Sunday, December 29, 2019

An Overview to Chaos Theory in Sociology

Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics; however, it has applications in several disciplines, including sociology and other social sciences. In the social sciences, chaos theory is the study of complex non-linear systems of social complexity. It is not about disorder but rather about very complicated systems of order. Nature, including some instances of social behavior and social systems, is highly complex, and the only prediction you can make is that it is unpredictable. Chaos theory looks at this unpredictability of nature and tries to make sense of it. Chaos theory aims to find the general order of social systems and particularly social systems that are similar to each other. The assumption here is that the unpredictability in a system can be represented as overall behavior, which gives some amount of predictability, even when the system is unstable. Chaotic systems are not random systems. Chaotic systems have some kind of order, with an equation that determines overall behavior. The first chaos theorists discovered that complex systems often go through a kind of cycle, even though specific situations are rarely duplicated or repeated. For example, say there is a city of 10,000 people. In order to accommodate these people, a supermarket is built, two swimming pools are installed, a library is erected, and three churches go up. In this case, these accommodations please everybody and equilibrium are achieved. Then a company decides to open a factory on the outskirts of town, opening jobs for 10,000 more people. The town then expands to accommodate 20,000 people instead of 10,000. Another supermarket is added, as are two more swimming pools, another library, and three more churches. The equilibrium is thus maintained. Chaos theorists study this equilibrium, the factors that affect this type of cycle, and what happens (what the outcomes are) when the equilibrium is broken. Qualities of a Chaotic System A chaotic system has three simple defining features: Chaotic systems are deterministic. That is, they have some determining equation ruling their behavior.Chaotic systems are sensitive to initial conditions. Even a very slight change in the starting point can lead to significantly different outcomes.Chaotic systems are not random, nor disorderly. Truly random systems are not chaotic. Rather, chaos has a send of order and pattern. Concepts There are several key terms and concepts used in chaos theory: Butterfly effect (also called sensitivity to initial conditions): The idea that even the slightest change in the starting point can lead to greatly different results or outcomes.Attractor: Equilibrium within the system. It represents a state to which a system finally settles.Strange attractor: A dynamic kind of equilibrium which represents some kind of trajectory upon which a system runs from situation to situation without ever settling down. Applications in Real-Life Chaos theory, which emerged in the 1970s, has impacted several aspects of real-life in its short life thus far and continues to impact all sciences. For instance, it has helped answer previously unsolvable problems in quantum mechanics and cosmology. It has also revolutionized the understanding of heart arrhythmias and brain function. Toys and games have also developed from chaos research, such as the Sim line of computer games (SimLife, SimCity, SimAnt, etc.).

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Privacy Policies Of The Grocery Store Chains - 1936 Words

Introduction This paper examines the privacy policies of three grocery store chains. The stores chosen include the regional chain Giant and the national chains Safeway and Whole Foods. Section one provides an overview and examination of the mission statements of each of the chains. Section 2 analyzes and compares the privacy policies of each. Section 3 provides recommendations to the privacy policy to improve business advantages. Finally, Section 4 recommends changes to the policies based upon privacy and data protection for customers. 1. Mission Statements Giant Food Stores, LLC Giant Food Stores were founded in 1923 in Carlisle, PA as the Carlisle Meat Market. Since then it has grown into a regional grocery chain operating over 200†¦show more content†¦The mission of Safeway is to â€Å"earn your loyalty by anticipating and fulfilling their needs with superior-quality products while offering a unique shopping experience which generates long-term growth for the shareholders† (Safeway, 2016a). Safeway collects customer data through the use of their bonus/loyalty cards as well as through the use of their website and other services. Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin, Texas in 1980 making it the newest of the three grocery chains chosen for examination. Currently, they operate over 400 stores across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain (Whole Foods, 2016b). Their mission statement simply says â€Å"Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet† (Whole Foods, 2016a). However, they further explain this mission statement by defining seven values. These values are quality natural and organic products, customer satisfaction, employee excellence, wealth creation, community support, environmental stewardship, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle. These value statements reflect a desire to attract an environmental and health conscious customer base. The use of bonus/loyalty cards is currently only available at certain locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, they have the availability of online ordering and collect data from customer purchases. 2. Analysis of Privacy Policies

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Technological Forecasting and Social Change †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Answer: Introduction The most important thing that any business requires for its success is a proper strategy. The word strategy comes from the Greek word strategies which means strength. Right from the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, it is a known fact to people that in order to win over the battles with the enemies, one need to find out ones hidden strengths and implement them in the exact manner (Casadesus?Masanell and Zhu 2013). This paper deals with the companies JJ and Nikes business strategies that have helped them to attain success in their path. The very name Johnson and Johnsons needs no special mention as it is a widely popular company. Over centuries it has been thriving towards satisfying its goal of customer satisfaction and caring for the environment around it. The very mission statement f this company defines its purpose, it says caring for the world, one person at a time. It is the leading procedure of the well being products and products of health and safety. People have vested their trust in this company for years. The main reason behind my choosing of this company is the immense service that it has been providing to the customers over years, Johnson Johnson is the name that is always present at the tip of the tongue of every one of us when it comes to baby health care products and it is only because of the pioneering work that it has done (Bocken et al 2014). Their main focus is Improving the lives of women and children Boosting the health care workforce Prevention from diseases. Nike is the name that crops up anytime and every time we think about athletic products. This company has worked immensely hard in bringing a huge plethora of innovation and modifications and up gradation to inspire every athlete in the world. They believe that they will be creating innovative products today to solve the problems of tomorrows generation. The reason why I have selected this organization is mainly because of its top priority directed over sustainability, which has become a game changer for them (Zott and Amit 2013). In the modern day scenario when the huge corporate giants are mainly concerned about money making, Nike is one among the several companies that has not gone astray only after their own profit maximization but has given sufficient importance to pollution reduction thus encouraging sustainable development (Hernes and Metzger 2017). Business is termed as the modern day war and in order to win over this war; companies need to frame out a strategy that would enable them to grow and develop in the long run. It must be a set of tactics that would enable to attain victory over the other competitive firms in the long run. A strategy is something that will help answer four different questions like Where do we compete? What unique value do we bring? What resources do we utilize? How do we sustain unique value? The moment a business strategy is helpful in answering all these questions, the company will know that it has been successful in implementation a correct and innovative strategy. This company knows very well its area of working that is its area of expertise is health care and current records suggest that it is competing in full one third of the universal health care marketplace (Nyh and Pesonen 2014). This indeed is a very significant and sensitive area in the modern day context (Carcary, Doherty and Conway 2014) . In the present day scenario, health and wellbeing has become of the major issue and people all around the world are victims of the increasing amount of pollution and diseases and are always demanding for product s that would enable them to keep healthy and have a disease free life and this demand has been beautifully fulfilled by this company. Speaking about the value that this company has added is immense. It always tries its level best to stay true to its mission of caring for the world, one person at a time which means that they care for each and every customer (Marcantoni 2014). They try to bring several innovative ideas in order to satisfy the needs of their customers and promote peoples health and well being which is their major concern. It is for the superior quality of their products that the customers restrain from switching over to other alternatives. They also maintain strong networks with the best RD centers to develop prpoducts keeping in mind the health of the patients. Nike has also been successful in maintain a proper nusiness strategy-Firstly; it always puts the customer benefits first. Nike always develops products that suit the personal benefits of their customers (Markides 2013). Secondly, it has based its business on a felt need, it is because of the expanding white collar workforce that has created an immense need for the Nike products, a good example can be the Nike jogging shoes. Thirdly, it knows how to satisfy the customers and cater to their modern and changing needs, Nike always uses up all the newest technologies for their production and promotion. Business model A good business model is one that mainly deals with who is the targeted customer what do we offer to the customers how to create value proposition how do we generate revenue Both Johnson Johnson and Nike have been able to build and maintain a good business model. It is about learning from others and reinventing oneself with the new innovative ideas. As far is JJ is concerned, it has targeted the health and well being aspect of all the individuals particularly the babies and the patients and they know that their products will best suit to the demands of their customers. Similarly, Nike has targeted the athletes and the sports people and their products will best suit to the demands of the customers, they also promote the usage of sustainable products by reducing the carbon emissions while considerable increasing their revenue. They also make sure that they have good corporate partners to invest in them as without proper sponsorship, no business model can prosper. CAGE framework c-cultural a-administrative g-geographical e-economic Both JJ and Nike have been influenced a lot by the cultural concepts, they have always kept the customers at the top of their priority list. These companies have branches at different places all across the globe so that customers located in different parts of the world can have access to it. These companies make sure that the way they administer their business, the customers stay totally satisfied with their products rather than switching over to any other alternatives available in the market. Talking about the economic aspect, both these companies make sure that their business satisfies both, customer needs and profit maximization. They also believe in adopting cost intensive business plans. Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded from this paper that a company needs to find out all its strength ij order to win and achieve its goals and objectives. In order to do this, each and every company must have a well constructed business plan which is also to be properly implemented in the company. It must be the sole objective of every company to place the customer satisfaction as their top most priority. Reference list Bocken, N.M.P., Short, S.W., Rana, P. and Evans, S., 2014. A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes.Journal of cleaner production,65, pp.42-56. Casadesus?Masanell, R. and Zhu, F., 2013. Business model innovation and competitive imitation: The case of sponsor?based business models. Strategic management journal,34(4), pp.464-482. Markides, C.C., 2013. Business model innovation: What can the ambidexterity literature teach us?.The Academy of Management Perspectives,27(4), pp.313-323. Zott, C. and Amit, R., 2013. The business model: A theoretically anchored robust construct for strategic analysis.Strategic Organization,11(4), pp.403-411. Nyh, A. and Pesonen, H.L., 2014. Strategic change in the forest industry towards the biorefining business.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,81, pp.259-271. Hernes, M.I. and Metzger, M.J., 2017. Understanding local community's values, worldviews and perceptions in the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve, Scotland.Journal of environmental management,186, pp.12-23. Carcary, M., Doherty, E. and Conway, G., 2014. The adoption of cloud computing by Irish SMEsAn exploratory study.Electronic Journal Information Systems Evaluation Volume,17(1), pp.3-14. Marcantonio, G., 2014.Development of framework for the manufacture of customized titanium cervical cage implants using additive manufacturing(Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University).