Operational Assessment of IT presents ideas and concepts of optimization designed to improve an organization's business processes and assist business units in meeting organizational goals more effectively. Rather than focus on specific technologies, computing environments, enterprise risks, resource programs, or infrastructure, the book focuses on organizational processes. Throughout the book, the author presents concerns and environments encountered throughout his career to demonstrate issues and explain how you, too, can successfully implement the tools presented in the book. The assessment process reviews the economics as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Whether your organization is profit-based, not-for-profit, or even governmental, you cannot provide services or products at a continuous loss. For an operational assessment to be of value, the ultimate goal must be to insure that the business unit process is effective and efficient and employs the financial assets and resources appropriately or helps the business unit make adjustments to improve the operation and use resources more efficiently and economically. After reading this book, you will be able to devise more efficient and economical ways to meet your customers' requirements, no matter who or where your customers are. You will learn that the goal of any process is to service or supply customers with what they want. The book provides tools and techniques that will assist you in gaining a 360-degree view of the process so that you can help the business unit improve the delivery of a quality product or a service to the customer.
Operational Assessment of IT presents ideas and concepts of optimization designed to improve an organization's business processes and assist business units in meeting organizational goals more effectively. Rather than focus on specific technologies, computing environments, enterprise risks, resource programs, or infrastructure, the book focuses on organizational processes. Throughout the book, the author presents concerns and environments encountered throughout his career to demonstrate issues and explain how you, too, can successfully implement the tools presented in the book. The assessment process reviews the economics as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Whether your organization is profit-based, not-for-profit, or even governmental, you cannot provide services or products at a continuous loss. For an operational assessment to be of value, the ultimate goal must be to insure that the business unit process is effective and efficient and employs the financial assets and resources appropriately or helps the business unit make adjustments to improve the operation and use resources more efficiently and economically. After reading this book, you will be able to devise more efficient and economical ways to meet your customers' requirements, no matter who or where your customers are. You will learn that the goal of any process is to service or supply customers with what they want. The book provides tools and techniques that will assist you in gaining a 360-degree view of the process so that you can help the business unit improve the delivery of a quality product or a service to the customer.
Sure, everyone's seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. But as you'll learn in this shockingly tasteless collection of great awful movies, there's so much more to the world of truly bad film. You'll dive into the steaming swamp of such disastrously delicious movies as: Young Hannah, Queen of the Vampires Puppet Master versus Demonic Toys Creature with the Atom Brain Cannibal Holocaust Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter For each movie, film buff and reviewer Steve Miller includes a list of principal cast, director, producer, a plot overview, why the movie sucked, a rating, choice quotes, interesting trivia, and a quiz. For anyone who's ever enjoyed awful movies, this is the book to have on the couch, along with the popcorn, as the opening credits flash on the screen for Gingerdead Men 2: The Passion of the Crust.
A collection of movie posters that spans Elvis' film career. This work includes background information about each movie, along with specific information about each poster style and pricing.
Lyman Coleman presents us with an encyclopedia of creative ideas for enlivening small groups, youth programs, church meetings, and special events. He also provides a history of the Serendipity movement, from 1960s coffee houses to 90s small groups.
Essential reading in this day and age.' Bernardo Kastrup, philosopher, author of Why Materialism is Baloney DisConnected offers a new vision of human nature and a new understanding of human behaviour and social problems. Connection is the most essential human trait - it determines our behaviour and our level of well-being. Cruelty is the result of a sense of disconnection, while “goodness” stems from connection. Unfortunately, the most disconnected people gravitate to positions of power, which leads to “pathocracy,” the most common form of government during the 20th century. Disconnected societies are patriarchal, hierarchical and warlike. Connected societies are egalitarian, democratic and peaceful. We can measure both social progress and personal development in terms of how far we move along a continuum of connection. At the most essential level, we are always interconnected. Altruism and spirituality are experiences of our fundamental connection. Regaining awareness of our connection is the only way by which we can live in harmony with ourselves, one another, and the world itself.
Genre and Hollywood provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of genre. In this important new book, Steve Neale discusses all the major concepts, theories and accounts of Hollywood and genre, as well as the key genres which theorists have written about, from horror to the Western. He also puts forward new arguments about the importance of genre in understanding Hollywood cinema. Neale takes issue with much genre criticism and genre theory, which has provided only a partial and misleading account of Hollywood's output. He calls for broader and more flexible conceptions of genre and genres, for more attention to be paid to the discourses and practices of Hollywood itself, for the nature and range of Hollywood's films to be looked at in more detail, and for any assessment of the social and cultural significance of Hollywood's genres to take account of industrial factors. In detailed, revisionist accounts of two major genres - film noir and melodrama - Neale argues that genre remains an important and productive means of thinking about both New and old Hollywood, its history, its audiences and its films.
Originally published in 1998. While there is a growing academic literature on corporate crime, much of this focuses upon variants of economic or financial crimes; there is a relative absence of studies of safety, health and/or environmental crimes. This is curious given that recent years have witnessed a resurgence in popular, academic and indeed state attention to questions related to environmental degradation and human safety. Certainly in the latter context there is some recognition that environmental degradation must be understood partly in terms of environmental crimes by corporations. Moreover, recent experience in both the US and the UK attests to the fact that there is no ineluctable trend towards safer and healthier workplaces, as deregulatory movements have resulted in increased risks for most workers and, this text argues, an increased opportunity for, and incidence of, safety crimes. At the centre of environmental, safety and health isses lie the chemicals industries. These industries are of strategic importance to national economies, while also having almost unique hazard and risk potential and it is for these reasons that these are the focus of this text. Any understanding of the nature of these types of corporate crimes, and thus any recognition of the potential for their more effective regulation, requires an analysis that is grounded in more general sociological concerns and in political economy. For this reason, this text emphasises the need for understandings of the nature of contemporary and emergent forms of corporate organisation, of their place in contemporary economies, and of the relationships between these forms and state formations.
Dr. Ethan Meyer is a biochemistry professor conducting scientific research and teaching at an American academic institution. Outwardly, he is a poster-child for success; he runs his laboratory with efficiency and care, projects an air of confidence, and is highly respected. Inwardly, Ethan feels as though he is coming apart at the seams, as the post-traumatic stress disorder he incurred in the Israeli army spirals into a cycle of tortuous hypochondria and threatens to unravel his personal life. Through a series of darkly humorous flashbacks, he realizes how his own military service—the apparent cause of his current condition—has molded his character and contributed to his academic successes. While fighting his personal demons and struggling to keep his family together, Ethan must also navigate a series of crises at work—culminating with the dismissal of a foreign student for fabricating lab results. As the departure of his wife and child for Israel leave him with no choice but to up-the-ante in the struggle to control his hypochondria, Ethan comes to realize that his student may have been framed, and he races against time to search for the truth.
Few issues in international affairs and energy security animate thinkers more than the classic topic of hegemony, and the case of the Persian Gulf presents particularly fertile ground for considering this concept. Since the 1970s, the region has undergone tumultuous changes, with dramatic shifts in the diplomatic, military, and economic roles of the United States, China, and Russia. In this book, Steve A. Yetiv and Katerina Oskarsson offer a panoramic study of hegemony and foreign powers in the Persian Gulf, offering the most comprehensive, data-driven portrait to date of their evolving relations. The authors argue that the United States has become hegemonic in the Persian Gulf, ultimately protecting oil security for the entire global economy. Through an analysis of official and unofficial diplomatic relations, trade statistics, military records, and more, they provide a detailed account of how U.S. hegemony and oil security have grown in tandem, as, simultaneously, China and Russia have increased their political and economic presence. The book sheds light on hegemony's complexities, and challenges and reveals how local variations in power will continue to shape the Persian Gulf in the future.
The author relates aspects of his life as a single parent, a blended-family parent/spouse, a Christian, a blind person and a corporate consultant. These aspects are woven together to teach some breakthrough concepts about the process of living and working together.
Great powers and grand strategies. It is easy to assume that the most powerful nations pursue and employ consistent, cohesive, and decisive policies in trying to promote their interests in regions of the world. Popular theory emphasizes two such grand strategies that great powers may pursue: balance of power policy or hegemonic domination. But, as Steve A. Yetiv contends, things may not always be that cut and dried. Analyzing the evolution of the United States' foreign policy in the Persian Gulf from 1972 to 2005, Yetiv offers a provocative and panoramic view of American strategies in a region critical to the functioning of the entire global economy. Ten cases—from the policies of the Nixon administration to George W. Bush's war in Iraq—reveal shifting, improvised, and reactive policies that were responses to unanticipated and unpredictable events and threats. In fact, the distinguishing feature of the U.S. experience in the Gulf has been the absence of grand strategy. Yetiv introduces the concept of "reactive engagement" as an alternative approach to understanding the behavior of great powers in unstable regions. At a time when the effects of U.S. foreign policy are rippling across the globe, The Absence of Grand Strategy offers key insight into the nature and evolution of American foreign policy in the Gulf.
In The Petroleum Triangle, Steve A. Yetiv tells the interconnected story of oil, globalization, and terrorism. Yetiv asks how Al-Qaeda, a small band of terrorists, became such a real and perceived threat to American and global security, a threat viewed as profound enough to motivate the strongest power in world history to undertake extraordinary actions, including two very costly wars. Yetiv argues that Middle East oil and globalization have combined to augment the real and perceived threat of transnational terrorism. Globalization has allowed terrorists to do things that otherwise would be more difficult and costly: exploit technology, generate fear beyond their capabilities, target vulnerable economic and political nodes, and capitalize on socio-economic dislocation. Meanwhile, Middle East oil has fueled terrorism by helping to bolster oil-rich regimes that terrorists hate, to fund the terrorist infrastructure, and to generate anti-American and anti-Western sentiments about American support for oil-rich regimes and perceived Western designs on Middle East oil. Together, Middle East oil and globalization have combined in various ways to help create Al-Qaeda's real and perceived threat, and that of its affiliates and offshoots. The combined effect has shaped important contours of the Petroleum Triangle and of world affairs. A sweeping analysis of contemporary world politics and American foreign and military policy, The Petroleum Triangle convincingly argues that it is critical to understand the connections among oil, globalization, and terrorism if we seek to comprehend modern global politics. What happens within the Petroleum Triangle will help determine if the death of Osama bin Laden will ultimately cripple Al-Qaeda and its affiliates or be yet another milestone in an ongoing age of terrorism.
Steve A. Yetiv has developed an interdisciplinary, integrated approach to studying foreign policy decisions, which he applies here to understand better how and why the United States went to war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 and 2003. Yetiv’s innovative method employs the rational actor, cognitive, domestic politics, groupthink, and bureaucratic politics models to explain the foreign policy behavior of governments. Drawing on the widest set of primary sources to date—including a trove of recently declassified documents—and on interviews with key actors, he applies these models to illuminate the decision-making process in the two Gulf Wars and to develop theoretical notions about foreign policy. What Yetiv discovers, in addition to empirical evidence about the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars, is that no one approach provides the best explanation, but when all five are used, a fuller and more complete understanding emerges. Thoroughly updated with a new preface and a chapter on the 2003 Iraq War, Explaining Foreign Policy, already widely used in courses, will continue to be of interest to students and scholars of foreign policy, international relations, and related fields.
WINNER OF THE 2020 ROYAL DRAGONFLY BOOK AWARD FOR PICTURE BOOKS 5 & YOUNGER! WINNER OF THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR PICTURE BOOK AGES 4 TO 8! A Love Letter from a Father to His Daughter Wanting to tell his young daughter everything, though knowing she’s not at an age to fully grasp the full love a father has, To Baby, From Daddy is a loving composition of paternal love and advice. Interwoven with eloquent rhyme, beautiful nighttime visuals, and personal insight, author and illustrator Steve Nguyen narrates a nocturnal hike for his daughter. A perfect book to read their children to sleep, and inspired by stories from Maurice Sendak and Margaret Wise Brown, Nguyen guides us through his imaginative forest and into the woods as he prepares for a wondrous journey into fatherhood. Though it will be some years before his daughter fully understands the deep love he has for her, To Baby, From Daddy is a beautiful love letter to daddy’s little girl; help building a bond that will last a lifetime.
The careers of pitchers Jack Quinn and Howard Ehmke began in the Deadball Era and peaked in the 1920s. They were teammates for many years, with both the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox and later with the world champion Philadelphia Athletics, managed by Connie Mack. As far back as 1912, when he was just twenty-nine, Quinn was told he was too old to play and on the downward side of his career. Because of his determination, work ethic, outlook on life, and physical conditioning, however, he continued to excel. In his midthirties, then his late thirties, and even into his forties, he overcame the naysayers. At age forty-six he became the oldest pitcher to start a World Series game. When Quinn finally retired in 1933 at fifty, the “Methuselah of the Mound” owned numerous longevity records, some of which he holds to this day. Ehmke, meanwhile, battled arm trouble and poor health through much of his career. Like Quinn, he was dismissed by the experts and from many teams, only to return and excel. He overcame his physical problems by developing new pitches and pitching motions and capped his career with a stunning performance in Game One of the 1929 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, which still ranks among baseball’s most memorable games. Connie Mack described it as his greatest day in baseball. Comeback Pitchers is the inspirational story of these two great pitchers with intertwining careers who were repeatedly considered washed up and too old but kept defying the odds and thrilling fans long after most pitchers would have retired.
He was the final addition to Universal's "royal family" of movie monsters: the Creature from the Black Lagoon. With his scaly armor, razor claws and a face only a mother octopus could love, this Amazon denizen was perhaps the most fearsome beast in the history of Hollywood's Studio of Horrors. But he also possessed a sympathetic quality which elevated him fathoms above the many aquatic monsters who swam in his wake. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Gill Man and his mid-1950s film career (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us) is collected in this book, packed to the gills with hour-by-hour production histories, cast bios, analyses, explorations of the music, script-to-screen comparisons, in-depth interviews and an ocean of fin-tastic photos.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.