Essay Biography of Aaron Copland - 1169 Words

Aaron Copland was born November 14th 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. He is the youngest of five children to Sarah Mittenthal, his mother and Harris Copland, his father. He had two brothers, Ralph and Leon and two sisters Laurine and Josephine. As early as the age of nine, he began making up songs on the piano and two years later, his older sister Laurine began giving him piano lessons. In 1914, Copland began studying with his first professional piano teacher, Ludwig Wolfsohn in Brooklyn, New York. His first public performance as a pianist was in 1917, one year before his graduation from high school in Brooklyn. Upon it’s grand opening in 1921, Copland attended the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, a music conservatory designed to†¦show more content†¦Aaron Copland died on December 2nd 1990 in North Tarrytown, New York at the age of ninety. Without question his most famous work is his Pulitzer Prize winning â€Å"Appalachian Spring† with which he received the prestigious award in 1945. Commissioned by American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham in 1943, Copland finished the work a year later while teaching at Harvard. The song had a traditional American sound much like his previous works, â€Å"Quiet City† and â€Å"Billy the Kid† and won immediate success with audiences when it debuted in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 1944. The material of the piece is largely folk and even incorporates an old shaker song called â€Å"Simple Gifts† by Elder Joseph Brackett written in 1848. One song, a patriotic piece called â€Å"A Lincoln Portrait† was written at the beginning of World War II after Copland was commissioned to write a musical portrait of an eminent American political figure. He quoted original folk songs of the time such as the well-known â€Å"Camptown Races† and also included material from letters and speeches Lincoln had given. When looking at the characteristics of his work, Copland could most likely be described as an experimentalist. He often enjoyed mixing various stylistic ideas of Jazz and Mexican dance rhythms into his music and did not shy away from including these styles into his film scores andShow MoreRelatedThe Concert Hall, Raleigh, Concert, By Paul Randall And Composed By Bill Evans1721 Words   |  7 Pagestrumpet were held for emphasis and as the tempo shifted. There were many dynamics used in this tune. The tune started from really soft to really loud with a crescendo and stayed in this routine until the ending when the pattern was reversed. â€Å"Aaron Copland† was for me a tune of a love affair from the time the very first note started. The tune was hot and enthusiastic and shown dialogue without using any words. The ensemble played this piece by Cassia Lee supplied the drawn-out conversation that sounded

Applying for the University of Texas for a Master in...

Statement of Purpose I am applying to University of Texas at Dallas to pursue Master of Science program in Computer Science with special reference to Operating Systems and Computer Architecture. Ten years from now, I envisage myself as research professional in an organization or a faculty at one of the leading university. Ultimately, my objective is to seek Ph.D. Degree. 21st century is harbinger for major transition in terms of information technology industry for India. I have seen the technology changed lives of people for the better. Because of this impression and innate inquisitive nature, I coupled myself with the dream to start undergraduate studies in Computer Engineering. I was 99th in Maharashtra state among all†¦show more content†¦Ltd, Pune. The aim of research project RAM-DISK IO Mode In UNH-iSCSCI Target, was to use the portion of RAM as a block device (disk), to export RAM-DISK from target to initiator as a Virtual SCSI device and to utilize this exported virtual SCSI device for storing data. We have written the device driver to achieve the goal and also tested it using dd, iostat, bonnie++ tools. Moreover, the research project won the state level project competition Impetus and Concepts at Pune Institute of Computer Technology, Pune in storage systems domain. I am very glad to bring your attention that I presented the research paper RAM-DISK IO Mode in iSCSI Target based on this work in the International Conference on Information and Network Technology, Chennai. Because of ill health during the time of examinations, I could not make good grades in some of the semesters. However, I could achieve good grades in the lab examination. Also because of persistent efforts in 8th semester, I achieved GPA of 8.61 with award for research project. My first tryst with professional software development happened in Calsoft. I am working on PillarOracle MQFS File system since 2.5 years for the product called Axiom/Flash Storage. My initiative and urge to understand new things always gave me the opportunity to develop modules like Filesystem Quotas, Snapshot Scheduler and Management Interface of MQFS. Because of lot of development, debugging and bug fixingShow MoreRelatedThe Technology Behind A Computer1256 Words   |  6 Pagesrealized that the technology behind a computer’s operation could be used to solve a myriad of problems my interest in the field went far beyond browsing the net or playing computer games. My interest was further piqued by my elder sister who explained the intricacies involved in the projects she worked on during her Masters in Computer Application. After that, assured of her guidance, I opted for C++ as an elective in high school, and went on to enjoy the experience of successfully writing programs forRead MoreMechanical Engineering : Electrical Engineering1277 Words   |  6 Pagesincandescent lamp, and the first central generating plants. Electrical power engineers design generators, power stations, and electricity supply systems as well as electric motors and transport and t raction systems. Electrical engineering is an applied science involving mathematical skills and a knowledge of physics, in addition to the basic engineering subjects† (The Macmillan Encyclopedia). Electrical systems have always fascinated me since childhood, and figuring out the engineering behind everythingRead MoreWhat Makes Ut Austin?1923 Words   |  8 Pagesup watching my Texas Longhorns win the National Championship in 2005 against USC Trojans, My brother went nuts when they won the National title. I could barely remember it but it is just one of those moments that you just won’t forget for the rest of your life. My Brother, and cousins are in UT as of now. When your roots are from your surrounding’s or Family, Those traditions, and values are your core, and will be passed down to my own kids. I have also visited The University of Texas Austin, MultipleRead MoreLooking Through The Tax Accounting Career1594 Words   |  7 Pages30% of filers used a compute r program like TurboTax. Nonetheless, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are still being needed to file complex returns, such as those from corporations, partnerships, or advances tax returns that computer programs are not able to perform. The minimum educational requirement for a tax accountant entry level job is a bachelor s degree in accounting, and firms prefer job candidates who are CPA or are eligible for taking the exam, and have a master in accountancy. (StudyRead MoreThe Infinite Stupidity of Humans and the Universe Essay2754 Words   |  12 Pageswhat it’s like to be a astrophysicists. Stephen Hawing, 1959 entered Oxford University, which at the time was occupied by mainly upper class and male students. They had their own servants called scouts. Students who came from upper class families saw themselves as privileged and special. They didn’t mix well with other students like Hawking who came from the middle class. In 1962, Stephen Hawking entered Cambridge University. Cosmology appealed to Hawking more than elementary particles, because itRead MoreStatement of Purpose4243 Words   |  17 Pagesunprecedent growth. So I appeared for MET and got admission in Punjabi university regional centre for IT and management, Mohali Phase VII. I Completed my MBA with Finance as my major and Marketing as my minors. While MBA I developed an interest towards Investment Management which led me to join summer internship in Tiger wealth Management; a subsidiary of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . Objectives behind I.B IB amused me right through my masters as a result of which I wished to opt for I.B. as my Minor subject butRead MoreFolio Kerjaya5367 Words   |  22 Pages- Need By Society And Community | 8 | 6. | E - Entry, Training And Prospects | 9-14 | 7. | R - Related Occupations | 15-20 | 8. | S - Succesful Personal Attributes | 21-22 | 9. | ACCOUNTANCY IN MALAYSIA | 23-28 | 10. | UNIVERSITY THAT OFFER ACCOUNTING | 29-34 | 11. | Are The Monthly Salaries For Accountant. | 35 | What is an Accountant? An  accountant  is an individual who performs accounting tasks for individuals or companies. The exact material that an  accountant  handlesRead MoreFinding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do4016 Words   |  17 PagesChapter 02 Case No. 01 Case Incident: â€Å"Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do† Executive Summary Trilogy Software, Inc., of Austin, Texas, is a fast-growing software company (with earning in the $100- $200 million range), prides itself on its unique and unorthodox culture. Many of its approaches to business practice are unusual. There is no dress code and employees make their own working hours; Responsibility is heavy and comes early, with a â€Å"just do it now†attitudeRead MoreEssay about Infosys ® Technologies Ltd.7152 Words   |  29 PagesInfosys ® Technologies Ltd.: Growing Share of a Customer’s Business James A. Narus D.V.R. Seshadri* March 2004 * James A. Narus is Professor of Business Marketing, Babcock Graduate School of Management, Wake Forest University in the U.S.A. D.V.R. Seshadri is Visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India. We gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions of Infosys executives and managers in providing case information. CASE QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS 1. LookingRead MoreCase Infosys13356 Words   |  54 Pagesineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, e-mail the Case Writing Office at: cwo@gsb.stanford.edu or write: Case Writing Office, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet

Gawain And Green Knight Essay Example For Students

Gawain And Green Knight Essay What is Sir Gawains true personality like? Sir Gawain has two sides to hispersonality. The first side to Sir Gawains personality is the way in whicheveryone else expects him to be. Sir Gawain has a certain honor to uphold as thenoblest knight of the Round Table. Sir Gawain is expected to be chilvarous bybeing courageous, loyal, honest, courteous, the best at everything in which heattempts, and have a strong will to resist temptations of evil nature. Everyonebelieves Sir Gawain to be the perfect epitome of the knights. The way that SirGawain shows his courage and nobility is by accepting the challenge given to theknights of the Round Table by the Green Knight. Gawain accepts this challenge torelease King Arthur. King Arthur was faced with the challenge and humilitybecause there was no response to the challenge from the knights before SirGawain accepted. Sir Gawain also shows his loyalty and honesty by upholding hisend of the challenge and making the journey to find the Green Knight and takehis return blow of death from the axe. The second side to Sir Gawainspersonality is the way that he is actually proven to be. When Sir Gawain istested by fate he reveals that he is just as human as anyone else andshouldnt be put on such a high pedestal of heroics. Sir Gawain isnt ashonest and courageous as everyone believes him to be. Sir Gawain proves himselfto be imperfect. The way that Sir Gawain shows his imperfections is when hesuccumbs to Bercilaks wifes advances. Sir Gawain accepts the green girdlefrom her and doesnt tell Bercilak. Sir Gawain is breaking a pact between himand Bercilak and lies to him by omitting the gift from his gains won on thatday. Sir Gawain shows another flaw when he shrinks away from the GreenKnights first attempted stroke from the axe. Sir Gawain feigns a cheerfulface but deep down he is full of fear that wasnt expected from such a nobleknight. In conclusion, Sir Gawain is not the perfect knight even though hestrives his best to be. Through the Green Knights tests, Sir Gawain is provento be just as human as anyone else is. The other knights of the Round Tableforgive him for not being absolutely perfect and learn from his mistakes and howhe upholds his chilvaric code. Even though Sir Gawain is proven to be human, heis still in the end a courageous and noble knight. Baldesar Castiglione: TheBook of the Courtier Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince Does everyones idealleader have the same qualities and talents? How do Baldesar Castiglionescourtier compare to Niccolo Machiavellis prince? The courtier and the princehave many similar qualities, but they also have some different qualities thatset them apart. The courtier and the prince are similar in their roles ofleadership. They should both be strong leaders with good reputations. Bothshould have virtuous qualities and seem compassionate and not cruel. Both shouldalso be very intelligent in the qualifications of their positions and how tostay in control of their people. The prince should have a stronger militarybackground and greater control over others than the courtier who doesntcontrol as many people. The prince and the courtier are very different in theiraspect of how others perceive them and the way that they actually are. Theprince should have virtuous qualities, but only to use them to his betterment.This keeps the prince from being marked as virtuous which can only bring himblame or shame. .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .postImageUrl , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:visited , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:active { border:0!important; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:active , .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72 .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7f74920f03de27ffab16bdb4e646ee72:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Princely Courts of the Early Renaissance Essay The prince should be thought compassionate and not cruel to gainrespect and be feared to stay in control of his people. On the other hand, thecourtier should show compassion for others and be bold, strong, and loyal towhomever he serves. The courtier should be bold and stern among the enemy butgentle, modest, and reserved with his kinsmen. The courtiers day is expectedto have all of the hours filled with honorable and pleasant exercises designedfor the body and the mind. These exercises are for the courtier to stay incontrol and have the respect of his people. The prince uses wit and trickery tostay in control of his people. In conclusion, both the prince and the courtiershould seem to have the same qualities and talents to everyone else. The princeuses his trickery to stay in control, but the courtier uses his born talent andhard work from his exercises to stay in control. Each man is an ideal leader,but the courtier is a more down to earth leader. The courtiers qualities arelike an updated version of the typical Renaissance man. The courtiersqualities are easier to achieve, because they are more like natural humantraits. The courtiers qualifications are not as far-fetched as theprinces.

Commercial Law Aldi Supermarkets

Question: Discuss about the Commercial Lawfor Aldi Supermarkets. Answer: Introduction In the present case, the issue is if Tamara can sue Aldi supermarkets in negligence as C. had suffered any injury when she slipped on puddle of ice cream on the floor and broke her back. As a result of this injury, Tamara had to spend many months in hospital and the general damages alone exceeded $700,000. Therefore, now Tamara wants to know if she can successfully sue Aldi supermarkets in negligence. On the other hand, it has to be seen if a difference is available to Aldi supermarkets if it can establish that the supermarket aisles are inspected by a staff member and any spillage is cleaned every 40 minutes. In order to decide this issue, the general principles related with lock negligence have to be discussed and seen if the all the necessary elements of negligence can be established by Tamara. In case where one person has a duty of care towards the other, negligence can be described as doing something or the failure to do something that would be done by some other reasonable person and due to which an injury or damage has been caused to the other person. The provisions of Civil Liability Act are used to decide the presence of negligence and the liability faced by them due to their negligent acts. If a person is going to sue another in negligence, the person seeks financial compensation for the damage suffered by it. In such a case, the purpose is to put the person in the same place in which he or she would have been if the negligence would not have taken place. In order to decide if negligence has taken place or not, it has to be seen if the below mentioned poor questions are satisfied or not. Hence, it has to be considered if the defendant had a duty of care towards the plaintiff, if this duty was violated by the defendant, if an injury has been suffered by the plaintiff and if such injury or the damage experienced by the plaintiff was the direct consequence of this contravention of duty on part of the defendant. The law provides that all the above mentioned factors should be satisfied. On the other hand if any one of these factors is not satisfied, then it cannot be established by the plaintiff that there was negligence on the part of the defendant. In such a case, it needs to be considered what they don't duty of care means. In this context, duty of care is the legal obligation according to which a person is required to evade causing damage to others. Such a duty arises when the harm is reasonably foreseeable in case reasonable care is not exercised. In this regard, it is also required that are sufficient relationship of closeness (proximity) should also be present between the two persons so that it can be said that the duty of care exists on part of the defendant. For example, drivers have a duty of care towards the other road users and such duty is also present in case of the relationship between a doctor and patient. The Civil Liability Act has imposed certain qualifications on the duty of care, like food donors and good Samaritans. The next requirement is to see if there is a violation of this duty. For evaluating if the duty has been violated, first of all the court will consider the standard of care that is applicable in a particular case under the circumstances. This standard of care needs to be determined by taking into consideration what would have been done by some other reasonable person in like conditions. If the defendant had acted unreasonably or if the actions of the defendant were well below the standard that can be expected in such a case, it can be said that the duty has been broken by the defendant. It is also required that the injury/damage experienced by the plaintiff should be caused by the breach of the duty of care. While in some cases, it can be easily stated that the breach of duty was the obvious cause of the injury. For example when a person had fallen on the wet floor, a clear connection exists between the wet floor and the injury that has been suffered by such a person. On the other hand, in some cases it may be difficult to decide the exec cause of the injury. For instance, there can be more than one event that may have caused the injury. In the present case, Tamara knew that her favorite brand of chocolate was only available at Aldi supermarkets. Therefore, when one day she saw that only one chocolate bar was left for sale at the far end of the confectionary aisle of the local Aldi supermarket, she starts to run towards it. When another shopper appears, Tamara starts to run even quickly. But when she reached for the chocolate bar, there was a puddle of ice cream on the floor. Consequently, Tamara slipped on it and fell on the floor. She broke her back. On the basis of the principles of negligence that have been mentioned above, it can be said in this case that Aldi supermarket had a duty of care towards all the persons who visited the store. In this case it is clear that this duty has been violated by the defendant, Aldi supermarkets when they failed to clean the floor immediately. As a result of this breach of duty, Tamara had suffered an injury and this injury was the direct result of the breach of duty by Aldi sup ermarkets. Even if Aldi supermarkets establishes that a staff member cleaned the spillage every 40 minutes, the supermarket will be liable to Tamara for the loss suffered by her including the general damages of more than $700,000. References Deakin, Simon; Angus Johnston; Basil Markesinis (2003) Markesinis and Deakin's Tort Law, Oxford University Press Kujinga, Benjamin (2009). "Reasonable Care And Skill The Modern Scope Of The Auditor's Duty". GAA Accounting Tomasic, Roman; Bottomley, Stephen; McQueen, Rob (2002) Audits and Auditors Corporations Law in Australia, Federation Press Case Law Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Grant v Australian Knitting Mills (1933) 50 CLR 387 Shaddock Associates v Parramatta City Council (1981) 150 CLR 225 Wyong Shire Council v Short (1980) 146 CLR 40

House of Quality Essay Example

House of Quality Paper The House of Quality by John R. Hauser and Don Clausing Harvard Business Review Reprint Design is a team effort, but how do marketing and engineering talk to each other? Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, ATT, and ITT are getting started with it. Ford and General Motors use it at Ford alone there are more than 50 applications. The house of quality, the basic design tool of the management approach known as quality function deployment (QFD), originated in 1972 at Mitsubishis Kobe shipyard site. Toyota and its suppliers then developed it in numerous ways. The house of quality has been used successfully by Japanese manufacturers of consumer electronics, home appliances, clothing, integrated circuits, synthetic rubber, construction equipment, and agricultural engines. Japanese designers use it for services like swimming schools and retail outlets and even for planning apartment layouts. A set of planning and communication routines, quality function deployment focuses and coordinates skills within an organization, first to design, then to manufacture and market goods that cus HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW May-June 1988 tomers want to purchase and will continue to purchase. The foundation of the house f quality is the belief that products should be designed to reflect customers desires and tastes so marketing people, design engineers, and manufacturing staff must work closely together from the time a product is first conceived. The house of quality is a kind of conceptual map that provides the means for interfunctional planning and communications. People with different John R. Hauser, at the Harvard Business School as a Marvin Bower Sloan School of Management. He is the author, with Glen L. Urban, of Design Marketing of New Products (Prentice-Hall, 1980). We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on House of Quality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Don Clausing is Bernard M. Gordon Adjunct Professor of Engineering Innovation and Practice at MIT. Previously he worked for Xerox Corporation. He introduced QFD to Ford and its supplier companies in 1984. Copyright 1988 by the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. HOUSE OF QUALITY Whats So Hard About Design David Garvin points out that there are many dimensions to what a consumer means by quality and that it is a major challenge to design products that satisfy all of these at once. l Strategic quality management means more than avoiding repairs for consumers. It means that companies learn from customer experience and econcile what they want with what engineers can reasonably build. Before the industrial revolution, producers were close to their customers. Marketing, engineering, and manufacturing were integrated in the same individual. If a knight wanted armor, he talked directly to the armorer, who translated the knights desires into a product. The two might discuss the material plate rather than chain armor and details like fluted surfaces for greater bending strength. Then the armorer would design the production process. For strength who knows why? he cooled the steel plates in the urine of a black goat. As for a production plan, he arose with the cocks crow to light the forge fire so that it would be hot enough by midday. Todays fiefdoms are mainly inside corporations. Marketing people have their domain, engineers theirs. Customer surveys will find their way onto designers desks, and RD plans reach manufacturing engineers. But usually, managerial functions remain disconnected, producing a costly and demor- alizing environment in which product quality and the quality of the production process itself suffer. Top executives are learning that the use of interfunctional teams benefits design. But f top management could get marketing, designing, and manufacturing executives to sit down together, what should these people talk about? How could they get their meeting off the ground? This is where the house of quality comes in. Consider the location of an emergency brake lever in one American sporty car. Placing it on the guaranteed that women in skirts could not get in and out gracefully. Even if EXHIBIT II Japanese automaker with QFD made fewer changes than U. S. company without QFD U. S. ompany Design changes problems and responsibilities can thrash out design priorities while referring to patterns of evidence on the houses grid. Japanese company of total Japanese changes complete 20-24 Months 14_17 1-3 +3 Months Job #1 Months EXHIBIT I Startup and preproduction costs at Toyota Auto Body before and after QFD January 1977 pre QED April 1984 post QED (39% of pre QFD costs) Preproduction costs S tartup costs Source for Exhibits I and II: Lawrence P. Sullivan, Quality Function Deployment, Reprinted by permission. the system were to last a lifetime, would it satisfy customers? In contrast, Toyota improved its rust prevention record from one of the worst in the world to one of the best by coordinating design and production decisions to focus on this customer oncern. Using the house of quality, designers broke down body durability into 53 items covering everything from climate to modes of operation. They obtained customer evaluations and ran experiments on nearly every detail of production, from pump operation to temperature control and coating composition. Decisions on sheet metal details, coating materials, and baking temperatures were all focused on those aspects of rust prevention most important to customers. . David A. Garvin, Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality, HBR November- December 1987, p. 101 . 4 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Today, with marketing tech EXHIBIT III iques so much more sophisticated than ever before, compacustomer attributes and bundles of CAS nies can measure, track, and for a car door compare customers perceptions PRIMARY SECOND ARY TERTIARY of products with remarkable acEasy to close from outside curacy; all companies have opStays open on a hill Easy to open from outside EASY TO OPEN portunities to compete on quali AND CLOSE DOOR Doesnt kick back ty. And costs certainly Justify an Easy to close from inside emphasis on quality design. By Easy to open from inside looking first at customer needs, Doesnt leak in rain then designing across corporate No road noise and use Doesnt leak in car wash functions, manufacturers can rel SOLATlON No wind noise duce prelaunch time and afterDoesnt drip water or snow when open Doesnt rattle launch tinkering. Exhibit I compares startup and Soft, comfortable ARM REST In right position preproduction costs at Toyota Auto Body 1977, before QFD, Material wont fade INTERIOR TRIM Attractive (nonplastic look) to those costs in 1984, when QFD was well under way. House of CLEAN Good appearance Easy to clean No grease from door quality meetings early on reduced costs by more than 60%. Uniform gaps between matching panels Exhibit II reinforces this evidence by comparing the number f design changes at a Japanese auto manufacturer noise. Some Japanese companies simply place using QFD with changes at a U. S. automaker. The their products in public areas and encourage potenJapanese design was essentially frozen before the tial customers to examine them, while design team first car came off the assembly line, while the U. S. embers listen and note what people say. Usually, however, more formal market research is called for, company was still revamping months later. via focus groups, in-depth qualitative interviews, and other techniques. Building the House CAS are often grouped into bundles of attributes hat represent an overall customer concern, like There is nothing mysterious about the house of open-close or isolation. The Toyota rustquality. Th ere is nothing particularly difficult prevention study used eight levels of bundles to get from the total car down to the car body. Usually the used to its conventions. Eventually ones eye can project team groups CAS by consensus, but some bounce knowingly around the house as it would over a road-map or a navigation chart. We have seen companies are experimenting with state-of-the-art research techniques that derive groupings directly some applications that started with more than 100 rom customers responses (and thus avoid argucustomer requirements and more than 130 engiments in team meetings). neering considerations. A fraction of one subchart, CAS are generally reproduced in the customers in this case for the door of an automobile, illusown words. Experienced users of the house of qualitrates the houses basic concept well. Weve reproty try to preserve customers phrases and even duced this subchart portion in the illustration clich? ©s knowing that they will be translated siHouse of Quality, and well discuss each section multaneously by product planners, design engistep-by-step. eers, manufacturing engineers, and salespeople. Of course, this raises the problem of interpretation: What do customers want? The house of quality What does a customer really mean by quiet or begins with the customer, whose requirements are easy? Still, designers words and inferences may called customer attributes (CAs) phrases cuscorrespond even less to customers actual views tomers use to describe products and product charand can therefore mislead teams into tackling probacteristics (see Exhibit Ill). Weve listed a few here; lems customers consider unimportant. a typical application would have 30 to 100 CAs. A Not all customers are end users, by the way. CAS car door is easy to close or stays open on a hill; can include the demands of regulators (safe in a doesnt leak in rain or allows no (or little) road HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 5 EXHIBIT Relative-importance weights of customer attributes BUNDLES RELATIVE IMPORTANCE AND CLOSE DOOR Easy to close from outside Stays open on a hill 7 ISOLATION Doesnt leak in rain 3 2 A complete list totals 100% side collision), the needs of retailers (easy to display), the requirements of vendors (satisfy assembly and service organizations), and so forth. Are all preferences qually important? Imagine a good door, one that is easy to close and has power windows that operate quickly. There is a problem, however. Rapid operation calls for a bigger motor, which makes the door heavier and, possibly, harder to close. Sometimes a creative solution can be found that satisfies all needs. Usually, however, designers have to trade off one benefit against another. To bring the customers voice to such deliberations, house of quality measures the relative importance to the customer of all CAs. Weightings are based on team members direct experience with customers or on surveys. Some innovative usinesses are using statistical techniques that allow customers to state their preferences with respect to existing and hypothetical products. Other companies use revealed preference techniques, which Judge consumer tastes by their actions as well as by their words an approach that is more expensive and difficult to perform but yields more accurate answers. (Consumers say that avoiding sugar in cereals is important, but do their actions reflect their claims? ) Weightings are displayed in the house next to list totaling 100% (see Exhibit V). Will delivering perceived needs yield a competitive advantage? Companies that want o match or exceed their competition must first know where they stand relative to it. So on the right side of the house, opposite the CAs, we list customer evaluations of competitive cars matched to our own (see Exhibit V). Ideally, these evaluations are based on scientific surveys of customers. If various customer segments 6 evaluate products differently luxury vs. economy car buyers, for example product-planning team members get assessments for each segment. Comparison with the competition, of course, can identify opportunities for improvement. Take our car door, for example. With respect to stays open on hill, every car is weak, so we could gain an advantage here. But if we looked at no road noise for the same automobiles, we would see that we already have an advantage, which is important to maintain. Marketing professionals will recognize the righthand side of Exhibit V as a perceptual map. Perceptual maps based on bundles of CAS are often used to identify strategic positioning of a product or product line. This section of the house of quality provides a natural link from product concept to a companys strategic vision. How can we change the product? The marketing domain tells us what to do, the engineering domain ells us how to do it. Now we need to describe the product in the language of the engineer. Along the top of the house of quality, the design team lists those engineering characteristics (ECs) that are likely to affect one or more of the customer attributes (see Exhibit VI). The negative sign on energy to close door means engineers hope to reduce the energy required. If a standard engineering characteristic affects no CA, it may be redundant to the EC list on the house, or the team may have missed a customer attribute. A CA unaffected by any EC, on the other hand, presents opportunities to expand a ars physical properties. Any EC may affect more than one CA. The resistance of the door seal affects three of the four customer attributes shown in Exhibit VI and others shown later. Engineering characteristics should describe the product in measurable terms and should directly affect customer perceptions. The weight of the door will be felt by the customer and is therefore a relevant EC. By contrast, the thickness of the sheet metal is a part characteristic that the customer is only by influencing the weight of the door and other engineering characteristics, like resistance to deformation in a crash. In many Japanese projects, the interfunctional team begins with the CAS and generates measurable characteristics for each, like foot-pounds of energy required to close the door. Teams should avoid ambiguity in interpretation of ECS or hasty Justification of current quality control measurement practices. This is a time for systematic, patient analysis of each characteristic, for brainstorming. Vagueness will eventually yield indifference to things customers need. Characteristics that are trivial will make the team lose sight of the overall design and stifle creativity. EXHIBIT V Customers evaluations of competitive products CUSTOMER ATTRIBUTES Worst 1 CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS 5 Best How much do engineers influEASY TO OPEN Easy to close from outside 7 AND CLOSE ence customer-perceived qualiDOOR ties? The interfunctional team now fills in the body of the house, the relationship matrix, indicating how much each engineering characteristic affects each customer OUR CAR DOOR attribute. The team seeks consenCOMPETlTOR AS sus on these evaluations, basing COMPETITOR BS them on expert engineering experience, customer responses, and tabulated data from statistical studies or controlled experiments. course, there might be an entirely new mechanism The team uses numbers or symbols to establish that improves all relevant CAs. Engineering is crethe strength of these relationships (see Exhibit VI). tive solutions and a balancing of objectives. Any symbols will do; the idea is to choose those The house of qualitys distinctive roof matrix that work best. Some teams use red symbols for rehelps engineers specify the various engineering fealationships based on experiments and statistics and tures that have to be improved collaterally (see Expencil marks for relationships based on judgment hibit X). To improve the window motor, you may or intuition. Others use numbers from statistical ave to improve the hinges, weather stripping, and studies. In our house, we use check marks for posia range of other ECs. tive and crosses for negative relationships. Sometimes one targeted feature impairs so many Once the team has identified the voice of the cusothers that the team decides to leave it alone. The tomer and linked it to engineering characteristics, roof matrix also facilitates necessary engineering it adds objective measures at the bottom of the trade-offs. The foot-pounds of energy needed to house beneath the ECS to which they pertain (see close the door, for example, are shown in negative Exhibit VI). When objective measures are known, relation to door seal resistance and road noise the team can eventually move to establish target reduction. In many ways, the roof contains the values ideal new measures for each EC in a remost critical information for engineers because designed product. If the team did its homework they use it to balance the trade-offs when addresswhen it first identified the ECs, tests to measure ing customer benefits. benchmark values should be easy to complete. Enlncidentally, we have been talking so far about gineers determine the relevant units of measurethe basics, but design

Female Circumsicion Essays - Female Genital Mutilation, Free Essays

Female Circumsicion Essays - Female Genital Mutilation, Free Essays Female Circumsicion CULTURE OR TORTURE? Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is an ugly monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. It can attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding a knife. Usually, it is performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of pregnancy (Samad, 52). Women that have gone beyond the primary level of education are much less likely to fall victim to the tradition (Men's..., 34). The average victim is illiterate and living in a poverty-stricken community where people face hunger, bad health, over-working, and unclean water (Female..., 1714). This, however, is not always the case. As one can see in the following story of Soraya Mire, social classes create no real barriers. Soraya Mire, a 13-year-old from Mogadishu, Somolia, never knew what would happen to her the day her mother ca lled her out of her room to go buy her some gifts. When asked why, her mother replied, I just want to show you how much I love you. As Soraya got into the car, she wondered where the armed guards were. Being the daughter of a Somolian general, she was always escorted by guards. Despite her mother's promise of gifts, they did not stop at a store, but at a doctor's home. This is your special day, Soraya's mother said. Now you are to become a woman, an important woman. She was ushered into the house and strapped down to an operating table. A local anesthetic was given but it barely blunted the pain as the doctor performed the circumcision. Soraya was sent home an hour later. Soraya broke from her culture's confining bonds at the age of 18 by running away from an abusive arranged marriage. -2- In Switzerland, she was put in a hospital emergency room with severe menstrual cramps because of the operation. Seven months later, the doctor performed reconstructive surgery on her. Now in the U.S., Soraya is a leading spokeswoman against FGM (Bell, 58). In addition to being active in the fight against FGM, she is an American filmmaker. She has come a long way. Being well educated about the facts of FGM also brings to light the ugly truth. It is happening on American soil, insists Soraya. Mutilations are occurring every day among innigrants and refugees in the U.S. (Brownlee, 57). Immigrants have also brought the horrifying practice to Europe, Australia, and Canada (McCarthy, 14). Normally, it is practiced in North and Central Africa (Men's..., 34), the Middle East, and Muslim populations of Indonesia and Malaysia (Female..., 1714). Although it seems to have taken root in Muslim and African Christian religions, there is no Koranic or Biblical backing for FGM (Men's..., 34). Many ti mes female circumcision is treated as a religion in itself. It can be a sacred ritual meant to be kept secret forever. As a woman told poet Mariama Barrie, You are about to enter Society sic}, and you must never reveal the ritual that is about to take place. (Barrie, 54). The ritualistic version of FGM is much more barbaric than the sterile doctor's world that Soraya Mire passed through. Mariama Barrie had to endure the most severe form of FGM at the tender age of ten. Mariama's torture is known as infibulation. There is also excision and sunna. Infibulation consists of the removal of the entire clitoris, the whole of the labia minora and up to 2/3 of the labia majora. The sides of the vulva are sewn or held together by long thorns. A small opening the size of the tip of a matchstick is left for the -3- passage of menstrual blood and urine. Excision is a clitoridectomy and sometimes the removal of the labia minora; Sunna is the only type that can truthfully be called circumcision. It is a subtotal clitoridectomy (Female..., 1714). To put this in perspective, infibulation would be like cutting off a man's penis completely, cutting the testicles to the groin, and making a hole in them to have the semen siphoned

Insurance Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Insurance Model - Essay Example The consumers have standard preferences defined over consumption. If P is the probability of the loss, then the consumers expected utility is: Thus, we can have the following indifference curve: It is simple to show that this leads to negatively sloped convex indifference curves. The slope of the indifference curves are: The high risk and low risk groups differ in their probabilities of incurring the loss. The probability of accident of an individual consumer belonging to the high risk group is PH and that of one belonging to the low risk group is PL, where PH> PL. Figure 1 below shows the indifference curves for a particular utility level for representative agents from the two groups. Observe that since PH> PL the indifference curves for the high risk type will have flatter slopes (less negative). Figure 1: Indifference curves for the high risk and the low risk consumers The monopolist The monopolist’s objective is to maximize its expected profits or alternatively minimize it s expected costs by trading with the consumer. The monopolist offers a pair of contingent claims (G,B) which realize in the good (No loss) and bad (loss) states in return for the consumers initial endowment. The expected costs of the monopolist are equal to: We can form the Iso-cost function for the monopolist as follows: Evidently, these are straight lines with a slope of . Observe that since PH> PL the Iso-cost line for the high risk type will have a flatter slope (less negative). Thus, the iso-cost lines for the High risk type and the low risk type can be drawn as follows: Figure 2: The iso-cost lines for the monopolist insurer for high risk and low risk contracts – C(H) represents the iso cost line for the high risk types and C(L) represents the isocost line for the low risk type. The separating equilibrium under asymmetric information Recall that asymmetric information is a situation where one or some of the players of the game have private information. In the present co ntext the asymmetric information is manifested in the form of consumers having private information since they know whether they belong to high risk or low risk groups. The firm does not know any particular agents type. However, the monopolist is perfectly aware of the exact probability distribution of consumer types. A separating equilibrium in the present context would be one where the high risk types choose a contract that is different from the contract chosen by the low risk types. The monopolist firm’s objective is to minimize its costs subject to the participation constraint or the individual rationality constraint and the incentive compatibility constraint of the consumer. The participation constraint requires that the contract offered by the firm provides him at least as much expected utility as the consumer’s initial endowment. This implies that for any consumer to accept the firms offer, the contract has to lie on or above the indifference curve through the in itial endowment. The incentive compatibility constraint on the other hand requires that consumers of either type do not find it beneficial to accept the contract devised for the other type. It is essentially the satisfaction of this constraint that leads to the separating equilibrium. In terms of indifference curves, the incentive compatibility constraint requires that the contract for the high type lies on or below the low types indifference curve

Influence of Religion on Developing Societies Research Paper - 1

Influence of Religion on Developing Societies - Research Paper Example Research has shown that one of the most significant contributions that any religion makes to societal development is by playing its role as a means of enforcing morality to society members. In societies where there is a prevalent belief in God and a substantial number of the members of society are religious, the moral value of integrity is also prevalent. As such, the resources in such societies are more likely to be fairly distributed to all members of society; this is because those who are in charge of the distribution of resources work with integrity. In a society that is prevalently religious, members of such societies are less likely to be distrustful of firms/companies’ ethics since such companies also have ‘religious’ employees who share similar moral values. While this may be a quite naà ¯ve outlook, such trust may also create a suitable business environment, which enhances development in a society.In his book ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’, Max Weber advances the idea that the work ethics that were instilled to European societies during and after the Protestant Reformation in the church played a major role in the development of capitalist ideals, which led to the rapid economic development in Europe and America. According to Weber, the Reformation emphasized moral values, such as hard work, austerity, frugality, and loyalty to interests of the group. These values, according to Weber, were the cornerstone of capitalism, which led to intensified economic development.

Motivation as a critical success factor Dissertation - 1

Motivation as a critical success factor - Dissertation Example Employee motivation has attracted immense research and debates in the last few decades in the post-modern era of industrial age. Many theories and models have been proposed, and implications of employee motivation on various aspects of organisational development, whether at organisational performance or growth of business, have been profound. Employee motivation has been defined in many different ways by different researchers and management specialists, most of which revolve around employee needs and psychologies. This thesis attempts to explain employee motivation and various dimensions associated with it, as perceived from different motivational theories described in the literature associated with organisational behaviour, leadership and motivation. Further, this proposal describes specific methodology and conceptual framework for carrying out the research, which is aimed at researching the impact of management practices and policies followed by a specific organisation and its perf ormance; in this process, it attempts to illustrate how employee motivation plays a role in organisational performance. ... This plan presents justifiable explanation for attempting the proposed methodology as well as considers all potential limitations. A brief note on tentative time plan for the research has also been drafted, which can help in staying focused and also measure the progress. 2. Aims and Objectives of the study: The main purpose of this study is to focus on the increasing significance of role of employees in an organisation’s success and sustenance in the most competitive global market experienced by the organisations in current scenario. This study strives to evaluate the growing trend of employee motivation as a new way of achieving and sustaining organisational performance against new and changing standards. In particular, this study seeks to analyze and evaluate if employee motivation would continue to hold its importance in future of organisational development. Secondly, this study aims to examine the prominent aspects of employee motivation and its impact on organisational su ccess in comparison with other elements of organisational performance and success. Objectives: Against this background, the dissertation will seek to answer the following questions †¢ What is the place of employee motivation in organisational strategy? †¢ What are the variables that motivate employees? †¢ What is the relationship between employee motivation and organisational goals? How has employee motivation, as a concept, evolved during last two decades? †¢ How is employee motivation related to other organisational elements? 3. Relation to previous research and theory: Motivation in the workplace plays significant role in harnessing the tremendous hidden potential within every employee. However, the factors impacting motivation or arousing motivation may be extrinsic or intrinsic. The

European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay

European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay The topic of the coursework focuses on the European sovereign debt crisis. We mainly explain how the latest European debt crisis emerged and the reasons that caused the worlds economy to enter into a recession. Another important issue is the impact of the crisis on the markets especially on the bonds markets and other such as commodities, equities, Forex and gold. Furthermore, we explain the lessons to the Eurozone from other countries that defaulted such as Argentina and Russia. What is more, we try to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies and measures taken by the financial institutions and the policy markets. Finally, we discuss the possible effects of the crisis to the financial landscape the lessons to be taken and the trends that may emerge from this turmoil. European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Reasons and Causes There is a prevalent agreement that the fundamental cause of the European sovereign debt crisis was the combination of a credit boom and a housing bubble affecting firstly US and consequently the Eurozone. Easy credit conditions during the 2002-2008 period encouraged high-risk lending and borrowing practices. This extremely situation has happened even though in 1992, members of the European Union signed the Maastricht Treaty that guarantee only the public sector can produce permanent deficits. It assumed that financial markets would always correct their own excesses. Next figure shows how home mortgages had risen during the period 2004 and 2007, collapsing all the banks due to lack of liquidity as people were not able to pay their mortgages back. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9eR1-hkjiBUyd4P6b0LYZt5uU9KGuc6icpT5vDJa5iHO2cOKqN2pP0L-u0FBI7KtMs-RCfreV3-ZE-iJf-Jb-jHG1NbmpOEQlg9kP4qosTQgIvIZcSZUA5lqsgIWhEOc2lnFFq1P7vzl/+outstanding+mortgage+credit+1990-2008.jpg There are several important factors implies in the European sovereign debt crisis; some countries have been in trouble to pay the debts that they have built up in recent decades. Five of the regions countries Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have failed to generate enough economic growth to make their ability to pay back bondholders the guarantee it was intended to be. Although these five were seen as being the countries in immediate danger of a possible default, the crisis has consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. In fact, the head of the Bank of England referred to it as the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever. Moreover, resulted from a combination of multiple factors European sovereign debt crisis have been affected by: the global financial crisis between 2006-2011; international trade imbalances which are the difference between the monetary value of export  and  imports of output in an economy over a certain period; real-state bubbles  that have since burst; the global recession between 2008-2012; approaches used by nations to guarantee troubled banking industries and private bondholders, assuming private debt weight or socializing . In general, the crisis is presented as the result of arrears in debt of some European Union countries. It is alleged that his debts reached a level that cannot be repaid or refinanced. However, this statement does not hold if we look in detail. Thus, the European Unions debt (about 80% of its GDP) is significantly below in Japan (220%) or the U.S. (100%). US debt increased significantly over the past five years, from less than 60% to over 100%. Still, U.S. is able to finance its debt due to China ´s help. Impacts on the bond markets and other markets The European sovereign debt crisis had a great impact on markets and several implications. The impacts of the debt crisis were so deep to the worlds economy that we can still observe them today especially at the Eurozones countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. High volatility of the euro markets has been a significant factor during the crisis period. Those high levels of volatility can lead to high interest rates of borrowing for the countries with debts and as a consequence to high bond yield spreads. http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0176268010000509-gr1.jpg Fig.  2.  Bond yield spreads for EU-15 central governments, January 1991-May 2009. As we can see in figure 2 the bond yield spreads for the EU-15 central governments during May 1991 till October 2006 were low, whereas the bond yield spreads during October 2006 and May 2009 were extremely high. Government bonds are historically considered as the safest investment. After the crisis, investors starting to lose their confidence in the stock market and as a result they stop investing on it. Consequently, investors turned to government bonds and this led to a rise in the demand of bonds. Therefore, Central Banks tried to increase their holding of government bonds. Because of the increased demand, the price of the bonds has been raised. Source, Bloomberg : Euro Index from 2001-2012 The above graph shows the historical price graph of the European government bonds 7-10 years of maturity. The graph shows that the price of the government bonds gone very high from 2001 till 2012 and it is still rising. Source, Bloomberg : Bond Indices for US government 7-10 year, Bloomberg Finance L.P. The above graph shows the US 7-10 years of maturity price of the government bonds from 2001 till 2012. Again, because of the correlation of the European economy and the US economy the sovereign debt crisis has led the bond prices to high levels. What is more, if we observe the graph we can clearly notice that during 2008 and 2012 there is high volatility which indicates the high demand for government bonds during that period. The stock market is different to the bond market. During credit instability the price of the shares of the firms will decrease. Furthermore, when economies enter into recession the expected profit of the firms is going to be lower thus the firms are going to pay less dividend. Therefore, investors will lose their interest in the equity market and they will eventually turn to other markets such as bond markets. The following graphs drawn from Bloomberg are showing the price levels for SP 500, EURO STOXX and NIKKEI 225 for the period of 2000 till 2012. As we observe there is high volatility to all three equity markets. Furthermore, the low and high prices of the Euro equity index and the Japanese equity index are quite high whereas the prices of the US equity index are low. During January of 2008 the prices fall down for the EURO STOXX and the NIKKEI 225 and the SP 500 experienced great loses during November of 2008. The SP 500s prices went up on March of 2009 whereas the EURO STOXXs a nd the NIKKEIs 225 prices remained low. Source, Bloomberg : EURO STOXX INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : SP 500 INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : NIKKEI 225 from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 During the sovereign debt crisis the worlds economy collapsed. There were many implications in all type of markets such as the derivatives, commodities, foreign exchange market and of course implications in the gold prices and the oil prices. After the housing bubble, the commodity market entered its own bubble. From 2007 till summer of 2008 oil prices went very high and then plunged to very low price by the end of 2008. Oil though was not the only commodity to experience swings in the prices. Table 1 illustrates the declines for some of the commodities during 2008 compared to the declines during 1970 2007. Table 1. The commodity bubble, Source: World Economic Outlook Crisis and Recovery Sovereign Default and lessons from defaulted countries A sovereign default occurs when a government refuses or fails to repay its financial obligations (debts). Countries that have been sovereign defaulted can escape liability without being legal penalized since they are not subject to bankruptcy laws. However, a sovereign default will cause difficulties for the defaulted government to borrow funds again since it will be too expensive and because of the low credit ability. The main cause of a sovereign default is the inability of a government to repay the loans interest rate. If the national income growth is less than the annual payable interest rate then the probability of default is very high. This situation commonly arises when government expenditure such as salaries, pensions, rents, supplies are much higher than the tax revenues while any internal borrowing fails to take place and issuing bills is for various reasons impossible. Economic history is full of cases of bankruptcies. From 1824 to 2009 we had at least 286 formal bankruptcies of 110 states. The most recent cases however were the bankruptcy of Argentina and Russia. Till 1997 Russia managed to improve its financial stability by reducing the inflation rate to 11% comparing to the enormous rate of inflation the previous years and by depreciating its exchange rate. However, problems emerged because of two major crises. The first was the Asian financial crisis, which started in 1997, and the subsequent reduce of demand for oil and metals. What is more, the reduction in demand for goods caused a fall in prices, leading countries who were directly dependent on the export of raw materials to deficits. Oil, natural gas, metals and timber accounted for more than 80% of Russian exports, making Russia highly vulnerable to any changes in international prices. In addition, oil was an important source of tax revenue. Thus, Russian government started to have diffic ulties with its financial obligations and defaulted in 1998. Source, Bloomberg Russia Real GDP by Expenditure As we can see from the graph Russia managed to recover in a decade. Although Russia defaulted in 1998 the results were not catastrophic for the government. On the contrary, Russias economic growth was fast and oil prices went high leading to high profitability. The most recent bankruptcy though occurred in 2002 in Argentina. The economic crisis in Argentina lasted from 1998 to 2002 with the following main points: there was a strong recession from 1998 to 1999 and the financial system collapsed during 2001 and 2002 which was basically the consequence of the recession. During that period of time Argentinas GDP fell by 21% with disastrous results for the citizens. Furthermore, the percentage of poverty reached 57% while unemployment exceeded 23%. Source, Bloomberg Argentinas Annual Real GDP growth Another important factor of that led Argentina to bankruptcy was its currency. During 1991 there was high inflation so the government decided to change the currency and linked it to the dollar (actually they adopted the US dollar instead of their own currency) in order to reduce inflation. Although the new currency reduced inflation for a while the consequences were disastrous. The product prices in the country become more expensive in international markets, which led to the reduction of competitiveness, lower exports and a negative trade balance. Argentinas case is interesting because there are a lot of similarities with the Eurozone countries. The first lesson is that by decreasing the nominal expenditures or by increasing taxes during a recession in order to decrease fiscal deficit reductions will make things worse. The second lesson is that deflation is not going to provide positive results in correcting an overvalued currency especially in a country with large public sector and powerful unions. What is more, by choosing to link their currency to dollar, problems with balance sheets will be significant. Policies and measures Regarding the measures and policies taken by Financial Institutions and Policy Makers, let ´s start with the ones that have been taken by Financial Institutions; we know that our rate of 1 per cent is the lowest since 1999, when the euro began, and this is a result of quickly regressing inflationary pressures since 2008. This step follows the primary objective of European Central Bank, which is to keep price stability in the Eurozone in the medium level. In addition to reduce the interest rate, they have taken a number of measures to support the perfect role of the euro area interbank market. Those measures have helped the progress credit to enterprises and households Those non-standard measures are known as intensify credit support. They mainly focus on commercial banks, because they are the main source of funding for households and businesses in the euro area. To contrast with the US: in the euro area about 70% of the funding of corporations and households comes from banks; the equivalent share for the US is around 25%. So a well-functioning money market is essential for Europes commercial banks and also for the ECB as the transmission of monetary policy to the economy starts here. Those measures are: the complete accommodation of banks liquidity requests at fixed interest rates; the extend of the maturities of the refinancing operations, up to 1 year; the provision of liquidity in foreign currencies; Outright purchases of euro-denominated covered bonds issued in the euro area. This last one has an important function because bond market is traditionally an important way for funding banks in the euro area. This market has been heavily suffered from the financial crisis. They have put an important amount of money 60Billion Euro to support market functioning but it is not so large to dominate market developments. Still, compared with bond purchase programmes in some other major countries, the amount spent by the European Central Bank in the context of its covered bond programme is fairly modest. However, this is a result that the primary role of the ECB is to act as an agent for this market, not as a market maker. To sum up, looking at the effectiveness of measures of improve credit support, we consider a positive impact on money market conditions and over the market. The large injection of liquidity into the money market led to a decrease in money market interest rates at the very short end, to levels close to the ECBs deposit rate of 0.25%. On the other hand if we have a look to Policy makers, those measures have been consisted to support the financial system and measures to reduce the effects of the financial crisis on the rest of the economy. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, most European governments speedily adopted measures to support the financial system in a coordinated action. These included increasing deposit insurance ceilings, guarantees for bank liabilities and bank recapitalisations We believe that the effectiveness of the support measures is positive. The measures were needed for avoiding a further growth of the crisis at the end of 2008. In addition there is an initial evidence that government support measures have been effective in reducing banks default risk, however may be necessary more money, especially in Spain and Greece. Here it seems that capital injections have been effective as well as debt guarantees and asset purchases. Overall, the government response has been effective. But it has negatives points as well; according to the European Commissions, the euro area deficit will increase to 6.5 percent of GDP in 2010 with the debt increasing to 84 percent of GDP, from 69% in 2008. Financial landscape, lessons and trends The last crisis is going to have a major impact on the financial landscape. The lower capital availability will surely change the investors emphasis on private equity and as a consequence the cost of borrowing for companies will be higher. Banks and governments will now have to take under consideration the lessons from the crisis in order to improve their regulations and management policies. A number of banks and other financial institutions had to change their structure due to high risk involved and the low liquidity because of the financial crisis. What is more, governments forced to change their regulations concerning banks and other financial institutions and more limits have been imposed. Furthermore, governments now own significant number of stakes of financial institutions due to efforts to control them. Changes in mergers and acquisitions also occurred with an emphasis in leveraged buyouts. As the debt of the consumers became higher and corporate balance shits focused on debt rather than equities. Apart from that investments will decrease because of the high capital costs and as a result GDP growth will decrease. We have learnt several lessons that might be taken the future. We summarise them in 5. That the euro area did not create an institutional (lacked) framework to correct and identify macroeconomic imbalances. Few countries in euro area have experienced strong nominal divergence mainly caused by unit labour cost increases and excessive credit growth; leading to declining competitiveness. During this time, large current account imbalances reflected a build-up of private and public sector debt, building external vulnerabilities that were exposed when the crisis broke. Establishing a permanent framework for surveillance of such imbalances will be necessary for the future. SGP, Stability and Growth Pact, did not help to fiscal policies consistent with membership of a single currency. In an economic and monetary union, fiscal policies must be consistent with rates of sustainable growth and price stability. Instead, despite during economic growth, 1999 and 2008, fiscal policies were largely pro-cyclical: Few countries kept a budgetary position in structural balance and many got deficits. A more effective SGP will be required for  all   euro area. The absence of appropriate frameworks for policy co-ordination in areas essential for competitiveness and sustainable growth. Lets take this example, a number of euro area countries internalised the fallacy that temporarily elevated national productivity and inflation rates warranted persistent wages increases out of line with the euro area as a whole. A better policy co-ordination is currently needed to reinforce the euro area in national economic policymaking Financial supervision in the Europe was lagging behind financial integration. The result was that a large build-up of systemic risk in the financial sector went largely unnoticed risk which in many cases was ultimately transferred to the balance sheet of the sovereign. A supervision regime commensurate with the reality of financial integration in the euro area is therefore needed. Sovereign debt challenges in individual euro area countries can undermine the stability of the euro area as a whole. Since member countries do not control their currency, they are vulnerable to liquidity episodes. Creditors assessment can change e.g. by effect of contagion, even when fundamentals would not justify itThat is the meanly reason why, a permanent crisis management framework is necessery for the euro area. There are several trends that might emerge from the European Debt Crisis. First of all the welfare state has been affected for this turmoil, millions of people have lost their jobs and governments have reduced money in main sectors as education, health care, culture,etc. due to lack of liquidity and in many countries those main factors will never be again free for everybody..

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - ADHD Essay -- Personal Narrat

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - ADHD When Mrs. Fallon first described this project to us, I was a little bit skeptical about it. I kept thinking that I had no problems in my life and that I didn’t need any type of conditioning. But then I thought, I’m definitely not perfect and I knew I was definitely overlooking something. Recently I was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and I felt like I was cheated out of so many years that could have been productive ones. So I decided that for my conditioning project I would test how much medication I should use that would keep my body stable enough to begin a sort of healing and moving on process, kind of like a second chance. After I finished my conditioning I realized that I was a lot different then when I started. My parents noticed that once I started the project, I was paying attention a lot more to what they were saying to me. My mother was worried though that I was going to hurt myself by taking a lot of the medication, but I told her that people have experimented on themselves before and look at the results. I also had calmed down with my dorm mates. I felt a lot more comfortable around them and I had begun to trust them a lot more. I now felt like I had accomplished something to make my physical body and my mental body better. In the areas of school I felt like I had accomplished a lot. I was handing in reports and I understood things I was learning. In high school I had trouble in ... Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - ADHD Essay -- Personal Narrat Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - ADHD When Mrs. Fallon first described this project to us, I was a little bit skeptical about it. I kept thinking that I had no problems in my life and that I didn’t need any type of conditioning. But then I thought, I’m definitely not perfect and I knew I was definitely overlooking something. Recently I was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and I felt like I was cheated out of so many years that could have been productive ones. So I decided that for my conditioning project I would test how much medication I should use that would keep my body stable enough to begin a sort of healing and moving on process, kind of like a second chance. After I finished my conditioning I realized that I was a lot different then when I started. My parents noticed that once I started the project, I was paying attention a lot more to what they were saying to me. My mother was worried though that I was going to hurt myself by taking a lot of the medication, but I told her that people have experimented on themselves before and look at the results. I also had calmed down with my dorm mates. I felt a lot more comfortable around them and I had begun to trust them a lot more. I now felt like I had accomplished something to make my physical body and my mental body better. In the areas of school I felt like I had accomplished a lot. I was handing in reports and I understood things I was learning. In high school I had trouble in ...

Social Anthropology Paper

If I were to look up the word ‘sociology’ the dictionary would tell me that it’s the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. For some, sociology can be a hard word to define, considering it can mean so many different things based on how that particular person looks at it. Now if you were to ask me what I think sociology mearns, at first I couldn’t really tell you. Once I had time to think about it I would more than likely say it is the study of why people are the way they are and how that affects and is effected by the world around us.Around this same time last year I was doing research for a career project. I didn’t know very much about sociology and had no thought or intention of choosing a job in that field for my project. I was browsing through jobs though that had a high job outlook and stumbled upon Social Anthropology. I had never heard of this career and didn’t really know what it meant. After doing more research and â€Å"googling†, I realized that this job consisted of all the things I had always been curious about. I never really understood other societies or why people behaved the way they did.I know now that anthropology has so many more components to it than the social aspect of it, but that is the main reason why I chose to do my project on it. For awhile I thought I would actually want to go to school to be an Anthropologist, but outside influences made me think otherwise. My interest in social anthropology is actually how I ended up in this class. The fact that history plays a part in it is a plus, because I love learning about history as well. Sociology just sounded interesting to me and there wasn’t much else I was interested in taking.Furthermore, I learned a little bit about some of the more famous names in social anthropology, such as Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, Zora Neale Hurston, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Claude Levi-Strauss. They all contributed to the sc ience in their own ways, influenced by some and influencing others. Boas is known as the â€Å"father of modern cultural anthropology†, while Levi-Strauss was known as the â€Å"founder of structuralism†, and Morgan being one of the more controversial anthropologists. Lewis Henry Morgan was among the few to be cited by sociologist Karl Marx and social scientist Friedrich Engel.Franz Boas was also known as the â€Å"father of American anthropology†. He was a mentor to many great names in American anthropology. His works were highly influential, works such as The Mind of Primitive Man, Anthropology and Modern Life, and The Kwakiult Ethnography. As a young child Franz was allowed to think for himself and do his own thing. His interest in sciences only grew as he got older. He knew he wanted to pursue anthropology after taking a trip to the arctic and becoming fascinated with the people there.Claude Levi-Strauss was one of the more influential anthropologists of the 20th century. He did a lot of field work among primitive tribes and he thought that their way of life was in no way beneath the way of life of civilized societies. He was influenced by Marxism as well. Structuralism focused on society and the people that make up that society, along with their inner life. Levi-Strauss’ more important works includes The Savage Mind, Structural Anthropology, and Tristes Tropiques. So, back to why I no longer thought going to school for anthropology was a good suit for me.I was constantly asked, â€Å"What would I do with a degree in anthropology? † and to be honest I don’t think that I am ambitious enough for what it may require. I did learn however, that having a degree in anthropology opened the door to a number of jobs such as education, health care, museum curation, social work, international development, government, organizational psychology, non-profit management, marketing, publishing, and forensics. I may not pursue a degr ee in this field, but I will always have an interest in it.Although anthropology can be considered a branch of sociology, there are ways that they differ. They both deal with the idea that our behavior is shaped by the people we surround ourselves with and cultural traditions. Anthropologists typically study non-Western societies, such as primitive cultures. On the other hand sociologists study modern Western societies. Another difference would be that anthropologists are more likely to do participant observation, while sociologists deal more with surveys. There are major differences between the two, but their overall goal of â€Å"peeling ack the layers† of societies and cultures are ssimilar. What does this all mean to me? I am only looking forward to gaining more knowledge in anthropology and look forward to learning more about sociology. In this class I hope to gain a better understanding of our own government, because of its current state. I want to know why change isnâ €™t as easy as it may seem. I would just like to listen and learn and possibly gain some knowledge that will in turn make me a better person and allow me to be the change I want to see.

Robert Hooke Biography (1635 - 1703)

Robert Hooke Biography (1635 - 1703) Robert Hooke was an important 17th century English scientist, perhaps best known for Hookes Law, the invention of the compound microscope, and his cell theory. He was born July 18, 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England, and died on March 3, 1703 in London, England at age 67. Heres a brief biography: Robert Hookes Claim to Fame Hooke has been called the English Da Vinci. He is credited with numerous inventions and design improvements of scientific instrumentation. He was a natural philosopher who valued observation and experimentation.   He formulated Hookes Law, a relation that says the force pulling back on a spring is inversely proportional to the distance pulled from rest.Assisted Robert Boyle by constructing his air pump.Hooke designed, improved or invented many scientific instruments used in the Seventeenth Century. Hooke was the first to replace pendulums in clocks with springs.He invented the compound microscope and Gregorian compound telescope. He is credited with the invention of the wheel barometer, hydrometer, and anemometer.He coined the term  cells for biology.In his studies of paleontology, Hooke believed fossils were living remains that soaked up minerals, leading to petrification. He believed fossils held clues to the nature of the past on Earth and that some fossils were of extinct organisms. At the time, the concept of extinction was not accepted.He worked with Christopher Wren after the London Fire of 1666 as a surveyor and architect. Few of Hookes buildings survive to the present day.Hooke serv ed as The Royal Societys Curator of Experiments where he was required to perform several demonstrations at each weekly meeting. He held this position for forty years. Notable Awards Fellow of Royal Society.The Hooke Medal is presented in his honor from the British Society of Cell Biologists. Robert Hookes Cell Theory In 1665, Hooke used his primitive compound microscope to examine the structure in a slice of cork. He was able to see the honeycomb structure of cell walls from the plant matter, which was the only remaining tissue since the cells were dead. He coined the word cell to describe the tiny compartments he saw. This was a significant discovery because prior to this, no one knew organisms consisted of cells. Hookes microscope offered a magnification of about 50x. The compound microscope opened up a whole new world to scientists and marked the beginning of the study of cell biology. In 1670, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch biologist, first examined living cells using a compound microscope adapted from Hookes design. Newton - Hooke Controversy Hooke and Isaac Newton were involved in a dispute over the idea of the force of gravity following an inverse square relationship to define the elliptical orbits of planets. Hooke and Newton discussed their ideas in letters to each other. When Newton published his Principia, he did not credit anything to Hooke. When Hooke disputed Newtons claims, Newton denied any wrong. The resulting feud between the leading English scientists of the time would continue until Hookes death. Newton became President of the Royal Society that same year and many of Hookes collections and instruments went missing as well as the only known portrait of the man. As President, Newton was responsible for the items entrusted to the Society, but it was never shown he had any involvement in the loss of these items. Interesting Trivia Craters on the Moon and Mars bear his name.Hooke proposed a mechanistic model of human memory, based on the belief memory was a physical process that occurred in the brain.British historian Allan Chapman refers to Hooke as Englands Leonardo, in reference to his similarity to Leonardo da Vinci as a polymath.There is no authenticated portrait of Robert Hooke. Contemporaries have described him as a lean man of average height, with gray eyes, brown hair.Hooke never married or had children. Sources Chapman, Alan (1996). Englands Leonardo: Robert Hooke (1635–1703) and the art of experiment in Restoration England. Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 67: 239–275.Drake, Ellen Tan (1996).  Restless Genius: Robert Hooke and His Earthly Thoughts. Oxford University Press.Robert Hooke. Micrographia. Full text at Project Gutenberg.Robert Hooke (1705). The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke. Richard Waller, London.

Permissions Needed Before Starting a Hospital in Mumbai Essay Example

Permissions Needed Before Starting a Hospital in Mumbai Essay Example Permissions Needed Before Starting a Hospital in Mumbai Essay Permissions Needed Before Starting a Hospital in Mumbai Essay Before starting a Hospital following permissions are needed FOR PRIMARY REGISTRATION OF HOSPITAL |Act |Purpose |Authority |Validity | |Bombay Nursing Home Registration|Registration with Mumbai |Local or Area Municipal Ward |Renewal of Registration yearly | |Act |Municipal Corp. |Office | | |Bombay Nursing Home Registration|For extra Satellite Clinic if|Local or Area Municipal Ward |Renewal of Registration yearly | |Act. started in other part of the|Offices | | | |city | | | |Public Trust Act | |Charity Commissioner, Mumbai |Yearly Report to be sent | |Society Registration Act |For Income Tax benefit, | Charity Commissioner of Mumbai |Yearly Renewal | | |Concession on Import Duty | | | |Pre-natal Diagnostic Test Act | |Municipal Corporation |Yearly Renewal | |Human Organ Transplant Act |For Kidney and other organ |Maharashtra Health Service |Yearly Renewal | | |Transplant |Department | | |MTP Act of Govt. of Maharashtra |For Medical Termination of |Maharashtra Health Service |Yearly Renewal | | |Pregnancy |Department | | |FDA Act. For in-house pharmacy under |Food Drug Administration, |Yearly Renewal | | |drug cosmetic act. |Govt. of Maharashtra | | |FDA Act |Blood bank |Food Drug Administration, |Yearly Renewal | | | |Govt. of Maharashtra | | |FDA Special Narcotics |For Pethedine, Fentanyl |Food Drug Administration, |Yearly Renewal | |Psychotropic Drugs |injections for OT ICU | Govt. f Maharashtra | | |BARC Registration for Regulatory|For handling Radioactive |Bhaba Atomic Research Centre |Yearly Renewal | |Consent Radio- active substances|Substances | | | |BARC Registration |Radiology Badges |Bhaba Atomic Research Centre |Yearly Renewal | |BARC Registration |Radiation Therapy for Oncology |Bhaba Atomic Research Centre |Yearly Renewal | | |Department | | | |Maharashtra Pollution Control |Sewerage Disposal |Maharashtra Pollution Control |Yearly Renewal | |Act | |Board | | |Biomedical Waste Act. |Waste Disposal |Municipal Corporation of Mumbai|Yearly Renewal | |Bombay Shop Establishment Act. For Gifts Items Flower Shop |Municipal Corporation of Mumbai|Yearly Renewal | | |in the Hospital | | | |Power Permit under BMC Act |Maintenance Department |Municipal Corporation of Mumbai|Yearly Renewal | |License from Ministry of |For Internal Paging Services |Central Ministry of |Yearly Renewal | |Telecommunication |for RMOs Consultants |Telecommunication | | | Import Export License |Import of Machineries |Finance Department |Yearly Renewal | |Income Tax exemption |For Income tax benefit |Income Tax Department |Yearly Renewal | |certificates 80-G 35 | | | | |(I),(II),I. Tax195J | | | | |PWD License |For Elevators |Public Works Department |Yearly Inspection | |License from Weight Scale |For Weighing machines I the |Weight Measuring department, |Yearly Inspection | |department |Hospital |Govt. f Maharashtra | | |License for EPBX |Internal Telecommunication of |Mumbai Mahanagar Telephone |Yearly Renewal | | |Hospital |Nigam Ltd. | | |Explosive Act |For Liquid Oxygen |Inspector of Explosive |Yearly Inspection | | | |Substance, Mumbai Fire Brigade | | | | | | | FOR HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT OF THE HOSPITAL Act |Purpose |Authority |Validity | |Minimum Wages Act |Government Labour Guidelines |Maharashtra Labour Board |Always Applicable | |Dispute Redresal act |Redresal or settlement between |Maharashtra Labour Board |Always Applicable | | |employer Employees | | | |Factory Safety Act |Safety norms for employees |Maharashtra labour board |Always Applicable | |Employees Welfare Act |For well being of Employees |Maharashtra labour board |Always Applicable | | | | | | FOR RESEARCH Registration of National Survey of Resource for Science Technology, under the authority of Science technology Ministry Govt. of India. FOR FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1 Provident Fund Return norms by Provident Fund Commissioners 2 – VAT/TIN No 3. – PAN No

"Bullying in Schools" Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

"Bullying in Schools" - Assignment Example This conducts amounts to negative repercussions because some students end up dropping out of school while other resort to suicidal incidences. School authorities and parents are trying to curb this habit by watching their children at home and within the institutions. In this regard, bullying arises when one student intends to harm the other, victimize or provoke for self-fish interests. It is detrimental to the learners’ safety and development in the social setting since it reduces the self-esteem and study ethics. The central idea is that measures should be adopted to avoid the occurrences of bullying in learning facilities. Bullying in schools occurs in different aspects and forms, including online harassments, physical, emotional and verbal abuses. It is apparent that some bullies target their victims on electronic platforms where they harass them. This takes place on social media channels, especially between peers and classmates who interact frequently. Considering this, bullying can affect the mental health of adolescents who face harassment from peers (Langan, 2013). This is because the trauma stays with them into adulthood whenever they encounter similar treatments in their marriage lives. According to Langan (2013), the physical, emotional and verbal abuses are the prevalent forms in schools and can be performed by both boys and girls. This is because it is observed that boys engage more in physical abuses while girls use verbal and cyber harassments. This habit is also common among the popular students who take advantage of their influence to mistreat others. It happens in the presence of other students who influence the climate and the ability of the mistreatment to occur. This is because of the peer culture that makes it easy for the bullies to perform the bullying. It is also common that the different aspects of bullying normally happen during the transition periods from one stage to the other

Analysis of Association Is Not Causation Research Paper

Analysis of Association Is Not Causation - Research Paper Example The prevailing theory, is one that maintains that alcohol â€Å"reduces inhibitions† (1), and that a compromised mental state leads to violent behavior. They are careful to point out that they are not challenging the reduction of inhibitions, but challenging that the theory that there is a necessary relationship between these mental states and violence, and they cite a broad cross-section of studies that maintain this. If there is a causal relationship between reduced inhibitions, and violence, then there ought to be consistency across all cultures. One of the first challenges they point to, is that there are documented differences of alcohol behavior that â€Å"varies greatly† across cultures(2), and thus there has to be something more than simply a â€Å"pharmacological† explanation. They argue that it is â€Å"expectancy† that explains these differences. ... Thus, the 'expectation' of drinking had more to do with drinking than the actual pharmacological effects. Given that there is no strictly biological causal relation between violence and alcohol consumption, they turn to explain how this view had come about within the scientific literature. One problem they note is the discrepancy between alcohol â€Å"blood levels† (3) and reported incidences of violence. Police reports with actual blood levels measured of intoxicated offenders, indicate that while over 50 % of individuals charged with domestic violence reported alcohol as the cause, less than 20 % of these were actually intoxicated as measured by the toxicity of their blood(3). Likewise, statistical analysis' shows too that while reporting of alcohol use in domestic violence instances, the actual use in terms of â€Å"immediately prior† to the incidence is significantly lower. They conclude that there are important discrepancies with the data when they are closely scru tinized. Finally, the authors examine some of the methodological limitations of many of the studies, and conclude with implicit recommendations for further research based on some of the limitations of the existing research. They point to problems mainly to do with equivocation. That is, problems of defining or distinguishing between the types of drugs used(4), what exactly is violence and abuse(4-5), and finally, the very nature of alcohol consumption – how much, and how frequently is alcohol consumed(6). They argue that these definitional problems are inconsistencies in current research. ANALYSIS: 1. What are the strengths of the article? : The main strength of the article is that they unequivocally demonstrate that the existing literature confused correlation or

Build A Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Build A Team - Essay Example From the West Coast Transit team member profiles, the following members have been selected to be part of the A team that will undertake the above mentioned project: Natalie, Elizabeth, Katelyn, Bob, Susan and William. In brief, these six members have good qualities that can positively yield in great team performance. Essentially, collaboration and coordination are basic tenets of teamwork in an organization (Schultz, 2007). In brief, Natalie is positive and has great communication skills; Elizabeth enjoys the collaborative aspect of the job and has a positive attitude; Katelyn’s mindset suits teamwork; Bob’s attitude is positive and he is a team player; Susan’s attitude is positive and she is an excellent team player and William is also positive and believes that he is a team player. When combined, the qualities of the selected six members are likely to contribute towards the formation of a strong and formidable team that can collaboratively work together to prod uce positive results for the organization. The other people have not been selected to become part of the A team as a result of their negative attitude. For instance, Ian is arrogant and he does not want to back down from his ideas. Doug is a bit of a temper and he is easily frustrated and is viewed as abrasive by his workmates. On the other hand, Michael is overconfident and at time battles with depression though he collaborates with others when the need arises. It can be observed that the qualities of the members left out of the A team are not consistent with the spirit and letter of teamwork. The attitudes of these members can impact negatively on the overall performance of the team since they can lead to conflicts. As indicated above, the A team is formed for a specific purpose. Given the diverse factors that may influence the behavior of your team members, the job characteristic model and goal setting will be

Financial perspective Essay Example for Free

Financial perspective Essay As seen balanced scorecards does not totally disregard financial measures of performance. Thus, timely and accurate data is essential to the successful implementation of balanced scorecard. This implies that handling and processing of financial data should be swift and centralize perhaps fully automated. The financial data should be integrated with corporate databases and especially data regarding risk assessment and cost benefit analysis (Stewart, 2000). Learning and growth perspective This category recognizes that people are the only repositions of knowledge i. e. people posses intangible assets of the company. In this information age intelligence is the heart of organization success and hence Ned to ensure continuous learning through employee training. This is because technology changes rapidly as aloes people exiting an organization for greener pastures. (Lipe Salterio, 2000) As a result, corporations’ culture and attitude need to be shaped to ensure that people within the organization pursue self-improvement and reverse brain drain to other companies. The cost of recruitment and training people is usually high and measures of allocating the funds to reap maximum benefits need to be developed. Knowledge sharing is equally important. Notably not all training translates to learning but the most effective learning occurs, using mentors and group discussions and communication within the organization. Intranets may contribute towards facilitating communication and learning (Norton, 2001) Process perspective This category identifies two kinds of process within the business one, the mission oriented processes and two the support process. Support processes are repetitive in nature and nature and hence easier to measure on the other hand mission oriented involve government offices and hence difficult to measure. Attention to these perspectives enables managers to know how well the operations of the business are and whether they are in tandem with customer requirements and expectations. (Kaplan Norton, 1996) Problems associated with financial measures. The move to adopt the balanced scorecard at Intel has been triggered by the inefficiency of financial measures to link corporate strategy and goals to measurement it ahs been difficult for Intel to link the strategies used in say marketing and advertising campaigns to the effects or anticipated results. Thus a shortfall in gauging performance has been experienced.. As pointed out, Intel faces strong competition from Microsoft and there has been to re-strategize its operations in order to gain competitive advantage and adopt with the changing technology. The previously used financial measures are outdated as the PC industry how shifted from the industrial age to become more knowledge based. White previously, Intel management of the company’s property equipments and plant was adequate to accord the company competitive edge, now a days the intangible asset i. e. the employee’s knowledge plays a great role in ensuring that Intel stays ahead of its game. The company’s income statements, and balance sheets are still used to capture revenues and profits but they still account very little to the company’s market value hence the need for balance scorecard. The balanced scorecard becomes handy for Intel to link its strategy i. e. deploying its intangible assets to the company’s goal i. e. dominate the PC industry. The problem of financial measures utilized at Intel is its failure to measure how effective customer relationship operating process product innovation skill of the workforce culture and other variables are in contributing to the company’s goal of maintaining lead in the PC industry. The financial measures i. e. balance sheets and incomes statements fail to assist management describe its asset and link it to strategy and goal. The pitfall of this measure is that without a clear description of the situation and the company’s possessions in terms of assets then it is difficult to know what to manage or measure. Recommended design and implementation of Intel’s balance scorecard Intel balance scorecard design will incorporate strategy aimed at increasing the company’s revenues by twenty percent in a period of 18 months. In order to do so the balance scorecard components will be used in designing the strategy. The invaluable contribution of the employees at Intel is recognized in this design. They contribute indirectly to the company’s revenue investment in the employees will improve their functional competence and hence lead to better quality products and innovations hence greater customer satisfaction. This satisfaction in turn will translate to higher sales and thus increase in revenue and profit margins. Rewards systems for hardworking employees will be given in form of cash incentives and recognition awards. More importantly, dead wood employees will not be retained in the company, as they are liabilities to the company. The workplace culture and climate will also be representative of the company’s goal; hence performance appraisals will also be used to boost hard work. The no-office policy at Intel will be retained in order to ensure equality among the company’s employees. Communication and knowledge sharing will be boosted by upping Intel intranets and using monthly meetings in departments to achieve this end. Intel will have to upgrade its internal processes to improve its customers and shareholders satisfactions hence achieve revenue. The way to do this will be by availing its microprocessors speedily to its customer’s at the time when needed. Intel will need to keep track of releases of operating systems by software hence increase sales and revenues. Intel should also develop new products and services that are relevant to meeting customers’ wants and needs. Perhaps, there is need to identify new markets in order to broaden its customers base also promote satisfaction among customers. Grievances and complaints will handle with immediacy and accuracy. Additionally, Total quality management and zero tolerance production techniques will be used in its manufacturing plant to ensure that consignment delivered to customers have zero defects. Intel will also ensure that it exercises social responsibility and that its activities benefit the greater society and don’t harm the immediate environment. The customers’ perspectives components of Intel balance scorecard will work towards creating a image of value and distinction in its customers. Intel will achieve this by incorporating a mix of different products and service that uniquely identify the customers to the company. Intel will sustain intimacy with its customers by being a representative of the customers’ diverse traits. It will ensure indiscriminate customers service to customers regardless of race, gender or religion its branding and advertisement campaigns will be acceptable to the customers. Intel will employ competitive pricing to attract and retain customers. At the same time Intel will assure great performance and auxiliary features in its products so that customers get value for their money, hence boost revenue. Delivery lead times will equally be reduced by half in order to encourage customers to buy more from them. The financial position of Intel will be influenced by the effects o customer’s internal process and the learning perspectives of the company’s workforce. Ultimately, if the positive changes on these sections are effected then the company will realize profitability and increased revenues. In effect, the company’s value in the eye of the shareholder will also improve, more to that; an increase in company assets value will be evident.