A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Profitability Analysis

ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION Vol. 26, No. 1 2011 pp. 181–200 American Accounting Association DOI: 10. 2308/iace. 2011. 26. 1. 181 A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Continental Airlines Francisco J. Roman ABSTRACT: This case exposes students to the application of regression analyses to be used as a tool pursuant to understanding cost behavior and forecasting future costs using publicly available data from Continental Airlines. Speci? cally, the case focuses on the harsh ? nancial situation faced by Continental as a result of the recent ? ancial crisis and the challenges it faces to remain pro? table. It then highlights the importance of reducing and controlling costs as a viable strategy to restore pro? tability and how regression analysis can assist in this pursuit. Students are next presented with quarterly data for various categories of costs and several potential cost drivers, which they must use to perform regressions on operating costs using a variety of cost drivers. They must then use their regression results to forecast operating costs and conduct a pro? tability analysis to project quarterly pro? ts for the upcoming ? scal year.Finally, students must summarize the main results of their analysis in a memorandum addressed to Continental’s management, providing recommendations to restore pro? ts. In particular, the concept of mixed cost functions is reinforced, as is the understanding of the steps required to perform regression analysis in Excel, interpreting the regression output, and the underlying standard assumptions in regression analysis. The case has been tested and well received in an intermediate cost accounting course and it is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students. Keywords: cost estimation; pro? ability analysis; cost behavior; regression analyses; cost functions. Data Availability: All data are from public sources and are available in hard copy inside the case. Data are also availabl e in electronic form by the author upon request. INTRODUCTION n 2008, the senior management team at Continental Airlines, commanded by Lawrence Kellner, the Chairman and Chief Executive Of? cer, convened a special meeting to discuss the ? rm’s latest quarterly ? nancial results. A bleak situation lay before them. Continental had incurred an operating loss of $71 million dollars—its second consecutive quarterly earnings de-I Francisco J. Roman is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University. I thank Kent St. Pierre editor , Michael Costa, and two anonymous referees for their suggestions on previous versions of the case. Editor’s note: Accepted by Kent St. Pierre Published Online: February 2011 181 182 Roman cline that year. Likewise, passenger volume was signi? cantly down, dropping by nearly 5 percent from the prior year’s quarter. Continental’s senior management needed to act swiftly to reverse this trend and return to pro? tability. Being the fourth largest airline in the U.S. and eighth largest in the world, Continental was perceived as one of the most ef? ciently run companies in the airline industry. Nonetheless, 2008 brought unprecedented challenges for Continental and the entire industry as the United States and much of the world was heading into a severe economic recession. Companies cutting deeply into their budgets for business travel, the highest yielding component of Continental’s total revenue, together with a similar downward trend from the leisure and casual sector, combined to sharply reduce total revenue.Concurrent with this revenue decline, the price of jet fuel soared to record levels during 2008. 1 Thus, while revenue was decreasing, Continental was paying almost twice as much in fuel costs. Interestingly, fuel costs surpassed the ? rm’s salaries and wages as the highest cost in Continental’s cost structure. This obviously had a negative impact on the bottom line, squeezing even fur ther the already strained pro? t margins. The outlook for a quick recovery in the U. S. economy and, consequently, an upturn in the demand for air travel in the short term did not seem likely.Continental’s internal forecasts indicated that a further decline in passenger volume should be anticipated throughout 2009, with a recovery in travel possibly occurring by the middle of 2010. To summarize, adverse economic conditions in the U. S. , coupled with the rise in fuel costs, were dragging down Continental’s pro? ts and relief was unlikely through the foreseeable future. THE DECISION TO REDUCE FLYING CAPACITY AND THE IMPACT ON OPERATING COSTS Given the situation described above, management needed to act swiftly to restore pro? tability. Several strategic options were evaluated.Since the U. S. and much of the world was facing a severe recession, the prospect for growing revenues by either raising airfares or passenger volume seemed futile. Contrary to raising revenue, Con tinental’s managers believed that raising fares could potentially erode future revenues beyond the present level. Discounting fares did not seem a plausible solution either, because given the severity of the economic situation a fare cut could fall short in stimulating additional passenger demand and lead to lowering revenues. Thus, because management anticipated that revenues would remain ? t for most of the year, the only viable short-term solution to restoring pro? ts was a substantial and swift reduction in operating costs. This could most effectively be accomplished in two ways. First, through a reduction in ? ying capacity adjusted to match projected passenger demand. With this in mind, Continental’s management agreed to reduce ? ying capacity by 11 percent on domestic and international routes. 2 As a result of this action, Continental would eliminate the least pro? table or unpro? table ? ights and, accordingly, would ground several planes in the ? eet.Managemen t anticipated that this decision would reduce several of the ? rm’s operating costs. Apart from this, Continental could achieve further reductions in costs by implementing several cost-cutting initiatives and through operational ef? ciencies. For example, management pro- 1 2 To illustrate, jet fuel is tied to the price of oil and, over the past year, oil prices surged from about $70 to $135 per barrel. Consequently, the price of jet fuel increased markedly, from an average of $1. 77 per gallon to $4. 20 by the mid-summer of 2008. Speci? cally, on June 13, 2008, Continental Airlines announced that it planned to reduce its ? ght capacity by 11 percent. By shrinking capacity, Continental expected to reduce the number of domestic and international ? ights from its three major hubs in Houston, Cleveland, and Newark Maynard 2008 . Issues in Accounting Education American Accounting Association Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Conti nental Airlines 183 jected that it could achieve reductions in Passenger Services expenses by consolidating several tasks during passenger check-in and by reducing food and beverage waste served during ? ights. Additionally, the ? m could reduce various miscellaneous expenses through targeted cuts in discretionary spending. In sum, to close the gap in pro? tability, Continental’s strategy was geared toward slashing operating costs by cutting capacity and through aggressive identi? cation and implementation of cost-cutting initiatives. The next step would be for management to know precisely how their decision to downsize capacity would impact the ? rm’s future operating costs, and also identify speci? c areas in which the ? rm could achieve additional cost reductions. Additionally, the cost analysis would help forecast the ? m’s operating costs and projected pro? ts or losses for the upcoming ? scal year. However, before we can proceed with such analysis, an exam ination of how the various categories of Continental’s costs behave is in order. Before we begin, let us prepare with an overview of the airline industry and its competitive landscape, and an understanding of why cost behavior bears particular relevance in this case. Relative to other industries, airlines are a very dif? cult business to manage. In particular, they are exposed to tremendous risks brought by volatility inherent in their business model, as they deal with high ? ed costs, labor unions, instability in fuel prices, weather and natural disasters, passenger safety, and security regulations. These aspects bring a large burden to airlines’ cost structures. Moreover, competition within the industry is ? erce; the proliferation of discount carriers, such as Southwest Airlines and, most recently, Jet Blue, and the end of fare regulation in 1978, has hindered airlines’ pricing power and their ability to spur revenues. For these reasons, cost containment is a critically important aspect of pro? tability in this industry.In order for Continental to restore pro? tability in this harsh environment of weak demand for air travel, it must be able to contain its operating costs, especially its massive ? xed costs, which are visible in several ways. For example, salaries for pilots, ? ight attendants, and mechanics, as well as aircraft leasing costs, are typically ? xed, varying little with shifts in passenger volume. Because ? xed costs typically embody the amount of operating capacity of a ? rm, they are commonly referred as â€Å"capacity† costs. Since ? xed costs do not self-adjust to ? ctuations in passenger volume, the only way in which they can be decreased or increased is if management adjusts them in accordance to the level of operating capacity. In contrast, other costs, such as passenger services and reservation and distribution costs, behave as variable and would self-adjust with variations in volume or operating activity. He nce, to assess the impact of this strategic decision to alter Continental’s cost structure, and identify the areas that could achieve the greatest reduction in costs, we must resolve how Continental’s operating costs behave and what drives them.In what follows, we learn how to apply regression analyses to examine cost behavior and forecast future costs, and then use that knowledge to assess how the reduction in ? ying capacity would affect Continental’s operating costs and pro? tability in the near term. ESTIMATING COSTS USING REGRESSION ANALYSES The previous discussion highlighted the importance of examining the behavior of Continental’s operating costs to pave the way for a cost and pro? tability analysis using regression analysis. Regression analysis is a powerful statistical tool that is frequently used by ? ms to examine cost behavior and predict future costs. The idea behind regression analysis is straightforward: historical data for costs, and the various activities that could potentially drive operating costs, are inserted into a mathematical calculation which yields the average amount of change in that particular cost that has occurred over time. Average values provided by regression calculations may then be applied to estimate future change that will occur in that cost given a one-unit change in one or Issues in Accounting Education Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 American Accounting Association 184 Roman ore of the business activities which drive that cost. 3 More precisely, in a regression model, cost is a function of one or more business activities or factors underlying a business operation. Simply put, the business activities are the drivers of operating costs. Therefore, since activities drive costs, our ? rst step in the estimation of a cost function is to identify the underlying activities or other potential factors that drive the cost in question—the cost drivers. This requires extensive knowledge of the business ope ration. In the case of Continental Airlines, the potential drivers of operating costs vary greatly.For instance, as previously noted, the number of passengers that Continental ? ies may drive the costs related to Passenger Services. Likewise, Aircraft Maintenance and Repairs costs could be driven by the number of aircraft in the ? eet and by the level of ? ying capacity set by Continental i. e. , available seat miles . In synthesis, to predict how Continental’s operating costs would be affected by the decision to reduce capacity, and to identify those areas in which additional room is available for cost cutting, we need to identify which costs in this ? rm’s cost structure behave as variable, ? ed, or mixed in which elements of both variable and ? xed are observable . Equally important, we should also identify the speci? c drivers if any of each cost. Your job is to assist management in their quest to restore pro? tability at Continental Airlines. Speci? cally, you mus t conduct regression analyses to examine cost behavior and then use this information to forecast operating costs and pro? tability for the upcoming year. As part of your cost analysis, you should investigate how the decision to cut ? ying capacity would impact the ? rm’s future operating costs and, equally important, identify those speci? expense categories or operating areas in which this ? rm could attain additional costs saving by implementing cost-cutting initiatives. Your conclusions should be outlined in a memorandum directed to Continental’s Executive management team. You are provided next with a description of Continental’s operating costs and the potential drivers of costs so you can conduct regression analysis to estimate the corresponding cost functions. To help you in estimating the regressions, a comprehensive set of instructions for performing regression analysis using Microsoft Excel is provided in the Appendix.Immediately following the descriptio n of costs, a series of questions is provided that should help guide your analysis. Additionally, to help you estimate your regressions, Exhibit 1 presents past quarterly data for all of the above expenditures for the period of January 2000 through December 2008, while Exhibit 2 provides quarterly operations data for the same period of time. CONTINENTAL’S OPERATING COSTS AND POTENTIAL COST DRIVERS As shown in Exhibit 1, there are ten categories of operating costs.These include salaries and wages, aircraft fuel and related taxes, aircraft rentals, airport fees, aircraft maintenance and repairs, depreciation and amortization, distribution costs, passenger services, regional capacity purchases, and other expenses. Of these, some represent a single expense item. For example, the cost of aircraft rentals and airport fees together comprise a single cost item. Other costs represent cost pools comprising several cost items. Such is the case of passenger services and other expenses. T he following provides a detailed description of each cost, along with the potential cost drivers. 3 4 For ease in exposition, cost functions and regression analyses are discussed brie? y here. For further insight on cost functions and on the mechanics of regression analyses, I refer the reader to the Appendix. A cost driver represents a particular business activity, which usually tends to have a cause-and-effect relationship with a given cost. For example, for airlines, a typical cost driver for landing fees is the number of daily ? ights carried by the airline, as well as the number of passengers ? own. An increase decrease in the number of ? ights or passengers ? own would increase decrease landing fees.Issues in Accounting Education American Accounting Association Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Continental Airlines 185 EXHIBIT 1 REVENUES AND OPERATING COSTS DATA Obs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Obs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Period 1Q-2000 2Q-2000 3Q-2000 4Q-2000 1Q-2001 2Q-2001 3Q-2001 4Q-2001 1Q-2002 2Q-2002 3Q-2002 4Q-2002 1Q-2003 2Q-2003 3Q-2003 4Q-2003 1Q-2004 2Q-2004 3Q-2004 4Q-2004 1Q-2005 2Q-2005 3Q-2005 4Q-2005 1Q-2006 2Q-2006 3Q-2006 4Q-2006 1Q-2007 2Q-2007 3Q-2007 4Q-2007 1Q-2008 2Q-2008 3Q-2008 Q-2008 Revenues Fuel Salaries and Wages Capacity Purchases Aircraft Rentals Landing Fees 2,277,000,000 334,000,000 672,000,000 — 206,000,000 2,571,000,000 313,000,000 719,000,000 — 210,000,000 2,622,000,000 354,000,000 748,000,000 — 215,000,000 2,429,000,000 392,000,000 736,000,000 — 213,000,000 2,451,000,000 345,000,000 758,000,000 — 214,000,000 2,556,000,000 349,000,000 800,000,000 — 223,000,000 2,223,000,000 322,000,000 779,000,000 — 230,000,000 1,739,000,000 213,000,000 684,000,000 — 236,000,000 1,993,000,000 208,000,000 732,000,000 — 228,000,000 2,192,000,000 254,000,000 746,000, 000 — 231,000,000 2,178,000,000 76,000,000 743,000,000 — 227,000,000 2,039,000,000 285,000,000 738,000,000 — 216,000,000 2,042,000,000 347,000,000 778,000,000 — 223,000,000 2,216,000,000 302,000,000 762,000,000 — 224,000,000 2,365,000,000 316,000,000 778,000,000 — 225,000,000 2,247,000,000 290,000,000 738,000,000 158,000,000 224,000,000 2,307,000,000 333,000,000 688,000,000 317,000,000 220,000,000 2,553,000,000 387,000,000 711,000,000 328,000,000 222,000,000 2,602,000,000 414,000,000 703,000,000 347,000,000 224,000,000 2,437,000,000 453,000,000 717,000,000 359,000,000 225,000,000 2,505,000,000 470,000,000 715,000,000 353,000,000 227,000,000 2,857,000,000 75,000,000 649,000,000 382,000,000 229,000,000 3,001,000,000 684,000,000 646,000,000 406,000,000 234,000,000 2,845,000,000 714,000,000 639,000,000 431,000,000 238,000,000 2,947,000,000 672,000,000 661,000,000 415,000,000 245,000,000 3,507,000,000 744,000,000 791,000,000 454,000,000 248,000,0 00 3,518,000,000 858,000,000 743,000,000 475,000,000 249,000,000 3,156,000,000 760,000,000 680,000,000 447,000,000 248,000,000 3,179,000,000 684,000,000 726,000,000 430,000,000 248,000,000 3,710,000,000 842,000,000 821,000,000 444,000,000 248,000,000 3,820,000,000 895,000,000 836,000,000 446,000,000 249,000,000 3,523,000,000 33,000,000 744,000,000 473,000,000 249,000,000 3,570,000,000 1,048,000,000 729,000,000 506,000,000 247,000,000 4,044,000,000 1,363,000,000 704,000,000 589,000,000 246,000,000 4,072,000,000 1,501,000,000 765,000,000 553,000,000 244,000,000 3,471,000,000 993,000,000 760,000,000 425,000,000 240,000,000 129,000,000 138,000,000 133,000,000 132,000,000 141,000,000 153,000,000 139,000,000 148,000,000 161,000,000 160,000,000 163,000,000 149,000,000 152,000,000 152,000,000 165,000,000 151,000,000 160,000,000 163,000,000 171,000,000 160,000,000 171,000,000 181,000,000 182,000,000 174,000,000 185,000,000 198,000,000 195,000,000 86,000,000 193,000,000 190,000,000 209,000,00 0 198,000,000 207,000,000 210,000,000 225,000,000 210,000,000 Period Distribution Costs Aircraft Maintenance Depreciation Passenger Services Other Expenses 1Q-2000 2Q-2000 3Q-2000 4Q-2000 1Q-2001 2Q-2001 248,000,000 261,000,000 255,000,000 217,000,000 243,000,000 230,000,000 159,000,000 171,000,000 167,000,000 149,000,000 160,000,000 162,000,000 95,000,000 98,000,000 102,000,000 107,000,000 105,000,000 111,000,000 85,000,000 91,000,000 97,000,000 89,000,000 91,000,000 96,000,000 286,000,000 284,000,000 288,000,000 277,000,000 318,000,000 295,000,000 (continued on next page)Issues in Accounting Education Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 American Accounting Association 186 Obs. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Obs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Roman Period Distribution Costs Aircraft Maintenance Depreciation Passenger Services Other Expenses 3Q-2001 4Q-2001 1Q-2002 2Q-2002 3Q-2002 4Q-2002 1Q-2003 2Q-2003 3Q-2003 4Q-2003 1Q-2004 2Q-2004 3 Q-2004 4Q-2004 1Q-2005 2Q-2005 3Q-2005 4Q-2005 1Q-2006 2Q-2006 3Q-2006 4Q-2006 1Q-2007 2Q-2007 3Q-2007 4Q-2007 1Q-2008 2Q-2008 3Q-2008 4Q-2008 194,000,000 142,000,000 172,000,000 158,000,000 138,000,000 124,000,000 27,000,000 138,000,000 131,000,000 135,000,000 137,000,000 140,000,000 139,000,000 136,000,000 138,000,000 154,000,000 154,000,000 142,000,000 160,000,000 178,000,000 157,000,000 155,000,000 161,000,000 176,000,000 171,000,000 174,000,000 182,000,000 194,000,000 182,000,000 159,000,000 142,000,000 104,000,000 114,000,000 119,000,000 119,000,000 124,000,000 133,000,000 126,000,000 135,000,000 115,000,000 112,000,000 102,000,000 107,000,000 93,000,000 112,000,000 106,000,000 116,000,000 121,000,000 127,000,000 140,000,000 140,000,000 140,000,000 144,000,000 169,000,000 166,000,000 142,000,000 159,000,000 167,000,000 52,000,000 135,000,000 120,000,000 131,000,000 106,000,000 112,000,000 112,000,000 114,000,000 116,000,000 110,000,000 110,000,000 108,000,000 104,000,000 105,0 00,000 104,000,000 102,000,000 99,000,000 98,000,000 97,000,000 95,000,000 96,000,000 97,000,000 99,000,000 99,000,000 99,000,000 101,000,000 106,000,000 107,000,000 106,000,000 108,000,000 112,000,000 111,000,000 89,000,000 71,000,000 77,000,000 73,000,000 78,000,000 68,000,000 70,000,000 73,000,000 81,000,000 73,000,000 69,000,000 76,000,000 84,000,000 77,000,000 77,000,000 84,000,000 91,000,000 80,000,000 82,000,000 90,000,000 97,000,000 87,000,000 90,000,000 9,000,000 105,000,000 95,000,000 96,000,000 107,000,000 113,000,000 91,000,000 121,000,000 166,000,000 382,000,000 454,000,000 276,000,000 277,000,000 320,000,000 91,000,000 250,000,000 455,000,000 304,000,000 279,000,000 287,000,000 278,000,000 316,000,000 280,000,000 282,000,000 305,000,000 293,000,000 323,000,000 313,000,000 333,000,000 340,000,000 357,000,000 357,000,000 328,000,000 356,000,000 427,000,000 461,000,000 372,000,000 Period Total Aircraft 1Q-2000 2Q-2000 3Q-2000 4Q-2000 1Q-2001 2Q-2001 3Q-2001 4Q-2001 1Q-200 2 2Q-2002 3Q-2002 4Q-2002 1Q-2003 2Q-2003 514 522 535 522 548 557 501 522 538 570 570 554 562 70 OPERATIONS AND COST DRIVER DATA Leased Aircraft Flights Passengers Available Seat Miles 403 410 414 398 406 416 377 393 400 404 401 410 419 428 98,820 97,871 97,967 98,378 98,590 99,018 98,564 81,109 81,883 82,815 81,737 78,809 75,178 75,617 11,201,000 12,084,000 12,155,000 11,456,000 11,220,000 12,256,000 11,254,000 9,508,000 12,062,000 13,099,000 13,006,000 12,874,000 11,518,000 13,044,000 20,951,000,000 21,384,000,000 22,356,000,000 21,409,000,000 21,459,000,000 22,813,000,000 21,994,000,000 18,219,000,000 20,375,000,000 22,286,000,000 22,626,000,000 21,054,000,000 20,843,000,000 21,241,000,000 Available SeatMiles Regional — — — — — — — — — — — — 1,767,000,000 2,073,000,000 (continued on next page) Issues in Accounting Education American Accounting Association Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 A Case Study on Cos t Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Continental Airlines Obs. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Obs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Period Total Aircraft 3Q-2003 4Q-2003 1Q-2004 2Q-2004 3Q-2004 4Q-2004 1Q-2005 2Q-2005 3Q-2005 4Q-2005 1Q-2006 2Q-2006 3Q-2006 4Q-2006 1Q-2007 2Q-2007 3Q-2007 4Q-2007 1Q-2008 2Q-2008 3Q-2008 4Q-2008 187 OPERATIONS AND COST DRIVER DATALeased Aircraft Flights Passengers Available Seat Miles 570 579 586 587 592 594 598 604 611 622 630 634 648 648 630 625 631 628 641 630 653 632 428 434 437 440 445 448 453 459 466 477 483 484 482 480 446 418 415 415 414 390 412 397 76,297 75,650 74,859 75,816 74,211 74,443 71,494 74,651 74,630 75,886 74,962 77,729 77,468 79,030 78,601 82,582 81,118 80,850 76,719 76,096 78,599 76,000 Available Seat Miles Regional 13,727,000 13,769,000 12,810,000 14,558,000 14,862,000 14,252,000 14,122,000 15,540,000 15,905,000 15,448,000 15,594,000 17,596,000 17,328,000 16,601,0 00 16,176,000 18,120,000 17,901,000 16,733,000 16,440,000 7,108,000 17,962,000 15,183,000 22,819,000,000 21,907,000,000 22,670,000,000 24,150,000,000 24,674,000,000 23,588,000,000 23,585,000,000 25,482,000,000 26,833,000,000 25,720,000,000 26,117,000,000 28,259,000,000 29,262,000,000 27,280,000,000 27,250,000,000 29,592,000,000 30,346,000,000 28,550,000,000 28,376,000,000 30,304,000,000 30,383,000,000 26,448,000,000 1,605,000,000 2,980,000,000 2,400,000,000 2,603,000,000 1,999,000,000 3,408,000,000 2,740,000,000 3,026,000,000 3,112,000,000 3,095,000,000 3,082,000,000 3,374,000,000 3,503,000,000 3,292,000,000 3,126,000,000 3,177,000,000 3,193,000,000 3,104,000,000 3,098,000,000 ,450,000,000 3,390,000,000 3,046,000,000 Period Passenger Miles Flown Employees Fuel Price Fuel Consumed 1Q-2000 2Q-2000 3Q-2000 4Q-2000 1Q-2001 2Q-2001 3Q-2001 4Q-2001 1Q-2002 2Q-2002 3Q-2002 4Q-2002 1Q-2003 2Q-2003 3Q-2003 4Q-2003 1Q-2004 2Q-2004 3Q-2004 4Q-2004 1Q-2005 2Q-2005 15,005,000,000 16,491,000,000 17,325,000,000 15,340,000,000 15,114,000,000 17,053,000,000 16,206,000,000 12,767,000,000 14,867,000,000 16,489,000,000 16,960,000,000 17,252,000,000 14,352,000,000 16,129,000,000 18,041,000,000 16,412,000,000 16,255,000,000 18,735,000,000 19,922,000,000 18,239,000,000 18,112,000,000 20,292,000,000 45,000 45,500 46,000 5,944 38,396 39,000 39,500 39,461 40,229 41,011 41,809 40,244 38,960 39,000 39,500 39,000 38,240 37,496 36,766 38,255 41,831 45,742 $0. 829 $0. 797 $0. 865 $0. 885 $0. 856 $0. 815 $0. 824 $0. 826 $0. 644 $0. 723 $0. 760 $0. 740 $1. 029 $0. 881 $0. 857 $0. 872 $1. 041 $1. 787 $1. 199 $1. 190 $1. 453 $1. 670 377,000,000 386,000,000 398,000,000 372,000,000 369,000,000 391,000,000 373,000,000 369,000,000 308,000,000 332,000,000 340,000,000 316,000,000 305,000,000 308,000,000 330,000,000 314,000,000 320,000,000 347,000,000 345,000,000 321,000,000 324,000,000 344,000,000 (continued on next page) Issues in Accounting EducationVolume 26, No. 1, 2011 American Accounting Associ ation 188 Roman Period 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Passenger Miles Flown Employees Fuel Price Fuel Consumed 3Q-2005 4Q-2005 1Q-2006 2Q-2006 3Q-2006 4Q-2006 1Q-2007 2Q-2007 3Q-2007 4Q-2007 1Q-2008 2Q-2008 3Q-2008 4Q-2008 Obs. 21,762,000,000 20,033,000,000 20,336,000,000 23,367,000,000 24,042,000,000 21,772,000,000 21,450,000,000 24,623,000,000 25,422,000,000 22,670,000,000 22,280,000,000 24,836,000,000 24,746,000,000 20,825,000,000 50,018 42,200 42,600 43,450 41,500 38,033 41,800 43,300 41,400 39,640 43,000 40,100 43,500 42,490 $1. 880 $1. 776 $1. 904 $2. 10 $2. 215 $2. 064 $1. 895 $2. 079 $2. 206 $2. 499 $2. 797 $3. 856 $3. 450 $2. 925 364,000,000 344,000,000 347,000,000 375,000,000 387,000,000 362,000,000 361,000,000 395,000,000 406,000,000 380,000,000 375,000,000 389,000,000 395,000,000 339,000,000 EXHIBIT 2 PROJECTIONS OF REVENUES AND OPERATING ACTIVITY FOR YEAR 2009 Variable Revenues Available seat miles Available regional seat miles Number of passengers Number of planes Number leased planes Price of fuel per gallon Gallons of fuel consumed Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 $2,962,000,000 26,323,000,000 2,971,000,000 14,408,000 634 398 $1. 82 403,000,000 2,767,000,000 28,007,000,000 3,044,000,000 16,348,000 617 394 $2. 07 430,000,000 $2,947,000,000 28,933,000,000 3,130,000,000 16,795,000 604 380 $1. 99 369,000,000 $2,462,000,000 26,291,000,000 3,002,000,000 15,258,000 601 379 $1. 98 479,000,000 All ? nancial and operational data represent quarterly data for the quarter beginning January 2000 Observation 1 through December 2008. Data have been compiled from Continental’s 8-K and10-K reports, submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. De? nitions of Operations Variables: Available seat miles the number of seats available multiplied by the number of miles ? wn; Available regional seat miles available seat miles on regional routes; Number of passengers number of paying passengers ? own; Number of planes number of planes in the ? eet, including regional routes aircraft; Number of leased planes number of leased planes; Price of jet fuel average price per gallon of jet fuel in the respective quarter; and Gallons of fuel consumed number of gallons of fuel consumed in the respective quarter. Salaries and Wages This account represents costs related to salaries and wages, as well as fringe bene? ts, of Continental’s workers. These include salaries for pilots and wages for ? ght attendants and ground crew, as well as wages for Continental’s mechanics. Additionally, a signi? cant portion of this salary pool represents wages of reservation specialists, customer service representatives at airports, and the salaries for administrative and support personnel e. g. , ? ight schedulers, technology Issues in Accounting Education American Accounting Association Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Continental Airlines 189 personnel, accountants, and division managers . A possible cost driver of salaries is the available seat miles. Aircraft Fuel and Related Taxes This represents the cost of jet fuel and related fuel taxes. Jet fuel cost tends to be driven by the current price of jet fuel and gallons of jet fuel consumed. Aircraft Rentals These are expenses for capital leases of aircraft. The main driver is the number of leased planes in Continental’s ? eet, including regional jets operated on behalf of Continental by four regional airlines under various capacity purchase agreements. Airport Fees Represents landing fees and passenger security fees paid to the various domestic and international airports where Continental ? ies.Landing fees are driven by the number of passengers. Aircraft Maintenance and Repairs These are expenses associated with the service and maintenance of planes. These include expenses related to scheduled maintenance, spare parts and materials, and airframe and engine overhauls. The main drivers of these cost s are the number of planes in the ? eet and the number of miles ? own. Depreciation and Amortization This represents depreciation and amortization expenses of aircraft, ground equipment, buildings, and other property. It must be emphasized that the largest portion of depreciation expense relates to the depreciation of aircraft.Although depreciation expenses are driven by the acquisition cost of Continental’s capital assets, depreciation is greatly in? uenced by both company policy and accounting principles, such as the depreciation method, that a ? rm adopts. Distribution Costs These expenses represent credit card discount fees, booking fees, and travel agency commissions, all of which are affected by passenger revenue. Therefore, the driver of these costs is total revenue. Passenger Services This is also a cost pool that includes expenses related to processing and servicing passengers prior to take-off, during ? ight, and after arrival at their destination.A signi? cant port ion of these costs is generated by Continental’s Field Services Division, the main function of which is to provide service to planes prior to take-off. Some of these expenses relate to checking in passengers, handling luggage on and off planes, cleaning planes, stocking planes with beverage and food, and refueling the aircraft prior to take-off. The potential cost driver of these costs is the number of passengers. Regional Capacity Purchases These are costs related to the purchase of regional routes served by several regional airlines on behalf of Continental ExpressJet, Chautauqua, CommutAir, and Cogan .These costs are 5 Available seat miles is calculated as the number of seats available for passengers multiplied by the number of scheduled miles those seats are ? own. Issues in Accounting Education Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 American Accounting Association 190 Roman driven by the combined ? ying capacity of the four airlines: available regional seat miles. Other Expenses This is a cost pool that comprises many ancillary and discretionary expenditures, including technology expenses, security and outside services, general supplies, and advertising and promotional expenses.Further, this cost pool contains various special charges for gains and losses from the sale of retired aircraft and costs of future leases. Given the large variety of miscellaneous items, there is no clear driver of these expenses; however, a large portion of them, such as advertising and promotional expenses, are driven by total revenue. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 Using the quarterly data for operating costs and the various cost drivers of costs provided by Exhibits 1 and 2, estimate regression for cost category of costs.Then, write the appropriate cost function for each category of cost and then interpret your regression results. Based on your regression results, where do you see the largest reductions in costs if ? ying capacity is lowered by 11 percent? Also, in which areas d o you see opportunities to achieve further cost reductions and why? Exhibit 2 provides a quarterly forecast of revenues, jet fuel prices,6 and the projected operating activity for 2009. Using the information from your regressions and the forecast information provided in Exhibit 2, estimate Continental’s operating costs and expected pro? for the upcoming ? scal year. Based on the results of your pro? tability analysis, what can you say about the ? rm’s ? nancial outlook? Would Continental be earning an operating pro? t in 2009? If not, what should Continental’s management do to restore pro? tability in 2009? Summarize your conclusions in a memorandum addressed to Continental’s CEO. In the memo, you must clearly communicate your main ? ndings, emphasizing speci? c areas in which you see the greatest potential to achieve further reductions in costs and, based on your pro? tability analysis, sum up the ? nancial outlook for 2009.You should note that Continent al has entered into several future contracts to hedge the exposed risks of rising fuel prices. The projected costs for jet fuel on exhibit re? ects the value of the various future contracts which guarantee Continental a ? xed price for jet fuel at various maturity dates in 2009, as well the estimated gallons of fuel that Continental plans to use during the year. Issues in Accounting Education American Accounting Association Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 A Case Study on Cost Estimation and Pro? tability Analysis at Continental Airlines 191 CASE LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCECost estimation is a fundamental aspect of managerial/cost accounting Datar et al. 2008; Eldenburg and Wolcott 2005 . For example, cost estimation is critical for developing budgets, setting up cost standards, inventory valuation, product costing, and many other applications. Ultimately, ? rms’ ability to accurately predict production and operating costs has a profound impact on decision-making. A dditionally, given the frequency with which ? rms downsize or expand their operations in response to economic or market-wide conditions, knowing how this strategic decision of scaling output impacts ? ms’ future operating costs, and which tools can facilitate this task, has become increasingly relevant for ? rms. Nonetheless, despite its importance, cost estimation is a topic that merits further discussion in accounting textbooks. Although several managerial/cost accounting textbooks provide rich theoretical discussions of cost estimation, including cost behavior, cost functions, and, to some extent, regression analyses, the examples that are typically used to illustrate such an important concept often lack a sense of realism. Either ? titious data are commonly used in cost estimation, or the examples covered fail to capture realistic situations faced by ? rms in a â€Å"real world† context. Accordingly, this case aims to close this gap. The objective is to support stu dents in learning how to apply regression analyses to understand cost behavior and forecast future costs using real data from ? rms. The case focuses on the harsh ? nancial situation faced by Continental Airlines as a result of the recent ? nancial crisis and the challenges it faces to remain pro? table.It then highlights the importance of reducing and controlling costs as a viable strategy to restore pro? tability, and how regression analysis can assist in this pursuit. Students are next presented with quarterly data for various categories of costs and several potential cost drivers, which they must analyze and then perform regressions on operating costs using a variety of cost drivers. Based on these results, students have to examine how costs behave and then use the regression output to forecast the ? rm’s operating costs for year 2009. As part of the cost analysis, students must also identify speci? areas in which Continental could achieve the largest cost savings as a re sult of cutting capacity and implementing other cost-cutting measures. Apart from this, they must conduct a pro? tability analysis to project quarterly pro? ts for the upcoming ? scal year. The learning objectives of the case are as follows: 1. 2. 3. Students learn to conduct regression analysis in Excel and use this technique to study cost behavior and forecast future costs. Students also learn how to use actual ? rm-level data from public sources for estimating costs, and apply cost estimation in a â€Å"real world† context that involves a widespread decision among ? ms: downsizing capacity. Moreover, learning to use public ? nancial information in cost estimation could have implications that reach beyond accounting; learning to access public ? nancial information exposes students to the possibilities of applying regression analysis for business analysis in general, including cost and pro? tability analyses. The case requires students to synthesize their ? ndings in a memor andum addressed to Continental’s CEO; thus, students are also exposed to re? ning their writing skills in a business setting. Implementation GuidanceThis case is primarily designed for use in an intermediate managerial/cost accounting undergraduate class; however, it could also work well in a graduate-level managerial accounting course, at either the master’s level or M. B. A. Issues in Accounting Education Volume 26, No. 1, 2011 American Accounting Association 192 Roman The realistic nature of the setting everyone can easily identify with the business model of airlines makes a particularly appealing environment for students to learn how regression analyses can be applied in cost estimation in a real-world context.The questions presented in the case include both practical and theoretical questions. As an augmentation of the principles contained in the application of this case, instructors could enhance the student experience by devoting time to reviewing the concepts o f cost functions and cost estimation, as well as discussing the fundamentals of regression analyses, so students can be exposed to these concepts prior to receiving the case. Alternatively, students can review these concepts on their own.The Appendix provides a detailed explanation of cost functions and regression analysis and describes the steps to perform regression analysis in Excel. Additionally, it provides students with broad guidelines to write an effective memorandum. Student Feedback The case was administered to two sections of an upper-level intermediate undergraduate cost accounting class at a major U. S. university. Seventy-seven students responded to an evaluation survey to assess whether they improved their understanding of the concepts illustrated in the case, as well as to whether the case illustrated a â€Å"real world† application in predicting operating costs.As shown in Table 1, students agreed that the case enhanced their understanding of the use of regre ssion analyses in predicting future costs mean of 4. 17, based on a ? ve-point scale , the case encouraged them to think critically about the behavior of operating costs in a â€Å"real world† context mean of 4. 03, based on a ? ve-point scale ; plus, they found the case interesting and recommended it for use in teaching cost estimation via regression analyses mean of 4. 07, based on a ? ve-point scale; see also Table 2 . Similar positive responses are shown in Table 2. For example, Table 2 reports students’ knowledge on the use of regression

Memory Organization

Memory Basics Memory is the workspace for the computers processor. It is a temporary storage area where the programs and data being operated on by the processor must reside. Memory storage is considered temporary because the data and programs will remain there only as long as the computer has electrical power or is not reset. Before being shut down or reset, any data that has been changed should be saved to a more permanent storage device of some type (usually a hard disk) so it can be reloaded into memory again in the future. We often call memory RAM, for Random Access Memory.Main memory is called RAM because you can randomly (and quickly) access any location in memory. When we talk about a computers memory, we usually mean the RAM in the system, meaning primarily the memory chips or modules that make up the primary active program and data storage used by the processor. This is often confused with the term storage, which should be used when referring to things such as disk and tape drives (although some people do consider them a form of memory). 2Types of Memory To better understand physical memory in a system, it is necessary to see where and how it fits into the system.Three main types of physical memory used in modern PCs are †¢ ROM: Read Only Memory †¢ DRAM: Dynamic Random Access Memory †¢ SRAM: Static RAM 2. 1ROM Read Only Memory, or ROM, is a type of memory that can permanently or semipermanently hold data. It is called read-only because it is either impossible or difficult to write to. ROM is also often referred to as non-volatile memory because any data stored in ROM will remain, even if the power is turned off. As such, ROM is an ideal place to put the PCs startup instructionsthat is, the software that boots the system.Note that ROM and RAM are not opposites, as some people seem to believe. In fact, ROM is technically a subset of the systems RAM. In other words, a portion of the systems Random Access Memory address space is mapped into one or more ROM chips. This is necessary to contain the software that enables the PC to boot up; otherwise, the proces- sor would have no program in memory to execute when it was powered on. For example, when a PC is turned on, the processor automatically jumps to address FFFF0h, expecting to find instructions to tell the processor what to do.This location is exactly 16 bytes from the end of the first megabyte of RAM space, and the end of the ROM. If this location was mapped into regular memory 1 chips, any data stored there would have disappeared when the power was turned off previously, and the processor would subsequently find no instructions to run the next time power was turned on. By placing a ROM chip at this address, a system startup program can be permanently loaded into the ROM and will be available every time the system is turned on. The motherboard ROM normally contains four main programs, including the following in most systems: †¢ POST: Power-On Self Test.A series of test routines that ensure the system components are operating properly. †¢ CMOS Setup: A menu-driven application that allows the user to set sys- tem configuration parameters, options, security settings, and preferences. †¢ Bootstrap Loader: The routine that first scans the floppy drive and then the hard disk, looking for an operating system to load. †¢ BIOS: Basic Input/Output System. A series of device driver programs designed to present a standard interface to the basic system hardware, especially hardware that must be active during the boot process. Four different types of ROM chips are ROM. Read Only Memory †¢ PROM. Programmable ROM †¢ EPROM. Erasable PROM †¢ EEPROM. Electrically Erasable PROM, also called a flash ROM No matter which type of ROM you use, the data stored in a ROM chip is non- volatile and will remain indefinitely unless intentionally erased or overwritten. 2. 1. 1PROM PROMs are a type of ROM that is blank when new and must be pr ogrammed with whatever data you want 2. 1. 2EPROM One variation of the PROM that has been very popular is the EPROM. An EPROM is a PROM that is erasable. EPROM is erased by exposure to intense UV light. 2. 1. 3 EEPROM/Flash ROMA newer type of ROM is the EEPROM, which stands for Electrically Erasable PROM. These chips are also called flash ROMs, and are characterized by their capability to be erased and reprogrammed directly in the circuit board in which they are installed, with no special equipment required. 2 2. 2DRAM Dynamic RAM is the type of memory chip used for most of the main memory in a modern PC. The main advantages of DRAM is that it is very dense, meaning you can pack a lot of bits into a very small chip, and it is very inexpensive, which makes it affordable for large amounts of memory.The memory cells in a DRAM chip are tiny capacitors that retain a charge to indicate a bit. The problem with DRAM is that it is dynamic, and because of the design must be constantly refresh ed or the electrical charges in the individual memory capacitors will drain and the data will be lost. Refresh occurs when the system memory controller takes a tiny break and accesses all the rows of data in the memory chips. DRAMs use only one transistor and capacitor pair per bit, which makes them very dense, offering a lot of memory capacity per chip than other types of memory. 2. 3 Cache MemorySRAMThere is another distinctly different type of memory that is significantly faster than most types of DRAM. SRAM stands for Static RAM, which is so named because it does not need the periodic refresh rates like DRAM (Dynamic RAM). Due to the design of SRAM, not only are refresh rates unnecessary, but SRAM is much faster than DRAM and is fully able to keep pace with modern processors. SRAM memory is available in access times of 2ns or less, which means it can keep pace with processors running 500MHz or faster! This is due to the SRAM design, which calls for a cluster of six transistors f or each bit of storage.The use of transistors but no capacitors means that refresh rates are not necessary because there are no capacitors to lose their charges over time. As long as there is power, SRAM will remember what is stored. Compared to DRAM, SRAM is much faster, but also much lower in density and much more expensive. The lower density means that SRAM chips are physically larger and store many less bits overall. The high number of transistors and the clustered design means that SRAM chips are both physically larger and much more expensive to produce than DRAM chips.Even though SRAM is too expensive for PC use as main memory, PC designers have found a way to use SRAM to dramatically improve PC performance. Rather than spend the money for all RAM to be SRAM memory, which can run fast enough to match the CPU, it is much more cost-effective to design in a small amount of high-speed SRAM memory, called cache memory. The cache runs at speeds close to or even equal to the processo r, and is the memory from which the processor normally directly reads from and writes to. During read operations, the data in the high-speed cache memory is resupplied from the lower-speed main memory or DRAM in advance. 3Memory Packaging Memory is made from tiny semiconductor chips and must be packaged into something less fragile and tiny in order to be integrated with the rest of the system Different types of memory paclages are †¢ Dual Inline Packages (DIPs) and Memory Modules †¢ Single Inline Memory Modules (SIMMs) †¢ Dual Inline Memory Modules (DIMMs) 3. 1DIPS Most memory chips are packaged into small plastic or ceramic packages called dual inline packages or DIPs. A DIP is a rectangular package with rows of pins running along its two longer edges These are the small black boxes you see on SIMMs, DIMMs or other larger packaging styles . 2SIMMs SIMMs are available in two flavors: 30 pin and 72 pin. 30-pin SIMMs are the older standard, and were popular on third and fourth generation motherboards. 72-pin SIMMs are used on fourth, fifth and sixth generation PCs. SIMMs are placed into special sockets on the motherboard created to hold them. The sockets are specifically designed to ensure that once inserted, the SIMM will be held in place tightly 3. 3DIMMs DIMMs are 168 pins in size, and provide memory 64 bits in width. They are a newer form factor and are becoming the de facto standard for new PCs; they are not used on older motherboards motherboards.SIMMs have contacts on either side of the circuit board but they are tied together. So a 30-pin SIMM has 30 contacts on each side of the circuit board, but each pair is connected. DIMMs however have different connections on each side of the circuit board 4Memory Banks Memory chips (DIPs, SIMMs, SIPPs, and DIMMs) are organized in banks on motherboards and memory cards. The banks usually correspond to the data bus capacity of the system’s microprocessor. The number of bits for each bank can be made up of single chips, SIMMs, or DIMMs. 4 5Memory ReliabilityA part of the nature of memory is that it will inevitably fail. These failures are usually classified as two basic types: hard fails and soft errors. The most well understood are hard fails, in which the chip is working and then, due to some flaw, physical damage, or other event, becomes damaged and experiences a permanent failure. Fixing this type of failure normally requires replacement of some part of the memory hardware, such as the chip, SIMM, or DIMM. Hard error rates are known as HERs. The other more insidious type of failure is the soft error.A soft error is a nonpermanent failure that may never reoccur, or occur at infrequent intervals. (Soft fails are effectively â€Å"fixed† by powering the system off and back on. ) Soft error rates are known as SERs. There are basically three levels and techniques for fault tolerance used in modern PCs: †¢ Non-parity †¢ Parity †¢ ECC (Error Correcting Co de) Non-parity systems have no fault tolerance at all. The reason they are even used is because they have the lowest inherent cost. No additional memory is necessary as is the case with parity or ECC techniques. 6ParityTne standard IBM set for the industry is that the memory chips in a bank of nine each handle one bit of data: eight bits per character plus one extra bit called the parity bit. As the eight individual bits in a byte are stored in memory, a parity genera- tor/checker, which is either part of the CPU or located in a special chip on the motherboard, evaluates the data bits by counting the number of 1s in the byte. If an even number of 1s is in the byte, the parity generator/checker creates a 1 and stores it as the ninth bit (parity bit) in the parity memory chip.That makes the total sum for all nine bits an odd number. If the original sum of the eight data bits is an odd number, the parity bit created is 0, keeping the 9-bit sum an odd number. The value of the parity bit is always chosen so that the sum of all nine bits (eight data bits plus one parity bit) is an odd number. The following examples may make it easier to understand: Data bit number: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Data bit value:10110011 Parity bit:0 5 In this example, because the total number of data bits with a value of 1 is an odd number (5), the parity bit must have a value of 0 to ensure an odd sum for all nine bits.The following is another example: Data bit number: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Data bit value :00110011 Parity bit: 1 In this example, because the total number of data bits with a value of 1 is an even number (4), the parity bit must have a value of 1 to create an odd sum for all nine bits. When the system reads memory back from storage, it checks the parity information. If a (9-bit) byte has an even number of bits with a parity bit value of 1, that byte must have an error. The system cannot tell which bit has changed, or if only a single bit has changed.If three bits changed, for example, the byte still flags a parity-check error; if two bits changed, however, the bad byte may pass unnoticed. The following examples show parity-check messages for three types of systems: For the IBM PC: PARITY CHECK x For the IBM XT: PARITY CHECK x yyyyy (z) For the IBM AT and late model XT: PARITY CHECK x yyyyy Where x is 1 or 2: 1=Erroroccurredonthemotherboard 2=Erroroccurredinanexpansionslot yyyyy represents a number from 00000 through FFFFF that indicates, in hexadecimal notation, the byte in which the error has occurred. Where (z) is (S) or (E ): S) = Parity error occurred in the system unit (E ) = Parity error occurred in the expansion chassis When a parity-check error is detected, the motherboard parity-checking cir- cuits generate a non-maskable interrupt (NMI), which halts processing and di- 6 verts the systems attention to the error. The NMI causes a routine in the ROM to be executed. The routine clears the screen and then displays a message in the upper-left corner of the screen . The message differs depending on the type of computer system. 7 ECC (Error Correcting Code) ECC goes a big step beyond simple parity error detection.Rather than just detecting an error, ECC allows a single bit error to be corrected, which means the system can continue on without interruption and without corrupting data. ECC as implemented in most PCs can only detect and not correct double-bit errors. Because studies have indicated that approximately 98 percent of memory errors are single- bit variety, the most commonly used type of ECC is one in which the attendant memory controller detects and corrects single-bit errors in an accessed data word (double-bit errors can be detected, but not corrected).This type of ECC is known as SEC-DED and requires an additional seven check bits over 32 bits in a 4-byte system and eight check bits in an 8-byte system. ECC in a 4-byte system obviously costs more than non-parity or parity, but in an 8-byte system, ECC and parity costs are equal. ECC entails the memory controller calculating the check bits on a memory- write operation, performing a compare between the read and calculated check- bits on a read operation and, if necessary, correcting bad bit(s).The additional ECC logic in the memory controller is not very significant in this age of inex- pensive, high-performance VLSI logic, but ECC actually affects memory perfor- mance on writes. This is because the operation must be timed to wait for the calculation of check bits and, when the system waits for corrected data, reads. On a partial-word write, the entire word must first be read, the affected byte(s) rewritten, and then new check bits calculated. This turns partial-word write operations into slower read-modify writes. Most memory errors are of a single-bit nature, which are correctable by ECC.Incorporating this fault-tolerant technique provides high system reliability and attendant availability. An ECC-based system is a good choice for servers, workstations, or mis sion-critical applications in which the cost of a potential memory error outweighs the additional memory and system cost to correct it, along with ensuring that it does not detract from system reliability. 8 The System Logical Memory Layout The original PC had a total of 1M of addressable memory, and the top 384K of that was reserved for use by the system.Placing this reserved space at the top (between 640K and 1024K instead of at the bottom, between 0K and 640K) led to what today is often called the conventional memory barrier. The constant pressures on system and peripheral manufacturers to maintain compatibility by never breaking from the original memory scheme of the first PC has resulted in 7 a system memory structure that is (to put it kindly) a mess. Logical memory sections are given below †¢ Conventional (Base) memory †¢ Upper Memory Area (UMA) †¢ High Memory Area (HMA) †¢ Extended memory (XMS) †¢ Expanded memory (obsolete) Video RAM memory (part of UMA) †¢ Adapter ROM and Special Purpose RAM (part of UMA) †¢ Motherboard ROM BIOS (part of UMA) 8. 1 Conventional (Base) Memory The original PC/XT-type system was designed to use 1M of memory workspace, sometimes called RAM (random access memory). This 1M of RAM is divided into several sections, some of which have special uses. DOS can read and write to the entire megabyte, but can manage the loading of programs only in the portion of RAM space called conventional memory, which was 512K at the time the first PC was introduced.The other 512K was reserved for use by the system, including the motherboard and adapter boards plugged into the system slots. After introducing the system, IBM decided that only 384K was needed for these reserved uses, and the company began marketing PCs with 640K of user memory. Thus, 640K became the standard for memory that can be used by DOS for running programs, and is often termed the 640K memory barrier. The remaining memory after 640K was rese rved for use by the graphics boards, other adapters, and the motherboard ROM BIOS.This barrier largely affects 16-bit software such as DOS and Windows 3. 1, and is much less of a factor with 32-bit software and operating systems such as Windows 95/98, NT, and so on. 8. 2 Upper Memory Area (UMA) The term Upper Memory Area (UMA) describes the reserved 384K at the top of the first megabyte of system memory on a PC/XT and the first megabyte on an AT-type system. This memory has the addresses from A0000 through FFFFF. The way the 384K of upper memory is used breaks down as follows: †¢ The first 128K after conventional memory is called video RAM.It is re- served for use by video adapters. When text and graphics are displayed onscreen, the electronic impulses that contain their images reside in this space. Video RAM is allotted the address range from A0000-BFFFF. 8 †¢ The next 128K is reserved for the adapter BIOS that resides in read-only memory chips on some adapter boards plug ged into the bus slots. Most VGA-compatible video adapters use the first 32K of this area for their onboard BIOS. The rest can be used by any other adapters installed. Many network adapters also use this area for special-purpose RAM called Shared Memory.Adapter ROM and special-purpose RAM is allotted the address range from C0000-DFFFF. †¢ The last 128K of memory is reserved for motherboard BIOS (the basic input/output system, which is stored in read-only RAM chips or ROM). The POST (Power-On Self Test) and bootstrap loader, which handles your system at bootup until the operating system takes over, also reside in this space. Most systems only use the last 64K (or less) of this space, leaving the first 64K or more free for remapping with memory managers. Some systems also include the CMOS Setup program in this area.The motherboard BIOS is allotted the address range from E0000-FFFFF. 8. 3Extended Memory The memory map on a system based on the 286 or higher processor can extend bey ond the 1M boundary that exists when the processor is in real mode. On a 286 or 386SX system, the extended memory limit is 16M; on a 386DX, 486, Pentium, Pentium MMX, or Pentium Pro system, the extended memory limit is 4G (4,096M). Systems based on the Pentium II processor have a limit of 64G (65,536M). For a system to address memory beyond the first megabyte, the processor must be in protected modethe native mode of 286 and higher processors.On a 286, only programs designed to run in protected mode can take advantage of extended memory. 386 and higher processors offer another mode, called virtual real mode, which enables extended memory to be, in effect, chopped into 1M pieces (each its own real-mode session). Virtual real mode also allows for several of these sessions to be running simultaneously in protected areas of memory. The extended memory specification (XMS) was developed in 1987 by Mi- crosoft, Intel, AST Corp. , and Lotus Development to specify how programs would use exte nded memory.The XMS specification functions on systems based on the 286 or higher and allows real-mode programs (those designed to run in DOS) to use extended memory and another block of memory usually out of the reach of DOS. Before XMS, there was no way to ensure cooperation between programs that switched the processor into protected mode and used extended memory. There was also no way for one program to know what another had been doing with the extended memory because none of them could see that memory while in real mode. HIMEM.SYS becomes an arbitrator of sorts that first grabs all the extended memory for itself and then doles it out to programs that know the XMS protocols. In this manner, several programs that use XMS memory can operate together under DOS on the same system, switching the pro- cessor into 9 and out of protected mode to access the memory. Extended memory can be made to conform to the XMS specification by installing a de- vice driver in the CONFIG. SYS file. The most common XMS driver is HIMEM. SYS, which is included with Windows 3. x and later versions of DOS, starting with 4. and up. 8. 4 High Memory Area (HMA) The High Memory Area (HMA) is an area of memory 16 bytes short of 64K in size, starting at the beginning of the first megabyte of extended memory. It can be used to load device drivers and memory-resident programs to free up conventional memory for use by real-mode programs. Only one device driver or memory-resident program can be loaded into HMA at one time, no matter what its size. Originally, this could be any program, but Microsoft decided that DOS could get there first, and built capability into DOS 5 and newer versions.The HMA area is extremely important to those who use DOS 5 or higher because these DOS versions can move their own kernel (about 45K of program instructions) into this area. This is accomplished simply by first loading an XMS driver (such as HIMEM. SYS) and adding the line DOS=HIGH to your CONFIG. SYS file. Tak ing advantage of this DOS capability frees another 45K or so of conventional memory for use by real-mode programs by essentially mov- ing 45K of program code into the first segment of extended memory.Although this memory was supposed to be accessible in protected mode only, it turns out that a defect in the design of the original 286 (which, fortunately, has been propagated forward to the more recent processors as a feature) accidentally al- lows access to most of the first segment of extended memory while still in real mode. The use of the HMA is controlled by the HIMEM. SYS or equivalent driver. The origins of this memory usage are interesting because they are based on a bug in the original 286 processor carried forward through even the Pentium II. 8. 5 Expanded MemorySome older programs can use a type of memory called Expanded Memory Spec- ification or EMS memory. Unlike conventional (the first megabyte) or extended (the second through 16th or 4,096th megabytes) memory, expanded memory is not directly addressable by the processor. Instead, it can only be accessed through a 64K window and small 16K pages established in the UMA. Expanded memory is a segment or bank-switching scheme in which a custom memory adapter has a large number of 64K segments onboard, com- bined with special switching and mapping hardware. The system uses a free segment in the UMA as the home address for the EMS board.After this 64K is filled with data, the board rotates the filled segment out and a new, empty segment appears to take its place. In this fashion, you have a board that can keep on rotating in new segments to be filled with data. Because only one segment can be seen or oper- ated on at one time, EMS is very inefficient for program code and is normally 10 only used for data. 9Video Memory The video memory is such an important component of the video card, and indirectly the entire PC, that several new memory technologies have been created specifically for it.The goal: to impr ove the speed with which information can be pumped into and out of the video memory, to keep system performance high as the video system tries to do more and more. Various memory technologies now being used on video cards are explained below. 9. 1 Standard (Fast Page Mode) DRAM The oldest technology used in video card memory, fast page mode (FPM) memory is now considered â€Å"standard† DRAM as it has the fewest performanceenhancing capabilities of the different types of memory on the market. FPM DRAM is a technology used primarily for main system memories (even there, it is now considered a poor performer) and is not really ell-suited for highperformance video applications. 11 FPM is the least expensive type of memory available for video, and is used today mostly on low-end or generic cards (as well as older cards of course). For many applications they can be quite satisfactory; however, they reach their limits quickly when trying to use high resolution modes, especially in true color. The limitations of standard DRAM are due to two primary effects: it is single ported (which means it can only do one access at a time) and it runs at a relatively low speed and access width. 9. 2 Extended Data Out (EDO) DRAMEDO DRAM is the same as standard FPM DRAM except for a slight modification in the access cycle that gives it a small performance boost. With EDO DRAM, one read to memory can begin before the last one has completely finished; this yields a raw speed improvement of between 5 and 20 percent, depending on whom you ask. Originally used only for main system memory, EDO DRAM is becoming more popular on video cards because it provides slightly improved performance over standard DRAM at the same cost. (At one time EDO was more expensive than FPM but due to supply and demand effects now, EDO is actually the same cost or lower).EDO is still, however, a low-cost and low-performance solution compared to other types of video memory, and is not used on high-end card s. 9. 3 Video RAM (VRAM) The traditional, standard DRAM used for video cards typically does not have enough bandwidth to handle the demands of running a card at high resolution and color depths, with acceptable refresh rates. The main reason why is the two competing access factors for the video memory: the processor writing new information to the memory, and the RAMDAC reading it many times per second in order to send video signals to the monitor.To address this fundamental limitation, a new type of memory was created called video RAM or VRAM. As the name implies, this memory is specifically tailored for use in video systems. The fundamental difference between VRAM and standard DRAM is that VRAM is dual-ported. This means that it has two access paths, and can be written to and read from simultaneously. The advantages of this are of course enormous given what the video card does: many times per second a new screen image is calculated and written to the memory, and many times per seco nd this memory is read and sent to the monitor.Dual- porting allows these operations to occur without bumping into each other. VRAM provides substantially more bandwidth than either standard DRAM or EDO DRAM; double in many cases. It is more suited for use in systems requiring high resolution and color depth displays. The only reason that it hasn’t replaced standard DRAM entirely is of course: cost. VRAM is more complex and requires more silicon per bit than standard DRAM, which makes it cost more. 12 9. 4Window RAM (WRAM)Window RAM or WRAM is a modification of regular VRAM that both improves performance and reduces cost on a bit-for-bit basis. Designed specifically for use in graphics cards, WRAM is also dual-ported but has about 25% more bandwidth than VRAM, and also incorporates additional features to allow for higher performance memory transfers for commonly used graphical operations such as text drawing and block fills. Furthermore, WRAM is less expensive than VRAM to ma nufacture (although still more expensive than DRAM). 9. 5 Synchronous Graphics RAM (SGRAM)A relatively newer RAM technology, Synchronous Graphics RAM or SGRAM tackles the poor performance of regular DRAM by increasing greatly the speed at which memory transfers take place. SGRAM also incorporates specific per- formance enhancing features designed to work with acceleration features built into video cards, to greatly improve overall video processing speed. SGRAM is still single-ported, unlike VRAM or WRAM, but offers performance that is much closer to VRAM than DRAM due to its advanced design. 10 Flash Memory DevicesFlash memory has been around for several years as a main or an auxiliary storage medium for notebook computers. However, the rise of devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players and the presence of USB ports on practically all recent systems have transformed this technology from a niche product into a mainstream must-have storage technology. Flash memory is a type of no nvolatile memory that is divided into blocks rather than bytes, as with normal RAM memory modules. Flash memory, which also is used in most recent computers for BIOS chips, is changed by a process known as Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.This process removes the charge from the floating gate associated with each memory cell. Flash memory then must be erased before it can be charged with new data. The speed, low reprogramming current requirements, and compact size of recent flash memory devices have made flash memory a perfect counterpart for portable devices such as notebook computers and digital cameras, which often refer to flash memory devices as so-called â€Å"digital film†. Unlike real film, digital film can be erased and reshot.Ultra-compact, USB-based keychain drives that use flash memory are replacing both traditional floppy drives and Zip/SuperDisk drives for transporting data between systems. Diiferent types of flash memory devices are expained below. 10. 1Compact Flash CompactFlash was developed by SanDisk Corporation in 1994 and uses ATA architecture to emulate a disk drive; a CompactFlash device attached to a com- 13 puter has a disk drive letter just like your other drives. Later types of flash memory also use ATA architecture, either implemented in the device itself or in its controller. 0. 2MultiMedia Card The MultiMediaCard (MMC) was codeveloped by SanDisk and Infineon Tech- nologies AG (formerly Siemens AG) in November 1997 for use with smart phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, and camcorders. The MMC uses a simple 7-pin serial interface to devices and contains low-voltage flash memory. 10. 3Secure Digital (SD) A SecureDigital (SD) storage device is about the same size as MMC , but it’s a more sophisticated product. SD, which was codeveloped by Toshiba, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), and SanDisk in 1999, gets its name from two special features.The first is encrypted storage of data for additional security, meeting current and fut ure Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) standards for portable devices. The second is a mechanical write-protection switch. 10. 4Pen Drive As an alternative to floppy and Zip/SuperDisk-class removable-media drives, USB-based flash memory devices are rapidly becoming the preferred way to move data between systems. The first successful drive of this type – Trek’s ThumbDrivewas – introduced in 2000 and has spawned many imitators, in- cluding many that incorporate a keychain or pocket clip to emphasize their portability.Unlike other types of flash memory, USB keychain drives don’t require a separate card reader; they can be plugged in to any USB port or hub. Al- though a driver is usually required for Windows 98 and Windows 98SE, most USB keychain drives can be read immediately by newer versions of Windows, particularly Windows XP. As with other types of flash memory, USB keychain drives are assigned a drive letter when connected to the computer. Most have capacities ranging from 128MB to 1GB, with some capacities as high as 2GB or more.However, typical read/write performance of USB 1. 1-compatible drives is about 1MBps. Hi-Speed USB keychain drives are much faster, providing read speeds ranging from 5MBps to 15MBps and write speeds ranging from 5MBps to 13MBps. 11Advanced Memory Technologies 11. 1RDRAM RDRAM is a proprietary technology made by Rambus Inc. for use exclusively in certain Intel compatible motherboards 14 RDRAM stands for Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory. It can access data anywhere on the chip; It requires power to hold its data; and it transfers data twice per clock signal.However, it uses a smaller pathway, or â€Å"system bus,† to send information. The Rambus system bus is 16-bits wide. Rambus transfers data at 800 megahertz (MHz) and faster. Rambus is the more expensive type of memory since its proprietary, royalty costs that manufacturers must pay to produce it tend to result in higher retail prices. Add itionally, Rambus compatible motherboards require that all of their RAM slots be occupied. Traditionally, a computer may contain anywhere from one to four ram slots. If a slot is unoccupied, the system still operates.Rambus requires that either a Rambus memory module or a kind of place holder known as a continuity module be in place to complete the memory path to the bus. 11. 2 DDR SDRAM (DDR) Double data rate (DDR) SDRAM memory is a JEDEC-created standard that is an evolutionary upgrade of standard SDRAM in which data is transferred twice as quickly. Instead of doubling the actual clock rate, DDR memory achieves the doubling in performance by transferring twice per transfer cycle: once at the leading (falling) edge and once at the trailing (rising) edge of the cycle.This effectively doubles the transfer rate, even though the same overall clock and timing signals are used. Since its inception, manufacturers have release new and faster versions of DDR. These are based on the use of p refetch buffers that access not only the memory, or â€Å"dataword,† requested by the processor but also the datawords adjacent to it on the chip. Thus DDR2 â€Å"fetches† four datawords per memory access, double the amount of DDR. DDR3, a more recent update, obtains eight datawords per access. 15

Deception Point Page 45

Sexton would lie. Was this truly her first instinct regarding her candidate? Yes. He would lie†¦ brilliantly. If these photos hit the media without Gabrielle's having admitted the affair, the senator would simply claim the photos were a cruel forgery. This was the age of digital photo editing; anyone who had ever been on-line had seen the flawlessly retouched spoof photographs of celebrities' heads digitally melded onto other people's bodies, often those of porn stars engaged in lewd acts. Gabrielle had already witnessed the senator's ability to look into a television camera and lie convincingly about their affair; she had no doubt he could persuade the world these photos were a lame attempt to derail his career. Sexton would lash out with indignant outrage, perhaps even insinuate that the President himself had ordered the forgery. No wonder the White House hasn't gone public. The photos, Gabrielle realized, could backfire just like the initial drudge. As vivid as the pictures seemed, they were totally inconclusive. Gabrielle felt a sudden surge of hope. The White House can't prove any of this is real! Tench's powerplay on Gabrielle had been ruthless in its simplicity: Admit your affair or watch Sexton go to jail. Suddenly it made perfect sense. The White House needed Gabrielle to admit the affair, or the photos were worthless. A sudden glimmer of confidence brightened her mood. As the train sat idling and the doors slid open, another distant door seemed to open in Gabrielle's mind, revealing an abrupt and heartening possibility. Maybe everything Tench told me about the bribery was a lie. After all, what had Gabrielle really seen? Yet again, nothing conclusive-some Xeroxed bank documents, a grainy photo of Sexton in a garage. All of it potentially counterfeit. Tench cunningly could have showed Gabrielle bogus financial records in the same sitting as the genuine sex photos, hoping Gabrielle would accept the entire package as true. It was called â€Å"authentication by association,† and politicians used it all the time to sell dubious concepts. Sexton is innocent, Gabrielle told herself. The White House was desperate, and they had decided to take a wild gamble on scaring Gabrielle into going public about the affair. They needed Gabrielle to desert Sexton publicly-scandalously. Get out while you can, Tench had told her. You have until eight o'clock tonight. The ultimate pressure sales job. All of it fits, she thought. Except one thing†¦ The only confusing piece of the puzzle was that Tench had been sending Gabrielle anti-NASA e-mails. This certainly suggested NASA really did want Sexton to solidify his anti-NASA stance so they could use it against him. Or did it? Gabrielle realized that even the e-mails had a perfectly logical explanation. What if the e-mails were not really from Tench? It was possible Tench caught a traitor on staff sending Gabrielle data, fired that person, and then stepped in and e-mailed the final message herself, calling Gabrielle in for a meeting. Tench could have pretended she leaked all the NASA data on purpose-to set Gabrielle up. The subway hydraulics hissed now in L'Enfant Plaza, the doors preparing to close. Gabrielle stared out at the platform, her mind racing. She had no idea if her suspicions were making any sense or if they were just wishful thinking, but whatever the hell was going on, she knew she had to talk to the senator right away-P.E. night or not. Clutching the envelope of photographs, Gabrielle hurried off the train just as the doors hissed shut. She had a new destination. Westbrooke Place Apartments. 51 Fight or flight. As a biologist, Tolland knew that vast physiological changes occurred when an organism sensed danger. Adrenaline flooded the cerebral cortex, jolting the heart rate and commanding the brain to make the oldest and most intuitive of all biological decisions-whether to do battle or flee. Tolland's instinct told him to flee, and yet reason reminded him he was still tethered to Norah Mangor. There was nowhere to flee anyway. The only cover for miles was the habisphere, and the attackers, whoever the hell they were, had positioned themselves high on the glacier and cut off that option. Behind him, the wide open sheet of ice fanned out into a two-mile-long plain that terminated in a sheer drop to a frigid sea. Flight in that direction meant death by exposure. The practical barriers to fleeing notwithstanding, Tolland knew he could not possibly leave the others. Norah and Corky were still out in the open, tethered to Rachel and Tolland. Tolland stayed down near Rachel as the ice pellets continued to slam into the side of the toppled equipment sled. He pillaged the strewn contents, searching for a weapon, a flare gun, a radio†¦ anything. â€Å"Run!† Rachel yelled, her breathing still strained. Then, oddly, the hailstorm of ice bullets abruptly stopped. Even in the pounding wind, the night felt suddenly calm†¦ as if a storm had let up unexpectedly. It was then, peering cautiously around the sled, that Tolland witnessed one of the most chilling sights he had ever seen. Gliding effortlessly out of the darkened perimeter into the light, three ghostly figures emerged, coasting silently in on skis. The figures wore full white weather suits. They carried no ski poles but rather large rifles that looked like no guns Tolland had ever seen. Their skis were bizarre as well, futuristic and short, more like elongated Rollerblades than skis. Calmly, as if knowing they had already won this battle, the figures coasted to a stop beside their closest victim-the unconscious Norah Mangor. Tolland rose shakily to his knees and peered over the sled at the attackers. The visitors stared back at him through eerie electronic goggles. They were apparently uninterested. At least for the moment. Delta-One felt no remorse as he stared down at the woman lying unconscious on the ice before him. He had been trained to carry out orders, not to question motives. The woman was wearing a thick, black, thermal suit and had a welt on the side of her face. Her breathing was short and labored. One of the IM ice rifles had found its mark and knocked her unconscious. Now it was time to finish the job. As Delta-One knelt down beside the oblivious woman, his teammates trained their rifles on the other targets-one on the small, unconscious man lying on the ice nearby, and one on the overturned sled where the two other victims were hiding. Although his men easily could have moved in to finish the job, the remaining three victims were unarmed and had nowhere to run. Rushing to finish them all off at once was careless. Never disperse your focus unless absolutely necessary. Face one adversary at a time. Exactly as they had been trained, the Delta Force would kill these people one at a time. The magic, however, was that they would leave no trace to suggest how they had died. Crouched beside the unconscious woman, Delta-One removed his thermal gloves and scooped up a handful of snow. Packing the snow, he opened the woman's mouth and began stuffing it down her throat. He filled her entire mouth, ramming the snow as deep as he could down her windpipe. She would be dead within three minutes. This technique, invented by the Russian mafia, was called the byelaya smert-white death. This victim would suffocate long before the snow in her throat melted. Once dead, however, her body would stay warm long enough to dissolve the blockage. Even if foul play were suspected, no murder weapon or evidence of violence would be apparent immediately. Eventually someone might figure it out, but it would buy them time. The ice bullets would fade into the environment, buried in the snow, and the welt on this woman's head would look like she'd taken a nasty spill on the ice-not surprising in these gale force winds. The other three people would be incapacitated and killed in much the same way. Then Delta-One would load all of them on the sled, drag them several hundred yards off course, reattached their belay lines and arrange the bodies. Hours from now, the four of them would be found frozen in the snow, apparent victims of overexposure and hypothermia. Those who discovered them would be puzzled what they were doing off course, but nobody would be surprised that they were dead. After all, their flares had burned out, the weather was perilous, and getting lost on the Milne Ice Shelf could bring death in a hurry.

Google HRM Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Google HRM - Term Paper Example The current paper presents Google as one of the most well known online companies in the world. Many internet companies came into existence after the internet bubble of last decade of 20th century. It is important to note that not all of them were extremely successful and many reported heavy losses. Google was an exception in the internet industry because it was not only successful in surviving but was also successful in growing into a giant corporation. The progress the company has made is tremendous and it is one of the most successful internet firms that are still standing tall today. The rapid growth of Google is mainly because of its innovative culture and leadership. The reasons behind the success of Google are its management style, leadership, innovative culture, and eye opening human resource management practices. The company is such a big name today because of its employees. Google employees are known to be innovative and out of the box thinkers. The company has set new prece dents in the field of human resource management and organizational behavior. Constant innovation has made Google what it is today. The company never stopped after their famous search engine rather they used their search engine to start an advertisement program which helped them grow even more. Today Google is still coming up with newer products so that its name remains in the minds of the consumers. It is because of this approach that Google has earned the reputation of trend setter in the internet industry. ... The company is such a big name today because of its employees. Google employees are known to be innovative and out of the box thinkers. The company has set new precedents in the field of human resource management and organizational behavior. Constant innovation has made Google what it is today. The company never stopped after their famous search engine rather they used their search engine to start an advertisement program which helped them grow even more. Today Google is still coming up with newer products so that its name remains in the minds of the consumers. It is because of this approach that Google has earned the reputation of trend setter in the internet industry. Human Resource Management at Google The human resource management policy and practice of Google is exemplary. The position that Google has attained today in the world is mainly due to its innovative employees and HR policies. Employees are given a free hand to a great extent in the company. Employee freedom is one of the main characteristics of organizational culture at Google. The company has a clan culture where everyone interacts with each other freely. Treatment of employees at Google is also quite different from other companies. Facilities offered by Google are so amazing that every computer science related person on the planet wants to work in the company. Below we will discuss different functions of human resource management at Google. Job design, training, recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, promotion system, pay, and general supervisory style of Google will be discussed in detail below. Job Design Issues The main jobs at Google are innovative in nature. Employees are required to come up with new

The Crusades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Crusades - Essay Example The outcomes of the Crusades on Europe during this era became a significant aspect in evolving and in the development of the European civilization, affecting all aspects of life. These include the riches and control of the Catholic Church. Thus, it further increased and expanded their influence and supremacy, placing the Christian legion and resources under their full control. In addition, they attuned the people to look upon them as leaders. Above and beyond all the clout and dominance the papacy had on the people, the pouring out of gifts of devoutness was engorged by the astonishing zeal of spiritual passion into epic scope. In all these, the preeminence of papal rule and the prosperity of the Catholic Church were immensely amplified. Another aspect that was greatly developed because of the Crusades was on business and trading. A steady exigency for transportation led to the construction of ships. This widened the borders of trade, broadening the market into all of Europe. Overflo wing trade goods coming from the rich lands of China and other Asian countries also found their way to Europe, therefore, building a stronger association with the European and Asian cultures. The crusades undoubtedly changed Western European life. For example, they helped chip away feudalism. Countless noblemen and knights loaned or sold away their lands to finance journeys and expeditions. This deterioration in both the numbers and power, and the matching intensification of the regal power, may be pinned down in the revolution that transpired in the birthplace of the movement, France. The Crusades, aside from their effects on religious and economical facet, facilitated the decomposition of the power of feudal nobility. It gave way to the importance of the kings and the people. Societal growth and expansion were now in the hands of the burgher class, or the middle class. Social changes also sprung out from the Crusades. It was one of the primary and the most important nurturing stim ulus of the code of chivalry. Intensified and re-enforced contact and communication with Eastern influences also were refined during this period. The religious war reformed the crusaders’ intellectual beliefs and ideas as well. They liberalized their mentality, and encouraged them to venture out from castles and villages to go and explore grand urban towns and cities, magnificent palaces, marvelous clothing, and stylish and graceful etiquette. These people came home with enhanced preferences, widened beliefs and views about the world. Because of the crusades, a new world was opened in front of them. The motivation given to geographical breakthrough that changed the entire concept and thinking of the way the world was directed different explorers, such as the notable Italian Marco Polo who discovered the beauty of China, rousing the adventures and voyages of Vasco de Gama, Magellan and Christopher Columbus, may possibly be tracked back to the vigorous awareness in geographical subjects. Jerry Ciacho November 20, 2011 The Black Death The Black Death, the immense outburst of the Bubonic Plague, was indeed among the most terrible and devastating blows in all of history. It wiped out more than a hundred million people, eating into cities and towns, encroaching with a steady but unbelievably rapid stride but hit its upmost death toll in Europe during the Middle Ages between 1348 and 1350. Many believe this global virulent disease initially came from China. The bubonic plague for the most part affected only rodents, but fleas started to spread the disease to people. China was the bustling trading center of the world and with the outbreak, it was bound to extend to Western Asia and the rest of Europe. Reaching the shores of

Gender Roles in Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender Roles in Islam - Essay Example Specifically, this takes a closer look on how Islamic society treats its male and female members. This also analyzes how this tradition affects the new generation of males and females in particular. In Muslim societies women and men are expected to behave in accordance with social, cultural or religious codes. They have various reasons from doing so but what is most dominant is the fact that they want to make create a line separating men from women and that they want to distinguish between what is considered to be 'masculine' or 'feminine'. These gender roles are learned within a particular social and cultural context. More so, these gender roles are affected by factors such as education and economics (Armstrong 489). In practice, gender roles are often affecting women thereby adversely impeding their self determination in areas such as their socio-economic status, status within the family, health, life expectation, independence, freedom and even their rights (Armstrong 490). This clearly reflects the gender bias that is happening inside the Muslim communities. For them, women are still the weaker sex and males are the dominant ones. For them, women are essential for male for they should act as their partners and because they are essential for men, Muslim societies tolerate men from having numerous women (provided that men can financially support all his women and his offspring equally). For them, women are accessories to the male's harem and that the males are the ones who would ensure on the availability of food, shelter and other basic commodities, while the women should stay at home and manage what is being given by the males. For the Islam, women should not be in command the decision making is the sole responsibility of the males. In short, women in Islam, are often expected to be obedient wives and mothers remaining within the family environment, whereas men are expected to be protectors and caretakers of the family Although the Qur'an views women and men to be equal in human dignity, this spiritual or ethical equality has not been reflected in most Muslim laws. Like for example, women do not have equal rights to make independent decisions in relation to choice of marriage or even of their partners. Still, women are not the deciding factors when it comes to obtaining a divorce and custody of the children (Armstrong 489). The Reactions Now, there have been various reactions from the female side. Reformists and feminists have challenged women's lack of rights and lack of control over their own lives in Muslim Laws through the various techniques discussed in the section (Armstrong 494). Central to this challenge has been the reinterpretation of Qur'anic verses which seemingly privilege men over women and reinforce gender roles. Qur'an verse 4.34, which refers to men as 'guardians' (qawamun) (over women), has been used to justify gender roles. Likewise, this verse is used to give merit as the why men enjoy certain privilege over women. Reformist and feminist scholars have argued that the concept of guardianship has formed the basis of particular "gendered roles" in Muslim societies (Denny 494). Scholars have also explored how verse 4.34 has been interpreted and used to limit women's autonomy, freedom of movement and access to economic opportunities and independence. They found out that the concept of 'guardianship' actually only meant to ensure that a woman who is bearing

Looking exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Looking exercise - Essay Example In gatherings where the people went out to make merry, people would always remember him and wish that he was there as he was a perfect host for such events. In his conversations with the visitors that came to see him in his deathbed, he seems to be a man who has resigned to his fate. He also seems to expect that the worst would eventually come to him for the wrong that he had done. However, the people around him including his parents do not have an idea as to why he is ailing as the doctors cannot seem to find out what he is suffering from. To a large extent, kashiwagi was a leader who was hailed for all the good that he had done. Even his brothers regarded him as more of a father than a brother. His mother on the other hand is very fixated with her son to the point that she feels she would not have anything more to live for once he is gone. His wife, although aggrieved by the betrayal she suffered under him is at first reluctant to communicate with him but later softens her stand and writes him back. The saga that has led to the rift between Kashiwagi and his wife is only known by a small number of people. The rest of the society thinks that Kashiwagi was bewitched by a woman that he had been involved with but none can attest to that. Here, the gods seemed resigned to punishing Kashiwagi for the wrongs that he had committed and the price he paid was his life. By sleeping with another man’s wife, his sister in law, did he deserve death? Was this betrayal deserving of death? Certainly, it seems that Kashiwagi bore the blunt for his actions. His partner by whom he sires a son suffers a brief bout but nothing too serious to cost her life. Only she and her husband seem to be aware that the child was Kashiwagi’s. Her husband even prayed that the baby born be a girl instead of a boy so that the resemblance to Kashiwagi is masked. The hypothesis here is that mistakes done out of vanity

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 10

Project management - Essay Example The aim of this report is to develop a project management plan for Biz Group based on the project problem statement identified above. Project is defined as â€Å"a unique, finite set of multiple activities intended to accomplish a specific goal† (Tayntor, 2010:3). Practically every project is comprised of key milestones which represent a simple life cycle. Project life cycle is characterized by the Project Management Institute’s PMBOK as a process containing the following key levels: Project StartïÆ'  Initiating Processes ïÆ'   Planning Processes ïÆ'   Executing Processes ïÆ'   Closing Processes ïÆ'   Project End (Kendrick 2010:58). Project management plan is based on three key pillars (scope, time, and money), forming thus a triangle of three objectives. However, in order to start any project it is necessary to receive authorization of the project. Project Authorization is a general process of verifying a proposed project for initiation and further development, which aims to confirm feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the project (Taskmanagementguide.com, 2014). The Charter of the Project is recognized to be the single most important document in a project, as it establishes the project and summarizes the key information related to the project (Tayntor, 2010). The project â€Å"Documentum† was initiated by the Biz Group management with the purpose to implement a standardized process for monitoring, updating and publishing unstructured and paper based content used in various department manuals by providing an automated system. Below is provided a brief summary of the Project â€Å"Documentum† Project Objective: to automate the Manuals and Training material, approval process with the help of workflows and finally publish it to all relevant applications, documents and people thorough electronic means CEO of Biz Group: The CEO of Biz Group

Health and Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Health and Science - Essay Example of defense mechanism the person tries to repress any such undesirable feeling or thought or memory which causes any kind of mental turmoil to the person or which he wished not to have occurred ever. In this situation the person just wants to cut that portion of life away or just forget the situation. Hysterical amnesia is an example of this mechanism where a person performs or observes certain disturbing incident and then just forgets the incident and its surroundings. Repression is used in negative way when the person indulges in any harmful act and then forgets it. For example the person hurts or kills others at a certain state of mind or when finds others at a certain situation and then as soon as s/he is taken away from the situation or that particular state of mind s/he completely forgets the incident. Reaction formation is the kind of defense mechanism related to the fixation in consciousness of an idea or desire which is opposite to any unconscious fear. In this situation the person experiencing any conflict becomes obsessive with the situation either in positive or in negative manner. The person unconsciously tries to prove that s/he has completely accepted the situation which is opposite to her/his desire and in doing so s/he becomes over protective or solicitous to the situation. This may be expression of her/his internal guilt of not accepting the condition, e.g. an overprotective mother for her unwanted child. The negative reaction can be seen when this obsession affects the life of the child or others in a dangerous manner. Here the mother interferes too much in the life of the child and even hurts the child or anybody else who is trying to behave opposite to her obsession or notion. When a mother hurts the boyfriend of a girl child in order to keep him away from her daugh ter, it can serve as a negative reaction. Denial is the situation when a person consciously refuses to accept any painful incident. In this case the person tries to escape any

Analyzing two critiques of one piece of art Essay

Analyzing two critiques of one piece of art - Essay Example Here, the main focus of the author’s argument is on the sensuality principle and especially that of the female persona in influencing selling strategies and in attracting, influencing and sustaining interactions at public gatherings1. In the second article on Manets Bar at the Folies-Bergà ¨rese is titled â€Å"Manets Un bar aux Folies-Bergere as an Allegory of Nostalgia.†As the title suggests the interpretation and critic on the same piece of painting is centered on the nostalgic memories it evokes. The author seems to be keen to part from the prevailing analysis of the painting which â€Å"canonized† it based –ironically and heavily-on its unrealistic visual contradictions and ambiguities as opposed to the more obvious clarity of its content2. The author therefore attempts to embrace the complete scene of the Folies-Bergà ¨rese as set of multiple views and states of mind. The focus and therefore the purpose is to resolve the most controversial and ambiguous elements of the painting therein provide a narrative evaluation that previous art critics, scholars and enthusiasts alike have failed to. He achieves this by first beginning with a critique of evaluations by other authors on Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergà ¨rese(such as those of Hans Jantzen) and thereby examining the source and direction of the painter’s inspiration in the development of the piece. The author prevails in asserting that the value of making such grandeur pieces was not just for sale at exhibitions but in form of the industrial goods displayed in them similar to the advertising of departmental stores and commercial enterprises through them. The former, identifies the author, diminishes the perception of art within the public domain to a level similar to that of shelved domestic goods3. This close association between commercial entities and large-certainly influential-artwork of the time is replicated in other stores and as such