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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Drawing on examples of ethnographic studies, critically evaluate the Essay

Drawing on examples of ethnographic studies, critically evaluate the main strengths and limitations of this research method - Essay Example The deployment of ethnography as a method to capture the realm of culture enables the researcher to dissect even the most subtle meanings associated with actions and interactions that often take place within that respective realm. It focuses on observation of specific actions and interactions within specific and natural settings rather relying solely on data collected through different external methods (Tuckman 1999). It helps to make sense of the deeper meanings that are motivated both from historical and political corner points and which rule the ruse in the daily lives. It also enables the researcher to simultaneously participate in the daily lives as well as to keep distance from the same in order to make sense of the subjective meanings attached to the actions by the subjects (Geertz 1995). In this paper I shall attempt to provide a critical overview of ethnographic research with regard to the possibilities it offer in social research. I have basically attempted to club the meri ts, demerits and instances of ethnographic research in singular edifice in the form of this paper. Thus I have attempted to draw from specific works in order to understand the relevance of the advantages and disadvantages and how the latter are overcome and through what additional methods. Being inductive in nature than deductive ethnographic research is more flexible and reserves sufficient room to incorporate elements that are difficult to manage and control and that emerge, even spontaneously, during the course of the study. The most significant use of making ethnographic analysis is that it helps the researcher to closely observe and understand the internal dynamics of the local daily lives in the cultural locale being studied. The use of observation and interviews in ethnography helps the researcher to stick to the natural settings (Wilson 1977). The opportunities for the researcher to observe the behaviour and human relations, actions and interactions within their usual enviro nment helps the researcher to â€Å"contextualize† her research (Brewer 2004: 154); it also plays a crucial role in the very process of laying foundation for the particular research. Gay and Airasian, during the course of their study about educational research generally in the European context, observes that â€Å"in ethnographic research, as opposed to other forms of social researches, hypothesis is formed after the initial phase of field visits, observation and so on† (25). This is a very crucial factor since it keeps the researcher away from any form of preoccupations about the research as such and the research questions and widens the scope of the project. In addition to the above this contextual specificity saves the researcher a great deal from generalizing the outcomes of the specific research. According to Pawson (1999), as a result of the constant interaction with subjects in their usual settings, there are constant and unexpected twists and turns in the ethno graphic research which prevent it from becoming â€Å"a neat series of sequential stages† (32). Thus ethnography could better be understood as incorporating great amounts of flexibility incorporating a â€Å"multiple series of actions in a rather flexible manner† (Ibid 33). While this remains so the question of research design occupies an important place in this research framework and ordering the research in a systematic

Monday, October 28, 2019

Management of technology Essay Example for Free

Management of technology Essay Explain the term â€Å"Technofact. † How can it be used to define Technology, and Management of Technology? Explain the value and advantage of the term Technofact, compared to other definitions and common agreement about technology. Explain the weaknesses, missing elements, and contradictions in this term. Technofact is a reproducible object created by humans. By reproducible I refer to any product (tangible or virtual) of which the intention of its human creator was to make more of exactly the same, using the same methodology. Once weve defined technofact, we are able to focus the term technology around this entity, and to define it as the capability of creating technofacts (or the human capability of creating reproducible objects). Technology is not the technical object itself but rather the capability of creating it over on over again. Other fields of science concentrate on understanding and gathering knowledge around the entity that is in the center of the science in question while the technology â€Å"science† is a capability, which is more than merely an understanding. On top of the knowledge gathered, the term encapsulates the creation itself, the know-how. The different aspects of the means to establish that capability ought to be coordinated and managed, thus, management of technology can only be defined if we separate the term technology from the objects, the technofacts, as one can not manage objects. Most of the traditional definitions of the term technology are either inaccurate or too broad. Inaccurate when the definition refer to objects (tools, products) as the technology itself. Too broad when the definition refer to any human activity (van Wyk), which might include forms of art that can not be considered as a technology. Another broad approach can be found in definitions that consider any nature manipulation as a technology (is navigation by stars a technology? ). There are three cases in which I find difficulty with the term technofact as the central entity that technology deals with: 1. When the product has an inherited random element: Consider a computer program that creates random melodies (or drawings) pleasant to the human ear (or eye), based on some mathematical rules. The program itself is obviously a virtual technofact, but are the new melodies or drawings created by it can also be considered technofacts? Obviously, they are being created over and over again using the same technology, but each time the program produces something different. 2. When the product is a natural object or resource: For example in agriculture. Carrots cannot be considered technofacts, but there is obviously a technology to grow carrots. The tools which are used in the process (a plow or a combine) are technofacts, which farmers use to produce the crop itself, but they are not the reproducible product the technology deals with. Another examples can be mining technologies. The end product is the extracted material, which can not be considered a technofact. 3. When the product is an action: For example, the capability to lift heavy weights. A crane is a technofact, but it is not the reproducible object this specific technology enable to reproduce. The reproducible object in this case is not an object but rather an action. What is a â€Å"Technology-Based Organization†? Give an example for a TBO and non-TBO. Can a company be a TBO for a limited time? Explain and give an example. A technology based organization is an organization that uses technology to create economic value or to create a competitive business advantage over other competing organizations. The organization can be continuously pursuing technological improvements, manufacturing technofacts or both. This kind of an organization will be perpetually considered a TBO. On the other hand a non-TBO organization can become one for a limited time, if it incorporates a new technology to improve its processes, thus creating an advantage over its competitors. During the process of assimilating the technology and the time that takes other players to use the same technology, a non-TBO organization can be considered a TBO, as it creates economic value using technology. Consider an imaginary traditional dairy that used to produce milk in the old milking fashion, using the farmers hands and a big nice bucket. At some point the farmer decided to acquire a milking machine from his engineer friend that had recently established a milking equipment factory using his own inventions. The farmer installed the machine in his farm and taught his kid how to use it, so he can peacefully retire. During the next couple of years, the farmers kid gained an advantage over his neighbor farmers, bought more cows, made a small fortune and established a new dairy company (which he called after his dad). Few years later, after all the other farmers had done the same, the farmers kid decided to install digital thermometers in the dairy (acquired from the very same milking equipment factory), and became the leading milk provider to the entire region, with the reputation of having the freshest milk around. Again, achieving an economic advantage using new technology. This dairy had become a TBO for short periods of time during its existence, while the milking equipment factory that had invented and manufactured the machinery was a TBO throughout the years. Explain the term â€Å"White Spaces† in the context of technological innovation. How could this term be used in an organization to help planning and decision making about innovation? White spaces are the two optional gaps between technologies and applications. The first gap exists when there is a need in the market but no solution to match it. The second gap takes place when there is a technology out there that has the capability to produce a technofact that no one knows what to do with. A technofact that did not yet find the â€Å"ultimate product† it enables (where theres a way but there is no â€Å"will†). Innovative organization can either fill up the first gap by pursuing new technologies to match the unanswered market needs, or they can focus their efforts around understanding the potential of existing technologies and to use them to develop new groundbreaking applications. Outlines the dangers and risks associated with rapid technological development to society and individuals. Are you pessimistic or optimistic about it? What can and should we do as a society and as individuals to benefit from technology and avoid the risks. The dangers and risks that rapid emerging technologies incorporate can come in many ways, shapes and forms according to the technology domain. From the lose of privacy through health jeopardizing, moral issues and mass destruction weapons, they all have one thing in common – the rate of the technology adoption and development has become faster than the rate of the ability to comprehensively understanding its implications. Successful technologies are spreading swiftly, acquiring life of their own and â€Å"forcing† people to use them in order to survive in the modern society. Even if a certain individual decides to rebel and not to use a specific technology directly, it still might change the environment this person lives in, to affect and endanger im just the same (e. g. cellular phones). The lose of freedom inflicted by some technologies is a big price of its own that society and individuals have to pay. History tells us that panic from new technologies had always existed, and we are probably experiencing the same unjustified fear of the unknown that the car inflicted on society a hundred years ago. But the problem with history is that it can only explain the past, while the present is unlike anything humanity imagined before. I dont believe that governmental regulations aiming to restrain technology can work in the long run, but in order to control at least some of the risks, governments should cooperate globally on some issues to regulate technologies similar to the way new medicines and drugs are treated. As individuals, we must take responsibility for our health and moral values, to deal with it at all times among ourselves, to be aware of the risks we are taking and not to become blind addicts for anything new. Still, Im pessimistic as for the capability of mankind to do that and overcome its basic selfish nature.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Commentary on a Passage from Shelleys Frankenstein :: Mary Shelley

The passage begins in first person, whom we presume is Frankenstein, where he is reminiscing on some of the consequences of his meddling with nature. He informs us that three years ago, he was engaged in an activity which created a monster whom he describes as a ‘fiend whose unparalleled barbarity has desolated my heart, and filled it for ever with the bitterest remorse.’ He then goes on to talk about how he is about to create a ‘mate’ for the previous monster and is frightened about the effects it will have on both his creation and society. The mood of the passage is very glum as the narrator is contemplating the unforeseen horrors arising from this strange experiment. He questions the result of this ‘mate’, thinking ‘she also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man, she might quit him, and he be again alone’. Through his voice, it assists our understanding of the material as through the narrator’s bleak heart, we are made to experience very strongly the extent of his guilt. The tone of this passage is somewhat personal in the sense that he seems like he is arguing and deliberating to himself about the events which either have happened or are about to, ‘ †¦Had I the a right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations?’. He questions his own significance in society at the time when the passage is written and for the future generations and thinks himself as a ‘curse upon everlasting generations’. Having heard his reasons and seen his desolation and feeling the despair of desolation we, as readers are more able to sympathise with his actions. The overall ‘meaning’ of the passage is to tell a story about a character in which they are in deep unease and melancholy and read their views on the surroundings around them. The key themes that are conveyed to us the readers are that of madness. The author manipulates our sympathy for the monster Frankenstein by seeing it from his point of view and listening to his thoughts about himself being a ‘curse’. The piece does have a clear point of view, as his thoughts are straight-forward. This will have an effect on the reader by pointing in the direction the author maneuvers our sympathies by showing us different perspectives of situations. The setting plays an important part in reflecting the shifting moods and emotions of characters by giving us a sense of loneliness ‘ I sat one evening in my laboratory†¦.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Developing Business Skills Essay

How do OMM activities create value and a competitive advantage at the input, operations, and output stages? The input stage of the operations and materials management process would include the materials needed to create the finished goods that the consumer desires. This is where the company determines the amount of value they create for the customer by purchasing products that have the greatest value for the money. The operations stage of the process is where the skills, knowledge, machines, and experts come together to produce the goods and services to sell to the consumer at the lowest cost possible to remain competitive in their market. The output stage of this process is when the products that were produced reach the customers that they were intended for. If these products cost more to make than the competitors, then the consumers will likely not buy their product because the cost will be higher to cover the expenses involved in making them. What is TQM, and why is it important for a company to improve the quality of its products? In terms of a company’s input, operations, and output stages, how can TQM be used to create a competitive advantage? The term TQM refers to total quality management and refers to techniques used to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. This operational technique is aimed toward continuous improvement within the company from input to output. This technique helps companies to reduce the production time it takes to make a product as well as the waste involved in the process too. When a company focuses on streamlining their production process it allows them to reduce their initial cost involved in producing their products which, in turn, reduces their overall cost and allows them to pass the savings on to their consumers. What is Six Sigma, and it what ways can it be used to reduce the costs of a company’s OMM process? In terms of a company’s input, operations, and output stages, how can Six Sigma be used to create a competitive advantage? Six Sigma refers to the process that can measure how far a task deviates from perfection. It can also figure where the problems derive from and figure out ways to eliminate them. This process can produce no more than 3.4 defects per million chances for nonconformance. It revolves around six key concepts to acquire perfection within the process. These would include: critical to quality, defect, process capability, variation, stable operations, and design for Six Sigma. These six key concepts focus on how the consumers discern their product and the value that it provides to them. I have worked for a company that has this process in place and the key component that I found helpful was the fact that everything had a specific place that it should be. This made finding things very easy which eliminated running around hunting for things that you needed for the production process. This cut down on time wasted and made the production of the product much less time consuming. How does a just-in-time inventory system operate? In terms of a company’s input, operations, and output stages, how can JIT be used to create a competitive advantage? A just-in-time (JIT) inventory system requires that inputs and components are delivered at the exact moment they are needed to reduce the inventory levels. These systems cut costs by not requiring products stored in inventory for days or even weeks ahead of time. This allows a company to keep their overhead down and only purchase the exact amount of product they need to produce the product they are making. One way for a company to create a competitive advantage with a JIT is to work with their suppliers to incorporate a JIT process as well to reduce costs and increase quality. This process allows a company to change the design of their product without producing an abundance of their previous products because they must use up their inventory.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Experience of Life

Have you ever thought how much someone can grow and learn through the experiences? There are many factors in how people can change their personality; their way of thinking and every day grow more as a person. Life is too complex to understand, it is better to live and enjoy each day to the fullest that it is where you learns more. In my opinion, I believe in what my mother says, â€Å"Everyone must go through their own experiences and learn from their own mistakes†. I personally have changed a lot as a person in the past two years by different life experience like my graduation in college, starting a new job and moving to another country.My first impact when I understood that my life was changing and I had to go through new roads was my graduation day. I was with my toga and cap in a huge classroom with more than a hundred students, all seated waiting for our bachelor’s degree. Upon hearing my name and having to climb onto the stage to receive my degree was the moment w hen I realized that I was no longer a child and I became a woman with a degree from preschool teacher. The shock of knowing that my life was going to start to be different and I will start a new life as an adult and with a real job frame my life.The jump from being a student to becoming a professional is awesome, I am very proud of my achievements but on the other hand, I went into a panic at not knowing what was coming next. I think that in that moment was a huge change in my life that made me mature tremendously. After I understand that my life had changed, I started my adventure of living the life that I always dreamed, to be a teacher. The time of being a head teacher had arrived. During my two years of working I was a head teacher of Nursery.The experience I had during those two years was amazing; it's incredible how children transmit you peace, happiness and that innocence that captures the heart of everyone. However, some of my biggest challenges during my years of work were dealing with parents. For example, in my first year of teaching one of my students father ordered an appointment with the director and me to see if I met his expectations as a teacher of his daughter. At first, I will not deny, I felt insulted because how could a parent knowing that â€Å"El Jefferson† is one of the best schools in Caracas and he wanted to see if her daughter's teacher was professional†. That experience made me grow and understand each situation and fear that parents maybe can feel having to leave their children in a school when they have only 3 years old. At the end of the meeting the father apologized to me and congratulated me of my professionalism and the way that I took the meeting. I felt proud of myself and I gave him what he needs confidence and security. Each experience has made me grow in different ways and I really appreciate. Likewise, after having completed my two years of work experience in which I enjoy to the fullest.I started to go th rough some of the biggest changes in my life, moving to a new country. One of my life goals is to do a master of Special Education, so I decided to do this master in New York City. From the moment I stepped on the United States I realized that my life was changing 360 degrees. I was leaving my family, my friends, my life in Venezuela and I was faced with something new and different: different language, different culture, new friends, new place to live, etc. I can say this has been one of the strongest changes in my life that made e grow without anesthesia in too little time. Today I live alone, I cook, I do my laundry and I managed all my expenses. This is the first time that I am living alone and having my independence. I can totally say this is a unique and incredible experience. This opportunity that my parents are offering me has helped me to understand how difficult could be the life and if you dream for something you have to fight for it. For example, when I was at school or in college my mother was always reminding me to study or whatever, does not mean that I did not, but it is a typical habit of mothers.Now that I am here studying to start a master in NYC, all the responsibility of homework, studies, etc. it is totally on me. For anyone, this kind of life experience makes us grow up enormously and I appreciate every day in life than my parents could give me, because that is being changed me more and more as a person. In conclusion, it is difficult to write on paper all those experiences, which I have gone through and have changed me as a person. Each day that passes everyone live things that mark us forever, sometimes they are more noticeable than others. As my grandmother â€Å"People never stop learning no matter how old they are†.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Does the Pentateuch tell a good story Essays

Does the Pentateuch tell a good story Essays Does the Pentateuch tell a good story Essay Does the Pentateuch tell a good story Essay Essay Topic: Left To Tell Religion The Pentateuch the first five books of the Old Testament seems to be fundamentally fragmented in form. Genesis tells of creation and of the early history of Israel up until preparations to leave Egypt, the next three books consider Israels drift through the desert and the laws formed on these travels, while Deuteronomy exists for the most part as a collection of laws and legislative poetry by Moses. Can such fragments make a good story? However, while the Pentateuch is both divided into five parts and appears to be fragmented in style and subject, the Pentateuch manages to show a unity in narrative1. What do we today understand by the term a good story? I would suggest that a clear beginning, middle and end are essential to hold onto narrative meaning and coherence as a story. The beginning must be powerful, must be able to address universal problems and questions and must both set the scene and introduce essential characters. The middle must intrigue, excite and be meaningful, while the end must seek to wrap up any questions or problems addressed and wrap up the narrative. I believe that to some degree, the Old Testament manages to do this. Genesis 1 is most definitely a powerful beginning. Surely nothing can be more grand and universal in scale that the very creation of the universe? Genesis also acts to introduce the main character of the Pentateuch, God, and His creation of man and the world. The first chapters of Genesis have to be seen to act as a universal framework for the way that we are to understand God, and indeed the world. But the story of creation must not be literally interpreted, or thought of as myth. The use of the word myth to describe this section of Genesis is frequently used, but can be misleading. Myths are often based on fantasy and fiction, but the creation story must be seen as aiming to give a true portrayal of the world and of humanity in the world in relation to God. Genesis establishes Him as the fundamental base and character through which all is to be interpreted. Genesis aims to set the scene for the way in which we are to understand the relationship between man and God. The overarching theme is that even though mans disobedience seems to isolate him from God, darkness and potential death are turned around. It appears that, salvation is identical with creation. 2 The first story of this kind in Genesis is that of Adam and Eve. Their disobedience of God in search of the fruit of knowledge and hence the attempt to become gods themselves, is met with severe punishment through the Fall they are separated from paradise and are met with pain and suffering. God, however, dresses them in skins which shows that life with God is not totally broken. Similarly, the story of Noah and the Ark shows how the evil and disobedience of man is punished with obliteration. Yet still potential life with God can be seen through the relationship of God and Noah. Noahs obedience of Gods word saved him and his family. These two stories are stories of the human condition to disobey God and to act evilly. Each one, however, ends in a glimmer of hope that suggests life with God. This possible life with God is articulated in His relationship with Abraham which begins in Genesis 12. The relationship between God and Abraham shows the reader emphatically how God deals with the human condition described in Genesis 1-11. This relationship is the realisation of a new beginning with God at the helm, and although the relationship is with Abraham alone and therefore seems to narrow down the extent of Gods work, this relationship holds a universal importance. Gods covenant with Abraham (seen in Genesis 15) can be seen as turning the darkness of the evil of man into a true life with God. However, even though the central theme is that God is offering as the saviour of Israel, he tells of a dark and terrifying future; a future of slavery and oppression. Faith is therefore an integral part of the story of Abraham. This is best shown when God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The sacrifice of Isaac, his only son from his wife Sarah, would surely lead to an awful and dark place in his life. God rewards Abrahams faith by sparing Isaacs life, but also Abraham is to be blessed with offspring, as numerous as the stars of heaven and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves 3 God shows universally that, if you obey God and have faith in His word, then you be blessed and find life with God. The story of Joseph is, however, the first great masterpiece of the Pentateuch. The point of the story is that Gods will is being articulated even though the individuals who are involved in it may not be entirely conscious of it. It appears to be the most coherent story met yet in the Pentateuch. Indeed, G. von Rad writes that, the stories about Joseph are clearly distinguished from those about Abraham and Jacob, and are a real connected narrative and not a compilation of many previously independent traditions. 4 Coherence, it seems, appears to be integral to unifying the narrative of the Pentateuch. The most powerful, dramatic and coherent story in the Pentateuch, however, must surely be Israels escape from Egypt with Moses a story that is also of utmost importance for the remaining parts of the Pentateuch. Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch, essentially traces the escape from Egypt and Israels stay at Mount Sinai. We are shown very early on that this story will be central to both the Pentateuch and the Old Testament, as it is here that the real name of God, Yahweh, is revealed both in Exodus 3:15 and 6:2. Through Moses, God works to save Israel from the Egyptians, most notably by sending ten plagues on Egypt. Eight of these plagues affected agriculture in ancient times society depended heavily on agriculture to trade and to survive at all. Therefore, eight plagues affecting Egypts agriculture must not be passed over as insignificant, but instead taken to be as deadly serious. As the Israelites exit Egypt, the story becomes sincere and soft in tone shown in Exodus 12:42, that same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations, followed by directions of how to act on this Holy day. This quiet, however, is shattered by the hugely dramatic pillars of cloud and fire, by which God lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The almost physical form of God here emphasises God integral involvement in the present and future of Israel, and that Moses liberated the Israelites through the power of God. The crossing of the Red Sea shows the reader both the great power of God working through Moses, and God wrath for those who are disobedient all the pursuers are drowned, showing that all those who act against His people, those who reject the word of God, shall die and themselves be rejected from a life with God. This coherent narrative, and the following story of the Israelites stay at Mt. Sinai, makes an important impact on the story of the Pentateuch as a whole. Much of the rest of the book of Exodus is of a legislative nature, as is Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. However, as extensive areas of these books are of a legislative nature, can they really be said to make the Pentateuch a good story or in fact help to give a sense of overarching unity to the work as a whole? A narrative unity can be traced in the Pentateuch, although it is not at all times clear. Genesis acts as a prologue, while Exodus begins the story of Moses and the Israelites, but the story is broken with legislation surrounding the stay at Mt. Sinai. The Book of Leviticus acts to show what the Israelites must do for God, after showing them in Exodus what he had done for them in fact the instruction-like form of much of the scripture surrounding the stay at Mt. Sinai stretches from Exodus 19 Numbers 10; a significant body of work. One may ask how such interruptions to the narrative strengthen the Pentateuch as a story. It is important to understand that, aw lay at the foundation of Israels religion 5 Those who were disobedient to God in the past had been severely punished (Adam and Eve for example) and therefore Gods law became fundamental to Israels life and society. However, while there is definitely a narrative unity in the Pentateuch, it is often extremely thin and loosely scraped together. 6 Deuteronomy seems to be quite a separate collection of speeches all together. It is distinct in form, literary style and language and most scholars accept that Deuteronomy dates from the 7th century BCE obviously a far later work than Genesis through to Numbers. I am of the opinion that the collection of such obviously separate sources in Deuteronomy has resulted in a very uneven and inorganic whole. However, the Pentateuch does not exist without Deuteronomy, and the book does display narrative similarity with the previous books. For example, the Ten Commandments are restated in Deut 5 and Moses, the key figure in Israels history, both reminds Israel that God has cared for them, and himself acts as a symbol of Gods work. Deuteronomy can be seen as an expression of Gods basic will for Israels future, and ultimately acts as the culmination of the whole Pentateuch story. The book acts to emphasise that the Pentateuch has become the foundation story of Israel, a story that shapes and regulates Israel ever after, and a story that has become the canonical story of Israel. So what, if anything, is the unifying and underlying base of the Pentateuch as a story? Is there a thematic unity alongside the narrative? If the narrative exists as pearls on a necklace, is there a string upon which the narrative rests? Gods covenant could indeed be this theme, as it is an important feature of Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy. 7 One may also argue that Moses is the key theme. Although not present in Genesis, Gods word and action is articulated through Moses in Exodus-Deuteronomy. Scholars such as D. Clines argue that, The theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfilment of the promise to or blessing of the patriarchs 8 Clines thinks that this partial fulfilment can be seen in three stages: Genesis deals with the promise of descendants and great future generations, Exodus and Leviticus deal with promises surrounding the two way relationship between God and man, while Number and Deuteronomy deal with the promise of a land for Israel. The third stage is left unfulfilled at the end of the Pentateuch; the story is left seemingly incomplete. However, this can act to show modern readers that they are not simply looking back at the past, but that the Pentateuch is not a closed story it looks forward and therefore involves the modern reader in a story that regulated the life of Israel. Perhaps, also, the apparent failure of the Pentateuch to wrap up the loose ends must be viewed in the light of the New Testament? The Pentateuch could just be a signpost of that which is to come ultimately the Messianic prophesy. For example, the sacrifice of Christ can be seen as being prefigured by the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. If the Old Testament can be thought of as inconclusive and thought to require a sequel, then surely the New Testament is exactly this. God worked through Moses in the Old Testament; therefore, perhaps the embodiment of God in Christ in the New Testament can be seen to conclude perfectly the story that the Old Testament told. I would argue that the Pentateuch does tell a good story, and that it has both a narrative and thematic unity. Criticisers of the Pentateuch often make no attempt to ask, ow stories or literary complexes from originally discrete sources were to be read and understood when combined with one another 9 Negative evidence that suggests the disunity of the Pentateuch can be used constructively. It can show that consistent works can have their integrity destroyed by editorial attempts to mould them together. The Pentateuch, in the form that it exists today, can be seen as not only a collection of narrative sources, but also as a collection of theological concerns set against and integrated with one another, which together act in the past and the present to shape the life of Israel a life with God.

Monday, October 21, 2019

29 ways on how to stay creative at work throughout the day

29 ways on how to stay creative at work throughout the day Creativity at work is letting the inner you shine through the work you produce. But being at work all day can sometimes drain you mentally and physically; getting  in your way of your creativity. With these 29 ways to stay creative, you can help with your ideas to flow throughout the day instead of reaching road blocks. Simple things such as taking breaks, getting feedback, making lists, and even singing in the shower can get your creative juices flowing. Here are some quick and easy tips that work magic for your creativity!Source [ Behance ]

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The End of the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez

The End of the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez The citizens of Los Angles were frightened as more news of the Night Stalkers latest victims circulated. Neighborhood watch groups were formed, and people armed themselves with guns. On August 24, 1985, Ramirez traveled 50 miles south of Los  Angeles and broke into the home of Bill Carns, 29, and his fiancà ©e, Inez Erickson, age 27. Ramirez shot Carns in the head and raped Erickson. He demanded that she swear her love for Satan, then tied her up and left. Erickson struggled to the window and saw the old orange Toyota Ramirez was driving. Remarkably, teenager James Romero III noticed a suspicious car cruising the neighborhood and wrote down the license plate number. He turned the information over to the police department. Two days later, the police located the same Toyota abandoned in a parking lot in Rampart. They were able to get fingerprints from the cars  interior. A computer match was made of the prints and identification of the Night Stalker became known. On August 30, 1985, the arrest warrant for Richard Ramirez was issued, and his picture was released to the public. A Face Revealed On August 30, Ramirez  returned to LA after making a short trip to Phoenix, Arizona to buy cocaine. Unaware that his picture was all over the newspapers, he got off of a Greyhound bus and walked into a liquor store. The woman working inside recognized him and began yelling that he was the Night Stalker. Shocked, he quickly fled the store and headed toward the heavily populated Hispanic area of east Los Angeles. A small mob formed and chased him for two miles. Captured by a Mob Ramirez tried to steal a car, but the owner was underneath it doing repairs. When Ramirez tried to start the engine, the man pulled out from beneath the car, and the two struggled until Ramirez escape. The mob that was in pursuit of Ramirez, now armed with steel rods, caught up with him, beat him with the rods and subdued until the police arrived. Ramirez, fearing that the mob would kill him, raised his hands to the police, begging for protection, and identified himself as the Night Stalker. Endless Pre-Trial Motions Because of the endless appeals on the part of the defense and Ramirez asking for different attorneys, his trial did not begin for four years. Finally, in January 1989, a jury had been selected, and the trial began. Haunts of the Charlie Manson Trial During the trial, Ramirez attracted several groupies who wrote to him regularly. The trial scene had haunts of the Charlie Manson trial, with women hanging around, clad in black robes. When one of the jurors failed to show up one day and was discovered dead in her apartment from a gunshot wound, many wondered if some of Ramirezs followers were responsible. It was later determined that it was the womans boyfriend who killed her during an argument that erupted while discussing the Ramirez case. Sentenced to Die On September  20, 1989, Richard Ramirez was found guilty on 43 counts in Los Angeles County, including 13 murders, and charges including  burglary, sodomy, and rape. He was sentenced to death on each count of murder.  During the sentencing stage, it  was reported  that Ramirez did not want his attorneys to beg for his life. While being led out of the courtroom, Ramirez made the sign of devils horns with his chained left hand. He told reporters,  Big deal. Death  always went with the territory.  Ill see you in Disneyland. Ramirez was sent to his new home, death row at  San Quentin Prison. The Virgin Doreen On October 3,  1996, 36-year-old Ramirez tied the knot with one of his groupies, 41-year-old Doreen Lioy, in a civil ceremony held in San Quentins visiting room. Lioy  was a  self-proclaimed virgin and a magazine editor with an I.Q. of 152. Ramirez was a serial killer waiting to be executed. Lioy  first wrote to Ramirez after his arrest in 1985, but she was one of many women sending love letters to the Night Stalker. Not willing to give up, Lioy continued to pursue a relationship with Ramirez, and in 1988, she had her dream fulfilled when Ramirez asked her to be his wife. Due to prison regulations, the couple had to postpone their marriage plans until 1996. Death-row inmates were not permitted to have conjugal visits, and no exception was made for Ramirez and the virgin, Doreen. The situation was likely alright with Ramirez, who said that it was his wifes virginity that made her so appealing. Doreen Lioy believed that her husband was an innocent man. Lioy, who was raised as a Catholic, said she respected Ramirezs satanic worship. This was demonstrated when she gave him a silver wedding band to wear since satanic worshipers do not wear gold. The Night Stalker Dies Richard Ramirez died June 7, 2013, at the  Marin General Hospital. According to the  Marin County coroner,  Ramirez died from complications of B-cell lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He was 53 years old.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Education - Research Paper Example The subject school that is being documented tends to display a similar trend. The school in focus is an elementary school so the ages of the student population tend to be under 12 years of age. The Hispanic background of most student’s means that they come from families where Spanish is spoken and understood. This often occurs at the expense of learning English and a significant amount of students in class tend not to speak any English at all. Yet another significant amount of students in class tend to speak some English though there is a large need to improve the spoken English skills. Only a minor amount of students can fully communicate in and comprehend English. On average the typical Grade 4 student has trouble coping with speaking a few words of English. In this situation, expecting these children to write words and sentences in English is unrealistic because they can hardly comprehend English. Most children can however follow cue and produce some sensible words while on ly a small amount of children can produce understandable sentences. In terms of behavior, a large majority of children are inclined to create disturbance in the classroom. The imposition of order in the classroom is a separate task in itself. However, it has been felt that if these children’s behaviors are reinforced with more positive values, a significant difference could be created. This onus would fall to the school as these children hail from a relatively low socio-economic status. In most of the children’s families, either both parents are working or the mother has too many children to take care of. This indicates that the children are not given a lot of time by parents for their grooming especially as per behavior and education. In addition the language barrier that exists between the teachers and the students means that not all instructions are being carried forward as intended. Rework and repetition of the same tasks in class is common since most children fail to comprehend instructions the first time. Since most children are essentially English language learners, so there is dire need to look into the lingual skills of these children before any other form of learning is introduced. The lack of proper communication between teachers and students is a major facet of the school environment. The interaction between teachers and students is limited by the fact that both parties are unable to understand each other completely unless the teacher has a Hispanic background as well. A few Caucasian students are present in class as well but interaction with them alone cannot be taken as a guarantee for other children to learn English. In terms of teaching, the language barrier poses problems on different fronts. For one thing, the instructions passed onto children are not clear the first time and there is often the need to repeat instructions. This tends to slow down the overall pace of work significantly. Furthermore, this issue creates an evaluati on based problem as well. The limited interaction available with the students makes it hard to evaluate if a student has learning disabilities or if the student is being bogged down in translation. Language also plays a defining role in how the community tends to view itself. It is typical to see Hispanic children sitting together in class, socializing together and forming cults. This exclusion tends to take place because these children do not have the necessary language skills to

Friday, October 18, 2019

Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Assignment

Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence - Assignment Example categories; the first category is leadership which examines senior leadership, how they lead, communicate with the workers, motivate the workforce and how their actions and decisions affect the overall performance of the organization. It also examines governance and social responsibilities that is; how the organization determines and sustains legal and ethical behavior and the execution of the organizations social responsibilities. The second category strategic leadership examines the organization’s strategy development, factors influencing strategy, strategy objectives and strategy implementation. Thirdly, customer focus examines how the organization relates to its customers. It involves evaluating the customer listening of both existing and potential customers, customer satisfaction and engagement as an organization and in comparison with competitors as well as customer dissatisfaction. It also looks at how the organization involves its customers in their business in order to better address their needs and build sustainable relationships. Fourth we have measurement analysis which evaluates the organization’s collection, analysis and management of data to achieve its goals. Such data includes, performance measurements, analysis and reviews and the use of other external information and resources to the organizations advantage. The fifth category work force focus examines the organization’s ability to employ its workforce to its optimum capability and capacity to attain its goals. The next category operations focus evaluates the organizations designs as well as manages and improves its work systems and processes to ensure the organization delivers to its customers. The final category result evaluates the results of all the previous categories in relation to the organizations goals. It reflects the outcomes whether the application of the six categories to the organization (Baldrige Perfomance Excellence Program, 2011-2012). The Baldridge criteria have been

Bodies, Sexualities, Identities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bodies, Sexualities, Identities - Essay Example In line with this, it is assumed that a child’s response to what is pleasing is actually dependent on experience. As the child experienced being fondled in genitals or sexually stimulated with whatever it is that may cause sexual arousal, the sensation that may result to this could be a potential ground from time to time for the enhancement of any wonderful feeling associated with this activity. Thus, this further explains the fact why there are children who actually are involved in masturbation even then in the 18th century and substantially addicted to it (Egan and Hawkes, 2011). Nowadays, such kind of addiction may be further enhanced due to the presence of pornographic materials and commercialization of sex which involves minors in the age of fast broadband internet connection. Even though it involves high level of complexity, the actual point of this essay is to explicate how the body of a child questions notions of normative sexuality. Furthermore, the proponent shows ho w thinking about children and bodies involves the simultaneous absence and presence of sex. Child’s body’s questions on the notions of sexuality The first point is to address specific answer on how the body of a child questions notions of normative sexuality. ... herefore may be only left with the idea of what makes them feel good or bad, disregarding the notion of morality in the absence of actual adult supervision. The ideas therefore of sexuality from the perspective of a child will not be so complicated because they would only rely on their senses disregarding the issue of morality in the event that adult’s supervision is not present. For instance, in 18th century children were considered lacking in reason which actually made them subjects of adult supervision. In fact, the same response is actually happening in today’s modern society. In some TV programs, parental guidance is advised as there may be sexually illicit content or other scenes that may not be suitable for minor audiences. This specifically reflects the point that there are some certain things that a child could not still understand the way adults do. Thus, the belief in 19th century that a child is susceptible to be influenced by the environment would make sens e (Egan and Hawkes, 2011; Angelides, 2004). There was a strong point to consider that children substantially have many things to be explored, either by accident or learning experience, which would be much focus on bodily rather than psychological response. Louis Kahm agreed to this by specifically pointing out that masturbation can be learned from example or actual experience. This can be substantially supported by the idea of Alfred Vogel which points that anything which causes erection or sexual stimulation could promote masturbation. Furthermore, in the case of child sexual abuse, the abused is actually exposed to either sensation or traumatic experience. Finding that not all abused children suffered hysteria and traumatic experiences, Freud concluded that at some point an abused child would have

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Protection of cultural industries in Europe Essay

Protection of cultural industries in Europe - Essay Example For instance, there is a difference in culture between Eastern and Western Europe; the languages spoken are a variety while there are over five religious groups that are predominant. The continent is actually said to have a fault line in culture in the countries that fall all across the continent of Europe. The industry is also commonly known by the name creative industry. This is a combination of the process of designing, producing, distributing of products either goods or services that have a cultural basis. The services and goods are normally covered by the rights on intellectual property. These industries among others include audio visual, cinema, the music industry and the craft industry. The creative industry is an essential industry in the creation of employment in Europe. It is estimated that an approximate number of 7 million people from Europe earn a living from this industry. The European people are themselves the source of cultural diversity as well as cultural identity. The industry has its basis on knowledge and heavily relies on human labor as well as creativity. The industry is particularly in Europe for fostering creativity and also nurturing innovation among the members of the society. Hennighan, Tom (1996). ... In the recent past, the cultural industry in Europe has incorporated the latest digital technology to enhance the quality of the products and services. In addition, there has been the drawing of policy on regulation of this industry at the international, regional and national levels. The deregulation in the industry has radically changed the context from which the flow of cultural services, goods and investments between countries takes place. The cultural industries have consequently gone through the process of progressive concentration and internalization which has resulted to the creation of just but very few conglomerates that are big .They are part of the global oligopoly. Dorland, Michael (2004). The recent trends in the cultural industry In the recent past, the creative industry has been growing at a very fast pace. Infact, in Europe, it is rated as one of the sectors of the economy with the fastest growth rate. The growth is attributed to the rapid dynamism in technology, growth the economy that is digital, the increased commercializing of all the intellectual property and the union of the media. Dorland, Michael (2004). All these factors and many others have enhanced the production, the distributing as well as the consumption and piracy of the goods and services produced by the cultural industry. The modern digital technology in communication and information sectors have completely lead to the revolutionalizing of this industry by improving the process of production so that it is of more quality, the channel of distributing the produced goods and services, the modes of consumption by the final consumer to he products. The availability of the technology at a low cost has made the diffusion of text, sound and image possible to

Biology research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biology - Research Paper Example For instance, Bellard, McCarthy and Meekins studied on genetic variation as well as biogeography of Alliaria petiolata in North America in 1st January 2001. According to their findings, Alliaria petiolata varied in not only phenology, but also morphology across all the native plants in which it grew ( Bellard, McCarthy and Meekins 161). They also found out that Alliaria petiolata also varied in terms of seed dormancy. In their results, they also stipulate that Alliaria petiolata is a hexaploid plant species based on n=7. In tandem to Bellard, McCarthy and Meekins findings, Hanson and McCarthy also claim that Alliaria petiolata is one of the plant species that have contributed to the loss of many indigenous plants in North America. They assert that Alliaria petiolata is a non-indigenous plant species that belongs to Brassicaceae family (Hanson and McCarthy 68). According to them, it was first identified in North America in early 1868. Unlike other Brassicaceae, Hanson and McCarthy spo tulate that Alliaria petiolata spreads in the introduced environment very fast because of its monopolization of resources. To justify their point, they expound on how it took it only 20 years to spread throughout the northeastern parts of North America. By 1991, Alliaria pestiolata had spread to Canada and was identified in 30 U.S states (Blazevic and Mastelic 607). In tandem to this, Bossodorf and Prati also found out that it is through characteristic features and adaptations that Alliaria petiolata managed to invade and successively destroy North American woodlands (Bossdorf and Prati 1). They also found out that the effects of Alliaria petiolata varied with plant species; some species such as G. laciniatum was least sensitive to the allelopathic interference. In their study, Meiners and Pisula also found out that invasive plant species conquer and advance successfully in introduced areas because of allelopathy. According to them,

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Protection of cultural industries in Europe Essay

Protection of cultural industries in Europe - Essay Example For instance, there is a difference in culture between Eastern and Western Europe; the languages spoken are a variety while there are over five religious groups that are predominant. The continent is actually said to have a fault line in culture in the countries that fall all across the continent of Europe. The industry is also commonly known by the name creative industry. This is a combination of the process of designing, producing, distributing of products either goods or services that have a cultural basis. The services and goods are normally covered by the rights on intellectual property. These industries among others include audio visual, cinema, the music industry and the craft industry. The creative industry is an essential industry in the creation of employment in Europe. It is estimated that an approximate number of 7 million people from Europe earn a living from this industry. The European people are themselves the source of cultural diversity as well as cultural identity. The industry has its basis on knowledge and heavily relies on human labor as well as creativity. The industry is particularly in Europe for fostering creativity and also nurturing innovation among the members of the society. Hennighan, Tom (1996). ... In the recent past, the cultural industry in Europe has incorporated the latest digital technology to enhance the quality of the products and services. In addition, there has been the drawing of policy on regulation of this industry at the international, regional and national levels. The deregulation in the industry has radically changed the context from which the flow of cultural services, goods and investments between countries takes place. The cultural industries have consequently gone through the process of progressive concentration and internalization which has resulted to the creation of just but very few conglomerates that are big .They are part of the global oligopoly. Dorland, Michael (2004). The recent trends in the cultural industry In the recent past, the creative industry has been growing at a very fast pace. Infact, in Europe, it is rated as one of the sectors of the economy with the fastest growth rate. The growth is attributed to the rapid dynamism in technology, growth the economy that is digital, the increased commercializing of all the intellectual property and the union of the media. Dorland, Michael (2004). All these factors and many others have enhanced the production, the distributing as well as the consumption and piracy of the goods and services produced by the cultural industry. The modern digital technology in communication and information sectors have completely lead to the revolutionalizing of this industry by improving the process of production so that it is of more quality, the channel of distributing the produced goods and services, the modes of consumption by the final consumer to he products. The availability of the technology at a low cost has made the diffusion of text, sound and image possible to

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Technical entrepreneurs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Technical entrepreneurs - Essay Example Rated by Forbes Magazine as the 2005 wealthiest person in the world for the twelfth consecutive year, Bill Gates estimated wealth amounts to $27.38 billion based on Microsoft's current stock price (Marcus, 2006). Bill Gates is the co-founder, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest software company. He is also the founder of a digital image archiving company that goes by the name of Corbis, which is one of the world's most promising resources of visual information - a broad digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections worldwide. He is one of the best known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution and is widely respected and also widely criticised as having built his business through unfair, illegal, or anti-competitive business practices, and this was recently demonstrated by the US government taking Microsoft to court, an action which was repeated in Europe as well (Didion, 2004). Despite his vast wea lth, Bill Gates has donated approximately 51% of his total fortune to various charitable organisations and scientific research programmes. Bill Gates was born on the 28th of October 1955 in Seattle, Washington to William Gates Senior and Mary Maxwell Gates (McSheriff, 2002). His family was wealthy, and had a strong tradition of education and professionalism. His father was a prominent lawyer, his mother was the first woman regent of the University of Washington and his maternal grandfather was a national bank president (McSheriff, 2002). It is safe to say that Bill Gates came from a privileged background. Bill Gates also has two younger sisters, Kristanne and Libby Gates. Bill Gates was educated at some of the most prestigious schools in the state, and he particularly excelled in elementary school in mathematics and sciences (McSheriff, 2002). Bill Gates went to Seattle's most exclusive preparatory school, Lakeside School where tuition in 1967 was $5 000, more than that at Harvard which was $1 760 (McSheriff, 2002). It was at this school that Bill Gates got introduced to computers as the school rented time on a server, which allowed Bill Gates to pursue an interest in computers at a time when they were not commercially available. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America, even attaining the rank of Life Scout during his membership (Peerman, 1999). When he was at high school, he founded a company which sold traffic flow data systems to state governments with Paul Allen. He also helped to create a payroll system in COBOL for a company in Portland, Oregon (Peerman, 1999). In 1973 he enrolled in Harvard University for a pre-law programme where he met his future business partner Steve Ballmer. During his second year, together with Paul Allen and Monte Davidoff, he co-wrote Altair BASIC for the Altair 8800, and dropped out of Harvard during his third year to pursue a career in software development (Murdock, 1998). Despite his success, Bill Gates was briefly jailed in Albuquerque for racing his Porsche 911 in the New Mexico desert. Bill Gates first recognized an opportunity in 1975 after reading an issue of the Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800. Bill Gates contacted the creators of the new microcomputer to inform them that he and others had developed a version of the

Monday, October 14, 2019

Global Warming Will Lower Sea Levels Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Will Lower Sea Levels Essay Those who are highlighting the danger of global warming would not hesitate to relate it to a high sea level rise simply because according to their premise when there is global warming it affects both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, whereby the melting ice will eventually raise the sea level. The IPCC, the UN branch office that deals with scientific research had predicted a 20 inches sea level rise around the year 2100 and it is obvious that it has based it findings on the above assumption. Other suggestions and analysis indicate that what will in fact happen is the opposite where the global warming if it is true will either slow down the level of sea rise or will reduce it. The new analysis looks at two factual findings. The fact that the Earth temperature had risen 0. 6 degree Celsius in the last 100 years and the sea level had risen by 18 cm. What these analysts are focusing at is there is no relation between the two and especially the rise in sea level occurred independent of what happened to the temperature to a larger extent. What contributed to the rise of the seal level to 18 centimeters starts from the thermal expansion of the warming water body, especially the oceans and that contributed to 4 cm. What comes next is the melting of the so-called continental glaciers that accounted for 3. 5 cm rise level. The polar regions contributed to the lowering of the sea level simply because the warming of the temperature has evaporated more water and some of it rains in the Polar Regions adding to the amount of ice on these regions, hence there will be less water in the seas. But the findings highlight one shortcoming which is that the total amount of rise through the two activities adds up to only 20 percent of the total amount giving hint that there should be other sources contributing to the rise of the sea level other than the current global warming. What this led to was to depend on geological observations that revealed the sea level had been rising constantly for the last centuries at a rate similar to the last 100 years. Accordingly, there was sea level rise in the Little Ice Age from 1450 to 1850 indicating that if there were going to be a sea level rise it would be independent of what is happening in the environment. It was possible to arrive at such hypothesis using a data published on the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet tracing it back to the end of the last ice age. Hence, the conclusion arrived at was since there had been a 120 meters rise in sea level since the last ice age that took place 18,000 years ago, the melting is still in process and will continue to do so for the coming 7000 years independent of what is going to happen to the present day temperature. What could change this course might be the arrival of another Ice Age, which is not in the prediction. In reality it is possible to say that a global warming caused by human activity cannot contribute to the rise of sea level since the record shows the climate warmed much between 1900 and 1940 and cooled down from 1940 – 1975. The outcome was the sea level rise slowed when the temperature was warmer and it increased when it was colder. The relation here is the two components thermal expansion and glacier melting had a lesser effect on the sea rise level when compared to the ice accumulation on the Polar Regions from the rain caused from warmer weather. Hence, it is possible to make a firm conclusion that warmer air or the current global warming will not contribute to the rising level of the sea. Instead, as it was illustrated it will bring it down by simply changing the amount of water into ice and depositing it on the Polar Regions. In spite of this analysis, the findings based on computer simulation try to demonstrate that the warming of the global temperature due to human induced activities will result in raising the sea level revealing that there is something wrong with such assumption (9). Conclusion In spite of the findings from various sources accurate, satellite measurement taken have not found any trace of global warming. Weather balloons also had shown similar findings. There are indications that the temperature had been rising starting form 1880 but such rise in temperature cannot be caused by greenhouse gases that are coming into existences from human induced activity mainly centered on burning of fossil oil and through the introduction of a developed and new method of land use. The other indication that shows the findings could be wrong is most of the measurements could reflect the temperature and air condition found closer to highly populated cities. All the feared outcomes of a high temperature brought into existence because of the greenhouse effect such as heat wave, hurricanes, or epidemic disease did not occur. If there had been a temperature rise to talk about, it was observed in the nighttime and winter season. Overall, it is possible to discredit the greenhouse apocalypse outright simply because it was not accompanied with all the catastrophic disasters that were predicted and anticipated (10). Even economists are wary of all the concerns simply because there might not be a discernable effect that will materialize from postponing the reduction of the greenhouse gas by another 20 years and see what the outcome will be. One of the reasons for that is meeting the greenhouse gas reduction effort would require getting rid of a big chunk of capital goods before they complete their useful life and that might not make economical sense for something that lacks scientific proof. But there is no doubt that such plans could be part of a long term process of any undertaking and the burden could also be eased as new technologies pertaining to the warming of the globe become readily available. The Kyoto Protocol itself would cost between $7 and $12 billion annually if it is implemented, a sum everyone is not comfortable with, simply because implementing the Protocol alone would cost each household up to $2000 annually and could raise home heating cost by at least 70 percent. Since people, especially those living in the advanced regions are heavily dependant on energy for their day-to-day living, raising the cost permanently to any extent would have a devastating effect, even if energy price is already very high. The only relief is since it fluctuates consumers could stretch their earnings whenever possible. It is possible to take it a bit further and see that if the assumption that the global temperature is rising to a dangerous level is true, a simple cost introduction of raising the federal fuel economy standard from 27. 5 miles to more than 40 miles itself will be costly, since it is such kinds of drastic measures that will bring down the amount of the greenhouse effect as automobiles are the worst source of pollution. The domino effect of such measures will lead to raising the price of cars, while at the same time such cars would have to be compact reducing the safety of cars that is feared to raise the number of fatalities form where it is currently at 4000 annually. The fact that the findings are heavily dependant on observation and computer simulation makes the concern a bit groundless since carbon dioxide is not a deadly gas to have in the atmosphere after all. The reason for that is the more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere it adds to thriving of plants that have various use for it. It is not only that if what is said about the meltdown is true that is another advantage for agriculture since there will be more land to put into agriculture that will lead to more foods in the world even if there is no proof that there is shortage of food in the regions where the land is covered with ice sheet. Other areas that would benefit from global warming are those who live in areas where the winter season is cold and long. Regions like that could enjoy longer summer seasons, which would mean longer growing period that will add to the amount of food produced. There are findings that the warmer weather is also good for the health of people in such a way that medical cost in most of the cold regions would come down and the quality life of in such regions would get enhancement. The fear centered on the rise of the sea level that would come into existence when the ice from the Polar Regions melts because of the warm climate for the most part is groundless. The reason for that is the warm weather heats the water from the sea changing it into vapor that will come down as rain. The rainfall that takes place in the Polar Regions would not find its way back into the seas, instead it would add on the amount of ice that is already in existence in the region. This process has dual advantages where the first one is it will add to the amount of ice in the Polar Regions defying the fear that the warming of the climate is causing the ice of the region to melt. Secondly, the amount of seawater will come down through the process since some of it will become ice. Hence, it is possible to say that the warming of the climate is good for the Polar Regions since they would get more ice through the natural process. That might have some disadvantages in other areas, because the melting of the ice from the Polar Regions is not without a merit. One of the merit is this particular harsh region could become more habitable where there will be more lands opened for farming, for housing, and industrial development leading to a huge economic activity that will boost the outcome in agriculture and other venues. At the same time, there is an observation concerning the opening of new routes that will be advantageous for trade as well for the tourist industry. However, one disadvantage cited was it might affect the wildlife of the region where, for example, the polar bear is on the list to become extinct at the end of this century. Since the presumption is it will take many centuries for the ice of the whole region to melt away, the only inconvenience wildlife might encounter is going farther to where the dense ice is located. This by itself is advantageous since some of the wildlife is becoming a threat by coming closer to where there are human inhabitants. Overall, since everything surrounding global warming is still a hypothesis that borders fear, where if some measure is not in place now the future could be disastrous and could become out of control, it is not possible to fully rely on the grim pictures that the alarmists are painting. The reality is life goes on normally in the regions even if a few incidents of melting ice sheets into the sea had occurred. The answer for such incidents is it is the outcome of the weather variation where in the summer time it is natural that the level of the ice could get thinner in the edge area and when the winter season is around it will again attain its thickness. The proof for this is there is not yet any documentation where because of global warming the inhabitants of the area had gained more access to land for farming or for any other purpose. The outcome is the same from observations made in other areas where none of the feared apocalyptic fears had taken place. Nevertheless, if the weather becomes warmer cold regions could rip numerous advantages that include less death toll, better health, and better living condition since the summer season is short in these regions. That alone contributes to a much shorter food growing and recreation season. Other than that, if there is call for action, there is none better than to exert more effort to come up with a concrete scientific proof in the place of the presumption that is prevalent now. What the existing finding avails for the world is there are concerned groups that are claiming that there is a global warming that is causing the sea level to rise and is contributing to the melting of the ice caps, which is the habitat of wildlife such as polar bears that are feared to become extinct in the beginning the year 2100. The other major concern is the reducing of the greenhouse gases, which has a very high price tag attached to it. The findings will have to lean fully on scientific findings that would require more funding and time, but the cost involved might not be equivalent to what businesses are fearing to incur in the coming few years simply to meet certain standards that are believed to contribute in controlling the emission of certain gases into the atmosphere. If the implemented measures are scientific it will be worth the effort, otherwise it will be a waste of resources. Currently, since there is no settled scientific proof there is a division in the public’s opinion where the number of people who do not believe in global warming is much higher, no matter how inundated they are by the media and environmental groups. This might have a serious effect simply because it is the same people who cannot be convinced about the pollution level that is prevalent who are responsible in various ways to add to the pollution problem. Educating them based on hypothesis will also make the job difficult because the message they would get from such effort would vary. Another problem cited was that the existing effort through the Kyoto Protocol is to bring down the emission level back to where it was in the 1990s a premise that does not make sense since there might not be an accurate measurement in place that shows what level the emission was before the 1990s. Such shortcomings highlight that the primary effort should focus on finding a settled scientific consensus and after that, the effort of popularizing a concept based on hypothesis might dwindle down. REFERENCE 1. Bailey, R. (2004, November). Two Sides of The global warming: Is It Proven Fact or Just Conventional Wisdom? Reason Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www. reason. com/news/show/34939. html 2. UN Report, Global Warming Caused by Human Activity. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from www. newstarget. com/021565. html

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Theory Of Media Richness

The Theory Of Media Richness To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in a way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. Anthony Robbins. Electronic mail is a method of exchanging digital message from sender to receiver. Email plays an important role in business today and has become a basic necessity in any organization just like paper and ink. It is been used by many as an all-encompassing collaboration platform than a simple communications tool. According to P.K McBride (2006), World Wide Web is an ever- growing aspect of internet with billions of web pages. Workers are given unrestricted access to the Web, allowing them to manage their own research. It provide facility to copy, reply or forward messages like document and graphical files to the sender or to the third party. Effective transfer of messages and informations within the organization and between top managers and employees is very essential for the betterment of company. Email is the most commonly used electronic messaging service. Smartphone which includes email as basic feature has increased accessibility of email. It influence mobile technology, email has a major impact on business, marketing, medical field and banking. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate Email as communication tool in personal and organizational level. However, this essay firstly define email and its use in organization along with different use of theories for email communications and which include Information overload Social cues Media richness theory Critical social theory Controlling effect From above all the theories, Media Richness Theory is the most effective for business communication as it deals with symbol carrying capacity which refers to face-to-face communication and which is a must for any organization to success and build relationships. This essay focuses on people attitude towards communications and its implementations in work place with respect to Media Richness theory. Essay explains employees use of email and mobile communication for their personal and organizations purpose and how Computer-Media Communications plays an important role in it. Advantages and disadvantages of the theory are specified with example of BlackBerry and Android. In the end, my own experience of use of mobile email communication is explained in relation to my personal email diary found in the appendix. Implementation of theory and Email communication. Communication helps coordinate and effective control resulting in clear understanding, good production and healthy climate for cooperation among the various levels. Both for personal as well as organizational use, email have become a part of our everyday lives from communicating with friends, for new job application. Most services on internet whether its social networking or professional ask for email address before using their service. According to Mullins (2010: 230), Email has some emotions woven creatively to encapsulate feelings through signs and symbols. It has many advantages like free communication between social groups and in organization which involves communication with employees, clients as well as potential customers. Email help maintain records and archive of business transaction, rechecking past information, file repository, contracts which could be recovered later. It help have a record of your clients database and act as a address books which has all the important co ntacts that could be conveniently retrieved anytime. The portable gadgets like mobile phones and laptops are able to send and receive emails and help manage your business even if you are travelling or in another part of the world. The communication tool for evaluating email could be best explained by Media Richness Theory by Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel. According to them it is a frame work to describe a communications medium by its ability to reproduce the information sent over it. It helps understand the impact of different communication media type on message and help reduce ambiguity of communication through proper selection of communication media. It comes from Computer -Media Communication (CMC) and is often associated with business communication by Newburry (2001). Sitkin, Sutcliffe and Barios-Choplin (1992) found data carrying capacity and symbol carrying capacity to carry information. Face-to-face communication would be characterized as rich media while modern information technology such as email could be classified as lean media. It deals with internal communication within an organization context. The theory got upgraded to email and it was considered as a good way of communication in organization. Silverstone in the beginning of the 90s [Zhao 2005], put forward concept of Domestication of Technology Theory which deals with how technology gets integrated in people daily life and its impact on social environment where as in other hand it deals with communication in business and it is based on contingency theory and information processing theory. E.g. if a manager need to remind its employees about an upcoming meeting then which communication medium should be used to inform and send the message: face-to-face, telephone, memo or electronic mail? Such communication choice in organization varies from its level of ambiguity. Employee can be updated and get connected to top management through emails, and can also get latest news reports and this could be obtained by effective use of this Theory. Proper training and guidance is very much essential for introducing new technology at work place for obtaining complete employee involvement in the organization. An employee can obtain many different types of mails such as personal emails, emotional mails from friends and relatives, social emails involving some event or activities, professional mails with job interviews, notifications of ads etc Face-to-face communication medium is the richest one followed by email, telephone, memos and letters (Rice and Shook 1990). Advantage of Media Richness Theory: Ability to reproduce information. Sender chooses a communication medium. Reduces uncertainty and equivocality. Help improve employees performance. Disadvantages of Media Richness Theory: Choice of media is done by assumption of rational decision making. Actual use of media and social influence is not reflected. Ignores use of symbolism in communication. Theory is devised before the widespread use and developments of email. Mobile users like to get their mails in their mobile devices and which launched the mobile email solution with BlackBerry. The handheld device helps receive and send mails wherever they are and help stay employee connected and could give immediate feedback as soon as possible. Another example is the Android Operating System in modern mobile system which provides users to do array of operations as it can run multiple applications at the same time, multitasking and is more fluid than other cell phones. Mobile email allows composing, forward and responding to emails exactly in the same way as on a personal computer. With the fast spread of mobile email, it is getting integrated in our social and work life as it has potential to impact the way employees use email and work together. Mobile email is now becoming an important tool for mobile workers for effective communication, coordination, collaboration and to handle complex situations on move hence resulting in improved relationship with customer, co-workers and supervisors. After critically analyzing my own email for a week, I have found that the use of mobile email device for communication has some advantages as well as some disadvantages. In my survey, I have received mails from social network sites, personal mails, job vacancies and notifications. Mobile email help keeps me connected with the world and help to be updated; I could check my mails on a move and even reply to some important mails. For example there are situations when I receive irrelevant mails like advertisements and junk mails and I read them thinking its important and hence waste my own time. When I am on move and expect some important mails to arrive and then battery dies or I misplace my phone then it can give rise to major problem. Devices could be easily broken or misplaced and could also create privacy invasion towards personal and organizational security. It makes a person so dependent towards it that people spend less time with family and friends. The one main disadvantage of m obile mail device is it has a negative health effect and which a major problem in todays busy life. Conclusion: Communication is very essential for any organization to build relationship and for its success. The use of mobile device for email is been adopted by people for personal as well as for organizational purpose. It helps receive mails even when they are on outside their homes or organization. From the critical evaluation, Media Richness Theory is the most effective theory to understand the value of mobile email devices as an effective tool for communication. This theory help organization to select appropriate communication media to communicate with its employees and to stay connected through mobile email devices and an example of such a device is BlackBerry and Android which help send and receive mails at anytime and anywhere. Mobile mailing helps keep a record of their daily activity and also maintains database which enable them to communicate with people no matter where they are. The Human Resource professionals play supportive role in achieving organisations goals by making employees and technology join together for effective result in work place. The introduction of new technology help raise productivity of work, develop new product and services, innovative thinking and developed method of communication between colleagues and customers. Mobile communication acceptance device in an organization depends on its management and employees and how well they get mixed with technology and its usage. The devices has many advantages like instant mail alert, help stay connected while move and having peoples record and ease of communication where as the disadvantage include lack of social participation and privacy factor. The use of new technology like mobile email for communication in relation to Media Richness Theory is now reaching its heights and is been adopted by organization for its employees personal and professional use.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Bored - Father :: essays research papers fc

There is a phrase that people here time and time again, but don’t truly understand the meaning of it until the phrase can be applied to their own lives. â€Å"You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.† Atwood’s poem is a direct reflection of this quote. Her poem â€Å"Bored† talks about how she hated the repetitiveness of her daily events with her father. But it was only until he had passed on was it that she truly did realize how much she missed those daily events. Sometimes people don’t understand how important others mean to them until it is too late. I found the poem â€Å"Bored† to be very well written and very touching. Atwood did a good job of describing how easy it is to overlook some of the better things in life. This poem revolved around repetition. And it was the repetition that makes the reader aware of the love that Margaret has for her father. Her poem starts with â€Å"All those times I was bored out of my mind. Holding the log while he sawed it. Holding the string while he measured, boards, distances between things, or pounded stakes into the ground for rows and rows of lettuces and beets, which I then (bored) weeded†(588). Atwood is obviously conveying to the reader that the time she spent with her father wasn’t what she considered of much importance and actually disliked it. This is because she only saw it as work and as a constant hardship of recurrence on herself. She never comprehended that these days with her father were the better days of her life, and she only wishes she could have them ba ck. â€Å"Why do I remember it as sunnier all the time then, although it more often rained, and more birdsong†(589)? Another aspect that can be derived from this poem is Atwood’s father’s obvious intentions to give her an awareness of the many adversities life can obtain. He has made sure she leads a life that doesn’t result from a spoiled childhood. He made her attentive of a hard days work, which is probably one of the best things a father can teach his child. It is absolutely essential that parents in general teach their children the many hardships life may behold. This gives the child a better direction in means of future obligations. Atwood describes her father’s ambition to show her some of the finer things in life and the beauty of nature and nature’s way of life.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Disadvantages of monopoly Essay

†¢ Higher prices and lower output Monopolies often mean that prices will be higher and output lower than is the case for an industry where competition prevails. Firms in one industry are producing under conditions of perfect competition, while the other firm is operating under conditions of monopoly. The costs of production are the same for each industry. †¢ Excess profits High profits made by the monopolist are not necessarily an indication of efficient methods of production. The monopolist may, in fact, be using its market power to raise prices above marginal costs in order to increase its revenues. †¢ Higher costs and x-inefficiencies Under competition, firms strive to minimize their inputs to produce a given level of output. Firms do not necessarily have to produce at the minimum efficient scale to be technically efficient, as long as they produce at the lowest costs for their given scale of output. Firms which produce on the average cost curve are technically efficient or x-efficient. In other words, they produce at the lowest cost possible given their respective sizes. Competition normally implies that firms will be x-efficient. However, if firms are insulated from competition, as is the case for monopoly, then there is less incentive to minimize costs. Firms may instead adopt ‘expense preference’ behavior by investing in activities to maximize the satisfaction of senior managers, at the subsequent sacrifice of profitability. †¢ Price discrimination Monopolists as sole suppliers can discriminate between different groups of customers (based on their respective elasticity’s of demand) separated into different geographic or product segments. A monopolist can practice price discrimination in several ways: †¢ First-degree price discrimination. Often referred to as perfect price discrimination, this involves the monopolist charging each customer what he or she is willing to pay for a given product. By doing this the monopolist can increase revenue and erode any consumer surplus which consumers might enjoy. †¢ Second-degree price discrimination. The monopolist charges customers different prices based on their usage. In other words, consumers might be charged a high price for initial usage, but lower prices for subsequent units consumed. This type of pricing has been used in industries such as electricity, gas, water and telephony. †¢ Third-degree price discrimination. In this case, the monopolist separates customers into markets based on different demand elasticity’s. Customers with inelastic demand are charged higher prices than those with elastic demand. †¢ Restrictive practices Monopolists often use unfair practices to keep potential rivals out of the market. Even if rivals are successful in entering the market, the monopolist may choose to eliminate these firms by various restrictive price and non-price strategies such as predatory pricing and vertical restraints. †¢ Limited technical progress Some evidence suggests that technical progress is often slow when a single firm or group of firms dominates an industry. As they face no real competitive pressures, monopolists are under no real pressure to spend any abnormal profits earned on research and development of new product and processes, which is often seen as a risky investment. Consequently, technical progress in these industries is likely to be slow. Reference: http://classof1. com/homework-help/economics-homework-help/.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Ob Final Exam

Answers:- 1. How would you describe Stephen Schwarzman’s personality? Stephen Schwarzman is very detailed and careful person . Much of his decision making is guided by his coaches advice that, â€Å"you’ve got to make your deposits before you can make a withdrawal. † As a consequence is his extremely conscientious and risk averse. According to Personality Dimension, a person who is conscientiousness is dependable, responsible, achievement oriented and persistent. Mistakes, no matter how small, are unacceptable to him and he does not lightly tolerate them at Blackstone.According to Stephen Schwarzman, making an effort and meeting the deadline simply weren’t enough. To put it in Coach Armstrong’s terms, it wasn’t sufficient to make some deposits; he had to be certain that the deposits would cover any withdrawal 100% before made decision or did a deal. He mentioned that inaccurate analysis produces faulty insights and bad decisions; which lead t o losing a tremendous amount of money. He also will insist on more information in order to avoid mistakes if he has uncertain to made decision. . Relative to the concepts you have just read about, what traits and characteristics would describe the â€Å"ideal† Blackstone job candidate? Explain your rationale for selecting each characteristic. A proactive personality and an internal locus of control would be prerequisites. Proactive personality is an action oriented person who shows initiative and perseveres to change things. Proactive people identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs. Feature Article Fin 486 Final ExamWhile internal locus of control is the belief that one controls the events and consequences affecting one’s life. Other factors such as intelligence, including elements of emotional intelligence are also important given the fast paced environment. Intelligence is one of the characteristic that would describe the ideal Blackstone job candidate in order for them to thinking, reasoning and solve the problem in constructive way. Perhaps most important, however, is conscientiousness given Stephen Schwarzman’s intense focus on this characteristic in his own work and business model. . Ranked 1 = most important to 8 = least important, which of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences are most critical to being successful at a major investment company like Blackstone? Explain your ranking. Gardner’s list of multiple intelligences includes linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesth etic intelligence, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalist intelligence.Opinions as to the relative importance of the different facets will vary by student. 1. Linguistic intelligence 2. Logical-mathematical intelligence 3. Interpersonal intelligence 4. Intrapersonal intelligence 5. Naturalist intelligence 6. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence 7. Spatial intelligence 8. Musical intelligence 4. Using Table 5–5 as a guide, how important are the various emotional intelligence competencies for making good investment decisions?Explain. Although student opinions will vary, self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management all would be likely to play roles in the daily work of a Blackstone employee and affect investment decisions. 4. Do you have what it takes to work for someone like Stephen Schwarzman? Explain in terms of the concepts in this chapter. (Answers will depend both on student personalities an d also their levels of self-awareness).

Resource Based View Approach

Persuasion Tools Model Kenneth Berrien ‘40s Definition This model helps an individual find the best way to negotiate, by using and recognizing an individuals capabilities and intuition. How does it work? Using a model to see which point an individual stands horizontally represents influencing and vertically represents the intuition needed. For example: one with a low level of intuition but good at influencing it would be best to use logic. Low intuition and poor at influencing, best approach is compromise. Limitations: isky using emotions in negotiations. A clear understanding of the clients is needed. Emotional intelligence, empathy and compassion are skills that people with high levels of these are required to take advantage of, these people can be rare to find. How can these skills be measured? How can each person be assigned a certain quadrant? Good negotiators have a mixture of all of these! Advantages: Provides a clear model tool to seek out with employees possesses which of the quadrants and they can fulfill their role naturally.Good form of management responsibility. Can reap short/long term benefits. Good preparatory skills. Negotiation skills are a good asset and can lend to other areas of life. A useful characteristic! INVESTMENT- SECURING. SALES- SUPPLIERS. EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT. Link to EQ 1. Knowing emotions 2. Managing emotions 3. Motivating yourself 4. Recognizing and understanding other peoples emotions (empathy). 5. Managing relationships i. e. managing other peoples emotions. Define each quadrant of the model+ examples Logic = Facts, data, computer based models.Use office example Bargaining = high levels of intuition and general intelligence through communication. Use market stall example, or buying goods in china. Compromise = Less skilled negotiators use. Accepting less money to get something you really want. Use time off work. Distributive bargaining: Compromise bargaining, not all negotiations can end in a win-win situation. Win-lose approach! Call up the car garage and work out their monthly target, how much cash they need, what other services they can offer then make a deal that suits both.Integrative bargaining: Both sides fighting over a price, hiding their real positions and aims, like POKER. Fighting over a price of a fixed package of goods or services Evaluation Different industries require different approaches to bargaining. This model is a great way of mapping out person’s skills linked to the negotiation process and linking the two. Comparing integrative negotiation and distributive negotiation = and make own personal judgment in third person. KEY WORDS Translating Confidence influential Exchanging

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Why don't people commit crime Refer to the theories of left and right Essay

Why don't people commit crime Refer to the theories of left and right realism in your answer - Essay Example The word crime basically refers to any action that contravenes the law. Again, Burke expresses discontentment with this approach because the word criminal alienates some law breakages and also because there are some crimes that appear more â€Å"real† than others such as murder, rape and theft. Due to the evolving nature of criminal laws, it is therefore correct to state that the definition of crime is a social construction which is determined by ongoing political processes2. Many theories have been propagated in relation to crime causality, motivation and deterrence. One of the core aims of criminology is to understand why offenders commit crime and how this can be controlled. In order to understand the reasons that deter crime commission, it is important to understand the drivers of crime commission or the concept of criminal behavior. Many scholars and theorists have offered vast explanations and theories regarding crime and criminal behavior. Criminology research has traversed academic and professional fields and some of the main contributors in this discourse include; psychologists, biologists, sociologists, legal philosophers and political scientists3. According to Burke, criminology theories have evolved with time due to social, economic and political changes in the world4. Over the years, a vast number of theories have been spurned and this paper cannot address or even define all of them. However, in a bid to evaluate and reflect on why people av oid crime, this paper will focus on two theories; right realism theory and left realism theory. On a general level these theories contrast although they offer similar insights in a subtle way. It is important to note that both theories address crime and criminal behavior thereby offering invaluable insight regarding our thesis; why people do not commit crime? Criminology theories have evolved over time due to various social, economic and political changes in the society. The right realism theory is an