced non-telecom applications. Its products are sold to technology companies in the tele-communications and data-communications industry. BinOptics does not disclose its customer list but two of its customers are Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems. What does this mean? In the simplest way, BinOptics produces lasers. These tiny lasers, some the size of a grain of salt, transfer enormous amounts of information to another source immediately. The integrated laser chips are the key part of optical transceivers and transponders. BinOptics’ edge-emitting laser consists of a two-inch wafer that has 20,000 lasers on it. Strategic Investors BinOptics success can be measured by the strength of its strategic investors. These investors facilitate BinOptics path to success and its ability to raise equity. After receiving its initial first round of funding in January 2001 BinOptics was able to receive additional venture capital funding in May 2002, March 2003, and February 2005. The strategic investors include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cayuga Venture Fund II, FA Technology Ventures, and ArrowPath Venture Capital and Stanford University. Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm out of Silicon Valley, CA. BinOptics Corporation :: essays research papers The Company BinOptics Corporation is a privately held high tech start up company located in Cornell’s Business and Technology Park in Ithaca, NY. BinOptics, the company, was based on key technological inventions made at Cornell University. CEO and co-founder, Alex Behfar, worked on the proprietary technology under Professor Valentine during his student tenure at Cornell, while earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering. In November 2000 CEO, Alex Behfar and President, Darius Forghani founded BinOptics. BinOptics received its first round of venture capital funding in January 2001 for an undisclosed amount. Currently, BinOptics houses over twenty employees and they hope to grow to forty by the end of the fiscal year. BinOptics is now in its fourth year of operation and will amassed $2 million in annual revenue. So what does BinOptics produce? BinOptics designs, develops, and manufactures monolithically integrated optoelectronic components based on the proprietary technology developed at Cornell University. It also produces integrated photonic components, which include its lasers. These components can be integrated into indium phosphide and other semiconductor materials, which give BinOptics a competitive advantage. This unique platform allows the company to meet commercial requirements with higher reproducibility, more elasticity for product innovation, considerably lower costs, and higher performance than alternative processes. BinOptics’ products address high growth datacom applications, parallel optical interconnects, PON and CWDM (Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing), as well as advanced non-telecom applications. Its products are sold to technology companies in the tele-communications and data-communications industry. BinOptics does not disclose its customer list but two of its customers are Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems. What does this mean? In the simplest way, BinOptics produces lasers. These tiny lasers, some the size of a grain of salt, transfer enormous amounts of information to another source immediately. The integrated laser chips are the key part of optical transceivers and transponders. BinOptics’ edge-emitting laser consists of a two-inch wafer that has 20,000 lasers on it. Strategic Investors BinOptics success can be measured by the strength of its strategic investors. These investors facilitate BinOptics path to success and its ability to raise equity. After receiving its initial first round of funding in January 2001 BinOptics was able to receive additional venture capital funding in May 2002, March 2003, and February 2005. The strategic investors include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cayuga Venture Fund II, FA Technology Ventures, and ArrowPath Venture Capital and Stanford University. Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm out of Silicon Valley, CA.

A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways :: Airlines Marketplace Aviation Benchmarking

A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways In today's competitive marketplace, all firms are seeking ways to improve their overall performance. One such method of improvement, recently adopted by many firms, is benchmarking. Benchmarking is a technique used to evaluate internal business processes. "In this analysis, managers determine the firm's critical processes and outputs, baseline those processes, then compare the performance of each process against a standard outside the industry" (Bounds, Yorks, Adams, & Ranney 1994). To effectively improve a business process to world-class quality, managers must find a firm that is recognized as a global leader, not just the industry standard. Successful benchmarking requires tailor-made solutions, not just blind copying of another organization. Measurement and interpretation of data collected is the key to creating business process solutions. "Benchmarking's real role has to be seen in the context of the organization that is continuously implementing improvement" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Organizations implementing the benchmarking process are continuously looking to improve, and planning improvement. Improvements can be made by looking at the firm both internally and externally. Internal improvements are implemented by analyzing processes and setting targets for performance. However, output performance measures are not able to help management understand why a practice is effective. This understanding is a result of personal interpretation of the process. Organizations must look to other firms for ideas to borrow from global leaders, regardless of the scope of the necessary improvement. Equally important as data collection is the actual implementation of the newly acquired business practice. The most important aspect of benchmarking is to enable companies to employ the best business practices. This fundamental theory cannot be overstated. Global competition is growing due to the technological boom. The expansion of the Internet and digital communication has forced once domestic firms to consider foreign competitors. To remain ahead, companies are realizing they must match or exceed the business practices of the best in the world. "The only way that we can drive our organizations to excellence is to ensure that we keep our eyes on our competitors and world best practice in all aspects of business" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Benchmarking should not be considered simply a tool of management, but rather an integral part of the business strategy of a firm. When implementing benchmarking, management must consider the overall issues of performance and process re-engineering. A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways :: Airlines Marketplace Aviation Benchmarking A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways In today's competitive marketplace, all firms are seeking ways to improve their overall performance. One such method of improvement, recently adopted by many firms, is benchmarking. Benchmarking is a technique used to evaluate internal business processes. "In this analysis, managers determine the firm's critical processes and outputs, baseline those processes, then compare the performance of each process against a standard outside the industry" (Bounds, Yorks, Adams, & Ranney 1994). To effectively improve a business process to world-class quality, managers must find a firm that is recognized as a global leader, not just the industry standard. Successful benchmarking requires tailor-made solutions, not just blind copying of another organization. Measurement and interpretation of data collected is the key to creating business process solutions. "Benchmarking's real role has to be seen in the context of the organization that is continuously implementing improvement" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Organizations implementing the benchmarking process are continuously looking to improve, and planning improvement. Improvements can be made by looking at the firm both internally and externally. Internal improvements are implemented by analyzing processes and setting targets for performance. However, output performance measures are not able to help management understand why a practice is effective. This understanding is a result of personal interpretation of the process. Organizations must look to other firms for ideas to borrow from global leaders, regardless of the scope of the necessary improvement. Equally important as data collection is the actual implementation of the newly acquired business practice. The most important aspect of benchmarking is to enable companies to employ the best business practices. This fundamental theory cannot be overstated. Global competition is growing due to the technological boom. The expansion of the Internet and digital communication has forced once domestic firms to consider foreign competitors. To remain ahead, companies are realizing they must match or exceed the business practices of the best in the world. "The only way that we can drive our organizations to excellence is to ensure that we keep our eyes on our competitors and world best practice in all aspects of business" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Benchmarking should not be considered simply a tool of management, but rather an integral part of the business strategy of a firm. When implementing benchmarking, management must consider the overall issues of performance and process re-engineering.

Heart of Darkness and Coppola’s Essay

   Kurtz was the best agent the Company had – and yet his journey has resulted in his oppressive and tyrannical demeanour; and he unleashed his maddened soul unto his surroundings. Kurtz obviously spent much time dwelling on thoughts and attempts to journey into his soul. The fact that he once travelled down the river with his ivory, and yet turned back after miles of travelling depicts his indecisive nature. Marlow realises this, and sees how torn apart the man really is. He realises that Kurtz’s solitude in the wilderness had allowed him to segregate and isolate everything he had known. With nothing to control him and no voices of reason, his journey into his soul in the end, distorted it into a malicious, gluttonous thing, whereby its greed and passions were to become insatiable, â€Å"But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself†¦ it had gone mad. † (pg66) As we approach the end of their journeys, we see that Marlow has salvaged himself from insanity and darkness. Kurtz however, cannot retrieve himself, â€Å"The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness†¦ as Kurtz’s life was running swiftly too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time. † (pg68) The use of metaphors and analogous language explicates that the further Marlow and the others depart in the physical journey, the less the likelihood of Marlow obtaining a deleterious soul. However, inversely, the further Kurtz proceeds away from his physical journey, the ‘heart of darkness’ he entitled to himself – the sooner he faces his cessation. He had desecrated his soul, gratified his monstrous passions to the extent where he would now allow his journey to have a path back. This concept is elucidated in the analogy that he had â€Å"kicked himself from the earth†¦ he had kicked the very earth to pieces.. † (pg66). And so the end of Kurtz’s journey occurs, his final words being â€Å"The horror! The horror! † (pg69). He seemingly passed judgement on his actions and life, his ‘journey’ and he deemed it to be horrid. By the end of his journey, Marlow has an altered perception of life. We see that through this spiritual journey he has gained the ability to understand reasons for barbarous actions; a suggestion that it is only through experience and such a journey, that one could ever understand how and why the mind can turn into such a truculent, repugnant thing. Coppola’s Apocalypse Now presents a mission through the Nung River to reach deeper into a jungle. Captain Willard accepts a mission to exterminate Kurtz, a man who implements unsound methods and is accountable for murder. Here Coppola employs a sound technique, the use of music in a minor key to pose an apprehensive sentiment to the mission. Willard formulates an analogy â€Å"never get out of the boat†¦ unless you were going all the way. Kurtz got off the boat†¦ † Willard interpolates to Kurtz’s mental journey, and how Kurtz ‘got off the boat’, and theoretically straight into the arms of the jungle. Kurtz was a man who had extreme potential and ability to reach high ranks within the army. However, he abandoned this and adventured into the unknown and attained new beliefs and ethics, â€Å"the more I read and began to understand, the more I admired him†¦ he could’ve gone for general†¦ but he went for himself instead. † Willard’s understanding of this is one of the primary indications of his commencement towards his own spiritual journey. Kurtz opens opportunities to Willard – by venturing into Kurtz’s foundations he ventures into his own. During this dialogue we see close up camera angles of Willard, sweaty with a torch and black background, giving him a strong look of obsessiveness. Willard then reads a letter from Kurtz, within the letter is a significant passage, â€Å"there are many moments for compassion†¦ there are many moments for ruthless action. What is called ruthless†¦ may be†¦ seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it†¦ directly. † Kurtz is attempting to postulate reason and justify his ruthless conduct. Following this the boat halts to inspect a native’s boat. During the examination, the soldiers open fire despite the native’s innocence. They discover a girl is still living, and resolve to accompany her to a hospital. Willard however, determines he must continue on his expedition. He deliberately shoots the girl and thus adopts an aspect of Kurtz, â€Å"seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it. † A median camera shot encompasses the face, neck and torso of the girl, lifeless and inert, revealing and provoking an increased sense of callousness upon Willard’s part. Eventually Willard encounters Kurtz, and he imparts a recount explicating the barbarity of the Vietcong guerrilla forces, â€Å"And then I realized they were stronger than me because they could stand it†¦ men who are†¦ able to†¦ kill – without feeling, without passion, without judgement†¦ † Upon saying this, his face is shadowed; there is no sound but his echoing words reinforcing the dialogue’s intensity. Although Kurtz may have desired strength and mercilessness, the irony and sarcasm of his stories pose another reason as to why he divaricated from the army. The American army has the ability to kill and wage war, and yet American soldiers still hold to moral values that completely contradict their actions, â€Å"we train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won’t allow them to write fuck on their airplanes because it’s obscene†¦ † As Kurtz despises such â€Å"lies†, he comes to believe the ability to endure abominable vulgarity shows true genuine strength, and lacks contradictory behaviour. We thus receive reasoning for Kurtz’s journey. Willard then concludes to slay Kurtz, however it is not for the benefit of the army, â€Å"I wasn’t even in their army anymore†¦ I felt like he was up there waiting for me to take his pain away†¦ † As he sees Kurtz, the music begins to play rapidly to produce anticipation. It is a ritualistic slaughter, with constant cuts to a scene of vicious sacrificial killing of a water buffalo by the natives, insinuating Kurtz as a false deity, having an erroneous journey. He is deservingly being slaughtered like an animal, sacrificed back to his jungle. Kurtz’s last words are â€Å"The Horror, The horror. † Here we perceive an acceptance of iniquity in a human’s soul, the ‘horror’ that can arise when a man delves into his soul, and depraves it through attempts to monopolise it. As Willard exits from slaughtering Kurtz, he has been established as the native’s ‘new deity’. Undershot camera angles endorse Willard’s superior status, his face is smeared in mud and his body is profaned with blood. The music is disturbing (producing an anticipative mood) as he progressively walks through the sea of people. There is the prospect of Willard continuing in Kurtz’s footsteps. However, he advances to his boat. It was through this journey that he was able to comprehend Kurtz’s actions. But Willard himself did not falter over the edge into insanity. The journeys in this case show us that placed into the right scenarios, there does sleep a suppressed greed and insanity in every soul that has the chance to escape if delved into. However, as we can see from Marlow and Willard’s examples, this can be understood and the unleashing of such evil can be avoided. Coppola and Conrad both used their techniques to show this concept and those concepts relating to it. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Joseph Conrad section.