Describe and discuss Key Points of Diversity and Unity within Essay

Describe and discuss Key Points of Diversity and Unity within 'Hinduism' - Essay Example Not only does this word help a vast people affiliate themselves with the same theological faith but also does it pronounce the way to lead the perfect life on earth, given the follies and foibles life encompasses as well as the problems that people are accosted with. Again, as mentioned, Hinduism is no mere binding force that includes people from diverse backgrounds but is like a salad bowl wherein the individualities can be ascertained very easily though they appear to be part of a single entity. This is one unique feature of Hinduism and has lent unity in diversity to the religion. Lipner (2004), in his celebrated book, Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, asserts the true meaning of Hinduism. The author is of the opinion that Hinduism as a term in the general order of terms belonging to the ‘ism’ category is unique and differs from all others in form as well as content. According to Lipner (2004), Hinduism is like a banyan tree with all its branches. The sim ile of the banyan tree has been well explained by the author when he opines that the religion is basically an amalgamation of various ancient roots and branches, essentially â€Å"polycentric† though united as well as indistinguishable at times and â€Å"macrocosmically one†. This pattern of diversity is unique and lends variety to the same. However, he has also opined that the simile of the banyan tree is not applicable from all points of views. Since a banyan tree looks the same from all angles, so the simile of the banyan tree cannot be said to be apt from all view points since in case of Hinduism the point of view changes from time to time depending on the basis on which we are trying to take a look at Hinduism as a banyan tree. A further explanation of the reason why Hinduism does not appear to be a banyan tree is because though it may be a homogenous entity since the word Hindu refers to people belonging to a single faith, however, it is also a block reality (Lip ner, 2004). Other theoreticians have also echoed the same thoughts as well as philosophies. Smith (1964) has been of the opinion that Hinduism is something that does not exist in reality given the fact that this particular word envisages encompassing so diverse a range of meanings in itself that it is but an impossible pursuit. Vertovec (2000) has interestingly noted his own interpretation of Hinduism. The author mentions that his definition of a Caribbean Hindu is not one who continually changes as per the demands of the situation but adapts to the social practices that he or she is in and also negotiates one’s position with the externalities that befall the Hindu individual. This again points out to the fact that not only in India but the world over, Hindus or followers of Hinduism have exhibited the same pattern of behavior. This natural propensity towards diversity is what sets Hinduism apart from all other reasons. Lipner (2004) has given another very interesting definit ion that Hinduism stands for a â€Å"family of culturally similar traditions†. This is indeed enough to give us initial insight into what Hinduism actually is. Of course, the homogeneity of existence among the followers of Hinduism becomes apparent. However, it also becomes clear that more than the existence of God or the convergence of religious beliefs, this is one religion that is enmeshed with the social life of the population and this is exactly

John Dewey on Education Essay Example for Free

John Dewey on Education Essay John Dewey, Mortimer Adler and Nel Noddings impacted our system of education in very profound ways. Dewey believed that there should be communication between the student and the teacher. Adler believed that schools should only teach the traditional courses (English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language). Noddings believed that teachers should be more caring towards their students. John Dewey’s idea of education greatly affected our system of education today. John Dewey’s ideas for education were to concentrate on students’ psychological and sociological qualities. Dewey believed in promoting an â€Å"unconscious education† where â€Å"the individual gradually comes to share in the intellectual and moral resources which humanity has succeeded in getting together. He becomes an inheritor of the funded capital of civilization† (Dewey 261). In other words, he thought this was a good method for teachers to analyze a student’s behavior in order to teach them more effectively. This also provided an opportunity for the student to learn without even realizing it. Dewey stated that a student’s psychological needs were the basis of his method of education. The child’s own instinct and powers furnish the material and give the starting-point for all education† (Dewey 262). Dewey stressed the idea that, â€Å"Without insight into the psychological structure and activities of the individual the educative process will†¦be haphazard and arbitrary† (Dewey 262). Dewey was also extremely interested in the social aspects of a student. He said that the, â€Å"knowledge of social conditions, of the present state of civilization, is necessary in order to properly interpret the child’s powers† (Dewey 262). This was a new technique for an educator to see and distinguish the instincts and tendencies in a student. Therefore, in order for an educator to know more about a student he/she must first study the student’s psychological traits in order to understand the unique characteristics of a child’s capacities, interests and habits. Then the teacher must translate their findings into terms of what they believe the child is capable of in a social setting. In my opinion, Dewey showed a balance between the dialectic of academics and affective goals. This is also known as transaction, which is having both the teacher and the student interact in the classroom. Dewey believed that the academic goals of education should be, â€Å"a process of living and not a preparation for future living† (Dewey 263). He stated that the teachers’ job is not to influence him but to help guide the student into successfully forming with the community by letting the student experience some life occurrences. â€Å"The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child† (Dewey 263 – 264). Dewey also believed that tests should only be used to examine a child’s social capabilities in the real world. â€Å"Examinations are of use only so far as they test the child’s fitness for social life and reveal the place in which he can be of the most service and where he can receive the most help† (Dewey 264). In my opinion, this would be more of a conceptual test where the child can voice his or her own opinions. Dewey’s main affective goals were to deepen the child’s meaning of himself and his values. It is the business of the school to deepen and extend his sense of the values bound up in his home life† (Dewey 263). Dewey believed that it was important for the school to implement lessons that related to what a child would do at home. The school would also be responsible for simplifying their social life because; â€Å"existing life is so complex that the child cannot be brought into contact with it without either confusion or distraction† (Dewey 263). Therefore, if the child is exposed to too much social stimulation he will become, â€Å"either unduly specialized or else disintegrated† (Dewey 263). I believe that Dewey’s views show that he is against standardization in schools. He believed that there was a lack of conscious states in schools. He asserts that children are, â€Å"thrown into a passive, receptive, or absorbing attitude† (Dewey 265). Dewey’s viewpoint is still an active discussion topic in today’s education system. However, some school districts insist on rote learning because their schools receive more funding when there is a high percentage of passing students on standardized tests. According to Linda McNeil, students are taught on how to pass these tests without really learning. For example, McNeil states that, â€Å"students report that in the drills on the TAAS reading section, they frequently mark answers without reading the sample text. They merely match key words in an answer choice with key words in the text† (McNeil 218). According to Dewey, this is â€Å"not permitted [in following] the law of nature† (Dewey 265), resulting in â€Å"friction and waste† (Dewey 265). Dewey believed that proper instruction should be exemplified by, â€Å"the preparation and presentation of lessons [which] might be more wisely and profitably expended in training the child’s power of imagery and in seeing to it that he was continually forming definite, vivid, and growing images of the various subjects with which he comes in contact in his experience† (Dewey 266). Standardization is not they key component of education, even though the state and federal government believe this is an important element for success. According to Gerald Bracey, when students are applying to college, the SAT exam should be used as a guideline and not the final decision in acceptance. Bracey stated that the, â€Å"SAT scores had been falling for fourteen years† (Bracey 47). He also stated that, â€Å"While the developers of the SAT still called their test a ‘mere supplement,’ the public now saw it as the platinum rod for measuring school performance. And that performance was getting worse† (Bracey 47). Somehow over time, a student’s SAT score developed into an extremely significant number which seemed to become the overall determination of a student’s intelligent. It seems harsh and unbalanced to put so much emphasis on one test. Of course, applicants are told that in combination with their SAT scores; their grades and outside activities are taken into consideration for college admittance. But the truth is these SAT scores still remain a huge factor for college applicants. Studies have shown that a high SAT score does not guarantee high grades in college however the politics behind these tests are stronger than the public’s opinion in order to get these tests repealed. Standardized tests do not lead the student to come into contact with the subject at hand or the experience related to it. They also do not show the overall picture of an individual or what he or she can contribute while attending college. Scott Thompson is against the test-based reform of today’s society. Thompson claims that, â€Å"The human hearts and minds of others, I believe, are simply too complex and too inaccessible to read as a book† (Thompson 160). Thompson argues that the differences between test-based reform and standards-based reform. He concluded that standards-based reform involves more cooperation from parents, teachers and the students. It also gives the students a high-quality method of learning and not simply learning techniques for test taking. â€Å"We should be interested in students who can produce high quality work rather than students who have mastered the ability to take standardized tests† (Thompson 159). Thompson would love to see that the idea of standardized tests be abandoned in the future. Thompson argues that by giving these students standardized tests that they are reducing their potential of demonstrating their intellect, social and personal sides to the community. Test-based reform, through its focus on high-stakes test, narrows the curriculum to what is included on the tests and reduces instructional practice to test preparation† (Thompson 159). In contrast, â€Å"standards-based reform†¦involves a complete abandonment of the bureaucratic, ‘seat time’ approach to education and replaces it with a system of learning communities dedicated to helping all students reach their intellectual, social, and personal potential† (Thompson 159). To summarize, without requiring students to take standardized tests they will greatly increase their academic potential and affective abilities. Bill Bigelow also stresses his concern of standardization. He believes that, â€Å"social studies knowledge is little more than acquiring piles of disconnected facts about the world† (Bigelow 231) and that â€Å"the world can’t be chopped into multiple choice questions, [in] that you can’t bubble in the truth with a number-two pencil† (Bigelow 239). Bigelow would be ecstatic to see the state do away with standardized tests. He demonstrates some strong educational goals that the state should follow that show a balance between academic and affective goals for education. He claims that teachers should, â€Å"construct rigorous performance standards for students that promote deep thinking about the nature of our society. These efforts should acknowledge the legitimacy of a multicultural curriculum of critical questions, complexity, multiple perspective, and social imagination. They should recognize that wisdom is more than information† (Bigelow 239). I agree with his statement. When considering the famous quote, â€Å"knowledge is power†; have we gained knowledge when we have learned the means by which to pass a standardized test? Or has knowledge been gained when a student has the sense of understanding conceptual ideas about society and civilization as a whole? I feel that standardized testing is something elected state officials want because these tests provide numbers and numbers are easy to put into a spreadsheets and show which schools are getting high scores and which schools are getting low scores. It is an easy format to determine budgets; one test is suitable for all students. It is harder to define guidelines on how or what teachers should teach conceptually because that leads to a broader spectrum of learning. In conclusion, I believe that standardized tests are the â€Å"dumbing down of America†. These tests inhibit our abilities to question and reflect. The state and federal governments do not really want the American public to get smarter. They want a simple way to control what students learn and how they learn it. While many people agree that standardization is not improving learning, we are still unable to do away with these tests due to all of the politics involved. I would love for high schools to be more like colleges in that, teachers can use whatever methods of teaching they like just as professors do. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Obviously, there are essential fundamental topics that much be taught that are necessary in order to have the basic foundation on which to grow intellectually. I feel that once a student has mastered the basics, it is crucial to one’s development to discuss controversial issues and to intelligently question the ways of the world. I agree with Bill Bigelow; I do not believe that one test is a thorough determinant of a student’s ability and mastery of various concepts. A famous quote by George Santayana states, â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it†. With all the controversial issues and problems in the world, shouldn’t learning how to use one’s mind and think â€Å"outside the box† be considered an integral part of learning? Isn’t it important and valuable to society to be able to intelligently discuss solutions rather than just be considered smart because you aced the SAT?

The Iraqi War Essay -- Government Politics Iraq Essays

The Iraqi War In March of 2003 George W. Bush declared war on Iraq. The war against this country was expected to be a quick victory for the United States. Sure enough, in May of 2003 Bush declared an end to major operations in Iraq. The United States had taken the country from Saddam Hussein with little resistance. Americans were mixed in the approval of the use of force, and their doubts of Bush’s faults were boosted when no weapons of mass destruction were discovered. However, during the war, the United States suffered a very small number of human casualties. Since Bush declared the end of major military operations, more than 150 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives in occupied Iraq. This number is much higher than the total of casualties in Iraq during wartime. More and more soldiers lose their lives each day. Since the end of the war, the news has been plagued with reports of terrorist attacks on U.S. troops, and any Iraqi supporting the U.S. occupation of the country. On October 10, two U.S. Soldiers were killed, and four were wounded in a shooting in a slum of Baghdad. This attack was just hours after a car bomb was detonated near an Iraqi police station, killing eight and wounding forty (Bonner, Fisher). These attacks on U.S. troops are believed to be organized by groups of Hussein loyalists (Schmitt). Who are trying to send a message that Iraq will never be a peaceful nation as long as the U.S. is in control. These attackers also are aiming attacks at members of their own country. On August 29th a terrorist car bomb was parked next to the Imam Ali mosque, when it detonated it claimed the life of 95 Iraqis and wounded 140. The mosque was predominantly a U.S. supporting community. Also killed in the blast was Ayato... ...r 2003. www.newyorktimes.com Filkins, Dexter, and Fisher, Ian. â€Å"Bombers Kill 14 in Iraq; Missile Hits Civilian Plane.† New York Times. 23 November 2003. www.newyorktimes.com MacFarquhar, Neil, and Oppel, Richard A. â€Å"After the War: Attack at Shrine; Car Bomb in Iraq Kills 95 at Shiite Mosque.† New York Times. 29 August 2003. www.newyorktimes.com Sachs, Susan. â€Å"A Region Inflamed: Attacks; Truck Bomb Kills 5 in a Pro-U.S. Kurdish Stronghold in Northern Iraq.† New York Times. 20 November 2003. www.newyorktimes.com Schmitt, Eric. â€Å"General Says Hussein Loyalists Pose Growing Threat in Iraq.† New York Times. 13 November 2003. www.newyorktimes.com Stevenson, Richard W. â€Å"'America Will Never Run,' Bush Says of Iraq.† New York Times. 3 November 2003. www.newyorktimes.com Tran, Tini. â€Å"Iraq Copter Attack Kills 16 U.S. Troops.† Associated Press. 3 November 2003.

Andrea Yates Essay -- Killers Murder Crime Criminals

Andrea Yates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Yates does not fit the profile of a mother who kills her children† said Hay of Child Protective Services. (Glenn par. 14) Most mothers who kill their children are younger and generally start out as teen-age moms. However, thirty-seven year old Andrea Pia Yates killed her five children and is now on trial to receive a punishment for her actions. She claims the reason she committed the crime is because she suffers from a severe case of postpartum depression. Andrea Yates possesses many problems and no matter her state of mental health, she will be punished for the crime she committed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On June 20, 2001, Andrea Pia Yates drowned her four sons and one daughter ranging from ages six months to seven years. She drowned Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and Mary, six months, in the bathtub in their home. The children were apparently killed approximately one hour after their father, longtime NASA Johnson Space Center computer engineer, left for work. The bodies of three of her sons and her infant daughter were found on a bed, covered by a sheet. The oldest boy was found in the bathtub, Houston Police said. (Glenn par. 2) She was arrested without bond on June 22 for the charge of murdering her five children. Andrea was arrested after summoning the police to her home located in Clear Lake. Andrea called her husband Russell after phoning police and said he had â€Å"better come home†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (qtd. in Glenn par. 15). When he arrived, police were already at the scene and would not allow him to enter his home. 2 Looking dazed, the skinny long-haired woman said: â€Å"I killed my kids.† (qtd. in Glenn par. 3).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Andrea Yates claimed that the reason she killed her children was because she suffered from postpartum depression. Postpartum depression, which affects approximately eight to fifteen percent of mothers in America, usually starts four weeks after the birth of a child and can last for months (Post Partum Depression screen 1). It causes feelings of panic, confusion, and hopelessness, and can change the sleeping and eating patterns of the one suffering. Postpartum depression is usually mild and is easily treated with medication. Yet, in come rare cases, it can lead to violence. Postpartum depression is classified in three different categories. The ... ..., yet experts believe that she really does not know everything that is going on around her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ever since June 20, people across America have been confused and disturbed by the actions of Andrea Pia Yates. The hearts of everyone go out to her poor husband who is now left with no one to call his immediate family. Russell Yates made a website which is dedicated to his five children. The website has pictures and home videos of each of the children. The world can only hope and pray that such tragic and shocking events like the one that occurred on June 20 will not occur in the future. Works Cited 1 Christian, Carol. â€Å"Makeup of Yates Jury Many Hint at Defense Strategy.†, â€Å"The   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yates Jury Trial.† Houston Chronicle 31 January 2002. 2 Christian, Carol. â€Å"Yates Murder Trial Starts Today.† Houston Chronicle 18 February   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2002. 3 Christian, Carol. â€Å"Jury Gives Yates Life with out Parole for Forty Years.† Houston   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chronicle 16 March 2002. 4 Glenn, Mike. â€Å"June 20: Mom Held in Killing Five Kids.† Houston Chronicle 21   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  June 2001. 5 Post Partum Depression. 18 March 2002. http://www.ask.com Ask Jeeves results.

Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say Essay

Question 1. Describe how the story is structured to influence your response to the text. Question 2. Describe one of the story’s major settings. How is it constructed and what is its significance to the story and its ideas? North America is the major setting in this book. North America holds a lot of new technology and everything is new and spectacular to him, the trains, the enormous rock sculptures and an endless farming field are examples of this. There is also a bad side to this place; there are huge cities of factories and tall buildings with thick smoke coming out of each building. But above all, best place was California, where there were a strong sunlight, the Sierra Mountains and the seacoast. Along the way he had met and shook hands new people, which had different cultural backgrounds to him. This setting is constructed in a way that the more the grandfather travels the more he liked it and wanted to make the ‘New World’ his home. This setting shows that the cultural barrier can be broken and people should go out and see the world and meet new people to develop more familiarity of the world they live in. Question 3. How are you positioned to respond to the major character/s of the story? What values are represented through them? Question 4. Describe the extent to which language and graphics are successfully used together to shape your response. Discuss with close reference to at lease two examples. In the Grandfather’s Journey, there are a few pages where the graphics and the text connect together to give the reader a better understanding of situation. At the beginning (on page 4) the text was ‘My grandfather was a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world†. On this page it shows the grandfather in Japanese clothes and the background had very dull colours because he is still in the ‘Old World’. On the next page it shows the transition to the ‘New World’. The background colours have changed from dull to bright and he had changed into European clothes. The wave that looks very unsteady shows the ‘New World’. All this happens when you want to ‘see the world. On page 17, there is a picture of the grandfather’s daughter holding a pram with a European doll sitting in it. The text that goes with the page was ‘As his daughter grew, my grandfather began to think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends’. In the picture the author shows the contrast between the Asian girl and the European girl using different clothing and the cultural difference (seen through the colours of the hairs). When compared, the grandfather began to remember how his old friends in Japan were when they were little. This illustrates ‘†¦think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends.’ Question 5. Discuss the attitudes and values of the text and your personal response to these. Question 6. Describe at least one link you can make between this book and another/other texts you have read or viewed. How do the texts compare in terms of the ideas presented and how do you respond to these ideas? One of the pages in this book makes us realise that we often label Japan as the enemy in World War II, whilst they were also the victim and had also suffered a large amount of devastation. In the film Pearl Harbour, one of the scenes was Japan bombing Pearl Harbour. This only shows the negative side of Japan, where they were attackers, but it did not show them as the victims suffering from the disaster. This movie is persuading the audience to blame Japan for the damages of the war, where Japan had to go through the emotional breakdowns and physical injuries. Even though the book tells us not to blame Japan for the damages and the movie shows us that Japan was the enemy in World War II, there is still a link between the two texts and that is after a war majority of the participating countries will have, no matter large or small, havocs. I think, because of this, we should not blame a certain country for the occurrence of the war, and should not blame any country since the countries that participated are both enemies and victims of the war.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay Essays

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay Essays Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay Essay Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay Essay 1 ) Explain the motive job with the hourly-paid employees in this organisation in footings of the content theoretical accounts of motive. What are the other things that the human resources director is mentioning to in speech production of things besides money. conditions. and fringe benefits that are needed to actuate employees? The first theory that is briefly presented is Maslow’s hierarchy of demands. After which. this is linked to the demands of Tom. Rajina. and Harry. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Possibly. the most celebrated theory of satisfaction and motive was developed by Abraham Maslow ( 1954 in Loop. 1994 ) . Maslow believed that employees would be satisfied with their occupations at any given point in clip if certain demands were met. Maslow believed that there are five major types of demands and these demands are hierarchal – that is. lower degree demands must be satisfied before an employee will be concerned with the following degree of demands. Basic biological demands. Maslow thought that an single first seeks to fulfill basic biological demands for nutrient. air. H2O. and shelter. An person who does non hold a occupation. is stateless. and is on the brink of famishment will be satisfied with any occupation every bit long as it provides for these basic demands. When asked how good they enjoy their occupation. people at this degree might answer. â€Å"I can’t complain. it pays the measures. † Safety demands. After the basic biological demands have been met. a occupation that simply provides nutrient and shelter will no longer be fulfilling. Employees so go concerned about run intoing their safety demands. That is. they may work in an insecure coal mine to gain money to guarantee their family’s endurance. but one time their household has nutrient and shelter. they will stay satisfied with their occupations merely if their workplace is safe. Safety demands have been explained to include psychological every bit good as physical safety. Psychological safety – frequently referred to as occupation security – can surely impact occupation satisfaction. For illustration. public sector employees frequently list occupation security as a chief benefit to their occupations – a benefit so strong that they will remain in lower paying public sector occupations instead than take higher paying. yet less secure. occupations in the private sector. Social demands. Once these first two demand degrees have been met. employees will stay satisfied with their occupations merely when their societal demands have been met. Social needs affect working with others. developing friendly relationships. and experiencing needed. Organizations attempt to fulfill their employees’ societal demands in a assortment of ways. Company cafeterias provide workers the topographic point and chance to socialise and run into other employees. company field daies allow households to run into one another. and company athleticss plans such as bowling squads and softball games provide chances for employees to play together in a impersonal environment. Ego needs. When societal demands have been satisfied. employees concentrate following on run intoing their self-importance demands. These are demands for acknowledgment and success. and an organisation can assist to fulfill them through congratulations. salary additions. and promotion. Ego needs can be satisfied in many ways. For illustration. many organisations use furniture to assist fulfill self-importance demands. The higher the employee’s place. the better his office furniture. Self-actualization demands. Even when employees have friends. have earned awards. and are doing a comparatively high wage. they may non be wholly satisfied with their occupations because their self-actualization demands may hold non been satisfied yet. These demands are the fifth and concluding degree of Maslow’s needs hierarchy. Self-actualization may be best defined by the US Army’s enrolling motto. â€Å"be the best that you can be. † An employee endeavoring for self-actualization wants to make her possible in every undertaking. Therefore. employees who have worked within the same machine for 20 old ages may go disgruntled with their occupations. They have accomplished all that they can with that peculiar machine and now hunt for a new challenge. If none is available. they may go disgruntled ( Knoop. 1994 ) . In the instance survey. it has been pointed out that Tom does non look to be merely motivated by money entirely. proposing that he has likely gone beyond the basic biological demands. There should be attempt on the portion of his supervisor to look for regard or self-actualization demands. possibly. One option is for his occupation to be enriched. This is besides true in the instance of Rajina who does hold trueness to the company. but is non excessively self-asserting. She may be asked to prosecute in activities that will increase her self-esteem. Finally. Tom is easy motivated by pecuniary wagess. and may be rewarded and motivated by these. Still another theory is the two factor theory of Herzberg. Two-factor Theory Still another needs theory. which reduces the figure of demands to two. was developed by Herzberg. He believed that job-related factors can de divided into two classs. incentives and hygiene factors – therefore the name two-factor theory. Hygiene factors are those job-related elements that consequences from but do non affect the occupation itself. For illustration. wage and benefits are effects of work but do non affect the work itself. Similarly. doing new friends may ensue from traveling to work. but it is besides non straight involved with the undertakings and responsibilities of the occupation. Incentives are occupation elements that do concern existent undertakings and responsibilities. Examples of incentives would be the degree of occupation duty. the sum of occupation control. and the involvement that the work holds for the employee. Herzberg believed that hygiene factors are necessary but non sufficient for occupation satisfaction and motive. That is. if a hygiene factors is non present at an equal degree ( e. g. the wage is excessively low ) . the employee will be dissatisfied. But if all hygiene factors are represented adequately. the employee’s degree of satisfaction will merely be impersonal. Merely the presence of both incentives and hygiene factors can convey occupation satisfaction and motive. Herzberg’s theory is one of those theories that makes sense but has non received strong support from research. In general. research workers have criticized the theory because of the methods used to develop the two factors every bit good as the fact that few research surveies have replicated the findings obtained by Herzberg and his co-workers ( Knoop. 1994 ) . McClelland’s Needs Theory The concluding demands theory was developed by McClelland ( 1961 in Knoop. 1994 ) and suggests that differences between persons stem from the relationship between a occupation and each employee’s degree of occupation satisfaction or motive. McClelland believed that employees differ in their demands for accomplishment. association. and power. Employees who have a strong demand for achievement desire occupations that are disputing and over which they have some control. whereas employees who have minimum accomplishment demands are more satisfied when occupations involve small challenge and have high chance of success. In contrast. employees who have a strong demand for association prefer working with and assisting other people. These types of employees are found more frequently in people-oriented service occupations than in direction or disposal ( Smither A ; Lindgren. 1978 ) . Finally. employees who have a strong demand for power have a desire to act upon others instead than merely be successful. Research has shown that employees who have a strong demand for power and achievement do the best directors ( Stahl. 1983 ) and that employees who are motivated most by their association demands will likely do the worst directors. It is evident from both theories that Tom. Rajina and Harry may hold demand for hygiene factors to increase their productiveness. This means that direction must offer incentives to retain them or to actuate them to work more. 2 ) Building on the response to Question 1. explain the motive of the hourly-paid employees in this company in footings of the procedure theoretical accounts of motive. Based on the information provided by the confidential interviews. what would you think are some of the anticipations. valencies. and unfairnesss of the hourly-paid employees of this company? How make these compare to those of Pat ( the Director of Manufacturing and Operations ) ? Based on Vroom’s anticipation theory. Tom. Rajina and Harry have changing valencies. anticipations and instrumentality. For illustration. in the instance of Tom. values inspiration and motive – which are intangibles. However. he is non motivated because he does non have this from the company. He besides does non believe that exercising more attempt at work would let him to have such inspiration. In the instance of Rajina. she has a high demand for regard. which she does non see because she does non cognize to publicize her attempts to co-workers. Recognition is what may be given to her to counterbalance for her attempts and trueness. There is no direct nexus from her position. of exercising more attempt at work. and having such acknowledgment as wages. Finally. Tom puts great premium on pecuniary wagess and benefits. However. based on the perceptual experiences of hourly paid employees in general. there is no important difference between those who work difficult and those who contribute little. A compensation and fillip strategy reflective of comparative part must be established to actuate employees like him. Based on these information. how can direction leverage on the motive of employees to enable them to achieve higher productiveness? Individual differences theory posits that some variableness in occupation satisfaction is due to an individual’s personal inclination across state of affairss to bask what she does. Thus. certain types of people will by and large be satisfied and motivated regardless of the type of occupation they hold ( Weaver. 1978 ) . The thought besides makes intuitive sense. We all know that people who invariably complain and whine about every occupation they have. and we besides know people who are motivated and enthusiastic about every occupation or undertaking. First. we should be cognizant of the fact that there are several factors that affect our hourly paid employees’ satisfaction. Apart from money and periphery benefits that motivate employees like Harry. personality is another factor to see. Whether the consistence in occupation satisfaction is due to familial or environmental factors. there appears to be a series of personality variables that are related to occupation satisfaction. That is. certain types of personalities are associated with the inclination to be satisfied or dissatisfied with one’s occupation. Judge et Al. ( 1998 ) have hypothesized that these personality variables are related and involve people’s mentality on life ( affectivity ) . position of their self-worth ( self-esteem ) . ability to get the hang their environment ( self-efficacy ) . and ability to command their environment ( external vs. internal venue of control ) . People prone to be satisfied with their occupations have high self-pride. high self-efficacy. high positive affectivity. and an internal venue of control. Research back uping this position has come from Judge et al. 1998 ) . who found a important correlativity between a combination of these four variables and occupation satisfaction. and from Garske ( 1990 ) . who found that employees with high self-prides are more satisfied with their occupations than are employees low in self-pride. Consequences consistent with the nucleus rating theory were reported by Dubin and Champoux ( 1977 ) . who found that some people are happier in their occupations than people without this focal point. Furthermore. the grade to which they are satisfied with their lives is besides another determiner of their motive on the occupation. Judge et al. 1998 ) . Judge and Watanabe ( 1993 ) . and Tait et Al. ( 1989 ) have theorized non merely that occupation satisfaction is consistent across clip but that the extent to which a individual is satisfied with all facets of her life ( e. g. matrimony. friends. occupation. household. geographic location ) is every bit good. Furthermore. people who are satisfied with their occupations tend to be satisfied with life. These research workers found support for their theory. as their informations indicate that occupation satisfaction is significantly correlated with life satisfaction. Therefore. people happy in life tend to be happy in their occupations an d frailty versa. Individual differences theories postulate that some employees are more predisposed to being motivated than others. Such things as genetic sciences and affectivity are involved in the extent to which some people tend to ever be satisfied with their occupations and others ever dissatisfied. However. instead than genetic sciences and affectivity. self-pride. demand for accomplishment. and intrinsic motive inclination are the single differences most related to work motive. To be able to turn to hourly employees’ intangible demands. there must be much attempt on management’s portion to increase employees’ self-esteem. These may non be excessively applicable for Harry who seems to be more motivated by basic demands. i. e. money and periphery benefits. There are assorted ways of transporting this out. as follows: Employees who can go to workshops or sensitiveness groups in which they are given penetrations into their strengths. It is thought that these penetrations raise self-esteem by demoing the employee that he has several strengths and is a good individual. Management besides ought to supply hourly paid employees with experience on success. With this attack. an employee is given a undertaking so easy that he will about surely win. It is thought that this success increases self-pride. which should increase public presentation. so farther addition self-pride. so farther addition public presentation. and so on. This method is based slackly on the rule of self-fulfilling prognostication. which states that an person will execute every bit good or every bit ill as he expects to execute. In other words. if he believes he is intelligent. he should make good on trials. If he believes he is dense. he should make ill. So if an employee believes he will ever neglect. the lone manner to interrupt the barbarous rhythm is to guarantee that he performs good on a undertaking ( Knoop. 1994 ) . Particularly in the instance of Tom. direction has to believe of ways to actuate him to accomplish. Employees who have a strong demand for achievement desire and are motivated by occupations that are disputing and over which they have some control. whereas employees who have minimum accomplishment demands are more satisfied when their work involves small challenge. Employees who have a high demand for achievement Ate non risk takers and tend to put ends that are disputing adequate to be interesting but low plenty to be come-at-able. Employees with a high demand for achievement demand acknowledgment and want their accomplishments to be noticed. To increase motive. end scene should be used. This is peculiarly applicable in Tom’s and Rajina’s instance who do non look to execute good without equal supervising. With end puting. each employee is given a end. which might be a peculiar quality degree. a certain measure of end product. or a combination of the two. For end scene to be most successful. the ends themselves should possess certain qualities. First. they should be concrete and specific. Puting more specific subgoals can besides better public presentation ( Klawsky. 1990 ) . Second. a decently set end is high but sensible ( Locke A ; Latham. 1990 ) . To increase the effectivity of end scene. feedback should be provided to the employee on his advancement in making his end ( Locke A ; Latham. 1990 ) . Feedback can include verbally stating an employee how he is making. puting a chart on a wall. or exposing a certain colour of visible radiation when the employee’s work gait will ensue in end attainment and a different colour of visible radiation when the gait is excessively slow to make the end. Feedback additions public presentation best when it is positive and informational instead than negative and commanding. Another set of theories hypothesizes that workers are motivated when they are rewarded for their behaviour. As a consequence. organisations offer inducements for a broad assortment of employee behaviours. including working overtime or on weekends. doing suggestions. mentioning appliers. remaining with the company ( length of service awards ) . coming to work ( attendance fillips ) . non acquiring into accidents. and executing at a high degree ( Henderson. 1997 ) .

10 Ways to Challenge Your Brain

10 Ways to Challenge Your Brain Exercising your brain is arguably just as important as exercising the rest of your body. If you’re looking for ways that you can give your brain a nice little work out session, here are 10 ways you can challenge your brain to do more. Â  Source: [finotto.org]

A Reverse PIN Wont Contact Police

A Reverse PIN Won't Contact Police An online rumor started in October 2006 claims ATM users can quickly contact police in the event of an attempted robbery by entering their PIN in reverse. This claim is false. Reverse PIN and Technology False, for now, that is. Technology exists which would allow ATM users to contact police in an emergency by punching in their PIN (personal identification number) in reverse, but as of this publication it has not yet been implemented anywhere in the United States. Lawmakers in the states of Kansas and Illinois introduced legislation calling for the institution of reverse-PIN emergency notification systems (also known under the brand name SafetyPIN) in 2004, but the Kansas bill stalled in committee and the Illinois bill was watered down at the behest of the banking industry, making the adoption of the technology purely voluntary - which it already was. According to a story published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, bankers are opposed to the reverse-PIN system because of safety concerns. They fear that ATM users might hesitate or fumble under duress while trying to enter their PINs backwards, possibly increasing the chances of violence. The banking industry is in favor of finding a means to protect ATM customers, a member of the American Bankers Association said, but question whether the reverse-PIN solution is the right one. Inventor of PIN Number Reversal Says Banks in Denial The inventor of SafetyPIN, Joseph Zingher, claims the banking industry is afraid to admit the growing extent of ATM robbery. Exact figures are hard to come by because ATM holdups are lumped in with other types of bank robbery in the FBIs annual crime statistics. Of the 8,000 to 12,000 bank robberies per year counted by the FBI over the past 15 years, 3,000 to 4,000 were ATM robberies, according to the banking industry. Some crime experts suspect the figure is actually higher. Bankers, for their part, insist they do acknowledge the problem of ATM crime and recommend that customers exercise due caution and be aware of their surroundings when using automated teller machines. Heres a sample email about the false claim of a reverse pin number contributed by J. Brouse on Dec. 6, 2006. PIN NUMBER REVERSAL (GOOD TO KNOW)If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse.For example if your pin number is 1234 then you would put in 4321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you.This information was recently broadcast on TV stating that it is seldom used because people dont know it exists. Sources and further reading: Why Reverse PIN Is Not in UseAbout.com: U.S. Government, May 16, 2014 Technology to Keep You Safe at ATM MachinesWOAI-TV News, September 22, 2006 Why Great Ideas Get Shot DownFortune Small Business,   February 1, 2006 Inventor, Kansas Senator Back Idea to Thwart ATM HoldupsSt. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 3, 2005 Banking on ATM SafetyForbes, January 28, 2004

Business Law Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Law Memo - Essay Example Unfortunately, the gas attendant incorrectly filled the car with gas worth $27.39 instead of $8.00. However, the plaintiff did not have any cash on him to settle the extra bill, he offered to leave behind his driving license as collateral until in the evening when he would return to settle the whole bill (Robert v. City Fair Lawsuit ). However, the manager of the gas station, Mr. Tommy, refused the collateral and demanded the plaintiff to suck $19.39 worth of gas from his tank. The plaintiff Mr. Robert tried to refuse claiming it is risky. However, he changed his mind when the manager threatened him with a police arrest. As he was siphoning, the plaintiff inhaled and swallowed some gas. The plaintiff Mr. Robert developed some health complications such as constant eye watering, burning of throat and dizziness. The plaintiff visited ER twice for severe abdominal pain and uncontrollable vomiting. The plaintiff has been forced to miss several days of work, avoided leisure activities such as trail running at Tier Park and playing basketball league. His medical bills are rising while his medical condition will remain as such for long if not for life. Furthermore, his family is unable to put up with the rising hospital bill. Statement of the Issue The plaintiff employs our services in the lawsuit against Tommy and City Fair. The plaintiff believes that Tommy and City Fair should be held responsible for his medical conditions. According to the plaintiff, had the gas attendant followed the instruction careful, he would not have been forced to siphon any gas. His health condition would be normal. Analysis of the Case The plaintiff’s only mistake was forgetting credit card at home. Furthermore, the plaintiff seemed in a hurry and scared of the police. From the look of things, the defendant took advantage of the plaintiff fear of the police and manipulated him. Tommy and City Fair violated business ethics and risked the health of the plaintiff. Their first mistake w as to employee incompetent gas attendants who could not follow instructions. As a result, the attendant filled the car with more gas than required. It is correct to argue that the gas attendant caused the misfortune. Secondly, Tommy the manager refused to accept the driving license as collateral until the evening when the plaintiff would have settled the bill. By the fact the plaintiff was willing to leave behind his driving license, is a clear indication that he was willing to take responsibility and settle the matter. However, the defendant refused the security and instead forced the plaintiff to suck the contaminated gas. This gas has risked the health of the plaintiff. Another mistake made by the defendant is allowing contact with risky goods. This has been proved by the doctor who concluded that the gas is responsible for the plaintiff health condition. Apart from the plaintiff, the gas might also affect the health condition of employees working for the station or customers who are forced to suck when they fail to pay. In this case the defendant has a product liability. He is responsible for selling defective goods to customers. Another mistake made by the defendant is forcing the complainant to siphon the gas using inappropriate tools. In the vent that the plaintiff had appropriate siphoning equipments, then his health would have been okay. It is fundamental to acknowledge that consumer laws in Pennsylvania advocate fro protection and

Managing People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing People - Essay Example In the context of the Morgans Hotel Group which makes use of the bureaucratic organisational structure that does not provide the opportunity of incorporate changes within the organisation’s structure along with its strategies and systems and also it does not practice the performance appraisal system among the employees (Morgans Group LLC, 2012). Performance appraisal is one of the crucial approaches which facilities to accomplish the individual’s job performance and to enhance productivity that would benefit Morgans to increase its efficiency in the work process. It would enable Morgans to assess the positive aspects of an employee’s performance over a certain period of time and also to analyse the areas the employee requires to improve. It would facilitate Morgans to increase its customer loyalty and its brand recognition, resulting in its profit maximisation. In the service industry in which Morgans operates, customer satisfaction is one of the prime attributes which it needs to meet on a regular basis. This aspect can only be attained by happy and contented employees of the organisation and their contentment can be largely ensured with the help of a well-documented performance appraisal and up-to-date job description (Pettijohn & et. al., 2001). Thus, the absence of such mechanisms and structures can impede Morgans Hotel Group from leveraging complete benefits out of their employees which would certainly create hindrance for it to maintain sustainability. Part 2 Alternative Models of Leadership in the Organisation Level Situational Leadership Model The situational leadership model essentially mentions about the leadership method that takes place according to the circumstances faced by the organisations. According to the developers of situational leadership model Ken Blanchard along with Paul Hersey, situational leadership is based on relationship among certain variables such as, The task behaviour of a leader involves the communication l evel of clarifying the detailed information about the work and with an estimated time as well as the working procedures for the task to every individual or group in the organisation. In the similar context, the relationship behaviour of a leader incorporates providing socio-emotional sustainability to the employees by human motivational actions, such as appreciation, reward and recognition among others. Moreover, readiness of an individual or a group signifies the ability to acquire the responsibilities of self directing and working independently in terms of a particular task (Watkins, n. d.). However, the situational model of leadership style entails the directive parts of task behaviour which is an important part for Morgans to explain the works that are to be done by its employees. The socio-emotional factors necessitate the various motivational skills that a leader or a manager of Morgans Hotel Group is required to practice in order to increase the willingness regarding their sp ecific tasks. Participative Leadership Style The model brings about the effects of the values of the opinions or the ideas from each individual of

The development of painting through history Essay

The development of painting through history - Essay Example Rococo Art succeeded Baroque Art in Europe during 1715 to 1774. The style was dominant in France and had significant associations with King Louis XV. It was a reaction to the massiveness and grandeur of Baroque. The style was more light, elegant, decorative, and elaborate than the earlier Baroque style. Jean-Honore’ Fragonard developed Blind Man’s Buff. It is an artistic piece of work, which has sharp, vivid images of clouds, a fountain of water, trees, people, and buildings. Neoclassicism emerged during the mid-18th to early 19th century. It is an unemotional and severe form of art, which harkens back to the grandeur of ancient Rome and Greece. The elegant and balanced works of Neoclassicism revived the harmony of ancient Roman and Greek art. It is a rigid form of art and reacted to the emotionally charged Baroque and the over-bred Rococo styles. The American and French Revolutions desired to revive an interest in classical thought. The revolutions thus encouraged the rise of Neoclassical art of painting. Robert Smirke was one of the most prominent Neoclassicists of that time. One of his pieces of art, the Odysseus and Circe, displays a king that is unemotional to the women’s cries and pleas. In his fury, he grabs a woman and seems to be commanding using a sword. Realism style of painting emerged in the mid-19th century, and it depicts subjects in a straightforward manner. It involves objective representation of subject matters. It tends to avoid idealizing the subjects and does not follow rules.

Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Laws - Essay Example Albeit there was considerable opposition to Miranda warnings for more than fourteen years after the decision, these days, little practical impediment exists in the police ability to procure a confession. In Dickerson v United States, the fact that law enforcement groups did not en masse, file amicus briefs urging the court to overturn Miranda showed how much things have changed since 1968, when law enforcement lobbies prevailed in Congress to enact an unconstitutional statute (18 U.S. Code sec. 3501), which purported to overturn Miranda. As detailed by Sociologist Richard Leo (university of California-Irvine), â€Å"police use a variety of deceptive techniques to extract confessions these days. Because the confessions are not â€Å"coercive† (according to judicial interpretation), the resulting confessions are almost always admitted into evidence†. (Leo) Why do so many people confess? Professor Leo explains the incidence thusly: that suspects are often put into a physic al environment –such as a small isolated room-which is designed to make them talk. After the isolation, the appearance of a police officer may seem like a welcome form of human contact, then the police routinely deliver the Miranda warnings in a perfunctory tone of voice and ritualistic behavioral manner, effectively conveying that these warnings are little more than a beaucratic triviality. (Leo)

Apology Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apology Letter - Essay Example Nothing was wrong until I encountered an unexpected expense that I had not planned for. That unexpected expense put me into great trouble and I was perplexed. I did not know how to accommodate that in my budget. Circumstances had become unbearable for me, and I had to come out of them any way. Lack of money had sabotaged my ability to think rationally, and I ended up charging back almost $1000 on my credit card in five different transactions without taking the items back to the store. I was able to do that since I knew how to operate the computers accordingly. However, I must tell you that till this point, I had full intension of paying the price of those items. I had planned to simply charge my credit card back again upon receipt of my tax return money. It was just before I could get my tax return money back so that I could charge my credit card back that the store manager somehow got to know about my act, but not my intentions! I had no intention of stealing anything from the store ever, though apparently I do sound like that. Through the explanation that I have put forth in the text above, I have tried to convey that all I did was as a result of immense tension and confusion that I was going through few days back, though my conscience is clear for I never intended to steal.

Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Laws - Essay Example Albeit there was considerable opposition to Miranda warnings for more than fourteen years after the decision, these days, little practical impediment exists in the police ability to procure a confession. In Dickerson v United States, the fact that law enforcement groups did not en masse, file amicus briefs urging the court to overturn Miranda showed how much things have changed since 1968, when law enforcement lobbies prevailed in Congress to enact an unconstitutional statute (18 U.S. Code sec. 3501), which purported to overturn Miranda. As detailed by Sociologist Richard Leo (university of California-Irvine), â€Å"police use a variety of deceptive techniques to extract confessions these days. Because the confessions are not â€Å"coercive† (according to judicial interpretation), the resulting confessions are almost always admitted into evidence†. (Leo) Why do so many people confess? Professor Leo explains the incidence thusly: that suspects are often put into a physic al environment –such as a small isolated room-which is designed to make them talk. After the isolation, the appearance of a police officer may seem like a welcome form of human contact, then the police routinely deliver the Miranda warnings in a perfunctory tone of voice and ritualistic behavioral manner, effectively conveying that these warnings are little more than a beaucratic triviality. (Leo)

The Establishment of Indian Reservations in the U.S Term Paper

The Establishment of Indian Reservations in the U.S - Term Paper Example The official start of the segregation of the native Indians began with the Indian Removal of 1830 which forced the migration of many of the tribes living east of the Mississippi river to the west side of the river1. In doing so the US government gained control of the best farming lands needed for the expansion of the European population and started off a trend of isolating the tribes and impinging on their basic rights in their own homeland which would lead on to have negative percussions for those people and tribes for the centuries to come. The treaties and forceful migration of the tribes was propagated as a means to provide them with their sovereignty and right to their lifestyle within the specified reservations. Even if one ignores the fact that many of the tribes did not regard these measures as anything of benefit for themselves and that military confrontations were often involved in ensuring their compliance with the legislations, there is still the question of the quality o f the land that was allotted to them and the lifestyle options available to them in the reservations. Lands kept for Indian use were commonly considered as the least desirable by whites and were almost always located far from major population centers, trails, and transportation routes- all necessary elements for economic growth and communication with the mainland cities. The result was that the Indians were unable to find sufficient means to find sustainable livelihoods and find the resources to use towards social development for their communities. The appalling social conditions of the reservations were widely acknowledged by the end of 19th century but government initiatives of ‘forced assimilation’ (1887) and then nearly a century later the Termination legislation (1953)2 failed to bring about any major impact in the opportunities available to the Indians or the reservations as a whole. The Termination legislation put forward idea of disbanding the communities as ind ependent political entities but that proved to be unpopular and was abandoned. Even though the Termination legislation was put into practice along with a wide scale relocation and employment program to provide financial and social assistance to the Indian youth who would be losing the close knit community atmosphere of the reservations, the low participation rate provided the government with one key insight to the lives of the natives. Despite the rampant social problems including unemployment, high crime rates, poor housing, lack of adequate child support and crime- the reservations are still thought of as a common cultural base for the Indians. The tight knit families and extended families live in close proximity and the cultural heritage is passed through one generation to the other. Languages, customs and traditions are protected in the circle of community; this wouldn’t be possible if the individual members were scattered as they are in urban settings3. Reservations have now become a part of the Indian identity and one they are not willing to part with easily- in some cases there isolation from the mainstream population actually makes them unfit for a life outside of the reservations and any opportunities ava

Hotel Tour - the Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Hotel Tour the Evaluation Essay Remington Hotel is located near NAIA 3, beside the Resorts World Manila. The hotel is good but has some flaws that has a need to work on knowing the hotel is rated as 4-star. As a hotel, they must repair and maintain facilities as it is needed. But when we arrived to the hotel, one of their interior design is not functioning, which is a demerit for their hotel. And no personnel from the department of repair is fixing it. The hallway of the hotel is very simple, as a 4-star hotel, being classy yet elegant is a must, but then, we felt like we are in a dormitory as we walked through the hallway and corridors. The elevator is well functioning, the good thing about their elevator is their ving card system, where in a guest can only go to a certain floor where his/her room is located. The room is okay. I cannot say that is very good since it doesn’t has a mini bar which is one of the requirements of a guest room, also, the bathroom is not spacious, and it does not have a bath tub. Also, I did not saw their spa and gym, which I doubted they have as well as their convention halls. Their personnel are accommodating, good looking, and practice being hygienic. The female personnel’s hair are in bun, they wear a light make up, and proper uniform, while men personnel’s hair are properly trimmed, and they wear proper uniform. Another thing I am concerned with is their reception area is far from the doors of the hotel. Which I think will not work because the guests will still look for it instead of seeing it upon entering the hotel. Resorts World Manila is such a very elegant, luxurious place for unwinding, relaxation, and of course, for entertainment. It is an all in one establishment. It has a casino, a lineup of first class bars and clubs, restaurants, and the Newport mall. But, there are some downsides. In order to enter the establishment, you must be 18 years old and above, or accompanied by an adult, you must have enough money to roam around the vicinity, of course, this is a place for rich people. The Seminars we attended when we had our hotel tour is very beneficial for each and every one of us students especially when we already entered the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. From Meal Management, though it is not that good because it is very basic, and it has been already discussed by our dearest Prof. Elizabeth Guevarra. It is beneficial for us in the sense that when we wanted to enter FB sector, we know how to operate it and how we can serve our guests finely. We are able to serve them in the best way. In FB sector, mastery of the skills is a must in order to get appreciated by the large number of guests coming in to your food establishment. The Purchasing and Cost Control Seminar we had at Genting Star Tourism Academy (GSTA) is very helpful for us when we chose to have our own food establishment in the near future or we want to be a purchaser of a restaurant or in the hotel. We can use what we learned form the seminar to fit in with the standards of being a certified purchaser or a food establishment owner. The Front Office Management seminar we had again, at GSTA, is one of my favorite seminars we had, we learned a lot, and it is very beneficial and favorable for some who wants to be in front desk of a hotel or Cruise ship. We learned that there is a separate reservation system from hotel and cruise ship. There is Opera Full Service, and Fidelio Cruise. Both used as a reservation system and it is easy to use. The House Keeping Seminar we had at GSTA helped us a lot since we knew that lots of General Managers or at least top employees in the hotel are from the housekeeping department because they know most of the circulations in the hotel. In the lecture, the speaker told us that as a house keeper who needs to make up 16 rooms in 2 hours, he must acquire a number of assistant to help the house keeper out and not making himself being in a hurry. When cleaning a guest room, a house keeper must clean first the ceiling, then the walls, and lastly the floor. As we had our bed making demonstration from one of the graduates and employee of GSTA, we learned that when you make the bed, you must work complementing being fast and working with grace. To be more efficient, a housekeeper must work in the way that he/she will be more comfortable with. We learned that it is much easier to miter the linens if you use your knees to lift the mattress. Also, a house keeper must wear comfortable clothes to move freely and make the bed very well. After the said demonstration about housekeeping, we got the chance to try making our own beds in our hotel rooms. When we get back to our respective rooms, we are ordered to make the bed and take pictures for documentations. But sadly, the house keeper and other staffs of Remington Hotel and Marsman Drysdale designated 15 students in one bed which made us a bit annoyed because we will not be able to execute our trial very well. Here’s our photo documentation for bed making: My roommates are Jerome Paul Misa and Richard Mark Oliveros. Martin Tioseco is not our roommate but he decided to have his bed making trial with us since the employees are rushing us and we have no time to make the bed group by group. a.Before Return-Demonstration Procedures b. While working on Bed Making Procedures c. Finish Product of a Well-Made Bed Set-up The theme park is not just for Lodging, Casino, Malls, and Bars, they also have the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in where we watched the King and I show, it is also a great experience for us to enter the theatre of Resorts World Manila. Also, they offer free shuttle service for guests who checked-in in their corresponding hotels: Maxims Hotel, Marriott Hotel, and Remington Hotel. Also, it is offered free for Resorts World Member which we got on the night of day 1. Resorts World Manila offers free membership card for everyone to earn points and as an ID to enter the Resorts World Manila.

Issues facing the functions of Operations Management

Issues facing the functions of Operations Management Operations management is the business function Responsible for Planning, Coordinating and controlling the resources needed to produce a companys goods and services. It involves managing human capital, machineries , technologies , information and many other resources. Operations management is the central core function of every company . even though the company is big or small, provides physical goods or services ,every company has an operating function , the role of operations management function is to transform companys raw inputs in to the finished outputs such as products or services. Inputs include human capitals, technology, Materials and Processes such as building and equipments. Outputs are goods and services which the company produces. Operations management is responsible for combining and coordinating all the available resources required to produce a proposed product or services. This include designing, the product, deciding the whole required resources , scheduling, inventor y management , quality control and job design, The Transformation Process Diagram History of Operations Management Operations management did not emerge as a formal field of study until the late of 1950s and early 1960s, It was Scholar , who recognize that all productions system face a set of problems and to stress the system approach to viewing operations process. In 1700s , the industrial revolution had a significant impact on the way gods are produced today. Prior to this movement products were made by hand by skilled people at their shops or their homes. Each product was unique . but industrial revolutions changed all that invention of machines helped to replace human power to machine power . in 1900s scientific management were introduced .it is an approach to management that focused in improving out puts restructuring jobs and selecting acceptable levels of worker out put. Scientific management brought the concepts of analysis and measurement of the technical aspects of work design. In 1980s operations management saw a huge developments Just in time concept were designed by Japanese to achieve high volume production using minimum level of inventory . this is achieved through coordination of flow of materials so that the right parts arrives at the right place at right time in the right quantity. As the customers demand in higher quality products and service , companies were forced to focus on quality in order to remain competent. Total Quality Management is a philosophy developed by quality gurus such as W Edwards Deming , that aggressively seeks to improve product quality by eliminating defects and making quality an all- encompassing organizational philosophy . with TQM every one in the company is responsible for the quality . Supply Chain Management system has been introduced in the same period to manage the flow of material and information from suppliers and buyers of raw materials al the way to the final customer. The objective is to reduce cost and improve q uality and service delivery by every one in the chain .Supply chain management became famous with the development of information technology and E commerce . electronic Commerce can occur between business known as Business to Business(B2B) , between business and customer ( B2C) and Customer to Customer(C2C) which makes up highest percentage of transaction in between business and customers . Today operational management environment is very different from what it was just few years ago. Customers demands better quality, greater speed and low cost. In order to succeed , companies have to be master s of the basics of operations management. Advanced information technology tools and software are being used to identify the resources needed to coordinate all activities involved in producing and delivering products to customer s. to gain advantage over their competitor companies are continuesly looking for ways to better respond to customers . it needs companies a deep knowledge about their customers and to meet their demands . The development of Customer Relationship Management has made it possible for the companies to understand the customers needs . Another characteristics of todays Operation management Environment is the increased use of Cross Functional Decision Making that requires coordinated interaction and decision making between the different business functions of the organizations. Employees from each function must interact and coordinate their decisions. this requires employees to understand the roles of other business functions and the goals of the business as a whole , in addition to their own expertise Service Vs Manufacturing Operations Operations can be divided in to two main categories, service operations and manufacturing operations. Manufacturing operations producing physical and tangible goods which can be stored in to the ware house before they are required, but in service operations products are intangible products that cannot be produced ahead of time. In manufacturing operations firm customers doesnt have direct contact with the operations . customers contact will be redirected through dealers , distributors and customer care centers . for example a customer is buying a computer in a super market never comes in to contact with the manufacturing company. But in service organization the customer will be typically present during the creation of the service. Car service centers, Hospitals , fast food centers are some examples of service operations. There are some manufacturing organizations provides service as part of their offering , and some service operations organizations produces physical goods that they deliver to the customer during service delivery. A barber shop may sell their own hair care products to their customers Operations management Decisions Operations management decision can be divided in to three levels . that is Strategic , Tactical and Operational Strategic Decision Making: this decision are long term decision which set directions for the entire company . they faces questions such as what will be the vision of the organizations what market the company should concentrate ,how the company should compete win the field etc. these levels of decision are made by companys topple level executives only Tactical Decision Making: short term decisions focus on particular departments are being taken in tactical decision making level. this is the level which makes decision of how ,and why questions , such as how many products should be manufactured and which technology has to be used , and how will be the quality of the product etc. Operational Decision Making: This level of decisions mainly used for day to day issues. Such as work scheduling, replacement, maintenance etc. Decision making Levels Hierarchy OPERATIONAL Role of an operations manager Operations managers are responsible for managing activities which will be a part of the production of goods and services. Their responsibilities can be divide in to two categories , Direct and Indirect Responsibilities, Direct Contains managing both the operations process, embracing design, planning, control, performance improvement, and operations strategy. Their indirect responsibilities are interacting with those managers in other functional areas within the company they have direct or indirect responsibilities on operations. Such areas include marketing, finance, accounting, personnel and engineering. Operations managers responsibilities are : Human resource management the people working in an organization to create a good or service or provide support to those who do. Man Power and Human Resource Management are a key resource of all organizations. Asset management A Companys buildings, Machinery, material and Inventory are directly connecting with the operations functions. Cost management most of the costs including fixed and variable cost of producing goods or services are directly related to the costs of acquiring resources, moving them or delivering them to the end user . For many organizations in the private sector, cost cut through efficient operations management gives them a critical competitive edge. Even organizations in the non-profit sector, the ability to manage costs is no less important. Decision making is an important responsibility of all operations managers. Decisions should be made in: Designing the operations function Analyzing the operations function Improving the operations function Controlling an Operating The five main kinds of decision in each of these relate to: The processes, which is used to produce products or services The quality of Products or services The quantity of Products or services The inventory , which is used to produce or supporting the production of goods or services Human resource management, including recruiting, scheduling, Performance Appraisal etc. A Case Study Maharaja Electricals PVT Ltd Maharaja Electricals Pvt Ltd is an ISO 9001 company based on Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India . Since its establishment with a single plant at Chennai before 15 years they remained the major suppliers of Mixers in South India. They collect completed spares from local manufacturers with strict quality checking and assemble them in their assembling units. They have experienced engineers and technicians in both electrical and mechanical disciplines. The company now has 20% of the South Indian mixer market. The major attraction to Maharaja Mixers is the low prices since all components are indigenously developed but still with quality assurance. Most of the middle class families always prefer Maharaja just because of their easily affordable costs. Now to cop up with the increased customer requirements from neighboring states, especially from Kerala, the company is planning to install a new plant in Palaghat, the border area between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are planning for an assembly lne with a conveyor belt to minimize the total time required for assembling. They prefer a U-shaped assembly line which may reduce the total installation space. Also workers at different workstations can be close so that one can help others or even handle others work when one is absent from the seat. The conveyor stops for a specific interval of time so that each work station can complete its work within that time slice. This is the time for which the basic structure of the product is available to a workstation; called Cycle Time. The main problem here is to identify the various steps involved in total assembly of a mixer. Then the cycle time for the conveyor is to be calculated. Determining the minimum number of workstations and calculating t he efficiency of the line is also a concern. The company procures the following spares from local suppliers with strict quality control in bulk. Electrical motor assembly Plastic base to fix the assembly Rubber bushes to be fixed at the bottom of the base Electrical lead to the power supply Plastic cover for the motor assembly On/off switch on plastic cover Speed regulator Plastic circular rotator Jar attachments Cardboard packing box Screws of various sizes With their ample experience in assembling the company has identified time requirements for each fixations and a linear order for assembling process. That is tabulated as follows. Process Map Theoretical Approach of the Problem, Pareto chart, Pareto Theory A Pareto chart is a bar graph. The lengths of the bars represent frequency or cost (time or money), and are arranged with longest bars on the left and the shortest to the right. In this way the chart visually depicts which situations are more significant. In the following Pareto diagram compares the available time, performance time and idle time comparison of six work stations. The diagram clearly shows at work station 1 there is no idle time for the conveyor belt. So employees with high skills and speed must be posted here. Workstation 1 is the critical point in this assembly unit since all other assembly works pre requires this assembly. Currently the assembling units are installed in an assembling unit where assembled parts are shifted from one place to another manually. It is observed with clock stop analysis that 15 minutes are required solely for shifting components to next shifting unit. Clearly here we can apply so called Pareto Principle in the situation. This principle is famed with the name of Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. The principle is also known as 20-80 rule , the Law of Vital Few and principle of factor sparsity. Later the Management thinker Joseph M Juran adopted the idea to Management Principles. Jurans assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes. For example 20% of the customers determine 80% of the sales in a trade fair. Here in our problem 30% of the total time is required for just transferring components from one table to another. Reducing this time substantially can save total assembling time and thus can improve efficiency of the total system. So installation of a conveyor belt in the factory is a better alternative. Solution The precedence requirements clearly mention which tasks are to be completed before starting a new one. In the above table before covering the motor assembly with an outer cover ( Task D ) the motor assembly must be fixed on a plastic base (Task A) and electrical leads must be connected to the assembly(Task C). Similarly certain other tasks are also having precedence requirements. A work station is a place or a table where the conveyor stops for a cycle time with the basic structure on it. After that conveyor moves so that the basic structure goes to the next work station where it can perform additional fittings. The first thing is to identify the task with highest cycle time. It is normally called bottle neck task. The conveyor at least has to stop this much of time for a workstation. The cycle time cannot be les than the duration of this task. In Mahararajas case connecting electrical lead to the power supply to the motor assembly is the bottle neck operation. The cycle time is therefore 6 minutes as per the table. If the cycle time is kept less than this Task C cannot be completed. Then determining the minimum number of workstations is the next problem to be solved. Theoretically the minimum number of workstations can be calculated by dividing the total time requirement with cycle time. So here as per the table the total task time is 30 minutes and the cycle time is 6 minutes. So Minimum number of workstations = 30/6 = 5 work stations. Then the next problem is to determine which tasks are to be assigned to which work stations. Here we have to use some heuristics. In this case the heuristics selected is called the Longest Operation Time (LOT) rule. According to this rule the top priority is assigned to task with longest operation time. In this case Task C is the longest task with an operations time of 6 minutes. This task has the highest priority assignment over first workstation. The table also shows that it has no precedence requirements ie no other task need to be completed to begin Task C. so task C can be assigned to the first workstation. An entry can be made to the following table. Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 The only prioritized task for workstation 1 is task C and that is assigned to first workstation. The cycle time is 6 minutes and that is equal to the time requirement of task C. so no remaining time is left for other tasks to perform in this work station. So no more tasks can be assigned to first workstation. At the next step the tasks assigned to the second workstation are to identified. From the table the next task with longest operation time requirement is task A which also requires no precedent operations. The task is to fix the motor assembly with the electrical lead(fixed at workstation 1 by task C) on a plastic base. Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 Since task A requires only 5 minutes, 1 minute is excess at the second workstation. But since we have no tasks which require 1 minutes only no other tasks can be assigned here. At the next step we have longest tasks D, F or H with en execution time of 3 minutes. But F and H have pre requirements. For task F task D must be completed. For task H, tasks B,E,F and G are to be completed. At this point of time both pre requirements are not satisfied. The pre requirements of task D are completion of task A and C which is already accomplished. So the preference goes to task D. Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B Here after assigning Task D 3 minutes are remaining. From the table all tasks with 3 minutes operation time requirement also have pre requirements of completion of other tasks. So the next preferable job is task B whose time requirement is only 2 minutes. Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 The next step is to assign task in work station 4 , here we can consider task F and Task h with longest path of 3 minutes ,.But task h have pre requirements so task F can be assigned in work station 4 Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G In work station 4 task F have used only 3 minute. to utilize the remaining time in work station 4 , task E, or t ask G can be assign in work station 4 , Task E is assigned in work station 4 Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G 6 4 E,G E 2 1 G The next step is to assign suitable task in next work Station . next suitable task which can be assigned in workstation 5 is task G . Heuristic Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G 6 4 E,G E 2 1 G 7 5 G G 2 4 H,I,J Task G will take only 2 minutes to complete the task . work station 5 can be assigned for some other tasks , next available tasks are Task H, I ,J , the longest path among these three tasks are with task H of 3 minute . So we can assign task H in work station 5. Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G 6 4 E,G E 2 1 G 7 5 G G 2 4 H,I,J 8 5 H H 3 1 I,JÂ   Here after there are two tasks left . Task I, Task J, But to do the Task J , Task I must be completed . so Task I can be assigned in to work station 6 Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G 6 4 E,G E 2 1 G 7 5 G G 2 4 H,I,J 8 5 H H 3 1 I,J Â   9 6 I,J I 2 4 J Task L have used only 2 minutes to complete the task, that is it remains 4 minutes in work station 6 , so we can assign Task J in work station 6 Heuristics Steps Workstation Prioritized Task Assigned Task Task Time Remaining Time Remaining Eligible Task 1 1 C C 6 0 0 2 2 A A 5 1 0 3 3 D D 3 3 B 4 3 B B 2 1 0 5 4 F F 3 3 E,G 6 4 E,G E 2 1 G 7 5 G G 2 4 H,I,J 8 5 H H 3 1 I JÂ   9 6 I,J I 2 4 J 10 6 J J 2 2 Â  0 Assignments of Works to the work station Work Station 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Available Time 6 6 6 6 6 6 36 Performance Time 6 5 5 5 5 4 30 Idle Time 0 1 1 1 1 2 6 The last table shows that at least 6 workstations are required which is different from the calculated theoretical minimum. Efficiency of the assembly line is performance time/ available time X 100 Here 30/36 X 100 = 83.33 %. Ideal efficiency is 100 %. Recommendations It is recommended to use U shaped Conveyor belt and 3 work stations should be in one side and the remaining 3 workstations should be in other side so that the idle work station can help the busy work station. The conveyor belt can be drawn as below

Essay on the Rival Poet from Shakespeares Sonnets -- Sonnet essays

Identifying of the Rival Poet from Shakespeare's Sonnets One of the intriguing aspects of Shakespeare's Sonnets is the identity of the principal characters within them, the Young Man, the Dark Lady, and the Rival Poet. Nowhere are these people explicitly identified and their anonymity has spawned much debate as to who these people could have been. The content of the Sonnets that refer to these people however, undoubtedly show that these were indeed real people. The Rival Poet was the cause of obvious anxiety to Shakespeare. A poet depended on patronage to finance the publication of his works so a rival presents a real threat of loss of income through loss of patronage as well as the professional and personal feelings of rejection, loss of esteem and a competitor being seen to gain favour instead of oneself. The sonnets that refer to the Rival Poet appear to contain sufficient data to enable the rival to be identified: The Rival Poet who writes verse is first mentioned in Sonnet 21: "So is it not with me as with that muse Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse" and goes on to say: "Making a couplement of proud compare" This part of the sonnet is open to several interpretations but it may be explicitly referring to George Chapman's use of English couplet rhymes in his epic translation of Homer's Odysseys: "The Gods in council sit, to call Ulysses from Calypso's thrall, And order their high pleasures thus: Grey Pallas to Telemachus (In Ithaca) her way addrest; And did her heavenly limbs invest..." The heavenly subject matter of Chapman's verse would appear to correlate with Sonnet 21's: "Who heaven itself for ornament doth use" The fin... ...f the Sonnets, there was a group of poets called The School of Night, also called The School of Atheisme in a 1592 reference, that was led by Raleigh and included Marlowe and Chapman. This group is apparently parodied in Love's Labours Lost: King: "Black is the badge of hell, The hue of dungeons and the school of night And beauty’s crest becomes the heavens well." Chapman also wrote a verse named The Shadow of Night whose title and subject matter fits in well with Chapman's involvement with this group. Finally, George Chapman did write verse dedicated to the Earl of Southampton who was also Shakespeare's patron. Although the identity of the Rival Poet is not conclusive, the material within the Rival Poet sonnets and the contemporary activity of George Chapman does, in my view, converge to point to George Chapman being the man.

A Bintel Brief :: essays research papers

A Bintel Brief   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Bintel Brief, the book of letters from the Jewish daily Forward brought to me the realism of life as a Jewish immigrant. The times were rough on them, they used the â€Å"Bintel Brief† to reveal there problems and to get answers. When I started to read the book I was looking for specific answers to some questions. What do the letters reveal about how immigration was a large part a culrutal process that lasted well after Jews and other immigrants arrived in the U.S.? What was the dominant definition of what it meant to be an American at the time that many Jews arrived arrived in the United States? How did the Jews in the book compare? What hopes did many Jewish immigrants have for life in America? Were the expectations met? What else do the letters reveal about the late 19th Century through the 1920s? These questions really give the purpose of the book itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The letters of the Bintel Brief reveal that immigration became a cultural process. When the Jewish immigrants came to the U.S. there culture had to be changed to adapt to the Americans. They shaved their beards and ate non-kosher foods, they slowly had to separate themselves from there homeland. They had to blend in with there surroundings to get a job or even to make friends. In one of the letters, a young Jewish woman would go to work each day knowing that she would be harassed when she arrived. One of her fellow co-workers said the all Galician Jews should be dead. With comments like that, I myself would try to hide the fact that I am of different culture. The Jewish people would have to slowly bring back there heritage after they become treated more equally. Another letter about a 18 year old boy, that is a machinist, would get beaten up as if he was a punching bag. He left the job only to receive the same treatment in the other jobs. â€Å"As soon as they fo und out that I was a Jew they began to torment me so that I had to leave the place,† said the boy (64). The letters do reveal that immigration was a cultural process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What made you an American during the time of the Jewish arrivals? To be an American in those times, meant that you must be born on the American soil.

Genetic Testing at Burlington

Genetic Testing at Burlington Northern People wake up everyday, get ready for day, and start off to work. At work we never think about dying or getting hurt. So we do not worry enough , and we believe that our workplace is safe. But unfortunately there were some fatalities, while people at work, this fatalities and accidents are still going on. Companies must care about their workers' safety and keep their environment without any danger. For this reason companies should care about ethical values.In October 2000, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad's medical department requested a blood test from Gary Avary, in purpose of a DNA test without his permission. Accidentaly he realized that, but Burlington Northern said him that if would not accept this request, he would fired. They tried to cheat their workers and make some irrelevant test about their Carpel tunnel surgery which is against ADA. At the end of this case BSNF settled the suit by agreeing to halt genetic testing and to pay 3 6 employees $2. 2 million.Because except this fake for workers, it as some mistakes against workers in work environment. First of all Kantian ethics respet to person, and we never ever should not forget that our workers are human beings like us. You should always snow respect their existence, health and safety. Secondly, BSNF lied about their health conditions. They said reason is deletion of 17th chromosome, but there is not any truth like this, so BSNF playing gamble on one person's life. For utilitarian theory, if you get profit, it does not matter what is going on outside.But after his illegal situations , BSNF charged great amount money to pay their workers, first of all it is a huge loss. Moreover they put question marks on their workers' mind. The more question marks on heads , the less utility. As i said first, we always want to beliee that we are in safe in our workplace, otherwise we cannot provide any benefit to our company. As a result BSNF gave totally wrong decisions, and they paid it hard. There is no any ethical dilemma for them. They must keep their environment safe not only for their workers, but also for their benefit.

Smart Grid Resolution, London Waste Dump Site and Maladroit’s Cosmetics Essay

One of the benefits of investing in this $100 million project includes rerouting power around bottlenecked lines. This allows Xcel Energy to deliver electricity to areas in Boulder that have a very high demand that the previous conventional electrical grid was unable to service effectively. This smart-grid system also enables Xcel Energy to detect and reduce power outages, identify false alarms more quickly and read customer meters remotely. This in return will lead to a reduction in the number of times the service crews are sent out to those locations, thus making the service crews more productive. Combining the efficiency of the smart-grid electrical system and the reduction of outages will allow Xcel Energy to capture cost-savings more appropriately. Additionally, this electrical smart-grid allows customers to monitor their individual power use reducing household usage by up to 30% in some cases, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction. Although this may lead to a decrease in revenue for Xcel Energy, the smart-grid system enables integration of renewable generation, an increase in overall system efficiency, a more robust electrical system and an ability to recover under-utilized and wasted energy. We can’t say for sure, but this may actually benefit Xcel Energy in the long-run as they will recover lost revenue through their decreased operational costs using the smart-grid electrical system. What conflicts do you suspect might have occurred between all the different stakeholders in this project? In any project there are four main stakeholders. This includes Client, Parent Organization, Project Team and the Public. In the case of Xcel Energy’s smart-grid project, both the client and public would be the population of Boulder, CO. The Parent Organization is Xcel Energy and the project team includes representatives from Accenture consulting for engineering, energy industry consultants, leading technologists, business leaders and IT experts. Accenture provides consulting solutions in many major industrial sectors. According to the text, Accenture consulting for engineering was hired. Additionally, IT experts were also brought onto the team. Accenture provides IT solutions as part of their consulting portfolio so there may be some conflict between the two parties due to their different backgrounds and methods of doing business. Also security and privacy were of utmost importance to protect intellectual property, so it is in the best interests of the project team and the parent organization to control how much information they gave to the public and local media. However, the latter of the two recipients may have wanted more information, specifically, how this affects their electricity costs and demands in the long run causing another source of conflict. Internally, members of the project team will experience conflict caused by belonging to two different teams – their project team and functional team. Often, the head of the teams are two different people with different motives and goals, and the members have the responsibility to report to both and are therefore pulled in two different directions. The members of the project team experience almost total conflict as they compete for project resources and leadership roles. This is caused in part by the different backgrounds, attitudes and biases of each member. This would be especially apparent in the Xcel project where members from many different companies and departments are brought together, each with a unique way of accomplishing the tasks and work packages of the project. Turning London’s Waste Dump into the 2012 Olympics Stadium Which of the â€Å"triple constraints† seems to be the uppermost here? Which constraints was Crockford trading between? The text says Crockford â€Å"quickly† assembled a project team of over 1000 individuals in order to meet the mid-2011 completion date. A constant referral to time is also observed. The start date of construction was noted as May 2008 and although there was a delay due to re-designing the roof, the text ends by stating that the project was still on track to be completed by mid-2011. Therefore, Schedule is the triple constraint uppermost here. The design team for the 2012 Olympics Stadium planned a highly-compact field of play requiring a steel-beamed roof and on discovering that the steel-beamed roof as designed would create turbulence on the compact field, a lighter, more flexible roof was redesigned, which was made in part from recycled materials. This roof required less steel and cost less than the initial steel-beamed roof designed. Thus, Crockford traded between the Scope (Required Deliverables) and the Cost (Budget limit). Was the life cycle for this project S-shaped, J-shaped, or something else? Considering just the purpose of the river dredging as a project itself, what was the shape of its life cycle? The completion of London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium consisted of selecting the project team (consisting of over 1000 members), cleaning up the chosen site, design of the stadium, construction, delays and finally construction until completion. Therefore, the project life-cycle most likely followed a stretched S-shape curve similar to housing construction projects. The S-shaped curve is categorized by a slow start, followed by a quick build-up and a slow finish. This is a result of the changing levels of resources used during the successive stages of the life-cycle. The slow start in this case would be the clearing of the site and design of the stadium. Construction would also begin slowly but would quickly ramp up once all the raw materials are shipped to the location and base infrastructure completed. There is a delay (not uncommon – almost expected) when the team realizes the steel-beamed roof would create turbulence on the compact field. Finally, construction will slow down as specialized parts are ordered for the final touches (luxury spectator rooms, confectionary stands etc). The river dredging project followed a J-shaped curve. This is characterized by a slow start followed by an exponential increase in project completion over time. Moreover, the expenditure of resources has little correlation with overall progress. The team removed 30,000 tons of silt, gravel and garbage from the river. Getting the cranes and other heavy machinery used to remove garbage from the river would take time, but once there, they can quickly and effectively remove the waste from the river. Were there any ancillary goals for this project? What might they have been? The Olympic Delivery Authority’s goal to use recycled materials in the building of the 2012 Olympic Stadium can be considered as an ancillary goal. The use of recycled materials to build a lighter, more flexible roof creates opportunities whereby a stadium can be completely built from recycled materials in the future. An ancillary goal of making 55,000 of the 80,000 seats temporary would create a profitable stadium in the future because the cost of maintaining the area containing the seats is grossly reduced. Furthermore, a successful stadium results in a successful 2012 Olympics and ultimately increases tourism in England. Finally, Ian Crockford has greatly increased his reputation and experience as a project manager (as well as his subordinates and parent company too) which drastically increases his chances of managing future projects on this scale and beyond. Which of the project-defining factors in Section 1. 1 were active here. The project was identified as important by the Olympic Delivery Authority composed of politicians and other high-ranking members of society. The scope was clearly defined from the beginning of the project and was divided into sub-tasks to achieve the project goals. The due date of the project is also clearly defined as Mid-2011. Many interdependencies were at play such as the recycled metal from the police department and dredging of the river. The project was unique in that it had a temporary seating design, a lighter more flexible roof and designed specifically for the 2012 London Olympics. The budget was limited to ? 32 million and not unlike the Xcel Energy case detailed above; conflicts existed between the different stakeholders of the project. Therefore, all 7 of the project defining factors were active in the construction of the 2012 Olympics stadium. Maladroit Cosmetics Company Which of the three choices do you recommend and why? The third choice, that is, the company that manufactures the machines can handle the installation project for a fee close to what the installation would cost Maladroit is recommended for a number of reasons. The first being hat Maladroit becomes the customer in this transaction, and the company installing the machines would be performing the job and would have to do it according Maladroit’s specifications including any unseen delays not identified in the scope. We are also unsure of the qualifications of the members of her staff and if they capable of undertaking such a high risk project worth $4 million. Finally, she cannot handle the project informally out of office because the project is very important and she would not be able to devote as much time to the project as well as her current duties. If the project was one small machine at a total cost of $4,000, would your answer be different? Yes, we would recommend that she assigns the project to a member of her staff that could potentially be suited for a managerial role in the future. This low risk project would be an excellent test to see how well he or she is able to complete the project deliverables in a cost-effective and timely manner. Discuss the relative importance of the capital investment required versus the role of the investment in machinery. Capital investment can be defined as a commitment of the owner’s money to land, buildings or machinery. In this example, it is the commitment of the owner’s money to the installation of 6 machines worth $4million (note: the plant manager does not necessarily own the machines, rather, the shareholders or owners of the actual company do). The role of the investment in machinery is to replace the filling machines that have become obsolete within 6 months so that the company can continue to produce cosmetic products and generate revenue.