Distinction between Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Sales Forecasting, Market Research, and Common Sense in Business

Distinction between Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Sales Forecasting, Market Research, and Common Sense in Business One of the most important tasks undertaken in the business world is that of decision-making. Majority of the decisions made in the modern marketplace are aimed at maximizing profitability within a firm. In order to gain sufficient understanding on the decisions to be undertaken, businesses rely on the information technology; indeed, knowledge management and business intelligence are some of the study areas spawned to aid in business decision-making (Anon, n.d).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Distinction between Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Sales Forecasting, Market Research, and Common Sense in Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Prior to designing the marketing plan, sales forecast are normally undertaken in order to determine the potential of the market; hence, numerous kind of information from various sources are used (Longenecker, et al, 2006, p.154). According to Hague (1996), market resea rch is undertaken in various kinds of markets where both the buyer and the seller come together for the sole purpose of exchanging and increasing value. In this case, the buyer benefits by gaining profits while the seller achieves satisfaction (Hague, 1996, p.4). It is suggested by O’Connell (2003) that, despite one having expertise, experience, skills, and smartness, one might be lacking common sense. This is proven by the fact that, despite having smart people around, many dumb activities are normally accounted for, which in the first place ought not to happen, as they require the use of common sense (O’Connell, 2003). Distinctive nature of business intelligence, knowledge management, sales forecasting, market research, and common sense in business The various concepts used in decision-making are mainly distinguished by their definitions, as well as activities and processes associated with each concept. Business intelligence has numerous definitions; for instance, it has been defined as a wide area of technology where data is gathered, stored, accessed, and analyzed for the sole purpose of aiding business users in making better decisions. In addition to this, business intelligence has also been defined as systems that provide a background data that has been directed together with tools of reporting in order to aid in the process of decision-making. According to Williams and Williams (2007), a decision process is a type of business processes. In addition to this, businesses and companies tend to use business intelligence to bring about consistency in decision making, emphasize on incorporation of business information and analytical technique into tactical decisions and strategic processes and increase accountability, transparency and traceability of main decisions (Williams and Williams, 2007, p.186) According to Bergeron, knowledge management is characterized as a strategy in a business that is optimized in order to identify, organize, and pack age information that is important to the business of the firm, thus improving competitiveness among corporations and increasing employee performance (Bergeron, 2003, p. 89).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More From the definition, knowledge management is depicted as a way of introducing sense that results to a procedural management of intellectual assets and quality information for the sole purpose of providing a company with competitive advantage (Bergeron, 2003, p. 9). In spite of knowledge management being considered as an optimization strategy, its limits are not confined to one particular technology or a specific source of information. A key role played in knowledge management technology initiative results from the wide scope of information technologies (Bergeron, 2003, p. 9). In knowledge management practices, it is almost impossible for one to capture the belief s, behavior, and thoughts of the managers in the sense that one can provide quality information to another person (Bergeron, 2003, p. 8). The major differences between knowledge management business concept and business intelligence is brought about by the fact that in knowledge management, new knowledge is created and dispersed while in business intelligence there isn’t any dispersion or creation of knowledge. Sales forecasting according to Longenecker et al (2006) is defined as a prediction of the amount of product or service that can be purchased in a market for specific period. The market description should be defined accurately as it forms the prediction boundary (Longenecker, et al, 2006, p.154). In the construction of a business plan, the time has to be identified as short term or long term, as sales forecast implies on a specified period. In the assessing of the feasibility of a new venture, sales forecast is considered one of the essential components. Moreover, the sa les forecast is also useful in personnel decisions, inventory policies, and production schedules. Sale forecast is considered as a multi-step process mainly because it is a composite of various individual forecasts that have been merged accordingly. The forecasting process is categorized in two major dimensions 1) the starting point of a process 2) the nature used in predicting the variable (Longenecker, et al, 2006, p.156). Market research is normally applied in markets where the sellers and buyers come together to increase value and exchange. The nature of the market determines the techniques and approach to be used by the market researcher. Some of the techniques used in market research include qualitative technique that investigate the complex consumer perception and quantitative technique whose basis is formed on rigorous sampling (Hague, 1996, p.4).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Distinction between Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Sales Forecasting, Market Research, and Common Sense in Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Resources to be used are of outmost importance for the collection of valid data especially in the consumer market research (Hague, 1996, p.5). Information technology has had a great impact in the data processing sector of the market research. In addition to this, information technology is now finding its way in the data collection sector of the marketing research (Hague, 1996, p.12). Market research is hence applied in order to identify a business opportunity, problem identification, and commercial risks to be identified (Hague, 1996, p.14). In its application, market research aids in establishing a need for a service or product, assist in new product marketing and improve already existing product (Hague, 1996, p.14). In establishment of a new product a lot of expectations should not be expected as it offers an understanding of the surroundings upon w hich the new product will be sold and nothing more (Hague, 1996, p.18) In businesses, common sense is vital; this is because overly complicated regulations have become problematic. In order for the markets to work, O’Connell suggests that simplification of institutions should be encouraged together with innovative programs that promote existing systems that are formal (O’Connell,2003, p.6). In the business environs, the proposal, problem or solution should be written down and if you result in a complex idea, you might be heading in the wrong direction and hence one should retract the initial steps used in order to arrive at a simple direction. Lateral thinking has also been emphasized as the way the mind works and should be learned and implemented. In lateral learning, old ideas are done away with and new ones are generated by recognizing the wisdom gained from old ideas and searching for alternative ways (O’Connell, 2003, p.6). Conclusion Differences between th e various concepts used in decision-making are subtle and only minimal distinctions results can be noted due to similarity in their processes. Some of these concepts of the business studies are ascertained by the various existing business firms that provide them. These firms sell their decision support services to executives who make the decisions and implement them by way of manipulation so as to create reports to, show trends or even predict future events. Sale forecasting concept entails a specific period of time in which certain amount of products and services will have been purchased. It is a critical process especially while undertaking a new venture. The period in sale forecasting will be either short term or long term.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In market research, there is no prediction but contrarily actual data is collected in order to ascertain the difficulties, risks, and opportunities facing a particular market in question. The techniques used in data collection of marketing research can be either qualitative or quantitative depending on the data to be collected. Common sense in business simplifies the complex situations encountered in businesses. Common sense is not very common; this can be depicted by the way different people tackle and solve various problems. While tackling a problem basic steps are to be followed and on resulting into a complex idea, the steps earlier followed are to be retracted to arrive on a simple and a less complex idea. In knowledge management, creation and dispersion of new knowledge is significant as compared to business intelligence where the creation and dispersion of knowledge is lacking. References Anon. (N.d). Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Differences. Web. Bergeron, B.P. (2003). Essentials of knowledge management. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Hague, P.N. (1996). Market research: a guide to planning, methodology, evaluation. London: Kogan Page. Longenecker, J.G, et al. (2006). Small business management: an entrepreneurial emphasis. OH: Cengage Learning. O’Connell, E. (2003). The competitive advantage of common sense: using the power you already have. NJ: FT Press. Williams, S. and Williams, N. (2007). The profit impact of business intelligence. Oxford: Morgan Kaufmann.

Julius Caesar Summary and Study Guide

Julius Caesar Summary and Study Guide J​ulius Caesar may have been the greatest man of all times. His birth date was July 12/13, probably in the year 100 B.C., although it may have been in 102 B.C. Caesar died March 15, 44 B.C., which date is known as the Ides of March. By age 39/40, Julius Caesar had been a widower, divorce, governor (propraetor) of Further Spain, captured by pirates, hailed imperator by adoring troops, quaestor, aedile, consul, named to an important priesthood, and elected pontifex maximus (although he may not have been installed) a lifelong honor usually reserved for the end of a mans career. What was left for his remaining 16/17 years? That for which Julius Caesar was most well known: the Triumvirate, military victories in Gaul, the dictatorship, civil war, and, finally, assassination. Julius Caesar was a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, an orator, an historian, and a mathematician. His government (with modifications) endured for centuries. He never lost a war. He fixed the calendar. He created the first news sheet, Acta Diurna, which was posted on the forum to let everyone who cared to read it know what the Assembly and Senate were up to. He also instigated an enduring law against extortion. Caesar vs. the Aristocracy He traced his ancestry to Romulus, putting him in as aristocratic a position as possible, but his association with his uncle Marius populism put Julius Caesar in political hot water with many of his social class. Under the penultimate Roman king, Servius Tullius, the patricians developed as the privileged class. The patricians then took over as the ruling class when the Roman people, who were fed up with kings, drove out Servius Tullius murderer and successor. This Etruscan king of Rome was referred to as Tarquinius Superbus Tarquin the Proud. With the end of the period of kings, Rome entered into the period of the Roman Republic. At the start of the Roman Republic, the Roman people were mainly farmers, but between the fall of the monarchy and the rise of Julius Caesar, Rome changed dramatically. First, it mastered Italy; then it turned its sights to the Carthaginian hold on the Mediterranean, to gain supremacy over which it needed a fighting naval force. Citizen fighters left their fields prey to land speculators, although if all went well, they returned home with ample booty. Rome was building its remarkable empire. Between slaves and the conquered wealth, the hard-working Roman became the luxury-seeking spendthrift. Real work was carried out by slaves. A rural lifestyle gave way to urban sophistication. Rome Avoided Kings The governing style that developed as an antidote to monarchy originally included severe limitations on the power of any one individual. But by the time large-scale, enduring wars became the norm, Rome needed powerful leaders whose terms would not end mid-battle. Such men were called dictators. They were supposed to step down after the crisis for which they were appointed, although during the late Republic, Sulla had put his own time limits on his term as dictator. Julius Caesar became dictator for life (literally, perpetual dictator). Note: Although Julius Caesar may have been the permanent dictator, he was not the first Roman emperor. The conservatives resisted change, seeing the downfall of the Republic in every nuance of reform. Thus Julius Caesars murder was incorrectly hailed by them as the only way back to the old values. Instead, his murder led to the rise of, first, civil war, and next, the first Roman princeps (from which we get the word prince), whom we refer to as the Emperor Augustus.​ There are only a few names of the great men and women of the ancient world whom almost everyone recognizes. Among these is the last dictator of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar, whose assassination Shakespeare immortalized in his play,  Julius Caesar. Here are some of the main points to know about this great Roman leader. 1. Caesars Birth Julius Caesar was probably born 3 days before the  Ides of July, in 100 B.C. That date would be July 13. Other possibilities are that he was born on July 12 in 100 B.C. or that he was born on July 12 or 13 in the year 102 B.C. 2. Caesars Pedigreed Family His fathers family was from the patrician gens of the Julii. The Julii traced its lineage to the first king of Rome, Romulus, and the goddess  Venus  or, instead of Romulus, to Venus grandson Ascanius (aka Iulus or Jullus; whence Julius). One patrician branch of the Julian gens was called Caesar. [See  Surnames of the Julii from UNRV.] Julius Caesars parents were Gaius Caesar and Aurelia, daughter of Lucius Aurelius Cotta. 3. Familial Ties Julius Caesar was related by marriage to  Marius. The first 7-time consul, Marius supported the and opposed  Sulla. Sulla supported the  optimates. (It is common, but inaccurate to consider the  optimates  like the conservative party and the  populares  like the liberal party of modern political systems.) Perhaps more familiar to military history buffs, Marius drastically reformed the military during the Republican period. 4. Caesar and the Pirates The young Julius went to Rhodes to study oratory, but on his way he was captured by pirates whom he charmed and seemingly befriended. After he was freed, Julius arranged to have the pirates executed. 5. Cursus Honorum QuaestorJulius entered the course of advancement (cursus honorum) in the Roman political system as quaestor in 68 or 69 B.C.Curule AedileIn 65 B.C., Julius Caesar became curule aedile and then managed to be appointed to the position of  pontifex maximus, contrary to convention, since he was so young.PraetorJulius Caesar became  praetor  for 62 B.C. and during that year divorced his second wife for not being above suspicion, in the Bona Dea scandal involving Claudius/Clodius Pulcher.ConsulJulius Caesar won one of the consulships in 59 B.C. The chief advantage for him of this top political position was that following the term in office, he would become governor (proconsul) of a lucrative province.ProconsulAfter his term as  consul, Caesar was sent to Gaul as the proconsul. 6. Caesars Promiscuity MistressesJulius Caesar himself was guilty of many extra-marital affairs, with Cleopatra, among others. One of the most significant relations was with Servilia Caepionis, the half-sister of Cato the Younger. Because of this relationship, it was thought possible that Brutus was Julius Caesars son.Male LoverJulius Caesar was taunted all his life with charges of having been the lover of King Nicomedes of Bithynia.WivesJulius Caesar married Cornelia, a daughter of Marius associate, Lucius Cornelius Cinna, then a relative of Pompey named Pompeia, and finally, Calpurnia. 7. Triumvirate Julius Caesar engineered a 3-way division of power with enemies Crassus and Pompey that was known as the Triumvirate. More on the 1st Triumvirate 8. Caesars Prose Second-year Latin students are familiar with the military side of Julius Caesars life. As well as conquering the Gallic tribes, he wrote about the  Gallic Wars  in clear, elegant prose, referring to himself in the third person. It was through his campaigns that Julius Caesar was finally able to work his way out of debt, although the third member of the triumvirate, Crassus, also helped. Caesars Gallic Wars Commentaries 9.Rubiconand Civil War Julius Caesar refused to obey the command of the Senate, but instead led his troops across the Rubicon river, which started civil war. 10. Ides of March and Assassination Julius Caesar was the Roman dictator with divine honors, but he didnt have a crown. In 44 B.C. conspirators, claiming they feared Julius Caesar was aiming to become king, assassinated Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. More on the Ides of March 11. Caesars Heirs Although Julius Caesar had a living son, Caesarion (not officially acknowledged), Caesarion was an Egyptian, the son of  Queen Cleopatra, so Julius Caesar adopted a great nephew, Octavian, in his will. Octavian was to become the first Roman emperor, Augustus. 12. Caesar Trivia Caesar was known to be careful or abstemious in his consumption of wine and was said to have been particular in his hygiene, including having himself depilitated. I dont have a source for this. Major Events in the Timeline of Julius Caesar 102/100 B.C. - July 13/12  - Caesars Birth84  - Caesar marries the daughter of L. Cornelius Cinna75  - Pirates capture Caesar73  - Caesar is elected Pontifex69  - Caesar is quaestor. Julia, Caesars aunt (Marius widow), dies. Cornelia, the wife of Caesar, dies67  - Caesar marries Pompeia65  - Caesar is elected Aedile63  - Caesar is elected Pontifex Maximus62  - Caesar is praetor. Caesar divorces Pompeia61  - Caesar is Propraetor of Further Spain60  - Caesar is elected Consul and forms the  Triumvirate59  - Caesar is Consul58  - Caesar defeats the Helvetii and Germans55  - Caesar crosses the Rhine and invades Britain54  - Caesars daughter, who is also Pompeys wife, dies53  - Crassus is killed52  - Clodius is murdered; Caesar defeats Vercingetorix49  - Caesar crosses the  Rubicon  -  Civil War  begins48  - Pompey is murdered46  - Thapsus Battle (Tunisia) against Cato and Scipio. Caesar made dictator. (Third time.)45 or 44 (Before Luperca lia)  - Caesar is declared dictator for life; literally perpetual dictator* Ides of March  - Caesar is assassinated *For most of us, the distinction between perpetual dictator and dictator for life is trivial; however, it is a source of controversy for some. Caesars final step, according to Alfoldi, was a compromise. He had been designated Dictator in perpetuum (Livy Ep. CXVI), or as the coins read, Dictator perpetuo (never, according to Alfoldi p. 36, perpetuus; note that Cicero** cited the dative, dictatori perpetuo, which could fit either form), apparently in the fall of 45 B.C. (Alfoldi pp. 14-15). He had taken up this new dictatorship upon the conclusion of his fourth annual dictatorship on or near February 15. (Mason Hammond. Review of Studien à ¼ber Caesars Monarchie by Andreas Alfà ¶ldi. The Classical Weekly, Vol. 48, No. 7, Feb. 28, 1955, pp. 100-102.) Cicero (106-43 B.C.) and Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) were contemporaries of Caesar. Study Guide Non-Fiction Caesars Final Aims, by Victor Ehrenberg.  Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 68, (1964), pp. 149-161.Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian GoldsworthyCaesar, by Christian Meier. 1995Party Politics in the Age of Caesar, by Lily Ross Taylor. Reissued in 1995.The Roman Revolution, by Ronald Syme. 1969. Fiction Colleen McCulloughs  Masters of Rome  series provides a well researched historical fiction series on Julius Caesar: First Man in RomeThe Grass CrownFortunes FavoritesCaesars WomenCaesar, A NovelThe October Horse Questions to Consider What would have happened to Rome had Caesar remained in power?Would the Republic have continued?Was the change from Republic to Empire inevitable?Were Caesars assassins traitors?Was Caesar a traitor when he crossed the Rubicon?Under what circumstances is treason justified?Why is Caesar the greatest leader ever?What reasons are there for saying he was not?What are Caesars most important/lasting contributions?