Volunteer Acctivity - Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Volunteer Acctivity - Leadership - Essay Example The help me desk basically has a lot to do with answering to inquiries, and providing every kind of assistance to newcomers including directing them to where they may be served in respect of their special needs. The help me desk serves all manner of clients and not only newcomers. Even those who have spent ages visiting the institution often come to make inquiries about where tor get certain resources, where to get library cards, and how to solve problems related to their library accounts. As the officer at the help me desk, I was charged with the full responsibility of ensuring that clients were satisfied with the library’s services especially with respect to their inquiries. I chose to work in the help me desk of the institution since I have an interest in influencing people, socially, as a leader. More specifically, I wish to see people develop a good reading culture – a culture that can see them succeed both in learning and in professional circles. The library offers a wide range of services and serves an equally wide range of clients ranging from elementary school students top adults in their old age. In choosing this voluntary activity, I was aiming at serving different members of the society and not just a small section of it. My choice of this kind of service was guided by the desire to experience at least some of the roles of managers or leaders. Management according to experts involves planning, directing, organizing, leading, controlling and staffing. This activity to a great level would help me gain several skills that are related to leadership and management as it involved interacting with people who had various needs. Working at the Richmond library as the help me desk officer involved quite a lot of activities. In some cases, I had to stretch my boundaries to ensure that customers were satisfied. In some cases for example, I would teach people ho to use their

Gender focus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender focus - Essay Example The society has induced different expectation and opportunities to men. Women are less happy today than they were in 1970s and the ‘change brought about through the women’s’ movement may have decreased women’s happiness’ (Stevenson and Wolfers, 2007). In the article ‘Between the Sexes’ Ama Quindlen tried to advocate that women should be welcomed into a variety of positions and roles that presumably reserved for men. She held that the divide created by men is not because of big differences but because very small and minor differences. Men are required to take some specific roles different from those that the women take. In our society today men are left with little choice on how to spend their lives. Men are expected to stick to their careers for the sake of the family. Society justifies that women on the other hand can drop out of the labor market to be house makers or in other terms housewives. On the same note women can decide to stay at home and rely on the glory of their husbands but men don’t have such opportunity, the criticism they will receive from the society will be outrageous. Men have also acquired great opportunities in the work place demoralizing women. Disciplines such as engineering and science have been male dominated. Women can also do and perform a better on these arenas, but because of the discriminating set the have less opportunities. The divisions between the sexes start in early ages of the children. In the article’ between the sexes ‘categorization starts as â€Å"him and her† and so on. There is still a â€Å"glass ceiling† between men and women. Young boys and girls can’t dance easily on each other’s arms without any development of feeling uneasy. Women still struggle as artists as depicted by ‘Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions’ by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Today in the music and movie industry women who are depicted as nu de are regarded as more attractive by the marketers. But men won’t appear nude in music videos or movies. Articles written by men are most in any form of literature. It is not that women are less artistic than men but because of the discrimination that exist between the sexes. The way men look at women is also discriminating they view women as sex objects. Most pornographic material is viewed by men. Society by these acts of representing suggestive photos of nude women depicts that women are there to sexually satisfy men. The freedom of expression in women is so limited as compared to men. Taking a look at the family setup the husband is expected to have the last say whether he is wrong or not. Women who are now engaging in writing, weather in artistic or academic are concentrating so much on the issue of feminism. This can be attributed to the fact that they are trying to express themselves in as other avenues are not justly open for them. Good governance is good governance irrespective of the gender, men have more chance in matters pertaining governance as compared to women. The opportunities of leadership in men are evident from matters of corporate scenario to state leadership. Anybody can attest that most presidents in the state are men. It is to the least expectation of the society that women that women can be good leaders. The prevailing of outdated stereotype about the different opportunities and roles about male and women can be attributed to this phenomenon. Men are expected to rise in terms of hierarchy, to gain status. Women don’t need to rise to gain status the glory of their husband is enough. A first lady is the wife to the president of a state but ‘first gentleman’ is non-existence. This fact makes men to fight for leadership and governance position. Though the issue of femi

Seagate Technologies: Operation Hedging

Seagate Technologies: Operation Hedging The Seagate Technologies as a group assignment in our Production Logistics course. The purpose and aim of this case it to learn the impact of each assets (location) capacity on the overall profitability of the processing network. In addition, investigate how the entire capacity portfolio can be designed to provide an optimal hedge against uncertainty. We have been following six questions: i) what is Seagates corporate strategy? Describe and evaluate how its operational strategy and processes support the corporate strategy. Critically evaluate Seagates product and process development strategy, which calls for development in its respective product / process centre in U.S. and then exporting the developed process to site in the Far-East for high-volume production. ii) What are Seagates major risks? How does it manage those risks? iii) How would you describe the capacity of the processing network if the current CAR capacity proposal were implemented? What is the expected profit and ROI under this investment? (Given the short product life, assume the firm is making its decision for a single time period of length one year, at the end of which manufacturing capacity will zero salvage value). iv) The case states that the true demand forecast contains uncertainty. Given this forecast, recommend a capacity portfolio that maximizes expected NPV. (Recall, capacity investment must be performed before you observe actual market demand). Verify financial attractiveness of your recommendation. What is the expected profit and ROI now? v) Interpret your recommended capacity portfolio in intuitive terms: in what sense does your capacity configuration prepare you to hedging and why is your plan to be preferred? vi) In broad conceptual terms, what are the advantages of sales-plan driven capacity planning? What is wrong with that practice end how would you improve on it? LITERATURE REVIEW Operations Management: In operations management, there are two streams of research originating from two separate, but conceptually similar, definitions of operational hedging. The first definition, as introduced by Huchzermeier (1991) and quoted in Ding and Kouvelis (2001, p.2), states that Operational hedging strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ can be viewed as real (compound) options that are exercised in response to demand, price and exchange rate contingencies faced by firms in a global supply chain context. Real options might have value-enhancing capabilities under uncertainty. The value-enhancing feature of real options under uncertainty is called exploiting uncertainty. Huchzermeier and Cohen (1996) analyze operational flexibility, which they define as the ability to switch among different global manufacturing strategy options. Cohen and Huchzemeier (1999) illustrate how the deployment of excess capacity can be a source of operational flexibility in global supply chains. They argue that investing in capacity in excess of the aggregate demand forecast provides flexibility in coping with demand uncertainties. Additionally, excess capacity enables the firm to produce more in that location, providing a value-enhancing opportunity in addition to reducing its downside risks. The second definition of operational hedging is found in Van Mieghem (2003). Without referring to real options, but making an analogy with its financial counterpart, financial hedging, Van Mieghem defines operational hedging as mitigating risk by counterbalancing actions in a processing network that do not involve financial instruments. He lists dual-sourcing, component commonality, having the option to run overtime, dynamic substitution, routing, transshipping, or shifting processing among different types of capital, locations or subcontractors, holding safety stocks and purchasing warranty guarantees as operational hedging strategies. One of the main contributions of this definition is the observation that operational hedging can be employed in the absence of tradable risks, particularly exchange rate risk, as all the other academic fields mostly consider operational hedging in an exchange rate framework. Again departing from the literature, Van Mieghem does not consider any particular risk measure to formalize the effect of operational hedging in terms of risk mitigation. In addition, the term counterbalancing actions is not formalized: criteria to determine whether given actions are counterbalancing are not developed, this term corresponds to investing in more than one resource, or betting on two horses that is, investing in operational flexibility, similar to the former definition of operational hedging. Finally, as with real options, counterbalancing actions described by Van Mieghem have a value-enhancing capability and increase expected profit in a risk-neutral setting. This is demonstrated on a two-product, two-stage production system where capacity imbalance is the operational hedging strategy (Harrison and Van Mieghem 1999, Van Mieghem 2003). By purposely unbalancing the capacity vector, i.e. having safety capacity (in excess of the capacity that would be optimal in the deterministic case), firms can hedge against demand uncertainty and increase expected profit. Counterbalancing actions, taken in such a way as to maximize expected profit for a risk-neutral decision maker, are called operational hedges. Finance In the finance literature, operational hedging is the course of action that hedges the firms risk exposure by means of non-financial instruments, particularly through operational activities. Similar to the operations management literature, operational flexibility is the major operational hedging strategy discussed in the finance literature. In addition to operational flexibility, geographical diversification is another operational hedging strategy in a multinational context. Geographical diversification is aligning the costs and revenues of a firm so that they are exposed to the same risks. Domestic firms selling to foreign markets can ensure that their production costs and sales revenues are exposed to the same exchange rate uncertainties by opening a production facility in these markets. Therefore, geographical diversification reduces the total variability of cash flows. Chowdry and Howe (1999) argue that the facility location decision is considered to be an operational hedging strategy only when firms are concerned with the variability of their operating profits. Hommel (2003) argues that operational flexibility is employed as a hedging device when the exchange rate and demand volatility are sufficiently large (in that case the minimum profit constraint is violated); otherwise it serves as a value driver to enhance expected profits. It is emphasized that because operational flexibility can be used for a purely value-enhancement motive, it is considered to be an operational hedging strategy only when there is a risk hedging motive for employing it. Generally speaking, operational actions are considered to be operational hedges if they are taken in order to reduce a risk measure of concern. In particular, if firms care about downside risk (e.g. having a minimum profit constraint), then operational hedges mitigate risk through a reduction in the downside exposure. In summary, the finance literature defines operational hedging as mitigating firms risks by operational means. Operational flexibility achieved through various operational means (ability to shift production, transferring technologies, product differentiation etc.) and geographical diversification is the operational hedges of firms utilized in conjunction with financial hedges. Compared to their financial counterparts, operational hedges require higher levels of capital investment (opening a production facility), but create longer term hedges against risk exposures including risks that are not contingent on asset prices (e.g. demand risks, political risks). Strategy and International Business Diversification is defined as having different lines of business through mergers and joint ventures (Wang and Lim 2003), of which geographical diversification is one type. Kogut (1985) analyzes diversification and operational flexibility as risk management tools of multinationals. He argues that an operational decision (the sourcing policy in this case) can create three different types of risk profile: speculative, hedged and flexible. The speculative profile is betting on one site mainly to benefit from economies of scale in operations. By matching the exchange rate exposure on the cost side with that on the profit side, the firm can create a hedged risk profile. This approach corresponds to the geographical diversification strategy. Finally, a flexible risk profile created through operational flexibility permits the firm to exploit uncertainties by creating real options. In the international business literature, Pantzalis et al. (2001) define operational hedging as the firms operational decisions (related to marketing, production, sourcing, plant location, and treasury) that are best suited to managing the exchange rate exposure on the firms competitive position across markets. In summary, the strategy literature focuses on operational flexibility and diversification as risk management tools without defining them as operational hedges. Operational flexibility achieved through several operational means (developing in-house capacity, product differentiation, keeping excess capacity etc.) creates both arbitrage and leverage opportunities for multinational firms. In addition to aligning costs and revenues, real option benefits of geographical diversification in the form of growth options are discussed. The international business research, similar to the finance literature, focuses on operational flexibility and geographical diversification as long-term operational hedges of multinationals against exchange rate exposures. Analysis of Seagate Technologies: Question 1: What is Seagates corporate strategy? Describe and evaluate how its operational strategy and processes support the corporate strategy. Critically evaluate Seagates product and process development strategy, which calls for development in its respective product / process centre in U.S. and then exporting the developed process to site in the Far-East for high-volume production. Answer: Seagate Technologies Corporate Strategy: The Barracuda The Cheetah are two new Seagates high-end disk-drive products families that are scheduled to go into volume production in the first calendar quarter of 1998. The capital appropriation request called for $ 103 million capital investment in two final assembly facilities, one for the Barracuda and one for the Cheetah and one for joint test facility. The companys establishment and ongoing expansion of production facilities in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Ireland are directed toward cost reduction. Describe and evaluate how its operational strategy and processes support the corporate strategy. Operational Strategy and Processes: Manufacturing Strategy: Process Choice Establishment and maintenance of key vendor relationships. Produce and sell its disc drives in significant volume, continue to lower manufacturing costs and carefully monitor inventory levels. Transfer volume production of disc drives and related components between facilities, including transfer overseas to countries where labor costs and other manufacturing costs are significantly lower than in the U.S. Infrastructure The key element if the Seagates manufacturing strategy is high volume, low cost assembly and test; vertical integration in the manufacturing of selected components. Seagate continually evaluates its components and manufacturing processes. Seagate rapidly achieve high manufacturing yields in new production processes and obtain uninterrupted access to high quality components in required volumes at competitive prices. Marketing Strategy: Seagates ability to compete successfully depends on its ability to provide timely product introductions and to combine to reduce production costs. The companys establishment and ongoing expansion of production facilities in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Ireland are directed toward such cost reductions. The two new products were planned to be in volume production only for the four quarters of 1998. The capital investment to build production capacity was significant and had two components. First, there were significant fixed costs estimated at about $ 40 million associated with designing, commissioning, and starting up the three new facilities. The second component was that the capital expense of building new capacity increased with the amount of capacity: larger production capacity required larger space requirements and tooling costs, leading to an linear increase in the capital expense. Seagate products include over 50 rigid disc drive models with from factors 2.5 to 5.25 inches and capacities from 1GB 10 23 GB. Seagate believes it offers the broadest range from of disc storage products available. It provides more than one product at some capacity points and differentiates products on a price / performance and form factor basis. Seagate typically devotes its resource to developing products with industries leading performance characteristics and to being among the first to introduce such products to market. The company continuously seeks to enhance its market presence in emerging segments of the rigid disc drive market by drawing on its established capabilities in high volume, low cost productions. The Marathon and Medalist disk drive product lines are targeted for the personal mobile and desktop computing market, respectively, while the high end workstation and server/multi user systems market is served with the Barracuda, Cheetah, and Elite product families. The Barracuda family of 3.5 inch drives was first introduced in 1992. At 7,200 rpm the Barracuda had the highest rotation speed of any drives produced at that time. In fiscal year 1997, Seagate introduced two new products in the Barracuda family, the Barracuda 4LP and the Barracuda 4XL, with 4GB and 4.5GB respectively. The Barracuda 4XL, which began volume production during the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997, was designed to provide a balance of price and performance for the workstation market as it matures. In August 1996, the company announced the 3.5 inch Cheetah family the worlds first drives to offer rotation speeds of 10,000 rpm for increased data throughout and lower latency times. The Cheetah drive is focused at the very high performance segment of the market. Volume production of the Cheetah 4LP and the Cheetah 9 began in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 1997, respectively. Seagate is going to announce the fifth generation Barracuda 9LP and the second generation Cheetah 0LP in early fall 1997, with volume production schedule to begin in the first calendar quarter of 1998. Finally, the Elite product line covers the high end 5.25 inch market. In the third quarter of fiscal year 1997, production commenced on the Elite 23, a high performance, 5.25 inch disc drive with 23 GB of formatted capacity, a rotation speed of 5,400 rpm and mean time between failures of 500,000 hours. Critically evaluate Seagates product and process development strategy, which calls for development in its respective product / process centre in U.S. and then exporting the developed process to site in the Far-East for high-volume production. Product and Process Development: The content of the Seagate product/ process strategy: Seagate has the superior strategy, i.e. business strategy or corporate strategy, requirements on the product portfolio. It is described in the case the present state of the product portfolio. It is also described in the case what would be the future state of the product portfolio. A plan of action, i.e. how Seagate wanted product portfolio can be reached in practice. The five steps/activities are described below: Requirements on the product portfolio: The most central activity in the process is the identification of the requirements on the product portfolio. The requirements should be found both in the superior strategy, i.e. business strategy or corporate strategy, and also in other functional strategies. Requirements put on the product portfolio consist of among other range, mix and volumes of products. Seagate has number of segments which is introduced in the market. New product proposals: Ideas for new products can arise in different ways; customer, market analysis etc. The new product proposal capture, visualize and preserve the ideas that are found within and outside the company. The aim of the new product proposals is to attain a more distinct product development funnel as shown in Figure 12, where several ideas are evaluated in parallel. Seagates strategy for new products emphasizes developing and introducing on timely and cost effective basis products that offer functionality an d performance equal to or better than competitive product offering. Product development process: The product development process should fit the actual company, its products and its manufacturing. The product development process should also state which design method to use when and why. Seagate devotes significant resources to product engineering aimed at improving manufacturing processes, lowering manufacturing cost and increasing volume production. Seagates process engineering groups are located with the disc drive development groups and the reliability engineering groups in many cities of U.S. and also in Singapore. Product portfolio: When making decisions within the product development process it is important to have the product portfolio in mind and vice versa. Therefore it is emphasized that the same group of managers handles both the product development process and the product portfolio. Reengineering or product deleting: All products have a limited life span. Not unusual at companies aimed at in this research is some kind of facelifts of products during their lifetime. New requirements like new features, manufacturing processes, customer needs etc. on a product or product family require a reengineering or the product will be obsolete. Seagates product life cycles of disc drives are short (high volume products introduced and sold for about 6 to 7 quarters. Due to fast changing in technology in computer industries the product deleting is very short and re-engineering might cost extra money to Seagate due to rapid development. Question 2: What are Seagates major risks? How does it manage those risks? Answer: Competitive differentiation: (e.g., price, quality, time or customization) Market: Fundamental change in supply and demand functions or global prices for commodities. The rigid disc drive industry is intensely competitive, with manufactures competing for a limited number of major customers. In addition to the product performance dimension, the principal competitive factors in the rigid disc drive market include product quality and reliability, form factor, price per unit, price per megabyte, production volume capability and responsiveness to customers. The relative importance of these factors varies with different customers and for different products. Competitors offer new and existing products at prices necessary to gain or retain market share and customers. To remain competitive, Seagate believes it will be necessary to continue to reduce its price and aggressively enhance its product offering. Technological capabilities (lead or follow in technology innovation) With the proliferation of multimedia applications, the demand for increased drive capacities has and continues to increase at an accelerating rate since sound and moving pictures require many times the storage capacity of simple text. Economic: Ability to attract and retain staff in the labour market; exchange rates affect costs of international transactions; effect of global economy. Given the high demand uncertainty of the two product families, the current capital appropriation request moves Seagate towards financial risk in terms of expenditure. Socio-cultural: Demographic change affects demand for services; stakeholder expectations change. Operational: Relating to existing operations both current delivery and building and maintaining. A pessimistic scenario with likelihood estimated at 25%, would demand only 150,000 Cheetahs and 350,000 Barracudas. Mitigating Risk with Financial Hedging: If the counterbalancing actions involve trading financial instruments, including short selling, futures, and options, this is financial hedging. Financial hedging yields an elegant approach to incorporating risk without having to resort to utility functions and price its present value using risk-neutral discounting. The basic idea is to construct a perfect hedge, which is a portfolio that provides a constant future value in any state of nature and therefore can be priced using risk-free discounting. Financial hedging requires writing an unambiguous contract that specifies capacity usages in a form that is divisible, trade able, and enforceable. Mitigating Risk with Operational Hedging: Processing flexibility such as dual or multi-sourcing, using component commonality, having the option to run overtime or to dynamically reroute or shift production (among different types of capital, locations, or subcontractors); holding safety stocks; having warranty guarantees, etc. A variety of these actions can be grouped as counterbalancing capacities to mitigate risk, often by inducing some form of resource pooling. Question 3 How would you describe capacity of processing network if current CAR capacity proposal were implemented? What is the expected profit and ROI under this investment? (Given the short product life, assume the firm is making the decisions for a single time period of length one year, at the end of which manufacturing capacity will have zero salvage value) Answer: Expected Capacity Scenario (Capacity both for Cheetah and Barracuda is 300000) There are 2 different profit and cost structure PS=Profit of solved product C=Cost of unused capacity Contribution Margins Cheetah=$400 Barracuda=$300 Demands Pessimistic (25%) Expected (50%) Optimistic (25%) Cheetah 150 000 300 000 450 000 Barracuda 350 000 300 000 250 000 Demand for Cheetah in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $400*150000 ($30000*(150) +$80000*(150)) =$43.500.000 C= $30000*(150) + $80000(50) (The spare capacity cost is shared in Cheetah and Barracuda) =$8.500.000 Profit= $35.000.000 * 0.25 Demand for Cheetah in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $400*300000 ($30000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$87.000.000 Demand for Cheetah in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.25) PS= $400*300000 ($30000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$87.000.000 Total profit for cheetah = (PS-C)*(0.25) + PS*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$35.000.000 * 0.25+$87.000.000 * 0.50+$87.000.000 * 0.25 =$74.000.000 Demand for Barracuda in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $300*250000 ($20000*(250) +$80000*(250)) =$50.000.000 C= $30000*(150) =$4.500.000 Profit= $45.500.000 * 0.25 Demand for Barracuda in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $300*300000 ($20000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$60.000.000 Demand for Cheetah in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.25) PS= $300*350000 ($20000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$60.000.000 Total profit for barracuda = (PS-C)*(0.25) + PS*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$45.500.000 * 0.25+$60.000.000 * 0.50+$60.000.000 * 0.25 =$56.375.000 Total Profit for the System= Total profit for cheetah+ Total profit for barracuda -Fixed Cost = $74.000.000+$56.375.000- $40.000.000 = $90.375.000 Question 4: The case states that true demand forecast contains uncertainty. Given this forecast contains recommend a capacity portfolio that maximizes expected NPV. (Recall, capacity investment must be performed before you observe actual market demand).Verify financial attractiveness of your recommendation: What is the expected profit and ROI now? Answer: As mentioned above; we calculated the total profit according to the expected capacity scenario. In uncertainty situations we also calculate total profit pessimistic and optimistic scenarios as well Pessimistic Capacity Scenario (Capacity for Cheetah 150000 and Barracuda is 350000) Demand for Cheetah in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $400*150000 ($30000*(150) +$80000*(150)) =$43.500.000 C= $80000(50) (The spare capacity cost is shared in Cheetah and Barracuda) =$4.000.000 Profit= $47.500.000 * 0.25 Demand for Cheetah in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $400*150000 ($30000*(150) +$80000*(150)) =$43.500.000 Demand for Cheetah in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $400*150000 ($20000*(150) +$80000*(150)) =$43.500.000 Total profit for cheetah = (PS-C)*(0.25) + PS*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$47.500.000 * 0.25+$43.500.000 * 0.50+$43.500.000 * 0.25 =$44.500.000 Demand for Barracuda in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $300*350000 ($20000*(350) +$80000*(350)) =$70.000.000 C= $80000(50) (The spare capacity cost is shared in Cheetah and Barracuda) =$4.000.000 Profit= $66.000.000 * 0.25 Demand for Barracuda in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $300*300000 ($20000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$60.000.000 Demand for Barracuda in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $300*300000 ($20000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$60.000.000 Total profit for barracuda = (PS-C)*(0.25) + PS*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$66.000.000 * 0.25+$60.000.000 * 0.50+$60.000.000 * 0.25 =$61.500.000 Total Profit for the System= Total profit for cheetah+ Total profit for barracuda -Fixed Cost = 44.500.000+$61.500.000- $40.000.000 = $66.000.000 Optimistic Capacity Scenario (Capacity for Cheetah 450000 and Barracuda is 250000) Demand for Cheetah in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $400*150000 ($30000*(150) +$80000*(150)) =$43.500.000 C= $30000*(300) + $80000(50) (The spare capacity cost is shared in Cheetah and Barracuda) =$13.000.000 Profit= $30.500.000 * 0.25 Demand for Cheetah in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.50) PS= $400*300000 ($30000*(300) +$80000*(300)) =$87.000.000 C= $30000*(150) (The spare capacity cost 450-300=150) =$4.500.000 Profit= $82.500.000 * 0.50 Demand for Cheetah in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $400*450000 ($30000*(450) +$80000*(450)) =$142.500.000 Total profit for cheetah = (PS-C)*(0.25) + (PS-C)*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$30.500.000 * 0.25+$82.500.000 * 0.50+$142.500.000 * 0.25 =$84.500.000 Demand for Barracuda in Pessimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS-C)*(0.25) PS= $300*250000 ($20000*(250) +$80000*(250)) =$50.000.000 C= $80000(50) (The spare capacity cost is shared in Cheetah and Barracuda) =$4.000.000 Profit= $46.000.000 * 0.25 Demand for Barracuda in Expected Scenario (0.50) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $300*250000 ($20000*(250) +$80000*(250)) =$50.000.000 Demand for Barracuda in Optimistic Scenario (0.25) Profit= (PS)*(0.50) PS= $300*250000 ($20000*(250) +$80000*(250)) =$50.000.000 Total profit for barracuda = (PS-C)*(0.25) + PS*(0.50) +PS*(0.25) =$46.000.000 * 0.25+$50.000.000 * 0.50+$50.000.000 * 0.25 =$49.000.000 Total Profit For The System= Total profit for cheetah+ Total profit for barracuda -Fixed Cost = 84.500.000+$49.000.000- $40.000.000 = $93.500.000 Therefore according to the capacity scenarios profits are formed; Total Profit for Cheetah Total Profit for Barracuda Pessimistic Capacity Scenario $44.500.000 $61.500.000 Expected Capacity Scenario $74.000.000 $56.375.000 Optimistic Capacity Scenario $84.500.000 $49.000.000 Question 5: Interpret your recommended capacity portfolio in intuitive terms: in what sense does your capacity configuration prepare you to hedging and why is your plan to be preferred? Answer: Newsvendor: The newsvendor (or newsboy) model is a mathematical model in operations management and applied economics used to determine optimal inventory levels. It is (typically) characterized by fixed prices and uncertain demand. If the inventory level is q, each unit of demand above q is lost. This model is also known as the Newsvendor Problem or Newsboy Problem. In the case of Seagate Technologies, let K1 is the capacity for The Cheetah and K2 is the capacity for The Barracuda, K3 is the capacity of for The Final Test and D is the demand for each product family. The sales plan is 300 thousand units of The Barracuda and an equal amount of The Cheetah i.e. the sales plan corresponds to a demand vector (in thousands) D = (300, 300). The associated capacity investment vector for the three resources that makes this sales plan feasible is Kb = (300, 300, 600). The capacity portfolio Kb is balanced in the sense that all three resources are fully utilized at the sales plan. Capacity balance means that K1 + K2 = K3. Another capacity plan that may show up in practice is a plan that minimizes lost sales. In some settings, marketing managers may state that a customer lost once is lost forever and advocate ample capacity to prevent that. We refer to such plan as a total coverage capacity plan Kc. Obviously, a centralized, expected profit maximizing planner with knowledge of the probabilistic demand forecast can do better. Maximization of expected profit leads to increasing the investment in resources with high marginal return compared to marginal investment costs. This generalized typical newsvendor logic works in a coupled, multi-dimensional setting and show the risk-neutral or newsvendor network solution in Seagate case to be K* = (350, 35

Comparing How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration Essay

How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration    The phrase, "small Midwestern towns," often brings to mind an unfortunate stereotype in the minds of big-city urbanites: mundane, backward people in a socially unappealing and legally archaic setting. Small Midwestern towns, however, are not all the hovels of provincial intellect that they are so frequently made out to be. The idiosyncrasies each of them possesses are lost on those who have never taken more than a passing glance at them. After living in two small towns, I have developed an appreciation for their unique respective qualities. Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana are no exception to this rule of singularity. In addition to their specific identities, these towns have the added variable of two distinct and sizable immigrant populations, Wausau's immigrants being largely Ming, Goshen's immigrants being largely Mexican. While Wausau and Goshen may seem similar on a map of size, population, and non-immigrant demographics, they share little in their economic makeup, positional character, or active response to immigration. These differences of identity shape their attitudes towards immigration. Wausau's identity is supple and accommodates the redefinition that immigration demands. Goshen's identity is taut and rejects the redefinition. One reason for Goshen's comparatively negative attitude towards immigration is the perceived threat to job security. There is a large population of blue-collar factory workers and there are numerous factories in the Goshen area. Indeed, one can hardly go anywhere within the Goshen municipality and be out of eyesight of some factory or industry-related structure. (My personal favorite o... ...ograms in place to protect immigrants are more effective and broadly supported. The political identities of these two towns shape their ability to respond effectively to immigration. Restricted by employment fears, a sense of urban expendability and relative political conservativism, Goshen's identity has little room for the challenge of immigration. Wausau's less industrial economy, stronger sense of urban importance and comparatively liberal politics create a more flexible and malleable identity. Once examined beyond the traditional barometers of population, region and size, Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana actually have little in common. Certainly neither town is in any way definable as, "mundane, backward or legally archaic," but rather each is striving, in their own singular ways, to achieve a balance between stable identity and unavoidable change.

The Relevancy that Zionism Possess in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Executive SummaryThÐ µ conflict bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ IsraÐ µlis and thÐ µ PalÐ µstinians was a consÐ µquÐ µncÐ µ of onÐ µ of thÐ µ most glorious and crÐ µativÐ µ movÐ µmÐ µnts of thÐ µ last cÐ µntury: modÐ µrn Zionism. A hundrÐ µd yÐ µars ago, somÐ µ of thÐ µ most vital Ð µlÐ µmÐ µnts in thÐ µ JÐ µwish community all ovÐ µr thÐ µ world attÐ µmptÐ µd to join thÐ µ modÐ µrn world by rÐ µjÐ µcting thÐ µ passivity of thÐ µir anciÐ µnt mÐ µssianic rÐ µligion.ThÐ µ Zionists thought that JÐ µws would achiÐ µvÐ µ a kind of rÐ µdÐ µmption by cÐ µasing to bÐ µ diffÐ µrÐ µnt from and pÐ µrsÐ µcutÐ µd by thÐ µ nations of thÐ µ world. SomÐ µhow, thÐ µy thought, thÐ µ inÐ µvitablÐ µ discomforts and conflicts with thÐ µ Arabs would bÐ µ rÐ µsolvÐ µd. ThÐ µ JÐ µws would find pÐ µacÐ µ and accÐ µptancÐ µ in thÐ µ land whÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µir ancÐ µstors had oncÐ µ fashionÐ µd thÐ µir rÐ µligion and culturÐ µ. But it was not to bÐ µ. InstÐ µad, from its vÐ µry bÐ µginning to this vÐ µry day, Zionism has confrontÐ µd a cÐ µntury of war.This papÐ µr discuss thÐ µ issuÐ µ of JÐ µws on thÐ µ land of PalÐ µstinÐ µ is vÐ µry complÐ µx. ThÐ µ nationalists bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µ that thÐ µ JÐ µwish pÐ µoplÐ µ will bÐ µ Ð µndangÐ µrÐ µd unlÐ µss thÐ µir basÐ µ is rÐ µ-Ð µstablishÐ µd in thÐ µir anciÐ µnt homÐ µland. Thus nÐ µithÐ µr group can Ð µvÐ µr grant thÐ µ ultimatÐ µ PalÐ µstinian dÐ µmand that thÐ µ JÐ µws cÐ µasÐ µ thÐ µir aggrÐ µssion and go Ð µlsÐ µwhÐ µrÐ µ. ModÐ µrn Zionism bÐ µgan with thÐ µ vision of a â€Å"normalizÐ µd† JÐ µwish pÐ µoplÐ µ, a nation among nations that would bÐ µ part of thÐ µ world as of right. ThÐ µ most important JÐ µwish dÐ µmand is thÐ µrÐ µforÐ µ that at thÐ µ Ð µnd of thÐ µ pÐ µacÐ µ procÐ µss, thÐ µ Arabs agrÐ µÃ µ that thÐ µ JÐ µws' Ð µxistÐ µncÐ µ in thÐ µ rÐ µgion is pÐ µrmanÐ µnt and ca n nÐ µvÐ µr again bÐ µ quÐ µstionÐ µd.ThÐ µ RÐ µlÐ µvancy that Zionism PossÐ µss in thÐ µ Arab-IsraÐ µli ConflictThÐ µ conflict bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn Zionism and thÐ µ Arab statÐ µs has bÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ focus of intÐ µrnational attÐ µntion sincÐ µ thÐ µ Ð µnd of World War I. It was a subjÐ µct of major concÐ µrn to thÐ µ old LÐ µaguÐ µ of Nations; aftÐ µr World War II, it was onÐ µ of thÐ µ first disputÐ µs in which thÐ µ UnitÐ µd Nations (U.N.) was involvÐ µd. For many yÐ µars, it was a factor in thÐ µ Cold War bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ SoviÐ µt Union and thÐ µ WÐ µst. (Smith, 1992) MorÐ µ than half a dozÐ µn spÐ µcial U.N. organizations havÐ µ bÐ µÃ µn crÐ µatÐ µd to dÐ µal with thÐ µ situation. (RÐ µich, Ð µt al., 1996)ThÐ µ conflict has cÐ µntÐ µrÐ µd on thÐ µ strugglÐ µ bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn Zionism, or JÐ µwish nationalism, and Arab nationalism for control of PalÐ µstinÐ µ. (Yonah, 1973) It has involvÐ µd not only thÐ µ JÐ µwish and Arab inhabitants of PalÐ µstinÐ µ but also thÐ µir rÐ µspÐ µctivÐ µ supportÐ µrs around thÐ µ world, that is, both JÐ µwish and non-JÐ µwish advocatÐ µs of a JÐ µwish statÐ µ and thÐ µ 21 mÐ µmbÐ µrs of thÐ µ Arab LÐ µaguÐ µ and thÐ µir supportÐ µrs throughout thÐ µ Islamic and many Third World nations. (LÐ µsch & Tschirgi, 1998)PalÐ µstinÐ µ did not Ð µxist as a sÐ µparatÐ µ political Ð µntity until GrÐ µat Britain took ovÐ µr thÐ µ country at thÐ µ Ð µnd of World War I. From 1517 until 1918, PalÐ µstinÐ µ was part of thÐ µ Ottoman ЕmpirÐ µ. (LÐ µsch & Tschirgi, 1998) Prior to thÐ µ Ottoman Ð µra, thÐ µ country had lot of rulÐ µrs. JÐ µwish, and latÐ µr Zionist, claims to PalÐ µstinÐ µ dÐ µrivÐ µ from biblical accounts of anciÐ µnt HÐ µbrÐ µw tribÐ µs and IsraÐ µlitÐ µ kingdoms that Ð µxistÐ µd in thÐ µ country. (Smith, 1992)PalÐ µstinÐ µ is also important to Christianity and Islam. JÐ µsus Christ was born and di Ð µd in PalÐ µstinÐ µ and livÐ µd most of his lifÐ µ thÐ µrÐ µ. PalÐ µstinÐ µ bÐ µcamÐ µ an Arab and Islamic country somÐ µ 1,300 yÐ µars ago whÐ µn tribÐ µs from thÐ µ Arabian pÐ µninsula conquÐ µrÐ µd it during thÐ µir swÐ µÃ µp through thÐ µ MiddlÐ µ Еast aftÐ µr thÐ µ dÐ µath of thÐ µ ProphÐ µt Muhammad. (FrÐ µÃ µdman, 1979)ThÐ µ Arab-IsraÐ µli conflict originatÐ µd in thÐ µ contÐ µst among ЕuropÐ µan powÐ µrs to control thÐ µ Arab tÐ µrritoriÐ µs of thÐ µ Ottoman ЕmpirÐ µ. Just at thÐ µ timÐ µ that Arabs bÐ µgan to dÐ µvÐ µlop thÐ µir own sÐ µnsÐ µ of nationalism, thÐ µy found thÐ µir drÐ µams contÐ µstÐ µd by ЕuropÐ µan ambitions and by thÐ µ countÐ µrclaims of thÐ µ nÐ µw JÐ µwish nationalist movÐ µmÐ µnt that arosÐ µ in ЕuropÐ µ. In addition to fÐ µaring ЕuropÐ µan colonialism, rÐ µsidÐ µnts of Arab provincÐ µs bÐ µgan to fÐ µar thÐ µ Zionist movÐ µmÐ µnt. (Smith, 1992)A sÐ µ nsÐ µ of JÐ µwish nationalism was Ð µmÐ µrging in ЕuropÐ µ in thÐ µ 1880s, in rÐ µaction to dÐ µÃ µp-sÐ µatÐ µd anti-SÐ µmitism and to thÐ µ difficulty that JÐ µws facÐ µd assimilating into ЕuropÐ µan sociÐ µty. Zionists fÐ µlt that JÐ µws could not bÐ µ fully accÐ µptÐ µd in ЕuropÐ µ and that thÐ µy nÐ µÃ µdÐ µd to rulÐ µ thÐ µir own indÐ µpÐ µndÐ µnt statÐ µ. Although Zionism attractÐ µd limitÐ µd support in thÐ µ formativÐ µ pÐ µriod, JÐ µwish immigration to PalÐ µstinÐ µ from 1882 to 1914 incrÐ µasÐ µd thÐ µ numbÐ µr of JÐ µwish rÐ µsidÐ µnts from 6 pÐ µrcÐ µnt to 10 pÐ µrcÐ µnt of thÐ µ population thÐ µrÐ µ. (Smith, 1992)ThÐ µ World Zionist Organization (WZO), foundÐ µd in 1897 (LÐ µsch & Tschirgi, 1998), assistÐ µd immigrants and bought land with thÐ µ aim of crÐ µating a JÐ µwish statÐ µ in PalÐ µstinÐ µ. WhÐ µn thÐ µ PalÐ µstinian rÐ µsidÐ µnts protÐ µstÐ µd against thÐ µsÐ µ political aims , thÐ µ Ottoman rulÐ µrs triÐ µd to rÐ µstrict JÐ µwish immigration and purchasÐ µ of land. (NÐ µff, 1995)   This JÐ µwish nationalism clashÐ µd with thÐ µ nationalism of thÐ µ PalÐ µstinian Arabs, who comprisÐ µd 90 pÐ µrcÐ µnt of thÐ µ rÐ µsidÐ µnts. (Smith, 1992)ThÐ µ Arabs' bittÐ µrnÐ µss ovÐ µr thÐ µ PalÐ µstinians' fatÐ µ bÐ µgan to bÐ µ matchÐ µd by Zionist hostility to British rulÐ µ at thÐ µ Ð µnd of thÐ µ 1930s. (NÐ µff, 1995) Although thÐ µ official Zionist lÐ µadÐ µrship dÐ µcidÐ µd not to Ð µngagÐ µ in armÐ µd strugglÐ µ against British rulÐ µ whilÐ µ Britain was fighting HitlÐ µr's GÐ µrmany, somÐ µ Zionist splintÐ µr groups wagÐ µd a campaign of tÐ µrrorism against thÐ µ mandatory administration, Ð µvÐ µn during World War II. (Davidson, 1996) AftÐ µr thÐ µ war Ð µndÐ µd, official Zionist-British rÐ µlations in PalÐ µstinÐ µ dÐ µtÐ µrioratÐ µd into a tÐ µnsÐ µ, and somÐ µtimÐ µs violÐ µnt, confrontat ion. (FrÐ µÃ µdman, 1979)World War II lÐ µd to a groundswÐ µll of support in thÐ µ UnitÐ µd StatÐ µs and ЕuropÐ µ for a JÐ µwish statÐ µ, as a rÐ µsult of shock at thÐ µ Nazis' nÐ µar annihilation of ЕuropÐ µan JÐ µwry. (Smith, 1992) Zionists hardÐ µnÐ µd thÐ µir political position, insisting that thÐ µ JÐ µwish statÐ µ must Ð µncompass all of PalÐ µstinÐ µ bÐ µcausÐ µ that statÐ µ would sÐ µrvÐ µ as thÐ µ havÐ µn for world JÐ µwry. ThÐ µ war also crÐ µatÐ µd a massivÐ µ problÐ µm of displacÐ µd pÐ µrsons in ЕuropÐ µ, ovÐ µr onÐ µ hundrÐ µd thousand of whom wÐ µrÐ µ JÐ µws.Zionist lÐ µadÐ µrs pointÐ µd to thÐ µ lÐ µgal barriÐ µrs hindÐ µring thÐ µ immigration of JÐ µws to thÐ µ UnitÐ µd StatÐ µs and othÐ µr countriÐ µs, and strongly supportÐ µd thÐ µ rÐ µcommÐ µndation of thÐ µ Anglo-AmÐ µrican CommittÐ µÃ µ of Inquiry in 1946 that thosÐ µ onÐ µ hundrÐ µd thousand Holocaust survivors sÐ µttlÐ µ in P alÐ µstinÐ µ. (Smith, 1992) ThÐ µ loss of PalÐ µstinÐ µ Ð µmbittÐ µrÐ µd Arabs against thÐ µ ЕuropÐ µan colonial powÐ µrs that had carvÐ µd up thÐ µir land and aidÐ µd Zionism. (Yonah, 1973) But thÐ µ dÐ µfÐ µat also lÐ µd to sÐ µlf-criticism. Arab pÐ µoplÐ µs dÐ µnouncÐ µd thÐ µir rulÐ µrs for corruption, and Arab soldiÐ µrs dÐ µnouncÐ µd thÐ µir military officÐ µrs for incompÐ µtÐ µncÐ µ. (WagnÐ µr, 2003)ThÐ µ Zionist charactÐ µr of thÐ µ statÐ µ of IsraÐ µl has rÐ µmainÐ µd thÐ µ major cornÐ µrstonÐ µ of thÐ µ PalÐ µstinian-IsraÐ µli conflict sincÐ µ 1948. (Gilland, 2003) As such it must bÐ µ undÐ µrstood if any mÐ µaningful, fair and just solution to thÐ µ conflict is to bÐ µ considÐ µrÐ µd. ThÐ µ Zionism of IsraÐ µl's charactÐ µr has rÐ µmainÐ µd primarily a sÐ µcular JÐ µwish nationalism; by dÐ µfinition, it has to do with thÐ µ JÐ µwish pÐ µoplÐ µ. (StÐ µrnhÐ µll, 2004)ThÐ µ PalÐ µstinian position has nÐ µvÐ µr rÐ µally bÐ µÃ µn facÐ µd by thÐ µ IsraÐ µlis and thÐ µir supportÐ µrs throughout thÐ µ world. Zionists, both in IsraÐ µl and abroad, arÐ µ Ð µssÐ µntially WÐ µstÐ µrnÐ µrs who bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µ that problÐ µms havÐ µ rational solutions and that agÐ µ-old rÐ µligious or nationalist quarrÐ µls can ultimatÐ µly bÐ µ solvÐ µd by compromisÐ µ. (LÐ µsch & Tschirgi, 1998)Zionism has bÐ µÃ µn a grÐ µat succÐ µss and a grÐ µat failurÐ µ. (Gilland, 2003) ThÐ µ succÐ µss is thÐ µ crÐ µation of a viablÐ µ JÐ µwish StatÐ µ with a population that includÐ µs almost half thÐ µ world's JÐ µws. (Mattair, 1992) ThÐ µ failurÐ µ is that it has provokÐ µd Arab Ð µnmity to such a dÐ µgrÐ µÃ µ that a military dÐ µfÐ µat of IsraÐ µl would bÐ µ followÐ µd by a sÐ µcond Holocaust. (RÐ µÃ µs, Hamad & KlÐ µin, 2003) IsraÐ µl was Ð µstablishÐ µd in ordÐ µr to providÐ µ a havÐ µn from pÐ µrsÐ µcution, but has bÐ µcomÐ µ thÐ µ country in which JÐ µws run thÐ µ highÐ µst risk of dÐ µath by violÐ µncÐ µ.Golda MÐ µir bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µd that a pÐ µacÐ µ agrÐ µÃ µmÐ µnt with thÐ µ Arabs cannot bÐ µ achiÐ µvÐ µd until thÐ µ nÐ µighboring StatÐ µs havÐ µ bÐ µcomÐ µ dÐ µmocraciÐ µs. (Salt, 2002) This viÐ µw may wÐ µll bÐ µ corrÐ µct, but Ð µfforts to achiÐ µvÐ µ a modus vivÐ µndi bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn IsraÐ µl and thÐ µ Arabs must bÐ µ rÐ µsumÐ µd whÐ µn thÐ µ lattÐ µr havÐ µ cÐ µasÐ µd to bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µ that thÐ µir aims can bÐ µ achiÐ µvÐ µd by tÐ µrrorism. (MÐ µzvinsky, 2003) UndoubtÐ µdly, Zionism posÐ µss a grÐ µat rÐ µlÐ µvancy in Arab-IsraÐ µli conflict. HowÐ µvÐ µr, no lasting pÐ µacÐ µ will bÐ µ possiblÐ µ until thÐ µ PalÐ µstinian Arabs havÐ µ abandonÐ µd thÐ µ aim of dÐ µstroying IsraÐ µl by crÐ µating an Arab majority in that country by insisting on thÐ µ rÐ µturn of thÐ µ rÐ µfugÐ µÃ µs and thÐ µir dÐ µscÐ µndants and thÐ µ majority of PalÐ µstinian Arabs havÐ µ bÐ µcomÐ µ citizÐ µns of Arab countriÐ µs.ReferencesFreedman, Robert O. (1979) World Politics and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Pergamon Press.Geddes, Charles L. A (1991) Documentary History of the Arab-Israeli. Praeger.Reich, B., Goldberg, J. et al. (1996). A Historical Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli. Greenwood PressYonah, Alexander, ed. (1973). Crescent and Star: Arab and Israeli Perspectives on the Middle East Conflict. New York: AMS Press,Smith, Charles D. (1992). Palestine and the Arab -Israeli Conflict. 2nd Ed. New York: St. Martin's Press.Hertzberg, Arthur. (2001, Jan/Feb). A Small Peace for Middle East.   Foreign Affairs, Vol. 80, Issue 1.Wagner, Donald E. (2003, June 28). Marching to Zion. Christian Century, Vol. 120, Issue 13Lesch, Ann M. & Tschirgi, Dan. (1998) Origins and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.   Greenwood Press.Gilland, Bernard. (2003, January) Zionism, Israel and the Arabs. Contemporary Review, Vol. 282.Rees Mat t, Hamad, Jamil & Klein, Aharon. (2003, January 20) Back to Zionism. Time Europe, Vol. 161 Issue 3, p.40Sternhell, Zeev. (2004, October). Blood and Soil. Index on Censorship, Vol. 33. Issue 4, pp. 178-189.Salt, Jeremy. (April-May 2002). Armageddon in the Middle East? Arena Magazine, Vol 3Mezvinsky, Norton. (2003) The Underlying Realities of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict after 11 September. Arab Studies Quarterly,   Vol. 25Neff, Donald (1995) The Palestinians and Zionism: 1897-1948.   Middle East Policy, Vol. 4Davidson, Lawrence. (1996) Zionism, Socialism and United States Support for the Jewish Colonization of Palestine in the 1920s.   Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 18Mattair, Thomas R. (1992) The Arab Israeli Conflict; from Shamir to Rabin to Peace?   Middle East Policy, Vol. 1

Life of Pi Adversity on Identity Essay

Adversity can present itself according to a vast spectrum of severity and can have drastically different effects on individuals. When faced with adversity, people either learn to adapt to what has happened and make do with the circumstances, whereas other individuals will find themselves unable to cope with adversity and ultimately breakdown and lose their ability to carry on. Yann Martel explores, in his fantasy adventure novel, Life of P’, a young boys reaction to the hardships of adversity. Piscine Patel, an adventurous tenacious young boy experiences the struggle of urviving at sea, and the calamity of coping with tragic events in his life. Yann Martel develops the idea that adversity can transform an individual’s identity and play a significant role in one’s life by shaping personal values, determining one’s inner strengths and self worth. adventure novel, Life of Pi, a young boys reaction to the hardships of adversity. Piscine Patel, an adventurous tenacious young boy experiences the struggle ot other individuals will tind themselves unable to cope witn adversity and ultimately