Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Diversity At The Work Place - 853 Words

Diversity at the work place has over the years become a matter of serious discussion. This is because there is a need to stop the common stereotyping that has been in existence over the years. There has been a need to guarantee that there is diversity at the areas of work to ensure that each individual is given an opportunity to work. This is only possible if there is an end in discrimination, this is because discrimination is the major factor that affects diversity in organizations. Looking at a worldwide established company such as Microsoft, diversity is a major aspect that they adhere to. This is because, being an international company, it needs set standards that other companies look up to. A wide range of people from different†¦show more content†¦Microsoft can also attribute part of its success to work diversity (Syed, amp; Özbilgin, 2010). This is because, being a worldwide company, it is expected to ensure that there is diversity. Through being diverse, the company has been able to attract more clients since there is no discrimination since the company has open up its doors in different countries with different beliefs. Through embracing diversity, it has been possible for Microsoft to broaden its services. Through having companies in different countries with different languages, Microsoft has created employment to individuals who market their products and services in foreign countries. This has been significant in ensuring that the company meets its overall business goal which is providing its services globally. Diversity also ensures that there are varying viewpoints. This is because every individual has an opinion regarding a particular matter that may be essential in improving service provision. A diverse work force ensures provides an opportunity for better services through thorough evaluation of the already existing ideas. Through this, it is possible for the company to meet all its clients’ needs as there is a larger perspective of all available issues. There is also an increase in productivity in a diverse working environment. This is because each individual is encouraged to work to t heir best capacity which results in high output. Microsoft has

Monday, December 16, 2019

Strategic Operation Issues Free Essays

string(215) " have they over estimated the man-hours or underestimated the man hours\? This is vital to get right as an overestimation results in an increased cost, making us less competitive, and therefore losing the contract\." STRATEGIC OPERATIONS ISSUES ASSIGNMENT TABLE OF FIGURES ABSTRACT5 PART A6 PART B8 PART C10 PART D11 PART E13 REFERENCE LIST15 ABSTRACT Company A is a global company and within it has several different business units, Company A , is a specialised service provider for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries throughout the world, this report focuses on Company A Tower Field Service Pty Ltd, located in Australia. Operations and process management are vital functions for the effective running of successful businesses, they need to be strategically planned and designed to prevent the loss of vital information, company standards as well as continually improve practises. These processes should be well documented and understood by all employees of the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Operation Issues or any similar topic only for you Order Now The loss or relocation of individuals should not have significant impact on company functioning. This report shows how strategic operations functions can be used to improve processes and therefore increase business effectiveness. Key concepts in strategic operations issues, such as process design and analysis, total quality management and resource planning and control need to be well documented for the system to remain effective and to meet long term strategic goals. PART A Describe the organisation and the problem briefly, but well enough for the assignment examiner to understand what the organisation does and its relevance to this assignment; Company A is a global company with many business units located around the world; Company A is itself a division of Company B. Company A have extensive knowledge of all types of vessel and tower internals. Company A are a specialist service provider supporting customer’s needs for all their internal equipment installation, shutdown, maintenance or revamp requirements in the petrochemical, and oil and gas industries all over the world. It is Company A’s strategy to strengthen its ability to supply installation and maintenance services to its customers geographically leading to recent acquisitions, Oceania merging with APA creating APAC. This has resulted in the relocation of key personnel, within the company, to run new locations, consequentially losing experience and day to day operational knowledge. Due to an ill documented management system this knowledge and experience was not captured in processes procedures resulting in a gap in the operations of the business. This assignment focuses on Company A Pty Ltd, Australian Operations. PART B Briefly explain the background to this issue or problem by describing how it fits into the operations of the business. Its impact on the business could be demonstrated using a chart to show the functional relationships, and/or a process flow analysis to show how the operation or process that you are studying is integrated into the organisation; Company A’s work is varied and unpredictable, resulting in fluctuations and depressions in work frequency and volume (Figure 2. 0). Speed, cost and dependability are the important operational factors driving Company A’s market strategy in winning contracts. Whilst each project is different the process for quoting, receiving the contract and executing the job are essentially the same (Figure 3. ) . This process was held by a small number of experienced and long standing employees, when they were reallocated to run other locations, so was the knowledge of project, quoting requirements, Company A capabilities and experience. [pic] Figure 2. 0 – Shows the variation and volume in work load throughout any given year. Reference: Reporting Figures (2009, 2010, 2011) [pic] Figure 3. 0 – Process Flow chart of Company A enquiry through to Project Completion PART C Provide brief specific details of the operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed. For example, this might includes: †¢ Key objectives, success factors and performance of the issue in question †¢ Opportunities or implications for changes to the process or techniques being used now †¢ Resource implications or constraints †¢ Technologies and/or manpower issues involved in the process etc. Company A’s core business revolves around winning contracts; these contracts are based upon man-hours that is, the time it would take to complete the scope of work provided by the client. Any deviation from the budgeted man-hours results in reduced profit margins, poor on time delivery, customer dissatisfaction and loss of reputation. Therefore it is vital when quoting for a project all quality, costs, man-hours and materials are factored in. The relocation of personnel and subsequent lose of experience and personnel knowledge outlined a gap between assumed knowledge and documented procedures, as whilst the process to quote and win projects was essentially the same, it was not well documented and new employees were unable to successfully quote for a project. This not only will affect Company A’s bottom line but will result in inconsistent quotations and impact on employee job satisfaction. This has brought forward the need for a documented, maintained and reviewed Quality Management System, whereby, procedures, standard documents and templates can be used which capture all associated costs, project, client and company requirements. PART D Analyse the problem using concepts covered in the appropriate part of this subject (this should be the major part of your work and your report). In analysing the problem, you should consider: the five main objectives of operations management; changes to performance or outcomes (such as quality, productivity etc. ; potential improvements relevant theory calculations where possible; and any information about the costs involved. As speed, cost and on time delivery are the key to being awarded contracts, high importance needs to be placed on these factors and would be where strategic planning would be focused. Whilst quality and flexibility play a significant role in Company A’s application, quality is usually fixed by the client a s they know what they want achieved, as is flexibility, what they want and when they want it is usually not negotiable, especially as they are working to deadlines for their customers. The quotes that are presented to the client not only need to meet the operations objectives of cost and speed, but also dependability that is, is what they have quoted an accurate reflection of what can be practically achieved, have they over estimated the man-hours or underestimated the man hours? This is vital to get right as an overestimation results in an increased cost, making us less competitive, and therefore losing the contract. You read "Strategic Operation Issues" in category "Papers" An underestimate would result in insufficient time to complete the project and the extra cost would be worn by Company A. Not only would cost be an issue, but that would affect our reputation as a specialist provider, decrease customer satisfaction and therefore be less considered by the client when submitting a quote next time. The number and variety of different manpower needed is based on specification of output as well as aggregated capacity that is the number of man hours is then used to calculate how many men/days it would take to complete the job based on a ten hour day. The data for estimating an enquiry has been developed over time, using past experience, company expectations and feedback from the contractors required to do the work. The man-hours required to complete standardised services have been established using the top down and bottom up approach, this knowledge however has not been transcribed to a standard document, in order for consistency in quotations, this should be developed. This will increase productivity, the time taken to complete the quotes and would also facilitate improvement. The structure of Company A having high variation in the demand for services, along with the volume and variety of when and where these services are executed makes capacity management and scheduling difficult, thus reducing capacity (Slack et al, 2010). Being a highly variable business according to Slack et al, 2010, process variability results in simultaneous waiting and resource underutilisations, Company A has managed this capacity demand in off peak times of the year with only hiring a core set of permanent employees, responsible for key operational issues, such as planning, customer liaison and information integration. When a job is awarded short term contracts are issued to trades personnel to complete the core mechanics of the project, once the project is completed the personnel are terminated, thus preventing underutilisation of resources. This however brings with it another problem that is the availability of obtaining the competent personnel for that project and also the lack of consistency with staff working for Company A . The availability of staff, location of the project and type of work, needs to be factored into the resource planning and quoting for the client. As stated in Slack et al, 2010, resource planning, is concerned with managing allocation of resources and activities for process efficiency and effectiveness in satisfying customer demand. The implications are seen in the three main operations objectives that is quality, speed and cost. If there is insufficient man power available to complete the work, the job will run over time, resulting in cost of poor quality, and reputation with the client. This can also affect the quality of work conducted, as personnel could be stretched, or there may be insufficient trades to complete the job to quality requirements. The variety of different staff used, results again in loss of experience and knowledge in the work that we do, being a highly specialised service, it is important to maintain highly skilled individuals. This variety could impact on the man hours budgeted as you would have to account for learning new skills, other variables such as a work ethic, availability of resources etc†¦ The use of detailed work instructions, inductions or retention periods could be a viable solution. PART E Provide brief recommendations for improving the process including comparisons of your recommendations against the current system, and details of changes needed to correct the problem or improve the situation. You should include a rudimentary action plan or relevant time frame for implementation of your recommendations. Bear in mind that your recommendations should be potentially cost effective i. e. you must argue the changes from the point of view of their potential to improve cost, quality, output, productivity etc. In order to overcome the operational issue of loss of resources and valuable information, a well implemented quality management system, based on ISO 9001: 2008 should be implemented, with detailed work instructions, procedures and processes. The current system as it stands is inconsistent, highly variable and not well documented. Creating documented processes and procedures, consistency, application and ease of use will be beneficial to new/old employees with all assumed knowledge being captured and enable with succession planning. The implementation of a quality system would be a time consuming process involving a number of resources as the time to collate, document, review and approve procedures and processes would be lengthy. The application of designated individual would cut down the time needed to complete this project. The impacts of introducing a recognised Quality Management System such as ISO9001:2008 would be far more beneficial than the initial cost/time taken to implement it. Not only would quality of projects be increased, due to standardisation of the processes, but costs would be seen in the reduction of double handling and waste. As all facets of the company would be documented the knowledge of what is presented to the client would increase and therefore cost, time to complete projects, quality of quotations and time to complete these would be reduced. The continuous review process would also enable consistent improvements and company growth. (Figure 5. 0) Having an externally certified system, which is not a prerequisite for winning contracts with clients, would see us as a better candidate against other competitors without certification and could increase our chances of winning contracts. [pic] Figure 5. 0 – Integration of Quality Management System into Business operations. Reference. Company A IMS REFERENCE LIST Slack, N. , Chambers, S. , Johnston, R. and Betts, A. , 2009, Operations and Process Management, 2nd ed, Prentice Hall Company A (2011), http://ctnet. Company A . com/desktopdefault. aspx, International Direct Contact Resources Business Unit Power Point, , April 2011 ———————– OFFER REJECTED – LOSS OF WORK PROJECT PLANNED PROJECT EXECUTED NO QUOTATION? SIGN CONTRACT CONTRACT REVIEW GENERATE PROPOSAL REVIEW OFFER RETURN TO CLIENT WITH A SUITABLE LETTER DECLINING QUOTATION ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER (CONTRACT) ACCEPTED ISSUE TO CLIENT REGISTER ENQUIRY AND QUOTE FOR JOB RECEIVED REQUEST TO BID FOR CONTRACT FROM CLIENT How to cite Strategic Operation Issues, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Qualitative and Quantitative Design Methods †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Queston: Discuss about the Qualitative and Quantitative Design Methods. Answer: Introduction: Ontology and Epistemology are intrinsic to research methodology. Ontology is the foundation of knowledge. Research paradigm is constructed by the integration of ontology and epistemology. The characteristics of research paradigm are ontology management, epistemology and methodology. The ontology of positivist knowledge is that reality is present out there, it can be understood through the external intervention by the scientist (Ritchie et al. 2013). Result is understood as the outcome of current convention. Ontology raises question about reality and what is reality. Ontology emphasizes on what is knowledge and in what ways we perceive knowledge. This enables us to understand the quintessence of knowledge. A clear understanding regarding the philosophy of knowledge will guide the researcher to engage in better research. The ontological position of the positivists is that there is a single reality that is out there and the task of the researcher is to go out there and discover the real ity. The understanding of the positivist ontological position is that there is a fixed reality. This ontology informs the researcher to deploy quantitative research methods that facilitates measurement and quantification of the reality. Another ontological position is that of the constructivists or the interpretivists. Their understanding about knowledge is that there is no single reality. There are multiple realities. Reality is contingent about the perception of different individuals based on their distinctive social location. Since reality is multiple, the approach towards understanding the reality is to explore the lived experiences of individuals, groups, communities and sects. Since experiences of different individuals cannot be quantified, measured on generalized to a larger sample population, therefore qualitative research methods comprising of qualitative interviewing, in-depth and intensive interviews, oral history and participant observation are some of the pertinent tech niques deployed for the constructivist approach of research. The ontological framework of critical social science research is that there is social construction of reality and that the construction of reality is subject to internal reflection. This ontological position influences the a critical and reflective orientation towards social issues. Therefore, Marxist method and feminist method are the key features of this kind of position. According to critical social science research, social realities are manifestation of the power structure and embedded in hierarchical relationship (Lewis 2015). The appropriate methods for this kind of approach is discourse analysis that engages in a perusal of the discourse itself and highlights the power that is manifested through discourse analysis, ethnography and action design research. Action design research is suitable for the temperament of this ontological position as it emphasizes on identifying the issues and seeking solutions management to the problem with the motive of social transformation or praxis. The term epistemology refers to the ways one can know the reality or knowledge and also explains the relationship between the knower and the phenomenon the person wants to know. It is ontology that informs the epistemological premise. Epistemology also emphasizes on the process of knowing and guides about future methods that can be adopted by the researchers. For example, the epistemological tenet of constructivism is subjective understanding of knowledge. According to this philosophy, reality needs to be interpreted with the aim of understanding the meanings imbued to the social action of individuals or groups. Theory, methodology and research design Ontology and epistemology determines guides and informs theory. Theory informs the methodological framework to be adopted for research and the methodical framework in turn gives shape to the research design. In social science research, there are three key ingredients, the first step is the construction of theory followed by the collection of data and followed by the designing of the research. The term theory connotes a testable proposition that have emerged either through the nomothetic (that is based on generalisable scientific laws) or the idiographic (that emphasizes on the subjective interpretation of reality) approach. A theory either emerges through the inductive of the deductive method. According to the deductionist approach, a researcher commences the research with a hypothesis based on the on intensive review of literature on the issue that is being studied. Then, the researcher goes into the field and deploys the survey or the questionnaire method to find the data. The aim of the researcher is to prove the hypothesis valid or invalid (Hughes and Sharrock 2016). The deductionists are inspired from the positivist foundation and tries to provide an objective account of reality. On the other hand, in the inductionist approach the researcher commences with broad research question and enters the field. During the course of the fieldwork and post the data collection, there will emerge the theory. This is also known as the grounded theory. Grounded theory makes use of qualitative research methodology. The foundation of qualitative research is that individuals experiences cannot be quantified and the researcher needs to adopt verstehen (empathetic understanding). This emphasizes that the researcher to understand the participants should put themselves in the shoes of the participant. This would facilitate in having a deeper and acuminous insight into the lifeworld of the individual. Methodology refers to the system that constitutes of a collection of methods th at are utilized by the researcher in the pursuit of their approach towards the research. It is important to understand that research is never pursued without reference to other studies. The ways and patterns in which the social scientist pursues the researcher is situated in the broader context of the paradigm (Neuman 2014). The selection of appropriate research design emerges from the epistemological position of the researcher and the ways the researcher is seeking to understand the given issue. There are two primary research designs. One is the quantitative research design and the other is the qualitative research. The specifics of qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approach to research As has been discussed in the previous journals ontology informs epistemology that in turn informs the methodology and that in turn influences the methods. Qualitative research design is premised on the understanding of interpretivism or constructivism or critical social science research (Glaser and Strauss 2017). In quantitative research design, the aim of the researcher is to measure the through the use of numbers. Quantitative research design entails grasping the objective reality, therefore estimation is done quantification of data. A key advantage of quantitative research is the precision and there is no ambiguity. The data generated from the quantitative research can be generalisable to a larger sample population. Some of the common methods in quantitative research are survey and structured interview. A survey involves studying a particular phenomenon through the use of questionnaire that comprises of both open-ended nad close-ended questions. A questionnaire with too many open- ended questions would make it difficult to code and quantify. A structured interview comprises of a set of questions pre-decided by the interviewer and is not subject to change or modification during the course of the interview. Survey is helpful in examining the number of people and their relation to the particular phenomenon. However, quantitative research has limitation in terms grasping the varied experiences of individuals. In that context, qualitative research is helpful. The data generated from qualitative research is not meant to be generalisable. It uses oral history, in-depth interview, qualitative interviewing, focussed group discussion, unstructured interviews among others that are considered to be compatible for the essence of the research. In case of quantitative method probability, sampling technique is adopted whereas in case of qualitative research non-probability sampling technique is considered to be befitting. Apart from these two research methods there is someth ing called mixed methods. Mixed methods are also known as triangulation. Mixed method approach involves the deployment of both qualitative and quantitative research method (Hussein 2015). For example if a researcher is planning to conduct a study to understand the effect of ethnic violence on a community, then the methods of oral history, unstructured interview, archive analysis and survey all can be employed together to have a better understanding of the phenomenon. In case of a research that aims to understand the relationship between drug abuse and youth, the a quantitative research comprising of large scale cross-sectional research design and survey would be useful. In case a researcher is interested to understand the children of sex-workers and stigma in their life, then qualitative research methods comprising of qualitative interviewing and participant observation would be the most suitable method. Quantification would not be possible in such kind of situation as it will insen sitive and uncouth conduct a structured interview on their lives. Participant observation will enable the researcher to understand the trials and tribulations of the participants and the observation from the field will enrich the data. References Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L., 2017.Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Routledge. Hughes, J.A. and Sharrock, W.W., 2016.The philosophy of social research. Routledge. Hussein, A., 2015. The use of Triangulation in Social Sciences Research: Can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined?.Journal of comparative social work,4(1). Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.Health promotion practice,16(4), pp.473-475. Neuman, L.W., 2014.Social research methods. Pearson Education Limited. Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C.M. and Ormston, R. eds., 2013.Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Observation Of A Coach Essays - Aerobic Exercise, Fartlek, Running

Observation Of A Coach I chose to observe the practices at Cuesta College for Track and Field. I primarily focused on the distance team with Matt Sherman as the coach. When I arrived at the first practice I observed Coach Sherman talking to the team at the beginning of their practice. He was going over what they should focus on during their first track meet, which was coming up. His positive attitude stood out the most. He put his emphasize on having fun. He stressed the importance that they work as hard as they can to achieve their best performance but his final words were, Have fun! I started to realize what he stressed most for his team and that was to achieve the goals they set for themselves. For both practices I attended the athletes started out with a warm-up run. They then met as a group and had the team captain (Chris Schachter) lead in their stretches. I noticed strong team cohesion as they stretched talking about their activities from the previous weekend and the work out that they were going to have. After the stretching Coach Sherman gathered them together to explain the workout (both days a speed workout). As he explained he made sure each of the team members understood the exact instructions for the speed drills. One of the athletes (Karen Maas) had a question and he patiently answered it and encouraged more questions to make sure the team knew the exact workout. He had the lone male distance runner do 2 sets of 4x200 meter sprints on the track. He had the womens distance team go out to the ponds to run a 20-minute fartlek in which they ran a minute hard and a minute easy. I observed the male distance runner and when he finished his second set of 200s, Coach She rman suggested he run one more set of 200s. Chris was tired and was hesitant to do more but he ran them without incidence. When I talked to Chris after his workout I asked him if he agreed with Coach Shermans decision to make him run the extra set of 200s. He said, I was tired but I knew it would help me in the long run for the end of my races. Coach Sherman was my coach in cross-country and I noticed an incredible improvement during the course of the season. He really knows what he is doing out on the track. As far as athlete behavior and interaction with the coach, I noticed nothing but positive things. Coach Sherman is a young coach (24) and a student at Cal Poly, but despite the closeness in age he manages to uphold a great deal of respect from the athletes. They not only respect him as a coach, but also as a runner, and they know he empathizes with them. They talked to him about their personal lives as well as running and also had questions about nutrition. I could tell that the athletes felt comfortable asking his advice in different areas of their lives. Coach Sherman showed me a training schedule for this season and I could see that he was very knowledgeable in his skill development. I asked where he got all of his information for each of the detailed workouts and he talked of numerous books and articles on running. I could see that he put a lot of time and effort into coaching and that he was very enthusiastic with his job. I attended the first track meet at Santa Barbara City College. The womens 1500-meter run was up first. Coach Sherman was out on the track giving the female runners advice on their first race of the season and reassuring them that they were physically as well as mentally prepared to run this race. The girls looked a little more relaxed as they got to the starting line, but were still very nervous as to be expected. The top runner from Cuesta got 4th place in a very talented field of runners. Immediately after the race Coach Sherman was there giving splits, constructive criticism and praise. In the mens 1500 meter, Chris Schachter was the lone runner for Cuesta.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

When To Apply For College Complete Timeline

When To Apply For College Complete Timeline SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Manystudents start college in the fall after they graduate high school, but their planning and applying starts yearsbefore. Application deadlines may be in the fall or winter of senior year, and completing each step on the path to college mightstartas early as freshman year. This article is concerned with when to apply for college: when do you complete each step of the process, and when are your college deadlines? After reading this, you'll know exactly when to apply to college and what steps are needed. Let's first consider what the majority of students do. When Do the Majority of Students Apply to College? Most students apply to college in their senior year of high school. They graduate in May or Juneand then start college in Septemberof that same year. There are a few different deadlines, and schools offer variousoptions for when to apply forcollege. These options include one or more of the following: early decision, early action, regular decision, and rolling admissions. Generally speaking, you would apply for early admissions in November of 12th grade. To meet a regular decision deadline, you’d apply a few months later in January or February. Let’s take a look at each deadline in more specific detail, starting with early decision and early action. When Do You Apply for Early Admissions? Early admissions includes two options, early decision and early action. While early decision and early action differ in terms of their conditions, they share similar timelines. Both have a deadline in November and allow you to hear back about your admissions decision in mid-December. Some popular schools with early action deadlines of November 1 are Boston College, CalTech, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, University of Virginia, Villanova, and Yale. Popular early decision schools with a November 1 deadline include Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt. Some schools with early decisionnow also offer an Early Decision II deadline, which is in January. This binding option lets you hear back early from your first choice school, usually in February, about whether or not you got in.Some popular schools with Early DecisionII deadlines of January 1 are Bowdoin, Brandeis, Emory, NYU, Smith, Tufts, and Vanderbilt. Early admissions can be a great option for students who are prepared to apply early and appreciate early notification. If you're planning to apply early, when do you complete each step of the process? Your College Planning Timeline for Early Deadlines Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither should your application be. You need to take time filling out your application, thoughtfully writing about your extracurricular involvement, and proofreading all of the information for errors. Apart from filling out your app, you'll have to take time fulfilling other requirements. Three that demand the most planning and time are your personal essay, recommendation letters and SAT or ACT scores. You should spend a few months thinking about and writing your personal essay. Giving yourself space to brainstorm and mull over ideas is an important part of the writing process that can take weeks. Since your essay is such an important part of your application, you should spend a couple of months drafting, getting feedback, and revising it until it feels precise and authentic, almost like a work of art. To meet an early deadline, you might begin working on it over the summer before senior year. While it's rare that the Common App changes its essay prompts, they have done so in the past. Common App announced these changes in August. Keep this in mind when working on your essay, but don't worry about drastic changes in the questions. Generally speaking, they all ask you tocommunicatesomething important about your identity and show how you make meaning of significant experiences in your life. A second piece of your application that requires your attention early on is your recommendation letters. You should ask your counselor and teachers at least a month before your deadlines, likely by the end of September. You might also ask your junior year teachers at the end of 11th grade. Apart from making the request, you should also spend a week or so thinking about and filling out your "brag sheet," so that your recommenders have some thoughtful material to consult when they begin to write. Finally,you want to leave yourself plenty of time to take the SAT or ACT. You might take the tests two or three times to achieve your target scores. You also would benefit from several months to study and improve. To apply for an early deadline, you'd ideally have your test scores all set by the end of junior year. You might be able to take the tests in September or October of senior year, but these dates should be a last resort, rather than a "make or break" test date. To reiterate, you'll want to work on your essays a few months before your November deadlines, ask for recommendationsin junior year or September of senior year, and start prepping and planning for the SAT or ACT at the end of 10th or beginning of 11th grade. Applying early to college isan increasingly popular option among students, but the majority of students still apply under regular decision. Read on to learn about regular decision deadlines and how they impact your college planning. When Do You Apply Under Regular Decision? The most commonregular decision deadlinesare in January and February. January 1 is a common date, making for a busy winter break! January 15 and January 31 are popular ones, too. Some schoolswith regular decision January 1 deadlines are Boston University, Harvard, NYU, and Yale, among many others. Students who apply under regular decision usually hear back about their admissions decisions in March or April. Since regular decision deadlines are in the winter, how does your college planning schedule differ from that to meet an early deadline? Your College Planning Timeline for RegularDeadlines Does your timeline match the one described above for early deadlines except pushed forward two to three months? Yes and no. You have to consider how busy the fall of senior year is, both for you and for your teachers and counselors. If your schedule is packed with challenging courses and after school involvements, then you still might want to work on your essay over the summer months, when you have more time and focus for it. You also might still ask for your recommendations in September, or at least October. Some teachers set a cap on how many letters they'll write, and they probably don't want to spend their entire winter holiday writing letters. Try to ask early in the fall semester. You might have one more opportunity to take the SAT or ACT, like in December. It's still advisable to take it at least once in junior year, and many students take it twice - in the fall of 11th grade and again in the spring. Again, you want to think about your schedule in the fall and how to best balance putting together a strong college application with all your other assignments, clubs, and/or sports. Finally, some schools don’t have set deadlines at allandare flexible about when applications arrive. This option is called rolling admissions. When Do You Apply for Rolling Admissions? Your timeline for applying rolling admissions depends on a few factors and may vary from student to student. Schools with rolling admissions accept applications throughout a period of time, usually ranging from the fall to the spring. The University of Virginiaopens its application window on September 1, for instance. Since most schools with rolling admissionsaccept applicationson a first come, first served basis - sometimes notifying you of admission only a few weeks after you submit - it’s advisable to apply as early as possible. Sticking to an early deadline of November or regular deadline in January, even though you don’t absolutely have to, is a good guideline to follow. Not only will setting a deadline for yourselfhelp you keep better track of your college planning, but it will help you apply early and thereby impress admissions officers and gaina better chance of admission. Some schools with rolling admission also publicize a priority deadline, meaning students who apply by that deadline have an advantage. UVA’s priority deadline, for instance, is November 30. They’ll still accept applications after, but you’ll have improved chances if you apply by then. So far, this article assumes that you’re applying as a senior to go right into college. Of course, not all students immediately move ontocollege after graduating. Some choose to take a gap year or apply later in life. Others actually get a headstart on college and apply even younger. When do these students apply? When Do You Apply If You're Not a High School Senior? There are other timelines for applying to college besides the typical one that culminates in senior year.Maybe you want to work for a year or two before entering college. Maybe you have the opportunity to volunteer abroad or travel the world. Perhaps you graduated years ago and are now thinking about going back to school for your degree. In these cases, you'll still apply to meet the same early or regular deadlines or rolling admissions time frame. However, you might need to leave yourself extra time to collect all your application materials. Let’s consider each of the above situations individually. "I Want to Take a Gap Year" If this sounds like you, when do you apply for college? Actually, your timeline might still involve applying senior year. Lots of schools allow you to defer your admissions decision for a year. That means you would still apply by an early or regular deadline, or rolling admissions, and then if you got accepted, you'd defer your enrollment for one academic year. You might be thinking that you want to travel and then figure out where to go to college. This could be a good option too, but remember that your deadlines might still be in January. That meansyou’ll still need to have your SAT scores finalized, letters of recommendation gathered, and essays written throughout the fall. Not all that much time will have passed since highschool, so it could be a lot easier to get everything collectedwhile you’re still in the swing of schooland used to being a student. If you’ve been out of school already for a year or two, then that’s a different story. "I'm Going Back to College After a Year or More Off" If you’ve been out of high school for a while, then you’ll probably have to reconnect with your school for teacher and counselor recommendations and official documents, like your transcript. if you haven’t taken the SAT or ACT yet, then you may have to study and take one of those tests as well. Your deadlines will be in November or December, as mentioned above, and you’ll mostly wantto follow similar steps, like asking for recommendationsat least a month before your deadlines and leaving yourself a couple opportunities to prep for and take the SAT or ACT. If you've been out of school for several years, then colleges might not require you take the SAT or ACT as they would a high school student. You'll want to contact the colleges early to find out whether or not you need to prep for and take one of these exams. It’d be advisable to leave yourself extra time so that you can meet with your recommenders and help them write you a letter. Since you’re nota current student, you’ll want to have extra time to set up appointments with faculty and gather all the documents you need. Finally, when do students apply if they want to graduate high school earlierthan senior year? "I'm Graduating High School Early" There are rare advanced students who earn enough credits, perhaps from courses at a local community college or online, to graduate high school early and go straight into college at a young age. These students push their timeline earlier by a year or two, taking the SATor ACTas freshmen or sophomores, and gathering all their documents early. If this sounds like you, you'll probably wantto work closely with your counselors, administrators, and teachers to make sure they agree with your choice. You might take your tests in freshmen and sophomore year, ask your sophomore year teachers for recommendations, and apply in the fall or winter of your junior year. You may also have to take the GED to earn the equivalent of your high school diploma. Make sure you've met all graduation requirements and, of course, have concrete, realistic reasons for graduating high school early and enrolling in college. The aforementioned situations are exceptions rather than the rule, but can be great options if they apply to your situation and needs. In closing, let's review when most students submit their applications to colleges. ToSum Up... We've covered all the important details of when to apply for college. The majority of students apply tocollege in January or February of their senior year to meet regular decision deadlines. They hear back in April and choose a college by the national response date of May 1. Other students might apply in November with early decision or early action, or through a range of time with rolling admissions. To meet deadlines, college planning must start at least a year or two out. This includes prepping for the SATor ACTand writing essays, but it alsoincludesthe time it takes to reflect on your interests, explore new ones, and think deeply about where you'd like to go to college. As you explore and develop in high school, you should be thinking about your goals and what college communities wouldprovide you with the intellectual climate and opportunities to thrive. This journey starts early in high school, and of course continues throughout the rest of your life. What’sNext? Now that you have a sense of when to start applying for college, what aboutspecific deadlines forschools? This guide hasthe full list of early decision deadlines, and this one has the complete list of early action deadlines. Are you a younger student interested in getting more involved in community service?Learn all about community service here, plus check out the 9 best places to volunteer. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Friday, November 22, 2019

Feminists Turn Miss America 1968 Into a Protest

Feminists Turn Miss America 1968 Into a Protest The Miss America Pageant that took place on September 7, 1968, was no ordinary pageant. Hundreds of feminist activists showed up on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to enact their â€Å"Miss America Protest.† They distributed publicity materials titled â€Å"No More Miss America!† Organizers The group behind the Miss America Protest was New York Radical Women. Prominent feminists who participated included Carol Hanisch, who originally had the idea to protest the pageant, as well as Robin Morgan, and Kathie Sarachild. What Was Wrong With Miss America? The women who came to the Miss America Protest had several complaints about the pageant: It judges women on impossible standards of beauty. The protesters called the standards â€Å"ludicrous.†The pageant objectifies women and thereby harms all women.The protesters disliked the hypocrisy of the pageant, specifically the double standard of the Madonna/whore fantasy, in which men irrationally demand that women be innocent and beautiful, while also satisfying the mens lust. The feminists had other political disagreements with the pageant as well: They considered the pageant racist, for never having had a black Miss America.The activists opposed the Vietnam War and felt the pageant supported it by sending the Miss America winner to Vietnam to entertain the troops.There was a blatant inequality in encouraging girls to grow up to become Miss America. The standard line in the United States to any boy was that he could grow up to be president. Why not women? Why was Miss America supposed to be their equivalent dream? Rampant Consumerism The women at the Miss America Protest also criticized the consumer aspect of the pageant and the sponsors who used the contestants to promote their products. At the protest, the feminists of New York Radical Women announced a boycott of the companies that sponsored the pageant.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Cattle Auction† The Miss America Protest began in the afternoon on the boardwalk. There at least 150 women marched with signs of protest. Some of their slogans called the pageant a cattle auction, for parading women around to judge them on their looks, the way men would judge cattle to decide the animals’ worth. The protesters nominated a sheep for Miss America and even crowned a live sheep on the boardwalk. Paying Attention to Liberation At the end of the evening, when the winner was crowned, several of the protesters who had sneaked inside unfurled a banner from the balcony that read â€Å"Women’s Liberation.† Miss America was a highly anticipated and widely watched event in 1968, so much of the nation tuned in to the live broadcast. The protest received media attention, which in turn attracted more women to the Women’s Liberation movement. The protesters asked the media to send female reporters to cover their demonstration and demanded that if there were any arrests that they only be made by women police officers.   Bras on Fire? The Miss America Protest apparently gave birth to one of the greatest myths of the women’s rights movement: the myth of bra burning.   The protesters at the Miss America Pageant threw items of their oppression into a â€Å"freedom trash can.† Among these items of oppression were girdles, high-heeled shoes, some bras, copies of Playboy magazine, and hair curlers. The women never lit these items on fire; throwing them out was the symbolism of the day. It has been reported that the women attempted to get a permit to burn the items but were denied because of the danger fire would pose to the wooden Atlantic City Boardwalk. The intent to set them on fire may have been what sparked the rumor that bras actually were burned. There is no documented instance where 1960s feminists burned their bras, although the legend persists. No More Miss America? Feminists protested Miss America again in 1969, although the second protest was smaller and did not receive much attention. The Womens Liberation Movement continued to grow and develop, with more protests occurring and more feminist groups being formed over the next few years. The Miss America Pageant still exists; the pageant moved from Atlantic City to Las Vegas in 2006.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

International System of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International System of Justice - Essay Example Until recently, these atrocities and affronts to ideals of humanity went unpunished by national judicial systems and there was urgent need to put in place a system of justice that would protect the international human rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Roht-Arriaza, 1995). The decade was marked by the creation of international criminal justice mechanisms and the application of a universal jurisdiction that would ensure that those who participate in crimes against humanity are held to account for their actions. Due to inherent obstacles in applying justice for such crimes, the mechanisms developed have continued to be marred with failure despite the numerous strides that have been experienced. After the Cold War period and the horrific acts that took place in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda coupled with the miserable failures of national courts of justice to bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to account for their acts, major international actors including the United Nations (UN), a number of governments and international nongovernmental (NGOs) organizations came up to form international criminal courts. ... In1998, the United Nations adopted the Statute that would lead to the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court as a complementary to national courts of justice with the mandate to act in cases where the national courts are unable or unwilling to investigate and/or prosecute (Schabas, 2007; Schiff, 2008). It is important to note that the concept of international system of justice include standards governing rendering of justice to all on an international scale and the conduct of war and standards that define the fundamental human rights. Most of these requirements of have achieved a degree of recognition internationally over the past few decades in defining the types of criminal conduct by states against other states or against individuals or ethnic groups. In this regard, the varied definitions of violent crime between countries due to dissimilarities in both legal and statistics recording methods have made international comparisons problematic. The law of armed or violen t conflict has generally been applied to define conflict between states with little or no attention to internal armed conflict. However, there have been some developments in international law to especially through the Geneva Conventions to protect civilians during internal armed violence (Moir, 2002) International Criminal Court and Universal Jurisdiction With international criminal law infiltrating the legal systems of many states, the principle of complementarity, which stipulates the only subsidiary competence of the ICC vis-a-vis national jurisdictions, comes to be seen as one of the most important features of the ICC Statute (Schabas, 2007; Bellamy, 2009). The principle of

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The internet has changed the way we access information, bringing the Essay

The internet has changed the way we access information, bringing the world to our desks. What are some of the strengths and weak - Essay Example This new platform has been aiding learning and education for several years now, and it is recognized to be one of the most valuable tools, which the world can use for advancement. The internet has become a very popular tool for academic research, due to its highly useful and user-friendly nature (McCuen, pp. 104). Scholars and students alike can access academic journals and books related to science, medicine, technology, business, and hundreds of other disciplines online, from any corner of the world, which has internet access. This gives them a wide bank of resources to work with, which often eliminates the need for more lengthy procedures such as locating and going through printed versions of books and journals. Another reason why this latter procedure is less desirable is because it is highly time consuming, as a researcher who is looking for a specific topic will have to leaf through the whole journal to locate a relevant article (McCuen, pp. 104). Whereas, in an online journal, technology assists this research and the researcher only has to type in the key words of their search and the computer presents them with relevant journal articles from several different journals, books and magazines. It is thus a highly efficient procedure to conduct research online, saving large costs in terms of time and money (McCuen, pp. 104).

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Building Positive Relationships in Children Essay Example for Free

Building Positive Relationships in Children Essay To help your child understand feelings you could do a feeling chart or make a feeling tree in your home. To make a feelings chart just draw out faces with how there expression might be when they are feeling that way an do the expressions yourself when showing them. This will give your child a better understanding of their feelings and how they can express them through facial expressions. For a feeling tree its much the same idea as a feeling card but you just take in a branch from a tree and stick the faces with the expressions on it. this will help a child express themselves when they can’t do it through facial expressions. The Significance of friendship Buy them some books with plenty of colourful pictures with the theme of friendship and them to them.this will help show them how nice it is to have friends and how to make them and keep them. It is only after the age of three that children can incorperate other children into their playtime activities so at around this age ask other parents if they would like to make a playdate for their child and yours n a regular basis.this will get your child used to other childrens company.you can also talk about what they did together at dinner or quiet time alone and encourage them to do it again. Communication and Respect To help your child with communication you need to be a good example to them.talk to them as much as you can about your day and ask how theirs was.even talking about their favourite tv programme would be good as they will be more likely to talk about something that they’re interested in. To teach them about respect you need to set a good example for this as well. Giving them boundaries will also help and treating them with respect will encourage them to do the same to you. Factors that impact/Motivate children Tou tourself have a major impact on your child.they learn from how you react to situations and other peaople and will use this as a guide for themselves. Also the tv programmes that they watch will make an impact on them and can also motivate them to try new things that they wouldn’t of thought of themselves. .

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Contract Law Essay examples -- essays research papers

DETERMINING PAST PERFORMANCE VERSUS EXPERIENCE Contracting Officers within the Federal Government are tasked with negotiating contracts for goods and services with the contractor that is best able to satisfy that particular requirement in terms of quality, timeliness and cost. Best value analysis strives to apply good business judgement to making source selection decisions. It seeks to isolate technical differences between proposals to determine which offer represents the best value to the customer. The Federal Government is steadily moving away from awarding contracts purely on the basis of low price and opting to employ evaluation factors such as past performance, management capabilities and technical superiority. Confidence in a prospective contractor's ability to perform satisfactorily is an important factor in the source selection process making for "best value" analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the difference between experience and past performance in the source selection process of &quo t;best value" procurements. Definition Experience is the active participation in events or activities, leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988). In other words it is the process of "learning by doing". It reflects whether a contractor has performed a job that is similar or of "comparable size and complexity". Comparable size and complexity meaning that which is similar in dollar amount; number of client/customer employees services; and number of contractor employees assigned to the contract, and types of services performed. When you consider that every requirement has its own set of problems and pitfalls, it makes perfectly good sense to look at whether a contractor is knowledgeable of where those problems are likely to occur and if the contractor has experience in solving such problems. Past performance serves as an indication of a contractor's ability to perform virtually any contract. In addition to whether or not a contractor has experience doing a particular job it is also important to know "how well" that particular job was performed as it relates to the pending procurement. Evaluation of a contractor's past performance enables contracting professionals to better predict the quality of and customer satisfaction of future work. Past perfo... ...sp; Contact: Phone: Phone: 2. If a Government Contract, Contract Number: Contract Officer (CO): Phone Number and Fax Number: 3. Provide a brief description of all services performed on the contract. 4. Number of building (s) on-site/off site. Total square footage serviced and number of occupants per each building. 5. Number of occupants per building. # On-Site: Total Square Footage: Number of Occupants: # Off-Site: Total Square Footage: Number of Occupants: 6. Number of permanent supervisors/employees assigned to the contract project. Supervisors: Employees: 7. Contract Start Date: Contract Completion Date: 8. What was the dollar value of the contract per year: Total for term of contract: 9. Names of all Sub-Contractors and their roles on the contract. Name: Role: Name: Role: Name: Role: Name: Role: 10.Brief statement regarding your compliance with the contract terms and conditions. 11.Your statement regarding any known performance outlined as unacceptable and/or not in accordance with the contract terms and conditions. 12. If contract was not renewed for all option years, what is your explanation why it was not renewed?

Monday, November 11, 2019

Best practices in project quality management/leadership for information technology Essay

Most people simply accept low quality from many information technology (IT) products. So what if ones laptop crashes a couple of times a week? Just ensure there is back up for data. So what if one cannot log in to the business intranet or the internet right now? Just attempt a little later when it is less busy. So what if the latest version of word-processing software was shipped with several bugs? One may like the software’s new features, and all new software has bugs. Is quality a real problem with information technology projects? Yes, it is! IT is not just a luxury available in some offices, homes, or schools. Firms throughout the world provide employees with access to computers. The majority of people in the US use the internet, and usage in other countries continues to expand rapidly. It took only six years for 60 million people to use the internet compared to 20 years for 60 million to use cell phones (Kathy, 2008, p. 292). Many issues of individual and or group lives depend on high-quality IT products. Food is produced and distributed with the help of computers; vehicles have computer chips to monitor performance; students use computers to aid them learn in school; organizations depend on technology for many business functions; and millions of people depend on technology for entertainment and individual communications (Kathy, 2008). Many IT projects develop mission-critical systems that are utilized in life-and-death circumstances. Such as navigation systems on aircraft and computer components built into medical equipment. Financial institutions and their clients also depend on high-quality information systems. Clients get very upset when systems present inaccurate data or display information to unauthorized people that could result to identity theft. When any of these systems fails, it is much more than a mere inconvenience (Taguchi, 2004). 1. 1 Definitions Before one can enhance the quality of IT projects, it is good to understand the fundamental concepts of project quality management. Indeed, it is hard to define project quality management. According to the international organization for standardization (ISO) quality can be defined as the totality of features of an organization that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied requirements (Kathy, 2008). It can also be defined as the extent to which a set of inherent features fulfils needs (ISO9000). Other professionals define quality based on adherence to needs and fitness for use. Adherence to needs means project’s products and processes meet laid down specifications. Fitness for use implies a product can be used as it was intended. The purpose of project quality management is to make sure that the project will fulfill the requirements for which it was undertaken. Project management involves among others things meeting or surpassing stakeholder requirements and anticipations. The project group must initiate good relationships with core stakeholders, especially the primary client for the project, to comprehend what quality implies to them. Many technical projects fail because the project management group aims only at meeting the written requirements for the project (Juran and Frank, 2002). Quality, therefore, must be on an equal basis with project scope, cost, and time. If the project’s stakeholders are dissatisfied with the quality of the project management or the end products of the project, the management group will require adjusting time, cost, and scope to fulfill stakeholder needs. In which case meeting only documented requirements for time, cost, and scope is not sufficient. To attain stakeholder fulfillment, the project group must come up with a good working relationship with all stakeholders and comprehend their implied or stated requirements. Best practices: over the years, organizations have become mesmerized with the term-best practice-but after continued use, experts began scrutinizing the expression and now better definitions exist. A best practice starts simply with an idea. Knowing that there is a process, tool, activity, or method that can deliver results effectively than any other method and provides one with the desired results with less barriers and predictable complexities is a welcome. As a result, one apparently ends up with an efficient way of completing a task by use of a repeatable procedure that has stood the test of time for quite a large number of IT projects (Kathy, 2008). As project quality management evolved, so did the meanings of best practices. Some definitions of best practices are complicated while others are somehow simple. Yet, they both address the same aim of encouraging project quality management throughout the organization. Firms must decide on the depth and extent of their best practices. Must it be at high level and generic or at a low level and detailed? A generic best practice may not attain the desired efficiencies whereas a detailed one may not have unlimited applicability. Basically, any firm can decide to have own definition of best practices and there might even be company quality requirements on the definition of such best practices. For example, a best practice can be defined as something that: works, works well, works well on a repetitive basis, leads to a competitive advantage, can be identified in quest to improve business, and prevents the firm from problems. 1. 2 Principles Generally, there are 3 basic principles/processes of project quality management: 1. 2. 1 Planning quality Planning for quality involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to fulfill those standards. Integrating quality standards into project design is a core portion of quality planning. For an IT project, quality standards include enabling system growth, planning a considerable response time, or making sure that the system produces accurate and consistent information. The core outputs of quality planning are a quality management plan, quality metrics, quality checklists, a process improvement plan, and project document updates. 1. 2. 2 Performing quality assurance Performing quality assurance includes periodical evaluation of the whole project performance to make sure that the project will meet the desired quality standards. The process involves assuming roles of quality in the entire project life cycle. Senior management must take the lead in emphasizing the roles all employees play in quality assurance. The core outputs of this process are organizational process asset, project management, project document, and change requests updates (Kathy, 2008). 1. 2. 3 Performing quality control Performing quality control involves monitoring specific project results to make sure that they adhere to the desired quality requirements while identifying methods to enhance ultimate quality. This process is mostly linked to the technical techniques and tools of quality management, such as quality control charts, statistical sampling, and Pareto charts. The main outputs of quality control include quality control measurements, validated deliverables, change requests, validated changes, organizational process asset updates, project management plan, and project document updates (Kathy, 2008). This research seeks to: †¢ Incorporate the best practices in project quality management with quality leadership/ team work within a quality focused company, †¢ Evaluate the significance of project quality management for IT products and services, †¢ Understand the techniques and tools for quality control, and †¢ Describe how leadership model relate to enhancing quality in information technology projects. 2. 0 Review of Literature In his book on quality control, Juran (2002) stressed the significance of top management commitment to continuous product quality improvement. In 2000, Juran published the fifth edition of his famous book. In both texts, Juran developed and built upon a trilogy involving quality improvement, quality control, and quality planning. Juran emphasized the difference between the manufacturer’s view of quality and the client’s view. He observed that manufacturer’s focused on adherence to requirements, but client’s focused on fitness for use. In this book, Juran developed 10 stages to quality improvement. These include; building awareness of the need and chance for improvement, set goals for improvements, organize to reach the goals, provide training, carry out projects to solve problems, report progress, give recognition, communicate results, keep ratings, and maintain momentum by establishing yearly improvement part of the regular systems and processes of the economy. Crosby (1979) wrote Quality Is Free and is best known for suggesting that firms struggle for zero defects. He stressed that the costs of low quality must include all costs of not doing the work right the first time, such as rework, scrap, wasted man hours and machine hours, customer ill will and wasted sales, and warranty costs. Crosby proposed that the cost of low quality is so misappropriated that firms can profitably spend unlimited amounts of money on enhancing quality. Like Juran, Crosby developed 14 stages for quality improvement; these include making it clear that management is committed to quality, organizing quality control teams with representatives from each section, establishing where current and potential quality problems lie, evaluating the cost of quality and explaining its use as a management tool, raising the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees, take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps, establishing a committee for the zero defects program, training supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement program, holding a-zero defects day-to allow all employees realize that there has been a change, encouraging individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their teams, encouraging employees to communicate to management the barriers they face in achieving their improvement goals, reorganizing and appreciating those who participate, establishing quality councils to communicate on a regular basis, and reworking to emphasize that the quality improvement program never ends. Crosby (1979) initiated the Quality Management Process Maturity Grid. Such a grid can be applied to a firm’s attitude toward product usability. For instance, the initial level in the grid is ignorance, where employees might think they do not have any difficulties with usability. The last level is wisdom, where employees have changed their attitude so that usability defect prevention is a routine part of their activities. Ishikawa (1976) developed the concept of quality circles and pioneered the utilization of cause-and-effect graphics. Ishikawa made notable contributions to quality management, the most important being Ishikawa’s total quality perspective, organization quality control and emphasizes to human based quality, the quality diagram, and the creation and use of his 7 basic quality tools. The tools are: Pareto analysis, stratification, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, scatter charts, histograms, and process control charts. Ishikawa believed these 7 tools must be known in depth, if not by all, in a firm and used to evaluate problems and create enhancements. Used effectively the tools form a powerful quality kit. Genichi (1998) believed it is good to develop product that is stout and or insensitive to manufacturing process variation, rather than trying to control all variations during manufacturing. To practice this idea, he embarked on the already developed knowledge on design and made it more practical and usable for quality experts. Genichi’s idea was mainly about the routine maximization of process and product prior to actual processing rather than quality control through inspection. Reliability and quality are ensured at the designing stage. Genichi went on to break off-line quality into 3 core levels. These levels include; system design, tolerance design, and parameter design. Foster (2004) identified leadership as being core to the quality improvement process, assuming minimal difference between management and leadership. The role is of a facilitator, and the foundation is-managing by walking, allowing the leader to be in touch with clients, people, and innovation, the three primary sections in the expedition of excellence. Foster believes that, as the leader walks, three main operations are occurring: listening, facilitating, and listening; suggesting caring, able to provide instant help, and transmission of values respectively. Foster, having analyzed key American firms concluded that any smart concept to organizing had to take into account 7 variables, a framework that was designed to include both the software and hardware of a firm. 3. 0 Findings 3. 1 Best practices Every organization has its own point of view of best practices. But generally there seem to be four basic reasons for embracing best practices. The four are: †¢ Improving efficiency, †¢ Standardization, †¢ Improving effectiveness, and †¢ Consistency In whatever definition, the company must identify which of the four, or combination therein, the firm targets. The paper focused on best practices as practiced at Orange Soft-Link Ltd, an IT company based in Switzerland (Crosby, 1979). †¢ A best practice is an experience based, published, and proven way to achieve company objectives. †¢ The company has detailed best practices in its procedures/policies and work flows. There are templates and guidelines as well as procedures that the company embraced. Additionally, when it closed a project, the company conducts a formal lesson learned section. The session involves the sponsors, core team, project manager, and other stakeholders impacted by the project. The lessons are stored in a common database and reviewed with the whole team. Its best practices depend on lessons learned. The company shares these practices with other IT firms for those vendors for which the company is a reference site. All Orange Ltd templates, procedures/policies, and work flow can be accessed when necessary and, by request, the quality leadership team set conferences to give feedback as well as explain in details all practices. †¢ Any tool, activity or template used by a quality manager that has had a positive impact on quality delivery, knowledge, and process. For example, performing to satisfy customers is a best practice in this IT Company. This is done by assessing each phase of a project. †¢ Generally the company views a best practice as any process or activity that enhances a given quality issue, eliminates the need of other more complicated procedures, or significantly improves an existing procedure. Each best practice is a living unit and subject to amendments, removal, or review. †¢ For Orange Soft-Link ltd, a best practice is any process or method that has been successful in producing the desired outcomes through practical application. This IT Company do not embrace professional or industry standards as a best practice until it has been proven that the process or method works in its corporate environment (Kathy, 2008).

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Audience Analysis Essay

â€Å"Audience analysis gives you the tools you need to shape your product and your message† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41). When presenting the company’s quarterly sales information it is important to evaluate the audience so that you can tailor the message to their needs. Considering the characteristics of the audience; the more you know about the audience, the more you can focus your presentation on what they need to know. You will also need to determine which communication channel is the most effective to present this information. It is almost important to understand the diversity of the audience so that you aren’t focusing on one group of people. If you spend the time analyzing your audience you can ensure that your sales presentation is effective. The more you know and understand your audience the better your message will be; you can start by identifying the characteristics of your audience. According to Locker and Kienzler (2008), the demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, religion, education level, and income may be relevant when analyzing the audience. Because the sales presentation is for the stakeholders of the company, particularly managers, sales, and the customers, the demographics of the audience may be irrelevant for this case. When analyzing the stakeholders for this presentation, it is important to evaluate what they have in common and what is important to them. For example, stakeholders have a stake in the company so they want to see the company succeed; the sales data should be detailed enough to see the true performance of the company. Performing an audience analysis can be simplified by focusing on who they are, what their needs and expectations are, and how they will use the information. Managers need the sales information to gauge the performance of the company and to help make decisions on the day-to-day operations. The sales staff can use the information to see if they are meeting their sales goals and customers want to know that their suppliers are operating consistently and solid. Knowing the specifics needs you audience needs will help you when you are organizing your information for the presentation. Effective communication is based on selecting the appropriate communication channel to convey your message. Communication channels are the methods that are used to send a message to the audience. These methods can vary in efficiency and speed to the number of people who are reached (Locker & Kienzler, 2008). These messages can be sent through brochures, letters, e-mail messages, telephone conversations, video conferencing, and face-to-face meetings (Communication Channels, 2011). You are currently planning your sales presentation for a face-to-face meeting with the stakeholders. By meeting face-to-face you can combine some of the communication channels for a more effective message. The written part of the message includes presenting the sales information in a PowerPoint that allows you to include detailed information incorporating graphs and charts. You can communicate the information orally providing a narrative that supports your PowerPoint slides. This can be a very effective method of highlighting specific points of the presentation to what the audience needs to capture. Other methods that can be used effectively in this scenario are a video conference or a conference call combined with Net meeting in order for everyone to access the PowerPoint during the meeting. Emailing this type of information is fast and efficient, but it would be ineffective. There is too much information that could get overlooked and misinterpreted regardless of how much effort you put into the audience analysis. Email channels are more appropriate for routine communication such as day-to-day activities. Selecting the proper channel can contribute to the success of the message. When preparing your presentation it is important to take into consideration the diversity of the audience. Living in a multicultural society it is important to recognize and be sensitive toward the different cultures and ethnicities of people. In addition you should understand the organizational culture. Organizational culture is a set of values and attitudes that can change from company to company. It can be an important part of delivering a successful sales presentation by understanding the culture of the company. In the sales meeting with the stakeholders you have a diverse audience of internal company managers and sales staff and you have external customers. You need to take this into consideration when determining the level of detail that you want to share in the meeting. With the presence of outside people, you may want to be cautious of how much sales information you present in the meeting. Too much information could be damaging; you don’t want your customer to have more information than necessary to get the message across. Analyzing your audience will prepare you for the diversity of your audience. In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to understand who they are, what groups they belong to, and what values they hold† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41). One way to ensure that you deliver an effective message is to start by performing a thorough audience analysis. Organize the information that you are including the key points that you want to get across. Creating visual aids like graphs and charts that support your ideas can help to keep the attention of your audience. It is also helpful to know your material and have good speaking skills so that you can relay the information without interruption. When meetings run long you can start to lose the attention of your audience; keep the presentation to a time length appropriate to get the message across. Create an interactive meeting and ask questions; this way you will know immediately if the audience is clearly receiving the information that you are presenting. Presenting quarterly sales information requires a little bit more than throwing numbers on a slide and showing them to the managers, sales, and customers present in the meeting. To ensure that you are delivering an effective message put in the extra time to do the research. Evaluate the audience so that you can focus the presentation on what type of data and information that each group of stakeholders need. Prior to scheduling the face-to-face meeting; consider different communication channels to present the sales data, this will help to determine which method is the most effective. Include enough information to ensure that you deliver an effective message that benefits your audience. â€Å"Audience analysis is the first step in any communication process: it gives you the tools you need to shape your product and your message† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41).

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essays

Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essays Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essay Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essay Essay Topic: The Hunger Games Good and evil subjects. in some signifier. be in practically every piece of literature of all time written. It is found in literature every bit old as the Bible to newer narratives such as The Hunger Games. It is no surprise to happen this same subject in Lord of the Fliess by William Golding and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Golding and Orwell explore good and evil to demo what consequence morality. or the deficiency thereof. has on society. Both Golding and Orwell believe through their ain yesteryear experiences that evil corrupts people. To portray this. Orwell and Golding use similar thoughts with their characters and secret plan to demo how delicate the thought of civilisation is for us all. : In Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. the subject of immorality is obvious throughout the development of the characters. In Lord of the Flies. the primary character. Jack. is genuinely evil. Jack is a barbarous male child and he performs many violent Acts of the Apostless during his quest for power. The best illustration of this is when Jack encourages his folk to take part in the slaughtering of the beatific Simon ( Golding. 140 ) . While the folk is holding a wild. diabolic ceremonial. Simon crawls out of the forests disorientated after enduring a ictus. Mistaking Simon for the animal. the deranged folk. including Ralph. viciously rips Simon apart with their bare custodies and dentitions. Simon falls off of the drop and onto the beach below. where his organic structure washes out to sea. In comparing. immorality is besides outstanding in the narrative Animal Farm. The character Napoleon is the kernel of immorality in Animal Farm. He is the really manipulative and dictator-like leader of the farm. He performs many indefinable Acts of the Apostless against his fellow animate beings. such as taking the milk and apples for himself ( Orwell. 24 ) . After taking all of the milk and apples. Napoleon gets Squealer. a hog that he uses for propaganda intents. to explicate his â€Å"reason† for taking the milk and apples from them. Squealer provinces that Napoleon needs to take the milk and apples from the animate beings so that Napoleon has strong encephalon power. Squealer continues to explicate that Napoleon needs to hold good encephalon power because â€Å"the whole direction and administration of the farm depends on Napoleon† ( Orwell. 32 ) . Squealer so elaborates even more and says to the animate beings that â€Å"it is for YOUR interest that we drink that milk and eat those apples†¦Jones would come back! † ( Orwell. 32 ) . These grounds are non true. as Napoleon merely wants the milk and apples because he finds them tasty and non because he needs them to pull off the farm. Meanwhile. the other farm animate beings are left to travel hungry. In an effectual show of pure immorality. Orwell and Golding are able to utilize Napoleon and Jack as nefarious characters in an attempt to demo what happens to person with no ethical motives. In contrast. subjects of goodness are harder to happen. yet apparent in the word picture of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. In Lord of the Flies. Simon is the prototype of morality. For illustration. he appears Christ-like as he helps the more vulnerable kids of the folk that the older male childs call the Littluns. Simon helps the Littluns by executing undertakings that they can non make. such as â€Å"picking pick fruit from subdivisions they can non reach† ( Golding. 50 ) . In comparing. Animal Farm besides has characters that reflect virtue. Specifically. Boxer is one character that shows his goodness through his actions. For illustration. in the Battle of the Cowshed. he sees his fellow animate beings being injured. so he stops the combat by kicking a stable-lad in the caput. As a consequence of Boxer’s actions. the worlds flee ( Orwell. 36 ) . Although Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm are both predominately full of evil subjects. Golding and Orwell use subjects of goodness in the word picture to give the reader hope that good merely may predominate. Besides the subjects of immorality found in word picture. there are besides the subjects of immorality in the secret plan elements of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. Towards the terminal of Lord of the Flies. Simon is murdered by the remainder of the male childs ( Golding. 142 ) . Simon’s decease is specifically the point when the immorality in the narrative victory over good. Up until the point of Simon’s decease. Ralph and Simon are the lone characters who still have good left in them. Since Ralph participates in Simon’s slaying. all of the good that exists in Ralph is gone and the last of civilisation dies with Simon. A similar immorality is present in Animal Farm when Napoleon anguishs and executes â€Å"traitors† of the farm. The animate beings that are accused of lese majesty are tortured until they admit to their offense. Once they confess. they are executed ( Orwell. 69 ) . Most of the clip. these animate beings are non even guilty. The animate beings live in a changeless fright ; they do non cognize when or if they will be accused of lese majesty and so executed. By utilizing subjects of immorality. both Golding and Orwell show that a deficiency of morality in society may finally ensue in the prostration of civilisation. In the same manner. subjects of good appear in the secret plan elements of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. Specifically. there is a clip when Jack refuses to give Piggy any meat. Simon gives Piggy his portion because he believes that it is unjust that Jack did non give Piggy any meat. When Simon does non give Jack the satisfaction of eating his meat. Jack so gets highly angry with Simon and throws meat at Simon’s pess shouting â€Å"Eat. Damn you! † ( Golding. 68 ) . Simon still refuses to eat the meat. By his actions. Simon shows that even though they were populating in barbarian times. they could still stay sort to each other. Merely like Lord of the Flies. Animal Farm besides has subjects of goodness in its secret plan elements. In peculiar. Old Major creates a spirit of kindness and enthusiasm at the farm during his celebrated address. He uplifts the animate beings by singing them a vocal entitled â€Å"Beasts of England† . The vocal is about animate beings interrupting free from human control and life independently. Old Major continues to demo his concern for his fellow animate beings when he says in his address that â€Å"all animate beings are equal† ( Orwell. 11 ) . As a consequence of Orwell and Golding utilizing goodness in the secret plan elements of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. they are able to exemplify their point that one can take to be sort. no affair their milieus. Through word picture and secret plan elements. Golding and Orwell use good and evil in Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm to show their fearful feelings for society. They believe that if society loses their touch of pureness and goodness so society will fall in. In other words. Golding and Orwell’s message to the reader is that it is human nature to transgress and execute immorality. and if society is non careful. it will finally take to the death of civilisation. Plants Cited Orwell. George. Animal Farm ; . New York: Harcourt. Brace. 1954. ( 11. 24. 32. 36. 69 ) . Print. Golding. William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann. 1962. ( 50. 68. 140. 142 ) . Print.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

3 Reasons NOT to copy your Resume Summary into your LinkedIn Summary Section!

3 Reasons NOT to copy your Resume Summary into your LinkedIn Summary Section! Many people on LinkedIn make the mistake of copying their resume summary statements into their LinkedIn Summary section.   There are three major problems with this strategy: Problem #1: Trite Phrases Often your resume summary is laden with overused phrases like â€Å"Results-oriented team player with a proven track record†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"Dynamic, motivated self-starter with extensive experience†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If your resume summary looks anything like the above examples, please rewrite it and hire a professional resume writer if necessary!   This type of language belongs neither on your resume nor in your LinkedIn profile. Problem #2: LinkedIn Summary Real Estate You have 2000 characters at your disposal for a LinkedIn Summary, vs. three to four lines maximum for your resume summary.   Why would you choose not to use all that real estate to say something – really say something – about yourself? Problem #3: Keywords Your LinkedIn Summary is an essential place for you to insert keywords if you want to be found on LinkedIn.   By inserting a 3-line summary, you lose out on your chance to build keywords into your profile. Resume Summary Example For Resumes Only Here’s an example of a very strong resume summary statement that does NOT belong in a LinkedIn Summary (note I DO like this statement as a resume summary statement – in fact I wrote it!): LeeAnn Dance Producer    Writer Editor Award-winning television producer and groundbreaking investigative reporter -    experience covering issues ranging from pre-election to international news, with special emphasis on East Africa.   Creator and writer of highly acclaimed documentaries and promotional videos for non-profit organizations. Eight years as producer for CNN. LinkedIn Summary Example Great Model! What would a LinkedIn Summary look like for LeaAnn?   Here is the statement we wrote for her: Award-winning investigative and documentary television producer Video production and broadcast journalism have been my passions for over 20 years, ever since receiving my MS in Journalism from Columbia University. I have produced everything from groundbreaking news stories for CNN to promotional videos for non-profit organizations, and I am currently hosting a blog radio show for parents relaunching their careers. My journalism background gave me the ability to distill a large amount of material and hone in on what’s true and important. I can pinpoint the real message that needs to be conveyed, creating a human story that moves and inspires an audience. Promotional Videos for Non-Profit Organizations As a freelance video producer, I specialize in creating high caliber, professional and creative promotional videos for non-profit and educational organizations. I understand the budgetary constraints of non-profit organizations and will work within a range of budgets and scope of work. Funders respond to high quality video presentations that effectively convey your organization’s message. I will take your message, target it, and transform it into a concise and meaningful array of pictures, words, and sounds. You will then have the power of an impactful video to present your organization’s activities at fundraising events and through the web. Back in Force In addition to being a video producer, I was a stay-at-home mom for 13 years, and I am committed to providing resources to women who are returning to the workforce. The Back in Force blog chronicles my journey and shares information about the return-to-work process. Blog topics include emotional roadblocks to relaunching, preparing your resume, updating your wardrobe, and preparing your family for re-entry. Check out my weekly blog talk radio show on relaunching your career, with guests including authors, career counselors, therapists, and employers. (www.blogtalkradio.com/backinforce) What works about this LinkedIn Summary Example? Conveys LeeAnn’s story and her passion (the resume summary does not). Contains multiple keywords that will get LeeAnn found on LinkedIn. Covers the different facets of what LeeAnn has to offer. Draws the eye to sub-headings so that readers can easily see what LeeAnn is about.   The text is broken into bite-sized pieces, not so blocky that no one will read it. Has a call to action. Note that the resume summary does NONE of these five things, even though it is perfectly great as a resume summary. Can you write a LinkedIn Summary Statement for yourself that accomplishes at least four out of the five functions listed above?   If yes, great go for it!   If you need help, consider contacting The Essay Expert for a free 15- minute consultation.   We will be happy to write you a LinkedIn Summary that will help you get found on LinkedIn and have the impact you want on the people who read your profile.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Judgement and decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Judgement and decision making - Essay Example he function of GDP focuses on the economic advantage and understanding in order to provide appropriate actions and programs that will ameliorate and develop the economic state of the country for the betterment of the people. Consequently, with the use of GDP as a basis for economic legislations, a number of economists and researchers have implicated the role of GDP in measuring the well being among people (Harvie, Slater, Philip, & Wheatley, 2009; R. Brinkman & J. Brinkman, 2011). Samimi and Darabi (2011) noted that the connection of GDP and human well being is evidently seen on the economic situation of the people, whether they are in the best or worst condition. The GDP determines the revenues and liabilities of the country that flow internally and externally from the economic value of the country. Hence, the identification of the country’s GDP will help people to recognize ways and means to enhance and develop the economic condition of the country and in turn create beneficial effects to the people. Hence, the economic policies that mirror from the GDP will create an advantage and positive interest to the people in order to experience satisfaction and contentment in life (Osberg & Sharpe, 2002). van den Bergh (2009) implicated that GDP has a number of lapses when predicting the well being among the general population of the country. Generally, there are still other external factors that could predict the high level of subjective well being among people, and GDP is just of indicators to well being. Particularly, the GDP only focuses on the annual income of the country to forecast the well being of the people; however, the GDP cannot capture the ‘adaptation phenomenon’ that people will experience after they have adjusted to their lifestyle and condition in life. For example, people who felt happiness after winning the sweepstakes are more likely to fade the feeling of happiness after a period of time (Hilts, 1999). Hence, well being is not more about the