Database Environment Paper Essay

In the business world, the use of many different types of databases is not only commonplace, but an essential part of day to day operations. A database is a structured collection of information that is stored on a computer or server that allows the data to be quickly accessed, analyzed, and allows the ability for queries to be run. The use of a database allows businesses to greatly increase efficiency accessing data and accuracy maintaining data. The Sacramento Capital Art Museum is currently in need of a database to accurately track the artwork, the name of the artist, and each piece of artworks location. Before moving any further, it is important to analyze the type of environment that you are working with. Database Environment A database environment describes all of the hardware, software, data, procedures, and personnel that you are working with. It directly relates to a projects scope and boundaries (part of the DBLC), as the boundaries are contained within the environment. Sacr amento Capital Art Museum is a relatively new museum that was established in 2012 by a group of avid art collectors living in the capital city. As a result of this, there is not any type of established database currently running inside of SCAM. While Excel databases have been used by employees on and off, there is nothing that is permanently kept on a public drive. The need to track all the artwork throughout the museum is a direct result of a piece of valuable art that was misplaced. Currently, the museum has 20 employees, each with their own work PC. There is a small server that is kept in house that stores the company’s information and is accessible by all work PC’s via a unique user login. The company is open to using any type of DBMS that will fit Database Environment Paper 3 their needs. I have chosen Microsoft Access as the DBMS for SCAM. Microsoft Access is a â€Å"tool for gathering and understanding all of your information†¦and providing a convenient way to enter, navigate, and report your data.† (Microsoft SQL and Access, 2014) We will be using a relational database for this project. A re lational database was developed in 1970 by an IBM researcher named E.F. Codd. (What are relationship databases, 2001) With a relational database, information is stored in uniform. Instead of one long, flat line of information, data is stored in tables. This allows data to be represented in columns and rows. This type of representation of data allows for quick comparisons, sort information by entity or attribute. They are referred to as relational databases because of the ability to use the relationship of other similar data to increase the speed and overall versatility of the database. Because of the type of data used for this database, a relational type would make the most sense. This DBMS will also allow for easy database maintenance. SCAM currently wants all employees to be able to access the database, while only allowing 10 of the 20 employee’s access to modify the database. Access will be given via unique personal logins and all access to the database will be monitored and logged in an attempt to deter theft. Attributes and Entities An entity is a person, place, or thing, or concept about which data can be collected. (Attributes, n.d.) An attribute describes the facts, details, or characteristics of an entity. For this project, the entities we are using are the individual pieces of artwork, the name of the artist, and the location of the artwork. The attributes that we are using are the type of art, the origin of the artist, whether it is stored or on display within the museum. Using a data modelling approach, such as the entity relationship model (ER) that was created by Peter Pin-Shan Chen, allows for the proper conceptual process to be laid out prior to the actual construction of the database. Database Environment Paper 4 Essentially, it is a database blueprint of how everything will be mapped out. During this process, you want to ensure that all the entities and attributes you wish to represent are logically and concisely laid out. Once the database is mapped out, construction of the database can begin. In the end, the database will be able to give the employees of the Sacramento Capital Art Museum immediate access to the location of every piece of art in the museums custody. The employees will be able to run queries to find out specifics about the art. For example, if they wanted to do an exhibit on Chinese art, they could run a query to find all the art that originated from China within their collection. Database Environment Paper 5 References â€Å"Microsoft SQL and Access† (2014) Retrieved from: http://www.computerhouse.com/microsoft- sql-and-access/ â€Å"What are relational databases?† (2001) Retrieved from: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question599.htm â€Å"Attributes† (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.teach- ict.com/as_a2_ict_new/ocr/AS_G061/315_database_concepts/attributes_entities/miniweb/pg3.ht

Personal and Team Effectiveness – Motivation

Personal and Team Effectiveness is a big topic and I, personally think that motivation is very important in the business world. I think it is a must to provide motivation for the workers. If the workers are more motivated to complete the task, it can increase the productivity and effectiveness of the company. This is the reason why we all want to motivate our workers to exert their best effort. Not only in the business world, is motivation everywhere.Parents always motivate their children to study hard by offering small presents. For example, I remember when I was young, my parents often rewarded me by visiting Ocean Park if I achieved good results in the exams. This worked and I was motivated to study harder and harder as I really wanted to go to Ocean Park. It is the same in the business world. If we want to motivate the employees to improve their performance, we have to give them some rewards.For example, the Incentive Compensation Program implemented in some companies has good ef fects. In this program, workers who have excellent performance can be rewarded a certain amount of bonus. Apart from bonus, I think good welfare systems, good working environment, good relationship with colleagues are ways to motivate the workers. All the above motivation we have talked about is extrinsic. It is provided by the third party, i. e. comes from outside of the individual.Besides extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is also a way to motivate the workers. This refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external source. In fact, people who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to improve their skills, and hence the performance. In my childhood, apart from my parents’ reward systems, I was also motivated by myself.I liked Mathematics so I put much effort on it and did a lot of Mathematics exercise. This was due to my own interest. In the workplace, if the w orkers enjoy the task, they will exert their best effort in order to achieve excellent. No matter it is about studies or careers, intrinsic motivation is important. To conclude, motivation is everywhere in the world. If we want to achieve better results, it is a must for us to think about what motivation can be applied. If people are more motivated, they perform much better.

Art of war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art of war - Essay Example I chose this quote because I understand the important role played by human labor in accomplishing any activity. This quote is relevant because people are the most important resource that any organization or company can have. Regardless of the nature of the organization or the type of activity being undertaken, the human resource is very important. Unfortunately, not all organizations or companies reward their people for the efforts they put in. This quote therefore helps us understand and appreciate the important role played by people in an organization or company. In the workplace setting, this quote can cause the management to come up with reward programs for their employees. In order to get the best of employees, organizations need to reward them for the work performed. Through this quote, managers can be made to understand the importance of keeping a motivated workforce as a recipe for success. For example, a company may come up with a policy of taking its employees for holiday every month as an appreciation for their efforts. Regardless of the reward programs adopted, this quote can cause senior management to rethink of how it treats its

Homeless English Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeless English - Assignment Example I based this research on homelessness on a total period of two months and the strategy chosen by me was to interview as many of the homeless people in the local park as possible in the evening time, when the park is really full of public. In an order to draw results by doing interviews, I first made myself familiar with the local homeless people. This study was based on a qualitative and observational approach, while the interview questions to be asked from the homeless participants of my study were very personal and meant to gain information about the nature of difficulties and the level of illegal activities occurring as a result of homelessness. Almost all the poor and homeless people are often found in very old apartment buildings and living with other people while not being considered as their family members. A portion of these homeless people can also be found living on the street and footpaths during the night while hanging around uselessly in the local park for spending the d ay, thus very forced on going along with the bad and bitter life. This small portion of homeless people also faces the threat of eviction continuously by the host family members with which they are forced to live and share living and as a result of which they are often found wandering in the local park in a great number. The looks of hunger, helplessness, and greed which these homeless people spare the financially stable and well-off passing by people in the hope that some of them might give them the opportunity to spend their lives in a better and decent manner simply creates a very sad and tragic atmosphere at some special spots in the park. Such particular spots are especially found full of these homeless people where some of them may even go out of control for bringing a change in their lives, like annoying the well-off park goers and irritating them very much. This observation both goes in favor and against of the highly accepted idea that majority of the homeless people think very little about bringing a good change in their lives and doing something for earning a decent living. This is because the homeless people I observed in the park liked to find a good and decent opportunity for earning a living, though some of them were also found to be very annoying and disturbing due to the amount of trouble they created for the financially stable park visitors. It is also a big reality that I found the risk of theft and crime to be fairly average in this local park, though those criminal incidents that did occur and involved theft were more often than not justly connected to these homeless people by the police forces. One very important finding by the ethnographic research made on homelessness and observing the nature of issues faced by each homeless person I interviewed during the two month period is that the health issues faced by such people often go unreported and unresolved. The risk of substance abuse is also very high among these people, which leads to ot her criminal activities like burglary, rape, and murders. The facts told by the homeless peop

Keeping a Customer Centric Approach in a Highly Competitive Sales Term Paper

Keeping a Customer Centric Approach in a Highly Competitive Sales Environment - Term Paper Example It is through the customers, that a business is facilitated to meet its objectives. Thus, the most important asset that a business can build for itself is a loyal customer base, who carries the goodwill of the business with them, and thus facilitates repeat purchase (Anand, 2010). It is against this background that any business should seek to develop the most effective and efficient customer service, while seeking to continuously improve in the methodologies and strategies of addressing customer needs. Nevertheless, there are always competing business interests that might make a business focus more on other aspects of business operation, at the expense of redeveloping its customer service, and the consequent customer experience (Bosworth & Holland, 2004). Such a move is detrimental to a business because; without enhancing the customer service and customer experience for the business organization, the chances of business failure are high. Therefore, this discussion seeks to illustrate that companies which have a highly competitive sales goals and Expectations; in this case Wells Fargo Bank, can still maintain the integrity and customer service/customer centric approach, which would facilitate the achievement of its objectives. Customer centric approach A Customer Centric Approach refers to the ability of an organization to offer a positive customer experience, immediately at the point of sale, and post- sale (Gavan, 2012). This requires that the sale strategy that is adopted by the organization be satisfactory to the customer, and even more enticing and attractive, such that it adds value to the experience of the customer when they are purchasing the product or service, and after the purchase, when the customer is actually utilizing the product or service. The essence of applying a customer centric approach is that; it offers a company the avenue through which it can differentiate itself from the other competitors who are offering similar products or services, s ince the product or service differentiation is no longer a key differentiating factor (Anand, 2010). The relevance of customer centric approach to the banking sector Wells Fargo Bank is a large financial institution, in fact ranking as the fourth largest bank in the USA (Chandler, 2006). Despite having built a formidable brand that is well known and easily identified by the customers, the competition in the financial market keeps growing by the day, owing to the emergence of new banks and other micro-finance institutions, which seeks to serve the same customer base that banks are serving. This being the case, most banks, microfinance institutions and even insurance companies are offering the same products and services. It is therefore no longer easy for banks to differentiate themselves based on the diversity of financial products or services offering, thus necessitating the need for banks to adopt the customer centric approach business strategy, which help them improve the customer services, and consequent customer experience they offer to their customers (Bosworth & Holland, 2004). This will go a long way in cementing the customer base that the bank already have, thus securing its market share, while also attracting new customers who will be enticed to enjoy the same customer service

EU Official Control of Foodstuffs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

EU Official Control of Foodstuffs - Assignment Example In this regard, the European community has laid down the regulation on the official foodstuff control system Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 on 2004, in order to ensure the objective of food safety and adopt requisite measures. These regulatory guidelines are implemented in order to overcome the drawbacks associated with the previous legislation to ensure the control in food management approaches and design common national control systems for the European zone (2Europa, 2010; EUE-Lex, 2004). Correspondingly, this study intends to address the topic related to official foodstuff controls system with a special focus on Poland. Poland is one of the rapidly growing economies, wherein it is observed that the foodstuff sector play a critical role to maximise the growth of the nation. In accordance, the report will summarise the aspects related to meat inspections abattoirs, food products, border Inspection, food emergencies and the role of government in it. Poland is one of the fastest developing nations of the EU with a population of around 38 million and a GNI of around $ 13,080 per capita. The nation is termed as one of the largest economies, located in Central Europe (The World Bank Group, 2014). The national strategic plan of Poland has been working with the motive to improve the competitive position of food industry by implementing various preventive methods in its food chain. Due alignment has also been focused by the food management authority in the EU with the already enacted regulations in the food market (International Finance Corporation, 2010). The Republic of Poland is an organisational structure incorporated of a central level, which has 16 regions, 379 districts and 2478 municipalities. The central level of the nation is equipped with the overall responsibility and authority to control animal health and their welfare, agricultural food safety and safety measures through the various channels of food supply in these nations. Both the

Income determination Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Income determination - Research Proposal Example Consequently, this topic has become attractive making many researchers to shift attention towards the same as a vital dissertation topic. Surprisingly, unearthing the variety of macroeconomic and microeconomic factors to be incorporated in the computation of income, stands erected as the major stumbling block despite the recent research benchmarked against much effort and focus peddled to weed out this phenomenon. According the research findings of Michael Sare pegged at showcasing the inevitable and direct relationship between income distribution and macroeconomic factors, (The Cross Country 1997), real depreciation for LDCs, trade improvements, higher income, growth rates, and high investment rates are the vital variables associated to regional income determination. A reciprocal relation is also looming between investment and growth-facilitating policies and enhancement of in income distribution. Public expenditures and inflation are the centerpieces as policy variables that have greater magnitudes on income distribution. Income distribution attaches so little to inflation fluctuations, price ratio of investment, external position, level of real change and changes in public consumptions. People employ a tendency to trade off between equity and growth and attaches disadvantaged economic segments as the significant beneficiaries of economic growth. According to Deininger and Squire (1996), unearths beneficial evidence linking proceeding growth to initial income disparity. Bruno, Ravallion and Squire (1996), showcased that subsequent growth is attached to preceding distributed endowments of income and assets, and that, poverty eradication impacts is more felt by LDCs as compared to developed countries based on growth processes. With respect to Milanovik (1994), sets to illustrate unique reason behind lower income inequalities in developed nations as resulting from not only significant of social choice elements such as employment and

Pharmacology question (Neostigmine) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pharmacology question (Neostigmine) - Essay Example Ach is rapidly inactivated by ChE and endplate returns to its resting potential. However, if there is prolonged depolarization induced by these drugs, there is no further generation of action potential after the initial twitch and there is loss of electrical excitability at the motor endplate. Directly acting muscle relaxant: They exert direct action on the skeletal muscle, by interfering with the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, they interfere with the excitation-contraction coupling (Bhattacharya 2003). Treatment of respiratory paralysis arising from an adverse reaction or overdose of a neuromuscular blocking agent should be by positive pressure artificial respiration with oxygen and maintenance of a patient airway until the recovery of normal respiration is assured. With the competitive blocking agents, this may be hastened by the administration of neostigmine methyl sulphate (0.5 to 2mg, intravenously) or edrophonium (10mg intravenously, repeated as required.) (Hardman 1996). Neostigmine is a quaternary ammonium compound that inhibits cholinesterase activity and thus prolongs and intensifies the physiological actions of acetylcholine. It probably also has direct effects on skeletal muscle fibres. To reverse neuromuscular blockade produced by competitive neuromuscular blockers, the usual adult dose in the UK is 50 to 70micrograms/kg given by intravenous injection over a period of 60 seconds; in the USA lower doses of 0.5 to 2mg are used. Additional neostigmine may be given until the muscle power is normal but a total of 5mg should not be exceeded. Similar doses may be used in children; the BNFC recommends a dose of 50 to 80micrograms/kg in neonates and children, to a maximum of 2.5mg in those under 12 years of age. The patient should be well ventilated until complete recovery of normal respiration is assured. To counteract any muscarinic effects in adults 0.6 to 1.2mg of atropine sulfate is given by intravenous injection with or before the dose of neostig mine; neonates and children up to 18 years of age may be given 20micrograms/kg of atropine sulfate (to a maximum of 600micrograms in those aged 1 month and over). It has been suggested that in the presence of bradycardia atropine sulfate should be given several minutes before neostigmine. Glycopyrronium bromide has been used as an alternative to atropine sulfate. Adverse effects The adverse effects of neostigmine are chiefly due to

Human Resourse Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resourse Management - Dissertation Example There is more to human resource management as compared to just dealing with people in an organization. (Dessler, 2000) These factors all combined are to be done in such a way that the best output from the employees will be realized. For a bank that has an international presence it is very much important to have good human resource practices and management. In the course of people’s existence there are many situations that call for collective efforts in the tasks that are undertaken. These situations are the primary reasons that necessitate for aspect of good human resource management. Most of these circumstances occur in the workplace among other environments. There are also other circumstances when the importance of teamwork comes into perspective. This is when different individuals each with their own ability come together for the purpose of achieving a common goal. (Jackson, 2003) This is especially important since the individuals are all endowed differently and so will con tribute for the overall good of the group. With the incorporation of effective and efficient human resource management the set objectives may as well just be achieved. In this same regard it is very much important to build good relationships between the employees and the employers. In this same connection there are some characteristics of an effective human resource management program which cannot go without mention. One of these characteristics is that there is purpose of unity which is laid out clearly to all the staff members. In this case the members understand clearly the objectives of the organization. The other characteristic is that the employees are very much conscious of the operations and requirements of the organization. In this case it will be seen that the organization will occasionally stop its operations to examine and evaluate its past performance of its employees in relation to their current performance. (Golding, 2010) Problem Statement The management of the human resource department is something that is very much critical for the proper functioning of an organization and also the achievement of its goals and objectives. (Wing, 2005). If this fact is not upheld by the organization then chances of dismal performance are very much possible since the driving force of the organization is going to be crippled. At the end of it all the ball is thrown back to the management of the organization. This is particularly in relation to whether it has the right tools that will enable it manage its workforce efficiently. Some of these questions that may be asked pertaining the human resource management program that a firm has will go a long way in pointing out some of the defects that may be there in other areas of the organization. One such area is particularly to do with the management of the organization. This is most important because at the end of it all it is the top brass of the organization that will be charged with the responsibility of making som e of the decisions which will affect the different departments in the organization key among them being that of human resource. (Davis & Goetsch, 2010) One critical observation that may come from this is the portrayal that the management does not have the requisite skills when it comes to dealing with the members of staff and the result of this is that the results that are observed are rather dismal. Aim of the Research The major aim of this project is to establish the impact which human

Graphic Design as Main Communication Medium Essay Example for Free

Graphic Design as Main Communication Medium Essay As multimedia advances to higher stages of development, the significance of graphic design continues to increase. Graphic design was once considers a visual form of art. Over time, it has come to be recognized as form of communication. Art and communication reflect and serve culture. Culture represents the political and economic structure of the society. Therefore graphic design reflects and promotes political and economic systems. This paper attempt to show that graphic design, layout design of the poster and artistic craftsmanship of typography are the main communication media that have served different cultures during different historical eras. Graphic design can be defined from many perspectives. For a layman, graphic design may simply refer to the production of printed, online, and manufactured materials that are visually appealing. Graphic design is reproduced in either large numbers or in gigantic media such as billboards so that it can get the attention of many people. Being a visual instrument of communication, it usually employs an effective combination of graphics and text in order to convey a message. Graphic design is prevalent in both the capitalists and socialist economies. The capitalist use it mainly to sell goods and services while the socialists use it to sell ideas to motivate people to agree with government policies and work for a socialist economy. Whatever the case , the of aim graphic design is to motivate people to act; the information it relays is meant to move people and not just to satisfy the usual thirst for knowledge. Some people include paintings as graphic design but Barnard in the book, Graphic Design as Communication, denies that this is incorrect. Classical paintings merely tell a story. They are being viewed only in the confines of private homes or museums. They are definitely not for popular consumption. Newark, in the book, The Gutenberg Galaxy, states that the coins found in Apollonia, Greece, which was estimated sometime in 450 BC may be considered the earliest products of graphic design. Because it was a form of currency, it was produced in large numbers. It has a prototypical logo and it was made with the use of a metal die, a technological wonder at that time. Jobling Crowley define graphic design in relation to social structures and the historical context in which such structure exists. Graphic design is shaped by certain society’s beliefs and morals. Jobling Crowley identify three factors that graphic design constitutes the following: It is produced in large numbers; It should be cheap and graphic design conveys ideas through a combination of words and images. However, Jobling Crowley argue that not all products of graphic deign are cheap. In fact, some of them are symbolic of wealth and luxury. Newark defines graphic design by focusing on its functions. Graphic design functions as a means of communication. Once the design is able to attract the attention of people, it must be able to explain its message with the minimum use of words, if any. Brand logos explain not only the product but also the quality it possesses. A graphic design becomes the identity of its subject. People begin to relate certain symbols to what they represent. For example, the elephant symbol becomes the Republican Party. These act on people’s emotions and become factors in determining how they feel the market. Knoblauch points out that communication shapes culture. Culture develops by communication and acceptable interaction by the society. In this regard, since graphic design is a medium of communication, it serves culture as well. It passes through many historical eras and different cultures. This is contrary to the common belief that it is just a product of the modern computer technology. Technology is a continuous process and so is its evolution. History has shown that human beings had begun communicating through visuals before oral communication grew. McLuhan notes that Gutenberg press is an important stage in the evolution of graphic design. Invented around 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, it made possible the mass production of literary material. Bibles were the first material to be produced. Gutenberg used a special character symbols which he developed himself to represent words and common Latin phrases. Gutenberg’s visually attractive typography and lay-out made the Bible more appealing to people, a fact that served well the cultural interests of the Holy Roman Empire . 1700s and 1800s saw further development of graphic design. This was the time that capitalism was developing at a rapid pace. Publishers were in great competition with each other.. Therefore, graphic design was highly improved. At this point came there arose contradictions between publishers and authors. Publishers used graphic design especially on the covers to make it more attractive. The authors feared that this might change the context of the book. This shows that graphic design can either enhance or destroys the context of the ext. Barchas, J. warns us not to make judgment by looking at the cover of a book since graphic design may convey anther meaning. Graphic design is developing further. The advancement of computer and information technology has made it possible for graphic arts to be blended with other media Graphic design has been used tin advertisement. Eisend advises that the advertisers have to create graphic design that effectively sells a product. The graphic design must also be able to convince the consumer to buy only the brand that it promotes. Lindstrom notes that many companies are gradually transforming the traditional billboards into audio-visual displays, which appeal to more senses other than just sight. In conclusion, graphic design can either be a factor to encourage the survival of a social system or it can destroy it to introduce a new one. Reference The given research paper

Media Representation of Violent Crimes | Race

Media Representation of Violent Crimes | Race The thesis of the paper is, the media representation of violent crimes by African Americans. It has indeed been proven that the media portrays a very negative image on violent crimes as perpetrated by black Americans and this to a large extent ÂÂ  impacts on the law, regulations, and public perceptions on the violent crimes. For instance, a violent crime such as rape has been painted as a grim reality that all of us need to be aware. This has had the effect of even influencing the way law makers perceive rape. It has eventually led to stringent laws being developed to deal with the crime by the blacks. The most notable law in the US history was the one restricting the way in which the sex offender moves through the sex offenders restrictions Act. This paper will succinctly focus on the various media perceptions about the violent crimes and especially the way the media represents violent crimes thus influencing the public perception of the same. The result of the media representation of violent crime by black Americans has been more strict measures being taken that is aimed at curbing the propagation of such crime. Previously as noted, such crimes were often silent and thus the public did not know much about the violent crimes. However, due to the media representation of such violent crimes, crimes such as assault, wife battery have now become more pronounced more than ever. It has therefore become clearly known that the violent crimes are treated with more weight as a result of increased knowledge by the public especially of the violent crimes (Lind, 2004). The media has often been faulted for propagating violence in many forms. The violence that is portrayed by the media actually encourages the vice to continue instead of helping to educate the public in order to avert future problems. It was revealed that most of the news that sells in the media and attracts much attention is news pertaining to violent crimes by the black Americans. We would often turn the volume of our television or radio sets up in order to listen to some shoot out news in which a gangster or police officer was killed or more so to listen to testimonies by witnesses in a rape or robbery case. The body of this paper shall consider the impacts of the media representation on violent crimes by the black Americans. Indeed, criminology theories are often contemporary theories and not standalone theories as perceived by most scholars (Croteau Hoynes, 2000). The theories help to explain the rationale behind what most criminology researchers put forth. In this paper, we shall explain how the media representation of violent crimes impacts on the law and generally on the US regulations in light of the classical criminology theory. Several researchers have explored the media representation of various phenomena, with very few suggesting that the media rarely imparts positive impact on the law and public perceptions on violent crimes. Furthermore, it is imperative to note that the media indeed influences different aspects of the law by painting a stern picture of the violent crimes through emphasizing on the consequences of such crimes and the reality in terms of victims that are left after the perpetration of such violent crime. We shall first begin by looking at the positive impact that the media has on its representation of violent crimes to the society at large. Firstly, it is important to note that most of the violent crimes go against the societal values and core beliefs. This has indeed made the media to point out the reality behind such violent crimes. It is often common to see the media emphasizing on the effects of such violent crimes such as rape. Sometimes, the media even uses real victims to succinctly convey the message. This has left several impacts as insinuated by several researchers. A lot of research has been done to determine the spate of media influence on the violent crimes to the society. Critics suggest that the media has made the publics perception about violent crimes by the black Americans to change. This has observably changed for the worse. Consequently, research has shown that violent crimes could be effectively be dealt with at a higher level by the law enforcement agencies. What is most important is the awareness by the general public. The media therefore plays a pertinent role in fostering this. Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2007) reveal that the picture painted by the media on violent crimes by black Americans such as rape has made the law makers to realize how serious the violent crime can affect the society. In particular, law makers have become more aware of the factors that actually lead to the propagation of violent crimes so that they may effectively pass laws that will ensure that the activities that lead to the violent crime or at least contribute to the violent crime are kept in check. For instance, rape in the media was portrayed as emanating from the activities of idle boys and the youth who apparently did not have anything to do. This in turn made the law makers to seek ways of preoccupying the youth in a more constructive manner. Therefore, the youth development projects were formed to take care of the needs of the youth. Apparently, the youth in California were found to be engaged in various activities (Greer, 2003). Some of these activities were not so construc tive as such. Therefore, the law makers formulated laws that effectively ensured that the youth were well occupied. This therefore meant that the youth could be engaged in educational as well as community activities. Consequently, the media representation of the violent crimes made it easier for the public to perceive violent crime as an emerging crime that was previously hidden under the pillow. This therefore apparently enabled crimes such as assault and domestic violence to emerge and become topical issue in the media as well as in the public forum. The result of this therefore was that the public became more aware of the effects of violent crime, specifically, domestic violence and assault as well as rape. Thus, the media has been extremely successful in exposing such crimes to the public knowledge. The public has responded by being more vigil in terms of fighting the crime through community oriented initiatives. The media in conjunction with the police bring to the attention of the public certain crimes that they would have otherwise been ignorant of. The media continues to be ardent in exposing criminal activities and syndicates. The most recent syndicate to be exposed was that of track it which apparently fleeced unsuspecting citizen of millions of dollars. Apparently some of the renowned black Americans were connected to this syndicate which was accused of defrauding the public of their innocently earned money. This way, the media ensures that unscrupulous business entities are busted and their licenses ceased. Lind (2004) suggests that the spate of crime by the Black American is on the rise and if nothing is done to address the root cause, then it is likely that this could escalate beyond repair. The society at large subsequently instigated steps that were meant to curb the growing trends in the violent crimes. The trends of such violent crimes can thus be monitored and steps taken by the law makers and the public to mitigate it. This has therefore had the positive effect of reducing the incidences of violent crime within the society setting. Stenson and Sullivan (2001) insinuate that the media alert on violent crime has helped the public to specifically improve their response to such crimes thus reducing the occurrences of such crimes. In particular, the public has become more receptive in helping the police to monitor such kinds of crime through the community oriented policing modules. In her book, Lind (2004) reveals that the media indeed portrays race as a contributory factor towards the violence as seen in most of the scenes of violence. The black Americans are particularly faulted for being boisterous in terms of their propensity to propagate violent crimes. In the United States, nearly half of those individuals who are incarcerated are black Americans. This indicates a worrying trend that must be mitigated. The media also revealed that the state of Texas had been coarsely affected by the increase in the number of inmates who had been incarcerated by the federal government. The federal government on the other hand has the relevant statistics necessary to formulate the necessary measures aimed at averting the vice of violent crimes. Media is the mouthpiece of the society. The society has come to believe the media in most of the aspects pertaining to the society in general. Therefore, it is the onus of the media to ensure that they consistently inform the public of the various happening and to subsequently effectively warn the public of a growing trend. The public is therefore receptive of such happenings that will affect its perceptions as propagated by the media. More often, the media simply According to Davies, Francis and Greer (2007), crime occurs where the benefits outweigh the costs. This is the definition of the classical theory of criminology. The classical theory of criminology therefore goes ahead to state that when people are after self interest, with the lack of presence of punishment that is tangible or even intangible, crime occurs. Therefore what this means is that the violent crime occurs as a result of lack of knowledge by the general public. This also means that the media serves as an important vessel in mitigating crime by the blacks through effectively monitoring crime prevalence. Media has been very successful due to its ability to reach multitudes of people at the same time thus ensuring that information is conveyed to masses. The law makers also serve to formulate laws that ensure violent crime by black Americans is kept in check (Miller, 2003). This could not be possible without the contribution of the media in highlighting the areas of violent cri me that the law makers need to focus on. Moreover, this will have a ripple effect in ensuring that the violent crime does not continue and is effectively put under check. The classical theory also states that crime, and violent crime for that matter is a free will and upon an individuals choice. The people who propagate crime are therefore people of sane mind, body and spirit. Therefore, what this means is that violent crime by the black Americans has indeed been a matter of choice. According to Muncie and Wilson (2004) issues regarding choice can only be eliminated through publicity and increasing awareness. This as earlier mentioned can best be done by the media. The media has for ages painted a grim picture of violent crime and been against it in totality. This has therefore meant that the violent crime incidences have been shunned by the society in general and thus led to a decline in cases involving violent crime. On the other hand, the media has negative impact in terms of the image that it paints in relation to the violent crime on the society as well as the impacts that it has had on the laws and regulations. Greer (2003) notes that the media has overblown the issue of violent crime beyond proportion thus making it difficult for the determination of the true magnitude of the violent crime and the extent to which it should be shunned The consequences of this have been thorough in terms of influencing the way law makers perceive violent crime. It is also true according to the classical theory of criminology that the violent crime by black Americans is the brain child of a society that lacks direction. This is indeed a wakeup call for the law makers and the relevant administrators to take up the challenge and rise up to the occasion as pertains to ensuring that the perpetrators of violent crime are dealt with. Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2007) concur by suggesting further that the law makers have accorded strict punishment to some of the violent crimes such as assault thus putting the perpetrators who may have acted under self defense to thorough capital punishment. Similarly, the law makers have been very mean in terms of passing amendments meant to reduce the punishment accorded to the perpetrators. Critics suggest that the best form of punishment that would be suitable for the perpetrators of violent crimes would be serving several years behind bars and then community service for a couple of years (Davies, Francis Greer, 2007). The media representation of violent crime by blacks Americans has therefore left very stern action taken by the law makers. Furthermore, the public at large have been left with a very bad perception. Greer (2003) suggests that the public now view most of the violent crimes by the black Americans as gross. This has made the public to take very stern action while dealing with the perpetrators of such violent crime such as rape. The public has therefore become autonomous in terms of judging a person suspected to have perpetrated the violent crime and subsequently played the part of the court or judicial system. This has made the public to take law into their own hands and set ablaze or even brutally killed the perpetrators. The classical theory of criminology further supports the fact that violent crime is caused by an individuals volition. This volition should be turned for the good of the individual through encouraging good behavior within the community and thus effectively rehabilitating a violent crimes perpetrator. Stenson and Sullivan (2001) suggest that the media has effectively denied the perpetrators of violent crime the chance to change and be part of the society. This theory further supports a no-crime environment through solving crime from its roots. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies will have a very smooth ride due to the implementation of these theories. The other important negative impact of the media representation of violent crime by the black Americans has been that individual especially the teenagers who are apparently below the age of majority have been exposed to violence at a tender age. The media has therefore succeeded in changing the perception of such age groups of violent crimes since they view this as a normal happening and therefore they grow up knowing that violent crime by the black Americans is part of the society. Muncie and Wilson (2004) suggests that it is usually very difficult to change such perception. In fact, the teenagers perception of violent crimes by the black Americans is so grim such that some of them even aspire to perform the same acts that the media condemns. Too much exposure to violent scenes is not good for the development of the teenagers. Recently, there has been a huge outcry on how the media portrays violent crimes by the black Americans without discretion to the populace. It is important to note that the populace consists of diverse ages. It is ethically wrong at least according to Greer (2003) from the media to show violent crimes to the youth. It can therefore be concluded that the classical theory is indeed the most effective in explaining the media representation of violent crime by the black Americans and advancing the ways that we can deal with such perception and representation to develop more positive laws and regulation as pertains to curbing the incidences of violent crimes. Therefore, the media has been more beneficial more than detrimental to the general public through the various sensitization programs that it advocates for in totality. Crime rates by the black Americans have been effectively reduced due to the proactive nature of the media towards informing the public and the police together with other law enforcement agencies of the impending violent crimes and their consequences.

John Websters Play The Duchess of Malfi Essay -- Webster Duchess Malf

John Webster's Play The Duchess of Malfi In the opening of The Duchess of Malfi takes place between Delio and Antonio, a steward of the Duchess and his friend. Webster makes his audience aware that Antonio has journeyed outside Malfi, to France. The words "France, Frenchman, French" all appear within the first four lines of the text, a blunt indicator to ensure that the audience, however inattentive, grasps the point that Antonio has been absent from Malfi. He supports this point by referring to the timespan since Antonio last saw Delio, "You have been long in France." The word "long" suggests that a considerable time has passed since he was last resident in Malfi. Equally, Delio's description of Antonio, as a "very formal frenchman in habit" infers that Antonio had been in France for long enough to adopt French fashions, rather than his native Italian dress. Altogether, Webster, in the opening burst sets up Antonio as a stranger to Malfi, but an adopted resident of the French court. Thus, when Delio asks the open ended-question the audience appreciate Antonio speaks from experience built from a lengthy duration in France: "How do you like the French court?" Webster's question does not ask a specific question, rather it demands a lengthy reply. Antonio's response is not the view of an outsider whose short stay failed to unearth negative aspects of the foreign reign. Instead he speaks from fact due to the time he spent in France. The reply is informative, as expected from a character who is cast as a "formal frenchman" with a straightforward answer then an extended explanation. Antonio "admires" the French system, which he sets up as the benchmark from which the audience must view the court of Mal... ...tonio's admiration of the uncorrupt French court. Equally, where Antonio favours the French court, he also favours the Duchess, then gives a list of the reasons for doing so. It is therefore assumed that they are the "silver drops" in the corrupt state, set to contrast against the corruption of the brothers. The final two characters of the act I feel are dramatic constructs. Delio is used by the writer in this scene so that Antonio can speak candidly about France. By speaking to a friend, the audience value his comment more than were it to be made in public to a group of people. Delio is also used later in the act to hold the plot together, when Antonio points out the duke and describes him as a scoundrel. "This is the Duke of Calabriaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The devils speak (in him)." Bosola is crafted in a similar way. The authorial mouthpiece of Antonio cannot intensely

Background Information on the Hospitality Industry :: Food and Hospitality Industry Essays

Background Information on the Hospitality Industry The Food and Hospitality Industry has become one of the biggest employers in our state. It now has attained a much higher status in society and demands high standards of work from its employees. Employment opportunities are many, but eagerly sought by a vast majority of people. For this reason as in any other established business, interviews are conducted. Through these interviews, the interviewer looks for personal qualities and interpersonal skills in a prospective employee to fulfill the job requirements. One of the most important things that an employer looks for are personal qualities. These consist of: a keen attitude, a friendly disposition, neat appearance, a willingness to work, confidence, cleanliness, personal hygiene, deportment (efficient) and honesty, among the many others. Interpersonal skills basically include the ability to interact with people and using initiative to deal with problems which may arise if the customer is not satisfied. If interpersonal and personal skills are exercised then they will greatly contribute to a happy and successfully working environment. This can be accomplished by remembering to keep in mind the fundamental aspect of any catering establishment which is to "Always acknowledge that the customers are the most important people in the business, and nothing is more important than serving them." - An introduction to catering. Due to the fact that a large amount of job satisfaction can be found in the food and hospitality industry, jobs are very often sought after. Many who wish to enter the industry usually do so by gaining a apprenticeship . Apprenticeships in the hospitality industry usually last between 2.5 years to 4 years. These apprenticeships mainly consist of ‘on the job training’, combined with full time practical work experience, along with future training at TAFE. Apprenticeships are usually categorized into : bread making and baking, butchering and small goods making, cooking , pastry cooking and waiting. To gain a apprenticeship today in South Australia a person needs to be at least 15 years old. Also the applicant is required to have at least reached year 10, and to have a good grounding in basic mathematics. Apprenticeships are administered by the state government and before applying for one it is recommended that one registers their interest with a job centre. When a employer takes on a apprentice, there is a probationary period of three months before the contract is signed, this ensures that the employer will permit the apprentice to take time off to attend classes. Many people belief that apprenticeships and traineeships are the same, however the two do differ some what, for example: The Federal Government have administed traineeships, which last for a minimum of a year, and consists of 13

The Ultimate Sin Exposed in Geothes Faust Essay -- Geothe Faust

Geothe's Faust is similar in many ways to both Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost. The obvious similarity is how each work relates to evil or Hell. Other similarities include how the villains of two of these epics are the most likable characters, and the use of classical and Christian mythology in each poem. Faust deals with evil when he makes a deal with Mephistopheles, or Satan. This deal is that Mephistopheles will give Faust whatever he wants in return for his (Faust's) soul. Inferno is a journey through Hell. Dante is being lead by his guide, Virgil, through the icy parts of Hell, to the center of the earth, while he climbs up Satan's legs into Heaven. Paradise Lost is about how Satan is newly cast out of Heaven and just getting used to his surroundings, which is a more traditional furnace-like Hell unlike the one in Inferno.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mephistopheles, who is supposedly Satan, in Faust, and the Satan portrayed in Paradise Lost are the most likable characters in these plays. Faust seems like more of a villain than Mephistopheles, which is very ironic. Satan is made out to be an evil, manipulating demon, but Mephistopheles is not really like that. He does manipulate Faust in some ways, like with the contract of Faust selling his soul, but Mephistopheles has little more power than a regular person. Also, in the beginning of the play, when he talks to The Lord, he doesn't act serious at all. He actually tells The Lord that he likes Sunday's because of the "peace and quiet". In Paradise Lost, Satan makes God look more evil than (Satan) himself. Satan implies that God is some kind of slave driver, and that it would be "better to reign in Hell then serve in Heaven". They are considered the more likable characters becau... ...your willingness to ask for forgiveness) and deeds you have done. He also uses symbolism through characters in the work to express the nature of man. He implies that man has the power to know the difference and choose between good and evil but because man is imperfect he is bound to makes mistakes. He implies that since the ultimate sin is placing yourself on a level equal to God, pious persons who judge other people, thinking that they are higher than them are placing themselves dangerously close to being equal with God in their assumption they have the power to judge people. This shows hypocrisy because these people believe that they are following God exactly but in effect they are taking it too far and committing one of the worst sins you can commit. Geothe seems to imply all of these things and more based on your personal interpretation of the work.   

Ptlls Unit1.1

Level 3 – 1. 1Â  Summarise key aspects of legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice relating to own role and responsibilities As a tutor in the lifelong sector I have a responsibility to myself my peers and my students to keep up to date with current legislations and codes of practice. In the first aid industry guidelines are changing every year as more information and research is being done, I need to keep up to date with the resuscitation council guidelines and the HSE first aid regulations 1981 and Ofqual.I also need to keep up to date my own First Aid at Work certificate. I can’t teach any subject that I am not thoroughly trained in and I must make sure my students understand the subject and are fully competent before I sign them off. When I am running a first aid course I need to take in to account Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003). covering the reproduction and use of course materials, the first aid at work act 1974 in which I have a responsibility to employees (my course assessor) My students and any visitors.As I am travelling to different venues I need to carry out risk assessments for each area, familiarise myself with the building and facilities from building lay out and emergency exits to trip hazards and room temperature. The equality act 2006 recognises inclusiveness by respecting the right of learners to attend and participate no matter what their gender, religion, race, disability, sexual orientation or age so my courses must be open to all and tailored to suit their needs which in turn also covers the disability discrimination act 1995, the sex discrimination act 1975 the race relations amendment act 2000.I need to pay my assessors the same fee and treat them the same taking in to account the equal pay act 1970 the human rights act. I need to make sure I keep all of my students records locked up in a safe and secure place to comply with Data Protection Act 1998. regulating the storage and use of information. I also have to abide by the IFL code of practice as an affiliate member and PFE First Aid Instructors code of practice.

Dell E Marketing

Dell Enhances Online Marketing Capabilities and Improves Site Performance with Commerce Server 2000 Published: September 2001 To improve performance and enable complex online marketing campaigns, Dell upgraded its online commerce platform from Microsoft Site Server 3. 0 Commerce Edition to Commerce Server 2000. The flexible component-based architecture and extensive prebuilt functionality in Commerce Server enabled Dell to implement its new campaign capabilities in just six weeks of development time. The comprehensive campaign management system integrates with Dell’s existing customer relationship management (CRM) system, moving the company much closer to its goal of a true closed-loop online marketing environment. Company Overview Dell Computer Corporation is the world’s leading direct computer system provider, with the company’s award-winning customer service, industry-leading growth, and superior financial performance continuing to differentiate Dell from its competitors. At the heart of this success is Dell’s direct-to-customer business model, enabling the company to maximize its ability to meet customer expectations while avoiding the unnecessary time and costs associated with retailers or other resellers. To Dell, the Internet is the purest and most efficient form of the direct model, providing greater convenience and efficiency to customers and, in turn, to Dell. To Dell, â€Å"direct† refers to the company’s relationships with its customers, from home PC users to the world’s largest corporations. Approximately one-third of Dell’s U. S. 28 billion in annual revenues is achieved through the company’s Home and Small Business (HSB) Division, with the remainder generated from sales to medium and large businesses and institutional customers. HSB also maintains ownership of Dell’s online accessories store, which offers users a complete selection of nearly 30,000 competitively priced software and periphera l products from leading manufacturers, carefully selected to complement Dell’s systems. Business Challenge As a premier system provider to many other e-commerce companies, Dell strongly believes in using the products it recommends and sells. Toward this end, Dell traditionally has relied on Microsoft Site Server 3. 0 Commerce Edition (SSCE) to provide significant portions of the e-commerce functionality needed for Dell’s complex Web site. â€Å"Site Server 3. 0 provided great shopping cart and checkout functionality along with other benefits, but we were still looking for ways to improve performance and get closer to our customers,† says Gregg Hansen, Development Manager for Dell HSB. â€Å"Specifically, we wanted the ability to implement campaigns and use coupons. This presented challenges due to the heterogeneous environment we had in place, with commerce functionality provided by SSCE, customer data residing in a third-party CRM solution, and a mixed bag of applications used to mine the data. † Solution To improve performance and facilitate complex online marketing campaigns, Dell decided to upgrade from Microsoft Site Server to Commerce Server 2000. The company took a phased approach, first upgrading to Commerce Server to achieve greater performance and stability, followed by implementation of the new functionality it provided that would improve the company’s e-marketing capabilities. The ‘componentized’ nature of Commerce Server 2000 allowed us to easily break the project into phases,† says Hansen. â€Å"Phase one consisted of upgrading the platform before the holiday lockdown, with phase two focused on implementing the new functionality provided by Commerce Server 2000 to improve our campaign capabilities. † Phase 1: Greater Performance and Stability; Enhanced Management Capabilities After phase one, consisting primarily of the platform upgrade from Site Server to Commerce Server 2000, Dell saw significant performance improvements in the areas of shopping cart management and user checkout. We took advantage of the improved Commerce Server 2000 platform to increase performance by up to 100 percent in some areas,† says Hansen. â€Å"While our upgrade to Windows 2000 last year resulted in much better stability and performance, migrating from SSCE to Commerce Server 2000 has led to additional improvements in these areas—something I attribute to the elimination of memory leaks and better use of the platform’s core objects. As a result, the servers no longer require the amount of attention that they used to. † The platform upgrade also provided Dell with significant benefits in the area of system administration and management. The new management functionali ty in Commerce Server 2000 has enabled us to move away from a server-by-server management environment to a more centralized one,† says Hansen. â€Å"The Microsoft Management Console snap-ins for Commerce Server 2000 make it easier to manage the large numbers of servers we employ and to bring new boxes online as we continue to grow. † Phase 2: Comprehensive Campaign Management In phase two of the project, Dell took advantage of the extensive new prebuilt functionality in Commerce Server 2000 to enable targeted marketing campaigns. Using the new components in  Commerce Server 2000, we were able to implement the functionality needed to build the concept of a campaign, tie it to a discount, and enforce it—all with just six weeks’ development time,† says Hansen. â€Å"Had we tried to do it on our own and build this functionality from scratch, it would have taken six months. † As part of this effort, Dell created a custom Commerce Server 2000 Busi ness Process Pipeline (BPP) component to handle coupons created for each campaign. â€Å"The BPP provides a great framework for modeling and implementing commerce processes,† says Hansen. Its plug-in architecture makes it highly flexible and extensible, enabling us to achieve the overall functionality we need by combining out-of-the-box pipeline components with others that are either internally developed or purchased from a third party. Pipeline performance has also been greatly increased over the previous version, resulting in better than 100 percent increases in some areas. † To allow business users to easily implement campaigns, Dell uses the Commerce Server 2000 Business Desk. â€Å"The Business Desk enables our business managers to create complex campaigns without having to involve development staff,† says Hansen. We created extensions to the Business Desk that enable users to interact with our third-party CRM system to import lists of customers for a campai gn. They can use the expression builder to define the campaign rules and create the coupons, which are then passed back to the CRM system for the e-mail campaign. When these customers are driven to the site, the new Commerce Server 2000 functionality we’ve implemented tracks the users, enforces the campaign rules, and calculates the appropriate discounts. † Moving Forward with Commerce Server 2000 With Dell’s new campaign management system now in production, Hansen is looking at other Commerce Server 2000 features to further enhance the company’s online marketing capabilities. â€Å"We’re looking at the Commerce Server 2000 Targeting System to make product recommendations based on real-time customer behavior, which should significantly improve our ability to cross-sell additional items,† says Hansen. â€Å"We’re also looking at taking advantage of new features in the Business Process Pipeline, such as its ability to support multiple ship-to locations. Why Dell Chose Commerce Server 2000 Dell selected Microsoft Commerce Server 2000 because it provided extensive out-of-the-box functionality that easily could be integrated into the existing complex environment. â€Å"We looked at  several other products, but Commerce Server 2000 was the easiest to extend and get into production,† says Hansen. â€Å"The greatest benefits provided by Co mmerce Server 2000 are its extensive out-of-the-box functionality combined with a flexible component-based architecture that  can be easily extended. With just six weeks of development, we were able to customize and integrate its prebuilt functionality into our existing environment, resulting in better performance, improved stability, and extensive new campaign management capabilities. † For More Information For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Resource Centre at (800) 563-9048. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to www. microsoft. com. For more information about Dell products and services, visit the Web site at www. dell. com. For more information on Dell/Microsoft solutions, please visit www. dell. com/microsoft.  © 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR  IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, the . NET logo, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. ———————– Solution Overview Profile Dell Computer Corporation, headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, near Austin, is the world's leading direct computer system company and a premier supplier of technology for the Internet infrastructure. Scenario Business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce Microsoft Technologies/Products Used Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000 Advanced Server oo ? Business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce ? Microsoft Technologies/Products Used ? Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000 Advanced Server operating system with Internet Information Services version 5. 0 Microsoft Commerce Server 2000 Microsoft SQL Serverâ„ ¢ 2000 Benefits By upgrading to Commerce Server 2000, Dell was able to improve performance in some areas by up  to 100 percent. The flexible, component-based architecture of Commerce Server enabled Dell to use only the functionality the company needed and made it easy to extend the product where needed to meet the company’s specific business needs. The greatest benefits provided by Commerce Server 2000 are its extensive out-of-the-box functionality combined with a flexible component-based architecture that can be easily extended. With just six weeks of development, we were able to customize and integrate its prebuilt functionality into our existing environment, resulting in better performance, improved stability, and extensive new campaign management capabilities. † Gregg Hansen Development Manager Dell HSB Microsoft Commerce Server 2000 Customer Solution Using the new components in Commerce Server 2000, we were able to implement functionality to build the concept of a campaign, tie it  to a discount, and enforce it—all with just six weeks’ development time. Had we tried to do it on our own and build this functionality from scratch, it would have taken six months. † Gregg Hansen Development Manager Dell HSB [pic] The . NET Enterprise Servers are Microsoft’s comprehensive family of server applications for building, deploying, and managing next-generation, integrated Web experiences that move beyond today’s world of stand-alone Web sites. Designed with mission-critical performance in  mind, the . NET Enterprise Servers provide fast time-to-market as well as scalability, reliability, and manageability for the global, Web-enabled enterprise. They have been built from the ground up for interoperability using open Web standards such as the Extensible Markup Language (XML). The . NET Enterprise Servers are a key part of Microsoft’s broader . NET strategy, which will enable a distributed computing model for the Internet based on Internet protocols and standards in order to revolutionize the way computers talk to one another on our behalf.

Evaluate how school policies and procedures may be developed and communicated

In my setting policies and procedures are developed and communicated on an ongoing basis. Various teachers are responsible for individual policies based on their experience, training and knowledge. Each individual policy is available in the school office for reference via hard paper copy or electronically.If an issue arises that needs discussion which is not addressed by the school’s policies, a meeting will be scheduled were all interested parties will attend. At this meeting each attendee contributes ideas and initially a draft policy will hopefully be agreed. This draft policy will then be presented by the head teacher to the board of governors for their approval. If it is approved and falls within the domain of the national curriculum the new policy will have to be trained out to all the relevant staff and perhaps even parents and children.At my setting policies are monitored on an ongoing basis and are updated where necessary. Sometimes the local education authority may r equire a new policy to be introduced to the school. Again all existing staff may require training to ensure the new policy is communicated and implemented satisfactorily which may involve communication with others such as children, parents or other professional bodies. In my setting policies are communicated in a number ways.It can be written, for example classroom rules may be displayed on a poster and hung in a high profile area of the room. It can be verbal, for example the principal may present at the school assembly a topic of concern and what the school policy is for this concern. Letters and e mail, for example these can be posted to parents informing them of any new or change to current policy. This is often used when a written signed confirmation note is required back from the parents.To conclude the best way to inform all of school policy would be a one to one meeting between the head teacher and the relevant people. Unfortunately this would be highly impractical due to th e additional workload required and the time factor involved. Where the head teacher feels it would be of benefit to do a mass presentation to parents this is highly appropriate on a couple of occasions throughout the school year to gain parents attention but is important not to overdo it.

Bumbum

Great Floods have been a topic of many myths throughout time. These stories are mostly about gods or higher powers trying to wipe out or cleanse the population. Some of these myths Include; Endue Genesis, Thralls Epic, Galoshes, and many more. The Ruler Genesis Is the earliest flood myth. It t†¦ Prematurely Words Pages Noah and the Great Flood The story of Noah and the Great Flood is sometimes questioned of whether or not it of God, Noah was able to accomplish this task and this event really did occur.Others, who take some of the stories from the Bible†¦ Premiums Words Pages Evidence for the Great Flood A flood generally causes a rather large amount of land to end up underwater. The Great Flood was no different, it caused almost all the land in the world to go underwater. Did the Flood?as recorded in Genesis chapters 6-8?really happen? Was there a humongous amount of water that completely reader†¦ Premiums Words Pages The Great Flood The Great flood is a historical eve nt that may have happened before O BC, this was an vent that flooded the whole world which have possibly wiped out human and plant existence.There are several different evidence that suggest the happening of the Great flood which include the several geological SSH†¦ Premium Words Pages The Impact of the Great Flood to the Thai Entrepreneur The impact of the great flood to the that entrepreneur Nowadays, Thailand has just been seriously the great flood and then lots of people face a problem with this situation. Thus, this situation have many problem become to economic crisis. Many hat entrepreneur is the most one has†¦Premium Words Pages Triassic: Account of the Great Flood Triassic: Account of the Great Flood The relationship between gods and humanity in Trashier: The Account of The Great Flood seems to carry great irresponsibility. Most of the gods display the weak characteristics of humans. They whine about work, constantly complain, selfishly create humans and t†¦ Premiums 210 Words Pages The Great Flood (The Taunting) The Great Flood Taunting Setting Where does the story take place? Describe the setting of the story.Characters Describe Opinion-Total physically and as to how the narrator describes him. What is his title? How does he serve his people? How does he feel in the opening of the story?†¦ Premium Words Pages The Great Flood of Metro Manila Saturday, September 26, it is way beyond words what Metro Manila has gone through in the hands of the recent storm, Sestina. With the unusual amount of rain that Sestina brought, it flooded where it never flooded before. Water seeped into houses and in a matter of minutes, reached 30 feet.

Critically Review the Blossoming Garden Centre case study Essay

Critically Review the Blossoming Garden Centre case study - Essay Example This has called for the emphasis on training and development of the workforce too. Consequently organizations have been observed to be making huge investments in conducting training needs analysis, developing training modules, and delivering the same to its human capital. Organizations constantly creating new knowledge and imparting the same through effective training and development to employees are seen to be providing better services and products to customers than others. Constant learning and development has become the key for success of the organizations (Vemic, 2007, p.1). This project seeks to bring forth the present HR conditions in Blossoming Garden City. For this purpose it conducts an evaluation of the organizations’ learning and development issues in the organization. The first issue which is observed is that the organization easily finds staff for itself but lacks the desirable skills or the willingness of these staff to get hands on experience with customers. The organization primarily faces difficulty in finding executives at the management and supervisory level. It is also expected that restructuring the management responsibility would be a difficult issue when Gordon would retire, who has been the Managing Director of the company since 1985. Moreover the nature of the business reveals that staffs need to be in constant touch with customers. This demands the right kind of customer skills which in turn demands adequate training on the skills. Training is considered to be an ongoing process in the organization, however, inadequacy of a formal training structure has been observed. Identification of Needs The report focuses on the learning cycle presented by Kolb, in terms of identifying the training needs, planning, delivering and evaluating the elements of learning and development. According to Kolb, every individual needs and responds to the stimulus of various types of learning styles to certain extent or the other. Depending on the best learning styles that fit the employees’ organizations set their learning strategies and preferences (Harrison, 2005, p.83). The following diagram provides Kolb’s learning cycle (Please refer Appendix 1). Researchers and practitioners have realized the requirement for training needs analysis as being an integral part of the organizations. In order to utilize resources successfully, it is important for organizations to determine the exact scope, location and magnitude of the training needs. Researchers have highlighted on the fact that there exists no justification of investments in training programs if it does not end up enhancing or improving the efficiency of the workforce of the organization (Moore & Dutton, 1978). Training needs analysis accounts for the very first step in the cyclical process of the overall education and training strategy staffs in organizations. According to the views of Gould, Kelly & White & Chidgey, (2003), training needs analysis begins with t he systematic consultation of identification of learning needs of the staff which is consecutively followed by the program planning, delivery and evaluation of the training programs. Research was conducted on micro and macro level organization for evaluating their training needs and assessments. It was revealed that in spite of their limited and small scope, the micro level organiza

Management Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Management Decision Making - Essay Example Unfortunately, many of the other employees don’t feel the same. Some have even threatened to resign if the management doesn’t do something about Jack. Roger is concerned that production might be affected either way. Serious consequences can occur if he releases Jack and the same might be true if he retains him at work. The opportunity cost seems the same either way. Roger is concerned that they will lose a valuable member of the team if he releases or transfers Jack, but he is also concerned that they will lose quantity and be piled with workloads if Jack is allowed to stay without any change in his attitude towards work and other people. Although coaching has helped with the frequency of his complaints, there are still others who complain about him. The situation can be summarized as thus: â€Å"Coming to a decision of what to do with Jack such that it will come to a win-win situation for Jack, the company, and the other employees.† This can be viewed as follows. A parent is desperately looking for a way to reconcile her two children. They fight most of the time about seemingly unimportant matters. The older one often complains that the younger child seems to be wasting too much time playing with his toys rather than helping with the chores at home. The parent does understand the older child’s concern. There is work to be done at home and an extra pair of hands can definitely help. However, she also noticed that the younger child seems to have a talent for storytelling and she wants him to develop it. Obviously, the parent cannot choose between her two children that easily, nor can she simply let go of one of them. But there must be reconciliation if there is to be peace within the household. The plan is to bring the two into some sort of agreement so that there will be no more arguments. A win-win situation is also necessary, not simply preferred, because the parent cannot lose any of her two children. In this case, both

Aerobic Respiration of germinating and non-germinating peas Lab Report

Aerobic Respiration of germinating and non-germinating peas - Lab Report Example It entailed the use of 25 germinating seeds and 25 non-germinating seeds of peas. The non-germinating seeds were used as a control experiment in the study. Its aim was to prove that respiration is a major process in the germination of seeds with CO2 as its byproduct. 25 germinating peas were obtained and dried between two pieces of paper towel. A thermometer was used to measure room temperature which was recorded in table1. The germinating peas were placed in the respiration chamber and a shaft of CO2 gas sensor placed in the opening of the chamber. After one minute carbon dioxide concentration was measured continuously for 5 minutes and results recorded. After 5 minutes, the CO2 gas sensor was removed and the peas placed in a 100 ml beaker full of cold water and an ice cube. Air was then channeled into the CO2 gas sensor for one minute through the probe shaft openings. The respiration chamber was then filled with water then emptied and dried thoroughly on the inside with a paper towel. The rate of respiration was then determined by moving the mouse pointer to the point where data values began to increase. The mouse pointer was then drugged with the left mouse button held down to the end of the data then released. The linear fit button was then clicked to perform a linear regression. The slope of the line was then recorded in table 2as m which is the rate of respiration for germinating peas at room temperature. The data was then moved to a stored run by choosing the store latest run from the experiment menu. There after 25 non-germinating peas were obtained and placed in the respiration chamber and the procedure repeated for the non-germinating peas. From the beginning before one minute elapsed immediately germinating peas placed in the respiration chamber and CO2 sensor placed, it was noted that the concentration of CO2 began to increase in smaller margin. After the one count, Co2 concentration

Low Back Pain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Low Back Pain - Essay Example LBP has been shown to impair an individual's quality of life and his/her functioning. The magnitude of the burden of this problem in the society can be gauged from the fact that the point prevalence of LBP in the general population has been reported to be 15-30% while its lifetime prevalence can be as high as 60-80% (MTABC, 2004). However, the duration of symptoms of this disorder can be reduced viz appropriate and timely management and a study conducted by Waddell et al. elucidated that almost 67% of patients who had taken time off from work due to LBP has returned to work within 1 week and within 2 months almost 90% of the patients became symptom free (MTABC 2004). The etiology of LBP is diverse and it can be attributed to a multitude of causes including the degeneration of the lumbar intervertebral discs, spondylosis deformans (Luoma, et al., 2000 cited in Hangai et al., 2006), osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, disc disease, dysfunction of the sacoroiliac joint, cancers, infection, organ-related pain, inflammatory arthritis (MTABC 2004), spondylolisthesis and compression fractures which commonly occur due to osteoporosis (Shirakihara, et al., 2001 cited in Hangai et al., 2006). Moreover, several studies have also reported factors such as weakness of the abdominal and back musculature (Van Tulder, et al., 2002), physical loading of the lumbar spine (Bahr, et al., 2004 cited in Hangai et al., 2006) and arteriosclerosis of the abdominal and lumbosacral arteries (Kauppila, et al., 2004 cited in Hangai et al., 2006). Interestingly, the role of psychological factors has also been implicated in the etiology of low back pain by some studies (Takeyachi , et al., 2003 cited in Hangai et al., 2006). The diversity of pathologies which can manifest as back pain often leads to difficulties in determining the underlying pathology and thus makes diagnosis challenging. Similarly, knee pain has also been known to be triggered by a variety of factors such as obesity, increasing age and trauma. Moreover, female gender has been proven to be a definite risk factor for knee pain. Other factors such as ethnicity, smoking, osteoporosis, knee-periarticular muscle strength and exercise have also been implicated in the aggravation of pre-existing knee pain by certain studies (Fukuda and Nakamura, 2002; Burger et al., 1996; Cheng, et al., 2000 cited in Hangai et al, 2006) but these findings have not been replicated by further studies and a causal relationship between these factors and knee pain is yet to be proven. LBP can produce a varying range of symptoms depending on the specific causes. The location and radiation of LBP varies with the pathology and some diseases may cause more back pain than leg pain while others

Moscow Olympics 1980. Urban Policy. Urban Regeneration Speech or Presentation

Moscow Olympics 1980. Urban Policy. Urban Regeneration - Speech or Presentation Example The problem is that although Moscow was experiencing the Soviet war in 1980, its urban infrastructure warranted it an opportunity to host Olympic Games (Real 1996). Other cities did not have the standardized infrastructure to accommodate the event. In return, the event did not run as expected because some nations like the US amongst others boycotted the event. Since then, cities are on the run to standardize their infrastructure so as to be given the opportunity to host Olympic Games. This problem is worth discussing because; if there were other urban areas of the same urban standards as Moscow and not experiencing cold war, the Olympic Games could have been held there. Today every other city in the world has sought urban policy or urban regeneration to be in a position to host international events like Olympic Games. The differing perspective of this topic is that since the Moscow Olympic games of 1980, the society has made Olympic Games more visible and spectacular (Andranovich & Heying 2001). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is the body that conducts Olympic sports has to be very specific in outlining the requirements needed by a city to host the event. The staging is done on a manual detailing where it has to be evaluated in the bi dossiers of candidate cities. The demand for hosting Olympic Games has gone up due to the urban transformation or regeneration which has taken place since 1980 when Moscow hosted Olympic Games. Cities have regenerated their transport sectors, technology, cultural programmes, art and environmental management among other critical sectors which can deny them the opportunity to host international events li ke the Olympic Games. Once a city has been selected to host the event, it is monitored closely in planning and preparing for the event by the IOC coordination committee to ensure everything is up to standard. Sometimes the commission

Public Relations - Professionalism. Big Pitch Assessment Essay

Public Relations - Professionalism. Big Pitch Assessment - Essay Example However, the market condition is better than ever. The luxury consumer market has expanded and there is a great demand for private jet services not only in terms of lifestyle requirements but also for business needs (Okonkwo, 2007, pp.237). In addition, according to an industry study, the sharp uptick in charter jet demand was also brought about by an increase in holiday travel and the fleet optimization introduced by private jet companies (Avinode 2011). This latter development is supported by a report last year, which found that such optimizations (ex. one-way pricing, guaranteed access and lifestyle positioning) became industry innovations that have made charter look more attractive than ever (Wynbrandt 2012). Europe is also on the verge of recovery and executives such as Eric Connor of NetJets Europe are bullish about the future of the industry (Connor 2012). The business case for luxury travel was also reported by the New York Times when it found that many business travelers use chartered flights in order to skip the holes and delays of commercial air travel system (Sharkey 2012). Million Air with its fleet of four jets that can accommodate six passengers bound for London, Zurich, Jersey and Monaco would be able to establish a foothold in the European market. In a brief situational analysis, the following key issues were revealed: A European economic recovery is underway leading to an increase in chartered jet passenger demand in the region where Million Air operates in. Aside from the traditional clientele who looks for luxury and prestige in their travel, there is also the emergence of business travelers who require swift and efficient travel directly to their destination (Sharkey 2012 ) There are huge shifts in the industry brought about by technological changes as well as the increase in demand for innovative solutions to travelling needs. Million Air enjoys the premium quality of the brand, while the market has potential. On the other hand, it is a ne w company and competition could threaten its viability. PR STRATEGY The following are the PR plan objectives: 1. To position the company as a high profile leisure based private jet service; 2. To create brand awareness within at least 50% of our target audience prior to the launch on the January 2013; and, 3. To help increase the company bookings by 20% by September 2013. The proposed PR strategy will span one year and would aggressively push for pre-launch awareness-building, an integrated communications strategy that will support the launching activities and, follow up PR activities to further augment and sustain the momentum garnered. At the core of this strategy is a set of high profile activities to be staged in Million Air’s destination cities: London, Zurich and Monaco. GENIUS IDEA The campaign slogan is "accessible luxury". The plan focuses on the implication of premium experience at the same time will evoke concepts like efficiency and practicality. It is not about p itching luxury at a tampered cost since the market understands how quality can never come cheap. Instead, the campaign will go back to the fundamentals behind the business: why clients turn to private jets in the first place. The luxury narrative will be complemented by consistent messages about being available, being timely, being fast, among other concepts that communicate how

Foundations of cognitive grammar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Foundations of cognitive grammar - Essay Example Therefore, there is a need to fill in the gap and discuss adjectives in terms of cognitive grammar. Moreover, there is an essential gap in discussion about boundedness in adjectives. This research paper is focused on consideration of two characteristics of adjectives: boundedness and gradability. A contextual modulation is suggested as the means to consider a problem of adjectives in cognitive grammar in a broader context. It is also suggested to focus on functionality of adjectives. A study of boundedness and gradability is conducted on the basis of constructing schematic domains comprising gradability as the main characteristic of adjectives (Paris, 1997). Schematic domains as a background of further study are justified, because content of adjectives is often neglected. A focus on schematic domains is justified in terms of cognitive linguistics, because content of adjectives or other parts of speech ‘set up’ in minds of humans. Nevertheless, it is possible to suppose t hat a stability of boundedness applied for adjectives may be manipulated under certain conditions; this is the prospect of the future study. The issue of boundedness in adjectives is discussed further on in a broader context. The range or point on a scale taken by bounded and unbounded adjectives. On the basis of theoretical framework basing on the works of contemporary linguists ranging from 80s till nowadays, the issue of boundedness is considered. In spite of the fact that boundedness has been considered as a rigid characteristic of nouns/verbs/ adjectives our study is focused on a possibility to consider boundedness as a more flexible feature. Unbounded adjectives reflect a range on a scale and bounded adjectives reflect point-like conceptualization on a scale. Moreover, cognitive frames are essential for human understanding and interpretation of different situations. In order to fill in the gap in the studies focused on human cognition and language it is relevant to discuss sch ematic domains. Furthermore, cognate base of boundedness is considered from a perspective of cognitive grammar. A different connection between superlatives and comparatives is discussed on the foreground of the schematic mode. Gradability is a factor influencing on the cognate base in the schematic domain. Thus, it is relevant to consider the way human cognition perceives and produces schematic domain modes. Boundedness illustrates the process of schematic domains reflection in human cognition. Therefore, this study brings in an innovative vision on boundedness in adjectives relevant to theory of lexical semantics and cognitive grammar. Table of contents 1.0 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 2.0 Background †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 3.0 Methodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.......7 4.0 Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...8 4.0 Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.12 5.0 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..20 1.0 Introduction Cognitive grammar is currently becoming popular among researchers and learners of any language. This discipline

The Postmodern Proletariat Essay Example for Free

The Postmodern Proletariat Essay ABSTRACT Although the landscape of the business world has changed dramatically, there is disagreement among scholars as to whether Marx’s theory of alienation still applies to the current workplace environment. Although the advent of unions and teamsters groups, employee stock options and ownership sharing plans, and job benefits seem to ameliorate working conditions thereby minimizing the existence of alienation, some scholars believe that other inventions from capitalism such as globalization and information technology communications offset the balance gained from these improvements in labor relations thereby further promulgating its effects. Using historical observation from the early years of capitalism in America, social identity theory, and literature on information technology and corporate cultural diversity, a disparity emerges regarding how the social alienation of minorities differs from that of non-minority members. A dialectical inquiry is made to determine how the history of capital labor in America is related to social alienation based on a worker’s racial or cultural heritage. INTRODUCTION Some scholars suggest that Marxian theory is antiquated and that due to advances in technology, the evolution of industry and the change in the way business is conducted, individuals in the workplace may experience less alienation than before. The evolution of organizational and employee developments such as the unions and teamsters groups, employee stock options and ownership sharing plans, and job benefits may offer explanations as to why symptoms of alienation have yet to birth a proletariat revolution as theorized by Marx. Additionally, socio-economic â€Å"safety nets† established by legislation to save capitalism such as the creation of the â€Å"living wage†, welfare, child labor laws, equal employment opportunity and affirmative action programs, and social security have also assisted in the maintenance of capitalism thereby minimizing the impact alienation has on individuals in the workplace. However, for most minorities and women these developments that have occurred throughout American history have done little to ameliorate alienation because until approximately the last 30 – 40 years few labor laws were designed with minorities in mind. As a matter of fact, even legislation designed to protect minorities and women is often challenging to enforce, allowing alienation to exist from factors including unequal employment opportunities, a lack of diversity in the workplace, and unequal pay between men and women or based on race. Research suggests that women and minorities on average still make as little as between 75% 80% of white men’s wages in paid labor. Marx has been criticized for overlooking this stratum of alienation based on race and gender that illuminates a different face of capitalism. Marx proposed four dimensions of alienation that can be classified as self, social, product, and means of production. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how alienation occurs in different ways overlooked in the literature by redefining the worker through the lens of social identity theory which may explain how alienation is a relative concept. Questions will be addressed such as which workers may experience relative alienation? What other forms of alienation exist and to whom may it apply? And how can the new proletariat be effectively managed in efforts to reduce anxiety as a result of social or cultural dissonance? Following a brief literature review of Marxian theory, social identity theory, and literature on information technology, I will examine how the expansion of capitalism has spawned a modern more diverse proletariat that still experiences alienation, but in varying degrees that differ from non-minority workers. This paper will theoretically demonstrate how time affects the social alienation of minorities in a manner different than non-minority members resulting in a dialectical inquiry of how the history of capital labor in America is related to social alienation. LITERATURE REVIEW The link between capitalism and labor Throughout the history of the world, it is labor power which has elevated any so called civilized society. According to Marx, before the emergence of capitalism, society was more communal and each person in society contributed his/her own labor where it was needed and in the way best suited for his or herself (Marx Engels, 1951). For example, there were blacksmiths, hunters, fisherman etc. and each bartered and traded with one another for their sustenance. Approximately 2,000 years before the dawn of capitalism â€Å"false needs† (those needs that the culture capital industry makes us to believe are real (Marcuse, 1964) did not exist apart from necessary ones such as food and shelter. For almost all of human history people and communities grew, hunted, and traded for what they needed (Agger, 2004). The creation of money changed this, according to Marx (Marx Engels, 1951a), because it could be saved and used for many purposes as it became an intermediary in the trading proces s. Instead of simply being used as a tool of value to acquire necessary needs like basic food and shelter, money began to signify success or social status which gradually distanced individuals from one another (Agger, 2004), hence the term alienation. Another type of labor Marx termed free labor (Marx Engels, 1951b), although the term â€Å"free† is a misnomer. This form of labor was one in which slaves provided labor. They were bought and sold along with their labor power once to a slave owner thereby becoming a commodity such as a dishwasher or a tractor. It is important to note that the slave is the commodity so his labor power is no longer a commodity that belongs to him. Marx’s account of history explains how the bourgeoisie capitalist emerged (Marx Engels, 1951a) but for the purposes of this paper I will fast forward to capitalism in colonial America which includes the most recognized form of labor that still exist today, wage labor. Although wage labor is labor that is at first owned by the worker, it can be sold by the worker thereby making it so that the labor is no longer under the worker’s control. â€Å"The worker receives means of subsistence in exchange for his labor power, but the capitalist receives in exchange for his means of subsistence labour, the productive activity of the worker, the creative power whereby the worker not only replaces what he consumes but gives to the accumulated labour a greater value than it previously possessed.†(Marx Engels, 1951b, pp85) This type of relationship between the worker and the capitalist along with the creation of currency creates what Marx termed as alienation (Giddens Held, 1982). Marx’s theory of alienation Marx attributes four types of alienation to labor under capitalism (Giddens Held, 1982). According to Marx, when the worker gets paid for completing an assigned task, he is actually selling his labor as a commodity. This commodity is a form of capital that Marx terms as having social power because the power is transferred from the proletariat or worker to the capitalist (Marx Engels, 1951b). Once this transfer of labor power occurs, alienation develops for many reasons as outlined by Marx (Giddens Held, 1982). The first includes the alienation of the worker from his or her true self as a human being rather than a machine due to the lack of opportunity for self expression and directly benefitting from the fruits of one’s individual labor. The profit or commodity created as a result of one’s labor is privately owned by someone other than the creator. The second form of alienation, social alienation, occurs between workers since capitalism reduces labor to a commodity to be traded on the market and disrupts the social relationship among workers. Thirdly, since the product is controlled by the capitalist, alienation exists between the worker and the product itself. The worker no longer has control of his own life because he no longer has any control of his own work. Before the emergence of capitalism, labor was a person’s life activity. According to Marx a worker never become autonomous or experience self-realization because their life activity or work becomes controlled by someone else. The manifestation of their life through the fruits of their labor is no longer realized by the worker herself. Now their labor is only significant in the way the bourgeois want it. Lastly, alienation exists from the act of production itself due to high specialization and the division of labor (Smith, 1991) among workers that results in high efficiency for the capitalist but becomes a meaningless activity, offering little intrinsic satisfaction for the worker. Marx also noted that religion strengthens the alienation process by causing individuals to accept their lot in life no matter its condition. Social identity theory Tajfel (1978) defines social identity as â€Å"that part of an individual’s self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.†(pp. 63). Tajfel and Turner (1979) further described social categorization as one of three processes that underlie social identity theory (SIT). Social categorization is the process by which individuals categorize others into groups in efforts to organize social information (Ellemers, De Gilder, Haslam, 2004; Tajfel, 1978). According to Tajfel (1978), social categorization is the underlying process of SIT that is sufficient as well as necessary to induce forms of in-group favoritism and out- group discrimination. The second process, social comparison, occurs when people make comparisons between the self–perceived categories of groups in relation to the group’s perceived values and their own individual values ( Tajfel, 1978). Social identification, the final process, allows people define themselves based on their level of affiliation with a group that they believe shares the same values they wish to attain. The choice of group affiliation is also based on the perceived value that the group holds in expectation of receiving personal benefit from such membership (Ashforth Mael, 1989). Ashforth and Mael (1989) also note that this categorization process serves the purposes of (a) helping people make sense of their environment by defining other in relation to their group membership, and (b) enabling individuals to define themselves in comparison to other groups. People are then more likely to identify with a group with whom they share similarities, because their identification is based on how they categorize themselves as similar to those within the group (van Knippenberg van Schie, 2000). Turner (1978) demonstrated in various experiments where groups were created with minimal categorization, when there is no category placed on them, participants artificially created in- groups and out- group dynamics. This showed evidence that individuals in groups will create artificial divisions between themselves and individuals from other groups even when no observable differences are salient. Other experiments demonstrated that since race is a very salient characteristic, its social categorization may induce in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination as well. One such example of how inter-group bias is resolved through an understanding of SIT is taken from what is known as the Robber’s Cave study in which two groups of boys campers were placed on two different sides of the campgrounds unaware one another (Gaertner, Dovidio, Banker, Houlette, Johnson, McGlynn, 2000). Upon each group’s awareness of each other, they immediately began to discriminate against each other for no salient reason other than the fact that they were in different groups. This resulted in each group creating an in-group and out-group condition. However, using decategorization, conflict between the two groups was ameliorated (Gaertner, Dovidio, Banker, Houlette, Johnson, McGlynn, 2000). Decategorization is the process by which individuals in groups are isolated from their group and placed in a situation in which they must interact with a member from another group they deem as the out-group. Over time, surface level differences erode and deep level similarities emerge which helps them to decategorize themselves in relation to their group membership. Isolation from the influence of their group members enables this decategorization to occur, thereby reducing conflict between the members from different groups. The contemporary workplace Managing diversity. Some diversity scholars suggest that a demographically representative workforce results in more innovation and creativity (Jackson, 1991; Cox Blake, 1991). There has been an increased recognition of the need for more diversity as it is not only ethical, but is also good for business. A diverse workforce assists companies in attracting customers by having sales teams that â€Å"speak the language† of the minority consumer. Marketing and promotion becomes more effective because a company with a diverse workforce has a greater understanding of the culture and values of its consumers helping them to connect with them. Overall, this paradigm shift in the hiring practices of current companies occurs as it heavily impacts their bottom line in a profitable manner. This new shift is very evident as the backlash from majority group members such as White males mounts. Protests against affirmative action programs and blaming minorities for economic crises such as job layoffs, falling real incomes, and diminished access to quality education have resulted in racial profiling and hate crimes (Agger, 2002), other ways to alienate minority members. Information communication technology (ICT). Communication via technologies has been shown to change group interaction. It tends to equalize participation, because group members participate more equally, and charismatic or higher status members may have less power (Kiesler, Siegel, McGuire, 1984). Social psychological aspects of computer- mediated communications studies of groups that make decisions via computer interaction have shown they were more uninhibited and there was less influence from any one dominant person. It appears that groups that communicate by computer experience a breakdown of social and organizational barriers. This may occur because we as individuals can recreate ourselves forming a new identity, a cyber self (Agger, 2004). The cyber self is described by Agger as the self-assembled, manipulated persona that â€Å"accesses† the world via online. According to Agger, a capitalist system thrives off consumer self-invention as we create status and false needs for ourselves. In a cyber-capitalism (Agger, 2004) this still occurs but with one’s true identity hidden. This may be beneficial for minorities who still may become socially alienated even after reinventing themselves. THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT Karl Marx said â€Å"the history of all hitherto-existing society is the history of class struggles† (Marx Engels, 1951a). Although many scholars acknowledge overlaps between class and race, I believe the salience of racial color and distinct racial features helps to further explain dynamics regarding the relationship between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and its effect on promulgating capitalism and alienation. As we have observed, the history of social economic systems depicts changes in how labor was utilized. Consequently, it may also demonstrate the extent of alienation exhibited by workers. The majority of the first settlers and later most immigrants of European ancestry up until present day experienced alienation as theorized by Marx. But unlike the worker who sold his labor as the commodity, the slave laborer was the commodity, providing free labor while the worker or the serf earned a wage. Although Marx does make the distinction between wage labor and slave labor to some degree (Marx Engels, 1951b), he does not delve into the consequences or the degree of the difference between the two regarding the consequences of alienation. According to Marx, the capitalist society leads to the alienation of workers by not allowing them to express themselves through their work. The proletariat is alienated because she is compensated less for her labor versus profiting from her own entrepreneurial efforts. Smith argued that this arrangement is fair because the capitalist assumes the risk (Smith, 1991). This debate may be arguable for the average laborer at that period in history, but can this same argument of fairness hold true for the slave laborer? Although Marx spoke about alienation among working class, he failed to detail the condition of the slaves at the time who one could argue were the most alienated. At best, Marx related that the Negro slave is a commodity only if used as one, such as a sewing machine or any other commodity (Marx Engels, 1951b). In reality SIT demonstrates how the saliency of race attaches a stigma to the slave as being only a slave, with skin color serving as an identifier. The result is that not only was the labor of a slave a commodity, but the slave itself was the commodity who could not profit from his/her own labor. This is the first example of how alienation differs between minorities and other workers. A dialectic exists because although alienation exist for all workers, it is greater for minorities, ergo the slaves, due to social injustice. This oversight in Marxian theory is important to recognize as it may mean that levels of strength of alienation should be identified. Ironically, capitalism, the economic force that initially promulgated slavery, became the economic force that would ameliorate the condition of alienation among minorities in a dialectical sense. According to Marx, the mass of wage labor grows as the capital grows (Marx Engels, 1951b). In his words, â€Å"the number of wage workers grows; the domination of capital extends over a greater number of individuals,† (Marx Engels, 1951b, pp 87). When four million Blacks were released from slavery in 1865 (Bennet, 1984), they were forced to compete with White laborers which created a troubled situation. However, Northerners looked south for cheap labor and imported Blacks to beat down a higher standard living or to break up unions (Meltzer, 1984). It was capitalism at its finest which served to create an opportunity for ex-slaves. Although they experienced more alienation than their White counterparts because they were not allowed to unionize, being in a situation where they could a ctually work for a wage could be considered a step –up from their past condition of slavery and poverty. The industrial revolution of the late 18th and early 19th century provides additional examples of how not only the need for labor increased, but how this need created â€Å"token† labor for minorities who ordinarily would have faced discrimination and not found work. The transcontinental railroad project is considered by some to be one of the most important projects in American history because it enabled Americans to connect across the entire U.S. An enormous undertaking, the Central Pacific Railroad, was so large and dangerous that there was a greater than usual demand for labor that minorities were able to fill (Schama, 2009). This important endeavor would not have been completed had it not been for the Chinese immigrants at that time. They were not wanted by the contractors at first, and were mistakenly considered too frail and effeminate for the job due to their small body frame and minimal facial hair. However, due to the need for more workers, they temporarily overcame p rejudice and eventually comprised a significant amount of its workforce until its completion. Positing from Marx, dimensions of alienation existed due to the level of dangerous working conditions and the mind numbing and repetitive division of labor. At the completion of the project, the Chinese were not even recognized for their outstanding accomplishment. However, I argue that they experienced a decrease in the level of social alienation they would experience by having an opportunity to work alongside other Americans at a time when prejudice against them was volatile. Again, the dialectic occurs whereas Marx’s theory of alienation applies to the work situation, but the fact that a job existed at all for the Chinese in a prejudiced society demonstrated the amelioration of alienation for minorities through capitalism. However, when observed as a comparison between minority and non-minority workers I propose that the level of alienation for minorities is still high as compared to non-minorities. This may demonstrate how alienation could possibly be moderated by the race of a worker. Both examples from history provide evidence for what could be termed as relative alienation. Adam Smith assumed that saving money and having a Protestant work ethic of self denial, working hard and delaying gratification was a driving force behind capitalism (Smith, 1991). He was correct in that it supported and helped to ignite its birth in America, but by the end of World War II people needed to spend money in order for capitalism to thrive (Agger, 2002). As a result people began to spend beyond their means and credit was popularized as a new way of spending. Eventually this new dimension of consumerism led to the Great Depression of 1929. As a result, a host of programs were introduced by President Franklin Roosevelt to salvage the economy and the capitalistic way of life. Many new measures were devised by the Roosevelt administration to combat the Depression. The work week was shortened, young children were forbidden to work, a minimum wage was set, and federal relief programs including social security were implemented. A public works program built new hospitals, schools and community centers, and playgrounds which created millions of jobs (Meltzer, 1984). It was not until these frantic years of the New Deal, as it was called, that Blacks began to move into unions as well as begin to truly benefit greatly from the creation of new jobs. Although discriminated against, minorities again experienced a different level of social alienation in the workplace, as compared to their White counterparts (Meltzer, 1984). Henry Ford is noted for his revolutionary business model using the assembly line as well as for increasing the wages of his workers so that they may purchase his vehicles. The Ford Model T was the first automobile mass produced on assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts, marketed to the middle class. The needed factory worker knowledge and skills were also reduced to one of 84 areas. Although according to Marx this scenario serves as a situation for alienation to exist, for the minority worker it may be considered an elevation in social status in a foreign land in which they experience prejudice. It is noted that approximately 75% of Ford’s workforce were immigrants (Schama, 2009). Unfortunately, this was not due to Ford’s compassion for minorities in need of work, but rather for the need to meet the demands of labor. This demand continued during World War I and through World War II as men serving their country as soldiers were unavailable to meet the labor needs of capitalism. Minorities stepping in, although alienated by the exploitation of their labor, experienced an improvement in social alienation from White co-workers simply by having an opportunity to work with them. The birth of information communication technology has transformed the landscape of business and work group interaction. Its effect of removing barriers and equalizing members within interacting groups helps to ameliorate conditions of alienation of minorities with co-workers. The cyber self can be used to better connect with members from all cultural backgrounds. First, it is a self- assembled invention of the self that allows minorities get a â€Å"foot in the door† thereby enabling them to connect with co-workers in manner that blinds them from bias or prejudice. Secondly, computer-mediated interaction between members equalizes participation by removing the influence from dominant personalities or members. This is akin to a decategorization process by which majority members and minority members may converse via ICT without influence from ethnic, racial, or gender group member affiliation. I propose that this will enable deep-level characteristic to emerge while surface-level difference dissolve, enhancing the interaction between members. As a result, the probability of alienation occurring between co-workers may diminish in the contemporary workplace. CONCLUSION The sonnet inscribed on the Statue of Liberty reads: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. These words convey an offering of liberty and prosperity by capitalism and democracy that can be perceived as sincere. The history of capital demonstrates that the mantra of Lady Liberty may have in reality been a call for cheap labor to perpetuate capital and grow the U.S. economy. In turn, the rise of industry with an influx of immigrants created more than just a melting pot, but also bred a new type of worker different from the proletariat described by Marx. By deconstructing this new proletariat, we find that over time alienation in the workplace has manifested itself in a disguised manner for all Americans, but simultaneously improved co-worker interaction for minorities as a result of contemporary business practices. Recognizing this dialectic, the construct of alienation should be examined further in order to identify its different dimensions relative to the cultural and racial identity of workers. Additionally, managers and leaders should continue to foster business diversity practices that serve to be inclusive of all so as to minimize cultural or social dissonance among co-workers. Although capitalism has been attributed a major cause of alienation, it is ironic that the contemporary ways of doing business spawned from capitalistic expansion may save capitalism from becoming a socially dominant force that transgresses the basic rights of humanity. The new ways that businesses communicate and produce services and products at may seem to only intensify workplace social alienation at first glance. Ideologies created by capitalism such as globalization, just-in-time production, and the culture industry seem to have heightened alienation among workers in our wealth building society. 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