Whistle blowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Whistle blowing - Essay Example Taylor). Whistle blowing is seen as a breach of organizational loyalty and amounts to disclosure of information. It also amounts to pressure tactics by the employees as seen by some theorists. It is basically a conflict between the organization and the society. What kind of whistle blowing is the society and organization looking or hoping for? What is its place in the society? What are the meaning and justifications of the whistle blowing policies? Does whistle blowing resolve the conflict between the organization and the society? Why has whistle blowing been legitimized? Whistle blowing involves three categories of people - the individual, the organization and the society. Whistle blowing is done by an individual against an organization for the protection of the society. Whistle blowing policies are set of procedures and norms aimed at those individuals who disclose information about the organizational malpractices of the organization with which they are attached. Whistle blowers are given protection against dismissal, demotion or retaliation. If retaliation takes place by the organization, they are even provided compensation packages. Whistle blowing has perhaps always existed without this terminology but laws were passed to protect the courageous blowers. Kaplan & Kleiner (2000) emphasize whistle blowing occurs when employee and management relationship lacks professionalism. Issues, which can be handled as a part of the daily routine, remain neglected. When it develops into a significant situation, employees may bring it to the notice of the seniors, there by being named as whistle blowers. The practice of whistle blowing is necessary for professional organizations to maintain professional ethics and protect the public. Whistle blowing can be both good and bad for the society. William De Maria (2005) comments that whistle blowing can be a

Historical Research Essay Example for Free

Historical Research Essay Soccer is regarded as the most popular sport in today’s world and has been estimated to be played by more than 40 million people. Considering such high popularity, the epidemiology of soccer injury is needed to be historically researched in an extensive way. In numerous European nations, physical injuries received from this game take around 40% of total sports related trauma ( Hawkins, Hulse, Wilkinson, Hodson, Gibson, 2001). Using the non-parametric statistics, historical research must be conducted by recording the intense injuries and the symptoms in professional soccer players by studying the frequency of occurrence and injury rate during sports and practices. MATERIALS AND METHOD Professional soccer players of any team, while playing in their league, has to be studied on daily basis for past few years when they are engaged in their preseason time July to August and game season September to May . Other important data that is also required may include the age, experience statistical distribution and anthropometric attributes of each player. During the game activities in past years, the record of personal consultations may also be available where players registered any injury received in ongoing games or practices that resulted in missing the upcoming game or practice session. The external risk elements, the active causes, the attributes, the anatomical points, and the event, whether it is practice session or actual game, of the muscular or skeletal traumas will provide crucial statistics. Any physical incident occurred during actual game or practice session that keeps a player to continue his game or practice session is called as injury. Injuries are categorized into three grades depending upon their severity: Minor injury: It keeps the player absent from games or practices for not more than one week. Moderate injury: It keeps the player absent from game or practices for one week to one month Major injury: It keeps player absent from game or practices for more than one month. In many previous studies, the same categorization has been done ( Hawkins, Hulse, Wilkinson, Hodson Gibson, 2001). Injury rate is measured as injuries occurred in each thousand hours of playing; this involves both practicing and actual game Note that in historical research it would be recommended to exclude the goalkeepers as various similar research studies showed they incur different rates of injuries. RESULTS By recording a total of 100 injuries we can discover the percentage of injuries occurred during the actual game and during practice sessions. The intensity of injuries that results in absence from the game or practice can also be measured. The findings will show the rate of mild injuries, moderate injuries and major injuries as well. The anatomic point and the kind of injuries must be a focus in historical research. Studied cases may involve injuries on Spine, thorax, back, lumbar spine, Pelvis, femur, knee, tibia, ankle, foot, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand injuries. Previous studies had showed that in lower extremity injuries, the knees and ankles are the most injured joints of the soccer players ( Hawkins, Hulse, Wilkinson, Hodson Gibson, 2001). Ankle injuries are reported to be occurred about 16 ­Ã‚ ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œ31 % of the all, whereas knee injuries are almost 14–34%. There is a dramatic need of more historical research within the ankle and knee injuries to investigate percentages in youth and adult players having mixed skill levels ( Peterson, Junge, Chomiak, Graf-Baumann Dvorak, 2000).

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein Essay -- essays research papers

THE HOBBIT BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a story of adventure and danger, and it is a prime example of a romantic plot and fantasy genre. What makes this story such a great example of a romantic plot? One, the unlikely hero, Mr. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit that is dragged on an adventure he doesn’t wish to take. Second, there is a great quest with a reward at its end. Third the great teacher figure, Gandalf is a wizard that helps Bilbo to become the great hero he is destined to be. And lastly the dragon figure, in this story the dragon figure, happened to be a dragon but there are also many miniature dragon figures through out the tale. The story begins with our soon to be hero Bilbo Baggins he’s smoking his pipe and is quite proud of the smoke rings he is managing to make. As Bilbo smokes his pipe, Gandalf stops by to have a talk with Bilbo. He informs Bilbo that he is looking for someone to go on an adventure with him. Although Bilbo is tempted to accept the offer, he declines. Before Gandalf leaves Bilbo decides to invite him for tea the next morning. Dwarves show up at his door instead, one at a time, inviting themselves in until there’s thirteen in all. Bilbo isn’t quite sure of what to make of this, but Gandalf shows up and soon it becomes apparent to Bilbo that he has been chosen by Gandalf to be the thief in an adventure to retrieve some stolen dwarf gold from a dragon named Smaug. He was a very weak character at the start of this adventur...

The Necklace :: Guy De Maupassant The Necklace Essays

The Necklace   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In any literay work, it is absolutely essential to have characters, whether major or minor. It is also necessary to develop these characters through out the story. Character development gives the reader insight to the more important meanings or lessons of the story. These lessons are usually brought out by the events that take place within the story. Looking at Guy De Maupassant's piece â€Å"The Necklace†, we see a very clear development of the main character Mathidle. In the story, we see a change in her attitude about life. This change come about when she has to learn one of life's little lessons the hard way. She and her husband are forced to live a life of hard work and struggle because of her own selfish desires. Mathilde changes from a woman who spends her time dreaming of all the riches and glory she doesn't have, to realizing that she over looked all the riches she did have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story opens with the description of how miserable Mathilde is. Maupassant describes her as â€Å"suffering constantly, feeling herself destined for all delicacies and luxeries.† (Pg 4) She sits dreaming of silent rooms nicely decorated and her own private room, scented with perfume to have intimate â€Å"tete- a-tetes† with her closest friends. Then she is awakened, only to realize that she is in her own grim apartment. In her eyes, she lives a tortured and unfair life. Mathidle has a husband named Losiel. He is much the opposite of his wife. He is completely content with his lifestyle. He seems to be a very passive person, who doesn't let status or riches effect him. Of course, if he had the chance to be rich he would, but he doesn't dwell on the fact that he is part of the middle class. He seems ot be a hard worker and does his best to provide for his wife. He demonstrates is simplicity the one night at dinner Losiel and Mathilde sit down to eat. Mathidle is dreaming of fancy four course meals, while he is ecstatic because they are eating boiled beef.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Losiel is aware that his wife has not yet adjusted to her status. One night, he had come home from work very excited. He had worked extra hard to get he and his wife invited to one of the biggest parties ever. Losiel thought this would be please his wife, when in fact it only made her upset. Here was Losiel trying to please his wife and she just started to cry. This just goes to show how ungreatful she really is.

Records Managment

National Archives and Records Administration PC-GSM: President Office Public Service Management Records and Management Departments President Office Public Service Management Economic Social Records foundation Department for International Development Service Civil Technical College -RPC: Tanzania Public Service College. Firstly I extend my sincere thanks to father Jesus Christ who has proved to me that is not by might or by power but by the spirit in him nothing is impossible.If it was not God grace I would not have produced this great field report in his wisdom he has always led me to greater heights. This is to acknowledge that the work of this report could not be completed without the support of other people during my field attachment training at Inference Limited. In that regard I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Mr.. Edwin Kananga who is Managing Director, for his support and for putting the necessary required working environment which enabled me to complete my field attachment.I also thank my Employer Mr.. Frank Ole Enjoin, for giving me permission of four weeks to complete my field training at Inference. I thank also all staff of Inference Ltd for working with me during my four weeks stay at the firm. This reports present in four chapters' lesson learned from Inference Limited during my field attachment training. Chapter one briefly presents the introduction and historical background of Inference Limited and its Vision, Mission Statement, objectives and current organization chart.Chapter two present field attachment training gained in terms of description of Inference Limited; duties assigned during my field attachment; Achievements made; problems experienced and Skills acquired. Chapter three discusses major problems and challenges encountered by Inference Record Office. I also propose possible solutions. Chapter four presents field attachment training conclusions and Recommendation Reference and Appendices

Economic Value Added (EVA) Essays

Economic Value Added (EVA) Essays Economic Value Added (EVA) Paper Economic Value Added (EVA) Paper Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Economic Value Added (EVA) EVA is the most successful performance metric used by their corporations as per a commercial perspective. Despite its popularity attributed to successful marketing by Stern Stewart Co, by financial theory has proven it. It is also consistent with various valuation principles, which is important to investors’ analyses. Today it is one of the most sought after financial tools. It is simple to understand why. Administrators have increased the value of their companies by simply following the rules of EVA. Similarly, equity investors who have used EVA and have identified which companies are using them have gained wealth. Therefore, the decision by leading corporations such as ATT to switch to EVA as a measure of performance is justified. From the article, EVA is simply a metric used to determine a corporation’s profitability relative to its capital cost. Capital cost refers to money used in the purchase of products necessary for the operation’s success. In short, EVA refers to after-tax-profits minus the sum of annual capital costs. As it turns out, most companies are not fully aware of their capital costs and thus they end up covering their costs and adding value to a firm. Despite EVA’s popularity today, it is not the newest idea in corporate finance. The oldest idea in business is earning more revenues than the cost of capital. In 1988, John Snow, CEO of CSX Corp, introduced EVA to his company. CSX deals with freighting goods using its enormous fleet of containers and railcars. On that particular year, the metric pointed at negative $70 million in its Intermodal business. The CEO, therefore, ordered the division to get the EVA up to breakeven point by 1993 or face sale. Since then, Intermodal’s freight volumes have been up while the capital costs have declined. Other major corporations have also embraced the metric with profound success. Briggs Stratton, for instance, has achieved profitability by enforcing EVA on its five divisions. The principle has also enabled Coca-Cola to achieve improved cash flow in its operations (Tully Hadjian 38). Job order costing is a method of allocating costs of manufacturing to individual products. When the manufacturing processes are different from each other, job-order costing is applied. Because of the significant differences in the manufacture of products, the job order costing system will develop a job cost record for every commodity. That record will show the materials used, labor utilized as well as manufacturing overheads spent in each activity. This way, the cost of capital can be determined as per EVA methodology. An instance of a company that utilized this was Briggs Stratton. Before its implementation of EVA, Briggs Stratton lacked a profit centre in the consumer engine business. The company also lacked knowledge of each division’s EVA thus; it suffered high capital costs without knowledge. With implementation, each division knows its EVA regardless of the product made; whether a lawn mower or pump. That knowledge has enabled the company to save a lot of money by outsourcing production of some expensive components. For instance, the company has phased out production of the largest engines for pumps and generators to Mitsubishi. Thus, capital that was previously tied to expensive processes has now been freed up for more profitable ventures by reduction of variable costs. Cost Volume Profit analysis (CVP analysis) is a powerful tool. This is because it enables managers to understand the relationships between cost, volume and profit in their enterprise. CVP takes place by focusing on various interactions. For instance; prices of products and per unit variable cost. Other interactions are; the level of activity, total fixed costs and the mix of sold products. Use of CVP analysis is essential in making of various decisions by managers such as what products to manufacture, pricing to apply and which strategies to implement in marketing. CVP concepts play a critical role in EVA. CVP concepts such as change in variable, fixed and sales costs enable managers to determine costs of capital. Since the application of EVA by CSX Corp, its Intermodal division has been able to track such costs efficiently. The number of containers and trailers used has dropped from 18,000 to 14,000. However, its freight volume has since increased by 25%. Initially, they used to delay at terminals. With EVA, managers at CSX were able to identify them as idle capital. They, therefore, developed means to take the containers to the rails in five days. CSX has also been able to reduce its fleet of locomotives from 150 to 100, representing a $70 million decrease in capital costs. By ensuring higher load capacities in its routes, train use reduced. Segment reporting is the provision of separate accounts of a public corporation’s different divisions. Its purpose is to provide shareholders proper knowledge of the company’s performance in each segment it carries out business. Managers use it to determine profitability and incomes for each division. This is very useful in EVA metrics. Initially, ATT Corporation only provided balance sheets for its six largest divisions. Most of the smaller business segments such as the toll-free number services were lumped together as a group. Therefore, managers were oblivious of which segment benefited ATT and which made losses. On adoption of EVA, however, matters have taken a turn. Robert Allen, CEO of ATT encouraged managers to sub-divide their profit centers into several semi-independent entities. As a result, the balance sheet contains all capital costs. Smaller divisions are now required to beat capital costs and contribute to the company’s earnings. Activity based costing (ABC) is useful in implementation of EVA. It enables managers to assign overhead costs in manufacture based on machine hours and returns on investment. The Coca-Cola Company has implemented EVA very successfully by carrying out activity based costing. The company consists of several divisions. However, its most profitable is the soft-drinks business. Under the leadership of Robert Goizueta, the company has focused manufacturing on soft drinks and is slowly moving away from instant tea and other businesses. This is because soft drinks earn 24.9% on capital while the other segments average around 7% returns on investment. With this, the company has averaged a 27% increase in EVA over 5 years EVA has also influenced capital budgeting decisions. Divisional spending is now under control. Useful investments are now been made. An instance of such impact is the Quaker corporation, which manufactures breakfast cereals and other snacks. Previously, the company operated slowly, only to accelerate beyond capacity as the end of a quarter approached. This filled 15 warehouses with finished goods. This practice is to aid the managers trying to load retailers with goods, therefore, improving quarterly results (and their bonuses). Such practices increased costs of operation in several ways. First, more warehouses had to be occupied, and laborers had to work overtime. However, EVA has brought such practices to light. Warehouses reduced to ten and inventories to $6 million. From the above, it is clear that EVA is an important tool in performance and wealth metrics in corporations. For instance, it has enabled identification of non-performing divisions. Therefore, improving profitability of various corporations has improved. In that way, it has also improved transparency in operations of public companies via segment reporting. EVA has influenced decision making in corporations. Investment centers now use differential analysis in the evaluation of business opportunities in order to come up with a solution holding the least capital cost. Tully, Shawn Hadjian, Ani. ‘The Real Key to Creating Wealth.’ Fortune. 20th September 1993: Page 38. Print.

Democracy through Platos Apology of Socrates essays

Democracy through Plato's Apology of Socrates essays America is the oldest democracy in the world. Withstanding a civil war, two world wars, and the not-so-distant cold war, America has proved that a democracy made "of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this Earth" (Jefferson). However, this democratic society is not a society where those who reside here simply reap the benefits; there are many moral obligations of living in a democratic society. Just as our ancestors fought to create this land, we must fight for America, not with weapons, but by practicing justice, and more importantly, exercising the freedom we have to direct the government, through acts of protest, toward what we, as citizens, feel is right for this country. Plato's three pieces in the book, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, focused on the accusation, trial, and death of Socrates. Euthyphro focused on Euthyphro accusing his father of murder for killing a slave with enforces that justice needs to be for everyone, by everyone. The Apology focused on the trial and how Socrates tried to convince everyone he didn't not manipulate the youth. Lastly, in Crito, Socrates refuses to escape prison because he has been sentenced to death. This country is one that is founded on equal rights for all and justice for all. In Euthyphro, Euthyphro put his own father on trail for murder. While he is telling Socrates, who can't believe the claim, Socrates asks of the man Euthyphro's father killed, "Was this man ... A relative of yours? ... You would have never prosecuted your father for the murder of a stranger" (Plato 3). Socrates is wrong. Euthyphro did not care who the man his father killed was, he still killed someone. According to the Athenian law of the day, if you killed someone justly, it was OK, unjustly, it was murder. Euthyphro explains that when one man kills another "if unjustly, you must indict him for murder, even though he share your hearth and sit at your table" (Plato 4). Eut...

Very Low to Moderate Income Housing Loans

Very Low to Moderate Income Housing Loans The following is a summary of information about low to moderate income housing loans available to individuals or families through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Rural Development program as listed in the  Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance  (CFDA). During the fiscal year 2015, a  total of $18.7 billion in loans were granted. The average direct loan granted was for $125,226 while the average guaranteed loan was for $136,360. Objectives To assist very low, low-income, and moderate-income households to obtain modest, decent, safe, and sanitary housing for use as a permanent residence in rural areas. Types of Assistance Direct Loans; Guaranteed/Insured Loans. Uses and Restrictions Direct and guaranteed loans may be used to buy, build, or improve the applicants permanent residence. New manufactured homes may be financed when they are on a permanent site, purchased from an approved dealer or contractor, and meet certain other requirements. Under very limited circumstances, homes may be re-financed with direct loans. Dwellings financed must be modest, decent, safe, and sanitary. The value of a home financed with a direct loan may not exceed the area limit. The property must be located in an eligible rural area. Assistance is available in the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, and the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands. Direct loans are made at the interest rate specified in RD Instruction 440.1, Exhibit B (available in any Rural Development local office), and are repaid over 33 years or 38 years for applicants whose adjusted annual income does not exceed 60 percent o f the area median income, if necessary to show repayment ability. Payment assistance is granted on direct loans to reduce the installment to an effective interest rate as low as one percent, depending on adjusted family income. Payment assistance is subject to recapture by the government when the customer no longer resides in the dwelling. There is no funding provided for deferred mortgage authority or loans for deferred mortgage assumptions. Guaranteed loans may be made to refinance either existing RHS Guaranteed Housing loans or RHS Section 502 Direct Housing loans. Guaranteed loans are amortized over 30 years. The interest rate is negotiated with the lender. Eligibility Requirements Applicants must have very low-, low- or moderate incomes. Very low-income is defined as below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI), low-income is between 50 and 80 percent of AMI; moderate income is below 115 percent of AMI. Families must be without adequate housing, but able to afford the housing payments, including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI). Qualifying repayment ratios are 29 percent for PITI to 41 percent for total debt. In addition, applicants must be unable to obtain credit elsewhere, yet have an acceptable credit history. Beneficiary Eligibility Applicants must meet eligibility requirements. Guaranteed Loan Low and Moderate income eligible. Credentials/Documentation Applicants may need to submit evidence of inability to obtain credit elsewhere, verification of income, debts, and other information on the application; plans, specifications, and cost estimates. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles. Application Procedures This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. For direct loans, an application is made at the Rural Development field office serving the county where the dwelling is or will be located. For guaranteed loans, an application is made to a participating private lender. Award Procedure Rural Development field offices have authority to approve most Direct loan requests. Processing of guaranteed loans varies in each State. Consult your local telephone directory under U.S. Department of Agriculture for a Rural Development field office listing or visit the website http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/lcoator/app for a State Office listing. If no backlog exists, decisions on direct loan applications are made within 30 to 60 days. Requests for guarantee loans are acted upon in 3 days of receipt of the lenders request for guarantee. Range of Approval/Disapproval Time For direct loans, from 30 to 60 days subject to availability of funds, from the time the application is filed if no backlog of applications exists. A pre-qualification may be provided to potential direct loan applicants upon call or visit a Rural Development office, though results are not binding. For guarantees, a decision is required within 3 days of loan package submission by the approved lender. Information Contacts Regional or Local Office Consult your local telephone directory under United States Department of Agriculture for Rural Development field office number. If no listing, contact appropriate Rural Development State Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog or on the internet at rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html. Headquarters Office Director, Single Family Housing Direct Loan Division or Director Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Division, Rural Housing Service (RHS), Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250. Telephone: (202) 720-1474 (direct loans), (202) 720-1452 (guaranteed loans).

Energy Transfer in electrical circuits Research Paper

Energy Transfer in electrical circuits - Research Paper Example Home appliances and industries transform energy into other forms to a desired form. Electric circuits are utilized for these operations. Energy is not in the form of matter that can be saved. â€Å"Energy can neither be created nor it can be destroyed, it can be changed from one form to another form† (Moan & Smith, 2007). The phrase â€Å"source of energy† or â€Å"sources of energy† is a wrong phrase as energy is impossible to create. We can only alter it from one form to another form. Battery converts chemical energy to electrical energy. Battery does not generate energy. A power plant converts chemical energy of fuel to electrical energy. Fossil fuels had converted solar energy to chemical energy (Moan & Smith, 2007). An ideal energy conversion system is that that has no losses. One form or energy is converted to the other desired form without any losses. The efficacy of such a system is 100%. It means that the ratio of inputs and outputs equal 1. Practically it is impossible to have an ideal system. A practical energy conversion system does have some losses and thus the desired output is always less than the input. In power generation, internal combustion engine are only 40% efficient. 60% of the input energy is wasted as heat energy that is undesired. If a combined cyclic plant is utilized to convert energy, 80% efficiency can be achieved, as a carefully designed heat recovery system recovers most of the thermal energy that goes to waste. In the similar manner, an electric motor does not convert all the input energy to mechanical energy, some of the energy is dissipated as heat and bearing losses. An electric bulb wastes about 95% of energy, which is dissipated in the form of heat and converts only 5% of the energy to light energy (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). There is much difference in energy and power. Energy yields power. Electrical energy is the product of electrical power and time. If electrical energy is denoted

Chocolate Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chocolate - Research Paper Example It played an essential role in the Aztec and Maya religious and royal events. Cocoa seeds in native America were used as an offering to deities, as well as serving chocolate drinks in sacred occasions. The American settlers from Europe fattened and sweetened it through the addition of milk and refined sugar, two ingredients that were not known to the Native Americans. In contrast, they did not infuse it into their diet, although, later, it was integrated into their desserts and sweets (Drowne & Patrick 27). It was in the 18th century that John Cadbury came up with the process of emulsification to create solid chocolate, which was the beginning of the modern chocolate bar. While cocoa was, originally from the Americas, West Africa, today, produces more than 65% of the cocoa in the world, half of which is planted in Cote divorce. The chocolate industry in the United States forms part of the largest food and beverage companies. They are in charge of the manufacture of cacao beans, the s ale of raw chocolate, and the manufacture of other chocolate related products (Allen 67). The chocolate industry has undergone numerous changes in both production and market trends over the years, which affect the industry in either a positive and negative manner. Production Based on the cocoa grinding reports released for cocoa traders, which was produced by the NCA in cooperation with the New York Board of trade, the grinding in the first quarter amounted to 119,022 metric tons - a decrease of 4.04 percent (5,006 mt) over 2011. The Unites States market on chocolate or candy stands in a shaky position. In North America, there has been a 2% decrease since quarter 3 in 2011 (124,621 metric tons) (Taylor & Akila 43). There is a rather decreased demand for chocolate in the market currently which means the producers need to correct where the problem lies. Cocoa, which originated in South America, was first planted in the US state of Hawaii by William Hillenbrand, a German physician, in 1850. While cocoa was long considered, as a crop to be grown in the plantations, the biggest challenge in the American market has been making money from it (Taylor & Akila 50). The plant is suited to the climate in Hawaii, although it is tricky to grow, requiring a lot of expertise in chocolate processing. Competition with low-cost producers in South America, Africa, and other countries is not easy because Hawaii has high costs of labor and land. However, Hawaii cocoa has been proven as a gourmet product for which a buyer can pay premium prices. Local cocoa farmers can also gain added value through the creation of farm tours around the popularly romanticized product (Taylor & Akila 50). Currently, dried cocoa seed sales, also referred to as cocoa beans, is estimated at a cost of $200,000 every year based on production per acre estimated for fifty acres, as well as a price of $2.47 dry bean price a pound (Taylor & Akila 52). Much higher sales can be derived by those planters who proc ess their product into chocolate at prices of approximately $40 a pound for retail. Industry growth, in the absence of expansion on a plantation scale, over the last few years, has been from small farms with a few of these farms having processing plants for their cocoa. Advances over the last ten years have increased the economic sense in the processing of chocolate from cocoa on a small scale sans specialized

GENDER AND JIM CROW Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Essay

GENDER AND JIM CROW Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 18961920 - Essay Example The book revisits the history of oppression of blacks by white supremacy in the nineteenth century in the state of North Carolina and in the process makes many startling revelation hitherto either ignored or suppressed. Her theses is the emissarial role of contemporary African American women during 1896-1920 when their husbands, fathers ,brother and sons had been denied of surfage, in bringing out African American men and women to the main stream politics in North Carolina hitherto denied due to machinations of American white men. Gilmore reminisces as a young white North Carolinian girl her varied experiences and steps into the shoes of few African American women who had acted as ambassadors to their white male American counterparts by coming to the mainstream though not directly in politics but through academics, social organizations and other charitable institutions. The book which showed Gilmore as the historian in the making also was the precursor to her stream of further works on African Americans endless saga in the U.S. even today. It was by a chance discovery of discrete participation of African American women who were wives of the church leaders, or themselves teachers, college professors in finding a solution to overcome the supremacy of whites over blacks in North Carolina that prompted her to write this dissertation as conferred by her in the introduction pages of the book. I initially encountered this group of black middle-class women while investigating the 1920 election in North Carolina, the first in which women voted..That investigation of women's political culture soon doubled back on itself as I realized that gender and race were no less intertwined in men's politics than they were in women's.( Gilmore, 1996 p xvi) Kennedy in his review of the book says that Glenda Gilmore has re-examined the early period of Jim Crow and made known the to the world the efforts of middle-class African American women like Sarah Dudley Petty to bring about change in their social status by improving their standard of living, identifying opportunities for the both blacks and whites and most importantly changing the attitude of white toward the blacks in North Carolina. How the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) enabled the African American women of North Carolina to forge an interracial harmony and build strong communities is a case in point cited by him. The WCTU became a base for facilitating equality between whites and blacks in North Carolina. Thus when black men could finally vote, it was the white women who welcomed encouraged the activism of black women too. (Kennedy 2004) Judy(1997) whose grand father William J. Trent, finds a mention in Gilmore's book among so many others, writes how he must have felt having lost right to vote in 1900 in spite of going to college, learning languages like Latin. She is sure her grand mother Maggie Tate Trent must have also contributed a lot by joining the Salisbury Colored women's Civic League that toiled hard for getting African American women also secure voting rights. She agrees with Gilmore that down turn in the economy at that time that forced white men to compete with black men by bringing about repression of blacks and their disenfranchisement in 1900 and that it the was learned black women who became ambassadors of black community in North Carolina

Mangement of the arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mangement of the arts - Essay Example Area, an Italian restaurant situated in Montpelier Street, Knightsbridge, London, is a good reference example. Area is owned by a man from south Italy called Franchisco. The business was started fourteen years ago as a small regular restaurant. It drew customers from the lower and middle socio-economic backgrounds. With time, people from good socio-economic backgrounds began to visit the restaurant. This included wealthy people and famous football players for example Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Arsenal’s Sagna among other footballers. The new wealthy good pool of customers made Franchisco to think of a way to upgrade his low financial status. To achieve this, he increased the prices of food, beverages and drinks served at the restaurant by 50%-100%. This created the impression of quality. As a result of this, the restaurant attracted many richer customers mainly Arabic. According to Pinson and Jinnett (1996), entrepreneurs must track the needs and preferences of their customers so as to satisfy and retain them. It is from this perspective that Franchisco created an Arabian atmosphere in and outside the restaurant in order to maintain the large pool of Arabian customers. He made Arabian designs of various features in the restaurant and played Arabic music. Changing the atmosphere to Arabic made the business attract more Arabian customers. Sheesha is offered outside the restaurant until 11pm. This is an Arab custom in which flavored tobacco is smoked using shisha pipes. This created a good social atmosphere for lovers of sheesha. Customers express their love and appreciation for Area by pinning or placing different currency notes on its walls or on a board. Franchisco choose ‘Area’ as the name his business because it is a neutral term. This has allowed the business to attract people from all cultural backgrounds. Sheesha is strictly offered outside the restaurant. This is because smoking in all public

International Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Management - Case Study Example Some of the specific challenges associated with the apparel industry include child labor, poor working conditions, and the existence of sweetshops. Back in the late 1990’s Nike suffered a big blow to its reputation when the media found out the firm was doing business with companies that sponsored sweetshops. It is also important for companies doing business in foreign countries to help out the community in which they operate. Helping out the community will help the company gain the support of the local people and its governmental institutions. Discuss the meaning and implications of the statement by a Nike representative that â€Å"consumers are not rewarding us for investments in improved social performance in supply chains.† The statement made by the Nike representative implies that the media does not report the good actions of companies such as Nike. They prefer to run stories about companies that are not acting in a socially responsible manner than to publish storie s about the efforts of Nike which is a firm that is fighting to stop foreign suppliers from abusing the civil rights of its workers. The statement also implies that in many consumer marketplaces acting in an ethical manner does not provide a firm with a competitive advantage due to the presence of many companies that are acting in an irresponsible manner. ... Some of the most important stakeholder groups that the company must satisfy include customers, government, suppliers, lenders, community, and the environment. What is meant by â€Å"leadership beyond borders†? â€Å"Leadership beyond borders† means finding people who can see across borders created by others, such as the borders of their job, and reach across such borders to engage others in dialogue and action to address systemic problems. Such a leader is a person that is educated in the cultural matters of another country. Learning and adapting to a different culture is imperative towards the success of leaders in foreign countries. Corporations must provide training and development in cultural matters to all its supervisors and managers. Is it possible to have â€Å"a compatibility of profits with people and planet†? Whose responsibility is it to achieve that state? Companies can utilize a social responsibility strategy to enhance the profits of the enterprise . In today’s competitive global environment firm’s that have strong CSR programs can differentiate themselves from the competition. An example of a company that has increased its market share to become its industry leader utilizing sound CRS principles is Starbucks Cafe. Starbucks Cafe sources all its coffee utilizing fair trade coffee practices. Fair trade coffee practices guarantee a price of $1.26 per pound. It also provides farmers with technological transfers and financing assistance. Kelly’s Assignment in Japan Explain clashes in culture, customs, and expectation that occurred in this situation Kelly was given a new job assignment in Japan in order to land an

Mangement of the arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mangement of the arts - Essay Example Area, an Italian restaurant situated in Montpelier Street, Knightsbridge, London, is a good reference example. Area is owned by a man from south Italy called Franchisco. The business was started fourteen years ago as a small regular restaurant. It drew customers from the lower and middle socio-economic backgrounds. With time, people from good socio-economic backgrounds began to visit the restaurant. This included wealthy people and famous football players for example Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Arsenal’s Sagna among other footballers. The new wealthy good pool of customers made Franchisco to think of a way to upgrade his low financial status. To achieve this, he increased the prices of food, beverages and drinks served at the restaurant by 50%-100%. This created the impression of quality. As a result of this, the restaurant attracted many richer customers mainly Arabic. According to Pinson and Jinnett (1996), entrepreneurs must track the needs and preferences of their customers so as to satisfy and retain them. It is from this perspective that Franchisco created an Arabian atmosphere in and outside the restaurant in order to maintain the large pool of Arabian customers. He made Arabian designs of various features in the restaurant and played Arabic music. Changing the atmosphere to Arabic made the business attract more Arabian customers. Sheesha is offered outside the restaurant until 11pm. This is an Arab custom in which flavored tobacco is smoked using shisha pipes. This created a good social atmosphere for lovers of sheesha. Customers express their love and appreciation for Area by pinning or placing different currency notes on its walls or on a board. Franchisco choose ‘Area’ as the name his business because it is a neutral term. This has allowed the business to attract people from all cultural backgrounds. Sheesha is strictly offered outside the restaurant. This is because smoking in all public

Control room Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Control room - Movie Review Example As they say, there are always two sides of the story, so it is important for me to listen not just to one opinion and make my own opinion based on that of one group’s point of view. I have always believed that the things I see on television are presented as they are but watching the film, I have come to realize that indeed, we are all humans after all so that even professionals bend their ethical views to favor there personal views. The media is expected to be objective at all times as they are supposed to present facts to the people and how they perceive the circumstances they are reporting about but as Joanne Tucker, the manager of AlJazeera.net said, objectivity is almost a mirage. One cannot really get away from taking sides especially in a case like the war in Iraq because it is a global issue that affects lives, not to mention the lives of civilians and most especially, the lives of innocent children. The video has shown that everyone has his or her own propaganda in suc h chaos. While we would all want peace and order, wars break out because of personal agendas of wanting to be the hero, wanting to be at the top and having all the power and fame. Presidents aim for peace and unity with another aim of being a part of a great cause which could be understandable because they are humans. The media have the same objectives as well, wanting to unite the people with the facts they present yet to some extent fail in their cause, and we understand that again because they are humans. What could probably most unacceptable is the fact that the ordinary person on the street, the innocent ones, the helpless mothers and children in their homes are the real victims, the pawns in this game called war. The video may have caused me to think more critically of the news I watch from now on but it will never change my perceptions on who are the true winners and losers in the issues of war. People fight their fellow people. Regardless of cultural backgrounds, we are all still human beings and have to act as one and not like animals killing each other. In wars, there can never be winners but that we are all losers. Millions of dollars are spent for wars and millions of people die in the course and there will always be rage in our hearts even if we continue to try to live in peace. If our money and strength would have been directed to the higher cause of fighting the war against poverty, then we would all be winners, making others live rather than killed. Whatever the truth is behind all the explanations of all the groups of people interviewed, the fact that wars are a losing end, will always remain true to me. Behind the politicians’ agenda to gain power, honor and fame, they are not winners. Behind the media people’s agenda of prospering their network and being recognized to be the best, gaining as much trophies as they can to parade in their offices, there is no honor found in it because behind all these, the victims are us. Who will speak for the child who spoke for the good of his people, endangering his life by being used as a pawn only to get to the conscience of those concerned? Would you not call that as a losing end as I view it? The video is a presentation of the sides of the people or groups of people i

Failure In Small Business Essay Example for Free

Failure In Small Business Essay It is actually a fact that only about 53% of small businesses are not able to keep on trading after three years after their preliminary set up. Some of the businesses fail within their first year of operation. There are so many reasons why this tends to happen. However, business failure does not only happen with the new businesses but it also happen to those businesses which have been in operation for quite some time regardless of how successful they tend to be. Even if business failure happens to all sizes of businesses, the small businesses are very much affected by larger threats for the reason that they do not have the support of additional money as well as resources that the big companies have. Business failure does not only come about through the problems experienced in your own company, they can as well be achieved as a subsidiary effect from dealings made by other businesses, clients and suppliers. It is very necessary for one to identify the premature signs of business failure in order to solve the problem before it is too late (Dwight, 1993). Finally, the business failure comes about when the business has gone beyond a point where it can not continue operating in business any long without encountering supplementary troubles. These troubles might not offer any feasible solutions and for one to go ahead in trading, he or she has to put him or her self in even deeper problems. When the business has reached this point, it is very important for one to acknowledge the business failure early or else he or she will face increased financial as well as legal troubles when trying to save his or her business or he can even go further and put his business to rest. There so many causes of business failure. So many businesses fail because several managers do not incorporate accounting as well as accounting practices to a practical level in their business. Despite the fact that they don’t posses all the accounting knowledge, they really suffer from the lack of financial control together with the problems concerning the cash flow which leads to business failure. If one has a weak accountancy expertise, he is likely to employ a very knowledgeable bookkeeper to manage the financial records on a regular basis. It is very important for one to have somebody who can comprehend the monetary accounts plus the management accounts. Before starting up the business one is supposed to find some time to learn the financial management skills (Claire, 1998). Lack of funds is also another cause of business failure. If one finds out that he does not have enough capital to start up the business, he is supposed to wait until the time when he has saved enough money he needs before starting up a business. If one risks and starts up a business without enough capital then the fellow is destined for business failure. Lack of funds usually leads to too much borrowing and as a result, the business becomes insolvent for the reason that the liabilities becomes too high than the assets. Bankruptcy is a very common result as in it has a cycle of poor management. Lack of funds can also come through competition. As much as the business is offering competitive prices, the business will end up making little profit margin hence it will be too difficult to fund other areas within the business. High costs of finance is another cause of business failure because it can be so disastrous as soaring interest rates as well as unfavorable compensation schedules are so much ignored due to the difficulty of financing the business (John, 1994). As a matter of fact, it is very necessary for one to manage his or her finance with a very keen concern towards interest as well as repayment schedules in order to avoid the business becoming insolvent in the early moments. The collection of data is rather a frustrating process. One needs to persuade the potential data providers to take part. One has to convince them about the value of the information to the business. I provided the incentives for sources to participate such as the clean copy of the eventual database of the relative data to the rest of the database. Eventually I drew a data table in the business notebook to help during the collection of data. A data table ensured that the business is consistent in recording data and it makes it easier to analyze the results of the business. The techniques which were used during the collection of data are data mining techniques. I sorted from large amounts of data and picked out the information because it is the analytic process which is desired to discover data (Claire, 1998). It is expected that all the business persons must have a clear understanding of the failure points in future. Another outcome is that all the business persons must stay in business successfully by not selling cheap products or service. He is not intending to impress the customers but all business persons are supposed to make people feel that they are not getting ripped off. In future all business persons must learn to begin businesses with enough capital. The business person must always learn to hire more staff when there is too much work to be done. They are not supposed to get behind on the work or else the clients will not feel happy. The business is intending to get sufficient operating funds. The business will require the costs of starting and the costs of staying the business in operation. Enough funds are needed in order to cover all the costs until sales can finally pay for these costs. However, all the funds will be borrowed from the bank which will be repayable after the business picks up. References Claire, W. (1998). Risky Business: The Personal and Financial Costs of Small Business Failure. California: Policy Studies Institute. Dwight, R. (1993). Failure and Progress. New Mexico: Cato Institute. John, L. (1984). Success and Failure in Small Business. New York: Gower Publishing Company. John, H. (1991). Measurement of Success and Failure in Small Business. Washington: Curtin University of Technology. John, E. (1963). Small Business Instability and Failure. Alabama: Bureau of Business Research.

Support Positive Outcomes For Children Children And Young People Essay

Support Positive Outcomes For Children Children And Young People Essay There are many different factors that will affect the lives of children and young people. One of these factors is Social, such as personal choice. This could make an impact on a childs life because parents may choose to live a certain way that varies from the norm. For example families with same sex parents. This could affect a childs social life and their education as other children might not see this as normal and they may not want to communicate and socialise with children living in this type of environment. An economic factor that could affect a childs life is poverty. This could impact a childs life as a family living on a low income might not be able to provide for their children as hoped. Accommodation may be poor which can have an effect on the mental and physical health of children and their parents. A cultural factor that could affect a childs life is religious beliefs and ethnic beliefs. Religious beliefs may exclude children from settings or mean that they attend specific settings. Ethnic beliefs could affect the dietary needs of children which could affect them at school and also the way they choose to dress according to religion, this could result in some children having to wear a headscarf for example. This could also affect them at school because they would look different from other children and it could cause a divide within the social groups of the classroom. This can result from low income, unemployment, parental separation, illness or disability, addictions. Children may suffer malnutrition or a poor diet as a result of their parents being unable to afford good quality food. This could result in lack of concentration or poor performance at school. They could also suffer other health related issues. They may be the subject of bullying as a result of their clothing or because they do not have the latest must have accessories. They will probably miss out on further education due to the costs involved, or as a result of the need to find employment to help support the family. One of the side effects of poverty is poor housing. People on low income are often depend on local authority housing. This may result in overcrowding, for example being housed in a home with insufficient bedrooms. This means the child has no privacy, or personal space. They may struggle with homework and course work because of the lack of a space in which to complete it . The housing provided may be of a poor quality suffering damp or be in disrepair. This could have a detrimental effect on the childs health causing asthma or frequent colds and coughs. It will probably be in a less desirable area or could be in an area with social disorder problems. This may result in the children becoming isolated, as their parents may be fearful of letting them out to play or they may themselves become involved in anti-social behaviour and criminal activities. Personal choices made as a child and young adult effect nearly every aspect of life. From education to family planning. Poor choices can lead to poverty and few opportunities, while good choices can open up a world of possibilities. Family experience as a child can very much play a role, but young adults are fully capable of taking responsibility for the life choices they make. Task 2 There are five positive outcomes that practitioners should be striving to achieve. These outcomes are: Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well being It is important that children who are living in poverty have the same opportunities as their peers as they are less likely to achieve high grades at school. This could lead to unemployment later in life. The local authorities aim to develop services to support children and their families when they are living in poverty. It is important to design services for 16-18 year olds who are not in employment, training and education. If there are no services in place this could lead to unemployment later in life, teenage pregnancies and poor physical health. All these factors could lead to low income in the future Active participation is important for children and young people to make decisions that affect their own lives. It is important in any childcare setting that there is a great amount of resources provided in order to help children create their own play, in every childcare setting children should be involved in observations, this will help them to learn their own expectations of behaviour and the goals they should be achieving. To help improve services children and young peoples views should be taken into account to help them feel respected and valued when it comes to decision making. Every child is different and all have different needs and abilities, it is out job as a childcare practitioner to help and support children and young people in making personal choices and experiences. For example children ages 2-3 who are in nursery may become agitated easily and have tantrums when interacting with other children, this can be resolved by an adult teaching them how to share. Children ages 3-4 in pre-school may need support in making their own healthy choices regarding food and how to develop a positive attitude towards healthy eating. Children aged 5+ in primary school may need support in learning to keep themselves safe for example learning them how important it is not to talk to strangers ant the outcomes it may have if they do. Children in middle school aged 10-11 may need support as they approach puberty and also may need support in how to look after their own personal hygiene. Task 3 Some children and young people may have disabilities or certain needs which have to be taken into account when they are in a childcare setting. Children with disabilities have a wide range of impairments including hidden ones. A disability that could impact a childs life could be a hearing impairment. This could affect a child from learning in school and communicating with their peers and their childcare providers. This impairment could stop children from achieving their full potential in life and also affect their emotional well being. To help children with this impairment extra help could be provided in school for example a special needs teacher. The teacher could help the child to communicate in other ways such as sign language and using picture cards. With this help the child and their childcare provider can focus on what the child can achieve rather on what the child cant. This would help to make it a positive environment for the child to learn in and make it easier for them to meet their goals. It is important to have a positive attitude towards disability and specific requirements. In a childcare setting is it possible to reduce the impact of a disability to help the person to make their own choices and achieve to their full potential. Children should not be seen as having special needs as their needs are the same as every other child. It is possible for us to meet a childs needs in different ways if we recognise that they have specific requirements. As a childcare practitioner we should have positive attitudes towards providing the correct requirements for disabled children. We should be ready to learn new skills for example sign language as this can help us to communicate with a child who has an impairment and this could help the child to develop further. The medical model views a disability as something to be cured. There are many ways of adapting a disabled person to fit the non disabled world through medical intervention. When a medical label is placed on a disabled person they are often seen as their impairment rather than the individual. The social model is a constructive approach to disability. This model focuses our thoughts on addressing the impairments to help the person achieve their full potential. The social model has a different view on how the society should change for the disabled rather than the disabled changing for society. The support which a disabled child may need will be tailored to fit that child, this will depend on the impact their impairment has on their lives. For example a child with a hearing impairment may need to use hearing aids. A child born with a cleft palate may need speech and language therapy. A child with Downs syndrome may be given learning support in a specific setting. Task 4 Equality- opportunities to develop and learn, while the Childs physical and emotional safety and well being are protected Diversity- acknowledgement of and respect for the Childs individuality. Inclusion- access to appropriate settings and the experiences they offer for children. Promoting positive outcomes for children all depends on equality, diversity and inclusion. Positive images could promote this. You can provide a positive image of a wide range of people for example: black, female and the disabled can take on active and responsible roles in society, also males can take on caring and domestic roles. This helps children to develop a strong attitude about their own future. It gives them a positive idea on what they can achieve in life and the influence they can have in society no matter what their ethnicity, gender, cultural, social background or disability.

Essay on the Manipulation of Polonius and Ophelia in Hamlet

The Manipulation of Polonius and Ophelia in Hamlet  Ã‚        Ã‚   The main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet centers around Prince Hamlet's desire to repay King Claudius for his evil deeds. Around this central action revolve the stories concerning the minor characters of Polonius and Ophelia. Though they do not motivate Hamlet's actions towards the King, these characters act as forces upon Hamlet himself, trying to spur him to do things he does not want to do. Both Polonius and Ophelia try, unsuccessfully, to manipulate Hamlet into a place of inferiority.    In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love, they arrive at that point through very different means. At the beginning of the dialogue, Ophelia says that she has been "affrighted" by Hamlet in her bed chamber. (II,i 75) Her encounter with the Prince left her scared about his real intentions. She says that he looks like he has been,"loosed out of hell/To speak of horrors". (II,i 83-4) The very fact that Hamlet does not speak one word to Ophelia makes him look even more intimidating. By not speaking anything, Hamlet at once strengthens his image as a madman, as well as shrouding his real intentions towards those around him. Just following this passage comes a place in the text where we can see how the character of Ophelia has been manipulated by Polonius. After his "hint" that he might be doing this out of frustrated love, Ophelia says that that is wh at she truly does fear. (87) Her feelings of pity and concern are shaped by her father in order to fit his case of madness against Hamlet.    To further strengthen this situation, Polonius'... ...f the situation before he enters it, while Polonius and Ophelia must try to understand events as, or after they happen.    Works Cited Bradley, A.C. "Shakespeare's Tragic Period--Hamlet." Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Toronto: MacMillan, 1967. 79-174. Campbell, Lily B. Collected Papers Of Lily Campbell. NY: Russell, 1968. Lidz, Theodore.   Hamlet's Enemy: Madness and Myth in Hamlet.   Vision Press, 1975. MacKenzie, Agnes Mure.   The Women in Shakespeare's Plays.   London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1924. Northrop, Frye. "Hamlet." Northrop Frye on Shakespeare. Ed. Robert Sandler. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. 82-100. Oakes, Elizabeth. "Polonius, the Man behind the Arras: A Jungian Study." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. NY: AMS Press, 1994. 103-112.      

How Mary Shelley creates a sense of horror in Frankenstein :: English Literature

How Mary Shelley creates a sense of horror in Frankenstein. Frankenstein Introduction In this essay, I will be writing about how Mary Shelley creates sense of horror in Frankenstein. Horror stories are usually dark and sinister. They are also very mysterious. They mostly use catching background music and horrible settings to create a sense of horror. Mary Shelley creates a sense of horror through the characters, settings and the language. From the beginning of the story, the audience's speculate that there was a reason behind Victor Frankenstein's interest to the anatomy of science. " A mind of moderate capacity, which closely pursues one study, Must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study." This creates a sense of horror because it suggests that Frankenstein is obsessed with the subject. It isn't just a plain interest. After his mother died, he was very upset and angry. He wanted to create a living human being- bringing a dead body alive. He wanted to do something that no one else has done. This can be looked at, as a metaphor saying that, he wanted to make something that even nature hasn't even created. This creates a sense of horror because, people in the 19th century were very superstitious and believed that going against the nature means going against God, and that's the worst sin that can be committed. " Darkness had no effect upon my fancy." This creates a sense of horror because he was different from the other people as well as the human characteristics. He had no fear of death or any superstitious belief. He appears as a person who would do anything because he is contending to himself as well as God. He wanted to create something that wouldn't have to follow the procedure of life. "I should attempt the creation of a being like myself" This creates a sense of horror because it suggests that he wants to break the natural chain. He is willing to create a human like himself but it should live for eternity. He wants to prevent death. He wanted to "succeed and arrive at great proficiency in that study". He finally decides to learn everything about human bodies and create a human creature from dead body parts so he started to make framework with bones and organs as an experiment. Frankenstein collects most of the materials that he needs from the charnel house where dead bodies are kept, and also goes to other places that are associated death such as churchyards, the dissecting room and the slaughterhouse. "Churchyard was the receptacle of bodies deprived of life" and "The dissecting room and the slaughter house furnished many of his materials". All these settings creates a sense of horror because, it's set in a

Ethics in Decision Making Essay

Decision making or the process of choosing among alternatives is practiced by almost all individuals (Mingst, 2001). In almost every situation people is faced with the idea of making decisions whether it is as simple as choosing what clothes to buy up to life changing choices like deciding on a particular career path. This kind of act is not always as simple as it looks like especially when decisions are perceived according to particular factors that affect it. The choices that a person made are often influenced by many factors and one of which is the idea of ethics. Ethics is a set of standards that directs an individual on how to act in certain situations. The idea of ethics is often confused with feelings, law, religion, science, and cultural norms. These concepts influenced ethics in one way or another but these are not synonymous with it. Ethical standards are derived from five sources namely: Utilitarian Approach, Rights Approach, Fairness or Justice Approach, Common Good Approach, and Virtue Approach (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Utilitarian Approach emphasizes the idea that ethical action gives greater good and minimal harm. This approach is after the results of particular decisions that it should strived to give more advantageous effects rather than adverse consequences. A good example of this is ethics in corporation that aim to produce more beneficial results for everyone in the company (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Rights Approach is a source of ethical standards that gives high regards in respecting and protecting the moral rights of those people concern. This can be rooted from the idea that the very essence of an individual’s humanity that enables him/her to make decisions for oneself entitled each one of them to a sense of dignity. Based on this dignity, their rights as individuals should be given due importance. These rights also come with its corresponding duties and one of which is to respect the rights of other people as well (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Fairness or Justice Approach is based on the arguments of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers that â€Å"all equals should be treated equally†. Ethical actions should treat individuals equally but if there is inequality then there should be a defensible standard as to such. A corporate environment is a best example of such approach because workers are paid according to their productivity and contribution to the company, which is perceived as fair. However, there is contention when it comes to the CEOs of companies because their salary is many times larger than the others which make such disparity unfair for some (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Common Good Approach gives value in the importance of life. They believe that the very idea of life is good which is why ethical actions should contribute to the well-being of that life. The intermingling of societal relationships as well as the respect and care for others especially the marginalized are emphasized. Furthermore, this approach also highlights the importance of conditions that bring common good (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Virtue Approach is considered as a very ancient way of looking at ethical actions. Certain virtues are to be followed in order to attain the full development of human beings. These virtues are needed in order to reach the full potential of ones character. Questions like â€Å"What kind of person will I become if I do this? † or â€Å"is this action consistent with my acting at my best? † are taken into consideration in this approach (Santa Clara University, 2007). These aforementioned sources of ethics could be applied in the process of decision making especially with the individuals or decision makers that are involved within the process. Decision makers have various motivations and characteristics that affect their choices. There are two types of motivation namely the â€Å"in-order-to motives† and the â€Å"because-of-motives†. The â€Å"in-order-to motives† explains that a decision maker will choose a particular decision in order to accomplish a certain objective (Mingst, 2001). Ethics could highly influence this kind of motivation especially in terms of the Utilitarian, Virtue, and Common Good approaches. The Utilitarian approach is manifested in the â€Å"in-order-to motives† because if an individual will make a decision based on an objective of producing more good rather than harm then it already fulfils an ethical action in the Utilitarian perspective. In terms of the Virtue approach, ethics is seen in the motivation of the decision maker when the choices made are based on an objective that helps the development of an individual towards its full potential. The Common Good approach also asserts ethics because actors are influenced to choose decisions that will bring about the greater good to the most number of people. On the other hand, the â€Å"because-of-motives† arises from the â€Å"unconscious or semiconscious motives or impulses arising out of previous life experience or inner values, interests, or drives of the decision maker† (Mingst, 2001). Ethical action becomes possible in the decisions made by an individual based on the ideas of the Rights Approach and the Fairness or Justice Approach. The Rights Approach exemplified the moral rights of the people that should be respected and protected. These rights motivate the decision maker to make choices that will uphold these values. Similarly, the Fairness or Justice Approach also influences the motive of the decision maker by putting in mind the idea of what is equal from what is not especially if such idea is something that the individual values or has interests on. According to the assumptions of the Decision Making Theory, a rational actor plays a vital role in the decision making wherein that individual is well-aware of the list of available alternatives and capable of calculating each option’s possible results and has the freedom of choice to select the one with the highest preferential value. However, the biographical knowledge of the decision maker has a crucial role in the choices that will be made. Factors such as a person’s educational background, religion, life experiences, mental and physical health as well as other activities could explain the interests and values of the decision maker (Mingst, 2001). An individual decision maker is already influenced by numerous factors that affect its decisions which make decision making for a collective entity of diverse people more complicated. A population would have various and sometimes conflicting interests and basically different decisions. In such case, the important factor for this diverse population to successfully arrive at a most advantageous decision is to acquire consensus. Consensus building is an important factor for the decision making process of a diverse population. Since they have numerous interests and motives they need to be able to arrive at a decision that everybody will benefit from even if it means having to compromise at times. In doing so, they also need an appropriate leader that would collaborate their interests. A democratic form of leadership is a good example of how the process of decision making takes place in a diverse population (Bissessar, 2004). The interests of its citizens are represented through party system as well as by elected political leaders. However, numerous party systems is still not that easy to manage which is why a rational and appropriate leader is still needed that would be able to make sound decisions for its citizens. The decision maker is the most important part of the decision making process. The motives, interests as well as the background of this rational actor are vital in order to understand the choices that are made. Being the case, ethical standards is also one of the factors that influenced these decisions. This also applies in the decision making of diverse population because they need consensus building in order to embody their various and sometimes conflicting interests. In doing so, it also need an appropriate leader that would collaborate their interests and implements the decision.Ethical standards and the other factors that influence the decision maker have a big part in the selection of sound decisions. References Bissessar. A. M. (2004). Globalization and Governance: Essays on the Challenges for Small Countries. North Carolina: McFarland. Santa Clara University. (2007). A Framework for Thinking Ethically. Retrieved 14 May 2008, from http://www. scu. edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework. html. Mingst, K. (2001). Essentials of International Relations. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

Cis499

Gene Splicing Lab Question #1: DNA is made up of two separate strands of base sequences. The same sequence is found on both strands, but running in opposite directions. What word describes this characteristic? Palindrome Question #2: What does the term â€Å"sticky ends† refer to in gene splicing? When you splice a piece of DNA with a restriction enzyme, and want to insert the new gene, the â€Å"glue† that holds the two pieces together are the complementary bases, or sticky ends. Question #3: What is a plasmid? How is a plasmid used in gene splicing? A plasmid is a circular segment of DNA with an origin of replication.It can be duplicated and serve as an adjunct to the main bacterial chromosome. Question #4: What types of vectors are used to carry DNA from one species into the DNA of another species? Give examples. Generally plasmids and viruses, although naked DNA is a possible source as well. Question #5: What is a â€Å"transgenic organism†? Give examples. Or ganisms that contain dna from another organism. it is a type of gmo, or genetically modified organism. Ex: genetically modified crops, transgenic cows that produce different milk, mice with different genesQuestion #6: Why is it essential that the same restriction enzyme be used to cleave (cut) the DNA of both organisms used to create a transgenic organism? The restriction enzyme cuts in specifc sites on the DNA, for example complementary strands. A and T or C and G. So only with the same enzyme at both the DNA of organisms in places where the complementary base pairing can be cut, is used as the same enzyme enzyme, the DNA will be cut for example. at A and T on both the organisms the opportunity to tie the organisms at these sites via H-bridges as complementary bases.Therefore, it is allowed to bind the two organisms form a transgenic organism Question #7: Are there any factors other than technical ones that might slow — or even prevent — the use of bioengineering? The re are many social factors that will impede the progress of bioengineering. In the case of agricultural bioengineering, some people are frightened that bioengineered food would be less healthy. Bioengineered crops will also decrease the biodiversity of our food, making it more susceptible to disease (ergo famine). Also, genetically engineered crops will give developed nations a huge advantage over third world in food production.

Pros and cons of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards Essay

Pros and cons of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards - Essay Example In accordance with the issues discussed in the paper one of the benefits of extrinsic and extrinsic motivations is the increased performance. Extrinsic motivations may take the forms of rewards. This contributes a lot towards making the individuals to dedicate more of their efforts, skills and time in completion of certain take. Rewards, both tangible and psychological always lead to increased performances and high quality outcomes. In classroom setups, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations may lead to increased competition since each student may want to be rewarded at the end of it all. This boosts academic outcomes and shapes the students towards excellence. There are several demerits of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. In classroom setups, extrinsic motivations may be viewed and argued as aspects of discriminations against the students. This follows that it always leads to some form of academic barriers and stigmatizations. Some students who may not get the rewards as regular may be perceived incompetent by other colleagues. This demeans and belittles those students. In addition, in many cases, the rewards are always given out based on the person who leads but not the one who has shown tremendous improvement in an area. In most cases, such always lead to some forms of discriminations. The same may also apply to the workplaces. As such, it is important to note that rewards may be demoralizing at times.

Examine the view that dividends are irrelevant to rational investors Assignment

Examine the view that dividends are irrelevant to rational investors when considering the value of shares from a theoretical and empirical perspective - Assignment Example Primarily, when firms make enormous profits, the managers can either decide to use it for expansion by investing in new projects or pay it to the shareholders in the form of dividends. The dividend policy usually guides this process. Dividend policy is the set of guidelines or principles that companies adopt to decide the amount of the profits that shareholders are to receive (Miller and Modigliani, 1961). Even though, the business uses these sets of principles to determine the value of the dividend the decision on whether to pay the dividends or not lies in the board’s decision. In fact, when the board of directors declares the dividends to be paid it becomes a debt to the corporation and cannot be recanted or rescinded quickly. Dividends can either be paid on temporary or permanent basis or sometimes it can be paid once or twice a year. Deangelo (1995) argues that, investors are usually interested not only in the stability of this payment but also the level of dividend payment. From this perspective, therefore, the managers should be aware of the impacts of unexpected changes in the dividend payment to the potential investors. Both the existing investors and potential investors are affected by the changes since such uncertainties could alienate them from investing with the organization. According to Bhattacharya (1979), unstable dividend payment aspect may negatively influence the perception of the investor based on the long term company’s performance in the financial markets. Even though, most economists believe that it is the value and stability of payment of dividends that the investors should rely on while making decisions; research ascertains that this is irrelevant and should warrants sidelining. Many from other schools of thought including Miller and Modigliani believe that what the company pays in the form of a dividend is totally

Multinational Enterprises In Asian Development Case Study

Multinational Enterprises In Asian Development - Case Study Example The research will review the trends and expansionist strategies employed by multinational enterprises from these nations and evaluate how they managed to attain successes on the global level. Japanese Businesses The Japanese European Trade Organisation (JETRO) studied a number of things about the expansion if Japanese businesses into Europe (Sachwald, 1995). They identified five main motives for the expansion of Japanese businesses into Europe. First of all, Japanese businesses seeking to expand into Europe for production reasons. Geographically, Japan has not been a very rich island in terms of natural resources. As such, their expansionist drives into foreign nations included the desire to acquire much needed raw materials. Thus, the establishment of foreign companies enabled them to establish production systems with their technology and capital and produce at points close to the customers that they previously exported to. Secondly, the cost of energy and electricity has been tradi tionally high. Japanese expansionist ideology was to make use of cheap electricity and energy costs. Again, Japan has always been an overpopulated island. Due to that, land costs are generally higher. The expansion into foreign lands enabled Japanese businesses to economize and save significantly on rent. Other costs like pollution and transport costs were significantly lower in other parts of the world. Thus, Japanese businesses expanded to foreign lands to take advantage of these production-related advantages. Secondly, Japanese businesses moved to different parts of the world in order to develop new markets. In the 1970s, Japanese businesses had exported large volumes of products to people in different parts of the world.

Asian Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Asian Americans - Essay Example This objective, however, proves a challenging initiative, burdened by the negative heritage of history and by existing cultural gaps. According to Jandt (2004) the Asian-Americans represent a diverse group of cultures and people from many countries - Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Pacific Island nations. Initially the US legislation excluded Chinese and other Asians from US citizenship (Jandt, 2004) and this governmental policy impaired the assimilation process of Asian subgroups at the very beginning. Asian-American's resistance to assimilation is a natural process. For one thing, it is visible in first generation immigrants who sometimes lack documentation (Wikipedia, 2006) and whose dreams about the bright future are not met by reality (Jandt, 2004). This disappointment leads to greater uncertainty, and avoidance of socialization. Additionally, language barriers impair the social status of the Asian-American group in USA. For example exactly because of language deficiencies Korean-Americans use English language that can be viewed as rude and exploiting by customers and employees (Jandt, 2004). This has lead to misinterpretation of Korean's behavior, hence to the isolation of the group by the American society and other subgroups. Further on, other behavioral patterns that are interpreted by other cultures differently hinder effective communication. For example, Korean-Americans are reluctant to develop friendships with strangers, regard inappropriate smiles as superficial (Jandt, 2004). Especially in the services sector, where communication with customers is critical, keeping such distance makes the Korean culture look confusing and inappropriate. Tradition that is visible in medicinal practices, rituals, clothing and other cultural tokens is another source for misinterpretation of culture (Jandt, 2004). While rituals and habits are regarded as healthy by one culture, the US culture may condemn them as inappropriate, unhealthy and even dangerous. There is the example of a Vietnamese father who treated his sick child, as per Vietnamese tradition, with coins rubbed in hot oil. The father was imprisoned and subsequently committed a suicide (Jandt, 2004). Such tragic incidents do not only prove the necessity for mutual understanding of group specifics, but lead to the presumption that at minimum partial assimilation is a natural process, whereby the smaller cultural group adopts the norms of the larger group. This is so because practices that are regarded as extreme and health damaging by the US culture are unlikely to be tolerated by people and legislative authorities and pressure is exercised to change those tokens that contradi ct common US norms. Today attitudes towards Asian Americans vary greatly. There is a common conception that Asian Americans have not faced racial discrimination as African Americans and Latinos (Wikipedia, 2006), but this idea is based on the fact that these immigrants do not report such incidents. As a result, even reported incidents do not receive adequate

Culture report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culture report - Essay Example The most important day observed by Germany is designated as â€Å"The fall of the Wall† with great zeal every year. This day signifies for the reunion of German, which played an imperative role in the national development of Germany. Another significant event, which takes place in Germany, is Christmas, which marks the birth of Christ (Lueschen, Blood and Lewis). Therefore, religion plays a significant role in shaping the culture in Germany. At the same time, German culture is inclined towards collectivism because of this reason German people often under weigh the rights of an individual versus those of many. Along with this, gender and racial discrimination is at par in German atmosphere (Lueschen, Blood and Lewis). In parallel, the value of German language in world history cannot be negated. Therefore, this paper is providing some of the German customary greetings, which include Hallo (hello), Guten Morgen (good morning), Guten Tag (good day) and Guten Abend (good

Western Civilization Essay Example for Free

Western Civilization Essay Functional political structures of prior centuries still exist to a great degree this very day. What that means is those political systems that are viable can transcend centuries and cultures to exist in the modern world. Political structures are not something that are pulled out of thin air and instituted. Instead, political structures and ideologies are the result of a process of evolution. In other words, a political idea or system will develop in an inception stage and then over the course of time, it will evolve into a more complex system that takes into consideration the various complexities that modern concerns may influence said development. However, what does not happen is that the entirety of an old system is completely thrown out unless it is a clearly failed system. Monarchies, for example, have collapsed because they simply are not functional in the modern era. Their modern equivalent, dictatorships, exist is certain parts of the world on a minimalist level (Cuba, North Korea, etc), but they are generally rejected by the vast majority of world governments whereas successful government systems propagate, albeit in different versions of their classical counterpart. For example, democracy started in Athens as a philosophical movement that later developed into a viable political system. This form of Athenian democracy that was instituted in Ancient Greece was considered a model of effective government and a great deal of the principles of Athenian democracy exist in modern governments, although there are a number of departures from the original Athenian concept. In the Athenian system, direct democracy was the dominant factor as opposed to representative democracy. We still see vestiges of this form of direct democracy in America in the form of ballot initiatives. In California, the most (in)famous form of direct democracy can be viewed in the decriminalization a medical marijuana, a law that never would have passed through a representative system.

Strategic Operational And Tactical Level Information Technology Essay

Strategic Operational And Tactical Level Information Technology Essay It is the combination of Information Technology and people using it to carry out operations and management. In a large sense it is frequently used with in people to process data and technology. It is also refer to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which is used in organization, where people work with this to support business processes. There is a clear different between information system, ICT and business process. IT is completely different from information system, information system consist of ICT component. Information system helps to control the performance of business process. Information system is a special type of work system, which produces products or services for customer, where human and machines perform work using ICT and resources. Information system purpose is to process information. Information system is a system which represents data and process as a form of social memory. Information system supports human decision making and action. What is the role of Information Systems in todays competitive business environment on Strategic, Operational and Tactical level? Strategic Level: IS (Information system) supports business processes and operations: IS helps managers to execute their daily activities and functions properly, for example, in bank, creation of accounts, statement generation etc take place; and IS helps managers control such activities with greater accuracy and in a timely manner with the help of software. IS supports decision making for managers and employees: IS takes data as input and then processes it to generate information; simply defined as Input Æ’Â ¨ Process Æ’Â ¨ Information. This information is used by the managers for the improvement of their organizations, for example, existing historical data about customers in bank can be analyzed by IS and important information can be generated like bad customers and good customers, etc. This information can be used by managers while deciding whether to approve loan for new customers or not IS supports in making strategic decision for competitive advantage: By analyzing data collected from different sources, IS can provide valuable information such as which items to launch in which location; so that the company can have advantage over their competitors using this information. IS can also help business houses; in carrying out their business processes differently than their competitors. Operational Level: IS promises Operational excellence: In order to achieve higher profitability, businesses improve their operations efficiency. Managers make use of IS in business operations to achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency. An excellent example is the use of the RetailLink system at Wal-Mart; this system digitally links every one of the Wal-Marts stores with its suppliers; the supplier is monitoring the items and as soon as an item is purchased, the supplier knows that a replacement must be shipped to the shelf. IS helps create new products, business models and services: In firms, Information system is a crucial tool in creating new services and products and new business models. Business models describe how the companies produce, deliver and sells a product or service to be successful. An example is Apple Inc; it transformed an old business model which was based on its iPod technology platform that included iPod, iPhone and the iTunes music service. IS helps monitor increase Supplier/Customer intimacy: When a customer is served well by a business, he usually responds by returning and purchasing more from the business; this raises the profits and revenues of the business. The more the business engages its suppliers, the better the suppliers are able to provide vital inputs; which in turn lowers costs. An example is the high-end hotel, Manhattans The Mandarin Oriental and other such high-end hotels; they illustrate the use of IS and technology to achieve better customer intimacy. They track guests preferences using computers, such as their preferred television programs, check-in times and room temperatures. Tactical Level: IS helps making better decisions: Many managers operate in an information bank and they never have the relevant information at the right moment to make a learned decision; poor outcomes like these loose customers and raise costs. Managers can use real time data while making decisions; IS allow managers to use real-time data from the marketplace while making decisions. An example is the Verizon Corporation, which uses a Web-based digital dashboard that gives managers accurate real-time information on customer complains and network performances. By using this information, managers can rapidly inform customers of the repair work, assign repair resources to the involved areas, and restore service promptly. Competitive advantage: When the firms achieve the business objectives, for example, customer intimacy, operational excellence, improved decision making, new services, products and business models, than it is most like that they have achieved a competitive advantage already. Accomplishing these things finer than their objects, responding to suppliers and customers in real time, charging less for premium products all add up to higher sales and profits. An example is the Toyota Production System which mainly focuses on organizing work to make continuous improvements, eliminating waste; Toyota Production System is based on what the customers actually ordered. How are Information Systems transforming the functional areas of organizations? Computers are used for almost any task. We check email with it, watch media, bank and more. Information is the life of organization, damaged or lost data can cause financial loss, law suits, etc. Information system contains hardware, software, data, applications, communication and people. It helps an organization to manage and secure its critical corporate, customer and employee data. Information system improves work process and gives lot of other benefits. An example is the Transaction Processing System (TPS) which is used in one functional area of a business; it process routine transactions more accurately and efficiently. TPS has many sub-species which are directly linked to their respective functional areas, for example, there is Finance and Accounting Systems for the functional areas of accounts and finance, Human Resource System for the Human Resource area, etc. Information System is different form other system because its purpose is to monitor and document the operations of other systems, we can also call it target system. For example, production activities would be the target system for a production scheduling information system, human resources would be the target system of a human resource information system. Every reactive system has a sub system called Information system, whose purpose is to monitor and control system. Task 2 There are many, many types of Information systems, but the most common ones are these: Transaction Processing System (TPS); Decision Support System (DSS); Management Information System (MIS); Office Automation System (OAS); Executive Information System (EIS) and Data Warehouses (DW). Transaction Processing System (TPS): TPS is a basic business system and it handles the tracking and processing of transactions. A transaction is simply an event which is of interest to the organization, for example, a railway booking system in which Booking, Cancellation, etc are all transactions; or a sale at a store. TPS is very useful and has many functions and it Serves the most elementary day-to-day activities of an organization. Is very often crucial to the survival of the organization Usually has high volumes of output and input Needs to be fault-tolerant Supports the operational level of the business Supplies data for higher-level management decisions Can have strategic consequences, for example, airline reservation system Deals with well-structured processes. A Transaction processing system has many sub-species, some of which are: Sales and Marketing Systems: These are systems that support the sales and marketing functions by easing the movement of services and goods from producers to customers. For example, a Stores sale system would automatically record and total purchase transactions and print out a packing list; this would improve customer service and maintain customer data. Manufacturing and Production systems: These systems supply data to operate, control and monitor the production processes, such as shipping, receiving, purchasing, scheduling, engineering, resource management, quality control, etc. For example, a system in factory that measures samples of products and gets information from that; then statistically analyses the samples and shows when the operators should take corrective action. Human Resource System: These systems deal with performance evaluation, compensation, placement, career development and recruitment of the firms employees. Examples of HRS include training and skills, applicant tracking, personnel record keeping, positions, benefits. Finance Accounting System: These systems maintain records which concern the flow of funds in the firm and they also produce financial statements, such as income statements and balance sheets. E.g for General Ledger; Budgeting, Billing: Cost Accounting, Accounts Payable/ Receivable; Funds management systems, payroll. These systems were among the earliest to be computerized. Examples of Financial systems are loan management, cash management, securities trading and check processing. Management Information Systems (MIS): They assist lower management in problem solving and making decisions. MIS usually takes data from the transaction processing system and summarizes it into a series of management reports which are to be used by the middle management and operational supervisors. MIS is a set of information processing functions and queries should be handled by it as quickly as they arrive. Database is an important element of MIS. MIS simply provides managers with feedback on daily operations; it also provides information and support for effective decision making. An example of MIS is an annual budgeting system. Decision Support System (DSS): DSS provides information, models or analysis tools to the senior managers and strategic management staff to help them make decisions. DSS are used for support of unstructured decisions and they are for analytical work mainly, for example, creating of what-if models using spreadsheets databases. An example job for a Decision Support System would be a 6 year operating plan. Office Automation Systems (OAS): They are used to improve the productivity of employees who need to process data information for reducing paper warfare. For example, Microsoft Office XP improves the productivity of employees working in an office or system that allow employees to work from home or whilst on the move. OAS software tools are often integrated and are designed for easy operations (for example, a graph from a spreadsheet can be imported in the Word Processor). Executive Information System (EIS): Also known as Executive Support System (ESS) and it provides information to the executives in a readily accessible, interactive format. EIS (or ESS) usually allow summary of the entire organization and also allows drilling down to specific levels of detail. EIS also use data which is produced by ground level Transaction Processing System so the executives can gain an overview of the entire organization. EIS require extensive staff to operate and are very expensive to run and are used by top level (strategic) management. Data Warehouses System: A Data Warehouse is a place where data is stored analysis, security and archival purposes. A data warehouse is usually either a single computer or a giant computer system formed by tying many computers together. Besides storing large amount of data, they must also possess the systems in place that would make it easy to access the data and use in day-to-day operations. It is also sometimes referred to be a major role player in DSS, or Decision Support System. How you identify the major support systems, and relate them to managerial functions? Support systems are Office Automation, Decisions Support Systems, Management Information system and TPS. Management Information system (MIS) generally takes the data from TPS (Transaction processing system) and summarizes it into a series of management reports, which are used by operational supervisors and also by the middle management. Decision-Support Systems are designed to help management make decisions, when there is uncertainty about the possible outcome. DSS gather relevant information with the help of tools and techniques and analyze the options and alternatives. DSS often create what-if models with the use of databases and spreadsheets. Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) helps business create and share information. This helps employees who creates and shares knowledge and expertise, which is shared in organization to create further commercial opportunities. KMS allows efficient categorization and distribution of knowledge. For example knowledge might be in word documents, spreadsheets, power point or internet etc, to share KMS would use collaboration system like intranet. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) process routine transaction accurately and efficiently; and businesses may have many TPS, for example Invoices are sent to customers using the Billing systems Systems that calculate monthly and weekly payroll and tax payments Calculations of raw materials using Production and purchasing systems Using Stock control systems to process of all movement within the businesses Office Automation Systems (OAP) improves the productivity of the employees that process data information. For example, Microsoft Office XP improves productivity of employees that work in an office or system that enable employees to work on the move or from home. Task 3 Describe the tools and techniques provided by the Information Systems department and its relationship with end-users to solve the specific problems? The Information system department provides many different tools and techniques to solve problems and the main ones are: Data Warehouses: Their main purpose is to establish a data storehouse that makes operational data accessible in a form which is readily acceptable for analytical processing activities like Decision Support or EIS. Data Warehouses have many different characteristics such as Organization (data are organized), Time Variant (data kept for 5-10 years so it can be used for forecasting and comparisons), Non-Volatility (data are not updated once it has been entered in the warehouse), Consistency (data are coded in a consistent manner) and Client/Server (the data warehouse provides the end user an easy access to the data by using the clients/servers). How it solves problems: The Data in the warehouses is organized for less confusion; The Data is stored for a long time, allows for forecasts and comparisons; Takes raw data and codes it in a consistent matter for easy analysis Provides the end user an easy access to its data The data warehouse uses a relational structure The data are located in one place, allows data to be reached quickly Web browsers can be used to allow end users to reach data easily Data Mining: the process of analyzing data from different views and then summarizing it into useful information. Such information could be used to cut costs, raise revenue or both. For years, companies have used very powerful computers to sift through large volumes of supermarket scanner data and analyze market research reports. Data Mining is currently being used in areas like Retailing and Sales, Banking, Insurance, Airlines, Health Care, Computer Software Hardware, etc. How it solves problems: Data mining automates the process of discovering predictive information in very large databases; Data mining tools identify previous hidden patterns in just one step Can operate on unprocessed or even unstructured information. Text Web Mining: Text mining is the application of data mining to less structured text files. Web Mining are mining tools which can be used to analyze large amounts of data on the Web (like what customers are doing on the Internet). How it solves problems: Groups documents by common themes, making them easier to locate sort Finds the hidden content of documents and also additional useful relationships Geographic Information System (GIS): this is a computer-based system which is used for capturing, checking, storing, manipulating, integrating and displaying data using digitalized maps. How it solves problems: Every digital object or record has an identified geographical location Branch performances can be monitored, analyzed and compared Volume and traffic patterns of business activities can be monitored Geographical area served by each Bank branch can be observed, to plan if new banks are needed or not. Data Visualization: This is the presentation of data by technologies like digital images, graphical user interface, 3-d presentations and animations, geographical information systems, virtual reality, multidimensional graphs tables. How it solves problems: Presents many different kinds of data into a common, understandable way for better more accurate analysis; reduces errors too. On-Line Analytic Processing: this is the technology that allows users of multidimensional databases to generate on-line comparative summaries of data and other analytical enquiries; OLAP can also be integrated into corporate databases systems. How it solves problems: OLAP facilities allow managers and analysts to monitor the performance of the business or market. The end-results of OLAP technologies can be very simple (frequency tables, etc) to make the data much easier to understand and analyze. How the Executives may use any alternative data/ information processing techniques to support the decision making This is a crucial step in making an effective decision. The more good options that you consider, the more inclusive your final decision will be. You force yourself to reach deeper and you look at problems via different angles, when you generate alternatives. By using the mindset there must be other solutions out there, you have more chance to make the best possible decision. If you havent got other reasonable alternatives, then theres not much of a decision to make! Below is a summary of some of the important techniques and tools to help teams develop good alternatives. Generating Ideas Brainstorming is possibly the most well known method for generating ideas. Reverse Brainstorming works in the same manner. But, it works by asking people to brainstorm of how to achieve the opposite result from the one required, and then simply reversing those actions. The Charette Procedure is a systematic process and it gathers and develops ideas from many stakeholders. Crawford Slip Writing Technique generates ideas from a large number of people. This method is extremely effective and ensures that ideas from everyone are heard and weighed equally irrespective of the persons power in the organization. Explore the Alternatives You need to evaluate the risks and implications of each choice once you are completely satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives. Risk Theres almost always some degree of uncertainty in decision making process that may lead to risks, inevitably. You can determine if the risk is manageable of not simply by evaluating the risks involved with the options. Risk Analysis allows you to look at risks impartially. It assess threats and evaluates the probability of events taking place using a structured approach their management costs. Implications You can consider the potential consequences of each of your options Six Thinking Hats, after viewing the alternatives from 6 different perspectives, you can assess the consequences of a decision. Impact Analysis, useful technique for brainstorming the unexpected outcomes that could mount from a decision. Choose the Best Alternative After assessing the different alternatives, the following step is choosing between them. The choice could be very obvious, but if it is not, then the tools below will help: Grid Analysis (or decision matrix), is a very useful tool for this type of evaluation. It helps bring different factors in the process of decision making in a reliable way, therefore this tool is invaluable. Paired Comparison Analysis help decide the importance of differing factors and helps you compare factors that are unlike and decide which ones should influence your decision the most. Decision Trees are useful in deciding between options. These bring the probability of project failure/success in the decision making process and help you lay out the various options available to you. Task 4 Information systems are made out of components that can be assembled in many different con ¬Ã‚ gurations resulting in a variety of information systems and applications, much as construction materials can be assembled to build different homes. The size and cost of a home depend on the purpose of the building, the availability of money, and constraints such as ecological and environmental legal requirements. Just as there are many different types of houses, so there are many different types of information systems. We classify houses as single-family homes, apartments, townhouses, and cottages. Similarly, it is useful to classify information systems into groups that share similar characteristics. A classi ¬Ã‚ cation such as this may help in identifying systems, analyzing them, planning new Information Systems Con ¬Ã‚ gurations Organizations are made up of components such as divisions, departments, and work units, organized in hierarchical levels. For example, most organizations have functional departments, such as production and accounting, which report to plant management, which report to a division head. The divisions report to the corporate headquarters. Although some organizations have restructured themselves in innovative ways, such as those based on cross-functional teams, today the vast majority of organizations still have a traditional hierarchical structure. Thus, we can  ¬Ã‚ nd information systems built for headquarters, for divisions, for the functional departments, for operating units, and even for individual employees. Such systems can stand alone, but usually they are interconnected. Typical information systems that follow the organizational structure are functional (departmental), enterprise-wide, and inter-organizational. These systems are organized in a hierarchy in which each higher-le vel system consists of several (even many) systems from the level below it. A departmental system supports the functional areas in each company. At a higher level, the enterprise-wide system supports the entire company, and inter-organizational systems connect different companies. The major functional information systems are organized around the traditional departments- Finance IS Finance IS Accounting IS Accounting IS Human Resources Human Resources Corporate a System Electronic Market Electronic Market Corporate B System Marketing IS Marketing IS Production IS Production IS Administrative IS Administrative IS Corporate C System