Legal Issues in Interviewing

I would never try to pronounce the name the way Lance did. I would simply ask how to pronounce the candidate's name. I would then ask the candidate to tell me a little about themselves. This is the part the usually will disclose where they are from, if they have children, married or not, where they went to school, and their interests. 2. Incarceration Insult: If I felt that the candidate may have a criminal record I would then discuss the back ground check that will be performed. Hopefully this Is when the candidate will speak up If they do have a criminal back ground. . Elderly Error: I don't see why this is coming up in the interview anyways. This is an inappropriate question and should never be asked. If the interviewer feels that he or she should know this information then they should have the candidate fill out an application that will have them put their DOBB down and then Just do the math. 4. Medical Muddle: How Lance words this Is again unprofessional and Inappropriate. An e asier way to may ask the candidate If there Is anything that may restrict them in doing any of the work duties that they are applying for. . Offspring Offense: This is important information to know but the key is how to word the question without offending anyone. I would explain that the Job will have some demanding hours and shifts. I would further explain that they may have to cover and work doubles or work evening hours. Then I would ask them if there was anything that would prevent them for being able to work these hours. 6. Interview. 7. Language Louse-Up: This again was very unprofessional and irrelevant. I would check the resume to see if the candidate is bilingual.If so I would then ask him what languages and leave that subject at that. 8. Pregnancy Problem: If the candidate is fit for the position and will do well with the company I would offer the job and then discuss maternity leave with the candidate. 9. Racial Rudeness: Asking anything that is related to the candidate's race is irrelevant and unprofessional. I would never ask anything like this. 10. Religious Ruckus: Again this is an inappropriate question that does not need to be asked or brought up.I loud give her the information regarding paid holidays if it got to that point in the interview and let her know if she needs a different holiday that is not listed then she can feel free to use her vacation time for this holiday. I think that if I was ever in an interview with Lance and he asked me the questions like he did in the video I would definitely cut the interview short and ask to speak to his supervisor. Most questions asked in this video were done very condescending and rude. Most likely Lances superiors have no idea that this is how interviews candidates.

Tragedy to Triumph

Julia Klein Mr. Tuz History Block 3 23 October 2012 Tragedy to Triumph There has been no greater, more unforgettable tragedy in America’s modern history than what took place on September 11, 2001. It was a horrifying day that ended 2,996 lives: 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers, but eventually created a new beginning of change for the better of the nation (The 9/11 Commission Report). A decade after the 9/11 attacks reshaped several facets of life in America. Life and travel in America has changed significantly over the past decade (Shanty).As an immediate response for our nation’s safety, there were some temporary changes made, while other changes have resulted in lasting transformations of our country (Villemez). A traumatizing day for many, 9/11 created a national burden of prejudice, brought about much needed changes of transforming our travel, and altered our government, which all eventually helped strengthen America. Obviously, not all of the changes that resulted fr om the September 11th tragedy were beneficial to the nation, especially the Anti-Islam Sentiment that was developed (Jamil).America’s 2. 6 million Muslims have constantly found themselves facing resentment and hostility during the years after 9/11 (9/11: ‘The Day the World Changed). Some Americans had responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks with extreme terror, as well as a growing intolerance against people who were, or simply just appeared to be from the Middle East. Immediately after the attacks, the government searched for suspects internationally, and numerous Muslims in the U. S. reported that they were the victims of hate crimes and harassment (Villemez).After the attacks, Islamic violence in America increased greatly. According to the FBI, 28 hate crimes in 2000 were found to be anti-Islamic, while that number rose rapidly to 481, and remains above 100 a decade later (The 9/11 Commission Report). There has also been a significant growth of religious divi sion and public distrust of Muslims in America (9/11: ‘The Day the World Changed). â€Å"The perception many Americans share today is that â€Å"terrorism† and â€Å"Islam† are synonymous. This is not true, because those terrorists are not true Muslims, and do not representIslam, any more than the KKK represented Christianity. Unfortunately, people's ignorance has led many to shape a negative attitude about Islam,† Basir Jamil shares his disappointed perspective on the hot topic of Anti-Islam Sentiment (Jamil). Jamil was born in America, but has a Pakistan background. Throughout his childhood, he has personally encountered racism and extremism that resulted from 9/11. He said he â€Å"endured snide comments, people calling me â€Å"terrorist,† and people generally hating me for no reason but my race and religion† (Jamil).Though it is accurate that concerns about extremism involving a tiny minority are justified, as a few of the terrorist plot s since 9/11 did involve Muslim citizens who purposely tried to harm the United States, it is also equally believed that the larger community of American Muslims has. Throughout the last decade, there has been a gravely unjust burden of prejudice and misunderstanding in America. Another immediate change, which occurred as a result of 9/11, was to take new measures of safety in our Nation’s security. Most of the security changes after the attacks took place in the airports (Villemez).A couple months after the attacks, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. This created the Transportation Security Administration that secures all transportation systems and insures air travel safety (Johnstone). The TSA implemented new procedures, which included more rigid guidelines on screening. After 9/11 as new threats were being discovered, new procedures were being introduced including removing shoes and banning all liquids. Airplanes also underwent major changes incl uding fortified cockpit doors becoming more common, and less first-class cabin curtains being used by many airlines (Villemez).Pilots can now become a federal flight deck officer by applying, which gives them the right to carry a gun and serve as a federal officer. In order to compensate for the extra security costs, a â€Å"Sept. 11 fee† was added onto passengers' tickets. The TSA has collected nearly $15 billion over nine years (Shanty). Besides air travel, railways and mass transit systems now have checkpoint regulations that allow law enforcement to randomly search personal property and bags. Also random stops at major tunnels were greatly increased to include checkpoint searches at the discretion of law enforcement (Johnstone).The improvement of security in travels shows the tremendous impact of 9/11, but it also is clearly evident in the policies adopted by the U. S. government immediately after the tragedy (Villemez). Former President George W. Bush passed a considerab le amount of U. S. legislation to strengthen U. S. National Security (The 9/11 Commission Report). The Patriot Act may be the most obvious piece of legislation relating to Sept. 11. In the 2002, there were more than 130 pieces of 9/11-related legislation introduced in the 107th Congress, with 48 bills and resolutions signed into law.The Patriot Act made it easier for law enforcement agencies to search telephone, medical and financial records (Villemez). Along with the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, they included the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act. This required the State Department and Immigration to exchange visa and immigrant data with each other (Shanty). According to The Washington Post, there were 263 government organizations created following the attacks. Government agencies created after 9/11 included the Department of Homeland Security.The Homeland Security Act of 2002 combined over 200 government agencies including the TSA, Immigration and Cus toms Enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Guard, and the Secret Service (The 9/11 Commission Report). The government plays a very significant role in our nation, and played their role well by closing most of the holes of insecurity effectively. A decade is a lengthy time, but perhaps not quite long enough for a country to bounce back from the biggest terrorist attack on its soil. Security measures have been extended, but Americans are still feeling the impact of what happened on that early fall day.Though this incident caused a lasting legacy of terror in many, it also brought America closer as one nation (Villemez). â€Å"Instead of turning us against each other, tragedy has brought us together. (†¦) This country was built as a beacon of freedom and tolerance. That’s what's made us strong, now and forever,† Obama says as he realizes the affect of 9/11 on the country, and the importance of the nation moving forward as one nation and o ne people (The 9/11 Commission Report). Instead of pulling back from the world, our alliances have been strengthened while security at home has tremendously improved.America now has a renewed sense of pride and unity (9/11: ‘The Day the World Changed'). People have begun to realize just how precious every moment we have in life is and how fortunate we are to live in a country that gives us the freedom to live as we please. This day will never be forgotten, lives were lost, lessons were learned, and a stronger America has emerged. Works Consulted â€Å"9/11: ‘The Day the World Changed'. † Issue Focus. Sept. 11 2002: n. p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 20 Oct 2012. Jamil, Basir. â€Å"Growing up Muslim after 9/11. † Baltimore Sun. N. p. 12 Sept. 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. Johnstone, R. William. â€Å"Not Safe Enough: Fixing Transportation Security. † Issues in Science and Technology Vol. XXIII No. 2. Winter 2007: 51-60. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 O ct 2012. Shanty, Frank. â€Å"Ten Years on Background. † American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. New York: Norton, 2004. Print. Villemez, Jason, and Dalia Mortada. â€Å"9/11 to Now: Ways We Have Changed. † PBS. PBS, 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.

Features of Natural Moral Law & Dicuss Whether Its Strengths

EXAMINE THE KEY FEATURES OF NATURAL MORAL LAW & DICUSS WHETHER ITS STRENGTHS OUTWEIGH ITS WEAKNESSES Natural Law has roots that stem back to Ancient Greece, and it was Aristotle who really created the approach. It was also depicted in Sophocles’ play Antigone, where the protagonist claims her right to bury her brother despite the King (Creon) ordering that he be fed to dogs. Antigone, (the protagonist) proclaimed this because she believed that there was a higher law than the King’s, particularly, Natural Law.However, it was not until the 13th Century until Thomas Aquinas developed its key features, that it was actually more widely recognised as a moral theory. When we focus on the recipient of the natural law, that is, us human beings, the proposition of Aquinas's natural law theory that comes to the forefront is that the Natural law establishes the basic principles of practical rationality for human beings, and has this status by Nature. These are to be followed univer sally, as Cicero puts it; it is ‘one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times’.According to Aquinas, all humans seek good and when we do wrong or evil, it is only because we are only seeking ‘apparent’ goods and not real goods. So, we could ask ourselves, how does Aquinas define a ‘real’ good? A real good is when the said ‘good’ falls under the five primary precepts. These are: self-preservation and preservation of innocents, educating children, living in society, reproducing and worshipping God. Aquinas also believed that we can use our rationality to know Natural Law.It is inherent within our human nature, God reveals specific commands but these do not go against natural law but rather, further develop it. Aquinas said that a moral life is a life entirely followed ‘according to reason’. Aquinas allowed for the Aristotelian insight that the particulars of the situation always outstrip o ne's rules, so that one will always need the moral and intellectual virtues in order to act well. But he denies that this means that there are no principles of right conduct that hold everywhere and always and some even absolutely.On Aquinas's view, killing of the innocent is always wrong, as is lying, adultery, sodomy, and blasphemy; and that they are always wrong is a matter of natural law. Therefore, Natural law is absolute, but surely, we can ask ourselves, what about double effect? What if a dying mother had to give an abortion to preserve her life? For Aquinas, there are two key features of the natural law, features the acknowledgment of which structures his discussion of the natural law.The first is that, when we focus on God's role as the giver of the natural law, the natural law is just one aspect of divine providence; and so the theory of natural law is from that perspective just one part among others of the theory of divine providence. The second is that, when we focus on the human's role as recipient of the natural law, the natural law constitutes the principles of practical rationality, those principles by which human action is to be judged as reasonable or unreasonable; and so the theory of natural law is from that perspective the preeminent part of the theory of practical rationality.Whilst Natural law may be a particularly easy, universal theory that can apparently be followed by all people it has shortcomings. BEGAN FIRST WITH STOICS IN THE WEST THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST ‘HYBRID THEORY’ HUMAN REASONING + DIVINE COMMANDS THE 13TH CENTURY WAS A GOLDEN AGE FOR CATHOLICISM, RULED BY THE IDEA OF REVELATION/FAITH/PRIESTHOOD THOMAS AQUINAS REASONED THAT WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD THAT HE GRANTED US REASONING AND THAT WE CAN USE THIS REASONING THAT LINKS WITH PHILOSOPHY WHICH OVERLAPS WITH FAITH/DIVINE COMMANDS. REASON IS 1+1=2.AQUINAS SAID WE CAN USE HUMAN REASON TO PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. DIVINE LAW – THIS COMES FROM GOD. UNIVERSAL LAW = NATURAL LAW BROKEN DOWN INTO HUMAN LAWS. Ironically, all the primary precepts are about perpetuating the human race†¦ DOUBLE EFFECT STATES THAT IF IN ORDER TO GOOD YOU HAVE TO DO ‘LESSER/UNINTENDED EVIL’ ONE MAY PROCEED BUT IT HAS TO UNINTENTIONAL. NATURAL LAW DEFENDS THE JUST WAR THEORY – CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS ALLOWED/JUSTICE WHAT ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY? THEY’RE VIOLATING PRINCIPLE NUMBER 2 – PROCREATION BUT NEITHER WOULD BIRTH CONTROL OR CELIBACY.JUSTICE (LEGALISTIC)/EQUALITY/REASON-BASED/CONCISE IT CAN TELL YOU WHAT TO DO IN ALMOST ANY MORAL DILEMMA UNIVERSAL. IF THERE IS A GOD, JUSTICE WILL BE ASSURED. THEREFORE, EVEN IF YOU SUFFER BY FOLLOWING NATURAL LAW, BALANCE WILL BE DEALT. GOD MAKES SURE THAT THE INNOCENT ARE VINDICATED AND GUILTY ARE PUNISHED. CONS: NO GRACE, MERCY OR FORGIVENESS ALLOWED. ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH’. A LIFE FOR A LIFE BECAUSE IT IS A REASON BASED THEORY, IT CAN BE RATIONALISED AND CAN BE SUBJECTIVE.BY USING DOUBLE EFFECT YOU COULD RATIONALISE ALMOST ANY BEHAVIOUR YOU WANT. BIRTH CONTROL IS A BAD THING. BUT WHAT ABOUT IN AFRICA, HIV/AIDS ETC. EFFECT YOUR SELF PRESERVATION. PERSONAL OPINION OF NATURAL LAW – IT CAN BE MASSAGED INTO JUSTIFYING ALMOST ANYTHING BY THINKING ABOUT IT. I LIKE AQUINAS I LIKE ITS SIMPLICITY BUT THE WORLD IS NOT THAT NEAT AND TIDY, THE RULES ARE TOO VAGUE. I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES. ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE WILL LEAVE THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND. ’

Analyizing a Contract Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analyizing a Contract - Research Paper Example The process stipulates about the offerings of the employers in terms of benefits, legislation and the contract also specifies regarding the entitlement of the employee as grants in terms of organizational policy, labor legislation and company benefits. Furthermore, the employment contract is also important to regulate the employee behaviors within the workplace because the organizational policies and regulations along with other disciplinary systems are the major parts of the employment contract. The employment contracts can be characterized into several types such as permanent employment, probation employment, fixed employment and project employment (SA Labour Guide, 2012). The job profile for which the employment contract has been prepared is personal assistant. The parties involved will be the employee seeking a job role as a personal assistant and the employer who is providing the specified job. This particular contract is being used in order to set forth the job related working conditions that would be provided by the employer to the employee for rendering employment. The selected employment contract does not involve any third party during the contractual process. Explanation of the Employment Contract Under the Governing Law The employment contract involves certain factors regarding the roles and the responsibilities that are mentioned by the employer in terms of providing employment. The employment contract within the United States considers administrative rules and legislations framework which are interpreted and practiced under the employment law of the country. The employment law of the country is entailed under the consideration of both federal and state government along with administrative guideline and judicial precedent (HG.Org, 2012). The various types of employment terms and conditions can be characterized in several norms. A few of those regulations are discussed below: Duties and Responsibilities The duties and the responsibilities can be cons idered among the fundamental factors, which denote the job or tasks and their detailed description. The factor significantly classifies the various roles of the employment including job description, disciplinary norms and nature of the designated position. Moreover, the employers are also authorized to carry out additional reasonable obligations as per the requirement of the enterprise. Salary According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, the minimum wage of the employees should not be less than USD 7.25 per hour which has been amended and has been effective from July 24, 2009. In the similar context, it has also stated regarding the wage for the youth that it should not be less than USD 4.25 per hour through the first 90 days of employment under the employer (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). Probationary Period According to the contract of employment, the probationary period is generally conducted at the starting phase of the employment. The employer can sack the employ ee during this probationary period without any notice or caution letter. The employers also may often decide to lengthen the probationary period according to the performance or any other work related concerns. Moreover, the employment rights regarding monetary benefits and holidays are also not provided for

Comparison between Sultan Saladin and Baibars Essay

Comparison between Sultan Saladin and Baibars - Essay Example Sultan Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin) was the significant leader of the Ayyubid Rule from 1171-1250, and also the first Egyptian leader after the demise of the last Fatimid caliph. The successive period known as the Mamluk Period (1250-1517) was marked by the leadership of Al-Malik Baybars I. Saladin and Baybars are important historic leaders of their time periods and represented intelligently formed armies, great achievements and territorial progressions. Saladin, a Kurd and Baybars, a Turk, were both the famous Muslim leaders of middle Ages who fought valiantly against the crusaders and established glorious Muslim victories in the Middle East. Abu al-Muzaffar Yusuf b. Ayyub known as Salah al-Din which means the Reformer of the Religion was the fundamental founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty. The glorious dynasty ruled over Egypt, upper Iraq, Syria and Yemen for a long period of time. His claim to fame is considered as the capture of Jerusalem from the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. He also played a crucial role in opposing the crusaders. In his initial years, Saladin was a part of the Syrian military expeditions in Egypt and fought to defend the Fatimid caliphate against the forces of Jerusalem. Saladin came into power and gained prominence when he was appointed as the commander of the Syrian forces. He proclaimed the return of Sunni Islam in 1171. Till 1186, he expanded the Muslim land and combined the lands of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotomia. With unifying major Muslim lands and gaining immense power, Saladin strengthened his grounds for facing the Christian crusaders and their threats (Bowering et al 2013). Saladin was very enthusiastic and religiously motivated while fighting the crusaders to protect the Holy Islamic lands and landmarks. Baha al-Din wrote about Saladin, â€Å"In his love for the Jihad on the path of God he shunned his womenfolk, his children, his homeland, his home and all his pleasures, and for this world he was content to dwell in the shade o f his tent with winds blowing through left and right† Thus, the writer has narrated that Saladin’s goals and desire for success were of utmost importance to him (Nicolle & Dennis 2011). Saladin ruled for twenty four years out of which he spent eight years in Cairo. He established schools, hospitals and improved infrastructure (Asante, 2002). Saladin was remembered even by his enemies because of his honesty, chivalry and generosity. Unlike other Muslim emperors he was not cruel to his subordinates. He altered tax structure in Egypt supported higher education (Frank N Magill, 1998). It was in his reign that he brought the Mamluk Circassians and Turks from the Black Sea region and they were also allowed to own land, raise families and even gain social prominence (Asante, 2002). The main achievement of Saladin was that he won the Battle of Hattin in 1187 and conquered not only Jerusalem but also much of the Crusader kingdom. In 1187, Saladin announced jihad against the Chri stians who had invaded the Middle East. The invasion included attempts to conquer the Holy Land. As commander of the Muslim forces, he gathered the Muslim allies, soundly defeated the Christians and regained rule in the city of Jerusalem. His army expressed acts of chivalry and nobility that were highly appreciated and admired by the enemies themselves and was contrasted with the crusaders; brutality. Saladin signed a peace agreement with the King of

Marketing & Entrepreneurship What makes entrepreneurs successful Is it Essay

Marketing & Entrepreneurship What makes entrepreneurs successful Is it skill or luck - Essay Example In this paper, the researcher will use example of Sir Alan Sugar who is not only the founder of consumer electronics giant Amstrad but also the example for entrepreneurs across the world. Sir Alan Sugar established the company at the age of 21 when majority of his classmates were learning in the colleges in order to get job. Before retiring from the organization, Sir Alan Sugar transformed Amstrad from start up venture into electronics giant which is synonymous with innovation, value for money offering and customer loyalty. Was Sir Alan Sugar a magician who is blessed with sheer amount of luck or Sir Alan Sugar was a hardworking individual who used skill and intuition to build the Amstrad Empire? At this point, the essay is not mature enough to answer the question but it is expected that at the end of this essay, the answer will be revealed. One has to understand theoretical underpinning of entrepreneurship before answering the above question whether luck is important or not in makin g an entrepreneur successful. Hence, in the next section, the researcher will try to figure out pertinent variables that affect the success of an entrepreneur. Modern research scholars such as Coulter (2001) and Kirby (2004) defined entrepreneurship as the process with which a particular individual or set of individuals try to fulfil their objectives by creating value for people in the society. Nixon (2004) and Van Praag and Cramer (2001) argued that it is not necessary for entrepreneurs to create value for society rather it is more important for an individual to fulfil existing needs through innovation and unique offer in order to classify as entrepreneur. It is understandable, why management scholars tried to identify the role of luck for an entrepreneur, because giving importance on luck factor will probably disregard the importance of management skill in developing a successful enterprise. Research scholars such as Kaplan and Schoar (2005) and Hochberg, Ljungqvist, and Lu (2006) nullified the importance of luck in helping an entrepreneur to become successful. These research scholars have given examples of successful enterprises that are funded by more experienced venture capitalists in comparison to enterprises that failed due to inexperience of venture capitalists. Hochberg, Ljungqvist, and Lu (2006) strongly argued that a more experienced and skilled entrepreneur has more probability to succeed in comparison to a novice entrepreneur. Eesley and Roberts (2006) raised question over role of luck in helping an entrepreneur to succeed in a competitive environment. According to them, people often mistakenly identify the skill, experience and strategic intelligence of the entrepreneurs as the sheer amount of luck. Eesley and Roberts (2006a and 2006b) amusingly pointed out that there is no such thing as luck for an entrepreneur because an entrepreneur can move ahead in business by understanding the market need and fulfilling the need of customers by offering them value. Research scholars such as Eesley and Roberts (2006a) and Kaplan and Stromberg (2003) found that successful entrepreneurs are those who do not stop estab lishing new enterprises after failure in the previous start-ups. It is evident from the research works of previous research scholars that luck plays very little role in helping an entrepreneur to establish successful enterprises. In such context, Chatterji (2005) showed that experience in working in a particular

Sustainable Tourism Development in Turkey Literature review

Sustainable Tourism Development in Turkey - Literature review Example Tourism becomes couched in sustainable development, which is the ability to positively manage the assets inherent in the natural environment for the purpose of increasing the wealth and well being of the inhabitants of a certain region.   It should be possible to maintain this kind of management in the short and long run; hence the development ought to be sustainable. The problem Tosun finds with the definition of STD is that it proves idealistic in its assumption that all nations are able to effectively employ its tenets. STD was proposed by the WCED, predominantly made up of representatives from developed countries, which appeared not to consider the inferior capabilities of the developing nations to implement the schemes proposed by STD. The researcher argues that Turkey has not been able to sustain the development of tourism quite in the way proposed by the WCED. The heavy indebtedness of developing countries, on the whole, has made it necessary for tourism to be expanded in order to generate much-needed revenue (Teye, 2000, p. 2;). However, the concentration of power in the hands of a central government and the business owners of the tourism sector has prevented the wealth of tourism from being distributed â€Å"fairly† among the inhabitants of the tourist areas (Tosun and Timothy, 2001, p. 353). Tosun agrees with other researchers (Stoeckl et al. 2006) that planning is necessary for sustainable development, and lack of planning by weak local governments generates a host of problems for the tourist areas (Garlick, 2002). Population growth taxes the capacity of the environment as well as the infrastructure (Font and Ahjem, 1999), and far from integrating tourism into the â€Å"broader social environment† (Beeton, 2006), the erection by the elite of numerous hotels and large houses has pressured the sewage systems causing seepage into the groundwater. The tourists themselves, as well as others who take up second-homes in the tourist areas, have so encroached upon the land-space that overcrowding and marginalization of the indigenous people have resulted. Neither do many tourists nor business owners they seek to preserve the environment, but exploit the natural resources without thought of adverse effects. D’Sa concurs with this: â€Å"Ordinary Third World people (as opposed to the à ©lites) find tourism in its present form highly exploitative and socially damaging† (1999, p. 64).   Noise pollution from blaring horns and discos, land and water pollution by littering and waste disposal from yachts, resorts, etc. have also added to the strain on the environment.  

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

No topic - Essay Example He based moral requirements on categorical imperative. Aristotle thought that the human life has a purpose and proper function to do, which provides happiness to the individual. This he termed as the purpose of human beings. It was achieved by using one’s reason and logic. Kant used the example of the honest shopkeeper. The honest shopkeeper was considered a moral person because he was honest out of inclination. The shopkeeper feels that being a moral and ethical person brings him better reputation more business and profits. John Stuart Mill argued that human beings are capable of experiencing ‘higher pleasures’ as well as ‘lower pleasures’. In order to differentiate he stated that the higher pleasures produce better quality and more quantity of pleasure or happiness. While on the other hand, the lower pleasures tend to be more of selfish in nature. According to Locke the life of an individual is governed by reason and ‘the reason’ happens to be the basic driving force behind the state of nature. Locke came out with the thought that reason teaches us not to harm another in his life, liberty, health or possession. He further added that an transgressions will invite punishments. Hobbes and Locke both happened to be renowned social contract theorists, but their views differ on several aspects. For example, while Locke believed that man is by nature a social animal, Hobbes thought it otherwise and suggested that ‘society could not exist except by the power of the state.’ In my opinion Kant’s Ethical Theory stands out as one of the best. While on the one hand this theory talks about the Good will on the one hand, rationality and morality are also described as integral components of the human behavior. Kant advances the argument that the outcome of our actions cannot be accurately predicted, but the intent

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

Maldives - Research Paper Example It not only contributed the most to the country’s GDP but also became the country’s greatest contributor to earning foreign currency (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Over the years, Maldives has been a tourist attraction based on its tropical setting and favourable climate. Its aesthetic quality gives it the appearance of a paradise on the earth. Away from the hustle and bustle of daily lives, it attracts tourists from all over the world to enjoy tranquillity in its clear water and tropical climate. The several islands and blissful beaches of Maldives are ideal for relaxation. Maldives offers extraordinary underwater scenery and taking advantage of its clear waters, the islands have introduced water-sporting activities such as scuba diving, water skiing and kite boarding (Masters 2006). Recently, Maldives has been acknowledged as one of the best destinations of the world to experience recreational diving (Garrod et al 2008). Alongside these positive aspects of tourism in Ma ldives, it must be noted that this flourishing sector is also resulting in some adverse effects on the wildlife of the islands and their natural surroundings. The increasing numbers of tourists that visit Maldives throughout the years are known to be a cause of disruption of the natural environment of Maldives’ wildlife. Due to this large influx of tourists visiting the islands, Maldives is experiencing a slow yet massive decline in its wildlife (Shelton 2010). Ormond, a leading scientist at SaveOurSeas Foundation, claimed that even though tourism may provide the financial support to preserve the water species, it may negatively affect the feeding patterns of the animals, which may migrate or decline in population; therefore, degrading the wildlife experienced by the tourists. In 2009, Maldives was awarded the title of Marine Protected Area (MPA) and laws and regulations were enacted for control and prevention of harm to the islands’ flora, fauna and wildlife. Despite these laws and regulations, the wildlife is declining, mainly because of the lack of effective reinforcement of these laws. Stevens, a researcher working to save the lives of the manta rays, claims that without ensuring quick control on numbers of tourists and other regulations regarding the influx of people, the islands will experience a great negative impact due to its largest contributor towards economy. Therefore, proper management must be enacted for the betterment of wildlife and the tourist experience (Shelton 2010). Moreover, in the last three decades of flourishing tourism, Maldives has experienced a rise in the number of resorts available to tourists on the islands. However, interestingly, the locals do not reside in the same areas where the resorts are located. Therefore, the tourists are quite segregated from the local population of the islands. This limits the positive and negative impacts on both the tourists and the locals. The tourists may be unable to understand the culture or even the frustration the locals feel at the negative impacts of tourism while the locals may be unable to grasp foreign cultures and therefore, exposure to the international world is limited. II) Historical Origins   Initially, the economy of Maldives was almost entirely based on fisheries, yet towards the end of the 20th century, Maldives became introduced to the world as a tourist spot. Since

The History and Future of Social Networking Research Paper

The History and Future of Social Networking - Research Paper Example Apart from this, they may make use of the additional services offered online, such as joining of groups or communities. Social networks are mostly established over the World Wide Web and give the users an opportunity to interact with each other, via messaging, email and sharing of pictures or videos. Often in scenarios, online community service may also fall under the aforementioned banner, as they tend to be group-centered. Social networking sites may give birth to new innovations and ideas amongst people. Body There are numerous types of social networking sites or services; however the most common types are those which allow the users to connect with friends maintain categories and introduce recommendations. Most of the social networking sites are based in America and include the likes of Facebook, Google Plus. Linked In and Twitter are used globally by billions of people, across the globe (Meyerson, 2010, p.141). It must be noted that the authorities have carried out several effor ts at homogenizing the social networking service. These steps were taken in order to reduce duplication on the social networking sites. In the year 2011, the results of a survey showed that more than forty seven percent of the Americans were avid users of social networking sites and services. ... The conception of social networking services was done through the Bulletin Board System. The Bulletin Board System was a software that permitted the users to connect to the system, making use of the respective program, making communication effective. However, the Bulletin Board System proved rather ineffective in the longer run, as connections could not be established through longer distances and it was expensive in cost. Before the Internet could come into limelight as the sole medium for social networking services, there were other avenues that opened along the way too. CompuServe was one of such initiatives, introduced in the 1970s and later made public during the 1980s decade. This service permitted its members to have access to news and events across the world. They also enjoyed the liberty of sharing files and pictures with each other, sending instant messages via email and joining the discussion forums of CompuServe. â€Å"But if there is a true precursor to today’s so cial networking sites, it was likely spawned under the AOL umbrella. In many ways, and for many people, AOL was the Internet before the Internet, and its member-created communities, complete with searchable â€Å"Member Profiles,† in which users would list pertinent details about themselves, were arguably the service’s most fascinating, forward-thinking feature† (Goble, 2012). The year 1995, gave birth to the revolution in the Internet industry with the evolution of websites, such as Yahoo, Amazon and MSN, which were to set the foundations of the current social networking strata in the world. The social networking services have observed an emerging trend in the recent past. These social bookmarking websites are increasing in numbers day after day, every day a new website is launched

Persuasive memo Essay Example for Free

Persuasive memo Essay My name is Darrell Pace and I am requesting to continue research for the implementation of a Spanish curriculum in the Professional Academy Day School. The proposed research will greatly impact our students, parents, and faculty because the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Parents are turning to language immersion programs for their toddlers and preschoolers. Some are motivated by the desire to preserve family heritage and culture. Others see early language instruction as a way to provide their children with the academic and cognitive advantages. It is very important for the Professional Academy Day School to accommodate the interest of our parents who entrust their children to us, to teach them skills that are beneficial now and in the future. When we offer the children in our day school the very best curriculum, it enhances our credibility among our competition and the community. According to the article by Stephanie Meade, â€Å"7 benefits of Raising Bilingual Kids†, it shows that bilingual children have the following advantages over that of monolingual students: Bilingual children have a better ability to focus and ignore distractions in the environment Bilingual kids can switch from one activity to another faster and are better at multitasking. Bilinguals have increased mental flexibility and creativity. Bilingual children in dual-immersion schools have been shown in one study to score higher on both verbal and math standardized test conducted in English Bilingual children display stronger logic skills and are better equipped at solving mental puzzles Being bilingual carries over throughout life as it alters brain chemistry and starving off the onset of Alzheimer’s. After learning two languages, it makes it more apt for learning a third language The advantages of a child being immersed into a school that offers dual languages cannot be ignored nor taken lightly when the demographics toward Spanish speaking cultures have more than doubled over the last ten years here in our state of Texas. Our school will be behind the curve if we don’t react now and research the necessary curriculum that will be the most effective among our students in the classroom. In the article, â€Å"Preschool Curriculum: What’s in it for Children and Teachers† written by The Albert Shanker Institute, children learn language when it is presented in meaningful contexts. A strong curriculum teaches vocabulary during studies of interesting content. This strategy which we have found through our research provides repeated exposure to new words and teaches children the words they need to represent the new ideas and concepts that they are learning. Our research will prove that the proper Spanish curriculum produces success in math, science, literacy, social studies and the arts. Language is the foundation for children’s learning, and the pre-k years are a crucial time for Spanish language development. The research on Spanish curriculum in Pre-k and kindergarten classes is timely and it is of substantial importance to the future of learning at the Professional Academy Day School.

Course Project Essay Example for Free

Course Project Essay They are Public Website, Manufacturing Support System (MSS), Human Resources System (HRS), and Sales and Marketing System (SMS). Public Website provides information about each of the products, locations where someone can purchase them, and information about how to get warranty support. Details of warranty support and defect rates are not tracked, but the staff has anecdotal stories. The Manufacturing Support System (MSS) maintains the supply chain information necessary for manufacturing the companys products, such as raw materials, vendors, and prices. The Human Resources System (HRS) maintains and tracks personnel and benefits information. And the Sales and Marketing System (SMS) track the sales and marketing efforts of the company’s sales force. Orders from this system are printed and sent daily to the MSS to be filled. As a senior member of the IT Management Team for SAI Toys, I agree with the Board of Directors and the CEO decision to stay on the forefront of geekness, and therefore the company should integrate all of  its IT systems. In addition, they want to develop a more robust Web presence and sell their products directly to individual customers in addition to selling through traditional retailers, as they currently are doing. My recommendation is that we need to hire more staff if SAI Toys want to stay on the forefront. The company needs to hire professional computer specialist. The integration of new the software into a newly expanded IT system which utilizes in some cases first generation coding on legacy hardware can create operational problems which in-house IT staff may be nable to solve. SAI Toys is not in the computer business. While computers are essential to the design, manufacture and marketing of their products, SAI Toys would be well served by having their IT systems vertically integrated and maintained in a cloud computing environment, eliminating most of their IT department employees in the process (Butcher, 2011). In this report, I will show how the company should go about implementing this ex ecutive directive. The report should include the following sections. The report will also outline the situation, weighs various alternatives, and I will presents a final recommendation for the company. The report will also include the current IT system, overview of the recommended system, the difference between In House and Outsourcing development, the stakeholders’ buy-in, the ERP project failed with lessons learned, and the company’s ROL ;amp; TCO. Current IT Situation To evaluate SAI Toys, using the basic analysis techniques will help us to have an overview of the company and its environment. SWOT is a tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. SAI Toys SWOT Analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). The Strengths of SAI Toys are: Experienced and successful marketing team, High brand recognition for their unique products, Substantial 25 member IT team, and Quality control ensuring positive consumer feedback. The Weaknesses of SAI Toys are: Highly competitive marketplace, Extensive and continuing R;amp;D investment, Cost containment, and Personnel costs for IT staff (Butcher, 2011). The Opportunities of SAI Toys are: Direct marketing and sales to consumers through company operated websites, Emerging international markets immediately accessible through the internet, and Substantial IT cost reduction through use of cloud computing. The Threats of SAI Toys are: Loss of market share, Major competitors integrating vertically and selling direct, and Changing technology requiring escalating engineering costs (Butcher, 2011). The Competitive Strategy Analysis is the second basis analysis technique to help us to have an overview of the company and its environment. SAI cannot afford the possibility of IT system failure given the highly competitive market in which they operate. New product design, manufacture, and marketing require that their IT system be fully functional 24/7 with no downtime. To sustain growth and revenue and stay ahead of potential competition SAI Toys will need to invest heavily in Research and Development (R;amp;D) on an ongoing basis (Butcher, 2011). This will include further investment in hiring skilled engineering personnel. Because SAI Toys creates unique products which may exclusively dominate a small segment of the market from which all of its revenue is derived, the introduction into the market of a competitor’s similar product with enhanced features and lower retail pricing may severely impact SAI Toys ability to generate sales and revenue (Butcher, 2011). Swimlanes Diagram: AS-IS Diagram Overview of Recommended System The various systems currently in place will be replaced or integrated into the new system. Assuming that SAI Toys has elected to develop an integrated IT system in-house utilizing its current IT structure but expanding operability to allow all four (4) distinct IT systems to communicate with each other, an Organizational Process Performance system evaluation is necessary which will derive quantitative objectives for quality and process performance from the organization’s business objectives (Butcher, 2011). The new system will be the ERP Implementation. There is a Process of ERP Implementation. While ERP is clearly a software solution for SAI, its implementation must be done on an incremental basis to limit interruptions to the existing business structure at SAI. Like all IT changes, problems can and will develop. To minimize the impact on SAI’s ongoing business operation the implementation of ERP should occur during the lapses between product launches or product design and development stages and implementation should be accomplished on a step-by-step basis, one application at a time. Limiting IT installations and disruptions to non-critical time periods will permit the least stressful adoption of the IT structure and allow SAI to maintain its revenue stream without incurring a loss (Butcher, 2011). There are numerous vendors who offer ERP software which would be easily configurable for SAI’s specific requirements. Microsoft, Oracle, Sage, Exact, SAP, and Intuitive each offer ERP software solutions which can manage companies like SAI with up to 1,000 users. Each of these can incorporate e-commerce platforms into the production and supply chain and provide SAI Toys management with instantaneous information reports including warranty claims, product claims, and defective product losses to together with consumer feedback in real-time (Butcher, 2011). Some new features in this system will include: 1) Improved customer satisfaction 2) Increased profitability 3) Reduced costs ) Improved quality and processing times 5) Improved business culture by bridging the gap between the production line and management 6) Improved business performance by focusing team members on eliminating waste across key business processes and workflows (Butcher, 2011). There are many companies out there that have successfully made the transition from a brick and mortar business to an E-Commerce. The E-Commerce can help the company grow and expand. An e-commerce platform can be used for advertising, production, supplier enquiries, negotiations, contracts, orders, billing, payments, and after sales service and other business activities in the process of interactive program management that can simplify the transaction process (Butcher, 2011). SOA would be of benefit to this project. A Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) design principle can be utilized during the phases of systems development and integration. A system based on SOA will package functionality as suite of interoperable services that can be used within multiple separate systems from the four separate systems. SOA also generally provides a way for consumers of services such as web-based applications to be aware of available SOA based services. For example, several disparate departments within a company may develop and deploy SOA services in different implementation languages and their respective clients will benefit from a well understood, well defined interface to access them. SOA defines integration for widely disparate applications for a web-based environment and uses multiple implementation platforms (Butcher, 2011). Rather than defining an API, SOA defines the interface in terms of protocols and functionality. An endpoint is the entry point for such a SOA implementation. Service-orientation requires loose coupling of services with operating systems and other technologies that underlies applications. SOA separates functions into distinct units, or services, which developers make accessible over a network in order to allow users to combine and reuse them in the production of applications. These services and their corresponding consumers communicate with each other by passing data in a well-defined, shared format, or by corresponding an activity between two or more services. SOA is therefore a continuum as opposed to distributed computing or modular programming (Butcher, 2011). Swimlanes diagrams- TO-BE diagram In-House versus Outsourcing Development The benefits and costs of developing this system in-house versus outsourcing the development or purchasing off-the-shelf are very important to consider. Off-the-shelf ERP packages are tested and proven performers which are an essential requirement for a company like SAI Toys which cannot afford the inevitable downtime associated with fragmented software design and installation. On a cost benefit analysis basis the investment in purchasing an off-the-shelf ERP software package is substantially less than the cost of downtime and system inoperability where an in-house software design fails (Butcher, 2011). The ability of the software vendor to de-bug an off-the-shelf system can be measured in minutes or hours versus the possibility and probability of several days of downtime with in-house developed software. The purchase price of an ERP software package can be amortized over a useful lifespan of five years or more and when compared to the prospective recurring downtime of in-house developed software the advantages of an ERP off-the-shelf solution cannot be ignored (Butcher, 2011). To avoid as many pitfalls as possible in the overhaul of SAI’s IT system it is recommended that SAI avoid in-house software development of this magnitude. While some of SAI’s IT staff may be proficient in software development there are the issues of minimum and exacting standards employed in the industry which may not be a consideration for in-house development. CCMI and ISO certifications should also impact the decision here. CMMI and ISO certification are an inherent part of these off-the-shelf software solutions which eliminates the uncertain standards that may be employed in in-house software development (Butcher, 2011). We should develop the system by Some best practices for managing the project type to having a better chance of success are Stakeholder Buy-in and Internal Politics The stakeholders of this system are essential. Once stakeholders are on board with the system development, they are likely to remain involved, supporting the program over its lifetime. We can get them to buy-in and support the system development by keeping them informed throughout the process of the system, including during the evaluation planning, implementation, and reporting phases (Innovation Network, 2002-2012). Stakeholders are valuable assets in evaluation planning, offering: * Assistance in decision-making about continued and prospective funding; * Perspective that helps the program learn, grow, and improve, and * Experience that informs program replication at other sites or organizations. The Stakeholders fall into three levels of program participation or involvement. There are: * Primary stakeholders  are typically major decision makers within a program, and are often the motivators behind an evaluation effort. They are often program staff, supervisors, senior managers, and funders. * Secondary stakeholders  have less contact with the administrative side of the program, but are still important to the evaluation effort. They include program participants and their families; direct service staff; and possibly other professionals providing subsequent services to program participants. Tertiary stakeholders  are more distant but are likely to be interested in evaluation findings for example, potential program participants, the general public, or members of the same profession (Innovation Network, 2002-2012). There are other issues that may arise as a result of the internal politics in our company that could have a negative impact on the project. The best thing to do is to reduce the risk of project failure due to internal issues. Many systems development problems are in practice caused by a failure to perceive that specific stakeholders’ viewpoints were relevant. That failure causes whole groups of requirements, typically those related to scenarios involving the missing stakeholders to be missed. A similar result is obtained when one stakeholder assumes one scope for a product while another stakeholder assumes another. This occurs when a developer assumes that it will be sufficient to design, code, and test software but the purchaser hopes to have everything set-up and operators trained (Butcher, 2011). Stakeholder composition is a good predictor of project risk and therefore it should be cost-effective to characterize projects at their initiation according to their stakeholder impact. SAI can minimize internal politics by fully evaluating each stakeholder and assuring them that their input is critical to the overall success of the project. Each stakeholder then becomes part of the project team and has a vested interest in ensuring the ultimate success of the project. Team meetings bring all of the stakeholders together to discuss differences and eliminate issues which would delay or derail the project. Each team member realizes that their participation is equally important within their area of specialization or expertise fully under their direct control and unchallenged by direct confrontation. In this manner, each team member must demonstrate how their participation and overall cooperation contributes to the overall success of the project (Butcher, 2011). ERP Project Failures and Lessons Learned Studying ERP project failures is an essential part of project success. By identifying the same or similar issues that lead to failure in one company, SAI can take steps to avoid or eliminate those problems as they arise. Case studies also provide a precursor to the foreseeable problems that occur in ERP implementation allowing SAI management an opportunity to prepare for these problems by formulating a contingency plan. ERP project failures are common but this not unique to ERP. Every system has glitches regardless of the quality of design or the expertise of design personnel (Butcher, 2011). In the Case Study for Implementation Failure at Hershey’s Chocolate it was established that Hershey’s failed to use an incremental method of implementation, instead installing full software during periods of peak business. The resulting disaster from inoperability due to bugs and glitches resulted in a loss of peak season revenue for Hershey’s. Both corporate management and IT staff developed an immediate dislike for the ERP implementation. This could easily have been avoided had Hershey’s implemented the new software on a step-by-step basis during the off season when sales and revenue would have been less dramatically affected (Butcher, 2011). Hershey’s also tried to implement a variety of enterprise applications simultaneously which added to the stress of a seemingly failed project. In fact, there was nothing wrong with the ERP software but its implementation was a complete failure as the company tried to modify their business processes to suit the enterprise application which created further problems. The lesson learned is that implementation should be conducted one step at a time, each successful Installation reinforcing management’s initial decision to purchase. The ERP problems at Hershey’s are commonly repeated where management fails to realize the complexity of implementation and the necessity to proceed cautiously and maintain focus (Butcher, 2011). Return on Investment and Total Cost of Ownership Some metrics that we can use to determine if the system was a success is a disciplined methodology has been developed called  total cost of ownership  (TCO). It is designed to properly analyze the full cost of an IT investment. In order to calculate TCO properly, all related costs must be identified and captured. TCO models organize costs into two broad categories: 1. Direct costs:  Costs in this category are usually for activities and investments that are related to IT or support. They can usually be calculated by examining the actual or projected costs of hardware, software, people, and facilities. 2. Indirect costs:  These costs are not always visible and can be very difficult to measure and quantify. This type of cost crosses the entire organizations business operations. Some examples of these indirect costs are Administration, Downtime, and End-user operations (Devry, unknown). In order to measure the metrics and figure out when baselines should be determined, we should developed methodologies for determining TCO. The first methodology is the Project initiation. This can be one of the most critical phases of a project. The reason why is because the following are determined: the expectations of the client, the type of relationship the organization will ave with the client (This can influence the management costs. ), and the projects scope. Ideally, the objectives of the project should be defined at this stage, and the categories for TCO can be aligned with these project objectives. To determine the impact of any deviations from initial projections, an up-to-date TCO should be maintained at all times (Devry, unknown). The second methodology is the Cost Modeling. Through the entire TCO process a major activity is the TCO cost analysis. This continues to be refined as new information becomes available during the project. This activity includes classifying the costs according to the financial policies of an organization as well as defining the financial model for the project. The third methodology is the Cost Collection. Once the financial and cost model has been determined, all available cost estimates are collected. Once these are entered into the financial model, a baseline is determined. The total cost of ownership that is presented in this deliverable should be considered a snapshot in time. It is important that all stakeholders understand this and that the TCO may or may not change substantially from this point forward (Devry, unknown). The fourth methodology is Evaluation/Final Report. This is the development of a TCO project deliverable that goes to the organizations stakeholders and decision makers. It typically includes the final project evaluation and a correlation of all finding recommendations and results. The last methodology is Ongoing Refinement of the TCO Model. It is very rare for all costs and contract negotiations in a large project to be finalized at the same time. Additionally, an implementation plan usually cannot be determined at the same time as, or even immediately after, delivery of the final report. As a result, the TCO is an estimate of project costs based on the data and decisions available when the report was researched and written. As key decisions regarding rollout and implementation strategy are reached, the TCO model should be refined to include the most current project cost estimates (Devry, unknown). Another metrics that we can use to determine if the system was a success is Return on Investment (ROI). The ROI (return on investment) is how much profit or cost savings is gained. An ROI calculation is sometimes used along with other business practices to develop a business case for an IT proposal. The overall ROI for an enterprise is sometimes used to determine how well a company is managed. The work performed to determine the TCO can be used to calculate the ROI. Even though many TCO costs are long term, they can be applied solely to the initial investment or divided between the initial investment and serve as an adjustment to the final value. While both methods are valid, they can give different results; it is important that the organization establish a policy for ROI computations across all projects (Devry, unknown). One of the more difficult aspects of an ROI calculation is determining the soft, or people benefits. Three considerations that impact these soft benefits follow: * Speed of adoption:  This benefit considers how quickly employees come up to speed using the new process, system, technology, or tools provided by the implementation. It indicates how quickly employees demonstrate the new skills or behaviors and adapt to the new roles that are required by a change. * Ultimate utilization or participation rate:  This evaluates the percentage of employees that are engaged and practicing the new way of doing things. Surprisingly, in many implementations, employees can avoid actively participating in workflows and procedures, and this can undermine the project in subtle ways. * Proficiency:  As the change is implemented, this examines how proficient and effective the employees have become. Many times, this proficiency, or ability to better perform their job function, is a significant part of the changes original motivation. It measures not just the status after the change, but the ongoing improvement to the organization with the new systems, tools, and processes in place and the organizational and job changes fully implemented. Some examples include the time saved in performing a particular operation while using the new system, the improved close rate for sales and contracts brought by the use of a competitive information database, and the amount of waste reduced by new streamlined activities or processes (Devry, unknown). Conclusion In conclusion, my recommendation to SAI Toys is that they need to hire more staff if they want to implement this executive directive. If they can’t afford it or can cope with integrating all of their IT systems, then I would suggest they stick to manufacturing the toys in-house and shipped to brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Best Buy and Target, as well as e-Commerce only sites, such as ThinkGeek. com and Buy. com.

Analysis And Usage Of Cams And Their Followers Engineering Essay

Analysis And Usage Of Cams And Their Followers Engineering Essay A cam follower, also known as a track follower,[1] is a specialized type of roller or needle bearing designed to follow cams. Cam followers come in a vast array of different configurations, however the most defining characteristic is how the cam follower mounts to its mating part; stud style cam followers use a stud while the yoke style has a hole through the middle.[2] The first cam follower was invented and patented in 1937 by Thomas L. Robinson of the McGill Manufacturing Company.[3] It replaced using just a standard bearing and bolt. The new cam followers were easier to use because the stud was already included and they could also handle higher loads.[ / CAM AND MECHANISMS A cam mechanism consists of three elements: the cam, the follower (or follower system), and the frame. The follower is in direct contact with the cam. The cam may be of various shapes. The follower system includes all of the elements to which motion is imparted by the cam. This may be connected directly to the follower, or connected through linkages and gearing. The frame of the machine supports the bearing surfaces for the cam and for the follower. A CAM changes the input motion, which is usually rotary motion (a rotating motion), to a reciprocating motion of the follower. They are found in many machines and toys WHAT IS THE CONCEPT BEHIND CAM? A CAM is a rotating machine element which gives reciprocating or oscillating motion to another element known as follower. The cam and follower has a point or line contact constitute a higher pair or you can say that it is the mechanicl component of a machine that is used to transmit the motion to the another component of the machine called the follower, through a prescribed program by direct contact.The contact between them is maintained by an external force which is generally provided by the spring or sometimes by the weight of the follower itself ,when it is sufficient. Cam is the driver member and the follower is the driven member. The follower is in direct contact with the cam. CAM MECHANISM CONSIST OF THREE MECHANISMS CAM:It may be of many shapes FOLLOWER: It includes all the elements to which motion is imparted by the cam.This may be connected directly by the cam.This may be connected directly to the follower, or connected through linkages and gearing. FRAME: The frame of the machine supports the bearing surfaces for the cam and for the follower. APPLICATIONS OF CAM AND FOLLOWERS Cam and follower are widely used for operating inlet and exhaust valve of I C engine. These are used in wall clock. These are used in feed mechanism of automatic lathe Machine. These are used in paper cutting machine. Used in weaving textile machineries. The cam mechanism is a versatile one. It can be designed to produce almost unlimited types of motioning the follower. It is used to transform a rotary motion into a translating or oscillating motion. On certain occasions, it is also used to transform one translating or oscillating motion into a different translating or oscillating motion. Cams are used in a wide variety of automatic machines and instruments. The certain usuages of cam and followers that includes textile machineries, computers, printing presses, food processing machines, internal combustion engines, and countless other automatic machines, control systems and devices. The cam mechanism is indeed a very important component in modern mechanization. CLASSIFICATION OF CAMS Based on the physical shape Disk or plate cams Working of the disc cam with reciprocating follower. Working of the disc cam with oscillating follower. Cylindrical cam Translating cam CLASSIFICATION OF FOLLOWES (i) Based on surface in contact (a) Knife edge follower (b) Roller follower (c) Flat faced follower (d) Spherical follower (ii) Based on type of motion Oscillating followe Translating follower (iii) Based on line of action Radial (in line) follower (b) Off-set follower Cams can be conveniently classified into two main groups Group a: Cams that impart motion to the follower in a plane in line with the axis of rotation of the cam (as does a cylindrical cam). Group b: Cams that impart motion to the follower in a plane at 90 degrees to the axis of rotation, as with face or edge cams.Most cams fall into this category. TYPES OF CAMS Eccentric cam: A circular cam is often called an eccentric cam because the axis of rotation of the cam is offset from the geometric center of the circular disc. Concentric disc: A concentric disc attached to a rotating shaft would have its axis of rotation coinciding with its geometric center. PROFILE SHAPES OF SOME CAMS: PEAR-SHAPED CAMS: These type cams are often used for controlling valves. For example, they are used on motor car camshafts to operate the engine valves. A follower controlled by a pear-shaped cam remains motionless for about half a revolution of the cam. During the time that the follower is stationary, the cam is in a dwell period. During the other half revolution of the cam, the follower rises and then falls. As the pearshaped cam is symmetrical, the rise motion is the same as the fall motion. Edge cams It must be appreciated that this type of cam, where the follower is in contact with the edge of the cam disc, is only capable of imparting positive motion to its follower in one direction, that is, during the rise portion of the cam movement. During the fall portion of the cam movement the follower must be maintained in contact with the cam either by the mass of the follower and its mechanism or, more usually, by a spring. Both methods have their advantages. Box cams A groove can be milled in the face of cam discs. As the cam rotates, a follower located in the groove has its motion guided by the groove. This type of cam is called a box cam. Cylindrical cams: Cylindrical cams are used when motion has to be transmitted parallel to the axis of rotation of the cam. The cylindrical or barrel cam consists of a rotating cylinder with a helical (screw shaped) groove in its curvedsurface. A follower with a tapered roller end is located in the groove. As the cylinder turns, the follower moves in a straight line parallel to the axis of the rotation barrel cam. This type of cam is often used to guide thread on sewing machines, looms and fabric making machines. CIRCULAR CAMS: These cams are sometimes called eccentric cams. The cam profile is a circle. The center of rotation of the cam is often from the geometric center of the circle. The circular cam produces a smooth form of motion called a simple harmonic motion. These cams are often used to produce motion in pumps. Circular cams are often used to operate steam engine valves. As the cam is symmetrical, the rise and fall motions are the same. HEART SHAPED CAMS: This cam causes the follower to move with a uniform velocity. Heart-shaped cams are essential when the follower motion needs to be uniform or steady as, for example, in the mechanism that winds thread evenly on the bobbin of a sewing machine. A heart-shaped cam can be used for winding wire evenly on the former of a solenoid. UNIFORM ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION CAMS: A cam shaped as shown controls the motion of the follower so that it moves with uniform acceleration and retardation. The follower gains and looses velocity at a constant rate. Uniform acceleration and retardation cams are used to controls the motion of linkages in complex machinery. Types of Cam Followers There are three types of cam followers, and since the type of follower influences the profile of the cam it is worthwhile considering the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The three types are the knife-edge, the roller follower and the flatfoot or mushroom follower. The Knife Edge Follower: This is the simplest type, is not often used due to the rapid rate of wear. When it is adopted, it is usually for reciprocating motion, running in slides and there is considerable side thrust, this being a component of the thrust from the cam. The Roller Follower: This eliminates the problem of rapid wear since the sliding effect is largely replaced by a roller action. Some sliding will still take place due to the varying peripheral speed of the cam profile, due to the changing radius of the point of contact. Note also that the radial position of the contact between the cam and the roller, relative to the follower center, will change according to whether a rise or fall motion is taken place: this fact has to be considered when constructing the cam profile. Again,with the roller follower, considerable side thrusts are present, a disadvantage when dealing with reciprocating motions. This side thrust will be increased when using small rollers. The Flat Foot or Mushroom Follower: This has the advantage that the only side thrust present is that due to the friction between the follower and the cam. The problem of wear is not so great as with the knife-edge follower, since the point of contact between the cam and follower will move across the face of the follower according to the change of shape of the cam. A trick to lessen further the effect of wear is to design the follower to be capable of axial rotation and arrange the axis of the follower to lie to one side of the cam. Thus the contact with the cam will tend to cause rotation of the follower. The cam profile, to work with a flatfoot follower, must be convex at all parts, in order to prevent the corners of the follower digging into the cam profile. The minimum cam radius should be as small as possible to minimize sliding velocity and friction. All three types of cam followers can be mounted in the following ways: 1) In-line with the cam center line, 2) Offset from the cam center line, or 3) Mounted on a swinging radial arm. CAM-VALVE CAM TERMINOLOGY Trace point: A theoretical point on the follower, corresponding to the point of a fictitious knife-edge follower. It is used to generate the pitch curve. In the case of a roller follower, the trace point is at the center of the roller. 2.Pitch curve: The path generated by the trace point at the follower is rotated about a stationary cam. 3. Working curve: The working surface of a cam in contact with the follower. For the knife-edge follower of the plate cam, the pitch curve and the working curves coincide. In a close or grooved cam there is an inner profile and an outer working curve. 4. Pitch circle: A circle from the cam center through the pitch point. The pitch circle radius is used to calculate a cam of minimum size for a given pressure angle. 5. Prime circle (reference circle): The smallest circle from the cam center through the pitch curve. 6. Base circle: The smallest circle from the cam center through the cam profile curve. 7. Stroke or throw: The greatest distance or angle through which the follower moves or rotates. 8. Follower displacement: The position of the follower from a specific zero or rest position (usually its the position when the follower contacts with the base circle of the cam) in relation to time or the rotary angle of the cam. 9. Pressure angle: The angle at any point between the normal to the pitch curve and the instantaneous direction of the follower motion. This angle is important in cam design because it represents the steepness of the cam profile. Some question arises regarding cam and followers: When is a flat faced follower preferred as compared to roller followers and why? Flat faced followers are preferred to roller followers where space is limited for eg: cams with flat followers are used to operate valves of an automobile engine but in case of stationary and oil engines, roller followers are preferred because more space is available. What data is plotted on displacement diagram of cam and follower motion? Ans:Plot of linear displacement i.e. lift or stroke (s) of follower (on Y axis direction) versus angular displacement (ÃŽÂ ¸) of the cam for one rotation (on X axis direction)

australia Essay -- essays research papers

*Geography* Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It lies in the Southern Hemisphere between 11 ° and 44 ° south latitude and 113 ° and 154 ° east longitude. The entire area of land is about the same size as the continental United States, or about one and a half times the size of Europe. The mainland of Australia has an area of 2,967,909 square miles. The country is divided into six states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. The geological activity that created the country’s mountains, plains, and rivers ceased millions of years ago. Earthquakes are very rare and the last volcanic eruption occurred more than 5,000 years ago. The highest mountain in Australia, Mount Kosciusko, is only 7,310 feet above sea level. *Climate*   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Australia experiences a wide variety of climates. In the north, the continent’s immense interior gives way to hot, wet monsoonal tropical regions. The southeast coast, where most of Australia’s population lives, is cooler and drier. The southwest is very hot and dry in the summer, but milder and wetter in the winter. The climate is very similar to the Mediterranean countries of Europe, or to California. Summer temperatures in Australia can soar over 104 °, but the costal regions are cooler due to offshore breezes. Because of the heat and lack of rain, bushfires rage through the tinder-dry landscape, destroying half a million acres of forest and grassland every year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hot temperatures of the inland coupled with the lack of rain mean that 70% of Australia receives less than 20 inches of rain a year, making it the world’s driest continent. Farming is difficult in these areas, but not impossible, thanks to artesian water and the construction of many irrigation schemes. *People*   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first inhabitants were people belonging to the Australoid group, who probably originated from Southeast Asia. These people traveled to the Australian continent about 40,000 years ago. A short while later, Aborigines landed in canoes and rafts on the north coast of Australia and then moved southward across the rest of the continent. Aborigines were nomads living in family clans, each with its own territory where it could camp, hunt, and fish. The Aborigines brought two useful items from their original homela... ...sp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  The exchange rate of a US dollar to an Australian dollar is as follows: 1 US dollar = 1.94 Australian dollars. *Economy*   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP at the level of the four dominant West European economies. Rich in nature resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Commodities account for 57% of the value of total exports, so that a downturn in world commodity prices can have a big impact on the economy. The government is pushing for increases exports of manufactured goods, but competition in international markets continues to be severe. While Australia has suffered from the low growth and high unemployment characterizing the OECD countries in the early 1990s and during the recent financial problems in East Asia, the economy had expanded at a solid 4% annual growth pace in the last five years. Growth in 2002 will depend on key international commodity prices, the extent of recovery in nearby Asian economies, and the strength of US and European markets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Blind Obedience Essay -- essays research papers fc

Blind Obedience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While sitting in church on Sunday going through the same motions of every Sunday, my son leans over to ask, â€Å"Why do we have to stand up for this prayer?† My response â€Å"because we are supposed to†. Reading â€Å"The Children’s Story† by James Clavell, made me think a little more about this question that I had no answer for. A person needs to be able to explain why he does what he does. Children are innocent and unknowing; they are like a blank piece of paper waiting to be filled up with drawings and ideas. This book shows just how easy it is to mold a child. It uses a classroom of children facing a major change in their lives as the setting. The story moves quickly and the characters are only briefly sketched out. The story has a science fiction â€Å"feel† to it. The events preceding the story include a war (with an unknown opponent) that we have lost. The main character among the children is Johnny whose father fought in the war and is now being held prisoner. Johnny is afraid for his father and about the changes that are coming to his school because of the defeat. The author is able to assume that we all share common experiences from our youth and our days in grade school, introducing the characters with a minimum of prose. The major theme is critiquing education systems that teach children what to think by repetition and memorization. Clavell uses the story to point out how that makes individuals vulnerable to manipulation. How many ...

Essay on Frail Ophelia of Hamlet -- Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

Frail Ophelia of Hamlet      Ã‚   Throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it evident that Ophelia is very unstable. She continuously changes her mind about the way she feels. Laertes and Polonius command her to do things that she does not agree with, but she does them with no argument. Afraid to stand up for herself, she stands back and watches everyone else control her life. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia is treated as a marionette with her strings in the hands of the people around her; however, Kenneth Branagh portrays her as independent and innocent, ignoring Shakespeare's representation of her as feeble-minded through complete male dominance in her thoughts and actions, her indecisiveness, and digression into madness.    It is obvious throughout the play Ophelia is ordered around by Laertes and Polonius, and obeys them without a moment's thought. They act like she has no mind of her own, but she listens and does as they wish, so it seems she cannot think for herself. Polonius and Laertes treat her as though she is worthless. Laertes urges Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet ...

Chapter 10 Basic Organizational Design

Chapter 10 Basic Organizational Design Once managers are done planning, then what? This is when managers need to begin to â€Å"work the plan. † And the first step in doing that involves designing an appropriate organizational structure. This chapter covers the decisions involved with designing this structure. Focus on the following learning outcomes as you read and study this chapter. LEARNING OUTCOMES 10. 1 Describe six key elements in organizational design. 10. 2 Contrast mechanistic and organic structures. 10. 3 Discuss the contingency factors that favor either the mechanistic model or the organic model of organizational design. 0. 4 Describe traditional organizational designs. A MANAGER’S DILEMMA How can we design an organizational structure that will help us accomplish our company’s goals? Should our structure be tall or flat? Traditional or contemporary? Will our chosen design enhance our capacity to continuously learn, adapt, and change in a dynamic globa l environment? As tomorrow’s managers, many of your students will soon face these questions. In Chapter 10, students learn about various elements of organizational structure, the contingency factors that influence organizational design, and traditional and contemporary design.In addition, they will study design challenges encountered by managers who work in a variety of organizational structures. â€Å"A Manager’s Dilemma† highlights some of the problems in store for Eli Lilly & Company, a major US pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly & Co. stands to lose $10 billion in annual revenues between now and 2016 as three of its major drug patents expire. As CEO, John Lechleiter’s job is to find foster new drug development to replace the projected loss revenue. While other pharmaceutical companies are seeking a merger route to acquire new drugs, Eli Lilly One has decided to revamp the company’s operational tructure into five global business units and create an improved product research and development center. Students should address other organizational design elements Lechleiter might use to ensure that Lilly achieves its goal of speeding up its product development process? From the information presented here, it appears that Eli Lilly’s has adopted a product structure which offers the advantage of being more responsive to changes in the external environment. Eli Lilly may also want to create more teams in their structure as well as take advantage of technology with virtual teams.CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION Designing organizational structure involves the process of organizing (the second management function) and plays an important role in the success of a company. 10. 1 DEFINING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Managers need to establish structural designs that will best support and allow employees to do their work effectively and efficiently. Several important terms must be defined in order to understand the elements of organizationa l structure and design: 1. Organizing is arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organization’s goals.This process has several purposes, as shown in Exhibit 10-1. 2. Organizational structure is the formal arrangement of jobs within an organization. 3. Organizational design is developing or changing an organization’s structure. This process involves decisions about six key elements: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization/ decentralization, and formalization. Chapter 10 examines each of these structural elements. A. Work Specialization. Work specialization is dividing work activities into separate job tasks.Most of today’s managers regard work specialization as an important organizing mechanism, but not as a source of ever-increasing productivity. Exhibit 10-2 illustrates the human diseconomies from division of labor—boredom, fatigue, stress, low productivity, poor quality, increased absenteeism, and high turnover— eventually exceed the economic advantages created by work specialization. B. Departmentalization. When work tasks have been defined, they must be arranged in order to accomplish organizational goals.This process, known as departmentalization, is the basis by which jobs are grouped. There are five major ways to departmentalize (see Exhibit 10-3): 1. Functional departmentalization groups jobs by functions performed. 2. Product departmentalization groups jobs by product line. 3. Geographical departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of geographical region. 4. Process departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of product or customer flow. 5. Customer departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of specific and unique customers who have common needs. 6.Popular trends in departmentalization include the following: a. Customer departmentalization continues to be a highly popular approach because it allows better monitoring of customers’ needs and respo nds to changes in the needs of customers. b. Cross-functional teams, which are work teams composed of individuals from various functional specialties, are being used along with traditional departmental arrangements. C. Chain of Command. The chain of command is the line of authority extending from upper organizational levels to the lowest levels, which clarifies who reports to whom.Three concepts related to chain of command are authority, responsibility, and unity of command. 1. Authority is the rights inherent in a managerial position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do it. a. The acceptance theory of authority proposed by Chester Barnard says that authority comes from the willingness of subordinates to accept it. Barnard contended that subordinates will accept orders only if the following conditions are satisfied: 1. They understand the order. 2.They feel the order is consistent with the organization’s purpose. 3. The order does not conflict with their persona l beliefs. 4. They are able to perform the task as directed. b. Line authority entitles a manager to direct the work of an employee. It is the employer–employee authority relationship that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon, according to the chain of command, as shown in Exhibit 10-4. c. Staff authority functions to support, assist, advise, and generally reduce some of their informational burdens.Exhibit 10-5 illustrates line and staff authority. 2. Responsibility is the obligation to perform any assigned duties. 3. Unity of command is the management principle that each person should report to only one manager. D. Span of Control. Span of control is the number of employees a manager can efficiently and effectively manage. 1. The span of control concept is important because it determines how many levels and managers an organization will have. (See Exhibit 10-6 for an example) 2. What determines the â€Å"ideal† span of control?Contingency fac tors such as the skills and abilities of the manager and the employees, the characteristics of the work being done, similarity and complexity of employee tasks, the physical proximity of subordinates, the degree to which standardized procedures are in place, the sophistication of the organization’s information system, the strength of the organization’s culture, and the preferred style of the manager influence the ideal number of subordinates. 3. The trend in recent years has been toward wider (larger) spans of control. E. Centralization and Decentralization.The concepts of centralization and decentralization address who, where, and how decisions are made in organizations. 1. Centralization is the degree to which decision making is concentrated at upper levels of the organization. 2. Decentralization is the degree to which lower-level employees provide input or actually make decisions. 3. The current trend is toward decentralizing decision making in order to make organi zations more flexible and responsive. 4. Employee empowerment is giving employees more authority (power) to make decisions. . A number of factors influence the degree of centralization or decentralization in an organization (see Exhibit 10-7). F. Formalization refers to the degree to which jobs within an organization are standardized and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures. 1. In a highly formalized organization, employees have little discretion, and a high level of consistent and uniform output exists. Formalized organizations have explicit job descriptions, many organizational rules, and clearly defined procedures. 2.In a less-formalized organization, employees have much freedom and can exercise discretion in the way they do their work. 3. Formalization not only fosters relatively unstructured job behaviors, but also eliminates the need for employees to consider alternatives. 4. The degree of formalization can vary widely between organizations a nd even within organizations. 10. 2 MECHANISTIC AND ORGANIC STRUCTURES Organizations do not have identical structures. Even companies of comparable size do not necessarily have similar structures. A. Two Models of Organizational Design. See Exhibit 10-8) 1. A mechanistic organization is an organizational design that is rigid and tightly controlled. It is characterized by high specialization, rigid departmentalization, narrow spans of control, high formalization, a limited information network, and little participation in decision making by lower-level employees. 2. An organic organization is an organizational design that is highly adaptive and flexible. It is characterized by little work specialization, minimal formalization, and little direct supervision of employees. 3.Under what circumstances is each design favored? It â€Å"depends† on contingency variables. 10. 3 CONTINGENCY FACTORS Appropriate organizational structure depends upon four contingency variables: A. Strategy and structure. The organization’s strategy is one of the contingency variables that influences organizational design. 1. Alfred Chandler originated the strategy-structure relationship. His finding that structure follows strategy indicates that as organizations change their strategies, they must change their structure to support that strategy. . Most current strategy/structure frameworks focus on three strategy dimensions: a) Innovation needs the flexibility and free flow of information present in the organic organization. b) Cost minimization needs the efficiency, stability, and tight controls of the mechanistic organization. c) Imitation uses some of the characteristics of both mechanistic and organic organizations. B. Size and structure. Considerable historical evidence indicates that an organization’s size significantly affects its structure.Larger organizations tend to have more specialization, departmentalization, centralization, and formalization, although the si ze-structure relationship is not linear. C. Technology has been shown to affect an organization’s choice of structure. 1. Every organization uses some form of technology to transform inputs into outputs. 2. Joan Woodward’s study of structure and technology shows that organizations adapt to their technology. She found that three distinct technologies have increasing levels of complexity and sophistication. a) Unit production is the production of items in units or small batches. ) Mass production is the production of items in large batches. c) Process production is the production of items in continuous processes. 3. Woodward found in her study of these three groups that distinct relationships exist among these technologies, the subsequent structure of the organization, and the effectiveness of the organization. Exhibit 10-9 and provides a summary of these findings. LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE As the first female CEO of Avon, Andrea Jung has held that position for a dec ade—the most-tenured female CEO in the Fortune 500. Ms.Jung clearly understands the importance of organizational design in helping her global company prosper in good times and bad. This part of her job is especially challenging considering that 70 percent of Avon’s sales are in developing countries. Ms. Jung has made tough decisions to restructure, refocus, and redefine the company’s strategies and created an organizational design to help it continue its success as the leading women’s beauty products company. D. Environmental uncertainty and structure Environmental uncertainty is the final contingency factor that has been shown to affect organizational structure.Environmental uncertainty may be managed by making adjustments in the organization’s structure. The more uncertain the environment, the more flexible and responsive the organization needs to be. 10. 4 TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGNS A number of different organizational designs can be fou nd in today’s organizations. Exhibit 10-8 summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of each of these designs. A. A simple structure is an organizational design with low departmentaliza-tion, wide spans of control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. . Strengths of the simple structure are its flexibility, speed, clear accountability and low maintenance costs. 2. The major limitation of a simple structure is that it is most effective when used in small organizations. B. As an organization grows, its structure tends to become more specialized and formalized. When contingency factors favor a bureaucratic or mechanistic design, one of the following two options is likely to be used: 1. A functional structure is an organizational design that groups similar or related occupational specialties together. . A divisional structure is an organizational structure made up of separate, semiautonomous units or divisions. LET’S GET REAL: MY RESPONSE Cindy Brewer Customer Contact Channel Manager Sears Holdings Corporation Loves Park, IL Cindy offers several recommendations for Eli Lilly & Company. To better the structure of the organization, she recommends the use of more flexible structures, i. e. a divisional and organic structure, while at the same time including a mechanistic structure to help speed up certain aspects of the drug approval process.Her final recommendation, to ‘create cross-functional teams across the business units to share best practices and key learning to increase the product development process’ is an insightful one in that it leverages the power of teams to aid in the decision making process and at the same time create a learning/innovation based climate. Answers to Review and Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the traditional and contemporary views of each of the six key elements of organizational design. Traditionally, work specialization was viewed as a way to divide work activities into separate job tasks.Today’s view is that it is an important organizing mechanism but it can lead to problems. The chain of command and its companion concepts—authority, responsibility, and unity of command—were viewed as important ways of maintaining control in organizations. The contemporary view is that they are less relevant in today’s organizations. The traditional view of span of control was that managers should directly supervise no more than five to six individuals. The contemporary view is that the span of control depends on the skills and abilities of the manager and the employees and on the characteristics of the situation. . Can an organization’s structure be changed quickly? Why or why not? Should it be changed quickly? Explain. The speed with which structural changes can be implemented depends partly upon an organization’s size. A small organization is usually able to change its structure more rapidly than a larger one because a smaller c ompany has fewer employees who are involved in the restructuring process. However, a large organization can change its structure and often does in response to changing environmental conditions and changing strategies. 3. Contrast mechanistic and organic organizations.A mechanistic organization is a rigid and tightly controlled structure. An organic organization is highly adaptive and flexible. 4. Would you rather work in a mechanistic or an organic organization? Why? Students’ answers to this question will vary. Many students prefer the structure provided by a mechanistic organization, whereas others would be less productive in an organization with structural rigidity. Note that SAL #III. A. 1 â€Å"What Type of Organization Structure Do I Prefer? † addresses whether each of your students would like to work in a bureaucracy (a mechanistic organization).Students might want to revisit this assessment in answering this question. 5. Explain the contingency factors that aff ect organizational design. An organization’s structure should support the strategy. If the strategy changes, the structure also should change. An organization’s size can affect its structure up to a certain point. Once an organization reaches a certain size (usually around 2,000 employees), it’s fairly mechanistic. An organization’s technology can affect its structure. An organic structure is most effective with unit production and process production technology.A mechanistic structure is most effective with mass production technology. The more uncertain an organization’s environment, the more it needs the flexibility of an organic design. 6. Contrast the three traditional organizational designs. A simple structure is one with low departmentalization, wide spans of control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. A functional structure groups similar or related occupational specialties together. A divisional structure is made up of separate business units or divisions. 7.With the availability of advanced information technology that allows an organization’s work to be done anywhere at any time, is organizing still an important managerial function? Why or why not? Although an organization’s work may be done anywhere at any time, organizing remains a vital managerial function because the work that must be accomplished still must be divided, grouped, and coordinated. 8. Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually have negative results for both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not? Studies as far back as 1924 show that simplified jobs lead to boredom.In 1950 other researchers found that highly segmented and simplified jobs resulted in lower employee morale and output. Other consequences of low employee motivation include absenteeism and high employee turnover, both very costly for businesses. ETHICS DILEMMA Shortly after the BP oil spill, B P engaged in a campaign to improve their image including buying domain names that referred to terms like ‘oil spill’ and ‘oil spill claims. ’ A company spokeswoman said â€Å"the strategy is to assist those who are most impacted and help them find the right forms and the right people quickly and effectively. Is this an ethical issue? What ethical concerns do students see in BP doing this? What stakeholders might be affected by BP’s actions (buying the search terms)? In what ways might these stakeholders be affected? While some students may not see this as unethical, there is a question as to whether BP acquired the domain names to better inform the public or to control information access. By controlling information, BP could put their ‘spin’ on events or even keep the domain names idle so that they could not be used by others to distribute negative information about the company actions.Ultimately, with a disaster as large as this one, t here were many stakeholders affected – fisherman, rig workers, hotel owners, management, and employees. Without access to information, these stakeholders may be unaware of their rights to sue or file claims against BP. SKILLS EXERCISE: DEVELOPING YOUR EMPOWERING PEOPLE (DELEGATING) SKILLS A manager’s job is to do things through other people. This requires that a manager learn to trust and empower those they supervise. In this exercise, the author gives five behaviors for effective delegation.Students are to then to read through the scenario and write a paper describing how they would handle the situation described. In the scenario, Ann is already following several of guidelines given for recommendation, by clarifying the assignment and allowing Ricky to participate. In Ricky’s meeting with Bill, he will have to follow his Boss’s lead and follow the recommendations as well. He should first clarify the assignment and what Bill will be able to include (and n ot include) in the manual. It will also be a good idea if Ricky and Bill get other employees’ input on the policy manual – since it will be used by everyone in the organization.Finally, Ricky should establish a feedback channel so that Bill can ask questions and Ricky can keep tract of Bill’s progress. WORKING TOGETHER: TEAM EXERCISE Form groups of three to four students and have each group choose an organization with which students in the group are familiar (where students work, a student organization to which they belong, your college or university, etc. ). Have students draw an organization chart of this organization. Students should show departments (or groups) and especially be careful to get the chain of command correct.Students should be prepared to share their chart with the class. If this is done outside of class as an assignment, it may be a good idea to have students use Microsoft PowerPoint to prepare the chart. PowerPoint has an option to draw organ izational charts in the Smartart menu. Your Turn to be a Manager †¢ Find three different examples of organizational charts. In a report, describe each of them. Try to decipher the organization’s use of organizational design elements, especially departmentalization, chain of command, centralization–decentralization, and formalization. Survey at least 10 different managers about how many employees they supervise. Also ask them whether they feel they could supervise more employees or whether they feel the number they supervise is too many. Graph your survey results and write a report describing what you found. Draw some conclusions about span of control. †¢ Draw an organizational chart of an organization with which you’re familiar (where you work, a student organization to which you belong, your college or university, etc. ). Be very careful in showing the departments (or groups) and especially be careful to get the chain of command correct.Be prepared to share your chart with the class. †¢ Using the organizational chart you just created, redesign the organization’s structure. What structural changes might make this organization more efficient and effective? Write a report describing what you would do and why. Be sure to include an example of the original organizational chart as well as a chart of your proposed revision of the organizational structure. †¢ Steve’s and Mary’s suggested readings: Gary Hamel, The Future of Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2007); Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat 3. (Picador, 2007); Harold J. Leavitt, Top Down: Why Hierarchies Are Here to Stay and How to Manage Them More Effectively (Harvard Business School Press, 2005); and Thomas W. Malone, The Future of Work (Harvard Business School Press, 2004). †¢ Choose one of the three topics discussed in the section on today’s organizational design challenges. Research this topic and write a paper about it. Fo cus on finding current information and current examples of companies dealing with these issues. †¢ In your own words, write down three things you learned in this chapter about being a good manager. Self-knowledge can be a powerful learning tool. Go to mymanagementlab and complete these self-assessment exercises: How Well Do I Handle Ambiguity? What Type of Organizational Structure Do I Prefer? How Good Am I at Playing Politics? How Willing Am I to Delegate? Using the results of your assessments, identify personal strengths and weaknesses. What will you do to reinforce your strengths and improve your weaknesses? Answers to Case Application Questions Ask Chuck 1. Describe and evaluate what Charles Schwab is doing. It is easy for a company to lose sight of their goals.While other lines of business may be potential money makers, going beyond a firm’s core competence can lead a firm into financial trouble. In this case, students should see how Charles Schwab has stayed true t o its primary business – making stock trades for investors who make their own financial decisions. Another goal of Schwab is customer service. In the example of Cheryl Pasquale, we can see how she uses the company’s information system to closely monitor her sales representatives to make sure they are meeting the needs of customers. 2.How might the company’s culture of not buying into hype and not taking excessive risks affect its organizational structural design? Schwab’s conservative culture would foster a simple structure characterized by low departmentalization, wide spans of control, centralized authority, and little formalization. This structure fast, flexible, inexpensive to maintain and has clear lines of accountability. 3. What structural implications—good and bad—might Schwab’s intense focus on customer feedback have? Schwab’s focus on customer feedback would indicate a flexible structure that is able to adapt to meet customer demands.This structure would allow employees to spend more time and energy devoted to improving relationships with customers and possibly provide for exceptions to improve customer satisfaction. On the other hand, building strong customer relationships takes time and money. By paying so much attention to the customer there is the potential loss of efficiency that Schwab has to maintain to keep stock transactions low. 4. Do you think this arrangement would work for other types of organizations? Why or why not? This type of customer focus would not work well for firms that operate on a thin margin.For example, manufacturing firms that operate in the maturity phase of the industry life cycle focus on keeping production costs as low as possible. This arrangement may also not work well in situations where organizations are set up around processes. A New Kind of Structure 1. Describe and evaluate what Pfizer is doing. What Jordan Cohen has created at Pfizer is a network organizat ion. It’s a form of the boundaryless organization structure where company employees concentrate on the important aspects of the job, i. e. hose elements that are related to the company’s core competencies, and other tasks are outsourced to another organization. 2. What structural implications—good and bad—does this approach have? (Think in terms of the six organizational design elements. ) Have students break into groups and discuss how the advantages and disadvantages of using a network organizational structure from the perspective of: †¢ Work Specialization †¢ Departmentalization †¢ Chain Of Command †¢ Span Of Control †¢ Centralization And Decentralization †¢ Formalization Some groups may be assigned more than one design element.For more information on Pfizer’s new structure, go to the web 3. Do you think this arrangement would work for other types of organizations? Why or why not? The network organization design use d by Pfizer has helped to balance recent layoffs the company experienced after a nearly $4 billion yearly budget cut. According to managers in the Fast Company article, the OOF has cut some project costs by 100%. While this program has been a success for Pfizer, it may not be realistic for other companies that either (a) have not experienced such deep cuts in personnel, or (b) have such high personnel costs. . What role do you think organizational structure plays in an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness? Explain. Organizational structure plays a key role in enabling a company to function smoothly, to remain responsive to its internal and external stakeholders, and to adapt to changes in the marketplace. Innovation is facilitated by fewer layers of management, and students have already learned that the survival and success of a company is usually dependent upon its ability to function as a learning organization that promotes innovation.