Holey Soles Essay Example for Free

Holey Soles Essay This case analysis will focus on the issues surround the lifestyle product company Holey Soles. Psychologist Ann Rosenberg founded the company in September 2002. She initially operated in her garage and backyard, until she recruited Joyce Groote (now current CEO of Holey Soles) and expanded the company into other parts of North America. Holey Soles focuses on creating innovative footwear made from their trademarked technology SmartCel and SoleTek, which is an injection-molded foam technology. As of July 2007, sales had grown at 300% in each of the last two years and the company was ranked number four in the 2006 Profit magazine ranking of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies. However as they continue to operate, they find themselves getting pushed back by their number one competitor, Crocs. By mid-2007, Crocs sales were 33 times the sales of Holey Soles. Holey Soles has a revenue target of $40 million by 2009, and to achieve this target, they will need to focus on the issues surrounding their company and hindering its growth. We have decided that the core issue surround the company is how to reach the goal of $40 million. They need to address the possible alternatives of either expanding into other products besides footwear, implementing a more aggressive marketing strategy, changing their 2-year goals completely, or maintaining the status quo. These alternatives will depend on the assessment of the time frame, cost, and current and potential competition. Upon analyzing all situations and alternatives, we have decided that the best solution for Holey Soles would be to expand the company by creating other product lines made form their trademarked technology. Only through this method will they be able to generate enough revenue to meet their $40 million goal. Issues The issues surrounding Holey Soles include the inability to have a high market share due to dominance from Crocs, how to reach the goal of $40 million revenue, and deciding upon expansion. We think the core issue is how to reach the goal of $40 million. Decision Criteria 1.Time frame of implementation: They only have 2 years to make reach their intended goal of $40 million. Considering the high target number, 2 years is a very short time frame, and therefore is an important decision criterion. Sourcing from China to other parts of the world also takes a long time, so it factors in how much product can actually be made in the time frame given. 2.Cost of expansion: To reach a goal of $40 million, an expansion of the company would have to take place. This poses the problem of where capital is going to come from. 3.Current competition: Their number one competitor is Crocs. During the 2-year period to reach a goal of $40 million, Crocs will still be selling at the rate they have been, and may also be working towards goals of expansion. 4.Threat of potential competition: In the 2 year time frame given, what’s to say that new competitors will not enter the market? As the clog fad continues, more companies are producing similar products as Holey Soles . Even though most of them aside from Crocs have a poorer design with lower quality materials, the possibility of a company suddenly entering with a whole new technology is always possible. Alternatives Assessments 1.Expand by increasing a more diverse range of products sold. By relying on selling the clogs alone, they will never be able to reach their goal of $40 million, nor be able to overtake Crocs since Crocs has taken so much more of the market share already. With their trademarked foam-injection technologies SmartCel and SoleTek, they should put those towards creating newer and more innovative lifestyle products aside from footwear. They already started with the beach bag, so it proves that it is possible to create other products. They already have an advantage due to their company being defined as products that are â€Å"lifestyle† centered, rather than simply a â€Å"footwear manufacturer†.

The Disease Of Masturbation :: essays research papers

The Disease of Masturbation: Values and the concept of Disease by Engelhardt Englhardt's article The Disease Of Masturbation is an example of the ways in which values impact society's definition of disease. I agree that it is possible that science is being, or has been, limited by the values within society. For science to conclude that masturbation causes such aliments as blindness and epilepsy it appears evident that science is being misguided by values of the time. I believe that science also realizes that values play a part in research conducted, otherwise there would be no need for blind and double blind studies. Blind studies are used to help eliminate bias brought on by the experimenter or the test subject. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century masturbation was thought to produce the signs and symptoms of a dangerous disease: 'Disease is neither an objective entity nor a concept of a single definition, there is not, nor need be, one concept of disease (UWO, p.241).'; The problem with Englehardt's article is our health system is that of the biomedical model. The biomedical model does not recognize masturbation as a disease. It states that 'disease is a biological deviation from the norm that can be explained scientifically'; (Charland). Masturbation has not been proven to fit into either category. Masturbation may have been a deviation from the norm at one point in time, but I do not believe that it can be explained scientifically. Englehardt's article says that masturbation was the cause of such illnesses as blindness and vertigo. But how were these conclusions drawn? Were these conclusions scientific in nature or gathered according to the views and values of the times? Masturbation was turned into a disease, not with just somatic,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   but psychological dimensions. Tissot states that masturbating is even more debilitating than sex because of a loss of seminal fluid (1oz equals 40oz of blood). When seminal loss takes place in a position other than the recumbent position the effects are multiplied. Tissot successfully establishes that masturbation is associated with physical and mental maladies. Englehardt should stipulate how Tissot reaches this conclusion. There are also disagreements as to whether frequent sex is any different than masturbation. It is argued that the difference between masturbation and sex is the expenditure of nerve force that is compensated by the magnetism of the partner. Masturbation is worse because it is unnatural and therefore less satisfying.

Patton – Fuller Community Hospital

An analysis of Patton-Fuller Community Hospital Network systems James doglas CMGT/554 December 19, 2011 Carol Eichling An analysis of Patton-Fuller Community Hospital Network systems Patton – Fuller community hospital’s network system consist of two major parts, the first part is the executive part that connects the hospitals executive management, human resources department, operations, IT and data center, etc. , the first network is connected using a 1000base-T Gigabyte network connection that uses a typical Cat6 cabling (Apollo Group Inc. 2008), the second major part of the network connects the departments of radiology, operating room, wards, ICU’s, etc. using a 1000base F fiber optic based connection, this connection is a gigabyte connection too and the both parts of the connections are connected to the network bridge switch that is acting as a core switch. Observing the network structured layout (Apollo Group Inc. , 2008) reveals that the deployment decisions were made depending on the physical distances between the nods in each major network part. In the first part, it was obvious that the nods where in one physical place and the distances between them is not more than three hundred meters, this assumption were made depending on the fact that the 1000Base T network cannot be efficient more than the distance mentioned above. Where the second major part is in physical locations that more in distance than the executive network, this was based on the assumption the multi-core fiber network can be distanced up to two to three kilometers. The network logical operations are all based around the IT data center (Apollo Group Inc. , 2008) since it contains the major servers and the NAS (Network Attached Storage) (About. com, 2011), it’s also included the internet gateway router that allows access to the Internet. Furthermore any access to the network from the external resources will be routed through the RAS (Remote Access Server). Depending on the current topologies readings, several recommendations are necessary to be done in order to keep the network efficiently operational, especially that some parts of the network are mission critical and it is very important to address the issues of availability and reliability. In nowadays network it is very efficient network structure practice to separate the network nods into groups, this will ensure efficiency in interconnection and data transmission, and furthermore it is also one of the famous security practices that will prevent networks in internal structure to access each other. This can be achieved through using VLAN (virtual LAN) practice (Cisco, 2002), that separates the network nods into groups, each group will be related only to that group nods, this can be done on the switch level (layer 2), and all the VLANs can be interacted with each other through the core switch (layer 3) which provides routing along with switching. This practice can reduce the load on the internal networks through reducing the broadcast messages to that VLAN member’s level, though freeing some bandwidth capacity to more important transmissions. Another important recommendation is necessary in data center, this will be the separation of the internet server from the internal network, and access it only using remote access methods in case access is needed, this will insure that there are no method of access the internal network only through the RAS server which forces authentication mechanisms to allow any external connection. It is obvious too that the current server array and the both data centers in the hospital’s network are missing one very important component, and that is the backup system, it is very important to include a backup server to the network to insure data replication is available in case of accidental data corruption or deletion, furthermore take a data snapshots in logical periods of time keeping them physically in another geographical place will be a very likely practice in case of catastrophic data loss. One of the very good utilities of the hospitals network is the availability of the wireless access on the ward level, this will insure instant connectivity to the hospitals network from the small mobile devices such as laptops or other Wi-Fi based medical devices such as the new cardiograph devices which shares data with the database servers through wireless connection. These wireless devices depending on the diagram specifications are in 5 gigahertz frequency which are not compatible with every laptop computer, a recommendation to replace them with 2. gigahertz frequency devices are more efficient in order to allow laptops to access the network. A special attention is needed in the security of these wireless access points by connecting them to a server like RAS server to authenticate the personnel accessing the network wirelessly before allowing the devices to use the network. This is very important practice to prevent a destructive intrusion into the network. The conclusion Patton – Fuller hospital’s network has the potential of a successfully designed network with some adjustments to the network configuration is essentially needed to insure availability and reliability. Adding backup system is also an important necessity to prevent data loss, and applying security policies and authentication mechanizes are also essential to ensure continuous network security and performance. References About. com. (2011). Introduction to NAS. Retrieved from http://compnetworking. about. om/od/itinformationtechnology/l/aa070101a. htm Apollo Group Inc.. (2008). Patton – Fuller IT Data Center Diagram. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Healthcare/PFCH/IT/ITDC. htm Apollo Group Inc.. (2008). Patton – Fuller Logical Network Diagram. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Healthcare/PFCH/IT/ITLogNet. htm Cisco. (2002). VLAN Security Practice. Retrieved from http://www. cisco. com/warp/publi c/cc/pd/si/casi/ca6000/prodlit/vlnwp_wp. pdf

Comparison essay -- Trifles and A Dolls House - 1460 Words

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Change People are capable of doing crazy things! Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, loved her husband so much that she committed forgery just for the sake of his wellbeing. Susan Glaspell’s character in Trifles, Mrs. Wright, murders her husband after she discovers that he killed the one most precious thing to her, her pet bird. It was out of love that these women committed illegal crimes. Nora wanted her husband to be healthy because she loved him and knew that without his salary coming in, their home would fall apart. In contrast, Mrs. Wright wanted her husband dead. He was responsible for taking the life of the only company she had for many years. Mrs. Wright loved her pet bird more than she†¦show more content†¦Wright so deeply that her whole view of right and wrong is distorted. Her decision to murder her husband in the name of her bird shows how corrupted her mind really is. Years and years of silent torture drove this woman to the brink of insanity. Her insanity symbolizes other women in that time that chose to stay in a loveless marriage rather than make a bold move like Nora did and go out into world on their own. Nora’s courageous choice empowered women to think for themselves, while Mrs. Wright’s choice revealed to them exactly how a loveless marriage can damage one’s mind to the point of no repair. The reactions in Trifles reveal to the reader how heavily defined gender roles were in the early twentieth century. The two genders quickly form separate bonds with one another in this play. The men of this time dominate every aspect of this story. They make sarcastic jokes at the women when they start to show concern about things that appeared out of the norm in Mrs. Wright’s house. The first thing they noticed is the broken can goods when the Sheriff says, â€Å"Well, you can beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves† (Glaspell 1245). This tone of voice reveals how the men did not take the women seriously. They laugh at the women’s idea of trifles but as Phyllis writes, it is â€Å"their attentiveness to the trifles in her life, the kitchen things considered insignificant by the men, the two women piece together, like patches in a quilt, theShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis : Truth Is Mighty And Will Prevail 1331 Words   |  6 PagesTwain’s satirical essay is unconventional from what might be expected for advice to youth to follow. He uses humour throughout the essay and in many instances sarcasm is called upon, such as when explaining the importance of practicing and perfecting lying â€Å"A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early – begin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned how†. What Twain says is false, as no lie is designed to last forever, what he means is no one can ever learnRead Moreâ€Å"a Doll’s Trifles† a Essay Comparing the Plays â€Å"Trifles† and â€Å"Dollhouse.†1937 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"A Doll’s Trifles† A essay comparing the plays â€Å"Trifles† and â€Å"Dollhouse.† Joshua Long English 102 Amy Lannon