Dumpster diving is a big deal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dumpster diving is a big deal - Assignment Example After the mails are read and the mail receiver has responded to these mails, they usually throw them in garbage. The problem is that there can be people in workplace that may have criminal intentions and may obtain the information from dumpsters at work and use this information in order to conduct identity theft. According to a research cited by Pope in his book, around 50% of the individuals who are involved in identity theft are people who work in the same organization (Pope 62). Other than identity theft, individuals may even throw away important information in garbage that another individual within the workforce may not have the authority to access. This information may include product designs and new products that the company may be thinking of launching. The probability is that those who dumpster dive can benefit from this information by sharing this information with competitors in exchange of rewards and

Dividend Payout in Consumer Product Industry, Malaysia

Dividend Payout in Consumer Product Industry, Malaysia 2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT There is a large volume of work in the area of dividend payout policy across many developed countries (Gugler, 2003; Kallapur, 2004; Ferris et al., 2006; Denis and Osobov, 2008; Eije and Megginson, 2008; Engsted and Pedersen, 2010). However, less work has been done in developing countries and researchers have started to study the dividend policy, as well as the behaviour of the company within the countries (Pandey, 2003). In addition, studies that examine the dividend payout policy focus more on the general category (Kallapur, 2004; Denis and Osobov, 2008; Eije and Megginson, 2008). Limited work has been done in category based on industrial grouping (Ferris et al., 2006). As such, my study seeks to address the gap in literature review and thereby stresses on the dividend payout, in term of ratio and pattern of companies within the consumer products industry in Malaysia. 2.1 RESEARCH QUESTION What is the trend of dividend payout in companies within consumer products industry in Malaysia? 2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To identify the dividend payout ratio of the consumer products industry in Malaysia and its changes across years. To determine the percentage of companies paying dividend in the consumer products industry in Malaysia. To determine the dividend payout pattern of companies within the consumer products industry in Malaysia. To identify if there is a difference of dividend payout ratio within the consumer products industry in Malaysia. 3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW (GAPS FILLED) There is vast literature in the area of dividend payout policy across countries including US (Gugler, 2003; Denis and Osobov, 2008; Eije and Megginson, 2008) and non-US such as EU countries (Eije and Megginson, 2008; Denis and Osobov, 2008; Engsted and Pedersen, 2010), Japan (Ferris et al., 2006; Denis and Osobov, 2008) and Taiwan (Kallapur, 2004). The finding shows that payout policy undergoes changes and fluctuates across year, especially in the recent year of 1992 to 2004 (Renneboog and Trojanowski, 2010). According to Kallapur (2004), many studies agree that dividend payout ratio is a signal indicating the firms future growth. Firms pay attention to the consistency of dividend payout as studies show that investors put premium on the firms with stable payout policy and firms are reluctant to cut dividend (Gugler, 2003). Besides, a study by Ferris et al. (2006) shows that firm with negative earning (negative growth) in UK is less likely to pay dividend. This is consistent with the finding that dividend payout ratio is related to the firms growth. Study by Gugler (2003) reports that large firms with good investment opportunity in US are less likely to pay high dividend to the investors. However, their payout is relatively more stable and they are rarely cut down on the dividend (Allen and Michaely, 1995). Besides, study by Eije and Megginson (2008) shows that younger companies in EU are less likely to pay dividend and the payout is less than those older companies. According to Eije and Megginson (2008), dividend payout ratio has increased over years. They also report that the payout ratio in US has increased from year 1970 to year 2001, and the total dividend paid is increasing among firms in EU countries. From previous studies, Ferris et al. (2006) and Eije and Megginson (2008), find that the number of firms paying dividend in US is decreasing despite the increasing of dividend payout ratio across years. Eije and Megginson (2008) also report the same finding in EU firms and suggest that the dividend payout policies are quite similar between the two. According to Denis and Osobov (2008), the decreasing trend is driven by the failure of new listed firms to initiate payout when they are expected to do so. However, there is a contrast finding from the studies done in Taiwan and Japan. Study from Kallapur (2004) shows that dividend paying firms in Taiwan has actually increased since year 2000, while Ferris et al. (2006) reports that the percentage of firms paying dividend in Japan remains highly stable. Ferris et al. (2006) also suggests that the decreasing trend does not seem to affect Japanese firms. This is an interesting area that worth for study, especially in developing country such as Malaysia. Horngren et al. (2008) notes that dividend payout ratio different across industries and it is commonly used to compare companies in the same industry. However, there is limited work done specifically within an industry (Ferris et al., 2006). According to International Business Center (2010), consumer products industry plays a major role in the world economy as it acts as a driver for other industries. Besides, it reports that consumer products industry contributes to the two-thirds of the world trade volume and accounts for significant portion of the gross domestic product (GDP) in many countries. As such, my study would stress on the dividend payout, in term of the ratio and pattern, of consumer products industry in Malaysia. 4.0 METHODOLOGY The methodology that will be applied has been chosen in order to obtain data and compare the dividend payout, in terms of ratio and pattern, within consumer products industry in Malaysia. 4.1 DATA COLLECTION For the purpose of this study, data will be collected using the secondary source. Annual report of respective company will be obtained from the link given in the Bursa Malaysia website. 4.2 SAMPLING FRAME The sampling frame for this study would be the public listed companies in Malaysia. The list can be obtained from Bursa Malaysia or The Star website. 4.3 SAMPLING STRATEGY For the purpose of this study, non probability purposive sampling is selected. As the study only focus on one industry, and 5 years data is assumed to show a general trend of the dividend payout, thus the sample chosen need to meet the following criteria, Companies that fall under the consumer products industry. Companies with at least 5 years of annual report available on the company website. By searching through the companies website, only 89 out of 142 companies in consumer products industry fulfill the mentioned above criteria (as in Appendix 2). 4.4 DATA ANALYSIS In this study, hybrid method (both quantitative and qualitative) will be used to analyze the data. Generally, it can be divided into 3 parts as following, For dividend payout ratio, percentage of firms paying dividend and the percentage of company using certain payout pattern, SPSS (descriptive statistic) will be used. To determine if there is a difference of dividend payout ratio among companies within the industry, SPSS (One-Sample T-Test) can be carried out as the sample size is more than 30. Yearly dividend payout ratio obtained from a) will be used as the test value in SPSS. To determine the trend of dividend payout, in term of ratio and pattern across years, qualitative method will be used as it involves more on the interpretation of data. 4.5 ROLE OF THEORY In this study, the role of theory would be theory generation. It involves the new finding of dividend payout ratio, as well as the payout pattern among companies within the consumer products industry in Malaysia. 5.0 CONTRIBUTION EXPECTED It is intended that the finding of this study will give a clearer picture of the dividend payout in consumer products industry as it is the major contributor to the countrys economic. Besides, it can be used by potential investors that desire a certain cash flow (dividend) instead of incurring transaction cost from periodically selling shares of stock. Last but not least, it seeks to provide a better understanding for Chief Financial Officer (CFO) towards the dividend payout ratio and its pattern within the consumer products industry in Malaysia. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES Due to time constraint and limited information that is available on the website, only 5 years of annual report is obtained for this study. Thus, it is suggested that a longer time series of data, for example 10 years should be taken in future to provide a better understanding of the dividend payout in Malaysia. Besides, future researchers can study on other industries and ultimately compare the dividend payout ratio and its pattern across all industries in Malaysia.

Cybernetic Immunology :: Essays Papers

Cybernetic Immunology In the traditions of 'Western' science and politics--the tradition of racist, male-dominant capitalism; the tradition of progress; the tradition of the appropriation of nature as resource for the productions of culture; the tradition of reproduction of the self from the reflections of the other - the relation between organism and machine has been a border war. The stakes in the border war have been the territories of production, reproduction, and imagination. This chapter is an argument for pleasure in the confusion of boundaries and for responsibility in their construction. (Haraway 150) Cartesian circularities of self-identitical participants in a phallocratic order and ripples in a huge urban puddle renamed ‘lake’ from a fallen body, the machines may have already won. We know it was they who scorched the sky. Oshii Mamoru’s anime, turned American 1995 â€Å"Japanimation† classic, plays cyborg science fiction with flashing lights, outbursts of violence, and a plot fit for cyborgs to understand in a political world of simulations transferred without effluvia directly by air-port cybernetworking into unannounced awareness in each celluloid thin character, and on their demihuman coworker’s early 90’s military computer monitors. The narrative tries to entangle itself so thoroughly in a political rationality of an omnipresent culture of technicism devoid of scientific explanation on every green, glowing, digitally exported, and unrefined urban street corner that its revealing of the â€Å"real† puppetmaster/s uper-villain (a tool of someone still further up, â€Å"our heroes† presume) begs a sigh about technology coming to master itself without a care in the world for humanist restraint, much like the mostly good natured civilians who, it seems, don’t really mind an almost comically violent thug police presence that tears through their markets, melons, and minds chasing charlatans only it can see armed with overpowered bullets in outdated guns without any of the pleasant trappings of the polite police forces we imagine secure our very ability to sit in front of a glowing screen with electrically replicated pitches and decibels projected into right-angled chambers of passivity, and reflected in photons and waves to our media outlets - the doors of techno-perception. Calling Ghost â€Å"a film about† already misses that it is a film to as well. Mistaking cause for consequence, watching animated

Human Resource Management in Canada Essay

The human resource department of any company plays a significant role to the advancement of its employees as well as the increase of the company’s profits and improvement of the manner of production. Although the process of hiring employees may appear to be a simple task, the execution thereof as well as the complications and intricacies involved in the process is not that easy to counter. The job of the human resource department, according to Dessler and Cole is two-fold. First the human resource is responsible for the handling of the hiring of employees. They assess the qualifications of the employees and determine if their skills and capabilities are suited for the job that they are applying for. It is essential that the human resource adequately match the capabilities and educational attainment of the applicant as this will benefit the company in the long run. Hiring employees who cannot deliver the expectations of the company from them will not only be problematic, it will also unjustly drain the resources of the company. Another role of the human resource is to employ individuals who will meet the strategic goals of the company. Going over the qualifications of an applicant is not enough in order to complete the task of hiring. There must be a suitable position for him and the placement of this individual to such position should be made not just because of pure discretion but also in order to meet the goals of the company. There should be human resource planning in order to anticipate the future needs and demands of the company. Without this process, it will be more difficult for companies to combat the different challenges that may hamper their path to success. Having strategic goals mean evaluating the available resources of the company and the needs thereof. This is important so as to avoid the creation of redundant positions and it will also allow the employees and the management to maximize their skills and resources respectively. There are several ways and means in order to plan for the human resource needs of a company. Among these ways are the quantitative techniques for forecasting and the two qualitative techniques which are utilized for forecasting demand. Aside from setting the strategic goals of the company, there is also a need for the human resource department to go through job analysis. Through the job analysis, the people from the human resources department of a company will investigate and collect data regarding the needs of the company. Dessler and Cole have indicated six steps in order to complete the process of job analysis and they are as follows: determining the information that will be assessed, collecting background information, selecting the positions as well as the jobs that will be analyzed, collecting the available data, reviewing the information which are collected with the superiors, and developing the specifications of the job as well as the job descriptions. After the creation of a plan, recruitment and the assessment of the qualifications of the applicant, the human resource department goes through reference checking. This is very essential as the process will spill relevant information about the applicant. Once the human resource is satisfied with the qualification and the information gathered about the applicant, the latter will go through a training period. This process will show whether or not the applicant is capable of meeting the expectations from him. Orientation follows after the hiring. Through the orientation process, the newly-hired employee become knowledgeable with the do’s and dont’s in the company and for them to be fully aware of the systems and procedures. The job however of the human resource does not end in the hiring of the employee. Just like a guardian, the human resource continuously oversees the performance of the employee. Such performance will be used as the basis of the employee is entitled to a promotion or to the assignment of different tasks. Overseeing the performance of the employee is not limited to his work productivity. Other factors such as work ethics and the way the employee deals with his superiors, subordinates and other co-employees will also be assessed. The information gathered in this process may be instrumental in deciding issues which may concern the employee in the future. In addition to the task of overseeing the employees, it is also the job of the human resource to determine the ways and means to motivate employees and improve their performance. Among these methods are the appraisal and giving of additional pay or benefits to those who have exhibited excellent performance. Coming up with effective incentive plans may increase the productivity of the employees and yield to the increase in profits that employers are looking for. In the creation of such plans, the interests and needs of the employees should be taken into consideration in order to attain the greater success rate. In order to determine what the employees desire, it is important that the human resource make an effort to establish good communication relations with them. Good communication as well as the imposition of proper and fair treatment may help the company in avoiding labor cases. The human resource should take an extra effort to make sure that the employees are short changed by the company or the other way around. The human resource should make sure that the employees’ rights are not being violated. The role that the human resource undertakes is very important to the advancement of the company since they handle all matters which concern the employees–the life blood of every company. Without the human resource, the company may face great difficulties in attaining the progress that it desires.

Managing Groups in a Multicultural Setup

Surviving and succeeding in today’s global competitive business environment is obviously difficult. Cross-cultural working, managing changes, technological advantages give the much needed edge to set organizations apart. Our progress and approach strategies clearly defines our success. Developments in recent years have reinforced the view that we are moving from a world in which we determined our destination to one in which we must learn to navigate a path between myriad future possibilities (Stickland,1998).I had been assigned to a study group, which I was to work with, during the first semester. The group members met each other for the first time in the lecture theatre and decided to meet after class. The meeting was informal and we all introduced ourselves, exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers. All five team members talked about their backgrounds and I seemed to like the team from the beginning.Everyone seemed humble. As we kept on talking, it became apparent that s ome team members were more talkative than others. Team members, A and B were very talkative and kept asking questions while C and D were more quiet. I was more like an average participant, but in the end I too talked less. A and B looked at each other and me but not at C and D; C and D were thus not included in the conversations. I noticed this, but decided to ignore it for the time being. I thought I need to only change it later.The five members came from different countries across four continents. A was from India and from experience I knew that Indians would talk a lot and have strong opinions. B was from Honduras whom I thought would be talkative and easy going like my friends from Nicaragua and other Central American countries. While C was from Georgia, a country I did not know much about, D was from the US whom I thought would be a hard working, self-centered and confrontationist.The team was truly diverse. Having lived in Asia, North America and Europe, working with several m ulticultural teams for over a decade; I knew from the beginning that I had to learn more about their cultures and backgrounds. This was perhaps the only way I could interpret their behavior and adapt to them, while they could adapt to me too. I believed that judging people even before you get to know them was wrong, while at the same time I was sure that my assumptions about certain cultures and the norms within these cultures, were mostly right.We were assigned the first group task in management science. I walked into the assignment with a positive attitude and everyone else in the group did, too. After all, the first get-to-know meeting had been positive. Once we had gathered, we decided on where to work. We sat down and focused on the task that had been given to us. We read the assignment and were ready to discuss the task.Here things started to go wrong. As group members are not much familiar with each other, there is a certain amount of uncertainty and suspicion, when interpret ing each other’s conduct and action. Lack of positive relationship carries opportunities for development of serious conflicts. These may not only be difficult to resolve, but also decrease team performance, particularly when a relationship conflict is not differentiated from task disagreements. (Pamela and Sara 2002)As we had not established a hierarchy structure, there was no leader. It was an equal platform for all to put forth their contributions, at an identical level. I come from a consensus driven society and thought that it was the right approach. I believed that everyone knew how dynamics in a consensus driven group works. However, I was proven wrong. People were not listening to each other! People would not let each other talk. Instead they interrupted each other!I could not overcome the feeling that some people wanted to prove that they were intelligent and knowledgeable. We did not have a dialogue. The task’s problems and scope were not discussed. We did not talk about how to solve the task at hand. Instead people presented their solutions!. The team found it hard to keep up the schedules, and inefficient communication was taking its toll.I have worked as a management and strategy consultant in many countries and even founded companies in cultures foreign to me and I had never seen such chaos and unstructured behavior. In fact, gradually the team structure itself broke down and began functioning like two divided teams working on separate agenda. Did this have to do with some people’s inexperience?! Or was this peculiar only to me?.I went along with what was happening in the group, always trying to pull people back to discuss the task’s scope. The group agreed that we needed to look at the scope and understand it. However, people continued to argue their causes defending their ideas. We were not getting anywhere. Time was running out and I knew that we did not have a good solution. This was confirmed when we saw what other groups presented. Now, I wondered whether the other people in the group saw it the same way? But I never asked them. We had talked to each other in the first assignment but not with each other now . We were not communicating well.Several days later, the second assignment was given to us. We went back to the same room we had used earlier. We read the task and, to my surprise, nobody’s approach had changed. Everyone was talking and no one listening. D who had been quiet in the first meeting tried to explain his idea which I thought was good. I wanted people to listen to D and they did after I specifically asked them to. D has only studied English for four years and he had a hard time expressing his thoughts, lacking the necessary vocabulary.Everyone else in the group speaks English fluently. I believed this might be the reason why no one listened to him. Anyway, after D had talked, they resumed their unconstructive debating, ignoring D’s ideas. After I initiated a secon d attempt to get D back into the discussion without any success I must admit that emotions replaced my otherwise logical and rather rational thinking. The other group members’ ignorance upset me. I decided not to participate anymore. Instead, I decided to observe what was going on in the team, making mental notes and checking my initial assumptions about each others’ attitudes.I then realized that initiating a groupwork successfully is very important and difficult. Perhaps the task or objectives at hand need to correspond to an initiation level too. Not much has been said or written on tasks, which are more suitable for groupwork, particularly at the initiation level. But it has been widely accepted that group work must be established in defined stages or steps, so that there is a better sense of direction and focus at the early stages. It would also be more beneficial if the topics and activities are initially focused at a simpler, straightforward and interesting agen da, gradually moving on to complicating issues. (Elisabeth 1990)Once again, we ran out of time without having completed the task, we returned to the lecture theatre only to find that our solution was substandard. At this point, I thought we have had enough and decided that we need to have a team discussion to analyze why we were under performing and how can we improve?. I sent out an e-mail to the group on this and to my surprise the team agreed with me, and we met the next day. During the subsequent meeting everyone admitted that we have been under performing.We also agreed that an important problem was that we were not letting everyone speak up and that some members dominated the discussions. We had to change this. This is when we created a â€Å"Group Work Guidebook† and work structure guidelines. We established guidelines on courtesy, respect, conduct and criticism, which are to be exhibited by all, in the course of our groupwork. We also took certain strategic initiative s like sharing our strengths and weaknesses and setting up a roadmap for achieving our objectives.Even though we did not have specific roles I soon became the facilitator, with many suggesting that I take over as a secretary. I made sure to empower others in the group as we went along but also made sure that discussion went smoothly without getting stuck in details. When emotions started to come up in discussions I tried to intervene usually with humor. I had to skip a meeting as I was sick; however it gave me an opportunity to understand how the team performed in my absence. I was surprised to note that the team was indeed more receptive to each other than before. Meetings were however becoming more hectic due to time constraints caused unnecessarily by professors, and at times we felt like we were slipping off as before.What made me uncomfortable at times was that some group members started to see me as the leader, which I did not like. Group members would look at me when there wa s an argument or when they had questions. I felt like a judge! I did not want this because I felt that it would hold the group back from having open and productive discussions. I believed that we could have â€Å"new leaders† every time depending on what we talked about. The leader would naturally emerge and it would obviously be the one who knew the most about the matter at hand. When I received for example questions, and people looked at me.I would give my opinion but then make sure that I asked everyone else what they thought. It was a time consuming process and ate into our efficiency but it was worth it. We ended up with good results and everyone felt involved. However, not everyone felt that they had been involved every time we met. C had never worked in a multi-cultural team before and likes task-focused approaches. C took over the role of coordinator without us noticing.A says that she comes from a passive culture and thinks she is helping us which isn’t. . In the session, A mentioned that she was not feeling that everyone understood her and she had a hard time expressing her feelings in the group. I spoke to A about it, who needed more reassurance when she worked in groups. She had a tendency to talk a lot and many group members found it distracting and I sensed that she was being kept outside the team a little bit. We had agreed on some guidelines but, especially A and C wanted to work the way they were used to, unwilling to accept others’ ways of working. We started to prepare slides so that we could hit the ground running and it took a long time before we felt comfortable with dividing tasksThe initial phase helped us to bond. As we went along, the group worked harmoniously with some few interruptions. The group bonded more and more as we went along. Mostly, because we now understood each other’s needs and how everyone liked to work. Our team outing also contributed to this bonding, giving us an opportunity to talk on so mething personal. Also, we started to split tasks and worked in small groups. The objectives and approaches were discussed with the team.Then tasks were delegated. We were able to work faster this way. This also satisfied C who wanted a more task oriented approach. However, we did not exaggerate the task focus. A admitted that she in general has problems to express feelings, and we as a team assured her that everyone does have it, but that it is better to talk to us, so that we can support her as we work together almost every day. We were here to learn, try new things and have fun. In the â€Å"group therapy† session, the team agreed that efficiency was an issue although, it had improved over the past weeks. The question now was how quickly we could improve our efficiency and how?. We decided, especially during our project, to pick up the pace and set more deadlines.As we continued to progress well, it was becoming obvious that some team members missed a hierarchical structur e. The more experienced members however, were fine with not having one, while the less experienced ones looked for guidance and at some time even thought that they had turned into leaders as they tried to enforce a hierarchy or assigned themselves tasks such as structuring meetings, etc. I believe this helps them tackle their insecurity.The younger members showed that they could not handle stress very well. When we had client meetings C would get nervous and start bossing people around. I laughed at it initially, but pointed it out to him. Even other group members pointed it out to him and he improved. As we entered the final phase of the project I discovered that the younger members liked to talk in the â€Å"I† form more and more. When I had put together a model with A or C they would still say â€Å"I created XYZ† in the group. B picked up on this and it irritated her as well as me. I explained to them the importance of teamwork and made it clear that it should alwa ys be ‘We’ and not ‘I’.The study group bonded more and more. Even C who in the beginning thought that dinners were simply a waste of time now started to enjoy them and even initiates them. He felt comfortable with the team and the team in general spoke openly about everything. Today, we are still improving our organizational skills and efficiency. However, we are very comfortable with each other, joking and laughing more than we work at times. This slows down work, but we still achieve good results and most importantly we discuss things outside the assignment, which is also a way of developing.The project presentation went very well. C talks and jokes more than he has ever done before – not just with the group. D has found a humorous side as well and has been very calm throughout the process. B is very involved sometimes at a level that is too detailed but she keeps everyone positive. A is motivated again after the Management Science debacle when we scored lower than we had expected. I am more structured in my approach and communicate much clearer (harder) than before pulling the teams back to the essential problems, when needed. And, yes, I still spend much time talking to group members outside the group, helping in any way that I possibly can. Did it require much energy and time? Yes! But it was worth it.I look forward to working with this group again, because we are now working well together, learning more and faster; being adapted to each other’s working style and body language. There are people in the MBA with whom I do not want to work with. These are people who do not understand integrity, honesty and respect. Selfishness does not go well with me. I have understood and realized this only in the past few weeks, more than ever before. I continue to believe that my passive leadership style in which I try to make people discover their flaws themselves is good. Sometimes I have to be more direct, or there will be misun derstandings leading to potential conflicts.Creating a group and implementing a working plan or road map is a difficult and time-consuming task. The planning stage is very crucial for the effective working of the group, however it is also essential that we do not hold on completely to the plan. The group and leader must react to situations impulsively. (Linda 1997). I see myself more of a transformational type leader who set goals and inculcate awareness on the setting and achieving of goals by others to pull them from unworthy preoccupations.Transformational leadership elevates levels of morality and motivation among others and are more effective, It has not been possible to relate their leadership with demographic, social or personal characteristics (Linda et al). I have indeed been benefited by this groupwork experience, a benefit that will remain with me, contributing to whatever I would be involved in.REFERENCESLinda et al., 2001;Organizational Behavior; A Management Challenge, Lawrence Erlbaum AssociatesLinda. F. Groupwork in Occupational Therapy. Nelson Thornes (1997)Elisabeth D. Talking and Learning in Groups. Routledge (1990).Pamela J. and   Sara. K Distributed Work   MIT Press, (2002)Stickland, F.; The Dynamics of Change. Publisher: Routledge, London (1998).

Problem of Police Brutality Essays

Problem of Police Brutality Essays Problem of Police Brutality Essay Problem of Police Brutality Essay 1.3 Problem Statement Traditional and new forms of media take unique approaches towards the representation of African American males to audiences in the United States. The resultant impact of the variations in the representation of African American males has been the development of perceptions about African American menbyopposite sides of the divide based onhard-linepositions about police brutality. The challenge, therefore, lies in the depiction of character and behavioural traits of the African American male with regard to the actions of the police during brutal confrontations between law enforcement and African American males. The advent of incidences of violence such as was the recent Dallas shootings is particularly blamed on the attitudes and emotive stances that hardliner positions on the debate surrounding police brutality in the United States is concerned. The media plays a crucial roleofinforming the public and particularly in agenda setting. To that extent, the angle that the media pursues rega rding reportage on incidences of confrontation between African American men and the police proves key to understanding the perceptions of the public about African American men. Moreover, the medias role in agenda setting is central to the shaping of themind-setof the public as regards the conduct and character of African American males(McCombs M. , 2002). The current state of escalating hatred and anger over police brutality brewing feelings of racial discrimination brings forth a new problem that can only be described as the New Jim Crow. To that extent, the suffering of African American men in the hands of police is to a great extent attributable to the depiction of African American men by the media. Traditional and modern forms of media present African Americans in a certain context that advances negative stereotype of aggression and violence(Hammond Yung, 1993). Notably, African American men, by default, have become targets of rogue police officers who exercise brutal force whe n engaged in confrontation with African American suspects leading to violence. 1.4 Research Aims and Objectives On a broader perspective, the goals of the study are fourfold. First, the research seeks to develop knowledge and inquiry into whether disparities exist in the medias portrayal of African American males involved in criminal activities or otherwise. In that regard, the study evaluates traditional and modern forms of media by comparing and contrasting the depictions of African American males during news coverage of incidences of police brutality. The advent of new media that brings together aspects of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others presents a point of comparison with news coverage by traditional forms of media such as Television News and Newspapers. The second fundamental objective that the study is concerned with revolves around the determination of whether discrepancies exist between traditional and new forms of media regarding the nature of reporting on the character and behaviour of African American males during incidences of police brutality. Fu rther, the third objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of the medias portrayal of African American males on the perceptions of the public with respect to the general conduct and character traits of African American males. Finally, the study aims to present recommendations necessary for adoption by the media in shaping perceptions of African American males. The specific objectives of the study are as under; To compare and contrast reporting by traditional and modern forms of media with respect to cases of police brutality and specifically the angle of representation of African American males in news reports. To evaluate news reports in traditional and new media forms for similarities and differences inportrayalof African American males when reporting on incidences of police brutality. To investigate the impact of portrayals of African American males in both new and traditional forms of media on the perception of the American public about African American males. To develop a list of recommendations that can be adopted by the media in general as regards the portrayal of African American males and by extension shape the perceptions of the American public about African American males. 1.5 Research Questions The study seeks to answer the question on why police brutality is predominantly associated with aconfrontationbetween the police and male suspects of African American heritage. Moreover, the study seeks to answer the question on whether or not the media has a role to play as concerns the portrayal of African American males during news reporting. It is worth of note that the media has a significant role to play in shaping the perceptions of the public and setting the agenda as regards issues of importance to the general public(Carroll McCombs, 2003). In that regard, what images of African Americans are carried by new media and traditional media and what is the impact of such images on the perceptions of the American publics as pertains to the character and conduct of African American males. Consequently, the research seeks to answer the questionofwhether or not differences exist between new and traditional media forms in the manner with which news coverage on police brutality cases a re presented to the American public. More importantly, the study seeks to answer the question on how perceptions created by the media about African American males has had an impact on the lives of such individuals. The specific research questions are as under; What are the differences between new and traditional forms of media in news reporting pertaining to the conduct and characteristics of African American males involved in instances of police brutality? Are there significant implications of the perceptions created by the media about African American men on how African American men are treated by the police? What are the far reaching implications of the stereotypes created by the media about African American men in their social lives? What are the factors that determine the angle or approach taken by either traditional or modern forms of media with respect to the portrayal of African American men in media? What alternative progressive options exist in media towards shaping perceptions of African American males that would lead to an end ofviolentconfrontation between police officers andAfrican Americansuspects? 1.6 Significance of the Study The study proves relevant owing to the escalating statistics of police brutality againstAfrican Americanmales in the United States. In the year 2016 alone, 123 people have been shot by police officers as of the killing ofPhilandoCastile as the latest shooting of African American males by police(Craven, 2016). The excerpt below from the Guardian paints a grim picture of the growing strained relations between White police officers andAfrican Americanmales. As such, instances of confrontations between the two will almost certainly end in the shooting of theAfrican Americanmale. Black people were killed by police at more than twice the rate of white people in 2015 Despite the higher total number of white people killed, black people were more likely to die at the hands of law enforcement when adjusting for population (per one million). PER MILLION TOTAL 7.13Black3.48Hispanic/Latino3.4Native American2.91White1.34Asian/Pacific Islander SOURCE: The Counted, 1 Jan 31 Dec 2015(Swaine, laugland, Lartey, McCarthy, 2015). The statistics indicate that African American males are nine times as likely to be killed by police officers as compared to White males of the same age bracket. With over 1000 African American men killed by police officers in the span of 2015 alone, the 123 number of Black men killed by police officers as of July 2016 brings to the fore concerns about the escalation of the trend that is seemingly a killing spree orchestrated by the authorities(Craven, 2016).Developing an understanding of the perceptions of African Americans among the wider scope of the public is necessary towards understanding the impact that such perceptions have had in contributing to the status quo. In retrospect, the media plays a fundamental role in shaping ideologies as pertains to how people think about trending issues and matters of interest to the public(McCombs M. , 2002). In that esteem, conducting the study proves relevant in that it presents knowledge on how the media can be used for the creation of posi tive stereotypes of African American males and hopefully end the spate of violence and confrontation between African American males and police officers in the United States(Anderson, Feia, Ceulemans, 2011). The results of the study prove significant as they can be used as representative recommendations that can be essential in restructuring the media towards adopting different forms through which to portray African Americans in positive light and end the negative connotations that are associated with aggressive and violent nature of African American men(Hammond Yung, 1993).

50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History

50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History A great way to uncover clues to your family history or to get great quotes for journaling in a heritage scrapbook is a family interview. By asking the right, open-ended questions, youre sure to collect a wealth of family tales. Use this list of family history interview questions to help you get started, but be sure to personalize the interview with your own questions as well. 50 Questions to Ask Your Relatives What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?When and where were you born?How did your family come to live there?Were there other family members in the area? Who?What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?Were there any special items in the house that you remember?What is your earliest childhood memory?Describe the personalities of your family members.What kind of games did you play growing up?What was your favorite toy and why? What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?What school activities and sports did you participate in?Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes? Who were your childhood heroes?What were your favorite songs and music?Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?Who were your friends when you were growing up?What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?What do you know about your family surname?Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors? Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?Where and when did you get married?What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?How did you find out you  were going to be a parent for the first time?Why did you choose your childrens names?What was your proudest moment as a parent?What did your family enjoy doing together?What was your profession and how did you choos e it? If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasnt it your first choice?Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?What accomplishments were you most proud of?What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you? While these questions make great conversation starters, the best way to uncover the good stuff is through more of a storytelling session than a QA.

B2B and Reseller Markets Essay

B2B and Reseller Markets Essay B2B and Reseller Markets Essay B2B and Reseller Markets Business-to-business (B2B) concept involves the aspect of decision-making in the majority of industry sectors (Hutt Speh, 2013). The majority of the collaborative business models in the modern times have made an effort to improve the face of marketing through the support of the B2B relationships amongst the entities. The application of the B2B also comes with challenges in the fulfillment of the negotiations and interactions imposed through the collaborative models in managing public business marketing processes (Hutt Speh, 2013). In this research, the description of the use of interaction protocols in defining and managing the processes in B2B relationships forms the core subject. The advancement of technology has enabled businesses conduct marketing electronically facilitating the existence of the Business-to-Business (B2B) E-Commerce (Hutt Speh, 2013). In some of the B2B relationships, the aspect of interaction forms significant challenge. The interactions within the B2B framework occur in three vital layers including content, communication, and business process. Internet-centered B2B related business models are effective in conducting business-to-business (B2B) commerce in the majority of the industry sectors. As one of the instantaneous mediums, the development of technology provides the business entities with new and improvised electronic marketplaces (Hutt Speh, 2013). Business Processes In the layer of business process, the B2B relationships necessitate the management of two distinct business processes including public processes and private processes (Hutt Speh, 2013). The private processes forms part of the enterprise itself managed through each enterprise in an independent way. The private processes receive support within the enterprises through a traditional Workflow Management System, proprietary systems or the ERP systems (Meyer, 2007). The public processes enable the spanning of the organizational boundaries following the involvement with the enterprises involved in the B2B relationship. The processes are under joint management and agreed on by the partners (Meyer, 2007). The activities of the public process have an abstract nature with the support of the private processes. As a clear distinction aid, the public and private processes enable the corresponding organizations abstract the internal process management from the respective management processes across enterprises. The collaborative business models usage have been proposed under several application domains including the supply chain management. The collaborative models have the support of B2B relationship with the inclusion of public business processes jointly managed through partner organizations (Meyer, 2007). Some of the collaborative models necessitate the businesses to establish autonomous B2B with the partners enabling the organizations collaboration. From the perspective of marketing, the collaborative models impose significant challenges in support of the management of the public business processes involved in B2B relationships and they are: Autonomy, the enterprises should have the ability to behave as relative autonomous entities, hiding their internal activities, decisions, and processes (Meyer, 2007). The information system in the management of B2B relationships in the enterprises should have independence. Decentralized management of the corresponding business processes through the enterprises joint management. Peer-to-peer interactions within the enterprises systems for the management of the B2B relationships to imply that the systems interact in a direct means without the independent third party system mediation Negotiation is inclusive in the management of the public processes. Although the proposal of web service composition and workflow approaches still stands in the management of the public processes, there are shortcomings presented in the achievement of autonomy, decentralization, negotiation, and P2P interaction capabilities. B2B Relationships Interaction Protocols The interaction protocols have been in the long run used in the major area of multi-agent systems for the representation of interactions among the involved agents (Hutt Speh, 2013). In B2B context of relationships, interaction protocol enables the management and modeling of the interactions among the involved enterprises in the B2B relationship. The interactions represent the business processes of the public that the enterprises agreed on the aspect of collaboration. Through this means, adapting the concept to the B2B relationships, an interaction protocol enables the description of the high-level communication pattern (Hutt Speh, 2013). This is through the admissible message sequence amid the enterprises playing different roles. The major objective of the interaction protocols is the abstraction of the public processes from specified services involved within the enterprises framework. This is for executing the supported public services internal activities (Hutt Speh, 2013). Within the system, different interaction protocols have one of the highest abstraction levels. An interaction protocol message does not represent the message on the business network. Interaction protocol message in implemented through the application of a lower-level protocol-involving network set of messages (Meyer, 2007). According to B2B three layers application, the interaction protocols transpire in the business process layer with the communication protocols occurring in the layer of communication. The major elements in the interaction protocol include messages, roles, control flows, conditions, deadlines, and logical connectors (Meyer, 2007). The roles are the responsibility in terms of the message sequence the enterprises performs in the B2B relationship. Messages involve the expression of the interactions containing the semantics defining their form. A message can be a representation of the decision, business information, acceptation, acknowledgement, proposal, and rejection. The messages can be of the asynchronous forms or synchronous. Conditions are defined as the messages to represent when messages can be sent (Meyer, 2007). The interaction protocol has two significant control flows. One of the control flows represents messages control flow defining the parallel or the alternative messages of the interaction protocol steps (Meyer, 2007). The second flow is a representation of the internal execution flow of the role describing the different reactions. These are of the roles to the incoming messages. The basic logical connectors are applicable in defining the control flows with deadline defined on the messages that represents time a role sends a message (Hutt Speh, 2013). B2B Standards and Interaction Protocols The B2B standards enable the exchange of messages amongst the enterprises in the B2B relationship. B2B standards are also utilized in the implementation and the exchange of messages defining interaction protocols (Kurtz, 2014). The enterprises should consider an agreement on the B2B standard to be applicable in exchanging the interaction messages. This is to enable the enterprises implement different and independent systems for the joint execution of similar interaction protocols (Kurtz, 2014). This is without the application of the proprietary communication protocol at a lower level. The B2B standards are large in number and consist of the following specification elements: A machine-process able definition language for defining the public processes An exchange sequence defining the transactions possible as required through every message and the constraints of the specified message, performance and like time-outs The business documents structure involved in the content of the message The form in which the messages are packaged and transported on the corresponding networks through specified communication protocols including SMTP and HTTP Messages Security Mechanisms All the B2B standard elements necessitate the implementation of the interaction protocols. Some of the standards specify only the elements defining the business documents (Pride et al, 2007). The rest of the B2B standards enable the specification of the required elements. The implementation of a message using the B2B standards enables each of the interaction protocol messages to consist of more messages. The transaction messages enable the keeping of the message as a unit through the application of responses. In the business transactions, one of the roles performs the requesting of the specified activity with the other one performing the responding activity (Pride Ferrell, 2007). The B2B relationships are under the management of public and private entities with an explicit separation between the private and public processes managed in an independent means (Pride Ferrell, 2007). The modeling of the public business process through an interaction protocol of the B2B relationships focuses on the messages enterprises exchanges for interaction and message orchestration. The interaction protocols facilitates greater enterprise autonomy in marketing framework since the enterprises hides internal activities, decisions and services necessitated for supporting public processes (Pride Ferrell, 2007). Public Business Processes Modeling with Interaction Protocols In the B2B perspective of modeling interaction protocols, the two languages necessary includes the textual modeling language and the graphical language modeling (Villarreal et al, 2003). The former provides the intuitive semantics that enables the business marketing process designers understand and define the public process for interaction representation between partners. The second language enables the enterprises exchange the interaction protocol descriptions. They can be understood and process able through the information system of the B2B relationships for the interaction protocol execution (Villarreal, Salomone, and Chiotti, 2003). The major difference that exists between the interaction protocols and the other approaches for public processes modeling is the interaction protocols not defining the services or activities (Kurtz, 2014). The modeling of the process with the aspect of the interaction protocols draws the focus on the messages sent and received through the roles of the enterprise in every step of the process. For exemplifying the interaction protocol modeling, capacity planning and collaborative planning processes are defined through a partner-partner collaborative model. The collaborative model carries out the business process amongst the enterprises manufacturing belonging to different chains of supply in the market (Kurtz, 2014). The model has a public business process carried out jointly by partners in a decentralized procedure. The collaborative model necessitates the enterprise establishment of an independent B2B relationship with the partners (Kurtz, 2014). Conclusion Interaction protocols in the B2B relationships perspective enable the management and modeling of public business processes consideration through autonomous and heterogeneous partners. This is for the relative achievement of B2B relationships goals. The protocols provide an abstraction framework level for modeling interactions that represents public processes. With the models of the B2B relationships, the messages exchanged by the corresponding enterprises are significant. The protocols of B2B also enable the implementation of interaction protocol for marketing systems fulfilling the collaborative business models requirements. IMP communicative acts facilitate the definition of the B2B relationship interaction protocols without the consideration of the B2B standards applicable in the implementation process. Achieving the independence between the B2B standards and interaction protocols is possible. The independence provides several of the benefits to the business marketing practice. The enterprises have the ability to carry out implementation programs of the interaction protocol with their networks with different partners using B2N standards of different versions. The communicative acts also enable the B2B standards joint functionality for the provision of advanced solutions to the B2B environments. This enables the marketing enterprise systems supporting the B2B relationships to facilitate the understanding of same interaction protocol independent of the technologies used in building them. Visit our online essay writing service to get professional writing help from academic experts who are hired to produce high-quality custom essays from scratch!

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment - Essay Example The mayor of London was bestowed with the authority to take over the strategic roles and responsibility that would oversee the performance of different departments. In this consultative agreement, the mayor was assigned a major role to stimulate socio-economic expansion and development of the environment (Imrie, 2009). Moreover, the mayor was endorsed with the role of setting legislative strategies on various sectors in London such as transport, planning, and waste management. The aim of the statutory strategies was to improve the welfare of the people of London city as well as increase the power of the mayor of London. Moreover, the mayor was made responsible for setting up the budget of the city and the entire Greater London Authority. Moreover, the mayor was to oversee the budget planning of the subsidiaries of Greater London Authority such as the London Development Agency (LDA), the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), Tran sport for London (TfL). In this agreement, the mayor was also responsible for appointing boards for the TfL, and LDA (Allmendinger, 2006). Literature Review Following the agreement, the mayor formulated policies that gave support to the development of sustainable environment. The aim of these policies was to facilitate well-organized age group use, and supply of energy in London. In addition, the aim of these policies by the mayor was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to deal with issues of climate change. Change of climate has been one of the most daring threats for the lives of the people of London city. Furthermore, London is challenged by lack of fuels therefore necessitating the formation of policies which would that would emphasis on the environment especially the issues that facilitate preservation of the surroundings for better well-being among the people (Greater London Authority, 2010). In his policy, the mayor of London was supposed to develop a legislative responsib ility that permits formulation of strategies that favor energy policies that are auspicious to the environment. The policies would achieve this through distribution of energy efficiency expenses to meet the wants of diverse individuals in the city. Recent research has predicted that water will be an unavailable resource in London owing to climate change and the growth of population in the region. The policies have led to the formation of Mayor’s Water Action Framework that is accountable for the regulation of water price limits in London (Greater London Authority, 2010). According to The Greater London Authority (2010), the framework molded would function under the leadership of environment agency. It is mandatory that all issues related to energy sources and water distribution be environmentally friendly in order to safeguard the well-being of the people of London is enhanced. It is imperative to take into consideration that manufacturing firms can easily contaminate the env irons through emission of fumes such as Carbon IV oxide, which destroys the ozone layer. Furthermore, discarding waste products such as chemical compounds, which are by-products of manufacturing processes, can also contaminate the surroundings through pollution of water particularly in the

Management Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Concepts - Essay Example The employees trust and believe the visions of the leader and are very motivated. This organization is rapidly expanding organization, which is becoming increasingly popular among its customers. With an extensive marketing plan the organization can surely become the most popular place for rock climbing activities in Swansea. Dynamic rock is an organization established in the year 2004, with the aim of developing the indoor climbing center in the city of Swansea, United Kingdom. The company provides for the much-needed centre for the climbers from all over the country. This organization aims at providing the rock climbers with a friendly and accessible centre to pursue their passions. This organization is categorized under the Rock industries, with a small group of well-integrated staff members. (Dynamic rock, 2010) This dynamic organization has various opportunities and faces tough market competition. Under this paper we would try and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, we would provide a competitor analysis so as to understand the scope of the organization in the near future. Applying the theories of strategic planning and leadership styles we would analyze how the organization can strengthen its long-term position. The report would have been more effective if the method of primary research among the customers would have been adopted. The customers’ views on the products and services offered by the organization would have been very accurate and would have provided an effective marketing strategy for the organization. The paper aims at the strategic analysis of the organization Dynamic Rocks. SWOT analysis would be applied to for the detailed understanding of the structure of the organization. The theories of Porter’s five forces and Ansoff’s analysis would be applied for the analysis of the rock industry and the company’s position

Report Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Report - Thesis Example Furthermore, the Indian government has embarked on a program of banking reform, which is still in its early stages, and so there is an opportunity to see if this is affecting the level of service offered to customers. Both public sector and private sector banks are included in this study. The method chosen was a survey based on the SEVQUAL model. This particular model was chosen because it has been tried and tested in other settings and its 22 item scale gives a good picture of the quality of service as it occurs in different kinds of service industry. The 22 items were grouped into five sections and participants were invited to rate different aspects of banking service according to a 7 point Likert type scale. Participants were asked about two particular banks, the State Bank of India and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). These two banks were chosen because they are the representatives of public and private sectors respectively. The starting hypothesis was that there would be no significant difference in the customer perceptions of service in the two banks, or alternatively that there would be a significant difference. The survey was conducted in the city of Dehradun. Age, gender and employment status were mixed, with a majority of males, married persons, and people in professional jobs. The data was analyzed using the statistical software package SPSS. Exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis were carried out. The findings were that empathy, reliability, assurance and responsiveness were higher in the case of the public banks whereas tangibility was higher for private sector banks. This shows that there is a difference in the perception of customer service of the two kinds of bank, and on the whole, public sector banks are perceived as having better customer service. The research gap identified by the author in this

What is the Ecstatic Truth Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the Ecstatic Truth - Assignment Example Ecstatic truth is giving the viewer a high expectation of the central character reaching his highest goal. There is an element of existentialism as we become part of the central character as we become so involved with the film. Ecstatic truth is beyond the apparent fact. It transcends reality and is a manifestation of what goes on within the person. Werner Herzog finds this truth in two points in the set of videos. He shows the museum curator explaining that Treadwell did something the Indians hadn't done in 7000 years. Tim was a man overly obsessed with nature and crossed the territory bounds that were never meant to be crossed. Men were not made to associate with bears. When the father killed the cub so the mother would stop lactating, Tim never acknowledge that the bears were carnivores. He was sad and cried. Herzog showed that this obsession lead to his demise. The film started on the positive point that death is without fear. Treadwell talks about death, perseverance, and being a samurai. A fearless death is where you survive. He shows an unreality in wanting to become a bear or fight like a bear. In the thirteen years he was going to Alaska, he learned their behaviors. He cried when they suffered; he cried when they ate each other. His thought his friendship with them was real. Herzog's changes the truth of Treadwell's insight into nature as becoming the insight into our inner beings. His insight into nature also becomes the viewers insight into Ted's inner character.  

Issues in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Issues in Management - Essay Example Investigation was carried out before Houston offered to purchase the company. Although the deal failed, Enron assets were made the largest corporate bankrupt in the history of United States’ corporations. The collapse of Enron serves as a lesson for managers and all sub-versions of company management controls. The meteoric rise and down fall of the company astonished groups of people thereby becoming a dream for researchers to unveil what led to such misfortunes; however, the entire ordeal has ever since remained a nightmare for all former and current stakeholders of the company. The company’s downfall is associated with individuals born with greed and in atmospheres on corporate arrogance. However, many people kept on buying stock; thus, making it buy risk deals. After some time, Enron was then bought from the union of Houston Natural gas. In the union process, the company incurred huge debt and lost its rights to pipeline. To revive its operations, the company decided to initiate new ideas and formulate new strategies that would help to generate cash flow and good profits. On the other hand, to regain its stability, the company hired Jeffrey Skilling, a young consultant with good skills in banking and liability management who created gas bank whereby, Enron could buy gas from suppliers and sell it to consumers. This activity brought about huge profits and created new product as well as new paradigm for the company. Under the leadership of the young consultant, the company’s finance corporation soon dominated the market with many contracts and good access to suppliers. The number of customers was also seen to multiply. Its gained market power was utilized on predicting future prices with accuracy. Skilling begun to change the culture of the company to much its transformed image as a trading business entity. For instance, he

Impact of Hub Airports on a Community or City Research Paper

Impact of Hub Airports on a Community or City - Research Paper Example The concept of the Hub-and-spokes system was to concentrate traffic to one airport- the major hub from smaller national airports (known as the spokes) or other means of transport, and then the gathered group of passengers would be transported from the major hub to another major hub.† (AviationKnowledge, 2010) In addition to commercial airline hubs, companies such as FedEx, DHL, UPS, and other major carriers of air freight & cargo services may also operate airport hubs to facilitate the efficient delivery of their parcels and goods for transport. Some airports will be integrated commercial and air freight operations, while others will be dedicated and specialized to only one mode of operation dependent on the location. Furthermore, some airport hubs will be operated by a single or limited number of carriers, while other hubs will serve multiple carriers at the same location. Along with these main characteristics, hub airports also impact the local community and cities surroundin g them through: Requiring infrastructure development – hubs are typically larger than other airports and require more land for their operation, along with the building & roads to serve the facility, placing an investment requirement on the community. Jobs and business expansion – airport hubs promote an entire ecosystem of support businesses to serve the people who work in them – these include hotels, restaurants, stores, gas stations, shopping facilities, transportation, etc. Environmental Concerns – hub airports and frequent passenger air jet travel can have significant impact on local environments, including wildlife, air, water, and sound pollution, waste disposal management problems, etc. A step by step overview of the development of a hub airport shows the degree to which the effects of the construction and operation will ripple into the community. At the first stage, there is location, architectural design, and construction of the

Issues in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Issues in Management - Essay Example Investigation was carried out before Houston offered to purchase the company. Although the deal failed, Enron assets were made the largest corporate bankrupt in the history of United States’ corporations. The collapse of Enron serves as a lesson for managers and all sub-versions of company management controls. The meteoric rise and down fall of the company astonished groups of people thereby becoming a dream for researchers to unveil what led to such misfortunes; however, the entire ordeal has ever since remained a nightmare for all former and current stakeholders of the company. The company’s downfall is associated with individuals born with greed and in atmospheres on corporate arrogance. However, many people kept on buying stock; thus, making it buy risk deals. After some time, Enron was then bought from the union of Houston Natural gas. In the union process, the company incurred huge debt and lost its rights to pipeline. To revive its operations, the company decided to initiate new ideas and formulate new strategies that would help to generate cash flow and good profits. On the other hand, to regain its stability, the company hired Jeffrey Skilling, a young consultant with good skills in banking and liability management who created gas bank whereby, Enron could buy gas from suppliers and sell it to consumers. This activity brought about huge profits and created new product as well as new paradigm for the company. Under the leadership of the young consultant, the company’s finance corporation soon dominated the market with many contracts and good access to suppliers. The number of customers was also seen to multiply. Its gained market power was utilized on predicting future prices with accuracy. Skilling begun to change the culture of the company to much its transformed image as a trading business entity. For instance, he

BMW Strategic Scenario ( Corporate Strategy) Case Study

BMW Strategic Scenario ( Corporate Strategy) - Case Study Example Other car manufacturers are hurriedly trying to imitate the Toyota philosophy in their work place. The other car substitutes for BMW include Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford. These car manufacturers use the same parts in their car models and car brands(Larsson & Falkemark, 2006;5) . India's conglomerate TATA has bought the Jaguar from Ford company for one billion pounds. The Jaguar is expected to produce its new medium saloon, the XF, that was sold in Mar1 in the United Kingdom and on in April in the United States. The Jaguar had suffered a slump in sales by as much as forty five percent in the last month alone. This percentage data is translated to having only seven hundred fifty seven cars sold in January alone. The current Jaguar model is the S -type car. In fact, there had been over eight thousand orders for the XF jaguar model around the world. Even Tony Blair tested the XF model himself. The BMW brand also suffered a decline in sales in the same January period. There was a decline of eight percent decrease in sales for the same month of January alone. This is translated into only two thousand five hundred sixteen cars sold for the same thirty day period. The Japanese car, Toyota, which builds cars for prospective clients in Burnaston and Derby, UK had dropped by eleven percent to only eight thousand, four hundred eighty seven only. The Japanese car manufacturing company, Honda, has been producing its cars in Swindon, United Kingdom. Honda has suffered the same fate of declining sales because its sales had declined by two percent. This can be translated to actual sales of only seven thousand seven hundred units. Another Japanese car company, Nissan, has been increasing its car sales. Nissan was able to sell many of its Qashqai model introducing an increase of thirty percent. This can be translated to four thousand six hundred sixty -six new Nissan Qasqui model ("UK Car Industry Cuts," 2008, p. 22). The 2006 year ended with BMW only generating 5.4 percent of the entire car market. the Volkswagen group generated twenty percent of the car market. The average Japanese OEMs gathered a big thirteen and fifty /100 percent of the car market. Meanwhile, Daimler only got a smaller six and 2/10 percent of the market. Renault had gathered eight and 6/10 percentx. Daimler is one of the major competitors of BMW. This company focuses on highly salable products in the car market segments that include mid -size, luxury and sports utility vehicles. Another strong competitor of BMW is the German car manufacturing company called Audi. Audi is a subsidiary car company called Volkswagen. Audi focuses on the very lucrative luxury and high performance car market segment (BMW:207 company profile edition 3: Competitor analysis,2007;p.7). 3.What are the key competencies required in the BMW group industry BMW has many key competencies. The company has been able to develop a new petrol engine family in a joint cooperation project. These engines are used in future models of its MINI cars. This was possible with the help of Matts Carlson's scientific mind. BMW has also

Green Telecommunications Reducing Opex And Capex Engineering Essay

Green Telecommunications Reducing Opex And Capex Engineering Essay In the last 10 years, mobile and wireless communications have seen tremendous growth. The growth in the networks along with fierce competition has led the telecom operators to focus on logistics, security and costs. Since each operator competes to provide the customer the best service possible at minimum price, reducing operating costs is of prime importance. In addition, environment has also become a major issue worldwide affecting most of the telecom operators. Legislative pressures and the potential for Carbon trading revenues are causing the Mobile Telecommunications Industry to become mindful of its impact on carbon emissions. Green considerations are coming into prominence in network design. This paper discusses various eco-friendly solutions in network design to reduce CO2 emissions leading to reduction in Operating Expense (OPEX) and Capital Expense (CAPEX). Introduction Telecommunication Industry has helped the world in a big way to reduce carbon emissions by reducing unnecessary business travel, improving efficiency of freight transport and other logistics. The carbon footprint of a mobile phone call or video conferencing is thousand times smaller than the environmental impact of travel required for personal meeting. However, running these telecommunication systems also creates a load on the environment contributing to about 0.5% of global carbon emissions. Though, this is much less as compared to the other industries, it has brought in a lot of criticism from various environmental agencies and green campaigners. In addition, powering these systems makes up half of a telecom operators operating costs and with energy prices rising, these expenses are hurting the profits of the operators. The only solution for the Telecom Operators to jump out of this situation is to adopt Green Technology in the networks. This will not only reduce the OPEX and CAPEX of operators substantially but also lead to energy-efficient and self-sustainable telecommunications systems. Energy Concerns for Telecom Operators Today, around 50% of the operating costs of a network company goes into electricity. With electricity prices rising, it is eating a lot into the revenues earned by these network companies. The various network elements that contribute to these costs are the Radio Base Stations, the equipments used in the network and the mesh of connecting cables required to interconnect Fixed-Line operations. Out of these, Radio Base Stations account for two-thirds of the power costs with the equipments being the second largest contributor. Along with increasing costs due to excessive power consumption, network operators also contribute significantly to the carbon emissions. In order to overcome these issues, the operators must look at developing sustainable network solutions. The following steps such as developing energy-efficient products and features, creating energy-efficient site solutions, designing energy optimized networks and harnessing alternative sources of energy can help pave the way for telecommunication operators towards sustainable growth. Developing energy-efficient products and features Many network equipment providers these days have developed or are in the process of developing products that are eco-friendly. Apart from this, many new features are also being developed so as to minimize energy consumption during operations. Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Motorola are some of the significant contributors to this new generation of energy-efficient products. Ericsson has developed an innovative design for housing Radio Base Stations called the Ericsson Tower Tube. The Tower is made from concrete which has a lower environmental impact than traditional steel, consuming up to 40 percent less power from a life cycle perspective. This is due to the fact that concrete results in less energy consumption and CO2 emission than steel during production and transport. However, the most important part is that during operation, feeder losses are substantially reduced, and no active cooling is needed. Thus, adopting a solution like this, helps operators to not only reduce their construction and power costs but also reduce their capital expenditure as active cooling units are not required. Nokia Siemens Networks, on the other hand, has developed the award-winning Flexi Multiradio Base Station. The unique capability of such a Base Station is that it can support all the 3GPP technologies i.e. GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA to LTE in a single unit with all running simultaneously. This technique of running multiple radio technologies in a single Base Station leads to multiple advantages for operators such as reduced OPEX from fewer site visits, simplified logistics, reduced maintenance and a smaller requirement for trained staff. In addition, this concept can also reduce the carbon footprint of a single Base Station by 70% which corresponds to approximately 70 GWh of annual energy saving. Another important advantage is that it is only 20% of the size and weight of a conventional base station leading to reduction in the carbon footprint from transportation and installation. Due to reduced size, it is possible to install base stations in places previously considered impossible such as densely populated urban areas thus saving space, installation time and costs. Flexi, as it is called, has been designed so that it can function even without external air conditioning, thus reducing around 30% in site energy consumption. Its other prominent features like software-based capacity and capability upgrades further help in reduction of operating expenses as Flexi can be controlled via remote software whereas conventional base stations require site visits and sometimes hardware replacements. Furthermore, the Flexi Base Station can work on renewable energy such as solar or wind power. Like other Nokia Siemens Networks products, Flexi has been designed so as to facilitate ease of recycling at end of its life. This also helps solve the various end-of-life problems that many operators face. Apart from hardware products, new software technology can also help to improve energy efficiency of base stations. Ericsson provides the Base Transceiver Station Power Savings feature while Nokia Siemens has its NetActà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ Service Quality Manager (SQM). Ericsson has introduced the new Base Transceiver Station Power Savings feature in many of its base stations across the world. Due to this feature, during low-traffic periods, the radio resources of the network that are unused are put into Stand-By mode, thus lowering energy consumption. Depending on the network traffic patterns, this feature can reduce 25% of energy consumption. The added advantage of this innovation is that it can be installed in any of Ericssons existing Base Stations by a mere software upgrade. Thus, if this feature is installed in all the existing Ericsson Base Stations, it can reduce carbon emissions by 1 million tons a year. The Nokia Siemens Networks NetActà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ Service Quality Manager (SQM) is used to provide better control of BTS power settings. The night time power saving feature allows an operator to set a time when traffic prioritization is enabled in the network. NetAct SQM will control the operation automatically according to pre-configured settings, such as Schedule and BSC/BTS list. By using such a feature, a network operator with around 10,000 base station sites can potentially save the average energy consumption of 1000 households per year. Translating this into monetary values would suggest an estimated à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬5,000,000 annual savings in OPEX, an estimate which naturally depends on the marketplace. Designing Energy Optimized Networks Another key aspect for network operators to look into is energy-efficient network design and planning. More often than not, operators tend to design networks with as many as Base Stations in order to provide maximum coverage and signal strength. However, by taking into consideration the challenge of providing almost the same amount of coverage with less number of base stations can help telecommunication operators achieve optimization in their networks. With optimized networks, the operating costs of operators can come down drastically as the number of base stations can be reduced by 30% 50%. Now, a sustainable network has its foundation in good design. At the core of any efficient and sustainable network is good design. Without doubt, the best way to achieve an optimized, energy-efficient network is to build it on good foundations, based on sound design principles. Even if a company achieves energy efficiency at the component level it does not mean that it can make up for an inefficiently designed network, in which the number of radio sites could potentially be double than what it needs to be to achieve the same coverage with the same quality. By hiring experienced network designers to become involved from the start of the design process, operators can typically reduce the number of radio sites needed overall by between 30 and 50 per cent. Energy-Efficient On-Site Solutions There are many areas on-site where energy efficiency can be achieved. By adopting certain ingenious and innovative solutions, a lot of unnecessary energy wastage can be avoided and thus costs can be reduced. One of the main causes of power consumption on-site is the air-conditioning required for cooling the telecom shelters that contain the radio equipments. These air-conditioning units consume anywhere between 1200W 2000W. However, with recent developments, the radio base stations can endure higher temperatures thus enabling new cooling techniques to be used. One solution is to have heat exchangers which can efficiently transfer heat from one medium to another. Thus the heat generated by using the Radio Base Stations can be captured by the heat exchangers and transferred to the water kept outside in a tank. This method of heat removal can help maintain temperatures 20oF to 15oF less than ambient. Also, it does not require any power source as heat is dissipated by means of natural convection. This method can be used in dry regions mainly in North-Western India. Another innovative solution that can be used in tropical regions is Phase Change Materials (PCM). These help in maintaining tem peratures in the shelters between 20oC to 35oC without use of any air conditioning system. Thus, implementing innovative solutions for cooling telecom shelters, a telecom operator not only reduces its OPEX (due to reduced energy costs) but also CAPEX by minimizing the amount spent on equipment needed for cooling. Another area where power can be conserved is by minimising the Feeder losses. This can be established by placing the Radio Base Stations closer to the antenna. Since feeder loss is minimised, it helps in improved network coverage and capacity. This, in turn, helps the operator to reduce the number of RBS in the region leading to network optimization. The Ericsson Tower Tube discussed above implements this solution in an efficient manner. The tower consists of an elevator. The base stations are installed at the bottom of the tower and then lifted by the elevator to top where they are operated. Thus by being close to the antenna the feeder loss decreases. Harnessing Alternative Sources of Energy With conventional energy prices rising, operating telecom networks is becoming very difficult for the operators. The rising operating costs are affecting the bottom lines of the network operators. Apart from this, there are various sites which are beyond the reach of electricity or have unreliable electricity provision. Thus, operators need to set up diesel powered base stations in these regions. However, regular maintenance and refuelling the diesel becomes a very costly affair. In order to overcome these issues, a single solution is available at hand i.e. harnessing alternative sources of energy to power the telecommunication systems. There are various renewable energy sources that can be used efficiently these days. This includes Solar, Wind, Biofuels, Fuel Cells etc. Solar As the cost of Solar technology continues to fall, it is becoming a very popular technology to be used as primary power source for various base stations. Though the initial capital expense (CAPEX) is higher for a solar-powered site, however, over a period of 5 years the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for such a site is 30% less than a conventionally powered site. Also the life span of a solar powered BS is higher than a usual BS, thus in the longer run the network operators can reap more benefit out of this solution. A key point in using Solar technology is also the fact that its maximum outputs align with the maximum load on the telecom networks. In other words, the peak of mobile phone calls overlaps with the peak of solar power and at night when the mobile phone usage tends to drop, the solar power switches to battery phase. Solar energy can be prominently used to its best effect by regions coming in the equatorial sun-belt. And this is where most of the emerging markets, like India and China are located. Thus network operators in these markets can readily adopt solar technology and reduce their OPEX by huge amounts. With the extensive competition in these markets, an operator adopting this technology can forget about the power related costs of the OPEX and focus on improving customer satisfaction. Major network solution providers like Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens have developed various techniques to provide solar technologies to various network operators. Ericsson has developed a special Radio Base Station (RBS) for solar power called SunSite. A typical RBS requires 142 W of power; 110W the RBS itself, 20W transmission equipment and 12W Obstruction lights. Thus, Ericsson developed a solar system that can provide this much amount of power. The first solar powered site delivered by Ericsson was in the year 2000. Since then it has delivered 200 SunSites in various countries. Now that Ericsson has also developed energy-efficient RBS, sites have become more energy-lean. As a result, the large solar panels are no more used. Instead small solar panels are effective enough to provide the required amount of power. This is reducing the costs for setting up SunSites and thereby reducing CAPEX for the operators. A very good example in case of Ericsson Sunsite was the set up for Telekom Indonesia which was a 100% solar powered site. The SunSite helped Telekom Indonesia reduce its energy consumption by 60% and also made the site almost maintenance free. This led to decrease in power costs, fuel costs and maintenance cost leading to reduction of 40% in the OPEX. Nokia Siemens has also developed its Renewable Energy Source (RES) Autonomous site solutions. It provides various options like Standalone Solar Sites, Solar-Wind hybrid sites and sites with a combination of Solar-Diesel Generator. Motorola has also recently developed its solar solutions under the name Horizon II DC Macro/Mini BTS. Wind Wind is a plentiful resource across all regions of the world with varying degrees of intensity albeit considerably stronger in coastal regions. The main drawback to wind energy is the reliability of the source which is the main reason we do not use wind as a standard power source. Coupled with solar energy and the reserves in battery bank storage, wind does continue to provide an abundant, free-to-use, easy to access and environmentally friendly means of supplying power for the Autonomous Sites. Wind turbines can be placed in different configurations at the site. An early site analysis will determine the ideal turbine configuration as well as the correct direction and height to maximize the energy output from the turbines. Moreover, many governments offer tax benefits and direct subsidies for wind and solar energy expenditures making wind an ideal solution in most situations. Wind power has very low operation expenditure. BioFuels Biofuels are liquid fuels that are derived from plant materials. These fuels are entering into the market, driven by factors such as fuel price rise, reducing carbon emissions and the need for increased energy security. Ericsson has pioneered the use of biofuels in telecoms. For instance, Ericsson, Idea Cellular and the GSM Association Development Fund have launched several base stations powered by locally produced biofuels to extend Ideas commercial mobile network in rural India. They are being deployed at greenfield sites that have not previously had access to a mobile network and are located in areas with unreliable power supply. The biodiesel for these base stations comes from used cooking oils from restaurants. Idea currently has 23 sites running on biodiesel in India, and hopes to expand this to 40 to 50 sites. In the long term, it is expected that locally produced jatropha oil will be used, as soon as this is available in sufficient quantities. The selected sources for biodiesel have low environmental impact and follow responsible environmental practices for the production of biodiesel. Fuel Cells Fuel cells are also being developed so as to efficiently use them as a source of energy for telecom networks. In recent years, a lot of improvement has been done in the Fuel Cell technology which has led to many benefits over generators such as fuel efficiency, climate resistance, reliable start-up, and compact size. They operate at very low noise levels. Due to this, there is no indication of a power source running on the site and hence reducing the likelihood of theft also. With development, fuel cells are being manufactured in great numbers due to which its cost have come down considerably as compared to engine driven fuel cells. Operation of a fuel cell is to convert any fuel, like Hydrogen into electricity without combustion. There are several types of fuel cells, of which the most useful telecommunications is the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The PEMFC operates at low temperatures and runs at 40-60% efficiency. Motorola, which is involved in fuel cell research for networks and mobile devices, is also exploring micro fuel cell technologies as a replacement for rechargeable batteries in mobile devices. In partnership with various companies, Motorola is developing technologies such as: Hybrid fuel cell technologies for radios A hydrogen generator as a miniature fuel-cell power source5 Improving PEM fuel cell performance, durability, and manufacturability using single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) Fuel cell technology is maturing and advancing rapidly. However, a disadvantage for fuel cells is that at higher loads, cooling is required. Thus a trade-off has to be made in reducing the OPEX due to low operating costs for using fuel cells and increasing CAPEX due to extra cooling units required. End-of-life Solutions Technology, today, is changing so rapidly that in a very short span time the network equipment becomes old and needs upgradation. In these situations, network operators often feel pressurized to dispose old equipment and set up the latest one. However, this can create a lot of strain on the OPEX and CAPEX and also have a negative impact on the environment. Thus, the network equipments providers these days provide solutions to cater to the end-of-life scenarios as well. Nokia Siemens provides Asset Recovery Service which is based on recycling of old equipment and refurbishment of existing network elements. There are two modules in the Asset Recovery Service. Recycling Service module looks into the proper waste disposal of old equipments in an environment friendly manner. The Refurbishment Service Module looks into the upgradation or extension of lifetime of existing network equipments. The benefits to the customers include: Reduced obsolescence cost Development of new technology is always good for the industry. However, the problem is the piling of obsolete equipment. Using Asset Recovery Service, the obsolete inventory can be converted into useful, re-usable equipment. Environmentally Responsible Approach Due to tight regulations regarding disposal, it creates a problem for the companies to get rid of old elements. Thus, this service helps customer to dispose in an environmentally sound manner. OPEX and CAPEX savings By reducing warehousing cost for obsolete inventory, OPEX can be saved. Also due to the Refurbishment Service, the need to spend on new equipments reduces, thus CAPEX can also be saved. Carbon Credits By reducing their carbon emissions, telecom operators can also exchange them for carbon credits. One carbon credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide. And one carbon credit is priced in the markets at around 22 Euros (price fluctuates according to market). This concept of carbon credits is very favourable for companies operating in the developing countries as according to Kyoto Protocol, there is no restriction on these companies to limit their emissions. However, all the developed countries (except US as it has not signed the Kyoto Protocol) have to restrict their emissions by 2012. They can achieve this by either implementing new technology to reduce their emissions or by helping companies in the developing countries to reduce their emissions and buying the carbon credits that are obtained. As there is a very huge scope for reduction of carbon emissions in the Telecommunications industry, all operators in developing countries can immensely benefit from carbon credits. Also, as the deadline year 2012 nears, it is expected that there will be a surge in the demand of these carbon credits and hence the price of one carbon credit will also increase. Thus, if the telecom operator companies act quickly to reduce their carbon emissions, they can accumulate carbon credits now and reap the benefits in the future. Hence, implementing Green solutions in their networks, will not only benefit the network operators to reduce their OPEX and CAPEX but also act as means to generate more revenue. Conclusion As the World moves towards Greener solutions, it has not only reduced the carbon emissions but has also helped to provide ample new opportunities for business. As we have seen in this paper, network operators have ample amount of opportunities to reduce their OPEX and CAPEX. By using energy efficient products and features, optimizing networks, smart innovative energy-saving solutions and powering Telecommunication systems with renewable sources of energy, the Telecommunication network operators can reduce their power consumption by 50% 70%. This can in turn lead to proportional reduction in the energy costs. As the energy costs make up for around 50% of the OPEX, the operators can drastically reduce their operating expenditure and improve the bottom line of their companies. This also gives operators a chance to venture into new markets, provide better services for their customer and also come up with innovative cost-effective schemes to retain their customers. Adopting green methods, also leads to reduction in the CAPEX as has been discussed in the above topics. Though, the initial investment in Eco-friendly solutions is higher, the reduction in energy consumption and costs brings the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) much less than in conventional networks. With tremendous potential for curbing CO2 emissions, Telecommunication operators can also generate a lot of revenue by using their Carbon Credits. In India, Bharti Airtel is one of the operators, who has entered into the carbon credit venture with partner ACME Telepower. This partnership has brought about $30- $40 million revenue to the both companies involved. Hence, Carbon trade is also another major incentive for the operator s to adopt environment friendly solutions within their networks.