Social Science Study Guide

Study Guide: Intro to Social Sciences Anthropology: * How culture contributes to the make-up of humanity * Science of people (origin, classification, distribution, races, physical character, culture) * Emphasis on cultural relativity, in-depth examination of context and cross-cultural comparisons * Anthropologists: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead * Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research * Fields: Biological/physical anthropology, Sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, anthropological linguistics Sociology: Studies the actions of members within a specific society * How people organize themselves in groups, institutions and associations * Fields: Demography, criminology, gender studies, social stratification * Sociologists: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, George H. Mead * Both quantitative and qualitative research methods Psychology: * Science of mental processes of a group/individual * Used in counselling to business * Fields: Developmental psychology, abnorm al psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, organization psychology, cognitive psychology, personality, neuroscience. Psychologists: Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, John B Watson Sociology * One area of society affects another directly or indirectly * Ideology of society influences marriage, economics, love, freedom, politics * Sociologists seek to make sense of the beliefs and values of the personalities interacting within the complex society that is continually being recreated. KARL MARX (1818-1883) * Study society using a scientific method to try to predict social outcomes (Marxist theory) * Production is essential for the advancement of society A few individuals will control the majority of the resources and production * Conflict in his theory: division of social class one person’s status is elevated while other workers are forced to make money. * Labour Theory of Value: human productive power will be exploited in order to maximize pr ofits for the bourgeois. * Proletariat produces goods valued at more than they are being paid rich getting richer. * Money is the driving force in our society * Businesses are exploiters, cannot see positive nature of the bourgeois TALCOTT PARSONS (Structural Functionalism) * As much as things change they stay the same Believed society will create structures within itself that will help with its basic functioning requirements * Our society will work to achieve a homeostasis where equilibrium is achieved * Every aspect of society contributes to the successful function of another aspect. (Relies on each other) * When a system breaks down, it is necessary for other components in society to take over or assist the malfunctioning social structure. * Ex: Legal system * Structural functionalism: Does NOT look at social change; deals with the maintenance of a society (seeks normality, equilibrium).GEORGE H. MEAD (Symbolic Interactionism) * Symbolic interactionism: Focuses on how humans inte rpret (define) each other’s actions. Their response is based on the meaning which they attach to such actions (not the actions directly). * Individuals learn and react from interactions within a society. * People influence their surroundings and shape the development of a society. * Society shapes the individual as he/she is shaping the society. * Analyses from the â€Å"standpoint of communication as essential to the social order†, not individual psychology. FEMINISM Liberal Feminists: Examine social institutions, equal access to increase women’s influence on society. * Radical Feminists: Focus on the exploitation of women. Seek to change the patriarchal social structure through complete structural changes. * Marxist Feminists: Focus on women’s labour being underpaid. * Social Feminists: Focus on the overthrow of the capitalism; believe it is the root problem of inequality of sexes. Fields Demography * Demography is the scientific study of human populati ons-their size, composition and distribution across an area. * Fertility, mortality, and migration.These three processes influence how people inhabit the earth, form nations and societies, and how they develop culture. Criminology * Criminology is the study of the criminal justice system and the law enforcement from a social and individual perspective. * Focuses on the behaviour which may have caused the criminal to violate a law, and seeks its influences, whether it is psychological, social or cultural. Gender Studies * Gender studies seeks to analyse gender identity and gendered representation in the fields of psychology, political science, sociology, media studies, human development etc. Gender studies investigates the physical and biological gender differences between sexes, nationality etc. Psychology * Study of human behaviour. * Examines actions, responses, how someone reacts under specific conditions, how this individual affects society. SIGMUND FREUD * Creator of psychoanal ysis * Human behaviour is driven by desires and the suppression of these desires. * Mind has three areas: Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious * Personality is motived by drives= Id (part of the unconscious mind) * Superego= socially conscious of all decisions Ego= mediator between Id and Superego * Too much Id= not worry about social responsibilities; engage in dangers, breaking social rules. * Too much Superego= too uptight, too worried about social expectations and rules * Freud view human development as progressing through stages of development where the main conflict deals with an erogenous zone of the body. * Human development is understood in terms of changing focuses of sexual desire. B. F SKINNER (Operant Conditioning) * Interested in outward behaviour; believed that our personality develops because of external events. He used a rat experiment to show the idea of positive reinforcement; praise for good behaviour has the highest chance for producing long-term behaviour chang e. * Humans develop their behaviours due to a set of rewards that promote activities being repeated and reinforced. * Skinner believes that Operant Conditioning is good tool to promote an individual to make changes in their behaviour. IVAN PAVLOV (Classical Conditioning) * He wanted to see how the mind could be conditioned to make the body respond to the possibility of an event occurring. * Ex: Salivation reaction of a dog to a meat powder ERIK ERIKSON (development stages table) Believed that at a certain stage of someone’s life there are tasks (milestones) to achieve in order to have a healthy development. * Unlike Freud, he believed that a person can pass through a stage and not get â€Å"stuck† at a certain level of psychological development. Fields Developmental psychology: Developmental psychology is the science of studying developmental growth in humans over the course of their life span-from conception until death. Neuroscience: Neuroscience psychology is an int erdisciplinary field which applies the knowledge and study of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and networks of sensory nerve cells.Abnormal psychology (deviance): Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies deviant (unusual) behaviour, emotion and thought. Personality psychology: Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that strives to determine how different personality traits and tendencies influence our thoughts, behaviour and actions and makes each human unique. Clinical psychology: Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology which applies scientific, theoretic and clinical knowledge in order to assess, prevent, predict and to treat abnormal behaviour, ysfunction or mental disorders in order to improve the individual’s well-being and personal growth. Social psychology: Social psychology is the study of individuals’ thoughts, feelings and behaviour and how they perceive and influence others. Organizational psychology: O rganizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces and businesses. Cognitive psychology: Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology which studies the mental processes including how people learn, remember, think, perceive and solve problems. Anthropology * Science of studying people and their culture. Anthropologists pose important questions concerning the continuation of poverty, racism, violence, and social inequality around the world. FUNCTIONALISM (Margaret Mead) * Understanding how social institutions fill social needs. * Every custom or practice in society provides a form of stability for the entire system. * All aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc. —serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society. * Having established laws, customs, and agreed upon practices provides a sense of predictability and stability within a society. In order to understand a society, researchers must under stand the function of social institutions and their respective contributions to the stability to their society. * A critique of functionalism is that all institutions are considered to provide stability, when this is not the case. * Ex: The presence of family violence produces instability in the culture with a difference in power among the different sexes. STRUCTURALISM * Reinforcement of a norm or a value increases the acceptance of the practice within a given society. * Cultures, viewed as systems, are analyzed in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Structuralists believe that meaning is produced and reproduced within a culture through activities and various practices that show their significance. * For example, North American society values the concept of romantic love and close friendship. This social idea is reinforced through media and national celebrations. Ex Valentine’s Day. * Different societies' institutions reinforce different values. Fields Bi ological/physical anthropology: Biological anthropologists seek to understand how humans have evolved and what affect that has had on our behaviour.Sociocultural anthropology: Sociocultural anthropology examines social patterns and practices by studying and comparing human societies across the world. Archaeology: Archaeology is the study of past people, cultures, and civilizations through the analysis of material remain, ranging from artefacts and evidence of past environments to architecture. Linguistic Anthropology: Linguistics is the study of languages; how they are formed, evolved, and how it has interacted and contributed to a culture.

Final Analysis Paper on General Motors

OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 1 Outsource Insource Final Paper Patricia J Helligar Capella University ISTM 5010 Dr Mike 03/15/2013 OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) Table of Contents 2 Part 1 – General Motors – The firm I will analyze for my final project and the major topic that will be addressed †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Part 2 – Identify the specific business unit and servic e component in final project analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Business Analysis Secti on of General Motors †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Explain strategic rationale for outsourcing †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Evaluate IT leader role in service component outsourcing and subsequent insourcing9 Analyze the ways in which IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness between senior executives †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 Evaluate change management response of business and technology leaders within organization †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 3 Part 1 – General Motors – The firm I will analyze for my final project and the major topic that will be addressedAbstract Saving money and maximizing the moment is so important to CEOs as well as CIOs of all companies. The question is to have enough resources in house to handle the demand of our product. In making these types of decisions, most companies often don’t take the risk to do it in house but outsource their wor k. The decisions among the stakeholders in the company attribute their outsourcing to lack of manpower, level of demand of their product and not enough finances to pay a full-time staff.In this project topic that I have selected which is General Motors (GM), I will analyze why 90% of their IT department (data centers, writing applications) that was outsourced is now being insourced again. Introduction General Motors did outsource its IT service for a period of time and recently have in source again. This is what it is all about correct? Evaluating, transforming and implementing new ways of doing things to benefit your customers and of course to be a success in business. In this aper we will identify the business topic of choice for my class project and outline the business and major topic to be addressed in the final project. With my final project topic selection, I will be discussing General Motors transition from outsourcing its IT component â€Å"The Data Center† to now a recent decision to insource their data center. General Motors today only do 10% of its company’s IT work. It relied all this time on contractors to conduct its IT business; however, there has been a gradual shift from outsourcing most of its information technology services to conducting the work itself.This shifting to insourcing the work back is about the thousands of new GM jobs throughout the world that will be ready for the job market. GM has done the necessary evaluations and realizes that these contracts have no idea of the car industry business and no experience on how cars are designed, made and then sold. Therefore, the data centers will be handled by GM employees around the USA and the world. Now the data center is in house now or OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) insourced, this will greatly improve GM’s ability to design the kind of software and data systems it needs to make popular vehicles. General Motors (GM) outsour ced 90% of their IT department but recently made changes to insourced their IT department to GM employees. This move was not about saving money at all but the increase in jobs for potential new and existing employees at GM. References Schepp, David, (2013). GM vows to insource most of its IT Jobs. Document retrieved from http://www. minyanville. om/sectors/technology/articles/outsourcing-in-the-us-GMgeneral/7/10/2012/id/42298 Part 2 – Identify the specific business unit and service component in final project analysis The business unit and service component that will be used in final project analysis is GM’s IT department business unit and the redesigned of the service component of the data center/writing applications being insourced to GM again. The strategic rationale for outsourcing originally by GM is the volume of work to be done and the lack of expertise at the company at that time dealing with IT.In this final project analysis, I will be discussing IT leader role in service component outsourcing and subsequent insourcing, analyze the ways in which IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness between senior executives and evaluate change management response of business and technology leaders within the organization. According to the CIO of GM, â€Å"The rationale behind bringing 90% of IT work back in house (insourced) is to get the resources, tools and flexibility we need to provide better services and products to our global GM customers† (Flinders, 2012).OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 5 Create a timeline that documents General Motors (GM) outsource and insource cycle Task GM Research and Planning before Outsourcing GM Documentation on outsourcing 90% of the IT Data Center Dept GM Decision to Insource their IT/Data Center Dept GM Documentation of Insourcing their IT/Data Center Dept GM IT/Data Center Dept finally insourced its IT Dept/Data Center Beginning Date 01/1976 Ending Date 01/19 80 02/1980 05/2008 03/2008 12/2008 05/2008 01/2009 01/2009 12/2009Conclusion General Motors has gone through some major changes in its history as one of the top car making companies. From being number one to hitting rock button, to needing federal aid to stay afloat, to declaring bankruptcy and the replacing of the CEO of GM, GM has made its greatest rebound since its collapse in 2008. One of the major changes due to this new CEO, was to bring 90% of its IT industry (applications, data centers) back to GM or insource the work now. Who will know the car industry better and what to do but our staff says the CIO of GM.OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 6 References The New York Times. (2013). General Motors. Document retrieved from http://topics. nytimes. com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index. html Flinders, Karl. (2012). General Motors recruits 3, 00 HP IT workers. Document retrieved from http://www. computerweekly. com/n ews/2240167895/General-Motors-recruits-3000-HP-IT-workers Dev, Sherin. Top characteristics of commodity type businesses – The Killer Sharks. Document retrieved from http://www. nvestinternals. com/2011/03/commodity-type-business. html Business Analysis Section of General Motors Abstract General Motors for the most of the 20th century was the biggest car industry company in the world. It was the largest car maker from 1931 to 2008 when Toyota defeated General Motors (GM) and became the largest car maker. The sad news is in the Fall of 2008, GM had two serious cutbacks that allowed them to go to Federal government for the aid but in March of 2009 President Obama ordered the CEO Rick Wagoner to release GM so in July 2009.GM was sold and its good assets to a new government-owned company. Brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC were folded into the new company called General Motors Company (GMC). Introduction General Motors did outsource its IT service for a period of time and recently have in source again. Insourcing work for a lot of companies is a wave that is growing in popularity day by day. The pattern of insourcing is on the rise due to less taxation, savings on materials/resources used, transportation cost decreased and much much more. Insourcing is quite an expensive venture when compare to outsourcing.Insourcing requires a company to use its resources to train others on its system, products/services and the process flow of the company. But a company can save in other ways because OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) of insourcing such as decrease in transportation, labor costs and materials while the opposite is true for outsourcing (Lotich). In this paper, we will explain strategic rationale for outsourcing, evaluate IT leader role in service component outsourcing and subsequent insourcing, analyze the ways in which IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness between senior executives and evaluate chan ge management response of business and technology leaders within organization. Explain strategic rationale for outsourcing Outsourcing for all companies always is the last resort for real. The reason behind it is one is taking confidential and innovative information setup by this company and trusting someone from the outside to run an area of the business. It truly takes a team of people to decide based on a number of factors to outsource certain departments.Outsourcing is basically releasing a job and the resources needed to an outside firm or vendor to complete a task or tasks with an expected end needed by that department. Companies that use outsourcing do not use their own resources for manufacturing products or providing services. There is a myth concerning outsourcing that small companies with limited budgets often outsource jobs and there is some truth to that. But also, large companies who might have experienced loss or close to bankruptcy might make the decision to outsourc e most of its work to vendors and companies overseas.It is true that small businesses have limited resources but larger companies can have limited resources as well due to profit loss or projects that failed over a period of time. Therefore, companies in these cases will consider a strategic outsourcing effort which may involve contracting with a provider to manage an IT department or the call center that handle the calls of their customers who want to purchase their products or services. Larger businesses can also make use of strategic outsourcing as a means of utilizing their resources to better advantage such as General Motors (GM).For example, a business may choose not to maintain an in-house sales force, but contract out the sales effort to others who generate sales on behalf of the company. With this model, the business does not have to be concerned with the expense of salaries and benefit packages for salespeople. Instead, the OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) business only has to provide the agreed-upon commissions for sales generated by the business partner, and any monthly fee charged as part of the contractual agreement between the two entities.At General Motors they outsourced 90% of their IT department/data center due to lack of expertise and existing employees with skill sets dealing with IT. One of the reasons for General Motors to outsource its IT department/call center is to gain a competitive advantage globally and in the United States by lowering production costs and fixed costs. By outsourcing GM can restructure their costs. Also, when GM 8 outsource, now they can change some of their fixed costs to variable costs.But most importantly, GM by outsourcing overseas will get a brand new start and a new perspective on life in the car business. The core idea behind strategic outsourcing is to benefit in some manner from allowing outside entities to take over the operation and management of a given function. A t General Motors (GM), they have experienced success in outsourcing to Brazil, China and other international markets. United States have been giving companies such as General Motors (GM) tax breaks for creating jobs in countries overseas (Kelly, Linehan, Hurley, et al, 2009).Outsourcing benefits can take many different forms and the rationale behind outsourcing usually involves savings in fixed and variable costs such as salary and benefits to employees which drove companies such as General Motors (GM) who were experiencing difficulties in staying afloat. Often, the idea behind outsourcing is to increase the bottom line of a company by reducing various operating expenses with companies such as General Motors (GM).At other times, the benefit has to do with the timing of needing professionals who have expertise in areas that the company does not possess at all so outsourcing is necessary. The benefit of outsourcing may be a matter of convenience, allowing companies such as General Mot ors (GM) who outsourced their IT Department at a 90% from 1980 until 2009. Outsourcing allowed them not to have to worry about the call center/IT department but focus more on innovation in designing/building cars in which they were expert in.Initially the benefits of outsourcing at General Motors (GM) allowed them to compete in today’s market. General Motors knew that they are known in history for designing and building cars and for years they were leaders in the car industry. As technology changes and information was shared and stored in different ways, it became. They survived from 1980 until 2009 doing this so then their strategic rationale outsourcing was a success (Schepp, 2013). OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 9Evaluate IT leader role in service component outsourcing and subsequent insourcing IT leader role in service component outsourcing and subsequent insourcing is to make the best decision for the company as far as savings, in crease in profit and long-term productivity for the company. Outsourcing and insourcing both have their advantages depending on the mission of the corporation and the expertise of that company when dealing with certain skill sets needed to run a successful company. At General Motors (GM) 90% of their IT department (data centers, writing applications) that was outsourced is now being insourced again.General Motors from 1980 until 2009 only did 10% of its company’s IT work. It relied all this time on contractors to conduct its IT business; however, there has been a gradual shift from outsourcing most of its information technology services to conducting the work itself. This shifting to insourcing the work back is about the thousands of new GM jobs throughout the world that will be ready for the job market. GM has done the necessary evaluations and realizes that these contracts have no idea of the car industry business and no experience on how cars are designed, made and then so ld.Therefore, the data centers will be handled by GM employees around the USA and the world. Now the data center is in house now or insourced, this will greatly improve GM’s ability to design the kind of software and data systems it needs to make popular vehicles. Analyze the ways in which IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness between senior executives The ways in which IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness between senior executives are conducting daily staff meetings, conferences (video, telephone, and in-person), parties and other social events.Changing the atmosphere for meetings and doing more interactive things where people can dialog or express how they feel on topics and value their opinion can increase communication between senior executives. Two key communication goals that should be focused on when dealing with senior executives are to prevent misunderstandings, which might impair productivity or quality, and to OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL B USINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) convey decisions and directives of top management. With communication effectiveness, the important 10 egment is of course feedback where IT leaders with senior executives can enhance problem solving and stimulate idea sharing. Innovation in how information is presented to senior executives will allow more commitment and interest with senior executives especially if the IT leaders allow them to be a part of the decision making process. Communication is vital for exchanging information in and among subsystems through multidirectional channels which are used in internal communications. Feedback processes help systems adjust, change and maintain control.Collective decision-making processes and shared responsibilities for communication are more prevalent which will allow for more effectiveness in communication among senior executives. Getting employees involved in their work is a major concern facing organizations such as General Motors (GM). How do they get the full potential and energy from their employees? With so much information today and employees having to deal with the situation, it can become overwhelming, confusing and they will disconnect if some type of order among high-level management and senior executives are not established with IT leaders.IT Leaders can help by aligning words with actions, building relationships and conversing with senior executives rather than communicating at them, and helping guide authentic executive actions which reflect organizational purpose. New technologies can help IT leaders to engage senior executives by personalizing executive communications concerning getting feedback from them and reinforcing faceto-face initiatives where they can be team lead on. Another way IT leaders can increase communication effectiveness is by using social media in reaching and engaging senior executives.Since a workplace is similar to a family environment at home, IT leaders can allow a very relaxi ng atmosphere to communication where there is no pressure by hosting company picnics, movie night and other social events to allow them to flow better and get the job done. The benefits of an engaged workforce are clear. It is proven that organizations with engaged and committed employees were 50 percent more productive than those where employees weren’t engaged (Belcourt, 2009). Employee retention rates also were 44 percent higher. Also, a Watson Wyatt study OUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 1 found that companies with more engaged employees increase profits for companies. Engaged employees contribute discretionary efforts. IT Leaders might agree that measurement of their work is crucial depending on how they are trained in understanding the communication component to their work with senior executives. So the question is how can effective communication be measured among IT leaders to senior executives? There must be some type of standard established that internal and external communication can be measured by to determine success or areas for the company to work on.If this area is neglected, companies will over a long-term period of time begin to decrease profits slowly until it worsens to a company sometimes have to face bankruptcy or outsourcing certain departments not producing effectiveness with their employees. Working on communication effectiveness among executives will increase ROI as different innovative ways are chosen to improve communication. Evaluate change management response of business and technology leaders within organization There must be some type of order with business and technology leaders within an organization when it comes to the change management process.From the high-level documents to the low-level documents, there must be some type of Change Control Board (CCB). If not changes will occur anywhere at any time that can cause serious losses for any company. In responding to changes to a pro duct or service among staff at General Motors (GM), there is a formal approach to Change Management among business and technology leaders and they are the following: †¢ Adding/deleting/changing eatures for the product such as GM requires following the normal Change Management process †¢ Within the Change Management process, business and technology leaders must diagnose problem areas and with the Change Control Board (CCB) have a meeting to go over any additions/changes/deletions needed and make sure all business and technology leaders are there †¢ Once the changes needed have been reviewed by the CCB, then it should be taken to the test department for testing on a test bed before actually being loaded to the live siteOUTSOURCE INSOURCE FINAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS PAPER ON GENERAL MOTORS (GM) When it comes to urgent changes outside the normal Change Management Process, the following must be done: †¢ Urgent changes, changes that must be deployed outside of the normal C hange 12 Management process cadence, follow an expedited path to load these changes as soon as possible especially if a patch is needed at a customer site †¢ The urgent Request for Change (RFC) is submitted, approved, built, tested (where possible), and implemented as above; however, all on an accelerated path.The process allows for urgent changes since they are sometimes unavoidable, however, every attempt is made to minimize these types of changes due to their inherent risk to the production IT environment. Information technology has become a critical component of nearly every business and organization, often driving competitive advantage and the achievement of business objectives. Many organizations have begun to implement structured operational processes and governance models to help manage their IT environments.The IT organization at General Motors (GM) developed an enterprise-wide Change Management (ChM) Program, deployed in early 2006. The objective was to ensure the use of standardized processes for prompt and efficient implementation of changes and to minimize the impact of change-related incidents on IT service levels. Change management metrics are so important for business and technology leaders in capturing this information in a database for different types of reporting to production,

Andrew Carnegie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Andrew Carnegie - Essay Example ers and acquisitions, cost minimizing measures, and centralization of supplies created some of the big industry giants in America, and by extension, the world. Andrew’s first venture into the Iron and steel industry was as a result of his engagement in the railroad transport industry, first as a telegrapher and secretary then as superintendent of Pennsylvania Railroad. Here he was charged with, among other things, acquiring the steel rails for the expanding railway networks and engines. Through the railroad contacts he met while working here, he recognized the opportunity of manufacturing the heavy equipment needed for the industry. He was successful in organizing Keystone Bridge Company, the first successful manufacturer of iron rail, and Pittsburgh Locomotive Works into a unit to supply the equipment. He also encouraged George Pullman to join up with him and form the Pullman Palace Car Company to market sleeping cars to the Union Pacific, is so doing he created a monopoly. Eventually, his close ties with John Pierpont Morgan led him to sell his vast interests in the steel industry to J. P. Morgan. The negotiations that ended in Ma rch 2, 1901 to form United States Steel Corporation is the largest such industrial takeover to date. Carnegie is also remembered for his drastic cost cutting measures is partly responsible for the events that shaped the labor force in the iron industry in America. His payment schedule for instance was racial informed. He paid Slavs, Russians, and Italians $12 per week, native-born whites got $22 per week, and Irish and Scots got $16 per week. His steelworks were also said to have been in deplorable conditions. In addition, in his early days as an employer, he is said to have single-handedly fell the giant steel workers union, Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. Some of his tactics include hiring strikebreakers and spies, blacklisting workers who were thought to be capable of causing trouble, and maintaining the

Introduction to Financial Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Introduction to Financial Accounting - Essay Example The business strategy of the company is to remain focused on building its brands and improve upon its estate. â€Å"The company’s strategy is to be a modern, high quality, highly efficient brewer, wholesaler and retailer of premium specialty beers, wines, spirits, and minerals.† (J.B.Neame, Chief Executive in 2007 Annual Report). The company is admitting in its report that turnover of the company is increasing year by year, but it fails to mention anything about liquidity position of the company. Keeping in view such shortcomings in the material issued by the company as well as based on above background about company; and also as per available terms of references, the financial and overall performance of the company has been analyzed in this write-up as under. 3. In order to evaluate the impact of market developments, the situation has been analyzed based on earning per share and the posture of low capital gearing adopted by the company, in absence any data available about the company from active markets. In respect of analyzing the sales behavior over period from 2005 to2007, the sales in absolute figures have grown from  £91,354,000 in 2005 to  £95,343,000 in 2006 and to  £100,047,000 in 2007. Relatively sales in 2007 have grown 4.9% over 2006 and 9.51% over 2005. The sales behavior is very positive and encouraging despite smoking ban. The basic reason for such tremendous growth in absolute sales is growth in company’s infrastructural facilities providing a real push to the business. By the end of 2007 the company owned 376 pubs; and out of these338 pubs are freehold. Further the adherence to basic strategy of brand building is in fact paying dividends in the growth of gross turnover of the company. On this issue the chairman of the company emphasized in his statement in company’s annual report 2007, â€Å"Our business strategy remains to build our brands, invest to improve our pub estate, remain focused on our strength and to improve our overall

Interactive spatial urban planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interactive spatial urban planning - Essay Example The urban population health is affected by interplay of multiple environmental factors such as air pollution, noise pollution, traffic and external safety (Galea & Vlahov, 2005). The traditional urban planning has increasingly been termed as an inefficient tool, due to its inability to take all these multiple environmental factors into consideration, when planning for urban developments. Consequently, Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSSs) for interactive spatial urban planning have become an important tool for the modern urban development planning (Sugumaran & Degroote, 2010). This is due to their ability to use high-tech computers that are linked to databases to simulate interactive models that create interplay of the multiple environmental factors that are of concern to the urban planning (TNO, n.d.). The overall effect is that with this type of technology, it is becoming increasingly easier to understand the problem of spatial planning for urban developments, long way before the actual planning and designing is done (Pearce, Richardson, Mitchell & Shortt, 2010). This is advantageous, sine it allows for understanding the likely problems and addressing them during the planning and designing stages, as opposed to controlling the problems later, when the urban developments have already been designed and constructed. This does not only help to solve the issues of h uman and environmental health associated with urban spatial planning, but also in the development of cities and urban regions that will not require to be redesigned in the future( Galea, Freudenberg & Vlahov, 2005). Therefore, the modern architectural design is not only affected by the issue of generating appropriate designs for cities and urban regions, but also ensuring that the health concerns are equally addressed (Pearce, Richardson, Mitchell & Shortt, 2010). A Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSSs) as an urban planning tool can be

A summary about a primary source about american history before 1865 Essay

A summary about a primary source about american history before 1865 - Essay Example Such was a significant stand that had earned him hatred among the white farmers who relied on slave labor. Furthermore, slave trade was a large industry that contributed to the economy of the country at the time. The president restates his desire to end slavery owing to the inhumane aspects it exhibited. He explains that he seeks to end slavery by influencing a change in the country’s constitution. This way, he shows that he respects the constitution. He would only introduce a change in the constitution by influencing the mindset of other elected representatives. In the letter, he expresses his desire in saving the union. The civil war threatened to destabilize the United States. He therefore explains his desire and efforts aimed at ending the civil war thus saving the union. In doing this, he explains will comply with the letters of the constitution and ending slavery thus creating a cohesive state that upholds the values of

Applies the lesson to analyse a real world issue Assignment

Applies the lesson to analyse a real world issue - Assignment Example This phenomenon is not unique as during the Great Depression in 1930’s the world economy underwent a similar occurrence. According to Hazlitt (1946), there is a difference between economists; good economists and bad economists. The bad economists observe the direct impacts of proposed course, whereas the good one focuses on long and indirect consequence. Teiying economic to long term predictions is the foundations of a good economist and as Brux, (2005) predicted long term economic eventualities such as poverty marks such characteristics.   This argument cannot be further from the truth. Economists have always been grouped into different groups, but the world’s most prominent group is the Keynesian school of thought. Other economic schools of thoughts that have dominated academic thoughts throughout the 20th century and even the 21st century are the monetarist school of thought and the Harvard economic school of thought. According to the Keynesian school of thought, private capital investment decreased as a result of more capacity and the deficiency in good investment opportunities (Hetzel, 2012).   In fact, the concept of Secular Stagnation, a term coined by the Keynesian school of economics and it attributed the recession to inadequate capital investment hindering full employment of labour and other economic resources. Aptly referred to as the secular stagnation theory as articulated by the Keynesian school of economics, is a marketed different from the notion propagated by the monetarist school of economics. According to the monetarist theorists the recession was as a result of the tendency of the rate of profit to decrease, and as such businesses will block investments in manufacturing plants with a decreasing rate of return. Theorists have provided different arguments on the phenomenon of low economic growth, and especially that regards the same that was realized in the industrialized

Competing in the global arina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Competing in the global arina - Essay Example Globliztion is "neither new nor folly but global movement of ides, people, technology nd goods from one region to others benefiting the people t lrge" (mrty Sen cited Stiglitz 2002, p. 6). The main companies contributed to globalization are McDonald's, General Motors, Wal-Mart, Google and Yahoo! which account for over half of the world's output. This geographical concentration reflects existing economic relations between the North and the South (Bhagwati 98). Rivalling nation-states in their economic power, these corporations control much of the world's investment capital, technology, and access to international markets. In order to maintain their prominent positions in the global marketplace, transnational corporations merge with other corporations. These companies have consolidated their global operations in an increasingly deregulated global labor market. The availability of cheap labor, resources, and favorable production conditions in the global South has enhanced corporate mobility and profitability (Hirst and Thompson 134-135). The main drivers of globalization are technology, free trade and low barriers to trade, investments and democratization processes. A combination of weak and unstable governments, small and vulnerable economies, warlike conditions, and widespread poverty creates unattractive conditions for the major drivers of globalization, especially the global corporations and other private sector investors (Bhagwati 23). Apart from mining and other natural resources extractive industries, these countries are not players in the global economy. Moreover, lack of good governance often means that the proceeds from these economic activities benefit only a select group of elites, giving rise to private armies and guerrilla movements (Stiglitz 90). Price system help companies to sell product around the world and meet diverse customers' needs. Indeed, the network's market share increased even further as a result of the dramatic reduction in the price and size of satellite dishes. Suddenly, such technolog ies became affordable, even for low-income consumers (Bhagwati 21). For instance, a new economic order allows the farmers to produce more than the market can absorb but get paid at a fair price. It also keeps agricultural goods, produced elsewhere more cheaply and efficiently, out of these countries' markets. Globalization, as it relates to trade, is aimed at reducing or eliminating protectionism in order to maintain a level playing field for all trading nations. Still, developing countries continue to face a wide range of nontariff administrative instruments of protectionism, which keep their exports out of the rich markets of developed countries. Protectionism by the developed countries-aimed at keeping developing countries out of the formers' markets especially in sectors such as agriculture, textiles, and light manufacturing where the latter have a decided comparative advantage-is a serious impediment to free trade and globalization and a constant source of conflict in multilate ral negotiations (Hirst and Thompson 98). Contrary to public perception, export subsidies are not an efficient public policy instrument for allocating resources. This is particularly important for developing countr

Cultural Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Cultural Anthropology - Essay Example Social settings have adopted new and universal similarities owing to the increasing state of media and interstate’s education systems. Hence, via knowing diverse languages, it has prompted students to seek both education and employment in other regions, hence becoming international students as well as cosmopolitan citizens especially via intermarrying (Kuran & Sandholm 204). The global integration of people’s lives descends from the economics’ universal consumer market and need to advance. This is especially from the global states’ strong motive to equal the already developed partners, hence result to adopting and utilizing diverse market strategies that will facilitate trade with them besides strengthening their currency. Additionally, the states’ dissimilarity in productions and need to have access to other products from diverse regions, has also yielded them to network with other regional states besides adopting some economic practices/strategies meant to improve their fiscal stability. Production is an economic practice that ensures the existence of humanity in the face of the earth regardless of the level of technology, which each society might adopt. Mainly, this aligns with the culture, which each society esteems, and best fits their region or the general expertise it possesses. For illustration, production globally assumes the forms of agriculture, industrial and foraging, where the latter entails communities emanating from the third world states, which have not embraced new technology effectively (Kuran & Sandholm 212). However, this has changed with time in comparison to the past century where in the current foraging it is about 1%. Foraging among other forms of productions has actually shaped diverse aspects of culture especially among the communities that utilize foraging method. These

Sexual Fetishes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sexual Fetishes - Research Paper Example They are difficult to treat, partially because the individual may not want to give up the fetish, partially because the fetish is becoming more socially acceptable and they do not really harm anybody, and partially because there has not been an adequate treatment created (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders). However, sexual fetishism is only one type of fetish – the term fetishism can extend to any kind of object that is used for worship, such as religious objects or commodities (Dant, 1996, p. 5). According to Kafka (2009) the DSM-III does not account for individuals who have a fetish with certain body parts that are living, such as feet or hands. The hair and nails are considered to be non-living, which is why they were accorded a part of the DSM diagnosis for sexual fetishes and things like a fetish for hands and feet were not (Kafka, 2009). They were, however, later included in the DSM-III-R as being considered to be part of partialism, which was considered to be Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified (Kafka, 2009). The DSM-III-R expanded the definition of sexual fetishism from the DSM-III, stating that sexual fetishism is defined as â€Å"a) over a period of at least six months, recurrent sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies involving the use of nonliving objects by themselves; b) the person has acted on these urges, or is markedly distressed by them; and c) the fetishes are not only articles of clothing used in cross-dressing, or devices designed for the purpose of tactile genital stimulation† (DSM-III-R 302.81). However, the DSM-III-R no longer mentioned body parts or products, such as hair and nails, but, rather, common objects such as stockings, bras, women’s underpants, boots, shoes and other wearing apparel. These definitions, including classifying being sexually aroused by body parts such as feet and hands as partialism, or paraphilia not otherwise specified, have persisted in the DSM-IV and the DSM-IV TR (Kafka, 2009). Kafka (2009) discussed whether there should be a separate distinction between partialism and fetishism. Kafka concluded that the definition of fetishism be expanded to include partialism under the rubric of fetishism, as opposed to leaving the definition of partialism as being considered a paraphilia not otherwise specified (Kafka, 2009). One of the reasons why there is a separate category is that there is a necessity, for one to be diagnosed with any type of fetishism, that the individual cannot be sexually aroused unless he or she is in the presence of the particular inanimate object, or that this inanimate object is the primary way that the individual is sexually aroused. If the definition were expanded to include body parts, such as hands and feet, then fetishism loses its very definition, as the majority of people have hands and feet, so it goes without saying that hands and feet will be present in the vast majority of sexual situations(Kafka, 2009). Therefore, fetishism becomes blur red if hands and feet are included in the definition – if a person has a â€Å"fetish† with body parts that are present in most people, then that object will almost always be present, so there is no way of telling if the individual would be sexually aroused if the object such as the hands or feet are not present. On the other hand, when speaking of a true fetish, such as

That higher education Essay Example for Free

That higher education Essay With all these guidelines for starters, it would be much possible for new learning program facilitators to come up with possible effective and efficient foundation in online teaching. On the other hand, the â€Å"E-Learning Revolution: How Technology is Driving a New Training Paradigm† by Martyn Sloman shows how much the Internet changed everything especially in the education industry. He says that the â€Å"virtual education has already taken over the systems of traditional learning and as well made great innovations on the learning process of the new generation† (2002, p 23). True, as earlier introduced in chapter one, the existence of virtual learning programs really made great changes on the existence of educational systems in the society. â€Å"Aside from the practicality and other benefits offered by this system of learning, the new generation realizes the importance of time and thus they take the necessary steps needed to finish their degrees through online universities† (Sloman, 2002, p 24). In this way, not only do they finish early, but they also learn how to manage their time wisely. True, the challenges of training people through the use of technological advancements are rather huge. But as Arthur Langer said in his authored book â€Å"IT and Organizational Learning†, â€Å"training using the Internet is really a challenge especially for beginners, but once the effective foundations of learning in traditional classrooms would be integrated with the high-tech effects brought about by the Internet, learning through this innovative design of education could be well considered worth while† (2001, p 14). As an addition to this, Robert Seidel said that Virtual education is indeed becoming a phenomenon already. According to him in his book â€Å"Virtual Reality, Training’s Future? : Perspectives on Virtual Reality and Related Emerging Technologies†, â€Å"Virtual education has already taken full control of many educational institutions there are today. Indeed, even companies are taking their steps in making online trainings a possible way of enriching their employees’ skills for their chosen careers both for individual and company satisfaction† (1997, p 45). Seidel also adds: â€Å"Virtual reality is a simple and natural extension to proceed in learning without boundaries to the virtual environment, as well as being able to completely enjoy the provisions of the virtual world in enriching the industry and strategies used in education† (1997, p 48). Yes, the virtual world had already made a great impact on the ways in which the present generation prefers to learn and earn their college degrees. Indeed, as introduced earlier, the idea of establishing virtual education providers came from the traditional learning aided by distance learning providers even before the development of computers. Naturally, the past forms of distance education were mostly done through correspondence and the use of telecommunication processes. Certainly, technology has obviously revolutionized the ways by which the handling off information through higher level of learning is being processed. Most likely, the integration of technology within the system heightened the capability of the institutions making up the said industry to provide the best possible entities and values available in their service towards the personal advancement of their students.

Stroke Case Study | Pathophysiology and Care Delivery Plan

Stroke Case Study | Pathophysiology and Care Delivery Plan This paper will discuss the case study relating to the patient, Mrs Amelia Middleton, and answer a series of questions relating to the pathophysiology of stroke, nursing care of the patient, and response to pharmacological issues with her treatment Question 1 Farrell Dempsey (2014b) define the pathophysiological characteristics of an ischaemic stroke as being the disruption to cerebral blood supply due to an obstruction in a blood vessel (p. 1649). This disruption can be described as an ischaemic cascade, which commences with a fall in cerebral blood flow to less than 25mL/100g/min (p. 1649). When this occurs, neurons are unable to maintain aerobic respiration, causing a decrease in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. To combat this, mitochondria switch to anaerobic respiration, which produces large amounts of lactic acid, causes changes in cellular pH levels, anaerobic respiration is less efficient, and neurons are not capable of producing sufficient ATP to fuel the depolarisation processes (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b, p. 1649; Craft, Gordon, Tiziani, 2011). With the loss of ATP production, the active transport across the cell membrane ceases, leading to the destruction of the cell membrane, releasing more calcium and glutamate, vaso constriction and generation of free radicals. As the cascade continues, intracellular pressures increase, causing oedema (Craft, et al., 2011, p. 192). This oedema reaches it maximum after about 72 hour, and slowly subsides over the following two weeks. There are four types of haemorrhagic stroke, namely intracerebral, intracranial cerebral aneurysm, arteriovenous malformations, and subarachnoid haemorrhage, all with varying pathophysiology (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b, p. 1661). The most common type is the intracerebral haemorrhage, which is mostly found in patients with hypertension and cerebral atheroschlerosis. Certain types of arterial pathology, brain tumour, and the use of medications may also cause intracerebral haemorrhage (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Bleeding related to the condition is most commonly arterial and normally occurs in the putamen and adjacent internal capsule, cerebral lobes, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum and brain stem (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Intracranial aneurism is dilation of the walls of a cerebral artery developing because of weakness in the arterial wall (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Presumed causes of aneurysms are weakness in arterial walls, congenital abnormalities, hypertensive vascular disease, head trauma, infection, or advancing age. Aneurysms can occur in any area of the brain but commonly occur at the circle of Willis arteries. Arteries affected by aneurysms are the internal carotid artery, anterior cerebral artery, anterior communicating artery, posterior communicating artery, posterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Arteriovenous malformations are caused by abnormalities in embryonic development or are the result of trauma. It is the formation of a mass of arteries and veins without a capillary bed, whose absence, leads to dilation of arteries and veins with eventual rupture. This type of haemorrhage is common in younger people (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Subarachnoid haemorrhage may occur because of arteriovenous malformation, intracranial aneurysm, trauma or hypertension. Most common causes are leaking aneurysms in the area of the circle of Willis or a congenital arteriovenous malformation of the brain (Farrell Dempsey, 2014b). Both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke have modifiable and non-modifiable precipitating factors. Modifiable factors are those that can be changed and include: (Al-Asadi Habib, 2014; Jarvis, 2012) Non-modifiable factors are those that cannot be changed or altered, and in concert with modifiable risk factors, can indicate populations at higher risk. The factors are: (Al-Asadi Habib, 2014; Jarvis, 2012) Question 2 The nursing care required for the patient within the first 24 hours would initially include a neurological assessment, especially if thrombolytic therapy has been administered (Hinkle McKenna Guanci, 2007). Nurses need to use the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), check vital signs pupil reaction and limb assessment. If the GCS falls during or after treatment, patients need to have an urgent CT scan to exclude haemorrhagic stroke. These observations need to be recorded every 15 minutes for the first 2 hours after thrombolytic therapy, then every hour for the next 24 to 48 hours (Hinkle McKenna Guanci, 2007). Oxygen therapy will only need to be administered if the patient becomes hypoxic, which occurs if the oxygen saturation (SaO2) levels fall below 95% saturation. Blood sugar levels need to be monitored, as it is common for post stroke patients to become hyperglycaemic. Patients also need to be in an electric bed with the cot sides up and the head at a 30-degree angle, which reduces the ri sks of choking and falls (Catangui Slark, 2012). Suction should be available at the bedside in case of angioedma. Electrocardiograms need to be performed regularly to detect any abnormal changes in heart rhythm. The patient is already in atrial fibrillation but this may alter if thrombolytic therapy is administered, as such, this requires assessment on an hourly basis. The nurse should also take the time to provide information to family members regarding the patient’s treatment (Felicilda-Reynaldo, 2013). The patient and family need to be informed why thrombolytic therapy is needed, what the desired outcomes are and if there are any adverse effects. When this treatment is needed, it is often in an emergency and can be frightening for family members to see their loved one in pain or distress (Felicilda-Reynaldo, 2013). Question 3 Thrombolysis is the division of a blood clot or thrombus by the infusion of a fibrinolytic agent (drugs that are capable of breaking down fibrin, the main constituent of blood clots) into the blood (Tiziani, 2013). Thrombolytic agents act by activating plasminogen to form a proteolytic enzyme, plasmin, which attaches to fibrin, and consequently, breaks down the clot (Tiziani, 2013; Catangui Slark, 2012); this process is called clot resolution. Thrombolytic agents vary in there action, for example, Alteplase and Reteplase, are recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) drugs that have fibrin specific actions, adhering to fibrin bound plasminogen, Tenecteplase, a genetically engineered tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) shares similar traits (Tiziani, 2013; Catangui Slark, 2012). In contrast, Streptokinase is a non-specific plasminogen activator, which attaches itself to both fibrin bound plasminogen and unbound plasminogen (Tiziani, 2013). The use of thrombolytic agents on stroke patients is time-critical. Catangui Slark (2012), supported by Hinkle McKenna Guanci (2007) and Farrell Dempsey (2014b), describe a set of contraindications for the use of thrombolysis in stroke patients, these include age, blood pressure greater that 185mmHg/110mmHg, GCS score less than 8, time from onset of symptoms less than 4Â ½ hours, or previous stroke or myocardial infarction. This is not an exhaustive list, but is relevant to the case study patient. From these indicators it can be shown that the patient falls into a category that contraindicates the use of thrombolysis in the treatment of her condition, i.e. her blood pressure is 200mm/Hg/110mm/Hg, and that it has been at least 6 hours since onset of conditions. Question 4 Aspirin is both a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) and anti-platelet drug (Tiziani, 2013, p. 4 511). In its NSAID function, the drug acts to inhibit prostaglandin production, which is a mediator of inflammatory response and thermoregulation (McKenna Lim, 2012). The anti-platelet properties of the drug inhibit the production of thromboxane A2, which is a vasoconstrictor that normally increases platelet aggregation (McKenna Lim, 2012). Contraindications for this drug are for people with allergies to Salicylates, haemorrhage, and gastrointestinal bleeding (Tiziani, 2013; McKenna Lim, 2012). Administration is by oral pathway. In the context of this case study, because the patient is not eligible for thrombolysis, aspirin would be beneficial in lowering the risk of further stroke by reducing the chance of further thrombosis forming through its anti-platelet properties. The risks in this context are exacerbation of her hypertension and possible bleeding; however, in this circums tance the prescription of aspirin is appropriate. Carvedilol is a lipophilic vasodilating non-cardioselective ÃŽ ²-blocker (Leonetti Egan, 2012). This drug is used to treat hypertension by blocking norepinephrine binding to ÃŽ ±1-adrenergic receptors in addition to both ÃŽ ²1-adrenergic and ÃŽ ²2-adrenergic receptors (Leonetti Egan, 2012). Contraindications for this drug include bradycardia, heart block, diabetes, and bronchospasms (McKenna Lim, 2012). Administration is by oral pathway. In the context of the case study, the administration of carvedilol is desirable because of her hypertension. It is further suggested that carvedilol contributes to a reduction in cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (Watson Lip, 2006). The risk associated with this drug include hepatic failure, oedema, and deterioration if the patient is in heart failure (McKenna Lim, 2012; Tiziani, 2013) Atorvostatin is a hydroxymethylglutaryl co-enzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor used to treat hypercholesterolaemia or hyperlipidaemia (McKenna Lim, 2012). The drug acts to inhibit production of cholesterol by blocking HMG-CoA reductase from completing the synthesis of cholesterol (Tiziani, 2013). Administration is by oral pathway. In the context of this case study, Atorvostatin is not indicated for administration without further investigation into potential underlying causes, such as, heart disease or hypercholesterolaemia. Question 5 In the context of this case study, atrial fibrillation could indicate heart disease, but further investigation would be necessary to determine this. Factors such as age, hypertension, ischaemic stroke, family history of myocardial infarction, and erratic pulse are evident and are all indicators towards heart disease (Bordignon, Corti Bilato, 2012). McKenna Lim (2012, p. 676) also associate coronary artery disease, myocardial inflammation, valvular disease, cardiomegaly, and rheumatic heart disease with atrial fibrillation. Pharmacologically, the drugs considered for intervention include heparin, warfarin, and carvedilol (Watson Lip, 2006). Both Heparin and Warfarin are anticoagulant drugs. Heparin is a fast acting, intra-venous or subcutaneously administered anticoagulant used in the acute setting, with changeover to orally administered warfarin, whose anticoagulant effect is evident after 36-72 hour, for longer-term use (Tiziani, 2013; McKenna Lim, 2012). In context of the case study, aspirin use would be discontinued if heparin and warfarin were administered, as these drugs are recorded as having an adverse reaction (Tiziani, 2013; McKenna Lim, 2012). These drug types have contraindications for active and potential bleeding, so issues such as haemorrhoid bleeding may exclude these drugs from administration (Tiziani, 2013). As previously stated, Carvedilol is a nonselective ÃŽ ²-blocker (Leonetti Egan, 2012). This drug is administered orally and are safe in combination with heparin or warfarin (Tiziani, 2013). Contraindications for this drug include bradycardia, heart block, diabetes, and bronchospasms (McKenna Lim, 2012). This drug had both antihypertensive properties and has been shown to reduce cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (Watson Lip, 2006). The risk associated with this drug include hepatic failure, oedema, and deterioration if the patient is in heart failure (McKenna Lim, 2012; Tiziani, 2013). Conclusion This paper has discuss and identified the pathophysiology of stroke, discussed the nursing care of the stroke patient, and identified and discussed pharmacological interventions available to treat the patient. Page 1 of 6 20/09/2016 2:53:40 PM

The Outline Of Cloud Computing Information Technology Essay

The Outline Of Cloud Computing Information Technology Essay Cloud computing is something where Internet is commonly visualized as clouds with computation being done through the Internet. Database resources can be accessed via Internet from anywhere without the need to worry about maintenance or management of actual resources. Data of multiple customers is stored at one common location. Cloud computing should have proper techniques for proper segregation of data to ensure data security and confidentiality. Security measures are needed to make sure that data of one customer does not affect another customers data. Providers of cloud computing must be equipped with proper disaster recovery policies. Key terms Saas, Iaas, Paas, SOA, Grid Computing, Resource sharing, Web2.0 Introduction In the recent years, cloud computing has grown from being a promising business concept to one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry. But as more and more information on individuals and companies is placed on cloud, we need to consider how safe an environment is. Cloud computing is an independent platform in terms of computing. The best example of cloud computing is Google Apps where any application can be accessed using a browser and can be deployed on thousands of computer through the Internet. Architecture Characteristics of cloud computing a) Dynamic computing infrastructure Foundation for the dynamic infrastructure is a standardized, scalable and secure physical infrastructure. Levels of redundancy must be implemented to ensure high levels of availability but is must be easy to extend as usage growth demands it without architecture rework. b) IT service centric approach Users of the cloud generally want to run some business service or application for a specific, timely purpose which means giving preference to quickly and easily accessing a dedicated instance of an application or service. c) Self service based usage model Self service provides users the ability to upload, build, deploy, schedule, manage and report on their business services on demand. d) Minimally or self managed platform For a service provider to efficiently provide a cloud for its constituents, they must leverage a technology platform that is self managed. e) Consumption based billing Cloud computing is usage driven. Consumers pay for only what resources they use and therefore are charged or billed on a consumption based model. Types of services The main services provided by cloud computing service model can basically be divided into three main categories namely Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides virtual servers with unique IP addresses. Also, it provides blocks of storage on demand. Customers benefit from an API from which they can control and manage their servers. This service is also known as utility computing since the customers can pay for exactly the amount of service they use. It provides grids, clusters and virtualized servers, networks, storage and systems software designed to expand or substitute the functions of an entire data center. The best example of IaaS is Amazons Elastic Compute Cloud [EC2] and Simple Storage Service. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is a set of software and development tools that are hosted on the providers servers. Developers can create applications using the providers APIs. PaaS basically provides virtualized servers on which users can run existing applications or develop new ones without being worried about maintaining the operating systems, server hardware, load balancing or computing capacity. PaaS also allows a lot of scalability by design. Google Apps is one of the most famous Platform-as-a-Service providers. Other good examples include Microsofts Azure and Salesforces Force.com. The third type which is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) makes the broadest market. It is the most widely known and broadly used form of cloud computing. In this service, the providers allow the customers only to use their applications. The software through user interface interacts with the user. However, these applications are provided through a Web browser, and not by a locally-installed application. It reduces worries to a great extent about application servers, storage, application development and other common concerns of IT. Salesforce.com, Googles Gmail and Apps, instant messaging from AOL, Yahoo and Google, Twitter and VoIP from Vonage and Skype are some common examples of SaaS providers. Example of cloud architecture Amazon s3 cloud computing- The Amazon S3 provides a web service interface for the storage and retrieval of data in the cloud. Setting a maximum limits the number of objects that can be stored in S3. S3 uses the concept of buckets as containers for each storage location of objects. The data is stored securely using the same data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses for its e-commerce web sites. Security issues Securing confidential data is an important area of concern as unauthorized users may get access to it. Large organizations dealing with sensitive data have laid out regulatory compliance policies. Sometimes the network utilizes resources from another country or they might not be fully protected, hence the need for appropriate regulatory compliance policies. In cloud computing, it is very common to store data of multiple customers at one common location. Cloud computing should have proper techniques where data is segregated properly for data security and confidentiality. Breached security system Providers of Saas and Paas boast of robustness of systems claiming that security in cloud is tighter than in most enterprises. Risks involved The idea of multi tenancy and decoupling between specific hardware resources and applications exists at the heart of cloud infrastructure. Companies need to be vigilant. An important measure of security often overlooked by companies is how much downtime a cloud service provider experiences. Change in the software Companies need to know whether a software change might actually alter its security settings. Local law and jurisdiction Data that might be secure in one country may not be secure in another. Users of cloud do not know where their information is held. Incentives of CC It is ideal for a small firm that has to occasionally batch process a ton of calculations to produce a data product. It is cheaper and economies of scale make cloud computing more economical. Organizations and individuals can benefit from mass computing and storage provided by large companies with stable and strong cloud architectures. Companies that desire to build massive, scalable environments, utilizing virtualization and cloud computing will increase their future margin of success. It may be more environmental friendly. Reducing the number of hardware components needed to run applications on the companys internal data center and replacing them with cloud computing systems reduces energy for running and cooling hardware. By consolidating these systems in remote centers, they can be handled more efficiently as a group.

Creation vs. Evolution Essay -- Science Debate Essays

Creation vs. Evolution Since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859, there has been a continuous debate in the United States regarding evolution and creation. Recently, this debate has intensified throughout America over the issue of whether or not to include creationism in the public school curriculum either in conjunction with evolution or as a replacement for the theory. With such a volatile subject being argued, there are other issues that are brought up at the same time. I find these side issues to the evolution/creation debate to be very perplexing. The many differing viewpoints that my friends, family, and the American public in general believe are incredibly interesting. There are varying strict â€Å"either/or† views, and views that combine evolution and the Bible’s story of creationism. There are diverse ideas where evolution and science can coexist with the Bible, and different commitment and intensity levels to these beliefs. The knowledge a nd familiarity, or lack thereof, that people have with both evolution and creationism is intriguing as well. The most interesting of these questions is the key motivation behind people’s opinions; are they were religiously based or is there something else? The evolution/creationism controversy has been progressing and remains a heated issue that strikes deep into the heart of people’s beliefs. The matter involves the different scientific and non-scientific theories about the origins and development of human beings, which drives to the core of human existence and their relationship with God. It is a personal issue for many, with family, relationships, faith, and morality at stake. Because it is such an individual choice as to what to believe i... ...aspx?oid=2095> [10] People for the American Way. (Research team assembled by Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.) 1 Feb. 2003. [11] People for the American Way. (Research team assembled by Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.) 1 Feb. 2003. [12] People for the American Way. (Research team assembled by Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.) 1 Feb. 2003. [13] Reagan, Charlotte. Personal interview. 31 Jan. 2003. [14] Willis, George. Telephone interview. 31 Jan. 2003. [15] Kutch, Myron. Telephone interview. 28 Jan. 2003. [16] People for the American Way. (Research team assembled by Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.) 1 Feb. 2003.

The Changing Roles of the Reader and Writer in the Literature Essay

The Changing Roles of the Reader and Writer in the Literature The continuing emergence of innovative writing technologies allows people to express themselves and communicate in countless different ways from years past. With these new technologies comes a change in many of our learning and social traditions. The most important change is the metamorphosis taking place in the online literary world. The line between author and reader has become blurred as more and more technology-driven literature, like hypertext fiction, has become interactive. The whole idea of authorship has changed, which in turn affects the role of the reader. In Writing Space, Jay Bolter further explores the changing roles of the author and reader in hypertextual literature. He believes the author and reader have become equal contributors to the writing process. The flexibility and interactive nature of electronic writing enables the reader to participate and choose what direction they want the writing to go (Bolter 168). Therefore, the writer and reader both participate in the writing process. The new writer/reader partnership in the writing process brings many changes. One aspect that changes along with the new writer/reader roles is the idea of having control over what is interpreted from the work. In some ways, hypertextual literature offers more control to the writer. Bolter points out that the author, through the use of hyperlinks and hypertexts, can force the reader to visit and read a specific reference or reading, thus have greater control over cross-referencing (Bolter 175). However, he also states that the computer can make the act of reading a competition between the author and reader f... ...writing and the transformations in our literary world create brand new roles for the reader and writer. Perhaps in the future the computer alone will be capable of taking on a role as an author as the idea of artificial intelligence becomes more and more developed. And even though the new roles may be hard to adapt to at first, as I found while reading â€Å"Disappearing Rain,† there is no denying that people are going to have to adjust to the new writing spaces available by changing the way they write and read. Works Cited Bolter, Jay. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. 2nd ed. London: Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Carter, Deena. Disappearing Rain. 16 March 2004 http://www.deenalarsen.net/rain Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of the Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001.

Leaning Pines Arboretum :: Descriptive Essays

Leaning Pines Arboretum If you head up Via Carta, past Campus Market and the athletic fields, you will come to the Environmental Horticulture Unit. Go past the flower shop and through the green house, then take a left. You will find yourself at the Leaning Pines Arboretum, one of the many hidden treasures here at Cal Poly. A five acre plot of land is devoted to plants native to the five Mediterranean climates in the world, California, Australia, South Africa, Chile, and of course the Mediterranean Basin. The horticulture unit originally resided where the Sierra Madre and Yosemite dormitories now stand but was relocated to a larger piece of land, its present location, which allowed room for the arboretum to be created. Taking up about half the land area, the California garden was the original garden before the arboretum was expanded to include the four other regions. Aside from being the largest, the California garden is the most extensive collection as well. Within this garden, habitats come from all different regions of California except the Sierra Nevada range which is not a Mediterranean climate. They represent all the communities from Northern to Southern California such as native shrubs and grasses and coast live oak woodlands. The section of the garden that looks the most like my home in Marin County is a pond surrounded by redwoods with ferns and oxalis plants. This also happens to be the favorite collection of Chris Wassenberg. Chris Wassenberg is a Cal Poly graduate from the Environmental Horticulture program. All the horticulture students are required to do ten hours of work in the unit outside of class. Chris chose to work in the arboretum, volunteering on a weekly basis until his third quarter when he was hired for a part time position. Now, three years after his graduation in 2001, Chris still works in the arboretum in addition to his normal job. He has risen to a middle management position, overseeing student projects and grounds maintenance. The arboretum requires a lot of work form the students but it is not all maintenance.

Castaway Movie Analysis-Journeys

‘Castaway ‘, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is a 2001 film starring Tom Hanks. Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx delivery man whose life is headed in the ‘right direction’, until his plane crashes and he is stranded on an island. He must adapt to his new life on the island; overcoming many obstacles in order to survive. ‘Castaway’ explores three different journeys; physical, inner and imaginative. Chuck Noland is a filmic representation of the philosophy of time equals money equals fulfilment.Zemeckis is deliberate in his obvious manipulation of the responder as he uses a multitude of filmic techniques to create a connection between the audience and Chuck. The physical journey in ‘Castaway’ is Chuck’s struggle to survive all the obstacles of living on the island and his journey to get home. On the island his inner journey of self discovery is about learning what is really important in life. After he returns home he must learn to adapt to normal society and overcome his traumatic ordeal. Chuck’s imagination is also taken on a journey when he creates a companion out of a volleyball, whom he shares all his ideas and secrets with. Castaway’ is a film that is rife with symbolism. The director has purposefully included an array of different signs that convey various meanings and concepts within the film. The first shot of the film is that of an old road and as the camera pans to the left we see a van driving towards a crossroads. Immediately, these images of the road and the crossroads connote that a journey is going to take place. They symbolises that the unknown protagonist is going to come to a point in his life where he will be unable to decide where he is going.As a result of the cyclic structure of the film, we see Chuck both physically and mentally arrive at the same crossroads from the opening scene. As a result of his years spent on the island is undecided about where he is heading so h e pulls over and is given directions. He moves out into the middle of the crossroads and considers which of the four roads he wants to travel; knowing that whichever option he takes will lead to a different destination both physically and internally. The film ends with a close up of Chuck’s face as he gazes down his chosen path.The responder is left in a state of deliberate uncertainty about which path he has chosen. The audience can be certain of one thing; his choices in life will be forever influenced by his ordeal. By leaving the ending open to interpretation, Zemeckis leaves the responder debating over which direction Chuck would have headed both in his car, and in his life. During the film we see the package with the angels wings painted on it frequently. The parcel becomes the first person as we follow it to the destination. This personifies the package and gives the responder the impression that this package will be almost like another character.This package is one th at washes up on the island with Chuck and is the only package he does not open. Wings are symbolic of flying and being lifted. The wings package raises Chuck’s spirits and gives him hope that one day he will be able to deliver the package to its owner. The audience never find out what was in the parcel. This fosters a sense of mystery and intrigue in the responder. Would the contents of the box have changed the outcome of Chuck’s life? Time is a motif that is heavily emphasised in this film. Clocks are effectively placed in the mis en scene, demonstrating that Chucks’ life is controlled by time.He believes organisation and time management is the key to his happiness. The gift his girlfriend, Kelly, gives him is a pocket watch with her picture inside and it is one of his only possessions on the island. While on the island the importance he placed on time fades, as his life is now run by nature. He finds himself alone with a limitless amount of time but with nothi ng to do during it. He stares at the watch for long periods, not because of time but because of the picture of Kelly in it. Like the wings package she becomes his symbol of hope and his motivation to get off the island.His determination and faith serve to evoke optimism within the responder and it gives them hope that Chuck will continue to survive until he gets off the island. The impact time has on his life is also evident when he is admonishing FedEx employees. He states â€Å"We live or we die by the clock. Never allow ourselves to commit the sin of losing track of time. † He says the same thing to the volleyball, Wilson, when he is planning their escape off the island. The context of when he says it changes the meaning of this quote.The first time it is said he is passionately trying to get workers to be more efficient and the quote is an exaggeration. The second time Chuck makes this remark, death is actually a serious option. Although the timing of his escape is import ant to him, time is not what is driving him anymore, instead his desire to get back to Kelly. The volleyball, Wilson, becomes Chuck’s only companion on the island. Wilson is Chuck’s need for companionship personified. Wilson is a part of Chuck as Wilson’s face is made of his blood and is the physical manifestation of Chuck’s mental state. â€Å"I know you. Chuck repeats to Wilson and this signifies that Chuck is aware that Wilson is a part of him while demonstrating Chuck trying to reassure himself of who he is. When Wilson is lost at sea, Chuck is devastated at losing his ‘friend’ and one of the only things kept him sane on the island. Chuck’s palpable anguish evokes sympathy and grief within the responder. Chuck’s physical journeys are common and the directors’ choice of having him works for FedEx is intentional. The scene where the audience is shown photographs of him with various modes of transportation also indicate that Chuck is a well travelled man.However, he does not understand what life is really about. It is not until he is stranded physically that his inner journey begins and he realises what is really important in life. This concept forces the responder to ask themselves whether what they value most in life is really all that important. The use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds is particularly effectual in contrasting Chuck’s life on the island with that of his old life. For the whole time that Chuck is on the island only diegetic sounds such as waves, wind and thunder is heard.The sounds of wildlife have been cut from the scene also. Zemeckis has done this to highlight the fact that Chuck is completely isolated. The first non-diegetic music we hear is when Chuck is watching the island disappear in the mist as he rows away. Even without the visual we know that Chuck is now leaving the island. The lighting in ‘Castaway’ is central in showing Chuck’s isolatio n on the island. During storms, especially the initial one which causes Chuck’s plane to crash, lightning and moonlight is all the light used in the scene.The lightning during the storms is hard key lighting and creates a sense of fear danger on screen and amongst the audience. The shadows that are cast on Chuck’s face from fire light and lightning show his vulnerability and panic. Zemeckis uses over the shoulder shots and close ups frequently on the island. This is done so the responder feels as though they are on that island with Chuck. The point of view shots that are used on the island are particularly useful in showing Chucks’ isolation. At numerous points we see the vast expanse of ocean through Chuck’s point of view.This technique once again highlights his loneliness and desperation to find another living companion. The bird’s eye view shots show Chuck, alone, surrounded by nature, highlighting his solitude. Panning camera movement is used r epeatedly to introduce the viewer to the landscape of the scene. Zemeckis uses zoom to focus the responder’s attention on Chuck which enables them to discern his emotions from his facial expression, rather than dialogue. There is minimal dialogue used in ‘Castaway’. This is again used to demonstrate the characters segregation but it also serves another purpose.Minimal dialogue places greater emphasis on the other devices such as camera usage, music and lighting and it relies on these devices to convey the journeys. The 2001 drama film, ‘Castaway’ is an excellent example of a film encompassing physical, inner and imaginative journeys. The director, Robert Zemeckis, has exploited numerous filmic devices to allow the responder to experience the film as though it were reality. His effective use of symbolism, camera shots and angles, sound and lighting influences the responders’ view of the film.

The Salvation Army and Stakeholder Governance

As a registered charity and religious institution, the Salvation Army has been in existence for quite a long time. Though some organizations waited for the government to formulate laws that governed the use of public money, practices of transparency, financial disclosure and accountability have been engraved in their procedures even before that (Institute of policy studies, 2010). External stakeholders in the institution are found in the organization. Stakeholders in the organisation are not owners in any aspect and neither do they work in the organization but partner with the organisation in ventures that are of interest to both of them. They are called external stakeholders. Being part of the projects the stakeholders have expectations on the information they should get from the institution regarding the finance they contribute and the activities that are undertaken (Bhatia, 2007). Financial disclosures in terms of balance sheets and income statements are important to the stakeholders especially since they contribute to the kitty of the events or activities that are carried out. Salvation Army gives disclosures not only to the external but also to the public quarterly and incorporates it in the annual report. This is to show what the organization realised or achieved with the finance (Mullins, 2005). Accountability is yet another value that the stakeholders can expect from the institution. Giving details of how the money was spent and who was involved is the main objective of the value. Members of the organisation believe that they owe the Almighty God accountability and do so through financial reporting to the stakeholders and other key personnel (Bhatia, 2007). Transparency is the ultimate crown for the flawless use of resources and execution of plans. In the values of the Salvation Army, this is not left out. It reveals honesty, creates good relation between the involved parties, and is a practice of Christian code of conduct (Mullins, 2005). REFERENCES Bhatia, S.K. (2007). Management of Non-Profit Organisations. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications. Institute of policy studies. (2010). Defining social impact. Retrieved on 18th August 2010 Mullins, L. J. (2005). Management and organisational behaviour. New York, NY: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.

A mate worse than death review Essay

The essay is entitled â€Å"A mate worse than death† which was given justice on the proceedings. This is in particular to a definite type of clubwoman which is certainly not honored yet the acme of perfect clubwoman hood. The author explained the roles and virtues that a perfect clubwoman should/could have on her point of view. Among the roles were, a health addict, a public speaker, a civic leader, a fashion model, a model mother, an artist and an art lover considering the qualities manifested were a pillar of strength, a tower of hope, a symbol of fortitude, personification of charity and a dynamo of energy. Being a health addict was basically a challenge on the part of a perfect clubwoman. Though she be in the pink of health (in a good health condition), mad about boogaloo and vitamin-laden- to hop in different parties and forums seems to be difficult. But a tough devotion to responsibilities nevertheless tempts hors d’oeuvres (out of work) which bring in mind the relevance of a clubwoman’s hearty appetite. She truly believes in the adage â€Å"A sound mind in a sound body† which was a famous aphorism from a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Thales. It only entails why clubwoman attends forums, which is to feed mind as well as to improve on health through food consciousness within different parties. A public speaker was one of the clubwoman’s roles. The sincerity, depth of feeling in addressing the plea for aid in country, makes her a convincing public speaker. This genuineness was developed due to the saying â€Å"Honesty is the best policy†, making her captivating as a public speaker. Transparency and accountability makes a clubwoman a person who could depend on even in strictest confidentiality issues. The merits of the author’s clubwoman as an art lover were also beyond excellence. Attending lectures on arts, actual demonstrations and applications made her a better one. Another role was model mother bearing on her role as a fashion model. She feels it would be extravagant on spending on her children’s clothes when they are not seen. As a result, she spends the whole thing on her dresses and clothes. And the money she saves for her children’s clothes were splurge on gowns she models at fashion shows benefited by one orphanage. Believing that she is being kind not only to her children but o the children of others. The glittering roles and multitude virtues provided by the author may give the readers a little hint on a clubwoman’s full worth. However, a wife resembling the author’s clubwoman entails the reason why man as overheard to have remarked that he had a mate worse than death. A MATE WORSE THAN DEATH (Analysis/Interpretation) The title â€Å"A mate worse than death† implies what the author is trying to expound in the essay. The author merely described the roles and virtues/qualities a perfect clubwoman is. The roles explained were all implied as a good individual/citizen without considering person as a wife and as a mother of her own children. The virtues portrays every single individual should have. It has been deeply expressed not just the self belongingness to the social and community affairs but the heartily devoted woman to the needs. Although it seems to be a perfect description of a clubwoman, it was never seem to be a perfect description of a wife and a mother. Nevertheless, socially aware and responsible is acceptable as long as you are individually responsible. Responsibilities adhere on very roles. Devoting almost all your time for yourself and for being a clubwoman might be dreadful for you and for your family. Because most of us believe that love does not only constitutes to only one but for all the things and beings surrounding us. Balanced time would be greatly a better one making you a perfect clubwoman and a perfect partner as well.

Civilian in Space

I can only imagine what it would be like traveling to space. It is not something I sit around and think about doing. Those who had the pleasures of going to space, like the astronauts, are those who had been preparing for such a career. This does not make me want to go to space, going to space Is like dying and going to the other side, you just do not know what to expect. Science tells us that space Is like a never ending hole. This sounds a little creepy, but space really Is not all that scary, It Is quite amazing actually.Science tells us that space Is a galaxy with many stars, planets, and rocks. However, I am against civilians In space because clansman are Inexperienced and the cost can become extremely high. If It takes astronauts years to train In order to travel to space, what chances do a Cleveland has? The story, â€Å"Clansman In Space,† states, â€Å"Traveling beyond Earth has been a privilege for a select few, namely, astronauts. † Civilians must be more qua lified than the average astronaut. They must understand the dynamics and velocity of space.In case of an emergency, would a civilian know what to do? The story â€Å"Civilians in Space† gives many fascinating examples like: it is an â€Å"Amazing Experience,† and â€Å"The view of Earth and the stars must be spectacular, and the experience of living in zero gravity would be fascinating. † Equally important to training is the cost of civilians traveling to space. The cost to traveling back and forth to space ranges in the billions, according to the story, â€Å"Civilians in Space. † This money comes from â€Å"Corporate Sponsorship.When civilians lack the knowledge, danger is expected, the story states, â€Å"There are many unknown risks involved. † Then there is the matter of insurance. Car insurance here, on earth, is extremely high; can you imagine the cost of insurance to go to space. In the story, â€Å"Civilians in Space† it states â⠂¬Å"Companies that specialize in manufacturing travel, marketing, insurance, law, and finance would all have to be involved. † The most important point in the story that expresses a major point of view is how Problems like poverty and disease† should be a priority over taking me into space.All in all, space traveling should be left to the experts. Traveling in space is ministering. However, it is not like going to the mall, Movie Theater, out to dinner, or to Disney World. It is not all about the basic that fascinates civilians to want to travel to space, but about trained experts that can cope with any surprises at any given moment. Civilian in Space By abominating make me want to go to space, going to space is like dying and going to the other side, o Just do not know what to expect.Science tells us that space is like a never ending hole. This sounds a little creepy, but space really is not all that scary, it is quite amazing actually. Science tells us that space is a galaxy with many stars, planets, and rocks. However, I am against civilians in space because civilians are inexperienced and the cost can become extremely high. If it takes astronauts years to train in order to travel to space, what chances do a civilian has? The story, â€Å"Civilians in Space,†