Assignment Solution 01

North South University ETE 321 – Spring 2010 Instructor: Nahid Rahman Assignment #1 Total Marks: 100 Worth: 7. 5% 1. Consider the sinusoidally modulated DSB LC signal shown below. The carrier DSB-LC frequency is ? c and the message signal frequency is ? m. (a) Determine the modulation index m. Solution: Amax = 25 Amin = 5 ? 25 ? 5 = = 0. 67 + 25 + 5 (b) Write an expression for the modulated signal ? (t). Solution: 1 1 ) = (25 ? 5) = 10 = ( ? 2 2 1 1 ) = (25 + 5) = 15 = ( + 2 2 = + cos = cos + ( ) cos Assignment 1 Sol Page: 1 of 12 = 15 cos + 10 cos cos (c) Derive time domain expressions for the upper and lower sidebands.Solution: = 15 cos + 10 cos cos = 15 cos + 5 cos( + ) + 5 cos( ? ) Upper sideband: 5 cos( + ) ) Lower sideband: 5 cos( ? (d) Determine the total average power of the modulated signal , the carrier power and the two sidebands. Solution: Power of carrier signal = (15 cos )2 = + ? (15)2 2 cos cos = (cos( + ) + cos( ? )) 2 1 = 112. 5 W 2 (5)2 2 (5)2 Power of upper sideband = (5 cos( Power of lower sideband = (5 cos( ))2 = = 12. 5 W = 12. 5 W Power of modulated signal = 137. 5 W (e) Assuming that the message signal is a voltage signal, calculate the PEP (Peak Envelop Power) across a 100? load. Solution: PEP = 2 ))2 = eed to obtain the RMS value by dividing the peak by v2. (f) Determine the modulation efficiency ?. Solution: 12. 5 + 12. 5 = = 18. 18% 137. 5 Amax is the peak value of the modulated signal. To calculate the DC power, we = ( )2 v2 = (25 )2 v2 100 = 3. 125 W Assignment 1 Sol Page: 2 of 12 2. A DSB-SC modulated signal can be generated by multiplying the message signal with a periodic pulse generator and passing the resultant signal through a band-pass filter. = 2 cos 200 + cos 600 ( )= 1 2 + 2 ? (? 1) ? 1 cos ( =1 2 ? 1 (2 ? 1)) (a) Find the DSB-SC signal component in V(t). Solution: Input to the BPF: = ? 1 1 2 ? (? ) = ( ){ + cos ( (2 ? 1))} =1 2 ? 1 2 1 2 2 ? 1 2 1 = ( ) { + cos + †¢ cos 3 + †¢ cos 5 + other terms} 2 3 5 1 2 2 2 ( )+ ( ) cos ( ) cos 3 ( ) cos 5 = ? + + other terms 2 3 5 Output of the BPF: 2 = cos 2 = 2 cos 200 + cos 600 cos (b) Specify the unwanted components in V(t) that need to be removed by a BPF of suitable design. Solution: 1 2 2 ( ), ( ) cos 3 ( ) cos 5 , ,other terms 2 3 5 (c) Assume the carrier frequency is 500 Hz. Sketch the spectral density of the resulting DSB-SC waveform. Solution: = 2 cos 200 + cos 600 =2 ? 200 + 2 + 200 + ? 600 + + 600 Assignment 1 Sol Page: 3 of 12 = 2 = 1 cos ? = 2 1 = 2 ? 00 rad = 1000 rad See plot below. (d) In the sketch for Part (c), specify lower and upper sidebands. + + 1 2 + 1 2 = 1 + 1 Assignment 1 Sol Page: 4 of 12 3. Let f(t) be a real signal. The transmitter transmits the following modulated signal = cos + sin Where is the Hilbert transform of f(t). (a) Explain that the modulated signal is a lower sideband SSB signal using an example of = cos . Solution: Note that there was an error in the question. The frequency of f(t) should be ? m inst ead of ? c. Any students with a reasonable attempt to this question will be awarded full marks. However, the solution below refers to the corrected problem. cos = sin cos + sin sin = cos = cos ? Since, cos ? = cos cos + sin sin ? = + ? + ? + For ? > 0, the impulse function is located to the left of the carrier frequency. For ? < 0, the impulse function is located to the right of –? c. Therefore, the modulating function produces lower sideband signals. (b) Determine the frequency of the modulated signal. Solution: From the expression of , the frequency of the modulated signal is ? . Assignment 1 Sol Page: 5 of 12 4. An SSB signal is generated by modulating an fc = 1 MHz carrier by the message signal = 2 cos 2000? t + cos 4000? t . The amplitude of the carrier signal is Ac = 1. a) Determine the Hilbert transform of f(t). Solution: = 2 cos 2000? t + cos 4000? t ? ? = 2 cos 2000? t ? + cos 4000? t ? 2 2 = 2 sin 2000? t + sin 4000? t (b) Determine the time domain expression of the lower SSB and upper SSB signals. Solution: ?  ± t = cos ? sin ? 2 sin 2k? t + sin 4k? t sin = 2 cos 2k? t + cos 4k? t cos = 2 cos 2k? t + cos 4k? t cos ? 2 sin 2k? t + sin 4k? t sin = 2 cos 2k? t cos + cos 4k? t cos ? sin 4k? t sin ? 2 sin 2k? t sin = 2 cos 2k? t cos ? sin 2k? t sin + cos 4k? t cos ? sin 4k? t sin  ± 2000 + cos  ± 4000 = 2 cos (c) Sketch the magnitude spectrum of the lower SSB. Solution: ? t = 2 cos ? 2000 + cos ? 000 ? ? = 2 + ? 2000 + 2 ? + 2000 + + ? 4000 + ? + 4000 A 2? ? -? c -? c+4000? -? c+2000? ?c-4000? ?c-2000? ?c ? (d) The coherent detection of the lower SSB signal consists of multiplying the received modulated signal by cos followed by a low pass filter. If the local (receiver) oscillator generates a phase error ? (i. e. the message signal is now multiplied by cos + , write the expression at the output of the low-pass filter and discuss how the phase error will affect the demodulated signal. Solution: Assignment 1 Sol Page: 6 of 12 Input of the L PF: = = = cos cos cos + + cos cos A cos B = sin A cos B = = os + sin + + cos sin + cos + cos A + B + cos A ? B sin A + B + sin A ? B cos 2 + + sin ? + sin 2 + sin ? A = ? sin A = cos + cos 2 + ? sin + sin 2 + Output of the LPF: = = cos ? sin 2 cos 2000? t + cos 4000? t cos ? 1 2 sin 2000? t + sin 4000? t sin 2 = cos 2000? t cos + cos 4000? t cos 1 ? sin 2000? t sin ? sin 4000? t sin 2 1 cos 4000? t cos ? sin 4000? t sin 2 = cos 2000? t cos ? sin 2000? t sin + cos A cos B ? sin A sin B = cos A + B = cos 2000? t + ? + cos 4000? t + ? Assignment 1 Sol Page: 7 of 12 5. A given DSB-LC transmitter develops an unmodulated power output of 1 KW across a 50-ohm resistive load.When a sinusoidal test tone with a peak amplitude of 5. 0 V is applied to the input of the modulator, it is found that the spectral line for each sideband in the magnitude spectrum for the output is 40% of the carrier line. Determine the following quantities in the output signal: (a) The modulation index. Solution: = + c os cos cos + cos cos = 1 1 = cos + cos ? + cos + 2 2 When a sinusoidal test tone with a peak amplitude of 5. 0 V is applied to the input of the modulator, it is found that the spectral line for each sideband in the magnitude spectrum for the output is 40% of the carrier line. 1 : = 0. 40 2 = : = 0. 0 (b) The peak amplitude of the lower sideband. Solution: A given DSB-LC transmitter develops an unmodulated power output of 1 KW across a 50-ohm resistive load. = /v2 = 1000 Am is the amplitude (or â€Å"peak†) of the modulated signal. We need to use the rms value when calculating DC power. = 1000 2 = 10 = 316. 27 Peak amplitude of the sideband = = 158. 11 (c) The ratio of total sideband power to carrier power. Solution: Total power of the sidebands = = Carrier Power = Ratio = : = . cos : = cos . + = . 0. 8 ? . = = 0. 32 + cos + (d) The total power of output. Solution: Assignment 1 Sol Page: 8 of 12 Total Power = + = 33kW e) The total average power in the output if the peak amplit ude of the modulation sinusoid is reduced to 4. 0 V. Solution: Changing the modulation sinusoid peak amplitude will affect the modulation index. 4 = 5 4 = ? 0. 8 = 0. 64 5 Ratio of total sideband power to carrier power = . : = . 0. 64 = 0. 2048 Total Power = + = 30. 12kW Assignment 1 Sol Page: 9 of 12 6. Suppose that a message signal f(x) has bandwidth B Hz. If f(x) is modulated by one of the modulation schemes DSB-SC or SSB or VSB, then for demodulation, the receiver must generate a (local) carrier in phase and frequency synchronous with the incoming carrier. This is referred to as synchronous or coherent demodulation. ) (a) Draw a block diagram for the demodulator. Solution: (b) Assume that there is a frequency error in the local carrier (the phase is correctly estimated). Give the expression of the Fourier transform of the output of the demodulator for the case of DSB-SC modulation, sketch the spectrum of the output signal, and compare it with the spectrum of the original signal ( you may assume an arbitrary shape of F (w)). Solution: = cos ? cos +? = = = = = 1 2 ? = 2 ? ? ? ? ? cos cos ? cos ? os ? +? cos +? +? cos 2 +? + cos 2 + ? + ? 2 ? +? Without frequency error: Assignment 1 Sol Page: 10 of 12 With frequency error: (c) Repeat (b) for the case of SSB-SC modulation (you may do so by choosing either upper SSB or lower SSB). Solution: + sin = cos Input to the LPF: ? = cos = = = = ? ? ? ? +? + cos cos + ? cos cos cos cos ? 1 2 ? ? sin +? +? cos + + cos 2 ? +? sin sin +? +? cos cos +? +? + = 1 2 sin ? cos ? + +? + 1 2 ? ? sin 2 sin ? ? 2 ? = ? ? 2 ? ? ? 2 + + ? 2 ? +? Assignment 1 Sol Page: 11 of 12 With frequency error: d) Suppose that you are an engineer who responds to design a modulation system for a coarse environment in which it is difficult to generate a local carrier in frequency synchronous with the incoming carrier during some period of transmission. Which modulation system would you like to recommend, DSB-SC or SSB? Justify your answer. Solutio n: For DSB-SC, we notice a distortion in frequency. For SSB, we only observe a frequency shift. Therefore, it would be better to use SSB for a coarse environment. Assignment 1 Sol Page: 12 of 12

Personal Statements Essay

Thinking about humanity nowadays and people’s preoccupations made me realize the huge impact that crimes and criminal justice have on their decisions and the way they receive and react at the details and information about a crime. Television news, newspapers and magazines, they all speak about crimes, unsolved criminal problems or strange disappearances. The world’s evolution, its issues have pushed societies nowadays to extreme gestures to escape from poverty problems. Why do people commit crimes? How much crime is there committed around us? Which would be the profile of a criminal and which would be his or her characteristics? Moreover, how could these crimes is stopped? I have been attracted to criminology since the early age of just 12. I was watching Discovery channel series like â€Å"Deadly women†, â€Å"Life of a crime†, â€Å"Most evil† and I was fascinated by the way those people were investigating and solving those crimes helped by only some fragile and minor details. As time passed by, I realized that this was my hobby and so I started thinking how I could develop my skills for a career in criminology. I thought that if I entered an exact sciences high school profile, I would constantly keep my mind focused, as subjects like mathematics or informatics enlarge your vision. As criminology implies psychology, I was and I am still interested in this fascinating subject. I will always be interested in discovering the characteristics of human nature. I had contact for the first time with Psychology in the second year of high school. I also read very interesting books about psychology and criminology such as â€Å"Psychology and Crime Myths and reality†, by Peter Ainsworth, â€Å"Criminology†, by John Conklin, etc, describing its characteristics and feeding my curiosity. I have discovered myself a lot of skills after reading those books and this was an extra reason for me to attend to a Criminology course. Besides criminology, I also like IT (information technology). As technology occupies a significant part of our lives, I thought it would be helpful to certificate my skills: I obtained my OCP certificate for ORACLE sql database course; I attended the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) courses from where I got a diploma as a complete operator of the Microsoft Office package. At present, I am attending the ORACLE pl_sql programming course which I am going to finalise in May 2009 and obtain my certificate. Even though I have been focusing on my ambitious plans and my future, I haven’t forgotten the ones that weren’t so lucky when speaking about family’s kindness and warmth. So, I was involved myself in volunteer projects every Christmas and Easter. The volunteer action is called National Strategy â€Å"The Community Action†. In present, I intended a new strategy to help the mentally or physically affected children at the â€Å"Orizont† Center in my town, Constanta. In my opinion, abandoning you own child is a crime and if he or she has a handicap it is ten times worse. As I am a very active person, I also took part to a lot of extracurricular activities, like: general-knowledge quizzes, chemistry contests where I have participated with the project â€Å"Water crystals. Crystal therapy† and gained two prizes, I am part of the high school volleyball team with which I won a lot of regional and national competitions, I had a job as an IT operator for introducing and validating dates within the POL-RENAV company, etc. Considering the fact that criminology is my hobby (terrorism, youth crimes, homicide, violence in crimes), it would be the perfect course for me to study and improve at university. Studying the behavior of criminals or investigating their crimes will always create a challenging future and an interesting one, having always something new to learn. As a personal conviction, criminology is maybe the most complex job that one could want: it involves mental strength, devotion and 100% interest for this field. 2. For a number of years I have had more than a passing interest in Criminology, Psychology and Sociology; in particular Criminal Psychology, Neuropsychology, the nature versus nurture debate and the Criminal Justice System. Additionally, I hold equal interest in the research, both past and present, undertaken to develop theories and concepts in the Social Science fields. I would now like to pursue these interests at a higher academic level with the hope, upon completion of my study, to gain employment whereby I could effectively utilise the skills and knowledge I had obtained, possibly in the research field. The reasons behind my late entry into higher education are primarily due to immaturity and lack of direction. Throughout my teens and early twenties my life was unconventional; this is where I believe my interest in the working of the human mind and sociological influences stem from. I have reflected on the contributing factors that led me to make the choices I made during my adole scent years. For me this raises the question of whether the underlying causes were biological or socially influenced or even a mixture of the two. Over the years I have matured and gained a sense of direction regarding what I would like to do. In 1999, I decided I wanted to contribute to my local community by doing some form of voluntary work, in particular with those who suffer from mental health problems. I became a befriended through Hilling don Mind. A befrienderÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s role is to support a person who is feeling isolated from the community. Every week I would visit my friend and sit and chat and lend an ear, we would also enjoy trips out into the community. I enjoyed my 12 months working as a befriended; I found it a humbling, fulfilling and rewarding experience. Sadly I had to make the difficult decision to leave the Hilling don Mind Befriending Scheme in the later part of 2000 due to unforeseen increased family and work commitments. In early 2006, I made the decision to return to education. As I had not been in full time education for 21 years, I chose to ease myself back into the system by studying a Horticulture course part time over a period of 2 years. I completed this course in July 2008 passing with 6 straight Distinctions at level 2; completing this course was the catalyst to further my education it gave me the confidence required to progress further. In September 2008, I enrolled on an Access to Psychology and Social Studies course and an additional GCSE Moths course at level 2. I am finding my current course both exciting and thought provoking and am enjoying life as a student immensely. My hopes are that on completion of both these courses I will have acquired a solid foundation of Social Sciences and the skills required to study at University. Throughout my life I have experienced a variety of roles within the work force including care work, administrative roles, production line work and voluntary research work for several websites. I have raised my two daughters, 5 & 17, almost single handed for the last 8 years; the eldest of which is in her final year of a levels and is currently in the process of applying to universities. For a number of years I have successfully maintained 2 Allotments, although they require a great deal of physical work I find growing my own produce extremely satisfying. Additionally, I enjoy listening to a variety of music and reading, in particular non-fictional crime. I manage my ongoing commitments to my children, education and allotments extremely well, indicative of conviction, dedication and good time management skills. Law with Criminology Personal Statement Social development within the country is based around the well-structured judicial system; however, this fundamental principle is not true for all countries and therefore permits shocking injustices to be carried out on the most vulnerable members of a society. It is from this that I believe my interest in Law stems. I am a keen, ambitious, diligent student and always strive to reach the best I can in whatever I do. Studying A levels in Business Studies, English Language and Biology gives me broad knowledge of different topics from which I have acquired many valuable skills that I believe can assist my studies in Law. Business Studies has been particularly useful when developing my understanding of the financial world and ever-changing business laws. Applying and examining bureaucracy and red tape to set case studies, has encouraged me to research further into the world of consumer rights and explore what is acceptable and not. I have enjoyed studying Biology and having to work close ly as a team when completing practical experiments with precision. English Language has given me the opportunity to analyse written texts which will be an advantage when studying cases and having to pick out key information. Studying AS Psychology has encouraged me to examine how criminal minds work and whether particular events from earlier years of life can have an effect. Recently, I attended a Foundation Degree Law Course where the idea was to become a â€Å"Lawyer for the week† and develop the learning skills required for University. During the week I had ‘hands on’ experience and undertook many legal practices such as taking witness statements and drafting statements of case. I found the course thoroughly enjoyable, particularly offering legal advice, and it helped me to realise how Law influences everyday decisions and activities. I have contributed too many different aspects of school life ranging from playing in successful musical concerts to becoming a senior student as a Year 8 mentor for which I had to attend two peer mediation courses. From this I learnt how to enhance my listening skills and empathise with those around me, offering reliable advice at the same time. I believe this would assist me when recommending legal advice to clientele. Along with a small group of other students, I am currently helping to set up a Committee to improve Sixth Form Life. Although this is to be carried out alongside my lessons, it helps me to plan my time well who benefits my studies when completing coursework and other various set tasks. The Young Enterprise Scheme, where it was our job to set up a company and assign ourselves roles within it, was a good insight into having to work as a team and understand business laws. I was chosen as the company secretary as I had the organizational skills which were necessary, this meant I had to work closely with the Managing Director to discuss issues and then make sure that every employee understood the tasks set. This developed my interpersonal skills as I had to liaise between staff, students and visitors from external companies. Personal well being is something I value and so participate regularly in exercise, giving me a sense of achievement when I overcome a certain obstacle or beat a personnel target. At school, this reflects my self discipline approach to studying. I have had to institute a system of time management alongside my education as I work part-time twice a week at South Deep Cafe. Working there for three years has, primarily, made me particularly approachable, as I have learnt many valuable customer relation skills, but has also reflected my trustworthiness and commitment especially when training other employees. As an enthusiastic, well-rounded, dedicated student, I feel I have the attributes and genuine passion needed to succeed on a Law Course, and look forward to the many challenges and aspects of life at University. Law and Criminology/Sociology Personal Statement From a young age, I have been fascinated by law and was thrilled at the possibility of studying it at A-Level. In August 2007, I was able to spend two weeks working at Naves Solicitors in Lupton. Most of my time was spent in the Conveyancing department, where Andrew Orriss, a partner in the firm, taught me how to draw up commercial leases and business contracts, and about buying, selling and renting residential properties. I most enjoyed meeting clients and discussing their cases. I found that moving house many times as a child enabled me to be sympathetic and relate to the clients. My time at Neves has made me more intent on pursuing a career in the law, as I liked the work and fitted in well with the staff. I believe my current studies of Law, English Language and History complement each other well and would give me an advantage at university, as they have furthered my strong reading and writing abilities, and taught me to be more logical and investigative. I also took Religious Studies at AS-level as I like learning about other peoples’ beliefs, and it helped me to become more open-minded. I enjoy getting involved with activities in my Sixth Form, such as planning the Summer Ball in Year 12. I was chosen by our Deputy Head Girl to take the minutes for the meetings and email them to the other committee members, and my minutes were commended by my Head of Year. I was also asked to assist with the Sixth Form Induction Evening. My duties involved welcoming prospective students and their parents, handing out prospectuses, and talking to them about my own experiences of Sixth Form. In Year 13, I was chosen as a History subject mentor to help struggling Year 12 students, and I also helped out on a trip to Germany with students in years 7 to 9. Outside of school, my hobbies include photography, bass guitar, and writing. In 2006, I came second in a BBC writing competition for young people in Northamptonshire. Having grown up in France, I am bilingual, and my next challenge is to write a short story in French. I also have a part-time job at McDonald’s, which has taught me about working with others, as well as coping with pressure. One of the crucial parts of my job is ensuring that customers are satisfied, and occasionally dealing with complaints. I believe the people skills I have gained from McDonald’s will help me in other aspects of my life. I regularly attend my local church and Christian youth group. In July 2007, I had the opportunity to go to Kosovo for a fortnight with other members of the youth group. Our aim was to help widows and orphans affected by the Yugoslav Civil War and the ethnic cleansing of Kosovans in 1999. We redecorated homes and schools, ran children’s clubs, distributed aid, and visited a Roma gypsy camp. It was a very profound and moving experience, and one I hope to repeat at some point in the future. This is the reason for my deferred entry to university. I plan to spend a few months fundraising, and then return to Kosovo for the remainder of the year to continue the work we started there. I believe that I am a confident and enthusiastic person who would benefit greatly from studying at university. I am passionate about the law and would like to have a career as a lawyer. I also have a keen sense of justice and an interest in Sociology and Criminology and would consider working with the Prison Service or the CPS. I think that studying Law at university would help me make the best possible use of my analytical and writing skills, and that a career in Law would satisfy my need to help.

Case study: Apple iPhones – Not “Made in America”

What is meant by the globalization of human capital? Is this inevitable as firms increase their global operations? The globalization of human capital refers to the fact that employees are now spread out across the world by their employers. This including, the companies, employed, unemployed, stockholders, consumers, contractors, supply chain, firms and economies. Companies branch out because labor costs are cheaper and productivity is faster.It is inevitable if firms increase their global operations because every country has something different to offer, something new, and without the current innovation being promoted to the market, the company will start to lose its edge on competition. 2. How does this case illustrate the threats and opportunities facing global companies in developing their strategies? Cost and Human Capital is the most important consideration for Global Companies. When President Obama’s inquired about Apple brining the job back to US, it was practically not possible for Apple.The break down in the case study was that it cost a total of $179 to produce an IPhone and it retailed at $500 leaving a profit of $321. This would mean more profit for the global company. For Global company price and profit is the most important consideration to stay competitive. They can use the cheap labor in other countries to be price competitive This gave the perception that Apple did not care about its country. It also gives the perception of greed which a global company can face. 3. Comment on the Apple executive's assertion that the company's only obligation is making the best product possible.â€Å"We don't have an obligation to solve America's problems. † All though it is a harsh comment but I think it makes sense. Apple is a Global company with its offices around the world. It is in business to make money. It is not possible for Apple to solve America’s problem. Apple is just trying to be the best company out there in order to be on top with innovation and success. It is not Apple’s responsibility to solve America’s problems with employment; their responsibility is to form the best product. 4. Who are the stakeholders in this situation and what, if any, obligations do they have?There are two stakeholders in this situation and they are: the companies Apple and Foxconn as well as the Chinese government. Apple has obligations to their employees both domestic and global. They need to be mindful that a corporation is only as good as its products as well as, its image. They need to be mindful that since its headquarters are in the United States, it should do all that it can to maintain a positive image. It is also important to make sure that the products they sell are quality products while keeping the price as low as possible. Foxconn has a stake in its people and the products they export.The unfair and inhumane working conditions forced the government to step in. Foxconn also needs to be mindful of the is sues presented previously for Apple (the difference they are headquartered in China). The fact that labor violations were taking place, China’s government had an obligations to its people. They need to protect their citizens from hazardous work conditions and hold Foxconn accountable for their actions. 5. How much extra are you prepared to pay for an IPhone if assembled in the United States? Personally I feel that the IPhone is already over price as is. The fact that they make $321 of profit off each phone is ridiculous.If the phone is fully assembled in the United State I do not feel the price of the phone should increase at all. There are many products that are specifically made in America that cost the same amount as their global counterparts. Clothes are an example, all things being equal, a t-shirt made overseas cost relatively the same as a t-shirt made in the US. Why should an IPhone be any different? I feel that although the profit from each phone would be decreased, they would sell the same amount of phones if not more. 6. How much extra are you prepared to pay for an IPhone assembled in China but under better labor conditions or pay?What kind of trade-off would you make? This also deals with the question previously asked. I have not changed my stance on IPhone; however, if they were to charge more to have it assembled in China, why couldn’t or wouldn’t they just produce it in America. It would not make sense if they had to increase cost to better working conditions in another country. I believe it would be cheaper to bring some of the laborers here to the US and open a plant here. 7. To what extent do you think the negative media coverage has affected Apple’s recent decision to ask the FLA to do an assessment and the subsequent decision by Foxconn to raise some salaries?What do you think will happen now? I believe that the negative media coverage has inspired Apple to be more cautious about their corporate image. Subsequen tly, it affected their way of thinking so that they had to ask for an FLA assessment. They could ill-afford to continue to be seen in a negative light and heartless. They already stated that â€Å"They don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems, only to make the best product possible†, after the unfair working conditions and labor violations were discovered it only added to the idea that the company was greedy and didn’t care about their employees.Foxconn took pride in being one of the country’s most effective and efficient manufacturers. It could not allow the perception that they were running a â€Å"sweat shop† in which their employees were working 60 hours a week for little pay. The employee suicides did not help company’s image. They had to raise some salaries in order to save face in the public eye. Also, both companies had to show that although mistakes happened, once they were discovered they were fixed quickly. I be lieve now that the story is out they will have many follow up inspections to insure that both companies never come under scrutiny again.

Business and Society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business and Society - Assignment Example 80). This report discusses the organizational codes of conduct that a company should possess with analytical conduct through benchmarking and implicative proceedings that ensure the sustainable relevance of such codes in the years ahead. Eventually, a conclusive section will be drawn, covering the generic scope of the focal idea of the study. 2.0a Company Background The company in this section refers to an entity that centers on manufacturing building products and services. As such, stipulations have been made to formulate the codes of conduct of the company through benchmarking the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, Skanska, and Simpson Manufacturing Corporation’s codes of conduct. Simpson’s codes of conduct have been adopted, e.g., workplace health and safety, product and service quality, confidentiality, and the encouragement of reporting an illicit and unethical behavior (Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc., 2011). Skanska's personnel development, employment terms, proper d isclosure of information, and environmental concerns are also instilled (Skanska, 2012). Finally, adopting LP’s proposition of having an honest and truthful means of communications and compliance with laws, rules and regulations (Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, 2012) will complete the codes of conduct for the company. 2.0b Rationale of Choice of the Code of Conduct Numerous companies of today have codes of conduct that implicate a developing organizational norm and the infringement of which might entangle cost and risk. The cost is the one which melts the opportunity to use a contingently efficient management scheme, and the risk is the one which pertains to not having a solemn code of conduct (White & Montgomery, 1980, p. 86). Abiding by the legal matters can help the organization sustain its operations in the long term. Provisions should be given to ensure the safety of workers in the workplace. Because of the technological developments, the labor environment is altering as well, and the company should implement policies that further protect its workers. One of them may pertain to employment terms such as age, gender, race and other employee’s personal matters. The social and cultural aspects are altered because of the workforce variations such as oversea workers. An honest and truthful means of communication would further uphold proper disclosure of information among the stakeholders of the organization. This notion is governed by the political concerns such as regulatory policies that emerge to be mandatory in all types of organizations. Confidentiality and discouragement of unethical conducts within the company can help the business achieve its corporate goals. When all of the internal facets of the operations are well-suited to the attainments of goals, quality service will then be the next target of the company. That is a manifestation of the quality product offerings of the business. Lastly, it should not omit the importance of environment in the codes of conduct. In the first place, the environment is where everything takes place, and it should be preserved well for the next generation. The economic issues are by far the most crucial factor in developing the codes of conduct because this can affect the entire industry if the violation is proven by the

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Research Paper

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design - Research Paper Example They have not been as effective as they should have been. According to Lawrence Fennelly and Timothy Crowe (2013), arguably, for the past 180 years criminology has failed to deal effectively with crimes because of its limitedness. The main focus of conventional criminology is on the criminal event, the criminal and the victim, it doesn’t incorporate other factors. All other factors like psychological, legal, social, biological and political theories revolve around the criminal/offender. The other myth surrounding the whole crime investigation is that human beings by nature are criminals, it is something inherent, only an opportunity is required (Fennelly & Crowe, 2013). CPTED stands out from conventional crime prevention measures because it emphasizes more on human activity than on actions. Law enforcement agencies, security and crime prevention organizations find CPTED to be more helpful than other processes as they help more in preventing crimes as well as improve the quality of life and achieve the objectives of human activity (Fennelly & Crowe, 2013). Oscar Newman and Jeffery C. Ray are considered somewhat of an authority when it comes to discussing crime prevention. Newman published his first book, Defensible Space, in 1966 and gave unorthodox methods for crime prevention by making the environment safer. He focused mainly on residential areas. Ray published his book in 1971, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and agreed with Newman’s work in its core theory. There is a unison found in both the works of Oscar Newman and Jeffery C. Ray. Ray’s (1971) published work on Crime Prevention through Environmental Design introduced to the world a new way of looking at the world of crime. Jeffery took a step further than Newman as he shifted the focus and spread it on nonresidential areas too such as schools. By incorporating behavioral learning theory, Jeffery argued that removing crime

How has the social psychology of prejudice enhanced our understanding Essay - 1

How has the social psychology of prejudice enhanced our understanding of learning difficulties - Essay Example n of the fact that prejudice towards people with learning disabilities exits can help to eliminate the prejudice and discrimination towards people with learning disabilities to lifelong isolation and unemployment. Prejudice is gradually becoming unacceptable towards many other social groups, but it is not challenged enough in the case of people with a learning difficulties. These people are not visible members of their community; they exist in the community rather than living as part of it From this point of viÐ µw disÐ °blÐ µd pÐ µoplÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ forcÐ µd to livÐ µ in Ð ° sociÐ °l prison. WhilÐ µ no onÐ µ cÐ °n objÐ µct to cÐ °mpÐ °igning for ‘rights’ so thÐ °t thÐ µ prison in which wÐ µ livÐ µ is mÐ °dÐ µ morÐ µ humÐ °nÐ µ it is only Ð ° politicÐ °l buffoon who bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µs thÐ °t Ð µxploring prisonÐ µr Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µs cÐ °n lÐ µÃ °d to Ð µmÐ °ncipÐ °tion! Nothing lÐ µss thÐ °n dismÐ °ntling thÐ µ prison Ð °nd rÐ µplÐ °cing it with Ð ° non-compÐ µtitivÐ µ form of sociÐ µty cÐ °n brÐ µÃ °kdown thÐ µ doors which bÐ °r our Ð µmÐ °ncipÐ °tion. I bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µ thÐ °t wÐ µ cÐ °nnot undÐ µrstÐ °nd or dÐ µÃ °l with disÐ °bility without dÐ µÃ °ling with thÐ µ Ð µssÐ µntiÐ °l nÐ °turÐ µ of sociÐ µty itsÐ µlf. To do this disÐ °blÐ µd pÐ µoplÐ µ must find wÐ °ys of Ð µngÐ °ging in thÐ µ clÐ °ss strugglÐ µ whÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µ historicÐ °l dirÐ µction of sociÐ µty is fought, won or lost. It is in this Ð °rÐ µnÐ ° thÐ °t thÐ µ boundÐ °riÐ µs of knowlÐ µdgÐ µ thÐ °t hÐ °vÐ µ put disÐ °blÐ µd pÐ µoplÐ µ Ð °sidÐ µ from thÐ µ ‘normÐ °l’ cÐ °n Ð °nd hÐ °vÐ µ to bÐ µ opÐ µnly quÐ µstionÐ µd. For mÐ µ rÐ µpossÐ µssing thÐ µ sociÐ °l modÐ µl of disÐ °bility mÐ µÃ °ns sÐ µÃ °rching for opÐ µnings in thÐ µ structurÐ µs of sociÐ µty whÐ µrÐ µ wÐ µ might Ð µffÐ µctivÐ µly contributÐ µ with othÐ µrs in thÐ µ rÐ µstructuring of sociÐ µty so thÐ °t it is nÐ µithÐ µr compÐ µtitivÐ µ nor disÐ °bling for Ð °ll pÐ µoplÐ µ. ThÐ µ SociÐ °l Modà  µl of DisÐ °bility wÐ °s dÐ µvisÐ µd by disÐ °blÐ µd pÐ µoplÐ µ, whosÐ µ Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µ of thÐ µ hÐ µÃ °lth Ð °nd wÐ µlfÐ °rÐ µ systÐ µm, Ð °s wÐ µll Ð °s sociÐ µtys gÐ µnÐ µrÐ °l rÐ µÃ °ction to thÐ µm, mÐ °dÐ µ thÐ µm fÐ µÃ µl sociÐ °lly

Discuss methods for mitigating challenges encountered in the classroom Essay

Discuss methods for mitigating challenges encountered in the classroom given that some students are learning English as a second and third language - Essay Example speaking backgrounds at English schools (Candlin & Mercer, 2001). For recent arrivals, the educational experiences they have had in their country can play an important role in determining their success at school in England. The extent of formal schooling and the level reached previous to their migration will determine their familiarity with learning in an academic situation. Also, overseas- educated parents of English-born EAL students will have expectations of schooling shaped by their learning experiences (Lipjakova, 2003). Parental expectations will not necessarily match those of teachers in schools, and so there may by different attitudes towards discipline, curriculum content (including extra-curricular activities) as well as the nature and extent of parental involvement (Harding & Riley, 1986). The way in which the school responds to these differences will significantly affect both parent and learner attitudes to the school and ultimately the EAL students’ progress. Also , research indicates that competence in English is related to the level of competence in a learner’s first language: â€Å"Children with greater proficiency in L1 appear to learn L2 more easily† (Cummins, 1984, p. 136). In the past, EAL students were encouraged abandon their first language and to use English as much as possible. Today it is much more widely appreciated that well-developed proficiency in the first language is a positive advantage in learning a second language. It is also now seen that it is very important to maintain and develop the first language for a number of other crucial reasons, including the maintenance of family, peer and community relationships, as well as continued cognitive development and growth in self-esteem and identity of the individual EAL student. Hence, it is critical to recognise what knowledge is needed by ESL students, and what are the most effective strategies for meeting thee needs. A childs self-concept, their

An Analysis of the Movie ( Mystic River ) Assignment

An Analysis of the Movie ( Mystic River ) - Assignment Example The politics concerned with planning in Mystic River is stemmed from planning issues. The freedom of staying in slum community and environment raises the issue of planning in the movie. Furthermore, the freedom in the slum dwelling is not always enjoyed due to higher density demographic, similarly, the high density population causes the community to be too close, physically. The high population in the urban area poses obstruction to planning and other related issues. The communal obstruction in the movie has similar results that usually invoke changes among the communities. The planning politics in the film illustrate positions of public welfare where the personal gains and interest is the main protagonist. The planning politics began with water issues and overall welfare, and the effect of political affairs on the environmental nature. The Boston environment is maximized to suit the desires of the located citizens. Analysis of Mystic River and urban planning involved coordination of time and speed, which is juxtaposed with geography and history. The director of the movie focused on the relation between the cinematic space and urban planning. Since the special categories of the movie based on its topographies, location, site, and settings have changed in the entire movie. The movie integrates that understanding between geography and history without giving one a privilege (Belly, 14). Talking about the limited liability in urban development, is important to note that Lynch discovered the five elements like landmarks, nodes, edges, and paths compared to those that build the image cities (Peterson,119). In the film, the urban dwellers used social contact and personal communication to make personal connection in Boston city. Such networks in the film include the dating agencies, clubs, and public ballrooms. The network served the characters that are desperate and lonely; in addition, they served those that are happy

Porter's generic strategies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Porter's generic strategies - Case Study Example The cost leadership strategy has enabled the U.S airways to increase profits by reducing costs that are incurred by the airline, and also enable them to increase the market share by putting cheaper prices while still making a favorable profit on each sale they make (Kossowski, 2007). The U.S airways has made this strategy highly efficient since they have; access to the capital needed to spend in technology that bring costs down, efficient logistics and low cost requirements on labor, materials and facilities. The U.S airways has also applied the differentiation strategy, which involves making their products and services unique and more presentable than those of their competitors, hence making them more efficient in the airline market (InfoRefuge, 2012). Focus strategy used by the U.S airways entails concentrating on a market and providing it with low costs or well-specified products, which eventually builds a strong brand loyalty amongst their customers making it more attractive comp ared to their competitors. Airline competitors have been outdone successfully by the U.S airways because of the airlines use of the Porters generic strategies, which ascertain that they are more competitive and get a greater share of the

Virtual reality Essay Example for Free

Virtual reality Essay Abstract The contemporary world is greatly characterized with the usage of highly developed technology, tools, gadgets, and appliances. One just needs to look around him to see the truth to this statement. Be it in business, education, travel, medical, practically everything and anything, one uses technology to conduct daily living. These technologies underwent several processes and upgrades to be what they are today. Nonetheless, each technology still undergoes enhancements that would help individuals in going about their daily lives. The initial process with which technology evolved into what it is today was first conceptualized, then improved to what man utilizes today. A concrete example of this would be the television which is a common appliance in todays world. Before the television became to what it is today (digital), it was first conceptualized, designed, produced, tested, developed and enhanced. As these things were first conceptualized, hence, the term virtual reality was coined. It is, therefore, a usual question whether the initial process was real considering that it was merely a concept, a virtual reality. It is in line with the above that the primordial purpose of this paper is to scrutinize whether virtual reality is indeed real or just a figment of mans imagination. VIRTUAL REALITY 3 Virtual Reality: Is It Real? Todays technology has been conceptualized in the not so distant past and has been LABELLED AS VIRTUAL REALITY. WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO UTILIZE REALITIES AND THINGS IN ORDER TO HELP MAN IN his daily living, several researches conducted studies and experimentations in order to produce materials that will be able to make life a lot easier to the end users of the same. If one has an intensive scrutiny of the experiences any person would have today, technology is always used and is in great demand. Technology is used in business, in education, in medical, in warfare practically in anything and everything. These became realities as they were first conceptualized prior to the production of the gadgets and things that man uses today. From conceptualization, experiments were conducted to ensure that these products would eventually meet its purpose and would ultimately be of benefit to the users of the same. Safety and costs have been one of the primordial considerations. This raises the question that many would query. At the stage of conceptualization (virtual reality), would one consider these concepts as real or not? It is the objective of this paper to focus on this. At the end of this paper, the reader will be able to: 1) understand what virtual reality is; 2) see a short history of the development of virtual reality; 3) realize the usage and advantages of the end-products of virtual reality; 4) comprehend whether virtual reality is real or not. The meanings of Virtual Reality and Reality Many have always asked, What is virtual reality? What is reality? . Oxford Dictionary (online publication, 2010) defines virtual reality as almost or nearly as described, but not VIRTUAL REALITY 4 completely or according to strict definition. Late Middle English defines it as possessing certain virtues. The word virtual comes from the Latin word virtue, virtuosus. The etymology of the word reality comes from the Latin word realis which means relating to things. Oxford Dictionary defines it as â€Å"the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia defines virtual reality as computer-generated environment and within which people can interact it can immerse people in an environment that would normally be unavailable due to cost, safety, or perception restrictions. D. Petechuk stated that virtual reality combine state-of-the-art imaging with computer technology to allow users to experience a three-dimensional simulated environment. Ilkka Maunu Niiniluoto, in his article Virtual worlds, fiction and reality has referred to Michael Heim in giving meaning to the word, virtual reality. In his book Virtual realism (1998), Michael Heim states that virtual reality is a technology or an emerged field of applied science. John C. Briggs, on the other hand, in his article, The Promise of Virtual Reality, wrote, Virtual reality can be defined as a three-dimensional, computer-generated simulation in which one can navigate around, interact with, and be immersed in another environment Virtual reality provides a reality that mimics our everyday one. What would virtual reality mean to ordinary people? When one hears this word, people would usually associate it as something that has to do with computers. While others would think that it is a dream world where anything and everything is possible to happen, there are also others who would think that virtual reality is a conception concocted not only by the mind but also by the very person who has thought of the concept concerned. There would also be a group VIRTUAL REALITY 5 who would think that virtual reality is the stepping stone through which different gadgets currently used have gone through: conceptualized, tested, revised and produced. A Short History of the Evolution of Virtual Reality This section will focus on the discourse of D. Petechuk entitled, Virtual Reality. Petechuk stated that the concept of virtual reality would date back to World War II. The pilots who were then training for their combat missions needed training for the mission that they had. There was a need for flight simulators; however, the technology then was not sufficient. The trainees had only basic simulation. Through the years, technology advanced and so did virtual reality. Ivan Sutherland, according to Petechuk, conducted experiments with the first head- mounted three-dimensional displays the user was able to view a computer-generated three- dimensional cube floating in space and, by moving his or her head, inspect various aspects of the cube and determine its dimensions. This was in 1966. By 1970, Sutherland built the first full functional head-mounted display unit. There were many big industries who also ventured into the development of virtual reality. One of them was General Electric Corporation that built one of the first computerized flight simulators in 1972. In 1975, Thomas Furness III developed the prototype Visually Couple Airborne Systems Simulator whereby the pilots had an abstract view of flying conditions instead of a reality- based image pilots became totally immersed in the graphic representation. VIRTUAL REALITY 6 Mary Alice Ball, in her book review, Virtual Worlds, Real Challenges: Papers from SRIs 1991 Conference on Virtual Reality, wrote: Virtual reality is still in its infancy, and researchers are intent on developing and refining new and better tools. Mary Ball further wrote that virtual reality has the potential to take us beyond our physical limitations and guide us to new insights Virtual reality uses technology to create human-machine interfaces that permit control of multiple peripheral devices with relative ease. Through the years after this, big investments were poured into the research as to how virtual reality could produce things that would be used daily. As there are a lot of advantages and uses of the things produced through virtual reality, focus and attention were given for the development of virtual reality to what it is today. This would be discussed in depth in the following section. The Applications of Virtual Reality As stated earlier, the contemporary world is characterized with a lot of technologies that have been developed through the many years. When one looks around, it is very evident that varied products of virtual reality have been created that ultimately helps any one in conducting his daily business in live. Many of these technologies have gone through the process of being conceptualized, tested, revised, and enhanced. The many things man uses today went through a long process of evolution and are still undergoing improvements so that the maximum usage of the same would be attained. These products did not just come out of thin air. The process through which they have been developed has been long and tedious. VIRTUAL REALITY 7 Beth Stackpole in her article, Virtual Reality Gets Real, stated that the militarys use of virtual reality touches training, product development and command and control platforms. She further reiterates that virtual reality technology and simulators are actively used to train military personnel on how to pilot aircraft or handle weaponry. Patrick Mays in his article entitled, Making Virtual Reality Real, Creating VR models takes no longer than any other computer modeling: Most of the massing of a large project can be completed in only a few days. John Briggs in his article entitled, The Promise of Virtual Reality, discusses at length the varied applications of virtual reality. It must be noted, however, that this article was written in 1996. He writes that technologys present state of advancement has been overstated. Coverage in numerous magazines and newspaper articles, on TV shows, and even in TV ads suggests that virtual reality is now fully developed. Unfortunately, this is not true Virtual reality is with us now in a very early and rudimentary form. Virtual reality is greatly used in businesses today. Many companies are able to create visualizations of the stock market. Currently, this is now being conducted in many companies, most specially the big ones. A stock broker or analyst can quickly see patterns for a market sector as a whole, as well as the activity of specific stocks and can bring in-depth information to the screen and give the broker an opportunity to rapidly buy or sell a stock. Virtual reality has also played a great role in empowering people with disabilities. In his article, Briggs reported that virtual reality is used to confirm the accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities. It is also used in teaching students how to use a wheelchair and training VIRTUAL REALITY 8 people who are intellectually compromised on how to get from one point to another using different form of transportation. In the same article, Briggs has touched on how virtual reality may be used in education and training whereby the trainees walk through a virtual factory and learn about health hazards a more engaging experience than reading a manual or attending a lecture. Likewise, through virtual reality astronomy students will be able to explore galaxies and study their properties. English students will be able to be on stage where Shakespearean plays are being presented. History students will be able to go to different historical events and would have the possibility of participating in them. These are examples of what Briggs thought on how virtual reality will affect and effect the seemingly uneventful past life of man. Briggs is therefore simply reiterating the simple fact that virtual reality is the biggest factor that will be utilized by any person as virtual reality will make things a lot easier for man to conduct his daily businesses. As virtual reality is constantly evolving, it will spice up mans life, mans living and his mere existence. As different facets of life will ultimately be immensely influenced by virtual reality, it goes without saying that virtual reality will continue to develop and be made user friendly to its end users man himself. The constant enhancements will proceed so that virtual reality and the products it produces will be of much better utility for all to avail of. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, one would clearly see that virtual reality has produced numerous technologies currently used in daily living. These have given any one for that matter a choice to make life easier or not. However, these things were not produced out of thin air, so to VIRTUAL REALITY 9 speak. There have been a lot of processes that were implemented to have the technologies that we have today. Based on what is existing, these technologies were conceptualized, altered, refined, improved, and enhanced. The fact remains that they have all been based on existing realities. Concretely speaking, before man landed on the moon in 1969, there were a lot of processes that occurred. The astronauts did not just land there per se. There were a lot of trainings conducted and one of them was the effect of weightlessness for a long period of time. Creating this atmosphere was first conceptualized and the atmosphere to produce the same scenario as it would appear on the moon itself was created. The garment they wore, the numerous pieces of equipment they used were first conceptualized, produced, tested, and refined to ensure the safety of the astronauts and to lessen the effects of many factors. These all started with virtual reality. Likewise, another example one may look at is the robots used in highly advanced countries where the robot detonates or make safe explosives that may cause harm or danger. This was also conceptualized at the beginning, produced, tested and refined to ensure its effectivity in pursuing the purpose for which it was built. What is being simply emphasized is the fact that virtual reality is based on what exists and it is not a figment of ones imagination. As such, it is real. The basis of virtual reality is reality itself. In Argumentative Logic, the argumentation would be: Virtual Reality is based on reality. Reality is what exists; what is reality. Therefore, Virtual Reality is reality; it is real. VIRTUAL REALITY 10 References: Ball, M. A. (1993, June). Virtual Worlds, Real Challenges: Papers from SRIs 1991 Conference on Virtual Reality. Information Technology and Libraries, 12(2), 291. Briggs, J. C. (1996, September). The Promise of Virtual Reality. The Futurist, 30(5), 13. Mays, P. (1998, October). Making virtual reality real. Architecture, 87(10), 162. Niiniluoto, I. M. (2012). Virtual worlds, fiction, and reality/Mundos virtuales, ficcion y realidad. Discusiones Filosoficas, 13(21), 13. Petechuk, D. (2004). Virtual Reality. In K. L. Lerner B. W. Lerner (Eds. ), The Gale Encyclopedia of Science (3rd ed. , Vol. 6, pp. 4225-4229). Detroit: Gale. Virtual Reality Gets Real. (2008, January 7). Design News, 63(1), 85. Virtual Reality. (2013). In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopediaâ„ ¢. New York: Columbia University Press.

Literature on natural disasters and climate change

Literature on natural disasters and climate change Natural disasters and global climate change Introduction The research topic is natural disasters and global climate change. Changes in climate not only affect average temperatures, but also extreme temperatures, increasing the likelihood of weather-related natural disasters. If global climate change causes the global average temperature to rise, there will be less cold weather, and a greater probability of hot and record hot weather. An increase in temperature variability will extend the extremes of temperature, both cold and hot. It is a globalization problem happened in all over the world. The global climate change and natural disasters have impacts on natural resources and the environment. The following three articles will give a more detail understanding of the natural disasters and global climate change. Article One Article: Climate change and natural disasters – integrating science and practice to protect health Authors: Rainer Sauerborn and Kristie Ebi Search Engine: Library resource Search Terms: Climate change natural disasters Reference: Sauerborn, R., Ebi, K. (2012, December 17). Climate change and natural disasters: integrating science and practice to protect health. Glob Health Action, p. Vol 5 Objectives of the authors: this article focuses on the hydro-meteorological disasters, and takes the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a start point to explore on ‘Health and Health Systems Impact of Natural Disasters’. Based on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disaster to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) and developing research to answer questions: if there are some types of extreme events become more frequent, severe, and longer in the past decades; the relative contribution of climate change to the various types of extreme events; how can the health community coordinate and cooperate with the climate and development communities to protect health during and after natural disasters (Sauerborn Ebi, 2012). And examine, to which extent climate change increase their frequency and intensity. Methods Theory: Based on the IPCC report, and review of IPCC-projections of climate-change related extreme weather events and related literature on health effects. The authors present the result that climate change is likely to increase the frequency, intensity, duration, and spatial distribution of a range of extreme weather events in the next decades. Summary of the article: In the article, authors start by clarify ‘natural disaster’ and lay out the conceptual framework. Sauerborn and Ebi state that human activities influence the frequency, intensity, duration, and spatial extent of some extreme weather and climate events, only the geophysical disasters have not been influenced by human action (Sauerborn Ebi, 2012). Authors look into the contribution of climate change to hydro-meteorological and climatological disasters and the health impacts of these events, and explore the reduction of climate change on both shorter and longer time scale. Sauerborn and Ebi also found the impacts of similar strength events in different regions have different consequences (Sauerborn Ebi, 2012). After answer the three questions above, the authors made a conclusion that there is a need for strengthened collaboration between climate scientists, the health researchers and policy-makers as well as the disaster community to jointly develo p adaptation strategies to protect human. Overall reaction: This article has a clear focus on the contribution of climate change to hydro-meteorological disaster, and gives concise information by answer some key point questions. Based on many reliable resources to explore the special volume, explain with clear tables, make the theory easily understand. Article Two Article: Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict Authors: Drago Bergholt and PÃ ¤ivi Lujala Search Engine: list of references Search Terms: climate-related natural disasters Reference: Bergholt D, Lujala P. (2012). Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict. Journal of Peace Research. 49 (1), 147-162. Objectives of the authors: In this article, authors highlight the climate change may be the most serious challenge we need faced in the future and explore the consequences of climate-induced natural disasters on economic growth with the econometric methods, authors also study on the impact of these disasters related to the onset of armed civil on economic growth by analysis the climate-related disasters affect economic growth and armed civil conflicts during the period 1980–2007(Bergholt Lujala, 2012). Methods Theory: The article begins by showing some example of natural disasters had happened, and these impacts for people and countries development. And the authors also state ‘global warming is expected to lead to an increase in both the severity and the frequency of climate-related disasters’ (Bergholt Lujala, 2012). The authors discuss the effect of climate-related disasters at the economic aspect with recent research. Then the authors present their hypotheses-‘H1: Climate-related disasters have a negative effect on economic growth; H2: negative income growth shocks caused by climate-related disasters increase the likelihood of armed civil conflict onset’ (Bergholt Lujala, 2012). Using Econometric methods with data help analysis the hypotheses, and with consideration on the variables, such as economic growth and armed civil conflict, only use the data during the period 1980-2007. The authors assess the results and found that ‘climate-related natura l disasters have a negative effect on growth and that the impact is considerable’ (Bergholt Lujala, 2012). This has two important implications: ‘if climate change increases the frequency or makes weather-related natural disasters more severe, it is an economic concern for countries susceptible to these types of hazards’ (Bergholt Lujala, 2012). Summary of the article: The article looks at climate change and natural disaster from the economic perspective, the main objective of this study is to investigate social impacts caused by different climate-related natural disasters. Discover the effects of hydro meteorological, climatological and geophysical events on economic growth in the short run. Article provides quantitative evidence of a negative causal effect on short-run economic growth form the number of people affected by climatic disasters. And prove the climate-related disasters change important factors for production and income, and reduce overall economic performance. Moreover, different from the studies of Collier Hoeffler (2004) and Miguel, Satyanath Sergenti (2004), authors found when the economic growth impact by the climatic factors, it does not systematically relate to armed civil conflict onset. Overallreaction: This article provides many data about the climate disasters and economic growth, and proves the climate-related disasters impact for the economic performance. However, after all the data collected, there is no evidence to prove the climate-related disasters lead to more armed conflicts. Article Three Chapter: Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction: Key challenges and ways forward Book: Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction: An Asian Perspective Editors: Juan M. Pulhin, Rajib Shaw and Joy Jacqueline Pereira Search Engine: database Search Terms: Climate change global natural disasters Reference: http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.lincoln.ac.nz/lib/lincoln/docDetail.action?docID=10445342 Objectives of the authors: This book introduces the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in an Asian perspective. It focuses on community-based risk management, urban environmental management, human security, water community, risk communication, climate change adaptation, climate disaster resilience and community-based practices. The book connects academic research to the real examples, strengthen the relations between the environment, disaster and the community. It also provides specific guides to the demanding academic analysis with community practices and evidences. This chapter focuses on the key challenges and ways forward of the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Methods Theory: This chapter claims that ‘Climate change is one of the major challenges confronting human society in the 21st century’ (Ericksen O’Brein, 2007; Adger, Lorenzoni, O’Brien, 2009). And with mounting evidence, without effective address, he regions sustainable development and poverty-reduction efforts would be seriously frustrate by climate change. Summary of the chapter: Climate change is one of the major challenges confronting human society in the 21st century (Ericksen O’Brein, 2007; Adger, Lorenzoni, O’Brien, 2009). Due to the climate change, many parts of Asia have been through serious natural disasters. It is also alter water shortages in many areas, which block the agricultural production, and threatening food security and energy supply from hydroelectric source. A number of issues and challenges have been identified and categorized into three general types: 1) differences in functional, spatial, and temporal scale; 2) mismatched regarding norms such as legislative, cultural, and behavioral norms; 3) knowledge mismatches. There are eight major strategies included to address the different issues and challenges: 1) integration of CCA and DRR concerns at various levels from national to local; 2) strong governance system at different levels; 3) improve information system and knowledge management; 4) apply int egrated assessment methods and tools; 5) ensure natural resources sustainability and resource rights; 6) build local resilience and reduce vulnerability; 7) advance innovative education and research and development initiatives; 8) secure adequate funding support. Overallreaction:authors analysis the key challenges and ways forward in the Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. Explain and example every single point, detail but not intricacies. Conclusion Climate change is happening, it is one of the biggest challenges to development. The human actives influence the climate change, the climate change causes natural disasters. The most common one is global warming, people always link climate change with global warming, however, global warming is not the only consequence of the climate change. From the selected articles, we can find that climate change will also increase the frequency of extreme weather events occur. From the long-term trend, it will have a local climate change in each region. Indeed, many of the world’s extreme weather happened in these years, some astronomy, as well as El Nino, ocean circulation weather these have occurred. There are also many events in New Zealand, like the strong breeze, heavy snowfall. For the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, we should prepare the most fundamental preparation, reduce the damage made by human activities. Moreover, when there are some special natural disa ster that cannot reduce or block by human behavior, we need to understand how to response the emergency.

Behaviourism And The Psychodynamic Approach Psychology Essay

Behaviourism And The Psychodynamic Approach Psychology Essay Behaviourism is mostly about observable behaviours and views how learning is through association, seen in Classical Conditioning and through behaviour reinforcement, as in Operant Conditioning (B F Skinner, 1938). The Psychodynamic Approach (Sigmund Freud, writing between the 1890s and the 1930s) views all behaviours as being controlled by thought processes of the mind. (Cardwell et al. 2004) Behaviourism primarily looks at behaviours that can be seen, and states that we are born with a mind like an empty wipe board (tabula rasa) and all of our behaviours are acquired from what goes on around us in our environment (McLeod. 2007). The following outlines two learning theories. Classical conditioning is a type of learning that occurs through association. An unconditioned stimulus results in an unconditioned response, and the theory is that the same response can be evoked by a conditioned stimulus. (Learning Theories Knowledgebase. 2012). Operant conditioning is about learning through reinforcement (positive or negative rewards and punishment) from the environment. Learning is a progressive activity that starts by rewarding behaviour that is associated to any wanted outcome (Cardwell et al. 2004). This happens quite naturally without any awareness, for example in praising children for milestone achievements like using the potty. One key research study of learning theories is classical conditioning and Ivan Pavlovs Dog experiment (1927). This involved investigating how the dogs learnt through association. The following stages were used, with the repetition of the unconditioned with the conditioned stimulus being used together. In the first stage, before conditioning, when the dogs are given the unconditioned stimulus (dog food) this results in salivation, the unconditioned response this is a natural response. In the next stage, the conditioned stimulus (the bell) was introduced with the unconditioned stimulus (dog food) and the dogs salivated, the unconditioned response. In the final stage, once the conditioned stimulus (the bell) was introduced without the dog food, the dogs still salivated, the conditioned response not a natural response for a bell being given at meal times instead of food (Atherton. 2011). Generalisation can also be seen in classical conditioning, as the conditioned stimulus, the bell in this case, could be changed to a bell with a different sound and the conditioned response would remain; although it would however weaken over a period of time, if the bell continuously changed (Gross. 1988). An example of everyday classical conditioning would be through the use of advertising. An advertisement comes on the television for a bar of chocolate which you love. This arouses a feeling of hunger and craving for some chocolate. One of psychologys most important contributions of behaviourism was the theory of classical conditioning. Behavioural therapies came about in the 1950s as a result of this and many treatments are used today for mental health; behaviour moderation; phobias, and anxiety related conditions (Cardwell et al. 2004). Positive and negative reinforcement in operant conditioning has also been extremely useful when working with children who have additional needs or autistic spectrum disorders, as it enables maladaptive behaviour to be modified or reshaped. Government guidelines implemented within policies and procedures in childcare settings, have been based around the perspectives of behaviourism (Tassoni et al. 2010). However, as the scientific experiments applied the use of animals in controlled laboratory conditions, this limits findings relevant to the real-life situations of humans, so is reductionist. Behaviourism does not take into account actions of the mind either, so psychology as a science is unable to analyse anything it cannot openly observe. (McLeod. 2007). Other arguments are that some therapies will fail once treatments stop, as in aversion therapy, and in the treatment of flooding the individual needs to be in good health and if they were to be removed from treatment too early, it would lead to further reinforcement of the phobia they went in for in the first place (Cardwell et al. 2004). .The psychodynamic approach (Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939) believes that behaviour is part of unconscious thought processes and is imbedded by our childhood experiences. Stricker and Widiger (2003) talk about layers of the mind; the conscious, imagined as the smallest part the tip of an iceberg, where all present awareness is; the preconscious, a larger part just below the water line of an iceberg, where memories and thoughts can be accessed easily by the conscious, and the unconscious, the largest part of an iceberg that is well immersed below the water, where repressed memories and inappropriate desires are held unavailable to us. Freud describes personality as being structured in to three different parts: Id, present from birth, works on instinct and the principals of pleasure; Ego, at age one three years, keeps in touch with the real world and satisfies the Id in a realistic, appropriate way; and Superego, age three six years, where our morality oversees our personality in relati on to our environment. According to Freud, another key aspect of theory is that of psychosexual development. The stages of this theory are the Oral stage, where the mouth is the first area of pleasure; the Anal stage, where the second area of pleasure is the anus this stage is important around toilet training, and the Phallic stage, where the focus of pleasure is with the genitals. This stage also encounters gender identity development and the Oedipus complex (where boys become attracted to their mothers and fearful of their fathers). If too much or too little satisfaction is received through these stages, we become obsessed and persist with the same demands during the rest of our life, resulting in neurotic behaviours (Cardwell et al. 2004). One key study by Freud (1909) was on Little Hans, the child of a friend of Freud whom he never actually met. He was five years old. He became fearful of horses to the extent that he would no longer go in to the street. White horses, that wore blinkers and had black colouring around the mouth, were feared most. As Hans was in the phallic stage of his development and therefore in the Oedipus Complex, according to Freud, the belief was that he was actually afraid of his father not the horses. This assumption was reached as Hans father wore glasses; these could be associated with the blinkers, and he also had a moustache; this could represent the black around the horses mouth. (Cardwell and Flanagan. 2004) The progression of Psychotherapy has been a substantial contribution of the psychodynamic approach, as Freuds psychoanalytical therapy, which sees mild psychiatric disorders in adults such as anxiety and eating disorders, and some depressions, as deeply hidden childhood problems. Patients are helped by creating an ideal environment in which to draw out these concerns into the conscious mind, where they can then be explored, tackled and resolved. Disadvantages of psychodynamic therapies are that treatment can be over many years and is therefore expensive and unrealistic. Therapies are not suitable for all psychological disorders, mainly just those that come under neuroses. Also, uncovering the past can cause more emotional stress than the current problem holds for the patient. Behaviourism has contributed to therapies that we still use today. One of the therapies based on classical conditioning is Systematic Desensitisation (Wolpe. 1958). This method helps with phobias and anxieties by using deep relaxation and replacing a fearful reaction with a response that is unable to exist with fear. Another therapy is Implosion and Flooding where the individuals phobic object is revealed with no reduction in anxiety and no relaxation. The purpose is that high levels of anxiety cannot be maintained for a long period of time, so start to diminish along with the realisation that nothing bad has happened to them, so the fear should dissipate. A technique called Aversion Therapy is also based on classical conditioning and is used to remove unwanted behaviours like alcoholism, smoking and drug addiction. These behaviours are associated with an unpleasant stimulus in an attempt to remove them. For instance, a cigarette may have a nausea-inducing substance which in turn pai rs the feeling of nausea with tobacco. Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy is widely used and elements of it originate from behaviourism. It looks at the individuals beliefs and rational or irrational thought patterns and then the consequences of these, if desirable or undesirable emotions come about leading to desirable or undesirable behaviour. Once these have been recognised, the therapist and the client work on the issues together. (Gross. 1987) Contributions of the psychodynamic approach include Free Association, in which the individual allows feelings, thoughts and images to free-flow, with the therapist out of sight who will interrupt occasionally to get reflections with the implications of the associations. The theory is that the internal conflict will reveal itself in the associations. Boker (1992) believes psychodynamic therapy is also helpful to patients will schizophrenia, whilst taking phenothiazines, as this medication enables them to be more available (Cardwell et al. 2004). Another contribution is Play Therapy, characterised by Sweeney and Landreth (2003) as child-centred play therapy. The therapists objective is to allow the child to release their inner disturbances by bringing out the experiences through play rather than being the victim (McMonigle. 2008). It can be seen therefore that behaviourists treat existing problems; whereas in contrast, the psychodynamic approach wants to find the route of the problem. Both of these approaches have influenced modern practices.

put it down :: essays research papers

put it down! The most hotly contested battlefield in the gender wars may not necessarily be in the bedroom. It may be the bathroom. The seat-up vs. seat-down debate rages on and some interpret this as a sign of male insensitivity and overall cloddishness. Although it doesn't rate up there with the unisex restroom in the Ally McBeal television show, the signage for the toilets at one Phoenix, Arizona advertising-public relations firm is an eye-catcher. Instead of the plain old "Men" and "Women" on the politically correct male and female door signs, the restrooms entries at Cramer-Krasselt are adorned with tasteful, nearly look-alike 3-inch square photos of a toilet. There is one difference -- one has the seat up and the other has the seat down. Is someone trying to tell us something? Come on, guys! Maybe it's time to be a little more considerate. Like paying attention to the little things. As a professional speaker, I lead seminars on personal relationships. In our discussions of "paying attention to the little things," taking the garbage out, leaving the toilet seat up and rolling the toilet paper the wrong way (among other things) seem to almost always creep into the conversation. Although we may laugh at such trivial things, the truth is, it is important to our partners to do the little things consistently. It shows them we value and respect them. Inventor, Tim Seniuk has the perfect solution to the "leaving the toilet seat up" problem. He has invented a toilet seat that goes down automatically after about two minutes. This $37 investment could save your marriage! You will never again have to worry about experiencing the "porcelain splash" in the middle of the night! ;-) Indifference is like water to a fire. The flame of love grows dim with indifference to your partner's needs. By far the most common and important way in which you can exercise your attention to your partner is by listening. Listening is an act of love. Women can often tell a man's interest in them by the length of his attention span. It is one thing to pay attention and quite another to acknowledge her request and then remember to do it more than once without having to be reminded. She is not your mother. It is unreasonable, and a breach of trust, to deny your lover's report of her feelings. When she expresses a need, it's your responsibility to do what you can to fulfil that need. put it down :: essays research papers put it down! The most hotly contested battlefield in the gender wars may not necessarily be in the bedroom. It may be the bathroom. The seat-up vs. seat-down debate rages on and some interpret this as a sign of male insensitivity and overall cloddishness. Although it doesn't rate up there with the unisex restroom in the Ally McBeal television show, the signage for the toilets at one Phoenix, Arizona advertising-public relations firm is an eye-catcher. Instead of the plain old "Men" and "Women" on the politically correct male and female door signs, the restrooms entries at Cramer-Krasselt are adorned with tasteful, nearly look-alike 3-inch square photos of a toilet. There is one difference -- one has the seat up and the other has the seat down. Is someone trying to tell us something? Come on, guys! Maybe it's time to be a little more considerate. Like paying attention to the little things. As a professional speaker, I lead seminars on personal relationships. In our discussions of "paying attention to the little things," taking the garbage out, leaving the toilet seat up and rolling the toilet paper the wrong way (among other things) seem to almost always creep into the conversation. Although we may laugh at such trivial things, the truth is, it is important to our partners to do the little things consistently. It shows them we value and respect them. Inventor, Tim Seniuk has the perfect solution to the "leaving the toilet seat up" problem. He has invented a toilet seat that goes down automatically after about two minutes. This $37 investment could save your marriage! You will never again have to worry about experiencing the "porcelain splash" in the middle of the night! ;-) Indifference is like water to a fire. The flame of love grows dim with indifference to your partner's needs. By far the most common and important way in which you can exercise your attention to your partner is by listening. Listening is an act of love. Women can often tell a man's interest in them by the length of his attention span. It is one thing to pay attention and quite another to acknowledge her request and then remember to do it more than once without having to be reminded. She is not your mother. It is unreasonable, and a breach of trust, to deny your lover's report of her feelings. When she expresses a need, it's your responsibility to do what you can to fulfil that need.

We Need Embryonic Stem Cell Research Essay -- embryos, moral issues

In 1981, Scientists found a way to extract embryonic stem cells from mouse embryos. Years later, in 1998, a method to extract stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory was discovered. The main purpose was to use the cell's ability to regenerative as a method of treating diseases. As time went by, people started to oppose the idea of using embryonic stem cell for research. So, funding that helped continue research on embryos started to decrease. This conclusion came from some people considering that embryonic stem cells research was similar to killing babies. Others thought that research on adult stem cells was less controversial than research on embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research leads to the ethical dilemma of destroying embryonic life; therefore medical communities should continue to discover medical treatments, testing drugs, and helping prevent or cure disease with these cells. There's been many discussion on when is a child alive, is it in womb or when born? A researcher in Molecular and cellular Pharmacology has mentioned that a misuse of terminology in defining stem cells has led to an understanding. She says that the word preembryo is distinguished as a handling and the treatment of that human life less than 14 days old. But cloning proves scientifically that life begins at conception-a position to which the author and most Christians philosophically already adhere (Hollowell). â€Å"An embryo is a human being that has not been born.† So there is no real preembryo- embryo distinction and that all human life begins at conception. Moral issues kick in as to whether if its ethical to use an a human life to create treatment for others. Many cultures and Christians philosophically see... ...Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. Heifetz, Aaron, Dr. "Stem Cell Technology ï ¿ ½ Delivering the Promise."  Drug Discovery World. N.p., 2011. Web. 05 Jan. 2014. Neuringer, Isabel P. "Stem Cells and Repair of Lung Injuries."  Respiratory Research. N.p., 20 July 2004. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. "NIH Stem Cell Registry."  NIH Stem Cell Registry. National Institutes of Health, 10 July 2003. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. "Public Awareness Research 2005: Stem Cells."  Public Awareness Research 2005: Stem Cells. Biotechnology Australia's Public Awareness Program, Oct. 2005. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. "Scientists and Advocates Highlight Progress in Research on Stem Cell Awareness Day."California's Stem Cell Agency. N.p., 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. "Ten Problems with Embryonic Stem Cell Research."  Ten Problems with Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Kelly Hollowell, Ph.D., Feb. 2002. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

Of Mice and Men: Journey to their American Dream Essay

Achieving the American dream is possible, but the price to get there may be more than most can handle. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck shows threw different choices of settings the difficulties of achieving such a dream. George and Lenny, long time friends since childhood have the dream of owning and working there own land. They travel from town to town looking for labor trying to save up enough money. Yet everywhere they go it seems trouble either follows or finds them. The American dream is known by most but achieved by few. Gradually over the years the American dream has become the main staple for up and coming families. Both men and woman strive to have the white picket fence in a private town, near work, and with a good school district. Though many live from paycheck to paycheck portraying as if they have the american dream when in reality its all just an illusion. Young people are greatly influenced by family, friends, and the media. At a young age many are told to go to college, get a good job, and to become successful. It is drilled into the young that owning property and making life as comfortable as possible is the way to go. So this is what we work so hard for, never stopping on our quest to achieve the almost unachievable. Lennie and George’s vision of the American dream is simply owning their very own land. Threw out the book it is implied that you are a respected member of society if you own land and stay in one place. Yet Lennie and George go from town to town working hard trying to make enough money to buy land but never actually stay in one place for enough time to actually settle in one spot and buy it. If they were to have land ownership they would have the pride and respect they always wanted. In their eyes the dream means â€Å"independence and self-sufficiancy, the freedom that comes from owning land. which in turn means enjoying the fruits of one’s own labor.†-( Johnson[->0] 140) Society plays a big role in achieving the dream. Being on the outskirts of society is hard enough along with Lennie always sturring up accidental trouble, society brands them outsiders, unusual, and not safe. Usually they are run out of town by the towns people and not given a chance to save up enough money to be able to by land let alone find land to purchase. After a few times of this happening moral goes down and the dream seems farther and farther away. The migrant life and its effects can take a toll. They searched for casual work wherever they can find it. George and Lennie are known as † seasonal or casual workers, who went from job to job in africulture, industry, or construction.†- (Johnson[->1] 100). Usually they do hard labor that pays very little and don’t stay long enough to get comfortable. This leaves them feeling unwanted and mistreated. Many of the people they work with treat them like they are inconsequential. They are only wanted to do they hard labor no one else would do. Seen to be too weak to even come close to the American dream. Curly’s wife looks at them and rudely says † they left all the weak ones here.†- (Steinbeck). Curly’s wife has some dreams of her own as well. She wished to be a Hollywood actress but can’t beome one because Curly is so protective of her and doesn’t allow her to do anything. If she wants to make her dream come true she would have to leave Curly and all that she is familiar with behind. This would be a difficult and life changing decision not to be taken lightly (â€Å"Mice†). Discrimination is shown often throughout this book, against anyone who is different. Many times they are discriminated against because of their being drifters an not of a certain social standing. Lennie is mentally handicapped and most times his curious and playful side can become dangerous. He likes to touch pretty and soft things but in doing this without thinking others become frightened and disturbed by such a large burly man approaching them and not letting go. Because of this Lennie is constantly called stupid or a fool even by George at times. George is looked at as a fool for befriending someone like that. This deprives them of the hope they need to continue to work hard and reach their goals. George expresses this when he says, â€Å"I seen the guys that go around on the †¦ ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.†(Steinbeck.17) A black man’s perspective can be much the same as a migrants. Even Curly, a black worker, wants to make it for himself but is constantly put down and disparaged because he is black and handicapped. With the mindset of being dumb, stupid and not good enough no one can move forward or accomplish anything. In the beginning and ending of the book Steinbeck uses symbolism in the largeness of the mountains compared to the smallness of George and Lennie showing the contrast between them and their dream (J.Hinds 152). Many ask the question can the American dream really be had? George is not very optimistic about starting up new in another town and in that mindset finds that the worst does happen. George is forced to kill Lennie, in this he possibly realizes this is the only way to achieve his dream of owning land even if it hurts him to do this. George had always felt a certain obligation to sticking with Lennie shown when he says, â€Å"I ain’t got no people†¦. ‘Course Lennie’s a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin’ around with a guy an’ you can’t get rid of him.† (Steinbeck 45). In this case George killing Lennie was the only way for either of them to obtain their American dream. â€Å"Of Mice and Men and The American Dream.† 123HelpMe.com. 16 May 2012 . [->0] – /Claudia-Durst-Johnson/e/B000APX61U/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1/187-0392986-1780919 [->1] – /Claudia-Durst-Johnson/e/B000APX61U/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1/187-0392986-1780919

Colonization of India Essay

The colonization of India was very slow and very subtle. Europe’s first contacts in India were made initially by the Portuguese. The Portuguese traveled there by sea and took over Indian trade and commerce. In 1492 a Papal Bull was declared, allowing the Portuguese to go to Kerala (May 18th, 1498). They went in search of spices, and Christians. Later in another voyage in 1500 it became the Portuguese mission to convert Indians as well as manipulating the spice trade. 95 years later, in 1595 the Dutch began to invade India. Now two European influences were controlling India. Both the Dutch and Portuguese had prominent influence in India but the most came from England around the year 1600. India at the time was a very powerful place due to its trading possibilities. It had very valuable spice products that many nations desired, especially the English. That is why in 1600 the British East India Trading Company was created, â€Å"After a Dutch company made tremendous profits trading with the spice islands in South-east Asia (known as the East-Indies) eighty English Merchants joined together to form the British East India Company in 1600. Timid traders compared to the Portuguese and Dutch, the English merchants concentrated on amassing wealth. â€Å" (Indian Independence, 7) The trading company was the first way the English asserted themselves in India. In 1665, they gained even more power through the gaining of Bombay (because King Charles married a Portuguese princess) In 1696 the Mughals prohibited more settlement gaining England a mass amount of money. England asserted itself in India through social power, and money. In 1773, as the company almost went bankrupt the English government took over the trading company. This basically gave the English unlimited power in India. At this time the English had great means to colonize India. The British were in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. They were continuously coming up with and producing new technologies, which greatly helped improve their economy. Factories were opened, and railroads were built, demand for English products were huge they were very much in power, coupled with a strong navy this made them very powerful. But the English knew they could not directly take over Indians even with all this power. India was valuable for their Spice production. In order to produce spices, they needed the Indian people happy and alive. The extent of what they could do was send English regiments there, and even many soldiers disagreed with the English motives this made colonization in India difficult, therefore it had to be very subtle and quiet, here is an account of English soldier in Burma, â€Å"All this was perplexing and upsetting. For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner chucked up my job and got out of it the better. The oretically-and secretly of course- I was all for the Burmese and all against the Burmese, the British. â€Å" (George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant 1) Even those on the side of England opposed England.

Kodak and Fujifilm

Kodak and Fujifilm Kodak and Fujifilm are well known companies in the households in the United States and across the world. Few people know the actual history of both companies and the competition they have been in over the years. It’s an interesting history on how both companies started and how they have developed and challenged each other over the years. George Eastman, who was the founder of Kodak, started his business career as a 14-year old boy when he had to quit school and work to support his mother and two sisters. Mr.Eastman had a gift for organization and management while his lively and inventive mind made him a successful entrepreneur by his mid-twenties. What sparked the idea of a simple camera was that his coworker suggested he make a record of his vacation to Santo Domingo. As a result, he became absorbed with photography and wanting to simplify the photography process. Eastman started Kodak in 1880 and built it on four basic principles: mass production at low co st, international distribution, extensive advertising, and a focus on the customer.Later on he added the following policies: foster growth and development through continuing research, treat employees in a fair, self-respecting way, and reinvest profits to build and extend the business. Mr. Eastman started the company by manufacturing dry plates for sale to photographers. One mishap almost shut down the company when dry plates that were sold went bad. Eastman came up with a quick solution to recall the bad plates and replace them with a good product. His quick thinking saved the company and the company’s reputation.Mr. Eastman began experiments that focused on the use of a lighter and more flexible support than glass. He began advertising to the public to look out for a new product that will prove an economical and convenient substitute for glass dry plates for outdoors and studio work. Once he started perfecting the transparent roll film and the roll holder, Eastman realized he would have to reach out to the general public and amateur photography. The Kodak camera debuted in 1888. They developed the slogan â€Å"you press the button, we do the rest. Kodak made the process of taking and developing pictures easy and accessible to nearly everyone. Kodak has led the way with a plentitude of new products and processes that makes photography simpler, more useful and enjoyable. The company Kodak has grown to be is known not only for photography but also for images used in leisure, commercial, entertainment and scientific applications. They are constantly developing technology to combine images and information which is creating the potential to greatly change how businesses and people communicate.Eastman’s goal was to make photography â€Å"as convenient as the pencil† while Kodak is continuing to expand the ways images touch people’s lives. Kodak continues to rank as a premier multinational corporation and with a brand that is recognized in nearly every country. Kodak has been involved in technological innovation throughout the motion picture industry as well as the health imaging industry, document imaging, printing and publishing, and space exploration. Mr. Eastman believed employees should have more than good wages. He believed that worker’s goodwill and loyalty contributed to the prosperity of an organization.Eastman started the â€Å"Wage Dividend† in which each employee benefited from the yearly dividend on the company stock above his or her wages. The wage dividends represented a large part of the company’s net earnings; the wage dividends were viewed as an innovation. To show even more appreciation to his employees, Eastman gave one-third of his own holdings of company stock to his employees. He also provided them with a retirement annuity, life insurance and disability benefit plans. (History of Kodak) Fujifilm was established in 1934 in Japan.Fujifilm has established itself as a leader in in the motion picture photography, videotape, audio tape and floppy disc industries. The company is also involved in still cameras, camcorders, photofinishing equipment, paper and chemicals, imaging and information products for office and medical use markets. The company first started out producing motion picture film, dry plates and photographic paper. It was hard to develop brand recognition at first partly because of the competition with Eastman Kodak. Because of this, Fujifilm focused on improving the quality of the products it developed.Since the company was focused on the quality of the products, it developed its first film product and a motion picture negative film which proved to many in Japan that Fujifilm was technically proficient in the motion-picture industry. After World War II, Fuji was able to begin exporting film and optical products to South America and Asia. The postwar boom was a great advantage to Fuji with the demands for new products to be developed. One d ownfall for Eastman Kodak but an advantage to Fuji was when Kodak agreed to let Fuji produce black and white amateur roll film during 1952 and three more black and white roll film products by 1958.The company became the number one manufacturer of consumer films in Japan. Because of the agreement with Kodak this opened doors for Fuji and they were able to make more export agreements and opened sales offices in other countries, including the United States. (Photography Type – The History of Fujifilm, Part I, 2010) Fujifilm still had to overcome two major challenges: Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm’s reputation for below-par film product. Fuji tackled the challenge of film product and developed film and paper that was compatible with the processing systems mostly used worldwide.In 1969 all of their films, photo paper and chemicals completely matched the processing systems. They saw a significant upsurge in their exports. The other challenge was going head to head with Kodak wh ich they took on full-force. When Fuji entered the US market, it introduced a cartridge-film eight-millimeter home movie system. Kodak retaliated with introducing their system which swept Fuji aside and took control of the world market. The market started to notice that Fuji’s film was faster than Kodak’s and produced warmer tones.Fuji advertised making sure amateurs and professionals knew the difference while Kodak continued to concentrate on the beginner/amateur consumers. In 1972, Fuji marketed a film in the US with their name on it. Fuji gained its first significant market share with this product. To try and stay ahead of Kodak, Fuji had to develop, manufacture and market equivalent products quickly before Kodak released new products. By 1980, Fuji was the third largest film producer and stayed competitive by increasing its prices a lot less than the other manufactures.The also took advantage of the growing consumer demand for audio and videotapes. Their early mark eting to amateur and professionals paid off since many amateurs wanted to shoot pictures with high quality film. This boosted Fuji’s status to the second largest film manufacturer. A major advantage Fuji had was researching electronic technology before Kodak. Fuji beat Kodak out for a 1984 Olympics sponsorship which was a huge breakthrough for Fuji. Fuji also took full advantage of the untapped market of disposable cameras. They sold 1. million cameras in 6 months which took them to the top as the number one global camera manufacturer in 1992. Fuji introduced the first digital camera in 1988 which was a historical moment in the camera industry. Fuji has been an innovative competitor since the start of the company. (Photography Type – The History of Fujifilm, Part II, 2010) Kodak failed to grasp the importance of the complex environmental changes that were occurring in the industry. They didn’t react fast enough to stay as the leading company in the industry and Fujifilm took advantage of that.While Kodak had the technological skills to develop products, their rigid leadership culture prevented them from adapting with the changes taking place. Kodak had the â€Å"mentality of perfect products, rather than the high-tech mindset of make it, launch it, fix it. † Fujifilm embraced the changes that were occurring in the photographic market. They diversified through acquisition and changed its business model to conquer digital photography with a commitment to innovation and new technologies. Fuji showed a technological discontinuity by developing the first digital camera.This shows they are innovative and creative in their thinking and think ahead of what is happening in the industry. (Integrated Company Analysis, 2009) One major management concept that has impacted both Fuji and Kodak are their marketing strategies. While Kodak was focused on marketing to amateur photographers, Fuji took it a step beyond and focused on amateurs and profes sionals. This has had a huge impact on both companies. Kodak is focused on positioning itself as providing user-friendly products while the quality of some of their products contradict that claim.This has kept Kodak from advancing as they should have while Fuji has seen a huge benefit from their marketing strategy. I view Fujifilm as a prospector since they think outside of the box and look at what is needed in the future. Kodak started out originally as a prospector but has turned to be a reactor. Kodak is at the point where they are developing products in response to products being released from their competitors, mainly Fujifilm. I believe that Kodak needs to look at their current situation and assess what they need to do to become more profitable again and rebuild their reputation.I can see Kodak using the retrenchment strategy for the redevelopment of the company. One action that leaves it questionable about Fujifilm’s ethical approach is when Kodak filed a complaint wit h the United States that Fuji was blocking their products from entering the Japanese market. Looking at the situation, it could be the Japanese government that had the ethical and social responsibility for these actions. The blocking of Kodak entering the Japanese market maintained the Fujifilm’s profits while it stopped potential revenue for Kodak.Even if the Japanese government would let Kodak sell its products in Japan, the Japanese citizens would most likely still purchase Fujifilm since that is the product that they recognize and are familiar with. Kodak over the years has slowed down it’s adaptation to the market condition changes. When Mr. Eastman was in charge, the business stayed ahead of the industry and adapted well. As the years have gone by that situation has changed to where Kodak reacts after changes have been made. Their reactions are to produce a product so fast that it makes inferior products, which has affected Kodak’s reputation in the indust ry.Fujifilm adapts well to the change in the market conditions. In fact, they are in the forefront of anticipating what is needed next by the consumers. One way a company should build in flexibility is to have openness. Company executives need to be open to new ideas, information sources, and roles. Typically companies stick with the routine processes and don’t consider ideas that may be suggested by people and other sources outside of the company. Some companies are not receptive to ideas that are internally suggested by their own employees either.In order to prosper and advance, company executives need to be able and willing to take ideas and suggestions into consideration. Another way to build in flexibility is the processes of decision making. Companies need to analyze how and if their decision process works. They need re-examine the assumptions that bring the decision to a given point. Executives also should refine their plans according with the brief feedback they recei ve. Companies have to be careful not to develop a competitive inertia where they are reluctant to change their current strategies because they want to keep their current processes which have been successful so far.A third way is to develop a shadow strategy task force. Companies need to analyze themselves and determine what their weaknesses are to be able to make adjustments to strengthen them. One way to look at your weaknesses is to think like your competitors and try to determine how the company can be exploited for competitive advantage. The company should have a wide range of employees on the task force to provide opinions, suggestions and information instead of the task force being only executives.Companies can learn a lot from researching Kodak and Fujifilm’s history. Their history shows how strong companies can be and the bumps in the road they encounter by not adapting to change and competition. There is definitely a lesson in what to do and what not to do as you are building your company and making it stronger throughout the years. References: 1. History of Kodak. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. kodak. com/ek/US/en/Our_Company/History_of_Kodak/Imaging-_the_basics. htm 2. Photography Type – The History of Fujifilm, Part I (2010).Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. photographytalk. com/photography-articles/1682-photography-tipthe-history-of-fujifilm-part-1 3. Photography Type – The History of Fujifilm, Part II (2010). Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. photographytalk. com/photography-articles/1686-photography-tipthe-history-of-fujifilm-part-2 4. Integrated Company Analysis – Kodak. Fall 2009. Wisconsin School of Business. Retrieved from http://business. library. wisc. edu/resources/kavajecz/09%20Fall/kodak_rep. pdf