Wednesday, October 30, 2019

How far could ancient tribal traditions and religious beliefs be held Thesis

How far could ancient tribal traditions and religious beliefs be held to blame for the problems between African nations or What - Thesis Example ’ I believe that the proposed assignment has much relevance in the present context where the international relationships between nations are at stake and the tuck of war is undergoing in many countries. As a student I am much interested in the international relations of the nations. Even though I don’t have much knowledge in it, I believe that if the international ties between the nations are strengthened up, much of the problems among the nations will come down. The international court has a predominant role to guide the nations through peace and security. In the field of international justice, day by day, many issues related to the encroaching, terrorism, territorial dispute, and unhealthy competitions between and among nations are rising to an intimidating level. As this topic is dealing with the present situations of the world and it has become a focus for interest, I wish to take up this assignment. I believe that this study has some relevance for studying. As far as I am concerned I wish to have a thorough study on the topic. The knowledge about the various elements of international law and the implementation of it in the present situation are to be studied. ... I believe that the aspect of international law and the strategies for settling the disputes among the nations is a major concern that the law should look through. At many times the international law has failed to judicially execute the disputes that emerged from different parts of the world. There should be enough clarification in the implementation of law by the different agencies. I plan to give more stress on this aspect in my research. It is sure that if ever I get a chance to meet an expert on this subject I would ask certain questions which is puzzling in my mind. Of course the major doubts of mine will be in the reforming of the international law. I want to know the how this law can take reforms and how this law will arbitrarily make decisions on different issues that are coming up day by day. I would like to list out some of the questions that I ask to the expert. I will ask him about the shift in that occurred in the international level as the powerful nations consider this as a tool of their supremacy. It is also good to ask about the modern changes that are to be there in the international law. I propose to ask on how the international court can exercise power in dealing with the dominant nations of the world. I will ask him what the reforms are proposed by the international law committee regarding the upcoming elements of terrorism in each country. By asking many questions I believe that I will get a clear cut idea on the international law and its role in maintaining peace among nations of the world. If ever I was asked to get a book on their reforms of International law I would suggest the article, ‘International Law in Times of Hegemony: Unequal Power and the

Monday, October 28, 2019

An exploration of the way Shakespeare presents Claudius to the audience Essay Example for Free

An exploration of the way Shakespeare presents Claudius to the audience Essay The title of William Shakespeares Hamlet, would at first suggested its eponymous hero, Hamlet, is the major character. However, in a sense the whole play evolves around the character and actions of Claudius. Shakespeare has presented Claudius in a phrase as a smiling damned villain, whose greed and selfishness lead the way to his tragic killing of the King. This sums up Claudius excellently, as he has two sides to him, one the public side, smiling and the other the private side damned villain. Claudius starts his opening speech as king by saying, Though yet of Hamlet our dear brothers death (Act I Scene II, Line1) which creates the impression that his brothers death upsets him, but later it is revealed that he was the cause of it. This links in with the theme of seeming and being, where it appears that he is grieving but is actually not. Shakespeare has used seeming and being repeatedly to show the audience that, deception is one of the major parts of the play: My words fly up, my thoughts remain below words without thoughts never to heaven go. (Act III Scene V, Lines 97-8), This is Claudius confession where he tricks the audience and Hamlet into believing he wants forgiveness, but then find out it is not true. This is further highlighted when Claudius is speaking to Hamlet: here in the cheer and comfort of our eye(Act I Scene II, Line116). Again it appears as though Claudius is being caring and wants to look after him, in a way like a father would, but he has said this very cleverly and in reality implies that he wants to keep an eye on him. By using the Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School words comfort and cheer, Claudius is seen to be passionate and genuine, and the way Shakespeare has presented him to be this skilled politician is essential to his character, as he uses his wit to get himself out of awkward situations. Claudius in several parts of the play uses the word our to manipulate people. In this case, it seems as though he means for him and Gertrude to keep and eye on Hamlet, but in reality he could perhaps be implying, if Hamlet was to do something wrong the whole state could be a witness. Claudius very cleverly uses the term our again at the end of the play: our son shall win(Act V Scene II, Line 190), which gives the impression that Hamlet and Claudius have settled their problems. He has very cleverly switched his attitude from your son to our son as the play progresses, purely because of his public appearance. Also he could have perhaps said this so that when Hamlet dies he would not be a suspect, as he seems so genuine and loving towards Hamlet. When Claudius says your son, he usually says it when he has done something wrong, and implies it is your son your problem. The image of heaven and God is often related to Claudius, not referring to him as a God, but Hamlet uses his father to make bold Claudius lustful character when he says: so excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr. (Act I Scene II Line 139 and 140) Here Hamlet very precisely sums up Claudius in comparison to his father because a Hyperion was a glorious sun-god of classical mythology; a satyr was a creature half man half goat. Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School. The fact that Hamlet refers Claudius to a goat is effective because the goat is seen to be a very lusty animal, and this information along with a lot of other quotes: incestuous and adulterous beast, (Act I Scene V Line 42) a serpent stung me (Act I Scene V, Line 36) gives the audience an animalistic perception of him. The fact that Shakespeare has said serpent stung is ironic as a serpent cannot sting and this makes the quote stand out, as it is eye-catching and alliteration is used here, and the image of a snake or reptile immediately comes to mind. Also, the sibilance here is a s, which is a connotation of evil. Claudius is again compared with God, when Polonius is talking to Claudius, he says: I hold my duty as I hold my soul, both to my God and my gracious king. (Act II Scene II, Line 44 and 45), because he uses Gods name in the same sentence as the kings is ironic because in the past the king was seen to be appointed by God, therefore anything a king was to say had to be obeyed. This is ironic because, in this situation Claudius did not inherit the throne the natural way, and had to commit a vile murder of his own brother to get it. This once more shows his greed and selfishness, as he killed his brother to inherit his possessions: My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen (Act III Scene III, Line 55). He has worded this sentence, mentioning his crown first, implying it means the most to him, and then at the end his queen, which shows he doesnt care as much about her however it does show that he has some feelings for her even though he is portrayed as this selfish character. Repetition is used here, and this sentence stands out and shows Claudius greed as all he is saying is my, my, my. Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School Shakespeare uses repetition a great deal in Claudius speech, and in this case he uses it to outline Claudius intelligence, like any politician, he uses rhetoric as a way to manipulate people: your father lost a father, that father lost (Act I Scene II, Line 89 and 90), here he is trying to persuade Hamlet that its all part of the circle of life. This is important as it outlines his guilt that Hamlet is grieving for his father so much, and in a way is trying to make him stop mourning to make himself feel better. He even digs so low as he says to Hamlet, you grieving so much is a sin: tis a fault to heaven, a fault against the dead, a fault to nature (Act I Scene II, Line 101 2). Moreover, he again gives himself away unconsciously as he tries so hard to make Hamlet stop grieving. Shakespeare has presented Claudius as a skilled politician in this sentence because again he structures it in three parts, and again repetition is used, to make bold the main point he is trying to get across; your grieving is wrong. Claudius also uses Hamlets vulnerability as a chance to show his power. He refers to Hamlet as being weak and fragile: A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschoold (Act I Scene II, Line 96 and 97). The fact that he has used the words unfortified and impatient, makes this sentence more interesting because he shows his power and intelligence by degrading Hamlet. He says he lacks patience and is very weak, and is not educated. Claudius is portrayed by Shakespeare, to exploit all situations with his language. In this case, he uses very negative words and the effect is it shows him in power over Hamlet. Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School His power is also shown in his opening speech as king. Here Shakespeare has showed him as very powerful and in control by dealing with all his issues one-by-one. This is a very structured speech and it creates a strong impression on the audience as they see him as a man of control. What wouldst thou beg, Laertes that shall not be my offer not thy asking? (Act I Scene II, Line 45 and 46) Here he is just showing off his power saying what can you ask for that I will not already offer. Shakespeare has added this part in to make him seem passionate and a loyal king. Again, appearance and reality comes into play, as it seems as thought he is doing it to help Laertes, but could perhaps be doing it to show his power. The theme of seeming and being again reoccurs as Claudius is confessing, where he is seen to be legitimate, but again says things he doesnt mean: My words fly up my thoughts remain below, words without thoughts never to heaven go. (Act III Scene V, Line 97 and 98) Claudius deceit is portrayed here, as he is asking for forgiveness but he does not mean it, he cannot even be truthful whilst in prayer. This could have been an act of fright from Claudius as he is now aware that Hamlet knows the truth. This scene is very significant because it shows Claudius for his true colours, a coward. His character is now becoming more apparent to the audience, who now have something to build upon. Rhyming couplets is used here, and Shakespeare uses this a lot at the end of long speeches or scenes and is used as a sort of cue point, to let the other characters aware of when to come in. This line can be shown in many different ways. In the Kenneth Branagh version, Claudius is in a catholic confession box, with some low Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School melancholy music in the background, and the camera is slowly zooming in on his face. Which creates a more dramatic effect and a more personal tone, and when this line is due, he does not say it but thinks it. In the Franco Zefereli version he is in front of a cross. Franco Zaferelli similarly uses a cross symbolising the same religious meaning as the confessional. Claudius change in character is again shown through his confession speech. A different side to him is shown, perhaps because he is now aware that Hamlet knows the truth, and now asks for forgiveness. Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow? (Act III Scene V, Line 46) The language in this sentence is very powerful as Claudius uses natural elements, rain and snow, to outline his sin. Claudius graphic description of his sin is strong evidence, and his desire to temptation leaves him tormented by his guilty conscience. Also, because Claudius uses the colour white, it makes him seem more pure and guilty, as white is a connotation of purity, and a blank slate. In the Branagh version, he whispers this line and the audience see him as being honest and this effect is it makes him seem more apologetic. Although Claudius is portrayed as this corrupted villain, his character is wide open to interpretation. In a sense that although he killed his brother to marry Gertrude, he still has strong feelings for her: She is so conjunctive to my life and soul That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, I could not buy her(Act V Scene VII, Line 14-16). Here Claudius uses the earth and the planets to state his love for Gertrude, and implies that without her he would not be able to do anything. Although Shakespeare has Pritesh Kotecha Greenford High School. presented him to have strong feelings towards Gertrude, his greed and selfishness overrule his love for her: Gertrude do not drink [aside] It is the poisond cup. It is too late. (Act V Scene II, Lines 294 296) Just because he wants to get his own way, he jeopardizes her life and throughout the play, his actions lead to the death of seven innocent people, because he cannot resist his temptation and has to cover up his crime. In conclusion, Claudius is portrayed as a good king with bad qualities. Although he does have some good aspects as king, him being intellectual and powerful, his bad qualities over weigh his good. In a sense that, he is greedy and selfish, putting his own desire first, and going to any limits to reach his goal. Shakespeare has presented him excellently, with witchcraft of his wit(Act I Scene V, Line 43) allowing him to conceal his true colours, except for when he repented and confessed to God. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses one good quote to define his character as; smiling damned villain(Act I Scene V, Line 106), as it shows that he has two sides to him in every way, public and private, caring and selfish, and cleaver but not very wise.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Character of Ophelia in Shakespeares Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Gunnar Boklund in â€Å"Hamlet† performs a partial-analysis on the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet: The only character who is presented almost entirely as a victim is Ophelia, a victim of the King’s fear and curiosity, her father’s servility and fundamental indifference to her, Hamlet’s misunderstanding of the situation and brutal treatment of her, and finally his fatal thrust through the arras in the closet scene. Her madness is, as I see it, a purely pathetic element in the play. In the world where Hamlet has been forced to act, there appears to be no room for passive and obedient innocence. It is crushed, and perishes. (123) It is the intent of this essay to examine the â€Å"passive and obedient innocence† of this victimized character, as well as many other facets of the interesting personality of Hamlet’s girlfriend – with input from numerous literary critics. The protagonist of the tragedy, Prince Hamlet, initially appears in the play dressed in solemn black, mourning the death of his father supposedly by snakebite while he was away at Wittenberg as a student. Hamlet laments the hasty remarriage of his mother to his father’s brother, an incestuous act; thus in his first soliloquy he cries out, â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman!† Ophelia enters the play with her brother Laertes, who, in parting for school, bids her farewell and gives her advice regarding her relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia agrees to abide by the advice: â€Å"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as watchman to my heart.† After Laertes’ departure, Polonius inquires of Ophelia concerning the â€Å"private time† which Hamlet spends with her. He dismisses Hamlet’s overtures as â€Å"Affection, puh!† Polonius considers Ophelia a â€Å"green girl,† incapable of recognizing true love: â€Å"These blazes . . . you mu st not take for fire.† He gets her assurance that she will not talk with Hamlet anymore.    When the ghost talks privately to Hamlet, he learns not only about the murder of his father, but also about the unfaithfulness and adultery of his mother. Gertrude was seduced by â€Å"that incestuous, that adulterate beast,/With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts† – Claudius himself – prior to his brother’s passing. â€Å"So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,/Will sate itself in a celestial bed,/And prey on garbage.† In the mind of Hamlet, this drastically reduces the goodness of womankind generally. Hamlet chooses to use an â€Å"antic disposition† to disguise his actions as he maneuvers to kill the one who poisoned his father in the garden.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Automobile in History Essay

The United States as a country was founded upon simple fundamental guidelines that have allowed for us to become a leading power in the world. These guidelines have been rapidly evolving and expanding to allow them to remain relevant in the world around us. An obvious example of this rapid change and adaptation is the introduction of the car into everyday American life. It is well known that cars were invented prior to the Model T, but the Model T was the first car capable of being mass produced and affordable to Americans with proper fiscal management (Kyvig 47). With this breakthrough by Henry Ford people were becoming more connected than ever and the manufacturing while simultaneously creating an entire new element in the world of business. Once the people were equipped with the ability to drive the nation forward in all regards, they did exactly that. With the mass production and use of the Model T the United States improved greatly within our own economy, leisurely drives and motor sports were derived from the traditional use of the car, and the car soon became a mark of status within American society. Starting in the late 1700’s, European engineers began tinkering with motor powered vehicles. Steam, combustion, and electrical motors had all been attempted by the mid 1800’s. By the 1900’s, it was uncertain which type of engine would power the automobile. At first, the electric car was the most popular, but at the time a battery did not exist that would allow a car to move with much speed or over a long distance. Even though some of the earlier speed records were set by electric cars, they did not stay in production past the first decade of the 20th century. The steam-driven automobile lasted into 1920’s. However, the price on steam powered engines, either to build or maintain was incomparable to the gas powered engines. Not only was the price a problem, but the risk of a boiler explosion also kept the steam engine from becoming popular. The combustion engine continually beat out the competition, and the early American automobile pioneers like Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford built reliable combustion engines, rejecting the ideas of steam or electrical power from the start. Automotive production on a commercial scale started in France in 1890. Commercial production in the United States began at the beginning of the 1900’s and was equal to that of Europe’s. In those days, the European industry consisted of small independent firms that would turn out a few cars by means of precise engineering and handicraft methods. The American automobile plants were assembly line operations, which meant using parts made by independent suppliers and putting them together at the plant. In the early 1900’s, the United States had about 2,000 firms producing one or more cars. By 1920 the number of firms had decreased to about 100 and by 1929 to 44. In 1976 the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association had only 11 members. The same situation occurred in Europe and Japan. The first automobile produced for the masses in the US was the three-horsepower, curved-dash Oldsmobile; 425 of them were sold in 1901 and 5,000 in 1904–this model is still prized by collectors. The firm prospered, and it was noted by others, and, from 1904 to 1908, 241 automobile-manufacturing firms went into business in the United States. One of these was the Ford Motor Company which was organized in June 1903, and sold its first car on the following July 23. The company produced 1,700 cars during its first full year of business. Henry Ford produced the Model T to be an economical car for the average American. By 1920 Ford sold over a million cars. It is a well known fact that the Model T was the byproduct of a much larger scheme; it was the first manufactured good that utilized the assembly line (Kyvig 78). The assembly line has proven to be one of the most significant factors in American manufacturing throughout time. This revolutionary introduction into the business world allowed for the expansions of industry into parts of the country it had never been able to touch before (American Decades 84). By incorporating these techniques into his company the term Fordinomics was coined (Anonymous 1). The implemention of this Fordinomics was simple focus on your small portion and in the end put it all together for cheaper and better quality (Anonymous 1). This specific assembly line allowed for two key components of the manufacturing market to be vastly improved in a very short amount of time. It can be observed that the more obvious of the two is the simple efficiency of the assembly line and much less strenuous work it brought. The other is the production of the car and its use in shipping efforts. Prior to this time shipping was solely in the hands of the railroad industry, but no longer. This monopoly that was broken by this introduction thrust the United States into a position of potential economic greatness. The greatness was achieved through thoroughly spread pockets of manufacturing in key cities around the country. Within this pockets were always massive urban centers to allow for the full potential of this newly discovered manufacturing style to be maximized (Kyvig 105). By implanting this new style into the heart of industry Americans were now receiving more steady incomes, thus allowing the purchase of more of the goods they themselves were producing. This style of production utilized first with the Model T was utilized by the United States military to amass more and more supplies for the armed forces. Throughout World War 1 the assembly line was utilized to quickly and efficiently resupply our overseas troops in the most cost effective way possible (American Decades 132). Henry Ford has single handedly thrust the United States into a position of opportunity through his ingenious style of production matched with the most basic form of the car. With the car now being used as a more practical tool rather than just a luxury available to the most upper class of people, it slowly became a necessity in the life of many Americans. The introduction of the car was not only beneficial to the American consumer, but to consumerism as a whole. It allowed for every aspect of consumerism to be fully maximized to every last detail from raw product to shipping the completed products across the nation. Today cars are what make coming and going from work, school, and other commitments possible for us in our lives, our ability to succeed as a country has been established through this tradition of motor vehicles that was instilled upon us by Henry Ford. When the car was made readily available to the American public they turned it into a form of entertainment. It began with the casual Sunday drives that most car owners practice once they were in possession of a vehicle (Hanss 2). These causal drives were established as an escape from what people were seeing every day, going ten miles from their home was uncommon prior to the introduction of the car. These allowed people to begin to be more ambitious in their opportunities to leave the traditional home and go out into the unknown world to fulfill their dreams. The dreams of people were more often than not farfetched and highly unlikely, yet they seemed to be sought after more than any other thing in America. The car was device beginning to be seen not only for its economic benefits, but for the simple joy that could be found within the fundamental concept of going faster than the human body is intended to. The first automobile race in the United States was held in Chicago in 1895 on Thanksgiving Day (Harding 39). This race was prior to the availability of a car to the common public solely due to too high of prices. Due to this beginning of racing before the access to cars was affordable for the common American family it can be assumed that the urge to own a car was heightened. Now the car has effectively proved to be another source of entertainment to the American people. With the taste of what a car is capable of doing the rapid expansion racing into an entire industry came shortly after. Soon after the end of World War 2 there were about six different types of cars dedicated to racing alone (Harding 135). The American people had found a very simple escape from everyday life in the form of watching races. There was something about the way the cars sounded, or the cheering of drivers that allowed people to make a connection with this new sport and become mesmerized by its blinding speeds and incredible skill set required. The infatuation with racing swept across the nation like something never seen before, and to this very day the affects of this infatuation can be seen in NASCAR and other racing based professional sports leagues in the United States (Benzkofer 1) The car originally intended as a tool, like a wrench of screwdriver, to simply accomplish tasks one cannot complete without the require tool has become a symbol for more than just that. The car was a sign of prestige and accomplishment coincided with a dose of arrogance that could not go unseen when talking in terms of someone else’s money (American Decades 84). With the use of the car as a sign of accomplishment and success came the need create images for celebrities and political figures to ensure they were valued, respected, and cherished. It was necessary to create these images to portray to the public the stability and prosperity in times of doubt (Kyvig 49). Your car was also the stamp given that labeled your mark in society, if you were in possession of a car prior to 1905 then you most likely were a wealthy person, but after the creation of the Model T it was much more common to see people in possession of vehicles thus creating a new way of judging and labeling each other. Throughout the life of vehicles there has always been a message sent to potential owners that the looks and appearance of the car is vastly more important than it actually is. Over exploitation of human nature to want to best has forced the car into a position of losing efficiency for trendy looks. By the 1940s there were hundreds of different makes and models to choose from (Harding 124). The plethora of decisions to be made during the purchase of a vehicle was absurd, from the color of the inner lining of the tires to the type of materials used to create the interiors of the car. The car had been developed into a device of status, income, and prestige in society rather the it’s intended purpose of being a tool that made basic jobs and tasks easier to accomplish. The automobile is arguably one of the most influential inventions to ever hit the United States. It brought with it several different political, economic, and social changes to society. Politically the car was a sign of power and accomplishment, without a beautiful car you were nobody. The development of the Model T and the assembly line thrust the United States into a manufacturing economy allowing growth and prosperity. With the introduction of higher speeds and travel came the leisure side of cars in racing. Racing was an outlet for many Americans when times began getting rough. In all, the automobile is a blessing bestowed upon the world allowing us all to advance and become more efficient in the way we conduct our lives. Word Count= 1957 Works Cited Anonymous, â€Å"Ford to Own Ships, Make Tires, Extend $5 A Day Schedule† in New York Times, 10 August, 1914. Dearborn Michigan, August 1914 Stephan Benzkofer, â€Å"Zoom Town† in Chicago Tribune, 12 September, 2012. Chicago Michigan, September 2012 Daniele Hanns, â€Å"Socioeconomic affects of cars in the 1950’s† Journal of Social/Economic History 2, no. 1 (2003) David Kyvig, â€Å"Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940: How Americans Live Through the â€Å"Roaring Twenties† and the Great Depression† Library Journal 129, no. 12 (2001) Parker, Dorothy. American Decades: 1900-1909. 1st ed. 7. New York: Random House, 2001. Print. Harding, Elizabeth. â€Å"Henry Ford. † SIRS Decades. ProQuest, 12 Aug. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Orion Shield Project Case Essay

In this paper, The Orion Shield Project is critically analyzed to determine how effective the project manager, Mr. Gary Allison, is in operating as leader. Specifically, the paper focuses on what technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and other managerial issues plague the success of The Orion Shield Project. The paper attempts to analyze these issues by first introducing the reader to background about the project, and then moving into a deeper discussion of every one of the previously mentioned issues. Due to the individuals he works with and the differing situations he is placed, Mr. Allison must make difficult decisions at every corner. After examining the project, it is found that Mr. Allison can improve his responses to these issues by accounting for the complexities of dealing with technology, becoming more solid in his ethical stance, understanding law and contracts and how they relate to the project, and connecting better with his team. Introduction There are many nuances to project management which can negatively affect a manager or project. The Orion Shield Project exemplifies why proper management is integral to any successful project. The project is a venture that NASA is promoting in order to improve the structural capabilities of the Shuttle Launch Booster. The prime contractor that NASA is using for this project is the Space Technologies Institute (STI), who put out a request for proposal (RFP) for a subcontractor to help with this project. SEC won the bid to become the subcontractor on this project, and the Director of Engineering, Mr. Henry Larsen, appointed Mr. Gary Allison as the project manager (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). As The Orion Shield Project advances, many issues arise which forces Mr. Allison to make difficult decisions. In this paper, I will critically analyze the issues Mr. Allison faces while managing The Orion Shield Project. In critically examining the way The Orion Shield Project is handled, I wi ll touch on the technical,  ethical, legal, contractual, and other management issues faced by Mr. Allison and analyze both his positive and negative actions in an effort to gain a better understanding of how project management plays a role in the outcome of this project. Technical Issues The Orion Shield Project gives rise to many technical issues which Mr. Allison has to navigate as he manages the project. The technical issues that specifically alter the integrity of the project are incapable components and a poorly designed test matrix. Incapable components present issues all throughout the project, with the most glaring problems occurring in the beginning and end of the project. The original technical specification that STI listed in their RFP was that all components must be able to operate efficiently between temperature ranges of -65 degrees F to 145 degrees F (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). This was an issue for the SEC project because testing within the company shows that their current component design would not function above 130 degrees F, and that the requirements would not be able to be met without different materials (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). This creates an issue for a bevy of reasons, including throwing off the timeline, the amount of resource s used, and commitments to stakeholders. While performing final tests on the component as the project was coming to a close it was found that the product was again not up to the specifications requested in the RFP. The purpose of The Orion Shield Project was to get the Shuttle Launch Booster to support an age life of at least 9 years, and after testing it was found that the age life would most likely be less than 5 years. This is actually less than what the original component NASA was using lasted, which was 6 years (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). Both of these points in the project are technical issues Mr. Allison is responsible for overcoming as project manager of The Orion Shield Project. In addition to the aforementioned technical issues, Mr. Allison also deals with a test matrix in the technical volume of the proposal which will not produce acceptable results. The test matrix is â€Å"an effective way of recording the coverage of the scope delivered† (Boyde, 2012, p. 701). From  this matrix, you should be able to tell what has been implemented, what has yet to be implemented, and what was determined to be out of scope for the current milestone release (Boyde, 2012, p. 701). Realizing the importance of the test matrix, Mr. Allison echoes his concern to his Chief Project Engineer Ms. Paula Arnold, who warned him around changing the test matrix and scope of the work. This would in turn affect the cost of the project which is not viable due to the nature of the contract that SEC is working under. Instead of addressing this issue up front and trying to find a way to trim some work off downstream to keep the budget manageable, Mr. Allison pushes on for three more weeks until the test matrix and research results are ultimately deemed unacceptable. This puts Mr. Allison and his team in a deeper hole and extends their timeline, while also projecting a sense of disarray when meeting with their stakeholders. In analyzing this project, it seems that the technical issues Mr. Allison was faced with while managing The Orion Shield Project amounted to three major sources, technology interdependence, technology novelty, and external factors. Technology interdependence refers to requirement of different expertise to perfect a final product (Hussein, Pigagaite & Silva, 2014, p. 706). One of the difficult duties that comes with managing is understanding how different elements of a project interact with each other, and how to get the elements to work together in an efficient manner. If Mr. Al lison got better with technology interdependencies, he would have been able to establish a more effective test matrix. Technology novelty is one of the biggest culprits for the technical issues Mr. Allison faced in The Orion Shield Project. Technology novelty refers to the idea that â€Å"no matter how much planning you do beforehand, when you assemble a final product – or even a part of it – testing will always reveal problems† (Hussein, Pihahaite & Silva, 2014, p. 706). In production, you should always assume that something can, and will go wrong. In reading The Orion Shield Project case, its glares out that Mr. Allison does not have a contingency plan built it, and did not allow himself enough time to tinker with the project to get it right. This in turn led to a lot of sleepless, stressful nights and still an insufficient, unacceptable product and project. The final sources of technical issues which are found to be relevant to Mr. Allison’s management case are external factors. Factors such as pressure from Mr. Larsen to force SEC into The Orion Shield Project and pressure from Ms. Sarah Wilson, a representative from STI, to stick to the schedule SEC proposed, led to many of the poor technical decisions Mr. Allison makes. Mr. Larsen’s pressure on The Orion Shield Project leads to Mr. Allison making false promises and trying to cover his traces throughout the entire project. This in turn leads to a strained relationship with Ms. Wilson, who pushes Mr. Allison to take on more of an administrative role, instead of the research focused position he prefers. In the end, Mr. Allison could have mitigated all of the external issues by maintaining a strict ethical code in his actions, which delves into the ethical issues he faces in managing this project. Ethical Issues Out of all the issues presented in The Orion Shield Project, the ethical issues seem to be the most devastating to the success of the project. The specific moments in which ethical issues arise all seem to occur within some type of interaction with Mr. Larsen. The first and most important of which occurs when Mr. Allison raises concerns with Mr. Larsen about the specifications that STI put out for the components. Mr. Larsen’s response to this concern was to lie to STI and express in the proposal that SEC had the capabilities to make a component that would go above and beyond the specifications required. Specifically, Mr. Larsen advocated that Mr. Allison say that SEC had a component design that would operate at up to 155 degrees F in hopes of later cornering STI into accepting the actual specifications that the SEC component could handle. Deceiving a partner about what you can provide them just to earn a contract or project is unethical on many levels. In an article written by Dr. Thomas Mengel (2006), communication between project stakeholders and project management is found to be extremely important. The article goes further to say that â€Å"project managers need to comprehensively determine the impact of any decision to be made† (Mengel, 2006, p. 230). Mr. Allison did not think this situation with Mr. Larsen all the way through, and because of that not only did technical issues arise,  but an ethical one as well. An ethical issue which Mr. Allison also has to deal with is the testing of new materials without his knowledge. After Ms. Wilson met with Mr. Allison and displayed her angst with how the administrative side of the project was going, Mr. Allison focuses more of his time and effort with the administrative tasks. This gives Mr. Larsen time to move in and work with Ms. Arnold on a new material, using more STI money in the process when the contract and Ms. Wilson specifically state that SEC would bear all costs of additional research beyond the original scope of work (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). It is understandable that Mr. Larsen is Mr. Allison’s boss and he does not always need to tell him what he is doing, but with a venture as big as this and with Mr. Allison being the project manager and the one ultimately responsible for results, it seems ethical to discuss these major decisions. One way Mr. Allison could have addressed this issue could have occurred before agreeing to accept this position and project. While Mr. Larsen was originally describing the position to Mr. Allison, Mr. Allison could have requested to include ethic checks in decision making processes and to â€Å"define a joint process and mutually agreeable criteria for ethical decision making† (Mengel, 2006, p . 231). This would help Mr. Allison set parameters around his interactions with Mr. Larsen. He could then use these well-defined parameters as a basis to disagree with an action or even refuse an action Mr. Larsen proposes if unethical. In failing to do so, Mr. Allison allows these unethical procedures to ultimately fall on his shoulders. An ethical issue which falls directly on the shoulders of Mr. Allison occurs when he withholds information from upper management about the short age life of the component near the end of the project. The ethical dilemma is clear here and could have far reaching damages for both SEC and STI. Mr. Allison should have told upper management as soon as testing shows the shorter age life of the component. No matter how difficult it is, maintaining an ethical code is essential to the proper management of not only projects but organizations as well. Legal & Contractual Issues The Orion Shield Project exposes SEC to a variety of legal issues, some coming from managements own unethical actions and many more coming from  contractual complications. The initial legal issue that arises from The Orion Shield Project occurs when SEC responds to the RFP issued by STI. When Mr. Larsen requests for Mr. Allison to make the proposal reflect that SEC’s component can operate at up to 155 degrees F, when in actuality it cannot operate above 130 degrees F, SEC breaches the RFP contract. At first glance you may not think a RFP is legally binding, but according to legal precedent it is. In the 1981 case of R. (Ontario) V. Ron Engineering, it was found that RFP’s are part of a two part contract, and that they are the bidding portion of the contract. What this means is that once a proposal is presented in response to a RFP, both sides are now legally tied to the contract and must abide by the terms stipulated in that proposal (The Legal Implications,† 20 12). In providing false promises in their proposal, Mr. Allison and SEC open themselves up to sanctions and being sued. Mr. Allison and SEC also open themselves up for legal action when they breach the firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract they agreed to with STI. As defined by Charles Russell Jr. and Susan Moser (2009) in Firm-Fixed-Price Contracting: The time and Materials Requirements Dilemma, a FFP is â€Å"a completion contract,† which means that â€Å"profit or fee is earned by the delivery of end items† (p.46). FFP’s also carry fixed prices and leave little room for adjustments as the project moves along. The fixed price and the need to make adjustments as the project went along are what opened SEC up to legal action. Ms. Wilson from STI specifically mentioned that after the first test matrix failed and a new one was developed, all additional research and development would be at the expense of SEC. But, when Mr. Larsen and Ms. Arnold began developing the new material for the component they used STI funding for it. This again was a breach of contract, and by not addressing this is sue Mr. Allison left SEC vulnerable to being dropped from the contract and sued for the wrong use of project funding. One way Mr. Allison could have avoided this situation would be to push for a different type of contract from STI for The Orion Shield Project. In an article written by Frank Kendall (2013) on the uses of FFP contracts, the restricting nature of the contract is described in great detail. Kendall describes how FFP contracts tend to restrict flexibility as contractors  learn more â€Å"about what is feasible and affordable as well as what needs to be done to achieve a design that meets requirements during a product’s design and testing phases† (Kendall, 2013, p. 2). Mr. Allison experiences this dilemma all too much as he runs The Orion Shield Project. A FFP contract was the perfect contract for STI; FFP contracts offer the lowest risk to the buyer due to the fact that it is not subject to any cost adjustments resulting from contractors carrying out the project (Russell Jr. & Moser, 2009, p.47). Instead of agreeing to such a rigid contract when you know your component will need multiple tests to meet specifications, SEC and Mr. Allison should have instead pushed for a more flexible contract like a time-and-materials (T&M) contract. A time and materials contract can be used when the duration, extent of effort, and costs associated with a project are generally unknown up front (Russell Jr. & Moser, 2009, p. 47). This contract would be more beneficial to SEC and Mr. Allison specifically when he changes the test matrix, and has to find new materials and incur more costs to complete the project. In the end, Mr. Allison mishandles many issues which leave himself and SEC vulnerable to legal action, luckily no such action occurs. Other Management Issues Separate from the main issues discussed earlier in this paper, there are also other, more managerial issues. The two other management issues that are present in The Orion Shield Project are staffing concerns and employee motivation. Mr. Allison’s first dilemma while working The Orion Shield Project is finding the staff he wants to help him with the venture. He is not given top priority in picking his staff, which make it difficult to get the key people necessary to ensure a smoothly run project. Many managers do not want to give up their main people, but with the help of Mr. Larsen he finds an â€Å"adequate† staff to fill in (The Orion Shield Project, 2003). This puts Mr. Allison in a dilemma because he does not have the option of working with the people he feels most comfortable with. Being uncomfortable while leading a project can do nothing but have negative effects on results. This also leads to Mr. Allison putting the burden of doing most of the work on his self, instead of leveraging his team better. Since this is a situation most project managers will have to deal with on their first project, Mr.  Allison could have done a better job utilizing his staff to create more positive project results. As The Orion Shield Project progresses, many of the members of the project team lose motivation to work on the project. The lack of team motivation came from the teams dissipating trust in Mr. Allison and the plans they were told would be final. Also, a lack of communication leads to heightened tension between the team. As Dorothy Ann Brenner (2007) points out in a recent article, communication, no matter what the form, helps with team chemistry and â€Å"gives them a clearer idea of their roles and what is expected of them so they understand their goals, as well as the team’s overall goal for a successful project† (p.19). Mr. Allison’s lack of communication with his team leads to certain members feeling out of the loop and disappointed with the direction of the project. In order for the Orion Shield Project to have even had a chance of working effectively, Mr. Allison has to motivate his project team so they will give their best effort and work (Brenner, 2007, p . 16). Conclusion As The Orion Shield Project progressed from the initial proposal to the final testing, issues seemed to arise around every corner. Mr. Allison had to make serious decisions at every level of the project and unfortunately many of those decisions were the wrong ones. Mr. Allison made critical mistakes when faced with technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and other managerial issues. After analyzing The Orion Shield Project case, findings show that Mr. Allison could improve his responses to these issues by accounting for the complexities of dealing with technology, becoming more solid in his ethical stance, understanding law and contracts and how they relate to the project, and connecting better with his team. In conclusion, Mr. Allison did not perform well in his first opportunity to operate as project manager, but, with a few tweaks to his approach, he could excel if he ever wanted that opportunity again. References Boyde, J. (2012). A down-to-earth guide to SDLC project management: getting your system development life cycle project successfully accross the line using PMBOK– in an adaptive way. S.l.: CreateSpace Independent Pub. Platform]. Brenner, D. A. (2007). Achieving a succesful project by motivating the project team. Cost Engineering, 49(5), 16-20. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu Hussein, B. A., Pigagaite, G., & Silva, P. P. (2014). Identifying and dealing with complexities in new product and process development projects. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences , doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.078 Kendall, F. (2013). Use of fixed-price incentive firm (fpif) contracts in development and production. Defense AT&L, 42(2), Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu Legal Implications of Issuing RFP. (2012, January 1). Rss. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from https://www.winwithoutpitching.com/legal-implications-of-issuing-rfp Mengel, T. (2006). Project management ethics: Responsibility, values, and ethics in project environments. AMA Handbook of Project Management, 227-235. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1ba019be-81fb-4f39-8ccd-06cfe83e33b1@sessionmgr114&vid=5&hid=107 R. (Ont.) v. Ron Engineering, (1981) 1 S.C.R. 111. Retrieved from: http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2504/index.do Russell Jr., C. A., & Moser, S. J. (2009). Firm-fixed-price contracting: The time and materials requirement dilemma. Contract Management, 49(8), 44-49. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu The Orion Shield Project — HOME. (2003, January 1). The Orion Shield Project

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Bank of England Essays

Bank of England Essays Bank of England Essay Bank of England Essay The Bank of England. is the cardinal bank of the United Kingdom. Established in 1694. it is the 2nd oldest cardinal bank in the universe. and the world’s 8th oldest bank if you include commercial Bankss. It was established to move as the English Government’s banker. and to this twenty-four hours it still acts as the banker for the U. K Government. the Bank was in private owned and operated from its foundation in 1694 but it was nationalised in 1946. The bank of England has approximately ?156 billion lbs deserving of gilded metal bars as a backup if people start to inquire for their money back. the bank besides acts a keeper for other counties gold. including Germanys and assorted other counties. History The constitution of the bank was devised by Charles Montagu. Earl of Halifax. in 1694. He suggested loan of ?1. 2m to the authorities ; in return the endorsers would be incorporated as The Governor and Company of the Bank of England with long-run banking privileges including the issue of notes. The Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the transition of the Tonnage Act 1694. Public fundss were in hapless a status at the clip that the footings of the loan were that it was to be serviced at a rate of 8 % per twelvemonth. and there was besides a service charge of ?4. 000 per twelvemonth for the direction of the loan. The first governor was Sir John Houblon. who is depicted in the ?50 note issued in 1994. The Bank’s original place was in Walbrook in the City of London. unitl it moved to its current location on Threadneedle Street. and thenceforth easy acquired neighbouring land to make the bulding seen today. When the thought and world of the National Debt came about during the eighteenth century this was besides managed by the bank. By the charter reclamation in 1781 it was besides the bankers’ bank – maintaining adequate gold to pay its notes on demand until 26 February 1797 when war had so lessened gold militias that the authorities prohibited the Bank from paying out in gold. This prohibition lasted until 1821. The 1844 Bank Charter Act tied the issue of notes to the gold militias and gave the bank exclusive rights with respect to the issue of bills. Private Bankss which had antecedently had that right retained it. provided that their central offices were outside London and that they deposited security against the notes that they issued. A few English Bankss continued to publish their ain notes until the last of them was taken over in the 1930s During the period which lasted from 1920 to 1944. the Bank made calculated attempts to travel off from commercial banking and go a cardinal bank. In 1946 the bank was nationalised by the Labour authorities. On 6 May 1997. following the 1997 general election which brought a Labour authorities to power for the first clip since 1979. it was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Gordon Brown. that the Bank of England would be granted operational independency over pecuniary policy. Under the footings of the Bank of England Act 1998 which came into force on 1 June 1998. Location The Bank’s central office has been located in London’s chief fiscal territory. the City of London. on Threadneedle Street. since 1734. The busy route junction outside is known as Bank junction every bit good as the tubing terminus called Bank’ . Employees The bank presently employees around 1900 people. Sir Mervyn King is the most executive figure within the bank. he so has two deputies under him who are called Charles Bean and Paul Tucker. there are so 10 managers under them responsible for the mundane determinations of the bank and its subordinates. Functions of the Bank The Bank of England performs all the maps of a cardinal bank. The most of import of these is supposed to be maintaining monetary value stableness and back uping the economic policies of the British Government. therefore advancing economic growing. There are two chief countries which are tackled by the Bank to guarantee it carries out these maps expeditiously. Monetary stableness – stable monetary values and assurance in the currency are the two chief standards for pecuniary stableness. Stable monetary values are maintained by doing certain monetary value additions meet the Government’s rising prices mark. The Bank purposes to run into this mark by seting the basal involvement rate. which is decided by the Monetary Policy Committee. and through its communications scheme. such as printing output curves. Financial stableness -maintaining fiscal stableness involves protecting against menaces to the whole fiscal system. Menaces are detected by the Bank’s surveillance and market intelligence maps. The menaces are so dealt with through fiscal and other operations. both at place and abroad. In exceeding fortunes. the Bank may move as the loaner of last resort by widening recognition when no other establishment will. The Bank of England has a monopoly on the issue of bills in England and Wales. Scots and Northern Irish Bankss retain the right to publish their ain bills. but they must be backed one to one with sedimentations in the Bank of England. demuring a few million lbs stand foring the value of notes they had in circulation in 1845. Since 1998. the Monetary Policy Committee ( MPC ) has had the duty for puting the official involvement rate. However. with the determination to allow the Bank operational independency. duty for authorities debt direction was transferred to the new UK Debt Management Office in 1998. which besides took over authorities hard currency direction in 2000. The Bank used to be responsible for the ordinance and supervising of the banking and insurance industries. although this duty was transferred to the Financial Services Authority in June 1998. After the fiscal crises in 2008 new banking statute law transferred the duty for ordinance and supervising of the banking and insurance industries back to the Bank.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Allen Fung on the Sino-Japanese War essays

Allen Fung on the Sino-Japanese War essays Allen Fung provides a persuasive argument for China's defeat against Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The Sino-Japanese War was an attempt by China to prevent a Japanese stronghold in Korea. Fung's reasoning for China's defeat does not follow the traditional mainstream historian's beliefs. Traditionally, the reasons for China's failure to drive Japan out of Korea were due to China's lack of weaponry and lack of leadership and experience from the Chinese Commanders. Fung attacks the theory of China's lack of weaponry and leadership. Fung focuses on the Battle of Pingrang, the most important battle in the Sino-Japanese War. The Chinese soldiers were well equipped in the battle of Pingrang with the Mauser Breech- loaders and Krupp artillery guns. Even though China may have been equipped at Pingrang, China battalion had different ammunition within the battalions. Using different weaponary within the same battalion is hard for mobilization and coordination of the battalion. Fung uses the the different weaponary within each battalion as one of many reasons the Chinese failed strategically to overcome Japan at Pingrang. After the China defeat at Pingrang, the number of weaponry declined due to Japan crushing the best-equipped Chinese forces. Japan was able to capture the entire Chinese premium weapons used at Pingrang. After the battle of Pingrang the armies lacked even the basic necessities to fight a war. Fung describes the main failure of the Chinese army was the lack of military training that the soldiers had provided to them. China had strong weapons; the main problem was being able to use these weapons efficiently. Throughout the war the Chinese soldiers simply did not contain the knowledge to be able to use the weapons to their advantage. Their artillery skills were awful and it showed during battle. The discipline among the troops was a major issue for the Chinese. Fung builds on the lack of discipline amon...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Longevity of the Persian Empire

The Longevity of the Persian Empire The original Persian (or Achaemenid) empire, as established by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century B.C., only lasted approximately 200 years until the death of Darius III in 330 B.C., following his defeat by Alexander the Great. The core territories of the empire were then ruled by Macedonian dynasties, primarily the Seleucids, until the late 2nd century BC. During the early 2nd century B.C., however, the Parthians (who were not Persians but rather descended from a branch of the Scythians) set up a new kingdom in eastern Iran, originally in a breakaway province of the Seleucid empire. Over the next half-century, they gradually took over much of the rest of what had once been Persian-controlled territory, adding Media, Persia, and Babylonia to their holdings. Roman writers of the early imperial period sometimes refer to this or that emperor going to war with Persia, but this is really a poetic or archaic way of referring to the Parthian kingdom. Sassanid Dynasty The Parthians (also referred to as the Arsacid dynasty) remained in control until the early 3rd century A.D., but by that time their state was seriously weakened by in-fighting and they were overthrown by the native Persian Sassanid dynasty, who were militant Zoroastrians. According to Herodian, the Sassanids laid claim to all the territory once ruled by the Achaemenids (much of which was now in Roman hands) and, at least for propaganda purposes, decided to pretend that the 550 years since the death of Darius III had never happened! They continued to whittle away at Roman territory for the next 400 years, eventually coming to control most of the provinces once ruled by Cyrus et al. This all fell apart, however, when the Roman emperor Heraclius launched a successful counter-invasion in A.D. 623-628, which threw the Persian state into total chaos from which it never recovered. Shortly afterward, the Muslim hordes invaded and Persia lost its independence until the 16th century when the Safavid dynasty came to power. Facade of Continuity The Shahs of Iran maintained the pretense of an unbroken continuity from the days of Cyrus, and the last one holding a huge pageant in 1971 to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Persian empire, but he wasnt fooling anyone familiar with the history of the region. While the Persian Empire seems to have eclipsed all others, Persia was a great power in 400 B.C. and controlled much of the Ionian coast. We also hear of Persia much later at the time of Hadrian and, by all accounts, Rome avoided prolonged conflict with this rival power.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Research method of business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Research method of business - Essay Example To demonstrate credential towards its stakeholders (society, consumers, and investors), that is concerned about ethical and environmental issues. Ongore & K’Obonoye (2011) defines corporate social responsibility as, ‘the idea of triple bottom line –people, planet and profit which aims to evaluate the social, environmental and financial performance of business enterprise (Ongore & KObonoye, 2011)’. The idea emphasizes that the organizations should not be focused to maximize its profit but also act responsibly towards environment and society. The increasing advancement in the social media has amplified the consumer to raise concerns regarding business practices of an organization. It has increase accountability of the organization toward society, consumers and stakeholder by undertaking ethical and environmental practices in its operations. However, Corporate Social Responsibilities remains to be debatable phenomena with respect to competitiveness, sustainabi lity, and globalization. Until now no particular definition for Corporate Social Responsibility is prose. Some of the researchers claim that CSR is the combination of approach towards social performance, social responsiveness, corporate governance, sustainable development, etc. However, the organization inclined to attain sustainable business practices to improve its positioning in the market for a longer period. Corporate Social responsibility is becoming and important phenomena for the business entities to benefit its stakeholders nu involving in social and environmental activities. Also, it is also argued that the CSR activities allow improving product quality, attaining customer loyalty and service quality. Corporate Social Responsibility associated with the internal production, distribution regulation, employment, and environmental protection/regulation and wages level. A report highlights that the retail sector accounts for one fifth of nonfinancial business enterprises in European Union

IT, Big Data & Firm Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

IT, Big Data & Firm Organization - Essay Example According to Aluya (2014, 67-71), the reinforcement of organizational changes by firms can only be achieved through the adoption of computers and big data so that an organization can attain some level of success. Organizational change is paramount for success to be realized through investment in big data as this will prevent losses. Before the introduction of computerized systems and big data, managers used to depend on intuition, their past experiences as well as personal judgment in order to make the necessary decisions. This on most cases led into wrong decisions that affected the firms negatively. Connaughton (2014, 109-129) contends that the introduction of new methods such as prediction markets, big data, A-B testing and analytics has greatly assisted in lowering the cases of personal decisions that were initially made by the managers. The general application of big data with analytics has been attached to great potential in the healthcare care. The pairing of big data with cloud based systems ensures a cost effective means of delivering healthcare cloud services. This essay focus on the evolution of the use of big data in organizations in their quest for better storage and transmission of resources materials and information. The health care industry is one of the quickly changing industry owing to the ever increasing population that is increasing the demand for better health care services. As a result, companies in the health industry have to consider the introduction of the big data analytics so as to promote quick relay of information as well be in a position to offer better services. Big Data refers to data sets that are of great sizes beyond the ability of generally used software tools which are used to incorporate, capture, curate, mange as well as processing of data within a tolerable elapsed duration. The big data is composed of movement of dozens of terabytes to many petabytes of data at any

Friday, October 18, 2019

Services Marketing - Internal marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Services Marketing - Internal marketing - Essay Example It has definite advantages over the traditional way of transacting business (Amit & Zott, 2000). It eliminates paper and paper work through market automation, online transactions and payments. The governments too use the e-platform to offers service to the public Another commonly used definition of service is proposed by Kotler (1991). "Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Provision of services and information through the internet is the primary objective of the government in most developed countries (Buckley, 2003). The private sector is much ahead in offering web based services and the motivation and outcome in web based public and private sectors provision of services differ. In the public sector the motivation and the objectives in offering e-services are numerous which makes it difficult to measure the service quality. The motivation and objectives in the private sector centre on profits and hence easily measurable. Two web based service offerings - one each from the public and private sector would be assessed in line with current service marketing models. The report first of all examines the public and private services characteristics inline with service characteristics model. The government and the public sector hav... The motivation and objectives in the private sector centre on profits and hence easily measurable. Two web based service offerings - one each from the public and private sector would be assessed in line with current service marketing models. The report first of all examines the public and private services characteristics inline with service characteristics model. The government and the public sector have committed themselves to service quality and customer orientation (Buckley, 2003). The service quality in the health care sector too has received importance. In public health services the tension between orientations towards care provision and customer satisfaction is believed to be insurmountable. The internet has provided the opportunity to overcome the difficulties in service delivery. In order to augment its service, the UK National Health Service (NHS) started offering 24-hour help and advice service conducted by nurses. This was initially offered over the telephone through NHS Direct. With the advent of technology they soon introduced NHS Direct Online in 1999 Although service industries are themselves quite heterogeneous, there are some service characteristics upon which it is useful to generalize. The characteristics discussed in this right up are: Intangibility Inseparability Heterogeneity Perishability 1.1Intangibility Service are not tangible, as stated by Berry: " A good is an object, a device, a thing; a service is a deed, a performance, an effort" (Berry, 1984). When a service is purchased, there is generally nothing tangible to show for it. This is evidence in both private and public services hooked over the web. As argued by Berry, "Services are consumed but not possessed"

Inflation and Its Major Causes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Inflation and Its Major Causes - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that the effects of inflation are faced by everyone in the economy. The producers of the goods and services increase their productivities to earning the more profits in the situation of higher prices. The situation also creates an inequality in the society, as the poor become poorer and rich become richer.   It not only affects the economy internally but also disturbs the balance of trades and the exchange rates of money. The situation of demand-pull inflation arises in the results of the increase in the aggregate demand, but the supply remains same in the markets. So the prices rise, and the situation of inflation occurs. If the costs of the production rise in the market, then the prices of factors of productions also increase. Increase in costs of productions results in the rise of goods and services prices in the public markets. To solve the issue of inflation, the government has to introduce new strategies of fiscal as well as monetary policies. Through t hese policies, the profits of savings are increased in the banks, and then the people save more for profits. A rate of interests is also fixed at the low ratio, so the investors start new businesses to maintain the level of demand and supply in the market.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

A research paper about business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A research paper about business ethics - Essay Example Behaviors of organizational members also depend on the company’s ethics. In the present business environment business ethics has become a very important issue. Various new trends and processes are incorporated in businesses for enhancing their values. For performing business functions effectively organizations give importance on ethical behavior of its employees. This helps the organizations in avoiding various legal issues and enhancing their brand reputation. With the change in business environment, ethics of companies have experienced lots of changes. These changed ethical policies and practices facilitate the companies in holding their position in competitive business environment. In this essay new trends in business ethics will be discussed in detailed way. For explaining the new trends, traditional business policies and its issues will also be highlighted in this essay. The concept of business ethics was developed long back. Around 1970s companies started focusing on establishing various policies and principles ethics. Earlier the companies only believed in the concept on money making. They were not concerned about people, environment and society. As a result the rules and principles of the business were developed in such a way which helped them to archive the money making objectives of businesses. Earlier for enhancing the profitability and revenues most of the companies were involved in performing many immoral activities. That time ethical policies and practices were only implemented by religious organizations. Persons conducting business activities were not concerned about business ethics. The term business ethics was originated in USA (Lencioni 67). People were getting tortured in the name of business. So certain ethical policies and practices were established in business for conducting trade ethically. Traditional business ethics principles an d policies influenced the companies in developing strict

Ultrasound Image Modality Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ultrasound Image Modality - Assignment Example Color flow imaging uses high-intensity pulse wavelengths that are 3 – 4 times longer than B-mode image pulses, with an equivalent spatial resolution decrease. In previous clinical trials, grayscale version of three-dimensional displays has been recreated to determine mitral regurgitation. Regurgitant mitral flow jets could hardly be differentiated from adjoining structures of the heart. A regurgitant mitral flow displayed in the color-coded three-dimensional image was developed but eventually proved to be ineffective because the display failed to incorporate cardiac structures. Failure of the regurgitant flow to supply spatial information, jet origin and its course of action led to the reconstruction of a more enhanced colored 3D regurgitant jet by a transesophageal approach with Doppler color flow mapping that displayed a combination of grayscale and color flow information. OBJECTIVE:Â  To reveal the possibility of three-dimensional recreation of regurgitant mitral flow jets using the new method of color programmed digitized statistics obtained through transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). METHOD:Â  46 patients with detected mitral regurgitation on a prior transthoracic study and undergoing transesophageal echocardiography were evaluated. Patients with atrial fibrillation were not excluded from standard procedures. To measure regurgitant flow in 3D, a commercial ultrasound imaging system with a TEE probe was used. An alternation approach of data collection was employed for two-dimensional color flow images at 3-degree spaces above 180 degrees. Three-dimensional color flow jets were showed alongside grayscale information of the surrounding structures of the heart.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

A research paper about business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A research paper about business ethics - Essay Example Behaviors of organizational members also depend on the company’s ethics. In the present business environment business ethics has become a very important issue. Various new trends and processes are incorporated in businesses for enhancing their values. For performing business functions effectively organizations give importance on ethical behavior of its employees. This helps the organizations in avoiding various legal issues and enhancing their brand reputation. With the change in business environment, ethics of companies have experienced lots of changes. These changed ethical policies and practices facilitate the companies in holding their position in competitive business environment. In this essay new trends in business ethics will be discussed in detailed way. For explaining the new trends, traditional business policies and its issues will also be highlighted in this essay. The concept of business ethics was developed long back. Around 1970s companies started focusing on establishing various policies and principles ethics. Earlier the companies only believed in the concept on money making. They were not concerned about people, environment and society. As a result the rules and principles of the business were developed in such a way which helped them to archive the money making objectives of businesses. Earlier for enhancing the profitability and revenues most of the companies were involved in performing many immoral activities. That time ethical policies and practices were only implemented by religious organizations. Persons conducting business activities were not concerned about business ethics. The term business ethics was originated in USA (Lencioni 67). People were getting tortured in the name of business. So certain ethical policies and practices were established in business for conducting trade ethically. Traditional business ethics principles an d policies influenced the companies in developing strict

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Wk6 case brief con law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Wk6 case brief con law - Essay Example This was the police from Kentucky Lexington-Fayette Urban County. Upon arrival at the door, their suspicion were confirmed to be true when they smelt marijuana. They also announced their presence at the door while notifying the occupant of their intent to get into the house. According to the fourth amendment, a search must be reasonable to allow exploration without a warrant if a probable cause remains established with particularity. After hearing a sound from inside the house, which suggested destruction of evidence, the police struck the door as loud as possible to inform the occupants of their entry. It is also a fact that, upon entry, the police found illegal Paraphernalia. They also found the defendant, King enjoying his marijuana in a sofa set. In addition, they also found cocaine in plenty in the house. This led to the arrest of defendant King giving reference to the United States laws which prohibit possession of such drugs. However, king filed a case to suppress all the evid ence due to the non-formal entry of the police. The main issue of controversy in the court proceedings is the means of evidence acquisition. This is after the defendant king filed a hearing to suppress the evidence. This is because the police entered the premises without a search warrant. Consequently, the nature of announcing their presence in the premises although reasonable, violated the fourth amendment. In addition, the seizure and search caused exigency of circumstance. This prompted reaction from the defendant hence producing the sound heard by the police. Another issue, which brings controversy between the defendant and respondent, is the fact that the police did through investigation. In as much as they had sufficient information to acquire a warrant of arrest, they went ahead to search the house. In the fourth amendment, the means of arresting and conducting searches play an imperative role in shaping a courts verdict. The Fayette County

Monday, October 14, 2019

Composition About Film Essay Example for Free

Composition About Film Essay The film that I saw last week is about the dangerous art of extraction valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during sleep, when the mind is most vulnerable. The main character of the film called Cobb. He is a talented thief, the best of the best in his work. At the beginning of the film we see Cobb’s dream in which he with his wife lived in their town that they create alone in unexpected for me and I was surprising when I saw how in our dream we can see people who not existent in the reality. Then the point is that Cobb’s command received the proposition to change some events in the life of one of the richest company in the world. They had to do that this company fell down and other man who managing other company could be the first and control others. If Cobb, and his command do this he promise Cobb to help him with law, because as we know he was a thief and all police search him and that’s why he can’t returned home to his children. For this work he must to find a new architecture, because without him it will be not possible. Architect a specialist defining illusory world for another dream. The purpose of the architect when extracting designed sleep so sleep could not distinguish it from reality and create a sleeping most complex maze of sleep, from which the victim could not easily escape. The complexity of this work was that this dream consisted of three levels, that is to say they must to reach the deepest within of the subconscious to change what they want. Now their task not to steal an idea, but to implement it. If they succeed, it will be the perfect crime. I realized they done this work in the best way. To my mind this film is very interesting and exciting, but it is necessary to understand . It is fantastical, but as for me it was interesting to see what we can do when we sleep.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Othello: Emilia the Grander one Essay -- English literature, Shakespear

â€Å"Othello,† the tragic play written by William Shakespeare in 1601 has given a new outlook to women’s right during the time period when they had no voice to call their own. A tragic play about a jealous and manipulative man named Iago who does everything in his power to pursue and destroy the life of the protagonist, Othello. In the belief that Othello had wrongfully promoted someone else to the position that he claims to be rightfully his. In this play, unsure if this was the intention of Shakespeare, but Shakespeare’s two main female characters each embodies a completely different bias about women and feminism during the Elizabethan time period. Shakespeare encircles â€Å"Othello’s† plot and themes around its male characters all the while concurrently but indirectly shed light to the hidden anti-parallel dynamic among the livelihood of women. Desdemona, Othello’s wife, the more traditional female character, believes in putting her hus band first and that love is all that matters. On the other hand, Emilia, Iago’s wife and one of Desdemona’s dearest friends, is portrayed as the stronger feminist in the play and believes in women’s right and that women are physically no different to men. To place this assumption into retrospect, in Shakespeare time, from the 1558 to the 1600s, England society was ruled by Queen Elizabeth. Although a women took ownership of the country, in Elizabethan’s society married women and minor girls were entirely in the power of their husband and guardianship of their father. None the less, even after Elizabeth I took the throne, she was expected to wed and â€Å"have her rights to rule limited or completely take up by her husband† (Wagner, 21). Women living in a society built upon Renaissance beliefs were only m... ... when his lies and deceits destroys innocent lives. In correlation to Shakespeare’s time and with his character Emilia, women should see that in order for a man to successfully thrive, it takes a strong-will and outspoken woman to back him up. On the other hand, afraid of societal and dynamical change, men can only silence change with death like Iago did to Emilia. Works Cited 1. Shakespear, William. â€Å"Othello, the Moor of Venice.† Literature: Craft and Voice. Eds. Nicholas Del Banco and Alan Cheue. 2en ed. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2012. 1202-1271. Print. 2. â€Å"Feminist Criticism (1960s- present).† Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism. Web.25 Apr 2014. 3. Chojnacki, Stanley. Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society. Baltimore:John Hopkins UP,2000. 115-169. Ebook.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Voice of Houstons Past :: essays papers

Voice of Houstons Past For most of American history, African-Americans have been considered and treated as inferiors. Their folksongs and tales have been benignly looked upon as harmless, meaningless expressions of a dull-witted race whose only contribution to American life was a strong back and a weak mind. Even after the Civil War, the ingrown prejudices continued to relegate the freedmen to the bottom rung of a strict caste ladder. Their folklore was repeatedly ignored or belittled. Only since the coming of black awareness, pioneered by men like W. Dubois and Frederick Douglas, has the African American community realized that their culture is uniquely American and singularly important to the understanding and establishment of the American cultural and artistic scene. It is one of the few elements of their heritage that they can look back on and recognize as valuable in America's development. This is the essence of the black folksongs, stories, and art; they fill a void and force recognition of the African American contribution. These superstitions and folklore from the past demonstrate the influences wielded upon African Americans of today, as well as pave the way for a new form of folklore, which is told through art. In order to effectively illustrate the progression and correlation of early African American folklore and the emergence of a new breed of artist, a specific group of artist all utilizing the same type of art form will be discussed. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be on recent African American artist in Houston, Texas; all of whom utilize place-specific art to convey their images and messages. Before discussing the current art movement, it is vital to understand the history of the superstitions and folklore which are the inspiration for Houston's place-specific art. A Brief History of African American Superstition and Folklore Since their arrival on American soil, African Americans have contributed to our collective culture. Their songs, poems, stories, spirituals, and proverbs, while at times reinforcing the white theory of supremacy, gave them a foundation of identity that was passed from generation to generation. The ghost stories and superstitions are probably the best known examples of early black culture. This is because white men used them as a means to prove the black's innate inferiority to whites. They ignored the obvious fact; all cultures posses similar superstitions, even their own. The problem in collecting and evaluating black folklore is the misinterpretation and lack of understanding of early black dialects. "We must read the transcriptions with some care and occasionally wonder what the white man did when they were confronted by sounds strange to their ears; some tried to transcribe the actual sound, but others, assuming

Friday, October 11, 2019

Impact Of The Digital Revolution On Society Essay

Impact of the digital revolution on society The Revolution in digital communication technology is proceeding and bringing new technologies to everyday life at break-neck speed. Most key technologies are still evolving and will do so beyond 2005. The ground-breaking evolution of the technologies will have a profound effect on the work styles on every individual. More often than not people of all sectors either he is a teacher, researcher, staff member or an administrator will greatly depend on technology assistant and the Internet to go in pursuit of their day to day work schedules. In all the roles the physical boundaries that constraint the individual schedule and activities will be greatly reduced. A variety of tasks that presently used to require a trip like shopping, banking, acquiring news and entertainment are accomplished from anywhere. People depend on the digital assistant for shopping, banking, plan holiday and search information. When people finish work and go home, the machine goes with them. The evolution of digital WEB-TV will help all sectors of people to get connected to World Wide Web. Web TV helps people who are not educated or cannot afford a computer to get connected from their respective homes in a gainful mode. By the year 2005 the much anticipated information technology trends will be well established. * The first is towards smaller, cheaper and faster microprocessor, which in turn allows ever-more effective compression and encryption of data, and makes appliances and tools appear smaller and smart. * The second is the trend toward enormously greater digital storage capacities, and allows vast libraries of information to be stored inexpensively on-line. * The third and forth trends are toward high-speed and wireless networking. By the year 2005 about the usage of Internet enabled wireless phones will surpass and about one billion people will be connected to the Internet. Impact on the Individual, Customer & Consumer By the year 2005 Individuals will make use of the digital evolution resourcefully and save their time. Individuals use internet as an decisive tool for online payment of bills, online banking, online booking of cinema, plan travel, holiday accommodation booking, training & educational needs, make appointments with Beautician, Barber, Solicitor Doctor etc. Large sector of people depend on Internet for email correspondence and searching information for their everyday needs. Individuals will mostly use wireless web enabled devices such as Personal Digital Assistants, Windows CE pocket PC, RIM Pagers over Desktop PC’s. Customer & Consumer By the year 2005 Internet will be the most dominant method for buying products. â€Å"Customer Bargaining Power† becomes more evident as the customers have a great variety of choice from their desktops. Industrial consumer use Internet for placing their orders. On-line orders are expected to grow substantially, distributors selling to industrial customers will get to receive online orders about 40% of their total orders. B2C â€Å"Business to Customer† websites or on-line shops will increase and extend from durable goods into many more areas of consumer goods and daily provisions. But customers purchase only simple products on-line. The items purchased by customer often require minimal support or no customer support, the more the complexity of the product the less the customer but it online. Consumers are more sophisticated. Marketing departments will seek external assistance from specialists such as advertising agents, consumer psychologist and consumer-marketing consultants to ensure their applications are both focused and compelling. Impact on Organisations The rapid pace of development of technologies and the changing environment has made unavoidable that organisation has to redefine their business models and to invest in technology to make them e-business enabled. Organisations continually work on how they can add value to their  e-business. In the highly competitive and fragmented market, customers view independent Internet based procurement marketplaces as the most effective way to obtain competitive pricing on both project packages and standard items. Companies will provide product information on their website and will also make a provision for online ordering as most of the customers during 2005 use Internet for their purchases. In addition most of the organisations will make investment in the technology and have systems like Warehouse Management System, Order Tracking System, Customer Relation Management in place. Companies will unlock their distribution, sales and logistics functions and will train their sales forces to leverage online products and technical information. The sales forces job will become wider from just order takers to teach customers about the product. Large organisations will build their own portals and marketplaces for implenting B2B, more industries will join to implement the B2B business model. Many organisations implement Supply Chain Management and will have closer connections with their suppliers and customers. SCM in 2005 represents a philosophy of managing technology and processes in such a way that the enterprises optimize the delivery of goods, services and information. Supply chain e-markets like value added networks, channel masters, third-party logistics firms, wholesalers, IT vendors and system integrator will emerge and significantly help the organisations to enact a recombinant business model. Impact on Government By the year 2005, Government IT budget and spending will increase substantially. Majority of the government transactional services will be provided online. Transactions between various departments of the government will be networked and a substantial part of transfer of files and paper is saved. Governments implement E-Governance business model and deliver the information and services to the public using electronic means. Use of IT by government facilitates an efficient, speedy and transparent process for disseminating information to the public and other agencies, and  for performing government administration activities. All the departments will be fully computerized and public uses Internet and email for their queries and appointments and payment of bills and taxes. The Government will take a major role in implementing Cyber Law, spreading IT awareness among people and changing their mindsets. The Government will provide IT infrastructure by launching information satellites, establishing national communication grids, establishing satellite communication gateways, information kiosks at public places such as shopping centers, post offices, railway stations and libraries. Impact on Education By the year 2005 the e-learning through internet will grow considerably and will become a cream of the crop for people pursuing higher education. Use of e-learning in higher education will explode and many Universities will provide distance learning. Corporate e-training will grow vividly as e-training to their employees will help the employers to save money by cutting costs on travel and accommodation bills. New industry e-learning product manufacturers will evolve, many organisations will tie up with big universities and develop e-learning training products and will either sell directly or deliver online through subscriptions. This will help prospective students to attain first-rate education at a very low cost. Technology innovations will continue to reshape the e-learning landscape e-learning forums will be established and the e-learning providers will increase their investments and will compete with the education institutions and universities. Impact on markets Technology market will continue to evolve and Internet enabled device market will boom, there will be a substantial increase in the Internet enabled devices. B2B and B2C business models will continue to grow. Software Technology Market Voice Recognition is already a pillar of the technology industry and will become more vital component by 2005 as a next generation of communication product. I see the importance of Voice Recognition growing day by day and most of the computers will be controlled with voice commands, rather than keystrokes or mouse clicks. Streaming Audio Video Revolution. Streaming Media Industry will boom, by the year 2005 Streaming Video and Audio importance will be unleashed and will be used extensively for the purpose of distance education, online news broadcasting, corporate webnairs & seminars and for net meetings. Wireless industry Market Wireless industry will boom and developments in the mobile and wireless soil will continue to drive a near revolution in Europe and America. Penetration of data-enabled mobile phones will exceed two to four times of internet penetration by 2005.Wirelesss devices will ultimately displace the Desktop PC’s as the preferred internet access devices. Mobile commerce will increase and the consumer transactions where sale is committed from a mobile device could be up to $2 trillion by the year 2005. Mobile Network operators will be well equipped to target micro payments. Technologies such as WAP, 3G , NTT Do COMO will spread across the whole world to enable cheap and faster modes of wireless services. Blootooth Revolution, will enable possibilities for establishing quick ad-hoc links, and enable mobility during a cordless connection, which is not offered by infrared enabled products. The Blootooth semiconductors revenues alone might surpass $3 billion, and the bluetooth-enabled devices might exceed 250 million units by the year 2005. As the technology market will be evolving beyond 2005, many new technologies and e- business models will progress. Impact on industries Unlike today, where an explosion of technology companies compete for venture capital, I predict that the internet economy by 2005 will be a network of established businesses whose influence comes from stretches around the world. Number of players will shrink and several large companies dominate each segment of the Internet. However, Internet forces business models to change by the year 2005, great changes will be made in many industries. The Book Industry will fully adapt the digital revolution and many publishers will sell their electronic-books on the Internet. Newspaper industry will experience a great change by 2005 most of its customers buy and read their daily newspaper online. The industry will be fully digital compatible and will sell newspaper on the basis of subscriptions. Readers will buy monthly or yearly subscriptions and read online. By the year 2005 I see great changes in the travel industry and there will be a great impact of digital technology on this industry. Most of the airline companies will be selling flight tickets and deals directly online to the customers. The travel industry will make alliances vertically with the related industries such as Hotel industry, Transport industry Amusement and Parks etc., and will directly sell the Holiday Packages and deals to their customers. As the airline company itself sells flight tickets online and travel agents will evolve themselves as e-travel agent or virtual travel agent and normally sell holiday package deals to the customers. The digital effect is more uncovered and will broaden By 2005 almost every modern, traditional small, large, private and public sector industries will implement some level of digital technology. Impact on leisure, travel, etc. The digital impact on leisure and travel is massive, unlike the present people by 2005 will mostly depend on e- travel agents and airline industry for planning there holiday. People search Internet for their holiday spots and will book all necessary hotel accommodation and travel online. As there will be massive changes in the travel industry the tourism departments of various countries will put their tourism and local festival information online to enable people scattered across the world to know. Planning a holiday in 2005 is more interesting and lively. Conclusion â€Å"Internet considerably shrinks the size of our Universe and we will see a High Tech digital world by the year 2005 and beyond.† ‘The world as I see it †¦2005’ Author : Bhaskar Kolluru Page 3 of 11

Thursday, October 10, 2019

The Structure of Education from Early Years to Post-Compulsory Education

The structure of education from early years to post-compulsory education Entitlement & provision for early years education. As part of the every child matters agenda and the Childcare Act 2006 every child aged 3 & 4 is entitled to receive part time early years education of up to 12. 5 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year to ensure that they receive up to 2 years free education before reaching school age. The characteristics of schools & school governance. All schools are seeking to enforce expectations in terms of meeting the national curriculum. Under the National Curriculum there are four Key Stages to education: Foundation4 year olds Key Stage 15 to 7 year olds Key Stage 27 to 11 year olds Key Stage 311 to 14 year olds Key Stage 414 to 16 year olds Mainstream State Schools All children in England aged 5 to 16 are entitled to free education at a state school, most go to state schools. Nursery school: 3 to 4 year olds Reception: 4 year olds Primary: 5 to 11 year olds (Key Stage 1 & 2) Secondary: 11 to 16 (Key Stage 3 & 4) There are 4 main types of state school: Community schools, Foundation & Trust schools, Voluntary aided schools, Voluntary Controlled schools. Community schools These are run & owned by the local authority & cover all 4 Key Stages. Foundation & Trust schools Foundation schools are run by a governing body which employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria. Land and buildings are owned either by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. Trust schools are similar, but are run together with an outside body – usually a business or charity – which has formed an educational trust. Voluntary aided schools Voluntary-aided schools are religious or faith schools. Just like foundation schools, the governing body employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria. School buildings and land are usually owned by a charity, often a church. Voluntary Controlled schools Voluntary-controlled schools are a cross between community and voluntary-aided schools. The local authority employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria, like a community school, but the school land and buildings are owned by a charity, often a church, which also appoints some members of the governing body. Specialist schools State secondaries often specialise, which means they have an extra emphasis in one or two subjects. Schools can specialise in: the arts, maths and computing, business and enterprise, music, engineering, science, humanities, sports, languages, and technology. Special schools Special schools are for the education of students with special needs that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. This could involve the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education. State schools with particular characteristics There are a number of schools within the state schools system with particular characteristics, some may have different admission criteria or funding arrangements but as with other state schools admissions are coordinated by the local authority. Academies Academies are independently managed schools set up by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups in partnership with the local authority and the government Department for Children, Schools and Families. City Technology Colleges These are urban-based, independently managed secondary schools geared towards science, technology and the world of work. They offer a range of vocational qualifications as well as GCSEs and A levels. Community and foundation special schools Pupils at a special school have usually been assessed and given a statement of special educational needs (SEN). These may include learning disabilities or physical disabilities. Some special schools are funded by the local education authority. These could be community, voluntary-aided or controlled, or foundation special schools. Some special schools are independent. Faith schools Faith schools are mostly run in the same way as other state schools. However, their faith status may be reflected in their religious education curriculum, admissions criteria ; staffing policies. Grammar schools Grammar schools select all or most of their pupils based on academic ability. Maintained boarding schools Maintained boarding schools offer free tuition, but charge fees for board ; lodging. Independent schools An independent school (also referred to as a private school, or in England as a public school) is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by accepting state financing. Free schools Free Schools are normally brand-new schools set up by teachers, charities, community or faith groups, universities and groups of parents where there is parental demand. They will be set up as Academies and will be funded in the same way, directly from central government. They also share with Academies a greater control over their finances, the curriculum, and teachers' pay and conditions. Post 16 options for young people & adults. There are more opportunities now than ever before when it comes to post 16 education, previously pupils aged 16 or over either left school and started employment or stayed on to continue their studies. There has been an increase in government funding of education for 14-19 year olds and in particular a focus on reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) post 16. Just under an estimated one million 16 to 24-year-olds (979,000 in total) are considered NEET, according to official figures published in August, of these, around 186,000 are aged 16-18. If you are aged 16 or 17 and coming towards the end of a school or college course, the â€Å"September Guarantee† means that you’ll definitely be able to continue learning. The September Guarantee Under the last Labour government the guarantee was as follows: * Full or part-time education in school, sixth form college, independent learning provider or further education (FE) college * An Apprenticeship or programme-led Apprenticeship, which must include both the training element and a job or work placement * Entry to Employment (E2E) * Employment with training to NVQ level 2 By 2013 all pupils will be required to continue in education or training to at least 17 years of age although under new governments this could change.