E-Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

E-Business - Case Study Example Hoffman & Novak (1996:51) described the internet as a "phenomenal marketing opportunity". This same definition was later echoed by Palmer & Griffith (1998:45) when they state that, the internet has created a new revolution in marketing by providing much more than just a new medium through which organization communicate to the public. E-marketing has become an important phenomenal for Business to Business, Consumers to Consumers as well as Business to consumers marketing. As the fight of market shares and quest for product success continue, e-strategy has offered marketers and businesses all the necessary tactics, and methods to give their product a break through, or remain competitive (Frost et al. 2001). This assignment examines and evaluates the supply chain management functions of an ebusiness. Using Wal-Mart as a case study, the paper examines the electronic business platform of the organisation with attention on the supply chain. Supply chain management (SCM) is a tactical and management tool employed by present day business to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and customers so that a company's merchandise is produced, distributed at the right quantities, locations, and the right time (Cheng, Lai & Gunasekaran 2006). This is to minimize system wide costs while satisfying service-level requirements (Cheng, Lai & Gunasekaran 2006). ... Using Wal-Mart as a case study, the paper examines the electronic business platform of the organisation with attention on the supply chain. 1.1Overview of Supply Chain Management Supply chain management (SCM) is a tactical and management tool employed by present day business to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and customers so that a company's merchandise is produced, distributed at the right quantities, locations, and the right time (Cheng, Lai & Gunasekaran 2006). This is to minimize system wide costs while satisfying service-level requirements (Cheng, Lai & Gunasekaran 2006). Today, SCM gained momentum and received due attention from practitioners and researchers. It has become present day managerial competitive weapon for improving performance (Ramsay 2000). To minimize wastages and meet up with customers demand. Customers and suppliers are important stakeholders. "Stakeholders are those individual or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfill their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends" (Johnson et al 2005:179). An organisation SCM set the pace and the platform for this to take place. Wal-mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States with estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumable business as well as the largest toy seller in the States having 22% share of the market, and the highest private employer with about 1.9million workers and employees. The company had a net income of US$11.3Billion in 2007. Thus, this study was initiated to investigate the application of supply chain management strategy in Wal-mart in its electronic business platform. Using Porters competitive advantage, Porters value chain framework, and the SWOT analysis, the company was

Study to look at nurses' knowledge of elder abuse in long term care Essay

Study to look at nurses' knowledge of elder abuse in long term care setting - Essay Example Studies have shown that people of all socio-economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds are vulnerable to abuse including countries where the traditional system of family care exists. Furthermore, it is increasingly being seen as an important problem and one that is likely to grow as many countries experience rapidly growing ageing populations. It is predicted that by the year 2025 the global population of those aged 60 years and older will more than double, from 542 million in 1995 to about 1.2 billion (1). Although there is an increasing awareness that some older people are victims of abuse, neglect and mistreatment there is strong evidence to indicate that much abuse goes unrecognized and is hidden from public awareness (3). prompted scientific and governmental activity throughout the world. Although the vast majority of older people enjoy the benefits of family life, there has been a growing awareness, during the past twenty years in particular, that older people are sometimes abused, neglected or mistreated. Progress on building a response to elder abuse has been difficult, however, as the issue is shrouded in secrecy, denial and guilt. It is acknowledged that abuse can occur within the home or care facility (4). Any form of abuse is unacceptable. Nurses have a duty of care to the older people in their care to prevent this from happening. Although nurses who care for older persons can expect to encounter cases of abuse our knowledge of the incidence and cause of such abuse remains limited (5). While the study of elder abuse has much to learn from responses to other forms of adult abuse, it is vital that the abuse of older people is dealt with separately, to ensure clarity when defining and measuring the problem and to help focus responses to abuse. Elder abuse is defined as a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where

Euro Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Euro Behaviour - Essay Example From the report it is clear that  economic performance of a trade block depend more on individual countries performance. In our analysis, we intend to evaluate euro’s performance and as such will rely more on the overall activity within member countries. Euro is not political affiliated and thus depend in multi-nation policies regarding the member countries economic performance. When crisis in economic activity within one trade block occur, the effects easily spill to the global economic and asset market. The European Union, as a trade block, has frequently suffered such.According to the report findings  the links in international financial and asset markets are key determinants of a currency’s exchange rate. Single currency or states supremacy cannot influence the rates that her currencies are accorded. Macroeconomics teaches that multiple factors are put into play in regard to determining a currency’s worth in the international market. Individual states cur rency is rated on a scale that is unanimously accepted within the trading scope against a common denomination; majorly the U.S dollar, yen or the euro. However, the rates are never constant varying on the prevailing economic performances as determined by the World Bank. ‘Purchasing power parity’ (PPP) compares rates of trade and prices within a state. Projections of future interest rates of a currency relative to nominal interests are determined by the interest rate parity. (Cumby and Obstfeld, 1982, 1-2). Therefore, at the macro and micro level performance of an economy, the policies made always have an impact to the valuation of her currency. However, the determination of these indices within an economic block like the EU is not dependent on a single country but rather on sum of the overall economic performance of the economic block. The Euro use has expanded very much within the EU region and is now estimated to be in used throughout

Learning Disabilities Essay -- A Level Essays

Learning Disabilities Eleven-year-old Anna is outgoing and bright. She attempts to work hard, but her progress in school has always been slow. She is a year behind her peers, particularly in her English class and her teachers have slowly begun to reduce their expectations of her. Her parents are worried because her confidence for learning is decreasing, and there is less motivation for her to do homework and class assignments. A psychologist found that her intelligence is in the gifted range, but she has difficulty in making out written symbols. It is easy to make the assumption that Anna seems merely as a child who is slow intellectually, but when taking a closer look, it shows that she is just as intelligent but happens to suffer from a learning disorder. Students with learning disorders have brain impairments that make it difficult for them to acquire skills and knowledge accurately and fast enough to keep pace with average academic progress (Encarta, 2003, p.1). The purpose of this research paper is t o investigate the causes of learning disorders, various types of disabilities, their causes, and finally how in today’s modern era assistive technology is able to reduce the frustration of students and increase their level of performance. Defining Learning Disorders/Disabilities The IDEA (The Health & Fitness Association) 1997 Definition of Learning Disabilities is: â€Å"A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, d... ...p://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/social_emotional/socialacceptance.asp Addresses the fact that health professionals, special educators, and parents must make real efforts to promote the social acceptance of children suffering with learning disabilities. Crossen, C. (1997). Studies suggest phonics help children learning to read. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 16, 2005 from http://barrier-free.arch.gatech.edu/Articles/wsj_learning.html Talks about how the earlier reading disabilities are detected the better. With proper encouragement and tools students will have more motivation for reading throughout their lives. Sack, J.L. (1999). Schools advised to catch, treat disabilities as early as possible. Education Week, 18, 7. Received April 16, 2005 from EBSO-host. Emphasizes importance of treating a learning disability as early as possible.

Compare how a sense of claustrophobia is built up in the Handmaids Tale and an Evil Cradling

Margret Atwood's fictive autobiography ‘The Handmaid's Tale' And Brian Keenan's autobiography, ‘An Evil Cradling' documenting his kidnapping by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen both present a sense of claustrophobia. Each novel presents tional. strophobia Keenan' the manifestation of claustrophobia within the protagonists. ‘An Evil Cradling' presents Keenan's physical claustrophobia as a hostage and the emotional entrapment. Both authors successfully create a sense of claustrophobia whilst exploring the different situations of both protagonists. Both Offred and Keenan's lifestyles appear even more claustrophobic in contrast to their previous lives. There is an asymmetry in the presentation of a sense of claustrophobia within and between the two novels. Whilst on the one hand, both writers deal with the notion of claustrophobia as having a negative consequence on their lives. On the other hand the life of the main protagonists before their captive state is presented with considerable differences. These differences are exemplified in the opening chapters of both texts. Keenan in his exploration of life before captivity seems to suggest life was not all that tranquil and certainly not without its problems before he was taken captive in the Lebanon, where one might imagine the root of all his problems with claustrophobia began. In the preface Keenan states, â€Å"I was brought up in that harsh, divided landscape of Northern Irish, working class and I went into with all its baggage. † Furthermore he claims in his first chapter, â€Å"Before I left Belfast, I had been torn with a desperate kind of love and distaste for my place. Both statements from the two parts of Keenan's book, show that his life, as he puts it himself, was a type of ‘cul-de-sac. ‘ This metaphor for a dead-end shows that Keenan was no more free in his native Ireland, so much that he was forced to seek mental comfort elsewhere. The entire opening chapter of an evil cradling highlights Keenan's disconnection with his country and how he felt trapped and a sense of c laustrophobia in a place so familiar to him. Contrastingly, Atwood presents her protagonist as having a far more affectionate, possibly ‘rose tinted' view on her life before taken into captivity. In Atwood's ‘A Handmaid's Tale' Offred conveys a large amount of nostalgia towards her past. In the opening chapter Atwood contrasts the senses of the past. The lights are vividly described as â€Å"a revolving ball of mirrors, powdering the dancers with a snow of light. † Atwood chooses this poetic metaphor to show her fondness towards previous times. Atwood describes the simplicity of the lights under the regime â€Å"The lights were turned down but not out. † Offred's feelings of extreme claustrophobia are exacerbated through the juxtaposition of the former senses. In Offred's case she is more sensitive towards these feelings of freedom. Offred is a victim of gradual entrapment that has been apparent in her society for many years; chapter 28 reveals the gradual oppression of women â€Å"Things continued in that state of suspended animation for weeks†¦ Newspapers were censored†¦ roadblocks began to appear, and identipasses†¦ † by stripping women of their political and social rights the Gileadean regime came to power. Offred uses listing to highlight the continuous changes in society, specifically directed at women, showing her own shock and resentment towards her gradual confinement. Offred does not only demonstrate nostalgia towards her past in the opening chapters. Atwood constantly uses similes throughout that are reminiscent of the past. These similes present an escape from the routine regime; they often involve the senses which allow Offred to escape the regime by remembering and juxtaposing elements and senses of the past. † It's almost like June,† Offred shifts in mental perspective via association of seasons, Offred's memories of the seasons are superimposed over Gilead's charade of normality, it is as though Offred escapes into her own private narrative underneath her imprisonment as a handmaid her recollections act as freedom from the past. Both Offred and Keenan's sense of claustrophobia is intensified by the way that their human rights are no longer recognised and they have no freedom of choice. Keenan's beard is used in ‘The Devil's Barbershop' to symbolise his dignity and freedom of choice. Keenan is very reluctant to have his beard shaved off; his behaviour becomes the manifestation of claustrophobia. He becomes attached to his beard and it symbolises his freedom of expression, â€Å"I've had this beard for too long for some halfwit who thinks he owns me to make me what he wants me to be. Throughout this passage Keenan uses long sentences that highlight his heightened emotions, Keenan's aggressive tone towards his captors also shows his reluctance to change, Keenan's identity is displayed through his beard and similarly to Offred he is being made to conform and accept his claustrophobic surroundings. In â€Å"The Handmaid's Tale† Offred is defined by her uniform, and looses her previous identity. This expresses that in Gilead their lives have become so claustrophobic that even their ability to express themselves has been repressed. Offred feels trapped in a system which rigidly controls women. The colour coding of women's clothes indicates that in this society their individual identities are lost in prescribed roles. â€Å"Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood, which defines us†¦ a sister, dipped in blood. † Atwood uses this negative metaphor to highlight Offred's feelings towards loosing her individuality. Offred's uniform in addition acts as a physical restriction, â€Å"The white wings†¦ they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen. It is made apparent that their clothes are also a way of physically restricting them as way of control, deliberately designed to limit the Handmaids view. The blood red is a constant reminder of the vilification of women in Giliadean society. ‘Blood red' is symbolised throughout the novel and acts as a constant reminder to Offred's role in society, although her role as a child barer allows her more freedom unde r the regime it is also the one thing that traps her. The description of the characters' surroundings and routines present a sense of claustrophobia, Offred's account of going out and doing the daily shopping illustrates this. Under the Gileadaen regime the Handmaids never went out unaccompanied, this partnership system provided both chaperones and spies. Offred considers the image of both women dressed identically in red, thinking of them as doubles, both visually and in circumstances. â€Å"The truth is that she is my spy, as I am hers. † Each woman traps the other. However, a suggestion of freedom is present in the structure of the two novels. For Keenan, his ability to let his mind wander in times of extreme captivity has been vital to his survival. Keenan changes tenses abruptly, from describing the cell, to a present time, showing the way in which his mind jumps, to escape his present situation. However, in â€Å"Into the Bread Basket† Keenan's senses were shut down by the â€Å"tight confinement of the tape† which â€Å"will not let my mind escape. † Now that even his mind cannot escape he feels as if a â€Å"riot is bursting out within my senses† which further reflects how his repressed senses are desperate to escape the confinement, without his freedom of mind Keenan finds himself completely trapped. Correspondingly, Offred is able to escape into her private world of memory and desire. Offred uses storytelling as a means of personal survival her narrative is the only way of bridging the gap between an isolated self and the world outside. â€Å"It is also a story I am telling, in my head, as I go along. † Offred is able to escape the intense feelings of claustrophobia through expressing her feelings. Atwood chooses short sentences to emulate the natural nature of speech resulting in a flowing structure. Fear plays a main role in increasing the sense of physical claustrophobia experienced by both Keenan and Offred. In ‘into the bread basket' Keenan uses imagery that creates associations with death â€Å"I am being embalmed and mummified† and â€Å"I am going back to the coffin. † This demonstrates how in such claustrophobic conditions where all his senses have been effectively shut off he is completely helpless and that in these cramped dark conditions the difference between life and death becomes uncertain. Keenan carries on this extended metaphor in the oxymoron â€Å"a living corpse† this again reflects the negative experience of being in such claustrophobic conditions. Finally, both authors have used literary and structural techniques to reveal the many ways in which claustrophobia can be created and intensified. Although the two protagonists' situations are very different, as Offred lives a controlled and limited life and Keenan one of absolute entrapment they show many similar traits and emotions triggered from their individual feelings of claustrophobia.

The Domestication of the Apple Gift from Central Asia

The domestic apple (Malus domestica Borkh and sometimes known as M. pumila) is one of the most important fruit crops grown in temperate regions worldwide, used for cooking, eating fresh, and cider production. There are 35 species in the genus Malus, part of the Rosaceae family which includes several temperate fruit trees. Apples are one of the most widely distributed of any perennial crop and one of the top 20 most productive crops in the world. A total of 80.8 million tons of apples are produced annually worldwide. The apples domestication history starts in the Tien Shan mountains of Central Asia, at least 4,000 years ago, and probably closer to 10,000. Domestication History Modern apples were domesticated from wild apples, called crabapples. The Old English word crabbe means bitter or sharp-tasting, and that certainly describes them. There were likely three main stages in the use of apples and their eventual domestication, widely separated in time: cider production, domestication and spread, and apple breeding. Crabapple seed remains likely from cider production have been found in numerous Neolithic and Bronze age sites across Eurasia. Apples were first domesticated from the crabapple Malus sieversii Roem somewhere in the Tien Shan mountains of Central Asia (most likely Kazakhstan) between 4,000–10,000 years ago. M. sieversii grows at intermediate elevations between 900–1,600 meters above sea level (3,000–5,200 feet) and is variable in growth habit, height, fruit quality, and fruit size. Domesticated Characteristics There are thousands of apple cultivars today with a wide range of fruit sizes and flavors. The small, sour crabapple was turned into large and sweet apples, as humans selected for large fruits, firm flesh texture, longer shelf life, better post-harvest disease resistance, and reduced bruising during harvest and transportation. Flavor in apples is created by a balance between sugars and acids, both of which have been altered depending on the variety. The domestic apple also has a comparatively lengthy juvenile phase (it takes 5–7 years for apples to begin producing fruit), and the fruit hangs longer on the tree. Unlike crabapples, domesticated apples are self-incompatible, that is to say, they cant self-fertilize, so if you plant the seeds from an apple the resulting tree frequently does not resemble the parent tree. Instead, apples are propagated by grafting rootstocks. The use of dwarfed apple trees as rootstocks allows for the selection and propagation of superior genotypes. Crossing into Europe Apples were spread outside of central Asia by steppe society nomads, who traveled in caravans along ancient trade routes predating the Silk Road. Wild stands along the route were created by seed germination in horse droppings. According to several sources, a 3,800-year-old cuneiform tablet in Mesopotamia illustrates grapevine grafting, and it may well be that grafting technology helped to spread apples into Europe. The tablet itself has not yet been published. As the traders moved the apples outside of central Asia, the apples were crossed with local crabapples such as Malus baccata in Siberia; M. orientalis in the Caucasus, and M. sylvestris in Europe. Evidence of that westward movement from central Asia includes isolated patches of large sweet apples in the Caucasus mountains, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, and the Kursk region of European Russia. The earliest evidence for M. domestica in Europe is from the Sammardenchia-Cueis site in northeastern Italy. There a fruit from M. domestica was recovered from a context dated between 6570–5684 RCYBP (cited in Rottoli and Pessina listed below). A 3,000-year-old apple at Navan Fort in Ireland may also be evidence of early apple seedling imports from central Asia. Sweet apple production—grafting, cultivation, harvesting, storage, and the use of dwarf apple trees—is reported in ancient Greece by the 9th century BCE. The Romans learned about apples from the Greeks and then spread the new fruit throughout their empire. Modern Apple Breeding The last step in apple domestication took place only in the last few hundred years when apple breeding became popular. Current apple production worldwide is limited to a few dozen ornamental and edible cultivars, which are treated with high levels of chemical inputs: however, there are many thousands of named domestic apple varieties. Modern breeding practices start with the small set of cultivars and then create new varieties by selecting for a range of qualities: fruit quality (including flavor, taste, and texture), higher productivity, how well they keep over the winter, shorter growing seasons and synchronicity in blooming or fruit ripening, length of cold requirement and cold tolerance, drought tolerance, fruit tenacity, and disease resistance. Apples occupy a central position in folklore, culture, and art in several myths from many western societies (Johnny Appleseed, fairytales featuring witches and poisoned apples, and of course the stories of untrustworthy snakes). Unlike many other crops, new apple types are released and embraced by the marketplace—Zestar and Honeycrisp are a couple of new and successful varieties. In comparison, new grape cultivars are very rare and typically fail to gain new markets. Crabapples Crabapples are still important as sources of variation for apple breeding and food for wildlife and as hedges in agricultural landscapes. There are four extant crabapple species in the old world: M. sieversii in the Tien Shan forests; M. baccata in Siberia; M. orientalis in the Caucasus, and M. sylvestris in Europe. These four wild apple species are distributed across temperate zones in Europe, usually in small low-density patches. Only M. sieversii grows in large forests. Native North American crabapples include M. fusca, M. coronaria, M. angustifolia, and M. ioensis. All of the extant crabapples are edible and were likely used before the spread of cultivated apple, but compared with sweet apples, their fruit are tiny and sour. M. sylvestris fruit are between 1-3 centimeters (.25-1 inches) in diameter; M. baccata are 1 cm, M. orientalis are 2-4 cm (.5-1.5 in). Only M. sieversii, the progenitor fruit for our modern domesticate, can grow up to 8 cm (3 in): sweet apple varieties typically range less than 6 cm (2.5 in) in diameter. Sources Alonso, Natà  lia, Ferran Antolà ­n, and Helena Kirchner. Novelties and Legacies in Crops of the Islamic Period in the Northeast Iberian Peninsula: The Archaeobotanical Evidence in Madà ®na Balagà ®, Madà ®na Là ¢rida, and Madà ®na Turtà »Ã… ¡a. Quaternary International 346 (2014): 149-61. Print.Cornille, Amandine, et al. The Domestication and Evolutionary Ecology of Apples. Trends in Genetics 30.2 (2014): 57–65. Print.Cornille, Amandine, et al. New Insight into the History of Domesticated Apple: Secondary Contribution of the European Wild Apple to the Genome of Cultivated Varieties. PLOS Genetics 8.5 (2012): e1002703. Print.Duan, Naibin, et al. Genome Re-Sequencing Reveals the History of Apple and Supports a Two-Stage Model for Fruit Enlargement. Nature Communications 8.1 (2017): 249. Print.Gaut, Brandon S., Concepcià ³n M. Dà ­ez, and Peter L. Morrell. Genomics and the Contrasting Dynamics of Annual and Perennial Domestication. Trends in Genetics 31.12 (2015): 709à ¢â‚¬â€œ719. Print.Gharghani, A., et al. The Role of Iran (Persia) in Apple (Malus Ãâ€" Domestica Borkh.) Domestication, Evolution and Migration Via the Silk Trade Route. ISHS Acta Horticulturae. International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), 2010. Print.Gross, Briana L., et al. Genetic Diversity in Malus Ãâ€"Domestica (Rosaceae) through Time in Response to Domestication. American Journal of Botany 101.10 (2014): 1770–1779. Print.Li, L. F., and K. M. Olsen. Chapter Three: To Have and to Hold: Selection for Seed and Fruit Retention During Crop Domestication. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. Ed. Orgogozo, Virginie. Vol. 119: Academic Press, 2016. 63–109. Print.Ma, Baiquan, et al. Comparative Assessment of Sugar and Malic Acid Composition in Cultivated and Wild Apples. Food Chemistry 172 (2015): 86–91. Print.Ma, Baiquan, et al. Reduced Representation Genome Sequencing Reveals Patterns of Genetic Diversity and Selection in Apple. Journal of Integra tive Plant Biology 59.3 (2017): 190–204. Print.Ma, X., et al. Identification, Genealogical Structure and Population Genetics of S-Alleles in Malus Sieversii, the Wild Ancestor of Domesticated Apple. Heredity 119 (2017): 185. Print.Rottoli, Mauro, and Andrea Pessina. Neolithic Agriculure in Italy: An Update of Archaeobotanical Data with Particular Emphassis on Northern Settlements. The Origin and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and Europe. Eds. Colledge, Susan and James Conolly. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press, Inc. 2007. 141–154. Print.

What You Need to Know About MBA Application Deadlines

An MBA application deadline signifies the last day that a business school is accepting applications for an upcoming MBA program. Most schools will not even look at an application that is submitted after this date, so it is really important to get your application materials in before the deadline. In this article, were going to take a closer look at MBA applications deadlines to determine what they mean for you as an individual. Youll learn about the types of admissions and discover how your timing can impact your chances of getting accepted business school. When Is the Deadline for Submitting an MBA Application? There is no such thing as a uniform MBA application deadline. In other words, every school has a different deadline. MBA deadlines can also vary by program. For example, a business school that has a full-time MBA program, an executive MBA program, and an evening and weekend MBA program may have three different application deadlines - one for every program that they have. There are lots of different websites that publish MBA application deadlines, but the best way to learn about the deadline for the program you are applying to is to visit the schools website. That way, you can ensure the date is completely accurate. You dont want to miss a deadline because someone made a typo on their website! Types of Admissions When youre applying to a business program, there are three basic types of admissions that you might encounter: Open AdmissionsRolling AdmissionsRound Admissions Lets explore each of these admissions types in more detail below. Open Admissions Although policies can vary by school, some schools with open admissions (also known as open enrollment) admit everyone that meets the admission requirements and has the money to pay the tuition. For example, if the admissions requirements dictate that you have a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution (or the equivalent) and the capacity to study at the graduate level, and you meet these requirements, you will most likely be admitted into the program as long as space is available. If space is not available, you may be waitlisted. Schools with open admissions rarely have application deadlines. In other words, you can apply and get accepted at any time. Open admissions are the most relaxed form of admissions and the one most rarely seen at graduate business schools. Most of the schools that have open admissions are online schools or undergraduate colleges and universities. Rolling Admissions Schools that have a rolling admissions policy usually have a large application window - sometimes as long as six or seven months. Rolling admissions are commonly used for freshmen at undergraduate universities and colleges, but this form of admissions is also heavily used by law schools. Certain graduate-level business schools, such as Columbia Business School, also have rolling admissions. Some business schools that use rolling admissions have what is known as an early decision deadline. This means that you have to submit your application by a certain date to get an early acceptance. For example, if you are applying to a school with rolling admissions, there may be two application deadlines: an early decision deadline and a final deadline. So, if you are hoping to get accepted early on, you have to apply by the early decision deadline. Although policies vary, you may be required to withdraw your application from other business schools if you accept an early decision offer of admission that is extended to you. Round Admissions Most business schools, especially selective business schools like Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, have three application deadlines for full-time MBA programs. Some schools have as many as four. Multiple deadlines are known as rounds. You could apply to the program in round one, round two, or round three.   Round admissions deadlines vary by school. The earliest deadlines for round one are typically in September and October. But you shouldnt expect to hear back right away if you do apply in the earliest round. Admissions decisions often take two to three months, so you could submit your application in September or October but not hear back until November or December. Round two deadlines often range from December to January, and round three deadlines are frequently in January, February, and March, though all of these deadlines can vary by school. The Best Time to Apply to Business School Whether youre applying to a school with rolling admissions or round admissions, a good rule of thumb is to apply early in the process. Assembling all of the materials for an MBA application can take time. You dont want to underestimate how long it will take you to prepare your application and miss a deadline. Even worse, you dont want to slop something together quickly to make a deadline and then get rejected because your application was not competitive enough.   Applying early has other advantages as well. For example, some business schools choose the majority of the incoming MBA class from applications received in round one or round two, so if you wait until round three to apply, the competition will be even stiffer, thus decreasing your chances of getting accepted. Furthermore, if you apply in round one or round two and get rejected, you still have an opportunity to improve your application and apply to other schools before their round three deadlines have ended. A few other considerations that may be important depending on your individual situation: International applicants: As an international student, you often need a student visa (either an F-1 or J-1 visa) to study in the United States. Youll want to apply in round one or round two if possible to give yourself enough time to get this visa before the actual program starts.Dual degree program applicants: If you are applying to an MBA/JD program or another dual or joint degree program, youll want to pay particularly close attention to the deadlines. Some business schools, even those with three rounds, require applicants to apply for dual degree programs in round one or round two.Submatriculation applicants: If you are an undergraduate who is attending a business school that allows qualified juniors to apply for early entry (Submatriculation) to the schools MBA program, you may want to utilize a different application strategy than the average MBA applicant. Rather than applying early (like most applicants would), you may want to consider waiting until round three so that you hav e a more complete academic record when you submit your transcripts and other application materials. Reapplying to Business School Business school admissions are competitive, and not everyone gets accepted the first year that they apply to an MBA program. Since most schools will not accept a second application in a single year, you typically have to wait until the next academic year to re-apply. This is not as uncommon as many people think it is. The Wharton School at the Universality of Pennsylvania reports on their website that up to 10 percent of their applicant pool consists of reapplications in most years. If you are re-applying to business school, you should make an effort to improve your application and demonstrate growth. You should also apply early in the process in round one or round two (or at the start of a rolling admissions process) to increase your chances of getting accepted.