Managing Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Contracts - Essay Example Contract management is not an exact science (Gray and Larson, 412) and there is no perfect contract management system (412). An effective contract management system acts as an interface between the buyer’s and the supplier’s organization. Individuals or teams applying the contract management system should have requisite technical, contractual, and business knowledge to understand both sides of the arrangement. A contract is a legally binding instrument typically carried out with customers, vendors, partners or employees. It includes negotiating terms and conditions and ensuring their compliance. A contract results when each party, the contractor and the customer, promises the other a valuable benefit. The customer must have all the funds ready for the execution of a project and cannot expect any benefits until the completion of the project. Contract or agreement is the document that enables the initiation and conduct of a project (Hill, 611). Contract is the confirmation of the customer’s request for the project and represents the contractor’s intent to achieve project deliverables and objectives (Hill, 611). Contract is more than a formal agreement between two parties and is a codification of the private law, which governs the relationship between the customer and the service provider (Gray and Larson, 413). Contract can be made with or within an organization. This usually means while one party promises to deliver certain goods, property or services by a specified date and the other party promises to accept the goods, property, or services and pay for them. Failure of one party to keep its promise may result in action by the other for breach of contract (Lock). Since contract management requires time and effort, adequate resources must be allocated to it. The conditions of the contract need to be clearly

High School Dropouts Essay Example for Free

High School Dropouts Essay In The Great Gatsby money is a symbol of success. Money controls the lives of the characters in the story, but it is easy to see that it could not bring happiness. Each of the characters thinks that having money will solve all of their problems and make them successful, but that is not true. These are a few examples of characters in the story who think that money is the answer to being successful, when it actually does not bring them true happiness. Daisy is a character who was born into a wealthy family, but she does not have any good values or purpose in her life. Her life is boring, so she tries to use her wealth to make her happy. She is a socialite, always goes to parties with her wealthy friends, and she wears clothes that are white with a lot of gold and silver. Even though she thinks that these things will make her happy, she is still bored and always wonders what she will do next. She has an affair with Gatsby even though she is married to a wealthy man, Tom, because she is bored. She does not value herself or anyone else. Her money has not made her a happy person even though everything she does is based on wealth. Gatsby has a lot of money. Even though he has a huge house, fancy cars and clothes, and has parties all the time, he is not really corrupted by the money. He does everything he does just to get Daisy and prove to her by his wealth that he is good enough for her. He thinks that all he has will get her to marry him, but he does not realize that Daisy will never leave her husband because he is so wealthy. Daisy’s husband Tom is very wealthy. He gambles, goes to horse and car races, and has many affairs. He has a mistress that he supports, but obviously not happy with his life. When he finds out that Daisy has been having an affair, he gets angry with her even though he is guilty of doing  the same thing. Daisy and Tom are not happy, their money and success have not made them happy, but daisy will not leave Tom because he is wealthy. In The Great Gatsby money is seen as a symbol of success by the characters. They have all of the clothes, cars, houses, and social events that they want and that money can buy. Despite all of this, they are unhappy, have no real values or friends, and no real purpose in life.

The Work of Robert Gagné Essay -- Instructional Design Essays

The Work of Robert Gagnà © Overview The fundamental concern of instructional design is the creation of more effective learning environments for learners. In order to do this, instructional designers must consider the various learning styles and stages of development of the learners as they interact with course material and develop a mature understanding of a topic. According to Ormrod (1995), theories of learning provide explanations about the underlying mechanisms involved in the learning process. Theories allow us to summarize the results of many research studies and integrate numerous principle of learning. Principles of learning identify specific factors that consistently influence learning and describe the particular effects that these factors have. Studies have shown given the same piece of information, individuals interpret it differently and learn it at different rates through different methods. Thus, the challenge of effective instruction is not only delivering the desired instruction, but in a way that learners of various background, skills, and experiences can take that learning into their personal world of knowledge and make it their own. By addressing the fundamental concern of instructional design and incorporating learning theories to support the process of learning, Robert Gagnà ©'s instructional design theory has emerged a s a primary model used for effective instructional design. This paper will outline Gagnà ©'s instructional design theory and provide information on how it is applied to instructional technology. Gagnà ©'s Instructional Design Theory "Instructional design theories, such as Gagnà ©'s theory, take the cognitivist paradigm one logical step further by claiming that an instructiona... ... Gagnà ©, R.M. (1985). The conditions of learning (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Gagnà ©, R.M. & Briggs, L.J. (1979). Principles of instructional design (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Gagnà © R.M. & Driscoll, M. (1988). Essentials of learning for instruction (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Gagnà ©, R.M. & Glaser, R. (1987). Foundations in learning research. In R.M. Gagnà © (Ed.), Instructional technology: Foundations (pp. 49-83). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Ormrod, J.E. (1995). Human learning (2nd ed.) (pp. 6-11). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Streibel, M. (1995). Instructional plans and situated learning. In G.J. Anglin (Ed.), Instructional technology: Past, present, future (2nd ed.) (pp. 145-160). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Amiri Baraka- Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement Experience The spirit of the 1960s’ Black Arts Movement is captured in Amiri Baraka’s â€Å"AM/Trak,† which addresses the theory of the underlying relationship between art and culture. This simple theory of how culture works and how art reflects and influences the culture that produces it was the whole purpose of the literary movement led by Baraka. In order for one to understand their own experiences, they must acknowledge what factors have influenced how they have shaped their lives.By doing so, they will self-consciously discover and create themselves. The basis of Baraka’s poem, â€Å"AM/Trak† illustrates the defining concept of the Black Arts Movement; the notion of creating identity influenced by experiencing racial and social alienation. The development of a modernized black culture is continually drawn to question because there are many outliers that can influence the basic fundamentals of experience. â€Å"What make s experience such an important concept for Baraka is how it frames the relation between the individual and the collective†(Punday 782).The Black Arts Movement was a period of an assembled reaction against several things including the Korean War, capitalism, and the assassination of Malcom X. Although Baraka incorporates these historical events into â€Å"AM/Trak†, the history of the Beats is approached more by expressing an individual’s reaction, rather than a single technical change or influence of history on society. The appreciation of the degree of exposure from an artist or individual models how the Beats linked the identity of black culture to specific trials and tribulations.A desirable relationship between culture and society is a focalized theme in African American literature, but has been obliterated by the constant severance between historical transitions and the lack of ethical alertness (Quayson 1). Isolation of the African American population from w hite America has been influenced by harsh racism and inequality for several centuries. Although the discrimination thrived for thousands of years, the collective attitude towards the relations of the past began to deviate into a different outlook in the 1960s.The black community began to celebrate an emphasized change when exercising their self-proclaimed freedom of personal expression to improve social and economic conditions of the African American community (Yost 2). In order to establish a distinct black identity against the social reality of separation, they incorporated music, literature, and other forms of art as a way of advocating their presence not only in the United States, but the world.Baraka captures the true meaning of the new scholarly awakening with the influence of the Beat-generation by describing John Coltrane in â€Å"AM/Trak†, in which he uses a distinct style of writing to portray not only the life of the artist, but specific annotations of his music. T he musical embodiment of his work prevails that he was undoubtedly a major contributor to the spirit of the 1960s’. By analyzing Coltrane’s passion and transformation during this decade with extreme expression and struggle against racism, â€Å"AM/Trak† is brought to life: Trane was the spirit of the 60’sHe was Malcom X in New Super Bop Fire Bahhhhhh Wheeeeeee . . . Black Art!!! (152-155). The poem is a clear representation of not only the musical development of John Coltrane’s career and repressed life, but also the importance of how African-American musical expression extrapolates the expectations and contributions of individuals under the pressure of alienation (Quayson 3). According to literary critic, Henry Lacey, Baraka uses imagery to encompass the variety of ways the poem portrays the inspiring musician to be the â€Å"interpreter of the Black experience† through his music (Lacey 14).The different stages of achievements, hardships, a nd responses during Coltrane’s life are a direct narrative of the same ones produced throughout the history of the Black American life. There is an undeniable similarity of technical elements displayed in Amiri Baraka’s writing that support the same individualist revolution. One painful aspect of the African American experience begins with the lack of consciousness influenced by authority and pressure. Baraka begins the second section of the poem by describing the early experiences of Coltrane’s career in a very degrading fashion.The mood of the poem immediately digresses when Baraka mentions the names of alto saxophonist, Johnny Hodges, John Burks Gillespie, and Eddie Vinson and Blues vocalist, Big Maybelle (Lacey 15). Amiri even incorporates an allusion from Langston Hughes poem â€Å"Jazzonia,† in which he writes †Trees in the shining night forest† (Lacey 16). The tree is used as a direct reference to the lack of originality Coltrane embodi es while he works with the Joe Webb Blues Band, followed by Miles Davis.As the poem continues, the depression of the main character develops into a substance addiction and even an abusive relationship with a fellow musician, Davis. In fact, Amiri uses the word â€Å"honk† to symbolize the repetition of his continued unimportance at performances and as cry for help in the only way he knew how to; musical expressionism. It was not until Coltrane could accept his past and everything he had learned, that he could regain full consciousness of his true identity and potential future as a great musician.Similarly, the Black Arts Movement began in spite of depression and the constant repetition of haunting racism. More specifically, the death of civil rights activist, Malcom X, hindered Amiri Baraka’s determination to reform the presence of the African American culture in the United States. Consequently, the African American culture endured a period of recovery, as did Coltrane . Coltrane quest to continue searching for his identity as a musician began again by joining Thelonious Sphere Monk, co-founder of bebop, in part four of â€Å"AM/Trak† (Lacey 18).Baraka’s disjunctive mood swings represent how Coltrane conveys his emotions with Monk’s unique style of expressionism and unexpected musical transitions to understand music on a deeper level. Which then leads to the entire Be-bop movement. Coltrane uses this time as a period of regaining consciousness of the experiences that have shaped him. There was nothing left to do but be where Monk cd find him that crazy mother fucker duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh uh Duuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh (71-80). At first glance, the lines representing Monk’s compositions differ from any syntax or vocabulary used in the previous allusions. Baraka uses the distinct sounds of Monk’s work in a disjunctive manner that can only be approach ed if read aloud. When read aloud, the simple word transforms into a series of playful melodies. â€Å"Trane stood and dug / Crazy monk’s shit,† provides substantial evidence that the short time spent with Monk, Shadow Wilson, and Wilbur Ware had a lasting impact on John Coltrane’s career.In fact, it also suggests the sources essential to his success in music were also responsible for shaping his identity despite past alienation and struggle. Similarly to many African Americans during the Blacks Art Movement, Coltrane was allowed to completely expose himself. â€Å"This was Coltrane’s College. A Ph motherfuckin d / Of Master T Sphere† (100,104). As Amiri Baraka wrote the poem, he also established symbolism that the reader may relate to exemplify Coltrane’s efforts to battle several obstacles.Accordingly, in American society graduating college and especially receiving your PhD is one of the highest accomplishments recognized in our country. U tilizing this metaphor near the end of section four not only summarizes his success, but also leads the reader to question, ‘What’s Next? ’ because of the lengthy section that follows. â€Å"AM/Trak† undergoes another mood change as section five introduces the destructive forces of class struggle and maintaining true identity after being exploited by the public.Although the poem portrays the hardship of life of a musician and inspiration leader, Lacey refers to Coltrane as the â€Å"prophetic voice of his age† (Lacey 18) or as described in the poetry â€Å"A man/ black blower of the now† (121-122). However, Baraka does not immediately persuade the reader to believe that Coltrane has collectively reshaped the Be-bop movement and the black cultural identity; he forces them to establish an answer themselves based on their individual experience after reading the poem.Based on the dynamics of writing style portrayed in the poetry, Coltrane influen ces future musical generations to come with the creative features within that clearly influenced the Black Arts Movement within the text, the validity of the following quote by literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce, â€Å"An understanding of Negro expression cannot be arrived at without a constant reference to the environment which cradles it,† can be useful in making a final decision as the reader. Amiri Baraka continues the poem by concentrating the rest of the text on his own impression of Coltrane’s influence on the Blacks Art Movement, musicians, and society.He precisely acknowledges the relationship between the collective and individual response to the end of the revolution of identity and creation of the reputable quartet: â€Å"Jimmy Garrison, bass, McCoy Tyner, piano, Captain Marvel Elvin / on drums, the number itself-the precise saying / all if it in it afire aflame talking saying being doing meaning (169-171). The quartet inspired the African American community t o become believers and to preserve their true identities despite social alienation and harsh racism.If the band expressed their opinions and identity freely, then the entire black culture should have possessed the same rights without limitation as well. Fortunately, at the end of the poem, the Black Arts Movement was reflected as the turning point in accepting cultural identity; a representation of their contributions that shaped the historical experience. But did the Black Arts Movement really change â€Å"black† and â€Å"white† cultures and criticism? Literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce disagrees with the idea that white America has changed its attitude toward the African American population.Although there has been a significant transformation in the merger of black literature and white literature in our society through out the past century, African Americans are usually forced to adopt the mainstream values and lifestyles of those of in the modern American society. Joy ce disassociates Black literary criticism with mainstream analyses because African Americans have a unique duty to express their own ideas without a predetermined and uniformed consciousness based on culture or even color (Joyce 339-341).The poet’s opinions remained somewhat vague until the narration of the poem alters from Trane to Amiri Baraka, the poet himself. His vulnerability exposes his current condition and state of mind when recollecting his wearisome life compared to Trane’s portrayed personal anecdote expressed in his music: ( I lay in solitary confinement, July ‘67 Tanks rolling thru Newark and whistled all I knew of Trane my knowledge heartbeat and he was dead They saidWhen Baraka was confined in prison for the Newark riots of 1967, Lacey notes that â€Å"the poet attributes his survival to the memory of Coltrane’s music† (Lacey 19). As the poem concludes, Baraka decides to choose life over death because he is influenced by character of his own work of art and the actual inspirational of the power of his music. Most scholars would agree with Gayle, Jr. claim that, â€Å"The question for the black critic today is not how beautiful is a melody, a play, a poem, or a novel, but how much more beautiful has the poem, melody, play, or novel made the life of a single black man?How far has the work gone in transforming an American Negro into an African-American or black man? † (Joyce 340). This is perhaps an attempt to illustrate the fact that both the artist lives are surrounded by changes revolved around freedom of expression through art and alienated culture. Without enduring these experiences, good or bad, the identity of an individual cannot be defined, nor the basis of an individualistic black culture. Work Cited Lacey, Henry C. â€Å"Baraka's â€Å"AM/Trak† Everybody’s Coltrane Poem. Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review. 1. 1-2 (1986): 12-21. Print. Joyce, Joyce A. â€Å"The Black Canon: Re constructing Black American Literary Criticism. † New Literary History. 18. 2 (1987): 339-341. Print. Punday, Daniel. â€Å"The Black Arts Movement and the Geneaology of Multimedia. † New Literary History. 37. 4 (2006): 777-794. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. Quayson, Ato. â€Å"Self-Writing and Existential Alienation in African Literature. † Research in African Literatures. 42. 2 (2011): 30-45. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Conservation of heritage site of dhaka city

Background of the study Dacha, one of the oldest cities of Bangladesh, has a glorious history of over 400 years. Because of the location and strategic advantage, it was the hub of central activities and administrative activities during various historic periods. The Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, the Fagan Ruling prior, the McHugh Ruling Period, the British Colonialism, the partition of Bengal, the Liberation War and the contemporary era have enriched Dacha's history and the testimonies of those periods have remarkable significance in the nation's identity.With the passage of time, Dacha has gone through changes to keep pace with the modern globalizes world but yet some testimonies of different historic periods remain. RAJAH has enlisted 93 historic sites of Dacha of different historic periods and published in a gazette form in 2009 but proper measures have not been taken from government initiative to conserve majority of these sites after enlistment. As a result the condition of many o f these historic sites are formidable in respect to structural condition, illegal occupancy, incompatible structures, lack of maintenance.In this study, we have tried to identify the location and present notation of these 93 enlisted heritage sites and develop some proposals and policies for the proper conservation of these sites. There have been many researches on the heritage sites of Dacha but majority of these researches focus on the sites that have gone through proper conservation measures and are maintained well. Many of the enlisted heritage sites are in deplorable condition and are in a way to ruin but do not get any attention from planning authorities.The distinction of this study from previously conducted researches is that it has covered and highlighted the heritage ties that are in a relatively deplorable condition beside the sites that are in a better condition. An overall guiding policy and framework have been proposed for the conservation of these legacies of the coun try. 1. 2 Methodology Figure 1. 1 : Methodology of the Study Project Selection: At the very first stage, the project was selected through the course teachers under the course â€Å"Urban Planning Studio†. It was about the Conservation of the Heritage sites of Bangladesh.Formulation of Objectives: The objectives of study were formulated to achieve the goal. Preparation of literature review: Literature view has been prepared by studying international rules and regulations for conservation, criteria for conservation, different acts and policies. Laws of Bangladesh also has been studied for conservation. Three cases of conserved sites from foreign countries have been studied. Selection of Study area: RAJAH enlisted 93 sites were distributed among nine groups. Each group was assign to survey ten sites.Data collection through field survey: Data and information were collected though field survey. The location of the heritage sites, their ownership status, conservation status and use s were identified. Selection of sites for detailed survey and analysis: Three sites were selected for detail survey analysis from previous ten sites. Data collection of selected sites: Data and information were collected of selected three sites. Primary data: Primary data were collected though field survey. Local people and owners were interviewed and photographs were taken through this process.Secondary data: Secondary data were collected though visiting different Government offices, private organizations and internet. Problems identification: Different problems and issues were identified through survey and analysis. Determination of leslies and proposals: Policies and proposals were generated and determined considering the prospects and problems regarding the sites. Final Presentation and Report Submission: Finally a presentation has been prepared and report has been submitted. 1. 3 Objectives 1. To study location and present condition of the historic sites of Dacha city. . To det ermine some proposals for the conservation of selected sites. 1. 4 Rationale of the study: Historic site conservation is very significant an issue to bring variability and uphold the historic magnificence while planning an urban area. So, a defined study on inspiration of the heritage sites for formulating comprehensive guidelines based on the identified issues is Justifiable. 1. 5 Scopes and Limitations While conducting the study some scopes of the study were identified as well as some limitations were faced.Scopes To identify the present state of the heritage sites, detail survey have been performed and secondary sources have been gone through carefully. The owners of the sites have also been interacted to sort out the problems underlying in conservation of sites. The analysis has helped to formulate the policies and proposals for the maintenance of the historic sites. If any project is planned in future by government or private sector for the conservation of heritage sites, the f indings of this study would help to a great extent. Limitations Extracting of data regarding the heritage sites requires much time.Because of time limitation, the analysis could not be done in a greater scale. For conducting the survey it was necessary to visit the study area several times which caused problems with expense issues. In some cases, the owners were not that much willing to provide information. Accessibility to some sites was very poor because of the poor infrastructure and transport modes. Getting information from government authorities was difficult because of their resource limitation. No systematic database is maintained in most of the government authorities.Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW â€Å"The cultural heritage may be defined as the entire corpus of material signs – either artistic or symbolic – handed on by the past to each culture and, therefore, to the whole of humankind. † (CICERO, 1990, p. 4) 2. 1 Criteria for Conservation 2. 1. 1 General criteria Scholars and organizations have established criteria to assign a site or structure as heritage site based on various parameters. Countries worldwide have developed their own assessment criteria for heritage conservation considering these conventional parameters as well as taking into account the particular issues of own regions.World Heritage Trust has fixed six criteria (Aesthetic, Typical, Scarcity, Historical role, Enhancement of adjacent areas, Superlatives) the fulfillment of one or more of which would make a site worthy of conservation. Reign (1902) categorized the parameters in basic five typologies- Age, Historical, Commemorative, Use, Newness. Lips (1984) emphasizes five aspects (Economic, Aesthetic, Associative-symbolic, and Informational) for assigning a site as a heritage site.Burr Charter proposes for assigning a site as a cultural heritage when it has any or more than one of these values: Social (including spiritual, political, national, other cultural), Scie ntific, Aesthetic, Historic (Mason, n. D. ). Age, historical legacy, special architectural fabric of some particular period, rarity, human settlement of traditional indigenous communities are some very common criteria observed in the conservation principles of most of the countries' act. Regarding age of the buildings, majority of nations' isolation call for conservation of structures erected before 100 years or more.In Scotland, buildings erected before 1840; in Germany, those places which have survived for at least 50 years; in South Africa, structures older than 60 years; in Egypt, historic sites more than 100 years old; in Pakistan, structures of at least 75 years; in England, historic sites erected before 1st July 1948 are recommended to be enlisted as heritage sites (English Heritage, n. D. ). Conservation of religious icons, like- ancient churches, mosques, cathedral, temples, cemetery, tomb, monastery, holds significant importance for conservation in the acts of majority of countries.Conservation of ancient mines, caves, forts and palaces are very common worldwide. 2. 1. 2 Country wise Special Criteria Some nations have unique historical background or cultural identity which plays an important role in their fixing of criteria for heritage conservation. In Nepal, the religion has a great impact in the conservation criteria of cultural heritage. In some countries, the places that have association of the historical or religious leaders are conserved for the spiritual and historic significance. According to AncientMonuments Protection Act of Nepal, † Archaeological Object means the object made and used by human being in prehistorically period or handwritten genealogy, scribed or inscribed idol, temple of god or goddess, Buddhist cenotaph, statue, thanks, things used in royal palace†. (Department of Archaeology, 1956) South Africa has a remarkable history of slavery and this holds a vital place in their assessment criteria of a site to be in con sideration of conservation (SAHARA, 2013). In South Africa and England, the assessment criteria have been set bringing all the historical monuments under three grades or categories.In South Africa, Monuments of having importance at national level are assigned in Grade I and monuments having significance at provincial level fall in Grade II and the remaining ones with exemplary architectural interest fall in Grade Ill. English Heritage,a public body of the British Government in England, classifies the heritage sites of England in three categories: Grade I (buildings of exceptional interest), Grade II* (particularly important buildings of more than special interest), Grade â€Å"(buildings of national importance and of special interests)(English Heritage, n. D. ).In India, INTACT also categorizes the sites for conservation in two groups according to priority for conservation. Priority has been given to out-of-town developments meaning that town centers, local trade and small scale co mmercial enterprises are under threat (INTACT, n. D. ). In China, the ancient trees are also assumed as cultural property and are recommended to conserve. In September 2002, when the Municipality of Beijing issued a plan for protecting cultural property and relics within the municipality's borders, it included a provision for protection of â€Å"ancient and famous trees† (Durra, 2004). Norway Act Concerning the Cultural Heritage, tress of special significance are recommended to conserve(Ministry of Environment, 1978). 2. 2 Principles 2. 2. 1 Publishing of enlisted buildings in gazette form In most of the country, the list of the heritage sites is published in a gazette form to inform the general people. The list is also published in a number of renowned newspapers to get people informed. In Norway, notice is given in the Norwegian Gazette and in at least two newspapers for public inspection.In Nepal, the list of selected heritage sites is published in a gazette form (Departme nt of Archaeology, 956). 2. 2. 2 Ownership, acquisition and maintenance Regarding ownership, owners are encouraged to conserve the heritage sites leaving it to original owner based on the condition of its proper maintenance in many countries. In some cases, government acquires the historic buildings from owners when there is lack of proper maintenance or vulnerability of its demolition. In Nepal, acquisition of historic sites is observed.In Section 5, the Chief Archaeology Officer has been empowered to cause the owners of ancient monument to enter into a deed of responsibility for Supervision of the monument, responsibility of the monument ND duties of its watchman (Department of Archaeology, 1956). In India, the central government may acquire the protected monument under provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 if a protected monument is in danger of being destroyed, injured, misused, or allowed to fall into decay.In Section 2(C) of Indian's The Ancient Monuments and Archaeolog ical Sites and Remains Act, it has been stated that owner's right can be restricted for ensuring the proper maintenance of a historic site (Gazette of India, 1958). In case of private ownership, an agreement is signed between the owner and the government for the proper protection of the monument. In Australia, The Minister enters into an agreement (a heritage agreement) on behalf of the Territory with the owner of a heritage place or object (Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment, 2011). . 2. 3 Tax incentive for conserving heritage sites TAR (Transfer of Development Right is a very effective measure in motivating the owners of the heritage site to leave the heritage site in government's acquisition for its proper safeguard. Conservation projects in Hong Kong and Australia gives evidence of effectiveness of TAR in motivating the private owners. Tax reductions and ax incentives can be effective instrument to encourage the owners of the historic monuments to conserve the his toric building.In Germany, the owner of a general building who lets his property has a depreciation of tax of only 2 % per annum. The owner of a historic building has for eight years a depreciation of 9 % per annum and for the following four years a depreciation of 7 % per annum (RISC Research, 2007). 2. 2. 4 Construction compatibility Compatible construction and maintenance of environment within a particular extent of the enlisted site is observed in the legislation of many countries.In article 7 of Ireland's Law on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Properties, it has been mentioned that no person can build or allow another to construct a building within the registered limits of an archaeological area, without the permission of the Institute of Archaeology (Office of Attorney General, 2004). In Pakistan, the zone for compatible construction around a historic site is fit (Antiquities Act, 1975). To protect a historic structure from disturbance in Norway, a zone shall extend from the visible or known perimeter as far as necessary around an automatically protected monument r site.The area shall be encircled in each case by the concerned authority (Ministry of Environment, 1978). In India the prohibited area is mm and more mm beyond it is also included for reconstruction, repair or renovation compared to the main site (Gazette of India, 1958). 2. 2. 5 Alteration of heritage site Addition, destruction or alteration is strongly discouraged in majority of country's legislation. If done so, provision of punishment is kept in most of the country's act.However, if any such measure for alteration is to be undertaken, taking consent from planning authority is a must. In Policy BE 8 and Policy BE 12 of Planning Policy Statements of Ireland, it has been stated that the planning department can permit for any alteration when the new development is in sympathy with the characteristic built form of the area and the scale, form, materials and detailing of the developmen t respects the characteristics of adjoining buildings in the area. The environmental aspects have also been considered (Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage, 1999).In Germany, it is mandatory to seek permission from the state authorities for all proposed changes to the building, or demolitions and any change that does not eave resemblance with the original form cannot be done. For example, no modern large windows are allowed in a historic building (RISC Research, 2007). According to England's legislation, new work or alteration in England to a significant place is acceptable if the alteration ensures no material harm to the values of the place and the value of the place is reinforced or further revealed (English Heritage, 2008).Some countries' acts have provision for replacement or alteration of features of heritage sites if the feature is in an almost ruined state. But the condition of minimum intervention to the originality of the heritage site is persistently applicable i n these scenarios. If repair of a historic structure by stabilization, consolidation, and conservation proves no satisfactory result, the next level of intervention involves replacement.This replacement has to very limited and is applicable in kind of extensively deteriorated or missing parts of features when there are surviving prototypes (for example, brackets, dentals, steps, plaster, or portions of slate or tile roofing). The replacement material needs to match the old both physically and visually, I. E. , wood with wood, etc (Weeks, et al. 1995). In special cases, permission can be given for demolishing a building but this is very rare a scenario. In Ireland, The Planning Department does not permit the demolition of a listed building unless there are exceptional reasons.Proper reasoning has to be Justified before demolishing about why the building cannot be retained in its original or a reasonably modified form (The Planning Service, 1999). 2. 2. 6 Penalty for damage Any damage or attempt to harm the heritage site calls for severe punishment in most of the country's legislations. According to Indian's legislation, any person who moves NY antiquity shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees; and the court conviction a person of any such contravention may by order such person to restore the antiquity to the place from which it was moved(Gazette of India, 1958).Section 51 of National Archives and records service of South Africa Act calls for guilt fines up to a maximum amount of ROI 000 for infringement of the terms of Act and heritage resources authority is responsible for punishment (SAHARA,1996). 2. 3 Strategies for Conservation The common tools used in different countries for conserving a historical site involve obliteration, restoration, replication, adaptive reuse and preservation. Restoration is a process where any alteration from the original form is removed and the structure is returned in exactly its original form.It is the toughest form of conservation and can only be carried out when there is substantial physical and documentary or oral evidence to retain the authenticity of the structure. Rehabilitation and renovation are more flexible conservation approaches. Rehabilitation has to be undertaken to make decrepit buildings usable again by bringing necessary modifications in the interior art and leaving the exterior part in the original form.Preservation should be considered as the primary treatment when the historic place's materials, features and spaces are essentially intact and thus convey the historic significance without extensive repair or replacement (Canada's Historic Places, 2010). Adaptive reuse refers to the utilization of buildings other built structures and sites of value for purposes other than that for which they were intended originally (Australia COSMOS, 2013). Relocation is also a conservation tool which is applied in very rare cases. In Egypt, relocation of a heritage site is d one only if the site is in danger of natural hazard.Otherwise conservation has to be done in the original place (Nashua, et al. , n. D. ). 2. 4 Institutional Arrangement for Conservation For conserving the historical monuments, a strong institutional framework and coordination among the authorities is found in western and some of the Asian countries. The conservation procedures from the very beginning of assessment and declaration of the site as a historical monument towards the protection of the site from decay is done by Archaeology Department of the nation and the planning omission or planning department of the government.The institutional framework for heritage conservation involves the following steps: Figure 2. 1 : Planning process methodology for institutional framework Source: Mason ( n. D. ) 2. 4. 1 Government agencies, central and local government In Norway, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Management is a government agency manages cultural heritages at national level whereas County Municipalities are responsible for the management at regional level.The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SASH) is responsible for historical site conservation in China. In Singapore, AURA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) is designated as the national conservation authority charged with powers under the Planning Act to issue conservation guidelines, advise the Minister for National Development on getting areas for conservation and grant planning permission for restoration works apart from serving as the national planning authority(Legislative Council Secretariat, n. D. . The responsibility is distributed between the central and the local government in Ireland as the entire procedure of conserving and managing the historic sites becomes difficult and complex if only the central government is involved. The Minister has responsibility for formulating national policy in relation to the physical heritage and for the implementation of the National Monuments A cts. Physical planning is implemented at local government level, under the policy direction of the Minister (Packard, 2001).In South Africa, heritage resources are managed by the levels of government closest to the community (SAHARA, 1996). The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Management is responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway on the national level. At the regional level the county municipalities are responsible for the management in their county. For archaeological excavations there are five chartered archeological museums authority (Ministry of Environment, 1978).Regarding coordination among the agencies of government, Philippines shows a good collaboration and management understanding among the agencies. The cultural agencies and other national government agencies (The Department of Tourism, the Intramural Administration, The Department of Public Works and Highways, The National Commission on Indigenous People, The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, The Office of the special Envoy of Transnational Crimes) consult, coordinate and work closely tit the commission in the implementation of their respective programs/pro]sects (Congress of Philippines, 2009). . 4. 2 International organizations International organizations also extend their assistance to manage the entire process of conservation or undertaking any measures needed for conservation in form of technical and financial assistance. UNESCO, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation & Restoration of Cultural Properties (CICERO), The World Heritage Trust, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (â€Å"C) are some international organizations playing vigorous role in promoting the cultural heritages worldwide( UNESCO, n. D. ). 2. 4. Private and autonomous organizations Some private and autonomous organizations are also observed to play important role in conservation of the historical legacies. In Nepal, an organizatio n named Ought Corporation, an autonomous organization of government of Nepal has a major role in looking after the proper protection of the private ancient monuments. In South Africa, The national system for the management of heritage resources (SAHARA) and in India, The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACT) have a vital role in raising heritage awareness among people and in taking care of the historical structures( INTACT, n. . ). 2. 4. 4 Involvement of professionals In some instances, committee is formed by multi-disciplinary team of experts to provide technical assistance in the entire procedure of conservation. In Afghanistan, a committee is formed and named the Archeological Committee consisting of two archaeologists, scientifically competent member, one historian, a lecturer from the Faculty of Social Sciences from the University of Kabul, one engineer or architect according to the Law of Protection of Historic and Cultural properties (Ministry of Justic e, 2004).For discovering the defects of cultural heritages, five-yearly inspections are undertaken before irreversible damage occurs involving specialist professional specially conservation architects (Kent, n. D). According to legislation of England, if a local planning authority does not have the full range of expertise to assess the financial Justification and the assessment of proper development, it will be necessary to involve external consultants (English Heritage, 2012). 2. 4. Public- Private Partnership Public private partnership is effective way to undertake and manage the entire procedure of conservation measures.In Nepal, public participation is encouraged to manage and look after the conserved sites watchman (Department of Archeology, 1956). 2. 5 Financial Arrangement for Conservation Funding for the conservation of heritage sites usually comes from owners' initiatives, public funding, international donation, private associations, grants and loans. In Egypt, Together wit h public funds, there are international donations assisting conservation of heritage sites. Salvage of Nubian Monuments was assisted by the UNESCO in the sixties (26 million dollars) and Infertile tomb by Getty (1 million dollar) (Nashua, et al. N. D. ). There are two principal programs of aid available in Ireland. L) Tax relief program for expenditure on approved heritage buildings, gardens and objects in respect of repair, maintenance or restoration. 2) Grant aid program for the conservation of the architectural heritage which is administered through local planning authorities . This scheme was initiated in 1999 with budget of E. 9 million. Grants available under this scheme are small, within a range of E 500-10000 although grants of up to E20000 may be provided in exceptional circumstances (Packard, n. . ). In Norway, all or some of the costs are met by the State and decision regarding this funding is taken by the Minister. Where less extensive private projects are involved, all or part of the costs is met by the State, if these costs impose much burden for the initiator of the project (Ministry of Environment, 1978). In Section 77 of England's Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas act it has been mentioned State makes grants or loans for the purposes of defraying the whole or part of expenditure required for conservation works.Other grant sources than State's grant may be available from the Heritage Lottery Fund, local authorities, heritage groups and amenity societies (Kent, n. D. ). In Nepal, renovation of the private and public monuments is done by ‘Town Development Fund'. Amount may be received as donation or grant from Government or any person or organization, international organization, foreign government or entrance fee (Department of Archeology, 1956) The funding agencies which assist INTACT in India to undertake any conservation of cultural heritage sites include: Gag Khan Program, Australian High Commission,Helen Hamlin Trust, UK,INTACT ( I-J) Trust, Maharani Museum Trust, Jodhpurs, UNESCO, World Monument Watch, Unit Foundation ,Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain (MACE),Patella Heritage Society, Ministry of Tourism, Department of Archaeology, UNCUT, Shinbone Japan, University of Allahabad, Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. University of Hawaii's at Manna,Department of Cultural Heritage, Government of Kananga, Archaeological Survey of India ,Ministry of Culture, ,Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Human Resource Development, ,Ministry of Railways( INTACT, n. D. ). 2. 6 Conservation in Bangladesh The Antiquities Act, 1976 has been followed so far for the conservation of the heritage sites. The other legal provisions are Immovable Antiquities Preservation Rules 1976, The Archaeological Works Code 1938, and The Manual of Conservation of 1922(Department of Archaeology, n. . ). 2. 6. 1 Criteria and Principles Immovable antiquity has been defined in Antiquities Act as â€Å"any urban site, str eet, group of buildings or public square of special value which the Central Government, being of the opinion that its preservation is a matter of public interest by reason of its arrangement, architecture or materials of construction, by deification in the official Gazette, declares to be an immovable antiquity for the purposes of this Act† Criteria for Conservation (Department of Archaeology, 1968, p. ) The Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh considers enlisting a historic or archaeological edifice only if it is 100 years old as per provision in the Antiquities Act (Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904). But the committee formed for enlistment of historic sites on behalf of ARRACK enlisted an edifice considering historical, architectural, political, aesthetic and cultural value even if it is not 100 ears old(The Daily Star, 2008).The conservation practice in Bangladesh is archaeological preservation and it is based on the legislations introduced in 1922 by Sir John Marshall, the founder director General of Archaeological Survey of India (Wisped, n. D. ). Conservation, Acquisition, Penalty For the decision regarding conservation, an advisory committee is stated to take the responsibility which consists of director, two members of parliament, and three other persons having special knowledge about antiquities.The committee would give decision about a property the owner of which cannot be traced. Section 7 of Antiquities Act demonstrates that provincial Government can acquire a land or any part of the land that contains antiquities under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894) for public purpose after getting direction from the Central Government.Section 16 of the Act calls fir compulsory acquisition of an immovable antiquity if it is in danger of decay. A protected immovable property cannot be used for any other purpose than its preservation and administration. In Section 20 of the Act, provision for penalty for counterfeiting or damaging anti quities has been kept, but what pacific punishment would be given has not been clarified (Department of Archaeology, 1968).Though TAR (Transfer of development Right) is very effective to persuade and encourage private owners to cooperate in government's move of conserving heritage sites, it has not been introduced in Bangladesh till 2008(The Daily star, 2008). Change and Compatibility In Dacha Metropolitan Building Rules (Impart Norman Abdominal), it has been stated for any change, development, extension or destruction of building, a written statement is needed from the authority. The authority can permit entirely or partly

Saudi Arabia Economics Overview

Saudi Arabia Economics Overview An evaluation of various aspects of Saudi Arabia is crucial in investment decision-making. The Saudi Arabian economic environment constitutes both positive and negative aspects concerning investors. The economy of this region is oil-based.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Saudi Arabia Economics Overview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research indicates that an estimated 75 percent of budget revenues originate from the oil industry. Furthermore, about 40 percent of the Saudi Arabian Gross National Product results from oil-related activities (Euromoney). In addition, various surveys indicate that an estimated 90 percent of Saudi Arabian export earnings originate from the oil industry. The exploration and production of oil in Saudi Arabia has transformed the region into a major stakeholder in world petroleum reserves. Another aspect relating to the Saudi Arabian economy is the influence of the government in co ntrolling major economic activities. The government in this region utilizes governance policies, which promote a centralized control on most aspects of the economy. The over-dependence on oil in Saudi Arabia has hindered economic diversification which is a crucial aspect for investors. The lack of a diversified economy introduces numerous risks to investors and thus minimizes the viability of potential business ventures. Since the economy thrives largely on exports, the lack of diversification introduces aspects of an overvalued currency. An overvalued currency has negative effects on the domestic price of imports and exports as it causes a distortion in price structures. Other negative effects of overvalued currency include the lack of balance between the demand and supply of foreign exchange. An economic environment in which the government has considerable influence scares away investors because effective markets function based largely on market forces. Government policies and reg ulations introduce restrictions that eliminate equal opportunities for investors. Saudi Arabia is a region characterized by an enormous platform of ancient rocks. The climate in most regions in Saudi Arabia entails hot summers as well as cold and rainy winters. The geographical location of Saudi Arabia provides an easy access to export market in various destinations. Its continuously growing population has helped to retain a population with strong purchasing power (Saudi Arabia). Apart from oil, Saudi Arabia contains a variety of natural resources such as bauxite, limestone and iron core.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Saudi Arabia’s major source of electric power is oil-powered diesel engines. Statistics indicates that about 92 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia has access to power. Aspects of technological development in Saudi Arabia are u nsatisfactory. The implementation of policies on science and technological development is still ongoing. Transportation in Saudi Arabia has undergone significant transformation to include extensive highways, modern airports, seaports and railroads. About 10 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia are involved in agriculture. Agriculture-related activities contribute to about 5 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. Changes in agricultural preferences have led to a decline in the traditional growing of dates, and an increase in the growing of wheat, corn, sorghum, and a variety of fruits and vegetables (Saudi Arabia). Although major industries in Saudi Arabia are oil-based, there have been attempts to diversify manufacturing to include other industries such as cement and steel manufacturing. A significant percentage of the Saudi Arabian population lives in urban areas. While coastal regions and internal oasis have condensed populations, desert regions have spare populations. The Sau di Arabian GPD has been generally improving, but at low rates due influences of unstable global oil prices. The increase in household consumption highlights an increase in purchasing power and improved per capita income. Remittances have led to fluctuating current account in Saudi Arabia, and the devaluation of the currency. Oil exports have considerably facilitated the stabilization of these accounts. Expenditures on education constitute about 10 percent of the GDP. Euromoney – International banking finance and capital markets news and  analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. https://www.euromoney.com/. Saudi Arabia. Central Intelligence Agency. N.p., 10 Sept. 2012. Web. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html.

Ford Motor Company Case Study Essay Example

Ford Motor Company Case Study Essay Example Ford Motor Company Case Study Paper Ford Motor Company Case Study Paper Ford Motor Case Study Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Issue Identification Environmental and Root Cause Analysis Alternatives and Options Recommendations Implementation Monitor and Control Exhibits 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 12 13 After reviewing Ford Motor supply chain, we became aware of its very complex nature. Due to this complexity we are forced to search for alternatives to overcome the costly supply chain challenges faced by our industry both now and in the future. The present system has an inefficient control of a large database and a vast and complex network of suppliers. We need to change our supply chain in order to make it more cost effective and profitable. After careful analysis we recommend the implementation of a partial virtual integration system, similar to the system used by Dell Computers. With this system, Ford will use information technology and the internet to interact and transact with both their suppliers and their customers. Ford can increase their sales by providing better customer service and faster communication from the supply end through to the manufacturing division and right on to their end user, the customer. This system will be implemented with their xisting supply chain so Ford will cover both markets at the same time. If Ford concentrated only on the virtual system their competition would put them out of business, so by running both systems simultaneously will give them an edge over their competition. Ford Motor Company is the second largest industrial corporation in the world with revenues of more than $144 billion and about 370,000 employees. Their operations span more than 200 countries worldwide. The company has both the design and manufacturing of cars division and they have a financial services division. : Significant evenues and profits are realized in both divisions. The automobile industry has grown very competitive over the last two decades with not only competition being felt from the other two US automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, but also from foreign manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The industry is also facing an increasing over-capacity as developing nations realize the wealth and Job-producing effects of automobile manufacturing, and are encouraged to develop and expand their own export auto industries. The main issue with Ford is the management of their large data base of business artners, in particular their first tier suppliers and their second tier suppliers. When we compare Ford to Dell (See Exhibit 1) we realize that Dell only has about 50 suppliers, but Ford has thousands of suppliers that operate in a very complex network of business relationships. Each Dell computer system is made up of less than a hundred parts, whereas an automobile requires several thousand parts. In addition, where Dell sells directly to the consumer, Ford has a large number of dealerships who are spread through a large geographical area throughout the world. To manage both the suppliers and consumers in a single supply chain is a challenge for Ford. Ford is constantly looking for new ways to better control and to manage its supply chain in a more productive and cost effective way. Another issue faced by Ford is the lack of technology in their first tier business partners. This lack of technology makes it difficult for these suppliers to keep up with Fords demands. It results in a bottle neck situation for the supply chain. This lack of IT technology results in miscommunication and poor coordination between the suppliers which ay result in longer lead times, higher costs and other problems. Because Ford has used independent dealers to sell their vehicles, they dont have control on their end users, the customers. This lack of control, plus the dealers markups, has negatively impacted their ability to control the consumers service experience. Root Cause Analysis Fords main business is the production and distribution of vehicles. Ford also earns substantial revenues and profits from their financial division. These two divisions have resulted in net incomes of over $7 billion and a return on sales of 4% which is rending upward. These results show that Ford has a strong market and financial position. In order to increase their global share, Ford teamed with Chrysler and General Motors to work on the Automotive Network Exchange which aimed to create consistency in technology standards and processes in the supplier network, so that suppliers would not have to manage different means of interaction with each automobile manufacturer. These actions have enabled these American manufacturers to produce better quality vehicles at a reduced cycle time and lower costs due to economies of scale. Ford merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998 and in 1999 Ford also acquired Volvo. These mergers have increased Fords database of suppliers substantially. This has also made their supply chain even more complex and expensive to run and even more difficult to manage. In order to manage these supply chain issues, Ford implemented their Ford 2000 plan, which worked to restructure many of Fords key processes like Order to Delivery and Ford Production System. Their goal was to reduce OTD from 60 or more days, down to less than 15 days. They wanted to convert their supply chain from a push type toa pull type (See Exhibit 2). Fords goal was also to reduce the number of their suppliers and in turn create a more cost effective supply chain. Ford worked with their suppliers to help them better manage their own operations. Another initiative started by Ford was the Ford Retail Network which aims to reduce competition among its own dealerships in the same areas, by having one unified dealer who provides the best possible service to their customers. Our decision now is to either implement Dells supply chain model or not! There are a number of approaches we can take to improve our supply chain. We ould design a system that is a mixture of both an online system and our tradition dealership system. We would have to form procedures to enable customization and ordering by customers over the internet, but we would also have to maintain our traditional dealerships as well. The advantages of this two type system would be the customers would have the ability to customize their own vehicles. This would be basically building a vertically integration business model. This would open new markets and attract clients who prefer to shop online. The disadvantages of this system would be the cost. It would be time consuming and require both internal and external changes with would be difficult to handle and integrate with existing systems. Also the independent dealerships would most likely complain that their own supplier is now a competitor for their customers. Also if Fords own suppliers do not have the abilities to keep up with the speed of Fords IT system, there would be cause for more problems. Another option would be to create a virtually integrated system based on Dells model. Ford and all their suppliers would share information between their systems and the internet to coordinate the flow of materials and roduction. The orders would be taken either by phone or on the internet. Basically Ford would be creating a complete pull system. The advantages of this option would be the same as the first option, the customers would have the ability to customize their own vehicles. The customers requirements are met faster with higher profits being realized due to the elimination of the dealers mark up. Also Ford would be able to directly control the customer service. They would have minimal inventory carrying costs and higher order lead times. They would also improve their ability forecast demand. There would also be an improved relationship with both the customer and the supplier. The disadvantages would be that Ford would have to change their traditional processes and production methods in order to take advantage of this new form of supply chain management. This would definitely be a more risky option due to the costly and time consuming processes. Another problem would be the loss of dealerships, which may also result in this traditional shopping customer going to the competition. Our recommendation would be to implement the first option outlined in the Alternatives and Options, which is to extend its virtual business strategy by mplementing a partial version of the Dell model of supply chain management. The dealers would still play a role in the distribution since the experience of buying a car from a dealership cannot be replaced by something virtual like an online system like Dells. Combining the virtual integration model to their existing supply chain will ensure that Ford has a more efficient and profitable future. Their overhead and inventory costs will decrease, and Ford will be in a better position to interact with their customers. Most importantly the success of this recommendation will mainly depend on the performance of the shareholder value. Implementation Plan In order for Ford to implement this new system, their IT systems should be centralized and shared with their suppliers. Since its tier two and tier three suppliers may not be able to update their IT systems, Fords sharing of their system will aid the suppliers to implement this new virtual system. Suppliers would have access to central design database while Ford controls the access and functionality as per their operational requirements. The IT system would ensure a smooth flow of supplies and reduce any congestion and improve the efficiency of the supply chain nd more importantly, give Ford a competitive edge. The dealerships can play a more involved role by forecasting customer demand and Ford should involve an outside company to help them with the forecasting demand and work with each dealer. In order for the new system to function properly Ford must have an IT specialist to coordinate all IT activities with the suppliers in order to ensure a smooth flow of information between the supply chain partners. This IT specialist should resolve any issues as soon as they arise. Lead times on all online orders should be monitored egularly to ensure that the time trom the customer order to delivery is being met at the predetermined optimum time. Another way to monitor the performance of the system is to start an online customer satisfaction program where the customers can evaluate and rate their experience with Ford. The new system should be review semi-annually to ensure the ideal performance is being met, and if not, make recommendations on improvements to senior management. It is also important to ensure the shareholder value is increasing. This could be done through annual meetings with all executives to review the progress of the new system.

Information About the Magic Mineral Shungite

Information About the Magic Mineral Shungite Shungite is a hard, lightweight, deep black stone with a magic reputation that is well exploited by crystal therapists and the mineral dealers who supply them. Geologists know it as a peculiar form of carbon produced by metamorphism of crude oil. Because it has no detectable molecular structure, shungite belongs among the mineraloids. It represents one of Earths very first oil deposits, from deep in Precambrian time. Where Shungite Comes From The lands around Lake Onega, in the western Russian republic of Karelia, are underlain by rocks of Paleoproterozoic age, approximately 2 billion years old. These include the metamorphosed remains of a great petroleum province, including both the oil shale source rocks and bodies of crude oil that migrated out of the shales. Evidently, once upon a time, there had been a large area of brackish-water lagoons near a chain of volcanoes: the lagoons bred enormous numbers of one-celled algae and the volcanoes produced fresh nutrients for the algae and sediment that quickly buried their remains. (A similar setting is what produced the abundant oil and gas deposits of California during Neogene time.) Later in time, these rocks were subjected to mild heat and pressure that rendered the oil into almost pure carbon- shungite. Properties of Shungite Shungite looks like especially hard asphalt (bitumen), but its classified as a pyrobitumen because it does not melt. It also resembles anthracite coal. My shungite sample has a semimetallic luster, a Mohs hardness of 4, and a well-developed conchoidal fracture. Roasted over a butane lighter, it bursts into splinters and emits a faint tarry odor, but it does not easily burn. There is a lot of misinformation circulating about shungite. It is true that the first natural occurrence of fullerenes was documented in shungite in 1992; however, this material is absent in most shungite and amounts to a few percent in the richest specimens. Shungite has been examined at the highest magnification and found to have only vague and rudimentary molecular structure. It has none of the crystallization of graphite (or, for that matter, of diamond). Uses for Shungite Shungite has long been considered a healthful substance in Russia, where since the 1700s its been used as a water purifier and disinfectant just as we use activated carbon today. This has given rise over the years to a host of overstated and poorly supported claims by mineral and crystal therapists; for a sample just do a search on the word shungite. Its electrical conductivity, typical of graphite and other forms of pure carbon, has led to a popular belief that shungite can counteract the supposed harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation from things like cell phones. A producer of bulk shungite, Carbon-Shungite Ltd., supplies industrial users for more prosaic purposes: steelmaking, water treatment, paint pigments and fillers in plastic and rubber. All of these purposes are substitutes for coke (metallurgical coal) and carbon black. The company also claims benefits in agriculture, which may be related to the intriguing properties of biochar. And it describes the use of shungite in electrically conductive concrete. Where Shungite Gets Its Name Shungite gets its name from the village of Shunga, on the shore of Lake Onega.

Business Class Questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Class Questions - Coursework Example The growing interest in business research can be attributed the increasing need to understand employees, customer behavior, stakeholders, and business environment for effective decision making. Business research has been advanced through the current advancement in technology which has made possible for organizations to keep track of important information in their day-to-day operation. Such technologies entails the business intelligence system which facilitates continuous collection of information on the various factors affecting business such as economic, market, political, technology, cultural and social trends(Cooper, Cooper & Schindler, 2010). Decision makers combine information collected through such systems with data obtained through the contemporary business research to enhance the credibility and reliability of the research findings. The definition of research should be questioned on the basis that the definition, can be identified as being in its informative stage. 2. What is the difference between applied research and basic or pure research? The major difference between applied research and pure research revolve around the objectives or aims of the research process. Pure research entail the gathering of new information or data to expand the existing knowledge about a given phenomenon or issues where the ultimate goal is build on what is already known (Cooper, Cooper & Schindler, 2010). On the other hand, applied research revolves around collecting of information geared towards providing amicable solutions to a certain problems or opportunities. Pure research only seeks to answer question or provide knowledge that does directly affect organizational decision making or actions taken in the business operations. In the context of deciding how a salesperson should be paid, either by commission or salary, the question that would be applied to guide an applied research would involve an inquiry on what payment method would be appropriate to pay the salesperson with consideration of benefits associated with each method on both parties. For example, which of the two methods payment; commission or salary would be more appropriate for paying a salesperson? On the other hand the question to guide a pure research on the same issue would entail exploration of the two methods of payment without necessarily seeking to establish a direct response. For example the question can be framed as follows; what are the benefits for using either commission or salary to pay a sales person? 5. What are the dilemmas a sales force manager faces in selecting a custom motivation program or a purchase base program offered by a consulting firm? Selection of either of two programs presents several dilemmas as to which of the two programs would translate to maximum performance and the risks that may be involved in adopting either of the two. The sales force manager faces the dilemma of whether of he/ she has the necessary skills to support implementation of either th e custom motivation program or the purchase based program. The other dilemma that the manager faces revolves around whether the external program can be supported by the firm’s budget. The manager must try to establish if the external prog

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 9

Interview - Essay Example Jan Fitters is one of the managers of Philips Lighting. In this interview he has discussed his managerial styles, motivational ways, ethical problems etc. All of these things will be highlighted in this essay. The manager, Jan Fitter uses participative management style for managing his subordinates effectively. This is also known as democratic style which helps the manager in establishing consensuses and commitment among the employees. A large number of employees work under Jan Fitters. He is responsible for managing, encouraging and motivating the employees. For this reason the manager has created a good relationship with the employees for understanding them properly. He takes input from his subordinates for developing any business plans and decisions. He always encourages employees for participating in decision making processes. All of the subordinates of Jan Fitters work in teams. Therefore the participative management style used by this manager help the employees in doing their teamwork efficiently. This management style also increases employee involvement and participation in different functions and processes of the company. Jan Fitters improves the communication and co-ordination am ong the employees by using participative management style. These processes facilitate him in developing innovating and creative ideas which help the company in increasing its revenues and sales. While developing strategies the manager takes consent from the employees. By this way he makes the employees feel that they hold important positions in the company and the growth and development of the company cannot take place without their participation. The manager, Jan Fitters of Philips is very efficient in managing and using team projects. He first determines the objectives and the purposes of the team project for making the teamwork effective. He

The advances of military logisitics since WWI Research Paper

The advances of military logisitics since WWI - Research Paper Example Because of its central contributions to combat, military logistics has received a significant amount of critical attention. Indeed, the 20th century witnessed tremendous innovation and development in military logistics. This research considers American military logistic advances since World War I. World War I witnessed considerable advances in American military logistics. One of the greatest considerations within World War I logistics was that the sheer enormity of the war resulted in past logistic processes being outstripped. This war witnessed amounts of men and machines that the country had never prepared. It’s considered that the average amount of ammunition used was as much as ten times pre-war estimates. Adding to these logistic problems was the consideration that establishing trenches required significant amounts of supplies. As a result, the early stages of the conflict experienced tremendous shortcomings in logistic transport, particularly in the areas of ammunition. Much logistic innovation during World War I then emerged as a response to these infrastructure challenges. A major innovation during this period was the implementation of tanks and gun sleds to lead the military advance, while military supplies would be delivered to railheads and ports many miles away (Lynn 1993, p. 109). In addition to logistic innovations, logistic shortcomings during this period had a corresponding impact on military strategy. The main recognition in these regards was that it no longer was more efficient to supply armies on the move than static armies. This realization had a corresponding impact on the very strategic initiatives within the conflict. Namely, the significant size of military operations necessarily resulted in trench warfare. There were a number of major logistic innovations during World War II that revolutionized military conflict. One of the most seminal innovations was the development of the

Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Solution - Essay Example It is essential to redesign healthcare intervention toward diabetic patients, increasing their self-care behavior; especially for workers and the elderly (Bandura, 1997), and education is one key prevention strategy (Jun-Qiao Wang, 1997). Early education enables patients to prevent the disease while reducing the expense of healthcare. Many diabetic patients don't understanding the value of self-care, and helping them acquire the skills to manage their condition is important. According to the International Diabetes Alliance (IDA), more than half of diabetics know nothing about diabetes, and the American disease control center estimates 50% - 80% of diabetes complications can be prevented. Surveys show 58% of diabetics are confused by doctors' instruction, and 35% have damaged their health by not following those instructions. Also, 88% of diabetic patients gain primary knowledge from their doctors while only 9% receive it from nurses. The relationship between nurse and diabetic patient is essential; in developed countries, most diabetes education is gained through nurses rather physicians. Medication alone cannot control diabetes, and lifestyle education enables the patient to increase self-management more effectively (Li, 2002). Physical activity can reduce the risk factors, and the Daqing study shows that lifestyle intervention can improve insulin resistance by 46%. The U.S. DPP experiment showed that among 3,200 cases, lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence of diabetes by 58%. Medical intervention is less effective compared to lifestyle intervention (Pan Lizhen, Chinese Nursing Research, 2004). Liu shows intervention is able to reduce glucose and increase the sensitivity of insulin, among other benefits (Liu, 2001), while another survey reveals a 40% decrease (Bing, 2005). Just 30 minutes of walking daily can reduce the level of glucose, and large studies in other nations have recently demonstrated that exercise reduces the incidence of diabetes by more than 50%. Patients: In China, diabetic patients tend to trust drug advertisements rather than healthcare professionals, and many think the side effects of western medicine are stronger than traditional Chinese therapies. Some believethink that the more expensive the medicine, the better health outcome they can achieve; which is a huge economic burden (Jia Fen, Wang Jun, Shanghai University). Most diabetic patients are worried about having an incurable disease, long term injections of insulin, and other factors. Chinese studies show older diabetic patients dislike the outpatient service due to administration and waiting times, while others dislike the inpatient services because of unfamiliar environments. Richard Donnelly shares that most patients in China prefer to use traditional Chinese therapies, and many prefer to combine the best of traditional Chinese with Western treatment. Behavior: Ming Yeong Tan (2003) says that lack of adherence to self-care behaviors requires lifestyle changes for long-term management, and identifying the barriers to behavior is important. It is vital to increase educational programs on patient behavior to improve the quality of life. Health System: In China, health management is

What should 21st Century Environmentalism look like Essay - 1

What should 21st Century Environmentalism look like - Essay Example Globalization and World’s processes like cyclones are environmental problems that affect almost all human beings. The 21st environmentalism has formidable challenges and dangers safety concerns. Increased cases of storms, cyclones, droughts, floods are of global concern. Extinction of species, meltdown of glaciers and low food production are the resultant features of global warming. Several nations across the globe are worried on the ozone layer, change of climate and wildlife threats. These challenges have put a worrying picture on how the environment will look like at the course of 21st century. The main environmental issues like, pollution, deletion of the ozone layer and Global warming leaves us with the question; what should 21st century environmentalism look like? Each of the above problems and others not mentioned, have the cause, environmental impact and a possible solution. Both solutions and measures for environmental problems are in the same path. A huge chunk of these problems originates from developed societies with many industries. They affect the environment in the amount of resources they consume and pollutants they produce. Both the developed and developing countries contribute to environmental degradation, for instance the oil rich gulf-region experience depletion of environment during oil extraction. Developing and developed countries use the same oil in industries production and motor vehicles, causing air pollution and thus depleting ozone layer. The 21st century environment has serious threats caused by humans; the earth’s natural resources are in extinct. The use of land is a concern in 21st century; man encroaching in the habitat of wildlife destroys its ecosystem, destroys the underground water and desertification. Industries emit toxic chemicals, which interfere with aquatic animals, and soil erosion. Environmental challenges causes water crisis, water pollution and global warming interfere with the

Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Solution - Essay Example It is essential to redesign healthcare intervention toward diabetic patients, increasing their self-care behavior; especially for workers and the elderly (Bandura, 1997), and education is one key prevention strategy (Jun-Qiao Wang, 1997). Early education enables patients to prevent the disease while reducing the expense of healthcare. Many diabetic patients don't understanding the value of self-care, and helping them acquire the skills to manage their condition is important. According to the International Diabetes Alliance (IDA), more than half of diabetics know nothing about diabetes, and the American disease control center estimates 50% - 80% of diabetes complications can be prevented. Surveys show 58% of diabetics are confused by doctors' instruction, and 35% have damaged their health by not following those instructions. Also, 88% of diabetic patients gain primary knowledge from their doctors while only 9% receive it from nurses. The relationship between nurse and diabetic patient is essential; in developed countries, most diabetes education is gained through nurses rather physicians. Medication alone cannot control diabetes, and lifestyle education enables the patient to increase self-management more effectively (Li, 2002). Physical activity can reduce the risk factors, and the Daqing study shows that lifestyle intervention can improve insulin resistance by 46%. The U.S. DPP experiment showed that among 3,200 cases, lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence of diabetes by 58%. Medical intervention is less effective compared to lifestyle intervention (Pan Lizhen, Chinese Nursing Research, 2004). Liu shows intervention is able to reduce glucose and increase the sensitivity of insulin, among other benefits (Liu, 2001), while another survey reveals a 40% decrease (Bing, 2005). Just 30 minutes of walking daily can reduce the level of glucose, and large studies in other nations have recently demonstrated that exercise reduces the incidence of diabetes by more than 50%. Patients: In China, diabetic patients tend to trust drug advertisements rather than healthcare professionals, and many think the side effects of western medicine are stronger than traditional Chinese therapies. Some believethink that the more expensive the medicine, the better health outcome they can achieve; which is a huge economic burden (Jia Fen, Wang Jun, Shanghai University). Most diabetic patients are worried about having an incurable disease, long term injections of insulin, and other factors. Chinese studies show older diabetic patients dislike the outpatient service due to administration and waiting times, while others dislike the inpatient services because of unfamiliar environments. Richard Donnelly shares that most patients in China prefer to use traditional Chinese therapies, and many prefer to combine the best of traditional Chinese with Western treatment. Behavior: Ming Yeong Tan (2003) says that lack of adherence to self-care behaviors requires lifestyle changes for long-term management, and identifying the barriers to behavior is important. It is vital to increase educational programs on patient behavior to improve the quality of life. Health System: In China, health management is

Personal and professional development Assignment

Personal and professional development - Assignment Example These skills will be achieved through attending seminars, finding a mentor and taking short online courses in Human Resource Management. The personal and professional plan will be implemented through undertaking HR management short courses offered by the University. I will register for online short courses to improve my time management skills, communication and interpersonal skills. I will identify a lecturer to mentor me to attain these skills and practice through participating in HR researches. Two of the objectives were met by the target date. I attended a lecture on effective handling of employee grievances, effective communication and skills in time management. I also managed to get a coach involved in HR researches and together we participated in these researches. According to Lussier & Hendon (2013), in order to solve work-based problems, an individual needs to have skills in effective time management, personal organization and effectively sorting out employee issues regarding on-the-job discrimination and harassment (80). Communication styles vary from individual to individual. For example, communication between the HR team and the managers differs from that with lower level employees. Communication could be verbal or electronic or a combination of these two. For personal and professional development to be successful there is need to analyze the skills to identify the individual and group needs. Objectives need to be established and used as a guide to plan individual and overall development skills (Lussier & Hendon 2013, p.

Horoscopes and Astrology Essay Example for Free

Horoscopes and Astrology Essay Horoscopes are charts created by astrologers. A definition of a horoscope is: the illustration of the position of the sun, moon, and planets from a given location on earth, usually at birth. Which simply means, where everything in the universe was in relation to everything else when you were born. People have been finding their horoscopes for a long time now, its nothing new. The earliest known horoscope was from 409 B.C. where it started to spread in the East with the conquerors of the Roman Empire. From there, it started spreading all the way across to Western Europe, where it was almost considered a science itself by all learned people. Everyone has an astrological sign. There are 12 in all. They are called the signs of the zodiac. The 12 signs are called : Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each sign represents a set of human characteristics. They deal with certain area of a persons life, such as marriage, health, work, travel, and death. Astrologers believe that the position of the objects in the sky when you were born and their movements reflect the persons character and destiny. The horoscope also is divided into 12 houses. Unlike the zodiacal signs, which represent the annual cycle of the sun, the house represent the 24 hours of a day of the Earths daily rotation. Astrologers make predictions by studying the position of the objects with all of the 12 signs and of the 12 houses. You might see your horoscope in the newspaper today. Its based on the signs of the zodiac I mentioned, and where the Sun was located when you were born. It implies that all people born under the same sign anywhere in the world at any time share common characteristics. Today, even though only a small percentage of people believe in it, books and  columns on astrology rate higher than ever no one can say why! I think curiosity has a big effect on the overall popularity of astrology and horoscopes. Horoscopes are illustrated by circles, called the ecliptic. Its the way the earth orbits around the sun in a year. Every planet (including the sun and moon) has a sign, depending on where the planet is on the ecliptic when the horoscope was made to be for. The astrology that horoscopes are based on are criticised and questioned often, and although many scientists disagree with the science involved in getting your horoscope, millions of people continue to believe or practice it.

Concept of working with and leading people

Concept of working with and leading people Tesco was found in 1919 when Jack Cohen started selling surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London. Mr Cohen made a profit out of selling  £4 was  £1 on his first day. In 1924 Mr Cohen bought a shipment of tea from a Mr T E Stockwell. Tesco was formed with the initials and letter from the name of Mr T E Stockwell and Mr Cohen. In the year of 1929 Mr Cohen opened a flagship Tesco in Burnt Oak, North London. Tesco Started to rise in 1930s when Mr Cohen built its warehouse and headquarters in North London and in 1932 Tesco became a Private Limited Company. Further on Tesco stores Ltd started to float on the stock exchange with share price of 25pence. Meaning of Recruitment, Selection and Retention: Recruitment is the process that starts from the point when an organization receives an application for the post. Recruitment may be internal or external as per the needs and requirements. The advantages of internal recruitment considered that saving can be made, as they know the business and the job very well and hence they need shorter period of training. It is like extra money to all staff to work harder within organization which is basically called Incentives, Perks and Bonus etc. External recruitment helps to pull wider range of talent and provides the opportunity to bring new experience and ideas to the business. It is very costly and expensive way of recruitment as full training needs to provide to the new recruiter. There are number of stages, which can be define and set out the nature of particular jobs for recruitment purpose. Selection then consists of the processes involved in choosing the right applicants to fill the post. Recruitment, selection and retention procedures for Tesco: For any company it is important to have right staff or people to run the business in the competitive world to be ahead. Tesco make sure that every experience of its customer are valuable and great which need to have right customer service staff. Tescos core purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty. Values: Our success depends on people: the people who shop with us and the people who work with us. The way we work The way we work is how we deliver Every Little Helps to make Tesco place to shop and work in. We use simple processes so that shopping is better for customers, Simpler for staff and Cheaper for Tesco. Tesco recruitment and Selection process: Tesco is the biggest private sector employer in the UK. The company has more than 360,000 employees worldwide. In the UK, Tesco stores range from small local Tesco Express sites to large Tesco Extras and Superstores. Around 86% of all sales are from the UK. Tesco operates in 12 countries outside the UK, including China, Japan and Turkey. It has recently operates in USA as well. Tescos strategy includes diversifying and growing the business by international expansion. In its non -UK operations Tesco builds on the strengths it has developed as market leader in the UK supermarket sector. Tesco uses the approach as per the needs of the market such as in Thailand and Bangkok where the foods are not pre packaged as it would be in UK. Tesco needs people across a wide range of both store based and non store jobs: In stores, it needs checkout staff, stock handlers, supervisor as well as many specialists such as pharmacists and bakers. Its distribution depots require people skilled in stock management and logistics. Head office provides the infrastructure to run Tesco efficiently. Roles here include human resources, legal services, accounting, and marketing property management and information technology. Tescos business objectives aim to ensure all work together towards achieving its objectives. It needs to ensure is has right number of people in the right jobs at the right time. To do this, it has a structured process for recruitment and selection to attract applicants for both managerial and operational roles. Workforce planning: Workforce planning is the process of analysis an organizations likely future needs and requirement for people in terms of numbers, skills and locations. It helps an organization to recognise how those needs can be met through recruitment and training. It is very vital for a company like Tesco to plan ahead. As there is a competitive market and Tesco needs to grow in this market. It requires recruiting right people on a regular basis for both the food and non food parts of the business. Position become available because: New stores are open in the UK and International market as well which requires recruiting new people for the new position. Jobs are created when someone retire or resign or get promotion to other positions within Tesco. New jobs can be created as the company changes its processes and technology. Tesco uses a workforce planning table to establish the likely demand for new staff. This includes both managerial and non managerial position. For example in 2009/2010, the workforce planning suggested to have 3000 new managers for its business growth. The planning process runs through each year from the last week in February. There are quarterly reviews in May, August and November, so Tesco can adjust staffing levels and recruit where necessary. It allows to have sufficient time and flexible to meet the demands for staff and allows the company to meet its strategic objectives. Tesco generally seeks to fulfil its vacancies internally than going to externally as it believes to motivate it current staff. It practises what it calls talent planning. An individual can apply for higher position through annual appraisal scheme. Employees identify roles in which they would like to develop their careers with Tesco. Managers set out technical skills, competencies and behaviours necessary for the roles, kind of training to be given, so that a person can be ready to take the applied role. This helps Tesco to achieve its business objectives and employees to achieve their personal and career objectives. A very important element in workforce planning is to have clear job descriptions and person specifications. Steps 01: Job Description: Job title To whom the job holder is responsible For whom the job holder is responsible Job description of roles and responsibilities A person specification set out the skills, characteristics and attributes that a person need to do a particular job Together with the job descriptions and person specifications provide the basis for job advertisements. This helps job applicants and a post holder to know what is expected of them. They should: It contains enough information to attract suitable people It helps to select right applicant with right skills to be called for interview Set targets and standard for job performance Job descriptions and person specifications show how a job holder fit into Tesco business. They help Tesco to recruit the right people. They provide a benchmark for each job in terms of responsibilities and skills. Attracting and Recruitment: Recruitment involves attracting the right standard of applicants to apply for vacancies. Tesco advertises in different ways depending on the job available. Internal Recruitment: Tesco first looks at internal talent plan to fill a vacancy. Internal recruitment process list all current employees who are looking for a move, either horizontally or vertically growth. Tesco advertises the post internally on the intranet for two weeks. It helps to motivate the current employees to grow internally stronger and shape their career growth. External Recruitment: For external recruitment, Tesco advertises job vacancies via Tesco website or through vacancies board in stores. Managerial positions are made online. The right applicants are invited for an interview followed by attendance at an assessment centre for final stage of the selection process. People interested in store based jobs with Tesco can approach stores with CV or register through job centre plus. The store then prepares a waiting list of people applying in this way and calls them in as jobs become available. Pharmacist and bakers Tesco uses the external sources of advertisement which is: Through offline media and its website Advertising through magazines such as The Appointment Journal or on Google Through radio and television Tesco will seek the most cost-effective way of attracting its right applicants. As we know that advertising through television, radio or some magazines are really expensive however at times it becomes really important for any companies to advertise the right job to the right people so that they can learn more about the job. Tesco uses the easy way to advertise its job vacancies and has a simple application process. When any applicants browses the Tescos website it becomes easy for them to find which jobs are available like local jobs, management jobs and head office positions. Tescos website also has the online applications for candidates to apply their application forms directly. Selection: Now comes the real difficult time to choose the right candidates from the applicants who have applied for the vacancy, whilst keeping in mind the employments laws and regulations. Screening is the most important part of selection process. This makes it easier to understand that the selected candidates are the right fit for job requirements. In the first stage of screening, Tesco selectors will carefully look at each applicants Curriculum Vitae (CV). The CV summarises the applicant personal details, education and job history to date. A well written and positive CV helps Tesco to analyse whether an applicant matches the person specification for the job. Most of the company also provides a job type match tool on its careers web page. This tool helps the people who are interested in working with Tesco and can see where they fit before applying for the job. There are several stages in this process which Tesco uses to select the external management candidates. As the candidate passes the screening stage attends an assessment centre. The assessment centre is taken place in store and run by the managers. They help to provide regularity in the selection process. Applicants are given various tasks, including problem solving or team-working activities. This involves the problems they might have to deal with at work. As the candidate passes the assessment centre they are put for an interview. When interview takes place the Line managers for the job on offer takes part in it to make sure the right candidate fits the job requirements. Task 2 Build Winning teams: Identify the mix of knowledge, skills and experience necessary for its teams to fulfil their functions within the organization: Team management flourishes in a supportive environment in which the manager effectively delegates and the team members effectively communicate in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Its a commonsense approval of letting people improve their performance by improving they use. Mix knowledge, skills and experience necessary for the teams: It is not easy to form a successful team. Belonging to a team is a result of feeling part of something much bigger than you. It has lot to with the understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization. Though you work for specific function or you belong to different department, even then you are unified with other organization member to accomplish the overall objectives. In order to have a effective team following criteria are important: Unity in and respect for the primary task. Ideas and opinions needs to be expressed i.e are open communications. Mutual trust is revealed in actions. There is always a support by the presence of care, concern and active help. It is an active process that involves the personal contributions of all members equally. Selective use of the teams, leaders and trainers are required to know which groups are good to use for certain tasks, group effectiveness differs by project. Leadership is to manage and integrate all characteristics into the norm for team behaviour. Team relationships and building rapport: Individual in a team create a collaborative effort to achieve common goals and may need to give up individual autonomy in order to attain those goals and may need to give up individual in order to attain those goals. Each individual in a team has talents and abilities that can contribute to a solid work relationship which is needed to be productive in the job. As a team, members have to identify who excel in technical expertise, who are keen in decision making. It is important to identify skills which will help to perform team effectively. This is otherwise known as team synergy through coordinated effort of performing these abilities. Differences in skills and talents are common. Sharing these skills can help to build solid work relationship among team members. For a relationship to become healthy, one has to learn to appreciate each others talents. Being recognized by fellow for the effort contributed for the team is heart-warming and rewarding. Encouraging team members to develop roles during team assignment: It is important to treat everyone in the team equally and encouraging them to participate in every process of the given assignment. Being mutually understanding towards each other which further requires being dependent on each other. Every individual should be encouraged to develop a level of trust for each other in order to believe reliable to each other. In order to make every one involve in the process of assignment, it is important to entrust work to another team member. There can be meeting every now and then to build the confidence of the team member in regards to task given. Self disclosure is a good strategy to involve every member in the process of the given task which can help to establish trust with each other. In order to build trust, the team can hold trust building talks during meeting every now and then. It is important to share a little about you to your teammates will give them to chance to know you as a person. Inject humour and some fun to be comfortable with each other. Task 3 There is a tuff competition in the market where it is important to have a great leader in the company to lead the objective / goals to accomplish. As Tesco is a market leader in UK and international market. Hence, it is important to have right Leaders with right leadership theory. Tesco has adopted Transactional theory to run the company. Transactional Leadership Theory/ Management Leadership Theory: According to Gill Robinson Hickman (2010) Transactional Leadership Theory is defined as It takes place when one person takes the initiative in making contact with other for the purpose of an exchange of valued things. Assumption: Mostly People are motivated by reward and punishment. Social systems work best with a clear chain of command. When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they cede all authority to their manager. The prime purpose of a subordinate is to what their manager tells them to do. Style: The transactional leader works through creating clear structures whereby it is clear what is required of their subordinates, and the rewards that they get for following orders. Punishments are not always mentioned, but they are also well understood and formal systems of discipline are usually in place. When the transactional leader allocated work to a subordinate, they are considered to be fully responsible for it, whether or not they have the resources or capability to carry it out. When things go wrong, then the subordinate is considered to be personally at fault, and is punished for the failure. Transactional leadership is based in contingency, in that reward or punishment is contingent upon performance. Despite of much limitation, transactional leadership is still a popular approach with many mangers. Indeed, it is very much towards the management end of the scale when it is leadership vs. Management spectrum. Leadership style: According to Joseph Clarence Rost (1991) defines Leadership as Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. Leaders do not have subordinates- at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. When they lead is to have followers and following is always a voluntary activity. Best leader is the when who inspire and do not tell what to do to their subordinate. You have to appeal to them, showing how following them lead to their hearts desire. They must want to follow you and perhaps walk into danger and situations that they would not normally consider risking. Leaders with the strong charisma find it easier to attract people to their cause. As a part of their persuasion they typically promise transformational benefits, such that their followers will not just receive extrinsic rewards but will somehow become better people. Although many leaders have a charismatic style of some extent, this does not require a loud personality. They are very effective at creating the loyalty that great leaders engender. This leader are good to people but that does not mean they are friendly with them. They often maintain and retain a degree of separation and aloofness. They are very achievement focused then paying to much attention to tasks. Members are always enthusing others to work towards their vision. They are always pursuing their vision; they consider it natural to encounter problems and hurdles that must be overcome along the way. In Tesco organization often the leaders/managers tries have the combination of leadership style which would best suit the success of the organization. Combination of Transactional and Transformation Leadership Style helps to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Vision, goals and values that are effectively communicated to the subordinates / team members is very important. Communication between the leader and the team, and within the team, is vital if success is to be achieved. Everybody likes to feel involved, that they feel involved, that they have a part to play and nurturing this is a skilful and often time-consuming task. Goals need to be achievable within the time task. Expectations of your team need to be realistic, practical and flexible. It is very important to communicate vision, goals and values to colleagues. The way an effective leader recognises the values of delegating task to colleagues, once again this reinforces their involvement and common purpose. However, support is often necessary so you will need to ensure that appropriate forms of supports are both available and accessible. All colleagues may not share the passion that a leader may have for the project but this does not mean that they should not be involved. It is therefore important to keep in mind their responsibilities and personalities so that you can maximise the efforts of your teams. It is important to enthuse and motivate its colleagues to achieve objectives they are as follows: By involving them, many employees want to be involved in the ongoing development and progress of their company. Communicate. It is important to communicate to their employees or colleagues by email, memos, telephone and meeting. Celebrate individual and team performance. It is important to recognising the individual efforts and appraising their performances. Set challenging goals. It is important to set challenging goals that drive all the colleagues to work hard to accomplish them. Give them the tools to succeed. No team will stay motivated if they do not have a right tools required to do their job. This includes equipment, internal support, inventory, marketing materials and etc. Believe in your people. The majority of people want to well-very few individuals approach a job with the intent of messing up. Task 4 Performance monitoring and assessment Objective setting techniques is used to set specific objective for enterprise performance or as they are related to some specific activity or initiative. An objective can be defined as a specific result that is desirable to achieve, within a specified time period. Goals differ than objectives; a goal is specific target to be reached. Purpose: The purpose of objective setting is to determine key achievement results, desired by an enterprise or other group in support of its support vision and mission, to determine key achievement results for a change project to measure progress and to evaluate accomplishment and to facilitate goal setting. Benefits: The benefit of objective setting is that common objectives facilitates consensus and provide a focus for taking action. Objectives also provide a way to measure progress. The wider the participation in setting the objectives, greater is the commitment and motivation to achieve them. Tesco has always adopted a technique and process which is best suitable to achieve the objective and ultimately achieving the targets. The best technique is SMART objectives: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Based. Every technique used in objective setting should follow the basic needs and requirement. Tesco needs to manage the performance of its employees effectively if it is to remain as the UKs leading retailer and maintain a competitive edge. This means that there must be an effective management control exercised at both individual and organisational level. A range of processes and techniques are placed within all Tesco stores and in the Tesco offices, which allow individual employees to know how well they are doing, and for managers to be able to monitor how well their subordinates are performing. Tescos managers exercise control at an individual and organisational level through: Planning by setting objectives and targets. Maintaining performance standards are important. Rectifying mistakes and taking action. The process described above contributes to management by.. The objective of using performance monitoring techniques as a key element in the management of projects is to: Regularly assess the achievement of or the potential for achieving technical, financial, and economic goals of the project. Provide the management of the EA, the borrower and the Bank with an effective means of measuring the progress of a project, its components, and the adequacy and timeliness of the provision and use of funds. Determine the form and nature of corrective actions necessary to achieve goals monitored by performance indicators. Importance of monitoring performance: All successful organisations have to monitor their performance in order to keep their data updated or to increase their performance level in the market. To have an improvement in performance the management needs to have proper information about the current performance. In order to analyse the performance the management needs to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) which will help the management to monitor progress. There are three areas of activity within every professional firm that are critical to success and KPIs needs to be established in each of them: Measures relating to business development and financial performance The view of clients about the range and delivery and provision of professional services firm services Views of personnel about all aspects of their relationship within the professional firms Tesco is successful because they are been agreeing and identifying all this KPIs and considering how best to measure them. Tesco is so successful because they have using the most important factor that is delegation contingency factors where it is very essential management skills. A good delegation help to save time, develops the people, grooms a successor and motivate the people. There are some delegation contingency factors which need to be taken under consideration in order to be successful in the market and they are: Size of the organisation Importance of the decision and duty Culture of the organisation Complication of the task Qualities of employee Tesco has always strived hard to motivate its colleagues and the best way to do is giving them responsibility, by making them feel that they are important part of the organization. Hence, Tesco has always strived to delegate its responsibility. Any job is assigned to its colleague through proper delegating technique or process: Understand the Task: It is important to understand the task so that you can clearly communicate the task to the person undertaking the task. It is important to understand the barriers and resources which are required to complete the task. Find the right person: It is very important to find the right person who is motivated enough to undertake the task with the right skills and knowledge. It is important to communicate the expectations of the task, so as to determine the ownership of the task which he/she will fully responsible success of it. Communicate the task: Take the time to clearly to communicate the task. Expectation from the task has to clearly communicate. It is important to communicate the ownership clearly to the delegated person. Provide resources, remove barriers: It is important to give all resources and remove all barriers in order to succeed in the task. To provide the success of the task, it is important to provide all the resources, technology, people or time for successful completion of the task. Guarantee Understanding: Delegator has to make sure that the person who has delegated with the task has understood everything completely. Encourage Success: It is important to make the person delegated realise that you have full confidence in them and hence the task has been given to them with full resources and technology. Follow up, Reward: To follow up is important which would decide whether the success of the task. Proper delegation helps to succeed in the task given which in return motivate its colleagues. Tesco has always tried to improve its performance and hence it has adopted the MBO ( Management By Objective ) is a process in which managers / employees set objectives for the employee, periodically evaluate the performance, and reward according to the result. It mainly focuses on the attention on what has to accomplish (goals) rather than how it has to be achieved. They are classified into Corporate Objective, Functional Objective and Individual Objective. An objective must be SMART as shown in the below diagram: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time specific SMARTer Objective for _________________ By ____/_____/___ , __ _____________________________________________________ will have ___________________________ [WHEN] _____________________________________________________________ [WHO/WHAT, include a number that you can measure] ________________________________________________________________________, [HOW, WHY (remember to specify results Diagram 1: http://www.rapidbi.com/created/WriteSMARTobjectives.html This diagram below will show us the factors which are affecting the performance: Diagram 2: http://userwebs.cth.com.au/~gcutts/Management/19a_factors.htm Ability: Ability, skills and knowledge which are used for performing to the highest level is the important key factor affecting performance Effort: The amount of manual or mental energy that a person is ready to spend on a job to reach a certain a level of performance. Incentive and motivation could affect the level of performance of an individual. Motivation: Motivated people can have an affect their performance. Motivated people can achieve 80-90% ability level whereas de motivated can achieve only 20-30% of the ability. Equity and Expectation: It is important to treat and reward equally avoiding any discrimination which would ground any in abilities or de motivate. Task or role and perception: It is important to know where one is heading or the direction towards which an individual. Standard and job description must be known and understood. Environmental factors: Other factors which could affect the performance such as time constraints, lack of resources or obsolete equipment, information overload or conflicting priorities. Co-operation from the other staff or department, policies and supervision exercised.