Features of NASDAQ:
ECN (Electronic Communication Network): The feature allows unlimited participants to trade a company’s share thus increasing competition.
SOES (Small Order Execution System): ensures that changes in market condition are processed electronically.

The 3 levels in which NASDAQ quotes its prices to public:
Level I: Here, the person asking for the stock or doing the bid is not disclosed.
Level II: It gives the name of the market maker looking for the stocks.
Level III: This allows asking quotes or entering bid as the process is going on.

The NASDAQ 100 index comprises of the 100 most actively traded domestic and international companies in diverse fields like: hardware, software and telecommunications but not the finance industry. The NASDAQ composite index has seen an extraordinary growth during the 1990’s period but also an equally rapid downfall due to the dotcom crash.

In Search of Excellence:
One of the interesting aspects of this book is the McKinsey’s 7-S concept which is a tool for managers to handle businesses considered irrational or intractable. Few of the other attributes which are relevant also in the 21st century include:
1) Excellent customer service: The companies like: IBM, Wal-Mart really care about their product and service provided thus in turn aim at providing exceptional service, quality and reliability to their customers. They listen, take surveys, improvise and learn from them.

2) People, the most important asset: Every employee is given the autonomy to contribute ideas and the freedom to speak out. Rewards for work, creating comfortable work environments and motivational techniques are used to imbibe positive attitude and enthusiasm in the work force.
3) Cultured Environment: Cultured environment refers to a set of disciplined people who act keeping in mind the basic philosophy of the company. Companies like: PepsiCo realize that their productivity and innovation is dependent on the people. They have a certain set of values and strong beliefs like: to believe in the best, importance of execution and importance of informal communication which aims at inspiring employees.
4) Communication within the organization: Informal communication is encouraged in the offices. Decentralization is encouraged to improve decision making and every care is taken so that there is free flow of information within the offices.
5) Flexibility: With the changing scenario in the market or when a new manager is appointed the companies also adapt to the change.

Significance of Good to Great- Relevance and Contrasts:
Jim Collins and his research team have built a framework called the “Fly Wheel” loop which comprises of the basic concepts: Disciplined people have disciplined thought which lead to disciplined action. Few of the companies which worked with this framework include: Abbot, Circuit City, Kroger and Kimberly Clark and each of them had, over a fifteen year span, outperformed their competitors and sustained over the time period.
Relevance: All the companies believe in unparallel customer service, importance of employees, disciplined culture and to confront reality however brutal.
Contrasts: Great companies believe that it is not just people, but the right people who are the most important asset, (stated by Nucor, Good to Great, Pg 51). The right people are self disciplined and have specific traits, educational background and knowledge for the required job. Another contrast is related to the company remaining in its core business. The company’s allied businesses may not always be the right one for the company. The Hedgehog concept, provides a set of questions to help’s understand “what the organization can be best at”. Also, in contrast to the moral leadership as mentioned by Peter’s, the great companies are headed by a level 5 leader who are diligent, have a passion for their work and are a characteristic blend of personal humility and professional will combined together.
Relevance to Management Consulting
When we focus on the field of Management Consulting, it requires day to day meetings with clients and problem solving capabilities to provide effective and efficient solutions. Thus this job profile requires: level 5 leadership qualities: to be work driven, motivating and an effective communicator, apply the Hedgehog concept to understand the true nature of the client’s company, confront issues and difficulties yet remaining unwavered and persuasive, adapting a flexible approach and also to apply the “First Who.. Then What” technique, since it is critical to have the right people with the right background on the job.

1. Tracking devices combine the possibility to locate itself using technologies like radio transmission. It’s useful since it enables tracking the position of people of vehicles in real time without them telling explicitly. Tracing is another application which is used regularly.

2. Navigation: It is perhaps the most well-known of all the applications of GPS. Using the appropriate software, the GPS coordinates are found which helps locating the intended route, dynamically selecting the best route in real time. The first such application is the car navigation system, which allows drivers to receive navigation instructions without taking their eyes off the road, via voice commands and makes driving easy.

Consumer receivers are the approximate size of a hand-held calculator, cost a few hundred dollars. There are new cutting edge applications being developed all the time, as the surrounding technological environment becomes more advanced. Commercial industries like Hotels, Automobile and Telecommunication are the most involved in GPS business. The services which are currently grabbing the market’s attention and are expected to evolve on a larger scale are:

1. In-car navigation services: A GPS system in a car (such as Garmin Nuvi or the recently announced Harman-Kardon GPS-300) lets the user plan a route just by typing in an address, and then following voice prompts that tell you where (and when) to turn. The on-screen display shows a bright easy-to-see find arrow for directions. Most recent cars have an in-built GPS in them. The device also can have in built information about local coffee shops with high-speed wireless access, the birthplace location of famous people or even the best restaurants in small towns. The system is user friendly and reliable.
2. Hiking, Bike rides or outdoor workouts: One of the most common uses for a GPS is just going for a hike, walk, run or bike ride Forerunner 305(Garmin), which is a GPS watch worn on the wrist shows exercise data such as current heart rate, speed and distance, and your total workout time. The Software included with the Forerunner also provides map of the route on a PC and then tracks your workout progress.
3. Geocaching: One idea for a very popular corporate event or after-work activity is to go geocaching. Geocaching has become a corporate "urban game" activity on a large scale. Microsoft recently hosted an event through GeoTeaming where each employee uses a GPS device for a scavenger hunt or a small treasure hunt activity. The event aims at providing motivational teamwork and planning.
4. Boating and Fishing: Fishing is another sport where a GPS provides several fishing perks beyond the basics. The GPS provides information about the fishing and hunting schedules for the best days and times to fish and which species are in season. There's also sunrise and sunset information, to judge how much light is available for nighttime outings and tide tables for those who fish on the ocean..
5. Golf: The GPS allows choosing clubs more accurately. The map of the area can be manually set by walking the course and setting waypoints. Then, when you play the course, the GPS shows the current location and the distance to the next hole. An easier approach is that it gives not only the pin distances, but bunker locations and other hazards to avoid such as lakes and even the best lay-up positions. (Brandon, 2007)
Unfortunately, as with all technology, there are a few drawbacks. As advanced as GPS technology is, it must be realized that no machinery can function 100 percent of the time. In order for a GPS system to provide accurate information it must be able to receive a signal from a minimum of four satellites. Inclement weather or tall buildings can interfere with signal reception. Another disadvantage of GPS is its dependence on battery power. Even though using a battery enables a GPS system to have portability, a battery can fail without warning. However in spite of these drawbacks the market for GPS has been booming especially in the consumer market.
MARKET GROWTH
Because of the open platform it is built on and the versatile options provided by the device, the in-car navigation, tracking and consumer applications (golf, fishing, geocaching) would lead the global GPS market to rise above $22 billion by 2008, driven by new applications and led in part by demand for timing devices.
• The vehicle mapmakers: It is forecasted that total map volume will increase to 65 million in 2011 from 7 million in 2006. In all, approximately 4 million vehicle navigation systems were sold in North America last year and approximately 13 million in Europe.
• Fleet Management: The GPS market for Fleet Management Worldwide is approximately US $ 4 Billion in the year 2005 and it is expected to grow at 3.4 % by the year 2010.
• Consumer’s applications like hiking, Golf and fishing have also led to quick appreciation of the attractiveness of GPS services. In dollar terms, the market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 13% over the same period to approximately $1.9 billion in 2011. (Find Articles.com, 2005)
The market for consumer GPS products has been booming because of its innovative features and lucrative price since the past few years and is definitely to continue to rise thus making it one of the best areas to invest.

Human communication can be viewed as a concept, a field of study about interaction, collaboration and also an art to be practiced and mastered. It forms the basis of understanding the interrelationship between individuals or groups. This can also be considered as a method for transmitting information by co-relating it to the Shannon-Weaver model, which states that “the message sending environment comprises of a sender, a receiver, a medium for transmission and noise.”So typically, communication also follows these protocols.
Human communication comprises of various aspects and features and through the course of the paper I will emphasize their significance.
Communication theory as a field:
As stated by Stephen W.Littlejohn “Theories communicate about communication” (Littlejohn, 2007).Human communication theory can be considered as a field of study since it reflects its eclectic nature in ordinary life. Theories revolve around analysis and synthesis. So, we move on further to the analysis and synthesis of communication.
Analysis: When looked into the facts of how communication has evolved we realize that there are some tools used for communication:
• Language- It is one of the bases of communication. One major advantage o human language is that it’s flexible. Meaning of words can be changed and new ones created. An example of how this evolved can be understood by considering the English word: nice, which now generally means pleasing or agreeable. However in the earlier days it meant foolish or even wicked. Language provides a fundamental structure to the communication process.
• Speech: It is the verbal form of representing language. It is the outcome of the actual use of language.
• Discourse: also a means of communication, is “organization of words”- Stephen W Littlejohn, and requires coherence, which means the ability to stick together to make sense.
Careful examination and analysis of the sequence of words, their origin and etymology help understand the root of communication process.
Synthesis: Information organization
Organization of information produces some sense during communication. The two issues involved with it are:
• Interpreting the meaning: This could be better explained with an example. Consider a rose. People can relate it to beauty or sweet smell while other could relate it to its ugly thorns. Depending on how the mind interprets the message eventually changes the way of communicating.
• Attribution: As stated by Litlejohn “Once you make an attribution you are apt to stick to it”. So the predisposition in human minds towards things influences the thought and communication.
• Perspective/opinion: As aptly stated by Tina Coburn “Culture and past experiences play a major role in a person’s language or perspective in communicating”. (Coburn, 2007). Past experiences like tasting food which we like makes us change our opinion about it and makes us to react positively. Change in perspective, also, make us to “take a broader view of our domain” (J.Gillette, 2007), where people start thinking out of the box which in turn is shown in their behavior.
Communication Levels:
“Human communication is the field dedicated to understand how people communicate” with themselves, (intrapersonal communication), another person (interpersonal communication), within groups (group dynamics), through technology (mass media), across culture (cross-cultural communication)”. (Yaich, 2007)
Consider a mass media environment, the purpose is to distribute and provide information to a large number of heterogeneous audiences. So such kind of information needs to be persuasive with the aim of influencing the mass.
• Group dynamics: involves working in teams, communicating with each other common views and work together to achieve the goal. Communication here would be a more one-on-one basis to convey the appropriate thoughts.
• Organizational level: This is a professional atmosphere. Communication changes with authority relations, like when communicating with a boss it is different from communicating with a colleague.

Types of communication:
• Verbal: is related to talking, or it’s the expression of thoughts through words. It involves use of appropriate language to convey information.
• Non-verbal: Actions speak more than words. Like using body gestures or facial expressions to communicate. Most non verbal communication occurs at an unconscious level. An example could be to shrug shoulders. Two people can say the same sentence but convey different meaning by simply using their body language.
• Written: This could be in the form of emails, letters or any written document. One of the most practiced in the written of communication is professional writing.
Why does the communication process fail?
“Communication usually fails, except by accident”- Wiio’s laws
Most of the time what is expressed is never what is understood. Communication fails mostly due to
• Language and culture: for example misinterpretation of the meaning when spoken in a different language.
• Personal differences: When assumed that people have prior knowledge on the subject it fails in a larger group of audience.
As stated by Nick Clark “Without response, the cycle of sending and consequently communication is often terminated” (Clark, 2007). So when there is no response from the other person the message is lost. Similarly when the listener does not pay attention the process fails.
Simple misinterpretations of meaning and behavior also cause failure.
Communication has since long been used as a tool for collaboration, to understand and interact. Thus it’s important to know the techniques to good communication. Clarity, observation and listening skills are important aspects since it’s with these that we make sense and transact with our environment and people in it.
• Clarity: Clear and concise expression of thoughts helps deliver the intended message. Clarity of observation is also necessary for effective and efficient communication.
• Communication involves information storage and retrieval. The other two aspects fall under this category.
• Observation: Scrutinizing and analyzing every small detail of what is being spoken and the environment is often beneficial in a common process.
• Listening: “Good listeners provide quick feedback and act on what they hear”. (Peters, 1987). It enhances communication skills and provides good outcome. The art of listening needs to be practiced and mastered.
Communication- the human connection is the key to personal and career success”-Paul J Meyer
To be a successful leader in today’s world it is important to manage and lead. A leader needs to have an inspiring vision and simultaneously the ability to motivate the workforce, which in turn means that they need to have good communication skills.
Today’s successful leaders will work diligently to engage in their cause. Oddly enough the best way by far to engage others is by seriously listening to them. If talking and giving orders was the administrative model of the last 50 years, listening is the model for the 1980’s and beyond”- (Peters, 1980).By saying so Tom Peter’s emphasizes the need for good listening and observational skills to be able to communicate effectively. Thus good communication skills are vital if we want to be in a successful professional leader and individual.

“Made in China” is the slogan of the consumer market today. The words emphasize the penetration of Chinese goods and its influence into the world market for a long time now. It has marked the emergence of a new era in production, distribution and trade of commercial goods.
The book “China Inc.” by Ted Fishman talks about how China’s economy has begun to influence the daily lives of workers, consumers, governments and people worldwide. China has grown from being an impoverished country to one of the most dominant industrial power. The country has demonstrated how little value-added commoditized manufacturing has become. He talks about China being a “Pirate Nation” that is, how by counterfeiting any product, irrespective of its quality, the sales never seems to drop. Be it electronic gadgets, CD’s and DVD’s or clothes counterfeiting seems to create jobs and support the entire economy, with the support of the government to a large extent. China is now manufacturing nearly everything -computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost. Counterfeiting has also given the growing companies the means to compete with the powerful foreign rivals.
With increase in popularity of Chinese goods, Ted Fishman also voices the concern of how it might prove detrimental to the American market. It is important for American and European countries to shake out of their complacency, take a few basic steps to protect their market goods. This would begin at improving the quality of education at the student level. Also recognizing it is imperative to realize that the globalization growth at a fast pace is not just due to the large workforce willing to work for low wages or creativity but more due to its under-developed domestic market.

The famous Renaissance historian Jacob Burkhardt argues in his essay, “ Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, that the Renaissance was, as an historical event, the transition from medieval times, during which the focus of all life had been religion, to modern times, in which that focus expanded to include learning, rationality, and realism. Whereas in the Middle Ages, religious salvation had occupied the position of utmost importance, during the Renaissance, humanism, stressing the need for individuals to reach their potential in this world, rose up to accompany and rival the goal of salvation”
Many Italian cities were part of the Renaissance such as Florence, Ferrara, Milan and Venice. These cities consisted of many wealthy merchants who spawned the interest on different things, other than trade items such as painting, learning, new systems of government and other literary works. This major event in history was a turning point in terms of enlightenment of minds.

The era also marked the difference in the term: Renaissance and enlightenment. Both involved bringing about major changes in culture, art, religion, science, mind (philosophy) and mathematics. While Renaissance is associated with rebirth of literature, architecture and humanism the Enlightenment calls to mind the scientific method, industrialization and rationality.

There was a change in political scenario with the beginning of the modern era. People started becoming more interested in politics and the world outside their cities. Religious beliefs changed due to growth of literacy. The church began to lose its monopoly as Renaissance gave people the opportunity to think out of the box, explore the world and access to different things which were unheard of in the Middle Ages.

The European Renaissance also produces many great minds. Leonardo Da Vinci was one such great artist cum intellectual thinker of the time. His famous works includes: the Mona Lisa and
The Last Supper. He was also a great inventor and a number of blueprints for devices he had created are still present. He was also interested in human anatomy. He dissected corpses to learn more about human anatomy. One of his famous diagrams of the human body is the Vitruvian Man.

Another famous Personality is Michelangelo Buonarroti, a renowned sculptor. “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”- Michelangelo. He created two free-standing sculptures, the Madonna and Child and David. He is also well known for being the chief architect of the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

Many other sculptors, painters, architects, ambitious and influential artists of the Renaissance era include: Giuseppe Arcimboldi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, and E Greco.
Thus the European Renaissance marks the awakening of Europe and describes the intellectual and economic changes which led to the growth from economic stagnation of the Middle Ages to a spurt of financial growth in the Modern era.

http://www.cyberessays.com/History/24.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-the-renaissance-and-the-enlightenment.htm

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96mar/michelangelo.html

http://www.learner.org/interactives/renaissance/

http://arthistory.heindorffhus.dk/frame-Michelangelo.htm

Renaissance – marks birth, revolution or change of any sort. The Renaissance marked the 14th through 17th century era. It was a cultural movement which began in Italy and spread through Europe. It highlights the need for revival of learning. The Renaissance, since its inception has had huge impacts in the intellectual thought process and is well known for the artistic aspects it bought along with it.
The Information Renaissance marked the change in the way of thinking of people. People who lived in Europe in the Middle Ages were more or less blindfolded by the Church’s preaching’s and believed in the stories and myths passed on across generations. The period of Renaissance bought about enlightenment among the people to come out of their fears and explore the world.
The other new change was the growth of humanism and humanists. These were the people who made it a point to broaden their horizons by removing the suppressions on their minds imposed by the Church long ago. These Humanists moved on from the life of spirituality to focus on subjects and issues dealing with new ideas on human rights, freedom and life.
These people also began to move out and explore the world in search for knowledge. This bought about a way for people to share cultures and learn about new cultures in turn. There was a wide spread knowledge penetration throughout Europe and the Humanists took the opportunity to educate people.
Art and religion grew tremendously. A lot of literary works were produced in this era. To name a few renowned innovators: Masaccio in painting, Brunelleschi in architecture, and Donatello in sculpture. The social status of the artists rose to the extent that they were now the elite crowd in towns and was called skilled artisans rather than simple craftsmen. “The idea of artistic genius became popular; Michelangelo was called "divine" because of the greatness of his creative powers.”
Art also gave way to growth of new scientific fields of study: Anatomy and Mathematics. Both Art and Science strived together to unveil the mysteries of the physical and spiritual world. The other fields which flourished in the period were: Architecture, Sculpture, Poetry, Literary works and Religion.
The Renaissance period also opened doors for the growth for enlightenment among the women. A few of the women in the Renaissance era were: Isabella d'Este, also called as the First Lady of Renaissance and Catherine de Medici. Both of them were great patron of art and helped the Renaissance flourish.
Thus the Information era opened doors for young budding artists and other talents to flourish and expand and spread their intellectual knowledge.

One of the renowned definitions for Web 2.0: “Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an architecture of participation, and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences”.-Tim O’Reilly
Web 2.0 is about people and their needs. It is about connecting people and bringing technology in their hands. The web started out as giving instruction to the users. Today, Web 2.0 takes instructions from the users, giving them the control. It is said that Web 2.0 started out when there was “a brainstorming session between O'Reilly and Medialive International”. It marked a new version of the Web. A user oriented Web was created.
More than the technology, a new meaning to the phrase “social networking” was born. The web was now more a place where people all over the world could collaborate. A recent example to this is Second Life. It is a virtual world created by people using it according to their imagination. People meet the world they create online as “Avatars”. These are digital representatives of people to experience a vast digital continent to team up with people, for entertainment and opportunities. Its popularity has grown now so much that it is now used for conducting interviews and important conferences.
“Human Network” is a phrase which is in vogue in today’s computer world and Web 2.0 is all about that. Though it’s a synonym to social networking it specifies more about the relationship’s shared by the individual people across the web. What I mean by this is that it gives the opportunity for people to relate and share ideas. Cisco has also bought about the “Human network concept”. When we look at their ad’s the word collaboration stands out the most. The web today is all about collaboration and collaborating with the human network.

"It is an Art not merely for your pleasure, but exhibits cosmic expression (bhava) for all the worlds. This art has been created following the movements of the world in work and play, profit, peace, laughter, battle and slaughter, yielding the fruit of righteousness to those who follow the moral law, a restraint for the unruly, and a discipline for the followers of the rule; to create wisdom in the ignorant, learning in scholars, afford sport to kings, and endurance to the sorrow-stricken; it is replete with the diverse moods, informed with varying passions of the soul, and linked to the deeds of mankind — the best, the middling and the low — affording excellent counsel pastime and all else."
Contemporary classical Indian dancers are both male and female artists and the art is extremely demanding and complex in terms of dedication and daily practice. It requires rigorous discipline and passion to pursue it. The themes for the dance can range from: Hymns in praise of Gods to modern day themes creating world peace, or pollution awareness.
The Bharatanatyam techniques of communicating a message are Abinaya. Abinaya refers to the facial expressions portrayed. The most famous abinaya are the “Navarasa”, nine moods. The Navarasa, in the scriptures refer to the nine expressions that humans often show. These are love (shringaara), laughter (haasya), kind-heartedness or compassion (karuna), anger (roudra), courage (veera), fear (bhayaanaka), disgust (bheebhatsya), wonder or surprise (adbhutha) and peace or tranquility (shaantha).
Bharatanatyam is poetry in motion. Bharatanatyam has been immortalized in successive generations, as much by the sinuous grace of great dancers as by the nimble fingers of renowned sculptors who have demonstrated the perfection of Bharata's technique in the flowing
lines of temple structures. It’s blend of the abstract & the emotional is derived from its fusion of two prime elements, pure dance or dance without interpretive meaning and (expressive dance).

Today the art is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by male and female dancers all over India. It is a profession of its own and is respected and renowned all over the world. Due to its wide range of movements and postures and the balanced potpourri of the rhythmic aspects lends itself well to exceptional choreography. It is a dance of passion, expression and intends to bring the soul within “to life”. Degree and Post Graduate courses covering the practice and theory of Bharatanatyam as well as the languages associated with its development are available at major universities of India. One such school is the “Kalakshetra”, located in Chennai, India.

The Human brain processes about thousands of thoughts per second. The reproduction of these ambiguous thoughts into clear expressions to exchange ideas and convey information to interact with each other is Human Communication. It is the basis of understanding the inter-relationship between individuals in a business or social environment. It is inherently consistent with one’s behavior. Organization of thoughts, language and speech are very important in communication since it is with these aspects that we make sense and transact with the surrounding environment and the people in it.

Any kind of communication follows certain protocols or guidelines. The basic protocol is that the person expressing his thoughts should be able to do so with clarity and in a way the person listening is able to understand. There must be a proper medium to communicate, for example: face-to-face communication, telephone or video conferencing. The outcome of any communication should be the proper delivery of the intended message from the source to the destination. With context to human communication it would mean the person at the receiving end is successfully able to comprehend the message of the sender and act or answer accordingly.

The most basic feature of communication is language. It is a system of words or gestures expressed to be understood by a common group of people. Vast amount of complex information is processed when people communicate and language helps convey it without any ambiguity. It could take forms like: poetry, sounds or symbols and many more.

Good communication skills are vital if we want to be successful. Corporate leaders say that the ability to communicate well orally is one of the most important skills that are looked for. Hence it is people who listen, observe and express themselves clearly, confidently and are persuasive as well as comfortable communicating with a wide range of people from top executives to assembly line workers who are valued required in today’s corporate world.