VBD report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

VBD report - Essay Example In the light of the events which have occurred in the Brisbane branch of the firm in a span of six weeks, the scenario behind the resignation of four line managers as a result of inadequate opportunities to participate in the decision making of the business is being considered critically by the company to assess the state of participative management techniques and leadership models in the company’s Brisbane branch. Hence, the purpose of this report is to explore the circumstances surrounding the resignation of the four line managers to better understand the application of the leading and organizing function of management in the firm and present appropriate recommendations for addressing the present issue successfully thereby, reducing turnover rates in the future. The prevalent issue in the organization is associated with the concept of employee turnover which is demonstrated by the resignation of four line manager’s at the company’s Brisbane branch in the time period of six weeks. According to Jang (2008), the concept of employee turnover can be defined as â€Å"the gross movement of workers in and out of employment with respect to a given company†. Moreover, the concept of turnover can be assessed in terms of voluntary and involuntary turnover, which in this case is associated with the former as the employees have willingly resigned from their respective positions (Cascio and Boudreau, 2010). While, the explanation of central causes of employee turnover have often been described by researchers as being unique to the organization or even individual cases, it has already been established that the fundamental reason behind the four resignations which have been received by the company is a consequence of inadequate HR pract ices. As noted by Jackson, Schuler and Werner (2011), poor levels of job satisfaction and absence of fair opportunities in the workplace can promote a sense of

Compare the Techniques Of My First Sonne and Limbo Essay Example for Free

Compare the Techniques Of My First Sonne and Limbo Essay When looking at the two poems it is clear that On my First Sonne is composed to deal with a father losing his seven year old son. While in comparison the poet Brathwaite is highlighting the topic of slavery. When comparing the two poems it is quite noticeable that they deal with life issues of death and sadness. However, once studying the two poems it is quite noticeable that both poems distinguish and highlight religion. This is highlighted in Limbo as it says in the last line on the burning ground. Which can be clearly suggested that it is portraying the Christian image of Hell. Which can be defined as a place where youre in torture, which relates to the life of an African Slave where there struggling for life in places e.g. the sugar plantations. In On My First Sonne its communicating to the reader about religion like Limbo. However, instead of comparing religion to torture, it is discussing can people envy his son because hes going to heaven? This is particularly shown in the following line where he leaves a question mark Will man lament the state he should envie? Looking at both the poems theres a huge contrast in there individuality and uniqueness. This is clearly shown through the way that both the poems are written. For example, Limbo is presented in free verse which is probably suggesting that the slaves once had an identity. The word Limbo emphasises that the free verse is trying to show that the slaves were his ancestors with an African past. However, Brathwaite is presenting that the slave dealers stripped his ancestors of an identity for example the dumb Gods are raising me. Showing that the poet has no knowledge of Africans Gods or culture. While in contrast, the techniques used in On My First Sonne shows a traditional English poem about his love to his son. It is also writing about the English tradition of the Church of England and an identity about what it is to be English. Which during its time was to believe in the old tradition of religion and heaven. Which when comparing the two it is noticeable that On My First Sonne shows identity and Limbo conveys lost identity. On My First Sonne it uses Trochaic pentameter in order to create the feeling of sadness by the use of a stressed and then a unstressed syllable. By using this technique it creates a feeling that the author is clueless which is shown through sentences like Will man lament the state he should envie? Limbo also uses Trochaic pentameter in order to create the feeling of sadness as the poem is talking about the struggle of slavery long dark deck and the water surrounding me. When looking at the tenses of On My First Sonne it uses past, present and future. For example in the first four lines there is a use of past. This is shown as he talks about his seven year old child and uses in the last sentence on the just day. It then changes to present, as the poet talks about in the next four lines Will man lament the state he should envie? suggesting he should envy his son because he is in heaven. This quote also shows that he has accepted the death of his son. It then goes to future as the poet mentions in soft peace. This poem shows to the reader that the poet wrote this poem over a long period of time. Showing to the reader the past represents that his child died, the present in between lines is mentioning the childs burial and the future is that the child is buried and now in heaven. In Limbo there is a use of only present tense and repetition of the title limbo. This technique is used to make the poem capture the audience and get into the character of a slave. Furthermore, the use of repetition creates a tempo and the beat is indicated as it uses the word drummers. However, in On My First Sonne there is a use of punctuation to create the tempo meaning the audience are less involved with the poem. In conclusion this essay shows to the reader the background of the poems one to do with slavery and another to do with England and the Church of England of faith. Furthermore, Im showing how both poems contrast and how language is used to show tempo and contrast.

Quest for Knowledge in Milton’s Paradise Lost - How Much can Humans Kno

Quest for Knowledge in Milton’s Paradise Lost - How Much can Humans Know? â€Å"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy† (Shakespeare II.i.166-67). So Hamlet tells Horatio when he marvels at the spectre of the ghost. Hamlet is telling his friend that science and natural philosophy can only account for so much. A point comes when humans cannot rationalize or prove certain events. In Paradise Lost , Raphael tells Adam similar sentiments when Adam questions him on the nature of the universe in Book VIII. However, Raphael goes on to warn Adam not to ponder deeply things that he can never know fully. This type of curiosity and desire for learning only leads to sin. Yet, while Raphael is warning Adam not to think of these things, he himself speculates on the nature of the universe, planting ideas in Adam’s mind he did not have before. These ideas concern the theories of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo, much in dispute in Milton’s time. Though Milton seems to advance the Ptolemaic theory of the universe in Paradise Lost , the debate over which system Milton truly believed in is not the most important aspect of Raphael and Adam’s discussion in Book VIII. Knowledge is the true topic. What and how much can humans know? Knowledge is the cornerstone of Paradise Lost . Adam and Eve must not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan pinpoints Adam and Eve’s vulnerability in their ignorance of evil. Adam worries that he may seek knowledge that displeases God. Raphael praises Adam’s thirst for knowledge and warns him about obsessively seeking knowledge that is useless. Eve eats the fruit because she wants to know how ... ... the universe spends so much time circling the earth. 3 In Book VIII of Paradise Lost, Raphael discusses the source of the moon’s light (140-58). 4 â€Å"And now / [Adam] led on, yet sinless, with desire to know† (Paradise Lost VII.60-01). Works Cited Hughes, Merritt ed. John Milton: Complete Pomes and Major Prose. New York: Macmillan, 1957. Marjara, Harinder Singh. Contemplation of Created Things: Science in "Paradise Lost". Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. Milton, John. Paradise Lost ed. Alastair Fowler, Second Edition. London: Longman, 1998. Nicolson, Majorie Hope. A Reader's Guide to John Milton. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1998. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1992. Williamson, George. ed. Milton: Formal Essays and Critical Asides. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve Univ. Press, 1970.

Cross-cultural Communication Essay

In order to accomplish the task I decided to interview my friend from Italy who arrived to the USA after having won a language competition to live and study here and whom I recently visited in Italy. So, below you may see some differences and similarities of American and Italian culture. First of all he decided to rent a car since it was more convenient than a train or other transportation vehicle. He noted that there are almost no pedestrians in the streets as everybody drives a car. Also, he stated that American people take care of their life as no other culture in the world because they have a list of emergency calls in every household and therefore are rightfully scared to death of Italian drivers. The system of driving in Italy is almost beyond American understanding. The basic difference is that Americans like lanes and pretty much expect everybody to stay in one. Italy does not work like this at all. Instead they use a surprisingly tolerant system of swerving, tail gating, and other go-as-you-please driving etiquette that Americans would be driven to homicidal road rage by if it happened in the hometown. Traveling through Italy American person will never see anyone irritated or aggressive while driving. Italians just casually drive like maniacs and know that everyone else is too. Along the way, they adore chatting and laughing with each other. As a huge generalization Italians are very attractive people. It felt like people are living in an Armani commercial. But as he says they smoke everywhere, all the time. As expected, he liked American food everywhere: in restaurants, in coffee shops, etc. although he was more accustomed to have a dessert and a thimble of coffee. It was quite a surprise for him to reveal that dinners last an hour or an hour and a half at most while in Italy they go on for hours. Time in general moves differently in the USA, as he says. In the USA days start earlier than according to the Italian standards. In Italy the whole country shuts down from one o’clock to three or four o’clock every afternoon. There is also a great difference in architecture of these two cultures. Italy is full of narrow streets, plazas and buildings. He says if you want to live in an apartment that is several hundred years old and is probably built on top of even older building you can do it. In the USA it is hard to find something older than about 200 years old. In my essay I would like to refer to the idea of the context of situation (Kramsch 25) that includes three major parts: o The field of discourse o The tenor of discourse o The mode of discourse The field of discourse covers the situation of visiting another country and penetrating into its culture. The tenor implies the participants, while the mode includes the role of the language in this situation. Therefore, it would be appropriate to note that Italian tradition of driving may serve as a good example of the context of situation. First of all, it involves such important factors as high level of emotionality, hot weather, narrow streets, and their somewhat confusing location. As the tenor of discourse investigates the members of the situation, it is necessary to mention here the importance of the origin of the participants. As we may see from the interview and from my own experience Italians and Americans drive in completely different way and both of them believe that their driving tradition is the best and most convenient. In conclusion, I may add that cultural diversity implies different traditions that require understanding, open-mindness, and tolerance. References Kramsch, Claire. (2003). Language and Culture (4th edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Poverty and Progress: Are we suffering from delusion of poverty?

It is indeed that most Filipino today suffers from delusion of poverty which is a false belief of a person that he or she is impoverished or will be deprived of material possessions or a person’s mindset the he strongly believes that he is financially incapacitated. Many people will use the excuse of this is the way I was born or this is my environment and I cannot change it. Through these statements it shows that most of the time it is because of your own mindset the reason you are where you are today. We have all heard, you are where you are today because of what you did yesterday.If you didn’t change or plan ahead yesterday, then you can expect today to be different until you change. A poverty mindset can manifest itself in a lack of vision for the future. You end up stuck in a financial rut, perhaps working a job that barely meets the financial needs of your household. When you lack vision, it’s hard for you to believe that God would give you an idea to take your household to prosperity. And if God does give you a big idea, you either will not follow-up on it, or you will find a way to sabotage it. Your poverty mindset keeps you stuck where you are.If a person feels less than others then he will not feel deserving. If he does not feel deserving, his life is based on desperation and wanting, rather than from joy and abundance. If one feels abundant, he will have abundance. If one feels desperate and wanting, he will expand the poverty in his life. Wealth or poverty is something that resides within. Poverty is a state of mind and about perspective not always about money. It is a fear of never having enough. To break that state of mind we have to make different choices and unblock the shackles that have been placed on our minds by our parents and the society around us.Our beliefs about how the world works is passed down from generation to generation. If your parents have a poverty mindset, it’s highly likely that you grew up with th ese same beliefs. People may say that they want to be wealthy, however a mindset that is set for poverty cannot handle a sudden increase in wealth. Because of the delusion of poverty mindset, you never set up a written budget to plan the use of your finances. You never set financial goals for what you want your money to accomplish. You just let it flow through your fingers and out of your pocket and the end result is being broke.That’s the type of mentality that keeps people in poverty. Often, thinking that we’re â€Å"poor† while others are â€Å"rich† is a result of comparing ourselves with other people. The first step is to stop comparing ourselves with others. You don’t need lots of money to be rich. Poor people put a high priority in having cash on hand. They do pocket accounting. What cash they have in their pocket is often how they manage their money. They do not like checking accounts because it requires financial management. Delusion of po verty has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with the willingness to communicate and face a problem.Growing up in that environment absolutely shapes one’s mind about money and life. People who heard from their parents that â€Å"we can’t afford this and can’t afford that†, as if there was no other way to get money other than welfare. There was no budgeting to help make the money last the full 2 weeks. They get their check and blow it on junk food, alcohol, drugs etc. Then act like victims for the rest of the days while waiting for the next check or the next binge. Change your environment and you change your financial future. Where did you learn your financial habits? Other adults: primarily your parents.We spend the way they spend. We value what they value. We carry their views on most things. So if your parents spent foolishly, their actions taught you to spend foolishly. If your parents spent wisely, you would gravitate towards wisdom in finances. If your parents were really wise they would have explained why they spend the way they do and how to by-pass financial failures through proper money management. People who grew up hearing a language of poverty that sounds like this: â€Å"we can’t afford it†, â€Å"we don’t have the money†, â€Å"that’s for the rich people not for us†. All of those statements are victimized, poverty statements.Change your language, and you change your financial future. Even the rich people suffer from delusion of poverty according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2007, January), â€Å"As the economy dips precariously, people who still have a lot of means are freaking out†. According to Dr. Kotbi from his interview in New York Times (2009,Jauary) he had a wealthy woman patient, worried about whether she would have enough money to buy groceries, refused to eat. Another patient, a real estate investor grew so paralyzed by financial fear that h e asked his wife, who had hardly paid a bill in her life to take over the family finances.Dr. Kotbi said they often suffer â€Å"delusions of poverty† which is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, associated with psychotic depression and despite retaining millions of money in assets, are crippled by self-doubt, loss of power, and sometimes guilt. These people have fear of being poor. I hate this delusion of poverty in our country where poverty is imbibed to all of us: ‘Hindi ako makakapagtapos ng pag-aaral kasi dukha lang kami’ or ‘Anong magagawa namin? Eh mahirap lang kami? ’ It’s always like that. I also hear that from my neighbors, saying everyday that they are just poor folks.I hate that in every election season, the candidates that we see on television hail themselves as messiahs or the bringer of solutions to poverty. Or perhaps, a knight in shining armor, ready to rescue a poverty-stricken maiden. We should acce pt the fact that the way we think affect our actions. Yes, somehow we are poor but we can be rich also. We need to be aware of a self-defeating thought process or activity in order to change our poverty mindset. Remember the sayings that what your mind can conceive your heart and body can achieve. It is the time to cut the chain that ties Filipino to the endless delusion of poverty.

Free Essays on Ricky Martin

She’s All I Ever Had By Ricky Martin Ricky Martin is a famous singer that has been an artist since the age of 10. He was born in Puerto Rico and began his singing career with a teenage group called the â€Å"Menodos†. The song â€Å"She’s all I Ever Had† by Ricky Martin, which has been rated number one, is a song that expresses the narrators feelings about a special woman in his life that he no longer has. The song begins with the narrator implying that he was hurt like a bird that had â€Å"broken wings.† This gives the listener a feeling of sorrow for the narrator because he makes it seem like the hurt that he was feeling inside was actually physically hurting him. He goes on to say that he has â€Å"quiet thoughts and unspoken dreams† which gives a listener the idea that the sorrow he felt inside was so intense that it wouldn’t let him share his feelings or thoughts with anyone. The song says, â€Å"Here I am alone again†. I can image the narrator sitting in the corner of a room thinking about this special woman that was no longer beside him. This women, had a certain quality that a mother has when she soothes her child that the narrator was craving when he said, â€Å"I need her know to hold my hand.† In second stanza â€Å"so much time so much pain† the narrator gives the listeners an idea that this man has been feeling wounded from his woman love for a long time. The narrator tries to hold on to the love that the women had given him. He doesn’t want to let go of the memories with her. He remembers that she was always there for him when he needed her. It seems like all he has left of her is the memories that they shared together and those memories will be the only thing that has him holding on to her love. The narrator feels like this individual was the only one that he ever wanted and he needs her to come back to his life so he can go on. He, the narrator, also states that this woman was all he h... Free Essays on Ricky Martin Free Essays on Ricky Martin She’s All I Ever Had By Ricky Martin Ricky Martin is a famous singer that has been an artist since the age of 10. He was born in Puerto Rico and began his singing career with a teenage group called the â€Å"Menodos†. The song â€Å"She’s all I Ever Had† by Ricky Martin, which has been rated number one, is a song that expresses the narrators feelings about a special woman in his life that he no longer has. The song begins with the narrator implying that he was hurt like a bird that had â€Å"broken wings.† This gives the listener a feeling of sorrow for the narrator because he makes it seem like the hurt that he was feeling inside was actually physically hurting him. He goes on to say that he has â€Å"quiet thoughts and unspoken dreams† which gives a listener the idea that the sorrow he felt inside was so intense that it wouldn’t let him share his feelings or thoughts with anyone. The song says, â€Å"Here I am alone again†. I can image the narrator sitting in the corner of a room thinking about this special woman that was no longer beside him. This women, had a certain quality that a mother has when she soothes her child that the narrator was craving when he said, â€Å"I need her know to hold my hand.† In second stanza â€Å"so much time so much pain† the narrator gives the listeners an idea that this man has been feeling wounded from his woman love for a long time. The narrator tries to hold on to the love that the women had given him. He doesn’t want to let go of the memories with her. He remembers that she was always there for him when he needed her. It seems like all he has left of her is the memories that they shared together and those memories will be the only thing that has him holding on to her love. The narrator feels like this individual was the only one that he ever wanted and he needs her to come back to his life so he can go on. He, the narrator, also states that this woman was all he h...

Amethyst essays

Amethyst essays The name for the mineral amethyst comes from the Greek word amethustos which means not drunken. In the first century a famous Greek god wrote that amethyst was named for its color being nearly the same as the color of wine. Early Greeks believed that drinking wine from an amethyst cup would prevent intoxication, or getting drunk. Amethyst is a purple gemstone. Iron and manganese compounds or impurities cause this purple coloration. The purple color of amethyst is due to small amounts (approximately 40 parts per million) of iron (Fe4+) impurities at certain areas in the crystal structure of quartz. The difference between amethyst and citrine is only the Oxidation State of the iron impurities in the quartz. When heated, the iron impurities are reduced and the amethyst's purple color fades and becomes yellow to reddish-orange (citrine), green, or colorless depending on the area and the original oxidation state of the iron impurities currently and the amount and time of the heating. The amethystine color usually can come back by irradiation, which re-oxidizes the iron impurities. The process can be done in a laboratory, but not often and when done is very difficult to tell that the mineral is synthetic. The color can also come back by a natural process of decomposing of a nearby radioactive mineral. This is mostly a reversible process, but constant heating can change the distribution of the iron impurities at different sites within the quartz making it impossible to convert it back to amethyst by post irradiation. The heating process can occur naturally or synthetically. Its known to be one of the most valuable quartz stones and its also known to be high in price. Amethyst is readily available in all sizes and shapes. Amethyst is made out of crystalline quartz. Crystalline quartz is a dichroic crystal and if the quartz is heated it will change the color of the mineral into yellow, creating another gemstone or mineral called c...

A Biography of American Spy Hercules Mulligan

A Biography of American Spy Hercules Mulligan Born in Ireland’s County Londonderry on September 25, 1740, Hercules Mulligan immigrated to the American colonies when he was just six years old. His parents, Hugh and Sarah, left their homeland in hopes of improving life for their family in the colonies; they settled in New York City and Hugh became the eventual owner of a successful accounting firm. Fast Facts: Hercules Mulligan Born:  September 25, 1740Died: March 4, 1825Lived in: Ireland, New YorkParents: Hugh Mulligan and Sarah MulliganEducation:  King’s College (Columbia University)Spouse:  Elizabeth SandersKnown for: Member of Sons of Liberty, associate of Alexander Hamilton, secret agent  who worked with the Culper Ring and twice saved General George Washingtons life. Hercules was a student at King’s College, now Columbia University, when another young man–one Alexander Hamilton, late of the Caribbean–came knocking on his door, and the two of them formed a friendship. This friendship would turn into political activity in just a few short years. Thinker, Tailor, Soldier,  Spy Hamilton lived with Mulligan for a period during his tenure as a student, and the two of them had many late-night political discussions. One of the earliest members of the Sons of Liberty, Mulligan is credited from swaying Hamilton away from his stance as a Tory and into a role as a patriot and one of America’s founding fathers. Hamilton, originally a supporter of British dominion over the thirteen colonies, soon came to the conclusion that the colonists should be able to rule themselves. Together, Hamilton and Mulligan joined the Sons of Liberty, a secret society of patriots that was formed to protect colonists’ rights. Following his graduation, Mulligan worked briefly as a clerk in Hugh’s accounting business, but soon branched out on his own as a tailor. According to a 2016 article on the CIA website, Mulligan: â€Å"†¦cater[ed] to the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me of New York society. He also catered to wealthy British businessmen and high-ranking British military officers. He employed several tailors but preferred to greet his customers himself, taking the customary measurements and building rapport among his clientele. His business thrived, and he established a solid reputation with the gentleman of the upper class and with the British officers.† Thanks to his close access to British officers,  Mulligan was able to accomplish two very important things in a very short time. First, in 1773, he married Miss Elizabeth Sanders at Trinity Church in New York. This should be unremarkable, but Mulligan’s bride was the niece of Admiral Charles Saunders, who had been a commander in the Royal Navy prior to his death; this  gave Mulligan access to some high-ranking individuals. In addition to his marriage, Mulligan’s role as a tailor allowed him to be present during numerous conversations between British officers; in general, a tailor was much like a servant, and considered invisible, so his clients had no qualms about speaking freely in front of him. Mulligan was also a smooth talker. When British officers and businessmen came to his shop, he flattered them regularly with words of admiration. He soon figured out how to gauge troop movements based upon pickup times; if multiple officers said they’d be back for a repaired uniform on the same day, Mulligan could figure out the dates of upcoming activities. Often, he sent his slave, Cato, to General George Washington’s camp in New Jersey with the information. In 1777, Mulligan’s friend Hamilton was working as aide-de-camp to Washington, and was intimately involved in intelligence operations. Hamilton realized that Mulligan was ideally placed to gather information; Mulligan agreed almost immediately to help the patriotic cause.   Saving General Washington   Mulligan is credited with saving George Washingtons life not once, but on two separate occasions.  The first time was in 1779, when he uncovered a plot to capture the general. Paul Martin of Fox News says, â€Å"Late one evening, a British officer called at Mulligans shop to purchase a watch coat. Curious about the late hour, Mulligan asked why the officer needed the coat so quickly. The man explained that he was leaving immediately on a mission, boasting that before another day, well have the rebel general in our hands.  As soon as the officer left, Mulligan dispatched his servant to advise General Washington. Washington had been planning to rendezvous with some of his officers, and apparently the British had learned the location of the meeting and intended to set a trap. Thanks to Mulligans alert, Washington changed his plans and avoided capture.† Two years later, in 1781, another plan was foiled with the help of Mulligan’s brother Hugh Jr., who ran a successful import-export company that did a significant amount of trade with the British army. When a large amount of provisions were ordered, Hugh asked a commissary officer why they were needed; the man revealed that several hundred troops were being sent to Connecticut to intercept and seize Washington. Hugh passed the information along to his brother, who then relayed it to the Continental Army, allowing Washington to change his plans and set his own trap for British forces.   In addition to these crucial bits of information, Mulligan spent the years of the American Revolution gathering details about troop movement, supply chains, and more; all of which he passed along to Washington’s intelligence staff. He worked in tandem with the Culper Ring, a network of six spies engaged directly by Washington’s spymaster, Benjamin Tallmadge. Effectively working as a subagent of the Culper Ring, Mulligan was one of several people who passed intelligence along to Tallmadge, and thus, directly into Washington’s hands. Mulligan and his slave, Cato, were not above suspicion. At one point, Cato was captured and beaten on his way back from Washington’s camp, and Mulligan himself was arrested several times. In particular, following the defection of Benedict Arnold to the British army, Mulligan and other members of the Culper ring had to put their covert activities on hold for a while. However, the British were never able to find hard evidence that any of the men were involved in espionage. After the Revolution Following the end of the war, Mulligan occasionally found himself in trouble with his neighbors; his role of cozying up to British officers had been incredibly convincing, and many people suspected he was in fact a Tory sympathizer. To reduce the risk of his being tarred and feathered, Washington himself came to Mulligan’s shop as a customer following an Evacuation Day parade, and ordered a complete civilian wardrobe to commemorate the end of his military service. Once Mulligan was able to hang up a sign reading â€Å"Clothier to General Washington,† the danger passed, and he prospered as one of New York’s most successful tailors. He and his wife had eight children together, and Mulligan worked until the age of 80. He died five years later, in 1825. Nothing is known of what became of Cato after the American Revolution. However, in 1785, Mulligan became one of the founding members of the New York Manumission Society. Along with Hamilton, John Jay, and several others, Mulligan worked to promote the manumission of slaves and abolition of the institution of slavery. Thanks to the popularity of the Broadway hit  Hamilton, Hercules Mulligans name has become far more recognizable than it was in the past. In the play, he was originally played by  Okieriete Onaodowan, an American actor born to Nigerian parents. Hercules Mulligan is buried in New Yorks Trinity Church cemetery, in the Sanders family tomb, not far from the graves of Alexander Hamilton, his wife Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, and many other notable names from the American Revolution. Sources â€Å"The Legend of Hercules Mulligan.†Ã‚  Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 7 July 2016, www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2016-featured-story-archive/the-legend-of-hercules-mulligan.html.Fox News, FOX News Network, www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/07/04/this-july-4-let-thank-forgotten-revolutionary-war-hero.html.

Curriculum Review Schedule Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Curriculum Review Schedule - Research Paper Example The schedule therefore provides a timeline as outlined in the review cycle of how the same will be implemented. The schedule thus goes a long way to ensuring that whatever was planned for is surely implemented. There are different ways through which one may develop the schedule and the interpretation is equally important. The developers of the schedule thus need to ensure that the implementers will be able to understand the schedule and follow it easily (Boarman & Kirkpatrick, 1995). To show following differences the following schedules are used The first important aspect of the schedule is the time aspect. The time provided for each phase must be; edequate to carry all the activities of the phase, fully observed as there is no extra time allowance and must tally with the allocated time in the review cycle. While carrying out the research, each phase is allocated specific period of time in the various schedules. However, that of the Naperville Community Unit School District 203, the time allowance is too general without specific time limits. This makes it hard to follow on as the time frame is not specified. A look at the Stillwater Area Public Schools schedule shows some differences in the way it is arranged. The various units that are taught within the schools are run at different stages for different course units. For example a look at the 2011-2012, there will a course such as Social Studies which will be in the first stage that is Study, Audit and Alignment while another course such as Math will already be at the implementation and monitoring stages. This shows that the curriculum review needs not to be carried out in the similar phases for all the courses. Another notable difference with the Stillwater Area Public Schools schedule that is different from the other two is on the determination of the various activities that need to be carried out in each stage. While the activities may be outline in the cycle well, the outlay of the various

Organization Theory, Design And Structure; Ethical Leadership And Assignment

Organization Theory, Design And Structure; Ethical Leadership And Communication - Assignment Example Melvina here is required to change the figures of the number of animal deaths owing to exposure to the drug to less than 10 percent in order to help the development and commercialization process of the new cancer drug. Her making alterations to the figures stated in the report would help the drug move to the last testing stage in regards to human beings thus promoting its steady launch in the market. In here if Melvina obliges to listen to her superior’s advice in altering the figures pertaining to death of animals in regards to their exposure to the drugs then certainly she would help her company gain a strategic stand in launching the medicine. However, Melvina’s obligation to meet the needs of the company exposes human beings to a greater risk for drugs that happen to be fatal to animals also would render a large amount of harm on humans. Again her obligation to her superior’s words would also happen to invite greater risk to the company for at a later stage the company and she also might fall into serious trouble. Thus the plan of action that can be taken in this case in regards to Melvina is to make her superior understand the emerging risks tied to the sanctioning of the plan through adulterated means. This activity would help in creating awareness of the management body as to the potential risks involved in regards to the drug plan, which would have ev entually triggered dropping the decision taken. The Potent Stakeholders to the Decision The above case reflects that the human beings are being subjected to malicious and wrong information which in turn may prove detrimental to the well being and healthy lives of the community. Thus in the interest of global mankind, Melvina should consider the first right objective of paying heed to her superior when fulfilling the first right would tantamount to depriving the human race and cancer inflicted people of a better and healthy future. The Defining Moment The above analysis reflects that Melvina tends to convey a message where she does not like to meet the demands of her superior in manipulating the figures related to the number of deaths of the animals exposed to the drugs. Through such non-compliance to her superior’s requirement she intends to protect the interests of both the company and the human race in particular. However in regards to the company it tends to convey the mes sage of gaining a way out in whatever fashion possible for letting the drug gain due acceptance in the consumer market of the region. Thus the manager advices Melvina to take resort of adulterated means to change the figures abruptly and thereby help in strategizing the launching process of the drug. Chances and Hard Decisions In here, Melvina can take chances in obliging by her superior’s decisions in rightly adulterating the numbers in the report and thereby taking first chances in inviting health and fatal risks in regards to humanity and secondly in taking hard decisions knowingly. However, Melvina can also take chances in not obliging by the decisions of her superior and thereby creating risks in regards to her position and employment in the company. Again such decision needs to be taken on a hard stand for it would tantamount to non-compliance of her to the needs of her concern. Analysis based on Three Tests The Newspaper Test Here if the decision of the management team of the pharmaceutical company in regards to the passing of the

LESSONS FROM THE CRISES IN COTE D'IVOIRE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LESSONS FROM THE CRISES IN COTE D'IVOIRE - Essay Example the investment policies of foreign countries the Industrial sector shows high growth rate .Other fast growing sectors are automotives, food and beverages, infrastructure, oil and gas, medical, telecommunications and IT. But now the country is facing the problem of underdevelopment and financial crisis. In 1979, Ivory Coast rated one of the highest rates of economic growth among the developing countries and it was considered as an economic hotspot with limited state intervention in economy. To identify the cause of the crisis in Ivory Coast, one must go back to the socio-political settings. Arthur B. Dennis observes that, â€Å"The crisis in Ivory Coast is a drama of political leaders playing the xenophobia card to divide the tribes and rule.† (Dennis 2007). The greed of the political leaders resulted in the civil war and to the division of the country into two. In 1843, Ivory Coast became a French settlement and its history is closely related to colonization. Ivory Coast became a Republic in 1958 and in 1960 the leader of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), Felix Huaphonet Boigny became the President. Here begins the era of single party system in Ivory Coast and this party ruled till 1993. Moreover, the authoritarian rule under Felix Huaphonet Boigny resulted in large scale protest from the side of the people. Foreign interest and economic dependency of the rulers, political greed of leaders and the rebellious groups also act as the main factors of the crisis. A. Ekissi points out the severe ness of the civil war, â€Å"Beginning on Thursday November 4, 2004, the war resumed with aerial bombardments carried out by the loyalist army on the rebel-controlled zones† (Ekissi 2004) which describes the involvement of foreign forces in the affairs of the country. The key issue of the conflict is the question of national identity among the foreigners who had settled in Ivory Coast. The policies of the government resulted in economic depression and other problems

Network Design for non-adjacent Floors Assignment

Network Design for non-adjacent Floors - Assignment Example Each department is in the connection to a central switch on that floor before connecting to the router in the field level. The router is in the context of the external wide area network via a firewall. The firewall will be vital in filtering traffic from outside. The information technology department will host the six servers namely: file server, mail server, print server, web server, DHCP server and the DNS servers. The design has a number of security challenges posed by the non-adjacent floors. Employees will be organized according to the four departments namely: Information technology department, sales, accounting, finance, and human resource department. Different departments will be on virtual local area networks to beef up the security of individual unit’s data. The general design will consider factors such as the scalability of the network to accommodate increasing numbers of staff. Further, security and means of recovering from a disaster in case one occurs are of utmos t concern. The greatest challenges in networking non-adjacent levels include cabling between the two floors. To run a cable from the third floor to the fifth floor will either involve running the cable outside the walls or inside the room. It will, therefore, call upon the management to request the tenant on the fourth floor to allow the running of cables through their floor. However, this comes with many challenges. First, the tenant may decline which means that the management may incur more to run the cables outside and ensure that it is secure. Accepting to run the cables through the floor poses a greater challenge. It leaves a vast security loophole. The concerned person may tap directly into our network thus giving them access to our network. Depending on whom they are, the organization's data is at risk of being exposed to third parties who may end up using it for their reasons.  

Implementation of RfId Technology in Libraries Research Paper

Implementation of RfId Technology in Libraries - Research Paper Example In addition, the paper will look at this by identifying the benefits of this form of technology to the libraries, then go to an extent of comparing these to the benefits, and make a decision. e. Motivation The development of technology and their applications to help make work easier in modern organization has motivated this research. Libraries have significantly remained in the rear in terms of equipment used in transmitting their services to the public and for effectiveness and usefulness in the classification of lent and borrowed books; the use of this knowledge is sought. The essay will begin by a foreword after which the synopsis of the knowledge is sought and after this, we will see the benefits of this technology to the libraries and couple with this is the identification of the obstacles faced when implementing this. A conclusion in form of decision or summary will ultimately follow. Overview of RFID technology Technological advancement is something good when it comes to the i mprovement required in performance and reduction of the costs. The development of this form of technology started all the way in 1945 when the British developed a simple form of the technology to help them in the identification of the aircrafts for the enemies and theirs. Between the 1960’s, and 70’s, the system was further developed for the security and safety of nuclear material and here the equipment and the personnel got tagged (Ngai et al, 2010). In 1977 this new knowledge was made for use by the civic sector, this was suggested by a group of conglomerates, and it is at this time and by the companies that several applications of this technology were explored. Partly, the motivation behind the development of the technology was the failure by the bar code in identification. In... The essay begins by a foreword after which the synopsis of the knowledge is sought and after this, we will see the benefits of this technology to the libraries and couple with this is the identification of the obstacles faced when implementing this. A conclusion in form of decision or summary will ultimately follow. Tis article makes a a conclusion that at the click of a mouse, RFID systems have enabled book tracking, customer compliance and most importantly, the safety of library workers. With all the benefits RFID technology provides, it is no wonder most libraries in the world today are choosing to embed RFID tags in their books as well as developing their own RFID safety systems. Like many technologies today, once libraries adopt the use of RFID systems, it is often hard for them to go back to initial systems because of the current efficiency they experience. The impact of information technology advancement is currently evident in every sector and field across the world. RFID technology is becoming more pervasive in the education sector and it is widely being used in libraries and has become a boon to the field of library, especially in relation to securing and library resources, archives and materials. There is need for the development of RFID technologies and infrastructure that are less c ostly in order to enhance their use in libraries. It is evident that RFID use in libraries poses serious privacy and security implications hence their need for the development of advance security protocols and procedures.

Network Design for non-adjacent Floors Assignment

Network Design for non-adjacent Floors - Assignment Example Each department is in the connection to a central switch on that floor before connecting to the router in the field level. The router is in the context of the external wide area network via a firewall. The firewall will be vital in filtering traffic from outside. The information technology department will host the six servers namely: file server, mail server, print server, web server, DHCP server and the DNS servers. The design has a number of security challenges posed by the non-adjacent floors. Employees will be organized according to the four departments namely: Information technology department, sales, accounting, finance, and human resource department. Different departments will be on virtual local area networks to beef up the security of individual unit’s data. The general design will consider factors such as the scalability of the network to accommodate increasing numbers of staff. Further, security and means of recovering from a disaster in case one occurs are of utmos t concern. The greatest challenges in networking non-adjacent levels include cabling between the two floors. To run a cable from the third floor to the fifth floor will either involve running the cable outside the walls or inside the room. It will, therefore, call upon the management to request the tenant on the fourth floor to allow the running of cables through their floor. However, this comes with many challenges. First, the tenant may decline which means that the management may incur more to run the cables outside and ensure that it is secure. Accepting to run the cables through the floor poses a greater challenge. It leaves a vast security loophole. The concerned person may tap directly into our network thus giving them access to our network. Depending on whom they are, the organization's data is at risk of being exposed to third parties who may end up using it for their reasons.  

Corporate strategy - from the point of Le Meridien cross-nationally Essay

Corporate strategy - from the point of Le Meridien cross-nationally - Essay Example Companies’ at this crunch stage adopt a safe way to hold their businesses. JB implemented an unconventional thought to draw revenues at all the prosperities. JB with his two strategies â€Å"Arch & tech† and â€Å"Treasure hunt† may not be effective as the prevailing marketing conditions do not drive the customers to use the hospitality services. The initiative â€Å"Arch & Tech† requires a considerable amount of investment to renovate the properties according to the lavish requirement of the theme which is not advisable at the point where there are no takers for property. The amount of time needed for establishing the properties according to the expectations of the initiative are more and the promotional cost add to this affair. As per the time frame of 3 years the first priorities should be to retain and uphold the key service aspects that are well accepted in the customer segments. The two new initiatives may not be well accepted by the property owners and other key managing director of different regions with respect to a particular country. The new initiatives may not consider the local customs and traditions. The initiatives if implemented may not promise the expected customer turn out as we cannot estimate the level of acceptance for the service ambience. Hospitality is more related to the movement of truth created by the ambience and service rendered by employees. So, JB as a CEO hasn’t mentioned any initatives to uphold the employees’ moral in tough times and to encourage them to stick to the company and strive for its progress. Employee satisfaction may have been given a miss in JB’s

The Manager as a Planner and Strategist Essay Example for Free

The Manager as a Planner and Strategist Essay The Nature of the Planning Process: Planning is a process that managers use to identify and select appropriate goals and courses of action for an organization. The cluster of decisions and actions that managers take to help an organization attain its goals is its strategy. Thus, planning is both a goal-making and a strategy-making process. Planning is a three-step activity: 1)Determining the organization’s mission and goals: A mission statement is a broad declaration of an organization’s purpose that identifies the organization’s products and customers and distinguishes the organization from its competitors. 2)Formulating Strategy: Managers analyze the organization’s current situation and then convince and develop the strategies necessary to attain the organization’s mission and goals. 3)Implementing Strategy: Managers decide how to allocate the resources and responsibilities required to implement the strategies between people and groups within the organization. Levels of Planning: In large organizations planning takes place at three levels of management: Corporate Level, Business or Division Level, and Department or Functional Level. The Corporate-level plan contains top management’s decisions pertaining to the organization’s mission and goals, overall strategy, and structure. Corporate-level strategy indicates in which industries and national markets an organization intends to compete. The corporate-level plan provides the framework within which divisional managers create their business-level plans. A division is a business unit that has its own set of managers and functions or departments and competes in a distinct industry. Divisional managers are those who control the various divisions of an organization. At the business level, the managers of each division create a Business-level plan that details long-term goals that will allow the division to meet corporate goals and the division’s business-level strategy and structure. Business-level strategy states the methods a division or business intends to use to compete against its rivals in an industry. The business-level plan provides the framework within which functional managers devise their plans. A Function is a unit or department in which people have the same skills or use the same resources to perform their jobs. Functional managers are those who supervise the various functions such as manufacturing, accounting, and sales within a division. A Functional-level plan states the goals that functional managers propose to pursue to help the division attain its business-level goals, which, in turn, allow the organization to achieve its corporate goals. Functional-level strategy sets forth the actions that managers intend to take at the level of departments to allow the organization to attain its goals. An important issue in planning is ensuring consistency in planning across the three different levels. Functional goals and strategies should be consistent with divisional goals and strategies, which in turn should be consistent with corporate goals and strategies, and vice versa. Once complete, each function’s plan is normally linked to its division’s business-level plan, which, in turn, is linked to the corporate plan. Who Plans? In general, corporate-level planning is the primary responsibility of top managers. Corporate-level managers are responsible for approving business and functional-level plans to ensure that they are consistent with the corporate plan. Corporate planning decisions are not made in a vacuum. Other managers do have input to corporate-level planning. Even though corporate-level planning is the responsibility of top managers, lower-level managers can and usually are given the opportunity to become involved in the process. At the business level, planning is the responsibility of divisional managers, who also review functional plans. Functional managers also participate in business-level planning. Similarly, although the functional managers bear primary responsibility for functional-level planning, they can and do involve their subordinates in this process. Time Horizons of Plans: Plans differ in their time horizons, or intended durations. Managers usually distinguish among long-term plans, with a horizon of five years or more; intermediate-term plans, with a horizon between one and five years; and short-term plans, with a horizon of one year or less. Typically, corporate- and business-level goals and strategies require long and intermediate-term plans, and functional-level goals and strategies require intermediate and short term plans. Most organizations have an annual planning cycle, which usually linked to the annual financial budget. Although a corporate- or business-level plan may extend over five years or more, it is typically treated as a rolling plan, a plan that is updated and amended every year to take account of changing conditions in the external environment. Rolling plans allow managers to make midcourse corrections if environmental changes warrant or to change the thrust of the plan altogether if it no longer seems appropriate. Standing Plans and Single-Use Plans: Managers create standing and single-use plans to help achieve an organization’s specific goals. Standing plans are used in situations in which programmed decision making is appropriate. When the same situations occur repeatedly, managers develop policies (a general guide to action), rules (a formal, written guide to action), and standard operating procedures (SOP a written instruction describing the exact series of actions that should be followed in a specific situation) to control the way employees perform tasks. Single-use plans are developed to handle nonprogrammed decision making in unusual or one-of-a-kind situations. It includes Programs, which are integrated sets of plans for achieving certain goals, and Projects, which are specific action plans created to complete various aspects of a program. Why Planning is Important? Planning determines where an organization is at the present time and decides where it should be in the future and how to move it forward. When mangers plan, they must consider the future and forecast what may happen in order to take actions in the present and mobilize organizational resources to deal with future opportunities and threats. However, the external environment is uncertain and complex, and managers typically must deal with incomplete information and bounded rationality. Almost all managers engage in planning. The absence of a plan often results in hesitations, false steps, and mistaken changes of direction that can hurt an organization. Planning is important for four main reasons: 1)Planning is a useful way of getting managers to participate in decision making about the appropriate goals and strategies for an organization. 2)Planning is necessary to give the organization a sense of direction and purpose. A plan states what goals an organization is trying to achieve and what strategies it intends to use to achieve them. 3)A plan helps coordinate managers of the different functions and divisions of an organization to ensure that they all pull in the same direction. 4)A plan can be used as a device for controlling managers within an organization. A good plan specifies not only which goals and strategies the organization is committed to but also who is responsible for putting the strategies into action to attain the goals. Henri Fayol said that effective plans should have four qualities: Unity: Means that at any one time only one central, guiding plan is put into operation to achieve an organizational goal. Continuity: Means that planning is an ongoing process in which managers build and refine previous plans and continually modify plans at all levels so that they fit together into one broad framework. Accuracy: Means that managers need to make every attempt to collect and utilize all available information at their disposal in the planning process. Flexibility: Means that plans can be altered and changed if the situation changes. Scenario Planning: One way in which managers can try to create plans that have the four qualities described by Fayol is by utilizing scenario planning (Contingency planning), which is the generation of multiple forecasts of future conditions followed by an analysis of how to respond effectively to each of those conditions. Planning is about trying to forecast and predict the future in order to be able to anticipate future opportunities and threats. Because the future is unpredictable, the only reasonable approach to planning is first to generate scenarios of the future based of different assumptions about conditions that might prevail in the future and then to develop different plans that detail what a company should do in the event that one of these scenarios actually occurs. The great strength of scenario planning is its ability not only to anticipate the challenges of an uncertain future but also to educate managers to think about the future – to think strategically. Determining the Organization’s Mission and Goals: Determining the organization’s mission and goals is the first step of the planning process. Once the mission and goals are agreed upon and formally stated in the corporate plan, they guide the next steps by defining which strategies are appropriate and which are inappropriate. Defining the Business: To determine an organization’s mission, managers must first define its business so that they can identify what kind of value they will provide to customers. To define the business, managers must ask three questions: (1) Who are our customers? (2) What customer needs are being satisfied? (3) How are we satisfying customer needs? Answering these questions helps managers to identify not only the customer needs they are satisfying now but the needs they should try to satisfy in the future and who their true competitors are. All of this information helps managers plan and establish appropriate goals. Establishing Major Goals: Once the business is defined, managers must establish a set of primary goals to which the organization is committed. Developing these goals gives the organization a sense of direction or purpose. In most organizations, articulating major goals is the job of the CEO, although other managers have input into the process. The best statements of organizational goals are ambitious – that is, they stretch the organization and require the managers improve its performance capabilities. Although goals should be challenging, they should also be realistic. Challenging goals give managers an incentive to look for ways to improve an organization’s operation, but a goal that is unrealistic and impossible to attain may prompt managers to give up. The time period in which a goal is expected to be achieved should be stated. Time constraints are important because they emphasize that a goal must be attained within a reasonable period. Formulating Strategy: In strategy formulation managers analyze an organization’s current situation and then develop strategies to accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. Strategy formulation begins with managers’ analyzing the factors within an organization and outside, that affect the organization’s ability to meet its goals now and in the future. SWOT analysis and the five forces model are two techniques managers use to analyze these factors. SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis is a planning exercise in which managers identify organizational Strengths, Weaknesses, environmental Opportunities, and Threats. Based on a SWOT analysis, managers at the different levels of the organization select the corporate-, business-, and functional-level strategies to best position the organization to achieve its mission and goals. The first step in SWOT analysis is to identify an organization’s strengths and weaknesses. The task facing managers is to identify the strengths and weaknesses that characterize the present state of their organization. The second step begins when managers embark on a full-scale SWOT planning exercise to identify potential opportunities and threats in the environment that affect the organization at the present or may affect it in the future. With the SWOT analysis completed, and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified, managers can begin the planning process and determine strategies for achieving the organization’s mission and goals. The resulting strategies should enable the organization to attain its goals by taking advantage of opportunities, countering threats, building strengths, and correcting organizational weaknesses. The Five Forces Model: Michel Porter’s five forces model: A well-known model that helps managers isolate particular forces in the external environment that are potential threats. Porter identified these five factors that are major threats because they affect how much profit organizations competing within the same industry can expect to make. 1)The level of rivalry among organizations in an industry: The more that companies compete against one another for customers, the lower is the level of industry profits. 2)The potential for entry into an industry: The easier it is for companies to enter an industry, the more likely it is for industry prices and therefore industry profits to be low. 3)The power of suppliers: If there are only a few suppliers of an important input, then suppliers can drive up the price of that input, and expensive inputs result in lower profits for the producer. 4)The power of customers: If only a few large customers are available to buy an industry’s output, they can bargain to drive down the price of that output. As a result, producers make lower profits. 5)The threat of substitute products: Often, the output of one industry is a substitute for the output of another industry. Companies that produce a product with a known substitute cannot demand high prices for their products, and this constraint keeps their profits low. Porter argued that when managers analyze opportunities and threats they should pay particular attention to these five forces because they are the major threats that an organization will encounter. It is the job of managers at corporate, business, and functional levels to formulate strategies to counter these threats so that an organization can respond to its task and general environments, perform at high level, and generate high profits. Formulating Corporate-Level Strategies: Corporate-level strategy is a plan of action concerning which industries and countries an organization should invest its resources in to achieve its mission and goals. Managers of most organizations have the goal of growing their companies and actively seek out new opportunities to use the organization’s resources to create more goods and services for customers. In addition, some managers must help their organizations respond to threats due to changing forces in the task or general environment. (Ex. Customers may no longer buy some kinds of goods or services, or other companies enter the market and attract away customers). Top managers aim to find the best strategies to help the organization respond to these changes and improve performance. The principal corporate-level strategies that managers use to help a company grow, to keep it on top of its industry, and to help it retrench and reorganize to stop its decline are: Concentration on a Single Business, Diversification, International Expansion and Vertical Integration. An organization benefits from pursuing any one of them only when the strategy helps further increase the value of the organization’s goods and services for customers. To increase the value of goods and services, a corporate-level strategy must help an organization differentiate and add value to its products either by making them unique or special or by lowering the costs of value creation. 1)Concentration on a Single Business: Most organizations begin their growth and development with a corporate-level strategy aimed at concentrating resources in one business or industry in order to develop a strong competitive position within the industry. Sometimes, concentration on a single business becomes an appropriate corporate-level strategy when managers see the need to reduce the size of their organizations to increase performance. Managers may decide to get out of certain industries. Managers may sell off those divisions, lay off workers, and concentrate remaining organizational resources in another market or business to try to improve performance. In contrast, when organizations are performing effectively, they often decide to enter new industries in which they can use their resources to create more value. 2)Diversification: Diversification is the strategy of expanding operations into a new business or industry and producing new goods or services. There are two main kinds of diversification: Related and Unrelated. Related Diversification: Is the strategy of entering a new business or industry to create a competitive advantage in one or more of an organization’s existing divisions or businesses. It can add value to an organization’s products if managers can find ways for its various divisions or business units to share their valuable skills or resources so that synergy is created. Synergy is obtained when the value created by two divisions cooperating is greater than the value that would be created if the two divisions operated separately. In this way, related diversification can be a major source of cost savings. In pursuing related diversification, managers often seek to find new businesses where they can use the existing skills and resources in their departments to create synergies, add value to the new business, and hence improve the competitive position of the company. Unrelated Diversification: Managers pursue unrelated diversification when they enter new industries or buy companies in new industries that are not related in any way to their current business or industries. Main reasons for pursuing unrelated diversification: †¢Buy a poorly performing company, transfers to it their management skills, turn around its business, and increase its performance, all of which creates value. †¢Purchasing businesses in different industries lets managers engage in portfolio strategy, which is apportioning financial resources among divisions to increase financial returns or spread risks among different businesses. Sometimes, too much diversification can cause mangers to lose control on their organization’s core business. Although unrelated diversification might initially create value for a company, mangers sometimes use portfolio strategy to expand the scope of their organization’s business too much. And so, it becomes difficult for top managers to be knowledgeable about all of the organization’s diverse business. Unable to handle so much information, top managers are overwhelmed and eventually make important resource allocation decisions on the basis of only a superficial analysis of the competitive position of each division. This usually results in value being lost rather than created. 3)International Expansion: Corporate-level managers must decide on the appropriate way to compete internationally. If managers decide that their organization should sell the same standardized product in each national market in which it competes, and use the same basic marketing approach, they adopt a Global Strategy. Such companies undertake very little, if any, customization to suit the specific needs of customers in different countries. But if managers decide to customize products and marketing strategies to specific national conditions, they adopt a Multidomestic Strategy. The major advantage of a global strategy is the significant cost savings associated with not having to customize products and marketing approaches to different national conditions. The major disadvantage is that, by ignoring national differences, managers may leave themselves vulnerable to local competitors that do differentiate their products to suit local tastes. The major advantage of a Multidomestic strategy is that by customizing product offerings and marketing approaches to local conditions, managers may be able to gain market share or charge higher prices for their products. The major disadvantage is that customization raises production costs and puts the Multidomestic company at a price disadvantage because it often has to charge prices higher than the prices charged by competitors pursuing a global strategy. Choosing a Way to Expand Internationally: A more competitive global environment has proved to be both an opportunity and a threat for organizations and managers. The opportunity is that organizations that expand globally are able to open new markets, reach more customers, and gain access to new sources of raw materials and to low-cost suppliers of inputs. The threat is that organizations are likely to encounter new competitors in the foreign countries they enter and must respond to new political, economic, and cultural conditions. Before setting up foreign operations, managers need to analyze the forces in the environment of a particular country in order to choose the right method to expand and respond to those forces in the most appropriate way. There are four basic ways to operate in the global environment: a)Importing and Exporting: The least complex global operations are exporting and importing. A company engaged in exporting makes products at home and sells them abroad. An organization might sell its own products abroad or allow a local organization in the foreign country to distribute its products. Few risks are associated with exporting because a company does not have to invest in developing manufacturing facilities abroad. A company engaged in importing sells at home products that are made abroad. The internet has made it much easier for companies to inform potential foreign buyers about their products. b)Licensing And Franchising: In licensing, a company allows a foreign organization to take charge of both manufacturing and distributing one or more of its products in the licensee’s country or world region in return for a negotiable fee (Pursued by manufacturing company). The advantage is that the licenser does not have to bear the development costs associated with opening up in a foreign country. The risks associated with this strategy are that the company granting the license has to give its foreign partner access to its technological know-how. In franchising, a company sells to a foreign organization the rights to use its brand name and operating know-how in return for a lump-sum payment and share of the profits. The advantage is that the franchiser does not have to bear the development costs of overseas expansion. The downside is that the organization that grants the franchise may lose control over the way in which the franchise operates and product quality may fall. c)Strategic Alliances: One way to overcome the loss-of-control problems associated with exporting, licensing, and franchising is to expand globally by means of a strategic alliance. In a strategic alliance, managers pool or share their organization’s resources and know-how with those of a foreign company, and the two organizations share the rewards and risks of starting a new venture in a foreign country. A strategic alliance can take the form of a written contract between two or more companies to exchange resources, or it can result in the creation of a new organization. A joint venture is a strategic alliance among two or more companies that agree to jointly establish and share the ownership of a new business. d)Wholly Owned Foreign Subsidiaries: Managers invest in establishing production operations in a foreign country independent of any local direct involvement. Operating alone, without any direct involvement from foreign companies, an organization receives all of the rewards and bears all of the risks associated with operating abroad. This method is much more expensive than the others because it requires a higher level of foreign investment. Advantages: Higher potential returns, reduces the level of risk since managers have full control over all aspects, protect their technology and know-how†¦ 4)Vertical Integration: When an organization is doing well in its business, managers often see new opportunities to create value by either producing their own inputs or distributing their own outputs. Vertical Integration is the corporate-level strategy through which an organization produces its own inputs (backward vertical integration) or distributes and sells its own outputs (forward vertical integration). A major reason why managers pursue vertical integration is that it allows them either to add value to their products by making them special or to lower the costs of value creation. Vertical integration can be a problem when forces in the environment counter the strategies of the organization and make it necessary for managers to reorganize or retrench. Vertical integration can reduce an organization’s flexibility to respond to changing environmental conditions. Formulating Business-Level Strategies: According to Porter, managers must choose between the two basic ways of increasing the value of an organization’s products: Differentiating the product to add value or lowering the costs of value creation. He also argues that managers must choose between serving the whole market or serving just one segment of the market. Based on those choices, managers choose to pursue one of four business-level strategies: 1)Low-Cost Strategy: With a low-cost strategy, managers try to gain a competitive advantage by focusing the energy of all the organization’s departments or functions on driving the organization’s costs down below the costs of its rivals. According to Porter, organizations pursuing a low-cost strategy can sell a product for less than their rivals sell it and yet still make a profit because of their lower costs. Thus, these organizations hope to enjoy competitive advantage based on their low prices. 2)Differentiation Strategy: With a differentiation strategy, managers try to gain a competitive advantage by focusing all the energies of the organization’s departments or functions on distinguishing the organization’s products from those of competitors on one or more important dimensions, such as product design, quality, or after-sales service and support. Often, the process of making products unique and different is expensive. Organizations that successfully pursue a differentiation strategy may be able to charge a premium price for their products, a price usually much higher than the price charged by a low-cost organization. The premium price allows them to recoup their higher cost. 3)Focused Low-Cost Strategy: Managers pursuing a focused low-cost strategy serve one or a few segments of the overall market and aim to make their organization the lowest-cost company serving that segment. 4)Focused-Differentiation Strategy: Managers pursuing a focused differentiated strategy serve just one or a few segments of the market and aim to make their organization the most differentiated company serving that segment. Formulating Functional-Level Strategies: Functional-level strategy is a plan of action to improve the ability of an organization’s functions to create value. It is concerned with the actions that managers of individual functions can take to add value to an organization’s goods and services and thereby increase the value customers receive. The price that customers are prepared to pay for a product indicates how much they value an organization’s products. The more customers value a product, the more they are willing to pay for it. There are two ways in which functions can add value to an organization’s products: 1)Functional managers can lower the costs of creating value so that an organization can attract customers by keeping its prices lower than its competitors’ prices. 2)Functional managers can add value to a product by finding ways to differentiate it from the products of other companies. There must be a fit between functional- and business-level strategies if an organization is to achieve its mission and goal of maximizing the amount of value it gives customers. The better the fit between functional- and business-level strategies, the greater will be the organization’s competitive advantage and its ability to attract customers and the revenue they provide. Each organizational function has an important role to play in the process of lowering costs or adding value to a product. Creating value at the functional level requires the adoption of many state-of-the-art management techniques and practices. All of these techniques can help an organization achieve a competitive advantage by lowering the costs of creating value or by adding value above and beyond that offered by rivals. Planning and Implementing Strategy: After identifying appropriate strategies to attain an organization’s mission and goals, managers confront the challenge of putting those strategies into action. Strategy implementation is a five-step process: 1)Allocating responsibility for implementation to the appropriate individuals or groups. 2)Drafting detailed action plans that specify how a strategy is to be implemented. 3)Establishing a timetable for implementation that includes precise, measurable goals linked to the attainment of the action plan. 4)Allocating appropriate resources to the responsible individuals or groups. 5)Holding specific individuals or groups responsible for the attainment of corporate, divisional, and functional goals. The planning process goes beyond the mere identification of strategies; it also includes actions taken to ensure that the organization actually puts its strategies into action. It should be noted that the plan for implementing a strategy might require radical redesign of the structure of the organization, the development of new control systems, and the adoption of a program for changing the culture of the organization.

Recording technology in music

Recording technology in music There have been dramatic advances in music technology; this has led to the use of technology in music being far greater and wider spread. There has been a dramatic impact on musicianship. The music recording process is defined as the act of composing, rehearsing the piece and physically making the recording, through to doing final editing and mastering to perfect the recording.The first music recording was made by Emile Berliner in 1884, this was recorded on a tin foil coated cylinder,but since then recording technology has vastly improved and editing techniques have became easier and more advanced. Through the transition from recording on wax cylinder, analogue tape, compact disc and digital download. These developments have had many effects, both positive and negative. There has been a lot of debate related to these developments. One of the main areas in which recording technology has affected musicianship is that advances in recording technology, thus the music that the end listener hears is hardy ever what the musician originally played, as recording and editing technology advances, this is becoming more apparent, and edited songs are drifting further away from what the musician had performed. This idea has created a lot of controversy with the listener, as they are unsure of what the artist is capable of, and what parts of the music have been manufactured artificially during the editing stage. Some people argue that these advances are an advantage as it means that the music that they listen to is of a higher quality, and has a higher musical accuracy and is free of performance errors, this is due to advances in technologies such as pitch correction, which allows for sections in the performance that are out of tune to be corrected, it also allows for new sections of a song to be written by adjusting the pit ch of a single note, to give samples of a range of other notes that can then be arranged to construct new melodies for the piece. In a similar faction sections of music can now be speeded up, slowed down and moved through time in order to allow a artists performance to be corrected if he or she falls out of time during there performance. Both of these techniques are product of improved recording technology, and a lot of listeners appreciate that music is of a higher quality and more enjoyable to listen to. In the contrary there is a group of people that think these improvements in technology are a disadvantage, due to the fact that the final edited version of a piece of music that the listener hears is often extremely different to the original recording that the musician actually performed. It is also criticized that how anyone can become a pop star due to the increased use of technology, which means that you dont have to have any musical knowledge or talent as any errors that are made can now be corrected. These opinions are reflected by Neko Case who says: Im not a perfect note hitter either but Im not going to cover it up with auto tune. Everybody uses it, too. I once asked a studio guy in Toronto, How many people dont use auto tune? and he said, You and Nelly Furtado are the only two people whove never used it in here. This shows that despite people like Nekos protest against the use of these editing techniques they are used in almost every piece of music nevertheless. These technologies have also given way to new genres of computer based music. Developments in recording technology, recording moving on to computer based systems has also largely effected musicianship, as now that most recording systems are computer based a lot of editing techniques are far simpler, and no edit or process is final, as all processes can be undone with the press of a button, where as in more traditional tape based recording systems undoing processes required a lot of manual work, or may even be unachievable. An advantage of this development is that music producers are able to experiment with different edits and processes, in order to find an outcome that they are satisfied with, if they try any processes that they are not happy with the piece can easily be reverted to its former state. When traditional tape recording methods where used editing involved cutting the tape up, then sticking it back together again, this means that it requires far more skill than using a modern computer systems. When using a traditional tape system undoing edits is f ar more difficult, so producers may be discouraged from experimenting with edits as it would require more work. In the other hand the same factors have disadvantages, such as the fact that producers may make edits on a traditional system that do not sound quite right, but it may be impossible or ineffective to rectify this, these small flaws would add character to the piece, which would not happen when using a modern computer systems, as any small imperfections can easily be removed without any bother. These facts about how recording and editing require far less skill is explained by David Wiliams and Peter Webster: When computers where large and delicate and required trained system operators, and when the first sound devices relied on complicated procedures to connect one element to another, you needed to know a great deal about technical things. This has all changed. This has given way to home recording which has enabled a lot more musicians to be able to produce there own pieces and become well known as home recording equipment is readily available. As recording technology has developed sound quality of recordings has improved dramatically. The initial recordings that where made on wax cylinders had a lot of hiss and crackling in the recording, a low signal to noise ratio, this made the music in the recording very hard to make out and the recording unpleasant to listen to, where as in modern recordings these noises have almost been eliminated. An example of this improvement in sound qualities is shown in this news article regarding new microphone technology: ‘new high-performance MEMS microphones enable dramatic advancements in sound quality.This has made listening to music far more pleasant. Which has improved musicianship as it has made it easier for musicians to listen to others performances and use them as inspirations for there own pieces. This has also allowed backing tracks to be produced to help musicians learn pieces which they can use to make there performances sound more realistic when they are playing solo or in small groups. As recording technology has developed and new distribution mediums have became available, music has became more portable, more widely available, and in general a higher quality. This has improved musicianship, as it has made it easier for musicians to listen to others performances, and use them to motivate and inspire themselves. In general this has improved musicianship but it has also had some detrimental effects such as sound quality being lost, particularly when music became digital in 1982 with the release of the compact discthat would replace the vinyl record. Many people argued that the use of digital data to represent audio led to a severe loss of quality in the music, as some of the sound is lost due to compression and digital sampling, which can give digital recordings a dull tone compared to the brighter tone or analogue recordings, one person that says this is Wayne Ellis Lee who says that: ‘vinyl has a warmer, fuller sound while CD has a digital, mechanical sound. In the contrary a digital compact disc recording can be played an infinite number of times without a loss in quality, but with an analogue recording some of the quality is lost, and you get a noticeable hiss if it is played repeatedly. Modern mp3 technology and internet downloading of music also has both positive and negative effects on musicianship. An negative effect is that due to internet downloading and peer to peer networks, it has became a lot easier for individuals to obtain free copies of an artists music illegally, this is expanded by Mark Katz who says: ‘While there is nothing illegal about MP3 and P2P technology per se, it is illegal to download or distribute digital files of copyrighted recordings with-out the permission of the copyright holder.These illegal downloads mean that the artist is not getting the royalties for there song that they deserve, and may be discouraged from producing there own music because it is not financially feasible for them. When music was distributed on a physical medium it was more difficult for listeners to obtain illegal copies of a recording. Consumers where also encouraged to purchase an artists product due to the fact that they where obtaining a physical copy of the song. Where with modern music downloading the listener gets a virtual file containing the music performance, the fact that the music is not in a physical form is also an advantage, as musicians and listeners are now able to have much larger music collections. The music retailers can offer a wider selection as they are not limited by the physical space needed to store the music. In conclusion there have been many advances in recording technology that have affected musicianship, most of these developments have made in easier for musicians to record, market and improve there performances, but these developments have also produced many disadvantages for both the musician and the listener.

Technolgy in The Kalinagos,Taino and Mayan Cultures :: essays research papers

Technology Taino Taino had very simple life styles but they had some technological advances. Some examples are Hut building, Fishing and Pottery. Hut building – there were larger huts built with a center pole, which gave extra support to the roof. It was considered important for resisting heavy gales. It had no windows and doors. Wooden posts were placed firmly in the ground to form a circle about five paces apart and laced together with springy branches and grass. Transverse beams were tied on top of the posts, and a pole placed in the center of the structure. The center pole and the transverse beams were then connected with thin poles, and these were covered with grass or palm leaves to form a conical roof. Fishing- Arawaks used nets, lines with hooks, a bone or turtle shell and harpoons to capture fish. In Cuba artificial pools were created to keep excess fish until they were needed .The Arawaks used the sucking fish (Remora). Pottery- this was made from the local red, brown and gray clays. Pots were not glazed but decorated with markings different for each village. They were made in shapes of frogs, birds or heads with wide eyes and large ears for handles. Basketwork cylinders – These were made to extract the poisonous juice of cassava. Cassava was the Arawaks main food, they made cassava cakes, pepperpot with cassava and a sauce called cassareep. Kalinago They painted their bodies to protect against the heat and insect bites made from vegetable dye and oil. Fishing arrows and Spears were tipped with shell and bone and battle arrows were tipped with fire and poison. Boat Building- Caribs’ canoes might have been up to 6 metres long. It was made out of tree trunks. The trunk was charred then hollowed with stone axes and left to season, after which it was buried in moist sand. Bars were placed across the opening to the force out the sides and it was left in place until wood had dried and hardened. Then triangular boards were wedged at the bow and stern so that the water could not enter the boat, and the sides were raised by fastening sticks bound with fibres and coated with gum to the upper edges.

Beowulf and Gilgamesh are Epic Heroes But the Seafarer isn’t and Here’s Why

In the stories â€Å"Beowulf† and â€Å"The Head of Humbaba,† the main characters reflect the descriptions of an â€Å"epic hero†. However in the story, â€Å"The Seafarer,† the main character does not reflect any descriptions of an â€Å"epic hero. † Beowulf and Gilgamesh fit the description because they both go on a quest and have the similar motivations of an epic hero. The Seafarer, in contrast, had a different motivation and an entirely different quest. Beowulf and Gilgamesh have journeys that fit the traditional epic hero. In Beowulf’s story, his journey consisted of killing monsters. He killed Grendel who terrorized Herot. â€Å"Beowulf, a prince of the Geats, had killed Grendel†¦from the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster’s arm, claw and shoulder and all. † (â€Å"Beowulf† Lines 510-517). Gilgamesh’s story also included murdering monstrous fiends. He killed Humbaba, the guardian of the forest. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦he raised his ax up higher and swung it in a perfect arc into Humbaba’s neck. (â€Å"The Head of Humbaba† Lines 46-48) Gilgamesh and Beowulf also had similar motivations that fit an â€Å"epic hero. † Beowulf killed Grendel to pay off the debt to Herot because of his father. Gilgamesh provoked and killed Humbaba so he’d also be will known. Both reasons fit the descriptions for an epic hero. In contrast, the Seafarer doesn’t fit an â€Å"epic hero† because his journey and motivation doesn’t corr espond. The Seafarer’s journey was to simply travel the sea. His motivation was to make peace with God. Neither of those actions makes the Seafarer and â€Å"epic hero. † Beowulf and Gilgamesh are epic heroes because their journey and motivations fit what an epic hero stands for. They both fought monsters and both their motivation fit an epic hero. The seafarer isn’t an epic hero because his journey and motivation doesn’t correspond to one. He didn’t accomplish much and his motivation didn’t fit an epic hero.

Police surveillance Essay

Police surveillance can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. There are morale and ethical implications concerned with police surveillance. This literature review will thoroughly examine police surveillance. The level of police surveillance and information gathering that exists continues to be discussed by scholars. There are many perspectives when discussing police surveillance in nation states, each discussing an individual aspect of surveillance, and its significance. In Frank Webster’s book Theories of the Information Society he discusses the growth of police surveillance and organization in modern times. Within his discussion, Webster makes reference to works of Anthony Giddens. Webster uses Gidden’s explanation of the nation state, to begin his discussion of surveillance. He contends that â€Å"from the outset in the nation state, conceived as a bounded area over which is exercised political power, information has an especial significance.† He argues that from their establishment, nation states are ‘information societies,’ and a requirement of a nation state is that the members of it, be known at least in a minimal sense. He further explains this requirement by stating, that a nation state must hold both ‘allocative resources’ and ‘authoritative resources.’ He believes that in order for these resources to be achieved, effective surveillance is a prerequisite. Giddens argues that the nation state had a particular interest in and reliance upon information gathering and storage. The gathering and storage of information is part of a â€Å"contract between the nation state and its members †¦ are a battery of citizenship rights and duties.† The first duty of any government is to protect its frontiers, due to this there is an insatiable hunger for information. This hunger is amplified by possible threats to a nation’s border, whether real or perceived. This growing need for information has caused for the creation of a massive â€Å"system of interlined technologies to routinely and continuously monitor and inspect events and activities – military and civilian – around the globe.† The contact between nation state and citizen, allows for each citizen to have many rights and duties. Rights that are commonly held include a right to education, to vote, to hold a passport, to a minimum level of income, to health treatment and so on. They also have duties, as citizens, to pay taxes which are levied, and in some cases fight and die for their country. The delivery of rights and benefits by the nation state, such as the delivery of welfare benefits and services is at the heart of the system of mass surveillance; because it is [there] that the processes of classification, information gathering and recording are constantly multiplying. Gidden’s believes that the ‘informatisation’ of society is in part due to the existence of police surveillance in the modern nation state. He contends that due to this surveillance, that rather than regarding a modern nation state as an ‘information society,’ it would be better to regard it as a ‘surveillance society.’ His arguments presented provide a solid understanding of how a nation state is formed, and the role of surveillance in a ‘surveillance society.’ Giddens also provides insight into how information gathering occurs, and how that gathering of information has an effect on daily life. Gidden’s discussion of a ‘social contract’ while not new, is a way to better understand how the government can justify the use of police surveillance as it is currently used. The argument that at the rate of which surveillance is expanding and advancing, that a nation could succumb to totalitarian rule, while creative, this seems to be more of a thought provoking statement, rather than actual probability. In Kevin Robins and Frank Webster’s Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life, the authors describe what they term as ‘the Republic of Technology.’ In this republic, society is fixated by the idea of progress, growth and development without end. They make reference to Cornelius Castoriadis, who explains that society seeks a fantasy of control. This fantasy is of â€Å"total control, of our will or desire for mastering all objects and all circumstance.† It is argued that the culture of technology is in part the reason for the expansion of police surveillance. According to Christopher Lasch, â€Å"the delusion that we can make ourselves lords of the universe †¦ is the heart and soul of modern technology.† Robins and Webster argue that the clearest expression of compulsion to command and control is found by the police. The police in their view is central to the growth of surveillance and to the growing need for information. Robins and Webster believe as Anthony Giddens, that â€Å"upon generalized patterns of change has been so profound that it is little short of absurd to seek to interpret such patterns with out systematic reference to it †¦ That police developments are central, rather than marginal to the technological project.† Robins and Webster believe that the police plays a central role for the maintenance of current surveillance and for its future expansion. Robins and Webster argue that the police, as the central force for the expansion of surveillance, plays a large role in diverting necessary funds away from its citizens and has an overriding influence on the direction research and development that could be better used for other initiatives. They argue that the lobbies impose a large degree of influence which distorts and perverts economic and social priorities through procedures which are largely closed to public scrutiny. The role of the police and the use of surveillance can be seen as a means of social control. Social control, according to Robins and Webster, is accomplished by way of surveillance and control strategies, which are modeled on the police paradigm. They believe that even policing, is moving towards a more military style of operation. Robins and Webster argue that police imperatives have played a major role in the growth of the state and the systems of surveillance. Robins and Webster agree with Anthony Giddens’ contention that â€Å"surveillance as the mobilizing of administrative power – through the storage and control of information – is the primary means of concentration of authoritative resources.† In other words, the use of police surveillance and the gathering of information are central to the maintaining control and order. The authors emphasize that within the country, the police is central to the collection of information on both possible enemies and its own citizens. Furthermore, police technologies are well funded and continue to be used to experience the ‘dream of total control.’ They argue this dream has existed in the development of technologies, and that in the future seeking this dream will result in a â€Å"system that deliberately eliminates the whole human personality, ignores the historic process, overplays the role of the abstract intelligence, and makes control over physical nature, ultimately control over man himself, the chief purpose of existence.† Robins and Webster provide a different perspective of the root of police surveillance and information gathering, and how this is largely due to the ‘fantasy of total control.’ The ability to control all that is available is a fantasy that has lead to the remarkable growth of police technologies that are used in part on a nation’s own citizens. This growth of surveillance and police technologies leaves the authors to believe that humans will lose control over themselves, with the advancements of technology. This argument is frightening but such a statement is warranted with the advancement of technologies. In The Pay-Per Society: Computers and Communication in the Information Age: Essays in Critical Theory and Public Policy, Vincent Mosco discusses the role of the police in the development of computer and communications systems. He believes that this is necessary, because the â€Å"police over the years, has exerted the most substantial influence on the development of computer and communications.† Mosco argues (similar to Robins and Webster) that the police has increasingly shaped the development of technology in the United States, particularly the development of communication and information technologies. Mosco discusses the relationship between the police, the United States government and industry. He explains how the police has been a driving force in the creation of new technologies, using funds received from the United States government, along with relationships with leading technology corporations. Mosco states that the relationship between the Pentagon and the US computer industry has always been strong. During the 1940s and 1950s the US government, led by the Pentagon, provided most of the funding for computer research. Moreover, the relationship has continued to remain strong. This arrangement has allowed for the National Security Agency to have in their control a global computer/communications satellite system that routinely monitors international telex, telegraph, telephone, radio and other transmissions, emanating from or direct to the United States. The military has not limited its surveillance only over its own territories, but also foreign nations and space. Fijnaut (1995) discusses the expansion of police technologies, and the expansion of surveillance into space. He explains that police computers are integrated into systems of Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence. Moreover, that police computers have expanded the range, speed and accuracy of weapons systems. That intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance have been expanded by way of communication technologies. The police’s wish to have the most control and protection from disorder. Fijnaut (1995) argues that the limits on police technologies has yet to be reached, and will continue to expand. This expansion of information gathering and surveillance is in part, for the protection of a nation, against disorderly conduct. The protection of a nation’s citizens and the protection of their rights is of the utmost importance for any government, and due to this, the creation of new technologies is deemed necessary. In Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life, David Lyon discusses the need for information gathering and surveillance in modern nation states. He argues that modern government administrations depend on the collection and recording of personal data. Moreover, that modernity means reliance on information and knowledge in generating and maintaining power. Due to that the fact that much of that information is personal, he argues that â€Å"such focused attention to data on individuals spells surveillance.† He contends that the magnification of surveillance capacities is a fact of modernity, and that it is part of the world that has been created in an attempt to bring social, economic and political arrangements into rational regimes of organization and control. He argues that, the focused attention (surveillance) on individual lives is characteristic of modernity, and that it provides eligibility to benefits of citizenship, such as the right to vote, or state welfare, and also may ensure that workers are appropriately remunerated, or rewarded with promotions and recognition of retirement at the appropriate time. Lyon provides both the positive and negative aspects of police surveillance, and argues that while surveillance practices may be altering, or that they may be used in negative ways, does not alter the case that police surveillance is simply a fact of modern social life. Lyon provides examples of police surveillance and information gathering in social activities. One such example is in the Toronto area, the world’s first fully automated toll road. Highway 407 provides an alternative route through the busiest corridor in Canada, with tolls collected either via transponders in vehicles or by video cameras scanning registration plates. This technology was developed from what was used for smart bombers during the 1991 Gulf War. This technology identifies the ‘target’ vehicles for tolls based on the distance driven and the time of the day. This to many, is considered a luxury, and the automatic billing rather than toll booths provides convenience. While this is true, what is not realized by the driver is that this technology permits the creation of real-time simulations of road traffic time-space movement across cities. This is extremely valuable to planners, especially in densely traveled urban corridors. This example shows how military technologies are used in public sector. Lyon also discusses the impossibility for anyone to be shielded from the existent surveillance. Lyon argues that â€Å"surveillance operates in so many daily life spheres today that it is impossible to evade, should one wish to. We are indeed wrapped in media. Most of our social encounters and almost all our economic transactions are subject to electronic recording, checking and authorization.† In all aspects of our lives, we are unable to escape. Lyon also argues that there is not one single agency that is responsible for the focused attention on our daily lives. Lyon provides insight into both those for and against the current level of surveillance, he begins by saying, that those who are opposed to such surveillance do so, â€Å"because they feel that there is something wrong when big government and large corporations seem to extract, process, exchange and even trade personal data with apparent impunity.† Lyon’s argument can be seen as being that police surveillance is a focused attention to personal life details with a view to managing or influencing those who lives are monitored. He believes this to be the power of classification, of social sorting. In his book, Lyon offers an approach, a mode of engaging with the issues related to police surveillance and information gathering. He does so, by discussing how police surveillance and information gathering technologies are implemented in daily lives, and discusses the complaints made by those who are fearful of such focus being made on their lives. In What’s New About the â€Å"New Surveillance†? Classifying for Change and Continuity, Gary T. Marx discusses how much surveillance is applied categorically and beyond persons to places, spaces, networks and categories of person. And that the distinction between self and other surveillance can be blurred. He attempts to highlight the differences between the new and traditional surveillance and offer a way to capture information relevant to contemporary social, ethical and policy considerations. In this publication, Marx is attempting to determine whether or not the protection of personal information is decreasing or increasing. Marx argues that in the last half of the 20th century, that there has been a significant increase in the use of technology for the discovery of personal information. He provides examples such as, video and audio surveillance, biometric access devices, drug testing, DNA analysis, computer monitoring including email and web usage and the use of the computer techniques such as expert systems, matching and profiling, data mining, mapping, network analysis and simulation. He believes that control technologies have become what had only previously existed in the imaginations of science fiction writers. Marx argues that a new definition of surveillance is necessary to fully understand its implications. He finds previous definitions inadequate, and provides his own definition. He suggests that a better definition of the new surveillance â€Å"is the use of technical means to extract or create personal data. This may be taken from individuals or contexts. In this definition the use of â€Å"technical means† to extract and create the information implies the ability to go beyond what is offered to the unaided senses or voluntarily reported.† This definition he believes to be better suited for what is considered new surveillance technologies. Marx argues that surveillance technologies can provide many positive aspects to society, and outlines how openness would be beneficial. He argues that through offering â€Å"high quality documentary evidence and audit trails, the new surveillance may enhance due process, fairness and legitimacy. That it may contribute to the political pluralism central to democracy by making the tools of surveillance widely available so that citizens and competing groups can use them against each other, as well government, to enhance accountability.† He argues that in the United States, unlike in many societies, surveillance technology is widely available to the public, and due to this, surveillance may no longer be considered a one-way mirror, but instead a window. In Privacy is Not the Antidote to Surveillance, Felix Stalder discusses the existence of police surveillance and information gathering in democracies. His contention is that in democracies, extensive institutional mechanisms are in place to create and maintain accountability. Moreover, that there are mechanisms to punish those who abuse their power. Stalder believes that similar mechanisms must be developed for the handling of personal information. He believes that due to the current status of surveillance, that the public (US) have become nervous. Prior to the attacks on September 11th 2001, polls showed that the vast majority of respondents were â€Å"concerned† or â€Å"very concerned† about the misuse of personal data. As discussed by Webster and Robins, Lyon and others, access to large data-sets of personal information is a prerequisite for social control. Those who hold such data have a crucial tool, which allows them to influence the behaviour of those whose data is being held. This exists not only commercially, but also more importantly by governments who collect data about their citizens in order to increase accuracy of their planning, as well as combat fraud and tax evasion. With growing concerns, the usual response to these problems is the call for further protection of privacy. While the call for more protection might be the clear answer, doing so is not as easy as one might think. The definition of what privacy is, throughout the world varies. Europeans have developed one of the most stringent approaches where privacy is understood as ‘informational self-determinism.’ Stalder explains as being, â€Å"that an individual should be able to determine the extent to which data about her or him is being collected in any given context.† In this context, privacy is personal, and being personal, every single person will have a different notion about what privacy means. Data one person might allow to be collected bight be deeply personal for someone else. The likelihood of having a collectively accepted definition is slim. Stalder provides his own solution for this ever-growing problem. Each article provides insight into different areas concerning information gathering and police surveillance. In conjunction with one another, it is possible to understand how surveillance technologies have been created, and how these technologies continue to be funded by governmental agencies. The effect that this massive funding has on local economies would require even further research, but at the essence of this dilemma, is what can be done to better protect civilians from the collection and sharing of information gathered. Civilians feel helpless to protect themselves from their privacy being invaded. Moreover, these articles explain how the protection of civil, political, economic and human rights are secured are secured through the systematic surveillance and data-collection. Without this, governments would not be capable of such a task, and these rights would surely be infringed upon. They are confronted with a growing police presence in their daily lives, some not even knowing that it exists. They use their credit card, and do not realize that each purchase is tracked, recorded, entered into a database, so that companies can use the data received, for profitable gains. They do not know that their information is bought and sold, traded on the open market, along with all other commodities. In order for governments to provide services to their citizens, they require the collection of data. This data is used for purposes that are deemed legitimate, such as taxes and social security. What worries many is what else that information is being used for, and who is being given access to it. While accountability, by governments in this area has increased, the same can not be said for information gathered by commercial entities. The growth of information gathering and police surveillance in Canada and the United States especially, can be attributed to many factors. One such factor is the need for a nation state to protect itself from invasion, the protection of its borders and citizens is of the utmost importance. This being said, governments attempt to have complete control of their territory, this requires the use of police surveillance, for surrounding nations, and for those within their borders. Another fact that needs to be addressed is the undeniable connection between governments and their police, by which technologies are funded and created. This relationship has allowed for the astonishing growth of police technologies, which in many respects drains from social services and depletes national revenues, when more civilian based initiatives could be implemented. Due to the sophistication of information gathering, civilians are no longer capable of securing their own information. Their information is passed from corporation to corporation, without any sense of protection at their disposal. There is a lack of accountability, when dealing with corporations, and how a person’s personal information is acquired and kept. Moreover, in order for any change to occur, definitions must be more precise, rather than attempting to apply vague terms for new solutions. Works Consulted Lyon, David. Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life Open University Press: Philadelphia, 2001. Marx, Gary T. What’s New About the â€Å"New Surveillance†? Classifying for Change and Continuity in Surveillance and Society 1(1) University of New Castle: United Kingdom, Mosco, Vincent. The Pay-Per Society: Computers and Communication in the Information Age: Essays in Critical Theory and Public Policy in SOSC 2312 9.0A Course Kit 2004-2005 York University: Toronto, 2004. Robins, Kevin & Frank Webster, Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life in SOSC 2312 9.0A Course Kit 2004-2005 York University: Toronto, Stalder, Felix. Privacy is Not the Antidote to Surveillance in Surveillance and Society 1(1) University of New Castle: United Kingdom, 2002. Webster, Frank. Theories of The Information Society, Routledge: London, 2000. Undercover: Police Surveillance in America (20th Century Fund) by Gary T. Marx – Dec 5, 1989 Se crets Of Surveillance: A Professionals Guide To Tailing Subjects By Vehicle, Foot, Airplane, And Public Transportation by ACM IV Security Services – Sep 1993 Women Police: Gender, Welfare and Surveillance in the Twentieth Century by Louise Jackson – Sep 17, 2006 The Surveillance Studies Reader by Sean Hier and Joshua Greenberg – Aug 1, 2007 Police Officer Exam by Donald J. Schroeder and Frank A. 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