Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Safe use of ICT in a Business environment

* Make sure all employees' adopt the correct posture and have an adequate lower back support. This reduces the risk of tension strain headaches and musculoskeletal problems like neck pain, Chronic back pain and upper limb disorders such as Repetitive Strain Injury. – Repetitive Strain Injury can be stopped by using a wrist support along with an ergonomic keyboard, and keeping forearm's horizontal. * Make sure all employees' take regular breaks from their computers. This reduces the danger of eye strain, headaches and discomfort. – This can be reduced by making sure eyes are level with the monitor and making sure there is good background lighting and a monitor filter to reduce glare. * All employees' should get regular eye sight checks. This reduces the danger of deteriorating eye sight. – This can be reduced my making sure that the company pays for regular eye sight checks. The employee must go to the appointment and get the treatments provided. * Make sure all employees' have the correct positioning of equipment. This can reduce the danger of eye strain, headaches and discomfort. – Make sure the computer monitor is positioned away from the direct sunlight to reduce glare. Make sure the keyboard is not too far away, or too close, so there is no discomfort of the wrists/hands. Protecting Physical Safety * Make sure there are no trip hazards, e.g. trailing cables. This can reduce the danger of employees' tripping and harming themselves. – This can be reduced by taping cables to the wall or keeping wires in wire surrounds on the wall. * Make sure the electrical safety is upheld, e.g. electric checks (PAT), no water by the machines, not overloading sockets. This can reduce the danger of being electrocuted by the computers. – This can be reduced by making sure the company has regular electric checks, make sure no employees' take water near the machines, and make sure the sockets are not * Make sure there is safety equipment to avoid machinery falling. This can reduce the danger of employees' getting hurt by falling equipment. – This can be reduced by regularly checking the safety equipment and replacing it when needed. * Make sure employees' observe the Health and Safety rules. This can reduce the danger of injuries and the company being sued. – This can be reduced by telling employees' the Health and Safety rules and keeping them in sight for everyone to see. Protecting Flies from Loss * Organising Files. Make sure that the Files are organised e.g. meaningful file/folder names, Structuring files. – This makes sure that file/folder names are not forgotten and where the file/folder is isn't forgotten. * Backup strategies. Files should be backed up and frequently checked to make sure that they have not been tampered with. – This makes sure that files are not lost if they are accidentally deleted or lost somehow. Protecting files from unauthorised access Passwords * Passwords to open files. – This makes sure that no-one that is not authorised can open files. * Passwords to Modify documents/files. – This makes sure that no-one that is not authorised can modify files. * Passwords to protect the contents of the Documents. – This makes sure that no-one can delete all the contents of documents, or steal all the contents. * Choose a STRONG Password – Choosing a strong password is essential. If a weak password is chosen, then there is next-to-no point having a password because it can be easily hacked. Use numbers, uppercase letters, mixed with lowercase letters, and mixed with symbols. This will make your password strong, and VERY hard to crack!

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

History †bisness plan Essay

The owners of Excel Hygiene have been colleagues in a company which operated on a national scale, converting urban organic waste in to natural fertilizers for crop production in farms. This company has decided to focus on the rural sector and does not wish to expand its urban operations. Its major customer group is of farmers and owners of plantations. It has considered and rejected plans to enter health care lines. The agriculture and rural marketing business, while voluminous, is subject to the vagaries of nature. It is also intensely competitive, with narrow margins and uncertain demand levels. The bio-medical waste sector, on the other hand, is a rapidly rising star on the economic horizon. Demand for health care services is growing and assured. The number of competitors, as seen earlier, is limited, and consequently the margins are relatively attractive. The sector demands very high levels of service, but pay-offs are matching. Biotechnology is versatile with many future sectors which Excel Hygiene can address. There are many useful microbes in nature and their isolation and culture is relatively easy for those in the know. The owners of Excel Hygiene have succeeded in preparing and agreeing on a business plan. The latter has found favor with venture capitalists looking for biotech opportunities, so the company could be funded without denting the personal savings of the promoters too seriously. A crucial factor has been the timeliness of the new enterprise, though its aggression in bidding for a substantial price premium from the beginning is founded more on technical considerations of the safety advantage than any standard financial or economic wisdom. Market Definition Excel Hygiene plans to be a niche player with a very conservative market share target of just 1%. The first reason for this is the high premium the company wishes to charge for its differentiated products and services. It is possible that hospitals and doctors who do not attach much value to safety will not be willing to pay the higher prices. Further, health care institutions are conservative customers, and will take time to accept services from a new provider. The financiers behind the new enterprise also prefer quick and assured payback with high percentage returns to large volumes and top line growth. The entry strategy of Excel Hygiene is to secure contracts in relatively low-risk units of top quality institutions. Word of mouth promotion is very important in the health care community, so the new enterprise has to ensure that the most prestigious customers join its ranks first. The risks of switching to a new service provider are daunting in life saving units, but it is much easier to induce switches in routine areas. Excel hygiene will target waiting areas, food preparation zones, and general wards for its entry, staying away from competitive strongholds in Intensive Care and Casualty units. Excel Hygiene plans to hold seminars and to participate in scientific meetings on infection control to ensure word of mouth promotion of its services and image. Special efforts will be made to make spokespeople out of the best known doctors, surgeons, and para-medical workers, so that branding has a firm and stable base. The financial plans provide for this first phase to last the first full year of operations, and the second year will be used to leverage the accumulated goodwill by tripling the relatively small revenues of the first year. Excel Hygiene will invest in free demonstrations of its services for the first 6 months, backed by microbiology tests. This is to establish the reliability of the company’s services and to prove the efficacies of its novel range of biological products. The company will aim to have the results of these trials published, so that the investment can result in high growth during the second year of operations. A final element of strategy will be to liaise with regulatory authorities for endorsement of the company’s novel products. This approach will help to consolidate the small market share that the company hopes to forge within 2 years, and to protect its revenues during the subsequent years. The company hopes to excel by defining its business scope, territorial spread, and customer definition very tightly, seeking to specialize in a niche area. The emphasis is also on reassuring financiers since the company does not have a prior establishment in the market of substantial fixed asset covers. This conservative approach may be reviewed once the company has achieved its targets for the first five years. Quantitatively, Excel Hygiene targets net revenues of $500 thousand in the first year, rising to over $2 million by year 5. However, the major growth is expected during the second year itself. The infrastructure which has been planned will not allow full service coverage of more than 500 client units at a time within the designated territory. Hence, growth from the third year onwards will be marginal. It is typical in this business to suffer some client turnover, though it is equally possible to canvass for new contracts. Incineration and treatment capacities are other constraints to bear in mind.

Monday, July 29, 2019

John Dewey on Education Essay

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

Todays business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Todays business environment - Essay Example The new external factors are new people, their culture, society, language, political system, work habits, social system, regulatory system, and taxes legal and technological base. Legislations and government rules and laws determine the political environment of the new country. Every country in the world follows its own system under the sovereign rule and the company who enters into that country has to follow those laws and systems. Economic environment is also different in that country because economic requirement, financial system export/ import requirements may be different to those in the domestic country Technological base and the work environment may be different .The internal variables in the new country may be absolutely different and the company entering into that country has to adjust to those variables as quickly as possible to be successful. There may be many threats and responsibilities posed by the new system and environment that has to be answered by the new entrant. T he major factors that bring in changes in the host economy are: The first and foremost consideration before entering into a new country is to assess the economic benefits of investment in that country. Whether the project is profitable in the long run or whether it is sustainable in the new circumstances and environment or whether the new investment in that country is free from undue risk are to be considered and answered before The debt possibilities and structure in the new country must be assessed deeply before the strategic move. The impact of debt on global corporation whether personal, corporate private or public may be very high sometimes. The best time to enter into a new country is the time of rising cycle of the business. It is possible to understand the up trends in the economy and enter in to that country in the best opportune time. The advantage of doing so is to avoid getting the investment into loss and ensure good returns in booming period in the economy. Recent examples are the two booming economies in Asia-India and China. Many multinational companies found the way into china for last decade or more and made their investment yield high returns. Similarly from 2003 Indian economy also started raising its head and many foreign companies entered into this country in Automobile, consumer, electronics, infrastructure and information technology sector. On the opposite many Indian companies also have their openings into other countries as takeover or into Greenfield projects. High debt symptom is to be studies carefully before deciding about new investments in foreign courtiers. High level of debts is an economic indicator that might put the economy into danger zone. For example USA, which is running in trillion-dollar debt, is a bad indicator for investors from outside. High level of de

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Immigration in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Immigration in America - Research Paper Example This stark increase in immigration quantities poses a variety of problems in the United States, including economic issues, concerns associated with law enforcement, wages provided to native citizens, and even problems with drugs and criminal behavior. VOLUME OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE COUNTRY According to a 2006 report, there were over 10 million illegal immigrants living in the United States (Kane and Johnson 2). By March of 2011, this number was estimated to be at 11.1 million (Passel and Cohn 1). The volume of immigrants currently residing in the country is representative of approximately 3.1 percent of the total American population, including native citizens. PROBLEMS WITH MEDICAID PAYMENTS Having established volume of immigrants entering and currently living in the U.S., it is important to identify the plethora of problems associated with illegal entry into the country. One of the main problems is the burden placed on state-level and federal-level governance related to economics. An a dministrator of the National Policy Institute identifies that illegal immigrants put a significant burden on the Medicaid system, a government-funded health care program designed to ensure that native citizens living below the poverty level maintain access to affordable health care. In 2005, it was estimated that state budgets would be burdened with a 12.1 percent increase in total Medicaid costs, with an expectation that costs would double every six years. This has significant ramifications for state-level budgets, in today’s society, many of which are already fraught with large-scale budgetary problems. It is estimated that 21.8 percent of all immigrant households are receiving Medicaid assistance (Rubenstein 9). This is a substantial problem as many illegal immigrants have children while living within the borders of the United States, therefore automatically making their children legitimate U.S. citizens. This makes the child, and the household caregivers, eligible for Med icaid when their incomes fall below poverty level. Currently, the federal government is concerned about long-term sustainability of Medicaid reimbursements during a period of economic decline stemming from a variety of different factors including decreased taxation revenues and over-spending at the Federal level. CONCERNS OVER WAGES FOR NATIVE CITIZENS In the United States, there is a very large segment of the native population that maintains low-level job skills and do not have the benefits of holding a college degree to improve their standard of living that is dictated with higher wage provision. Because of this, they are forced to take low paying jobs in a variety of sectors, with a majority in the service sector. When illegal immigrants enter the United States, employers have significant incentives to hire these aliens since they can provide them with very low-paying jobs without having to provide legally-mandated supplementary benefits such as business-sponsored insurance. It b ecomes more advantageous for businesses to choose illegal immigrants over low-skilled native citizens since native workers are entitled to certain benefit packages. A whopping 20 percent of all workers in service, construction and manufacturing production are immigrants (Gans 2). The demographic that is most significantly impacted by increases in immigration is the low-skilled black worker in the United State

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Cars corrosion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cars corrosion - Essay Example ( Shaw Barbara and Kelly Robert, 2006) Even though corrosion was still prevalent in the 1950’s the main criteria for a car manufacturer was the strength and durability of the body. Cold rolling of low carbon sheets was the accepted practice during those times. Later on, when the shape and features of the automobile underwent changes steels that were more ductile and could be drawn easily was incorporated into the design. Currently various advanced methods of steel fabrication with the use of alternative materials are being followed which are both cheaper and also have a lower weight to volume ratio. ( Hamilton Bruce and Macauley, 1998) This method of using salt to melt the ice on roads was introduced following World War II which led to an increase of corrosion, affecting the functional and structural integrity of the vehicle. The general appearance of the vehicle was also affected. Some of the common pitfalls of corrosion due the presence of salts were formation of holes on body panels, corrosion of brake linings, wear and tear of the frame and bumper supports, discoloration and pitting effects on surfaces of vehicles. Alternate materials were designed to take care of this type of corrosion; however this led to another form of corrosion called galvanic corrosion which occurs when two dissimilar metals are in contact. In the late 1970’s it was noticed that corrosion was taking place to a large extent on the floor panels, exhaust systems, fuel and brake systems which were less visible from outside. Dust control chemicals like calcium chloride and pollutants like nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide combined with rain to form acid rains. This prevented the formation of the natural protective layer formation on vehicle surfaces. (Effects of road salt on Motor Vehicles and infrastructure, n.d) The corrosion due to these severe environmental effects was noticed to be maximum during the mid-1970. Customer dissatisfaction forced leading auto manufacturers to

Friday, July 26, 2019

Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gastrointestinal Diseases - Research Paper Example Further, the paper will explain the different ways of treating the gastrointestinal diseases, and end with a summative conclusion. The gastrointestinal diseases to be discussed include Constipation, Inflammatory Bowel disease, and Colon Cancer. Constipation. Contraction Constipation is an ailment of the digestive tract where the patient excretes hard feces. Constipation is a common disease that affects almost everyone in at least one time of their life. Several factors contribute to the problem including lack of fibers in an individual diet. The other factors are severe dehydration, excessive stress and sickness (www.wisegeek.com). It is imperative to note that other grave gastrointestinal diseases can cause constipation; thus, constipation can be a symptom to a wide range of gastrointestinal diseases. Effects to the body Constipation causes the movement of large intestines to stop or slow down. The movement of the large intestines is beneficial because it pushes food down the digest ive tract into the rectum. This results to retention of feces in the body because the hardened fecal matter becomes extremely painful to remove from the digestive tract (www.prokerala.com). This condition makes an individual spend long minutes in the rest room trying to get rid of fecal matter. Constipation can cause bruises to the colon and damage to the anal sphincter because the indigested matter comes out as hard as a stone. A painful aftermath may follow defecation because of bruising in the colon lining (Johnston 121). Treatment Treatment of constipation is less involving and less expensive. A patient should take some measures that reduce susceptibility to constipation (McMillan 12). Individuals can relieve constipation by taking plenty of water and other helpful fluids like soup. Secondly, the individual should consume food with plenty of fibers to ease the problem. Patients should exercise regularly to strengthen the stomach muscles and the general welfare of the body (McMil lan 13). If the condition does not ease within a few days, a patient can visit a doctor who will prescribe the most appropriate treatment. A doctor can recommend a laxative to a patient who is suffering from constipation for more than four days. However, laxatives have negative effects to the patient, and they may end up doing more harm than good. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Contraction There are various, dissimilar inflammatory bowel diseases that cause considerable inflammation of the digestive truck, tummy lining and colon (Johnston 123). However, the most widespread kinds of inflammatory bowel disease are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative Colitis. Patients contract these diseases after experiencing a considerable corrosion of the stomach lining and the lining of the digestive tract (Johnston 123). These corrosions result from excessive excretion of gastric juice that cleans up the protective mucus, and thus, exposing the delicate tissue of the stomach to the digestive juices. Research shows that, the problem can also result from bacterial infection of the digestive tract lining. Effects to the body Ulcerative Colitis patients develop inflammations and ulcers in their stomach, which leads to rectal bleeding, sore bowel movements, fatigue, dehydration and diarrhea (Podollsky 7). Severe pain may result after eating acidic foods or food items that are difficult to digest like kales.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Strategic Business Leadership in Wendicon Technologies Limited Essay - 1

Strategic Business Leadership in Wendicon Technologies Limited - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the engineers often complain of getting delayed in their operational pursuits for needing to fill up manual timesheets from the different consumers to which they render services. Owing to the need for filling in manual timesheets the engineers often get delayed in being able to serve other consumers in the region. Thus, they steadily arise the need for innovating the current manual process to make it electronic. This would help in enhancing the customer servicing activity of the company and in motivating the internal people to work in an innovated atmosphere. The management team of the company continually worked to render innovation in the existing operational process of management of manual timesheets. To render innovation in the business process the team worked to align the capability of the staff along with the available resources to help build innovative systems. The management team has focused on aligning the professional capability of the technical base of the organization to help construct an electronic commerce application which would reach a larger consumer base via the iPads. However to counter the process of innovation in a successful manner the company management has helped aside a large pool of funds to help in the enhancement of the infrastructural base. The innovation team of the concern would help in the construction of an electronic data sheet which would be transmitted to the consumer through the help of iPads. This innovation rendered to the process would help the consumers get timely notifications of the work performed by the engineers following which invoices would be dispatched to them. In the process of rendering the process innovation, the company is required to estimate the turnover of the same in terms of the investment rendered.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Path to Spitual Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Path to Spitual Development - Essay Example poet William Wordsworth, whose love of nature knew no bounds, Emerson too, not only appreciated the beauty of nature but also calls upon his audience to experience the impact it has in our lives. According to him, the true lover of nature is one whose inward and outward senses are in harmony with each other and has retained his infancy while traveling through to manhood. He feels that if a person is one with nature, all egotism vanishes and he feels a part of God experiencing sanctity and perpetual youth. But the power to indulge or take delight in it does not rest with nature but within man or the harmony of both. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was the protà ©gà © of Ralph Waldo Emerson, under whose tutelage began his writing career. His works on what constitutes true human and natural value has greatly influenced the later generations of writers and thinkers. Thoreau took a sabbatical from civilization to spend quality time in isolation so that he could think, read and write at his own pace. This particular aspect of Thoreau’s fundamental ideal of living his life â€Å"deliberately† savoring every aspect slowly, had a great impact on American’s in the 21st century, who try to rush through things and achieve much more within the shortest span of time. Thoreau makes an eye – opening statement when he tells us that our lives are frittered away by detail and he calls upon us to lead a life of simplicity and not complication. He compares our life to a â€Å"German Confederacy† and the nation with its so called improvements which are superficial and reduced to an overgrown establishment. He says that man craves for reality whether in life or death, so it is better to lead simple lives, closer to nature so that we would be more close to reality. So both writers, Emerson as well as Thoreau through their writings have given us a beacon of light to lead us through the maze around us giving us forethought and insight into what is good for us and what would

The Startups. Ability to be organized, communication and self Assignment

The Startups. Ability to be organized, communication and self awareness - Assignment Example One of the commonest animate expectations of organizations and business is what has been referred to in management as organizational traits and characteristics. These organizational traits and characteristics have been found to be very important in the organization, growth and development of businesses. Indeed, as much as it is important for organizations to possess organizational traits and characteristics during all aspects of the growth cycle, one stage of growth that this these organizational traits and characteristics affect organizations most is at the early and startup stages (Goedhuys & Sleuwaegen, 2009). Generally, the organization’s traits and characteristics can make or unmake its subsequent growth fortunes. In this paper, four important organizational traits and characteristics that can help the new business in Brazil growth and succeed in the competitive market are discussed. Ability to be organized The startup company assumes the description and name of an Ã¢â‚¬Ë œorganization’ perhaps because it is expected to be well organized. By organization, reference is being made to the ability of all structures within the organization to be well laid and accurately assigned. The structures of the organization would best be described as the various responsibilities that are expected to be delivered within the organization and the people who are expected to deliver them (Batjargal, 2006). For startup companies, managers and entrepreneurs should have the ability of knowing all the roles that are expected to be played within the organization and the people who can best play these roles if assigned to. Another component and aspect of ability to organize has also been identified to be the organization of organizational needs. Generally, it is when the needs of the organization are well organized that the best structural organizations needed to bring about the achievement of the needs will be identified (Capelleras et al, 2010). As to how this trait and characteristic of ability to be organized is more likely to bring about success, it will be said that without a good organizational skill, it is likely no one would be comfortable doing business with the new company. This is because in order for investors and other stakeholders to trust their affairs with an organization, they must have a level of guarantee that the organization itself is well organized. As the maxim goes, a blind man cannot lead a blind man. Effective communication with people around Communication is an important aspect of startup companies. It has been said that entrepreneurs and investors who start up businesses newly must be in the position to effectively communicate with those around (Benzing, Chu & Callanan, 2005). Generally, the ability to effectively communicate the visions, needs, dreams, and ideas of the new business to people around represents the degree to which the visions, needs, dreams, and ideas will be supported by those around. Meanwhile, no si ngle person is able to singlehandedly man any serious organization into growth and supported. It is therefore important that entrepreneurs will have the capacity of rightly communicating to others to gain support. It must be noted that support for an organization’s growth and development comes in many different forms including financial, logistics, and human resource. Even in cases where the head of the business is not able to rightly let his human resource base know what is expected of them in the growth and development of the company, the human resource will not be empowered much enough to do the

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Accounting as the Important Function of Every Business Organisation Essay

Accounting as the Important Function of Every Business Organisation (Halfords company) - Essay Example Accounting’s main or primary purpose is to identify the activities of the business organisation, recording and measuring the transactions of the business and communicating the financial information to all the interested persons like the shareholders, investors, creditors, management, employees, government etc. The financial information generated from accounting in form of financial statements helps managerial decision making and other important investment decisions. Accounting is an important function of every business organisation. Accounting has various purposes and objectives. Among the various purposes, the main purpose of accounting is to record the transaction of the business enterprise in a systematic manner and to provide information about the financial position of the business enterprise to all its stakeholders. Accounting’s main or primary purpose is to identify the activities of the business organisation, recording and measuring the transactions of the busine ss and communicating the financial information to all the interested persons like the shareholders, investors, creditors, management, employees, government etc. The financial information generated from accounting in form of financial statements helps managerial decision making and other important investment decisions.... Figure 1: Performa of a purchase account in a ledger (Source: National Institute of Open Schooling, n.d, p.125) Thus the ledger is the collection of accounts maintained by the company. The ledger provides balance of the particular account on a particular date like the amount of sales on a particular date can be found from the sales account. Apart from these main books the company can also maintain sales day book and purchase day book to record its credit sales and credit purchase respectively. 2 (b) Every business organisation usually had a number of business transactions. Similarly Halfords would also have a number of transactions during a particular accounting period. The most common transactions that the company would certainly have during an accounting period are as follows:- Cash sales: Cash sales denote selling goods and services on cash. This means that the amount of goods sold or services rendered is immediately received by the company. This transaction is recorded by debitin g the cash or bank account and crediting the sales account. Cash purchase: Cash purchase signifies purchasing goods or services on cash. In cash purchase the amount for the goods purchased or services availed has to be paid immediately. This particular transaction is recorded in the books of accounts by crediting the cash or bank account and debiting the purchase account. Credit sales: Credit sales denote that the goods or services have been sold on credit. In credit sales the amount of goods sold or services rendered are not paid immediately but after a certain period of time (which is known as credit period). This particular transaction is recorded by debiting the debtor’s account (the person to whom the goods are sold) and crediting the

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Reality of the Truth Essay Example for Free

The Reality of the Truth Essay What exactly is the truth? Is it reality, sincerity, integrity? Is it accuracy and honesty? How can we tell the difference between the truth and lies? Why does the media have the power to decide for us what is true? As Oscar Wilde once said The truth is rarely pure and never simple. This statement sums up the difficulties of telling the truth, and this is furthermore shown in Rob Sitch et als Frontline, Lies by Michael Leunig and the poem Nothing to Report by May Herschel Clarke. The television show Frontline follows the day to day running of a current affairs show. It shows both on and off air aspects of what people involved with television go though on a daily basis. Mike Moore (Rob Sitch) plays the naive host of the show, who seems to think the whole world revolves around him. An example of this is when Emma sarcastically thanks him for helping with a story and he says Thats ok. Brian is the executive manager of the show and he ultimately decides what is shown on the show and what isnt. Brooke is another reporter who uses deception and manipulation to present the truth. Emma does work behind the scenes and often she should be credited, but the reporters need their ego maintained so she is never recognised for her hard work. Marty is another reporter who has been in the business for a long time, and although he knows about Frontline presenting the incorrect truth, he does nothing to stop them. Like all current affairs shows, the team at Frontline are concerned with gaining ratings every night, rather than telling the real truth to people. One example of this is during the episode Add sex and stir where Brooke interviews a woman booted off her sports team because she wasnt a lesbian. This in fact is not the truth because she was kicked off the team due to her poor form, not her sexuality. Viewers are then manipulated into thinking that the sport is a lesbian sport, and the reputations of the team and sport are ruined. Marty sums up this sensationalising of real truth in one quote, Ancient current affairs recipe my grandmother gave me, you take any story, add sex and stir (Marty, Add sex and stir) Dismissal of the real truth is another technique that the current affairs show Frontline uses to gain ratings. In the episode We aint got dames, Mike wishes to do a story on illegal sweatshops, but Brian dismisses it as being too heavy for the viewers. After much persuasion, Mike thinks he has convinced Brian to show his story (because his ego has finally been satisfied), but the story ends up being a fashion show, totally insulting any work that Mike has done. Although this story did attract more viewers than the sweatshop story would have, it only promotes the fact that viewers lack in knowledge about the real current issues, and they need to show pretty people with bright lights to get their attention. There are many techniques used in Frontline which expose the manipulation that current affairs shows go through to gain ratings. Irony is shown in the episode The siege, where Brooke asks Mrs. Forbes to sign a contract so only frontline can report her story because, Some shows are very unscrupulous (Brooke, The Seige) Brooke says not to give the story to other stations because they might twist her story around to bring out a point she wasnt making, but the irony was that their show was doing exactly that. Use of a handheld camera behind the scenes of the current affairs show can bring out the truth behind the lies, what we see on television may not be true in real life. This applies to Mike in the episode Add sex and stir where he is on Burkes Backyard. He is asked questions about current affairs and does not know how to answer them, then tries to defend himself by asking Burke about plants but he knows everything about them. Although he is shown as an intelligent and well presented man on television, in real life he doesnt know anything. This is also seen when Mike takes part in an ABC debate, but during his introduction all of his material is said and Mike doesnt have anything good to say, which shows that he is not a good speaker in person as he is behind the desk. There is also use of verisimilitude in the show Frontline, with many real media personalities being on the show to make it seem more realistic in telling the truth. Examples of these celebrities are Harry M Miller, Cheryl Kernot, and Bert Newton. The cartoon Lies by Michael Leunig also exposes that the media manipulates and distorts the truth, so it really is presented to us as a lie or the untruth. The cartoon shows people living in their world, but everything has the label lies on it. The billboard which says lies shows that many companies engage in deceptive advertising, and although they arent supposed to do that, they still convince people to buying their products. The newspaper titled lies shows that journalists write from their own perspective and can distort the truth to suit their opinions. The person wearing the lies shirt shows that behind brand name corporations there are lies. An example of this is making clothing in sweatshops then selling it for triple the price of what its really worth (like Nike shoes) and people are paying top dollar just to wear a symbol, which supposedly brings them into an elite group of people, but really they are just lying to themselves. The point Michael Leunig is trying to make is enforced through the main technique of repetition. The word lies is seen 11 times in the comic, and it is the only word on the cartoon. If lies was only mentioned once, many people would not take notice of it, but since it is printed on the billboard, buildings, truck, newspaper, shirt and drink, it shows that lies are everywhere and it really is a big issue. Like the television series Frontline, this cartoon exposes that the world we live in is full of lies and deception, and the media controls what we see and listen to. It is their opinion what we believe, and many people, rather than refuting what is being presented to them in the media, just believe it and keep going with their lives. The poem Nothing to Report by May Herschel Clarke is written during the war times (1940s). During this time, leaders of the country were trying to convince people to fight overseas as a soldier, with hope of coming back as a brave hero. For this heroic image to come to light, anything negative about death in the war would have to be shielded from the people, or else they wouldnt enlist. Ms Clarkes poem targets this issue, talking about how easily death can come, One minute we was laughin next he lays beside me, grinnin dead. After the death, the papers had nothing to report; therefore they were with holding the truth from people. May Herschel Clarke couldnt possibly have been the only one with a death not reported, but no one else seemed to be doing anything about it, because the media has always been very powerful. The poem is written in colloquial language, which could reflect on her education, upbringing or location. This could also be written in that style to follow a rhyming sequence. The last line is a metaphor which shows that the paper is such an effective form of communication, it might as well be a person. Theres nothin to report the papers said This text is very similar to the television series Frontline, in trying to expose the media in its with holding and distortion of the truth. Another example in frontline of withholding the truth is during the episode This night of nights where Mike wishes to do a story about Telecom tapping into phone conversations, but seeing as they are a major sponsor of the television show, frontline cant expose the truth, and give Mike a mobile phone to help him forget about it. If this truth was exposed, telecom would have received many complaints and much abuse, but they would have deserved it. Instead there are still people at home not suspecting a thing. In the end Mike is disadvantaged from not pursuing the story because they listen to his phone conversation about being caught drink driving, and expose him in the newspapers. In the poem Nothing to report, the last line sums up that the media does with hold information and it shouldnt be their right to decide what we see or dont see. Telling the truth is a hard concept to deal with. From the texts Frontline (Rob Sitch et. al. ), Lies by Michael Leunig and Nothing to Report by May. Herschel Clarke we can see that the media does control what we see and believe, but it isnt necessarily the truth. Why does the media have the power to decide what is true? Well if they presented us the facts and let us decide for ourselves, they wouldnt have ratings. We are surrounded by the media (as seen in lies) and it is hard for us to ignore it all. The truth is rarely pure and never simple, in listening to the truth there is always some form of bias, but we must leave it to ourselves to find out many versions of the so called truth and decide for ourselves what we believe. Thank you.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management Purpose This paper aims at exploring the role of emotional intelligence in affecting the conflict management styles used. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 233 employees from several banks. Correlation and regression was used to analyze the results. The findings are discussed in the paper along with some recommendations for managers and researchers. Findings The results revealed a significantly positive relationship between high emotional intelligence and usage of integrating, compromising and obliging styles of handling conflict. Low emotional intelligence was found to be associated with high use of avoiding and dominating style. Research limitations/implications The study has limitations which hold suggestions for future research including self-report issue, focus on only one sector i.e. banking sector for analysis located in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. Also, the study was one shot therefore there is need for longitudinal research to validate the findings. The need for applied research is also emphasized. Practical implications The paper provides practitioners with some advice about understanding and managing conflict through usage of emotional intelligence and the importance of its training is highlighted. Originality/value The paper is a contribution to the existing limited research on the topic. However previous researches offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. It explores the link between the EI and all the five styles of conflict management which has not been yet researched by any academician. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Integration, Compromising, Avoiding, Competing, Obliging Paper type Research Paper INTRODUCTION The study particularly focuses on the individual emotional intelligence abilities to manage a conflict as emotions play a key role in effecting behavior in general (Weiner, 1992) and negotiation behavior in particular (Barry Oliver, 1996). Emotional intelligence shall be analyzed for its connection to the recognition of conflict formation and its influence on the selection of conflict management strategies under different situations. The concept of emotional intelligence can be traced back to Thorndikes (1920) concept of social intelligence, Wechslers (1940) proposition of non-intellective abilities as well as Gardners (1983) conceptualization of personal intelligence. However, the term of emotional intelligence (EI) was originated by Salovey and Mayer (1990). Thereafter, it was the work of Goleman (1995) which globally popularized the construct of emotional intelligence and as a result of that, both practitioners and academia have started recognizing its importance in the world of organizations. In recent years the construct of emotional intelligence has been advanced as providing greater insight into organizational behavior (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Thus, this research focuses on analyzing the impact of individuals emotional intelligence on individuals ability to effectively manage the conflict. Therefore, it was analyzed that which of the conflict management styles are mostly used by individuals with high emotional intelligence. Findings regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management and conflict resolution patterns have mixed results. A very little research has been done on this topic, as to analyze the impact of emotional intelligence on all the five styles of conflict management. Previous researches have offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. Other studies have explored limited, only two to three conflict management styles. This study explores all the five styles of conflict management. Moreover, the study aims to find out that the individuals high in emotional intelligence are inclined to which of the conflict management styles i.e. relationship between EI and conflict management styles. Further, it aims to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence and constructive and d estructive conflict management styles. Exploring these relationships will prove to be a great contribution to the existing body of knowledge by revealing important findings in the study. This study will prove to be a source of understanding the benefits of using emotional intelligence in context of realizing conflict management. It will prove to be beneficial for the organizations in a way that it will induce them to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence for the healthy functioning of their organization which will result in several training programs for employees to develop emotional intelligence abilities. A foundation is laid to better explain the construct of emotional intelligence as supported by various researchers. Further, research investigates the emotional competencies of individuals within the organization that promote constructive conflict management styles. LITERATURE REVIEW Emotions Emotion in organizations as an academic field in its own right did not emerge until recently (Yeomans, 2007). Understanding the behavior in the workplace requires grasping the nature and effect of human emotion. Our behavior and feelings at work are affected when we experience emotions. This situation is particularly prevalent in the state of conflict in which emotions are experienced regularly when individuals interact with each other (Jordan Troth, 2004). Whether focus is placed on distinguishing between felt emotions and revealed emotions, recognizing distinct emotions that appear in workplaces or the temporary effects of negative mood, each of the authors see emotions an important determinant of employees response to workplace situations (Jordan, Lawrence Troth, 2006). Emotional Intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) was first proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1990) which was then popularized by Goleman in his famous book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, in which he made strong claims about contribution of emotional intelligence to individual success and specifically in workplaces. He identified intellectual intelligence as a contribution of 20 % towards success in workplace and remaining 80% may be attributable to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). Since then, this area has got much attention in the field of leadership, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Researchers have defined EI as a distinct psychological skill that can be consistently gauged. Interest among social scientists on emotions as a domain of intelligence has grown in recent years. Before the importance of EI was realized in organizations, IQ was supposed to be sufficient for good human performance. Workers were indeed advised to put away their emotions at their homes before coming to work. But it is unrealistic to suppose that emotions can be left home or set aside when you arrive at work. Some people may assume, for a variety of reasons, that emotional neutrality is an ideal, but it is usually not good for an organization for it can hinder people to move into management roles. As emotional intelligence is critical to high performance, a person who knows how to stay motivated under stress, motivate others, manage complex interpersonal relationships, inspire others and build teams who are recognized specialists on a product or service are likely to get better results (Goleman, 2005). Thus, the idea of EI has attained some attention from some researchers in this age of customer-focused organizations due to the perception of it as a means to survive in present era of unfriendly, competitive and volatile environment (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). According to some scholars, e.g. Johnson and Indvik (1999) and McGarvey (1997), an employees emotional intelligence is likely to be higher when the organization is richer in the terms of emotions. It is easy to recognize low emotional intelligence in others. If the insensitive managers try to bulldoze their staff through steady criticism, loud voice, and veiled threats of joblessness will prompt the staff to great efforts. This attitude is emotionally unintelligent. The behavior of people to start having a dispute shouting match is also an emotionally unintelligent attitude. And once this behavior starts, it creates a downward spiral of low morale, avoidance and negative politics (Dreu, 1997). The reason for this behavior stems from emotions. Emotions provide us energy. Negative emotions create negative energy and positive emotions create positive energy. However, the emotionally intelligent are aware of this. They do not continuously think about how they feel. They do not reach the extremes of showing or hiding everything. They express what they feel when suitable, so that molehills do not grow into mountains (Bagshaw, 2000). The significance of emotions in work settings has been well-known. Emotional intelligence is a multi-dimensional concept that links emotion and cognition to improve human interactions (Jordan, Peter, Lawrence, Sandra, 2009). Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (p. 189). This definition is comprised of three categories of abilities: evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion, and using emotions in decision making. Based on Mayer and Saloveys model of emotional intelligence, Wong and Law (2002) devised their own model of emotional intelligence which comprises of four abilities, Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (own and others), Use of Emotions and Regulation of emotions (own and others). Recognizing emotional intelligence as a set of cognitive abilities involves that a degree of individual effort is required for these abilities to be successfully utilized (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Appraisal and expression of emotion is the ability to properly determine and express ones own emotions as well as to be sympathetic, appraise and express emotions of others (Zhou George, 2003). Management of our own emotion can help us avoid annoyance, worry and grief and guide to become dynamic in our jobs and personal lives. Thus for a content life, one should learn how to manage ones emotion. Emotions and cognitions are highly interconnected and emotional intelligence allows people with the ability to use emotions to aid the effective cognitive processing of information. Individuals vary not only in awareness, appraisal and expression of emotions but also in their ability to use emotions in collaboration with their cognitive processes to enhance effective functioning (Gross, 1998). Individuals with low emotional intelligence cannot effectively use their emotions to aid cognitive processes and may find it difficult to coordinate among how they feel and what are they doing (Zhou George, 2003). People not only understand the emotions of others but also make an effort to manage these emotions. The management of emotion enables an individual to join or not to join himself from an emotion in a given situation depending on its utility at that given time. This is apparent in the individuals ability to have control on his immediate reactions and postpone his judgment and then to communicate them in a measured and careful manner (Dodgson, 1993). Conflict Conflict is a collective dilemma in which two or more individuals, families, societies or regions disagree with each other (Dzurgba, 2006). Interpersonal conflict comprises of two or more persons in disagreement. Organizational conflict refers to a disagreement between or within groups in an organization. The groups might be of employees, workers union or management. Organizational conflict is the one mostly prevalent in the workplace due to the fact that people continuously hold opposing views on different issues, interests, beliefs, objectives and ambitions (Deutsch, 1990). Some harmful consequences of conflict can demoralize an organizations efforts. However, handling them correctly can be useful for individuals and organizations by creating effective, more flexible working relationship which would enhance innovative output and create novel solutions (Omoluabi, 2001). Conflict Resolution During previous number of decades, researchers took a keen interest in conflict and its impact on organizations. Many researchers have focused on numerous factors such as styles of handling conflict Jehn, 1997; Jehn, Northcraft Neale, 1999), resolution strategies (Van de Vliert Euwema, 1994), conflict and justice (Ohbuchi, Suzuki Hayashi, 2001), theories of managing conflict (Rahim, 2002), conflict of interest and objectives (Vilaseca, 2002) and conflict management techniques (Fillbeck Smith, 1997). Conflict resolution is an alternative approach to handling conflicts. It is a procedure in which parties in conflict, through interpersonal communication are reached to an acceptable and harmonious point of agreement (Omoluabi, 2001). Based on the conceptualizations of Follett (1940), Blake and Mouton (1964), and Thomas (1976), Rahim and Bonoma (1979) differentiated the styles of handling interpersonal conflict on two basic dimensions, concern for self and for others. The first dimens ion explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy his or her own concern. The second dimension explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy the concern of others. These two dimensions result in five distinct behavioral conflict management strategies: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. Integrating (high concern for self and others) style involves openness, exchange of information, and assessment of dissimilarities to reach an effective solution acceptable to both parties. It is associated with problem solving, which may lead to creative solutions. Obliging (low concern for self and high concern for others) style is associated with attempting to minimize the differences and focusing commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other party. Dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) style has been linked with win-lose orientation or with forcing behavior to win ones position. Avoiding (low concern for self and others) style has been associated with withdrawal, or escape situations. Compromising (intermediate in concern for self and others) style involves give-and-take whereby both parties give up something to make a mutually acceptable decision (Rahim, 2002 ). Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management The basic notion throughout this paper is the intrinsically emotional nature of conflict. According to Gayle and Preiss (1998), a small amount of research has explored the emotional understanding of conflict in the workplace. However, Jehn (1997) suggests that emotions are an important component of conflict. Others including Thomas (1992), Ashkanasy and Daus (2002), and Bodtker and Jameson (2001) advocate that workplace conflict and emotions are strongly linked. They argue that as conflict is related to stress and pressure, it escalates emotional response and negative stimulation. Pinkly (1990) found a discrete rational versus emotional dimension to conflict management frame from his study on the disputants interpretations of conflict. Individuals, in the emotional frame which includes feelings such as jealousy, hate, anger and frustration, are more likely to work less effectively because emotions infest and generalize the rational and instrumental way of thinking (Thomas, 1992). Weisinger (1998) recognized emotional management as a major ability essential to handle conflict in the workplace and improve relationships in workplaces. Subsequently, Goleman (2001a) listed conflict management as a core competency in his model of emotional intelligence, noting that effective conflict management is important for retaining business relationships. Lubit (2004) stated that emotional intelligence is a competency that increases the individuals capability to deal with toxic managers by means of enhanced conflict resolution skills. Suliman Al-Shaikh (2007) concluded in their study that employees with higher levels of emotional intelligence are expected to have more established life due to fewer conflicts and calmness which evokes creativity and innovation in employees. One needs to have good relationships with co workers and supervisors and should have an understanding of their emotions and feelings to be creative. Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Handling Styles Influence of personality characteristics, interpersonal needs, individual behaviour, organizational status, emotions, power, rewards, beliefs, basic values amongst others also have a direct impact on the styles applied (Bodtker Jameson, 2001). Jordan and Troth (2002) study discovered that individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to search for integrative solutions when confronted with conflict and preferred not to avoid. They asserted that, for the emotionally intelligent individual, integration in the appropriate conditions may be a sign of their ability to recognize and regulate emotions. As a result, integration serves to enhance employees relationships with their co-workers and assists to accomplish their goals during times of change. Indeed, in move ahead with their research, Jordan and Troth (2004) showed that groups having higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to inform using integrative conflict resolution style to settle o n a real decision-making task. Alternatively, those teams having less ability to deal with their own emotions had more chances to engage in greater use of avoidance tactics which resulted in lower performance. The study by Jordan, Ashkanasy and Ascough (2007) also found out the less use of avoidance techniques by those having high emotional intelligence. However, Foo, Elfenbein, Tan, and Aik (2004) in their study using student groups in a simulated negotiation, somewhat surprisingly found that individuals with high emotional intelligence actually landed up with low performance in the negotiation due to the reason that to reach an integrative solution, these individuals agreed to the lowest to achieve an integrative solution. However they noted that their findings needed to be approached with some caution. However, Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) indicated that integrative style dealing with intergroup conflict was considerably used to a greater extent in higher performing organizations than in low performing ones. Ogungbamila (2006) found that the forcing strategy had a direct significant relationship with work frustration while confronting, withdrawing, smoothing and compromising strategies did not. Burke (1970) suggested that the integrating style was related to the effective management of conflict, while forcing (dominating) and withdrawing (avoiding) were related to the ineffective management of conflict. Goleman (1998) suggests that emotionally intelligent employees are well able to negotiate and effectively handle their conflicts with organizational members. Silvia (2002) determined that high emotional self-awareness acts as an impediment on individuals experience of strong emotions. In other words, individuals with higher emotional self-awareness will experience lower levels of emotional response in reply to emotion generating situations, and will be better able to resolve conflict effectively with their fellow members. The management of own emotions involves an individuals ability to connect or disconnect from an emotion depending on its usefulness in any given situation (Mayer Salovey, 1997). In some conditions, emotions of other members need to be managed to ensure that working relationships are sustained. For instance, unmanageable anger in the workplace can have a negative impact on relationships, particularly if the anger is communicated to specific individuals (Davidson, MacGregor, Stuhr, Gidron, 1999; Fitness, 2000). On this basis, managing own and others emotions may be the key to avoiding these negative consequences during a conflict situation. For example, when faced with personal injustice during a conflict episode, an individuals feelings of anger may motivate or distract them for resolving the conflict. The individual with high emotional intelligence would be attentive of their anger, be able to administer their anger and regulate it to motivate their behavior beneficially. On the other hand, an individual with low emotional intelligence may not be aware of their emotions or the source of their emotions and allow anger to consume their feelings and reside on the unfairness that may have hurried their anger in the first place. Each of these emotional abilities has suggestions for how individual perform in organizations and in particular how they resolve conflict (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). Extending the benefits of EI to the negotiation context, we expect that by regulating ones emotions, and by maintaining a positive negotiating environment, a negotiator high in emotional intelligence can create an environment in which both negotiating sides are satisfied with the way the negotiation was performed. Despite the possible benefit of high EI individuals to create a positive negotiating experience for both themselves and for the negotiating partners, it is uncertain whether an individual benefits by negotiating with a high EI partner. One dimension of EI is to direct their emotion abilities to improve personal performance (Law, Wong Song, 2004). Conceivably the high EI partner can extract greater value from the negotiation; for instance a high EI person can use abilities at understanding others (Wong, Law, Wong, 2004) to recognize that his or her partner is satisfied with the offer and not increase the offer further. Despite this possibility of personal performance at the expense of the partner, we expect that individuals profit by negotiating with high EI partners. Individuals high in EI can better gain the trust of others and trust encourages integrative bargaining (Naquin Paulson, 2003). Further, positive emotions lead to cognitive elasticity and innovative strategies in fashioning integrative negotiation outcomes (Kumar, 1997). In contrast, negative emotions guide negotiators to identify the situation as distributive rather than integrative. Integrative bargaining is helpful because the negotiation parties can discover each others interests and find ways to increase joint outcomes (Fisher, Ury Patton, 1991). THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Independent Variable Dependent Variable In order to give a clear picture of the proposed research, a conceptual framework has been developed. This gives a logical sense of the relationship between the selected dependent and independent variables. According to the above literature review the variables defined are as follows: Emotional Intelligence (Independent Variable) Integrating (Dependent Variable) Compromising (Dependent Variable) Dominating (Dependent Variable) Obliging (Dependent Variable) Avoiding (Dependent Variable) As it is evident from the conceptual diagram that as the increment in one variable i.e. Emotional Intelligence, produces a positive increase in the integrating, compromising and obliging style. The relationship is said to be direct and highly positive as the increase in Emotional intelligence produces a positive effect on the three styles. Whereas, high emotional intelligence will have a negative impact on dominating and avoiding styles of conflict management. In short, high emotionally intelligent individual will be less likely to use the dominating and avoiding style to manage a conflict. HYPOTHESES H1: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt integrating style during conflict. H2: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt compromising style during conflict. H3: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt dominating style during conflict. H4: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt obliging style during conflict. H5: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt avoiding style during conflict. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Participants The targeted population for this research was banking sector of Pakistan. As like other organizations, banks also have their own hierarchy including chain of command, span of control. This organization structure and psychological contract may often result in various conflicts within the organization. Hierarchy describes the structure of the management from top to down. Chain of command is mechanism in which power and authority is exerted and delegated from senior management to every employee at every level of the organization. Whereas, span of control, is the number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy. Psychological contract refers to the perception of the two parties including the employee and employer where their mutual obligation may be viewed as promises and expectations towards each other. These all may have negative impact on job satisfaction, organization commitment and low trust level causing various task and relationship conflicts (Ali, 2008). Moreover, due to differences in personalities, a conflict can also occur e.g. a quality oriented person will have conflict with quantity oriented person. So to cope up with these issues, this study presents the importance of emotional intelligence in dealing with the individuals who cause conflict. The sample was selected from the private banks located in Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Total number of employees among which questionnaires were distributed was 260 employees out of which 233 employees returned the filled questionnaires. Response rate was 89 %. Each employee was working at managerial level.66 % of the respondents were male and 33% were female. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was applied to check whether the sample used was adequate or not. The value of our measure was 0.584 which showed that the sample selected was adequate and the results of the factor analysis would be useful. If the value is less than .50, the results of the factor analysis probably wont be very useful. Procedures The total questionnaires distributed were 260 in number among the participants. The questionnaire was self administered as by visiting the banks, employees were individually requested to fill out the questionnaire. Before giving the questionnaires, all questions were explained to the participants so they can easily complete the questionnaire and provide the accurate and relevant information. Only one questionnaire was provided to each respondent. After the completion of the experiment, 15 participants were excluded from the study as they were found to fill the questionnaire randomly without reading the questions. In addition, 12 of the returned questionnaires were not completed correctly. Therefore, these 27 were also excluded from the study, leaving a total of 233 usable questionnaires, with an overall response rate of 89%. The chances of error in the responses were also reduced by this method. The convenient sampling technique was followed as the data collection was done from the e mployees of private banks who were conveniently available to provide information. The data collected from the 233 questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) 13. Regression and Correlation was applied to the data to achieve the results regarding the relationship between the variables. Measures A single questionnaire (See Appendix) was distributed among employees of the bank, which was adopted from Wong and Law (2002) and Rahim (1983). The questions were carefully worded to avoid misinterpretation. The questionnaire layout was formatted in logical manner to ensure a higher response rate. Questionnaire included only closed-ended questions. Structured questionnaire was designed to measure all the independent and dependent variables on a 5-point likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (coded as 5) to Strongly Disagree (coded as 1). The questions also sought data on demographics of respondents. Conflict Management For getting responses on conflict management styles, one of the most commonly used models, Rahim (1983) who developed an instrument known as the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II or ROCI-II (Rahim, 1983) was used. This instrument measures the five conflict management styles of dominating, avoiding, obliging, compromising and integrating. The ROCI-II comprises 28 statements, seven of which relate to the integrating style, six each to the obliging and avoiding styles, five to the dominating style and four to the compromising style. Notwithstanding the different terminology, these styles are broadly parallel to those of Blake and Mouton (1964). The items were measured on a 5 point likert scale. The instrument has been tested in numerous studies and has been found to have a high degree of validity and internal consistency (Rahim, 1992; King and Miles, 1990; Weider- Hatfield, 1988). The respondents typically require 8 minutes to complete the ROCI II (Rahim, 1983). The population appropriate for taking responses is any member of the organization. As employees at the workplace has not much time to spend on filling out the questionnaire correctly, so this questionnaire was selected keeping in mind the time factor as well as the comprehensives of the questionnaire. The questionnaire measures all the conflict management styles in a brief and concise manner. Emotional intelligence As emotional intelligence is all about keeping ones own as well as others emotions in mind, regulating them and using them to solve a conflict, so a questionnaire having all these dimensions was aimed to be used. Emotional Intelligence was assessed using Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) (2002), based on the model developed by Davies, Stankov and Roberts (1998) and Mayer and Salovey (1997).This scale consists of 16 items. The WLEIS was designed as a short measure of EI for use in organizational research. It comprises of 16 items, responded to on a 5-point Likert scale and measuring four dimensions: Self-Emotion Appraisal, Emotion Appraisal of Others, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emotion. Wong and Law (2002) report good internal consistency reliabilities for their measure. RESULTS The targeted population for this research was the employees of the banking sector of Pakistan. However, sample considered was 233 employees from several private banks in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. All the result and analysis were based on these 233 responses. Data Analysis Technique Results were analyzed by using the statistical analysis software named Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 13.0. The demographic data included gender, name of organization, type of work, department, and duration of job. Correlation and regression tests were applied to analyze the variables where emotional intelligence was treated as independent variable while integration, compromising, dominating, obliging and avoiding were considered a

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Propeller Aircraft Past Present And Future Technologies Engineering Essay

Propeller Aircraft Past Present And Future Technologies Engineering Essay This is a preliminary report for a project on Propeller aircraft, it aims to show the past, present and future technologies used on propeller driven aircraft. The introduction gives a brief history of propeller engine development. After which objectives section explains what this report hopes to achieve by the end of this project. Few of the main objectives include, highlighting the advancements in propeller blade designs and propeller engines, and detailing the future technologies currently in development regarding propeller aircraft. Also it is intends to explain the argument why propeller aircraft are better suited for intercity travel when compared to jet aircraft due to overall lower environmental pollution. This report then describes the tasks that need to be carried out in order to bring this project to a timely conclusion, the progress that has been made to date and finally limitations regarding this project are outlined and mitigating strategies discussed. Table of Contents Word Count = 2133 1 Introduction Propeller aircraft have come a long way since the early days of fixed pitch wooden propellers that were used by the Wright brothers on the Wright Flyer. These propellers were not very efficient as they were fixed pitch, which meant that they were only optimum in at one engine speed. I.e. either they were good for takeoff but the angle was not right for cruise or they were optimum at cruise but not efficient during takeoff due to high slippage. Figure 1 shows some examples of fixed pitch propellers o different designs. Figure 1, Examples of fixed pitch propellers. Available [Online] at http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/model_aircraft_engines/propellers.htm [Accessed: 23rd November 2010] 1.2 Historical Developments In the late 1920s we saw the development of ground adjusted metal propeller this allowed for better efficiency as blade angles could be changed due to the local weather conditions and the different type of aircraft they were being used on. Figure 2 shows a ground adjustable metal propeller. Figure 2, Ground adjustable propeller. Available [Online] at http://www.legend.aero/options3.asp [Accessed 27th November 2010] These also became outdated by the development of constant speed propeller system, which allowed you to change the pitch of the propeller blades during ground or in flight and this system continues to be used even today. Other improvements of propeller designs from 1930s through World War II included the feathering of the propeller for multi engine aircraft in case one engine became inoperative during flight; and reversing propeller systems that allowed for shorter landing distances and greater ground manoeuvrability. (Delp, 1979) In recent times we have seen the development of composite blades, which are lighter, stronger and more durable then metal blades and are controlled by constant variable pitch changing mechanism which offer optimum efficiency. As the design of the propeller blades have been changing constantly so has the way these propellers have been powered, from the early piston engines to the turboprop engines of current times; each change ensuring better performance and more efficient propeller aircraft. Though the development of the Jet engine in the 1930s by Sir Frank Whittle, an RAF serviceman was suppose to change the game plan for propeller aircraft as turbofan engines were perceived to be the only future, turboprop engines have defied those expectations and are still continued to be used till today. The reason for this is that they provide maximum efficiency in low altitude, short range flights such as city hopper jets. These are usually operated from smaller airports hence the short takeoff and landing (STOL) characteristic of these aircraft gives them the edge over the turbojets. They are also more fuel economical when compared to their turbofan counterparts as the latter burn high quantity of fuel during takeoff and climb out phases and are usually optimum for long range, high altitude flights, due to this they are also ideal as fright carrier aircraft. So for these reasons turboprops continued to be used by many airlines for short haul flights, and hence therefore continue to defy the prediction of those sceptic people who said that propeller aircraft would die out as turbofans were the clear cut future of civil aviation. Figure 3 shows a modern day constant speed, composite bladed turboprop aircraft, from this we can how the design of the blades and pitch changing mechanism s have evolved from the early wooden and metal props. http://images.asme.org/MEMagazine/Articles/2009/December/21224.jpg Figure 3, Constant Speed Propeller, Available [Online] at http://images.asme.org/MEMagazine/Articles/2009/December/21224.jpg> [Accessed] 1st Dec 2010]) 2 Aims The aim of this project is to provide an in depth report of the development of propeller aircraft and their associated benefits over jet aircraft. To highlight why turboprops are best for inter city travel and their relative environmental impact when compared to turbojets, this will be done by analysing the statistical figures for their fuel efficiency, the average fuel emissions per person and the noise emissions of the two types of aircraft; from this one will be able to come to the conclusion that which of these type of aircraft are best to reduce the environmental impact of air travel. Also the past, present and future technologies for propeller aircraft will be discussed and presented to the reader clearly explaining their benefits. 2.2 Objectives The objectives of this report are listed below and explain the issues that this report is going to investigate and the findings it will show. To explore the development of the propeller engines from the early piston engines through to the modern day turboprops. To examine how propeller blades have developed over the years from the early wooden to the composite blades of today, including studying the development of variable pitch changing mechanism that has significantly increased propeller efficiency in each different flight phase. To highlight the benefits of propeller engines over jet engines for inter city travel aircraft and freight carriers. To investigate the fuel efficiency and noise emissions of different types of propeller aircraft, in particular turboprop. To investigate the future technology being developed using propeller aircraft, such as the open rotor concept that was first studied in the 1980s by General Electrics and NASA due to the last round of high fuel prices. To highlight the benefits and drawbacks of distinctive propeller A/C designs, such as the tilt-rotor technology that is employed on the Boeing-Bell V22 Osprey. To analyse future methods and procedures that could be used to reduce the environmental impact of propeller aircraft such as external noise suppression, synchrophasing of propeller blades and active noise control. To investigate the different fluid dynamic studies that have been carried out on various different propeller designs to show which design is the most efficient and why. 3 Analysis of tasks To achieve the objectives of this report extensive research on propeller aircraft will be carried out, especially regarding turboprops. A performance database listing all the appraisals for major turboprop aircraft that are being used in commercial and military environments will be constructed. This will make it easy to compare the performances of different turboprop aircraft against one another of different category and weight i.e. their fuel consumption, ceiling height, max speed etc. In order to highlight the benefits of turboprops for intercity travel, turbojets used for the same routes will also be looked at, in order to give a direct comparison. To investigate the development of propeller engines, propeller blades and the pitch changing mechanism the following textbooks will be used amongst others: Aircraft Propellers and Controls, Delp, Frank, 1979 Powerplant Textbook, Jeppesen, 2002 Jet and Turbine Aero engines, Gunston, Bill, 1997 As well as these books other sources such as the internet and aircraft magazines are to be used. The internet will be the main source of information for this report as it contains vast amount of data and archives related to propeller aircraft and their development, information that otherwise would be hard to find. After the research is completed into each part it will be collated into one report. The main findings from this report are expected to show whether propeller aircraft or jet aircraft have lower environmental impact during short haul flights. Future technologies involving turboprop engines will also be included; in particular the development of the General Electrics GE36 open rotor engine of the 1980s which gave us increased fuel efficiency. Figure 4 shows a GE36 on a NASA test rig. The major drawbacks for this design such as noise, vibration issues will also be discussed in the view of reducing environmental pollution. (Open rotor engine, 2008) Photo Figure 4, Open Rotor Engine [Online] Available at: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/07/cfm-introduces.html [Accessed] 3rd December 2010) The fluid dynamic studies involving different propeller designs will be looked at to see which blade design is the most efficient and to explain the reason behind this. If time permits Solidworks will be used to simulate fluid dynamics on at least two different blade designs to confirm these findings. 4 Gantt Chart 5 Current status of the project Research has been carried out using various internet sites and information has been gathered on the development of propeller engines, the blades construction and the pitch change mechanism used on propeller aircraft. Also a database appraisal of different props that are currently in use around the world is being constructed, detailing information such as range, max payload, max ceiling etc; this will be used to validate why propeller aircraft are more economical for short haul flight when compared to jet aircraft. Research on the ultra high bypass (prop fan) open rotor concept has shown that the new designs by using titanium, lightweight stainless steel and composite materials offer 15 percent better fuel economy then some leading turbofan engines. The designers for this engine have achieved 30:1 bypass ratio, by employing single or dual propellers with composite blades that have 12 to 15 feet diameter. As composite blades are lighter, they allow for safer operation at higher speeds. But the disadvantages of noise, vibration and maintenance issues cannot be simply overlooked. This information has helped to clarify why this design has the potential for success but also why it is still a long way to becoming a reality. (Jeppesen, 2002) The Bombardier Q400 (Q standing for Quiet) was looked at and shows that this new generation turboprop aircraft produces 30 percent less fuel emissions and is said to be more efficient then an average car, when calculated on per passenger basis. It also employs a revolutionary Active Noise and Vibration Suppression system; that prevents noise and vibration from entering the cabin. (Bombardiers Greener Turboprop, 2008) 6 Discussion Conclusion The research that has been conducted up to now is generic to say the least, but it does cover most of the objectives that are listed for this report. Nonetheless, more specific research is needed regarding points such as the future development of propeller engines especially the open rotor concept; and the potential noise suppression techniques being studied for turboprop aircraft. Research regarding the last two points will have to be conducted over the Christmas holidays as much more information is needed, whilst it is to be ensured that enough time is also taken out for revision for end of semester exams straight after the holidays. In view of the time constraints the study on fluid dynamics of propeller blades using computer software Solidworks will be carried out towards the end of the project, this is to ensure that main objectives of this project are covered as it is assumed that it will take time to get used to operating this software. The purpose of this part is to show which propeller blade shape is most efficient and why. Due to the secrecy of manufacturers regarding their new and exclusive products, especially in the aircraft industry; it is presumed that it will be difficult to get up to date information such as figures and stats for developing technologies such as the open rotor engine being developed by GE and NASA. Along with the already developed tilt-rotor military AC from Boeing-Bell, so therefore general information that is available in the public domain such as on the internet will be used, but the drawback to this is that this information might not be 100% accurate and sometimes cannot be verified. Finally if this report is to be completed on schedule to meet its set objectives then the above mentioned points in this section should be sufficiently addressed on the earliest opportunity to allow time for the fluid dynamic research.

Comparing Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and After a Time Essays

Comparing Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and After a Time Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and Catherine Davis' "After a Time" demand comparison: Davis' poem was written in deliberate response to Thomas'. Davis assumes the reader's familiarity with "Do Not Go Gentle," which she uses to articulate her contrasting ideas. "After a Time," although it is a literary work in its own right, might even be thought of as serious parody--perhaps the greatest compliment one writer can pay another. "Do Not Go Gentle in That Good Night" was written by a young man of thirty-eight who addresses it to his old and ailing father. It is interesting to note that the author himself had very little of his own self-destructive life left as he was composing this piece. Perhaps that is why he seems to have more insight into the subject of death than most people of his age. He advocates raging and fighting against it, not giving in and accepting it. "After a Time" was written by a woman of about the same age and is addressed to no one in particular. Davis has a different philosophy about death. She "answers" Thomas's poem and presents her differing views using the same poetic form--a villanelle. Evidently, she felt it necessary to present a contrasting point of view eight years after Thomas's death. While "Do Not Go Gentle" protests and rages against death, Davis's poem suggests a quiet resignation and acquiescence. She seems to feel that raging against death is useless and profitless. She argues that we will eventually become tame, anyway, after the raging is done. At the risk of sounding sexist, I think it interesting that the man rages and the woman submits, as if the traditi... ...much sensory suggestiveness. She gives us "things lot,' a "reassuring ruse," and "all losses are the same." Her most powerful image--"And we go striped at last the way we came"==makes its point with none of the excitement of Thomas's rage. And yet, I prefer the quiet intelligence of Davis to the high energy of Thomas. "And we go stripped at last the way we came" can give strange comfort and solace to those of us who always envied those in high places. Death is a great leveler. People are not all created equal at birth, not by a long shot. But we will bloody well all be equal when we make our final exit. Kings, pope, and heads of state will go just as "stripped" as the rest of us. They won't get to take anything with them. All wealth, power, and trappings will b left behind. We will all finally and ultimately be equal. So why rage? It won't do us any good.