Saturday, August 31, 2019

Echoic Memory Essay

Echoic memory, otherwise known as the auditory sensory memory, is a part of our short term memory. When we hear a sound, like a lyric, or a short sentence, our echoic memory engages the brain to keep a perfect replica of the sound we heard in our minds for a short amount of time. Sometimes we defer paying attention to the sound’s meaning when we hear it and instead interpret the brain’s copy. For example when we are not fully paying attention to the person we are listening to, we may ask for them to repeat what they said and then realize what was already said. This is our echoic memory in action producing the copy of the sound we heard so that we can catch up on what the person was saying. This allows us to be able to briefly think on that sound’s significance. Echoic memory is often compared to iconic memory. Iconic memory is the brain’s ability to replicate exact copies of an image in our minds. The difference between the two, however, (besides iconic memory dealing with images) is the auditory sensory memory is much longer. Iconic memory lasts for less than a second, whereas echoic memory may reproduce that short sound for up to four seconds. An example of echoic memory would be if you were sitting next to your friend and your friend had asked you for the time. You respond by asking, â€Å"What did you say? Oh, 8:45.† You did not necessarily hear the question until after asking. This means that even though your focus was not initially on what your friend was saying to you, when you did eventually turn your attention toward them, you knew what was said. Research has shown that our echoic memory increases with age and also declines after adulthood. That means that a toddler’s echoic memory is not nearly as advanced as a teenager’s, but also means that an elderly person has worse echoic memory than a teenager’s. This may be because our cognitive development declines with age.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Transportation in the Philippines

About 14 percent of the 158,810 km (98,110 mi) of roads in the Philippines are paved, this is in spite of the difficult mountainous terrain. In Metro Manila, there are many modes of transportation available. Buses, jeepneys, LRT, and taxis are readily available for use in getting around the city. Buses are available with air-conditioning or without. The price for riding in air-conditioning is about double what you would pay for riding without and use certain main routes. There are also charter bus lines available for those wanting to travel outside Manila. The most popular mode of transportation in Manila is the jeepney. As the name implies, it is basically a colorful jeep that looks like those used by the Americans during World War II. They have regular stops, as do buses, but will also stop if they are flagged down. Taxis are air-conditioned and can be found practically anywhere in Manila. On occasion a driver will say his meter is broken, if so, traveler beware! It is time to get out and find another taxi, as you will probably get overcharged by this scam. If a person traveling to the Philippines wishes to travel by car, but not in a taxi, they can rent a car, but need to have a valid international drivers license. For travelers staying in deluxe hotels, many offer limousine services. The LRT (Light Rail Transit) is the best way to get downtown and get around in Manila. It's relatively inexpensive and is very fast. In addition, the PRN (Philippine National Railways), which run by the state, is also an option for those traveling out of Manila. Railroad tracks cover about 1,060 km (660 mi) of the Philippines, and is limited due to its being mainly on Luzon. An option for traveling between the islands is to use ferries. For travelers not wishing to be on water, airline travel is another option since there are over 40 major provincial airports. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is just a kilometer from the Manila Domestic Airport and is about 7 miles from the center of Manila. NAIA also has many amenities from a medical clinic to banks and postal service in addition to duty-free shops, souvenir shops, tourist information centers and more. The airport in Cebu, Mactan International Airport (MIA), is about 45 minutes from the city's center and has duty-free shops, tourist information centers like the major airports in Manila. Roughly a fourth of the airports in the Philippines have paved runways – out of 262 airports, 75 runways are paved. PAL, the Philippines Airlines, is the national air carrier and serves Manila with links to 12 cities in 7 countries. It also has daily routes to 17 local cities. Major airlines from other countries also serve Manila. In addition, Cebu has chartered flights from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. For chartered travel to smaller locations, there are several carriers available – Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirits, Mindanao Express Airlines, and SEAir, Incorporated. Cruise ships are served by Manila, with inter-island ships connecting Manila to other major island ports. The busiest seaports are Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga which are a part of the 3,219 km of waterways and seaports.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Research Methods Essay

The main factors that influence a sociologist’s choice of research method depend on two different theoretical approaches to the study of society; positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is an approach in sociology that believes society can be studied using similar scientific techniques to those used in the natural sciences, such as physics, biology and chemistry. Interpretivism is an approach emphasizing that people have consciousness involving personal beliefs, values and interpretations that influence the way they act and that they do not simply respond to forces outside them. These two theoretical approaches often use different research methods because they have different assumptions about the nature of society, this influences the type of data they are interested in collecting. Practicality, ethics, theory and subject of study also contribute to the methods used for research. There are various methods sociologists use to carry out a research on society. The two common forms are quantitative and qualitative research methods. I will begin by analysing the meanings behind the words, qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative methods are used by people that support the use of scientific investigation, it usually includes numerical statistical methods; the purpose is to expand and utilize mathematical techniques, conjecture and hypothesis. In contrast to this the qualitative research method. This is usually used by sociologists that support the use of humanistic research. It differs from quantitative methods in the sense that, qualitative research methods depend on specific reasons behind the way some people in society behave. Using the qualitative method however, they are prone to ask questions like, ‘why? or ‘how? ’ compared to the quantitative data which would more likely ask straight forward questions like, ‘what? ’ or ‘where’. In qualitative methods the research usually focuses on small samples instead, unlike quantitative research on the other hand, focus lacks and the methods usually inhabits a large, random sample. Unlike a quantitative method where the research depends restrictedly on the investigation of arithmetical or quantifiable statistics, data from qualitative research comes in many medium e. g. moving images, text or sound. Qualitative research was first recognised in the 1970s. Examples of Qualitative data are participant observation, direct observation, unstructured interviews, case studies etc. Examples of Quantitative data are questionnaires, surveys, attitude scales or standardised tests. They are practical issues that affect the methods sociologist may use. These can come from a range of financial issues to ethical issues. * Coaching Interviewers is comparatively clear-cut and economical however it cost more to merely redistributing questionnaire to people. Surveys that resort to structured interviews can cover great group of people with restricted resources because they are moderately cheap to administer however they cannot match the huge numbers reached by postal questionnaire. * Questionnaire and interviews collect straight forward factual information * Questionnaire results are quantitative because they are closed-ended questions with coded answers. This makes them suitable for hypothesis- testing. Sometimes there are specific factors could cause problems amongst certain research methods. Such as: * Time – Questionnaires would be more time consuming while the workload of surveys can be shared by a team * Money -researchers need an income and costs large scale. Social surveys are more high-priced than small focus groups. * Characteristics and skills of the research some situations may be risky and not all sociologist could cope handle this, a woman may have difficulty doing P. O in a monastery access and opportunity. If there is no access to certain groups then secondary sources may have to be used as an alternative. An example of this is when you get researchers hoping to cover a survey on a specific gang or cult. This could be dangerous especially if that gang may have a record of crime and callous behaviour. The researcher may find it really hard if not impossible to get access into the gang or cult; and if he was to get access he could be in immense trouble especially if he went under cover. * Some issues include ethical issues, sometimes certain research is taken on an undercover basis. This could be seen as illusory. Some people would argue that researchers should be 100% honest with the people they are researching on, it is only ethical, moral and honest that this form of sincerity is shown amongst whom the research is based on nevertheless when doing a research as an undercover researcher the questions of ethics arises. Is it morally correct that someone should be studied and researched on without consent or acknowledgement of such thing? The law is that undercover research can only be approved as long as there is no other alternative that is available. Posivists like their research to be scientific whereas Interprevists like to get into the shoes and go through the situation. Feminists, Ann Oakley decides her choice of methods and topic according to her own experience of childhood and motherhood. As a feminist she avoided methods which she described as having a male-stream bias (positivism). She selected the more qualitative and intimate methods of unstructured interviews and participant observation. She deems that the commission of sociology is to include the lives of the respondents.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Integration of Focused Assessments and Review of Systems using QCPR at Research Paper

Integration of Focused Assessments and Review of Systems using QCPR at Trauma Hosiptal - Research Paper Example However, some of the organizations such Trauma hospitals have managed to improve their accuracy in recording patients’ records, delivery of accurate results from their diagnosis and backing-up their patients’ records that are used in any future reference on these patients in case any information regarding the patient is required. Therefore, it is advisable for all medical institutions to develop QCPR system within their organizations in order to enhanced patients’ recording process during medication that requires emergencies. II. Aims of the Study Over the years, medical institutions have faced pressure from their respective government and clients on the need towards the better provision of health care facilities and medications. This requires the organizations to adopt measures that would allow them to introduce a computerized system within their working premises for better service provision. Moreover, the introduction of computerized system would help in the re duction of costs and time consumption that has been experienced before (Mahoney 56). Therefore, the aim of this research paper is to identify various importance of the system using QCPR at Trauma Hospitals in enhancing the medication process especially in recording of patients while dealing with cases that requires emergency attentions. III. ... lped during the analysis of data as they were used to compare some of the information gathered during the research period, for accurate information to be produced. One of the documents that were found helpful while conducting this research is the journal article by Mahoney (92) bearing the title Transforming Health Information Management Through Technology. Through this document, it was easy to note how the implementation of computerized system within healthcare centers needs to be achieved, various importance of systems using QCPR within hospitals and some of the cautions that need to be taken care of in the implementation and use of the QCPR system (Mahoney 59). IV. Methodologies Need for the production of accurate information regarding the research study required that appropriate data collection methods were to be used (Mahoney 60). Therefore, after considering various data collection methods, interviews, use of questionnaires, observations and document analysis were used. Through observation, time taken for hospitals that uses QCPR were taken and compared to the one that have not yet developed computerized system within their organizations. Through the use of interviews, various patients and doctors were interviewed to gather information on the QCPR system as compared to the manual system and some of the challenges faced in the use of QCPR. While in dealing with document analysis, different documents used during the research period were analysis based on the information contain in them in order for synthesized information to be derived. A Diagram showing results of Questionnaire based on the selected Doctors and Patients Fig. 1 V. Data Analysis and Findings After ensuring that all the available data had been collected, all the information gathered was combined for

The yellow wall paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The yellow wall paper - Essay Example She becomes obsessed with the rooms revolting yellow wallpaper. Throughout the general summary as well as the chapter explanations, the narrator suffered from temporary nervous depression. Out of this, the husband orders her to take a rest on what actually the narrator describes as the haunted house. For the sake of the two of them to stay there, the woman gives in despite her feeling uncomfortable. To wrap up the significance of the title, the yellow house built of yellow bricks (Gilman and Jean 50). The story has a variety of characters that help develop the story line. First, there is the narrator. Through the eyes of the omniscient narrator, who is the protagonist, her know it all helps the reader to unveil the rather knit up the story of the woman with complications and the ordeals of the family as well as the neighbors. She is imaginative and creative person as she lives to tell of the society’s view of women’s artistic skills and intellect as an anomaly, as misfits and ill as shown through the story. John is the other character, the narrator’s husband, who happens to be a physician. He totally differs on his wife’s intellect for his chauvinistic stance only propels him to believe what he can only see and touch. For example, his own creation of hypochondriac, as the disease for his woman tells it all. His busy schedule is what ignites her wife to stay alone and choose to write, an obsessive ritual centered on the yellow paper in their room (77). Jennie, John’s sister serves as the house help. Her duty also involve to check up the overgrowing zealous of John’s wife in writing. Her brother’s belief of a concrete view of the world binds her. The other main character is Weir Mitchell, the doctor who engineered the rest cure for John’s wife. These characters are real personnel’s as the author deviates from using fiction characters. The setting reflects the era when

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Informative Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Informative - Speech or Presentation Example My case, like most traffic offenses, did not require my presence in court. Instead, it was handled by a violations bureau that exerted a fine on me without having to appear in court. Traffic offenses, according to Neubauer, and Fradella, refer to a group of offenses involving self-propelled motor vehicles. These violations range from parking violations to improper equipment. Speeding is the most common traffic offense, along with driving without a license and driving with a revoked or suspended license. Traffic offenses are, typically, punishable by a small fine (475). The traffic court, according to Jacques, usually has under, its jurisdiction and control, a violations bureau to handle nonmoving violations, so that you can appear and pay a fine to be fixed by the judge without the requirement of an appearance in court. It would be ideal if the traffic judge could hear the case of each person cited into court for any motor vehicle code violation personally, but this would require a s ubstantial number of additional judges and court personnel. Therefore, it is better that the traffic judge devote his time and attention to those moving violations which are the causes of accidents and delegate to a bureau the duty of collecting a fixed fine in the nonmoving violations (381). Although, in my case, I did not require to go to court, I chose to attend a court case anyway to learn the procedure followed in court cases. As soon as you are put under arrest on suspicion of a crime, you became a defendant. Defendants enjoy several rights, which are; right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the right to be informed of your charges, the right to maintain silence, the right to retain an attorney, the right to be assigned an attorney, the right to request a reasonable postponement, the right to or not to testify, the right to call or subpoena a witness and the right to appeal. Once you have your day in court, you should expect several things. First, you should alw ays pay serious attention to what the court staff and the judge are saying. Additionally, you should be aware that all proceedings in the court are recorded, and the judge will always offer an opening statement. After the judge is through with the opening statement, the cases are called out in order starting with a request for postponement, uncontested motion, first arraignment, plea of guilty, plea of not guilty (without an attorney) and plea of not guilty (with an attorney). If you have no attorney, the case can be postponed to give you the opportunity to obtain either a private attorney or a court appointed public defender. In cases involving disputes, the disputes can be solved without having to go in front of a judge through discussions arbitrated by a mediator. You can also choose to enter a plea agreement. This is where you choose to reach a negotiated settlement instead of having to undergo a trial. While entering a plea, you might need to negotiate with the prosecutor or at torney who represents the state. However, all plea agreements must be reviewed and approved by a judge for them to become biding. Bergman, Berman, and Berman-Barrett, state that plea bargaining can be conveniently divided into two forms: sentence and charge bargaining. Sentence bargaining is a plea bargaining type in which the prosecutor agrees to

Monday, August 26, 2019

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

Sikhism - Research Paper Example Thesis statement: The research on Sikhism proves that its evolution is interconnected with different religious beliefs in India; its doctrinal and philosophical dimensions prove that it is related to universal brotherhood and monotheism, and the acceptance of differences proves that the same exerts positive impact in and outside of this religious belief in general. As pointed out, the origin of this religion is interconnected with the spiritual leader, whose name is Guru Nanak. Besides, the evolution of this religion from an Indian religion to a global religion is indebted to migration, especially from India to different parts of the world. On the other side, Guru Nanak did not limit the growth of this religion within his own teachings. Instead, he started ‘guruship’ or the process of accepting different people as spiritual leaders during different time intervals. J. S. Grewal states that, â€Å"During the last fifteen years of his life Guru Nanak settled down at Kartarpur, a place founded by him then on the right bank of the river Ravi, represented by the present Dera Baba Nanak on the left bank† (39). After Guru Nanak, spiritual leadership was vested upon Guru Angad. The political advancement known as Khalsa, is another example for the evolution of this religion. So, one can see that open mindedness towards change and acc eptance shown towards different religious beliefs is the reason behind the success of this religion. As pointed, Granth Sahib is generally considered as the doctrinal aspect of Sikhism because it contains the basic teachings of important gurus. Within this scenario, the fundamental aspects/ doctrinal dimensions of Sikhism include the teachings of their religious/spiritual leaders. First of all, the concept of ‘Nam’ is symbolic of monotheism because this religion asks the followers to believe in oneness of the God. To be specific, this

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Theater aesthetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theater aesthetics - Essay Example In such a way, it is the hope of this author that by expounding upon the light and dark realities that are portrayed within the set design and costume dynamics that further elements of the underlying struggle that exists within the main characters can be coaxed out of a play that has already been analyzed in each other imaginable means. Firstly, with respect to the set design of the play Hamlet, the clear and overt utilization of the dismal and rather dark color schemes that define the castle existence that Hamlet himself experiences are evocative of the inner struggle and means by which his character constantly struggles between the realities of life and the hopes and aspirations that he continues to hold onto. In such a way, the light and dark contrasts of the interior set design of the castle alongside the more pastoral landscape that much of the play integrates with allows for the viewer to trace a clear and rather obvious point of understand with regards to the anticipation of h ope and the reality of defeat and suicidal tendencies that are displayed within the dialogue as well as within the internal dynamics of set design and construction colors/lighting. Likewise, a further and indirect level of understanding can be made with regards to the ominous sense of foreboding that such a dismal set design necessarily evokes within the viewer. In its most perfect form, set design is meant to work alongside and not distract from, or add to boisterously to, the meanings or understandings that the audience should take from a play. In such a way, it should be the clear and unmistakable take away and understanding of the reader that this is expertly demonstrated within the play itself by appropriate utilization and leverage of scene design and lighting that have been affected. Another key aspect of understanding that can be garnered with respect to the aesthetics of the play in question is with regards to the wardrobe that is exhibited. Again, the clear and obvious lev el of understanding that this wardrobe provides is with regards to the descriptive capabilities that has in defining and differentiating the moods and thoughts that Hamlet and the other characters express on stage. Again, it would be quite sufficient if the actors of the play integrated perfectly with the script and were able to relate the complexities of the play to the audience; however, an entirely different dynamic is able to be leveraged by merely dressing Hamlet and Ophelia in contrasting shades of dark and light. The shades of dark that Hamlet is clothed in represent a clear understanding to the audience that he is continually battling the darkness of suicidal thoughts and depression whereas the lighter colors are evocative of the aforementioned pastoral scenes in which he can be seen to contemplate those aspects of life that offer hope for living further. Comparatively, Ophelia is clothed in darker colors throughout much of the play due to her unceasing state of mourning. Ho wever, lighter colors are also employed at times and it is the belief of this author that such utilization helps to underscore the frailty and femininity that Ophelia brings to the play itself. Whereas almost all of the subject matter is dark and extraordinarily philosophical, Ophelia acts as something of a foil to the character of Hamlet in the fact that she is able to engage in life and its complexities in something of a natural and rather

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Determinants of financial conservatism in the United Kingdom and Dissertation

Determinants of financial conservatism in the United Kingdom and France - Dissertation Example In the first section, which serves as a background and motivation for this investigation; the empirical studies into financial conservatism and debate on its existing measures in a summarized form has been laid out. In this chapter, a detailed literature review is presented, which elaborates on the various schools of thought regarding conservatism. The next section describes about financial distress. The co-relation between financial distress and financial conservatism is discussed. The analysis has been carried out on financial models of Ericson (as an example from the literature), Alcatel-Lucent and England and Wales Cricket Board (their financial report) as case studies and the results have been discussed to establish that the financial conservatism has its standing and strengths in corporate governance to the modern corporate world. In addition, a comparison of the term Financial Distress with the Accounting Conservatism from the literature concludes that financially conservative firms do not depend on financial distress. To carry out this comparison, a sample of small firms that defaulted on their bank debt in UK and France is taken and analyzed. The last part is devoted to the conclusion of our analysis efforts. From this study, we conclude that financial conservatism is very independent of financial distress and provides more flexibility to the firms. We find that there are several reasons to use accounting conservatism in corporate governance and that current empirical evidence indicates that conservatism has increased in the last decades. Key terms; International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Financial Conservatism, Cash conservatism, Leverage Conservatism, Regression Analysis, Statistical Mean, Empirical Measure/Model, Data, Cash Flow, Financial Distress, Bankruptcy and Proxies CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF CONSERVATISM 1.1 Introduction Conservatism is the most influential principle of valuation in accounting (Watts, 2003).It is defined as the di fferential verifiability required for recognition of profits versus losses. Firms employ this approach to restrict the risk factor by anticipating/ portraying lower profits along with higher losses. According to the principle of conservatism in accounting in case of doubt, the accounting alternative that is least likely to overstate assets and income should be chosen. (Schroeder et al., 2001, p.78). The conservative accounting method influences both on earnings and on net asset value. The effect on earnings will depend on whether the investments are growing, stable or decreasing. Conservative accounting always results in a lower net asset value of the company. Thus, conservatism of the firm can be evaluated based on either its leverage conservatism (low leverage firms) or cash conservatism (cash rich firms) or both. (Iona et al., 2004). It is employed to avoid any misunderstanding regarding the company’s financial standing with the internal as well as external shareholders. T hese stakeholders can be the business shareholders, debt holders and the management. 1.2 General Approaches to Financial Conservatism 1.2.1 Revenue Recognition Firms commonly impose a strict revenue recognition policy as part of their conservative policies. This ensures that the company does not over state its revenue, hence reducing the chance of inflated gross profits appearing in its financial statements. For this purpose, the revenue is recognized only when the products are sold/services completed; all transactions are realizable. 1.2.2 Overestimation of Allowance for Bad Debts This policy is placed to cater for a worst-case scenario

Friday, August 23, 2019

Business Communication And Presentations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Business Communication And Presentations - Essay Example This essay stresses that the importance of communication and particularly communication of expectations is central to individual and organizational effectiveness. The organizational expectations should be unambiguously communicated to the individual manager which was not done in the case of the new Finance Director. He was thus unable to fit in the overall pattern and respond to the role expectations appropriately. The Managing Director further failed as the role sender in communicating the desired behavior. Despite this he evaluated and sanctioned the Finance Director as he was primarily concerned with self-interest. He was interested in the performance of his region and not of the corporate as a whole. Since the expectations were not clearly communicated there was lack of shared expectations. This situation presented an opportunity to the Finance Director who was proactive and defined his own role. This paper makes a conclusion that poor communication is the key driver of negative feelings among the top executives in any organization. Since the CFO is at a different location, the Finance Director has absolutely no face-to-face contact with him and hence tends to report regularly to avoid misunderstandings. Now that the Finance Director has been confronted by the Managing Director he has to explain and justify his position. He has to give a feedback on his actions and the work that he has been executing.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Shearwater Case Study Essay Example for Free

Shearwater Case Study Essay Shearwater Adventures is an adventures tour operator in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It specializes in rafting, canoeing, and kayaking on the Zambezi River. This river is the fourth largest river in the African continent. The company grew to dominate the â€Å"Adventure† market in Victoria Falls. As a result of this expansion, Shearwater Adventures became the most well known adventure-tour operator in the continent of Africa. This expansion occurred while the company was under the leadership of Robert Allen who joined Shearwater ten years ago. He began as a photographer with friend Mark Davis taking pictures and videos of the rafting trips. He went on to become Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after Davis’ departure. Shearwater was number one in the market. Regardless of their dominance in the Victoria Falls area and their position as leaders in the market, Shearwater adventures had to face the competition. They had to continue dominating while maintaining their reputation as a successful and profitable outdoor adventures operators. To achieve their established goals, Allen Roberts and his management team created different strategies in order to compete efficiently and to maintain their leader position. QUESTION 1: The fundamental strategies in 2006: First of all, the company was counting on its name and reputation since the word of mouth played an important role in new sales. Also, the goal of the Shearwater Adventures was to achieve repeat bookings from satisfied customers, maximize profit and increase their market share. Shearwater Adventures established partnerships and acquisitions with leading Tour Operators such as Jenman African Safaris to boost their reputation and to gain business. Acquisitions that have increased their competitive scope and profitability in the long run. Advertising is obviously key to attracting tourists who are confused about their choice concerning an adventure activity. The continuation of an advertising program was primordial for the company. The fundamental fact of their success and strength that made the company is the level of differentiation. Indeed, in comparison to their competitors, Shearwater Adventures differentiate themselves by offering far more activities than the competitors. This allows customers to have a wide range of choices from rafting trips to lion encounters. Meanwhile, most competitors offer more or less 3 options: white water rafting, boating and elephant riding. By offering more than the competitors, Shearwater created a competitive advantage by bringing customers what competitors could not. As a result, Shearwater remains a leader in the market and competitors will have no other choice than to design and create a new adventure. Otherwise, they could also copy Shearwaters products and services. In addition to its several activities, Shearwater offers packages allowing customers to choose from a selection of activities for one price. Through a differentiation strategy, and by distinguishing itself, Shearwater obtained a competitive advantage. This allowed Roberts to maintain his position in the market. As a result of these strategies, from 2004 to 2006 the number of guests increased from 26,351 to 41,868 as well as the revenue. QUESTION 2: Perform a 5-forces analysis of Shearwater’s competitive environment. FORCE 1: Rivalry among competing sellers The industry is ranges from around $400 $500 million, however this industry is fragmented: that is to say, it is spread worldwide in relation to areas offering the chance to perform such activities. There are many competitors: Over 40 areas of activities (i. e. kayaking, safari trips, extreme sports). Locations are all over the world and there are over 250,000 operators that compete in the same â€Å"outdoor activity† market. Yet, operators, such as Shearwater, focus on the local level when it comes to competing. Zimbabwe’s political and economical instability. Though Zimbabwe’s tourism had declined by 75% and inflation was at 1,200% Shearwater continued to be the market leader in the area with an 80% share market. It had managed to increase sales by 22 and 39% percent in the last couple of years. Shearwater dominates in Victoria Falls and become the most well known adventure tour in all of Africa. Even though Shearwater is the leader, companies have partnered up in acquisitions, associations and networks with other businesses in order to increase their market share. Rivalry among competitors is high. FORCE 2: Threat of New Entry For small businesses to enter the industry, the cost may be as low as $20,000 for a single activity operation. For larger, full-service operations a large entry cost of $200,000 is estimated. It may be difficult to start an operation in the U. S. because of cost of permits and government, state or municipal regulations. However, installing a new company is Southern Africa (for example Zimbabwe and other surrounding countries) is quite feasible for new operators in the market. We must continue to take into consideration the current economical and political instability of Zimbabwe for those organizations attempting to enter this market There is a certain â€Å"Experience Curve† path that a new company may experience. It is important for management to be thoroughly aware of every detail concerning operations and financial matters, as well as the local market. This experience may take some time to acquire. On top of that, a new competitor should realize that it would be competing with other brands (especially Shearwater) that have an already established notoriety, a client list and advertising distributors. Threat of entry is relatively moderate. FORCE 3: Threat of Substitute Products This is an â€Å"Outdoors/ Extreme Activities† Market. The necessary ingredients to create this service involve irreplaceable factors such as: waterfalls, natural water rapids, mountains, fresh air, nature, scenery, etc. There are new activities that may be though of, however those would go directly into competition, and would not be considered as substitutes. Threat of Substitute Products is low. FORCE 4: Bargaining Power of Suppliers The nature of the service supplied is not a commodity, and cannot be reproduced or duplicated. Even though suppliers reach the 250,000 mark worldwide, these operators are vastly spread out concerning the nature of the activity. White water rafting for instance, requires a location with a water body, waterfalls, rapids, wild outdoors settings and beautiful sceneries, among other things. The company can only go as far as supplying the equipment needed to ride these waters. The only way operators may integrate backwards is if they decide to produce their own equipment and trained professionals. However, this would only be a good strategy if the costs were less than what they already pay to suppliers. Given the type of activity offered, there is a small chance of supply shortage. The Bargaining Power of Suppliers is moderately high. FORCE 5: Bargaining Power of Buyers The demand for this industry is moderately sized. The target age in the industry was from mid 40’s to early 50’s. These people had the drive to stay â€Å"young at heart† and the available income to fulfill these desires. Until recently, the media has created an awareness of adventurous locations, and their desire to explore them increased. They may only integrate backwards by buying their own equipment and training themselves on outdoor skills. However, since most of the consumers are over the age of 40, this seems to be a bit of a challenge. Although Shearwater advertised locally and partnering with tour operators, the local community seems to have a certain amount of power over the promotion of this company. It has progressively gained notoriety, and Roberts should be mindful that should he upset the community, they may bad mouth his business. The Bargaining Power of Buyers is moderate. QUESTION 3: What are the KSFs for competing in the Extreme Adventure Sporting Industry? There are several variables that have had a direct impact on the effectiveness of Shearwater’s business. The specific factors that underlie the success of Shearwater Adventures are: Brand Recognition: The company relied on its name to achieve their goal of repeat bookings, and cooperation with other companies (e. g. tour operators) for cross-selling opportunities could offer them a higher probability to gain exposure and business. Strong Leadership ; Management: Mike Davis and Allen Roberts were excellent entrepreneurs. Their leadership, particularly Roberts’ role as Shearwater’s CEO after Davis left, played a critical role in enabling Shearwater to dominate the outdoor adventure market. Favorable Destination: Opening an outdoor adventure company in the United States is difficult due to the cost of permits, so opening an adventure operation in South Africa was more attractive and cost-effective. Strategic Partnerships: Strategic partnerships played an important role in Shearwater’s successful growth, since â€Å"Industry leaders were partnering through acquisitions, organized associations, and reseller networks in order to increase repeat bookings from satisfied customers. † Strategic Advertising ; Marketing: Their goal was to target and direct customers at the start of their vacation. Shearwater engaged in intense local advertising to attract a large number of newly arriving tourists who had not chosen an adventure. This allowed it to attract a large share of newly arriving, non-committed tourists. Variety of Activities Offered: Larger variety of outdoor adventures activities was a strong differentiation for Shearwater. Most competitors had a limited number of activities, making Shearwater superior in the local market. Companies that could offer a variety of activities had a much higher probability of gaining repeat business. Pricing Strategy: Bundling activities that allowed customers to choose from a selection of activities for one price was highly attractive and added to the company’s value and success. Cross-Selling Opportunities: Shearwater’s expansion into related business activities, like tourist transportation, lodging, and video ; photos, allowed the company to cross-sell and increase its sales revenue through these related business segments. Community Support: Support from locals was also an important reason for the company’s success, as it added credibility to the company. It enabled smooth operations for Shearwater, increased its reputation, and thus increasing its strength in the industry. Skilled ; Qualified Team: Through Allen Roberts’ leadership, he continued to build a solid management team due to his knack for attracting the right person for the right job. These 10 Key Success Factors have contributed to the growth and success of Shearwater Adventures, and has continued to make them a current market leader in the outdoor adventures industry in the Victoria Falls area. 4. SWOT Analysis Strengths: Located in the touristic area of the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Shearwater is considered to be the giant leader of the area (with 80% market share), in fact leader of all Africa Company driven by a knowledgeable and experienced anager, Allen Roberts â€Å"Industry image†, extreme sports are seen as a way to enjoy time away from hectic lives (average age of customers between 40s and 50s) Shearwater Adventures LTD. offers a wider range of activities then competitors (at least 11 activities against 3 for competitors) Possibility to organize both individual trips and packages (e. g. â€Å"Ticket to Adventure† package, where you can make huge savings and choose what you want to do and when) Strong local level awareness, â€Å"Word Of Mouth† has helped increase sales Entertainment Media helps increase popularity of the industry (Fear Factor, ESPN, Survivor etc. Improved equipment quality Weaknesses: Although Shearwater Adventures have 80% of the market share, competition is tough enough for company to worry about continuing market domination while maintaining its reputation as a â€Å"successful outdoor adventures operator† The company clearly has a tight budget, â€Å"Roberts and his management team had already cut Shearwater’s expenses to the bone and had given up their company cars for motorbikes† (p. paragraph 3) Weak global level awareness, as companies looked to grow their market share and increase customer base on a local level (global level seemed ore of an obstacle) It appears that outdoor activities companies must deal with aging equipment and older owners when company reaches its maturity Opportunities: The Shearwater Adventures LTD. can link up with international travel companies for purposes such as gaining international awareness and prepaid guaranteed reservation Implement a better advertising plan for re peat bookings and cross-selling Maybe the business should consider acquiring other companies? Creating a new venture to attract a younger crowd Threats: Zimbabwe’s economical and political instability has caused a 75% decrease of the country’s tourism and inflation was 1200% causing prices to double every 22 days Competitors might offer a wider range of activities as it is relatively inexpensive and there are enough ventures to copy Shearwater or add new adventures 5. Provide recommendations concerning Shearwaters future strategy As we know Shearwater is already the leading company in the adventure/extreme industry for the contient, logically, the main question will be how to improve when you are already the number one or at least, how to stay number one? Buying Companies the idea of buying companies was from Allen Roberts himself and was, from my point of view, one of the most intresting. Buying companies allow you to kill the competition (within the area) and in the meantime to increase your market share by absorbing the competitors. In the other hand Shearwater will need a substantial amount of money for this type of investments, money that they may not be able to collect. Despite the financial factors, integrating competitors to the company will allow Mr Roberts to create his own rivalry in the Victorias fall area, allowing to expend, generate more revenues while controlling the all business. Targeting Market Segment The actual targeted segment, people who are â€Å"mid 40s to early 50† are certainly interested in lion encounter or safary but maybe less by more extreme sports such as kayaking or rafting. By focusing on this market segment they completely forget generation who grew up witth that kind of sports. Enhance by the media and famous energy drinks ( https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=mFo-HKKOsXchd=1 ) adventure or extreme sports have become a very important trend for the 20-30 years old. It would be a shame to miss such an opportunity to increase the market share when the only effort you have to make is to make people aware of your complex. Developing the companys assets A wide range of activities, affordables prices, but do they really focus on the essential? People around 50 are attracted by this healthy way of living so why dont they develop a healthy/fitness programme. Mixing sports and dietetic/healthy food as it is the trend nowdays. This strategy is using the current assets of the company in a different way that could be a lot more appealing for customers. Worldwide vision Advertising on a local/national level would be useless for Shearwater as it is already recognize as the number one. What they neeed is a worldwide vision, let people know that they are providing one of the best experience in the adventur industry, and if people are not interested in sport why wont they come for the location in itself. The use of new type of communication such as facebook twitter or threw sponsors (Red bull, Monsters.. ) have already helped the cause of extreme sports and pointed out the fact that people are more than intrested in that kind of leisure. Be a precursor In every single industry, leading companies overcome difficulties by creating their own product and/or creating the demand. In the past few years a lot of new sports have immerged, creating one, could be the chance of an international recognition and healthy finance. Their status of number one is not immutable, they should use their monopoly on the market to create what they think would be the adventure industry of tomorrow. As a reminder, the main question of the case study was â€Å"how to continue to dominate the market while maintaining the reputation as a successful outdoor adventures operator†. The difficulty of chosing a strategy is emphasis by their status of number one, with no comparable company all over the continent the only reasonable choice seems to completely create the wanted path. They got the recognition, the infrastructures as well as a strong leadership. By having a step ahead of the competitions they can maintain their reputation but for how long? To conclude, strenghen by their position, they should choke the competition by redifining what aventure industry means in their own words.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Nigeria, a Multi Ethnic Nation Essay Example for Free

Nigeria, a Multi Ethnic Nation Essay Says : Cultures have been able to integrate drinking into a religious and symbolic context. Irish tend to have a serious drinking problem with drinking; Jews and Italians do not. There are two psychological explanations to be found for alcoholism-cultural and psychological. In a culture in which the demands for male supportiveness are high and there is low support for assertiveness in the male role, the author argues that drinking increases in men at least. The author also discuss the influence of drinking socialization on drinking patterns. Does : It provides the background knowledge required to understand the contents of the book. It introduces the proposition through specialized, concrete and qualitative premises. Chapter Three (Page 36-52) Says : Different cultures are evaluated on the he characteristics of power and support. The Irish and Italians are high on power and support, while the Swedes and Jews are low. Italians and Jews are high on support than are Irish and Swedes. On this basis, it can expected that the groups would rank themselves in terms of alcohol consumption in the following order : irish, Swedes, Italians, Jews. Thus, there is a striking difference in the drinking environment of each drinking group. Does : It provides reasons in support of the proposition. It provides concrete and qualitative examples. It also provides several descriptive examples and qualitative evidence. Chapter Six (Page 83-89) Says : The chapter examines whether the different ethnic groups may have different addiction subcultures. The Irish may drink more because they have an oral dependency subculture. While various groups do not differ enormously in their adolescent years in their levels of drug consumption, young people from the different groups seem to find their way into peer-group environments where the propensity to abuse alcohol and drugs is high. Does : It provides several specialized and concrete research findings. It introduces several implications of the proposition. Chapter Eight (Page 95-101) Says : There are different drinking subcultures among ethnic groups studied, which influence the drinking behavior and ones propensity to have drinking problems. These cultures are remarkably durable, persisting across generations. Does : It provides a conclusion for the book, and highlights the most important facts related to drinking and ethnicity.

Stereotypes and English Language Learning

Stereotypes and English Language Learning When I was working on my undergraduate degree the professor asked the students of the college class to consider what our preconceived ideas and prejudices were about our future students. When I really thought about it I found that I did have prejudices against certain cultures more than others. I found that I considered Caucasian and Asian students to be smart and well behaved and considered African American and Hispanic students as not as smart and poorly behaved. It bothered me quite a bit but I realized I could not change if I did not recognize my faults. Obviously this is not true. The intelligence of a person is not based on their skin color or culture. The thoughts I had in my head came from somewhere. In this research paper I will explore the issue of stereotypes as it pertains to English Language Learners (ELL) who speak Spanish as their first language in particular. When I refer to Hispanic students in this paper I am inferring the student is also an ELL student. I work with Spanish speaking students, primarily Mexican. I felt researching this subgroup would be most beneficial to me and my co-workers. Much of the information could be accurate for other groups as well. The definition of stereotype according to Dictionary.com (2010) is, A set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly. Unfortunately the majority of the stereotypes about Hispanic people are overwhelmingly negative. Some examples of stereotypes against Mexican students are, (1) gang members, (2) boys are macho, (3) girls should be submissive or objectified, (4) large families/many children, (5) dirty, (6) illegal aliens, (7) parents work mainly in the hotel and landscaping industries(Terra, 2010. The photographs below demonstrate some of the images that people are subjected to. People who are not in contact with adults and children from the Hispanic cultures may think that this is how all people from Hispanic backgrounds truly look. Images speak a 1,000 words. The media including television, magazines, and the Internet often perpetuate the stereotypes of different cultures. According to the Media Awareness Network, stereotypes act like codes that show audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people. The image usually relates to a persons class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation (Media Awareness Network, 2010). The images Hispanic children and teens are bombarded with can cause confusion. They may get brainwashed into believing that they are supposed to look and behave in a stereotypical manner. The problem with media stereotyping is that stereotyping can reduce substantially the amount of personal differences about people into an over simplified category. Media stereotyping can also convert assumptions about particular groups of people into what is commonly considered a fact. People in power use the media stereotypes to justify statements they make. The media stereotypes also perpetuate inequality and social prejudice (Media Awareness Network, 2010). More often than not, the groups being stereotyped has little to say about how they are represented (Media Awareness Network, 2010). For example television corporations have a lot of power, control, and influence over what images they put on the television programming. If the station chooses to put images of gang violence or stereotypical Hispanic images the culture represented would have an uphill battle trying to get the television station to change the programming to a more positive view of the Hispanic culture. It is important for teachers to attempt to help filter the harmful effects of the media that students of all cultures are bombarded with on a daily basis. Careful selection of books, videos, internet sites, magazines, and activities need to be carefully evaluated before showing them to students. I constantly complain about what I see on television when I watch programs with my sixteen year old daughter. We talk about the inaccuracies and stereotypes. If teachers make children aware of the stereotypes on television the students will learn to see the bias for themselves. After listening to the A-Z lectures (Blecher-Sass Russell-Fowler, 2010) and reviewing the slides it occurred to me how important it is to have a classroom that is representative and respectful of the cultures contained in it in order to address stereotyping. I also know that it is important to expose the children to cultures from around the world. The world is becoming a small place with the instant information of the World Wide Web. Collages came to mind when I thought about representing the different types of people within a culture. Referencing the picture above, the images represented do show people from a Hispanic culture, but so do the three images inserted below. The collage project would be a wonderful activity for the students to undertake. The students would write reports and make collage posters to represent different cultures. I would let them pick from all areas of the world so that we would have a variety of cultures represented in the classroom (Blecher-Sass Russell-Fowler, 2010). (Getty Images, 2010) Traditions can also be a part of a stereotype of a culture. For example, not all Hispanic girls will have a Quinceanera (Terra, 2010). Some Hispanic girls might have a sweet 16 or no significant party at all. I think it is important for teachers to have the parents of the children volunteer in the classroom to share family traditions. My school is 87% Hispanic (CCSD, 2010). It would be extremely interesting and beneficial to the students to learn about the different traditions of their friends families. Many of the students have a culture in common but each family is unique. It is important to highlight the differences and the distinctive attributes of every family. When people think of parent involvement in schools, they typically imagine a middle-class parent attending a PTA meeting or school board meeting, or volunteering to make cupcakes for a class party (Airola, 2004). In this example there is a preconceived notion that only certain people are welcome at school. Or that people need a certain set of skills to help at school. I had a parent just the other day tell me her stay at home husband, only spoke Spanish, when I mentioned I would love for him to come and volunteer in the classroom. I told her that it did not matter. Her husband was uncomfortable volunteering in an English speaking kindergarten classroom. I will continue to welcome all my parents into my classroom. People can stereotype themselves. Sometimes it is comfortable to be what the media says you are. All students may not be headed to college, once they graduate. It is important to make sure that it is the students choice. Educators must not use stereotyping to pigeon hole a student into any educational, vocational, career, or job choice. I have heard too many stories of successful adults that have been told they were, not college material (Jackson, 2010). Teachers should provide students with positive role models, of former ELL students, who have overcome the obstacle of being a non-English speaker, and how they have become success stories. Clark County School District has 65.4% of students who are considered part of the minority population. Hispanic students make up the largest population of students in the Clark County School District (CCSD, 2010). It is imperative that teachers do not stereotype the students into what the media and politicians would like community members to believe. The students that teachers are educating today will be the leaders of tomorrow. (CCSD, 2010) According to Pew Hispanic Center 23% of the Hispanic children in the state of Nevada live in poverty (Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Nevada, 2008, 2010). Nearly one quarter of the children live in low-income areas and go to low socioeconomic schools. The teachers need to take into account that many of the students do not see Hispanic role models in professional jobs in the environment where they live. Teachers have the responsibility to bring in speakers and volunteers to work with the children and open the students eyes to the big wide world outside of their neighborhood. If the children see successful adults who look like them it just may foster their ambition to reach for higher goals in the future. Another definition of a stereotype is a generalized image of a person or group, which does not acknowledge individual differences and which is often prejudicial to that person or group. Many of our students may encounter a feeling of not belonging due to their language and/or culture. An educators job is to try and help students avoid these possible situations by addressing the issue with our entire class, staff, and all that come in contact with the child. Success can only be achieved when all those involved agree to work as a team (Blecher-Sass Russell-Fowler, 2010).

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Time in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Time in The Great Gatsby Time is an idea described in different periods and aspects, for example philosophical, psychological, physical and biological. This time flows evenly but is broken into the past, present and future. Since we only live in the present forever planning for our futures and dreams, when we try to live in the past it restricts our future. Throughout Fitzgerald's novel, Gatsby wasted time and his life for a single dream, and it was his illusion of his ideal future that made time a key dimension in his life. Gatsby suffers from past memories of Daisy and tries to relive the relationship and in the process Gatsby was murdered. Nick says, "Almost five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion". Gatsby's idealistic view of Daisy was, she was of pure and perfect form and after he kisses her, his ideal perfect relationship starts to decay, "...and the incarnation was complete". The incarnation meaning Daisy cannot be ideally perfect anymore now that Gatsby's with her. Daisy is not pure and perfect like Gatsby thought she was in the past. From Gatsby's illusions of the past preoccupying all his thoughts, he forgets about the key dimension he exists in which is the present. Although Gatsby was persistent on reliving the past, Gatsby vaguely lived for the present. This is apparent when he cancels his biology by leaving home, changing his name, and leaving his heritage behind which was not done by following the past. In the past Jay Gatsby made, "...a platonic conception of himself". What Nick said about Gatsby's platonic theory of himself was that Gatsby "...was a son of God". From Jay Gatsby's theory he makes a ideal conception of himself, of which he projects himself into the future. Ultimately Gatsby is left with the choices to "...suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder," or kiss Daisy and "...his mind would never romp again like the mind of God". In Gatsby's choices he is to climb "the ladder" to God which represents Gatsby's future or choose Daisy and choose the past.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Acutrim :: Research Paper Essays

Acutrim Acutrim is a stimulant which has two effects on the body. It is a decongestant and an appetite suppressant. The active ingredient in Acutrim is a compound called phenylpropanolamine. Its is an FDA approved, nonprescription appetite suppressant to be used with a weight loss program. The drug is initially effective in controlling excessive eating (unc-clos.tierranet.com/phenylpropanol.htm). Acutrim acts similarly to its chemical cousin amphetamine. The phenylpropanolamine acts on the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that controls the appetite, by increasing the amount of serotonin-- the chemical that affect mood and appetite. This decreases the appetite and increases the feeling of being full. Like all stimulants, it increases heart rate and blood pressure (www.phys.com/b_nutrition/02solutions/08diet/phenylprop.htm & www.clos.net/aaceobesity.htm). This supposedly can assist weight loss by increasing weight loss by about an additional five percent by taking 25 milligrams thirty minutes before eating three times a day, or by taking 75 milligrams of a slow-release formula every morning (unc-clos.tierranet.com/phenylpropanol.htm). When used as part of a diet plan, it may help you lose about an extra one-quarter of a pound each week. But the effect will only last for the first month of your diet. After that, the drug has no effect on weight loss. The weight loss may not be permanent, especially after the drug is discontinued (www.phys.com/b_nutrition/02solutions/08diet/phenylprop.htm). The most common side effects of Acutrim and the active phenylpropanolamine are nervousness, sleeplessness, throbbing heartbeat, irritability, headache, sweating, dry mouth, nausea and constipation (www.healthsquare.com/pdrfg/pd/monos/acutrim.htm).. It is seriously dangerous to take this medication while taking any antidepressant in the chemical family called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO), such as Nardil, Marplan and Parnate. If you are being treated for high blood pressure, depression, or an eating disorder, or if you have heart disease, diabetes, or a thyroid disorder, do not take Acutrim unless you will be monitored by your doctor. This product should not be given to children under the age of twelve (www.phys.com/b_nutrition/02solutions/08diet/phenylprop.htm). Although Acutrim’s utility for weight loss has been recognized for many years, however the research and medical findings confirm the theory that the active ingredient phenylpropanolamine is not an safe or permanent means of weight loss. An article by Andrew Jenkins in The Journal of Physical Education briefly describes one of the dangers

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Quentin Tarantino :: essays research papers

Social workers play a vital role in many aspects of our society, from the court system to the correctional facilities in which they work. The lives of the incarcerated clients, in addition to those who have been released, and the members of our society as a whole can contribute something to society. According to California’s Occupational Guide â€Å"correctional Social Workers work with juvenile or adult offenders to determine and correct the causes of anti-social behavior. They may work with youth groups or gangs. They conduct pre-hearing and pre-sentencing investigations and present social histories to the courts. Parolees and probationers readjust to society† (California Occupational Guide, On-line). The social worker that works in a correctional institute has an immense responsibility which includes rehabilitation, and the prevention of recidivism of each client.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development of social workers originated early as specific organizations of society that noticed underprivileged people needed assistance with their problems and did so by addressing their needs in various ways. As The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia states â€Å"The development of Social work as a profession out of the early efforts of churches and philanthropic groups to relieve the effects of poverty, to bring the comforts of religion to the poor, to promote temperance and encourage thrift , to care for children, the sick, and the aged, and to correct the delinquent†(2003). The early efforts of these groups gave the poverty-stricken community a voice to be heard and aided society by recognizing that there was a social problem that needed to be addressed in serving these urgent needs. In 1874 the National Conference of Charities and Correction (now called the National Conference on Social Welfare) was organized in the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The evolution of the independent sector, now known as social work, from the broad category of the social sciences was a gradual process which began in the late nineteenth century. Public relief and private philanthropic efforts remained largely matters of local and state concern until after 1930, when the federal government entered the field of social work on a large scale to cope with the effects of the great depression (2003). The government became more aware of the need for social workers to have their own programs to attend to the needs of society’s less fortunate. In addition, three authors Miller, Hollis and Taylor respectively stated, â€Å"In these early years, those who saw themselves as â€Å"social workers† were often intimately involved with the criminal justice system and with juveniles sentenced to reform schools and youth facilities at the times.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Child Language Acquisition Essay

Linguistically, both of these infants are at different stages of their language development. The lexical choices made by each child can show what stage they are at in developing their language and applying it to situations and conversations. Sophie’s use of the word ‘Bissie’, meaning biscuit shows that she hasn’t quite been able to pronounce the sound therefore makes an alternative word up that sounds similar, that is understandable by the child’s carer/parent, but is easier to say than ‘biscuit’. Other lexical choices Sophie uses, tend to be commanding words, such as ‘me want’ ‘No’. As the child is young, she realises to get what she wants; she has to ask for it and by using the commanding words, she is airing the fact that she wants something to her parent/carer. According to Halliday’s functions, this language is regulatory, as well as being instrumental. She is controlling the behaviour of others (telling Fran that she doesn’t want to tidy the dolls house) and she is obtaining material needs (wanting a biscuit). Katharine has grasped the concept of pronouns. She uses the personal pronoun ‘I’ to refer to herself ‘Now I’ll do Jason’, and she can even use ‘we’ as the collective term for her and her mum together ‘We do Jason again shall we? ‘ Sophie’s sentences have basic structure to them, as she voices what she needs to say, in the simplest way to say it. They are quite short, and to the point. Her language acquisition is at the stage where she knows how to communicate, speak and use words in a simple sentence to voice what she wants. ‘Mary come me’, meaning ‘Can Mary come and play with me’, is a very simple form of the sentence, but still communicates to her mum what she wants to do. She uses ‘me’ instead of ‘I’ to refer to herself. This confusion of pronoun usage is common among young children. Some of the words she uses, she omits the prefixes of the sounds, such as ‘nother’ instead of ‘another’. This makes it easier to say, and shortens what she says. Katharine on the other hand, who is involved in an activity, is communicating with her mum using more structured sentences. Her mum is constantly questioning what she is doing (Skinners theory of reinforcement and imitation (response)) ‘Where’s his body? ‘ then Katharine replies; ‘Dere’s his legs, touching his mouf’. The pronunciation of the words isn’t as important as the fact that she is constructing sentences and answering questions herself. A word such as ‘there’ has a consonant cluster at the beginning which is hard to say for young children, therefore they change the pronunciation, so it still sounds like ‘there’ but is easier to pronounce. She understood the question her mum was asking, and actually understood it was a question, maybe because of the intonation her mum would’ve had in her voice. This shows that she is capable enough with language to turn take, in a small conversation with her mum, talking about a subject/activity. This shows that her language acquisition is slightly more advanced than Sophie’s, as Sophie doesn’t turn take, she doesn’t answer questions either, she asks them and is at the stage of using ‘why’ as a questioning word. Sophie’s conversation with her mum doesn’t flow like Katharine’s, it is full of statements and commands rather than a question – answer structure. Turn taking is apparent in both these conversations as the parents are initiating the conversation and getting the children to talk, causing no interruptions. Sophie’s utterance lengths are longer than Katharine’s on average, but the fact that Katharine is involved in an activity has an affect on her utterances, due to concentration. Comparing the utterance lengths, Katharine’s are more advanced with the syntax structure, as her sentences make more grammatical sense than Sophie’s. This doesn’t make Sophie incorrect in her structure, she is just at a different stage of language acquisition than Katharine, and she is in the middle of developing her sentences. Age isn’t a factor in language development, as every child is different. Katharine’s mother uses tag questions, such as; ‘isn’t it? ‘ This encourages Katharine to answer her mum. Katharine does also use tag questions herself, to get a response from her mum, ‘shall we’. She has probably learnt how to use tag questions from listening to the way her mum speaks. This is quite advanced for a child as it shows they use a different way of getting a response, rather than just saying ‘why’ or using commands. She also uses encouraging sounds, which is back channel behaviour; ‘uhuh’ and ‘mmhu’, to show she is listening and taking in what Katharine is saying. Sophie’s carer/parent however doesn’t use tag questions and neither does Sophie. The conversation between the child and parent/carer is very simple and uses statements rather than questions, encouraging Sophie to talk. It is just a short conversation, with Sophie controlling it, rather then the parent/carer trying to encourage her to talk and say things. Of course, the pragmatics behind the conversations are for the parents/carers to get the children to speak and further their knowledge and understanding of the language. It is merely to get them to practice speaking, so they acquire language. There is a large difference between the two conversations, as they are in different environments (the contexts are different), with the children taking part in different situations. This is a factor which affects their language use and the way they use it in the context. After considering all of the factors to do with both conversations, I have come to the conclusion that Katharine is more linguistically developed and seems to be at a more advanced stage of language acquisition than Sophie. Katharine has a wider knowledge of the language and applies it to a conversation better than Sophie, as her sentences are constructed better and flow well.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Balancing Penn Foster Studies with Work and Family Demands Essay

My name is Julia and I am in my early twenties, and I would have never have imagined that I would one day be going back to school to earn my college degree. My mother and fiancà © encouraged me to pursue it, because of my love of art and talking to people, marketing and public relations and that it would be very expensive since I wanted to go to college in America but could not afford it at the time. They were very supportive from the start; my fiancà © assisting me in writing notes on flash cards and giving me pop quizzes and my mom reminding me to complete homework assignments when I was busy doing household chores. To me, my life was going great as I advanced further toward my future goals. Everything that glitters isn’t gold, I’ve learnt. My job as a Procurement Assistant became too demanding since the Procurement Manager left for a much better paying job. So I had to play both roles of Procurement Manager and Procurement Assistant as the directors hadn’t f ound a replacement yet and brought home extra work from the office. This left me no time for my studies. Fortunately my directors saw how stressed out I was with performing the duties of two positions and promoted me to Procurement Manager and had gotten me a competent and understanding Procurement Assistant who I trained to take over my workload when I was completing my coursework or studying for examinations so that my evenings were free. As if work wasn’t enough, I had to deal with my family and my fiancà ©. In the evenings, I had to do the household chores because my mother was taking care of my sickly grandmother and I had to run to do groceries, pay the bills and ensure my baby brother did his homework assignments and take him up in his revision as it was close to exams. Plus I had to cook dinner and since my step-father was away at his security job. If that weren’t enough, my fiancà © and I bought a small condominium after I went to oversee the work being done to by the night workmen because my fiancà © was in the Coast Guard and was working the whole week on patrol. When I returned home I was mentally and physically exhausted. I tried to study but it was no use. With my mother gone and my stepfather away at his job, my baby brother was quite the handful. Eventually when I had enough, I spoke to my parents about the household chores and they agreed that I was doing a lot  and decided that my mother would take my baby brother with her to my grandmother’s; even talked her into interviewing nurses so she can handle purchasing the groceries and paying the bills. My stepfather would step in to see to the household chores before going to work. In the little spare time I had to myself, I tried my best to complete all coursework required and tried to study for an upcoming exam. The day came when I thought myself to be well prepared for the exam and decided to take it. However, my fiancà © called me and said he was unable oversee the work that was being done that evening; so I took my laptop computer over to our condo and logged on. While I was mid-way through the exam, one of the workmen called me asking that I come and review a part of the house plan. While doing so, one of the workmen, being idle, fiddled with my laptop causing my exam to be submitted and when I discovered I had failed the exam, I had literally broke down. I was trying my best to ensure that I could cope with everything that was going on in my life but this was my limit. What was I trying to accomplish here? Two weeks, after that disastrous event, I eventually calmed down and called the school concerning my exam. Fortunately, they understood my situation and told me that I should have locked my computer when leaving it unattended and I was able to retake the exam and I passed with a good grade. I sat down with my fiancà © and told him what happened and he immediately replaced the workmen with a more responsible and sensible group of work men and even gotten his brother to oversee the work being done to our condo. My fiancà © was given annual leave so he is at home for a month and he is assisting me with my studies as before. Now that I had a plan set in motion that would help ease my stress and give a peace of mind; I think that I would be able to accomplish my goal of earning my degree in Business Management. My advice to students and persons who are considering returning to school to continue their education at the tertiary level is that when you have responsibilities that need to be taken care of you will need to find a way to make everything work together; sit with your parent or significant other and create a weekly planner and jot down the responsibilities that you are capable of handling and you are not capable of; this way you will not be stressed out. Also there are events that we are unprepared that will take place in life such as a loved one falling ill with a terminal disease or an accident. You will need to take extra care how you are to deal with these  kinds of situation. Always remember this is one of your goals to attain your degree and don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of your dreams!

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Frederick Taylor’s influence in contemporary management Essay

The theories of Frederick W. Taylor’s Scientific Management proposed in Edwin A. Locke’s (1982) â€Å"The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor An evaluation† point to Taylor’s tremendous influence on modern-day management. Because Taylor developed this principle in the early 1900’s focusing mainly on scientific decision-making and individualized work while working with manufacturing industry, it poses questions on it’s validity in the modern-day management and how effective his techniques in employer-employee relationship. this posed a lot of Locke indicates that Taylor’s Scientific Management theory led to the beginning of modern management principles and methods that are still being used by many managers around the world (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012). There are 2 key elements of his theory – that is scientific Decision-making and management-labor cooperation. Locke (1982) provided a summary of these concepts wherein he agreed that most of Taylor’s philosophies and techniques in these 2 aspects are widely embraced in the management industry. 1. Scientific Decision-Making a. Time and Motion Study i. Taylor arrived at this technique facing challenges on efficiency in the manufacturing industries with the goal to increase profits (Kulesza et al., 2011). b. Standardization i. This focused on creating standard tools and procedures c. Goal-setting i. Originally called the task and believed to be the model used for development of Management by Objectives (MBO) technique by Pierre Dupont and the term Organizational Behavior modification (OB Mod) d. Money as a motivator i. Taylor believes that workers are motivated with the reward of money. e. Management’s responsibility for training i. Is a technique that advocates management experts are responsible for training of workers. f. Scientific selection i. To achieve efficiency and expectations, Taylor developed the idea of ‘first-class laborer’ (Zuffo, 2011) g. Shorter work week and rest pauses i. The pig iron handlers experiment lead Taylor to conclude that employees needs rest in between the working hours to be more productive. 2. Management and Labor Relationship a. This involves the Individualized work technique wherein Taylor opposed the power of group work rather he believed that Individual task is the most effective way for employees to perform their jobs. Taylor’s scientific approach did not escape criticisms from other theorists. One of the known accusations of his works is treating employees as machines and his antiunionism (Locke, 1982). Also, the theory of human interaction developed by Mary Parker Follett is one of the principles that opposes his Individualized work technique. Follett argues that people working in groups results in greater creativity and moderation of behavior (Fox, 1968). Peter Drucker’s management by objective (MBO) concept also shows an opposition on his works. His proposal includes employees’ engagement in goal-setting (Vohra & Mukul, 2009). Despite earning criticisms on his concept, Taylor’s contribution in the modern-day management is evident in different areas such as cost accounting and lean manufacturing. Kulesza et al., (2011) stated that Taylor’s concepts paved the way to the advancement of management accounting essential to the manufacturing industry and became the foundation of the Lean manufacturing most especially his time and motion technique. Locke’s (1989) summary of Taylor’s principles presented a clearer view of the weight of his influence in the contemporary management. Despite the other theories that oppose some of Taylor’s concepts, no one will argue that his contribution to management is widely accepted. Given that the reason he developed the principle of scientific management is to achieve more productivity and profits which is the same goal of every company, that his  concepts are developed to achieve this goal as the time advances. Also, there is no doubt that his work is used as a pattern in developing advanced concepts to fit the modern-day management as seen in Management Accounting. The impact of his dictatorial role of the manager was to create resentment between employees and employer (Derksen, 2014) it is in this area of the role of management and the contribution of employees to decision-making that people like Follett and Drucker disagree with Taylor. By allowing employees to contribute creatively to decision-making is not only a way to increase production but also to improve employee relations. References Derksen, M. (2014). Turning Men Into Machines? Scientific Management, Industrial Psychology, And The â€Å"Human Factor†. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 50. 148 – 165. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/store/10.1002/jhbs.21650/asset/jhbs21650.pdf?v=1&t=i0273cql&s=2b430ae6922ccb1c82be31594b71a702658ccc15 Fox, E.M. (1968). Mary Parker Follet: The Enduring Contribution. Public Administration Review, 28, 520. Kulesza, M. G., Weaver, P. Q., & Friedman, S. (2011). Frederick W. Taylor’s Presene in 21st Century Management Accounting Systems and Work Process Theories. Journal of Business and Management, 17, 105 – 119. Locke, E.A. (1982). The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor: An Evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 7, 14 – 24. Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I., & Coulter, M. (2012). Management, 6th Edition. Sydney, Australia: Pearson Australia. Vohra, N., & Mukul, K. (2009). Relevance of Peter Drucker’s Work: Celebrating Drucker’s 100th Birthday. The Journal for Decision Makers, 34, 1 – 7. Wren, D.A. (2011). The Centennial of Frederick W. Taylor’s The Principles of Scientific Management: A Retrospective Commentary. Journal of Business & Management, 17, 11 – 22. Zuffo, R. G. (2011). Taylor is Dead, Hurray Taylor! The â€Å"Human Factor† in Scientific Management: Between Ethics, Scientific Psychology and Common Sense. Journal of Business and Management, 17, 23 – 41.

Impact of 4ps Towards Consumer Behavior on Mobile Phones

With the passage of time, advents in technology have given new meanings to almost everything around us. Hence, there’s no permanent in this world except change. This tidal wave of change has surely affect or altered technologies especially in individuals’ modes of communication. These new advances have led to addition of many things which was called as a â€Å"revolution†. But what really concerns this study is actually the communicative revolution, wherein back to past times, where in people only used letters as their mode of communications to their love one which’s away from them. As technologies continue to evolve there came landlines. And now just a blink of an eye, information can now be transmitted through electronic signals and controlled waves present in the air around them. A mobile phone is an electronic device which is used in two way communication. To make use of a mobile phone, connection to a cellular network is required which is an interconnection of base stations through which signals are transmitted, hence the mobile uses those signals to forge and maintain connection. Mobile phones are not used for calls only, especially modern mobile phones. They offer a wide variety of communicative services such as: text messaging, sending and receiving emails, access to internet, interactive games, connectivity through Bluetooth and/or USB, and many more. Hence, the focus of this study is to discuss how 4p’s elements affect towards consumer behaviour on mobile phones among the college students of The Fisher Valley College in Taguig City. This study is aiming of providing students of insights into the factors that influence the student’s behaviour when it comes to choosing and buying mobile phones, particularly for The Fisher Valley College Students. In addition to the mentioned studies in this report, the researchers will also find information’s regarding how to conduct a qualitative and quantitative market research study. The report’s main focus will be on the student’s influences on mobile phones because it is these factors that aid the students in making a rational choice when given several alternatives to choose from. In this case factors influencing students’ behaviour in choosing a mobile phone from the different brands will be considered.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain

A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain Culture is a term that is hard to express clearly, but people tend to sense it when they feel it. â€Å"Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization.†Ã‚   [ 1 ]   Organizational cultures are classified into seven distinct cultural dimensions that portray the company’s mission, objectives, strategies and vision. Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), one of the largest aluminum producers in the world is known for its strong organizational culture. Alba’s culture is characterized by several dimensions like people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability. This essay will demonstrate the variety of dimensions through Alba’s momentous historical performance and inspiring vision. Company History â€Å"The sto ry of Alba marks the inception of industrial diversification in the Gulf. The company’s ongoing success as a primary producer of high-grade aluminium has brought significant economic benefits to the region and has taken the country technologically into the 21st Century. In the mid 1960s, the Bahrain Government was seeking to diversify its economic base from a heavy dependence on oil. The aim was to establish a suitable industry which would provide valuable export earnings, develop the country’s resources and create training and employment opportunities. Bahrain was well situated geographically between the source of raw materials, particularly alumina from Australia, and the markets for primary aluminium in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Bahrain’s prime advantage was its plentiful supply of gas from the Khuff field to meet the high energy requirements of aluminium production.†Ã‚   [ 2 ]    People Orientation Alba is known for its people oriented organizat ional culture. Most of the decisions and actions take into account the company’s significant stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers and the Bahraini society. Fostering a stable workforce through Bahrainization Bahrainization is an important economic policy of the Government of Bahrain, and the Company has exceeded the government’s stated target levels of Bahrainization. Consequently, the Company’s permanent staff includes a high proportion of Bahraini citizens. Currently, over 87% of its permanent employees are citizens of Bahrain. Employees As at June 30, 2010, the Company employed 2,706 full-time equivalent employees. The following table sets forth the aggregate number of people employed by each of its departments. Breakdown of Employees by Department Department Bahraini Nationals Expatriates Total Chief Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 13 60 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 26 218 Calciner & Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 105 560 Cast House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 38 415 Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4 25 Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 2 39 Metal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 64 994 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 74 254 Sourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 23 141 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,357 349 2,706 Employee Benefits Alba provides many services to employees including â€Å"comprehensive Medical Centre, subsidized canteens, an attractive savings benefit scheme, a well-equipped sports and leisure club, a unique housing scheme, transportation to work for all non-supervisory employees and a number of reward schemes including the Good Suggestion Scheme, Attendance Award and Gold Card scheme†Ã‚   [ 3 ]    Alba savings benefit scheme The Company also operates a contributory savings scheme for its Bahraini employees, the Alba Savings and Benefit Scheme (â€Å"ASBS†). The employees’ contributions are deducted from their salaries and the Company makes an additional contribution to each employee’s savings. The scheme is established as a trust and is administered by trustees representing the employees and the Company. The trustees manage the risks relating to the scheme’s assets by appr oving the entities in which the scheme can invest and by setting limits for investment in individual entities. The Company’s board of directors may consider allowing Bahraini national employees to borrow from the ASBS to fund the purchase of Ordinary Shares in the Limited Offering to Bahraini citizens. â€Å"The Company’s board of directors is also considering a proposal to purchase Ordinary Shares in the Ordinary Share Offering, up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 Ordinary Shares, using its own funds, and to hold such Ordinary Shares in treasury until distribution at a future date to eligible employees.†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   Under the proposed plan, each of its current employees would be granted a fixed sum of Ordinary Shares â€Å"contingent upon such employee’s continuous employment and good standing with the Company during a specified future period, and subject to certain other conditions.†Ã‚   [ 5 ]

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

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

Nutritional assessment report - Essay Example Two types of methods have been used to measure food intake: precise weighed food record and 24-hour recall methods. 25 persons have been selected as sample size for the analysis BMR and total energy expenditure have also been found out. For understanding the nature and interrelationship between the variables, statistical tools like descriptive statistics, correlation and regression methods have been used. . The regression results show that the interrelationship between energy intake and total energy expenditure is statistically significant and the weighed energy intake seems to have strong relationship with TEE while that of recall energy intake seems to be insignificant. The energy expenditure indicators of BMR and total energy expenditure has also got significant statistical relationship and the total energy expenditure seems to be highly dependent on the BMR. Comparisons with FAO estimates, it is seen that our sample population does not have required energy expenditure as suggeste d by FAO. The BMR of our sample population also seems to be lower than that of FAO estimates. Introduction Nutritional status or energy of any person is measured in terms calories and calorie is hence known as the currency of nutrition and energy (Prentice, 1997). Energy keeps any mammal warm and drives all the activities of life. Energy is derived from the process of ‘chemical combustion’ of food intake which requires oxygen and produces carbon dioxide and water. Sufficient supply of food intake is needed for this process (Titchenal, 1988). The energy component of the food can be divided into chemical energy and metabolizable energy. Chemical energy of the food is the total energy which is liberated if it is combusted in oxygen. That is, its heat of combustion is normally the chemical energy and it can simply measured in a bomb calorimeter. The chemical energy is otherwise known as the gross energy (Durnin and Passmore, 1967; Cox 2005). The metabolic part of the total energy of the food is known as the megabolizable energy. Due to several reasons, a portion of the total energy of food intake would not be available for the body metabolism. The portion of the total energy which is digested and absorbed by the body is megabolizable energy or digestible energy. In the dietary and energy expenditure discussions, this metabolizable or digestible energy becomes relevant (Prentice, 1997; Gibney etal 2002; Lee and Nieman ,2003; Gibson ,2005). Objective and Methodology The present paper intends to make a strong understanding and conceptual discussion on the concepts energy, energy balance, energy requirements and energy expenditure. The interrelationship between food intake and food energy expenditure has also been analyzed in the paper. Hence, the main objectives of the paper are: 1) to integrate the understanding on the concepts like measures of intake, energy balance, requirements and expenditure 2) to give practical experience in methods of measurement s of food intake and expenditure 3) to examine the interrelationship between these variables. Methodology For achieving the above said objectives, a concrete and brief discussion has been done on the concepts like measures of food intake, energy balance and requirements and energy expenditure. Practical experiments have been done on the measurements of food intake and energy expenditure. Two types of methods have been used to measure food intake: precise weighed food record and

Monday, August 12, 2019

Law of evidence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law of evidence - Essay Example In this regard, different case laws are implied in the provided case with the aim of having effective evidences in accordance with the law. By reviewing the case study, it has been observed that there are two individuals named Albert and Bart, who were involved in the incident of a burglary in a bookstore. It has been expected that the burglary has taken place on 15th December 2013 at 10 pm. A witness named Mr. Bird gave the statement regarding this incident of robbery. The incident has taken place in a bookshop where the thieves have stolen 500 law books. The witness has also provided a description of one of the burglar. By this statement of the witness, police has been able to recognise a suspect who is expected to be a prime guilty of this robbery incident in the bookshop. After arresting the first suspect, police has started interrogating him by marinating the law and regulation. The first suspect Albert has been arrested from the nearest clinic where he has been having treatment of his wound caused during the incident or robbery. During the interrogation, DC Tracy has put the effort to confess the guilt from Albert, but he refused to do the same. In this context, the suspect has been urged for receiving the solicitor, but DC Tracy did not provide him the minimum chances to receive the facilities of a lawyer. After sometime, Albert confessed his involvement in this burglary incident and mentioned the name of the involvement of another person. Albert also agreed to disclose all the confidential evidence of his prior group in terms of getting the concession in his punishment from the court. However, DC Tracy has denied his request and become able to confess guilt, but suggested that his cooperation will be taken into account in the court at the time of sentencing. As per the theft act (Northern Ireland) 1969, the guilty of burglary needed to be

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project management - Essay Example The paper tells that project management has been defined as a discipline (science and art) that entails planning, managing, organizing and securing the components or resources of a project so as to ensure its success. A project is usually a well defined endeavor with a beginning and end that are well defined and time constrained so as to meet desired objectives and goals by adding value or bringing change. A project is not like normal business operations which are permanent and repetitive. A project is usually temporary and is created once to achieve a specific purpose. Project management is necessary because a lot of resources are put into these projects. In any project, performance, cost and time should be managed so as to ensure a project is controlled and executed well to achieve its goals and objectives. The key elements of project management that will be outlined in this report include managing human resources through directing and coordinating the administration of people invo lved in the project. Another key element of project management that will be outlined in this project is managing quality through the fulfillment of the quality standards set up for performance of the project. The final element of project management that will be discussed in this essay is the Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors. The Scottish Parliament Building (Edinburgh) project was specifically started to provide a parliamentary building complex that would house members of parliament, civil servants and other staff.... be discussed in this essay is the Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors (Joseph 2003, p. 60). The Scottish Parliament Building (Edinburgh) project was specifically started to provide a parliamentary building complex that would house members of parliament, civil servants and other staff (Taylor 2002, p. 4). The project was a very crucial one because it was a political project that could easily be affected by the politics of the country. The project was launched in 1999 and construction of the building began in June 1999 (Taylor 2002, p. 21). The project was successfully completed in 2004 and the building was officially opened on October 9th 2004 by Queen Elizabeth (Taylor 2002, p. 11). The project of constructing the Scottish Parliament Building was one of the most successful known projects. The success of the project can be attributed to a number of factors, mostly revolving around its management (Taylor 2002, p. 25). The first factor that led to the success of the project was the effective managing of human resources through directing and coordinating the administration of people involved in the project. The history of the project dates back to when the Scottish electorate held a referendum on September 11th 1997 that allowed Scottish Parliament to legislate on some of the common domestic affairs (Taylor 2002, p. 11). This led to the decision to construct a purpose built facility in Edinburg that would house the Scottish Parliament. Enric Miralles design was chosen out of the twelve proposed ones and the work was given to a company called EMBT/RMJM that was specifically set up to manage this project (Harrison & Dennis 2004, p. 28). One of the key factors that led to the success of the project