Strategic Perspective - Zara Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Strategic Perspective - Zara Report - Essay Example However, the company has been influenced by certain external factors throughout its dominant apparel retailing business. It has been found from the external analysis of Zara, it has been found that the company has been able to obtain substantial advantages within the global business environment. Moreover, the external analysis of Zara has revealed that in the fast fashion retail industry the bargaining power of buyers is quite high, therefore the company needs to constantly strive towards their varied and altering altering preferences. Additionally, the company has developed robust internal resources based upon its competent human resource capabilities. On the other hand, in relation to corporate social responsibilities, Zara follows certain ethical code of conducts in its business practices which facilitates the company to achieve sustainability. However, Zara in recent years has been dogged with certain public relations related crisis due to certain undesirable conducts. Therefore, certain strategic options and choices as well as recommendations such as expanding outsourcing activities and focusing on PR along with CSR initiatives have been advised to the company so that it is able to maintain its dominant position in the global fast fashion retail industry. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 I. Introduction 5 II. External Environment Analysis 6 II. I. PESTEL Analysis 6 II. II. Five Forces Analysis 8 III. Internal Environment Analysis 9 III. I. SWOT Analysis 10 III. II. Internal Resources and Capabilities 11 III. III. Value Chain Analysis 13 III. III. I. Primary Activities 13 III. III. II. Support Activities 15 IV Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 16 IV. I. Ethics 16 IV. II. Public Relations (PR) Crisis 17 IV. III. External Stakeholders Issue 18 V. Strategic Options and Choices 18 V. I. Expanding Outsourcing Activities to Other Developing Countries 18 V. IV. Emphasising Upon PR Campaigns 19 VI. Implementation and Evaluation 20 VII. Recommendations 21 V II. I. Improvement of the CSR Initiatives 21 VIII. II. Emphasise Upon Greater Initiatives on PR Activities 21 VIII. Conclusion 22 References 23 I. Introduction According to the present increasing competitive business scenario witnessed in the fashion retail industry, Zara has been recognised as one of the renowned fashion brands. The company has been playing a leading role in the respective industry through expanding in different global regions across the world. Zara is the major brand of its parent company The Inditex Group, one of the dominant clothing retail organisations within the globe (Corporate Excellence, 2011). It can frequently be observed that the company highly seeks to represent unique fast-fashion clothing to the global customers. In accordance with the present day context, the company is performing its leading role in 86 countries through its more than 1750 stores across the different nations of the world (Inditex, 2013). Emphasising upon the present competitive glob al clothing retail segment, the primary objective of this report is to demonstrate an in-depth analysis of Zara in the global clothing retail industry. The discussion of this report will be focused on analysing external environment of Zara through incorporating PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces framework. Moreover, the discussion of t

Fast Food Nation Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Nation Essay Whether we like it or not, fast food and its detrimental effects have become an epidemic. For many years, people have been oblivious to the growth of the fast food industry. However, over the past three decades, the fast food industry has nearly taken over our American society; almost anywhere, one can see its vast influence. As a result, in his book, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser portrays the influence of the industry. By implementing pathetic appeals for injustice and disgust, statistics from reputable sources, and fear of the consequences of fast food, Schlosser shows the average adult how the fast food industry is ruining American culture as a way to reform its problems. Throughout his book, Schlosser consistently tries to create an emotional appeal, particularly to one’s injustice and disgust to depict his opinion. When one hears things such as, â€Å"The hamburger habit is just about as safe†¦as getting your meat out of a garbage can† (Schlosser 195), he or she cannot help but to be disgusted. Of course no one wants to be told that he or she is eating trash. Moreover, Schlosser discusses other vomit-inducing truths such as, the numerous amounts of cannibal animals among the animals whose meat becomes the food that people eat at a fast food restaurant (202). He also talks about how every year there are millions of dead animals purchased to be fed to the animals that restaurants provide as meat (Schlosser 202). Lastly, Schlosser writes, â€Å"There is shit in the meat† (197), which immediately grabs the reader’s attention and hence shows his pathetic appeal to persuasively convey his opinion. Would anyone really want to eat a feces burger for lunch? In addition, out of 355 detailed pages, Schlosser’s statistics are omnipresent. He constantly uses them to back up his statements with evidence, even dedicating one sixth of the book to notes full of statistics with reputable sources. Although he already states his facts persuasively, they become more convincing with this use of logos. For instance, at many times, authors will make up a statement and act as if it were a true fact. However, when he writes, â€Å"There is a 100 percent turnover rate annually† (Schlosser 325) and quotes it from a published article, one can actually know the turnover rate without having to question its validity. Furthermore, when Schlosser writes about how 7. 5% of all ground beef samples are contaminated with Salmonella and quotes it from a Nationwide Microbiological survey, one does not have a hard time believing its legitimacy (Schlosser 333). One of the most persuasive strategies Schlosser uses in his book is his appeal to his audience’s consequential fears of fast food. For most people, living life is a wonderful gift and if anything could be able to take it away, people would doubtlessly avoid it. Schlosser does an effective job at listing the harmful consequences; since he clearly detests the fast food industry’s influence, he does this to help reform against the influence of it. For example, when Schlosser brings up the existence of E. coli O157:H7 in fast food, he does not simply say, â€Å"It is bad† (199). He goes on and elaborates with great detail, giving a story of a six year old boy named Alex who died because of the bug (200). Not only does he dramatize the story but he also narrates the events chronologically to draw the greatest response from the reader. Schlosser writes, â€Å"It progressed to diarrhea†¦Doctors frantically tried to save Alex’s life, drilling holes in his skull to relieve pressure, inserting tubes in his chest to keep him breathing†¦ Toward the end, Alex suffered hallucinations and dementia, no longer recognizing his mother or father† (200). These events, individually, already seem terrifying. Together, it magnifies the effect. Pathos and logos play an important role throughout Schlosser’s entire book. He is clearly against the fast food industry’s ubiquitous influence and as a result, he writes with pathetic appeals, reputable sources, and fear evoking descriptions to abolish its influence on American culture. What he writes has shown to be true; fast food has had a negative effect on society. While fast food may have some benefits, it’s detrimental in the long run. Day by day, the influence of fast food continues to grow and harm the American culture.

India-Pakistan Relations Through the Lens of Realism

India-Pakistan Relations Through the Lens of Realism India and Pakistan have had many conflicts in their relationship because of the multitude of problems in the political sphere throughout history leading to their current state of affairs. To best understand the relationship between the countries, I used realism as a theory of international relations through the examples of the Battle of Kashmir and the riots of 1947 during the Partition of India. India and Pakistan both have associations   through the cultures, history and also economic and geographic issues.   Therefore, these two states have led themselves to high tensions, making their relations unpredictable and in some cases destructive. In International Relations, there are many ideas that influence the theory of Realism, but the one idea that stands out is that states are generally only worried about themselves and the issues that only involve them. Realists have a higher regard for issues such as security and national interests instead of ethics or ideals.When it comes to dealing with others, whether it is regarding war or any other issue, it is only for one reason and that is because they are in the struggle for power. Ever since the Post-World War II era started, Realism has been known to be the leading theory in International Relations. In world politics, Realism stresses the idea that state is the main actor. Usually, Realists have the view that conflicts with other nations are needed and these conflicts are to be conclusively dealt with by war. The partition of 1947, was a period of time involving unrest and violence. In 1947, India and Pakistan had separated and became their own countries. Pakistan was predominantly Muslim while India was majority Hindu.   Before the partition, there weren’t many acts of violence between the three main religions of Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus, the Partition changed that. Countless acts of sexual violence towards women and slaying of families became a result of this Partition. â€Å"Some seventy-five thousand women were raped, and many of them were then disfigured or dismembered†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ By 1948, as the great migration drew to a close, more than fifteen million people had been uprooted, and between one and two million were dead (The New Yorker, 2015).† Punjab had been split in half between India and Pakistan because of the Partition and this is where most of the violent acts on women and families happened. However, after the long lasting struggle, India and Pakistan did gain their independence in August of 1947. Some of the reasons for the Partition of India were â€Å"Mohammed Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, simply wished to use the demand for a separate state as a bargaining chip to win greater power for Muslims within a loosely federated India (BBC, 2011).† Also, â€Å"One explanation for the chaotic manner in which the two independent nations came into being is the hurried nature of the British withdrawal (BBC, 2011).† These reasonings behind the Partition makes gives me a sense of a Realism perspective because the definition of a Realist in International Relations is  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å" Realists consider the principal actors in the international arena to be states, which are concerned with their own security, act in pursuit of their own national interests, and struggle for power (Stanford Philosophy, 2013).† Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanted to win a greater power for the Muslim people so this move to have their own country would get that for them. Sadly, this didn’t happen without the tragedies of tons of people. Since the Partition of India was in 1947, this leads right into our next topic. The Battle of Kashmir dates back to 1947 as well. Even after India and Pakistan had formed into their own countries, there was still an issue of having hundreds of states that were within these two countries that were lead by Monarchs. These states could decide which country they wanted to be apart of or they could also choose to stay by themselves and they would make the decision by having the people vote. Many of these Monarchs wanted to stay independent but they had to stick with the decisions of the people and go with what they wanted. During this time, â€Å"Maharaja Hari Singh was the ruler of Kashmir, which had the option to choose either country to join because of the location of Kashmir. The only issue about Hari Singh, was that he was Hindu while all of his people were Muslim (Daily O, 2015).† In order to keep the issue calm, he decided to just stay and not join either. However, this did not last very long, â€Å" his hopes of remaining independent were dashed in October 1947, as Pakistan sent in Muslim tribesmen who were knocking at the gates of the capital Srinagar. Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance and fled to India. He signed the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26 (The Telegraph, 2001).† India and Pakistan ended up going to war over Kashmir, however, this was only the first time. After India went to the United Nations for help, they decided they would leave it to the people of Kashmir to vote for their own. They ended up going to war on four   different occasions and still have battles to this day. The fact that India and Pakistan have gone to four wars, that alone shows how important and significant   Kashmir is. Realism considers Security as a major priority, and for India, if they were to claim Kashmir it would be very resourceful security wise for them against China and Pakistan. It serves as â€Å" a barrier to the philosophy of Pakistan Government which could threaten India’s internal security (aarcentre, 2016).† Kashmir is very important for either country because of its economic benefits as well. The amount of revenue they can get from tourism of Kashmir would be a huge factor. â€Å"As for Pakistan it is vital for its security zone as well the presence of two major roads and railway network in the border help to strengthen its economy (aarcentre, 2016). As far as Realism goes in the Battle of Kashmir, power is shown by India by the fact that after getting its independence, many states chose to join them. Another instance of Realism in the Battle, was when India supported Hari Singh. When the Pakistani troops showed up to Kashmir and tried to take over, India backed him up without hesitating. However, India had a reason behind it, which was that they would be in good standing with Hari Singh. Which is exactly how it worked out, Hari Singh ended up signing Kashmir over to India soon after that. This shows that India only stepped in for their own personal benefits and as a Realist would say, for their â€Å"struggle of power.† India shows their sense of Realism once again as well when Pakistan wanted to go to the UN to solve the issue. India played a trick on them by saying they should just negotiate between themselves, but then soon after that they went to the UN themselves asking them to step in. This made it look like India was concerned about the people of Kashmir which made them look better to the United Nations. This shows the Realist standpoint of doing whatever it takes for the struggle of power. Through the examples of The Battle of Kashmir, and the Partition of India and the riots during the time, Realism helped me understand the relationship between India and Pakistan throughout the years.Using The Partition of India, Realism was shown through the leader of the Muslim League Jinnah, because he wanted to separate from the loose Indian government and have more power for his own Muslim people. During this movement, an estimated 1-2 million people had died and about 15 million people had to relocate their homes. Lastly, The Battle of Kashmir showed us the Realism perspective through the many ways Kashmir would have brought security and money and power into the countries. India showed us their Realist views by doing whatever was needed to gain their power by supporting Hari Singh even though they had their own intentions in mind. They also showed a fake side by going to the UN and making themselves look better after recently telling the Pakistani government that no one needs to intervene and the   best to solve the issue is by negotiating within themselves. Works Cited A Brief History of the Kashmir Conflict. The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 24 Sept. 2001. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. Alam, Mohd. Shekaib, Muhammet Ali Guler, and Moyenul Hasan. KASHMIR CONFLICT BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN: A REALIST PERSPECTIVE. Journal of Asian and African Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2413-2748). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. BBC History British History in Depth: The Hidden Story of Partition and Its Legacies. BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. Dalrymple, William. The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition. The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 21 June 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. Khajuria, Manu. Hari Singh Was More than a Hindu King Who Ruled over a Muslim Majority State. DailyO Opinion News & Analysis on Latest Breaking News India. Living Media India Limited, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. Korab-Karpowicz, W. Julian. Political Realism in International Relations. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, 26 July 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.

Aggression and Violence in a Mental Health Units Essay -- Nursing Rese

Assaults in the healthcare setting are recognized as a growing problem. In considering the violence and aggression in mental health units, the larger issue of violence and aggression in mainstream culture must not be ignored. It has been observed that physical attack in a mental health unit setting appear to be happening more frequently while the attacks include patient-to patient and patient-to-staff aggressive behavior. Most commonly, reporting of aggressive behavior toward healthcare staff is noted; however, it cannot be completely explained by patient characteristics or staff member behaviors (Foster, Bowers, & Nijman, 2006). To improve patient control of aggression and violence, an organization must better define the management and reporting of this behavior, identify appropriate management programs and training, and evaluate the frequency and precipitants. The impact of aggression and violence in mental health units is substantial. Effects that have been documented include physical injury, emotional and psychological harm, compromised patient care, and financial expense to the organization. In a review of literature, physical injury to inpatient mental health staff is high and poses a strong threat to staff and other patients (Foster, Bowers, & Nijman, 2006). Although the rates of victimization that occur between patients are low, it is an increasing concern. In these acts of aggression, both verbal and physical violence can occur. Aggression Management To manage the aggression both for patient and staff victims, Eileen Morrison and Colleen Love (2003) evaluated four aggression management programs using predetermined criteria for their effectiveness in training behavioral health staff. Morrison and Love’... ... in psychiatric inpatient units. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 34, 967-974. Bowers, L., Allan, T., Simpson, A., Nijman, H., & Warren, J. (2007). Adverse Incidents, Patient Flow and Nursing Workforce Variables on Acute Psychiatric Wards: The Tompkins Acute Ward Study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 53(75), 75-84. Foster, C., Bowers, L., & Nijman, H. (2007). Aggressive behavior on acute psychiatric wards: prevalence, severity, and management. Journal of Advanced Nursing 58(2), 140-149. Ilkiw-Lavalle, O., & Grenyer, B. (2003). Differences between Patient and Staff Perceptions of Aggression in Mental Health Units. Psychiatric Services 54(3), 389-393. Morrison, E., & Love, C. (2003). An Evaluation of Four Programs for the Management of Aggression in Psychiatric Settings. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 37(4), 146-155.

Ob : All the Wrong Moves

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR-I CASE ANALYSIS All the Wrong Moves Submitted to: Dr. Saleena Khan Asst. Professor, OB & HRM Area IMT, Nagpur Submitted By: GROUP-1, SECTION-A Aakanksha Garg 2012001 Abhinav Aggarwal 2012007 Abhishek Gupta 2012013 Abinash Dash 2012015 Aditya Mohan 2012022 Akash Agrawal 2012029 Anant Kr Ajmera 2012040 Ankita Pandey 2012051 Introduction: This case is about a company ‘Nutrorim’ which was founded in 1986 by an organic farmer and his wife.Nutrorim manufactures various lines of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The case is about the flaws in decision making process of the company. Don Rifkin is the main character of the case who tries to correct the decisions made by the company at the time of crisis or otherwise. The employees of the company give mixed and different reviews over the same discussions. Don the CEO of the company tried to find out the feedbacks with the help of consultants. While going through the case we tried to find out the main re asons for poor decision making of the company and tried to find the solutions for the same.Background: Nutrorim which was founded in 1986 by an organic farmer and his wife had been at the top of its field. Nutrorim’ s products had gained national attention and the company’s organic, performance-enhancing supplement powder Charge Up had gone through the roof due to an endorsement by a famous Olympic athlete. This lead the Nutrorim to hire hundreds of new employees, expand its production facilities and acquire two vitamin firms. Nutrorim went public in the year 1997 and by 2002 Changeup was the best-selling performance-enhancing sports powder on the market.Don Rifkin who joined Nutrorim as CEO in 1989 had tried hard to foster a happy, participatory, democratic culture at Nutrorim. Steve Ford was the head of the R&D section of Nutrorim. But during the past one year, Nutrorim had suffered from a spate of bad decisions. A consultant was hired to review the company’s decision making processes that had individual interviews with senior managers. Objectives: * Understanding the importance of objective analysis and oversight at strategic level decision making in an organisation Necessity to have a firm and clear hierarchy within an organisation for effective decision making in face of crisis. * Understand need for a Leader to identify the expertise that his subordinates have and assigning them responsibilities accordingly for running an organisation effectively. * Understanding the ineffectiveness arising out of decision making process in an organisation if it is too democratic at strategic level. Analysis: The said company was presented with an accusation that their product was making people sick.The company's options were to keep the potentially dangerous product on the shelves, which could turn into a law suit, or to accept the costs and do a recall. In meeting of the top managers there were huge disagreements on who should have the most power i n the decision-making process and there was little organized discussion and not all the voices were being heard. There was a lack of centralized leadership that was able to weigh all the voices and make a more discerning decision. The committee members were not unified on what should actually be done.Employees in positions of power did not ask the right questions to make well-informed decision. The decision to recall Charge Up was made under a lot of uncertainty and was the facts were not analyzed thoroughly before taking decision. The company knew the consequences of recalling or leaving the product on the shelves. This decision was a non-programmed decision that should be made by top managers. The situation was brought to a local radio station and the company began to panic that the information would go public ruining the company's reputation.There are too many people giving their inputs and many took the accusations personally which limited objective, productive discussions on wh at was the best action for the company to take. The company needs to name a person or a small group of people that are able to take charge in times of crisis in order to manage discussions better and make the ultimate decision. The leadership should be able to question or conduct research of cases surrounding their dilemma. The Leadership here wasn’t effective in identifying the expertise of its members which at times created conflicts within the team.Solutions: * Nutrorim lacked a definite plan for taking actions when decisions are to be taken especially when a time was a constraint. * Don was correct when he wished to have a little democratic approach to taking decisions but relying completely on consensus resulted in beating around the bush too often and wasting a lot of time. Taking multiple perspectives of looking at a problem and finding its solution can be done systematically by the process of one by one feedback but the final decision must rest on the C. E.O and the c oncerning department head as a decision taken by a majority vote may not be correct as the domain expertise of employees participating in the meeting shall be vivid (It depends on the area where the problem is arising). * In this case when Nutrorim was accused of causing gastric problems to its customers; a timely action was imperative as the name of the brand was at stake. Calling multiple meetings was a waste of time and actions should have been taken by Don as a leader himself after listening to every ones views. He should have instructed PR Director to immediately revert to the calls she got from the media person (radio station) to let the public know that since such an investigation is taking place the company gives maximum priority to its customer’s health and it shall even consider a recall till the time the investigations were completed by the health department. This action would make the public aware that the company was not trying to hide something under the carpet and it was cooperating with the health department. A decision has to be taken with all the facts and perspectives in mind and not just taken because it’s to every ones taste. Ones the rationale is clear behind the plan of action for addressing the problem at hand, the chair shall immediately ensure its timely execution. * Corporate culture was not sound. Steve’s behaviour towards Nora was inappropriate and his behaviour should have been condemned and sorted out by Don. It’s very essential for employees to work cordially for healthy functioning of an organisation. Presence of a Knowledge department in the company keeps a record of effective course of actions taken by other companies at the time of similar crisis in the past helps to take timely measures effectively. Learning from others helps in decision making. Theoretical Relations: * Bounded rationality: He could perceive that recalling the product is the only plan of action. He didn’t explore other opt ions. * Rational decision making: He measured the options, took feedbacks from the other employees, and did a thorough study before taking a decision. Pro-active personality: He takes initiatives, has decision making abilities. * Employee engagement: He engages all the employees of the company in decision making process. * Workforce diversity: There is diverse workforce in the company. Managerial learning: * A manger should understand skills of each team member and assign them responsibilities according to their areas of expertise. * Controlling power: A manager should have firm control over the decision making process in the organization and should also be an effective team leader. Coordination: A manager should be able to establish coordination among the employees. There should not be conflicts among the employees if any then manager should intervene and resolve the same. * Balance between democratic and dictatorial approach: A manager should not be too democratic as well as dicta torial in decision making. REFERENCES United States Edition , entitled Organizational Behavior, 14th Edition, ISBN: 9780136124016 by Robbins, Stephen P. , Judge, Timothy A. , published by Pearson Education Inc. , publishing as Prentice Hall 2011

All About Serializing in Visual Basic

All About Serializing in Visual Basic Serialization is the process of converting an object into a linear sequence of bytes called a byte stream. Deserialization just reverses the process. But why would you want to convert an object into a byte stream? The main reason is so you can move the object around. Consider the possibilities. Since everything is an object in .NET, you can serialize anything and save it to a file. So you could serialize pictures, data files, the current state of a program module (state is like a snapshot of your program at a point in time so you could temporarily suspend execution and start again later) ... whatever you need to do. You can also store these objects on disk in files, send them over the web, pass them to a different program, keep a backup copy for safety or security. The possibilities are quite literally endless. Thats why serialization is such a key process in .NET and Visual Basic. Below is a section on custom serialization by implementing the ISerializable interface and coding a New and a GetObjectData subroutine. As a first example of serialization, lets do one of the easiest programs, but also one of the most useful: serializing data, and then deserializing data in simple class to and from a file. In this example, the data is not only serialized, but the structure of the data is saved too. The structure here is declared in a module to keep things ... well ... structured. Module SerializeParmsSerializable() Public Class ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm1Name As String Parm1 Name  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm1Value As Integer 12345  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm2Name As String  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm2Value As DecimalEnd ClassEnd Module Then, individual values can be saved to a file like this: Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.BinaryImports System.IOPublic Class Form1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Private Sub mySerialize_Click( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal sender As System.Object, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Handles mySerialize.Click  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim ParmData As New ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ParmData.Parm2Name Parm2 Name  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ParmData.Parm2Value 54321.12345  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim s As New FileStream(ParmInfo, FileMode.Create)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim f As New BinaryFormatter  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  f.Serialize(s, ParmData)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  s.Close()  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class And those same values can be retrieved like this: Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.BinaryImports System.IOPublic Class Form1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Private Sub myDeserialize_Click( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal sender As System.Object, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Handles myDeserialize.Click  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim s New FileStream(ParmInfo, FileMode.Open)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim f As New BinaryFormatter  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim RestoredParms As New ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RestoredParms f.Deserialize(s)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  s.Close()  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Name)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Value)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Name)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Value)  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class A Structure or a collection (such as an ArrayList) rather than a Class could also be serialized to a file this same way. Now that we have gone over the basic serializing process, lets look at the specific details that are part of the process on the next page. One of the first things you should notice about this example is the Serializable() attribute in the Class. Attributes are just more information that you can provide to VB.NET about an object and theyre used for a lot of different things.  The attribute in this code tells VB.NET to add extra code so that later on, everything in this class can be serialized. If there are specific items in the Class that you dont want to be serialized, you can use the NonSerialized() attribute to exclude them: NonSerialized() Public Parm3Value As String Whatever In the example, notice is that Serialize and Deserialize are methods of the BinaryFormatter object (f in this example). f.Serialize(s, ParmData) This object takes the FileStream object and the object to be serialized as parameters. Well see that VB.NET offers another object that allows the result to be expressed as XML. And one final note, if your object includes other subordinate objects, theyll be serialized too! But since all objects that are serialized must be marked with the Serializable() attribute, all of these child objects must be marked that way too. Just to be completely clear about what is happening in your program, you might want to display the file named ParmData in Notepad to see what serialized data looks like. (If you followed this code, it should be in the bin.Debug folder in your project.) Since this is a binary file, most of the content isnt readable text, but you should be able to see any strings in your serialized file. Well do an XML version next and you might want to compare the two just to be aware of the difference. Serializing to XML instead of a binary file requires very few changes. XML isnt as fast and cant capture some object information, but its far more flexible. XML can be used by just about any other software technology in the world today. If you want to be sure your file structures dont tie you into Microsoft, this is a good option to look into. Microsoft is emphasizing LINQ to XML to create XML data files in their latest technology but many people still prefer this method. The X in XML stands for eXtensible. In our XML example, were going to use one of those extensions of XML, a technology called SOAP. This used to mean Simple Object Access Protocol but now its just a name. (SOAP has been upgraded so much that the original name doesnt fit that well anymore.) The main thing that we have to change in our subroutines is the declation of the serialization formatter. This has to be changed in both the subroutine that serializes the object and the one that deserializes it again. For the default configuration, this involves three changes to your program. First, you have to add a Reference to the project. Right-click the project and select Add Reference .... Make sure ... System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap ... has been added to the project. Then change the two statements in the program that references it. Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.SoapDim f As New SoapFormatter This time, if you check out the same ParmData file in Notepad, youll see that the whole thing is in readable XML text such as ... Parm1Name idref-3Parm1 Name/Parm1NameParm1Value12345/Parm1ValueParm2Name idref-4Parm2 Name/Parm2NameParm2Value54321.12345/Parm2Value There is also a lot of additional XML there thats necessary for the SOAP standard in the file as well. If you want to verify what the NonSerialized() attribute does, you can add a variable with that attribute and look at the file to verify that its not included. The example we just coded only serialized the data, but suppose you need to control how the data is serialized. VB.NET can do that too! To accomplish this, you need to get a little deeper into the concept of serialization. VB.NET has a new object to help out here: SerializationInfo. Although you have the ability to code custom serialization behavior, it comes with a cost of extra coding. The basic extra code is shown below. Remember, this class is used instead of the ParmExample class shown in the earlier example. This isnt a complete example. The purpose is to show you the new code that is needed for custom serialization. Imports System.Runtime.SerializationSerializable() _Public Class CustomSerialization  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable  Ã‚  Ã‚   data to be serialized here  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public SerializedVariable as Type  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub New()  Ã‚  Ã‚   default constructor when the class  Ã‚  Ã‚   is created - custom code can be  Ã‚  Ã‚   added here too  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Sub  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub New( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   initialize your program variables from  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Sub  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub GetObjectData( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable.GetObjectData  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   update the serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from program variables  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class The idea is that now you can (and, in fact, you must) do all of the updating and reading of data in the serialized data store in the New and GetObjectData subroutines. You must also include a generic New constructor (no parameter list) because youre implementing an interface. The class will normally have formal properties and methods coded as well ... Generic PropertyPrivate newPropertyValue As StringPublic Property NewProperty() As String  Ã‚  Ã‚  Get  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Return newPropertyValue  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Get  Ã‚  Ã‚  Set(ByVal value As String)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  newPropertyValue value  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SetEnd Property Generic MethodPublic Sub MyMethod()  Ã‚  Ã‚  method codeEnd Sub The resulting serialized class can create unique values in the file based on the code you supply. For example, a real-estate class might update a the value and address of a house but the class would serialize a calculated market classification as well. The New subroutine will look something like this: Public Sub New( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext)  Ã‚  Ã‚   initialize your program variables from  Ã‚  Ã‚   a serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parm1Name info.GetString(a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parm1Value info.GetInt32(b)  Ã‚  Ã‚   New sub continues ... When Deserialize is called on a BinaryFormatter object, this sub is executed and a SerializationInfo object is passed to the New subroutine. New can then do whatever is necessary with the serialized data values. For example ... MsgBox(This is Parm1Value Times Pi: _  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Parm1Value * Math.PI).ToString) The reverse happens when Serialize is called, but the BinaryFormatter object calls GetObjectData instead. Public Sub GetObjectData( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable.GetObjectData  Ã‚  Ã‚   update the serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚   from program variables  Ã‚  Ã‚  If Parm2Name Test Then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(a, This is a test.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Else  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(a, No test this time.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  End If  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(b, 2) Notice that the data is added to the serialized file as name/value pairs. A lot of the web pages Ive found in writing this article dont seem to have actual working code. One wonders whether the author actually executed any code before writing the article sometimes.

Write an Analysis of the cover of Tsotsi Essays

Write an Analysis of the cover of Tsotsi Essays Write an Analysis of the cover of Tsotsi Essay Write an Analysis of the cover of Tsotsi Essay Write an Analysis of the cover of Tootsie My initial interpretation of the cover of Tootsie was that it was at a time of the day when the sun isnt fully prominent perhaps at Dawn, or it could possibly be at dusk, as the bright orange sun is Just peeking over the tops of the buildings. Also there is the powerful blue sky at the very top of the cover which could show either times of day as it could be forming or leaving. I thought that if it was dawn the male presence on the cover could have Just started or even Just finished work, as its quite common o work shifts like that, this would also explain how he looks tired however, this could also link into the possibility that hes running away. I also noticed that the background was quite poor, and looked poverty stricken like a shanty town, this insinuates that perhaps its based in a third world country such as Africa. This links in to the fact that the biggest presence on the cover is a young looking male, as countries such as Africa are stereotypically male dominant cultures, it is showing that perhaps the film is sticking to the stereotypes almost as if to make sure that the audience understand the film. The boy on the cover looks as though he doesnt quite fit in with the back scene, his clothes look expensive and possibly even branded. A leather Jacket and Chuck Taylor converse all-stars arent exactly what youd expect to see in Africa. Also there is the fact that he has what looks like a bracelet on his right wrist, this insinuates that perhaps the boy has money, how he got it we are still unsure of. However, it may not be a bracelet and in fact could be a lone handcuff which shows us that he could be into crime. It would also explain the fact that hes wearing expensive looking clothes and looks so out of place with his surroundings. On the bottom of the cover, only very small is a train, it looks as though it is Just simply passing by. Like a normal train does, but considering it is in a poverty stricken area it could have some other meaning. This could link into the thought maybe the film contains an element of crime, as the train could be used as a method of escape. Allowing him to leave it all behind and start a-new. As this is typical of people from or backgrounds and poor cities, they escape to get away and try and make a fresh start with the facilities and possibilities for a better life. At first I thought that the child in the boys arms could be a sibling due to the fact the boy looked so young and that maybe the story was about the boys adventure to find his mother and reunite not Just himself but his younger sibling. However, after taking a closer look to such things like his background and the possibility of crime. I thought that perhaps the child was his own. That because of crime hed committed an act which left him with a child he didnt necessarily want or need and he was Just left with it due to either promiscuous relations or even committing an act such as rape, or that maybe the childs mother died and the child was left with its biological father. The boy seems to be holding the child close and tight like hes protecting it which insinuates that they have some form of a relationship and bond together so that he doesnt want the baby to get hurt. This then insinuates that the story could be about the struggles of being single and male parent in a third world country. I looked at the comments that have most to me was the one written by the guardian the popular newspaper stated Visceral, intense and powerful by the fact that it was the guardian who commented on this film it already shows us it must have high status as this particular newspaper has very high standards and doesnt Just promote anything. Also the comment makes us wonder if perhaps the story is about something bad which has happened and theyre trying to make up for their mistakes. Looking over the cover you also notice he awards it won and been nominated for. All of which are quite prestigious awards. Insinuating that it must have been quite a popular film especially to have actually won an Academy Award, and to be nominated for not one but two Betas and a Golden Globe. This shows how much of an effect the movie must have had on people. Also you notice the Production brand, Momentum. This is quite a popular brand which means that this film wouldve had a big budget and of course a wider audience which would explain the amazing nominations and award wins. Lastly, I noticed the GE certificate it had been awarded. 15. This certificate is usually given to films that cannot be seen by a younger audience due to the fact that the topics shown were a little too delicate for them so by giving the film this certificate it almost assures you that there will be some delicate issues included in the film as well as some adult themes. Possibly Sex, Drugs, Violence or strong language. This could show the possibility that the child is actually his. Also could show the audience that he is in quite a poor area and has to steal and kill to survive.