Educational Research Essay

The research study explores the influence of technological developments to student motivation and positive learning outcomes. Educational institutions have started to incorporate the use of technology as an instructional tool to facilitate teaching and learning. One of the most recent additions to instructional tools used for classroom instruction is the employment of mobile technology. These technologies include the use of SMS or Short Message Service, e-mail, online forums and discussion boards. The purpose of the research is to probe deeper on the effects of these technologies to motivational learning, pressure within the learning environment, and the outcomes of performance. The result of the study proved that the use of internet and mobile communications lessens the pressure that students feel within the learning environment. Therefore, motivating the students to learn and feel comfortable during classroom instruction. Moreover, mobile communications opens up other alternatives for students to communicate with their teachers without any hesitations at all. Although the research acknowledged the benefits of employing mobile communication combined with internet tools, it still suggests that further studies be conducted on the topic. Critical Evaluation The research study is yet again one of the many proofs on how technology is becoming an integral part of education and is influential in producing positive learning outcomes. With the addition of mobile communication still it remains to be a motivational factor for students to learn and reflect that they actually have been learning by coming up with high grades during evaluation and assessment. This means that with the employment of mobile communications, students are able to produce desirable learning outcomes. Perhaps one of the things that make technology a motivational tool is because of its widespread use in almost every aspect of life. People, especially the younger generation, regard technology as a trend. Incorporating the technologies that students are familiar of makes it a powerful instructional tool to arouse the interest of the learners. Learning is not limited to the confines of the educational institution because mobile communication allows learning to extend beyond the four walls of the classroom. Moreover, communication is best facilitated, especially with students who are not good oral communicators, through online communication. These observations allow educational institutions to consider the employment of mobile technology to their curriculum and their instructional tools, perhaps, also considering the emergence of globalization.

John Locke : Second Treaties of Government Essay

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in England to a middle class family. He was named after his father, an educated attorney who had participated in the Civil War with the Long Parliamentary. Locke shared a great deal of affection and respect for his father. The relationship he built with his father influenced him to create his own views on education and government. His theory on education was published in 1693 titled, â€Å"Some Thoughts Concerning Education. † Locke was accepted to Christ Church College, Oxford due to father’s friendship with a member of the Long Parliament. The Long Parliment was known to challenge the monarchy in England at the time and later started the English Civil War. Locke attended Oxford for many years studying the curriculum in England and graduated with a Masters in 1658, pursuing his interests in arts. Later he became increasingly interested in the study of sciences including the study of medicine, which were on the rise in England Universities at the time. His interests in science continued to expand and he continued to apply himself to the study of medicine. While studying medicine Locke became interested in the philosophical questions of his time, including the rights of man. The rights of man deal with the powers of government to wit, government by the king through a monarchy and the power of the people through a social contract. Since 1660 Locke began to explore his interest in the natural law. Within the next couple of years he composed â€Å"Essays on the Law of Nature† written in Latin. Unfortunately for Locke his Essays were never published, these theories of law were based on two of his philosophies. First, â€Å"in order that anyone may understand that he is bound by a law, he must know before hand that there is a law. † Secondly, â€Å"there is some will on the part of that superior power, the law maker, who wishes that we do this and demands of us that the conduct of our life should be in accordance with his will. † Locke’s interest in science and medicine brought him into contact with a distinguished scientist named Robert Boyle. In 1667, Locke took a position at Lord Ashley’s household in London as a family physician, in addition to confidential advisor and secretary. In 1668, Locke assisted Lord Ashley in drafting a constitution for the colony of Carolina. In 1671, Locke began to write his greatest work, the â€Å"Essay Concerning Human Understanding. † This took nearly twenty years to complete. Since then he was deeply engaged in Shaftesbury’s political affairs as Secretary of Council a position he obtained while being a secretary for Shaftesbury. In 1675, Locke became ill and lost his position working for Shaftesbury. Due to unstable government conditions Shaftesbury fell from power and Locke was forced to leave England, choosing to recuperate in France. He spent nearly four years in Paris and Montpellier studying at medical school. During his exile in France Locke also took the time to develop his thoughts on Natural Law by composing, Two Treaties of Government. His writings deal with the development of a social contract, which is an agreement between the government and the governed. Locke later returned to England in 1679, he once again committed himself to offer services for Lord Ashley immediately upon his return to England. Four years later it was necessary for Lord Ashley to flee from England to Holland because he had supported the wrong leader during the Monmouth rebellion in 1685. Shortly after Ashley fled from England, Locke followed him and remained in Holland until the Revolution of 1688. Upon returning to England, Locke began to rapidly issue a number of his works he concluded while in Holland, the result of years of study and meditation. Among his works were the, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Two Treatises of Government, and Letters on Toleration. His positive outlook on the importance of a mutual relationship between government and human nature, exerted an immediate and profound influence on the English. Locke’s views were immediately recognized among the English specifically his work on the Two Treatises of Government. Locke’s essay was written in such a way, to elaborate in detail about topics the people were already familiar with. Even the most uneducated candidate could recognize his premise on the philosophical views on government. Two Treatises of Government includes essays supporting the natural rights of society which guarantees our rights to life, liberty, and property. The term right, can be defined as a privilege or power, meaning a freedom or ability to do or refrain from doing something. Natural Rights, specifically emphasize the restraints that ought to exist on government with respect to individuals. This includes what a government must refrain from doing and what a government must do. In Locke’s Second Treaties of Government he discusses the natural liberty and equality of humans, which includes our natural rights to life, liberty, and property. He also determines the proper foundation of a legitimate government. Through supporting and insisting on the mutual consent given by the people of a specific society. Locke’s Theory of Natural Law was based on the moral laws societies are built on, including the establishment of peace and protection so that â€Å"no one will harm another person in their life, liberty, or possession. † Preservation of peace, equality, and independence among all people begins with, the power placed on people in a given society to obey the common laws of nature. When these powers being to get corrupted or not enforced through strict, certain, and fair punishment. The need for an elected and coherent government is required to properly secure the natural rights of peace and self preservation among a society. Locke then begins to explain to us the â€Å"natural state of man. † He describes that living among a state of nature, people in a society have the freedom to do as they please, with limitations and respects to other people. Locke states that this â€Å"state of liberty,† comes with the limitations so not â€Å"to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions. † Locke also notes that, â€Å"all men may be restrained from invading others rights and from doing hurt to one another. † By saying this he is trying to define the equalities of man and their duties to each other in a community to live in peace. If for any reason there becomes the need to seek punishment for anyone who â€Å"has shown themselves dangerous to mankind. † Through an executive power there will be opportunities available to man, not only to receive reparation for damages but to do as necessary to â€Å"secure the innocent for the future. † Locke’s theory on the â€Å"natural liberty† of man holds that â€Å"man is to be free from any superior power. † This means that for a person in a society, no other power but his own ability to do and refrain from doing is within his own will. Any limitation which requires to be placed on a behavior that is part of the natural common code of conduct, must be established through consent by the legislative power of government and for the good of all the people among the community. Locke claims that the â€Å"natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power† and to have â€Å"only the law of nature for his rule. † This means that the laws which exist are established for the people and by the people in a society. They are created for coexistence among one another and no one can enforce or take away this common practice. These natural laws were created for the good of everyone, so the people who perform up to these standards gave trust that the enacted and enforced laws will prevail on their behalf. Locke then explains the â€Å"origins of property. † He begins by confirming that although man does have a power and liberty over his life. He does not have power to dispose of his own life. In a brief statement Locke states, â€Å"Man has property in his own person† including â€Å"the labor of his body and the work of his hands. † By saying this Locke expresses his views on human nature and our ability to acquire property. He is saying that we are all property acquiring beings, and our claim or possession to this property derives from our physical work. We as individuals in a society attempt to put effort to obtain something we value, and create an appreciation for what we have through labor. So in a sense the labor of man, according to Locke is the source of all value. The amount of labor one puts into what he owns creates an appreciation of value because value is created through his labor. Since the creation of physical currency, paper money and coins, we in a society attempt to posses more property than we need to use. So people in a community are not guaranteed secure protection from this excess property. In order to protect our property and secure this right, Locke believes an elected government is needed to be established. With the consent of the people, the elected government takes responsibility to become the sole protector of their valuables. Locke’s political and legal thoughts on government created a justifiable pourpose for society to give power over to a elected ruler. First of all the â€Å"state of nature,† as described by Locke, is a society in which each man governs himself individually and there is no existence of a specific government rule. A society that lives by these laws can use their own cultural morals to govern themselves without a formal government, although every culture has their own interpretation of what is moral. Locke states otherwise in his writings in the Second Treaties of Government, to argue that an elected government by society is necessary. Thomas Jefferson later includes parts of Locke’s political philosophy when composing the Declaration of Independence. Based entirely on Locke’s theory of natural political equality, Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence became one of the most important and influential documents that created a foundation for the legislative branch of government. Locke’s focus is primarily based on the ideas of freedom and equality as a whole he believes that society should naturally possess the right to life liberty and property. These natural rights have derived from the law of nature, which are composed based on the laws of God. These laws are also known as moral laws. Locke believed that people that live in a state of nature are also living in a state of war. Since there is only the state of nature for their rule, there is no determination of what is considered equality and who has the power to balance peace. John Locke’s Two Treatise of Government also includes a definition of government, in which the people conform to the law or to rules which are entered based on logic or justification. In relation to members of society conforming to these laws, the same government must guarantee protection from taking away any of their natural rights. Locke’s view on valid government is one that confirms and supports three main natural laws of life, liberty and property. In defining political power, Locke insists that it is proper to make laws â€Å"for the regulating and preserving of property,† and adds, that it is necessary for, â€Å"the execution of such laws in the defense of the common-wealth from foreign injury. † By saying this Locke supports and confirms that an established government is needed â€Å"for the public good. † Locke explains that â€Å"the reason why men enter into society, is the preservation of their property. â€Å" He adds that the citizens of a new established government â€Å"have a right to resume their original liberty ?by the establishment of a new legislative,† when any natural rights are threatened. Locke then continues to describe the separation between the powers of government and the powers of the governed. Including what creates a community under an elected government and who determines what political actions are for the good of the entire society. This is explained further when Locke says â€Å"for when any number of men have, by the consent of every individual, made a community, they have thereby made that community one body, with a power to act as one body, which is only by the will and determination of the majority. † When entering into a established society we assume our rights to enjoy our property in peace and safety. In order to be given this opportunity, Locke believes it is first necessary to establish a Legislative power for the good of all members of a society. The legislative power is to promote and guarantee preservation of all natural rights including safety for every person among the society. This legislative power thought does not have an absolute power, instead the power is offered based on the decisions as a majority given by the members in that society. This procedure is used so that any laws created will become an obligation on the members to cooperate with them because they have consented to a legislative power. This separates a government rule with supreme power from government rule by the power of the people. Since this power is created through consideration of the common wealth of the public good. Locke’s perception of a monarchy consisted of the idea that the people of a community experienced corruption due to absolute power given to one leader, the king. This lead to vicious rule and caused the people in the society to be force to live in conditions they did not deserve. In a monarchy the king would normally use his own judgments and digression to use his appointed power for the good of himself. This results in oppressing the people and leaving no opportunity to compromise the need for change. Under a monarchy rule there was an insufficient opportunity to dispute any privileges or restrictions. Enforcing laws or withholding natural rights under a monarchy rule hold no limitations because there is no restraint on the ruling of the king. By granting the powers of government in one person this will not guarantee a fair and honest approach for the common good. So Locke attempts to discuss and examine a system that will refrain from granting the powers of government to strictly one individual. Limitation and separation of powers of the government will restrain and prevent members of government from abusing the powers of governing a society. Establishing a government through the consent of all members of society will create trust that the laws and sanctions will prevail for the common good. Locke then explains that when being born into an established government we assume our rights to enjoy our property in peace and safety. In order to be given equal opportunity to enjoy our natural rights, Locke believes it is first necessary to establish a legislative power that will consider all members of a society. The creation of a legislative power is to promote and guarantee preservation of all natural rights including safety for every person who is a participant of that community. Most of John Locke’s writing also focuses on two branches of government known as the legislative and executive power. These branches of government are based on a constitutional state, where one leader does not have the authority to absolute power. The Legislative branch of government has the function of making laws. The Executive branch has the responsibility to carry out those laws created by the Legislative branch. This is to ensure that an elected government does not use only his own digressions when establishing laws and enforcing them. Locke states that by separating the authority and responsibilities of government into two separate branches, is the first positive approach of creating a valid constitution. These powers are required to be handled for the good of all members in society, by separating these powers there is no chance that the government will become corrupted. The purpose of John Locke’s composed writings attempt to encourage the need for a government which creates a foundation for the good of all members of society. In the process of offering order and peace for the common good of all the people members of the society must follow these rules. To establish a successful government Locke believes that it is necessary to obtain consent from the entire member. The purpose of creating a specific government is due to the unstable conditions of living in a state of nature. Living in a state of nature guarantees natural rights and freedom but not safety. This is why a power needs to be placed in the hands of a member from society to maintain the peace. Although living in society like a monarchy, under the ruling of a king can create unbalance and corruption of power. To enjoy both natural rights and live under a government that will prevail on behalf of its members. Following the establishment of government Locke then explains that the powers of making laws and enforcing them cannot be placed on one person. Placing absolute power in the hands of one person will only lead to corruption and unbalance, between all the members in the society. For this reason Locke requires a separation of powers among all government activity. This will balance and maintain a system that will stabilized living conditions for all the members of society. REFRENCES: Christie C. George, Martin H. Patrick. (1995). Jurisprudence; Text & Readings on the Philosophy of Law (3rd Edition). Natural Rights, Human Rights: John Locke (pgs 284 -342). St. Paul, MN : West Publishing Company.

Globalization in Higher Education Essay

The most notable challenge in higher education is its rapid globalization and introduction in the international setting. Globalization in higher education refers to the changing nature of universities in terms of research, governance, and interaction with the society. Many universities today are seeking research studies in other universities in some parts of the world. Besides, the academe is allowing more students to study in other universities outside the country in order to accumulate innovative research studies and immerse with other cultures necessary for economic, social, cultural, and political development. These challenges are reflected in the thrust that universities tried to uphold to be in harmony with the emerging global and knowledge-driven economy. Therefore, globalization in higher education requires local universities to move in the expansion of opportunities and international partnerships among universities in order to avail of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the world. In connection, an intellectual researcher on education named Brysk wrote that globalization in higher education is a combination of elements such as connection, cosmopolitanism, communication, and commodification(Wiley, 2009, p.1). Connection means traffic in goods and services, while cosmopolitanism is growth of multiple centers of power and influence. On the other hand, communication means increase in technological capacity that strengthens transnational networks and commodification is the expansion of world markets. Basically, Brysk is trying to integrate economic factors with the concepts of connection, cosmopolitanism, communication and commodification in relation to globalization in higher education. On the other hand, a researcher on education named Mason believes that it is proper to enhance collaboration with other universities in order to achieve international development out of competition in the global marketplace for students. With that, accessible educational structures and teaching processes must be developed to modernize them and make them viable with universities worldwide. Apparently, Mason wants to bring about educational changes and expand a new perspective on the significance of the globalization in higher education. Knowing the relevance of globalization in higher education towards research development, I agree with both the adages of Brysk and Mason. However, it is better to integrate effective systems between financial support of local universities and outside higher education institutions upon students who are willing to avail of globalization in higher education. Participation in international education might be limited to students from wealthy families, hence it is important to analyze the fact that not all students could afford to study out side the country. The thought of introducing globalization in higher education only to students from wealthy families must be eliminated and scholarship grants must be developed for deserving students. In that way, globalization in higher education becomes effective in achieving economic and political development throughout the world. References Wiley. Com. 2009. Globalization in Higher Education. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from media. wiley. com/product_data/excerpt/85/07879758/0787975885. pdf –.

The Creation of Modern Capitalism- The history of multinationals and Essay

The Creation of Modern Capitalism- The history of multinationals and the creation of global capitalism have been distinctly u - Essay Example Globalization is a course of action by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become incorporated in the course of global network of political thoughts through interactions, trades and transportations (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2010). Also, with the rise of multinational firms and corporation making and creating a world of collaboration, highly-dependent from each other by means of economy as well as political to survive in the global eco-political battle. Thus, we could view our world now being a spider web wherein each and every country is connected by one another through its dependency in resources and information. Moreover, with the rise of advanced technology like internets, telecommunications and alike, creating a stronger bond between and among countries through faster exchange of information. In this case, we are bounded by the things that these corporations had created. We shall tackle aspects on the history of globalization and its effects in the sphere of economy, politics and even in the society. Thus we shall see the benefits of this phenomenon and its disadvantage though comparative analysis to the studies, investigation and critical analysis made by other people. History It is believed that the process of globalization had started long time ago during the early ages where trades are used by the people to exchange goods and services. Also, in colonization era where one needs to import goods like spices, gold and even cultures from their colonizing countries. What seems to be the turning point of this event is during the 19th century where Industrialization occurs in the Western countries whereas processed goods are being introduces and new inventions are being catered to the business owners. During that time, Europe being the lead country producing goods highly needs materials that it will utilize to materialize the inventions of machineries in support to their production. Also, the dependency of the country to other country to ai d its resources for it to create the materials needed and the invention of communication gadgets like telephones strengthen the globalization. The first phase of modern globalization break down during the Word War I in the 20th century because of several monetary forces brought by this phenomenon boost the conflicts between the states during that time (Yeates, pp54-55, 1962). Countries during these times were focused on the battle and their triumph in it. Thus, multinational firms are being used by the state as an asset to support the spending on their warfare. Globalization eventually reached its peak after the World War II wherein international organizations like the United Nations (UN) were being established to solve state-to-states conflict in the international arena and that to settle disputes between and among states in matters of economy as well as politics. Furthermore, the attempt to cut down boundaries of trade was done through the Bretton Woods conference creating a frame work of international

Milk Is Not Good For You Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Milk Is Not Good For You - Essay Example In fact, being critical of milk in the United States is akin to attacking motherhood, baseball, or even apple pie. However, this is exactly what this paper seeks to do. Basing on research, on milk, from various journals and using the study results of various experienced doctors, one is best advised to avoid completely milk and milk products. While everyone likes a good, cold ice cream, the effects that it has on one’s health should influence decision-making (DuPuis 22). This paper will seek to explore the documented ill effects of milk and provide reasons for the avoidance of milk at all costs. In the medieval times, in England, parents would fasten the feet of rabbits around the necks of their babies to ward off illness. The doctors also believed that spitting on the wounds of a patient worked since saliva supposedly had healing properties. In fact, history is filled with many health beliefs that are not founded on fact and, to the detriment of society; the myth on milk is a common myth that is the most tenacious (Casabona & Epifanio 33). Milk and milk products are more than a simple drink; they are a cultural phenomenon, which is traceable through the last thousands of years. The myth on milk’s unending benefits is still resonating loud and clear with the average child in the United States consuming at least 104 quarts of milk and milk products (Casabona & Epifanio 33). This myth on milk has spread across the globe, and it has been based on the belief that this drink, rich in calcium and protein is fundamental in support of good overall health and, particularly, the health of bones at all ages (Tremblay & Gilbert 96). This confusion with regards to the benefits of milk, imaginary or not, can be understood as stemming from the fact that milk contains around 300 mg of calcium per cup. However, scientific studies indicate that there are detrimental assortments of health effects, which can be linked directly to the consumption of milk. The most surp rising of these links is that taking milk, in particular milk that has been pasteurized, does not lead to absorption of the present calcium. In fact, making matters even worse, drinking pasteurized milk leads to loss of calcium from the bones, which is ironical (Tremblay & Gilbert 96). Calcium loss from bones happens in several ways. The most serious happens because milk, like all proteins from animals, leads to a drop in blood pH that, in turn, leads to a biological correction (Walker et al 1011). This is because, while calcium is a good neutralizer of acid and the biggest calcium store in the mammalian body is the bones, the calcium that is required by the bones in order to stay healthy is needed to correct the acidification caused by milk. When this calcium is removed from mammalian bones, even after neutralization is through, it leaves the blood through the urine and leads to a net result of a calcium deficit in the body. It is for this reason that countries with low milk consum ption like Japan have relatively lower incidences of fractures afflicting their population. The sad truth, however, is that the majority of healthcare practitioners tend to ignore facts such as these that are proven. This leads to doctors prescribing lots of milk for patients who suffer from osteoporosis, which leads to a worsening of the population’

Internation Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Internation Systems - Essay Example kkel Vedby Rasmussen in the work ‘The West, civil society, and the construction of peace’ points out that: â€Å"According to the theory, democracy is the manifestation of the causes of peace only. Democratic states are the means that realize the effective cause of peace: liberal society.† (Rasmussen, 2003, p.29) DPT symbolizes democracy, which is the expression of the facts related to peace. So, the democratic states are the best example for DPT, because a democracy leads to a liberal society where peace exists. The idea that a world of democracies would be more peaceful place is so significant because almost all bloodshed related to war were not among democratic countries. As democracy leads to stable governments which represent the aspiration of the people, there is high chance for it to support further democratic thoughts. Eventually, the spread of democratic thought leads to world peace. But it is noteworthy that democracy is not a single system and there are several systems of government under democracy. The general idea is same, i.e. the government which represent the people. Democracy shows immense respect towards private property and provides legal equality among citizens. As the democratic government is elected by the people, there is less chance for unlimited government control over the mass. But the universal definition of democracy is not same and it leads to misinterpretation of the very same idea. For instance, the bourgeois republics, dictatorships etc are inferred as democracies. Due to political pressure, in some countries, people are forced to elect dictators as their leader. But, this does not prove that this particular country is democratic. So, it is important to have a universally accepted definition for democracy. From another view point, the countries with educated population show the tendency to embrace democracy because it supports the free will of the people. Besides, to create an atmosphere of world peace, it is important for the

Planning and Implementation of Mega-urban Projects Essay

Planning and Implementation of Mega-urban Projects - Essay Example Another aspect of these mega urban projects is the fact that the built environment needs to be based on the social systems and structures in such a way that the economy, culture, and social factors become evident through the arrangement of the landscape. This is what Soja describes as the â€Å"socio-spatial dialectics† These four major factors come together to define the capitalist and socio-spatial elements of a given mega urban project. This is because these indicators provide the basis for evaluating urban development project. This paper examines three urban mega projects in the United Kingdom, Germany, and South Korea. The paper examines the key elements of these three project in relation to the concepts and ideas of urban megaprojects. In arriving at this end, the paper will compare differences and similarities between the base projects. In this process, the paper will examine the trends in urban megaprojects. Liverpool ONE is a major urban development project that was conducted to boost the competitiveness of one of the UK's cities. It involved a total of about  £1 billion in expenditure and it sought to redevelop 42 acres of Liverpool into a retail-oriented zone (Grosvenor, 2007). The project was completed in 2008 and it made that zone of Liverpool one of the top five retail centers in the UK. The Potsdamer Platz in Germany is one of the key areas of Berlin and lies just a kilometer away from the famous Brandenburg Gate and has the German Parliament [Reichstag] just over twenty kilometers away (Weitz, 2007). This makes the region a very sensitive cultural and public section of Germany. The area came under intense Allied bombardment during World War II and it became a buffer zone during the Soviet Occupation (Weitz, 2007). However, after German reunification in the late 1980s, the Potsdamer Platz has gone through a lot of change processes.  

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 46

History - Essay Example Having complex roots to analyze, I think that studying America would prove both difficult and interesting in the sense that the bulk of studies are composed of various areas which may come hard to keep track of especially considering the quantity of details in volumes of text yet it would fascinate to find out as well that there are innumerable topics worth a student’s delight in the process. Since it entails becoming disposed to understand different cultures, economic development, and diplomatic relations, American history makes an overwhelming piece of literary journey with its own thematic features of action, romance, and mystery. Several people might have maintained a negative perspective of looking into the American history due to countless enormous controversies which have inevitably become attached to the system of U.S. government, set of ideologies, and knowledge of American societies, their corresponding beliefs, and functions in former ages and as they are at present. One such concrete instance is tolerating a negative view that Americans are racists by nature for it is by far established in human consciousness that the term ‘American’ is more often immediately attributed to an individual belonging to the ‘white race’. Hence, upon recollection of unpleasant events as black slavery during the period of Civil Rights Movement, it occurs amply reasonable to place education with American history under negative mode of interpretation. To persuade people to turn from such unfavorable perception, it would help to consider addressing the curriculum on American history course with some necessary modifications. The approach to teaching American history must be reformed in such a way as to shape student’s thoughts to obtain better understanding of the factors that constitute failure of the American government and the long- or short-term impacts brought by the industrial revolution and mixed socio-ethnic

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 28

Research Paper Example Many societies around the world suffer from poverty as a result of poor methods of sustainable development in the past(DeNavas-Walt and Proctor, 11). Poverty in various societies around the world is rooted from cultural and historical events. For instance, Poverty in America is portrayed by economic inflation created in the transition from the period after the American Revolution which was inspired by rebuilding strategies as the nation had undergone through a massive loss of lives and property worth billions of dollars. This document looks at the difference and similarities depicted in the transition with a comparison to Orwell’s concept of poverty as written in â€Å"Down and Out in Paris and London.† Orwell’s â€Å"Down and Out in Paris and London,† is a reflection of the current poverty state in some parts of the United States as it consists of similar events which link the 20th and 21st century. Down and Out in Paris and London,† is George Orwell’s story about the poverty state of immigrants living in Paris and London. In the story, the narrator tells the challenges that befall foreigners when in search for employment in a foreign land. He acquired his first job as a dishwasher in one of the hotels in Paris where employees who were mostly foreigners worked for twelve hours each day of the week with little pay. This made him live in a small and inveterately dirty room as there were no maids to clean the room since they were extremely cheap. The narrator’s place of residence depicted poverty in the immigrant society as most of his neighbours were foreigners from different countries in Europe with few coming from other continents around the world. The narrator describes the condition of the room in which he lived while in Paris saying, â€Å"The walls were as thin as matchwood, and to hide the cracks they had been covered with layer after layer of pink pap er, which had come loose and housed

Project Management Essay Example for Free

Project Management Essay The pursuit for a successful project when a project or service needs to be established that is outside of the normal functional operations, the technique of project management is imperative. The efforts of the three â€Å"C† are communication, cooperation, and coordination that all work together in a profound approach to create a winning coalition with the project team members and senior management. The three â€Å"C† are essentially to providing the means in allowing project management to function in positive environment. The Lockheed Martin Corporation is one of the companies that captures the three â€Å"C† concept that led the organization to being one of the premier leaders in technology – that is why incorporating a project management function within a project management office is essential to staying a leader in the industry. The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an advanced technology company that was found in March 1995 after a merger of two profound technology companies; Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation. The Lockheed Martin Corporation employs over 120,000 people in the world with concentration in research, design, development, and manufacture as well as integration of advanced technology systems, products and services to clients that are around the world (Lockheedmartin. com, 2008). The Lockheed Martin Corporation prides itself in being a leader with extraordinary talent and creativity to bring new and fresh ideas to the marketplace. The Lockheed Martin Corporation major clientele is the U. S. Department of Defense and the U. S. Federal Government agencies to provide lead systems integrator and information technology. The IT services that Lockheed Martin Corporation provides is one of the finest in the world providing systems integration and training to the U. S. Government. The additional business is providing international government and some commercial sales of products, services and platforms. Therefore, in the pursuit of business interests, the decision establish a project team to explore a new device technology chip that will enhance the speed and calculation of previous system integration will enhance the brand equity of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the market. The goal of project management is to manage and complete the delivery of the client’s deliverable on time and on budget. Therefore, the objective of project management within an organization is the ability to achieve the company’s strategic goals and mission. The project manager initiative is to follow the client’s purpose for the development of the product or service with stated specifications with the PM effectively planning accordingly. The focus on the project management objective allows for a central concentrated effort on the Project Manager to outline the needed tasks- that is outside of the daily organizations functions as business as usual- to creating the specific need for the client domestically and internationally (Wild, Wild, and Han, 2006). The collective consensus of project management within an organization to consider having a Project Management Office (PMO) is a productive step in centralizing the need for better planning. The reason for the project management office is the centralization of the responsibility and authority for the achievement of organizational goal when the assignment doesn’t fall within the confinement of routine work. The understanding of the Project Management Office identification what situation constitutes a project or non-project that will present a temporary nature; the following will apply to reach such a determination: a. The opportunity or market window is usually temporary with some projects having a limited time frame to produce the product or service. . A capability to perform a service, such as business functions supporting production or distribution. c. A product or artifact that is produced is quantifiable and can be an end item in itself or a component item. d. A market demand that requires a need to satisfy in a given period of time. e. A technological advance that ranges from new software upgrades or internal systems. f. Consumer requests to offer a better adaptability to a product. g. Designing a new advanced transportation vehicle for a specific demographic. . The building a new construction that adds a new division or for a client. Therefore, the determination is agreed upon for completing a project outside of the normal operations of the organization, a focused effort must be made for a successfully completion (Armstrong and Kotter, 2007). The objectives of projects and operations are at times very different in keeping the company working towards the same goal, even though, the organization’s objectives for business enterprise is still the core initiative. The project management agenda is a means of organizing activities that is accomplishing through the application (Haritz, 2004). The integration of the application of the project management processes within the organization is required for a managing of the initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The senior management team commitment to quality and delivering excellent products or services are dependent on employees to comply accordingly. Therefore, the importance of project management is crucial to presenting a professional responsibility to its stakeholders including customers, the performing organization, and the public for meeting company’s initiatives. The acquiring of management by project is related to organizational culture that is close to the project management culture described in the pursuit for execution. The following aspect to consider in the positive attributes of using project management in the organization is the benefit for sharing information for effective decision making.

Issues that arise in research

Issues that arise in research It is becoming more common to talk about including childrens perspectives in review of childrens services and this is particularly the case for young children. The traditional method often required imagination if experiences and views of young children are to be taken into consideration by adults. Mosaic Approach is a particular framework for listening to very young children, under five years of age. It is an approach, which acknowledges children and adults as co-constructors of meaning. It is an approach, which can combine the visual with the verbal. The Mosaic is a multi-method which uses childrens own photographs, child-led tours and map making. The approach which combines the traditional research tools of observation and interviewing with participatory methods. The method is combined with talking and observing children to gain a deeper understanding of childrens perspectives in their early childhood. The approach has the potential to use with older children, especially those with communication difficulties or for whom English is an additional language. Clark quotes there are three main theoretical starting points for this research approach, each based on notions of competency. (Clark, 2004, pg 142). As children have their own time and activities Clark acknowledges that children have important perspectives to contribute about their own lives. This view of competency is in contrast to other research models which Qvortrup has pointed out, which can often exclude the voices of children. Qvortrup states that, children are often denied the right to speak for themselves either because they are held incompetent in making judgements or because they are thought of as unreliable witness about their own lives. (Qvortrup et al., 1994: 2) Critically, it is important to consider the use of the term research with children rather than on or for children as a way of highlighting child expertise and ability to collaborate. In the past, much research was conducted on children but relatively little with them (Masson, 2004, pg 4). Lahman quotes has call ed for child-centered research and sees children as subjects and not objects. This reveals a discussion of whether research has been on or for children (Lahman, 2008, pg 295). Lehman also stresses the importance of providing children opportunities to interpret data and reflect on tentative findings, which has been done through follow-up interviews and focus groups where findings and data previously collected are brought to the children to discuss. Similarly, Kay et al. (2003) has characterised this as (re)presentation, meaning that child participants are presented with representations of research data in order to gain their input so the researcher may (re)present their data as informed by the childrens input. The framework consists of a Multi-method, which recognises the different languages or voices of children. The Participatory method treats children as experts and agents in their own lives while the Reflexive method includes children, practitioners and parents in reflecting on meanings and addresses the question of interpretation. The adaptable method can be applied to a variety of early child-hood institutions which can be embedded into practice; this method is a framework for listening which has the potential to be both used as an evaluative tool and to become embedded into early years practice. Finally, the focussed on childrens lived experiences method looks at lives rather than knowledge gained or care received. A major influence in developing this approach has been the methods used in the participatory appraisal. Participatory appraisal is about empowering poorer communities to have a voice for changes within their communities. A range of methodologies are used, which dont rely on written words and assumed as competency. This often led the development of imaginative tools that enabled illiterate adults to speak and the same trigger has spurred the development the Mosaic approach with young children. The aim is to find practical ways to contribute to the development of services that are responsive to the voices of the child and which recognises childrens competencies. Clark states The approach developed as a multi-developed model which was important to include o range of methods in order to allow children with different abilities and interests to take part. (Clark, 2004, pg 144). There is a two stage approach, firstly children and adults gather documentation and practitioners and parents/carers reflect on what they think life is like for the children. The second stage pieces together information for dialogue, reflection and interpretation and practitioners and parents listen to the childrens own perspectives. In so far as we should choose those methods based around the ages of our participants, ethical issues will also underpin our choices of method. With interviewing, if you interview a 4 year old, you may exclude the other children. However, Lahman points out that using conventional one-on-one interviews would have meant missing most of the kids ways of expressing themselves. (Lahman, 2008, pg 294). However, as Clark states those who know the pe rsonalities of the children need sit alongside the participatory tools in the Mosaic approach in order to build a more detailed understanding of young childrens experiences. (Clark, 2004, pg 146). It is always preferable to be with children in their context, so naturally occurring conversations can occur in the context of the childrens lives. However, there are occasions when due to time, money or the topic, formal interviews may be required. When moving to a formal interview, the child/researcher power deferential be inherently emphasised and the researcher risks controlling the interview in a manner that produces what the child believes the adult wishes to hear. Researchers may wish to allow the child to choose where they want the interview to occur and allow the child to hear their voice recording and handle the recording equipment. When conducting focus groups, friendship may be the most important factor for composing groups. Children talking together replicate the small group s etting that they are familiar within the classroom where conversations can appear to flow effortlessly. A child could also lead the focus group with adults being present in a listening role. Encouraging children to interview their friends, as research is also a way to minimize the researchers power. Eliciting and understanding childrens views has become increasingly important for a range of reasons including legal, political and academic issues. Critically, new paradigms in social science have encouraged the views of children as social actors, playing an active role in shaping their environment. Research has suggested that children are more competent than previously thought in their ability to comment on their own lives, and be involved in making decisions. Yet, theories of child development are often cited as the reason why young children cannot be consulted and not able to understand the issues or make meaningful contributions. An alternative approach would be to assume that young children might not understand enough to be consulted on particular matters, or on some aspects of them, or indeed that they may be able to understand if they are asked in a different way. Adhering to participatory research principles requires a coherent and consistent approach to the research design, notably the practical considerations of generating data in appropriate ways. Pieces of the Mosaic, gathered by adults and children, form the basis for Stage Two. Combining the narratives and images of these individual pieces brings a greater level of understanding about young childrens priorities. By looking at all pieces gathered in Stage One you can build a picture of what appears important, this is completed by looking at what images or narratives come up more frequently. Thus what themes appear more often are more important to the child or children involved? Another methodology could be photographs (taken by young person) cameras are a medium, which appeal to young children and provide a form of communication, which is fun. For example, allowing the children to photograph their favourite things. On a positive note, children learn and gain confidence, as they are able to engage in ways they feel comfortable and they learn new skills such as listening, reflecting on their feelings and practical skills such as using cameras. Finally, by being listened to, children may become more active participants and get more involved in activities. Negatively, children must choose to take part, otherwise it can be intrusive to tell them we are listening to you or to observe them for research purposes without first telling them. Knowledge is power by gaining further insight into the lives of the children you are working with you gain power over them, therefore critical for practitioners to be careful how they respond to what the children say. In line with the approach, the use of cameras produced data in the form of pictures; it also encourages children to think about what they are looking at and make active decisions about what they do and do not want to photograph. However, as Clark states, if there is a mismatch between the task and the ability of the parti cipants to complete the task, the data will be incomplete and some data will be missing. However, a reliance on drawings, photographs or video clips depends on several factors, not least of which is the quality of the image. The skill of the artist, photographer or camera operator can influence the final product, and further, the perspective of the participant is essential to interpreting and extending these data. (Clark, 2004, pp. 142-161). There are equally complicated issues to be negotiated when research is conducted at school, in classrooms, or even at school when children are removed from classes to participate in research. Children could downplay their responses to questions (if answering in public might impact negatively on their status with peers) when a teacher or another authority figure (perceived or imaginary) was present but exaggerate their answers when with peers. The power of the photograph as a data-collection tool appears to make much more sense if the photographi c task is aligned with an interview with the photographer. Lahman suggests allowing children to choose whether they wish to express themselves through an innovative method, some of the children we saw were keen to express themselves by drawing while others had no interest in this method of communication. (Lahman, 2008, pg 294). Other examples of methods successfully utilized with children can include photography, video, communication with toys and art. Clark (2005) advocates for combining these methods as appropriate into what she has termed the Mosaic approach. It is of note that many of these methods will not work with our youngest participants such as infants and toddlers, or children who are severally disabled. For example, Lahman stresses in her journal the diary method may not be suitable for people [children] who cannot write nor have difficulty articulating their feelings in writing (Liamputtong, 2007: 154). The use of participatory methods with young children has opened more doors to communicating. This however contradicts the myth that researchers need to simplify their approaches with young children. The research has shown that there is a need to be flexible and to think differently. The approach is one attempt to turn this upside down and begin from young childrens strengths, their knowledge and attention to detail and visual, as well as verbal communication. To act ethical is to act the way one acts towards people whom one respects. Major areas of consensus for ethical consideration with children include informed consent, confidentiality, access and privacy. Excessive oversight by research review boards is also an area of ethical discussion with some feeling that vulnerable groups such as children are at risk for being under researched due to unnecessary restrictions or researchers avoiding children as participants due to governmental red tape. It is assumed that researchers should bring to ethical research with children that acknowledge childrens competence. Children are smart, make sense and want to live a good life. Lahman stresses in her journal for respecting childrens expertise as an ethical and methodological stance throughout the research process. This implies the need to be flexible and reflexive regarding ethical issues over the course of the entire study. (Thomas and OKane (1998) Critically, we need to look further, however not only with the process of learning but with the framework. Within the learning frame there is a wide range of approaches or pedagogies which view children in different ways. Some researchers see these children as an empty vessel waiting to be filled up with knowledge, while within this frame children are objects into which learning is poured. This type of participatory research is a right thing to do or at least a helpful thing to do, because it is based on a positive ethical framework, supports the political impetus of childrens rights and can generate such valuable data. Arguably most importantly, researcher must make time in ones research design to simply be with children. With time ethical consideration may be enacted reflexively. When we have multiple episodes upon which to draw, it becomes possible. Innovative methods rest on relationships and are not conducted frivolously, and children can demonstrate their true expertise as collaborators. Researchers should not stop attempting to form meaningful relationships with the children they research. Indeed, if we reflect overly long on this issue, the danger becomes one may say, then why bother? It is hoped that researchers are drawn to studying children through some sense of desiring to see the world through childrens eyes, attempting to improve children lives, and simply experiencing joy when with children. A multi-method, participatory approach, time consuming though it is, enables children with different skills and personalities to contribute their experiences. This can be applied to older children including those with special needs. The tools you choose to use can be altered according to the children you are working with. The philosophy behind the approach, children as experts in their own lives can apply to children of all ages. The Government Green paper, Every Child Matters states that the involvement of children and young people is crucial if services are to be improved. Core principles for increasing the involvement of children have been introduced, which all Government departments are expected to follow, and are not bound by a lower age limit of children who should be consulted. However, younger children may be highlighted as one group that face barriers to being involved. Therefore, a proactive approach in crucial towards involving younger children. However, we caution against the assumption that this approach necessarily produces better research data and, indeed if participants are fully involved in all dissemination there is a risk of portraying rather sanitised research results. We warn that researchers must anticipate ethical and practical implications and maintain a reflexive awareness of how power differences interplay in sometimes surprising ways. To conduct research we must not hide behind bland statements that research was participatory, without including in our analysis the theoretical framework in which the participation sits and how the participation has impacted on the claims made for, and from, the research. There is no one research tool best suited to gaining childrens opinions as researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods and ultimately, always seeking better ways to make more understandable the experiences they have studied. However, it is crucial for researchers to avoid getting caught up in a method for method sake. Researchers need to develop interesting methods to engage children, while at the same time avoid a gimmick approach. There are some conventional methods that can be alienating for some vulnerable children and therefore, essential researchers adopt alternative approaches. Word Count:

Environmental Analysis At Tui

Environmental Analysis At Tui INTRODUCTION: The modern era of business is much complicated than the previous. Any organisation must seek to understand the nature of its competitive environment if it is to be successful in achieving its objectives and in establishing appropriate strategies. For this the organisation and those leading them need to improve their understanding of the nature of the organisational structure, the importance of technology and the role they play in the organisation for improving the performance. This report presents the overall analysis of the tourism industry, achieving, maintaining leadership and implications of the changing business environment with respect to TUI case study. TUI is one among the largest European tourist operator in the world which is the leading international leisure travel which operates approximately in 180 countries worldwide and serves more than 30 million customers in over 24 source markets. Starting its business as Preussag which was operating in smelting and mining industry, profitability was decreasing in that sector so it gave an exit to that sector and entered tourism industry, a radical decision to change. It started acquiring other tourist operators included its acquisition of major European tourist operators by late 1990s. In 2001, all the brands and firms were put under the World of TUI. Till 2005 and after that TUI has taken the first position in tourism industry and has worldwide operations. TUIs strategy was to have its label in almost all parts of the world. Their main objective is to have a strong brand portfolio in all parts of the world and constantly raising the performance of the international tourism industry. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AT TUI: Strategic management includes understanding the strategic position of an organisation, strategic choices for the future and managing strategy in action (Johnson et al, 2008). Strategic position identifies the impact of external environment, strategic capability, expectation and influence of stakeholders on strategy. The business environment can be divided into (refer appendix 11.2): Through the DEEPLIST (Demographic, Economic, Ecologic, Political, Legal, Informational, Social and Technologic) analysis, from a macro level, examining factors within the remote environment and show how they influence tourism industry. Moreover, Porters Five Forces, including the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, potential threats from domestic substitutes and overseas entrants, and the intensity of rivalry, will focus on the structural determinants of the intensity of competition that affect the tourism industry from a micro level (Stubbs, 2000). Business change due to technology is the transformation of business activities which is not regular and not done all the time. According to Anderson et al (2001) change is catalysed by number of forces that trigger it and these forces start off in the organisation or the marketplace. Change in business is required if core processes, organisation structures, rules and procedures are not efficient enough to achieve the desired goal. Following are the change drivers which triggers change in tourism industry. The Key drivers to be considered here are Political, Technology and Socio-culture/Demographics (refer appendix 11.2). PESTEL/DEEPLIST ANALYSIS Demographics: Social issues can create great problems to business and this can result in business change in the tourism industry. One aspect of social change consists of changes in peoples attitudes, values and beliefs when they visit different places. Other aspects of social change are in the field of culture, social structure and of the patterns of behaviour. Social problems can be anything affecting the nature, social institutions, and community of people or group of individuals. The business might be aiming at developmental change and benefit of the society but it can be taken in negative sense by some group of people who believe the business is eliminating the existing way of living. Thus this may affect the TUIs operations and market share as customers are the main asset for companys growth. Political Issues: In general form the case study, international tourist arrivals recorded across the world was more than 800 million which was due to the growing annual pace 10 years back in the tourism industry was quoted according to World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in which policy issues are accounted. Terrorism: We can know that there was 5.5 per cent growth rate and 10 per cent growth in 2004 seemed to be like the tourism industry had taken a boom indicated the rise which was followed by insecurity created after the various terrorist attacks in Newyork (2001), Djerba (2002), Bali (2003) and Madrid (2004) during 2001-2003. London bomb attacks in July 2005 really did not affect the arrivals in UK. In fact there was a 10 per cent increase on tourist arrivals in the Northern Europe and UK. Usually terrorist attacks at destinations have an adverse effect on tourism industry as people tend not to visit those places out of fear and insecurity. Security: In 2005 TUI was considered to be the biggest tour operator in Europe. The wholesaler tour offers packaged or all-inclusive prepaid and pre planned holidays to its customers which offered security and the value for the vacationer. Taxation: if any common Value added tax is introduced for every booking made through internet/mobile. Poor people will be affected greatly compared to rich in the society. This may reduce internet transactions. Social Issues: Traumatic effect on international travel from 2000 to 2004 is due to global economic downturn and the health crisis, such as the outbreak of SARS in 2003. We can also consider the Demography, social values which lead to social problems, cultural features wherein peoples attitude for the tour can change accordingly. Economic Issues: Financial: The WTO forecasted that the 1 billion arrivals spot would be passed in 2010 and by 2020 there would be 1.6 billion international tourist arrivals, which seems to be the expansion of tourism shaping the future of the world economy and activity. Exchange Rate: Typically, an income per capita of source countries and the relative price of exported tourist services as the main determinants of demand. Demand has generally been found to be highly income elastic, consistent with international tourism being a luxury good and highly responsive to changes in the relative price of tourist services when measured as the real exchange rate relative to the destination country. Competition: All the package tours offered through travel agents such as Thomas Cook, My Travel Group, Rewe Touristik and First Choice Holidays are the main competitors for TUI even though in 2005 it took a major market share in European tourism market. Lodging, food, beverage, leisure, tourist demand spending, channels of distribution leads to weakness and strengths of economic sectors. Tourism is the major trend in economy (Manuel et al, 1999). Ecological /Environmental Issues: Carbon is the main affluent which is taken into account when tourism industry is concerned about package tours offered to customers which is composed of air transportation. Even oxides of nitrogen due to the combustion of fuel, packing plastic bags for food preservation by travel industry are hazardous to environment. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges as a tourism sector. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, travel and tourism contributes around 5% of total global carbon emissions. Along with many other industries, the leisure travel sector is feeling the effects of climate change, and in the future we can see changes in the quality of tourist seasons, an increase in the intensity of tropical storms and rainfall, and more severe droughts (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Tourism is known as a thirsty industry, due to the amount of water required for tourism activities such as golf courses, swimming pools and washing of linen. Water scarcity is likely to be an issue for the business in the medium to long-term (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Climatic conditions may influence the decisions of customers effectively in tourism industry (Example change in season or heavy rain pour). However, tourism sector also has a significant positive impact on the people who live and work in the destinations. Tourism is one of the worlds largest industries, contributing around 11% to global GDP. It is particularly important for developing economies, and is a top five export in 80% of developing countries. 2.1.6 Technological Issues: In March 2005 TUI launched the virtual tour operator Touropa.com, in Germany, selling travel tours not only online, but also through travel agencies, television and call centres which bolstered TUIs place as the European head in the direct sale of travel products with a turnover of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.6 billion in 2005. Online transactions and booking include broadband service and internet technology in tourism industry. 2.1.7 Legal Issues: Issue of online trademark protection, spawning, mouse-trapping spoofing, cyber-squatting, domain name fraud, as well as spyware. Internet Marketing in Hotel industry and Tourism lets us to know that loss of control of a companys trademark can occur (for example when a third party bids on a trademarked term on search engines), not only may lead to loss in revenues, but also brand confusion by the consumer. For Example: My Travel Group was under reorganization after several bad years, including 2005 when revenue decreased by 19 per cent, under claims of accounting and mis management. TUI is active in the shipping business which includes logistics and containers, during shipping legal factors are to be considered with many countrys legal scenarios which have to be met with high terms. Import and export duty are also considered. International trading is the other part of TUI wherein most of the activities were taken into account other than shipping where in legal terms will have a greater impact on the tourism industry. PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS: PORTERS five forces diagram explains how forces like buyer power and threat of new entry creates competitive rivalry and ultimately leads to business change for the current tourism industry based on the development in the market and detail analysis is carried out in the appendix 11.3 (Porter, 1985). INTERNAL ANALYSIS OF RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES AT TUI: Internal analysis is done to explore the contribution of resources in achieving profits and to analyse how the internal resources of an organization helps in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The importance of internal resources in adding value to TUI can be analysed using two approaches- the value chains the value system (refer appendix 11.4). 3.2 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 3.2.1 Primary Activities Inbound Logistics Preussag, former TUI took more interest on acquisitions of many tour operators (Hapag-Llyod AG, TUI Deutschland, Thomas Cook etc) during early stages. This many acquisitions lead to the formation of TUI tour operator, which has become the first player in tourism industry in European market (refer appendix 11.4). Operations Quality and consistency are important attributes in travel and tourism industry for TUI. Thus retaining the brand, TUI transformed its operations by improving product quality and consistency for which people were ready to take the packages. It also enjoyed significant economies of scale. Outbound Logistics Setting up different travel agencies across many countries with major presence in Germany, UK and Netherlands and Belgium. By 2005 there were 3500 travel agencies in 17 countries. Acquiring these helped TUI in expanding its boundaries and reaching the world. This helped in building an image over time in international context. Service Tourism industries have to ensure that it provides good quality service to consumers because using poor quality raw materials may have major affect on the operator market share. Providing good quality service is a case of social responsibility. 3.2.2 Support Activities Procurement Acquiring raw materials locally and importing consisted of inputs in TUIs value chain. It also procured its inputs used in value chain from the resources it attained from acquisitions (refer appendix 11.4). Technology Development Technology includes the product and process development. It used its virtual tour operator Touraopa.com, where in travel tours are sold online and also through travel agents and call centres from Germany in tourism industry to dominate the market share of the world (Johnson et al, 2008). Human Resource Management TUI had 58,191 employees by the end of September 2005 across the group and has more than 180 destinations. It gives opportunity to develop, rewards and recognition, work experience and leadership ability within the group and of which some worked in logistics division, trading and sales operations as well. (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009) TUIs Infrastructure Preussag created TUI management structure was centralised in order to manage the airlines grouping the year 2002(www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Resources for managing operations in different countries have lead TUI to have a better infrastructure. 3.3 HUMAN RESOURCES: TUI deployed its workforce from the expert operational management skills from different operators which were acquired from the firm during mergers and acquisition. Also since its management structure was centralised during 2002; it has human resources from the international context who will be framing its strategy according to the requirements and it is said to have implement resource based view. PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGIES: The firms profitability is the primary determinant of the industry and its position within the industry is an important secondary determinant. Above average profitability is the fundamental basis for attaining sustainable competitive advantage. The basic types of competitive advantage are low cost or differentiation. Along with types of advantage and scope of activities for which firm needs to attain them lead to three generic strategies to pull off above average performance in an industry like tourism. COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY: TUIs ability to offer lower price to powerful buyers. This usually targets a broad market. Firm sells its products either at average industry price to achieve profits further than rivals or below the average industry prices to put on market share (refer appendix 11.6). Low cost firm like TUI finds and exploits all sources of cost advantage like efficient distribution channels involved in the process. TUI has attained overall cost leadership, as it can command prices or near industry average. Hence it is considered to be above average performer in its tourism industry (refer appendix 11.5). DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY: The value added by the exceptionality of the product may allow the firm to change the best price for it. Large buyers have less power to negotiate because of few close alternatives. Customers of TUI get attached to differentiating attributes, reducing threat of substitutes. Corporate reputation is for innovation and quality of service in the case of TUI (refer appendix 11.6). FOCUS STRATEGY: It basically aims at narrow competitive range within an industry. The focuser services only a segment or group. Two variants are considered in this: cost focus a firm seeks a cost advantage in its target segment, where as in differentiation focus a firm seeks differentiation in its target partition (refer appendix 11.5). The target segments must either have buyers with strange needs or else the production and delivery system that best serves the target segment must differ from that of other industry segments (refer appendix 11.6). STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AT TUI TUI is considered to be more bureaucratic, which is more rigid and it stabilises the decision making progression (Barron et al, 1994). An intrusive firm have more in force and inhibits the choice of more active strategies (Peters, 1992). Service revolution can happen when industry focuses on people, Optimize technology/processes and empower employees, making service transparent, by delivering invisible excellence, focus on elegant simplicity, adapt and evolve, requirement to achieve best of all which may include society, environment and economy(Silvester et al, 2008). Well defined centralised process development and structured innovations, framework, with number of fixed points which include high cost innovations whereas most of the functional departments are decentralised and customer feedback helps TUI to obtain competitive advantage(www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Flexible process like running different service for their customer which is usually much diversified in its development of operational units. Whereas in distributed functional departments of TUI primarily were unstructured, emergent process focuses on continuous improvements. This budget may be often taken into operating expenses (Heracleous et al , 2005). SWOT ANALYSIS: TUI key issues in the business environment and its strategic capability can be analysed using a SWOT analysis. This will help in identifying the extent to which the current strength and weaknesses of TUI are relevant to and capable of dealing with the changes taking place in a business environment. The table in appendix 11.6 depicts a SWOT analysis of TUI. GROWTH SHARE OF TUI A BCG MATRIX ANALYSIS The BCG matrix analysis will be helpful in determining the relationship between the relative share of the product portfolio TUI and its market growth. The key constitute of TUIs product portfolio includes its tourism business and also its interests in hotels and shipping industry. Later TUI also expanded its portfolio by adding transportation between airport and hotel, provided local excursions, offered assistance for car rentals etc (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). In the tourism sector TUI has to choose whether to concentrate more on its mainstream or the international best segment. However the 2007 annual report of TUI showed that the worldwide trend towards the tourism industry is increasing. The appendix 11.7 depicts a BCG Matrix analysis wherein TUI is marked as Stars (High market share, High market growth). LIMITATIONS OF TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS: Limitations of PESTEL Analysis Some corporate strategists comment that since future is uncertain, there is no point in prediction. Therefore while applying PESTEL, factors like economical conditions, lifestyle of the people, etc. should be assumed as static. Also for analysing the strategic position of TUI, a company large by its size and operations and spread in different parts of the world, PESTEL alone cannot help because it only analyses the external environment where as analysing strategic position requires both external and internal environment analysis. Thus, it can be used only in support of other tools. Limitations of Porters Five Force Analysis Five Force Analysis demands that all other factors should be static whereas the competitive environment in practice is constantly changing. Also customers and the external environment are given same importance than any other aspect of environment in the analysis whereas customers should be the prime aspect of strategy development for companies like TUI who are selling their products to end customers (shipping, tourism and hotels). Also, a broad analysis of all the five forces makes it very difficult in compound industries with multiple interrelations, product groups, by-products and segments. Limitations of Market Segment Analysis Customer needs may vary than predicted about the particular market especially when the target market is large. Another major disadvantage of Market segment analysis is that changes in market conditions will lead to potential threats. Limitations of Value Chain Analysis The key actors in the value chain are sometimes affected by certain rules that are set by others like the government. So value chain analysis is influenced by information on these rules. It is difficult for companies like TUI whose business is diversified in different parts of the world for giving specific and meaningful information like fares, quotations, offers, quality standards and environmental standards imposed by tourism places. Sustainable Supply chain management (SSCM): the main challenge is to apply SSCM. Quality is the most important part of supplier selection by tour operations. Communication between relationship of quality and sustainability to increase market share awareness is the factor evaluating SSCM (Font et al, 2006). Limitations of Generic strategies: Risks in generic strategies, inclusion of low-cost strategy. For example if other firms (like My Travel) may also lower the costs due to advancement in technology. Thus, as a result narrow focus groups should be targeted to gain significant market share. Risks dealt with differentiation strategy are imitation of competitors and change in customers tastes. Specialized products and core competency protect against substitutes. Limitations of SWOT Analysis The output of SWOT analysis may contain a big list in which some may be more important and some may be less important. Also it is not suitable for more dynamic and insightful analysis. Limitations of BCG Matrix Analysis In BCG Matrix analysis it is very difficult to measure market growth rates and relative market shares. Also economical and political factors vary from country to country and BCG Matrix analysis doesnt take this into consideration. CONCLUSION The analysis reveals that TUI is in a very strong position in the tourism industry. TUIs current strategic position reveals that it has achieved long term growth from developing markets, acquisitions and resources from developed markets. Its expertise gained from many mergers and acquisition from different tourism groups and gradual development of technology in Europe. Years of experience are its greatest resource of sustainable competitive advantage by which it is able to tackle the fearlessness in a turbulent economy. However it also faces some issues like attitude of customers behaviour may change due to economic crisis or personal wish which impacts on its operational productivity as every industry faces in the competitive world. In short, TUI has made its strategic choices very efficiently leading to its success. The options are laid and needs to be decided upon which can help TUI in achieving a niche position in the tourism industry (refer appendix 11.1).

Essay --

1. Why choose seasonal sales promotion as key KPI for Global electronic retail Seasonal sales promotion has grown substantially in recent years because it encourages people to buy more. There are few benefits for this growth in sales promotion for global electronic retail. ï  ¬ First consumers have easily accepted seasonal promotion as part of their buying decision criteria therefore they have a reason to look electronic product up constantly. ï  ¬ Second it is an opportunity to attract customer’s attention for global electronic retail and bring in new business in the sense of inheriting marketing themes with each season, holiday or event. ï  ¬ Third seasonal promotions focusing mainly on short term growth in sales which will immediate bring in additional revenue and increase margins. ï  ¬ Fourth it motivates and stimulates sales staffs. Create a sense of urgency: the promotion won’t last longer than the season/event. 2. The reason setting seasonal promotions could be based on the benefits above, but when decide to setting the target of seasonal promotion figures, the list of things below need ...

Comparing Knowledge in Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy and H

Comparing Knowledge in Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy and Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Rationalists would claim that knowledge comes from reason or ideas, while empiricists would answer that knowledge is derived from the senses or impressions. The difference between these two philosophical schools of thought, with respect to the distinction between ideas and impressions, can be examined in order to determine how these schools determine the source of knowledge. The distinguishing factor that determines the perspective on the foundation of knowledge is the concept of the divine. Descartes is a prime example of a rationalist. Descartes begins his Meditations on First Philosophy by doubting his senses in the first meditation. â€Å"From time to time I [Descartes] have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once†(Descartes: 12). In the second meditation, Descartes begins to rebuild the world he broke down in the first meditation by establishing cogito ergo sum with the aid of natural light. It is with this intuition that the cogito is established, from the cogito, intellect, from the intellect, knowledge; thus knowledge has been defined in this world that Descartes is constructing from scratch. Descartes uses the fact that he is a thinking thing to establish the existence of other things in the world with the cosmological and ontological arguments, as well as a meditation on truth and falsity. â€Å"So now I seem to be able to lay it down as a general rule that whatever I perceive very clearly and distinctly is true† (Descartes: 24). Descartes only utilizes his perceptions to establish ideas of the things t... ...traced back to original impressions. The source of knowledge is not a topic that is universally agreed upon. To rationalists, who usually have a sense of the divine, innate ideas give them cause to base knowledge in reason, being derived from ideas. To empiricists, who do not hold innate ideas to be valid, knowledge is unearthed through the senses, derived from observations. The presence of a concept of the divine is the deciding factor of whether knowledge originates from the senses or the ideas. Works Cited Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing Company: Indianapolis. 1985. Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by John Cottingham. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 1996. Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. 2nd edition. Hackett Publishing: Indianapolis. 1993.

The reigns of Justinian as the emperor of Byzantium during

The reigns of Justinian as the emperor of Byzantium during 527 to 565 BC and Romanus IV in 1068 to 1071 AD were two most important events in Byzantine. The former marked the stability and economic growth of the land and the former was known to start the end of the empire. Byzantine (Istanbul today), which was called as an extension of Roman Empire in eastern part, after it was captured and made it a province. Justinian known as ‘Justinian the Great’ according to Alexander A.Vasiliev â€Å"is the central figure of this entire period† (1954, 132) for invading Italy, pacifying Africa and controlling Persia from invading the land through his faithful and able generals named Belisarius and Mundo (Treadgold, 1997, 207). Romanus IV on the other hand had a strategy that did not work for him. Romanus IV gathered large army in troops enough to defeat the enemy, yet he lost the battle for he lost control of them due to disloyalty of his men.Justinian seldom joined the army, while Romanus was at the center of the battle. Justinian delivered direction and instruction to his trusted men, and Romanus IV if not misunderstood, was left alone by his warriors to seek refuge (Bradbury, 2004, 176). The challenges in the reign of Justinian were the uprising of the people and uncontrollable circumstances that weakened his control – the plagues and earthquakes that befell the land.Romanus IV’s challenges were much severe since he reigned at the time when Byzantine never had any recur but to drive away the Seljuk Turks to contain the territory at the midst of unfaithful generals and warriors. Justinian was just fortunate to have a wife and Belisarius who advised and obeyed his command. Romanus IV had a different case instead because he was caught unprepared despite a well-organized plan he made to win the battle.His greatest challenge was not the number of enemy but the sphere of his influence as a leader to execute commands. Romanus had no lawful men and he was unaware of that; besides, the empire was surrounded by men with greedy ambition. Bibliography Bradbury, J. 2004. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. USA: Routledge. Treadgold, W. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. USA: Stanford University Press. Vasiliev, A. 1954. History of the Byzantine Empire, 324-1453. USA: University of Wisconsin Press.

Using Budgets for Control

Budgets provide a means for planning the financial future and play a vital role for planning. Budgets simultaneously make managers construct and implement plans, contribute useful information for improved decision making, provide a standard to administer performance evaluation, and enhance organization and communication. An essential component of the budgeting system is control. Control periodically takes actual results and budgeted results and compares the two. It also allows for managers to frequently measure their performance from reports by providing performance evaluations.The master budget can be separated into operating and financial budgets, each made up of distinctly supporting schedules. Implementing budgets enables managers to create a formulated plan that allows for performance evaluation and improved control. Control involves the process of looking at the past, determining what really occurred and comparing it to previously projected results. Two processes which are sign ificant to adjusting the budget are the control cycle and the planning cycle.Both are linked through feedback and in their final stage, involve budgets. Participative budgeting gives subordinate managers the opportunity to contribute considerable proposals for establishing budgets. A key factor in implementing participative budgeting is that each manager should only be held responsible for costs they can completely control. Any costs that are outside of their control that are included on their budgets need to be marked as non-controllable, and separated from those costs that can be controlled.Participative Budgeting also enables the manager with the chance to structure slack into the budget as a way to increase the probability that the manager will achieve the proposed budget and therefore decrease the risk they may incur. This requires upper level management to carefully review budget proposals from subordinate management in order to decrease the amount of slack placed into the bud get. Performance evaluation is a vital element in rating the performance of management as well as maintaining control.When using budgets for performance evaluations it can result in feedback frequency of performance, monetary as well as nonmonetary incentives, participative budgeting, attainable standards, a variety of measures of performance and the possibility of controlling costs. By using frequent feedback on performance it gives managers a means to measure the success of their planning and enforce any corrective action. Monetary and nonmonetary incentives can aid in invoking a positive, goal congruent behavior in which goals at managerial and organizational levels agree.A simple example of performance evaluation could take place in a pizza restaurant that makes only pizzas. If the owner has an exact amount of toppings that he knows should be put on the pizzas and what that cost is, he can assess the amount of toppings being used. He might find that his workers are inadvertently topping some pizzas with more toppings than others. By encouraging his employees to top all pizzas with a consistent amount of toppings he can improve the consistency of the pizzas delivered to customers and increase savings on costs of toppings.If this same principle is practiced toward other aspects of the restaurant it could provide significant savings overall. Budgets contribute a valuable role in the success of a company. Implementing control and performance evaluations increases the effectiveness of the budget and provides guidelines for performance improvement in the business. Participative budgeting gives subordinate managers the ability to be involved and invokes a sense of responsibility while embracing creativity.However if not implemented correctly, the results can produce reduced control and padded budgets that can make it difficult to evaluate performance. Although budgets can contribute a valuable measure for managerial performance, they can still be manipulated by m anagers that are able to increase budgetary performance in the short-run yet cause significant damage to the business. Organizations need to utilize other qualified measures that take into consideration the financial or nonfinancial and short-run and long-run effects in order to avoid any threats of myopic behavior.

All about me

The first thing that came to mind was the simple fact I was going to fall. I had to ask several questions before even completely understanding the requirements. We had to evaluate who we were, why we were here, and how Mr.. Wentworth could be of service to us. I worked for many days composing this essay; including many rough drafts and bad ideas. The first part of the prompt was by far the hardest, it took the most thinking. Preprinting consisted mainly of sitting around trying to figure out who I actually thought I was.I wrote about 3 rough drafts before deciding on how I was going to present myself. After finally liking one draft, I did numerous amounts of editing. The editing process was difficult for me because I did not want to mess up my very first essay and make a bad first impression. Revising the essay was much simpler with help from peers. The benefits of using a formatted writing process are ultimately what lead to my higher grade. This process helps to organize, edit, and write with ease during difficult assignments.To better organize I wrote many drafts and billeted list of important ideas to include, which helped to be sure I included all necessary points. Editing was made easier by my peers who read over the essay and gave me feedback from different perspectives to improve the flow ND structure of the essay. And lastly, the ease of writing the final draft came from this described process used. Without this process, I would've made a much worse grade and been more stressed out over trying to get it done.Who are You? The prompt of this essay was to write a declaration of independence from your parents, much like the Declaration of Independence written by our founding fathers. We were instructed to use more Latin based words as well as all of the rhetorical devices we studied in class. The goal of this assignment was to gain independence room our parental units and was a chance to explain our wants and needs in a professional way.We then had to read this essay to our parents in order for them to grade how well we did. Using a formal process to write this essay made it much easier to get our point across rather than Just writing without structure. Another process used as well was studying the format used by the founding fathers of our country. However, the traditional writing process helped in many ways to receive the grade I desired. Preprinting, the most important, helped me to figure out what I wanted to say and exactly how I would say it.

Plato biography

Greece had given to us many ideas, inventions and genial persons, and now days it is difficult to imagine our world without them. One of the most famous names of that age was Plato. He was philosopher, mathematic and teacher. Never the less, a few persons know why actually he was so famous. So, do you know where words â€Å"Academy' and Ð’Â «BenefitÐ’Â » came from or who created â€Å"Metaphysics† as field of science?Unfortunately, the extant data, which showed dates and place of Plat's definitely were sweep away by wind of history, but sorority of historians and sources indicate what it was in period between 429 to 423 BC in Athens. As well as we know, Athens was city-state in Ancient Greece, also many historians calling it â€Å"Heart of Greece† or â€Å"Cradle of knowledge†. We can conclude that place of born play an important role at formation of Plat's personality, along with his family was rich and very influential.High social status of his family gave to him opportunity to have best education. As Plato said lately: quickness of mind and modesty as a boy, and the â€Å"first fruits of his youth infused with hard work and love of duty†, and he had learned grammar, music, gymnastic and philosophy. Until 409 BC, Plato was studying at his teacher Socrates; moreover Socrates had big influence at his views of life. Plato was loyal follower and disciple of his teacher, also he created all main ideas with Socratic help. From 409 BC to 404 BC, Plato was in military service.In 403 BC, he returned to Athens, and he was trying himself at political career. Unfortunately, In 399 BC his teacher and friend Socrates had died. It was as knife to Palates back. After this tragic event, Plato disappointed In politics, he and there follower of Socrates left Athens and started to travel. As well as we can see from historical sources Plato travel was from 399 BC to 387 BC, during his travel he visited Italy, Libya, Serene and Egypt, while he was writing and exchanging of knowledge with other great scientists and philosopher.In the year 387 BC, then he came back to Athens, Plato founded his school and called Academy. This Academy gave to us a lot of great people, and one of them was Aristotle. In 367 BC, Plato arrived to Syracuse and become a personal tutor of Dionysus II. Furthermore, Plato reamed about state where Philosophers will have reins of government, but not bowl with poison. Unfortunately, the war broke his utopians dreams In 360 BC, after that he came back to Athens and stayed there until his dead In 347 BC.Plato biography By Tossing-Too career. Unfortunately, in 399 BC his teacher and friend Socrates had died. It was as knife to Plat's back. After this tragic event, Plato disappointed in politics, he and In 367 SC, Plato with poison. Unfortunately, the war broke his utopians dreams in 360 BC, after that he came back to Athens and stayed there until his dead in 347 BC.

RISK ASSESSMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT - APPLICATION OF MODELS Assignment

RISK ASSESSMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT - APPLICATION OF MODELS - Assignment Example Further, estimates show that the people living in developing nations, particularly women and children are more affected by indoor air pollution due to their reliance on bio fuels like coal, dung, wood etc (WHO 2006). Thus indoor air quality has been a major area of concern for scientists and policy makers in the recent years due to its implications for health and welfare. Hence, the risk assessment and risk management of indoor air quality deserve special attention. This report discusses the risk assessment and risk management of indoor quality using the NAS model. The NAS model consists of hazard assessment, exposure assessment, risk characterization and risk management (Common Wealth of Australia 2002).All these steps focusing on indoor air quality are discussed in detail in the following sections. A hazard is defined as an agent’s ability to produce any harmful effect on environment or health. It is not same as risk but can be the factor that can be a source of risk or risk factor. Hazard assessment involves two steps .They are hazard identification and dose response assessment (Common Wealth of Australia 2002).In the hazard identification stage of indoor air quality , it is determined whether nor not particular agents of indoor air are harmful to health or environment. The hazard identification for indoor quality is done based on epidemiological, toxicological and occupational or indoor studies. Hazard identification describes qualitatively the capability of agents to produce harmful effects .It is based on indoor observations that may potentially create adverse impacts on health or environment (ECA 2000). After identifying the hazards, the next step is doze response assessment. This describes quantitatively the links between the agents and adverse effects. The dose assessment is done using chamber studies