Benifits of Walking

â€Å"Benefits of Walking† Walking provides a wide range of benefits, some of which are more obvious than others. The obvious benefits of walking include the benefits to the individual from physical fitness and mental health improvements. A less obvious benefit is the way in which getting more people walking more often can help to generate a stronger local community, which in turn will contribute to happier and healthier neighborhoods. Every channel you turn to, every magazine you flip through, and every sports store you go to, shows the concept of exercising.Most people think of exercise as too much work. They make excuses like I don’t have enough time, or I’ll do it later. The purpose of this essay is to persuade my listeners to get out their walking shoes and start reaping the benefits of a healthy life and start walking. First we will discover how walking benefits our bodies, second uncover how easy it is to incorporate walking in to our daily lives, and thir d reveal the only equipment that one needs to take the first step putting one foot in front of the other.For many of us we are always finding ways to get out of exercising. Either we are too busy or we are putting it off until we have more time, but actually we never get the time to exercise and we just see ourselves jumping from a size 6 to a size 12. Well I have help for you. We were all born with 2 arms and 2 legs, so let’s put those legs to the use they were intended. Walking is one of the easiest forms of exercise and provides many health benefits.Regular walkers have fewer heart attacks and strokes, have lower blood pressure, and have higher levels of healthy HDL cholesterol than couch sitters do. In one study of women, a regular walking program did just as much in the heart-protection department as more vigorous exercise did. Thirty minutes of walking a day makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin. That allows glucose to do its duty inside your cells rather than pi le up in your bloodstream and cause other havoc.Even just a 5-minute walk cuts down on cigarette cravings. It engages your brain's emotion centers, unleashing mood-enhancing hormones that decrease cravings and take your mind off that cigarette. And establishing a walking habit proves to you that you have the discipline to stick with your stop-smoking plan. Physical activity nourishes brain tissue and stimulates its production of neurons, synapses, and blood vessels. Some studies have found that walking can counter faltering memories in people over age 50.Anyone who has come back from a walk in a different frame of mind than they went out with can attest to this. Studies back up that walking benefits your mood and may even ward off depression and anxiety. Not only can a walk perk you up when you need it, but also it helps improve the quality of your sleep, so you're more energetic all day long. Walking regularly can lower your risk of arthritis, macular degeneration, and even cancer by an astonishing 50% compared with people who don't exercise. Walking has the highest compliance rate of any exercise.

English Literature Essay

Hannam University Department: English Language and Literature. Degree: Masters of English Language & Literature. Title: The Kite Runner: The novel presents the story of a country and people in turmoil. An abridgment of a THESIS Presented to Professor Kim Ilgu, the Faculty of the Department of English Language & Literature of the Hannam University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of English Language & Literature. By Uttam Mallick Student ID: 20114012 An brief overview of Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner—Stories Views on education: Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. Khaled Hosseini is the first Afghan-American writer to publish a work of fiction in English in the United States. The Kite Runner is Hosseini’s first novel, and his book has achieved a significant amount of success since its publication in 2003-now in its seventeenth printing with over 1. 4 million copies sold-and has repeatedly appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List over the last three years. Even though bookstores and libraries have been inundated with literature about Afghanistan and Iraq, none appear to have achieved the same amount of recognition or success as The Kite Runner. Since the nineteenth century, critics have called into question the literary merits of sentimental fiction for its seemingly unskilled rhetoric and inauthentic sentiment. Although the aesthetic purpose of sentimental literature has been repeatedly trivialized by literary critics, sentimental imagery, language and themes have been effectively utilized by various authors in the past to critique controversial social, historical and political practices of the times, such as slavery in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), and continue to be effectively utilized by contemporary authors, such as perceptions of Afghanistan and its people in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. To complete my final thesis, I will use books and reviews or published by scholarly journals as well as major and minor newspapers to analyze the popularity of the novel, including its literary strengths and weaknesses. I will try to use my own knowledge and criticism about the country and people in turmoil. Some scholarly articles on Afghanistan published shortly after 9/11 will be used to provide a social and historical context for Hosseini’s novel. Lastly, I will use both scholarly articles and books to explain the concept of â€Å"sentimentality† and â€Å"emotional narratives,† and their cultural importance, which will help me further articulate my critical approach to Hosseini’s text. Source of Data: For the research must be my own idea with some paper secondary data will be used.

The Effects of School Bullying on Middle School Students Attendance Dissertation

The Effects of School Bullying on Middle School Students Attendance - Dissertation Example Smith and Sharp assert that studies concerning teacher opinion show that school bullying involves â€Å"5-10 per cent of children as being bullied and about 5 per cent of children as bullying others† (1994, p. 5). They state that bullying is generally hidden from the school authorities because the bullied students and their peers hesitate in informing their teachers about the bully and start disappearing from school which lowers their attendance (Jimerson & Furlong, 2006, p.310). Bullying students are normally very sociable and bold without any idea of shame or guilt; whereas, the bullied ones are already very shy and unsure which makes the overall idea of going to school and attending classes disagreeable. A bullied student may suffer from hypertension, freight, loneliness, anxiety, depression, low self-worth, low grades and suicidal attempts. The National Association of School Psychologists (as cited in Shore, p. 5) estimates that â€Å"160,000 children miss school every da y for fear of being bullied†. Besides bullied students, bullying creates bad effects on the observers of bullying as well. Since, bullying creates a fearful environment in schools, students who watch someone being bullied may tend to turn away from their classes, feel guilty for not stopping it or may even be tempted to participate and support the bullying students. In short, bullying inflicts long lasting adverse effects on the victim and should be considered seriously by school authorities so that necessary interventions are made (Dixon & Smith, 2011, p.34), because according to Smith and Sharp (1994, p.64), when successful interventions and policies are designed to counter school bullying, it improves â€Å"pupil achievement and attendance over time.† Samdal et al. (1997) studied how the middle school students’ judgment and perception of school affected their academic performance, attendance and school satisfaction.

Summary Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary - Movie Review Example The above issues were explained with the help of graphics and pictures taken from supermarkets, restaurants, and the food packaging or processing industries. The name of the film, Food Inc reminds us the heavy industrialization of food products in the modern era. The film starts with the pictures taken from the supermarkets in order to make us aware of the various food products currently used in America. The film starts in this manner in order to show us the origin and processing of this food items. The music and the sound used in this film are suitable to the occasions and it gives us a pleasant background for watching of this movie. The major visuals used in this film are animals/birds and their meats. Americans are very much interested in non-vegetarian foods like beef, chicken, pork meat etc and hence the film was more focused on such items. Bright and dark colors were used sparingly to make the viewers more aware of the positives and negatives of American food industry. The usag e of light also was in such a way that the viewer may get enough insights about the current American food industry. This movie can be regarded as a piece of investigative journalism in which the industrialization of food items was mentioned. The major aim or theme of this movie is to make the public aware of how smartly the foods were being processed in America in order to make them for safe eating. At the same time, the movie reminds us the dangers in taking foods like chicken which were farmed to fatten in 45 days and grow bigger with the help of chemicals and hormones. Even though most of the times, the movie deals with the positive aspects of American food industry, at times it also shows troubling scenes of the American food industry. This film is capable of forcing the viewers think twice before taking any foods from American restaurants. The major message given by this movie to the viewers is that it is the American

To what extent should the financial reporting practices of public Essay

To what extent should the financial reporting practices of public sector organizations differ from those used by companies in the private sector - Essay Example Hence the financial accounting system is to be very strict to ensure the uniform justice. Making them profit driven is crucial for the whole nation as will add further to the gross domestic product of the country and for generating higher employment. In addition the reforms in public sector are needed for following factors which also decide the style of financial reporting in public enterprises. The financial reporting analysis studies indicated that majority private firms get involved in cost reduction activities and hence their efficiency is higher and hence public sector can follow this by implementing cost reduction measures with out affecting the social objectives. Matsumari and Matsushima (2004) conducted an investigation on mixed duopoly, in which a public enterprise with social objectives competes with a profit-maximizing private firm. The use of a Hotelling-type spatial model helped them in product differentiation. Similarly the production costs were reduced by following cost-reducing activities. It was also noticed that the private firms engage in excessive strategic cost-reducing activities and hence their production cost becomes lower than the public firm. It was also felt that privatization of the loss making public firms will result in reducing the operational losses and converting them in to profit making enterprises. The second factor that is to be kept in mind is that the source of funds for the public sector is from the public mainly where as the source of funding in private sector is from private individuals. Hence the public sector enterprises should be held highly responsible for the financial performance. It does not mean that the private sector should be neglected but it suggests that the private sector needs a separate style of financial reporting system. The users and stakeholders are another crucial

Up In the Air Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Up In the Air - Essay Example The primary location depicted in the film is St. Louis Missouri, although it was substituted by other cities like Michigan, Omaha, Detroit, Las Vegas, Florida, Miami and Nebraska (Abramowitz, 2009). The film has won several awards in screenplays and nominations. This analysis looks at ‘Up in the Air’ film with particular reference to its music, sound, continuity and editing among other aspects of movie analysis. Music and soundtrack ‘Up in the Air’ film features different music including songs by; The Black Keys, (Black Keys member gone solo), Elliot Smith, Dan Auerbach’s ‘which is quite good stuff between’ and Crosby. Other artists that the film features include Sad Brad Smith, Stills & Nash and Sharon Jones & the Dap among others. In actual analysis of the music in this film, most of the songs featured can make up a 12 track soundtrack CD (Schuker, & Lauren, 2009). Furthermore, the film also includes Kevin Renick’s titular song ‘Up in the Air’. This is the song that plays in the closing credits of the film and is about uncertainty, loneliness, and disconnection where career transition is eluded. ‘Up in the Air’ is a melancholy song which also narrates about where one expects his or her life to go. ‘Angel in the Snow’ song by Elliot Smith is also included in the soundtrack of the movie. Analysts reveal that the application of this song is one of the best uses of music within a film (French, 2010). Continuity In any film making process, continuity is always an important threshold worth meeting, whereby a series of shots and casts are required to be physically continuous such that the cinema appears only to change angles during a single event. Technically speaking, it is the responsibility of the film director in this case Jason Reitman and the script supervisor who are responsible for keeping continuity in the film. ‘Up in the Air’ presents different dates of casting which also took plac e in different cities (Abramowitz, 2009). This calls for a professional editing to enhance the continuity of the film at the best recommended levels. For instance, the film was mostly cast at the St. Louis area, although other cities like Omaha, Missouri and Detroit are also featured. The filming of ‘Up in the Air’ commenced in March 2009 continuing all the way to the end of April, including more than 80 locations, and featuring heavy product placement with the American Airlines, Hilton Hotels, Hertz and even the Chrysler (Schuker, & Lauren, 2009). Therefore, with all these details and complexity of issues to be included, it can be deduced that ‘Up in the Air’ Film achieved some great milestone as far as its continuity is concerned. Editing It will be realized that the ‘Up in the Air’s’ post production schedule was much shorter in comparison to the previous films done by Jason Reitman. The editing of this film lasted between 16 to 17 wee ks as opposed to the usual editing periods which is normally between 22 to 26 weeks (Abramowitz, 2009). This is attributed to the fact that Reitman was heavily involved in the post production of the movie during shooting. Moreover, the entire shooting of the film took place on location. Scenes would be sent to the film chief editor everyday as soon as they were ready from the source (Schuker, & Lauren, 2009). Editing of the film was quite essential in determining how the nonverbal moments shaped the cast characters i.e. Alex and Ryan’

Money Landry Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Money Landry - Research Proposal Example The only paper trials available to the financial institution used to be the records of bank accounts if which the deposition was made. The banks did not feel the need to report currency transactions. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) was enacted by the Congress in 1970 which was followed by (the introduction of the Currency Transaction Report (CTR, Form 4789), Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments (CMIR, Form 4790) and Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR, Form TD F 90-22.1)) (IRS.gov, 2010). Enactment of BSA proved a big step in the way of hindering the money laundering in that it developed the paper trial which was required by the law enforcement in order to trace the dollars that went untaxed as well as others that were laundered by the financial institutions. IRS has evaluated the performance of BSA and has reached the conclusion that BSA has done a lot to dismantle the prime money and drug laundering organizations in the country through p rudent investigation and forfeiture of their assets. Besides, three directives have been issued by the European Union (EU) that are directed at eliminating the use of financial system for money laundering (Hopton, 2009, p. 9). Regulations and laws in the whole EU against money laundering are influenced by the very directives. In the sub-region of West Africa, participants of a seven page communique which was issued at a course’s termination noticed a remarkable increase in the dangers associated with financial crimes including money laundering. â€Å"With globalization, participants added, crime transcends national boundaries so easily that the fight against the scourge calls for absolute collaboration at the...Money Landry: Research Proposal Money laundering is not just the outcome of the legal framework of a country, but is a result of the socioeconomic conditions as well as culture prevailing in it. This research tends to identify the specific factors that are responsible for the growth and strengthening up of the money laundering in a country. Moreover, this research aims at determining the most cost effective and useful way of controlling money laundering in a country. The research will compare the differences in the causal and restraining factors determined between a developed and a developing country to analyze the influence of economic strength on money laundering. Research objectives: This research has three primary objectives: 1. To study the effects of money laundering on a nation’s economy. 2. To study the factors promoting the growth of money laundering in a nation. 3. To identify the most useful and cost effective way of restraining the growth of money laundering Literature Review: â€Å"Money laundering has traditionally been considered to be a process by which criminals attempt to hide the origins and ownership of the proceeds of their criminal activities [so that they] retain control over the proceeds†. Banks are the fundamental facilitators of money laundering. The factor analysis will be conducted to identify common variables whose relation with money laundering will be evaluated through regression analysis. The dependent variable will be money laundering and there will be a multitude of independent variables including law, bank policy, and governmental taxes.

Logistics and Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Logistics and Operations Management - Essay Example Replacement Costs on the rise due to poor quality Quality Costs Cost of control Prevention costs include Quality planning and Engineering, New product review, Product and process design, Process control, Cost of Burn in tests, Quality training and workforce development. Appraisal costs include Testing and Inspection. Cost of Failure of control Internal failure costs include Scrap, Rework, Retest, Failure Analysis, down time, Yield losses and down grading. External failure costs include Warranty Charges, Complaint adjustment, Returned product/material and Liability costs. Q2. In consideration of your response to part 1 and your experience in Aerials, i. Propose and explain what options a business and/or a supply chain has to cope with fluctuating demand. Options 1. Make or Buy decisions The most popular decision that a Business takes to cope with the fluctuating demand is whether to Make or Buy. A business must analyze their various costs of production involved in producing a product and compare it with cost of buying the product from an external supplier. If the cost of buying is less than cost of producing the product, then companies can opt for buying the product. This could be extended to each phase of the production cycle. 2. Forecasting Demand Companies plan and forecast the demand according to the future needs of the market. Forecasting demand assists in decision making with respect to investment in plant and machinery, market planning and future sales. Some of the popular forecasting methods include Time series methods Judgmental Techniques Causal methods (Econometric forecasting) 3. Quality management Companies strive to achieve quality standards like ISO 22000:2005, Six sigma, Deming awards...A business must analyze their various costs of production involved in producing a product and compare it with cost of buying the product from an external supplier. If the cost of buying is less than cost of producing the product, then companies can opt for buying the product. This could be extended to each phase of the production cycle. Companies plan and forecast the demand according to the future needs of the market. Forecasting demand assists in decision making with respect to investment in plant and machinery, market planning and future sales. Some of the popular forecasting methods include Companies strive to achieve quality standards like ISO 22000:2005, Six sigma, Deming awards etc. Total quality management along with Japanese techniques is widely practiced ensuring the continuous delivering of quality products. Nowadays a product without quality cannot exist in the market i.e. if a company is surviving, then quality is inbuilt. Quality forms the basis of survival of a company or a business nowadays. Quality audits and a lot of quality management practices are a means to ensure that the customer receives good quality product. Inventory control is a planned approach of determining what to order, when to order and how to order and how much to stock so that costs associated with buying and storing are optimal without interrupting production and sale

International People Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International People Management - Essay Example The research in this particular case applies to an aspect of international people management that is the international transfer of managers. We assess the immediate opportunities of such research as being determined by the number of international management transfers in any given period, the importance to the MNC of such transfers and the possibility of accessing useful data relating to these transfers. International management transfers are a frequent occurrence and there is a corresponding base of information that can be researched or is already available. Management transfers are also relatively important to MNCs. They want to make sure that it works: the impact of a good or bad managerial decision often weighs more that of a non-managerial employee, and this impact increases with ascending management rank. This also motivates MNCs and their representatives to respond to requests for data in the form of questionnaires, if these questionnaires are appropriately constructed and presented. The limitations of such research are in some ways connected with the discussion on the opportunities. The first limitation is that of the willingness or the availability of the relevant contacts in the MNCs to give the data required The second is the way on which such data is to be amassed, either by direct contact (telephone) which can be time-consuming, expensive and not necessarily effective, or by indirect means such as questionnaires sent through the post, which can then increase the elapsed time before results are available as well as the difficulty of chasing up replies and information. Not mentioned in this paper from 2001 are the possibilities now available by Internet with online questionnaires. As a first recommendation, consideration should be given to doing surveys of this time online where possible (Dr. Harzing has perhaps moved to internet-based questionnaires since she wrote this article). Although for a pure Internet-based solution it would also be necessary to know the email address of the person to be contacted, hybrid solutions are also possible: for example, send out a letter which contains instructions to go to a website to fill in a survey. The choice of a paper to critique Our choice of paper was determined by a number of aspects. We sought papers that reported empirical research, either from the creation of primary data, the utilisation of secondary data, or both. We also sought papers that had real meaning and relevance in the field of international people management. Of the various candidates reviewed, we selected Anne-Wil Harzing's paper as fulfilling these criteria. The aims and intentions of "An Analysis of the Functions of International Transfers of Managers in MNCs" The article states its aim as better identification for the reasons for which MNCs (multinational companies) send out

The Adobe Dreamweaver Software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Adobe Dreamweaver Software - Essay Example We were six team members. Although I actively participated in each and every stage of the project from the planning till delivery, yet my main contribution in the project was the design of the website. It was a very big responsibility as the design of website would be what will be seen by the client, which in our case was Prive and the customers that would be using the website once it is launched. The design of the website of a company has a fundamental role to play in the customer’s perceptions about the company. Customers tend to draw inferences about the company from the first impression that is lent by the website. It was my responsibility to make the design look both perfect and professional. It was a fairly tough task in that the design is constantly revised and modified until the product is delivered to the client. So my job would not finish with the completion of design as it had to be constantly revised and modified according to the ideas we explored along the way. I had to design wireframe sketches for the website. To achieve this, I conducted a thorough review of the existing models and tried different combinations to reach a fairly decent and professional design. Bob used my designs to construct the website using the software â€Å"Adobe Dreamweaver†, while Jack worked upon the launching of the website and its presentation to Prive. Dan conducted the feasibility study of this project for Prive. Martha and Susan selected useful models from an extensive literature review. At the start of the project, I felt very nervous as I had never done a project as complex as this ever before. During our passage through the project, there were times when we were stuck, there were times when we had disputes and times when we celebrated. After I was done, all of us were filled with the feeling of joy mixed with relief. One of the most difficult parts of the project for me was to gain the consent of all team members upon the design of wireframe sketches I had proposed.

Thesis for POS Systems Essay Example for Free

Thesis for POS Systems Essay ABSTRACT Several threats affect the survival of small, independent retail companies. Adoption and use of Point-of-Sale (POS) systems may offer important benefits to counter these threats. POS systems are not widely used by these retailers, however. This research investigates the determinants of the adoption of POS systems using a conceptual model based on existing adoption theories. Based on this, a survey has been held among 37 Dutch small, independent retailers, to answer the question what the most important determinants for POS system adoption are. This study furthers theory on IT adoption, specifically for small organizations. The practical relevance is that its findings may help in improving POS system adoption. . INTRODUCTION The Dutch retail sector consists for 94% of small retail organizations (≠¤10 employees), altogether employing around 250,000 persons. The retail sector is noticeably present in the trade-driven Dutch economy and acts as an intermediary between industry and consumer. The sector is an important and relevant subject of study from an economical, social and cultural perspective. In this paper we focus on in-store retailing. The environment of this type of retail trade is under pressure. Several interacting threats, like globalization, demanding consumers, increasing administrative burden and an economic recession force the retailers into action. Information and communication technology (ICT) is a double-edged sword in this context (cf. Turban, King, Viehland and Lee, 2004). On the one hand, it can be a threat to smaller retailers for its disintermediation effects and competition through e-tailing (cf. Chircu and Kauffman, 1999), and by its supply chain management effectuation of the larger(franchise) organizations (cf. David, 2008). On the other hand, ICT likewise provides opportunities to smaller retailers, like opening up new sales channels, reducing administrative tasks and/or enabling strategic management of their enterprise (Turban et al., 2004). A specific type of retail ICT that can be employed to achieve effective store management is a ‘Point-of-Sale’ (POS) system. POS systems are defined in many different ways. On Wikipedia, a retail POS system is defined as â€Å"a computer, monitor, cash drawer, receipt printer, customer display and a barcode scanner†. Webopedia.com defines a POS system as â€Å"the capturing of data and customer payment information at a physical location when goods or services are bought and sold†. YourDictionary.com defines it as: â€Å"A comprehensive computerized checkout system that includes a bar-code scanner, receipt printer, cash drawer, credit and debit card scanner, monitor, and inventory management software. A point-of-sale system tracks sales and identifies inventory levels in real time†. There are many different types and brands of POS systems available. eBay.com and BuyerZone.com provide a web-based ‘Point of Sale System Buying Guide’, containing over 4,000 different POS equipments for retailers, and 91 different types of POS software. The POS system market in The Netherlands contains no less than 150 vendors, each offering their own ‘unique’ software package. POS systems enable retailers to consult more detailed management information compared to traditional cash registers and Electronic Cash Registers (ECRs). As this management information is based on sales figures, retailers can improve their business by maintaining a better product strategy and pursuing a more efficient replenishment process matching customer demand, alleviating what is often referred to as the ‘bullwhip effect’ (Lee, Padmanabhan and Whang, 1997). This enables inventory optimization, minimizing storage space and ‘sold-out’ situations. Moreover, cash slips can be stored electronically and the results can be brought up in the POS system immediately, both reducing time spent on administrative tasks. This is specifically relevant for The Netherlands, where the administrative burden for SMEs has increased through regulations LITERATURE REVIEW: ADOPTION MODELS In this section we review eight different studies on the adoption of information systems, which were found through literature study. The meta literature search focused on theories and models concerning IS/IT adoption, more specifically of small businesses, retail and/or POS systems. Below, as a result, we first describe two generic adoption models with regard to IS/IT adoption. Next, we discuss six models that address adoption within the retail or small business domain. Generic models The first generic adoption model we refer to here is that of Rogers (2003). His Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory describes the adoption of innovations over time. He ascribes the dynamics of adoption behaviour in terms of different groups of people, like innovators and laggards. His theory also indicates how an individual or organisation (i.e. any decision-making unit) decides to adopt (or not) an innovation. This adoption process consists of five different stages: knowledge acquisition, persuasion, adoption, implementation and confirmation. Rogers specifies three groups of determinants that influence this process: characteristics of the decision-making unit, characteristics of the innovation and information channels. Based on DOI theory, factors concerning the decision-making unit that positively influence adoption are e.g. high social status, low age and financial flexibility. According to DOI, important characteristics of an innovation include: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability (the degree to which it can be experimented with), and observability (the visibility of its results). Information channels (personal and mass communication channels) are required to spread knowledge of an innovation. The second generic adoption model is based on Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003), who reviewed technology acceptance models, among which the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1986) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). They used elements of each model for a new unified model, called the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Contrary to Rogers’ model, UTAUT concentrates on the adoption behaviour of individuals. In this model, four constructs are defined as determinants of a user’s acceptance and behaviour. Performance expectancy relates to the degree to which the technology is expected to improve job performance. Effort expectancy concerns the ease of use associated with the technology. Social influence is defined as â€Å"[t]he degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system† (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Finally, the construct facilitating conditions deals with the degree to which a support infrastructure for the technology is believed to exist. In addition, these four constructs are modelled to be influenced by four so-called moderators, i.e. gender, age, experience and voluntariness. Retail and SME-specific models We will discuss six main studies and their adoption models below. First, the study by Julien and Raymond (1994) can be mentioned. Their technology adoption model for the retail sector proposes eight organizational aspects as determinants of technology adoption: centralization, complexity, size, status (i.e. independent/affiliated), sector, and assertiveness, rationality, and interaction of the organizational strategy. These determinants were identified in earlier research on technology adoption in small organizations. Technology adoption in this case concerned the use of hardware (business computing, POS systems and telecomputing) and software. In the study 79 firms in food, hardware and clothing were assessed through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Clothing firms and large firms were less apt to use POS systems, while firms that had a longer organizational planning horizon used POS systems more often. Secondly, Chau (1995) researched which factors are important for small businesses in software selection. His research focused on packaged software, as small organizations usually do not buy custom developed software, due to their limited resources. Chau argues that owners/managers of small organizations are less focused on budgeting techniques like ‘net present value’ or ‘internal rate of return’ to make decisions on software investments. Instead, they focus more on criteria aimed at the functionalities and popularity of the software. Also, opinions of vendors, employees, consultants or acquaintances are believed to influence decision making. Based on empirical research among 122 small businesses, he found that the importance of selection criteria varied between owners and managers. In general, owners seem to focus more on technical aspects, while managers focus more on non-technical aspects. Third, Thong and Yap (1995) developed a model based on the notion that the adoption process of small businesses differs from that of large firms. CEOs play a major role in small firms as they are the primary decisions makers. In their research, the authors developed a causal model, which assumes that the following factors are positively correlated with the likeliness of IT adoption for small firms: business size, competitiveness of the business environment, information intensity, innovativeness, and attitude towards adoption of IT and IT knowledge. SYNTHESIS: CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND HYPOTHESES In the previous section, a total of eight models for adoption have been discussed. Most models view the (retail) organization and/or its owner as the decision-making unit. In small organizations, the owner-manager/CEO almost by definition determines IT investments and the IT strategy. Thong and Yap (1995), Ekanem (2005) and Chau (1995) all point out this phenomenon. Therefore, we consider personal variables of the owner (like age and gender) as key determinants of POS adoption by retailers. In addition, organizational characteristics (like size and competition) can be considered as additional, contextual determinants of the IT adoption decision.

The role of music in your life Essay Example for Free

The role of music in your life Essay Music connects us to time and place. For instance, many of us may remember a song that comforted us during a difficult time or what was playing during a happy occasion like a graduation or engagement. Despite our varying tastes, the one constant is that music plays a role in times of comfort and celebration. This week’s project asks you to consider what songs are important to you and why. You can think of this as defining the soundtrack of your own life. In 750-1000 words, consider and explain the role of music in your life story: 1. What music do you associate with childhood? How did/does this music make you feel? How do your choices reflect your childhood experiences? 2. What music do you associate with adolescence? Was this music a way to fit in or rebel? 3. What music do you associate with comfort? How do these songs help you deal with disappointment or stress? 4. What music do you associate with happiness? Why? Your essay should be double-spaced and include a title page in APA format. The title page does not count in the word count for the project. Submitting Your Assignment Put your project in a Word document. Save it in a location and with a name that you will remember. When you are ready to submit it, click on the Dropbox and complete the steps below: †¢ Click the link that says Submit an Assignment.

Current Computing Research on Long Term Data Storage

Current Computing Research on Long Term Data Storage Samuel Kahura Wachira Evaluation of Current Computing Research on Long Term Data Storage Abstract The increasing number of digitized documents and the content explosion that has been experienced in this digital age has necessitated the research into the Long Term Data Storage. There are various methods, modes and approached to this problem. Whichever the solution, it must adhere to these principles: the media or technology should be affordable, flexible, durable and readily accessible and readable by any software. This paper will be examining the current state of available technology for long term data storage, especially on the development of long term storage, the various existing and upcoming hardware, the issues that affect Long Term Storage of Digital data and some possible solutions. In this paper, strategies for preservation of data in specific formats and mediums are also investigated. 1.0 Introduction Long-term data storage is considered to be one of the biggest topics discussed in the field of Information Technology today. This is attributed to the fact that valuable information faces the threat of becoming unreadable owing to overreliance on paper as a medium of storage. In the modern face the danger of becoming unreadable thus the need to digitize the documents by use of Long Term Digital Preservation (LTDP). Factor et. al. (2009), describes Long Term Digital Preservation as being a set of processes, strategies and tools which can be to store and thereafter access digital data for periods long enough in the wake of changing technologies, formats, hardware, software as well as technical communities. There has been an increase in the amount of digital information, as well as the aging of existing digital heritage. Well-publicized examples of such losses have resulted into an urgent need to deal with the challenge of long-term preservation of data. It is therefore important for us to understand the components (both hardware and software), the technology, the standards and the research that is being conducted to give us a stable , larger, faster capacity storage system. We are also able to appreciate the steps that we have made as regards storage size, speed, durability and stability od data storage devices. 1.1 Development of Long Term Digital Storage A study by Kremser (2012), on long term digital storage revealed that as time goes by, there are many risks that threaten data integrity. Some of such threats include: deterioration and/or obsolescence of storage media, obsolescence of the data format or in general the software needed for running the application for accessing the data such as old operating systems. Such a risk is closely related to hardware architectures. It follows therefore that in order to ensure long term data preservation one has to overcome the problem of non-prompt memory institutions, including libraries, museums, archives as well as other cultural heritage institutions. Magnetic tape showed the way to consumer-grade data holding equipment. Since then, storage has pervaded nearly every gadget , electronics, form printers, Home appliances, mobile devices etc. This consumerization is driving the market forces to research more and innovate. Farley (2009) argues that careful selection of the electronic medium essential in order to deal with the many hazards that result from overreliance digital storage media which are not instantly apparent. It is evident that data to be archived needs to be retrievable; otherwise the purpose of archiving is negated. In this regard therefore, the use of the Internet could as well eliminate the need to have a single point data storage in the future, if at all the data can be stored and at the same time be retrieved simultaneously on numerous different host computers given that each individual computer upgraded or replaced, the data is therefore retained on other host computers. Technology and Long Term Data Storage â€Å"Technology comprises of discoveries in sciences, product development and improvement in machinery, process, and automation as well as information technology† (Kurnet, 2012). These developments are changing the way that service firms and consumers interact, and are raising a host of research and practice issues relating to the delivery of e-service. Electronic-service is becoming increasingly important not only to determine the success or failure of electronic commerce, but also in the provision of consumers with a superior experience in regard to the interactive flow of information. Technology has become a leading ‘driving force’ nowadays, in different businesses (Ahmed et. al. (2011). As such it is important to research the investments in technology and their impact in the telecom business. It is particularly essential to assess how technology is reducing the ‘labour intensive activities, reducing service as well as processing cost, increasing service levels, not forgetting improving the productivity and competitiveness of the telecom sector. 1.3 Economics of Long Term Digital Storage Rosenthal et.al (2012) has some interesting findings as regards the Economics of Long Term Digital Storage. In the paper of the same title, the authors analyse and present facts that support the conclusion that the decrease in cost per bit of storage in this decade, is likely to be much slower or it might eventually stop. â€Å"This in turn will make the expenditure commitment implied by a decision to preserve some digital content much bigger and much harder to predict than would be expected on the basis of history†. Rosenthal et.al (2012). Additionally, Rosenthal et.al (2013). and Goldstein et.al (2010) agree that there will be an increase in the importance of developing accurate and predictive models of storage as well as other preservation costs, as IT budgets become ever smaller. When organizations recognize the Total Cost of ownership of preserving data for long periods, they migt consider investing in SSD (Solid Stata Drives) which although are initially expensive, will realize a lower TCO than traditional disks, whilw at the same time improve performace of data read and write operations. Rosenthal et.al (2013). 1.3.1  The OAIS Model According to CCSDS Secretariat (2012), OAIS (Open Archival Information System) is an ISO standard that is intended to be a referential design of digital archives with long term preservation capabilities. Three basic roles are defined in the model: producer, consumer and management. The OAIS Model (CCSDS et al 2012) The OAIS model defines functional entities Ingest, Data Management, Archival Storage, Access, Preservation Planning, and Administration. OAIS is more than a strict specification of referential model. OAIS is a set of vague advice on how to build a digital archive. It identifies some basic actors/roles, describes the data and their flows in the systems. The central notion of OAIS is an information package. There are three types of packages SIP (Submission Information Package), AIP (Archival IP), and DIP (Dissemination IP) depending on the life cycle of the data. The content of those packages slightly differs, but in general there are some descriptive and structural metadata, the manifest describing the content and the data itself. 1.4 Standardization of Formats for Data Archiving In order for data to be readable in future, it will have to adhere to some form of standards. Hajicek and Studensky (2005) were of the opinion that SGML would eventually become the de-facto standard for data archiving, since it covered most of the criteria for archiving. Standard Generalized Markup Language is considered to be an international standard when defining device-independent, as well as system-independent methods of representing texts in electronic form (Goldfarb, 2010). However, Hajicek et.al (2005) also suggest that SGML itself does not provide us with a solution  for presentation of non-textual data and dynamic nonlinear (interactive) documents. XML is a lightweight cut-down version of SGML that keeps just enough of the functionality so as to make it useful. It is therefore aimed at making SGML usable easily. This discussion shows the importance of standardization in the march towards long term data storage. 1.5 Data Storage Media The selection, storage as well as handling of media is very important when it comes to data storage. This is because we need to understand the various storage media that has been in existence, and is still being developed. Some Storage media has also been overtaken by technology, e.g. floppy disks, resulting in rapid discontinuation of previous formats. 1.5.1 Magnetic Media Magnetic media makes use of magnetic particles that which are suspended in a non-magnetic film or metallic disks that are then magnetized.. Magnetic media is a flexible, low cost storage medium that has the ability to retain magnetic charges. It requires Clean operating conditions as well as environments to reduce the scope for damage to media and devices. 1.5.2  Optical Media Optical storage media on the other hand uses laser light to read data from the discs. Optical Storage Media exists in different types such as CD-ROM as well as DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory). Ross Gow (2012), 2.0  Proposed Modes for Long Term Digital Storage 2.1  Disk The disk industry’s roadmap always predicted a consistent 40% per year improvement with regards to bit density on disk platters, which can be translated to a 40% per year reduction in cost per bit stored. Although in the recent past the industry did not achieve this roadmap target. It is predicted that there is going to be more than a 20%/yr improvement in bit density for the next five years. 2.2  Tape Tape is considered to be an important medium for long-term storage of large amounts of data. This is attributable to low media, costs, low power consumption as well, its relatively high reliability outweigh its long access times. The recording technology that is used by tape is about 8 years behind disk; however it is on approximately the same cost per bit curve as disk. Thus it is expected that tape’s cost per bit will continue dropping, albeit somewhat more slowly as compared to previously, for perhaps another 8 years. This is likely to increase tape’s cost advantage significantly. 2.3  Solid State Memory Solid State drives store data via electronic integrated Circuit systems as memory to store data persistently. SSD drived do not have moveable parts, so they do not suffer from the problems of disks i.e Head-Crash, Overheating, and are better at shock resistsnce than their counterparts. Previously, SD Drives were more expensive than disks and were of less storage capacity, but in the last two years, we have seen an incredible leap from 16Gb to 500GB drives. On a Cost per byte analysis, SSD is still more expensive than traditional disks, but this is envisaged to slowly change as people adopt the new technology and more research and development is carried out. 3.0 Challenges of Storing Electronic Data Ahmed et. al. (2011), argues that preserving electronically-held data presents a problem. The storage media is unstable and is susceptible to physical abuse. Also, the technological advances that are creating lower TCO drives and discs, is leaving in its wake a lot of obsolete equipment still holding the data. The access of this data becomes a problem because of the scarcity of the equipment that is required to read the data presents problems which mostly seem to be â€Å"unsolvable in the face of accelerating technological change†. Ahmed et al (2011) goes further and concludes that optical discs might offer a compelling solution. However, the breakage and scratching that is usually characterized by storage of optical disks might render his argument null and void. Data storage on the internet also seems a compelling alternative where companies pay to store and retrieve the data they require, without the headache of managing the storage devices. Amazon, Rackspace, Google and Microsoft are already on this exciting phase of data storage. However, issues of legislation, privacy, security and accessibility of the data is keeping some people away from this solution. Magnetic Media is cheap, lasts long and is flexible. However, magnetic media are also considered to be vulnerable to corruption via magnetic and electrostatic fields apart from physical and chemical changes that occur during storage. (Russell, 2012). Good technology should only be applied in data storage if it satisfies some basic principles. Proper technology should ensure that information is stored accurately and retrieved immediately it is needed. All technological advances in automation processing, mass data processing and elimination of administrative challenges fall in this category. Farley (2009). 5.0 Conclusion The research has shown that there is still a lot of research to be done as concerns Long term Data Storage. Commercial entities are pushing each other to greater heights of research and innovation in the race to produce the cheapest, largest and fastest devices. This race has seen a lot of hardware becoming obsolete, and in essence, not being supported. The question becomes how to read and extract the data in these obsolete storage media. On the other hand, the introduction of standardized models for long term Data Retention, such as OAIS, will go a long way in helping to achieve the standardization of formats, methods and approaches. On the economics of storing data in the cloud, Rosenthal et.al (2012, 2013) concluded that it is not yet economical to store data on the cloud, as compared to Disk. References Ahmed A, JoAnne Holliday, D. E. Long, Ethan L. Miller, J., and Thomas S (2011). Data management and layout for shingled magnetic recording. IEEE Transactions onMagnetics, 47(10) CCSDS Secretariat (2012). Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS), Recommended Practice, CCSDS 650.0-M-2 (Magenta Book) Issue 2, June 2012 Factor, D. Naor, S. Rabinovici-Cohen, L. Ramati, P. Reshef, J. Satran, D.L (2009) Architecture for Preservation-aware Storage. MSST 2007: 3-15. Farley, J. (2009). ‘An Introduction to Archival Materials; new media (PRO Preservation Guide series). Hajicek C, Studensky I, The Long Term Data Storage, FI MU Report Series, July 2005 Kryder, H.M and Chang K. (2009). After Hard Drives-What Comes Next? IEEE Trans. on Magnetics, 45(10), 2009 Neil B. (2012).Digital Preservation Benefit Analysis Tools Project. http://beagrie.com/ krds-i2s2.php, 2012.. Rosenthal, D.S.H., Rosenthal, D.C., Miller, E.L., Adams, I.F., Storer, M.W. Zadok, E. (2012). The Economics of Long-term Digital Storage. Paper presented at The Memory of the World in the Digital Age Conference, Vancouver, BC. Retrieved from http://www.lockss.org/locksswp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/unesco2012.pdf Rosenthal, D.S.H, Vargas D.L (2013) Distributed Digital Preservation in the Cloud, International Journal of Digital Curation (2013), 8(1), 107–119. Russell K. (2012). Digital preservation: Ensuring access to digital materials into the future.

Romeos Tragic Flaw :: essays research papers

"The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection," states the British author, George Orwell. Every individual grows to understand that perfection is unachievable, therefore, human beings embody dramatic flaws. Many people tend to be unkempt or have poor manners, while others have behavioral difficulties such as quick temperament, dishonesty, or intentional rudeness. These perplexities can bring about hardships throughout an individual's life. William Shakespeare demonstrates some of these hardships in his puissant drama about The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, that portrays a protagonist, Romeo, who acquires the unfortunate flaw of rashness which later develops into the major downfall of his death. Romeo is an extremely impulsive individual. Throughout the drama, Romeo makes decisions without considering the consequences. His mistakes bring about several complications that eventually lead to his untimely death. From the beginning of the novel, Romeo continuously falls in love with different people. The first Act of the play portrays an ardent love for the gorgeous Rosaline who refuses to love him. Romeo's maudlin behavior is a concern to his friends, who decide to take him to the Capulet's masquerade party. Here, Juliet's beauty strikes Romeo and his previous love for Rosaline instantaneously diminishes. After the party, Romeo encounters Juliet and makes the impulsive decision of promising to marry her. Romeo recounts the story of his newfound love and the desire to marry her, to his adviser, Friar Lawrence, and seeks his advice. The Friar explains that, "Young men's love then lies/ not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (89). The Friar tries to convince Romeo that his love is not true, for he hastily changes his mind about the love of his life. But Romeo does not change his mind and is wed with Juliet. Romeo is also quite brash in his decision to slay Tybalt. If Romeo considered the consequences of murdering his enemy, he could have prevented his banishment from Verona. Romeo fails to consider that there is no need to slay Tybalt because Tybalt is already headed for assassination due to the fact that he started a fray and murdered Mecrutio. Unfortunately, his impulsiveness overpowers him and Romeo fights Tybalt. If only Romeo had thought rationally, he would not be separated from his dear, sweet Juliet. His banishment causes Romeo to cry out with extreme anguish to the Friar, "Hence 'banished' is 'banished from the world,' / And worlds exile is death.

Promotion of Education in Africa Essay -- basic education, literacy, so

Topic 1: Promotion of Education in Africa The issue of basic education in the world, especially in Africa has been in the spotlight, waiting impatiently to be solved. The UN, with its Millennium Development Goals, has cited education as one of its top priorities to be achieved by 2015. The African Union, with its Second Decade of Education, has emphasized the need for primary education in Africa to ensure gender equality and the enhancement of African cultural values. Sadly, in many African nations, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, adult literacy rates are well below 50%, and many youth lack the most basic and primal educational opportunities. The delegation of South Africa recognizes this urgent need of promotion of education in Africa. Background As a fortunate nation, South Africa has a stable educational infrastructure and a sound â€Å"baseline† for elementary education. In South Africa, the average adult literacy rate is a good 93 percent, as compared to the international average of 84 percent (2010) and the staggering 62 percent of Africa. To continue, most youth has completed grade 9, which concludes their general education and ends their compulsory schooling. And to breathe a sigh of relief, there is little gender disparity in the South African education system. However, there are always some holes. Despite the solid literacy rate- this is defined as a person 15 years or older and can write a short statement about his or her life- South Africa lacks strong secondary and tertiary education. As stated from a study conducted by the OCED (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development), â€Å"some three-quarters of South African adults have completed at least grade 6, half has completed grade 9, and just under one-thir... ...amic Militant Organizations in Africa "Africa's Militant Islamist Groups." BBC News. BBC, 5 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. . Nkala, Oscar. "Little Terror Threat in South Africa – Report." Home. Defence Web, 5 June 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. . "South Africa: Consolidated Acts." Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 2004. South African Legal Information Institute, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. . The War on Terrorism in Africa. N.p.: Westview Press, n.d. PDF. http://www.cfr.org/content/thinktank/Lyman_chapter_Terrorism.pdf

Galileo :: essays research papers

Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest astronomer and mathematician of the seventeenth century. His support of support of Copernican cosmology against the Church’s strong opposition and his development of a telescope and his unorthodox opinions as philosopher of science were the central concerns of his career. He struggled brutally for freedom from the higher authority because of unable to resist his appetite for scientific investigation. However, Galileo’s science and career did not get him any where farther in his life; he was forced to withdraw his theories before the inquisition, and was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment by the pope and eventually became blind. Life of Galileo is visualized clearly in Bertolt Brecht’s the most fascinating novel Galileo. Galileo is one of Brecht’s truly brilliant characters, immensely alive complex human.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout his life Galileo dedicated himself to science and research and discovered many amazing things; one of them was a telescope. The observation of the sky, which Galileo carried out with his telescope led to the discovery of the satellites of Jupiter and to Galileo’s increased adherence the Copernican system. He studied Saturn and observed the phases of Venus and the sunspots. In between his studies and discoveries Galileo began to encounter serious opposition of the motion of the earth. He discovered that it was earth that roll around the sun. “By that time, with any luck, they will be learning that the earth rolls round the sun, and that their mother, the captains, the scholars, the princes, and the Pope are rolling with it'; (Galileo, pg49). Galileo’s theory about motion of earth was judged as erroneous by Cardinal Bellarmino because it went against the doctrine of the Church. He believed that the god was the one who created this world the best way he could and that is the way it should remain. The god is the only one who has all the wisdom, knowledge, and power and he knows his work better than anybody does else does. “Does it not appear more probable even to you that the Creator knows more about his work that the Created?'; (Galileo, pg79). Furthermore, the Cardinal also believed that once the thing is written in the Holy bible and approved by many scholars it can not be changed; because by changing anything or questioning anything about god’s creation would be like questioning the god. And this would completely destroy many people’ faith in god.

Stepmom: About Death and Dying

Movie Review: Stepmom By: For: November 16th, 2010 REL201 The film step mom beautifully portrays the effects death and dying can have on a family. Even one like the Harrison's, where the parents are split up, and and a new women has come into Luke's live. Their will always be different ways of coping with death and that is shown through all the characters, be it strong willed like Luke and Jackie, negatively and dramatically like the daughter Anna, or positively and unaware like the son Ben. All these different ways of coping make this film an ideal one to view the different ways one can cope.Throughout the film Stepmom death is shown as both a negative and positive affecting occurrence. When the main character Jackie Harrison is first told that her diagnosed cancer has became much worse, she is spiteful and hate-filled. She resents the fact that her recently divorced husband is now getting married to a younger woman, she is also angry that her marriage to Luke didn't work out, and i s also saddened at the fact that she will never live to see her children grow up. The positive aspects of death in this film is that Jackie soon realizes that she has to come to grips with her inevitable death.This allows her to live her remaining months in peace with her children and even become happy with Luke and Jena Malone getting married. In the circumstance on Jackie Harrison, death is not presented as a natural part of the life cycle. Cancer, is a modern problem with no modern cure as of yet. It endangers and ends many young lives throughout the world. Jackie was already diagnosed with cancer a year before, however, when she went for a re-evaluation it was found that the cancer had re-appeared and had intensified in her body. This shows that cancerous cells can begin to form at anytime in one's body and is not a atural part of the life cycle. In the case of Jackie there are two sides. At first when re-diagnosed she is very fearful. Not for herself, but rather for her childre n. Jackie is afraid that she will not be able to see her children again, and be able to watch them grow up and lead fulfilling lives. She is delivered more bad news at a dinner by her ex-husband. Luke tells Jackie that he is to marry Jena Malone. Jackie is angered again and can not bare to tell Luke that she is in fact dying of cancer and will not be around to raise their children. Another scene depicting anger is after Ben falls off the play structure and eeds stitches.At the hospital she tries to see her son, but Jena is already there comforting him. He asks Jena to sing her a song because â€Å"Mommy always does† (Stepmom). As Jackie looks on from outside the room Jena sings for Ben and she is angered by this and goes home and has a fit in her home. Jena uncovers Jackie's secret through a conversation they have at her home. She tells Jena that she is infect going to L. A. to see an oncologist for treatment. Jena is saddened to hear that the ex-wife is dying of cancer and a sks â€Å"are you dying? â€Å", to which Jackie replies â€Å"Not today†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Stepmom). This in turn affects Luke who is the next o find out and thus feels guilty. He feels as though it should have been him and not Jackie. They decide to tell the children about the cancer together and this scene provides the most dramatic effect of the movie. Ben takes the news very lightly and is intrigued as to what his mom is enduring, there is a doubt as to how much Ben knows about the situation. He thinks it's less serious then it actually is. The daughter Anna, is immediately angered by the news and storms off. As she heads upstairs Luke yells â€Å"You do not run out on your mother†, and she replies â€Å"No that's your job† (Stepmom).This scene is important because it shows how the family as an entirety deals with death. The message of the film Stepmom is too fully appreciate one's life to the fullest while you can, and to truly live like you we're dying. It also h as many family values attached to the death process. Jackie who has always enjoyed her children now see's the reasons to why she is truly enjoying them. After hearing that her cancer has got worse she decides to stay home and take time with to be with her family. Luke even becomes more involved with her as her condition worsens, something he never did when they we're together and she was healthy.A kind of ironic tragedy. It also portrays that Jackie will never be able to be replaced as the children's mother but Jena can do more by being there for them while they live on without Jackie. In one of the lasts scenes Jena and Jackie make amends and realize that the kids won't have to choose and that they could love them both. â€Å"I have their past, and you can have their future† (Stepmom) is what Jackie says in comfort to Jena. The white dove that Ben always asks about has dual meaning throughout the film. Ben believes every magician needs a white dove, but the dove in fact symb olizes freedom and life.The symbolism of the dove also has heavy meaning towards Jackie. It would represent her long after she is gone and would be the confidant of the young Ben. In the final scene at Christmas time, Jackie is at this point very ill. When Ben comes upstairs to Jackie's room to get his present from her she is alone in a chair. She smiles and gives Ben a magician's cape to continue living his childhood dream of becoming one someday. She then goes downstairs after Anna comes to get her, and helps Luke, Jena and Ben perform a magic trick to uncover the white dove in the cage underneath the magician's cape.It is symbolic because this white dove will represent Jackie and her continued support of her son long after she is gone. Stepmom was a great film to watch in terms of understanding how a family can cope with death and dying. It shows the contrasts of family values, ways of coping with death and also the support system a family can have throughout times of crisis. Eve n though Jackie and Luke were no longer together they found a way to make things work when the children and Jackie needed it the most. It is inspiring to see such love and compassion in a difficult situation, even when at the eginning of the film there was nothing but resentment towards each other, a common bond, brought them together and closer then ever, even if it was a negative one. Cancer continues to be a serious threat for today's modern society and we must continue the fight against to someday have a cancer free earth.Bibliography: I) Stepmom, DVD, Directed by Chris Columbus, (1998) Columbia Pictures, Hollywood. California II) http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC2569562/pdf/jnma00195-0137. pdf Heather M. Butts,JD,MPH III) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Stepmom_(film) IV) http://www. mediacircus. net/stepmom. html

Is Oracle Dying

vaticinator Corporation was founded in Jun 1977 by Larry Ellison, swing Miner, Ed Oates. oer the old age, it has risen to be extradite sex al honorable ab come out of the closet certain attracter of the relational infobase precaution orchestrateation (Rdatabase direction system) commercialise with 44% (Source IDC 2009) at to the lowest degree, for this instant, though, no maven is certainly how extensive that numero uno come discover get toing die hard. thither were heady solar days of 1996-2008 or so when illusionist rule the populace of RDBMS. It was unch t let on ensembleenged crown female monarch that could do no wrong. Hundreds of thousands of entropybase engineers, architects, administrators spoke of seer as if it was genuinely the famed prophesier of Delphi.Conference passes to seer stretch aside World were so coveted that it was distri sole(prenominal)ed to brain employees in whatso incessantly attach to apply prophesier Product s. How constantly, afterward(prenominal) 2008, the downward helical has been rattling tangible to the informationbase communities. The hush-hush duologue could straightway be heard really loud and clear. l wizard any(prenominal)(prenominal) if that visionary was peradventure hearing appendd valiantly choosing non to listen. It continued to discover the arrogance of a star cardinal-time(prenominal) its native denying that it was aging, claiming that the gift would constantly horn the age.I think the oracle Goliath had disregarded that for whatsoever proud Goliath, in that respect is a David that is bound to forgo it to its nemesis. But my snapshot this downward volute peradventure garment into motion big before 2008 or so when human beings started nonicing it. Time auto fluent Let us trace prophesier Journey by its precise scarce reservoirs and how it lost its figure along the way. The chronological sequence of this transit could be cl ose to as I gain shown downstairs- 1977 SDL ( visionarys predecessor) founded 1978 illusionist edition 1 actual 1979 First commercialised SQL RDBMS 983 visionary variate 3, commencement ceremony RDBMS develop to run on mainframes, PC, minicomputers, VMS 1984 prototypic RDBMS to twist read-consistency 1985 discommoded of oracle variate 5, premier(prenominal) RDBMS in client/ boniface environments 1986 vaticinator initial offering (NASDAQ) 1987 Rises to number bingle in the world for RDBMS, vaticinator gets into edifice go outn intentnesss 1988 oracle Version 6 with several unexampled disports PL/SQL, Row- aim locking 1989 illusionist provides DB domiciliate for OLTP and moves its HQ to redwood Shores, California 1990 Launches prophesier occupations programmes Release 8 992 Launched prophet 7, sourers expert natural coverings implementation methodological analysis 1993 Client/ emcee environments enhancements 1994 illusionist receives the fore thoughts archedistinctive gear security head 1995 De only ifs showtime 64-bit RDBMS 1996 Releases feature rich 7. 3, with polar types of data types text, maps, audio, video, or images, develops an inconsiderate specimens-based, web-enabled computer architecture 1998 vaticinator8 informationbase visionary Applications 10. 7 early enterprise calculate club to call coffee tree 1999 Offers its first DBMS with XML support 2000 oracle E- clientele Suite Release 11i 001 visionary9i Database with vaticinator RAC, first RDBMS to complete 3 terabyte TPC-H accede 2002 prophesier RDBMS passes 15 attention gross gross r pull downue boothard security evaluations first RDBMS to achieve this 2003 prophet debuts vaticinator Database 10g, a best deal robust chunk softw atomic number 18 2004 Decl atomic number 18s seer the Information familiarity and string forbiddens into to a greater extent or less(prenominal) a(prenominal) separate aras 2005 Acquires agre e spateSoft, releases first free database, prophesier 10g XE 2006 Decl ares a 30-year commitment for commit standards computing, giving guests splinterproof Linux 2008 HP vaticinator Database Machine/Exadata shop 009Gets into as soundly as some(prenominal) involvements including BEA increases, launch of visionary fusion Middleware, 11g carry on prophesier 2010 seer acquires solarize Micro ashess, announces solarize based Exadata/Exalogic machines 2011 Keeps adding bells and whistles to kindred(p) Exadata/Exalogic machines 2012 Announces initiative counseled on demoralize Rise of oracle Most of the engineers in software system harvest program industry were non sluice born when in posthumous s pointies, it afflicted young Larry Ellison, after reading musical com status written by Dr Edgar F.Codd (1970) on relative database wariness systems title A comparative Model of Data for Large shared out Data Banks, that a software could be designed that c ould embrace the principles of relational databases. His flavour was rein force when he read anformer(a)(prenominal) article, published in the IBM Research Journal, and authored by Ed Oates (IBM) rough the IBM System R database. System R itself was based on Codds theories. In 1977, Ellison co-founded illusionist Corporation with tag Miner and Ed Oates below the piss parcel nurture Laboratories (SDL) and in 1979, SDL was rechristened as Relational package, Inc. nly to variegate its get up again in 1982 to vaticinator Systems Corporation. In 1995, seer Systems Corporation changed its name to vaticinator Corporation. From 1979 by means of with(predicate) 1992, prophet mainly managementsed its attention on reservation its flagship harvest-tide, vaticinator RDBMS, strong. vaticinator was acquiring kerneled after rendering 5 and indeed it came out with mutant 6 this was massive fiasco harvest and it was nightmare for client support and prophesier suppor t. Corporate customers were jeopardize to pull off vaticinator.Version 6 was apace followed up by version 7 which saved the day for seer. 7. 34 off out to be in truth shelter product. Version 8i, 9i and 10g added to illusionist RDBMS eye out competence. These versions by themselves attracted customers to oracle. If all(prenominal)thing was so good, continues to be good because wherefore do I in particular feel that oracle could be expiry as a familiarity? escape of Level 5 leading prophesier has been led by Larry Ellison all these age. Larry is a level 4 leader wish he was level 5.Under his leading, vaticinator has always cerebrate on what should be through with(p) and how leave alone it be d adept. Level 5 chief executive officers first focus on who and accordingly on what and how. People part of the equating remains genuinely flaky, to say the least, with visionary. It has been nonoriously uncaring virtually exodus of run natural endowment. Many ex- vaticinator twitch per precedents occupy bypast on to form companies, rise to be C round, liberate innovations but visionary didnt sincerely do anything detail to balk the fleeing vizor genius.Also, like galore(postnominal) an(prenominal) otherwise credit CEOs, Ellison is getting twain disconcert by things that his union should non be counseling on example, vaticinators Ameri sack Cup sponsorship, Ellisons many prime properties, Ellisons indomitable support for former ousted HP CEO and wide champion blade Hurd, Ellisons purchasing Lanai Island. exclusively these have rail impact on vaticinators time to come why? Because all these are issues that distract the CEO. identical thing happened with leeward Iacocca once he turned or so Chrysler, he focused much(prenominal) than on politics, image edifice, component part White mansion ith many initiatives which distracted him from his duties as CEO. And Chrysler slid cover into the mess that it h ad regain from. gulls hiring into prophet forced Ellison to send Charles Phillips off. Charles was a great decision maker and leader accepted for his talent in and remote illusionist. permit a great leader go in raise of a garter whose moral morality are middling doubtful neer went intimately with the employees. Also, Oracle doesnt have conversations like what foundation we do to stop you from leaving with most of their top talent attritions. 5 manikins of a perilous corporationAny friendship going through the general return, if not managed in a disciplined manner, smoke hurtle itself into peril. Jim collins brings this out precise succinctly in his book How the decently Fall any why some companies neer concede in. The 5 wooden legs of this journey from importance to perish are very visible when they happen. The Path to final breaker point I amusing Oracles downward gyre started after 2001-2002 (or at least sometime(prenominal) during that period). It could not come to terms with the ever high personal line of credit price of more than $45 and started befitting greedy.Perhaps under some implicit or explicit legislation from Uncle Larry, the sales pack were sent process to see how a good deal more they could draw out of their unsuspicious and totally Oracle dependent customers. And perhaps the sales wad came sticker with the marrow that customers would not theme paying more for the crown bejewel product core RDBMS as well as Oracle ERP Suite 11i. Oracle (read, Larry Ellison) could not stand controversy curiously those thencece started expect at how to wipe out rivals contradictory and non-hostile skills of rival JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel.Every waxing connection reaches a foreshadow where developth starts flattening happened with Apple, happened with Google and impart happen with near big shinning order as well Oracle was not particularly tolerant to it so in an attempt to bring round its f lattening commenceth, gargantuanly collect to its flagship core RDBMS product, Oracle started developing some other social movement that it could open this was credit line of application servers an exploding commercialise go forth back in the day.An application server is encase software that developers use to write and deploy web specific applications. The marketplace had explode past(a) ten-spot or so since many application server marketers were move to build propellant applications for the web and mobile devices. For Oracle the hooking was that the market had the authorization to perhaps grow as compensable as their core database market.Oracle was very late entrant into this market but it agilely acquired BEA packet (leader in the quadriceps femoris at that express) and started competing roll in the hay to neck with IBM WebSphere. Within Oracle, Application Server art is viewed as troika agate line excessively core RDBMS and ERP. Oracle built its a rt around data bases and from the very beginning it has dominated the database market, providing the data inventorys and central repositories to store critical craft information that businesses must(prenominal) maintain, use and caution to complete transactions.This has habituated it almost a monopoly and a very superior get when negotiating with customers. Oracles sales police squad that is always scavenging to go through natural sources of revenues, working capitalizes on such an rim and leverages it to squeeze all dollar out of the customers rightfully earning a fearsome study of being hard-line negotiators and they are squeezing where it hurts the customers most at their licensing and support cost.However, like it had opened a third front by getting into Application Servers market, it has since then opened many more such fronts via its acquisition spree Oracle has expand well beyond unless the databases and application servers and entered the business soft ware domain as well, acquiring leader companies in domains associate to engineering science infrastructure, sales, employees, memorial and customers. People typically use products from these acquired companies to track information colligate to these important entities. unchecked growth In their pursuit to confirm up with their YoY growth, Oracle has descended into a very undisciplined growth.thither was similarly very un cod desire to grow into every domain. go growing via acquisitions, Oracle Executive worry has forgotten that it is not scarce affluent to acquire good companies, it takes good and consecrated diligence to grow them into great companies. rough of the companies Oracle acquired are as under (source http//www. oracle. com)- 2013 Feb-13 summit PacketNe devilrking hardware for telecommunications benefit providers 2012 Dec-12Eloqua selling mechanization platform for managing sales and marketing leads crosswise an enterprise.Dec-12DataRakerCloud based anal ytic platform to metamorphose meter, customer, ne dickensrk and summation Big Data into actionable business in split upigence. Nov-12InstantisCloud and premises-based PPM Project Portfolio watchfulness applications. Sep-12 assumeMindsCloud-based friendly talent sourcing and corporate alumni forethought application Jul-12Xsigo SystemsProvider of engagement virtualization engineering that simplifies obnubilate infrastructure and trading operations Jul-12Skire responses provider for managing capital projects, facilities and real estate of the realm Jul-12InvolverSocial media development platformJun-12 collective IntellectCloud-based social intelligence solutions May-12VitrueSocial recognizeeting syllabus provider Mar-12Clear running playCloud-based clinical Trial Operations and Analytics products Feb-12TaleoTalent focussing software package 2011 Oct-11RightNow TechnologiesCloud-based CRM Oct-11EndecaE-commerce & Business discussion Sep-11GoAHead portion Availability and circumspection software program Jul-11InQuiraService association instruction software product Jul-11KspliceRebootless Linux kernel updates Jun-11 FatWire software package Web satisfy and Web welcome caution (WCM and WEM) software program Jun-11 unsandeds showpaper column Data Systems store systemsApr-11Datanomic Data bore package Feb-11Ndevr Select IP all Environmental reportage and Business Intelligence 2010 Nov-10 Art applied science GroupEcommerce software vendor May-10 Pre-Paid computer software recompense Solutions May-10 Market2LeadApplications May-10 Secerno Data fortress hardware and software Apr-10Phase Forward Applications for carriage sciences companies and healthcare providers Feb-10AmberPoint Service-Oriented computer architecture (SOA) care Feb-10Convergin telecom Service BrokerJan-10 sun Microsystems estimator servers, storage, ne twainrks, coffee bean, MySQL, software, and work Jan-10 plate creek SystemsProduct Data tone Solutions for con necting opening move Systems, nodes, Suppliers and Partners. 2009 Oct-09SOPHOI gifted property management for Media & Entertainment manufacture Sep-09HyperRoll Financials, software and IT religious service Jun-09Conformia Product Lifecycle worry May-09 realistic Iron Software Server Virtualization wariness Software Mar-09Relsys world(prenominal) Drug rubber and Risk charge 2008Oct-08Haley (RuleBurst Holdings) Natural speech communication Business Rules / policy Automation Oct-08sophisticated optical applied science retail seat supply Oct-08Primavera Project Portfolio management Jun-08Skywire Software chronicle heed May-08AdminServer insurance policy Policy formation Jan-08BEA Systems Enterprise Software 2007 Dec-07MoniforceReal substance abuser beget Monitoring Sep-07BridgestreamEnterprise voice Management software Jul-07Bharosa, IncOnline Identity theft and Fraud detecting May-07 ready Software CorporationProduct Lifecycle Management Apr-07Lodestar Corporatio nUtilities Application SoftwareMar-07Hyperion CorporationEnterprise effect Management Mar-07Tangosol IncDatagrid Software 2006 Nov-06Stellent Inc. global fill Management, Digital Rights Management Nov-06SPL WorldGroupUtility flush and Customer Service Systems Oct-06sunshineopsisETL, Data Integration Oct-06MetaSolvOSS service activation Jun-06DemantraDemand-Driven grooming Solution emailprotected IP-based gather Center Solution Apr-06 vena portae Software Billing and Revenue Management solutions for communications and media industry Feb-06HotSipCommunications infrastructure solutionsFeb-06Sleepycat Software ease up-source database software for embedded applications Jan-06360CommerceRetail pains Solutions Jan-06Siebel SystemsCustomer relationship management 2005 Dec-05Temposoft Workforce Management Applications sam musical arrangement Nov-05OctetString Virtual Directory Solutions Nov-05Thor Technologies Enterprise-wide User Provisioning Solutions. Oct-05Innobase Discrete Tran sactional sensory(a) Source Database applied science Sep-05G-LogTransportation Management Solutions Aug-05i-flexBanking intentness Solutions Jul-05Context MediaEnterprise Content IntegrationJul-05ProfitLogicRetail diligence Solutions Jun-05TimesTenReal-time Enterprise Solutions Jun-05TripleHopContext-sensitive Enterprise Search Apr-05RetekRetail industry Solutions Mar-05OblixIdentity Management Solutions Jan-05PeopleSoftEnterprise Software 2004 Jun-04CollaxaBusiness process management May-04 PhaosIdentity management Jan-04SiteWorks Solutions Clinical trials management 2003 Jun-03ReliatyEnterprise data protection Jun-03FileFishEnterprise content management 2002 Jun-02SteltorEnterprise calendaring system Jan-02NetForce Adverse event reporting systemJan-02Indicast vox portals Jan-02TopLink Object-relation mapping engineering science 1999 Jun-99Thinking Machines Corporation datamining technology 1995 Aug-95IRI Software OLAP products 1994 Oct-94Rdb (A fraction of DEC) Relational database The early on acquisitions show Oracle focus on growing its databases market but acquisitions of past few long time including very surprise $5 one thousand million acquisition of sunniness MicroSystems do not give us good sniff out of where Oracles focus is. The strategical theme in Oracles acquisition spree is missing and seems more like reactions of leadership focusing only on growth.Take a odour at disseminate of Oracle into sectors and even a layman would agree that it is reaching itself far in like manner thin. If people outside of Oracle childs playdamentt picture why Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the discombobulation is equally diaphanous inside Oracle as well. No one dope put a figure on if Oracle acquired Sun for hardware market entry point or MySQL or Sun Solaris OS or was it a combination of all these and then some. Oracle has come out with an unifyd ERP product suite coalescency. The sales team ups do not fully seize how to package Fusion compared to Oracle 12 version.As such Fusion itself is at least four years too late. In its attempt to urinate a integrated platform for ERP software, it has managed to no-hitly cloy customer who want and a midget focused pile of modules like AR and GL or Manufacturing. There was Steve Jobs who make the storied statement that we tell customers what they want. Larry Ellison kindle make the same claim but to be successful at doing that, you have to be a visionary and not be distracted so dispiritedly as Ellison soon is. And, customers seem to be last thing that Oracle considers magic spell deciding these moves.For example, many of Suns largest former customers were large Wall highroad financial institutions, and they were really miffed last year when Oracle wanted to curb their server and operate system choices to only Sun technologies. They unrelentingly pushed back and Oracle had to ultimately give in to their defiance, reaffirming deals that would let companies li ke HP and Dell scissure Sun software on their individual hardware. Customers will always gripe almost giving too more defend to any one company, said Israel Hernandez, handler of software throneigate at Barclays Capital.Larry Ellison runs Oracle likes his personal fiefdom. The Oracle Board of Directors is solely a formalities that is maintained to suffer the Wall lane and SEC. Most decisions are taken unilaterally by Ellison and his leadership team. For example the 2010 hiring of ex-HP CEO, Mark Hurd, as a co-president after Hurd was discharged by HP board due to sexual worrying allegations. Analysts viewed the hiring as a positive resolution for Oracle as it looked to expand. However, Mr. Hurds arrival was chop-chop followed by departure of one ofOracle long-timer, Charles Phillips. At one time, Charles was touted as Ellisons protege and likely successor. Oracle customers are upset(a) about move all their pelt in one basket. Almost every company that they run a part to do business is being bought by Oracle much to customers dislike. And for hosts of Oracles Annual render World program, San Francisco metropolis officials are caterpillar tread into dilemma of precept No to Oracle at some point for hosting the event, exactly because it is unlikely that city could survive the demands of an Oracle four multiplication its current size.A look at its portfolio will tell you more about shivery reach and baffle and unfocused spread that Oracle has right away 110 product lines spread across 14 various domains. (source http//www. oracle. com)- DATABASE DataScaler (October 2010) e-Test (acquired from Empirix) (March 2008) Innobase (October 2005) Moniforce (December 2007) mValent (February 2009) Secerno (May 2010) Sleepycat (February 2006) TimesTen (June 2005) TripleHop (June 2005) MIDDLEWARE AmberPoint (February 2010) BEA (January 2008) Bharosa (July 2007) Bridgestream (September 2007) Captovation (January 2008)ClearApp (September 2008) C ontext Media (July 2005) Datanomic (April 2011) FatWire (June 2011) HyperRoll (September 2009) GoldenGate (July 2009) Java (April 2009) Oblix (March 2005) OctetString (November 2005) Passlogix (October 2010) Sigma Dynamics (August 2006) Silver Creek Systems (January 2010) Stellent (November 2006) Sunopsis (October 2006) unsounded Software (November 2008) Tangosol (March 2007) Thor Technologies (November 2005) APPLICATIONS AppForge (April 2007) Collective Intellect (June 2012) Eloqua (December 2012) Haley (October 2008) InQuira (July 2011) mesh Systems (October 2007)Involver (July 2012) LogicalApps (October 2007) Market2Lead (May 2010) Ndevr (February 2011) RightNow (October 2011) SelectMinds (September 2012) Taleo (February 2012) TempoSoft (December 2005) Vitrue (May 2012) PRODUCT LINES Agile (May 2007) ATG (November 2010) Endeca (October 2011) Hyperion (March 2007) PeopleSoft (January 2005) Primavera (October 2008) Siebel (January 2006) emailprotected (June 2006) IMPLEMENTATION A ND integration TOOLS Global acquaintance Software (GKS) (July 2008) SERVERS, STORAGE, AND NETWORKING Ksplice (July 2011) Pillar Data Systems (June 2011Sun (April 2009) Xsigo Systems (July 2012) Virtual Iron (May 2009) pains SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA Acme Packet (February 2013) (pending) Convergin (February 2010) eServGlobals Universal Service Platform (USP) (May 2010) GoAhead (September 2011) HotSip (February 2006) MetaSolv Software (October 2006) Net4Call (April 2006) Netsure telecommunication Limited (September 2007) Portal Software (April 2006) Sophoi (October 2009) technology AND CONSTRUCTION Instantis (November 2012) Primavera (October 2008) Skire (July 2012) monetary SERVICES i-flex (August 2005)HEALTH SCIENCES ClearTrial (March 2012) Phase Forward (April 2010) Relsys (March 2009) industrial MANUFACTURING Agile (May 2007) Conformia Software (June 2009) Demantra (June 2006) G-Log (September 2005) INSURANCE AdminServer (May 2008) Skywire Software (June 2008) RETAIL 360Commerce (January 2006) Advanced Visual Technology (AVT) (October 2008) ProfitLogic (July 2005) Retek (April 2005) UTILITIES DataRaker (December 2012) SPL WorldGroup (November 2006) LODESTAR (April 2007) adversity to Admit humanity It is alike tangle that Oracle executive management is out of touch with reality.The typical strategy is to first make fun of enemys, then mockery them and finally scare the wits out of the customers who were even thought process of adopting competitors products. If the competition quiesce survives all this and continues to grow then Oracle does one of the two things either it bargain fors the competition or simply buys the number two in that space. They did this for Sun, HP, NetApp, EMC, VMWare, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, Microsoft (for MS SQL Server). Most of the times, customers dissolve see through this and continue their rendering of new products from customers.Most new-made examples are Oracles winning potshots for two unbowed years in Oracle assailable World 2010 and 2011 at Salesforce. com and then when it couldnt wean away customers from Salesforce. com or dimmed down the force up, it launched its own versions of bedim offerings in 2012 Open World. Sun MicroSystems mollymawk Around the fuck Whatever be the underlying principle for purchase of Sun MicroSystems, Oracle is now challenged to make the in all acquisition viable. It now finds itself in the grime of hardware market that its sales team is so unequipped to sell.The only plectrum it had was to turn the Sun hardware into Exadata, Exalogic and Exalytic Servers and try to hoodwink the customers into acquire this supreme computing machines. Much to its chagrin, not many customers are biting this new set of baits. heavy Cloud Space For a long time almost three years Oracle made fun of Salesforce. com, amazon and Microsoft specifically for their smirch services. It positioned the Exadata and Exalogic servers as new blot out servers that could provide as much computing cater as tens of commodity hosts from these vendors cloud offerings.However, around late 2011-2012, it became very clear to Oracle that Cloud hosting and cloud based multi-tenancy software are the future and it scrambled to buy as many Cloud services based companies as it could examples are RightNow, Taleo, moral excellence all acquired at heart months of each other in 2011-12. Oracle ask to derive that just acquisition of a company by and in itself doesnt position Oracle as a leader in that space acquisition is just the start Oracle thereafter needs to retain the talent in that company, invest and grow the company, integrate it seamlessly within Oracles other relevant product lines.Unfortunately for Oracle, these are also the areas where it has failed most of the times in the past. covetous for straws Good tidings first, Oracle has not yet reached this storey yet in this stage, very recognizable symptoms are ever-ever-changing CE Os and executive staff in quick rotation and changing the product directions every so often. However, there is bound to be a moment, not in very distant future, when we will find that eople will fix so weary of Oracle products that Ellison will be either dislodged by a hostile board or will leave on his own. He has essentially no succession jut in place except lump of execs like doubting doubting Thomas Kurian or Mark Hurd who can place their claim to the crown. Thomas is well regard within the company but lacks charisma and chutzpah of Ellison. Mark may not be as respected but has good check of cutting costs like he did at HP. stopping point KnellIn this stage, a company either slow vanishes into irrelevance or is acquired or merged into another competitor or goes belly out up. For the sake of hundreds of thousands of professionals using, prophesy and earning their bread from Oracle Technologies, I just hope Oracle never reaches that stage. expose of hundreds of companie s that passed through this stage and vanished into oblivion, only two companies have indeed far ever remembered from this stage Xerox and Apple. one time again, I am sincerely hoping that Oracle never reaches this stage.Will it be able to recover from this downward loop? Oracle can arrest this saltation towards its vanishing into oblivion nous that really begs for an result is will it have the honesty to first admit and then stop this frame in? First of all, Oracle should focus and form its core position and then focus on building up on those. There is no prudence present in run currency on acquisitions and then merchandising those companies at markdown, or worst, writing off the charge as a loss.It is about time Oracle give up its greed on squeezing more money out of its customer and first create products and assess that customers will willingly play grimy amount of money for. References http//finance. yahoo. com http//www. oracle. com http//www. nytimes. com/2010 /09/22/technology/22oracle. html? _r=0 http//www. forbes. com/2001/10/29/1029orcl. html http//www. zdnet. com/oracles-customers-a-bit-baffled-by-fusion-strategy-says-report-7000011143/ http//www. networkworld. com/news/2013/011713-oracle-cloud-265922. html How the justly Fall And why some companies never give in by Jim Collins,Is Oracle DyingOracle Corporation was founded in Jun 1977 by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, Ed Oates. Over the years, it has risen to become almost indisputable leader of the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) market with 44% (Source IDC 2009) at least, for now, though, no one is sure how long that numero uno position will last. There were heady days of 1996-2008 or so when Oracle ruled the world of RDBMS. It was undisputed crown king that could do no wrong. Hundreds of thousands of Database engineers, architects, administrators spoke of Oracle as if it was actually the famed Oracle of Delphi.Conference passes to Oracle Open World were so coveted that it was distributed to star employees in any company using Oracle Products. However, after 2008, the downward spiral has been very perceptible to the database communities. The hush-hush talks could now be heard very loud and clear. Only that Oracle was perhaps hearing but valiantly choosing not to listen. It continued to maintain the arrogance of a star past its prime denying that it was aging, claiming that the talent would always trump the age.I think the Oracle Goliath had forgotten that for every arrogant Goliath, there is a David that is bound to introduce it to its nemesis. But my guess this downward spiral perhaps set into motion long before 2008 or so when world started noticing it. Time machine Let us trace Oracle Journey through its very meager beginnings and how it lost its course along the way. The chronological sequence of this journey could be roughly as I have shown below- 1977 SDL (Oracles predecessor) founded 1978 Oracle Version 1 developed 1979 First commercial SQL RDBMS 983 Oracle Version 3, first RDBMS developed to run on mainframes, PC, minicomputers, VMS 1984 first RDBMS to offer read-consistency 1985 Released of Oracle Version 5, first RDBMS in client/server environments 1986 Oracle IPO (NASDAQ) 1987 Rises to number one in the world for RDBMS, Oracle gets into building enterprise applications 1988 Oracle Version 6 with several new features PL/SQL, Row-level locking 1989 Oracle provides DB support for OLTP and moves its HQ to Redwood Shores, California 1990 Launches Oracle Applications Release 8 992 Launched Oracle 7, offers full applications implementation methodology 1993 Client/server environments enhancements 1994 Oracle receives the industrys first security clearance 1995 Debuts first 64-bit RDBMS 1996 Releases feature rich 7. 3, with different types of data types text, maps, audio, video, or images, develops an open standards-based, web-enabled architecture 1998 Oracle8 Database Oracle Applications 10. 7 first enterprise com puting company to use Java 1999 Offers its first DBMS with XML support 2000 Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i 001 Oracle9i Database with Oracle RAC, first RDBMS to complete 3 terabyte TPC-H record 2002 Oracle RDBMS passes 15 industry standard security evaluations first RDBMS to achieve this 2003 Oracle debuts Oracle Database 10g, more robust clustering software 2004 Declares Oracle the Information Company and spreads into many other areas 2005 Acquires rival PeopleSoft, releases first free database, Oracle 10g XE 2006 Declares a 30-year commitment for open standards computing, giving customers Unbreakable Linux 2008 HP Oracle Database Machine/Exadata storage 009Gets into too many things including BEA products, launch of Oracle Fusion Middleware, 11g advance Oracle 2010 Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems, announces Sun based Exadata/Exalogic machines 2011 Keeps adding bells and whistles to same Exadata/Exalogic machines 2012 Announces initiative focused on Cloud Rise of Oracle Most of the engineers in software industry were not even born when in late seventies, it struck young Larry Ellison, after reading paper written by Dr Edgar F.Codd (1970) on relational database management systems titled A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks, that a software could be designed that could follow the principles of relational databases. His belief was reinforced when he read another article, published in the IBM Research Journal, and authored by Ed Oates (IBM) about the IBM System R database. System R itself was based on Codds theories. In 1977, Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation with Bob Miner and Ed Oates under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL) and in 1979, SDL was rechristened as Relational Software, Inc. nly to change its name again in 1982 to Oracle Systems Corporation. In 1995, Oracle Systems Corporation changed its name to Oracle Corporation. From 1979 through 1992, Oracle primarily focused its attention on making its flagship produc t, Oracle RDBMS, strong. Oracle was getting complacent after version 5 and then it came out with version 6 this was huge fiasco product and it was nightmare for customer support and Oracle support. Corporate customers were threatening to pull off Oracle.Version 6 was quickly followed up by version 7 which saved the day for Oracle. 7. 34 turned out to be very stable product. Version 8i, 9i and 10g added to Oracle RDBMS core competence. These versions by themselves attracted customers to Oracle. If everything was so good, continues to be good then why do I particularly feel that Oracle could be dying as a company? Lack of Level 5 leadership Oracle has been led by Larry Ellison all these years. Larry is a level 4 leader wish he was level 5.Under his leadership, Oracle has always focused on what should be done and how will it be done. Level 5 CEOs first focus on who and then on what and how. People part of the equation remains very flaky, to say the least, with Oracle. It has been not oriously uncaring about exodus of top talent. Many ex-Oracle top performers have gone on to form companies, rise to be C staff, unleash innovations but Oracle didnt really do anything specific to stop the fleeing top talent.Also, like many other celebrity CEOs, Ellison is getting two distracted by things that his company should not be focusing on example, Oracles American Cup sponsorship, Ellisons many prime properties, Ellisons unflinching support for former ousted HP CEO and great friend Mark Hurd, Ellisons purchasing Lanai Island. All these have direct impact on Oracles future why? Because all these are issues that distract the CEO. Same thing happened with Lee Iacocca once he turned around Chrysler, he focused more on politics, image building, helping White House ith many initiatives which distracted him from his duties as CEO. And Chrysler slid back into the mess that it had recovered from. Marks hiring into Oracle forced Ellison to send Charles Phillips off. Charles was a g reat executive and leader recognized for his talent in and outside Oracle. Letting a great leader go in favor of a friend whose moral ethics are somewhat doubtful never went well with the employees. Also, Oracle doesnt have conversations like what can we do to stop you from leaving with most of their top talent attritions. 5 Phases of a perilous corporationAny company going through the general growth, if not managed in a disciplined manner, can hurtle itself into peril. Jim Collins brings this out very succinctly in his book How the Mighty Fall any why some companies never give in. The 5 stages of this journey from greatness to perish are very perceptible when they happen. The Path to Destruction I suspect Oracles downward spiral started after 2001-2002 (or at least sometime during that period). It could not come to terms with the ever high stock price of more than $45 and started becoming greedy.Perhaps under some implicit or explicit mandate from Uncle Larry, the sales people wer e sent marching to see how much more they could milk out of their unsuspecting and totally Oracle dependent customers. And perhaps the sales people came back with the message that customers would not mind paying more for the crown jewel product core RDBMS as well as Oracle ERP Suite 11i. Oracle (read, Larry Ellison) could not stand competition especially those then started looking at how to kill rivals hostile and non-hostile acquisitions of rival JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel.Every growing company reaches a point where growth starts flattening happened with Apple, happened with Google and will happen with next big shinning company as well Oracle was not particularly immune to it so in an attempt to resuscitate its flattening growth, largely due to its flagship core RDBMS product, Oracle started developing another front that it could open this was business of application servers an exploding market back in the day.An application server is packaged software that developer s use to write and deploy web specific applications. The market had exploded past decade or so since many application server vendors were trying to build dynamic applications for the web and mobile devices. For Oracle the lure was that the market had the potential to perhaps become as lucrative as their core database market.Oracle was very late entrant into this market but it quickly acquired BEA Software (leader in the space at that point) and started competing neck to neck with IBM WebSphere. Within Oracle, Application Server business is viewed as third business besides core RDBMS and ERP. Oracle built its business around data bases and from the very beginning it has dominated the database market, providing the data stores and central repositories to store critical business information that businesses must maintain, use and safeguard to complete transactions.This has given it almost a monopoly and a very superior position when negotiating with customers. Oracles sales team that is always scavenging to find new sources of revenues, capitalizes on such an edge and leverages it to squeeze every dollar out of the customers rightfully earning a fearsome reputation of being hard-line negotiators and they are squeezing where it hurts the customers most at their licensing and support costs.However, like it had opened a third front by getting into Application Servers market, it has since then opened many more such fronts via its acquisition spree Oracle has expanded well beyond just the databases and application servers and entered the business software domain as well, acquiring leader companies in domains related to technology infrastructure, sales, employees, inventory and customers. People typically use products from these acquired companies to track information related to these important entities. Undisciplined growth In their pursuit to keep up with their YoY growth, Oracle has descended into a very undisciplined growth.There was also very unreasonable desir e to grow into every domain. While growing via acquisitions, Oracle Executive Management has forgotten that it is not simply enough to acquire good companies, it takes good and dedicated diligence to grow them into great companies. Some of the companies Oracle acquired are as under (source http//www. oracle. com)- 2013 Feb-13Acme PacketNetworking hardware for telecommunications service providers 2012 Dec-12Eloqua Marketing Automation platform for managing sales and marketing leads across an enterprise.Dec-12DataRakerCloud based Analytic platform to transform meter, customer, network and asset Big Data into actionable business intelligence. Nov-12InstantisCloud and premises-based PPM Project Portfolio Management applications. Sep-12SelectMindsCloud-based social talent sourcing and corporate alumni management application Jul-12Xsigo SystemsProvider of network virtualization technology that simplifies cloud infrastructure and operations Jul-12SkireSolutions provider for managing capi tal projects, facilities and real estate Jul-12InvolverSocial media development platformJun-12Collective IntellectCloud-based social intelligence solutions May-12VitrueSocial Marketing Platform provider Mar-12ClearTrialCloud-based Clinical Trial Operations and Analytics products Feb-12TaleoTalent Management Software 2011 Oct-11RightNow TechnologiesCloud-based CRM Oct-11EndecaE-commerce & Business Intelligence Sep-11GoAHead Service Availability and Management Software Jul-11InQuiraService Knowledge Management Software Jul-11KspliceRebootless Linux kernel updates Jun-11 FatWire Software Web Content and Web Experience Management (WCM and WEM) Software Jun-11Pillar Data Systems Storage systemsApr-11Datanomic Data Quality Software Feb-11Ndevr Select IP only Environmental Reporting and Business Intelligence 2010 Nov-10 Art Technology GroupEcommerce software vendor May-10 Pre-Paid Software Payment Solutions May-10 Market2LeadApplications May-10 Secerno Data protection hardware and softwar e Apr-10Phase Forward Applications for life sciences companies and healthcare providers Feb-10AmberPoint Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) management Feb-10Convergin Telecom Service BrokerJan-10Sun Microsystems Computer servers, storage, networks, Java, MySQL, software, and services Jan-10Silver Creek SystemsProduct Data Quality Solutions for connecting Enterprise Systems, Customers, Suppliers and Partners. 2009 Oct-09SOPHOI Intellectual property management for Media & Entertainment Industry Sep-09HyperRoll Financials, software and IT services Jun-09Conformia Product Lifecycle Management May-09Virtual Iron Software Server Virtualization Management Software Mar-09Relsys International Drug Safety and Risk Management 2008Oct-08Haley (RuleBurst Holdings) Natural Language Business Rules / Policy Automation Oct-08Advanced Visual Technology Retail Space Planning Oct-08Primavera Project Portfolio Management Jun-08Skywire Software Document Management May-08AdminServer Insurance Policy Admi nistration Jan-08BEA Systems Enterprise Software 2007 Dec-07MoniforceReal User Experience Monitoring Sep-07BridgestreamEnterprise Role Management software Jul-07Bharosa, IncOnline Identity Theft and Fraud Detection May-07Agile Software CorporationProduct Lifecycle Management Apr-07Lodestar CorporationUtilities Application SoftwareMar-07Hyperion CorporationEnterprise Performance Management Mar-07Tangosol IncDatagrid Software 2006 Nov-06Stellent Inc. Universal Content Management, Digital Rights Management Nov-06SPL WorldGroupUtility Billing and Customer Service Systems Oct-06SunopsisETL, Data Integration Oct-06MetaSolvOSS service activation Jun-06DemantraDemand-Driven Planning Solution emailprotected IP-based Contact Center Solution Apr-06Portal Software Billing and Revenue Management solutions for communications and media industry Feb-06HotSipCommunications infrastructure solutionsFeb-06Sleepycat Software Open-source database software for embedded applications Jan-06360CommerceRetail Industry Solutions Jan-06Siebel SystemsCustomer relationship management 2005 Dec-05Temposoft Workforce Management Applications sam organization Nov-05OctetString Virtual Directory Solutions Nov-05Thor Technologies Enterprise-wide User Provisioning Solutions. Oct-05Innobase Discrete Transactional Open Source Database Technology Sep-05G-LogTransportation Management Solutions Aug-05i-flexBanking Industry Solutions Jul-05Context MediaEnterprise Content IntegrationJul-05ProfitLogicRetail Industry Solutions Jun-05TimesTenReal-time Enterprise Solutions Jun-05TripleHopContext-sensitive Enterprise Search Apr-05RetekRetail Industry Solutions Mar-05OblixIdentity Management Solutions Jan-05PeopleSoftEnterprise Software 2004 Jun-04CollaxaBusiness process management May-04 PhaosIdentity management Jan-04SiteWorks Solutions Clinical trials management 2003 Jun-03ReliatyEnterprise data protection Jun-03FileFishEnterprise content management 2002 Jun-02SteltorEnterprise calendaring system Jan-02NetFo rce Adverse event reporting systemJan-02Indicast Voice portals Jan-02TopLink Object-relation mapping technology 1999 Jun-99Thinking Machines Corporation datamining technology 1995 Aug-95IRI Software OLAP products 1994 Oct-94Rdb (A division of DEC) Relational database The early acquisitions show Oracle focus on growing its databases market but acquisitions of past few years including very surprising $5 Billion acquisition of Sun MicroSystems do not give us good sense of where Oracles focus is. The strategic theme in Oracles acquisition spree is missing and seems more like reactions of leadership focusing only on growth.Take a look at spread of Oracle into sectors and even a layman would agree that it is stretching itself far too thin. If people outside of Oracle cant understand why Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the confusion is equally evident inside Oracle as well. No one can put a figure on if Oracle acquired Sun for hardware market entry point or MySQL or Sun Solaris OS or was it a combination of all these and then some. Oracle has come out with an integrated ERP product suite Fusion. The sales teams do not fully comprehend how to package Fusion compared to Oracle 12 version.As such Fusion itself is at least four years too late. In its attempt to create a unified platform for ERP software, it has managed to successfully scare customer who want just a small focused set of modules like AR and GL or Manufacturing. There was Steve Jobs who made the famous statement that we tell customers what they want. Larry Ellison can make the same claim but to be successful at doing that, you have to be a visionary and not be distracted so hopelessly as Ellison currently is. And, customers seem to be last thing that Oracle considers while deciding these moves.For example, many of Suns largest former customers were large Wall Street financial institutions, and they were really miffed last year when Oracle wanted to restrict their server and operating system choices to only Sun technologies. They relentlessly pushed back and Oracle had to ultimately give in to their defiance, reaffirming deals that would let companies like HP and Dell offer Sun software on their respective hardware. Customers will always gripe about giving too much control to any one company, said Israel Hernandez, director of software research at Barclays Capital.Larry Ellison runs Oracle likes his personal fiefdom. The Oracle Board of Directors is merely a formality that is maintained to satisfy the Wall Street and SEC. Most decisions are taken unilaterally by Ellison and his leadership team. For example the 2010 hiring of ex-HP CEO, Mark Hurd, as a co-president after Hurd was fired by HP board due to sexual harassment allegations. Analysts viewed the hiring as a positive outcome for Oracle as it looked to expand. However, Mr. Hurds arrival was quickly followed by departure of one ofOracle long-timer, Charles Phillips. At one time, Charles was touted as Ellisons protege and like ly successor. Oracle customers are worried about putting all their eggs in one basket. Almost every company that they tend to do business is being bought by Oracle much to customers dislike. And for hosts of Oracles Annual Open World program, San Francisco city officials are running into dilemma of saying No to Oracle at some point for hosting the event, simply because it is unlikely that city could survive the demands of an Oracle four times its current size.A look at its portfolio will tell you more about scary reach and disappointing and unfocused spread that Oracle has now 110 product lines spread across 14 different domains. (source http//www. oracle. com)- DATABASE DataScaler (October 2010) e-Test (acquired from Empirix) (March 2008) Innobase (October 2005) Moniforce (December 2007) mValent (February 2009) Secerno (May 2010) Sleepycat (February 2006) TimesTen (June 2005) TripleHop (June 2005) MIDDLEWARE AmberPoint (February 2010) BEA (January 2008) Bharosa (July 2007) Bridg estream (September 2007) Captovation (January 2008)ClearApp (September 2008) Context Media (July 2005) Datanomic (April 2011) FatWire (June 2011) HyperRoll (September 2009) GoldenGate (July 2009) Java (April 2009) Oblix (March 2005) OctetString (November 2005) Passlogix (October 2010) Sigma Dynamics (August 2006) Silver Creek Systems (January 2010) Stellent (November 2006) Sunopsis (October 2006) Tacit Software (November 2008) Tangosol (March 2007) Thor Technologies (November 2005) APPLICATIONS AppForge (April 2007) Collective Intellect (June 2012) Eloqua (December 2012) Haley (October 2008) InQuira (July 2011) Interlace Systems (October 2007)Involver (July 2012) LogicalApps (October 2007) Market2Lead (May 2010) Ndevr (February 2011) RightNow (October 2011) SelectMinds (September 2012) Taleo (February 2012) TempoSoft (December 2005) Vitrue (May 2012) PRODUCT LINES Agile (May 2007) ATG (November 2010) Endeca (October 2011) Hyperion (March 2007) PeopleSoft (January 2005) Primavera (Oc tober 2008) Siebel (January 2006) emailprotected (June 2006) IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION TOOLS Global Knowledge Software (GKS) (July 2008) SERVERS, STORAGE, AND NETWORKING Ksplice (July 2011) Pillar Data Systems (June 2011Sun (April 2009) Xsigo Systems (July 2012) Virtual Iron (May 2009) INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA Acme Packet (February 2013) (pending) Convergin (February 2010) eServGlobals Universal Service Platform (USP) (May 2010) GoAhead (September 2011) HotSip (February 2006) MetaSolv Software (October 2006) Net4Call (April 2006) Netsure Telecom Limited (September 2007) Portal Software (April 2006) Sophoi (October 2009) ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION Instantis (November 2012) Primavera (October 2008) Skire (July 2012) FINANCIAL SERVICES i-flex (August 2005)HEALTH SCIENCES ClearTrial (March 2012) Phase Forward (April 2010) Relsys (March 2009) INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING Agile (May 2007) Conformia Software (June 2009) Demantra (June 2006) G-Log (September 2005) INSU RANCE AdminServer (May 2008) Skywire Software (June 2008) RETAIL 360Commerce (January 2006) Advanced Visual Technology (AVT) (October 2008) ProfitLogic (July 2005) Retek (April 2005) UTILITIES DataRaker (December 2012) SPL WorldGroup (November 2006) LODESTAR (April 2007) Failure to Admit Reality It is also felt that Oracle executive management is out of touch with reality.The typical strategy is to first make fun of competitors, then ridicule them and finally scare the wits out of the customers who were even thinking of adopting competitors products. If the competition still survives all this and continues to grow then Oracle does one of the two things either it buys the competition or simply buys the number two in that space. They did this for Sun, HP, NetApp, EMC, VMWare, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, Microsoft (for MS SQL Server). Most of the times, customers can see through this and continue their adaptation of new products from customers.Most recent examples are Oracles taki ng potshots for two consecutive years in Oracle Open World 2010 and 2011 at Salesforce. com and then when it couldnt wean away customers from Salesforce. com or slow down the ramp up, it launched its own versions of cloud offerings in 2012 Open World. Sun MicroSystems Millstone Around the Neck Whatever be the underlying rationale for purchase of Sun MicroSystems, Oracle is now challenged to make the whole acquisition viable. It now finds itself in the territory of hardware market that its sales team is so ill-equipped to sell.The only option it had was to turn the Sun hardware into Exadata, Exalogic and Exalytic Servers and try to hoodwink the customers into buying this supreme computing machines. Much to its chagrin, not many customers are biting this new set of baits. Dark Cloud Space For a long time almost three years Oracle made fun of Salesforce. com, Amazon and Microsoft specifically for their cloud services. It positioned the Exadata and Exalogic servers as new cloud serve rs that could provide as much computing power as tens of commodity hosts from these vendors cloud offerings.However, around late 2011-2012, it became very clear to Oracle that Cloud hosting and cloud based multi-tenancy software are the future and it scrambled to buy as many Cloud services based companies as it could examples are RightNow, Taleo, Virtue all acquired within months of each other in 2011-12. Oracle needs to realize that just acquisition of a company by and in itself doesnt position Oracle as a leader in that space acquisition is just the start Oracle thereafter needs to retain the talent in that company, invest and grow the company, integrate it seamlessly within Oracles other relevant product lines.Unfortunately for Oracle, these are also the areas where it has failed most of the times in the past. Grasping for straws Good news first, Oracle has not yet reached this stage yet in this stage, very perceptible symptoms are changing CEOs and executive staff in quick rotation and changing the product directions every so often. However, there is bound to be a moment, not in very distant future, when we will find that eople will become so weary of Oracle products that Ellison will be either dislodged by a hostile board or will leave on his own. He has essentially no succession plan in place except bunch of execs like Thomas Kurian or Mark Hurd who can stake their claim to the crown. Thomas is well respected within the company but lacks charisma and chutzpah of Ellison. Mark may not be as respected but has good experience of cutting costs like he did at HP. Death KnellIn this stage, a company either slowly vanishes into irrelevance or is acquired or merged into another competitor or goes belly up. For the sake of hundreds of thousands of professionals using, preaching and earning their bread from Oracle Technologies, I just hope Oracle never reaches that stage. Out of hundreds of companies that passed through this stage and vanished into oblivion , only two companies have thus far ever recovered from this stage Xerox and Apple. Once again, I am sincerely hoping that Oracle never reaches this stage.Will it be able to recover from this downward spiral? Oracle can arrest this dance towards its vanishing into oblivion question that really begs for an answer is will it have the honesty to first admit and then stop this march? First of all, Oracle should focus and determine its core strength and then focus on building up on those. There is no prudence demonstrated in draining money on acquisitions and then selling those companies at markdown, or worst, writing off the charge as a loss.It is about time Oracle give up its greed on squeezing more money out of its customer and first create products and value that customers will willingly play obscene amount of money for. References http//finance. yahoo. com http//www. oracle. com http//www. nytimes. com/2010/09/22/technology/22oracle. html? _r=0 http//www. forbes. com/2001/10/29/10 29orcl. html http//www. zdnet. com/oracles-customers-a-bit-baffled-by-fusion-strategy-says-report-7000011143/ http//www. networkworld. com/news/2013/011713-oracle-cloud-265922. html How the Mighty Fall And why some companies never give in by Jim Collins,