Judgement in “Sonny’s Blues” and “Cathredral

The short story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† written By James Baldwin is a story of two brothers who come to understand each other. The story begins and takes place in Harlem, New York City, where the narrator, whose name isn’t mentioned at all in the literature, is a teacher at a local high school, as he is on his way to work then reads on a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, who he hasn’t seen or spoke to in a while, has been arrested for possession and use of heroin.Throughout the story, he depicts Sonny as this troubled some young man, who never had any sense of direction towards what he wanted to do with his life or what he wanted to become. He viewed him as a product of the system, because as children growing up; Harlem, was basically a dark whole, full of malice, drugs, and corruption. After his short stint in jail, the narrator then welcomes his younger brother to stay with him and his wife for the time being. While Sonny’s stay at his older brother’s house, he then explains to him his constant struggles in life and why everything was so different for him as he was growing up.He tells him that no one ever really listened to what he wanted to pursue in life, and how he wanted to be this Jazz musician, but everyone just believed it was a phase. The narrator still didn’t really understand where Sonny was coming from. Until Sonny, one night invited him over to a local jazz bar, where everyone knows and respects him, to go watch him and his buddies play some music. It is then, as Sonny and the band is on stage, he begins to watch his younger brother struggle with the music.He watches his entire brother’s struggles come pouring out as he plays, and then he finally realizes who Sonny is and what he’s made of. In the short story, â€Å"Cathedral† written by Raymond Carver, similar to â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† the narrator of the story’s name isn’t given. The setting tak es place in Connecticut, where the death of a blind man’s wife, gets him to visit an old employee of his. The narrator who is the husband of the woman who use to work for the blind man, isn’t fond of him staying at their house.As the story moves along, the reader can see how the husband is ignorant, in the fact that he frequently keeps stating to himself how he doesn’t understand how someone can fall in love with a person who is blind, until after eating supper and his wife went off upstairs to get dressed. They both sit in the living room, and the husband invites Robert to smoke a joint. While flicking through channels, they finally leave something, they are willing to bare. It’s a show on different types of cathedrals around the world. The husband then asks Robert, if he has any idea or imagination of what an actual cathedral looks like.Robert says no, and he wants the husband to explain. The narrator has a life-changing moment, while trying to tell Rob ert what a cathedral looks like. The narrator, as he first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words. However, upon Robert’s encouragement, the narrator loosens up, when the blind man asks him to go grab a piece of paper and pen so they can both draw this cathedral together. This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly.The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else. People always have different views on different people, places or things. In my opinion I believe everyone should be open to meeting new people, giving people chances, or even be more open minded to different situations, because you can learn a lot from something or somebody else. For example the understanding of the older brother towards Sonny’s struggles in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† an d the connection the narrator in â€Å"Cathedral† had with the blind man.

CIPD Foundation CERTIFICATE in human resource Essay

The Human Resource Professional Map (HPRM) Activity 01 Introduction: The Human Resource Map (HRPM) was developed by the CIPD it was created by generalists and specialists within the CIPD/HR environments to explain how HR add value to any organisation within the UK and around the world. The (HRMP) is a guideline/benchmarked on line tool which can help individuals and organisations identify immediate and future development needs. The purpose of this (HRPM) is to capture the key skills required for the successful and effective Human Resource Function. The HRPM gives direction and shows what needs to be done, what the individual needs to know and do to go forward in the development of a professional/personal career adventure. The (HRPM) has 3 main areas which have been summarised in table 01 with a brief overview 10 Professional areas – includes the 2 core Professional areas (listed in brief overview 1,2) Insights strategy, and solutions Leading and managing. The remaining eight Organisational design, resource and talent planning, Performance and reward, Employee relations, Organisational development, learning and talent development, employee engagement, Service delivery and information. 1. Insight strategy and solutions- This is the heart of the (HRPM) Deep understanding/support of the business/industry is required. Ability to provide good solutions/insights/plans of action, aligning business and HR strategy. 2. Leading and Managing the (HR) Function. Here active leadership is key. Great emphasis on people, culture and change. Providing active insight led leadership owning, shaping and driving themselves and others. Managing budgets/finance/design and development. Resource/talent planning The above two core areas apply to all practitioners no matter where they are placed on the 4 bands. The above two core areas extend across the eight other areas. 8 Behaviours Curious, Decisive thinker, Skilled influencer, Personally credible, Collaborative, Driven to deliver, Courage to challenge, Role model Shows how work activities should be carried out. 8 specific behaviours that HR professionals need to develop. These are the relevant/necessary skills required throughout every stage of the HR career path. Linked to the 4 bands and each transition stage. 4 bands and Transitions Band 01- Support admin/process, is customer orientated. Band 02- Advise/manage HR issues. Band 03- lead/consult, address HR/organisational change. Band 04 – Lead and manage professional areas of the business. Area of competence defines what Practitioners need to do to progress through the bands. Band one for people at the start of the career scale and moves up to band four for a more senior Practitioner band level. Conclusion The HRPM is a valuable tool to identify immediate and future development needs. It is relevant and applicable to HR practitioners operating anywhere in the world in all sectors/organisations of any shape or size. It sets the highest standards of professional competence for all organisations. Activity: 1.1 Identify a Professional Area from either Band 01 or 02 HR Administrator Role Introduction: This activity will examine and discuss what an HR Administrator does. It will explain that there is no set rule as to what behaviours to use with any one particular role. It really does depend on many process variables within the organisations for example the size of the organisation, the culture, management style, the responsibilities of the role; this can be different in public/private sector organisations. In some small companies there may not be an HR organisation; and the responsibility of HR matters will be captured by line managers and business owners. HR covers a large variety of roles and activities; the 2 core areas insight strategy and solutions and leading and managing apply to all HR professionals no matter where they are placed within the four bands. These two core areas will always extend across the eight other areas. The range and scope of HR activities is very vast and can show an enormous range and variation across the business units, organisation, industries and societies. This is why you will need a wide range of skills for most HR professional roles. A broad sense of business knowledge, each role has its own special requirement beyond the general skill set. Someone taking on an entry level job in HR may not be expected to have all the specific knowledge, but must be ready to learn it quickly or be in targeted training courses. We will now look at the most essential activities, skills and knowledge required to work in band 02 within in the role of HR Administrator: Job Descriptions: For every staff position within an organisation there must be a corresponding job description/job specification and person specification. In this instance we will be looking at the job description only for the HR administration role. This document provides an understanding of the position and accurately and fully describes the role. The job description will identify the skills, knowledge and abilities necessary to perform the (HR Administration role) at band level 02. We know from looking at the above HRPM map summary that the skills for the HR administrator role that we are using for this activity comes under band 02 at this level staff will advise or manage HR related issues. Also again depending on which role is being carried out within the HR area for example the behaviours deemed essential for an HR administrator at band level 02 Talent and development would be: 1. Drive to deliver 2. Personally credible 3. Curious HR Administrator will work to ensure values, behaviours, expectations flow through the organisations procedures, process and intranet and other systems of communication. Activity: 1.1 HR Administrator will work to ensure values, behaviours, expectations flow through the organisations procedures, process and intranet and other systems of communication.

Brand Extension Essay Example for Free

Brand Extension Essay Brand extension is a marketing strategy according to which a company marketing a product or a service launches a new offering (product or service) that is related to the one of the existing brands of the company, but offers different benefits and/or targets a different segment. Organizations use this strategy to increase and leverage upon their brand equity. When a firm is introducing a new product, it has the following 3 choices on branding: 1. Developing a new brand for the new product 2. Using the existing brand for the new product 3. Combining the new brand and the existing brand The use of 2nd and 3rd strategy is referred to as brand extension. Brands may be classified as one of the following: Parent Brand: If an existing brand gives birth to a brand extension, it is referred to as parent brand. Sub Brand: When a new brand is combined with an existing brand, it is called as sub brand. Family Brand: If a parent brand has links with multiple brands through brand extensions then it is called as family brand. There are a large number of ways in which brand extension can be accomplished. One of the vital differences is if the extension is in the same or different category of the product. Thus they can be classified as: vertical or horizontal extensions. Vertical extensions refer to the introduction of a related brand in the same product category but having a different price and quality balance. Vertical extensions offer the firm a quickest way to leverage upon the core product’s equity. As an extension strategy, vertical extension is widely practiced in many industries. For example, within automobile industry, the various brand models attempt to offer different price-quality bundles to attract various market segments. Often a product is extended in an attempt to just gain more of the market share. New product introductions using vertical extensions can extend in 2 directions, upscale and downscale vertical extensions. The vertical brand extension is that type of new product introduction that seems to be carrying less risk and seemingly having more appeal to management. The new product which is being introduced is in the same category as the parent product; aims at a same market segment as the parent, and may or may not enjoy the same acceptance as the parent. Upscale extensions involve a new product introduction by the firm with higher price & quality characteristics than the original product. It involves a new product introduction with lower price & quality characteristics than the original. Downscale vertical extensions may target sampling to a new segment, and bring some gain in market share. Generally, horizontal brand extensions either use or extend an existing product’s name to a new product in the same product category or to a product category new to the organization. There are 2 types of horizontal extensions which differ in terms of their focus area. They are termed as line extensions and category extensions. All the customers differ in terms of their usage needs. The brand has to fill the market with variety of products as per the needs of the segments. If a parent brand is used to brand a new product that targets a new segment in the market within the same product category that was previously served by the parent brand, it is called as line extension. Line extension leads to the addition of a new and distinct flavour or ingredient to the category. It sometimes might also lead to a new application for the brand or an introduction of a different form or size. For example, Bisleri is the pioneering brand in category of mineral water. Originally, Bisleri started off with 1 ltr bottle. But recently, the brand has launched bottles of different sizes and quantities. Brand Extension. (2016, Dec 08).

Are there any current issues in the news involving telecommunication Article

Are there any current issues in the news involving telecommunication law - Article Example Whenever a firm from a ‘sensitive’ country attempts to buy an American technology company (say a telecommunications company) which could in some way implicate national security matters, the American government almost always immediately opens an investigation. â€Å"The committee assesses the possible national security implications of planned transactions that would result in foreign powers gaining significant influence over U.S. companies† (Sternstein 2011). One problem with this process, according to critics, is that presently the US government only finds out about a potential purchase if the company volunteers the information, so it is possible that foreign powers have bought more than is publicly known. The difficulty, it seems, is balancing the need for national security with the obvious reality that the technology sector is a rapidly changing one and governments should not get in the way of organic and important growth in it. Concerning access to information at the local, state, and federal levels, there was a recent story about a lawsuit opened by a Pennsylvania utility company against the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC recently created a fund with federal monies to â€Å"support telecommunications service in high-cost areas† (Long 2011). This likely includes economically depressed urban areas and rural ones as well where high speed internet connections are not readily available. The utility company, fearing competition with a taxpayer-subsidized entity, is suing the FCC and claims that the new rules it recently created which started the fund are â€Å"arbitrary and capricious† (Long 2011). They change many of the laws governing access to information and thus have caused some

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Marxist approach to the Essay

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Marxist approach to the study of history - Essay Example This created an idea which precluded the relevance of morality, created an inherent contradiction in history, and failed to answer the lasting question of humanity: Why does the world operate in the manner in which it does? However, this theory also holds an underlying hope for a utopian, egalitarian society which allows all to live in comfort and safety. The exploration of this theory has lasted throughout decades as the human search for the order of the universe continues. What is Historical Materialism? The basic premise is that we as human beings must labor in order to obtain daily necessities, food, shelter, and clothing. These are undeniable facts of life, Marx proclaims, and when the admission is made that this is true the entire idea of the way we live is turned around. G.A. Cohen in his book, â€Å"Karl Marx’s Theory of History†, maintained that the heart of historical materialism is the notion that through the process of history there is â€Å"a tendency towa rds growth of human productive power.† (Cohen, 1978, p 364). Societies and economic structures, said Cohen of the theories premise, rise and fall depending upon their promotion or impediment of that growth (1978). Marx believed, as evidenced in the infamous 1859 Preface to his book A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy that man’s consciousness is dependent upon â€Å"societal productions†. These â€Å"societal productions† are dependent upon the â€Å"modes of production† said Marx. The â€Å"modes of production† form the societal structures which are the ways in which all structures, political and economic, are formed. From the arising of these societal and class structures comes dissatisfaction and â€Å"the era of social revolution,† according to G.A. Cohen in his book Karl Marx’s Theory of History (1978, p. 364-365). Marx followers, in this manner, seek to disrupt the way in which the common man views change. C hange, according to the theory does not arise because of a new â€Å"consciousness† but instead societal structures and the natural shift or, change, over time causes the new â€Å"consciousness†, and thus, societal upheaval—a revolution. In Cohen’s interpretation of the Marx Theory of History a picture is painted of the image of a cyclical pattern which governs the process of history. In the first stage, production is not powerful enough to produce a surplus, thus there is no basis by which a class system could be formed. There is a classless society, not, according to the theory, because there is some underlying vision of social justice, but because the present circumstances dictate primitive egalitarianism (Cohen, 1978, 364-65). In the second stage, productive power becomes such that there is enough surplus to create an exploiting class, but not enough for â€Å"capitalist accumulation†. Producers are not in contractual relationships but instead are submitted to slavery. In the third stage of the cycle, a large surplus occurs and a society turns to capitalism. However, the surplus will continue, according to the theory, until capitalism becomes unsustainable and a â€Å"non-primitive communism† emerges, â€Å"the modern classless society†. â€Å"This† said Cohen â€Å"is the story of humankind in my reading of the doctrine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cohen, 1978, p. 364-365) Weaknesses of Historical Materialism This theory, and the implications which it bears, has certain weakness when examined. First,

Partnership law (In Australia) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Partnership law (In Australia) - Assignment Example Question 1 In the case of The Money Doctors, the business is a partnership due to the fact that the three persons had come together with the intension of carrying out a business venture and make profit. Although they did not have a written agreement, this business relationship has everything that a business partnership has and it therefore makes them a partnership. The partnership is made of Adam, Moe, and Jeff because they were the proprietors of the business. Flo, Adam’s Wife, cannot be described as a partner in this endeavour because of two main factors. To begin with, the money that she contributed to the business was a loan which was supposed to be refunded to her in the course of doing business. Secondly, her second role in the business was as an employment receiving an annual salary. As a result, although she was related to the partners and contributed to the initial capital, she cannot be described as a partner in the relationship. As seen in the decisions made in Birt chnell v The Equity Trustees, Executors and Agency Company Limited [1929] 42 CLR 384 19291, the court decided that the actions which the partner carried out should have been in the interest of the partnership. In this case, the court predicated its decision on the fact that in a partnership, every action carried out by any of the partners must be seen as being carried out in the interest of the partnership. Therefore it found that when the accused failed to remit the profits which he had gained by acting in the capacity of a partner, he had failed to observe the law and betrayed the other partners. The profits made by the accused were therefore seen as supposed to have been shared with the rest of the partners due to the nature of the business association that existed between him and the partners. The same case appears in the Money Doctors case where the partners are acting in the interest of the partnership and the rest of the group. This therefore defines The Money Doctors as a pa rtnership. In Canny Gabriel Castle Jackson Advertising Pty Ltd v Volume Sales (Finance) Pty Ltd [1974], the court decided that the business venture constituted a partnership based on three major factors which the court looked upon. First, the court quoted the fact that the partners had come together with the aim of carrying out commercial ventures. Secondly the court quoted the Partnership Act of 1892 and pointed out that since the partners intended to share the profits equally as produced by the business venture, that this then constituted a business partnership. Thirdly, the court referred to the fact that the partners were concerned with the financial stability of each other. The fact that the parties involved met these three main factors which are used to describe a partnership led to the court deciding that the relationship was a partnership. These three factors are also eminent in the case of The Money Doctors and therefore the Money Doctors can be seen as a partnership. In Ka ng-Kem v Paine (2004)2, the court used the same rules to determine the existence of partnership between the two persons before the court. The court used the definition of a partnership as provided in the 1892 partnership act. It also used some parameters to determine the existence of the partnership. Among the factors considered included the joint tenancy, the sharing of gross returns and the sharing of the profits by the

Asperger's Syndrome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Asperger's Syndrome - Essay Example In this group of diseases, some individuals have normal or above normal intellectual abilities. These individuals have been termed as having high functioning autism or having Asperger's syndrome (Cumine et al., 1998). Despite high level of intelligence, these affected people will have difficulties in social reciprocations with hazardous personal interactions. The day-to-day life is fraught with problems associated with coping with change due to their patterned behaviour and need of adherence to fixed routines. Asperger's syndrome is unique in this group of disorders in that the social deficits and ritualistic and stereotyped behaviours are identical to autism. The two distinctive features in Asperger's syndrome are that these individuals have relatively normal cognitive skills and hence in the early phase, there are no language delays (Cumine et al., 2000). It is evident this is a complex brain disorder and is often viewed as a part of the autistic spectrum. The teaching staff has im portant roles to perform since the emphasis is on on-task activities. These programmes must have clear goals, which are clear to both the teachers and children (ASPIRE). These goals must be determined and modified according to the needs and capabilities of these children. The educational programmes thus need to be structured with the goal being education. It is expected that these would improve the social and academic competence of these children. Different strategies have been advised that can be accommodated by the teaching staff in these facilities. Many of them have behavioural difficulties which may hamper their learning skills. It is to be noted that traditional behavioural techniques can be adapted in such settings. Other techniques that have successfully used are peer tutoring, cooperative learning groups, social stories, and circle of friends (Dalrymple, 1995). With this background, this writer's personal affiliations may be stated to highlight the need for this assignment. Conclusion Asperger's syndrome is a pervasive autism spectrum disorder which needs to be managed by special teaching skills. Research and literature have indicated more effective strategies for teaching these affected individuals. It is clear from this assignment that effective educative strategies implemented by the teaching staff need adequate supportive attitudes. This support must begin from detailed assessments of these individuals individually. Based on these needs assessments, the teaching professionals would design teaching techniques that are specially adapted. Only these would fail to achieve the goal unless the teachers also demonstrate a change in attitude towards these children. All these must happen in a restructured environment. As evident from the literature reviewed, inclusive placements of these young children can be effective if adequate support structures are in place. Since the basic problem lies in the area of social interaction, input from normal peers in an inclusive env ironment may have immensely beneficial impact on the form of social interactions of these children. The teaching staff may play important roles in these interactions since they can carefully structure and reinforce these interactions. It is also evident that the support system for these children and their teachers is less than adequate. Data

MANAGEMENT REPORT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

MANAGEMENT REPORT - Assignment Example The revenue from the natural resource makes the country rich. That is why the country has seen a sustained economic growth in last few years even though the rest of the world was suffering from global financial crisis. For years Qatar was among the fastest growing economy, but from the crisis period in 2008 it is among the top three countries in terms of the growth of GDP. The positive economic scenario allows the banking sector of Qatar to grow. Qatar is the place where the eastern sides meet western people. Apart from the domestic business houses, the hydrocarbon economy has attracted many foreign investors to invest in Qatar, Kerbaj (2006). The contribution of Petroleum is 70% of the government revenue, 85% of the export earning and more than 60% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. According to Shachmurove (2009) a very interesting fact about Qatar is that, there is no income tax for Qatari and GCC nationals. However, it is not a tax free country. Taxes are being collected from business houses, corporate and foreign investor. That is why the banking system in Qatar is bit different from the rest of the world. The apex bank of the country is Central Bank of Qatar. Many commercial bank and foreign banks are operating in the territory of the country. The banking system of Qatar is secure, well financed and well regulated. Regular banking services like, retail banking, corporate banking, branch banking, online banking, mobile banking, credit and debit facilities are available from the bank. Hasim & Chaker (2009) argued that, like in other parts of the world Qatar is also bending towards using new technologies in the banking system such as online banking and telephonic banking as these instruments have made banking easier and accessible. Elsamadisy et al. (2013) argued that, the banking scenario has seen a big change during the pre and post global financial crisis. The monetary policies and other banking policies

Retail Store Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Retail Store Design - Essay Example stores to asses the extend of the easiness in shopping for the customers. It was proposed to evaluate the degree of illumination in the shopping space, product shelves etc and a comparison across different stores on these factors and how it influenced the shoppers choice on selection of stores. Further, a comparison across the U.S. and U.K. stores was also carried out. The purpose of such comparison is to understand the pattern of change across the countries and the customer attitude behavior in the shopping in retail stores. Another major research question that is addressed here is on predicting the customer decision to shop in one store over the other. It could be due to different set of reasons and hence the research undertaken here must be able to expose the key factors that would drive the customer decision-making. in the retail store selection. In addition, it is also planned to have an evaluation on the effect of store lighting on the decision taken to shop in a particular sho p by the customer. The retail business segment is a very vibrant and dynamic area of commercial operations that demands specialized design of its building systems. The building envelope and interior features in the retail establishments are found to have direct influence on both the mental and physical well being of the occupants as well as the clients (Hiserdot, 2002). Incorporation of technology in the business operations have helped to bring tremendous transformation on the business functions and have also led to the innovative design of the functional space of the retail business unit. The two major components that design of a retail business unit must focus are design of interiors and establishing a favorable environment for effective the visual communication (Retail Systems, n.d.) Some of the specific interventions in the retail system designs are (i) Reliable and secure systems based on efficient automated systems and (ii) Solutions that are environmentally friendly and cost effective operation s (Salvador, et al. , 2006). The retail design process is a very rigid exercise involving large number of interconnected activities like the design of the exterior, floor plan creation with selling space demarcation, interior planning, placing of fixtures and merchandise on the shelves. Unlike the traditional approaches the design process is expected involves a thorough review of the past with clear understanding of the differences with the present. It is said to create a very rich design with the help of research data. To create a changing environment in the shopping space, it is better if the designs are considered as modular and flexible. The retail segment consists of large pool of trading stores. The primary classes of the retail trade are grocery stores, drug store, convenience store, discount stores and mass merchants, department stores, specialty stores, catalogue and internet shopping. Retail Drug Stores Drug stores are among the fastest growing retail stores. This is driven partially by aging baby boomers that require more healthcare products, but also as a strategy to siphon customers away from conventional stores. Consolidation in the industry has left three national players with several thousand stores each: Walgreens Drug, CVS and Rite Aid. The study undertaken here have chosen Walgreens drug and Rite aid as the samples for

Despite Criticisms Essay Example for Free

Despite Criticisms Essay 1. Despite criticisms, the classical approach to business management is still relevant today. Discuss one example to support this statement. (25%) Classical approach on management can be in terms of three major perspective: scientific management, Bureaucracy and administrative principles, which are emphasis on purpose and formal structure, for instance, planing of work, technical requirements of organisation, principles of management, etc. Although this idea was emerged at 19th century, it does influence the management style today and some of its ideas are still relevant. UPS, a well-known shipping, freight and logistics company globally, which is a very good example of using classical approach to their management in nowadays business, especially in the bureaucracy aspect. UPS is not only follow the idea of Max Weber (1864 1920), the advocate of the idea of bureaucracy and also a sociologist, that the separation of management and ownership like many companies today, but also focus on the impersonal and rational management. UPS set out a huge amount of rules, procedures and regulations on every departments, for example, They teach their drivers 340 steps for how to deliver a package correctly, such as how to load the truck, fasten their seat belt, walk, carry their keys, etc. Strict dress code is a must: clean uniform, black or brown polished shoes with nonslip soles, no beard, no hair below the collar, no tattoo visible during deliveries, and so on. They also has well division of labour: specialized drivers, loaders, clerks, washers, sorters and main tenance personnel. All of them have to do formal record keeping, like, drivers have daily worksheets that specify performance goals and work output. When UPS want to hiring or promote employees, technical qualification is the main criterion. UPS use those impersonal management style to avoid irrationality in order to be more efficient and adaptable to change, because continuity is related to formal structure and positions rather then particular person who may leave or even die. Also, those rules and procedures provide a standard way of dealing with employees. Hence, everyone gets equal treatment, and everyone knows what the rules are, this has enabled them to become efficient as well. Although, classical approach contribute a lot in todays management, it ignore the humanistic factory and psychological need. It may cause other problems, for instance, over relying on technical qualification ignore the human aspect, since working ability cannot only be measured by technical qualification. Moreover, If organisations lose the balance, employees may be frustrated by endless rules and red tape which may eventually lower the effectiveness. And it makes work become boring and repetitive, employees become a cog of a big machines, that would lead to high levels of absenteeism and labour turnover. That the reason why classical approach is not the mainstream of todays management, although its still relevant.

Death And Dying Changing Attitudes Through The Ages Sociology Essay

Death And Dying Changing Attitudes Through The Ages Sociology Essay The death process is permanent and predictable and it is known as the personal event that the person can never think. The history of deaths has been looked upon events of social importance and each and every culture has defined some rules and regulations to define death as an extraordinary passage and the way to deal with the outcomes. At the time of twentieth century, the terminology death along with its social definition has transformed and prepared extraordinary opportunities for the purpose of getting sociological inquiry. The decline in the mortality rate has been identified as most common feature within the social histories. Life expectancy rate the time of birth has increased from last 30 years in 1900 to 50 years.  Ã‚  It has been stated that almost two third part of longevity from ancient times to the present times has occurred in the short period from 1900 (Preston, 1976).  Ã‚   Death has been an inevitable event since the inception of mankind in this universe. There is always the worry among individuals towards the life and well being. The individuals are worried at one or the other instance for living their lives. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand what are the exact factors related to death and dying of humanity. An individual, if not dies, can result in disturbance of life cycle of this globe. This is not under the control of anyone to make amendments in this life cycle. The report here titled as, Death and dying: Changing attitudes through the ages; discusses about various factors that are affecting the lives of individuals. Report begins here with a clear focus laid on the aims of the report followed by research questions to understand the topic thoroughly. Various factors had been found of importance to be studied. There has always been a question in mind whether and how an individual behaves towards death and is it considered a positive aspect or not. How the individuals are are fear of death and what the right time of death is. These all aspects are explored in the report in below sections to have a thorough control over the research topic. 2 Aims and Research Question The research report here aims to understand the struggle that human being is facing since centuries. The change in philosophy associated with life is the main cause of change in attitude of human beings towards death. One can explore further this death on relating it with the time period in the life of human history. The western world has increasingly shifted towards change in conception for death due to rise in Christianity and the way it has affected lives (Aries, 1974). Therefore, the below are few stated research questions to explore further the concept of death and dying and the changing attitude:- Is death good or bad? How the attitude of individuals has changed towards death and dying? Is the man of today more worried against death? What is the right time of death? The discussion in this report would analyze various associated concepts to explore further the concept of death and dying in todays life. 3 Discussion Most of the deaths have occurred among the old aged ones but not among young generation people. The studies in United States reveal that people at the age of 85 years and above has accounted for almost one percent of entire population and they account for 17% of death (J. Brody, 1983). So the deaths have taken new meanings for the society and individual both. Death is not known as an adventitious part of life (Parson, 1963). Smaller number of lives has cut before completing education, work and social life (Preston, 1977). Fatalism provides a higher degree of control as well as predictability (Cf. Lofland, 1978). The delay in the death process has come up with the speed. The social institutions and norms have delayed it. It is not much surprising that death and its social meaning has gone off and the proper understanding of death has been reassessed by sociologists. From past two decades, a considerable literature as a quasi popular and scholarly type has been generated by number of p eople such as journalists, nurses, psychologists, philosophers, theologians, historians, ethicists, sociologists, social critics and thanatologists (cf. Fulton 1976, 1981; Pollak 1979-80).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The word dying is called as the ultimate shortage of time by Moore (1963) and it has taken a most important point that it has the power to threaten an individual self.  Ã‚  A famous person has given his  view on the sociological study of death that death always asks for an identity of an individual (Robert Fulton, 1976a).  Dying is known as the social process that focuses on the sociological issues that  are concerned with the process of dying and self. Researches have not clearly shown the actual conditions of dying. But one British study has talked about the dying among the patients who are living in this world and among the people who are known of their own attitude (Cartwright, Hockey Anderson, 1973).  Ã‚  The attitude of people towards death varies according to the ages and stages of life. Most of the people are living into later years and they have their own predicted on time deaths. A growing number of people are present at the position to consider the sense of thei r own deaths. Some sociologists have identified themselves engaged in the questions which are related to the death and its social meaning and its relation with the process of dying that how the topic of death is of great importance. What type of attitudes about death people have in their mind? What type of preparations they make for anticipating death (Riley, 1968)? The first survey in United States have found the attitude of people towards death and that survey was conducted in 1960s (Riley, 1970). That study has assessed the thought about deaths that most of the people at the all ages have non-threatening images of death in their mind. It has found that death is a blessing and it is not dreadful event for the person who dies but it is very sad for the survivors. The study also has revealed that death comes very quickly and few people have argued that death means the people have to suffer a lot. There was significant increase found in the degree to which the deaths process imposed upon the everyday lives of people. People were asked about an uncertainty of deaths or their lives. It has been found that death as a part of thoughts increased among the person at all ages and it increased in the later years of the lives of people. The researchers have found that people are unwilling meet with these realities. In 1970s, people agreed that each person die with the dignity and if the person has died, then the person has to tell it to doctors. Some studies have also taken place within the topic of anticipation of death. There was one question asked that do the people feel good to avoid the deaths and not try to make plans for anticipating deaths? Do they feel to make plans for death?  Ã‚   3.1 Self destruction The case of the sociological relationships of the person to the death which is known as suicide was taken. There were some sociological studies conducted on the topic dying and death (Cavan 1928; Halbwachs 1930; Henry Short 1954; Dublin 1963; Gibbs Martin 1964; Douglas 1967). Several studies have taken place on the social factors that are related with the rates of suicide. Several measures were taken such as industrialization which was identified by the gross national product and the status of integration. It has been founds that status integration was negatively correlated with the suicide rates.  Ã‚  Other study revealed about the suicide rates which were related with the family and their marital status and it was based on Durkheim theory.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.2 Self management of death time It has been stated by several studies that people who are concerned with the relationship of themselves to the society are self motivated for managing the time of their deaths. It has assumed that the determination to live the life without identifying any biological linkages. It must b involved within thistopic (Marshall, 1980).  Ã‚  The people who are separated from the society always commit suicide and the people who are attached with it, delay the death or try to observe the time of getting social significance (Kalish, 1970). It has been proposed that deaths can be expected at the time of social occasions such as the Jewish day of compensation (Yom Kippur; Phillips Feldman, 1973).  From the year 1904-1968, researcher had found the difference between the deaths in non election as well as election years. They found that there was significant difference in the mortality rates of US people before electing US president. Some researchers have shown the fact about the low mortality rates just before to ceremonial occasions and the researcher found strong relationships between the death and the birthdays. The theory was that the people at their birthdays receive attention from the people (Philips, 1972).  Ã‚   3.3 Social Stressors and the Self Several sociological studies have talked about the social outcome for the lives of people along with fundamental changes during the period of industrial relocations, retirement, and institutionalization and at the time of economic depression. The mortality rates depend on these variables. It has been predicted that retirement is known as a stressful event which lead the higher rates of death for retirees as compared to the people who works. Life long work is considered as the stressor and retirement variable acts as the moderator that increases longevity. It has been revealed by the studies that mortality rate among the early and normal retirees within the major industries are different. The mortality rate of early retiree was higher than the predicted rates. The mortality rate in case of normal retirees was no different between the normal and expected rates. Some data was taken out from the companies such as pension, medical records, personnel etc. 4 Findings 4.1 Death is good? If you are born to this world, you are probable completely to experience death at one time or the other because death is inevitable. The point is whether death is a good thing to experience or is it a bad one? Everyone living in this society faces death at one or the other instance. No one is born eternal. An individual dies and ends his or her life at certain age due to natural or accidental death (Lynch, 1997). There are thousands of ways in which a human being can die. This death adds to the fear in mind of humanity. Human beings fear of this uneven cause at one or the other time. Death is acceptable for some people, while others fear against death (Nagel, 1970). The pain and fear of death can be dangerous. At such an instance, it becomes important to result in an approach to ensure that a person lives for long; however, the human beings have no control over this mandatory part of life that results into end of life. A human being feels comfortable considering death is for all and there is no loss of it if anyone faces it. All the human beings have to face death one or the other day. The human beings shall live their days and take complete enjoyment of it. One shall not be worried for his death at the entire instance, but shall be aware of comfort and enjoyment throughout his life. Humanity has to take due interest of this and live his life. While on looking at other side, people consider life as most important asset for them. Life is of supreme importance and there is the life is priceless. Therefore, it brings into attention whether life is most important for one? Yes it is as per the point that life is everything for a human being and the loss of life means the greatest loss that can be in ones life. There is no positive or negative aspect associated with it though. Human beings give away everything for the sake of life. This brings into attention the importance of life. Shall we live our life without any tension or shall we keep on worrying because of no importance of life? It is true that all the human beings want to live more and more. But, can one live for eternity? None of the human beings is here to be here. The life cycle keeps on rotating and the human beings die. Thus, from the above discussion it can be noted that the point whether death is good is a complex point to be cleared. It is not easy to find the right way in which we can consider whether death is good for a person or if it is not. There comes the need to assist in the way to come up to know whether death is good or not (Nagel, 1970). If the age has gone for an individual to live, the death could be a favourable point for him. However, it is still tough to say that death can be good. On the other hand, in case someone dies due to an accident or any uncertain reason, it is an unfavourable act for him. 4.2 Death- A change in Perception Death has been a point of sorrow since long when the conceptual designs by Holbein demonstrated the paintings of dead Christ with a sorrowful act (Julia, 1989). The perception of individual towards the death changes with the passage of time. For a child, death is not defined. However, in the adulthood, it becomes a fear factor for most of the human beings. The human beings consider it as the real cause of danger at their stage when the love to live. Therefore, individuals perception is quite conservative at this stage. However, the old aged people are not usually worried of death due to the reason that they already lived their life. Nagel (1970) has argued that people do not fear for death because of non existence for long term because of this. One does not consider life as suspended for a short period of time because this is considered as a misfortune. It can be a pity for those who get out of the circulation of life. One is not conceived, but is born for once. The point always exists in mind for the fear of death in humanity. Being dead is not an event but a curse as per the humanity. The consideration is laid on living for the whole life without any risk. However, the risks are always related with the life. One cannot be at a state of complete risk free life. The time does not demonstrate whether the state of life would be at complete risk free state. Therefore, the need exists at such an instance to life for the society. As per the interviews conducted by Barnes (2008), responses were collected with regard to existence of God. These provided the details of self reflection along with clarifying important them es of writings. Barnes (2008) says that he does not trust for existence of God, but he misses God. 4.3 Man of today- Worried of death The man in todays life is more worried of death (Julian, 2008). On looking at the past records of Renaissance and mediaeval times, it can be noted that death was amongst the community events. The family members band together with each other to share the moments of sorrow at such an instance. This helps them be with each other at typical instances. This was considered as the reason for being together. However, the concept has changed into a religion in todays time. None of the character is rigid in itself right from the beginning to the end, as there are continuous changes in thought process (Troyer, 2007). Today, it is usual to share the moments of sorrow with each other at hospital to share the tough times with each other. This helps in confining the complex situation with each other to give some support in these times. However, the fear of death is one and the same on comparing time of past and that of present. The death is such an instance which gets out of the scope of an understanding of human being. This even can occur anytime and anywhere with anyone, no matter what the situation and setting is with the surrounding. An individual conceives death as a complex phenomenon. The death has been a point of worry right from the time it was recorded long- long ago when the humanity started. It is a simple concept in everyones mind that life is the cause of joys and death is the cause of sorrows. There is a paradigm shift in the concept associated with death. This was the concept quite personal in historic times, but has become individualistic at present instance. This raises the need for higher degree of need for maintaining and regulating the tough situations to assure that the mankind is out of danger. If an individual gets ready to face the time of death, he can do so. The human psychology is the main factor that can result in death or life of a human being (Michel, 2003). The perception of an individual depends on his life and profession with regard to death. Doctors and nurses who are operating surrounded by death of people all around one or the other day, consider this as the normal phenomenon at usual instance, while others take it as a tough one. The main factor is the relatedness of death with the person who is suffering from it. This characteristic affects the humanity in one or the other way. 4.4 Dreadful act- Is there right time for it There has always been a conception in mind, what is the right age for death? One considers life as an important part right from his birth to the time the human being leaves his life (Nagel, 1970). Therefore, the life of humanity is always a good opt for individuals. But, one looking at the real life, we can note a number of events when the individual wishes to leave his life due to some or the other reason. This acts against the humanity and the living being gives up against his life. This may be at early stages of life or might take place at later stages. When an individual feels uncomfortable of his body and physique, the chances are there for taking an interest of ending ones life. However, these chances even increases more when the human being is not comfortable mentally due to some or the other reason. This acts quite badly against the humanity and the life is at risk. The death is an imminent part of ones life as one cannot survive always. The most common components associated with life are death, vision, and premonitions (Crissman, 1994). The situation of promotions are not easy to be faced as it is the time when one knows that he is going to die within short span. This is the main factor that acts against the life and well being. The person gets worried due to this factor. This knowing of the situation can be due to some magical reason, or be supernatural, or through the natural sign or inner conviction (Crissman, 1994). The condition rises to take due care of such an instance; else the chances are there for risk against life and well being. Thereon, the humanity survives only due to the situational success (Bryant, 2003). However, historic people were during the Appalachian culture focused more depending on superstition. 5 Conclusion For the topic titled as, Death and dying: Changing attitudes through the age, the topic was noted to be highly complex in actual sense. It was found that the researchers are contributing well to the research topic since the last century. This demonstrates high degree of interest among the individuals towards this concept. The death is always under the consideration to postpone because of increasing awareness and interest among individuals to live their lives. There is always the moral dilemma related to the euthanasia among individuals. However, the case of fear is increasingly getting over the lives. Increasingly individuals get involved in wrongful act. This has raised the accidents of suicides to a higher degree. The death in todays time has shifted towards being more and more deadly. Individuals take more interest in being attracted towards enlarged life. However, the change in attitude of man is still not much different as compared to that of historic times. There is still the importance laid on lives and humanity. This raised the attention among individuals to live for longer duration. On the other hand, the complex lives in todays time has resulted in increased the complexity of humanity. This further adds to the pressure on the mind of individuals leading them to depression and thus resulting in wrongful acts. There is no time for death until the end of hope of an individual. This point out increasing interest among individuals to live and enjoy their lives with not much interest laid on the other factors. The fear against death is therefore a phenomenon which does not seem to decrease even after decades. Individuals would be keeping living their lives for more and more years, in spite of this being an uncontrollable variable for individuals.

Platon le Professeur: Une Interprétation Pédagogique du Théétète de Pla

Platon le Professeur: Une Interprà ©tation Pà ©dagogique du Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te de Platon ABSTRACT: The author argues that the true unity of the Theaetetus is to be found in its purpose as an example of philosophical teaching to the students of the academy. Le lecteur du Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te peut difficelement à ©viter de se poser des questions sur son caractà ¨re gà ©nà ©ral, sur sa fonction, son intention et sur sa place au sein de l'actività © philosophique de Platon pendant la pà ©riode à   laquelle il appartient; ces questions sont lià ©Ãƒ ©s à   une autre, celle de l'unità © de l'oeuvre. I. Commenà §ons par cette dernià ¨re: dans quelle mesure peut-on dire que le Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te jouit d'une certaine "unità ©"? Selon le dialogue lui-mà ªme la question: qu'est-ce que le savoir? reà §oit successivement trois rà ©ponses et toutes les trois sont rejetà ©es, à   la suite de quoi Socrate rappelle le thà ¨me de la maà ®eutique qu'on a rencontrà © au dà ©but de la discussion. Il y a donc apparemment deux permanances: la question de la dà ©finition du savoir et l'intention maà ®eutique du dialogue. Mais cette "unità ©" est bien extà ©rieure. L'actività © maà ®eutique porte à ©videmment sur les trois dà ©finitions successives du savoir. Or, il y a lieu de douter de l'existence d'un lien và ©ritable entre les trois, en particulier entre la premià ¨re et la seconde. D'autre part, on peut montrer que le sens d'epistà ªmà ª change d'une partie à   l'autre du dialogue, et l'on ne voit pas trà ¨s clairement si la discussion porte sur l'epistà ªmà ª (le savoir) ou sur l'epistasthai (savoir) ou encore sur la pensà ©e (ce qui est le cas effectivement dans la plus grande partie du dia logue). L'unità © du sujet peut à ªtre donc sà ©rieusement mise en doute. Mà ªme la permanence des interlocuteurs n'est pas aussi à ©vidente qu'il paraà ®t. En effet, il ... ...l'ignorance, c'est l'opinion fausse (comme dit le dialogue d'ailleurs à   un certain moment); nous pouvons penser aussi à   Isocrate. Les traductions seront celles de Dià ¨s. (2) La discussion sur l'erreur a, aux yeux de Socrate lui-mà ªme, la valeur d'une digression: il reconnaà ®t en effet (200 c-d) son tort d'avoir entrepris cette discussion avant d'arriver à   une dà ©finition de la science, ce qui est une volte-face (de toute à ©vidence feinte) pouvant avoir comme signification que toute cette discussion est, par rapport au sujet du dialogue, une parenthà ¨se qui pouvait à ªtre à ©vità ©e; cf. encore 187 d oà ¹ Socrate hà ©site à   soulever ce problà ¨me. (3) Le sens "pensà ©e", pour doxa, est cependant dominant dans la digression sur l'erreur (187 d-200 b). (4) Rappelons que la solution du Sophiste ne passe pas par la dà ©finition de la science. (5) Cità © par Dià ¨s, Notice, p. 141.

Mans Transition to Agriculture Essay -- History, Neolithic Revolution

During mans transition to agriculture human achievements were both interesting and essential even though archeologists needed to interpret the remains of tools, cave paintings and burial sites. The social norms adopted during this period led to the creation of society as we know it today. Agriculture led to the formation of more complex societies where people were able to settle in one place for longer periods focus on economic, political, and religious goals which helped to increase the number of people in the world. On the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt emerged civilizations affected the history of the eastern half of the Mediterranean. Theses civilizations led to formation of cities and increased urbanization over a vast period of time. On the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt emerged civilizations that were to have profound influence on the history of the eastern half of the Mediterranean. The rise of these civilizations, led to increased urbanization, and the formation of states. (Bogucki, 1999) During this period people lived off what they came across, off the animals they hunted, and the plants they gathered. The people were constantly moving to areas were animals were more abundant which kept them constantly on the moving to new areas in search of new food sources. This meant that some groups of people could remain in one area for longer periods of time, sheltered from the elements in primitive huts and caves. The next step in mans development was the transition to an entirely new way of life characterized by greater control of nature. Man started to cultivate the cereals which he had always gathered as wild plants, and domesticat... ...as possible to stand with one foot in a green field and the other in the dry desert sand. Secondly, being totally surrounded by uninhabitable land Egypt was far less accessible than Mesopotamia and consequently far more isolated from the outside world. This difference had major political consequences in that the history of Egypt was fairly stable and static with little interference from the outside world. Mesopotamia faced constant invasions from others. Many of the invaders assumed control and founded new empires. However, a considerable degree of continuity was preserved in Mesopotamia because most newcomers adapted to the current cultural traditions. (Zvelebil, 2009) With agriculture human beings were able to settle in one place and focus on economic, political, and religious goals and activities along with increasing the number of people in the world.

Elegy for Himself Essay -- Elegy for Himself Chidiock Tichborne Essays

Elegy for Himself Tichborne was not even thirty when he was executed and his bitterness at his life ending almost before it is begun can be seen. 'And now I die and now I am but made:' He was sentenced to death for being part of a Catholic plot to murder Elizabeth. He wrote this poem just three days before he was to meet with death. The tone of Tichborne's poem is one of regret and sorrow that his life is being ended before it's time and that what is left of his life will be very unpleasant. In Elegy For Himself we can tell that its verses are sextains - six lined verses with a rhyming scheme ababcc. What is both interesting and unusual in Tichborne's structure is the strength of the caesura in every line - the pause in the middle of a metrical line. The poem has 5 beats and adds to the melancholic feeling with its sad, slow rhythm. When I read this poem and truly hear it, I picture a man huddled in the corner of his cell, awaiting death, listening to the slow plodding sounds of the jailor's feet, who comes to take yet another man to his fate. I also can imagin...

Premier Furniture

Premier Furniture Company It was mid-Aprll. and Richard Zimmerman, credit analyst for the Premier Furniture Company, was completing his first round of credit reviews for 1984. Two of his accounts†Deslgners, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Walcott Department Stores of Hartford, Connecticut†had moved well beyond the credit limits set by Premier. It was Zimmerman's Job to determine the appropriate corrective steps. After his third look at the customer file for Designers, Inc. Zimmerman was still undecided. He had evaluated the account as â€Å"satisfactory† In his annual review in early 1983, but his reservations at that time were not lessened by the performance in fiscal 1984. It was evident that the substantial sales to Designers in the last three months did not necessarily signal an Improved relationship. Zimmerman was also troubled by the most recent numbers of Walcott Department Stores. Walcott had been a reliable account since 1951 but had posted a large o perating loss in fiscal 1984.His review was further complicated by the tact that the owners had recently opened stores in Worcester and Springfield, Massachusetts. Although Walcott's future obviously depended on how the branch stores fared, Zimmerman had no reason to assume their success or failure. 4h*fi, Designers (ffL+Uee, , FM-x-r eve, It was obvious to Zimmerman that the Designers and Walcott accounts invited a raised eyebrow, but given Premier's credit policy the numbers came as no surprise. quality home furniture for distribution to dealer cooperatives, independent home furnishing retailers, and regional furniture chains.The company advertised its lines nationally and attempted to maintain intensive coverage of trading areas by istributing through stores strategically located with a particular marketing area. Beginning in 1975, however, Premier found that product quality and service no longer assured success in the broad range of outlets the company had cultivated. Credit ter ms and financing of dealers became a critical marketing tool, and in the words of credit manager Karl Freund, â€Å"Premier soon found itself backed into the position of supporting numerous customers in order to maintain adequate distribution for its products. Unfortunately, Premier's heavy financing of dealers coincided with a national credit squeeze and higher interest rates on borrowed money. tg ¦, Zimmerman was also aware that many of Premier's customers had waited out more than seven years of a relatively soft market only to suffer a noticeable decline in sales in the late summerand early fall of 1983. As in previous downturns, stores featuring lower-priced lines were hit first, followed by quality retailers at the end of the year.Although the decline in sales was not severe, the drop in volume and subsequent price cutting reduced the profit margins of some retailers enough to offset profits earned in the first half of 1983. As might be expected, the downturn in the market w as quickly passed on to manufacturers. Many of Premier's customers tightened their belts by reducing orders for new lines and reorders for established lines. They believed that the price cutting in the second half of 1983 had resulted in considerable overbuying by consumers, and they were therefore anticipating a downturn in sales.The dramatic drop in orders affected manufacturers across the country. Orders for shipment fell 10% from February to March, and then an additional 20% from March to April. E-fifi f&fllikh, lit, Alpha The Designers and Walcott files sat on his desk awaiting his decision, but Zimmerman was still mulling over the contradictions posed by the files. He knew, for instance, that Walcott enjoyed fairly steady sales throughout the year and that 50% were cash or charge sales. The remaining sales were installment purchases which called for 25% down and the balance in 6 monthly payments.Premier, on the other hand, supposedly sold on terms of 3% in 10 days, net in 60 d ays†and had established a $50,000 limit on Designers and a $75,000 limit on Walcott. In truth, Premier's terms had become negotiable. Zimmerman was also frustrated by the fact that Karl Freund expected to see a foot on the brake while the sales manager was pressuring him to ut both feet on the gas. Given his Job, Zimmerman believed that it was in the company's interest to know the difference between a good customer and a bad risk.But with the sales manager insisting that liberal financing was the only way to spark an upturn in orders, Zimmerman felt caught in an impossible position. The time had come to seek the advice of the company's credit manager. Five minutes after collecting the essential information from each file (see Exhibits 1 through 5), Zimmerman placed the folder in the hands of Karl Freund. f&RhF, 1511? ±0, , premier, â€Å"†fifi, Q, fi-nmew,?- ¦, fi-nmeilfr, A credit analyst for a furniture manufacturer is confronted with two customers who have exceed ed their credit limits.The financial performance of each has been weak, and one of the customers has a highly leveraged balance sheet. Industry conditions are weak; the manufacturer apparently has excess capacity; and the credit analyst is caught between the conflicting demands of the sales managers and the credit manager. The case provides an opportunity for ratio analysis. The Premier Furniture Company of Newfield, North Carolina, centers on manufacturing high-quality home furniture for distribution.By 1975, Premier found that product quality and service no longer assured success in the markets they were in; therefore, credit terms and financing of dealers became a critical marketing tool. Regrettably, Premier's weighty financing of dealers corresponded with a national credit squeeze and higher interest rates on borrowed money. In 1984, Richard Zimmerman, the credit analyst for the Premier Furniture Company, took over the task of assessing the financial health of Premier's custome rs. Two of their accounts, exceeded the credit limits previously set by Premier. Premier had to make a decision on Designers Inc. d Walcott†they needed to fgure out the difference between good customers and bad credit risk. premiefiwzb,

The Need To Provide Quality Education African Children Education Essay

For bulk of African kids, instruction represents the lone solution of a life of frozen poorness. Across the continent, a big figure of kids presently survive on less than one dollar a twenty-four hours. Children who can read, compose and make some arithmetic can trust to acquire better paid occupation in future. But school is much more than merely occupation accomplishments. It plays an progressively of import function assisting kids protect themselves against the diseases which can destruct hapless communities. Simple information on daily hygiene and bar saves lives and keeps the households together. Finally, A school physiques coherence, community and assurance. Educated kids are less opportunity to go victims of force and maltreatment. They are more likely to put in bettering their community when they are grown. And the follow-on effects of even basic instruction rapidly multiply, as kids who have benefited from schooling themselves strive to procure even better chances for their ain households. In Africa, it ‘s common for schools be shut down because of wars and political convulsion. Genocide in Darfur, civil war in Liberia, war in Cote d'Ivoire and economic discord in Zimbabwe have all shut down schools and deprived pupils. Schools in many states in Africa are plagued with corruptness, cheating and force. Schools are besides short on instructors and supplies. Even though instruction is free, compulsory until age 15 and schools besides provide a nutrition and HIV/AIDS consciousness plan still instruction is interrupted by force in many African countries.A In order to better the instruction systems throughout Africa, attempts have to be made to halt the force and wars by implementing economic countenances and weaponries embargos. The fiscal crisis had halted betterments in instruction for kids in destitute states. If education budgets are non protected from the depredations of the fiscal crisis all the advancement could be jeopardized and coevalss will be condemned to poverty. A More than $ 4 billion yearly would be lost from instruction budgets in sub-Saharan Africa due to the impact of the planetary economic crisis which accounts to around 15 % bead in resources for each primary school pupil. Every 3.6 seconds one individual dies of famishment in Africa. Usually it is a kid under the age of 5. Poverty hits kids the hardest. While a terrible deficiency of goods and services hurts every homo, it is most baleful to kids ‘s rights: endurance, wellness and nutrition, instruction, engagement, and protection from injury and development. It creates an environment that is damaging to kids ‘s development in every manner – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.A More than 1 billion kids are deprived of at least one of the indispensable goods and services they require to last, turn and develop. They have no entree to sanitation installations and non even safe H2O which causes about 4000 deceases per twenty-four hours. Attempts should be made to supply safe H2O and helps displaced communities replace or happen new H2O resources and construct latrines. There should be awareness and monitoring of the issues likeA hazard of abduction, sexual force and development o f kids, battle for shelter, instruction etc. and tougher Torahs for kid users. Population Explosion is another factor which compels to supply more emphasis on instruction in Africa. The implicit in cause for predominating jobs such as population addition, poorness and high mortality rates is low or no instruction for adult females in Africa. There would be no development promotion unless adult females received instruction. In destitute countries of Africa, it is still a pattern to put precedence on male child ‘s schooling, while misss are expected to assist with housekeeping or agriculture. Womans who have no or small opportunity of having an instruction are normally forced to get married at a immature age, which frequently leads to multiple childbearings in unsure conditions and frequently stop up with no cognition of how to salvage themselves from the hazard of infection or HIV. So finally it makes more hard for female parents to give due consideration to the nutrition, wellness and hygiene of their babes. Family be aftering to command the population de tonation and betterment in wellness systems installations are needed in those destitute countries. Educated Womans are likely to get married tardily and have healthy babes. They would be more fruitful to household in financially and wellness wise. All these challenges emphasize the demand to supply quality instruction which will be cost effectual and will embrace all multitudes. Use of latest technological inventions can do this possible. Use of engineerings like Distance instruction and linguistic communication interlingual rendition can supply pupils with instruction in their linguistic communication and at their ain gait. Making usage of Unified Software engine utilizing Software Stability Model will assist in planing and constructing systems that are stable, scalable and long lasting. Besides utilizing these engineerings the demand for big substructures is mostly reduced thereby cut downing their cost. As leaving instruction utilizing advanced engineerings does non necessitate the presence of teacher on the site, pupils can avail seamless instruction at their ain convenience. This will cut down their dependence on presence of a trained facilitator. Using graphical and ocular tools the quality of instruction received by the se deprived multitudes can be greatly enhanced. As rapid growing in technological development, more and more tools and inventions can be utilized to better quality of instruction distribution. To cover with the challenges faced by pupils in Africa we need to follow few steps to get the better of them which are as follows:1. Distance EducationDistance instruction is a engineering that aims to present instruction to pupils who are physically non present at the educational site. It helps pupils to derive entree to larning stuff even if the pedagogue or larning stuff and the scholar are separated by clip or distance or both. This engineering is being widely used across the universe by many universities and educational establishments. It provides pupils the freedom to analyze from place and survey at their ain convenient clip. Surveies prove that due to prevailing economic crisis in many states in the African continent there is a significant lessening in budget devoted to development of educational systems. These states have to pull off their scarce budgets to supply quality instruction to pupils. This emphasizes the demand to develop educational systems that require less cost to develop and keep but at the same clip make non compromise on the quality of instruction. Use of engineerings like Distance instruction which require less cost and still supply good quality of instruction are the key. Distance instruction engineering will assist in making the disadvantaged pupils in Africa who either can non go to schools due to poverty or they are populating really far off from school or educational centre. Schools that have significant financess can put in supplying installations required for distance acquisition like computing machines and internet connexion. Distance instruction makes usage of stuff reuse and the stuff can be stored for long continuance so distance instruction does non necessitate much substructure to keep and cut down the cost of the whole educational system. Different categories of adult females who are otherwise deprived of any signifier of formal instruction can profit mostly from distance instruction installations. Womans who are homemakers are required to be at place all the clip can sit at place and survey without doing any perturbation in their matrimony and maintain on taking attention of their kids while analyzing. Another group of adult females who are denied instruction because it requires face to confront interaction with facilitators will greatly profit from distance instruction as they can prosecute instruction by maintaining safe distance from the teachers and still entree quality instruction. Womans who are uneducated but working to supply for their household can profit from larning at their ain convenience and clip. It will increase their self- regard and besides assist them to heighten their calling through instruction. This undertaking will supply pupils with a web site accessing which pupils can register and make user histories.They can log in to these histories and registry for classs they are interested in. They can entree the stuff that they require online and besides log in to go to on-line categories provided on the site. The University Of South Africa ( UNISA ) is one such establishment that provides encouragement to higher instruction. It is one of the largest establishments in the universe that boasts over 120,000 registered pupils analyzing for makings, through the doctorial degree.2. Language TranslationLanguages play an of import function in larning procedure. Many of the African states that are multilingual are unable to entree engineering because of the linguistic communication barrier. The linguistic communication of extension of engineering is different from their native linguistic communication. Hence they can non utilize the services provided by these engineerings. Language interl ingual rendition tools are tools that can be used to change over learning stuffs, paperss and besides web pages from English linguistic communication into some other linguistic communication of involvement. If the educational and other of import content available on the cyberspace is non provided in local linguistic communication so it is of no usage of this information. Extensive usage of any peculiar linguistic communication in importance correspondences like authorities notices, stamps, and official invitations can do ignorance about their rights among people. Language here is non merely a agency of communicating but besides has societal impact. Use of linguistic communication interlingual rendition tools to change over larning stuff into native linguistic communications can take the demand for pupils to analyze a figure of foreign linguistic communications. Advancement of pupils will besides be faster as the stuff in their native linguistic communication will be easy to understand than any foreign linguistic communication. Therefore hapless people who have really less chances for deriving instruction can do most of it. This will rush up their acquisition procedure and increase their opportunities of availing higher instruction and accordingly earn better life. Uneducated population of adult females is one of the causes taking to population detonation in Africa. When a adult female is educated she can take attention of whole household and herself. Womans need to be educated about daily hygiene demands and wellness concerns. They should be able to understand the demand for proper attention of babes which will assist diminish infant mortality rate. Education installations are made available to adult females in their native linguistic communications through usage of Language Translation tools. Learning about of import issues through their ain female parent lingua can hold permanent consequence on these adult females even if they are non really educated. This undertaking will supply installation to interpret available stuff in selected linguistic communications. Registered users can subject the papers that they wish to acquire translated in any of the linguistic communication available. They can so entree the stuff in the linguistic communication they are comfy with. Among a figure of organisations that provide linguistic communication interlingual rendition, ‘web-lingo ‘ is one such organisation based in South Africa. This organisation offers both proficient every bit good as untechnical interlingual rendition solutions to net development and package companies to interpret their content into and from about 85 linguistic communications. One of their undertakings includes a plan that runs on top of standard Microsoft Office Software.3. Seamless Education:Seamless Education system as one that represents an incorporate construct of instruction that stretches from early childhood through a four-year college grade.It breaks do wn between high school and college, faculty members and career/technical instruction and public instruction and the workplace. The intent of seamless instruction is to fix â€Å" capable citizens, † whether or non they attend school or college. So instructors align classs and make interdisciplinary undertakings. It is an attempt to increase high school completion rates, trial tonss, school/college registration, occupation arrangements, economic conditions, household support. The key to economic development is an educated work force. If Africans have to take a better life they must fit their kids and grandchildren with the accomplishments needed to be educated and employed. A seamless system of instruction will guarantee that we have an educated and prepared work force to get the better of all the challenges impeding their growing and development. Education is cardinal to all issues. If our following coevals is educated they can be employed and will work at well-paid occupations. If finance is there economic conditions, wellness conditions, sanitation, poorness all will surely better. The major challenge is to do instruction easy accessible to everyone in the continent. This can be really good accomplished with seamless instruction system. Teachers from all over universe should be invited to map out which constructs should be taught and when will those be taught. The basic categories such as English linguistic communication humanistic disciplines, mathematics, scientific discipline and societal surveies should be must. To get down with kindergartners should be encouraged. Womans Education should be encouraged. Educational governments envision a seamless instruction system get downing with early childhood come oning through general instruction and preparation, higher and big instruction. Another issue is that a big figure of pupils enroll in Fieldss of commercialism and wellness scientific discipline. This creates a major instability between humanistic disciplines and humanistic disciplines on one manus and engineering and scientific discipline on the other manus. The end product of alumnuss in Fieldss of scientific discipline and engineering should increase to equilibrate the ratio between proficient and university pupils. It is believed that seamless instruction will assist in bettering the balance to a important extent. Health Conditions can besides better by supplying instruction in Fieldss of medical specialty. Access to quality medical specialties are needed to better wellness conditions. So entree to acquire choice intervention should be in scope of affordability, acceptableness and physical handiness. Proper preparation to workforce is needed to organize medical specialties direction from physician degree to patient degree. Unfortunately druggists and pharmaceutics support forces are really few in Africa. Trainings are besides provided but at deficient graduated table. So the cardinal solution to scale up wellness conditions is to increase figure of qualified druggists via higher instruction via seamless instruction system. Some of the major ends of a Seamless System can be as: Smoothing pupil passages from one degree of larning to the following. Closing the accomplishment spread between white and minority pupils. Balancing the ratio of proficient and human scientific discipline pupils. Strengthening relationships between households and schools. Making a wider scope of larning experiences and chances for pupils in the concluding two old ages of high school. Bettering institute ‘s preparedness and success.4. Animations and Visual images:The challenge to supply instruction to pupils is how to educate them to hold a solid impact in their acquisition. In layperson footings, Animations, a type of optical semblance, are graphical shows that evolve overtime. A It could be pulling, objects, or people in assorted places of linear motion. However, when played, it produces a watercourse of unbroken gesture of images. Dwelling of a series of drawings or exposure on paper, life can be viewed with a mechanical device or tossing through handheld sequence of images. Animations could be seen on movies, picture, or computing machines. Visual images on other manus include inactive show of graphical images. Visual images can absorb a batch of information and show in a mode so that it memorizes. A AnimationA has a topographic point in acquisition and instructional applications.Programs that usage lifes or visual images attract student involvement and offer feedback that can heighten different acquisition manners. Animation is a great schoolroom activity, leting instructors and pupils to research and develop a more originative clip tabular array in Math, Science, English and many subject countries. Bing merriment, originative and hands-on acquisition, life encourages both instructors and pupils as they use simple IT pattern, and is unambiguously suited to all schoolrooms. The online centres website will be been designed to portion illustrations, resources, thoughts and attacks to life in instruction. All the life movies featured will be available to pupils and instructors to heighten the acquisition procedure. Animation can used to supply excess aid where it is needed. Content – related artworks ( both inactive and life ) and picture can assist better pupil attitudes and motive in certain topics, chiefly mathematics and scientific discipline.Technical Feasibility of the undertaking:All the above engineerings proposed that will be used in the edifice of the undertaking are available in the market. Labor demands for the undertaking: The undertaking will necessitate Senior flat direction including Project director and Professional staff including Software developers and Analysts. Office staff is required to pull off the centres. Physical location of the undertaking: It will necessitate a centre where pupils can see. The centre must be located in Africa. Technology Requirements: Computer Hardware and Software: The undertaking will necessitate computing machine systems with latest constellations and package. A database waiter and networking engineering to link client and waiter machines is required. Besides some basic systems that can be used by pupils to entree the stuff and information is needed. Internet connexion: High velocity cyberspace connexion is required.Commercial feasibleness:Fundss will be acquired from Education commissions that work towards development of instruction in Africa every bit good as from other developed states that allot financess in their budgets to assist educational systems in Africa.Technical Challenges:Choosing location of the instruction centre in Africa. If no cyberspace installation is available in distant countries, so towers will be needed for supplying internet connexion.Commercial Potential:The investing done in the undertaking will assist to supply quality instruction to pupils in Africa. Although there will be no touchable net income the return on our investing will be obtained by accomplishing development of African states through spread of instruction

BBC The Next Five Years Essay

Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate the information strategy of the BBC. Having reviewed the various modes of enquiry, we have decided that the unbounded mode is the most appropriate in this instance. Using this, we have investigated the BBCs’[1] IS strategy, examining the external factors that may have an affect upon its planning and design. In addition we have reviewed other issues pertinent to the BBC to determine the possible negative of these might have on the strategy. Finally we have looked at the next five years to evaluate the relevance that significant advances over that period might have on the BBC IS strategy. Enquiry system   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In compiling this report we need first to decide what method we are going to plan our research upon. There are five basic enquiry modes ranging from the simple to the complex and innovative. Enquiry Modes 1) Inductive-Consensual   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the words suggest this mode of enquiry relies upon one reaching a single conclusion by using a restricted range of interpretations, for example from previous researches into the subject matter. The result is influenced by the general consent of these opinions. For example if one asked the question â€Å"Is public service broadcasting superior to commercial,† and this was only put to BBC employees, the consensus is likely to answer affirmatively. 2) Analytic-deductive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This mode approaches the problem or enquiry from a different aspect. In this case the problem is broken down into its component parts. Each one of these parts is then analysed and tested for logic. Once this process is complete a formula is used to build the results from the analysis of those parts into a single solution that addresses the problem. 3) Dialectic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the more complex of the enquiry modes, the dialectic mode is based upon conflict or different viewpoints. It does not question the data, simply the views that are expressed about it, working on the basis that by discussion of the variance a logical conclusion will be reached. A relevant argument for this mode would be the discussion about whether the BBC should be allowed to sell advertising space in the same way that the commercial media does. 4) Multiple reality   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Multiple reality recognizes that people will approach problems from a predetermined viewpoint, based upon their own experience and training. For example an Accountant will look at the commissioning of a new revolutionary BBC sit-com from a different angle of the program planner. This process therefore relies upon the problem being addressed from a number of viewpoints, which will essentially come up with a range of conclusions. 5) Unbounded systems thinking   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This modes works on the basis that, in any given situation, all modes of enquiry are automatically brought to bear, and therefore cannot be separated. Thus, when addressing a problem every viewpoint and conclusion needs to be taken into account. Similarities and differences   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of the modes described above have similarities. All five rely upon the fact that there is a situation to be addressed in the first place. Additionally the point of the exploration, review and analysis of this problem, for all of the modes is to a) gain knowledge and b) reach a conclusion based on that knowledge, or a solution to the hypothesis or problem posed. Modes 1 and 2 above are similar to the extent that they both have a singular approach to the subject matter, relying upon one viewpoint (or consensus) being the input and the result.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With modes 3 and 4 the similarities are that both look for a range of viewpoints from which to approach a subject and neither attempt or profess to reach a singular conclusion, preferring instead to provide multiple conclusions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mode 5, in theory, displays the most similarity to all of the others. This is simply because it works on the premises that, in the real world, none of the enquiry systems and modes described can operate independently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Equally there are some major differentials between these systems. The key difference is in their approach to a given situation. Mode one differs from the others in that it relies upon a consensus of opinion from a limited range of sources and seeks a single conclusion. Mode two differs from three to five for the same reason, but it also differs from one in the it analyses the component parts of the problem, rather than relying solely on interpretation. Mode three and four differ from each other in that they treat the conclusion in a different manner, three allowing differing conclusions to be presented, and four, seeking argument between different conclusions. Mode fives similarity is also its difference to the others, namely that it does not limit itself to a particular enquiry mode, instead using all formats. Strengths and weaknesses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inherent in all enquiry modes are strengths and weaknesses, which need to be recognised. Inductive-Consensual. The strengths of this mode rest in the fact that it is focused in one direction, making it simple to use and relatively quick to apply to a given problem. Its weaknesses lie in the limitation of approach and its reliance upon consensus of opinion. There is no attempt to check the validity of core data. Using the BBC example used in the mode description, there is no guarantee that the consensus of agreement is based on a genuine or, because they are employees of the BBC, biased and inaccurate opinion. Analytic-deductive. In this instance the strength comes from the fact that the component parts have been analysed before arriving at a conclusion. It bases that conclusion on logic. Its weakness comes from the fact that, like mode 1, it relies heavily upon a single source of operator to address the problem or situation. Both modes 1 and two have a strength that is also a weakness. This relates to the fact that both seek to arrive at a single conclusion. This is strength when given a task that asks for a definitive solution and the receiver does not want to input into this, but a weakness when asked for an opinion or range of solution.   Dialectic. The major strength in this mode is that it does allow for differing viewpoints to address a situation, thus relating itself more closely with a real world scenario. Similarly, the fact that it does result in a range of conclusions, and allow these to compete against each other to reach a conclusion is good when seeking a final unified approach. It means that all the options have an opportunity to be considered and discussed. The argumentative aspect can be strength insofar as such an approach can often lead to a tempering of divergent views. Weakness may Multiple reality. Like Dialectic, the multiple approaches have the strength of numerous viewpoints. In this case though, it presents all of the options. This allows the receiver to consider the options from their own particular viewpoint, before they make the final decision. Unbounded systems. The strength of this system is in its unlimited approach to a subject. Using this method ensures that it covers all possible aspects, resulting in a wide range of probable solutions. Its weakness rests in the fact that it is cumbersome and, if used as a tool for a conclusive result, could not facilitate this. In addition it would be a time consuming project. For the purpose of this study we will be using the multiple reality mode. Information Systems strategy – External environment Socio-political   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The BBC is a public service broadcasting organisation. Because of this there are more socio-political factors that impact upon the corporation and its operations than with most other businesses.   From a social point of view one has to look at both society as a whole as well as individual groups. Such groups can consist of ethnic, class and disabled minorities. All of these groups expect to receive equality of service from the corporation. This means that the corporation needs to ensure that it represents each group within all of its programme output. For example, it needs to ensure that within the public face of its broadcasting such minorities are adequately represented, be that in a factual or fictional environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the political front the BBC also has to deal with a number of factions. In line with other businesses it has to pay heed to governments and judicial legislation, although the difference that exists with the BBC is that has a closer link in that it is a public corporation. Similarly, like other media, regulatory bodies overview its product and output. However, in addition to these, the BBC has two additional political factors to deal with. These are the Royal Charter, which has recently been reviewed (2006) and the BBC Trust.    Technological   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Trust is one of the key issues, which dictates the rate at which new technology is taken up. Often the speed at which technology develops is the one thing that makes trust difficult to achieve. No sooner has a user familiarised themselves with one system than this is rendered obsolete by a new one. Davis (2002) in his paper written for the Joint Information Services Committee posed the question that many users were asking. â€Å"How sure can one be that the outcome of an interaction is what it purports to be?† As it operates within the business medium, the BBC has greater access to technology than other organisations. It is an integral part of their broadcasting environment. This includes such areas as Broadband, digital and interactive technology. Internally it uses similar modern technology to other media businesses, in terms of computers, network systems in addition to the TV and radio broadcasting technology. The latter includes such things as cameras, film equipment and outside broadcast vehicles. However, as Paul Cheesbrough, BBC head of technology for production and technology direction, admitted in his interview with Miya Knights (2004), their internal systems do need updating in a number of areas, where he says, â€Å"Internally, our processes for producing and authoring content have been the same for many years and are still very physical. It’s a very distributed set-up with lots of physically-based processes in between.† The internal technology of an organisation is important (Glasson 1996) Economic – Geographical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The BBC, unlike the commercial broadcasting media, does not receive money from other businesses in terms of advertising revenue, nor much in the way of sponsorship. It is funded in the main by a system of revenue from the television and radio licence, together with the annual financial support that it receives from the British government. Despite the wish, within some factions of the corporation to change this situation, so far this has been rejected. The only other of funding available to the BBC is the commercial sales it makes of its programmes to other broadcasting media throughout the world, including joint ventures, and sales of its products through other medium, such as books and publications, CDs and DVDs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From a geographical point of view, the BBC is predominately a British based broadcaster, although it does have a world service for radio, originally set up with the intention of providing a link for armed forces overseas. Historically it has concentrated upon this limited geographical area through which to develop and market its products. However, it does produce programmes relating to and based upon many areas of the world. Nowadays it is also making use of the Internet through which to extend its audience. To add to its home-based productions, the BBC also buys programmes from other media throughout the world. Impact on IS strategy planning and design â€Å"The social, legal, political, ethical, and ecological issues facing business have never been more complex or more difficult to comprehend,† wrote Stephen Wartick (1997). This statement is particularly applicable to the BBC.   The factors mentioned previously form an intrinsic element of its Information Services at the planning and design stage. From a social point of view the BBC is required to cater for all sectors of society. The means that part of its strategy has to be geared towards minority groups. In addition it has historically been seen as a provider of learning, necessitating part of its information system strategy to be used in that direction. Political issues also impact upon its planning and design because, as a result of the need to divert resources to other areas set within its charter, this means that there are fewer resources available to pursue avenues that it might otherwise wish to develop. There have been instances in the past where the political forces have tried to introduce a modicum of pressure onto the corporation and, knowing this is a possibility, must impact on the corporation strategy. The area where the BBC does appear to both holding its own, and in some respects, making significant advances, is in technology. Whilst internally there are areas that need addressing, from an external and production standpoint the organisation is keeping up to date. Here it has encompassed the changes that have occurred since the Information era began in the 1970’s, using modern technology to maintain its reputation as possibly the best broadcaster in the industry. The planning and designing stages are very important. As Paul Cheeseburgh (2004) observed â€Å"The term ‘digital islands’ means a lot in our industry, but there’s no point in moving from analogue to digital processes if those islands are disconnected.† Nevetherless they have made some of their processes more cost competitive as a result of technology, with the use of digital technology being an example of this. Economics probably has the greatest impact on the businesses IS strategies and their planning. Because its funding is subjected to restrictions than other broadcasters, this means that some of the innovative ideas that the BBC might wish to develop may not be possible due to financial restrictions. Similarly, it has a finite budget from which to take advantage of technology advances in the way that it would like to. Geographical issues have an impact on the IS strategy. Being a media corporation means that they have to plan for communication access sometimes to even the remotest parts of the world, and have a variety of climates to contend with. In the equatorial countries for instance, the corporation has had to make use of refrigerated broadcast vehicles. Impacts on IS strategy Risk Categorization Scales   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As has been widely publicised, Information systems and Technology attract risks and these manifest themselves in a number of ways. In all areas of life and business, there is the risk of sabotage (Stewart 2000) Technology for instance, suffers from hacking, virus and other dangers instigated from outside sources. Then there are the mechanical and accidental risks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Knowing that these events are likely to happen even in the best protected of systems, it is vitally important that this eventuality is recognised and addressed at an early stage. Kim Andersen (2005) in his book on the subject, shows â€Å"how getting things right† helps the information system. This is particularly relevant in a broadcasting organisation such as the BBC. At all stages of the development of an IS and IT strategy plan a consequence analysis should be carried out, this is relevant at each subsequent change as well. Within this process one needs to identify where the possibility of risks lies, what type of risks could attach themselves to the area in question and what the effect of those risks might be. Figure 1 (see appendices) gives an example of a consequence matrix. Effect/probability/Action Grid   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having analysed the areas of risks and the types of risks that could occur, one then has to categorise and evaluate the risk. This means that one needs to first work out what the effects of that risk will be. Will it be in favour of the organisations and its IS and IT, or will it be fatal. Or will it be somewhere between the two. The next step it to ascertain the probability factor. What is the likelihood of the risk occurring, negligible or certainly? Armed with this information one can then work out what action to take in terms of prevention, assuming that the risk is not to the businesses advantage. Figure 2 (see appendices) shows a simple grid detail the possible results of this analysis. Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Following on from the previous analysis, the organisation needs to work out what impact this potential risk will have on the business. This can be categorised in three ways. Firstly there is confidentiality and privacy. The BBC IS and IT systems contain a lot of sensitive data, both from an internal and external point of view, such as staff and financial details. It could be embarrassing and costly if this information were to be obtained illegally, in addition to the fact that it could see the organization facing legal action for breach of confidentiality. This area will impact on the information system, (Mwangama 2006)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second impact of risk could be to the integrity of accuracy of the data. If information is tampered with or altered in any way this would have serious consequences for the business.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third area of impact is when the data or system is corrupted of deleted. In this case the system or database would be unable to operate and, in an extreme case the contents and data non-recoverable. Potential Negative Impacts 1) Technical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From a technical viewpoint the negative impact of the consequences of risk will attach to the strategy planning and design. For example the BBC would need to ensure that, by the introduction of new and more versatile systems and upgrades, this does not increase the risks. If this appears likely then the direction of the strategy will need to be reappraised. Similarly, if by installing new software the system becomes less secure in terms of the data access, the necessity and cost benefit of new software should be evaluated. This may result in technology and information system upgrades being delayed until such time as the security of the hardware can be guaranteed to be as risk proof as possible. 2) Non-Technical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organisation also needs to look at the negative issues that the consequence of risk may raise in relation to human and business processing issues. Employees and others involved with the Corporation have a right to expect personal information to be maintained in a confidential and secure manner. The shoulders of the organisation that has the information, to keep it secure. In addition to this is the damage of such a risk to the business processes. It is not only losing of the programmes, which would prove costly enough, it is also the potential of lost data, which in some areas could be irreplaceable. Ethical Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Added to all of the above are the ethical issues surrounding risk. The BBC, like all organisations that keep sensitive and personal data, is subject to both the data protection ACT and their own professional code of conduct and ethics. These include a duty to not harm those for whom you are responsible for and to respect their right to privacy, which includes ensuring that any personal information that they give to you are kept safe. Thus it cannot be passed to a third party, either by the organisation itself or by the intervention of an outside party. Even if that third party is committing an illegal act it does not absolve the corporation from liability. In the modern legal environment, if such an event occurs, the possibility of legal action being taken the organisation is very likely. The code of conduct for the BBC also states that it sees part of its duty being to respect and honour human rights. This extends to ensuring that the technology that is installed within its systems offers the same rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to the rights of the individual whose rights have been violated there is the impact that such a breech will have on the corporations’ own reputation. According to a newspaper report written by Owen Gibson (2005) the BBC recently revised their code of ethics to take account of some of these issues. The Next Five Years   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strategic planning for the future of information systems is important. (Ward & Peppard 2002) A business needs a â€Å"clear vision of where it is trying to go.† (Andersen 2004) and to produce the correct strategy the BBC needs to know what events will impact on the strategy. External changes In terms of the future, the next five years are likely to produce changes of significance in terms of IS and IT in a number of areas, in hard and software (Mark Haggerty 2006).   The advances in wireless technology are one area where these advances are proving to be particularly rapid. This development will allow both television and computers to become really possible, with consumers able to carry the receivers in pockets. They will then be in a position of being able to view at any time and in any place. Wireless technology development will also have an impact on broadcasting in that it will allow ease of access for people involved in news reporting, such as with the BBC. Using these systems, particularly in their news department, the corporation will be able to achieve instant news reporting from almost anywhere in the world. In addition the reports will be able to be accessed and reported on air in real time, in other words as it happens. Continued development in satellite technology will also improve the ability of the BBC to achieve its strategy of moving closer towards a more â€Å"on-demand† consumer environment. Video conferencing is set to be one of the main growth areas in technology over the next five years. (Laura Hailstone 2006). This technology is already being used and implemented by a growing number of businesses. In addition to the business use, this technology is set to move into the private sector, allow for projects such as games shows to be conducted with participants not having to move from their home. With increasing computer technology being incorporated within television sets, the opportunities are available for television presenters to be able to interact directly with the consumer. There will be continued developments in the field of interactive media. The continuing improvements in this area will eliminate the need for there to be two or three machines in a household in order to give the consumer flexibility and choice. Within the next five years the facility of recording direct from the TV should improve substantially, allowing additional onset recording facilities, improving upon what systems such as sky offer already. Interaction will also affect the BBC’s learning facilities leading to closer interaction between teacher and learner, (G. Conole et al 2000). B. Davies (2002) also showed how modern and future information system developments are impacting on users in the education arena. An area of significant relevance to the BBC is the continued development of compact storage systems, such as the MP3. From an internal point of view this will mean less space utilised for storage of produced material, therefore reducing the corporations costs in the area of storage. With the increase in globalisation, business systems will also witness significant innovation over the next five years. Such programmes as the multi-national, multi-lingual supply chain software could be implemented within the BBC, providing it with more accuracy and accessibility in terms of its global operations, allow it to work more closely with the stakeholders who supply the corporation and ensure that the quality of the product is maintained. Internal changes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The BBC will see changes in a number of areas of IS and IT. It is expected that within the next five years media broadcasters will need to keep updating their technology and systems to meet the increasing demands from the public in the way in which programmes are presented. Digital development is something that the BBC sees as having a significant effect over their programming abilities over the next five years. From the point of view of the production side of their programmes, a test run on one programme has shown that it produces a significant cost reduction. More developments of this nature are planned. Development of the digital technology for the end user is also seen as a means of being able to extend the ability of the viewer to have more control over the way in which they organise their personal viewing or listening schedules. The corporation is planning to use this to restructure the way in which it produces programmes and extend the range of interaction with the consumer. Further developments on the World Wide Web are also being looked at. This will provide the BBC with the ability to make its services available in a number of new ways, including providing a service where programs can be downloaded and watched for a limited period, thereby avoiding the possibility of this being stored and affecting others possible sales of the programmes. As part of this development they are working with all of the major software organisations in the development of products, which will open new opportunities in terms of programming. The BBC sees, what its Director-General Mark Thompson (2005) â€Å"On Demand† television as the way forward in technology. In addition to this the BBC are also developing ways in which their programmes can be transmitted for screening on a range of portable devices. From an in house perspective the BBC sees that IT developments over the next five years will enable it to integrate all of its in house operations, linking together internal systems that previously have been disconnected. Internally there will also be changes in terms of office systems and other related technology usages. Microsoft’s chief technology officer, in his interview with Chris Nuttall (1999) stated that â€Å"every five years there is a revolution in the computer industry.† Therefore it is necessary that organisations like the BBC have a strategy prepared for it. Evidence Research shows that all of the changes outlined are evidenced. Tafazolli, Rahim (2006) comments â€Å"that the days of the totally wireless technology are close and that soon consumers will be able to access the media wherever they are.† Future Tech (2006), have noted that one organisation is already well advanced on a system of voice recognition for the purpose of media viewing, amongst other applications. The article also reveals that MIT are developing the computer glasses, which will make operation of computers and televisions much less tiresome, allowing the consumer to operate TV and Computer without using hands. The article also reveals that hardware companies are working to make the computer less visible. This means that, instead of the current box on the desk, they may be incorporated in the TV or portable devices, which can be, located and operated from anywhere. The BBC launched â€Å"Creative Future Project†. Part of the remit for this project is to continue to monitor the advances in new technology with a view to using the technology as part of its development strategy for the future. The project, and the BBC’s IT department are working with a number of the largest software houses, such as Microsoft and Apple, to development programmes and systems which can assist in the development of broadcasting. Energy consideration is already an area that the BBC is aware of. In the future the role of Information systems and technology will take on more significance in terms of its contribution to energy conservation, (J & R. Franchi 2004) Bibliography Andersen, Kim Viborg. (2004) The Past and Future of Information Systems. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd Carpenter, Leona, Shaw, Simon and Prescott, Andrew (eds) (1988) Towards the Digital Library, The British Library, London Conole, G., Jacobs, G., Squires, D (ed) (2000), The Changing Face of Learning Technology. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1-3. Davies, B. (2002), How new technologies are impacting on users, Joint Information Systems Committee.   Retrieved 17 July 2006 from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=pub_inform2 Franchi, John. R. Franchi (2004) Energy, Technology and Directions for the Future. Elsevier Academic Press. Future Tech. (2006) Future Computing. Retrieved 12 July 2006 from http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jwb24/newtech/integrate.html Gibson, Owen. (2005) New Ethics Code for BBC. The Guardian Glasson, Bernard, C, Vogel, Doug, Bots, Pieter and Nunamaker, Jay (1996) Information Systems and Technology in the International Office of the Future. Chapman & Hall. UK Haggerty, Mark. (2005) GMS Software development. The next five years. Clientside News Hallstone, Laura (2006). VC market set to grow over the next five years. Retrived 16 July 2006 from www.vcunet.com Knights, Miya (2004) Interview with Paul Cheeseburgh: BBC sees new technology horizons. Retrieved 18 July 2006 from http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/analysis/2132111/bbc-sees-technology-horizon Mwangama, Ena. (2006) Information in the Next Five Years. Retrieved 18 July 2006 from http://www.comptechlib.com/326.html Nuttall, Chris. (1999). Windows to lose its crown within five years. Retrieved 10 July 2006 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/253592.stm/ Press Release (2006) Response to the white paper. Retrieved 16 July 2006 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/03_march/14/white.shtml Review of the BBC’s Royal Charter. (July 2006). Retrieved 17 July 2006 from http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/pdf_documents/BBCRoyal%20Charter_july06.pdf Stewart, R.A. (2000). Dam Risk Management (Invited Paper). Proceedings of the International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering (GeoEng2000). Melbourne, pp. 721-748. Tafazolli, Rahim (2006) Technologies for the Wireless Future. Wireless World Research Forum. UK Thompson, Mark (Director General) (2005) Creative Future Project. Retrieved 16 July 2006 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/thefuture/text/creative_future.html Ward, John and Peppard, Joe. (2002) Strategic Planning for Information Systems. John Wiley & Sons Wartick, Stephen L. (1997) International Business and Society. Blackwell Publishers [1] British Broadcasting Corporation