Case Study-Duraweld

1. List the 5S and compare to the lean implementation at Duraweld. If there are differences, explain them. The ‘5S’ principles which originated from Japanese terms of seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardize) and shitsuke (sustain) are used to create efficient, clean and well organised working environment. Sort – refers to ensuring that each item in a workplace is in its proper place or identified as unnecessary and removed.When â€Å"sorting† is well implemented, communication between workers is improved and product quality and productivity are increased Set in order – The second stage of 5S involves the orderly arrangement of needed items so they are easy to use and accessible for â€Å"anyone† to find. Orderliness eliminates waste in production and clerical activities. Shine – refers to a clean work area. This maintains a safer work area and problem areas are quickly identified. An important part of à ¢â‚¬Å"shining† is â€Å"Mess Prevention†. In other words, don’t allow litter, scrap, shavings, cuttings, etc. , to land on the floor in the first place.Standardized – means to formalized procedures and practices to create consistency and ensure that all steps are performed correctly. Orderliness is the core of â€Å"standardization† and is maintained by Visual Controls. Sustain – means to keep the process going through training, communication and organisation structure. This last stage of 5S is the discipline and commitment of all other stages. Without â€Å"sustaining†, the workplace can easily revert back to being dirty and chaotic. That is why it is so crucial for the workers to be empowered to improve and maintain their workplace.When employees take pride in their work and workplace it can lead to greater job satisfaction and higher productivity. Among the benefits of implementing 5S System:- * Improve safety * Decrease down time * Raise employee morale * Identify problems more quickly * Develop control through visibility * Establish convenient work practices * Increase product and process quality * Strengthen employees’ pride in their work * Promote stronger communication among staff * Empower employees to sustain their work area Duraweld applied ‘sort’ and ‘set in order’ principles by using a shadow box as proper tool storage.Storage areas for quick moving materials were set line-side. Labels were used to ensure tools were stored in proper place. These implantations have help to reduce worker’s travel time as all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area. Duraweld ensure ‘shine’ / cleanliness is practice at the factory. Cleaning and maintenance procedures are advertised in the factory. The floors under the machines were purposely painted in white so as to ensure that spilled/oil leak can easily detected – w hich can prevent corrective maintenance. Duraweld created two-cell manufacturing units for repeat stock products.The floor was painted to define the work area, aisle space and location of necessary items. By linking the routes together, the production team managed to reduce conveyance and set-up time, build awareness of previous/next process and increase productivity. This ‘standardized’ process was further enhanced by the implementation of Kanban cards – the visual management system that incorporates scheduling and maintenance. The Kanban cards indicate what to produce, when to produce and how much to produce. These standard operating procedures has help to reduce over-production at Duraweld.Furthermore its ‘pull’ as opposed to ‘push’ system allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in the production cycle. Among the key factors which lead to successful lean implementation in Duraweld is through its ‘sustain’ processe s. The company ensures its employees from shop floor to the top managements are committed to the lean programme. Proper communication sessions via workshops, training were held to explain about the changes, how it affect them, the benefit etc. This helps to instil positive values and make everyone be part of the system – employee engagement.Duraweld has also invested in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to micromanage stock variation and seasonality. This system link operation across the organisation. The practicality of 5S principals can be seen through various implementations in Durawell as explained above. What makes the implementation of these principles throughout the organisation a big success is its employee’s engagement that makes the lean system as part of their culture in their work place and organisation as a whole. The principle aim of a 5S system is improved safety, efficiency, and employee morale.By deciding what should be kept, where it should be kept, and how it should be kept, 5S eliminates wasteful clutter and creates ownership of processes among workers. The results of 5S are both visually and economically dramatic. 2. Describe which kind of waste was eliminated for each lean implementation at Duraweld. Can you think of other types of waste that could be eliminated? Waste is defined as non-value added activity or expense that the customer is not paying for. By eliminating waste in the operations, we can reduce lead times, increase quality and decrease costs.Before we can eliminate waste from the processes, we need to be able to identify it. The following are the wastes most commonly associated with Lean. * Transportation: Is there unnecessary (non-value added) movement of parts, materials, or information between processes? * Waiting: Are people or parts, systems or facilities idle – waiting for a work cycle to be completed? * Overproduction: Are you producing sooner, faster or in greater quantities than the cu stomer is demanding? * Defects: Does the process result in anything that the customer would deem unacceptable? Inventory: Do you have any raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) or finished goods that are not having value added to them? * Movement: How much do you move materials, people, equipment and goods within a processing step? * Extra Processing: How much extra work is performed beyond the standard required by the customer? At Duraweld, the 5S (Sort, Set to order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) was the cornerstone that helps the organisation eliminating the waste. The first step taken by Duraweld was converting a ‘push’ manufacturing flow to a ‘pull’ process by creating a visual management system of Kanban card.The cards indicate what to process, when to process and how much to produce. Not only it reduces over-production but allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in production cycle. Only the required amount is produced in every stage. This process eliminate waste – no work was carried out unnecessarily, machine time is lesser, better utilisation of space in factory. The use of shadow boards helps to organise the essential tools. Relevant machines and tools were aggregated in cells. Floors were painted in white to assist warning of maintenance issues or detect early wear.Labelling program ensures item/tool used returned to their designated location. This helps in reducing motion of workers i. e. one of the wastes in production line whereby workers can find all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area without having to travel around to find what they need. The preventive maintenance by ensuring early detection of wear machine or tools can reduce maintenance cost. The 3S – sort, sort in order and shine exercises as explain above also found waste from plastic cuts from the production line which can be recycled and reinserted the manufacturing cycle.The implementatio n of visual management technique and clear work area organisation ensure people were kept working which means the resources are fully utilised. This eliminates unproductivity among the workers – their movements are fully controlled not only by the supervisors but also by the workflow process/schedules. Duraweld made big investment by using an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage stock variation and seasonal stock adjustments. The system allows materials movements, stocks, and production schedules to be managed and monitored through a database in a computer.By using this technology, Duraweld can reduce its manpower cost whereby less supervisor is require to monitor the database as compared to more supervisor required to monitor each tasks if it’s done manually. Communication is the key success to sustain the lean implementation in the organisation. Clear message was sent across the board on how the changes is require to be done, the benefits an d the impact of the implementation to the workers effectively communicated. This not only gets rid of grievances among the workers which are a waste in any organisation but improve employee morale and create sense of belonging to the organisation.The tracking and elimination of waste is an on-going process. When waste is not actively sought and removed, it will continue to build in your company. 3. Considering Duraweld’s situation, explain which elements of the lean system you would further implement and what would be their positive consequences on the company. As discussed in question no. 2, one of the important elements in the lean system is eliminating the waste which in Duraweld’s case, the 5S systems are used as a tool to eliminate the wastes within its factory.On top of that the use of Kanban cards system help to increase efficiency in its production cycle by replacing the ‘push’ system with the ‘pull’ system. In my opinion, the followin g elements of Lean can be further implement at Duraweld:- 1) Visual Management: A Standard Operating Procedure and a step-by-step instruction which implemented through the visual management such as a manual board/instruction board at each workstation and machine can be used to show how each task is perform or machine is operated.When this visual management is fully utilised, not only the production flows are in order, job rotation among workers can be perform effectively – any employees can be trained to do any task or operate any machine by referring to the instruction board. This will reduce the company dependency of particular skilled workers. Everyone in the shop floor is multi-tasked. 2) Quality at the source: The quality at source require the production line to do things right the first time. This will eliminate the opportunity of waste i. e. waste of raw material, defect outputs etc. hich will help to reduce cost. At the early stage of production cycle, the workers wil l inspect, analyse and control their own work to guarantee that the goods and services passed on to the next process stage meet the specification/requirement. 3) Continuous improvement: Conventional wisdom told us â€Å"if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! † The reality of today’s business environment is that if we’re not improving our business processes and meet and exceed customers’ expectation, our business will not survive. Many organizations create change either by vision or by crisis.The latter seems to be the most prevalent. A major crisis takes place that forces a company to make an improvement. When a crisis hits, it’s because the vision or change efforts were not sufficient to avoid it. Quick fixes are then applied, and teams are formed to root out the problems. We have to take the time to step back, identify, and analyze what the real issues are, and the type of method to use. There are numerous improvement choices; Kaizen, Lea n Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TQM, Process Reengineering, Value Propositions, etc. 4) Standardized OperationsOne of the most important tools of lean manufacturing is standardized work. When starting a 5S program, the cleaning, organizing, and developing of sustainable practices is done so the elements of work can be standardized. In lean product development deployments, by developing and releasing design guidelines, we are in effect implementing standardized work for engineers. The principles of lean and flow production do not work well when everyone is allowed to choose the method or sequence in which to do the job; quality suffers, and productivity drops.This reduces throughput and the carefully developed production system develops unanticipated bottlenecks. Standardized work is a detailed, documented and visual system by which associates develop and follow a series of predefined process steps. It should be used whenever the work requires completing a series of tasks. Production wor kers, shipping departments, and warehousing teams all can benefit from implementing standardized work. References:- 1. Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques | eHow. com

History of Western Art Comparison 1

A Progression of Idealistic Perfection in Sculpture: Khafre Enthroned to Kritios Boy Early Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom, ca. 2575-2134 BCE, demonstrates uniform structure. Egyptian artists and sculptors adhered to a system of strict rules known as canon to create this consistency. The Egyptian canon suggested perfection to be a rigid, ageless idealization of reality. Roughly 1,500 years later, a progressive canon emerged in Greek art reflecting new ideals of perfection. Greek art beginning in the Early Classical Period, ca. 80- 450 BCE, digressed from the acceptance of formula (influenced by Egyptian canon) to reflect greater naturalism, an adherence to close observation of reality. Greek perfection was achieved through rational ordering of the world, in which the canon was based on a mathematical system of proportion. A comparison of two sculptures, Khafre Enthroned from the Egyptian Old Kingdom Period and Kritios Boy from the Greek Early Classical Period, illustrates a progres sion of desire to achieve perfection from Egyptian ideals of knowledge and completeness to Greek ideals of vision and the natural.These sculptures represent an advancement of artistic technique from set formula to fluid rationality, both with a shared desire for excellence. The granite sculpture of Khafre Enthroned from Gizeh, Egypt, ca. 2500 BCE was recovered from the valley temple of pharaoh Khafre. Functioning as a funerary statue, it provided a substitute for the pharaoh’s soul, or ka. Khafre wears a plain kilt and displays Egyptian royalty with headdress and false beard. His flawless, muscular body sits upright with one hand clenched in a fist.In addition to rigid posture, Khafre’s face is emotionless yet serene. Iconography of divine rule and unification embellish the sculpture; with lion’s bodies and papyrus plants decorating the throne, and a falcon sheltering pharaoh’s head. Like the immortality of the soul, Khafre appears to be timeless without regard to his real age or appearance. Khafre Enthroned aims to represent the divine nature of Egyptian rule as idealization of human form to a god-like perfection. The marble sculpture of Kritios Boy from Greece, ca. 80 BCE marks an influential point of stylistic evolution. In contrast to Khafre Enthroned, The Kritios Boy was created for a public audience. The Kritios Boy’s standing pose represents a freedom in his figure that divorces the solidity of the stiffly seated Khafre. Rather than emanating timelessness, this naturalistic sculpture seems to capture a specific moment in time. Mirroring a normal human stance of balance and weight shift onto one leg, his stature is contrapposto.Furthermore, the Kritios Boy’s physical composition maintains a smooth contour to his natural musculature. His head is slightly turned with hair that seems to fall effortlessly in place. He is completely naked, wearing only a relaxed expression on his face. With no indication of identity, the Kritios Boy exemplifies naturalism in Greek drive to order to analyze form into constituent parts and represent the specific in light of the generic. The figure sculptures of Khafre Enthroned and Kritios Boy exhibit a start and end point in an evolution of artistic technique.Although a single male figure is the subject of both works, canon clearly develops from Khafre Enthroned to Kritios Boy. Both works express a desire for perfection with the use of contrasting ideals. Egyptian artists prized completeness and timeless to achieve a god-like representation. Later, artistic form advances as Greeks sought naturalism and rationality. The culmination of both early rigid and fluid canons formed Greek ideals of balance between the timeless and present. This drive to order led to foundations of Greek art that dramatically influenced art history from that point on.

Behavioral Aspects of Project Management Essay

Organizational culture can influence the overall success of a project. Unfortunately, in the given scenario the project is both behind schedule and over budget. Several key team members left in disgust and the morale of the remaining team is low and they fear they will be doing extra work without compensation. In this scenario project leadership is essential to the projects success. This project team needs a leader who can not only get this project back on track but can also build the morale of this demoralized team. This project cannot be managed in a routine fashion. Already behind schedule and over budget, this project will require innovation, skill and a highly competent project manager in order to proceed. 1. How does organizational culture influence the selection, sponsorship, prioritization, and ultimate success of projects?One of the most critical factors for project success is organizational culture and behavior to support project management process. As a result, it is highly important for organizations and managers to understand the influence of organizational behavior and culture in order to meet ultimate success of projects. In this case, we should first know the definition of organizational culture. Organizational culture is made up of attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior of its employees. It is the workplace environment formulated from the interaction of the employees in the workplace. Organizational culture is defined by all of the life experiences, strengths, weaknesses, education, upbringing, and so forth of the employees. While executive leaders play a large role in defining organizational culture by their actions and leadership, all employees contribute to the organizational culture. (1)(2)Organizational culture is important to a project success for several reasons. They are also an important source of stability and continuity to the organization, which provides a sense of security to its members. 2. In what ways could organizational culture create conditions that could lead to the scenario described above?Failing to initiate â€Å"crucial conversations† may be the single biggest cause of project failure, according to preliminary findings of an ongoing study on project management. Thus, project managers’ inability to talk to people about five often-occurring  negative situations frequently leads to failure. Setting arbitrary deadlines and inadequate resources that â€Å"set up a project to fail†. Failing to provide the necessary leadership, political clout or energy for a project. Skirting or manipulating the project priority-setting process. An unwillingness by team members to support projects as required. Failing to acknowledge project problems until it is too late for remedial action. (6)A failure to clearly and completely define the requirements results in building the wrong features or leaving gaps in the features needed. New or state-of-the-art technology is causing unanticipated problems. A poor technical design doesn’t allow the solution to be easily modified or is not scalable. Requirements are not frozen late in the project, and continued change requests start to cause the project to drift. Technology components do not fit together as designed. Poor initial testing techniques cause repeated errors and rework in later tests. (7)3. What role does project leadership play in the success of projects?Project managers have a wide range of responsibilities and face a number of challenges (challenges relate to fundamental functions: planning, organizing, hiring, coordinating, and monitoring) in a variety of areas, on a daily basis. A project manager’s role is a challenging one and requires equal measures of good organizational ability, good people skills, and the technical capacity to judge both individual performance and project  milestones. Project leaders play a significant role in the success of a project. With poor leadership, a sophisticated tool or technique only gives a bad leader the opportunity to do more damage. The person may be a better project manager, but he or she may not be a better project leader. (8) A project leader might contribute different roles in the success of a project. The new role of the project manager requires an ultimate knowledge of the strategy of the project. The PL is responsible for observing and analyzing project process and project structure. (14)A project leader must possess a certain set of combination skills and characteristics that can be used to manage projects successfully including:The diplomatic skills to solicit input and negotiate compromises, having the ability to ask penetrating questions, identifies unstated assumptions, flexible enough to roll with the changes, and resolve personnel conflicts along with more systematic management skills. (12)(13)(15) Also,Developing a grand visionBuilding, leading and mentoring the project management teamLeadership, Facilitation, communicative, Selling (promote and sell the project both within and outside the organization), Presentation skillsPeople-management skills such as constructive feedback, conflict resolution, managing individual styles and personalitiesSkills at interfacing across the organization and removing obstacles for the teamAbility to accept criticism, feedback, and input from othersSkills in using team-based tools such as brainstorming, organizing, decision-making, Project management, conflict resolution, and so on (14)(10)4. Does this role change under the conditions described in the scenario? If so, how and why? If not, why not? To overcome with this scenario, organization should hire a skilled and innovated PM who is able to lead perfectly and solve the above scenario and get the project back on track. (16)In this situation, the new leader must be able to analyze what resources were lost, when key team members left, create a new organizational culture according to the project, and create an inspiring corporate culture that inspires, empowers and energizes project team members. Generally, the project in this situation needs a leader to have enough power to make him/her able for changing the organizational culture, hiring new staffs, offering project members a sense of common purpose beyond the day-to-day  tasks, making work exciting, moving people with a compelling vision, inspiring and encouraging team members to act perfectly for achieving performance. The other important thing which is so vital in any relationship and the new leader must pay attention is building up the morale and trust among team membe rs. The new leader can help build trust faster by following these 10 practical steps:Know the players. Confirm leader role. Identify preconceptions. Set expectations. Involve the team in decisions. Do what you said you were going to do. Deliver informative status reports. Be honest. (17)(18)By bringing a new PM to the project according to case scenario, the role of Project leader would not change. Only, the new leader duties will increase since key member of the project left while the rest of team has lost their trust and motive and feel frustrated and stressed. As a result, it would be much harder for the new leader to reorganize the project progress, project members, build up and improve morale and trust within the project team-members, and let the team members know how important they are for the organization and project. In this case, leader will identify and recognize each member’s duty, skills and their job within this project process and it would be easier for the leader to define tasks. Thus, defining an effective communication plan is critical success through the course of a project. Leader must describe the project in a clear way to ensure that all tasks and responsibilities are going to be done on time and meet the schedules and deadlines. At this time it’s become highly important  for a project manager to decide whether he needs to hire some people to replace the key people or he needs to compensate the people that around in rough time with the project with the salary he would pay to new people because project is already running behind schedule. In such case the second option is more suitable, assuming the current group has the capabilities to complete the project, since project is already over budget. 5) How can a project manager build and manage a successful project team?Building a good team is extremely challenging and rewarding at the same time. It calls for some astute planning. The three most important lessons are: be true to the team’s vision, give people space to operate and develop as leaders and remain intellectually sharp as a team. The first will give the team purpose and direction, the second will give them the ability to deliver and the last will keep the team young and jumping out of their beds on Mondays. Team building in this context is a prized skill that managers are willing to invest in. It has become critical to find â€Å"team players† when selecting people for a job or business project. An organization’s potential will end where the imagination of a sharp team does. There is a lot more involved than simple complimentary skills when building an elite team. Here are seven practices at the heart of building a first-rate team. 1- Get the best on boardA PM should get only those people on board his bus who really understand and value the vision of the project. Also he should make sure and inform those people that it might be a rough or smooth ride so they don’t have any surprises2- Align tasks to skillsIf you allow your team members to progress into the areas where they excel and are interested in, you will effectively keep them engaged and free yourself from the risk of having disgruntled and frustrated team members. 3- Strike the right balanceMost projects require a mix of activities. A team needs to have a balanced set of skills, especially if the majority of the  members are specialists in their field (consultants, analysts, IT experts). All skills will come into play while the team carries out its task, and any lack can result in the hampering of the project. 4- Manage the team mixIt is difficult to predict whether the team mix is correct and if it facilitates success; therefore, constant monitoring is indispensable. Allowing someone to remain on the team when they are a mismatch can prove counter productive. Other members may become resentful when no action is taken and they are obligated to cover for a non-productive member. 5- Give the credit and take the blameDo not indulge in fault-finding or blame games. Pigeonholing a particular member of the team may spread negative vibes within the team and cost you time and quality. Celebrating every small success and appreciating team members will build a sense of camaraderie between team members. 6- Be hard on tasks and soft on peopleThe focus should be on getting the job done. Giving space to every member of the team would allow them to develop their true potential as leaders. A good player always passes the ball. Even superstars need to work as a team player. Individual accomplishments mean little if they don’t enable the team to succeed. Q 6If the new Project manager is able to apply the effective leadership style, and create a team harmony between old team members and new comers, that will certainly revitalize the project Effectiveness. Together with project management discipline, addressing these items will dramatically increase the probability of project success. As we know that just as the main reasons that projects fail are related to human nature and interaction, so are our keys to project management effectiveness. We find that o ¬nly when the appropriate culture, mindset and behaviors are in place are the project management processes able to drive value. If the project manager is able to insert these changes the organizational culture will change to one of high morale, employee satisfaction, employee involvement, formation of groups, open communication lines, and higher employee motivation, employees  embracing the change process, understanding both the ups and downs of the project, like the schedule and budget issues mentioned in the scenario, etc.)Selection & rejuvenating the team: As the project is already behind schedule and over budget, so the Project Manager should focus on selection process more seriously. There are old team members who are already working on the project with lack of resources and guidelines. To relieve these work forces from work overload, there are needs of new workforces to join as team and work together effectively. If the project manager is able to spend more time in selection process that will bring the best into the project board/team, which will certainly save, time and cost. Assign and align task as per the expertise: Once the selection is done, Project manger should categorize the tasks and subtasks as per the critical and non critical path and empower the team members as per their expertise, so they don’t caught up with authentication. This process will enable the project team to work at their best with self-motivation and develop a high degree of morale. Optimum uses of human resources at their synergy will help the project to run smoothly and reduce the project delay. Team synchronization and acculturation: A balance in terms of personality and temperament also needs to be achieved, which will promote better relationships between members of the team. Closely watching the interpersonal dynamics within the team. So by bringing the people together who have the skill sets along with the adaptability and flexibility to work with different people. Synchronized and organizational acculturation enable the project too speed up the scheduled task without any constraints and develop team satisfaction. Communication and collaboration: The concurrent changes within the team rejuvenation and synchronization will enable the project team to communicate effectively and bring the sense of collaboration with in the players. As the project is already behind the schedule, so open line communication and collaborative measures will be developed. Effective measurements: Once the organizational culture is set and adapted by  the project team, there will be an easy access for Project manager to evaluate the project success. Evaluation is very critical at this point of time, as project being behind the schedule and over the budget; project manager should imply the every allocated resource at their optimum use and assessment of every activities and achievements within the due time. Q7)An effective project team leader is a â€Å"social architect† who understands the interaction of organizational and behavioral variables can foster a climate of active participation and can minimize dysfunctional conflict. To be effective and to make better relationship among team members, the team leader must identify major issues associated with three dimensions. These are team related with emphasis on behavioral aspects such as team structure, trust and respect, or barriers to team development and so on also project tasks and resource related to it such as goals and objectives, planning and scope management are essential. What if the other essential ingredient, the team, the followers? Ideally, the more the team can be motivated and empowered to â€Å"take the bull by the horns†, the more productive they become and the less direction and control is required. This has led to the concept of Self Directed Work Teams (Swats). According to Batten, there are 6 things that members of a successful team need from their leader to built better relationship:Expectation (Tell me what you expect of me)Opportunity (Give me an opportunity to perform)Feedback (Let me know how I am doing)Guidance (Give me guidance when and where I need it)Reward (Reward me according to my contribution)Friendly environment (give me open working-environment)Given these prerequisites, both the members of a project team, the followers, and their leader can be expected to progress and develop interactively. The leader focuses successively on telling, selling, gelling and producing project activities, in which the idea is for the team to become an SDWT. However, this only occurs as a result of careful team development and typically advances interactively through four distinct phases of team leadership and â€Å"follower ship† evolution. The four phases of team development have been characterized as â€Å"forming, storming, norming an d performing†. Relationship among Team Members and External resources:Building relationship among the project team and the external resources is the main part for the project to serve the project of the company. We have to identify their level of involvement and work with them accordingly. The key to getting the most out of the outsourcing relationship with the internal project team is to have a good plan in place before hand and to work that plan, but remain flexible. The company must have a clear business goal and an understanding of the role the outsourcing partner which they will play in helping attain that goal. Performance metrics for the outsourced engagement must be in place so that the client company knows weather or not the outsourcing, train and educate the staff in the project management model. And, most importantly, manage communication effectively. Again and effective communication among team members and any outsourced contractor is probably the most critical outsourcing success factor. In fact, it is so critical in a situation where professional services are being provided and contracted for creating a maintaining sound relationship with external resourcesQ8) how would these strategies differ under the conditions described in the scenario. The team is in bad situation, and the previous team has been totally scattered. For this instance the strategies we have defined for the relationship among team members and with external resources will not be the same. So the managing change strategy will be good to handle the situation. So what I believe and also depending upon my finding a project manager should comply with certain strategies which will be helpful according to the current situation. First of all PM will find out that what the reason behind the old situation was? And why the previous manager left also why the team members are scattered and having low moral. Communication with the team members will be the key tool to identify the problem and emotion individually. After identifying the all the key problems in points the role of the PM will to point our the points to coach the employees or team players and to make their moral high, so the PM should inspire people to move forward and make objectives real and relevant. It will also be helpful for the team members to built and maintain the external relationship. Also encourage the team members continue to achieve the final goal according to their task with responsibility on time is the one of the important strategy  too. Although several key team members have quit in disgust, the PM should design the team again, get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels. As the project is behind schedule and over budget, the PM should review the post vision, get the team to establish a simple and right vision, and then focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive the team effectively by building cohesion in between them also with external resources. The project is behind schedule and over budget, the PM should review the post vision, get the team to establish a simple and right vision, and then focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive the team effectively. Now to let the work done properly PM has to take an empowerment action by removing obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support, also PM should reward and recognize progress and achievements. PM also has to highlight achieved milestones time by time. CONCLUSION:In this paper we have addressed the influence organizational culture can have on successful project management. The organizational mission, vision, and value statements shape the expected ethical behavior of individuals. Leadership is an integral part of successful project completion. Effective leadership can influence the moral of a dysfunctional team by building trust within a team. In building an effective project team, the project manager needs to set established principles and hold team members accountable for performance and behavior that is consistent with the organizational culture. Different strategies are needed to successfully manage relationships among team members and the relationship between the team and external resources. Establishing achievable outcomes and linking performance to those outcomes allows team members to recognize achievements. Individual success leads to team success and ultimately organizational success. A culture that supports these strategies will have a competitive edge in the area of successful project management References: 1.Human Resources, Change Management, http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/Organizational_Culture_Corporate_Culture_in_Organizations.htm2.Organizational culture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture3.Strategic Leadership and Decision Making (ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE) ,aa

The Parking Lot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Parking Lot - Essay Example This issue should be urgently addressed to address the disorganization and disturbance that it causes in the campus. This is an informational analysis. The authority responsible for this issue is the security department at the campus because they are mandated to handle issues of car parking and issues of disorganization and confusion created. As such, this complaint is directed to the head of the security department at the campus. The lack of ample parking space is a problem in different areas (Arbatskaya, Mukhopadhaya and Rasmusen 4). In campus, it has been an ongoing issue for a long time and has created a nuisance. The numbers of students increase in the campus every year meaning that the numbers of cars, motorcycles and bicycles also increase. Despite the increase, the parking spaces are left unmanaged and the people who own cars, motorcycles and bicycles are left struggling on where to park and as a result of this decide to park anywhere they want. This issue has brought about several unpleasant experiences. First, there have been accidents involving cars, motorcycles and bicycles. Because people decide to park their cars, motorcycles and bicycles anywhere and anyhow they want, it becomes difficult for them to move from places where they have parked, for instance when other cars, motorcycles or bicycles have parked behind them or on the sides. There have been several cases where people have complained that those who had parked either side of their cars had hit and damaged their cars or bikes when getting out and ran away without reporting or helping them repair their cars. The security has been unable to solve such issues because of lack of evidence or information to apprehend the culprits in addition to the fact that it would be difficult to solve such issues when no one knows who had parked the right way. Next, students as well as other people have

Guidance to Simmons Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Guidance to Simmons Ltd - Essay Example The paper will explore possible merits and disadvantages of the two sources together with their associated legal implications towards a profound judgment. Capital markets and loans offered by commercial banks posse’s different features and characteristics that derive varied legal implications. Financing through capital markets for instance grants control and supervisory authority to the financiers over management of the financed institution. Subsequently, it leads to legal obligations by a company and its management towards interests and opinions of the financiers over the company. Commercial banks as a source of finance also impute a variety of legal liabilities on the borrowing entities such as provisions for loan repayment together with interest. (Sagar Rachna, 2005, 132). Failure to fulfill repayment terms would amount to breach of contract and further resources in litigations (Miller Roger, Iollowell William, 2010, 106-108). Though other aspects of capital market such as fixed securities exhibits similar legal conditions as loans from commercial banks, issuance of shares have distinct property in which the company is not under legal duty to repay. (Longenecker Justin & Loeza Ma, 2010, 311). Bank loans on the other hand have the disadvantage of varying interest rates within the repayment period. As a term to a contract, the company would be subjected to and legally bound by any act by the bank to increase the interest rate. This would in turn make the financing process more expensive (Padmalatha Suresh, 2011, 158). International bond issue and international syndicate bank term loan Just like the capital markets and commercial banks poses varying legal implications, issuance of international bonds and acquisition of loan from a syndicated banks impose a number of legal advantages and disadvantages. According to Livingston Miles, the two varieties of international bonds, â€Å"foreign bonds and Eurobonds† are subject to different regulations (Li vingston Miles, 1999, p. 249). While Eurobonds are issued in single currencies and are not subjected to legal restrictions, foreign bonds are issued in more than one currency across national markets in which they are sold. A Eurobond issued by a company in the United States in US dollars would be internationally sold in that currency while a foreign bond can be sold in any currency depending on the national market. Eurobonds are therefore characterized by simple legal formalities as they are not subjected to domestic laws. At the same time, Eurobonds are easily transferable and are not subjected to taxation. Foreign bonds on the other hand would require knowledge of the issuing company’s domestic national laws, a process that might me costly in legal fees. While Eurobonds are not strictly subjected to taxation due to its free transferability, a universal advantage of international bond issuance is that it provides a wider scope of finance source for institutions. Simmons Comp any therefore has a variety of options in the international bond market (Livingston Miles, 1999, p. 249), (Madura Jeff, 2009, p. 79). Syndicated bank loans are on the other hand viewed as an integrated approach that links features of traditional banking system to those of bond financing system. Consequently, it has been identified as a â€Å"more competitive†, â€Å"more market oriented and cost effective† source (Armstrong Jim, 2003, p. 23). Though the source is appropriate for large amount of finances, it requires significant disclosure of information by the borrower. The terms of

Classic Hollywood Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Classic Hollywood Cinema - Essay Example Although many of the films made during this period, emulated the cinematic practices of Classic Hollywood cinema, certain films also defied these conventions. Quite interestingly some films did both, that is, they emulated the conventions of the Classic Hollywood cinema in certain aspects, and then in other aspects defied those conventions. One of the well known film, which was made during this period, and which did this both this emulation as well as defying of Classic Hollywood cinema’s conventions is Citizen Kane. This paper will analyse how Citizen Kane or its director or scriptwriter through various scenes and scene making aspects followed as well as maximally defied Classical Hollywood cinema Citizen Kane, an American drama released in 1941, was scripted (along with Herman J. Mankiewicz), directed by as well as starred by Orson Welles. It was Welles first feature film and earned Academy Awards nominations in nine categories, wining for the Best Original Screenplay for Mankiewicz and Welles. It is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made; topping many Top films’ list including American Film Institutes 100 Years†¦100 Movies list as well as the Sight & Sound polls. The story is about the life and legacy of a millionaire newspaper tycoon, with the story told in the flashback. A group of reporters try deciphering the last word spoken by Charles Foster Kane, the newspaper tycoon: â€Å"Rosebud.† The film begins with a news reel detailing Kanes life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kanes life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating mans rise to fame, and how he eventually fell o ff the "top of the world." (imdb.com). Classical Hollywood cinema or Classical Hollywood narrative is the term given to the films with a distinct visual and sound style, made on the principle or basis of continuity editing, so that there is an "invisible" style. However, the key distinct style of

COR101 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

COR101 - Coursework Example tional if the law’s most severe penalty is imposed on one whose culpability or blameworthiness is diminished, to a substantial degree, by reason of youth and immaturity†. ( DPIC, 2004) . It must also be kept in mind that many young children today are not properly guided by their parents since they are busy working for a living Minors are supposedly guided by their parents so that they would grow up to be mature individuals with a healthy sense of moral judgment. Unfortunately, this is not the case since most young people today are heavily influenced by their peer groups. Why? Because they spend more time with their peer groups or the PC rather than with their parents. Another counter-argument is that executing minors would not be an effective counter-deterrent since society itself would reject such law. The major purpose of prison systems is to rehabilitate the offender and not to punish. If we encourage a culture that would hang even minors, then their innocent blood is in the hands of the very institutions that should nurture

Literature review on profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Literature review on profession - Essay Example Torgersen (1972) and Abbott (1988) further emphasize on the need to monopolize duties for the achievement of professionalism. Andrews & Waerness (2011) suggest that de-professionalization may occur if there is a reduction on the area of responsibility or certain occupation’s jurisdiction. In general this involves where there is less specialization of occupational duties. Professions in the society are interests groups thus there positions are determined by the structural elements. Ascribing to the characteristics of interest groups they safeguard their advantages by means of social closure (Philip O’regan 2008). Therefore professionalism aims to regulate entry into an occupation so as to maintain its market value (Parkin, 1979). According to interactions’ perspective professions provides services to the society and defend the interests of their members as well as the interest group at large. Critical perspectives have been taken attributed to studies on professio nalization in the context of state-profession dynamics and collective social mobility within a set of power relations. In regard to this professions create professional monopoly by closure and exclusion to defend the interests of their members practice (Sian, 2006; Uche, 2002; Walker, 2004; Willmott, 1986; Yapa, 1999). †¦. 3. Accountancy and Professionalism †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. ... et al., 2012). According to AICPA, 2006; Gammie, Herbohn, & Whiting, 2010; Hopman & Lord, 2009; ICPAS, 2009 they provide that public accounting firms have under-representation of women in the partnership ranks despite them constituting at least half of all entry-level employees. Women have a higher turnover than men thus failing to progress in ranks. It is not clear if the underlying turn over factor having resulted into gender parity in the context of partnership promotions (Almera,E. et al., 2012). In USA statistics shows that post-senior manager positions have been established in most firms. Women are disproportionately represented unlike equity partner promotions (AICPA, 2005; Dambrin& Lambert, 2008; ICPAS, 2009). The rise in the post-senior manager positions is the need for terminal destination provision focussed on experienced senior managers who practice in the traditional accounting and tax areas but don’t have the skills or desire for equity ownership† (IPA, 200 5). Partnership career paths within the firms are preferred those [senior employees] who may not be willing or able to do whatever is necessary to become a partner† (Alter, 1991, p. 55), and they posses talents and knowledge important for the firm (Coolidge and D’Angelo, 1994; Hooks &Cheramy, 1994). With the need and pressure for women representation in higher professional positions categorically women careers, the accounting research literature do not provide any evidence that women with â€Å"greater choice and flexibility in career progression† as asserted by Hooks et al. (1997). The creation of these positions does not specifically focus in the fulfilment of employee of firms needs. There are no considerations on the implications of these positions incorporating gender

Leading in Modern Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leading in Modern Organisations - Essay Example al leaders, for instance, operate within the cultures of their organisations conforming to current standards, regulations, and guidelines; on the other hand, transformational leaders transform their culture by learning it and afterward restructuring it with a fresh goal and a transformation of its collective norms, beliefs, and principles. Successful organisations nowadays necessitate leaders’ strategic and calculated judgment, and ability to develop a culture. Strategic judgment facilitates the formation and growth of an image of an organisation’s prospect. The goal can materialize and progress as the leader builds a culture that is committed to strengthening that goal (Kouzes & Posner 2007). The organisational culture is the context within which the goal occurs. Consequently, the goal may establish as well the features of the organisational culture. Transformational leaders have been distinguished by independent traits referred to as transformational leadershipâ€℠¢s 4 Is (Northouse 2010). These four elements involve (1) individualised consideration, (2) intellectual stimulation, (3) inspirational motivation, and (4) idealised influence (Northouse 2010, 176-180). Transformational leaders incorporate ingenious thinking, determination and force, perception and understanding into the necessities of other people to build the foundation for a strategy-oriented culture for their organisations. On the contrary, transactional leaders are distinguished by conditional incentive (Bass 1990). Basically, transactional leaders facilitate transactions or arrangements with their subordinates, specifying what the subordinates will gain if they perform well or commit mistakes. They operate within the current culture, orienting their judgments and behaviours based on the existing... This essay stresses that the ideas of a leader thus serve an integral function in building not just the prospect for him/herself, but also the future for the organisation. Organisational culture emerges mostly from its leadership at the same time as organisational culture can also influence the growth of its leadership. Successful organisations nowadays necessitate leaders’ strategic and calculated judgment, and ability to develop a culture. Strategic judgment facilitates the formation and growth of an image of an organisation’s prospect. This paper makes a conclusion that leading modern organisations requires much more than the ability to raise positive thoughts and feelings among followers, even though this is an integral component. Moreover, it is much more than guiding the organisation, even though this, as well, is important. While the practices or outcomes demanded of organisations become more flexible and less predetermined, leadership turns out to be more and more complicated because another point of reference or approach is needed. Leaders of modern organisations should be focused on forming and steering dynamic mechanisms of measures, judgments, and actions. The training of leaders who have the required abilities may be a challenging mission, but still achievable. What seems to be needed is acknowledgment of leadership’s organisational function and structure of training and development programmes purposely adjusted to that function.

Technological Applications within Human resource Essay Example for Free

Technological Applications within Human resource Essay Human resource department is moving from the traditional way of doing things that is remote and inefficient to a more modern way through computerization that comes with great benefits and surpasses the traditional methods. A computerized system can be termed as eHR which simply means the use of predictable, web and voice innovations to enhance firm’s dealings, organization and process performance. It is therefore prudent for the CEO of the company to embrace such a modern system for efficiency in the firm in order to enhance the human resource services, in order to reduce operational costs, to improve the relationship between the management and the entire staff, to meet customer demands and to offer quality services to its customers and the staff. Technological applications within HR department have various benefits that include the following: with computerized systems the human resource department can develop a viable information strategy that will lead to increase in accessing the relevant information. Another benefit is that of achieving consistent and streamlined processes. This leads to a good and organized system that ensures that the laid down procedures are harmonized to be applicable to all and without confusion. The other benefits come up through the acquisition of the right information for those who need it to make correct decisions thus avoiding risks and losses that come up from guesswork. Also with technological application the management has the opportunity to achieve and maintain a superior internal profile for human resource that leads to achieving the goals and objective of the organization as stipulated by the mission and the vision of the company. (Hal and Dianna, 2005) However, such technological innovations have their own drawbacks and therefore needing the CEO’s attention; such problems include lack of understanding of the system developed using advanced technologies. There is need for the organization to incur extra funds to manage the advancement and also train those working to be better and efficient in utilizing the new technology. Another problem comes up due to inadequate coding of information that is arrived at when there is poor setting of the structures used to code. The middle level managers and supervisors may also bring a problem by holding and maintaining information that may help both the workers and the company at large. This comes when the managers do not have easy access to the system and a lot of manual that holds them . Lack of clarity of responsibilities for getting information on how the system can be used can also cause a great harm thus needing responsibilities to be well specified to correct the problem Research has shown that there is need to come up with a good computerized system for efficiency in the HR department to ensure that there is ease of managing the human resource. Such systems will include: holding personal details about the individuals workers that will include skills, qualification, career history, leave and absence records. Another system will include the production of reports which summarize diverse aspects of this information. It will also hold particulars about employees’ jobs which include things like their job grades, job description, role classification and pay and their benefits. It will also be of value to the company if the CEO ensures that there is information on recruitment and training administration. The computerized system in the company should also be able to provide information by recording and analyzing absence, labour turnover and attendance that helps management to make decisions on individual workers. It should be able to do job evaluation of the workers. For reward management and human resource planning, it will need a sophisticated system that will be in a position to support strategic decision making. (James, 2002) Provision of linkages to the internet is also a part of computerized system which will ease the function of the management of the company and can be of help in instances where the companies do recruitments and other things through the internet. There will be pitfalls that will automatically come from computerization that will not be received well by the affected in general. This are for instance the need for all the personal details about individuals can be tricky to workers since the management can base it in making decisions about them that may be of negative impact. Those being retrenched for instance will be sorted according to the information on qualification academically rather than experience In the event where the accessibility of workers information is not well protected, it can find way to people who can use it against persons who are the bearers of the said information and it becomes very dangerous to the workers. The personal details that must be handled with privacy include: medical history and discipline, employees qualifications, absence, special skills and competence e. t. c must be kept very private. Some top managers may take advantage and misuse the available information to mistreat those that are vulnerable and result to even others deciding to leave the organization while others will be affected psychologically and lead to reduced labour turnover. Some workers inaccessibility and familiarity with technology will make them feel inferior and will not take into account their various responsibilities and needs thus affecting them in the way they perform their duties. (Hal and Dianna, 2005) Best plan for the CEO The CEO must adopt the modern computerized technology to be in a position to be efficient and more organized for the success of the company. The CEO must establish the current need and also the future needs of the business and also analyze everything that results from information system that will be designed. It will require the company to ensure that the systems developed will be well customized to better serve the company and the whole population at large and it can be in a position to hold all the information of workers and avoid information overload so as to be integrated and also give maximum output for the benefit of the company. There is a need to come up with a good statement of all the requirements to make the computerization a success. Taking into consideration the business requirements, the CEO must identify the best options to tackle the problem while at the same time being strategic to realize the business goals set by the company. The CEO must support it by giving financial support after evaluation and analysis and then go ahead to buy the needed facilities. (James, 2002) The system should be in a position to get direct input at source to be able to get the data that is vital for the basis of decision making. It should solve the problems that were experienced there before and help the line managers by giving them information in an easy understandable manner. The system designed must not only help deal with the management information system but should also handle the administrative processes well. The CEO must ensure that they acquire the best technical infrastructure to support the program well. They will include the following; Application Service Provider (ASP) It will help the administration to do its administrative role well through a proper. Smaller or medium sized organizations rely on ASP in outsourcing the burden of running the system. ASP will help the company very much since the number of workers is around 200 HR/corporate intranet It is an electronic system that is networked therefore enabling all the available information to be communicated to departments and the centers that require the information within the organization. The available information that can be relayed comprises HR policies’, links that can be of help to the management to interface with other workers directly with HR applications and make changes or enquiries that can give assistance when required. B2E portal The organization can utilize this system that can help the human resource department by providing it with a single intranet screen that can make the company to collect information on the workers and give the workers and the people ready access to it. Human resource information system It is very important for the CEO to have a human resource information system that helping managing the HR processes and include important data that include, payroll systems, reward and performance management, recruitment e. t. c (Hal and Dianna, 2005) Conclusion It has been proved globally that modern organizations can only succeed when they are equipped with modern computerized system that can help the management of human resource for the growth and success of firms. The CEO has no choice but embrace the modern way that is easily manageable and less costly in the long run. With a number that is between 180 to 200 workers ‘keeping the file system to store information for the whole population can be quite hectic and also expensive since it will require a good number of workers to work in the human resource department to serve the company and the workers. Information required from files takes a very long time to be accessed unlike in the computerized system that is fast and efficient and can be made to perform multi-tasks and handle I perfectly unlike the use of workers who can only give attention to only one chore at a time. The company will now be in a position to assist give crucial information for better management and also handle issues related to their payments and also administer pay reviews, job evaluation e. t. c for the success of the company. (James, 2002)

Analysing the culture of the United Arab Emirates

Analysing the culture of the United Arab Emirates In this research, I will analyze the culture of the United Arab Emirates. I will analyze also aspect of the contemporary U.A.E culture and some challenges that this culture is facing. In this paper, I will give importance on 5 cultural aspects. First, I will discuss the problem of weak identity and heritage collapse. Second, I will discuss social stratification system. Third, I will discuss changes in role of women in the UAE contemporary society. Fourth, I will discuss issues of marriage, and lastly I will discuss family structure in U.A.E. Historically, gender roles and family relationships in Middle Eastern culture have been very Traditional and steeped in beliefs and customs stemming from Islam. With rapid economic development and modernization, changes may be occurring among younger generation. (Questa 1). However, UAE society over the last decade, had experienced a number of social problems, but it has shown more problem in the UAE contemporary society. However, the most important example that sociological and cultural theory can help interpreting them are (1) Social stratification system (2) lost of UAE Identity and culture (3) change in the roles of women in UAE society and (4) marriage (5) family structure. One example of contemporary UAE Society example is social stratification system in UAE society. The UAE or Emirates society consists of two social categories, the UAE National and Foreign immigrants. The UAE nationals are subdivided into four main social classes: (1) The Ruling family, (2) the merchant or business people, (3) the professionals like teachers, engineers are middle class people and (4) Bedouin nomads and pearl divers. On the other hand, the immigrants are also divided into groups. (1)Comes the top professional like doctors and professor at universities , (2) middle class like school teacher , skilled technicians, and other professional (3) semi skilled laborers who mainly work in construction sites, however , this form of classing system in UAE is changing dramatically to a meritocracy system . A classing system that give importance to personal merits, and achievement rather than inequality in society. This dramatic change is mainly due to the notion that meritocracy sy stem will definitely increase productivity, efficiency and, thus economy becomes better. Social mobility will be common in a meritocracy Society. For example, A Bedouin Nomads, who was mainly classified as a low income group, is now one of the ministers in UAE. This proves that equality and reward based on individual effort had motivated all low income groups to study and learn new skills, so that social mobility could happen. In addition to this , immigrants also benefited and felt of this dramatic change in classing system , they also have been more productive , efficient , and UAE economic success story is the prove of this . As to link this contemporary example of social stratification in UAE society to structural functional approach, we can know that social stratification is a must in the operation of society, and meritocracy system is a must in the success of the operation of society and economy in a country like UAE. Further , a manifest function of meritocracy system is that every level of professional need a different knowledge and skills , so meritocracy system has unrecognized and unintended function , which is the Latin function of social stratification or meritocracy system is that it help people link their performance to reward and not social class categories . Finally, in my point of view, Social Stratification has no dysfunction, because it is common in all societies around the world, and has to be there for appropriate function of society. Another example of UAE contemporary society is the lost UAE national identity and lost of culture and heritage. American cars and fast-food, British universities, European stores, the fact that its not compulsory to learn Arabic in many private schools, and some expatriates are encouraged to live in certain areas. If this is the case, then inevitably, elements of the Dubais Arab culture and traditions will be lost(Gulf News 1). The UAE population structure consist of the following percentage of each foreign nationalities (Asian Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankiness) account for about 45 percent of the population of the UAE, followed by Arabs (about 33 percent), and Iranians (17 percent). Westerners (Americans and Western Europeans) account for about 5 percent. Jordanians, Palestinians, Egyptians, Iraqis, and Bahrainis are employed throughout the government bureaucracy. As the number of foreigners increases tremendously, making UAE national only 15% percent of the total population, it is worth debating on this phenomenon. (Every culture 1). Multiculturalism and globalization has been encouraged in UAE, and the result is lost of UAE identity. Restaurants, Churches, malls, and all other infrastructure have been designed to accommodate all culture, but not UAE culture. In addition to this, social integration is completely nil; people from every nationality prefer to socialize with their mates from the same nationality, this result in the creation of sub cultures in society. According to Hanna Shaman, a French citizen who lived in UAE has said that this problem was once in French and most Europe country in the industrial revolution, however, government in Germany has forced all foreigners to learn Dutch in the first 2 years they are in Germany, or residence visa will not be given. Such an action, in my point of view, is a must to be implemented in UAE to solve this issue. As a matter of fact, all post industrial societies have faced this problem of g lobalization and multiculturalism. As to link this example of lost of UAE identity and culture to Durkheim theory, as social integration in people of a society is strong, they are likely not commit suicide and die. On the other hand, as member of society strength their social integration, social norm, mores, and culture they are most likely not to commit suicide and live a better life than those, who have less socialization and integration in their society. This theory further illustrates that if social integration in a society is forgotten, the consequences may be hard to the member of that society. As a result of this, I would like government agencies to take this contemporary problem of UAE society in a very serious way. Because as late sheikh Zayed said, who dont know his past is dead for the future. A third example of UAE contemporary society is the change in gender roles of men and women in UAE. Although statistics proven that women are performing better in schools, they are still discriminated in work place. In 1990, only 6% of labor force was women, however, in 2000, it has jumped to 42%. This shows that women in UAE society began to given more importance in work place. But the problem is from men side they believe that women should work in a place where there is no mixing with men, however, in 2006; we can see more 50% of women labor force work in a not segregated work place. This shows further that the cultural point of view of women in UAE society has changed. On the other hand according to feminist movement, working women have double burden in their life. A work at morning, and afternoon being a domestic servant at home. This notion of double burden is spread in UAE, but as matter of fact, most of working women now have an Asian female servant to do the main domestic work at home. As a result, the contemporary UAE society has successfully proven to the world that UAE society is clear from any Social or Gender conflict. A fourth example of UAE contemporary society is Marriage. marriage in the community of the UAE traditions and values, derived from the customs authentic Arab and Islamic concepts of tolerance was characterized by the marriage in the past and free from the complexities and difficulties that were dictated by social and economic conditions present that made the marriage problem and the dilemma facing young couples and threaten the stability of family and social system. Which is the duty urged by Islam religion, is the highest social relations between spouses and in-laws and strangers also within the same society, it is characterized by the status and sanctity of the private in terms of the nature of the procedures and stages of completion. When held parents intention to marry their son, they look to him for a girl belonging to the family of decent folk who show characteristics of religion and morality and a good reputation and the task of searching for the girl sought rests with the mat chmaker or the Prophet, a woman with a mind and thought, tact, have the ability to assess the girl and shown her qualities that the community was still giving special consideration, the ratio of the girl, the beauty, creativity, and religion, Recipes are essential to young people going to get married, and that the reputation of the girls family and lineage, authenticity, and social status of the father or to his creation of decent and good behavior are also the qualities youre looking for the grooms family and require the availability It may not be the matchmaker, a role in the process of the marriage to happen or if the marriage between relatives, the keenness of people formerly on the relative affinity, as his sons married the father of the daughters of his brother, sister or cousins and an increase in family bonding and family cohesion In the case of the use of katapa, theyre a friendly visit to the house of the people of girls, and may you see the girls by surprise because it is difficult to meet the daughter when entering a foreign woman to her family and if I go back matchmaker informed all of the opinions of the people of the groom and the light of that, they make their decision, either to apply for a sermon girl or search for other In the past, the bride price does not exceed in the desert seven twin whereas in the amount of the dowry when the people of the cities between 40 dirhams, and a hundred dirhams and ensures the bridegroom pay (Alqtuap) and it was money specific pay for a daughter of the clothes and decorations and vary according to the case of the people the physical and social status. Also provides for the groom requirements. At the forefront of the wedding banquet. The different marriage customs and manifestations when compared to the people of the desert cities and villages in some of the details. Another example of UAE contemporary society is family structure. Arranged endogamous marriage within the kinship (tribal) units was the preferred pattern in the period, but this pattern has changed somewhat. Individuals now have greater choice, yet many nationals still prefer arranged marriages. Emiratis are strongly discouraged from marrying non nationals, and a young man receives $19,000 from the Marriage Fund if he marries a national. As prescribed by Islam, a man is allowed up to four wives, but most men have only one wife. In UAE the conventional family used to live in extended form of family. But with the development in the economy, this form of family is declining. Recent research found that around 80% of Emirati families live in small family with one or two child (Nuclear). However, due to imbalance population structure in the country. Nuclear families are discouraged and instead government wants their people to have large family with many members. Also, some changes in the role of women as discussed above in this research have changed the role and power of husband in the house. Husband power and authority is declining. In addition to this, due to increase power of women and her responsibly in her work. On average, each household employs two live-in domestic servants, usually Asian. In addition to this, Family and tribal connections form the basis of Emirati social structure. The family and tribe are highly influential and play a role in shaping a persons values and behavior (every culture 2). In UA E culture, tribe and family play an important role in shaping the behavior and customs of the society. It is believe so because It serves to support its members both financially and emotionally and as such, the family comes before anything else and its honors are protected by doing whatever necessary( every culture 2). Furthermore, UAE society and family support kinship too much because many business are run by family members and also same tribe like to live near to each other since they believe that they will support each other. As a result, I will summaries below the changes that might occur in the UAE family structure in the coming decade: 1) One will see the configuration built for the family the UAE has changed in the future in terms of style, size, number of children, and is this change in the predominance of the pattern of the nuclear family (small) on the extended family, and the direction of family size to the average number, and the direction of families to reduce the number of children. 2) One will occur on the marriage process in the future some of the changes is the disappearance of the traditional methods of marriage and was accompanied, to be replaced by modern methods, with the attendant arrangements. 3) One will occur on the network of social relations within the family group of changes, is to chill the relationship between spouses, and the predominance of selfishness, love of self to the members of one family. 4) changes in roles of women within the family in the UAE society, where the wife will put a lot of roles that go beyond the traditional form in parenting and care of home affairs, and exercise of women within the family and the UAE in the future to participate more in decision-making process within the family. 5) There would be some changes in the functions carried out by the Emirati family in the future, especially those related to emotional and psychological function and reproduction. 6) There would be the format of the Family Values in the UAE society in the future to some changes, especially those relating to the value of cooperation and solidarity and obedience, as well as the system of religious values and ethics, and values of consumption. 7) Family in UAE society will face some social problems, some of them did not know before, such as: saturation of Western values, and the entry of innovative patterns of crime, and some other extension of the old problems, but it will worsen in the future, such as family disputes. 8) One will see the Emirati family in the future escalation to divorce. These above changes might occur in the near future. If you open the news paper on daily basis you will see that some of these issues are being discussed. I think there shall be some huge reform from government side and also people to minimize these problems. I would prefer government to establish a strategy to face these problems. In Conclusion, the UAE contemporary society is more likely to face a numbers of social problem and issues due to imbalanced population structure and over speedy construction boom the country is experiencing. As a Solution, government agencies should pay attention to their society and try the limits those issues. In this research paper, I discussed many important aspect of one of the most growing countries in Middle East. I discussed issues that have relationship to cultural studies in Middle East. First, I spoke about the contemporary UAE culture and discussed some of its problems. In that context, I spoke about the national identity issue; also I spoke about how the western society has affected UAE culture. Further, I spoke about marriage in UAE in the past, and the end I spoke about family structure and how that structure is changing from nuclear to extended family. Finally, I gave some recommendation and changes that might occur in UAE society in the near future. Work cited http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/United-Arab-Emirates.html http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/09/14/10067514.html (2 http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20UAE.pdf http://www.lahaonline.com/index.php?option=contenttask=viewid=913 http://www.emartyvision.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26 http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=26C14DDA8FF15E35979E7AED0FAE7FA0.inst2_1a?docId=5010976997

Life Cycle of a Compact Disc (DC)

Life Cycle of a Compact Disc (DC) LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS OF A COMPACT DISC CDs have become an essential item in everybodys life. Despite its simple structure, it allows you to listen hours of music, to watch films on a player as well as to store a huge amount of information. For all these reasons, CDs consumption has increased in the last few years. Thats way a compact disc is an important matter of analysis in terms of life cycle and environmental footprint. In this essay Ill discuss the main points on the life cycle of this product from its creation to the final stage of its life. MATERIALS ACQUISITION CDs are made of many different materials. The main of them are: aluminum, polycarbonate, lacquer, gold, dyes and some other materials such as water, glass, silver and nickel. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the Earths crust but the common aluminum is not economic sources of the metal. Thats why almost all metallic aluminum is produced from ore bauxite. Smelting of the ore occurs in different countries than the mining activity, so it involves its transportation. Polycarbonate is a type of plastic which is made from crude oil and natural gas extracted from the Earth. Lacquer is made of acrylic, another type of plastic. Gold is straight mined from the Earth. Dyes are chemicals made in laboratory, partially from petroleum products that come from the Earth. Mining is a key process at this point of the life cycle as it supposes the obtaining of the necessary raw materials that will make up the CD. All mining process involves the use of machinery such as trucks and excavator. Those vehicles consume energy and release CO2 emission to the atmosphere. In this stage, proposing any improvement is difficult as nowadays there is no other way of getting raw materials from Earths crust but by means of excavators. MATERIALS PROCESSING Materials acquisition is not the previous step to the manufacturing process. Most mined materials must be processed before manufacturers can use them to make CDs. As I mentioned before, bauxite ore is processed into a substance called â€Å"alumina† by washing, crushing, dissolving, filtering, and harvesting the materials. Alumina is then turned into aluminum through a process called â€Å"smelting.† Then the metal is shaped, rolled, or made into a cast. Regarding this material process, it has to be taken into account the fact that larger deposits of bauxite occur in certain countries and its processing takes place in different points of the world. This implies transportation from one place to the other and its consequent CO2 emissions. To make plastics, crude oil is extracted from the ground and combined with natural gas and chemicals in a manufacturing or processing plant. In some cases, burning plastics as part of a process can release toxic fumes. Moreover, the manufacturing of plastic often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants. In order to determine the carbon footprint due to all those material processes, we have to take into account the energy consumed in manufacturing and processing plant. Energy consumption is kept at a high level as smelting and some chemical processes require a huge amount of energy to be accomplished. MANUFACTURING PROCESS The manufacturing process of a CD is complex. An injection molding machine creates the core of the disc, a 1-millimeter thick piece of polycarbonate (plastic). Polycarbonate is melted and poured in a mold. Then, with the aid off high pressure, a stamper embeds tiny indentations, or pits, with digital information into the plastic mold. Those indentations or pits will be read by a laser when playing a CD. Therefore, it is an accurate process and it involves some specialized tools and machines. Then, the so-called process â€Å"sputtering† takes places. Through it, the â€Å"metallizer† machine coats the CDs with a thin metal reflective layer (usually aluminum). The playback laser reads the information off of the reflective aluminum surface. In order to protect the CD against scratching and corrosion, it receives a layer of lacquer as a protecting coating. Most CDs are screen printed with one to five different colors for a decorative label. Screen printing involves the use of many materials, including stencils, queegees, and inks. In the manufacturing process, a considerable amount of environmental aggressive products are used such as lacquer and inks. PACKAGING CDs are packaged in clear or colored plastic cases or cardboard boxes that are then covered with plastic shrink wrap. This packaging can be made from recycled or raw materials. For example, the plastic used can be from recycled bottles or from crude oil and natural gas extracted from the Earth and combined with chemicals. Manufacturing cardboard require cutting trees down. This is an important and aggressive action against the environment and therefore, it has to be taken into account when evaluating the environmental cost of packaging CDs. TRANSPORTATION/DISTRIBUTION The transportation supposes a considerable contribution to carbon footprint. Once discs are packaged, they are sent to all parts in the world where they are distributed. Transportation by plane, truck, or rail requires the use of fossil fuels for energy, which contribute to climate change. Moreover, manufacturing plants usually are located in underdeveloped countries due to economic reasons whereas the main consumption of this product is registered in developed countries. This involves long transport distances and then important CO2 emissions. USEFUL LIFE CDs are created with materials that are extremely stable. If properly stored and handled, most discs will last for decades. Certain conditions, such as high humidity, or extended periods of high temperatures, rapid temperature changes, and exposure to certain types of light, can damage discs and shorten their useful life. Keeping discs out of direct sunlight and away from heat and water will help them last longer. Following those easy instructions not only will save money, but it will also reduce the discs environmental impacts by preventing waste. From my point of view, this stage has an important meaning in terms of waste minimization. Our CDs consumption rate would decrease significantly if handling them properly. Making the useful life longer involves reducing all the process previous to the use, and so reducing the carbon footprint generated by the processing, manufacturing, transport process, etc. REUSE, RECYCLE OR DISPOSAL In order to reduce the discs environmental impacts, the disposal must be seen as the last option. Depending on their condition, discs can be reused or recycled instead of thrown away. Reuse A good way to keep discs out of the garbage is to reuse them. In this sense, one of the reasons why we get rid of discs is scratches. Minor scratches can be repaired by rubbing a mild abrasive (such as toothpaste) on the non-label side of a disc in a circular motion from the center out. Also, some commercial refinishers can inexpensively repair your CDs. Another main reason is that the disc is not longer wanted. Unwanted CDs or can be sold to some stores, traded with friends, or donated to schools, libraries, or other organizations. Buying used CDs borrowing them from the library can also help reduce the environmental impact associated with manufacturing new products. In my opinion this is the better alternative to disposal because unlike recycling, reusing doesnt involve any manufacturing or smelting process. Therefore less energy will be consumed resulting in a lower carbon footprint. Recycle CDs can be recycled for use in new products. Specialized electronic recycling companies clean, grind, blend, and compound the discs into a high-quality plastic for a variety of uses, including automotive industry parts, raw materials to make plastics, office equipment, alarm boxes and panels, street lights, and electrical cable insulation, jewel cases. Most CD recycling companies only accept large stockpiles of old, damaged, or unused from businesses. A few companies will accept smaller quantities of discs mailed by individuals. Once the recyclers receive the CDs, they separate the packaging materials, manuals, and CDs for individual recycling processes. You might consider contacting a CD recycling company on behalf of your school or school district-collecting CDs for reuse could be a good school or community fundraising project. Check your local phone book or search the Internet for a list of recyclers, and be sure to have one in place before you begin collecting CDs for recycling. As with most stages of product life cycles, even recycling has environmental tradeoffs. CD recycling is now an emerging technology, which means that many companies are not yet capable of recycling these discs. So, while recycling CDs saves natural resources, the trade-off comes from the amount of fuel and energy thats consumed to transport discs long-distances to an appropriate recycling facility. Disposal Only dispose of your discs when you have no other choice. Always try to share, donate, or trade your discs or drop them off at an appropriate recycling center. CDs and that are thrown away waste energy and result in lost valuable resources.

Julius Caesar :: essays papers

Julius Caesar Julius Caesar was born on July 12/13, 100? BC, and died March 15, 44 BC.Julius Caesar was a celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror of Gaul (58-50 BC), victor in the Civil War of 49-46 BC, and dictator (46-44 BC), who was launching a series of political and social reforms, when he was assassinated by a group of nobles led by Brutus in the Senate House on the Ides of March, in an attempt to free Rome of the dictatorship. After Caesar's death Marc Anthony waged a war with the murderer of his mentor, ending with the suicide of Brutus. Caesar changed the course of the history of the Greco-Roman world decisively and irreversibly. The Greco-Roman society has been extinct for so long that most of the names of its great men mean little to the average, educated modern man. But Caesar's name, like Alexander's, is still on people's lips throughout the Christian and Islamic worlds. Even people who know nothing of Caesar as a historic personality are familiar with his family name as a title signifying a ruler who is in some sense uniquely supreme or paramount--the meaning of Kaiser in German, tsar in the Slavonic languages, and qaysar in the languages of the Islamic world. Caesar's Rome was filled with large rather plain stone buildings filled with ornate statues and busts. People's homes seemed to be quite large (although most homes that were portrayed were those of the wealthy), with large open courtyards. Rooms were without doors, but a thin cloth was draped across the bedrooms. The clothing of the day was limited to togas, some including designs and others were quite plain. Jewelry wasn't prevalent, although the men did wear a band of metal around their wrists. All of the men's hair was styled almost identically, with a part in the back and combed forward on the top as well as on the sides. The Romans warfare was similar to the wars of early America, in that they had both infantry and Calvary. A group of men on horses, led scores of men on foot. Weapons were limited to swords, knives, and bows. The armies were split up into groups of a certain number of men, which were led by an "officer". When the order was given to attack, each of these "officers" would in turn, give the order to their group of men, thus putting the battle into play.

muscle memory :: essays research papers

What does it mean to learn a new skill and go from "novice" to "expert"? In the world of heavy equipment, part of that learning means memorizing how to use levers, joysticks, and even pedals in a coordinated way to control the attachment at the end of the boom. But how does this memorizing take place? At first, you need to concentrate in order to make your fingers, hands, arms (and feet) move in just the right way, based on what you see. What you're learning is precision, i.e. how to make the boom attachment perform the task (move a load, grapple a tree, drill a hole, etc.) carefully. (Scientists have discovered that there are a large number of internal brain structures, which work together with the input and output brain structures to form fleeting images in the mind. Using these images, we learn to interpret input signals, process them, and formulate output responses in a deliberate, conscious, way.) But after a while, the "seeing-thinking-doing" gradually becomes "seeing-doing" because your muscles seem to "know" and "remember" just what to do. What you're learning now is speed, i.e. how to perform the task carefully and quickly. That's muscle memory. Scientists call this "kinesthetic memory" or "neuro-muscular facilitation" and they speak of "sensory-motor" learning, since you are combining sensing input, i.e. what you see with your eyes, with motor output, i.e. what you do with your body. Of course, during the "drill-and-practice", your muscles aren't really memorizing anything (since all memories are stored in your brain). Instead, what you see with your eyes is interpreted by your brain in the form of nerve signals to your muscles to make your body move. Now by making the same movements in response to the same visual cues over and over again, the associated nerve-muscle connections gradually become more effective, i.e. the transmission of the signals becomes more effective, and this is how the "thinking" in the "seeing-thinking-doing" is gradually replaced by "seeing-doing", i.e. by muscle memory. And this is exactly what we observe when people spend time at the controls of our Personal Simulators. At first, their body language tells you at a glance that they are concentrating carefully, working hard to watch and learn. But come back sometime later and the same people are now relaxed, sitting back, and making the same precise gestures but now much faster! In the world of heavy equipment, muscle memory is especially important because it's the combination of care and speed that make operators truly competent.

Nike Inc: Cost of Capital Essay

The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is the overall required rate of return on a firm as a whole. It is important to calculate a firm’s cost of capital in order to determine the feasibility of a particular investment for a firm. I do not agree with Joanna Cohen’s WACC calculation. She calculated value of equity, value of debt, cost of equity, and cost of debt all incorrectly. For value of equity, Joanna simply used the number stated on the balance sheet instead of multiplying the current stock price by the number of outstanding shares. The correct calculation is $42.09 x 271.5M = $11,427.435M. The correct method of calculating the value of debt is to multiply the price of publicly traded bonds by the amount of debt outstanding. This calculation results in 95.60% x $1296.6M = $1,239.550M. The sum of debt and equity is equal to $12,666.985M. Therefore, the weight of equity is 0.902 and the weight of debt is 0.098. In order to determine the cost of debt, the yield to maturity of the debt must be calculated. Using a financial calculator (N=30, PV=-$95.60, PMT=$3.375, FV=$100), the YTM is equal to 7.24%. This is the cost of debt. The cost of equity can be determined using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Joanna was correct in using the 20-year yield on U.S. treasuries as her risk-free rate and was also correct in using 5.90% as her risk premium. However, she should have only used the most recent year’s beta instead of using an average of multiple years. The correct calculation is 5.74% + 0.83(5.90%) = 10.64%. This is cost of equity. Using a 38% tax rate, we can now calculate the WACC. WACC = 90.2%(10.64%) + 9.80%(7.24%)(1-38%) = 10.03% Using the Dividend Discount Model, the cost of equity can be calculated as the sum of the dividend yield and the dividend growth rate. In this case, it is ($0.48/$42.09) + 5.50% = 6.64%. Using the earnings capitalization ratio, the cost of equity can be arrived at by dividing the projected earnings per share by the current market price of the stock. Therefore, $2.32/$42.09 = 5.51% is the cost of equity using this model. The advantage of using CAPM is that it is relatively easy to calculate, but a disadvantage is that it assumes perfect asset valuation, which does not always happen in reality. An advantage of the dividend discount model is that it allows investors to value stocks based on the dividends they pay and it is also easy to calculate. However, not all companies pay dividends so another method would have to be used for those firms. Kimi Ford concluded that at discount rates below 11.17%, Nike’s stock would be undervalued. At Nike’s cost of capital rate of 10.03%, Kimi Ford should invest in the company.

Alexander Hamilton and the founding of the Nation Essay

American history Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alexander Hamilton was a very controversial man of his age and he was a gifted statesman who was brought down by serious faults of arrogance, extreme candor and stubbornness. Hamilton’s career and life were marked by a dramatic rise to heroism, tragedy and scandal (Hamilton & Morris, 1957). However his contributions are still evident. As the Secretary of the Treasury in the turbulent early years of the state, Hamilton spearheaded the transformation of young nation into industrial powerhouse. American experience is a 2-hour documentary which features actor Brian F. O’ Byrne, Tony Award winning Broadway who is the most controversial founding father in America. American Experience brings to life most persuasive stories of the past which inform people’s understanding of the contemporary world. This film is more than just a history lesson due to its attention to Hamilton’s peccadilloes and psychology (Nelson, 2011).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamilton’s public life and also the policies that he advocated are granted plenty of attention since they are very interesting. The most fascinating thing is the comparison which is inevitable between then and today, and how conflict of ideas that started soon after the contemporary nation was instituted is still evident (Hogeland, 2007). Hamilton devoted his entire life on creating the United States to be a better nation. The documentary shows how united stated was able to develop quickly from the newborn nation under the watch of Hamilton becoming the one of the strongest economies around the world, making the Louisiana Purchase a reality, the size of the united states doubled, the building of railroads and canals, and establishment of heavy industry which helped in fueling the development of the largest cities in United states (Murray, 2007). The film also shows how Hamilton advocated for a central government that was strong and an economy based upon manufacturing –ideas and commerce which was deemed as radical by many individuals. He advocated for equality, opposed slavery and also led to birth of a two-party system in America (Hamilton & Frisch, 1985). References Nelson, S. (Director). (2011). American experience [Documentary]. united states: PBS Distribution. This film covered Hamilton’s short life, one that had more than its share of tragedy, heroism and scandal. It also shows the achievements and his contributions towards developing United States. Hamilton, A., & Morris, R. B. (1957). Alexander Hamilton and the founding of the Nation. New York: Dial Press. This book illustrates the short life lived by Alexander Hamilton and also how he founded United States. In this regard the book explains his many contributions and developments that transformed United States for the better. Hamilton, A., & Frisch, M. J. (1985). Selected writings and speeches of Alexander Hamilton. Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. This book shows Hamilton’s speeches and writings. I t also shows the policies that he advocate including how he was fighting for equality and opposing slavery. Hogeland, William. â€Å"Inventing Alexander Hamilton†. Boston Review 32:6 (Nov/Dec 2007); 21-24 This article how Alexander Hamilton founded and developed America from being a weak nation to a strong nation. This article also depicts his life and many policies that he initiated to develop the United States. Murray, J. A. (2007). Alexander Hamilton America’s forgotten founder. New York: Algora Pub.. This book also shows Hamilton’s controversial life and also many policies that he advocated towards achieving equality for all and for a better United States. Source document