Constitutional Law of the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Constitutional Law of the European Union - Essay Example A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods. A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force.†1 The directive will only inform the end result of the directive without dictating as to how it should be implemented. Generally a time period is given to the member states to implement the directive by passing necessary legislation. The directive in question is to make it an option available to the purchaser of goods through mail order business to return the goods so purchased within fifteen days without having to assign any reason for doing so and to make it obligatory for the supplier to accept the return and refund the purchase price within 7 days after deducting reasonable expenditure incurred for the supply. The directives are applicable to which ever member state it is addressed to or to all the member states. It is binding on the member state to implement within the time frame given by the council which is called transposing into the national law of the member state failing which it is open for the European commission to initiate legal action against the defaulting member states in the European court of justice, first in the Court of First Instance Decisions, for necessary action depending upon the seriousness and also award damages for the affected individuals. Though originally the directive to be implemented by the member state as it may feel fit, lately 2the law has evolved to make the member state liable for non implementation of the directive. This is Direct Effect

Beowulf Essay Example for Free

Beowulf Essay When Beowulf dies, the Geats dwell upon his greatness. They see him as a hero, not just because of the things he accomplished, but because of the sacrifices he made for them. The character, Beowulf, is a classic example of someone who fights for pride and glory. He is a brave warrior who is trying to repay his father’s debts to the king of Denmark. Beowulf is a tragic hero because he is noble, has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall, and sacrifices himself for the good of his people. The achievements that Beowulf accomplishes make the people believe in him as a tragic hero. To be noble, one has to possess power and authority, but still fulfill obligations to their people. Beowulf stands as a noble king. He earns his power, and leads and fights for his people. At the end of the story, Beowulf battles a dragon that has been troubling his people. This shows us the sacrifice he makes for the Geats to try to save them. After Beowulf is defeated and killed by the dragon, his loyal warrior, Wiglaf, speaks. Wiglaf, the only warrior standing by his side during the fight, tells the other warriors that they have betrayed Beowulf, the king â€Å"who showered you with gifts† (2866). In this quote, Wiglaf is saying that Beowulf has proven his loyalty to his warriors by giving them weapons, armor, and treasure, which in their society was expected of a king or ring-giver. After Beowulf’s death, the Geats realize his nobility, generosity, and bravery. Although Beowulf is a noble king, he, like every tragic hero, has a tragic flaw. In Beowulf’s case it is hubris. Hubris is a characteristic of someone who is over confident or prideful. Pride has a good and a bad consequence for Beowulf. One benefit of pride is that it promotes confidence in battles. For example, when Beowulf goes to fight Grendel, he says, â€Å"now I mean to be a match for Grendel, / settle the outcome in single combat† (425-426). In this quote, Beowulf is saying that he wants to keep the matchup fair between Grendel and himself, so to keep the playing field level he will fight him without any weapons. This is a great example of Beowulf being over confident in himself by saying he doesn’t need weapons to kill Grendel. When he is young, his pride helps him win battles, but at an old age, hubris can be a flaw. This is seen when Beowulf faces the dragon after he has been king for 50 years. At this old age, Beowulf is still so prideful that he wants to fight the dragon alone. This is an example of how his hubris is a detriment. Because of his hubris, Beowulf does not regard age and thinks he will be victorious just as in previous battles. He finds out this is not so when he is defeated. Beowulf makes many sacrifices in the course of the story to protect his people. The final sacrifice even leads to his death. Near the end of the story, Beowulf hears of a dragon that has been terrorizing his people. To destroy this figure, which the people fear, he goes to fight the dragon with his warriors. When he arrives to the area where the dragon lives, he turns around to his men and says, â€Å"this fight is not yours, / nor is it up to any man except me/ to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth† (2533-2535). In this quote, Beowulf tells his warriors he wants to fight the dragon alone. He commands them to stay back so that he may kill the dragon by himself. The main reason why he does this is because he feels responsible for his people and he believes he is the only one that should defend them. His men obey his words, and he goes into battle by himself. At the end of the fight, Wiglaf sees Beowulf die, and realizes the honorable king he was and the heroic sacrifice that he made for his people. Throughout the story and his many battles, Beowulf displays the characteristics of a tragic hero. He was noble, and made many great sacrifices for his people. Beowulf shows that performing his duty as king was more important to him than his own life. This ultimate sacrifice shows the Geats the true hero he was for them. Beowulf, not only in this book, but in all old English literature is one of the best examples of a tragic hero.

Essay --

The entire book is told from the view of Robert D. Hare, PhD., a psychologist and researcher of psychopathy. Hare decided to write this book to shed light on the many psychopaths that live among all of us from day to day. Hare does this by using evidence from case studies, stories told to him, and the private meetings he had with the psychopaths that he has met along the way. Hare’s account was an excellent read because he was very modest, even admitting to being fooled by some of the psychopaths he encountered, which made him seem more like a real person. The mind of a psychopath is still far from being explained, however Hare feels the best way to figure out a psychopath operates is to stop them before they are able to cause any damage. Doing so, victims would not be harmed; mentally and physically, saving tax payers money due to court costs, rehabilitation and parole programs that simply don’t work. Psychopath 1 The Mind of a Psychopath Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us describes how Hare began his career in a prison and first realized he was face to face with a psychopath named Ray, who was a prisoner. At that time, Hare believed the inmates could be rehabilitated. Ray was Hare’s first patient and they worked together for several months before Hare realized Ray was manipulating him. Hare used his own practices, diagnoses, as well as interviews from serial killers to let readers know what a psychopath was really like. Hare also believed a psychopath is not crazy or insane, but the decisions made by a psychopath are conscientiously made. Hare goes onto stress that not all serial killers are psychopaths, that some are actually insane. According to Hare, â€Å"psychopathy cannot be understo... ...sychopaths should integrate their persistent self-interest, pointing out how time after time their anti-social behavior is not ultimately in their best interest. As shocking as it may sound, so many people have either come face to face, or know of someone that has met a real life psychopath. Unfortunately, most won't know it until it's too late, and even then, it could be almost impossible to understand that it has happened. These aren’t just the Manson’s or Jeffrey Dahmer’s of the world. Psychopaths are not always killers, and some are not even violent. As Dr. Hare pointed out in this book, some of the best trained and most experienced mental health professionals can and will be fooled at least once in their lifetime. This book was very easy to read and to comprehend, leaving someone prepared to handle a situation if dealt with a psychopath a little bit easier.

Pom Study Guide

Service Processes – Session 1 The Lean Enterprise Clear focus in operating decisions leads to superior performance But, limits to flexibility, risk of (market or technical) obsolescence, or the routine Operations Strategy is about deciding what solution to offer (product or service), to who, and how to deliver it. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] Manufacturing Process – Session 2 Distinct business processes are appropriate to create distinct value propositions Jumbled flow (job shop) for low volume and highly customized solutions †¢ Disconnected line flow (batch) for multiple products in moderate volumes †¢ Connected line flow (Assembly line) for high volume of major products †¢ Continuous flow for commodity products Important sources of cost differentials †¢ Operations strategy †¢ Operational efficiency The dynamics of the product-process matrix †¢ Positioning in the P-P matrix is not only driven by operations strategy but also by the product lifeline †¢ Moving in the P-P matrix requires changing the entire mindset/culture of the organization [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] pic] Part II – Business Process Analysis and Improvement Customer Response Performance in Services – Session 3 From parameters to performance If s = 1 server [pic]or use lookup table if s > 1 Parameters sNumber of Servers ?Frequency of arrivals -> x/day / x/hr / x/minute ?Average service time -> days / hrs / minutes ?=1/ ? Service rate ?Utilization; ? = /s CVCoefficient of variation; CV = ? /? (stddev/mean) CVSVariation of service time = / , = 1 if Exponential, 0 if constant. CVAVariation of arrival rate = / , = 1 if Poisson. Average performance measures WqWaiting time WTotal throughput timeLqNumber of customers in the queue LNumber of customers in the system Wq + ? Customer response time Single Server What are the parameters? ?,? , CVA, CVS 1. Find ? = 2. Find Wq from the formula above 3. Lq = ? Wq W = Wq + ? L = ? W Multiple Server 1 . What are the parameters? ?,? , s 2. Find ? = /s 3. Find Lq from table using s and ? ; Assumes CVA = 1 and CVS = 1. 4. Wq = Lq/? W = Wq + ? L = ? W Assembly lineJob Shop CVS0> 1 CVA^v Utilization (target)~90%~60% If multiple production machines, equalize Lq across the production lines Waiting is â€Å"inevitable†, even with less than 100% utilization Scale effects, ? †¢ Utilization effects, ? /(1- ? ) †¢ Variability effects, (CVA2 + CVS2)/2 Little’s Law: Inventory = rate x wait (on average) In general, for stable systems (? < 1), the average inventory in system = average arrival rate x average time in system. Can also be used to calculate the average time in system. L = ? W Managing waits/customer response time †¢ Remove non-value added steps to reduce processing time (? v, ? v) †¢ Reduce variability in demand (CVAv) and process (CVSv) †¢ Pool resources to more effectively use existing capacity (s^) Lessons for Life: Keep slackWhat is the Goa l of the Enterprise? – Session 4 Definitions ThroughputThe rate at which the system generates revenues Production is not revenue Capacity utilization is not the goal, only a possible means to achieve it InventoryThe level of capital invested in the system â€Å"It takes money to make money† †¦ just don’t take too much Money costs money; Opportunity cost of equity, interest charged on debt. Managing with bottlenecks 1. Find the bottleneck 2. Maximize throughput by exploiting the bottleneck o Avoid starving the bottleneck (create buffer for some inventory in front of it). Lost capacity at bottleneck is lost forever o Schedule to keep it busy. Reduce number of setups at the bottleneck (big batches) 3. Elevate: Increase capacity at bottleneck o Reduce length of setup time at the bottleneck o Quality check: Don’t let bad parts be processed on the bottleneck o Offload work to any other resource that can handle it (e. g. cross training, task offloading; res ources in-house or contracted out) o More capacity at bottleneck means more throughput 4. As one bottleneck is resolved, a new bottleneck appears elsewhere. Repeat! 5.Minimize inventory at non-bottlenecks o ‘Drum’ and ‘rope’ scheduling to let the bottleneck set the pace for input materials, to ‘balance flow’. o Reduce batch sizes at non bottle-neck o Efficiency & capacity improvements at non-bottleneck may reduce inventory, but won’t improve throughput 6. Bottleneck early in process simplifies flow management 7. The bottleneck may also be o Accounting systems or focus on operational targets (are not goals, should enable achievement of goals) o Mindsets o Suppliers o Market The â€Å"Goal† approach to management 1. Identify your goal . Identify your bottleneck 3. Exploit your bottleneck a. Don’t starve the bottleneck b. Lost capacity at the bottleneck is lost forever 4. Subordinate all other decisions to step 3 a. The bottle neck is the â€Å"drum† for loading the system 5. Elevate your bottleneck a. Find ways to increase the capacity at the bottleneck 6. Identify your next bottleneck a. Don’t let inertia set in Process of Continuous Improvement †¢ WHAT is it that I should seek to achieve? What is the fundamental challenge? †¢ WHERE is the bottleneck? What prohibits me/us from doing better? †¢ HOW to change?How can I alleviate or even remove this bottleneck? It is the task of the manager to create a process for continuous improvement, not just ad hoc solutions. Key Lessons from Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) Changing Strategies3 months Changing Product Design6 months – 2 years Changing Plant Process2 – 4 years Excellence of Plant Managers †¢ Forecast needed changes in company’s manufacturing strategy †¦ before anyone tells them †¢ Prepare plant’s processes for future changes in product mix †¦ before anyone tells them Busines s Process Economics – Session 5 Process Model Effective capacity of process as a whole is determined by the bottleneck step (step with the smallest effective capacity, expressed in units of final output) †¢ Expressed in units of final output, the effective capacity of a process step depends on downstream losses †¢ Effective capacity of a step also depends on the net availability of that step (including working hours, equipment breakdowns, preventive maintenance, †¦) †¢ In a continuous process, no inventory between steps is allowed. If one step becomes unavailable all upstream steps are immediately blocked and all downstream steps are immediately starved.Levers for Process Improvement †¢ Yield improvements/quality control o Before bottleneck ? Reduce input cost per unit output (lower variable costs! ) ? Capacity doesn’t change (bottleneck still limiting factor) o After bottleneck ? More output per unit input (lower variable costs! ) ? Capacity i ncreases (effect on fixed cost allocation per unit) ? Might change the bottleneck †¢ Bottleneck speed improvement (infrastructure/availability similar) o Increases capacity – more productive hours o Unit variable costs don’t change (same output per unit input) o Bottleneck might shift Ask to see throughput model †¢ Volatility: Can be in demand and price more than in production process Key Lessons †¢ Process flow analysis is needed to understand economics of production and value of improvement, which is essential for good business decisions †¢ The impact of levers for improvement depend on where (in the system) they are used: o Improvement at bottleneck ? Improves the whole system ? May shift the bottleneck o Yield (and quality) improvement before bottleneck ? Use less input per unit output o Yield (and quality) improvement after bottleneck ? Produce more outputs per unit inputYou can always improve by implementing continuous improvement/learning eff orts. Part III – Inventory: Operations and Tactics Customer Response Performance in Manufacturing Operations – Session 6 The Toyota Production System is the benchmark. Definitions BlockingCaused when downstream is slower than upstream StarvationCaused when downstream is faster than upstream BTFBuild-To-Forecast BTOBuild-To-Order Response Times – CRT ? TPT = OQT + PCT CRTCustomer Response Time TPTThroughput Time OQTOrder Queue Time PCTProcess Cycle Times The role of inventory Blocking goes down with inventory, use idle time to produce buffers.If we have a buffer, then starvation will also go down. Push 1. No WIP control 2. If buffer before has units, you produce at next machine Pull 1. WIP control 2. If inventory buffer after needs units, you produce at previous machine If no variability, PUSH = PULL! As variability increases for each machine, what happens to system capacity and why? †¢ As CV2 increases, we are already losing capacity and further increase ha s less effect. †¢ Asymptotic behaviour – capacity approaches 0. As serial length of facility increases, what happens to system capacity and why? As length increases, we are already losing capacity to variability and further increase has less effect. †¢ Asymptotic behaviour – capacity approaches 0. †¢ Once again, kanban length increases capacity. WIP Strategy | |Push |Pull | |BTO | |Target | |BTF |Compaq Now |>^ | Producing to Forecast – Session 7 Supply Chain Management – How Much To order |Demand |5 |6 |7 | |Probability |1/3 |1/3 |1/3 | Cost: $5 |Price |$5. 05 |$10 |$100 | Order Quantity |5 |6 |7 | Reasoning: Margin vs Cost. If margin < Cost, = Cost or > Cost, order quantity will vary accordingly. |Qty |5 |6 |7 | |E[Sales] |5 |5*1/3 + 6*2/3 |5*1/3 + 6*1/3 + 7 * 1/3| |E[Lost Sales] |1 |1/3 |0 | |E[Salvage] |0 |1/3 |1 | E[Demand] = 6 E[Sales] = E[Demand] – E[Lost Sales] E[Salvages] = i – E[Sales] i = ordered quantity -C + VProb (D ? i) = 0 VProb(D ? i) = C Prob(D ? i) = C/V i = ? + z?E[Profits] = Revenue – Cost = Price * E[Sales] + Salvage*E[Salvage] – i * C E[Sales] = E[Demand] – E[Lost Sales] E[Lost Sales] = E[D – i] = NormalLoss(z)* ? Supply Decisions – Alternative Manufacturing / Processing 1. Calculate â€Å"Profit† function for alternative 1 (piV1 – C1) 2. Calculate â€Å"Profit† function for alternative 2 (piV2 – C2) 3. Solve for pi by setting piV1 – C1 = piV2 – C2 4. pi defines the breakpoint. a. Alternative 1 is better when P(D? i) ? pi b. Alternative 2 is better when P(D? i) > pi 5. Use the z-lookup table to find z for pi a. Use this to calculate the order quantity for Alternative 1 (i1) 6.Calculate the full chance tree for option 2 to find total order quantity (i*) 7. Calculate i2 = i* – i1 Note: If multiple options, repeat process successively. Business Process Competition: M&S and Zara – Session 8 |[pic] |[pic] | Inventory Management depends upon the clock speed of the process †¢ Long lead times -> Forecast -> FGI Process (in contrast to product) innovation is an enormous weapon that can disupt the basis of competition †¢ Drive to mass customization, postponement, †¦ †¢ Shifts the diagonal of the product-process matrix downContinuous improvement is a key competitive weapon too, but can lead to rigidity †¢ Market segments, product needs, and technologies shift o Can you adapt your process and market approach fast enough? †¢ Business process reengineering is a difficult alternative to execute †¢ Business process portfolio management may be a good alternative Part IV – Total Quality Management Quality Management in Services – Session 9 Deming †¢ Prevention rather than cure o Process Improvement o Plan, Do, Check, Act †¢ Variations in Manufacturing and Service performance comes from o Process Design – 99% Process Operati ons – 1% †¢ How to divide process variations across design and operations? †¢ Process variation occurs due to many factors o Normal Distribution! ? Central tendency = mean (? ) ? Variability = standard deviation (? ) Historical Performance †¢ Process is in control – process works well according to historical performance †¢ Process is out of control – process has changed 1. Historical mean [pic] 2. Two points consecutively close to UCL or LCL 3. Five consecutive points above/below mean 4. Increasing or decreasing trends (mean is shifting) Tracking Mechanics Discrete variables (Yes/No or OK/defect measure) †¢ P-chart (or s-chart) track proportion defectives (or cumulative number of defectives) †¢ Identify when process goes outside of lower control limit (LCL) or upper control limit (UCL) †¢ Continuous variables (width, time, temp, †¦) †¢ X-bar identifies changes in central position (process mean) through tracking sample mean †¢ R-bar identifies changes in variability (process variation) through tracking sample range (hi-low) Capability analysis †¢ What is the currently â€Å"inherent† capability of my process when it is â€Å"in control†? Conformance analysis SPC charts identify when control has likely been lost and assignable cause variation has occurred Investigate for assignable cause †¢ Find â€Å"Root Cause(s)† of Potential Loss of Statistical Control Eliminate or replicate assignable cause †¢ Need Corrective Action To Move Forward Process Capability & Total Quality Management – Session 10 Definitions CpProcess Capability ratio CpkProcess Reliability Index LCLLower Control Limit LSLLower Specification Limit LTLLower Tolerance Limit (See LSL) UCLUpper Control Limit USLUpper Specification Limit UTLUpper Tolerance Limit (See USL) Potential [pic] gt; 1implies that potential is good, i. e. that the specification limits are greater than the potential performance of the system < 1implies that the potential is bad Performance [pic] > 1implies that performance is good, i. e. that the upper and lower specification limits are more than 3 standard deviations away from the mean performance of the system Why Quality? †¢ Revenue Impact – Customer Satisfaction o Value o Fitness of Use †¢ Cost Impact – Cost of poor quality o Prevention costs o Appraisal costs o Internal failure costs o External failure costs Costs of Quality : Juran model Prevention Costs |Appraisal Costs |Internal Failure|External Failure | | | |Costs |Costs | |Very good machines |Inspection costs |Cost of rework |Costs of warranty | |Very well-trained |Review costs |Scrap costs |Customers go to | |workers | | |competitors | |Excellent, |Workers stopping |Lost time on |Legal costs | |well-defined process |the line |machines | | |Standard operating |Process improvement| |Brand image | |procedures defined |costs | |affected | |clearly | | | | At each stage, costs multiply by a factor of 10!!! The Process Improvement Cycle – PDCA †¢ PLAN a quality improvement o Select theme, grasp situation, preliminary analysis, training programmes, introduce tracking measures and controls, etc†¦ †¢ DO the investigations for improvements Investigate the deviations from â€Å"normal† behaviour – these are opportunities for improvement – and find improvement actions †¢ CHECK the effectiveness of improvement actions o Confirm the effect of countermeasures †¢ ACT by implementing the improvement measures throughout the company [pic] PART V – Course in Review Inventory Between Buyers and Suppliers – Session 11 JIT – Just in Time †¢ Produce what the customer wants, when it is wanted, in the amount it is wanted, where it is wanted †¢ High Volume †¢ Low Inventory (raw materials, WIP, FGI) †¢ Demand pull (produce when needed) †¢ Little JIT: scheduling, inve ntory †¢ Bit JIT (â€Å"lean†): eliminate waste in all activities (scheduling, inventory, human resources, vendors, technology) Seven Forms of Waste (â€Å"MUDA†) |Seven Methods to Eliminate Waste | |Overproduction |Focused factory networks | |Waiting time |Group technology | |Transportation waste |Quality at the source | |Inventory waste |JIT production | |Processing waste |Uniform plant loading | |Waste of motion |Kanban production | |Product defects |Minimize setup times | JIT vs JIT II |JIT |JIT I |Ideal view: piece for piece; lot for lot | | | |Eliminate excess (RMI, WIP and FGI) inventory | | | |Pull supply chain view | | | |Supplier timely and efficient source (RMI) | |JIT II |Administration and management | | | |Eliminate administrative waste | | | |Supplier pulls production from his own plant | | | |Supplier is an effective source of ideas too | Potential gains †¢ Reduced lead times of delivery †¢ Reduced costs of procurement †¢ Avoid exces s inventory stock †¢ Better monitoring of incoming quality †¢ Greater role in new product development for supplier Potential hazards †¢ Supplier gains inside information on cost, process & design †¢ Loss of bargaining power with supplier †¢ Cannot change suppliers easily Requirements for JIT II to create opportunities for win-win †¢ Fair prices †¢ Commitment Communication †¢ Transparency Increasing competition leads to greater focus on core competencies and process efficiencies †¢ JIT is about having lean manufacturing processes to reduce waste †¢ JIT II is about reducing waste with suppliers and distributors Benefits of JIT II include †¢ Improve communication across firm boundaries †¢ Reducing rework †¢ Reducing duplication †¢ Offload work to any other resource that can handle it (e. g. cross training, task Real Just-In-Time delivery (less inventory in the supply chain) †¢ Increased involvement in the buyer- supplier relationship results in better products/services for the customer Conditions for JIT II to work Sufficient volume and transactions to generate cost savings †¢ Supplier has good engineering capabilities to improve overall product/service †¢ Supplier does not provide core technologies for the buyer †¢ TRUST†¦. How to build trust? o Common goal, open communication, and commitment ———————– Prob(D< i) -c C = c – s ith unit demanded Prob(D ? i) Salvage Value ith unit not demanded Revenue Value = revenue – salvage Work in Progress PUSH PULL No Inventory Control Inventory Control Finished Goods Inventory Build-To-Forecast Build-To-Order FGI >> 0 FGI ~0 Capability Analysis Conformance Analysis Eliminate Assignable Cause Investigate for Assignable Cause Pom Study Guide Service Processes – Session 1 The Lean Enterprise Clear focus in operating decisions leads to superior performance But, limits to flexibility, risk of (market or technical) obsolescence, or the routine Operations Strategy is about deciding what solution to offer (product or service), to who, and how to deliver it. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] Manufacturing Process – Session 2 Distinct business processes are appropriate to create distinct value propositions Jumbled flow (job shop) for low volume and highly customized solutions †¢ Disconnected line flow (batch) for multiple products in moderate volumes †¢ Connected line flow (Assembly line) for high volume of major products †¢ Continuous flow for commodity products Important sources of cost differentials †¢ Operations strategy †¢ Operational efficiency The dynamics of the product-process matrix †¢ Positioning in the P-P matrix is not only driven by operations strategy but also by the product lifeline †¢ Moving in the P-P matrix requires changing the entire mindset/culture of the organization [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] pic] Part II – Business Process Analysis and Improvement Customer Response Performance in Services – Session 3 From parameters to performance If s = 1 server [pic]or use lookup table if s > 1 Parameters sNumber of Servers ?Frequency of arrivals -> x/day / x/hr / x/minute ?Average service time -> days / hrs / minutes ?=1/ ? Service rate ?Utilization; ? = /s CVCoefficient of variation; CV = ? /? (stddev/mean) CVSVariation of service time = / , = 1 if Exponential, 0 if constant. CVAVariation of arrival rate = / , = 1 if Poisson. Average performance measures WqWaiting time WTotal throughput timeLqNumber of customers in the queue LNumber of customers in the system Wq + ? Customer response time Single Server What are the parameters? ?,? , CVA, CVS 1. Find ? = 2. Find Wq from the formula above 3. Lq = ? Wq W = Wq + ? L = ? W Multiple Server 1 . What are the parameters? ?,? , s 2. Find ? = /s 3. Find Lq from table using s and ? ; Assumes CVA = 1 and CVS = 1. 4. Wq = Lq/? W = Wq + ? L = ? W Assembly lineJob Shop CVS0> 1 CVA^v Utilization (target)~90%~60% If multiple production machines, equalize Lq across the production lines Waiting is â€Å"inevitable†, even with less than 100% utilization Scale effects, ? †¢ Utilization effects, ? /(1- ? ) †¢ Variability effects, (CVA2 + CVS2)/2 Little’s Law: Inventory = rate x wait (on average) In general, for stable systems (? < 1), the average inventory in system = average arrival rate x average time in system. Can also be used to calculate the average time in system. L = ? W Managing waits/customer response time †¢ Remove non-value added steps to reduce processing time (? v, ? v) †¢ Reduce variability in demand (CVAv) and process (CVSv) †¢ Pool resources to more effectively use existing capacity (s^) Lessons for Life: Keep slackWhat is the Goa l of the Enterprise? – Session 4 Definitions ThroughputThe rate at which the system generates revenues Production is not revenue Capacity utilization is not the goal, only a possible means to achieve it InventoryThe level of capital invested in the system â€Å"It takes money to make money† †¦ just don’t take too much Money costs money; Opportunity cost of equity, interest charged on debt. Managing with bottlenecks 1. Find the bottleneck 2. Maximize throughput by exploiting the bottleneck o Avoid starving the bottleneck (create buffer for some inventory in front of it). Lost capacity at bottleneck is lost forever o Schedule to keep it busy. Reduce number of setups at the bottleneck (big batches) 3. Elevate: Increase capacity at bottleneck o Reduce length of setup time at the bottleneck o Quality check: Don’t let bad parts be processed on the bottleneck o Offload work to any other resource that can handle it (e. g. cross training, task offloading; res ources in-house or contracted out) o More capacity at bottleneck means more throughput 4. As one bottleneck is resolved, a new bottleneck appears elsewhere. Repeat! 5.Minimize inventory at non-bottlenecks o ‘Drum’ and ‘rope’ scheduling to let the bottleneck set the pace for input materials, to ‘balance flow’. o Reduce batch sizes at non bottle-neck o Efficiency & capacity improvements at non-bottleneck may reduce inventory, but won’t improve throughput 6. Bottleneck early in process simplifies flow management 7. The bottleneck may also be o Accounting systems or focus on operational targets (are not goals, should enable achievement of goals) o Mindsets o Suppliers o Market The â€Å"Goal† approach to management 1. Identify your goal . Identify your bottleneck 3. Exploit your bottleneck a. Don’t starve the bottleneck b. Lost capacity at the bottleneck is lost forever 4. Subordinate all other decisions to step 3 a. The bottle neck is the â€Å"drum† for loading the system 5. Elevate your bottleneck a. Find ways to increase the capacity at the bottleneck 6. Identify your next bottleneck a. Don’t let inertia set in Process of Continuous Improvement †¢ WHAT is it that I should seek to achieve? What is the fundamental challenge? †¢ WHERE is the bottleneck? What prohibits me/us from doing better? †¢ HOW to change?How can I alleviate or even remove this bottleneck? It is the task of the manager to create a process for continuous improvement, not just ad hoc solutions. Key Lessons from Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) Changing Strategies3 months Changing Product Design6 months – 2 years Changing Plant Process2 – 4 years Excellence of Plant Managers †¢ Forecast needed changes in company’s manufacturing strategy †¦ before anyone tells them †¢ Prepare plant’s processes for future changes in product mix †¦ before anyone tells them Busines s Process Economics – Session 5 Process Model Effective capacity of process as a whole is determined by the bottleneck step (step with the smallest effective capacity, expressed in units of final output) †¢ Expressed in units of final output, the effective capacity of a process step depends on downstream losses †¢ Effective capacity of a step also depends on the net availability of that step (including working hours, equipment breakdowns, preventive maintenance, †¦) †¢ In a continuous process, no inventory between steps is allowed. If one step becomes unavailable all upstream steps are immediately blocked and all downstream steps are immediately starved.Levers for Process Improvement †¢ Yield improvements/quality control o Before bottleneck ? Reduce input cost per unit output (lower variable costs! ) ? Capacity doesn’t change (bottleneck still limiting factor) o After bottleneck ? More output per unit input (lower variable costs! ) ? Capacity i ncreases (effect on fixed cost allocation per unit) ? Might change the bottleneck †¢ Bottleneck speed improvement (infrastructure/availability similar) o Increases capacity – more productive hours o Unit variable costs don’t change (same output per unit input) o Bottleneck might shift Ask to see throughput model †¢ Volatility: Can be in demand and price more than in production process Key Lessons †¢ Process flow analysis is needed to understand economics of production and value of improvement, which is essential for good business decisions †¢ The impact of levers for improvement depend on where (in the system) they are used: o Improvement at bottleneck ? Improves the whole system ? May shift the bottleneck o Yield (and quality) improvement before bottleneck ? Use less input per unit output o Yield (and quality) improvement after bottleneck ? Produce more outputs per unit inputYou can always improve by implementing continuous improvement/learning eff orts. Part III – Inventory: Operations and Tactics Customer Response Performance in Manufacturing Operations – Session 6 The Toyota Production System is the benchmark. Definitions BlockingCaused when downstream is slower than upstream StarvationCaused when downstream is faster than upstream BTFBuild-To-Forecast BTOBuild-To-Order Response Times – CRT ? TPT = OQT + PCT CRTCustomer Response Time TPTThroughput Time OQTOrder Queue Time PCTProcess Cycle Times The role of inventory Blocking goes down with inventory, use idle time to produce buffers.If we have a buffer, then starvation will also go down. Push 1. No WIP control 2. If buffer before has units, you produce at next machine Pull 1. WIP control 2. If inventory buffer after needs units, you produce at previous machine If no variability, PUSH = PULL! As variability increases for each machine, what happens to system capacity and why? †¢ As CV2 increases, we are already losing capacity and further increase ha s less effect. †¢ Asymptotic behaviour – capacity approaches 0. As serial length of facility increases, what happens to system capacity and why? As length increases, we are already losing capacity to variability and further increase has less effect. †¢ Asymptotic behaviour – capacity approaches 0. †¢ Once again, kanban length increases capacity. WIP Strategy | |Push |Pull | |BTO | |Target | |BTF |Compaq Now |>^ | Producing to Forecast – Session 7 Supply Chain Management – How Much To order |Demand |5 |6 |7 | |Probability |1/3 |1/3 |1/3 | Cost: $5 |Price |$5. 05 |$10 |$100 | Order Quantity |5 |6 |7 | Reasoning: Margin vs Cost. If margin < Cost, = Cost or > Cost, order quantity will vary accordingly. |Qty |5 |6 |7 | |E[Sales] |5 |5*1/3 + 6*2/3 |5*1/3 + 6*1/3 + 7 * 1/3| |E[Lost Sales] |1 |1/3 |0 | |E[Salvage] |0 |1/3 |1 | E[Demand] = 6 E[Sales] = E[Demand] – E[Lost Sales] E[Salvages] = i – E[Sales] i = ordered quantity -C + VProb (D ? i) = 0 VProb(D ? i) = C Prob(D ? i) = C/V i = ? + z?E[Profits] = Revenue – Cost = Price * E[Sales] + Salvage*E[Salvage] – i * C E[Sales] = E[Demand] – E[Lost Sales] E[Lost Sales] = E[D – i] = NormalLoss(z)* ? Supply Decisions – Alternative Manufacturing / Processing 1. Calculate â€Å"Profit† function for alternative 1 (piV1 – C1) 2. Calculate â€Å"Profit† function for alternative 2 (piV2 – C2) 3. Solve for pi by setting piV1 – C1 = piV2 – C2 4. pi defines the breakpoint. a. Alternative 1 is better when P(D? i) ? pi b. Alternative 2 is better when P(D? i) > pi 5. Use the z-lookup table to find z for pi a. Use this to calculate the order quantity for Alternative 1 (i1) 6.Calculate the full chance tree for option 2 to find total order quantity (i*) 7. Calculate i2 = i* – i1 Note: If multiple options, repeat process successively. Business Process Competition: M&S and Zara – Session 8 |[pic] |[pic] | Inventory Management depends upon the clock speed of the process †¢ Long lead times -> Forecast -> FGI Process (in contrast to product) innovation is an enormous weapon that can disupt the basis of competition †¢ Drive to mass customization, postponement, †¦ †¢ Shifts the diagonal of the product-process matrix downContinuous improvement is a key competitive weapon too, but can lead to rigidity †¢ Market segments, product needs, and technologies shift o Can you adapt your process and market approach fast enough? †¢ Business process reengineering is a difficult alternative to execute †¢ Business process portfolio management may be a good alternative Part IV – Total Quality Management Quality Management in Services – Session 9 Deming †¢ Prevention rather than cure o Process Improvement o Plan, Do, Check, Act †¢ Variations in Manufacturing and Service performance comes from o Process Design – 99% Process Operati ons – 1% †¢ How to divide process variations across design and operations? †¢ Process variation occurs due to many factors o Normal Distribution! ? Central tendency = mean (? ) ? Variability = standard deviation (? ) Historical Performance †¢ Process is in control – process works well according to historical performance †¢ Process is out of control – process has changed 1. Historical mean [pic] 2. Two points consecutively close to UCL or LCL 3. Five consecutive points above/below mean 4. Increasing or decreasing trends (mean is shifting) Tracking Mechanics Discrete variables (Yes/No or OK/defect measure) †¢ P-chart (or s-chart) track proportion defectives (or cumulative number of defectives) †¢ Identify when process goes outside of lower control limit (LCL) or upper control limit (UCL) †¢ Continuous variables (width, time, temp, †¦) †¢ X-bar identifies changes in central position (process mean) through tracking sample mean †¢ R-bar identifies changes in variability (process variation) through tracking sample range (hi-low) Capability analysis †¢ What is the currently â€Å"inherent† capability of my process when it is â€Å"in control†? Conformance analysis SPC charts identify when control has likely been lost and assignable cause variation has occurred Investigate for assignable cause †¢ Find â€Å"Root Cause(s)† of Potential Loss of Statistical Control Eliminate or replicate assignable cause †¢ Need Corrective Action To Move Forward Process Capability & Total Quality Management – Session 10 Definitions CpProcess Capability ratio CpkProcess Reliability Index LCLLower Control Limit LSLLower Specification Limit LTLLower Tolerance Limit (See LSL) UCLUpper Control Limit USLUpper Specification Limit UTLUpper Tolerance Limit (See USL) Potential [pic] gt; 1implies that potential is good, i. e. that the specification limits are greater than the potential performance of the system < 1implies that the potential is bad Performance [pic] > 1implies that performance is good, i. e. that the upper and lower specification limits are more than 3 standard deviations away from the mean performance of the system Why Quality? †¢ Revenue Impact – Customer Satisfaction o Value o Fitness of Use †¢ Cost Impact – Cost of poor quality o Prevention costs o Appraisal costs o Internal failure costs o External failure costs Costs of Quality : Juran model Prevention Costs |Appraisal Costs |Internal Failure|External Failure | | | |Costs |Costs | |Very good machines |Inspection costs |Cost of rework |Costs of warranty | |Very well-trained |Review costs |Scrap costs |Customers go to | |workers | | |competitors | |Excellent, |Workers stopping |Lost time on |Legal costs | |well-defined process |the line |machines | | |Standard operating |Process improvement| |Brand image | |procedures defined |costs | |affected | |clearly | | | | At each stage, costs multiply by a factor of 10!!! The Process Improvement Cycle – PDCA †¢ PLAN a quality improvement o Select theme, grasp situation, preliminary analysis, training programmes, introduce tracking measures and controls, etc†¦ †¢ DO the investigations for improvements Investigate the deviations from â€Å"normal† behaviour – these are opportunities for improvement – and find improvement actions †¢ CHECK the effectiveness of improvement actions o Confirm the effect of countermeasures †¢ ACT by implementing the improvement measures throughout the company [pic] PART V – Course in Review Inventory Between Buyers and Suppliers – Session 11 JIT – Just in Time †¢ Produce what the customer wants, when it is wanted, in the amount it is wanted, where it is wanted †¢ High Volume †¢ Low Inventory (raw materials, WIP, FGI) †¢ Demand pull (produce when needed) †¢ Little JIT: scheduling, inve ntory †¢ Bit JIT (â€Å"lean†): eliminate waste in all activities (scheduling, inventory, human resources, vendors, technology) Seven Forms of Waste (â€Å"MUDA†) |Seven Methods to Eliminate Waste | |Overproduction |Focused factory networks | |Waiting time |Group technology | |Transportation waste |Quality at the source | |Inventory waste |JIT production | |Processing waste |Uniform plant loading | |Waste of motion |Kanban production | |Product defects |Minimize setup times | JIT vs JIT II |JIT |JIT I |Ideal view: piece for piece; lot for lot | | | |Eliminate excess (RMI, WIP and FGI) inventory | | | |Pull supply chain view | | | |Supplier timely and efficient source (RMI) | |JIT II |Administration and management | | | |Eliminate administrative waste | | | |Supplier pulls production from his own plant | | | |Supplier is an effective source of ideas too | Potential gains †¢ Reduced lead times of delivery †¢ Reduced costs of procurement †¢ Avoid exces s inventory stock †¢ Better monitoring of incoming quality †¢ Greater role in new product development for supplier Potential hazards †¢ Supplier gains inside information on cost, process & design †¢ Loss of bargaining power with supplier †¢ Cannot change suppliers easily Requirements for JIT II to create opportunities for win-win †¢ Fair prices †¢ Commitment Communication †¢ Transparency Increasing competition leads to greater focus on core competencies and process efficiencies †¢ JIT is about having lean manufacturing processes to reduce waste †¢ JIT II is about reducing waste with suppliers and distributors Benefits of JIT II include †¢ Improve communication across firm boundaries †¢ Reducing rework †¢ Reducing duplication †¢ Offload work to any other resource that can handle it (e. g. cross training, task Real Just-In-Time delivery (less inventory in the supply chain) †¢ Increased involvement in the buyer- supplier relationship results in better products/services for the customer Conditions for JIT II to work Sufficient volume and transactions to generate cost savings †¢ Supplier has good engineering capabilities to improve overall product/service †¢ Supplier does not provide core technologies for the buyer †¢ TRUST†¦. How to build trust? o Common goal, open communication, and commitment ———————– Prob(D< i) -c C = c – s ith unit demanded Prob(D ? i) Salvage Value ith unit not demanded Revenue Value = revenue – salvage Work in Progress PUSH PULL No Inventory Control Inventory Control Finished Goods Inventory Build-To-Forecast Build-To-Order FGI >> 0 FGI ~0 Capability Analysis Conformance Analysis Eliminate Assignable Cause Investigate for Assignable Cause

Life of Pi Response

Life of Pi: Reading Response When I began reading ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel I had little expectation it would peak my interest. I expected it to be a boring school assignment that I would have to get through, process the information and put on paper. To my relief, this book was completely the opposite. I must admit, the beginning chapters were quite dry. I would have never chosen in the beginning of a book to mention a sloth, probably the most uninteresting mammal ever. Slowly, the book progresses to where it gives you a little background information on Piscine Patel and his life in India. In part one, I really liked where Mamaji taught Piscine to swim. Looking back it proved to be a very important for Pi’s survival I dislike stories where the hero’s journey is clearly defined anda once weak man overcomes unrealistic circumstances to become a stronger man. That was not the case in this book. I like the realness of the book, especially in the case of Richard Parker. He wasn’t personified in any way really. He was what I think a natural tiger would be given the conditions. What I really enjoyed about this book was the deep thinking it evoked. The author allowed you to come to your own conclusion as to whether the story with the animals or the story with the people was true. Normal logic and reasoning tells you that the story with the people would be right, because the chance of the story with the animals happening is hard to believe. Both stories have the same circumstances and follow the same events. The zebra represents the sailor, the hyena is the cook, the orangutan is the mother and Richard Parker is Pi, but I believe the story with the humans is the true story. I think that the story with the animals was Pi’s way of coping with the reality that his mother was murdered and that he murdered someone as well. I believe the choice that the members of the Ministry of Transport had to make about the stories is a metaphor for religion. Science and many religions all have an explanation for certain events and some seem farfetched, yet they could all be possible. In the end, it’s all up to what you believe, and the way you interpret it.

buy custom The Road by Cormac Mcarthy essay

buy custom The Road by Cormac Mcarthy essay Nothing could have been timelier than Comarc McCarthys novel The Road. The novel is not only interesting to read but also relevant of our society today. Though he has not used charts, graphs and statistical data to explain his point he has succeeded in using art to portray his message. No wonder the many awards the book has scooped since its publishing in 2006. This paper seeks to explain how McCarthy has used symbolism as a literature tool to pass his message to the world. Symbolism by way of definition is the practice of representing real things or happenings using events, objects or relationships. The objects and events carry meaning in the happenings of the earth. These objects and events represent others by convention, association or resemblance. In the novel the The Road Cormac has used a number of symbolisms (McCarthy 45). The main reason McCarthy used symbolism is to show the current position concerning various aspects of life including environment, humanity and effects of untamed civilization. He wanted to inform his audience the need for change and the looming danger if we do not embrace change of attitude and behavior. Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable and to ensure that it meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The story happens after a great cataclysm wipes out most of the life on earth and its civilization. In the story we are told that of the general environment after the cataclysm. The ground is filled with ash. It is cold and dark. No vegetation covers the ground and therere very few living organism if any. The area experiences electric storms and gray snow (McCarthy 45). The events and happenings in this scene symbolize what is to be fall the world very soon if precautions are not taken. This is a true reflection of our world owing to the current data and situation at hand. According to this data the world has undergone habitat destruction since man first set his foot on planet earth. But what is habitat destruction? This is the process of tearing down the natural environment making it unable to sustain the living things living there. When this is done it leads to depletion of the natural resources and extinction of living organisms. When evironmental degradation occurs no life remains on earth just as in the case of the setting of Comarcs novel. Man has destroyed most of its areas rich in biodiversity (Berbault 201). Most of tropical regions and islands such as Philippines, New Zealand, Japan and Madagascar have been destroyed by human activities. Globally only 9 million kilometers squared of the tropical rainforest exist currently out of a total of 16 million kilometers squared that initially existed. Marine areas have also suffered due to environmental degradation (Barbault 90). The places which have suffered extreme effects include the northern coastal areas of Caribbean Sea, eastern coastal areas of Africa and Asia. The northern coastal areas of South America have also suffered from environmental degradation. These coastal areas have suffered in that their coral reefs are undergoing destruction by human activities. In the United States of America not more than 25 percent of the vegetation remaining is natural. Furthermore more than a greater percentage of more than 50% of its wetlands has been destroyed in the last two centuries. If this trend continues then what comarc speaks of in his book The road about lack of vegetation is unavoidable. Destruction of the areas with rich in biodiversity does not only lead to killing of the organisms present in the habitat. It also leads to reduction of the carrying capacity of these areas (Barbault 97) Furthermore the range of organisms existing in a certain habitat decreases. These increases the chances of the organisms mating with their related species hence decrease in diversification of genetics and therefore low chances of disease resistance and high chances of infertile offspring. Another symbol that has been used in the book is the road. The writer uses the road as the title of his book. Its also clear from the unfolding of events in the novel that a lot of time is spent on the road by characters (McCarthy 67). From the novel the road used by the characters is not a smooth one. It is a dangerous road as seen by dead bodies lying on it. The road is also deserted. These may symbolize that the process to bringing sanity and ending the evils in the society is a journey. The journey is not an easy one and only few people have embarked on it owing to the desolate state of the roads. There is high possibbility of people losing their lives in the course of their journey and only few people survive. This road may also symbolize a life that people decided to live whose end claims many lives. Another symbol that has been used in this novel is the killing of snakes. The father in the novel returns home with a high fever and also experiences nightmares. At the same time the father remembers what happened one time during his youthful life (McCarthy 61). Here members how many snakes were killed during his youthful life. In many communities snakes symbolizes evil. The burning of these snakes symbolizes the destruction of evil. But what are these evils in this society. The novel demonstrates evil in that community when the boy realizes a headless burnt infant body along the road. This shows the extent of rot and violence in the community. These scenes clearly demonstrate the rot in our current community. These are seen by civil wars, coups and border wars in many countries of the world today. Human life is not respected in the world today. Even the weakest and the innocent like infants are not spared this evil. Burning the snakes may only symbolize that the rot or the actual evil was not destroyed but just temporarily dealt with. Evil or the real problem still lives with and in us. No wonder evil has not ceased in our society long after the bill of right s and much other legislation to protect mankind have been instituted (Wannebo 94). Conclusion It is therefore clear that more has to be done to save humanity or else our current behaviors will lead to extinction of humanity. Governments must therefore step up their mandate and save this endangered generation of human beings and animals. Some of the policies these governments can put into consideration include enhancing family planning especially in high populated areas. This will avoid destroying more forests for settlement which is a major cause for environmental degradation. Legislations should be made to protect the natural environment from human destruction. Ways to increase agricultural output without putting more land under cultivation should be promoted. People should also be taught on the importance of protecting biodiversity and natural environment. Finally good and democratic governments should be instituted (Wannebo 97). Buy custom "The Road" by Cormac Mcarthy essay

Jacksonian Democrcay essays

Jacksonian Democrcay essays As a guardian of individual liberty, Andrew Jackson, once again, had good intentions but was blind to his own mistakes and wrongdoing. No different from almost all of the whites in the 1820s and 1830s, Jackson failed accept blacks and Indians as true people of America. Would a man truly set out to fight for individual liberty support, and participate in slavery or to deny Native American the ability to own land? Absolutly not. The Jacksonian Democrats saw themselves as guardians of equality of economic opportunity; this was far from the truth. The first action that failed to make the American economy equal and more effective was Jacksons Tariff of Abominations. These selfish tariffs, created mainly to obtain supporters in the North, undoubtedly helped the Mid-Atlantic States, along with New England, and their manufacturing of goods and textiles. However, contrary to equal economic opportunity, the Southern states were severely hurt by the new polices. The high tariffs led the Southern plantation owners to fear a decline in cotton and tobacco exports, which would ultimately lead to a decline in slavery the backbone of the Southern economy. Again, in 1832, Jackson made a decision that would eventually leave America in its worst depression yet. It was a gutsy veto, coming in an election year, but it did show Jackson would do everything to fight for the common folk when he said, It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. (Doc. B) By selfishly vetoing the renewal of the National Bank, he set America back and he failed to realize the positive side of having such an institution. Understanding the true power the bank had and that most states supported it, Daniel Webster replied to this veto by simply stating, It raises a cry that liberty is in danger. (Doc. C) Liberty truly was in dan...

City Spotlight Houston Job Market Growing Fastest in Nation

City Spotlight Houston Job Market Growing Fastest in Nation maybe your only association with texas’s largest and most diverse city is its relationship with nasa’s johnson space center (aka mission control, ala â€Å"houston, we have a problem†) or nickname it acquired after hurricane katrina: â€Å"the big heart.† what you may not know is that it’s been rebounding from the recession faster than practically any other city in the country. a city at the head of the best top 10 listshouston’s unemployment rate is significantly below the national average. in addition, its low cost of living contributes to its standing as the nation’s highest-paying city, it was insulated from the housing bubble that rocked the rest of the country- and it is the number one city in the u.s. for job creation! suck it, every other city!top job categories# of jobsaverage salaryhealthcare20,110$54,080sales12,122$44,990computers11,201$88,234financial services and banking8,208$82,618administrative office work7,502$36,546en gineering and architecture5,465$103,334customer service call center4,151$34,064marketing, advertising business dev.3,962$64,516operations, logistics warehousing3,761$50,000human resources / recruiting3,346$51,000 [source: thejobnetwork]according to new geography.com:[t] he average annual wage in 2011 was $59,838, eighth highest in the nation. what puts houston at the top of the list is the region’s relatively low cost of living, which includes such things as consumer prices and services, utilities and transportation costs and, most importantly, housing prices: the ratio of the median home price to median annual household income in houston is only 2.9, remarkably low for such a dynamic urban region. . . adjusted for cost of living, the average houston wage of $59,838 is worth $66,933, tops in the nation.a city of reinventionthrough 2014, houston has recovered 300% of jobs lost to the recession- possibly due to its vibrant port trades and 26 fortune 500 company headquarters. many of those recovered jobs were in the energy industry- including conoco phillips, marathon oil, sysco, apache and more.houston is so business-friendly, more than 100 internationally owned companies expanded, relocated, or were founded there in the past 5 years.healthcare professionals can also find lots to occupy themselves in houston- the texas medical center is the single largest employer in the city, with 21 hospitals, 8 academic and research institutions, and 50 related not-for-profit organizations. the university of texas m.d. anderson center’s premier cancer research hospital is at the heart of it.a thriving place to live and learnhousing is more affordable in houston, and it’s third in the nation for green space per capita. two major universities call houston home- the university of houston and rice university, one of the country’s best undergraduate schools for the applied sciences.mark rothko contributed to the design of â€Å"the rothko chapel,â⠂¬  which joins 19 other museums and the houston museum of fine arts, one of the finest collections of american arts and furniture craft in the country. it hosts its own fashion week, attracting homegrown and international designers.another bonus- travel + leisure magazine named houston its best city for foodies this year:the city ranked at no. 1 in three separate food categories: burgers, brunch, and specialty food shops (like revival market, where local gourmands stock up on artisanal cheeses, charcuterie and house-made pickles and jams). houston also knows how to break free of american-style convention: one hot new place, dak bop, does korean-style fried chicken with spicy sauces, paired with blackberry chili margaritas. speaking of burgers, though, it’s hard to leave town without enjoying one of the old-school, mustard-laced big boys at lankford grocery,   or the acclaimed 3-oz. sliders at little bigs in the museum district, which also offers a respectably long wine l ist- after all, the city ranked at no. 3 for vino.houston is well-known for its vietnamese, cajun, and mexican food. there’s also an outpost of uchi, one of america’s most lauded sushi restaurants!so if you’re in the market for a new home base that can give you cultural resources, good eats, and a promising job market- consider addinghouston to your list of possibilities!here are the top companies that are hiring in houston right now:1. lowe’s2. hcr manorcare3. crossmark4. johnson johnson5. general dynamics information technology  6. boeing company7. life time  8. quest diagnostics9. whole foods market10.  matrix

Gas prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gas prices - Essay Example A vast majority of machines in different industries are powered by gas. Apart from the industrial utility of gas, it is an extremely important element of the modern age life style. In the contemporary age, there is massive consumption of gas even on the domestic level. We use gas heaters, gas ovens, gas stoves, and gas lamps. In addition to the in-house consumption of gas, a vast majority of vehicles on the roads use gas as a secondary fuelling source that works as efficiently as petrol does. The voluminous increase in the use of natural gas does not accord with its declining natural reserves. There is an inverse relationship between the two. Gas prices have risen almost all over the world in the past few years. Much of the rapid increase in the gas prices that has occurred in the recent years can be attributed to the inverse relationship between gas production and consumption rate. Current rate of gas consumption is alarming, and gas prices are likely to increase further if the curr ent consumption rates sustain over next few years. Solution: Solution of this problem lies in wise utilization of the remaining gas. It is not advisable to completely stop the use of gas stoves or gas ovens because no alternative has yet been realized that would give better or even the same results as gas stoves or ovens do.

Strategic Audit for the Body Shop Research Paper

Strategic Audit for the Body Shop - Research Paper Example The company, from the very beginning, tried to present itself as the leader in corporate social responsibility. Throughout its history, the company fought against human right abuses, and abuse of animals and plants. Environment protection was an important part of the agenda of the company. As a result, the company gained a large number of environmental friendly customers in America and Europe, and this helped develop a standard image in Asia and Middle East too. The company always promoted five core values which are as follows. 1. Against animal testing The company claims that it will not purchase any ingredient that is tested on animals for cosmetics purposes. In addition, the company campaigns against cosmetics tests on animals. Instead of testing on animals, the company depends on human volunteer trials like skin patch tests. In 1986, the company joined the ‘Save the Whale Campaign’ along with Greenpeace. In 1990s, the company conducted a number of campaigns against animal testing. 2. Protecting the environment The company, throughout its history, has supported all activities aimed at environmental protection. In 2001, the Body Shop joined Greenpeace in the effort to raise awareness of the global warming. In addition, in its environmental policy, the company promoted the idea, ‘reduce, recycle, and reuse’. The company’s policy of recycling, and encouraging customers to refill their products by reusing bottles won the heart of many environment-friendly customers around the world. 3. Human rights Throughout its history, the company fought for human rights. To illustrate, in 2000, the company started ‘Make your Mark’ campaign with their 3,000,000 customers signed up. The program intends to address human rights issues, especially in neglected areas. Undoubtedly, the Body Shop gets a lot of publicity in the effort to promote human rights. An example of this company’s human rights efforts is the fight for the rights of Ogoni people in Nigeria that won the wrath of Nigerian government. 4. Support Community Trade Through this program, the company collects ingredients and accessories from small producers around the world, especially from underprivileged societies. The company ensures fair prices, and this money goes back to the society to improve their lives’ basic needs like water and education. Presently, the company has trades with more than 42 community trade suppliers in more than 26 nations around the globe. To illustrate, as stated i n The Body Shop International values Report (Living our values, 2009), its palm oil comes from Columbia, coconut oil from Samoa, timber from Russia, Peppermint oil from Norfolk, cocoa butter from Ghana, Soya oil from Brazil, beeswax from Africa, and Footsie Roller from India. However, one has to doubt if the step will help such communities become independent as they tend to be totally dependent on the company for survival. 5. Self-esteem Te Body Shop always advocated the promotion of self-esteem especially in women. According to the company, it is about respecting oneself, looking after body and soul, and being proud of what one is. In 1998, there came a publication named ‘The Body and Self Esteem’ that was meant to raise awareness on the issues of

Horror Remakes Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9250 words

Horror Remakes - Dissertation Example A horror film made during paranoid times might capitalize on these times by making their films focused around paranoia as well. A film made during a post 9/11 era might capitalize on the nation’s moods, and fears, by delivering a film about good and evil, such as The Omen. The films that will be discussed in this analysis, The Dawn of the Dead, The Omen and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all have reasons, either ostensible or stated, for being made. Two of the films, Chainsaw and Dawn, have very little in common with their predecessors. The third, The Omen, is virtually a shot-for-shot remake of the original. This paper will examine these three films, and their remakes, emphasizing the differences between them. Then, this paper will attempt to ascribe motive for making these films, beyond the obvious, that these films will probably will make money. Finally, this paper will make a conclusion about the films, and the reasons for making them. Included in the analysis of the remakes verses the originals will be an analysis of the audience reactions for these films. Discussion Dawn of the Dead The Omen, which is the next film which will be analyzed, was pretty much a superfluous remake for a variety of reasons. The main reason that it is, however, is that it pretty much is a shot for shot remake of the original, and brought nothing new to the table. Not so Dawn of the Dead. The George Romero version and the Zack Snyder version are as different, as, well, night and day. The Zombies The first difference that will be explained will be in the zombies themselves, as they are really the â€Å"star† of the two shows. In the George Romero version, the zombies were the epitome of campy shlock (Romero, 1978). According to Webster’s dictionary, the definition of schlock is â€Å"cheap or inferior goods; trash,† and this would describe the George Romero zombies accurately. Unfortunately for the integrity of the film, there were many close-ups of the zombies, and they were laughably bad looking. There were no Academy Award nominations for makeup on this film. The zombies basically walked around with a greyish-green tint on their face, and this was the extent of the makeup job. Romero himself admitted that the make consisted of â€Å"grey makeup† which was basically pancake makeup. He talks about â€Å"slapping grey makeup on,† which means that Romero himself did not take the makeup issue very seriously (DVD Commentary, Dawn of the Dead). The blood that came on of the zombies as they were shot also looked incredibly fake, like the kind of fake blood one might buy at a Walgreen’s when one wants to dress up as Dracula. Moreover, the zombies themselves were not aggressive – they were too slow to really be too much of a threat to anybody, unless one is in a large crowd of them. Because the zombies were more comic than scary, and were, for the most part, non-threatening because of their extremely slow gait, the overall effect of the zombies is comic. The inescapable conclusion is that the Romero meant for this film to b e either a black comedy or satire, because fear was not an emotion that this viewer registered upon seeing the zombies. Contrast the zombies in Romero’s film to the zombies in Snyder’s remake. In Snyder’s remake, the zombies were literally menacing. Whereas in Romero’s film, the zombies walked around with a blank stare, in Snyder’s film, the zombies had facial expressions, and these expressions were of fury. These zombies were scary, because they looked like they meant business, and their business was to hunt people down and eat them. Moreover, these zombies were incredibly fast and strong. This was shown at the beginning of the film when Ana (Sarah Polley) drives her car to get away from her husband, who was a new zombie and was chasing her.

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel Essay

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel - Essay Example Their testimony shows that the procedure for documentation of narcotics given was not keenly followed because most nurses did the documentation during their breaks and free time. It is shown that most of them documented when they had forgotten the number of patients given the narcotics. In the court, the suspended nurse can argue that the difference in figures may have resulted from forgetting the figures. I would have ruled in favor of the suspended nurse. This is because; there is no credible evidence that solely links the nurse to the missing drugs. From the evidence, the nurse has been diligently working for 25 years with no past records of such an incidence. In addition, the nurse was not found in possession of the drugs hence lack of solid evidence linking her to the drugs. The institution has enhanced patient safety by putting in place a computerized medicine cabinet. This cabinet ensures enhanced distribution and better monitoring of narcotics. The nurses were also required to document the narcotic usage and hence record the dosage, time, and method of administration. This shows that the institution was committed to the safety of its patients. The nurses are negligent in their duties. As a nurse, one ought to put the patient’s interest first by ensuring that records of the patient are properly kept for future use (Thompson, 2005). Lack of proper recording shows the unwillingness and laziness of the nurses to take care of the patients and therefore they are negligent. The organization must consider the failure of its nurses to do a proper documentation on drugs issued to patients. It must also look at ways in which close supervision is to be made on nurses so that they follow rules and regulations. In addition, in the case where nurses do not follow the guidelines of a physician and opt for IV route instead of IM injection, strict rules and supervision should be imposed. The defendants in this case are

Home Health Nursing Initiative assignment 2 Essay

Home Health Nursing Initiative assignment 2 - Essay Example This paper is also being undertaken in order to assess the appropriateness of the application of this kit using the current literature on this kit. This assessment of literature will hopefully shed light to the evidence-based application of this kit and hopefully make a credible evaluation of the actual application of the Symptom Response Kit. The Symptom Response Kit is described by the South West Community Care Access Centre (CCAC, 2009, p. 1) as â€Å"a kit of medications that can be ordered by a physician, to be available in a client’s home to relieve potential symptoms for clients requiring hospice palliative care services or who are at the end of life stage in their disease management†. In the most basic sense, this kit is a reserve kit which can be used in case unanticipated symptoms of a long-term care patient would surface. The kit contains emergency medical supplies previously approved or prescribed by the patient’s doctor in anticipation of probable symptoms of the patient’s illness. It contains limited amounts of a few medications which have been deemed effective in addressing the usual symptoms of distress in clients who are at the end of their lives (Matzon & Sherman, 2006). The kit is â€Å"solely for the purpose of alleviating unanticipated symptoms, to avoid unnecessary hospit al/ER admission or until a regular prescription can be obtained† (CACC, 2009, p. 1). This kit acts as an interim remedy for the patient in order to prevent further deterioration while a more comprehensive consultation with the doctor is being scheduled. Symptom relief kits or emergency kits are set-up in order to address the â€Å"need to have appropriate medications readily available in the home, extended care facility, or hospital† (Matzon & Sherman, 2006, p. 322). Among palliative health care givers, there is no specific timing where the dying process can be predicted,

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel Essay

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel - Essay Example Their testimony shows that the procedure for documentation of narcotics given was not keenly followed because most nurses did the documentation during their breaks and free time. It is shown that most of them documented when they had forgotten the number of patients given the narcotics. In the court, the suspended nurse can argue that the difference in figures may have resulted from forgetting the figures. I would have ruled in favor of the suspended nurse. This is because; there is no credible evidence that solely links the nurse to the missing drugs. From the evidence, the nurse has been diligently working for 25 years with no past records of such an incidence. In addition, the nurse was not found in possession of the drugs hence lack of solid evidence linking her to the drugs. The institution has enhanced patient safety by putting in place a computerized medicine cabinet. This cabinet ensures enhanced distribution and better monitoring of narcotics. The nurses were also required to document the narcotic usage and hence record the dosage, time, and method of administration. This shows that the institution was committed to the safety of its patients. The nurses are negligent in their duties. As a nurse, one ought to put the patient’s interest first by ensuring that records of the patient are properly kept for future use (Thompson, 2005). Lack of proper recording shows the unwillingness and laziness of the nurses to take care of the patients and therefore they are negligent. The organization must consider the failure of its nurses to do a proper documentation on drugs issued to patients. It must also look at ways in which close supervision is to be made on nurses so that they follow rules and regulations. In addition, in the case where nurses do not follow the guidelines of a physician and opt for IV route instead of IM injection, strict rules and supervision should be imposed. The defendants in this case are

Special Tools of life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Special Tools of life - Essay Example ending with their functions that is some enzymes will break molecules completely while others will break them into parts allowing other enzymes to complete the breakdown. The ability of the living things to make their own tools that enable in the daily activities by the cell can be purely pegged on the programming aspect of the information contained in the D.N.A which controls what is to be in the cell at a given period of time and performing a specific function (Lightner, 2004). The bacteria on the other hand contain enzymes that can perform specific duties with time and though they miss others they gain them in the process of mutation and the interaction of other enzymes with the molecules and the cell. It should also be noted that cell mutation affects the activities of enzymes by changing their shapes and their effectiveness in performing their specific roles; affecting the breakdown procedure /stages of some molecules and allowing accumulation of unwanted enzymes in the cell. Bacterium mutations come with different strains that can survive in various environments within the cell which with adaptation and time they develop special features, which can be treated as tools, to enable them perform their roles effectively in the new environment. Evolution theorists try to explain this as a change in the genetic information but in most case these changes impacts on destroying the important components of the cell such as the repressor gene, allowing the uncontrolled supply of enzymes. The picky and selective trait by the cell on what is let in allows the optimality of enzymes functioning within the call such that the repressor gene controls the production of a certain enzyme if the complement enzyme is available and vice versa, in a switch on/off mode. Evolution theorists highlight the process of cell mutation ignoring the specific actions and interactions of the bacteria calls and the enzymes produced to breakdown the substrate molecules; a phenomenon that

The Reliability of Online Media in the Realm of Politics Essay Example for Free

The Reliability of Online Media in the Realm of Politics Essay The advent of the World Wide Web has shifted the impact of the meaning of media and reliability. From major newspapers abandoning their print outlets to the latest up to the second news on somebody’s blog, the internet has changed the way people consume the news. The political landscape has seen some of the most significant changes and is a key example of how the reliability of the online world has come under questioning following the latest elections and news. Politicians have always relied on the media to disseminate their messages. In our digital age, the traditional forums of print media, radio, and television have become integrated into an online multimedia platform. According to a 2004 Pew survey, over 50 million Americans went online for election news everyday during the Presidential election (Nogourney). It is now common practice for politicians to have their own website and a social networking page on such sites as MySpace and Facebook or to publish Podcasts and YouTube videos in order to gain exposure and to further control their messages by excluding the intermediary forces of journalists. In a New York Times article, journalist Adam Nogourney wrote of the shifting trends of politicians as regards the new utilization of online media, â€Å"The Internet appears to be far more efficient, and less costly, than the traditional tools of politics, notably door knocking and telephone banks (Nogourney). The internet has also provided an forum for constant updates and information sharing that allows candidates and the public to analyze, comment, and react to the latest news from the campaign trail. That being said, there has been an increasing debate about the reliability of candidate news and information in an era of fierce competition and rampant misinformation efforts by political party ideologues and the unverified accounts of millions of bloggers that have free reign to publish their opinions without regard to journalistic ethics. In a 2007 article concerning the role of media in politics, Associated Content wrote an editorial speaking of this impact, â€Å"The media also influences the publics perception on the viability of a candidate. If reports say a certain candidate is ahead in an election, the public will come to accept that evaluation, which can greatly influence how voters cast their ballots (Influence). In this way, political polls and published statistics and trends have a greater access to a viral online community and this can significantly impact the public perception of the campaign. The role of the online media is only going to grow as traditional forums become further integrated into the online dialogue. As has always been the case in the media, questions concerning the reliability of information will continue to be asked. Outside from party ideologues and ulterior motivated bloggers, the information presented online parallels that of traditional media in terms of reliability, it’s just that now individuals have more choice as to how they consume their news and information. Works Cited The Influence of the Media in Politics, Campaigns, and Elections. (2007). Associated Content. Retrieved 27 March 2009, from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/443975/the_influence_of_the_media_in_politics_pg7. html Nogourney, Adam. (2006). Politics Faces Sweeping Change via the Web. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2009, from http://www. nytimes. com/2006/04/02/washington/02campaign. html

ICT in Private and Government Organisations

ICT in Private and Government Organisations The term I.C.T, otherwise known as Information and Communication Technology, encompasses quite a wide range of the scope of multi-dimensional communication infrastructures and systems employed for enhancing effective communications in business and public organisation.   As implied by the abbreviation and also the full meaning of it, the said communication occurs at different levels and for different purposes, some of which has to be secured, but all of them share one thing in common: they are all enhanced through computers and electronic networks.In recent times, almost every organisation is dependent or assisted with one type of communication equipment or another and the fact that such communication infrastructures can be easily linked to Information Technologies could be claimed as prove of the importance of I.C.T in organisations.   To make this argument more clear, it is necessary to pinpoint some specific organisations, both private and governmental whose operation will collapse or highly hindered, should the I.C.T aspect of it be removed or for some reason cease to function. To make the picture clearer, the organisations to be analysed will be categorised and then individual organisation will now be placed undo the category they belong to before they are further analysed.   The major categories are Private and Governmental and thereafter we look at how the chains are connected and interwoven. This sector is divisible into various other major sub-categories namely:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Security: These are organisations such as the security agents including the police, army, customs, immigration officers, civil defence corps, and also the secret agents.   In this sector there is a lot of communication and information exchange going on, some of which are beyond the British borders, e.g. our soldiers in Iraq has to make constant uninterrupted communications via phones, internet, and other satellite-linked, wireless technology networks.   They also need to communicate with one another both as groups or platoons and also as individual.   Here, the communication network has to be as secured as can be. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Social: This relates to everything from financial help to psychological helps and also political helps for foreigners such as asylum seekers and other classes of immigrants.   At this level also communication and efficient information transfer is a necessity.   Help-line telephone services that is installed with up- to-date software for managing calls, sometime on a 24-hour basis and transferring such calls automatically to the officer responsible for each individual cases and also to maintain an orderly queue where necessary. A log of all the official activities is created and stored in the appropriate database, which is connected via LAN networking system and thus the internet or intranet network system to transfer the logged cases to other concerned offices within the department or to the outside near and fear government departments for preparing statistical data (such as spreadsheets), prepare budgets or to inform deliberations on crucial social issues, such as how to manage illegal migration into the country. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Commercial: Sometimes, the government is also involved in commercial ventures, especially in the area of social amenities, such as electricity, telecommunications, transportation, agriculture, and some special production sectors, e.g. exploration and export of mineral resources. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education: Governments role in the education sector is very high. From nurseries to University education and adults literacy and vocational trainings, the governments hands will always be found in the pie.   To effectively plan and monitor the activities in this sector, the government need to be well equipped with the relevant I.C.T. infrastructures.   A good database that is interpreted and organised by a good spreadsheet software.   Appropriate networking facilities that will link every arm of this education systems ladder to the monitoring departments and sections must be in place.It must be noted here also that each of the education levels have their individual basic I.C.T needs.   For example, At the secondary school level, the teacher manages his classes, schedules and attendance register from a laptop computer, running probably on Windows XP Professional Operating System and installed with Bromcoms Winfolder which is currently version 2.03.   This soft ware is the one that collects daily register for the teacher from the schools server, which is equipped with Bromcoms e-School MIS version is 2.10.2, the softwares that prepares the register ready for the other day. The teachers laptop is either connected either via the CAT5e cables to the Ethernet LAN port which links him to the server, or connected wirelessly via network cards. The server which probably runs on Microsoft SQL houses the schools database and connects to the outside network system via optic fibres of the type Fibre Optic Multimode GBIC (1.25Gb/s bi-directional). The server is secured against power interruptions through the use of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). UPS is a battery system that enables to server to carry on functioning for a period of time in the event of a power outage, or enough time for it to safely shut down if the power outage is for an extended period.The teacher takes class attendance to ascertain that all the registered pupils are in attendanc e and send same via the internet to the data base which is equally connected to back-up storage outside of the school premises to secure against accidental data loss. The library system is another complex I.C.T. system that is active both locally and also on the network to the outside, running on effective software that facilitates an dynamically updated warehouse of information about the whereabouts of library materials and also for calling materials that is in urgent need, or have overstayed with the borrower. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Health: Health is wealth as the saying goes.   The governments involvement in the health sector in deep and this ranges from procurement of hospital equipments to physical maintenance of the hospital premises-employment and payment of wages.   Monitoring of all the activities at the health sector is quite important and this often is done in real time or through other communication channels including writing on paper, which is printed out on a printer connected to computer system connected to both intranet and internet networks.   The health sector is undoubtedly another fertile soil for the I.C.T. systems.   If we have to start analysing the way in which the hospital, as an entity, operates on a daily basis; we will see how appointments are booked on phone, and the doctors secretaries will keep a log of the appointments, having sent a notice to the concerned doctors calendar of schedule.   The patient may have to be sent a printed letter of notification as a reminder of the appointment date and time.   All these activities are also stored in the departments database, which is sent automatically to the hospitals central database, which probably is equipped with multiple hard drives in a RAID array to allow the system to continue functioning in the event of the loss of any one hard drive and also back-up tape drive, which allows a back-up of vital information and for several copies of this data to be kept off site. The doctors, office and consulting room is equipped with computers, which run on up-to-date Operating Systems and also have special software featuring medical encyclopedia, and maybe old cases database, from which they could compare difficult cases and find solutions via the network. The doctors always record their finding on Dictaphones and this is probably for sharing with other colleagues for knowledges sake, but our concern here is that all these equipments are I.C.T based.Heart-beat monitors, incubators, ultra-scan equip ments, X-ray and physiotherapy equipments and many more are scattered all around the hospital.   Patients survive on dialysis machines, which are monitored through computer and network systems. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Administration:   For administration purposes at all levels of governance is the process dependent on I.C.T infrastructures: Databases, civil registration numbers, national insurance number, passports and national identity cards, budgeting, population distribution and statistics, elections, and many more functions of the government are done via reliable I.C.T. infrastructures. Looking at the private sector, there is much more application of the I.C.T. equipments.   This sector can be further sub divided into the following categories:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Commercial:†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Transport:   From Land to air and the sea, transportation is deeply dependent on I.C.T. infrastructures.   From Scheduling to announcements, you will always find I.C.T.   Take the train services for example, most trains in the UK runs on electric and are scheduled and monitored in real time.   Apart from the internal daily runs of this system, the travellers are also included in the chain via e-commerce, such as internet booking and ticketing; the credit card and debit card accessible ticket kiosks are erected for self-services and you can also receive train and coach schedules on your mobile phones in the form of short text messages.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Manufacturing: Most manufacturing outfits, especially those involved in the production of continuous process products, su ch as cars, telephones, plastics, dairy products, breweries, etc, are engaging the services of different types of industrial robots for their operation.   These robots or programmable production lines are mostly 100% dependent, because daily running of them depends on information communicated through I.C.T media and the whole activities is afterwards, logged for records purpose and also to monitor the process and know when the machine should be over hauled.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Banking and Finance:   Financial institution today are one of the organisations that depend to a high degree on I.C.T. Imagine what the day will be like for the banks and other money markets operators, e.g. Stockbrokers, without their I.C.T. systems. No computers, no internet connections, no printers, no telephones.   How will international banking thrive without the internet?   How about the credit and debit cards? The situation is better imagined than experienced.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Insurance:   Ins urance organisations are more or less like banks.   They need a sound I.C.T system for a smooth running of their business every second of the day.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Supply Chain sector:   With the advent of e-commerce, supply chain sector is undergoing some kind of revolution right now.   Tesco Supermarket is a testimony to this fact.   Other than the fact that they need a good database for managing their wares, they also use laser scanners, bar code readers for both price tags and security of the wares.   They also use mobile phones to communicate and collaborate towards, customer satisfaction and use public address systems to make announcements.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication: The story of I.C.T in organisations can never be complete without mentioning the communication sector, whose daily operations are entirely dependent on I.C.T infrastructures.   From   mobile telephony, featuring mobile phones (with camera, video recorder with playback functionalities, MP3, r adio, WAP, Interactive games, chatting, internet, and now T.V; and PDAs with GPS functionalities for navigating continents. Letters are sent within seconds via email messaging, people chat online in written form and also verbally in real time.   It was first on the internet that it was possible to see the person you are chatting with via the web cam.   Pictures and digital music (MP3) is another mystery of the internet communication and information exchange of limitless magnitude. Now we are having internet television and online cinemas.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Advertisement: This sectors business revolves around I.CT. very much. They use computers for graphic design, store information, make and edit video materials and digital animations, scanning and printing are part of their daily activities.   These cannot be done without I.C.T infrastructures.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Consultancy Services: This organisation requires a good database, and sound network system.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Heal th: This is similar to that of the government sector earlier mentioned.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Agriculture: Cow milking, feeding and branding and monitoring have all gone hi-tech.   This is made possible through I.C.T.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education: The story in the private sector in not much different from that of the government sector.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journalism:   From news gathering to editing to disseminating, everything in this sector is I.C.T related: Video recorders, digital cameras, Dictaphones, electronic typewriters, computers, etc, are their instrument of office.†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Others: There are many more areas to be cited.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Non-profit organisations: Though they are not profit oriented, these organisations still require I.C.T. based equipments such as telephones and Personal Computers (PC) with internet connections, good printers, fax machines and scanners for their daily operations.   Their major areas of operation is as listed:†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   S ocial Help†¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental Fig. 1. A chart showing I.C.T-related sectors of the human endeavours and some examples of the infrastructures.Conclusion:The role of I.C.T in many organisations surrounding our lives cannot be underestimated.   They are the pivot on which our entire system revolves.

Progressive Discipline Essay -- essays research papers

Independent Contributor Each Independent Contributor is accountable for reaching established performance objectives, and will be evaluated and reviewed on an ongoing basis. When an Independent Contributor’s performance falls short of his/her expected objectives, behaviors, or skills, a Performance Improvement Plan will be initiated immediately. During the implementation of the performance improvement plan, written documentation of discussions, counseling, and termination warnings will be maintained by the department manager and Human Resources; with copies given to the Independent Contributor. However, termination, if warranted, may occur at any time even if an employee has not been subject to or completed the Performance Improvement Plan. A review period will be specified in the Performance Improvement Plan. The length of this period depends on the type and nature of the performance deficiencies involved. If the Independent Contributor fails to meet minimum performance standards or shows unsatisfactory progress during the review period, or subsequently, disciplinary action including termination will take place. When an Independent Contributor does not successfully complete a review period within the Performance Improvement Plan, termination will result. Termination may still occur at any time during the review period. In addition, immediate termination may result for flagrant conduct such as, but not limited to, insubordination, poor performance, misconduct, or unethical behavior. If circumstances warrant, an Independent Contributor may be terminated without notice. IT Technician - Union Employee The union is committed to fair and effective policy through collective bargaining to maintain the safety and good health of our membership. Therefore this progressive disciple policy which was established by the company and the union; is being put into place to establish rules pertaining to IT technician conduct and performance so that all IT technician personnel can conduct themselves accordingly. These rules are not intended to restrict the IT technician’s legal rights; however they are being established to help IT technicians’ work together according to established company standards. The IT technician’s supervisor will keep him/her informed of all company rules and any changes that may occur. It is company policy that IT technician s will be given sufficien... ...eriod is up the employee will be terminated. Sales reps must comply with the standards of behavior set forth by the company in all aspects of their job. The use of company resources, including computer systems, telephones, electronic mail and internet services for personal use may occasionally take place, provided that such use is within the company’s Policy. However excessive use will result in disciplinary actions as appropriate. Conclusion These polices are all similar as they in force company policy, performance and ethical behavior. All policies are written and identify the variety of disciplinary actions that may be imposed in a progressive manner. The progressive discipline polices above are written with the intent of promoting a productive work environment. They are different in that the independent contributor focuses on accountably of established performance goals. Where as the IT technician focuses on improving job performance, and the overseas sales rep deals with meeting sales figures and corrupt activities. Bohlander, G., and Snell, S., (2004). Managing Human Resources. South-Western College Publishing / Thomson Learning. http://pmareintranet/intranet/empman.stm