Analysis of Professional Development Plan Essay

The definition of professional development varies in school districts and educators agree that the term is ever changing and involves the use of technology. Some educators have said that the term has an operational definition. In the article, key design factors in durable instructional technology professional development, author John Wells offers the following definition for educators within the context of the technological age:Professional development†¦goes beyond the term training with its implications of learning skills, and encompasses a definition that includes formal and informal means of helping teachers not only learn new skills, but also develop new insights into pedagogy and their own practices, and explore new or advanced understandings of content and resources. [This] definition of professional development includes support for teachers as they encounter the challenges that come with putting into practice their evolving understanding about the use of technology to sup port inquiry-based learning (p.2). Professional development may encompass various characteristics such as goals and outcomes aligned to the districts, relevant topics in trainings, opportunities for staff collaboration, development maintained by an on-site coordinator, high quality and professional training and evaluations to determine effectiveness of program. James Polk, author of traits of effective teachers, states, â€Å"the need for a strong professional development program is well established in research† (p.2). Mr. Polk (2006) cites a recent study of factors contributing to three aspects of the teaching process that, â€Å"teachers ranked professional development in the top third of importance on each aspect† (p. 2). In analyzing the professional development plan of my school district, Richland County School District One, I noticed several issues that were identified by Mr. Polk. Mr. Polk outlined several problems associated with the traditional in-service programs that are deemed ineffective. Mr. Polk (2006) states that:assumptions, such as periodic in-service being sufficient to develop new teaching methods and improve practice, teachers being able to learn by listening to a speaker, and professional development being a luxury  rather than an integral part of district improvement, are all negating factors in the implementation of patronization of training programs (p. 2). Mr. Polk further identifies research-based, more effective assumptions such as professional development should be perpetual, and school change involves external and internal organizations and personal development. In professional development programs, the instructions to teacher should be demonstrated or modeled, practiced with feedback and professional development should be integrated into the daily life of teachers. Mr. Polk (2006) states that â€Å"if professional growth rests solely on bimonthly, two-hour in-service sessions after the students are dismissed early, then any training received will unlikely be reflected in student mastery† (p.2). Richland County School District One’s (RSDI) professional development program has several components such as the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA), Avatar, and classroom walkthrough. According to the Richland County School District One’s website, Plan Do Check Act is used in â€Å"designing curriculum and delivering classroom instruction, in providing student support services, staff goal setting and evaluation, developing any new program, product or process design, planning strategically and starting a new improvement project or implementing any change†. The Plan component is identifying the learning problem and gathering the needed data. The Do component is analyzing the causes and implementing the plan on a trial of pilot basis. The Check component of PDCA is gathering the data results of the solution and analyzing the data. The Act component is implementing the instruction for all students and modifying the improvement plan. Avatar is the district’s professional development management system that allows for teaches to sign up for trainings offered by the district. All the trainings are offered after school or in the summer; this contradicts the recommendation offered by Mr. Polk that professional development should be integrated into the daily life of the teacher during the school day. The classroom walkthrough team is a district employee, the principal, assistant principal, and the professional development on-site coordinator. The team conducts the classroom walkthrough by observing the instructional strategies of a teacher for a total of five to ten minutes. The teacher is not offered prior information or feedback on the classroom walkthrough to correct or enhance his instructional strategies. The Richland County School District One website offers the levels of engagement of the students who the team should identify during the walkthrough. The levels; Authentic Engagement, Ritual Engagement, Passive Compliance, Retreatism, and Rebellion and their definitions are cited on the web page but teachers would not know their level due to lack of communication from the classroom walkthrough team. The problem of the poor quality of professional development was identified in the South Carolina schools that I have researched. For example, in Richland County School District Two, the district’s professional development program mirrors Richland County School District One’s program by only focusing on providing monthly in-service trainings on half-days for students or summer in-service activities. Both districts also provide the occasional monthly state or national conference in the teacher’s subject area and online training, i.e. Educational Television. Richland County School District Two differs by offering their Richland School District Two’s Technology Education Collaboration Mentors Program. The program is for school-selected representatives from every school in the district. The program focuses on helping fellow staff members develop personal technology skills and integrate technology into their classroom. Besides this program, I was unable to find any difference from the two districts and the professional development training. Richland County School District One and District Two professional development programs consist of low quality training once a month, irrelevant topics, lack of feedback from teachers and administrators, and concepts but lack of implementation. The districts’ programs lack the scope, high quality, accessibility (besides the Avatar system in RSDI), relevancy, and feedback from students. The majority of the district’s professional development program is the poor quality program described by Mr. Polk; two-hour  in-service sessions after the students are dismissed early from school. Reference Polk, J. (2006). Traits of effective teachers. Arts Education Policy Review, 107, p. 23-30. Wells, J. (2007). Key design factors in durable instructional technology professional development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15, p. 101-123. www.richlandone.org/ipda/Training_Tools/pdca.htm and www.richland2.org

In Construction Final Report

Through this search we are able to identify & analyze the factors through which small construction companies can gain competitive advantage over their close competitors. Also studied various Project Management techniques that can foster growth of small and developing companies in this sector. This report also identifies the upcoming opportunities that the small and budding companies have in the construction industry. Lastly, it also talks about the key hindrances faced by Indian construction companies in running their operations with suggestions to overcome them. Introduction The Construction industry of India is an important indicator of the placement as it creates investment opportune ties across various related sectors. The construction industry contributed an estimated RSI. 7,807 billion to the national GAP in 2013-14 which amounted to around 9%. The industry is fragmented, with a handful of major companies involved in the construction activities across all segments. Besides, the re are medium sized companies specializing in niche activities and small and medium contractors who work on the subcontractor basis and carry out the work in the field.In 2011 there were slightly over 500 construction equipment manufacturing companies in al of India The sector is labor intensive and provides employment, including indirect jobs, to more than 3. 5 core people. The period from 1950 to mid 1 ass's witnessed the government playing an active role in the development of these services and most of construction activities during this period were carried out by State owned enterprises and supported by government departments. In the first five-year plan, construction of civil works was allotted nearly 50 % of the total capital outlay.The first professional consultancy company, National Industrial Development Corporation (MIND), was set up in the public sector in 1954. Subsequently, many architectural, design engineering and construction companies were set up in the public secto r such as Indian Railways Construction Limited (RECON), National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBC), Rail India Transportation and Engineering Services (RITES), Engineers India Limited (ELL) etc. As well as the private sector such as M N ADSTAR and Co. , Hindustan Construction Company (HOC), Nasals etc.In India Construction has accounted for around 40 per cent of the development investment during the past 50 years. Around 16 per cent of the nation's working population depends on construction for its livelihood and rates assets worth over 200 billion per annum. Total capital expenditure of state and central government was approximately RSI. 8,021 billion in 2011-12 which rose from RSI. L ,436 billion in 1999-2000. The share of the Indian construction sector in total gross capital formation (GIF) came down from 60 per cent in 1970-71 to 34 per cent in 1990-91.Thereafter, it increased to 48 per cent in 1993-94 and stood at 44 per cent in 1999-2000. In the 21st century, there has been an increase in the share of the construction sector in GAP and capital formation. The main reason for this is the increasing emphasis on involving the private sector infrastructure development through public private partnerships (Peps) and mechanisms like build-operate-transfer (BOOT). LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction to the Indian Construction Industry The Construction Industry in India is the second largest employer of the country after agriculture, accounting for 1 1 % of Indian's GAP.It employs more than 3. 5 scores people & its total market size is estimated at RSI. scores. The level Of a country's development is reflected by its infrastructure & the desperate need for infrastructure development has increased the demand of the construction industry in India. The Indian Construction industry can be divided into three broad segments: Residential, Industrial, Commercial & other buildings. Sewer, Roads, Highways, Bridges, Tunnels & other projects. Specialized activity such as ca rpentry, painting, plumbing & electrical work.Characteristics of the Indian Construction Industry Construction industry is a major job creator: The construction industry accounts for 1 1 % of Indian's gross domestic product (GAP). The industry also generates huge employment opportunities, due to its constant requirement for skilled and unskilled laborers. Moreover, the overall growth of this industry is also positive for sectors such as steel and cement, which are key raw materials. Low entry barriers keep industry fragmented: The construction industry is highly fragmented as low fixed capital requirements for construction contracts remove entry barriers.Capital expenditure is only required for procuring necessary equipments unlike a manufacturing businesses, which require a setup of plants and machinery for production. Possibility of payment delays heightens working capital intensity: Construction projects are mainly funded and managed by the owner. Apart from the initial advance, contractors receive payments after each project lessons is completed. However, timely payments also depend on the owner's credit profile and the nature of the project.Most projects, especially infrastructure, have a gestation period of more than a year. Any delay in payments can push up receivables. Such a scenario makes the construction industry working capital intensive. Projects awarded to lowest bidders, but execution skills crucial too: All governmental construction projects are awarded through a competitive bidding process as more domestic and international contractors have forayed into various infrastructure segments. The project is finally awarded to the sweets bidder.However, besides bidding qualifications, contractors also need to have strong project execution and technical skills to avoid cost and time overruns. To make these imperative, institutions such as National Highways Authority of India (NOAH) penalizes delayed execution of national highway projects, while awardin g timely completion of the same. Input-related risks: Access to inputs is crucial for ensuring timely and cost- effective execution of projects. The major inputs for a construction include: 1 . Labor: Construction work involves both skilled and unskilled labor.Currently, instruction players are struggling with wage increases, which can be attributed to labor shortages and rising inflation. Local job opportunities from government welfare schemes, growth in the overall rural economy and migration of laborers to Gulf countries for better prospects are some reasons that have led to a shortage of construction laborers. To solve labor issues, improve quality and cut wage costs, construction companies are now increasing the extent of mechanization, particularly in huge infrastructure projects such as highway projects. . Raw material: The construction industry is raw material-intensive. Any change in prices of raw materials like steel, cement, bitumen etc. Impacts players' profitability. Ho wever, the impact is limited to the extent of the proportion of fixed price contracts in a company's order book. Some construction companies also own quarries so as to ensure constant raw material supply. 3. Land acquisition and government clearances: Land and the related government clearances are the other important inputs for construction work.Delays in these may increase the gestation period of projects, which can impact the profitability of the project. Recent developments in the Indian Construction Industry The Indian government has recently initiated some policy changes in some sectors of the industry and order inflows have improved in some others. Though, the strained financial position Of companies will continue to impact the industry's execution pace in 2014-15. It is therefore expected that the industry's revenues will grow at a tepid pace of 6% to 8% during the year.The poor financial position of construction companies is reflected in their poorly profitable and highly le veraged balance sheets. Operating margins of construction companies fell by about in 2012-13, as input costs rose ND lower margin segments such as road projects gained share in the order book. Competitive pressures have also been impacting margins. Slow execution and its impact on fixed cost of companies shaved off 5% to on an average, from the operating margins of companies in 2013-14.In order to protect their margins, players are now exercising more caution in bidding and competition in the industry has moderated. Yet, the hangover of aggressive bidding of the past and the current execution delays continue to weigh on profitability in 2014-15 also. Further, the gearing (Debt-Equity ratio) f construction companies has been rising over the past two years, impacting the financial flexibility of companies. Gearing of major construction companies rose to 3. 3 times in 2012-13, from 2. 1 times in 2008-09.Net margins, which had been sliding since 2010-11, fell further by 7% in 2012-13 ow ing to higher interest outgo. The industry (with the only exception of L&T) reported net losses from April 2013 to October 2013. According to the twelfth five year plan, more than 40% of the total government spends have been allocated to construction per SE explicitly, along with various construction projects that will be undertaken for other areas of expenditure. The table below illustrates the sector wise investments for the twelfth five year plan.Five Forces Analysis of the Indian Construction Industry Us mammary: The construction and engineering industry is characterized by large incumbents operating alongside smaller companies. Rivalry is eased somewhat by companies diversifying operations into other sectors. There are a small numbers of buyers in this industry, and typically large in size. Similarly suppliers have a great deal of power over market players as their raw materials are essential for players' businesses. However suppliers have also offered the effects of the global economic crisis, seeing the prices of many raw materials rise.There are few, if any, substitutes available in this industry. Bargaining power of Buyers: Buyers in this industry tend to be large and few in number. Typically the main buyers are government agencies or large private-sector customers, usually corporate rather than individuals. Generally, in this industry, customers invite market players to tender for contracts which are on the customers' terms. This means the buyer is in a more powerful position as they specifically define the parameters of the project.

Introduction to Cross-Cultural Psychology Essay

Having culture as a field of psychology makes sense because culture plays a significant role in everyday life. Culture allows someone to define who they are how they survive. Expressions of who one is can be done in many ways, by behavior, appearance, and language. Without culture, one’s human nature would rely on instinct to remain alive. Culture is a product of one’s environment. How important culture is and how culture influences oneself and others will be discussed in this paper. Examining various types of relationships as it pertains to culture and cross cultural psychology will also be deliberated. Critical thinking and the role it plays in cross cultural psychology and the use of scientific method will also be covered. Definition of Cultural and Cross-Cultural Psychology There are many avenues when looking at what culture stands for, but for most there is an agreement that culture is passed down from one generation to the next, there is a strong influence of molding one’s behavior, and that culture is learned. One’s environment is based on the culture that he or she is subjected to. Culture influences humans in many ways that is what makes humans human. Culture separates individuals from any other species and affords one the opportunity to use instinct and cultural knowledge to survive. Culture is woven into one’s fabric of daily life, and aids in how one interacts with others. By definition psychology is the study of performance and human behavior, so when tying to define one’s actions, it is imperative that incorporating one’s culture into the equation. See more: how to start an essay The behaviors of a person can be directly related to the environment or various biological factors, but, behavior can not be solely answered by just those two things without examining the social cultural conditions which impact that person’s behavior. Cultural psychology looks for the connection between psychology and one’s culture. By looking at this link the correlation between culture and behavior is recognized. Acknowledging this permits that cognitive operations are the variable in culture and oneself based on the environment that he or she is surrounded by (Segal, Dasen, Berry & Poortinga, 1999). Culture can bring people together as well as separate others. Cross-cultural psychology is a newer specialty in the field. This field does not just focus on one specific culture when attempting to clarify the actions of someone’s behavior. Rather it views many different cultures that could be affected a person. It is imperative to know not to confuse race, ethnicity and society with culture. They do offer a look at a person’s individualism but it is different than one’s culture. A society consists of people where a culture is a common interest shared by persons with in a group that lead to a given behavior. To understand human behavior, viewing other approaches like sociological, cultural mixtures, integrative approach, eco-cultural and evolutionary all help in understanding how a human’s behavior could fluctuate based on. For example, when looking at the evolutionary approach views the biological factors contributing to the behavior over the eco-cultural approach views the environment (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The Relationship between Cultural and Cross-Cultural Psychology There are two different disciplines, anthropology and philosophy, that overlap in cultural psychology. Then reviewing other disciplines there is a wider viewpoint when researching various actions that others do. The purpose of cultural psychology is to unearth how someone’s culture affects behavior as well as how the connection is generated. Human energy cannot be the only factory determining one’s predisposition. Cultural psychology interprets that one’s mind should not be viewed as separate when explaining behavior. However, cross culture psychology relates to not only history and anthropology but also similarities and differences between histories. Regardless, both disciplines take into account culture so their foundations are close. The difference occurs because cultural psychology is interested in the relationship with culture someone has versus cross-cultural being interested in comparison on cultures (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The Role of Critical Thinking in Cross-Cultural Psychology Using critical thinking the right way, there are many ways that critical thinking that be a benefit. Life can be complex and complicated to understand. Critical thinking provides someone the ability to steer through life with a certainty. This being said, critical thinking is learned, not n inherited trait. Being able to think hypothetically, decrypt puzzles, synchronizing thoughts and communicating all require critical thinking. Using critical thinking means that one asks questions that will ultimately solve problems. If someone is unqualified or unskilled, it is possible they will not develop to full potential. By developing the critical thinking skill, this means that one could grow and learn. The use of language, patience when making important decisions, and ability to organize (Hunter, 2009). All of those that were mentioned are influences in cross-cultural psychology. Language can lead to discrimination for example. The way words are translated can be confused because of the way that it is understood. Translating word for word could lead to an incorrect translation. Understanding that any language can be translated into other meanings causing traumatization or inspiring depending on the interpretation. The research is another part of cross-cultural psychology that is attached to critical thinking. Research that is conducted without bias, emotion, choosing right from wrong, and accepting validity and reliability of that research is a form of critical thinking. It is normal for there to be comparisons made when linking groups or cultures. Here are a few instances how critical thinking and cross-cultural psychology are intertwined. Without a critical thinking understanding how culture affects behavior could form the wrong impression (Segal, Dasen, Berry & Poortinga, 1999). Methodology Associated with Cross-Cultural Research Research is a critical part of cross cultural psychology. Without having research the only information about cross-cultural psychology would be assumptions. Psychologists who focus their studies on cross cultural psychologists are intrigued with the commonalities between cultures. As psychologists explain, foretell and manage various behaviors of those they observe they do so because humans are consumed with the interactions he or she has with others resulting in behaviors. Generating research is done by scientific investigation. Cross cultural psychology research is subdivided into quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative research is done through observation by mode, median and mean. Qualitative research is nconditioned settings or a natural setting. This method is picked when the variables are impossible to gather because the tools are not available. There are two different strategies that are also available to use; the application orientated and comparativist strategy. The data collected by these strategies can be done through systematic or random sampling (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). â€Å"Observation (naturalistic and laboratory), survey (direct and indirect), experimental studies (independent and dependent variables), content-analysis, psychobiography, meta-analysis, focus-group method† (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, pp. 5-40) are all available to psychologists who are interested in cross cultural insestigations. When using cross cultural psychology hindrances could occur. Language could create problems when completing research consequently ensuring correct translation is of the utmost importance. Investigators should be able to decipher a specific method as realistically as possible. Attention should also be paid when associating two phenomena and also avoid biases at all times (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Conclusion Since culture plays a vital role in one’s life, it is critical to recognize that it is what causes one’s behavior. Culture is manmade and appears all of the time without much thought. It is important for one to be a successful psychologist that there is a clear understanding of both cultural and cross cultural psychology and how it effects the individual as well as his or her environment. Because of cultural psychology one can trace the connection between culture and psychology and eventually behavior. Viewing various parallels in cultural psychology can help see the differences as well as similarities between cultures and how it impacts one’s actions. Without it, there will always be a mystery surrounding humanity.

Motivation and Performance in Washburn Guitars Case Study

Motivation and Performance in Washburn Guitars - Case Study Example The employees at Washburn guitars feel motivated because of their love for the music and the care they have when making the musical instruments. Their unending love for the music inspires these workers and makes them possess a sense of belonging to their needs. These employees have an internal motivation and out of love for the music and art, they feel as if they possess an intrinsic reward, which makes them make a complete set of a guitar. According to Moran (2013), their great passion for their music and art-related jobs make them feel to have achieved their objectives in life and hence they make the finest quality guitars that search best prices in the market. The love and connection for their labor they had with every instrument make them take production to the highest possible level. Most people have greatly credited the production manager at Washburn guitars for the motivational cultures that he established in this firm. The employees at Washburn for a long time have preferred to make d10s guitars, which have been the top-selling musical instrument in the history of this firm. Many music artists term the guitar as durable and have the highest quality and it is very affordable such that even the upcoming artists are able to acquire it. Most clients of the instrument have claimed that the guitar produces the highest quality sound and has the most admired aesthetic features in comparison with the guitars from other firms. The top musicians in the world have preferred to use this guitar from Washburn due to its consistency and this has created an extrinsic motivation for the workers at the firm (Moran, 2013).

Social Research & Think Tank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Research & Think Tank - Essay Example any organizations cooperate in a network to accomplish the development of projects whose objectives fostering social research in order to improve the efficiency of a diverse range of organizations. The Work Foundation is a non-profit organization that brings the different perspectives of working organizations together to find the best way of improving both economic performance and quality of life (Theworkfoundation, 2008). Think Tanks take advantage of the services provided by The Work Foundation to provide them with networking capabilities in different locations around the world. The purpose of the Institute and Policy Research is to establish international and domestic policies for different aspects of societal issues such as women’s right, protection for the disabled and national policies to fight world hunger. The establishment of policies is important since they provide guidelines to establish ways to solve social problems. A third important organization that can help the work perform by a social researcher in Think Tank is the Freedom Foundation. The primary goal of the Freedom Foundation is to solve three particular social problems: alcoholism, drug addiction and the fight against AIDS (Thefreedomfoundation, 2008). An aspiring to become a social researcher or somebody already in the game must understand that social research can extend to different social dimension in order to find the root of the problem. Cooperation is essential in social research since the investigator needs the assistance of other entities in order to obtain the data and information needed to create a qualitative or quantitative model to effectively attack a particular social dilemma. The Think Tank operations around the world can become more effective if its networking capabilities are expand by utilizing social research to establish the key alliances needed to obtain greater sources of databases with key social information that can be used to further investigated social areas in

Business accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business accounting - Essay Example Financial ratio analysis enables decision makers to uncover trends in business performance and compare different business organizations (Keown, et. al 2005). It should be noted that these ratios are classified according to the aspects that they measure including profitability, liquidity, efficiency, solvency, and investor ratios. Considering that the business organization under consideration is considered small and medium business organization, this report will focus only on profitability, liquidity, and efficiency. In terms of liquidity, the current ratio and the acid-test ratio will be utilized. At first look, the Northern Branch displays a slightly higher level of liquidity with its current ratio of 1.060. Should all of its current liabilities become due immediately, The Southern Branch will only be able to pay off 99.6% with its current assets. However, the acid test ratio shows that most of the Northern Branch's most current assets are tied up in inventories. In fact, when inventory is deducted from the current assets, it will only yield an acid-test ratio of 0.34. On the other hand, the Southern Branch has much more liquid assets indicated by its acid test ratio of 0.54. In terms of efficiency, the following ratios will be considered: debtor's turnover; debtor days; creditor's turnover; creditor days; and stock turnovers which will be divided according to the main inventories namely, food and beverages. The Northern Branch has a lower debtor's turnover leading to higher debtor days which indicates the collection period of account receivables. During the fiscal year, the branch reports debtor's turnover of 9.30 and debtor days of 39.21. On the other hand, the Southern Branch appears to be more efficient in collecting its receivables with its debtor's turnover of 12.13 and debtor days of 30.08 days. It is also apparent that the Southern Branch is relatively better in servicing its short term creditors as indicated by its higher creditor turnover and lower creditor days. The branch's creditor's turnover reported is 6.09, far better than Northern Branch's 1.74. This is translated to creditor days of 59.85 (Southern Branch) which is very much faster than Northern Branch's payment period of 208.63 days. In terms of inventory management, the Northern Branch still lags behind the Southern Branch both in food and beverages. The Southern Branch's stock of food turns at an average of 17.24 annually and stays in the company's warehouse in a period of 21.17 days. On the other hand, the Northern Branch's turnover averages 5.66 times a year while stock days is 64.39. The same is true with beverages. While the Southern Branch has a turnover of 3.05 and stock days of 119.54, the Northern Branch is not able to sell its beverage stocks for the fiscal year. It stays in the company's warehouse for more than a year (593.39 days) before it is finally sold. To measure profitability, this report will look at the return of capital employed (ROCE), gross profits, and net profit. The Southern Branch reports higher ratios in all these categories. The branch has an ROCE 0.36 compared to the Northern Branch's 0.26. In terms of profit margins, the Southern Bra

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Risk management - Essay Example The systemic risk governance requires unity between the countries and enclosure within the process of industry, government, academia and the civil society. Governance is defined as the processes, traditions, actions and institutions by which the authority exercises and takes decision which is then implemented (Aven & Vinnem, 2007). Risk Governance The term risk governance can be defined as the assessment, identification, management and communication of the risks in a board framework. It comprise of â€Å"actors, rules, conventions, processes and mechanisms and is concerned with how relevant risk information is collected, analyzed and communicated, and how management decisions are taken†. It uses the main beliefs of the good governance that includes effectiveness, transparency, efficiency, strategic focus, accountability, equity, sustainability and fairness. It deals with the rule of law and also need to chose the solution which will be legally and politically feasible along wi th publicly and ethically acceptable. Risk is always accompanied by changes. It is an important and permanent part of every life. The urge and the capacity to accept the challenge of the risk is very crucial for the achievement of the economic development and the introduction of the new technologies. Sometimes risk is accompanied by potential opportunities and benefits in the emerging technological sector (Graham & Rogers, 2002). Good risk governance aims at minimizing the following: 1) The unfair distribution of benefits and risk between the countries, social groups and the organisations. 2) By modifying the approaches for assessment and management of the same risk. 3) By emphasising extensive focus on the high profile risks it can be eliminated but the lower profile risk are also looked upon. 4) By managing the risk tradeoffs. 5) Failure in understanding the secondary effects and the linkages between the issues 6) The cost is reduced in case of inefficient regulations. 7) The deci sions that are taken for inappropriate account of the public perception. 8) Decisions are taken for not losing the trust of the public. Risk oversight function The main challenge of managing the risk lies in the benefit that the society will receive from change and by minimising the ill consequences of the risk which is associated with the change. (Confusing sentence, reframe) The main aim of the Board of Risk Governance of every company is to oversight the risk that the company is going to face or faced already confronted with. The main risk oversight functions are the following: 1) The boards are worried regarding the strategic long term risk: Over sighting risk is an important duty of the boards. The boards pay serious attention to many facets of the issues that includes a wide range of risks that the companies confront and the various enterprise risk management (ERM) systems. But the members underline the fact that it is crucial for the boards to concentrate on the risks which a ffects the strategy of the company, leveraging talent of the directors. It is also needed to help the senior management for identifying, analyzing and responding to those risks. The challenges that are posed to the very existence of a company are the big risk of the disruptive technologies and the new business models. The new business models which emerge suddenly pose threat to the existence of the

Building design from Australia to the required standards of Article

Building design from Australia to the required standards of architectural design - Article Example From this research it is clear that the fore ground shows tall towers and a pylon, probably a memorial pillar or a communication booster mast. The middle ground shows an impression of a sophisticated transport system, with roads and a roundabout with people walking on foot. Perhaps this is an appropriate explanation of the title of the architecture, â€Å"Walking Melbourne†. The background shows a densely occupied city centre, full of tall buildings. It shows a curvature with a panoramic sky view on the background, giving an impression of a long distance towards the background. From the foreground to the background, a viewer can easily notice that the buildings are tilted. The architecture of Bayden Goddard Design provides a collection of uncountable buildings from the front to the background. Incidentally, all buildings use one colour. This does not present an elegant image of a city. The designer did not make a proper mixture of colours for one of the side shows of the build ing. From the use of colours, the image of the building architecture does not show natural colours but with the application of additional artificial light. The colour mix is especially difficult for a colour-blind person to judge. The side show displays the use of a dominant colour being black or probably dark blue. This is an impression of darkness from the background, and it makes a reader think that some features are hidden. Bayden Goddard Design shows one of the designs with skyscrapers on the background. It creates an impression of the back of a modern building. The back is a traditional structure that does not match the sophisticated view of the former picture. The colour grey here displays an old and worn out construction whose colour has probably faded away. The colours are not consistent in the various designs. For example, comparing a single feature such as the sky, shows different results, some are too dark, almost becoming black, while others are extremely too light, alm ost white (McCartney 23). Second Critique: Perspective The perspectives of the building in some of the pictures are difficult to analyse, owing to their tilted nature. It is difficult to make an accurate estimation of the dimensions of the construction from the angles of viewing. A viewer can easily think that the building is under demolition or under new development. From the perspective, a viewer cannot approximate the distances, or even identify the side that is longer than the other. He or she can not estimate the height of the building with accurate precision. A good architectural design should be able to present dimensions in a simple way with easily recognizable dimensions for the viewer to identify from the view the length, the width and the height of the construction. The tilt also cheats the eye about the exact shape of the construction, whether it is a cuboidal shape or a pyramid construction. Third Critique: Proportion One of the shows of the building shows the building of two storeys, comparing very closely to the tallest towers in the city centre. The architecture makes a viewer overstate the height of the architectural construction. Secondly, the buildings appear to be in contact with the sky. The height disappears into the sky however short the building is in reality. Proportionality is a critical feature for analysing an architectural design. In one of the design pictures, it is not easy to ascertain

Jared Diamond On Advantages Of Being Agricultural People Essay

Jared Diamond On Advantages Of Being Agricultural People - Essay Example Domesticating animals follows when a civilization applies agriculture because it helps in plowing hard soil. Farm animals are also a good source of edible meat, milk and eggs. An acre of land can therefore feed more herders and farmers as much as 10 to 100 times as what the hunter gatherers can gather in a same sized area. In ancient times, these meant more surviving people and thus a military advantage that agricultural tribes had. Another advantage of agriculture is that it enables agricultural people to have higher birthrate than the hunter-gatherers. Mothers of hunter-gatherers society are capable of carrying only one child at a time. And so, mothers of these societies need to lengthen the time of the next birth of a child until the infant is able to walk. Agricultural people on the other hand need to stay close to their farms. They are not burdened with the problems of constant traveling and so are able to have as much children as they want. Higher birthrate and the ability to produce food enable agricultural people to have higher population densities than the hunter-gatherers. A settled existence for the agricultural people enables them to develop a skill for storing food. Unlike the hunter-gatherers, food lasts for a short time because they are not able to protect them if they are to store them at some place.

Should liberalist states promote their policies abroad Is force a Essay

Should liberalist states promote their policies abroad Is force a legitimate instrument in securing these goals - Essay Example The questions asked are; is liberalism really a bad ideology that it has to be forced on other nations and how can the citizens of various nations benefit from liberalism? This paper supports the notion that liberalist states should promote their policies abroad but force should not be used as a legitimate instrument in securing these goals. Policy making was largely influenced by liberalists in the twentieth century. The liberalists influenced Public opinion and their liberal views were embraced as they gave the people hope for having free elections, religious freedom, free press, free markets, associational pluralism, free movement and many other associated benefits. However, with the First World War, liberal views subsided but after the Second World War, there was revival of liberal views marked by the establishment of United Nations. The cold war power politics extinguished liberalism again but in the 1990s; there was a beacon of hope as the Western countries announced the establ ishment of a new world order (Dunne 1). The leaders who came up with the new world order gave their justifications why the world should embrace liberalism over other ideologies but after the World Trade Centre was destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, America seemed to abandon liberalism and embraced realism. The United States of America and its counterparts have attempted to solidify power around them and decided to seek vengeance among their perceived enemies and the nations that sympathize with them. The paper expounds on the matter, showing liberalism to be founded on temperateness, compromise, moderation, and peace while realists strive to introduce a common power in order to achieve progress, justice and law (Dunne 2). For a long period, liberalism has been utilized to depict abroad range of practices, ideas, movements, and parties in various societies. It was mainly used to oppose the systems of governance that were oppressive and denied the citizens some pri vileges. Liberalism was used as a force of liberation for the people to obtain free initiatives from existing governments. When used as a political philosophy, liberalism can either refer to individual rights shared by liberals or basic principles of constitutional authorities. Classical liberals advocated for liberty, the segmentation of political powers, economic freedom, rights to own property, freedom of speech and thoughts, independent civil societies and religious liberty. Egalitarian aspects have influenced modern democratic liberalism in addition to the other aspects that classical liberalists advocated for, thus social equality serving as the foundation of modern-day liberal politics (Starr 34). Liberalism can be defined in four dimensions, which look into its different aspects. Firstly, when relating to the law, all the citizens are equal, meaning that they are equally bound by the law and bear basic rights to religious toleration, education, and free press among other rig hts. Secondly, the legislative body of a nation can only exercise authority vested in it by the citizens and is not permitted to abuse their rights. Thirdly, an individual has the right to property ownership and productive forces. Fourthly, liberalism identifies the free, market driven economic exchange system as the most effective and disparages market systems that are controlled and regulated bureaucratically. When one considers these four

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Essay Example for Free

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Essay Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 at Mvezo, in tiny village near the Mbashe River in the district of Umtata. In Xhosa Rolihanda means ‘’pulling the branch of a tree’’ but also ‘’troublemaker’’ which describes Mandela quite accurately. Nelson Mandela was born into the Thembu tribe, he was a member of the royal household but was not trained to be a ruler one day, only groomed to be of help to the rulers. Nelson was a name given by Mandela’s English teacher, in that time the British had control and a more English form of education came forth. Mandela had a happy childhood but unfortunately his father died when Mandela was only nine years old.Nelson Mandela studied at Clarkebury. Later on Mandela was send to Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort in somewhat poor sleeping and eating circumstances. Nelson got a sense of freedom from his tribe and began searching inside himself as a person not just a tribe member or a Xhosa but as an African, but as the famous Xhosa poet Mqhay spoke at the collage and inspired Nelson to put being a Xhosa first and a African second. He later attended University Collage of Fort Hare were he got knowledge of law, English and politics. This is where the seed was planted of Nelson’s tree of wisdom. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is one of the greatest souls to ever walk the earth, his fight for freedom and equality will be remembered for centuries more to come. He is an icon of greatness and everything we should inspire to be. Mandela is known worldwide for his extraordinary sacrifice he made in his struggle for justice and equality in South-Africa. If you think of South-Africa without Nelson Mandela darkness comes to mind, where would we be if it wasn’t for this man? I think it’s a question many South-Africans would rather not answer, were just grateful that he was here. Nelson Mandela’s fight against apartheid is probably the definitive moment of South-African history, the moment that were all finally after years and years equal. That is the reason why I believe Mandela is essential to  South-African history. In Nelson Mandela autobiography ‘’A long walk to freedom’’ he categorized his life into different chapters. In these chapters we see Mandela growing, learning and creating his point of view. Mandela saw the wrong in South- Africa and he knew it had to be justified. During Rivonia trail Nelson Mandela said â€Å"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.† (Mandela, 1995:215) Mandela’s different chapters give us an idea of the story of how this wonderful man came to be. Mandela gives you a visual picture of his life in ‘’A long walk to freedom’’. We see Mandela as a little boy running around playing with the other boys, participating in stick fights and being as free as one could be, this may be when Mandela fell in love with freedom. In many occasions Mandela says that he inherited various traits of character from his father ‘’ My father was a tall, dark-skinned man with a straight and stately posture, which I like to think I inherited’’ ‘’My father possessed a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness, that I recognize in myself’’ we see that Mandela and his Father had a fair amount of character traits in common, and his father played a big role in the fundament in Mandela’s character. Mandela also said ‘’although my mother was the centre of my existence, I defined myself through my father’’. (Mandela, 1995:26) Mandela didn’t know it at the time but his whole world was about change. His mother informed him that he wasnâ⠂¬â„¢t going to stay with them anymore Nelson didn’t ask where he was going or why. When he reached the place that was going to be his new home he was amazed but still felt bewildered. Nelson said ‘’It felt like a sapling pulled root and branch from the earth and flung into the centre of a stream whose strong current I could not resist’’(Mandela, 1995:26) He was also taken by the factor of wealth ‘’In that instant, I saw that life might hold more for me than being a champion stick-fighter’’(Mandela, 1995:26) Nelson Mandela’s new home in Mqhekezweni brought many opportunities, Nelson’s mother knew he would achieve much more, al Nelson Mandela’s father ever wanted for Nelson was a great education so in a way his wishes were granted. At the age of sixteen the regent decided  that it was time for Mandela to embrace manhood meaning circumcision. Circumcision was a ritual of transformation from boy into man. The regent said that Mandela was not destined to work in the mine , he said Nelson would be a counsellor to Sabata, for n Nelson to be a counsellor he needed higher education so he was send to Clarkebury after he finished in some struggling, he was send to Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort. After that 21 year Nelson Mandela was send to The University College of Fort Hare. Nelson said for him and other young black children it was like ‘’Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, all rolled into one’’. (Mandela, 1995:40) Nelson Mandela learned both inside and out classrooms. He competed in soccer and cross-country running. Nelson Mandela met Oliver Tambo on the soccer field. Mandela said ‘’it was easy to see that he was destined for great things’’. (Mandela, 1995:41) Mandela’s dream at this moment was to get a degree and to earn money so that he could restore the wealth his mother lost when his father died he wanted to give them all the things they couldn’t afford. Nelson Mandela was nominated to stand for Student Representative Council but not all the students were allowed to vote so Nelson and the five others decided to resign from the council. The next day they voted again with all the students present but still only twenty five could vote so the same people were appointed. They held a meeting and the five suggested that they accept office, tough nothing had changed for Mandela. Here you can see Mandela’s love for democracy shine trough. Mandela resigned for the second time and he the only one out of the six that did. He was called in by the head of university DR. Kerr, he gave Mandela a choice stay and be on the Student Representative Council or leave. Mandela chose to leave because he couldn’t let his fellow student down and he had to do the right thing. Nelson Mandela returned home were the regent was very angry with Mandela. The regent also announced that his two sons will be married. This took Mandela by surprise. He and his brother fled to Johannesburg. As they arrived at Johannesburg they went to the mines seeking work but were turned down because they knew that they ran away from home. Nelson got a job as articled law clerk at Witkin, Nelson went about life as normal went to parties met some brilliant people and learned every day. The regent came to Mandela, he wanted to know what his plans were he supported Mandela and had  no intension to take him back but for his brother there was other intentions he was to come home immediately return which he refused. Six months later the regent died and Mandela was overwhelmed by guilt. Mandela began working with Guar and Walter Sisulu. In the end of 1942 Nelson Mandela got his B.A degree and he was very proud. Gaur his employer also reminded him education wasn’t everything education alone wasn’t going to give them freedom. It was Guar that took Mandela to the ANC meetings. Nelson also participated in bus boycott with Guar. In 1943 the firm articled Nelson Mandela. Later on Mandela attended the University of Witwatersrand to get his LLB degree in law. The university had mostly white people and in the law faculty Nelson was the only black person, most of the people weren’t very to Nelson which made him feel uncomfortable. Nelson Mandela and the other members of the ANC had enough of the negative racist benefits of being black. They wanted to form a youth league and after visiting head of ANC Dr. Xuma provisional committee of the Youth League was formed, under the leadership of William Nkomo. Nelson says ’’the primary purpose of the Youth League was to give direction to the ANC in its quest for political freedom.’’(Mandela, 1995:65) During this Mandela was still studying part time. Nelson met his first wife Evelyn Mase at Walter’s house. They didn’t know each other very long before they got married. In 1946 70,000 African miners along the Reef went on strike for a higher salary, a union was created for the miners. The miners decided to march but this was very violently repulsed by police. After the strike, fifty-two men were arrested and prosecuted, first for incitement then for sedition. In 1947 Nelson was elected executive committee of the Transvaal ANC. In 1948 only white people were allowed to vote. Dr. Xuma was removed as head and replaced by James Moroka, he was more committed in winning freedom. Mandela said We had now guided the ANC to a more radical and revolutionary path. Mandela sadly failed his last year at Witwatersrand 3 times and was denied his degree. Mandela continued with protests and speeches and the government continued with arrests in masses. In 1952 Mandela was elected regional president of the ANC. On 30 July 1952, Mandela was arrested under the Suppression of Communism Act and went on trial with the 21 accused, among them Moroka, Sisulu and Dadoo, in Johannesburg. Found guilty of statutory  communism, their sentence of nine months hard labour was suspended for two years. The ANC was split into two, the militant faction split to form a new organisation the PAC in 1961. The following year police killed 61 peaceful black protesters. The ANC and PAC was then banned. Mandela was forced to disguise himself to avoid detection. Mandela knew it was time for more drastic action. In 1961 Nelson Mandela became co-founder and leader of ‘’ Umkhonto we Sizwe’’, ‘’Spear of the Nation† a military branch of the ANC. Nelson later said ‘’It would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.† Mandela launched a plan to sabotage the government. South-Africa at this stage was declared a republic and free from British control. Mandela illegally went oversees to gain support in Ethiopia and advice from Oliver Tambo in London. On 5 December after Mandela returned he was arrested and sentence to 5 years in prison for leaving the country and for being in control of the 1961 workers’ strike. This sentence would in time proven to be the least of Mandela’s problems. The government raided a military hide out in Rivonia where evidence was found against Nelson and other ANC members. They were charge with sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy alongside their associates. They had a trail that lasted 8 months, the trail attracted international attention. Nelson Mandela and 7 other members were sentenced to life in jail. Mandela spent his first 18 of 27 years in jail on an island prison just a few kilometres from Cape Town called Robben Island. He was treated badly because of the colour of his skin. Oliver Tambo began a free Nelson Mandela campaign which got the attention that they needed to free Mandela. The government made Mandela a deal release for political compromises, but he rejected them. In 1982 Nelson was moved to less secure prison, Pollsmoor Prison. The following year F. W. de Klerk was elected president and he lifted the ban against the ANC and in 1990 he ordered Nelson Mandela’s release. In 1993 Nelson and de Klerk were handed the Nobel prize. In 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected president of South-Africa. F.W de Klerk was his first deputy. Nelson went on to make South-Africa a great nation, everyone equal whether your black, white, Indian or coloured It’s hard to imagine a  South- Africa without Nelson Mandela. His importance was seen in the moment we lost him. In his book ‘’Conversations with myself’’ Barrack Obama wrote the foreword saying’’ Like many people around the world, I came to know of Nelson Mandela from a distance, when he was imprisoned on Robben Island. To so many of us, he was more than just a man he was a symbol of the struggle for justice, equality, and dignity in South Africa and around the globe. His sacrifice was so great that it called upon people everywhere to do what they could on behalf of human progress’’ The Guardian said ‘’Mandela was a transformational figure; to say he was a historical figure would not give him his full due. Some people move through history as being the first this or that – just another figure in a lineage of persons. To be a transformer is to plan, to have the vision to chart the course, the skills to execute. To be transformational is to have the courage of ones convictions, to sacrifice, to risk life and limb, to lay it all on the line. Historical figures will reference Nelson Mandela.’’ Nelson Mandela has such a great impact on South-Africa that I don’t know if I would be here if it wasn’t for him, none of us can say we would. If Mandel a didn’t do what he did we would have ended up in a war between white and black and many lives would be lost. Mandela saves millions and set millions free. Sadly Mandela died on 5 December 2013 of a recurring lung infection, although Mandela never was a smoker. South-Africa came to a standstill we had lost our hero in flesh but he will never be forgotten. Bronnelys: Jackson, J. 2013. Nelson Mandela changed the course of history for South-Africa and the US. The Guardian, 5 Dec. http://www.thegaurdian.com/commetisfree/2013/dec/05/nelson -mandela-changed-history-south-africa-us Date of access: 15 March. Lewis, S. 2013. Why was Mandela important. BBC newsround, 6 Dec http://www.bbc.com/newsround/25263229 Mandela N.R. 1995.A long walk to freedom. Little, Brown and Company. Boston New York London Mandela N.R foreword by Obama B. 2010. Conversations with myself. Little, Brown and Company.Boston New York London

The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay Example for Free

The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay The Epic of Gilgamesh is an adventurous tale of the mighty King Gilgamesh that is so enthralled in making his name written in the stones of history forever. In his many challenges against this goal of his from meaningless slaughter of an appointed guardian to quarrels with the gods, he loses his loving brother, who was seemingly his other half. With the endless amount of grief the king is almost consumed in, his actions become selfish and fearful of death, which sends him on the quest for eternal life. Some interesting points about the reading include how femininity, repetition, and dreams are used to portray some of the oddest ideas. First off, femininity is something used so loosely, the phrase â€Å"like the love of a woman† could be talking about anything from a rock to another man. This aspect of the text can be almost confusing when the reader tries to correlate the previous example to the current. One example would be that Gilgamesh refers to his affection towards his brother as â€Å"like the love of a woman†, and then refers to a meteor in a dream in the same way. With those two things being nowhere near each other in meaning, a raised eyebrow is a common side effect to this confusion. Also, the traits of women such as long hair and how they refer to a harlot as teaching Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s brother, the â€Å"art of a woman†, can be easily misconstrued to either men or women. Repetition is also a strangely used figure in this story. At times, the same sentence can essentially be used for almost an entire page. The purpose for such extensive repetition could be a number of things, like emphasis of a certain action or thought. It could also be to give the reader the same feeling that the character is facing when it comes to walking what seems like forever through a dark forest, repeating the same dreary sentence referring to how dark and endless it seems continually for half of a page can in turn create a longing for sunlight in the reader. Lastly, the dreams in The Epic of Gilgamesh are looked at as almost fortune-tellers. Before Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet, Gilgamesh has a dream involving a meteor that he can’t touch, and everyone in the city of Uruk flocks to, so he consults his mother. She has a very odd interpretation that he will love the meteor like the love of a woman, which is odd in it, especially in that we find out that the meteor actually stands for Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s equal sent from the gods. Another dream is after the two equals fight off the Bull of Heaven, Enkidu has a peculiar dream about the gods talking amongst one another about killing one of the two. Since the person who dreams a dream in this story can never interpret it, Gilgamesh now interprets the dream, and once they both understand, Enkidu dies for Gilgamesh to live on. From femininity to dreams to seemingly unnecessary repetition, the uses of figurative and confusing language in The Epic of Gilgamesh are very strange in how any way of thinking about them could be right. It seems that nobody will ever know exactly what everything in it means.

The Implementation Of Erp At Tektronix Information Technology Essay

The Implementation Of Erp At Tektronix Information Technology Essay The Tektronix Inc: Global case study is a classic example of a case where an iconic leader with his team of motivated leaders and sponsors manages change by empowering and guiding people. Even though the ERP project was not an easy task, clear focus, planning and the executive push from the top meant the project was executed on a priority and various challenges tackled at the right time. In addition, the accomplishment of an ERP normally considered as a biggest information system project ever completed by a corporation (Whitten et al., 2000, Ehie and Madsen, 2005, Vlachopoulou and Manthou, 2006, Hitt et al., 2002). This case study also highlights the crucial role that business processes and business process reengineering play in the success of a global organisation. Additionally what is remarkable is the successful international implementation and rollout across divisions and geographies. Lets look at the various aspects of the ERP rollout at Tektronix one by one. The biggest challenge for any such initiative or a project is the management of change and the associated people management for such a large transformation project. This is in line with Grabski and Leech (2007) view that implementation of an ERP and associated BPR is not unchallenging. However, Carl Neun seems to manage this change as a true leader who is experienced and aware of challenges of change management (Westerman et al., 1999). Change management is a planned approach to causing people to accept transitions to develop operations (Joyce, 2000). Lets look at the change aspect of the project first and how the transformation from a legacy system to new generation ERP was successfully run. I am using the framework based of Harvard Business Review on Leading through Change. In John P Kotters (1995) article on Why Transformations fail, he highlights the eight steps to successful transformation of a organization as: Establishing a sense of Urgency Neun being an experienced CFO and an able leader knew that in order for the project to succeed and to link up the organization with an ERP system and create an ecosystem where information was available needed a sense of urgency to be created. He understood that for Tektronix to move forward and to invest and divest in various businesses, it needed to be connected via an information system else the company was headed for disaster. As Grabski and Leech (2007) stated that one approach to overcome this issue is investing in advanced information system, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, to improve the business competitiveness. Moreover, the dwindling financial performance was a factor to create the sense of urgency required. The impetus from Roy Barkers goal to double the printer business and also the realisation that the printer business would be volume game created the urgency for Tektronix to be ready with an IT system that would support growth. Forming a powerful guiding coalition Neun and his senior management team were the powerful guiding coalition that was assembled by the CEO. In the case study it is mentioned that the CEO had given Neun the unlimited authority on implementation and the buck stopped with Neun with regards to the ERP implementation. Neun then selected his long time associate Bob Vance as the CIO. Along with the business justification from Roy Barker, the team become a powerful guiding coalition and the individuals worked together as a great a team. Creating a vision Carl Neun knew his end goal was to create an organisation where information was readily available and could be shared easily. He wanted to simplify the complexity and address change by removing archaic processes and systems. Neuns Frankfurt is Orlando analogy was the vision of the project. It highlighted that the business all over the world was similar barring language and certain local legal requirements. To support this, Bingi et al. (2002) believed that Integration through ERP systems allows organizations to share information in a standard format across its various divisions both in the headquarter and in its global offices, with no modifications for language and currency differences needed. Carl very clearly expanded his vision toward the implementation as with three components of a) separability of businesses b) leveraging shared services c) staying plain vanilla as possible, as alterations could lead to budget and time overruns, defective functionality (Sumner, 2000). Standardi sing the business processes was a key component of Carls vision and he was focussed to ensure that complex processes were simplified to the maximum possible extent. Communicating the vision The vision was communicated first by getting the business heads such as Barker to back the plan. Once he had raised the concerns other managers and senior managers joined in the cause. Carl and Vance took the lead to communicate the vision by first explaining their ideas of the simplified architecture of the transformed information system. They also took pain to simplify and push for standardisation. The idea of starting with implementation at CPID and then moving onto other divisions also gave the opportunity for the learnings at one place to be applied to the next one, as noted by Rogers (1995) that the adoption of a new system will follow an S curve by having innovator or early adopter organisations taking the lead, followed by early majority, late majority adopters, then at last laggards. This approach helped to teach the new behaviours as the guiding coalition was at the forefront of the change and were leading by example. Empowering others to act on the vision The key component for empowering others to change include a) Getting rid of obstacles to change b) Changing systems and structures that seriously undermine change c) Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities and actions. As identified by Ahadi (2006) as the change management effectiveness in the organisation. He asserts that the ability of the organisation to authorize employees, appraise performance, apply reward systems, conduct training and education and facilitate communication during the process of change is crucial. Carl Neun was empowered by the CEO to take the project through and the empowerment trickled down to the level of execution. This allowed the CIO and his team to put extra people, fire people who were acting as hindrance to the implementation. In addition the team structure put in place and the roles ensured that the projects in various geographies rolled up together very well in a coherent way. The key hindrance to success was lack of financial information and Carl Neun took the right steps to simplify the business processes and reduce disparities across the world and then put in the ERP system, which would enable the change. He shuffled the European organisation structure and chang ed it to commission basis as it would allow for the changes to be made swiftly and removal of the country managers helped the cause further. Planning for a creating Short Term wins The key to success of the Tektronix ERP implementation was the implementation of the project in waves. The concept of allowing the project to be implemented in waves did in turn create short-term wins where people and teams could see things were working. Not only did implementing the project in waves allowed for it to be implemented well but also allowed the learning from previous waves to be carried out into further projects. That is allowing what is known as windows of opportunity (Tyre and Orlikowski, 1994) to develop where the users would discover novel and better ways to carry out their daily work after implementation which could be fed back to the global group in other divisions. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change Once the first wave was successful the leadership team kept moving in to implement the changes across the organisation and across geographies. The credibility that came from implementing the first wave was used to push forward the further waves as the momentum picked up as things started to work. One very interesting aspect was the Neun and Vance decision to use consulting support for the implementation of the project. I think it was a great idea that saved the internal teams and people coordinating the project valuable time that would have been spent learning the nuances of Oracle ERP, as argued by Olsen and Saetre (2007) that the users of an ERP system may not fully be familiar with system and thus utilise it. It took the right call by allowing the firm that developed an interface between its manufacturing system and oracle to give it the rights to sell/license the interface. All these successful implementations of the one wave after another gave the momentum to keep pushing the change further and ensuring that the change agents were constantly at work on the key vision of Frankfurt is Orlando. The learning from every wave was useful and the managers were quick on their feet. They consolidated improvement to produce change and whatever was not working in a wave was changed and the successful behaviour then became a part of the next wave. For instance when the consulting firm called into help CPID was not helping, they quickly moved onto a combination of Aris, Oracle and other consultants to speed up the lost time. The project management team teamed up consultants with Tektronix staff who took the charge of business change while the consultants were given the responsibility to deal with system deals. The case clearly illustrates how the first wave was used to consolidate improvements and produce further change. While the implementation at CPID took a little longer than expected, it was considered successful. With this first domestic implementation, Tektronix was able to learn powerful lessons, build internal skills, and establish practices that helped with all of future implementation waves. Institutionalising new approaches The new business processes were thoroughly discussed before being implemented in different decisions and catered to the individual needs of each business unit. The senior team at each business unit understood the needs of the business unit and institutionalised the new approaches to doing business. Large scale project implementation and strategic alignment Tektronix managed a large-scale project very well despite lots of previous difficulties with regards to implementing other IT projects. However this one was a success because of the understanding and the vision of Neun and Vance to ensure that the business processes were simplified, as Hammer (1990) stated that the projects success involving companies investing in IT to develop their business, was usually not attained as the IT was only used to expedite existing processes. This process of alignment of the IT strategy and Business strategy is key to successful performance for any organisation as highlighted in the MIT90S (Scott Morton, 1991) and Strategic Alignment Models (SAM) (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1992). SAM suggests that for firms to be competitive, business and information strategies need to aligned (Avison et al., 2004). Henderson and Venkatraman (1992) have clearly demarcated the various domains in their strategic alignment model as shown below in the figure. They have highlighted the importance of internal and external perspectives and how the strategic fit between these aspects influences the competitiveness of firms. The key perspective that comes of the SAM is the straightforward relation between Business strategy and Business Infrastructure and IT strategy and IT infrastructure and processes. Also the cross dimensional alignment between Business Strategy and IT Infrastructure, IT strategy and Business Infrastructure and Processes is key to competitiveness. Fig 1: Strategic Alignment Model (Source: Henderson and Venkatraman, 1992) Looking at the case study it becomes apparent that Carl Neun understood the principle of a successful global organisation and his vision clearly brought together the functional integration as well as cross dimensional alignments. He knew that business processes needed to be reengineered first. As Skok and Legge (2002) acknowledged that the success of an ERP implementation is attained with preceding implementation of BPR. Accordingly, the business processes needed to be simplified and then the appropriate IT infrastructure and IT systems and processes to be put in place to get the benefits that Tektronix was seeking from the IT alignment. The strategy of implementing the project in waves was crucial to the success of the project and also the project team structure was the right structure for successful implementation of such a large project. Looking at the project management strategy, I feel that the team structure of Neun being the Project sponsor and Vance spending considerable time on the project in detail was very important. The local implementation was the guiding factor on how to move ahead with the implementation even though the global implementation had its own challenges as argued by Ross (1999), that overabundance of distinct and independent systems in different parts of the organisation impeding globalization. Program management and giving team members the authority and power to decide on the critical aspects that affected their business the most was a smart project management decision. I am particularly impressed by the structure at the local implementation where for each wave there were functional experts, change control team, Functional sub team and most importantly the test team. Each wave at the different business units had its peculiarity and different business processes depending on the structure and the need of the individual business units. If we look at the role of Functional experts who were allocated to each wave to ensure that all the essential knowledge and remained with the implementation teams till the final wave. As it has been highlighted that this led to postponement of some initiatives because other initiatives also depended on the availability of the most knowledgeable resources. I believe that this was the right strategy even though that led to delay of initiatives that were to be started; the waves that were on were implemented successfully. The project and program management of Neun and Vance must be commended, as they understood that they could not afford delays in projects. All project management is a delicate balance of the resources, time and cost as sides of a triangle. Affecting one has impact on the others. So when the projects were facing delays the management did not shy in putting in more consultants on the project. The team structure of leaving the system aspects to external consultants was a g ood decision as it freed up the business people and Tektronix experts to focus on the business processes and the knowledge aspect rather than having to understand the deep technical aspects or the architectural nuances of the ERP system. Software selection and extending the software functionality Tektronix has already seen the worse effects of the not invented here with regards to the software and infrastructure solutions. Neun made the right call with going for the Oracle ERP solution. Neun understood the outsourcing advantage and also the core competency of Tektronix was not at developing software solution. He left the development of the software and implementation to the right experts. Vance took the right decision with regards to the manufacturing ERP and leaving it in place. Had the manufacturing system been taken off and Oracle ERP components used, then it would have been a challenge as the people in manufacturing who had recently undergone a systems change would be swamped by the next change wave and would feel unsettled. I think this was the best decision taken to get an external company to do the interface between manufacturing ERP and the Oracle ERP. Vance and Neun also did not waste eons of time on deciding the alternatives and which ERP package to select. Such evaluation programs usually cost organisations lots of money and they highlight trivial differences between the best of the breed packages. The decision taken to go ahead with the oracle implementation, as the team was Neun and Vance had experience of working with Oracle and knew that the oracle solution would cater to the needs. The idea of using a small dedicated team that focussed on the capabilities of what Oracle could do and the time they spent upfront on ensuring that Oracle could do what was required for Tektronix shows the discipline and focus from top to bottom to get a solution working for the organisation. Another laudable aspect of the software implementation was the plain vanilla approach adopted by the Neun. His understanding that software adaptation and customisation not only costs money and time but also introduces other behaviours that need to regression tested showed a mature thinking with regards to software customisation and development . Instead he focussed on simplifying and adapting the business processes such that they could be realised in the plain vanilla implementation of the software. Only in special and rare cases was customisation allowed and then also where customisation was done, the teams were dedicated to rigorous testing and testing with full load scenarios to ensure that the customisation did not introduce any unintended errors and behaviours. Nevertheless, Markus et als (2000) studies of businesses implementing ERP observed that some adjustments to the system were unnecessary after the users began using it more effectively. The implementation move to using Aris and Oracle consultants once the Tektronix team were sure on what sort of consultants were useful showed the ability of the business and implementation leaders to take the best decisions for the business. They cut out the slack and unnecessary admin overheads related to evaluating consultants, interviewing and employing them. The idea to use consultants on a time and material basis was a smart idea on keeping the project on time. Use of low cost resources and contractors kept the project costs in rein and the putting of extra consultants on waves where a delay could occur, shows dedication and commitment to ensure roll outs happen in time and are successful for the projects. Replicating this success to the international level and using the waves methodology is commendable. The project team and execution structure for the international project was exemplary. The idea to do away with the country managers and keep a simple structure as the global structure was exemplary for the global project management. In fact selection of individuals who had long term ties and understanding of the global regions was the right approach taken by the program management team. Also the idea to create a central processing centre in Marlow was an excellent idea towards consolidation. Keeping English as the language of communication for the company was a sensible decision that fast tracked the implementation. Personally I feel that the brilliant job done at customisation for the printing of bills and local communication was hitting the nail on the head in terms of implementation. At the time when the project was implemented localisation was still picking up as a technology domain and would have taken much longer than expected. The consolidation of the infrastructure was another bold move which was taken by Vance; outsourcing the data centres completely freed the valuable resources and the company could focus on the core work of making the implementation a success. It was exemplary how they managed to pull off the whole thing together as a success. The results were satisfactory and when the people quoted that they spent 90% of their time just collecting data and only 10% analysing it. The whole situation changed after then implementation as people spent 90% of their time analysing information which was the core purpose of the implementation was to make information readily available and convert data into information. The Tektronix team did an excellent job. Conclusion I believe that the job was successful and what Tektronix needs to do for further implementations and such large programs is to keep the spirit and the learnings from the Oracle ERP implementation. One area that they need to pay a lot of attention would be the evolving business process framework and pay special attention to the management of Business processes. Going further in time with complex business needs and changing customer requirements and global environments would require Tektronix to adapt the business processes and if Tektronix paid special attention to keeping the business process framework up to date and then use it to drive the software changes it will keep things in control. The best way to do so would be to have process owners and process sponsors who are in charge of maintaining and consulting the stakeholders on process changes and then keep the process architecture of the organisation updated. This will ensure all further projects could experience similar success i f the right team structure and leaders are engaged.

Terrorism - Stop the War and Feed the Starving :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Stop the War and Feed the Starving    It is difficult to grasp, and thus care about, millions of people starving in a far away country. Maybe it could help us to fathom this if we were able to imagine one person starving, our own self perhaps. What does it feel like to be hungry, really hungry, for many days? And many weeks? And longer. It's easy to imagine the beginning symptoms like weakness, shakiness, irritability, fatigue. But what happens when those aren't remedied by food? Is it painful when the organs begin shrinking as they do in starvation? It must be. And as the immune system loses force, how does one endure the cramping, combined with the weakness, combined with the lowering body temperature, combined with the overall bloating as the body retains fluid?    Can you imagine yourself feeling that terrible? Now expand it to your family. Your daughter. Your tiny son whose tummy is distending and who cries with headaches. Your grandmother, coughing and scared and silent. What would it feel like to watch a toddler, your toddler, weaken and beg for what you can't give?    So we're not at 7.5 million people yet. We're at about 10. And already the misery is profound and unbelievable. Now add all your closest friends to those hungering, and you not being able to help them or be helped by them. And you watch the gaunt stares as the body fails because its cells haven't the nutrients they need to make the brain work well. Add your neighbors, all of them. All of them. Are we at 100 people yet?    Millions left to go. Farther than the eyes could see, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of weakening hungry people who want something that exists in great abundance all over the world - food. And if hunger and its related illnesses is bad enough and already hard to wrap your mind around, add the other unthinkables that the Afghani families are enduring today, right this second as you read this. No running water, no toilets, huddled in refugee camps miles and miles long, And its getting cold. It's going to get really, really cold and wet heavy snows are coming. And you're so terribly hungry.    Imagine the stench and disgusting danger of raw sewage, of the infectious diarrhea that comes from that. And there are already dead bodies to be dragged away to be buried or burned by weak hungry men.

Monetary Policy Essay examples -- essays papers

Monetary Policy I chose to research and write on the topic of monetary policy. My two main sources of information were www.federalreserve.gov and www.frsbf.org. From my research I would define monetary policy as the macroeconomic act of keeping the country financially stable. According to www.frsbf.org â€Å"The object of monetary policy is to influence the performance of the economy as reflected in such factors as inflation, economic output, and employment. It works by affecting demand across the economy—that is, people's and firms' willingness to spend on goods and services†. The information that I located suggested that the main issues that monetary policy deals with are inflation and unemployment which usually affect each other. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve System who put the main responsibility of monetary policy on their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC meets 8 times a year and has 12 members who meet to discuss the state of the economy and what changes can be made to help the economy. The main tools used in monetary policy are the manipulation of short term interest rates which can greatly affect demand as well as manipulating the discount rate and reserve requirements. The discount rate is the interest rate the Federal Reserve Banks charge financial institutions for short-term loans of reserves. A change in the discount rate can decrease or encourage financial institutions’ lending and investment activities. ...

Alcohol and Teens: The Effects of Teenage Drinking Essay -- Essays on

When at a party, a student sees another teenager drinking a beer. Thinking nothing of it, the teenager picks up a large bottle labeled Vodka and beings to chug the contents of the bottle. The alcohol rushes through her body and she suddenly has a sense of feeling free and letting loose. The next thing the teenage girl remembers is waking up in a hospital bed to her mother crying by her bed side. The only thing her mom could say was â€Å"Honey, please wake up. Please be okay, I want you to be okay. Please do not ever make this mistake again. Please, Please.† The night before, her child drank an entire 750mL bottle of 80-proof Vodka then decided to drive home from the party. On her trip home, she had driven off the shoulder of the road, into a tree where she was lunged from her vehicle. She almost died that night, but she did not. Alcohol abuse leads to consequences that affect the body of teenagers, pose legal troubles, and can kill. According to How Stuff Works, â€Å"alcohol can be made through three different processes: fermentation and distillation, chemical modifications of fossil fuels, and the chemical combination of hydrogen with carbon monoxide† (How Stuff Works). The alcohol most commonly drank by individuals is made through the processes of fermentation, or the process of metabolizing of a sugar into an alcohol or acid, and distillation, or the process of purifying â€Å"mash† into the essential alcohol. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies a standard drink as â€Å"any drink containing 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol† (CDC). The amounts of a standard a standard drink can measure to twelve ounces of beer or wine coolers, eight ounces of malt liquors, five ounces of wine, or one and a half ou... ...ts-Alcohol Use And Health - Alcohol." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. "CDC - Fact Sheets-Minimum Legal Drinking Age - Alcohol." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. "Frequently Asked Questions and Facts." NCADD. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. "Frequently Asked Questions." Too Smart To Start. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. "HowStuffWorks "How Alcohol Works"." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. "Louisiana Law - Alcohol." Centenary College of Louisiana. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. "Minimum Age Limits Worldwide." International Center for Alcohol Policies. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. Myers, Peter L, and Richard Isralowitz. Alcohol. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, 2011. Print. "Underage drinking: Talking to your teen about alcohol." CNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.

Hager Shipley in “The Stone Angel” Essay

In Margaret Laurence’s novel, â€Å"The Stone Angel†, Hagar Shipley is the main character. Born the daughter of Jason Currie, she is one who possesses incredible depth in character. Mingling past and present, we observe the very qualities, which sustained her and deprived her of joy such as her lack of emotional expression. As well, inheriting her father’s harsh qualities, she exhibited pride that detested weakness in any form. Despite of her negative attributes she also displayed a positive mannerism through courage. Thus, Hagar is a cold, but strong willed woman. Such qualities give us a portrait of a remarkable character. Hagar’s most noticeable characteristic was her lack of feeling and emotion. Indeed there where many situations where she could not physically express what she felt in her heart. She did not cry at the death of her son John. That night she was â€Å"transformed to stone and never wept at all (Laurence 243)†. During Marvin’s childhood, she would impatiently dismiss him due to his slowness of speech. Once when an ecstatic Marvin told Hagar that he finished his chores, Hagar bluntly sends him away saying, â€Å"I can see you’ve finished. I’ve got eyes. Get along now  ¼ (Laurence 112)†. Even as a child she was lacked emotion when she could not provide comfort to her dying brother, Daniel. Daniel needed the comfort of his mother, but for Hagar, â€Å"to play at being her – it was beyond me (Laurence 25).† Indeed, Hagar’s deficiency in feeling or expressing emotion was a visible characteristic throughout the novel. As a result of her upbringing, Hagar possesses pride that despises weakness in any form. As a young girl she displayed this trait when her dad slapped her hand, â€Å"I wouldn’t let him see me cry, I was so enraged (Laurence 9).† As previously mentioned before, Hagar could not portray her mother to comfort her dying brother. She characterized her mother as â€Å"the woman Dan was said to resemble so much and from whom he’d inherited a frailty I could not help but detest (Laurence 25).† When Hagar brought upon the subject of marriage with Bram Shipley to her father he made it clear that â€Å"there’s not a decent girl in this town would wed without her family’s consent (Laurence 49).† Hagar rebelliously responded, â€Å"It will be done by me (Laurence 49)† and eventually marries Bram. Thus, throughout the novel, Hagar’s attribute of scornful pride is evidently exhibited. In contrast to her negative character, Hagar exhibits a great deal of courage. Following Hagar’s marriage to Bram, she immediately faced the reality of the life. The next day Hagar cleaned the house inside out. â€Å"I had never scrubbed a floor in my life, but I worked that day as though I’d been driven by a whip (Laurence 52).† Hagar also had the courage to leave Bram for the sake of her children’s future. Physically, Hagar did not lack courage. At the age of 90, Hagar was able to painfully endure her journey to Shadow Point. Thus, her courageous character classifies her as a strong willed woman. There’s no question that Hagar, young or old, is a cold yet courageous woman. She was deficient in physically expressing her feelings and emotions. She also possessed an unbending pride, which despised weakness in any form. However, despite of her negative attributes she still exhibits a positive aspect through her courage. Hagar’s character has such immense depth. She may not be perfect; nevertheless she is unique. Important Note: If you’d like to save a copy of the paper on your computer, you can COPY and PASTE it into your word processor. Please, follow these steps to do that in Windows: 1. Select the text of the paper with the mouse and press Ctrl+C. 2. Open your word processor and press Ctrl+V. Company’s Liability 123HelpMe.com (the â€Å"Web Site†) is produced by the â€Å"Company†. The contents of this Web Site, such as text, graphics, images, audio, video and all other material (â€Å"Material†), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws. The Company makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Material or about the results to be obtained from using the Material. You expressly agree that any use of the Material is entirely at your own risk. Most of the Material on the Web Site is provided and maintained by third parties. This third party  Material may not be screened by the Company prior to its inclusion on the Web Site. You expressly agree that the Company is not liable or responsible for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other subscribers or third parties. The Materials are provided on an as-is basis without warranty express or implied. 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Man Vs Nature Conflicts

Humanity's progress, particularly since the mid-19th century, has been largely the result of our ability to get and use what planet Earth has to offer. All told, the food we eat, the timber we cut, and the water we draw amounts to an astounding one-third to one-half of global ecosystem production. But humans are part of nature, and like every other species on the planet, we depend upon healthy ecosystems for our survival. Nature provides us essentials like clean water, food, medicines, even recreational retreats.Intact ecosystems also help regulate our weather and climate. But these systems are extremely fragile, and we're only now beginning to understand the myriad interactions and interdependencies that sustain them. And we know that once they are gone, there are no replacements. Changing our behavior and needs to preserve these Earth's ecosystems will be neither easy nor inexpensive. But if we are to feed, clothe, and care for ourselves into the future, taking drastic steps will b e essential. . Man- Nature interactionMan and nature interact dialectically in such a way that, as society develops, man tends to become less dependent on nature directly, while indirectly his dependence grows. This is understandable. While he is getting to know more and more about nature, and on this basis transforming it, man's power over nature progressively increases, but in the same process, man comes into more and more extensive and profound contact with nature, bringing into the sphere of his activity growing quantities of matter, energy and information.Why exactly do we humans have such an incredibly large influence on other species and the natural world? We are unique among animal species in that we survive and reproduce in a wide variety of environments through cultural adaptations. In contrast, other species are primarily able to survive and reproduce due to biological adaptations that result from eons of natural selection and biological evolution. The cultural adaptation s of humans have allowed them to colonize nearly every ecosystem type on Earth. In addition, cultural innovations have allowed the human population to grow exponentially for millennia.Such sustained population growth is unparalleled by any other species on the planet. The population of a typical species grows until it reaches the carrying capacity of its environment, then levels off or declines. In other words, it grows until it is fully utilizing the available resources, such as food and space. At this point mechanisms such as disease and starvation keep the population from continuing to grow. However, we humans have responded to resource scarcity with cultural practices and technologies that increase the availability of resources.We raise our food on farms and live in multi-story apartment buildings, increasing the carrying capacity of the environment for humans. This growth eventually requires yet more cultural adaptations to increase resources, and the alteration of the natural environment and the rate of cultural evolution is accelerated. Currently the global human population is large enough and the technologies that allow humans to manipulate the environment are potent enough that human-caused alterations to the biosphere are causing the extinction of innumerable wildlife species.If present trends continue, there will be an eventual crash in the human population that will bring great suffering and cause widespread environmental damage. This is the root cause of the modern environmental crisis. This deals with how we got into the present situation from the perspective of cultural interactions with wildlife and wild lands – coflicts conflict can be explained as the struggle between two class or group. In this essay we can see the differences that are a raised between man and nature.Since nature from the birth of earth the nature had a major role playing in every single aspect of living life on earth. as man develops slowly by improving day by day th e destruction of nature started. Man learned to develop the seed which helped both the environment by improving it's greenery and man by his efforts. Man vs nature conflict occurs when a particular character is opposed to natures forces. It is the conflict between nature itself, and mankind as we continue our relentless expansion, coupled with our overwhelming lack of compassion for any other form of life.A prime example of one such battle is that which currently rages in The Serengeti National Park. Currently, the Tanzanian government, despite earlier reports to the contrary, intends to pave the road which runs across 50 km of the park. The annual migrations in this region involve more than 1. 5 million animals, primarily wildebeests and zebras. These annual migrations are considered one of the great natural wonders of the world. The paving of this road would have dire consequences, both to the migrating herds and the local environment itself.The effects could be devastating to the natural balance throughout the area. The road would bring increased traffic, almost certainly resulting in massive loss of life to the herds. But as tragic as this would be, it is not the sole repercussion that would ensue A. overexploitation The exploitation of natural resources started to emerge in the 19th century as natural resource extraction developed. During the 20th century, energy consumption rapidly increased. Today, about 80% of the world’s energy consumption is sustained by the extraction of fossil fuels, which consists of oil, coal and gas.Another non-renewable resource that is exploited by humans are Subsoil minerals such as precious metals that are mainly used in the production of industrial commodities. Intensive agriculture is an example of a mode of production that hinders many aspects of the natural environment, for example the degradation of forests in a terrestrial ecosystem and water pollution in an aquatic ecosystem. As the world population rises and e conomic growth occurs, the depletion of natural resources influenced by the unsustainable extraction of raw materials becomes an increasing concern deforestation.Deforestation, clearance or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use. [1] Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use. Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the increasing number of people that live in urban areas. It predominantly results in the physical growth of urban areas, be it horizontal or vertical. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. [1] By 2050 it is predicted that 64.1% and 85. 9% of the developing and developed world respectively will be urbanized.Urbanization is closely linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization. Urbanization can describe a specific condition at a set t ime, i. e. the proportion of total population or area in cities or towns, or the term can describe the increase of this proportion over time. So the term urbanization can represent the level of urban development relative to overall population, or it can represent the rate at which the urban proportion is increasing.MARKET PRESSURES increase in commercialization, intensification and privatization of local economies, growing integration of national and global economies, economic reforms refer to market pressure. The list of such conflicts is extensive. One needs only turn on the news or read a local paper to find stories of such conflicts between man and nature. It is impossible to affect one link in the chain which comprises a given environment without incurring disastrous ramifications. Human beings are the ultimate embodiment of this destructive potential on the planet.Our encroachment upon†¦and in far too many instances outright destruction of†¦ various delicate habitats is well documented and comes in a variety of forms. These include: population growth impinging upon an animals natural habitat, destruction of the environment itself through pollution of the air, soil and water, disruption of migratory patterns, over fishing and hunting, deforestation and poaching. Mankind as a whole is the single greatest contributor to ecological imbalance on the planet. Why resources are under pressure?  · Increase in the sophistication of technology enabling natural resources to be extracted quickly and efficiently.E. g. , in the past, it could take long hours just to cut down one tree only using saws. Due to increased technology, rates of deforestation have greatly increased  · A rapid increase in population that is now decreasing. The current number of 7. 132 billion humans consume many natural resources.  · Cultures of consumerism. Materialistic views lead to the mining of gold and diamonds to produce jewelry, unnecessary commodities for human life or advancement.  · Excessive demand often leads to conflicts due to intense competition. Organizations such as Global Witness and the United Nations have documented the connection.Non-equitable distribution of resources.CONSEQUENCESThe Holocene extinction, sometimes called the Sixth Extinction, is a name proposed to describe the extinction event of species that has occurred during the present Holocene epoch (since around 10,000 BC). The Holocene extinction includes the disappearance of large mammals known as megafauna, starting between 9,000 and 13,000 years ago, the end of the last Ice Age. This may have been due to the extinction of the mammoth that had maintained grasslands that became birch forests without the mammoths.The new forest and the resulting forest fires may have induced climate change. [3] Such disappearances might be the result of the proliferation of modern humans which led to climate change. These extinctions, occurring near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, are sometimes referred to as the Quaternary extinction event. The Holocene extinction continues into the 21st century  · Erosion is the process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth's surface by exogenetic processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations.Industrial agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion.CONCLUSIONConversely, to be honest, we are the species that holds the ability to have the greatest positive effect upon this worlds ecosystems. We have it within us to either save or destroy. The ability and the choice is ours. We as a species need to acquire an environmental conscience an awareness before our own shortsightedness and apathy doom us and our fellow denizens of this world to extinction.