Saturday, August 31, 2019

Euthanasia Legalization

Euthanasia Legalization By: Renee Rosenkilde Rosenkilde 1 Although the United States, and the rest of the world, have made astounding inventions and breakthroughs in technology, health care is still subject to criticism. Even in the twenty-first century, there are numerous terminal, chronic, and life threating diseases circling the world. Because of these circumstances, when a patient is diagnosed with a painful disease that will kill them in a short amount of time, they should be allowed to decide how they want to end their life: waiting for the disease to kill them, or instantly receiving assisted suicide and ending their pain immediately.Through the process of active euthanasia, a person diagnosed with a terminal illness can immediately die. Active euthanasia would allow a person with a terminal illness to be administered a lethal medication which will instantly kill them and release them from their suffering. Another form of assisted suicide, passive euthanasia, is eliminating an y medical assistance in keeping a patient alive, until their death.Active euthanasia should be legalized because it is legal according to the constitution, it is a less expensive alternative, certain religions partake in the act of active euthanasia, and overall it will allow a terminally ill and suffering patient to end their misery. Active euthanasia should be legalized throughout the United States because it is legal according to the Constitution. Currently, assisted suicide is only legal in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Montana (ND NA wrtl. org).Active euthanasia would allow a citizen of the United States a painless death, and an allotted time to say goodbye to their friends and family members. Once consent is given from either the patient themselves, or the family, active Rosenkilde 2 euthanasia should be a possibility for someone with a terminal chronic illness. Steven Ertlet comments, â€Å"The bereaved family and friends of cancer patients who died by euthanasia cop ed better with respect to grief symptoms and post-traumatic stress reactions than the bereaved of comparable cancer patients who died a natural death. (ND Ertlet paragraph 1). Whereas passive euthanasia would contribute to an extensive amount of pain and suffering, active euthanasia would allow for an immediate, accessible, and painless death. The Constitution of the United States says, â€Å"†¦certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. †¦whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. † The United States Constitution grants its citizens the right to pursue happiness, which in some cases may be through active euthanasia.The Constitution restates this idea in a more precise form in the Due Process Clause [first section of the fourteenth amendment]: â€Å"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities o f citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of†¦liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. † The Constitution states that if it is a person’s desire to die through active euthanasia, it shall be provided to them through to the Due Process Law [first section of the fourteenth amendment].In the case that active euthanasia would be the best option for a United States citizen struggling with a terminal illness, active euthanasia should be considered. Euthanasia should be legalized in the United States, because it would allow for a citizen with a terminal illness a quick and painless death as well as abide to the Unites States Constitution. Rosenkilde 3 With the declining economy in the United States, saving money and cutting unnecessary spending is of great importance.With health spending accounting for over 17% GDP [how much a place produces in some amou nt of time] in the United States, it is the highest in the world (NA ND data. wordlbank. org). Cutting this percentage as much as possible would drastically improve the Untied State’s economy. The money spent in hospitals is used to cure patients with different illnesses. Although this is thoughtful on America’s part, in many cases it is unnecessary. If a patient is diagnosed with an incurable terminal illness, there is not much point in wasting money to keep them suffering for as long as possible.Mpoziemski, an online debater at euthanasia. procon. org comments, â€Å"Is it not more compassionate to end a human's suffering then to make them hold on only to die later after a long, drawn out pain filled battle? † (Mpoziemski 2012 paragraph 1). Keeping a patient suffering until they die of natural causes is irrational when it is possible through active euthanasia to end their suffering as soon as possible. As an added note, this would also help save money througho ut this country in drastic numbers. Once approval is given for active euthanasia to be administered, it is can easily save the patient and the hospital money.Certain cancer treatments can be as costly as $10,000, which is added to the accumulating bill for doctor visits, lab tests, room charges, imaging tests, radiation treatments, drugs and other medicines, nurse care, surgery, and homecare (NA ND cancer. org/treatment). Prolonging the life of a patient with an illness is costly for both the hospital and the patient. Instead of paying money to suffer for a longer amount of time, a person with a terminal illness can receive active euthanasia and avoid both the physical and financial pain.Rosenkilde 4 The United States was originally a British colony which British citizens fled to for religious freedom. America seemed as a place where everybody could freely practice their religion. Therefore, when the United States liberated themself from Great Britain, the basis of this country was based off of the freedom of religion. The first amendment of the United States Constitution says â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (www. archieves. ov amendment 1). According toreligions. pewform. org, Judaism, a religion that over 2% of all American adults practice, accepts the idea of suicide in certain circumstances. A story in the Torah tells of a young man who was told by God to commit suicide in order to end his suffering. The story tells of a young man who was being burned alive by the Romans, and god tells him to end his suffering by breathing in large amount of smoke and flames to kill him more quickly. Also, Jewish people do not associate suicide as murder.Although the Torah explains breaking one of the Ten Commandments â€Å"thou shalt not kill† as a sin, suicide does not abide by this commandment, and therefore is not considered a sin. Another main religion in the Unite d States is Hinduism. Practiced mainly by Americans of Indian decent, this religion has ancient suicidal practices. One example of this is called â€Å"suttee†. This is a ritual practice throughout India in which a wife will commit suicide after her husband’s death so that he would have a partner in the afterlife. †¦[suttee] the Indian custom of a widow burning herself, either on the funeral pyre of her dead husband or in some other fashion, soon after his death. † (http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/575795/suttee). Another example of Hindu suicide is the practice of prayopavesa. Prayopavesa is when a Hindu will fast (not eat food) until their death. This practice is used under certain circumstances only for the religiously advanced. Rosenkilde 5 Prayopavesa is only used when a person has an incurable terminal illness. Not consuming any food or water will eventually kill the person, most likely faster than the illness would have.The Hindu religion b elieves in the concept of karma: good or bad luck generated by your actions. Some Hindus believe that â€Å"†¦a person who helps other end a painful life and thereby reduce suffering is doing a good deed and will gain good karma. † (http://www. religionfacts. com/euthanasia/hinduism. htm). In all, the United States was based off of freedom of religion, and this concept has been encoded in the first amendment of the constitution. Therefore, if a religion accepts and enforces the practice of assisted suicide (active euthanasia), then it should be legalized throughout the United States.Although active euthanasia is a politically and religiously controversial topic, research can conclude that euthanasia should be legalized across the United States. Due to the fact that the United States Constitution accepts the use of euthanasia, it cannot be ruled as illegal. As well, the United States Constitution, and the entire country, was based off of the freedom of religion. Therefore , if certain major religions accept, and encourage the use of active euthanasia, than the medical procedure should be legalized across the nation so that these religious practices may take place in a safe medical environment.As well, active euthanasia should be legalized because it can save a great deal of money across the United States. With over 17% of GDP used on hospitals and the medical world, taking a person out of their misery would be more effective and less costly. The costs for doctor visits, lab tests, room charges, imaging tests, radiation treatments, drugs and other medicines, nurse care, surgery, and homecare accumulate to increasingly high bills for both the patient and the hospital. Finally, and most importantly, the practice of active euthanasia can quickly, easily, and effectively take a patient with a terminal Rosenkilde 6 llness out of their pain and misery with an allotted time to say goodbye to their loved ones. With a patient dying due to a disease anyways, wo uldn’t it make more sense to end their life quickly and easily instead of keeping them alive to endure a life of pain? Active euthanasia should be legalized throughout the United States, and should be made an option for anyone with a miserable, chronic, long-term, terminal illness. Works Cited http://www. lifenews. com/2003/07/20/bio-21/ http://www. wrtl. org/assistedsuicide/assistedsuicide/whereitislegalus. aspx http://www. law. cornell. edu/constitution/amendmentxiv ttp://www. fed-soc. org/publications/detail/whether-there-is-a-constitutional-right-to-die http://www. ushistory. org/declaration/document/ http://euthanasia. procon. org/view. answers. php? questionID=000207 http://www. cancer. org/treatment/findingandpayingfortreatment/managinginsuranceissues/the-cost-of-cancer-treatment http://data. worldbank. org/indicator/SH. XPD. TOTL. ZS http://www. religionfacts. com/euthanasia/hinduism. htm http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript. html http ://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/575795/suttee http://religions. pewforum. org/reports

Friday, August 30, 2019

Mis Answers to Cases Essay

MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology College of Business Administration and Accountancy School of Graduate Studies MASTER IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Iligan City REAL WORLD CASE 1: Toyota Europe, Campbell Soup Company, Sony Pictures, and W.W. Grainger. Making the Case for Enterprise Architects Toyota Europe, Campbell Soup Company, Sony Pictures, and W.W. Grainger. Making the Case for Enterprise Architects Submitted to: Professor Adrian Galido, PhD Submitted by: Sandee Angeli M. Villarta September 4, 2013 Toyota Europe, Campbell Soup Company, Sony Pictures, and W.W. Grainger. Making the Case for Enterprise Architects Toyota Europe, Campbell Soup Company, Sony Pictures, and W.W. Grainger. Making the Case for Enterprise Architects REAL WORLD CASE 1: ————————————————- 1. What does the position of enterprise architect entail? What qualifications or experiences would you think a good enterprise architect should have? Support your answer with examples from the case. An enterprise architect position involves knowing the current technology in the enterprise in respect of its usage: efficiency both in material cost and output resulting in good productivity and finally huge gains, or whether the technology in use is still competitive or on its stage of fall such that when the technology is about to become obsolete or has outlived its usefulness to the enterprise, the enterprise architect has to tell it all to the top management and of course the new technology to be adopted in lieu of the old one. This is because among the job of the enterprise architect is to map, define/redefine, gather data, standardize technology and business processes and to translate these into an architectural approach (macro view) to make the business work as a whole, but able to work in individual projects within the macro, not only at present but also in the future. Experience gained from IT, Service, Distributors of Heavy Equipment, Marketing and Service companies are preferred. Courses such Engineering, IT, Business and Marketing and from Masteral Courses in Business Management are favored though other courses may also produce better enterprise architects. The case of Toyota Europe shows a good example that its enterprise architect was able to make its enterprise strategy worked in the present environment and successfully carried it into the contemplated future. That is why its Chief Architect Mr. Heinchkein was able to give a good account of what the job of the enterprise architect should be for that is exactly what he had done to Toyota Europe. The experience of Campbell Soup Corp. when it implemented the concept of enterprise architect found it very useful from its description that the enterprise architect’s work sees to it the best is served for the enterprise as a whole against the individual department and individual projects for things are being centralized and therefore harmonized with optimum efficiency as part of its architectural approach. Enterprise architecture (EA) is a contested term that refers to the architecture of an enterprise—an organized complex of people and technologies—and the activity of describing or designing enterprises. Enterprise IT Architecting. According to this category, the purpose of EA is the greater alignment between IT and Business concerns. The main purpose of EA is to guide the process of planning and design the IT/IS capabilities of an enterprise in order to meet desired organizational objectives. Typically, architecture proposals and decisions are limited to the IT/IS aspects of the enterprise; other aspects only serve as inputs. Goal: Create unity Qualifications: * Focus on four crucial C’s: connection, collaboration, communication, and customers. * UNITY – Establish IT that enables business strategy today and tomorrow * Must map, define, and standardize technology, data, and business processes to make that possible * Must have both Macro and Micro view. Macro: Understand the business strategy and translate this into an architectural approach Micro: Ability to work with individual projects and deliver very concrete guidance to these projects that focus on the successful delivery of the individual project within that macro view * Must know how to bridge silos * Transforms tech-speak into the language of business solutions * Knows what technology is needed to enable business strategy * Acts like a city planner Provide: Road maps, zoning, common requirements, regulations, and strategy, only that he does this in a company. * Desires to serve what is best for the enterprise vs. the individual department or project – Andy Croft, Campbell Soup Company’s VP of IT – shared services. * Holistic Approach: Looking at the bigger perspective – take a step back and try to understand what problem the proposed project will solve. Is there already a solution that covers the proposed area being researched? Does the proposed project fit into the wider picture? * Ensures that the pieces of the wider-picture puzzle fit together – Heinckiens * Should create compliance standards * Should provide the necessary data that are useful and relevant to everyone in the company. (blueprint) Who owns the data? Who should receive permission to access the data? * Must be a voice that many kinds of people can understand – Tim Ferrarell, CIO and senior VP of enterprise systems at W.W. Grainger. * Should think at a strategic level and all the way down to the operating level * Should understand how to move and down that chain of abstraction * Know how to deal with conflicts and trade-offs; * Has to gain the confidence of the senior leadership team. * Vision – Must understand how the company works, where it wants to go, and how technology helps or hinders. So that effective working relationships can bloom. Should have business and technical knowledge. * Enterprise architects continuously reinforce to business-side counterparts the expected returns on IT projects as the temptation to cut spending grows. * Architecture plan to ensure that IT provides a competitive advantage 2. Consider the different companies mentioned in the case and their experiences with enterprise architecture. Does this approach seem to work better in certain types of companies or industries than in others? Why or why not? Experiences of the four respective companies mentioned have worked successfully in their enterprises. It is submitted, however, that the difference of business nature and other factors attendant to specific line of business, while admitting that every enterprise indisputably needs to adopt current technology and may need enterprise architect, the degree of success attained thereof varies. The peculiarity of a certain business enterprise may require less the participation of enterprise architect. The old adage that â€Å"the only permanent thing in this world is change† truly applies to every enterprise. This being so, one business strategy may be copied wholly or partly with varying degree of success and sometimes even dismal failure. This also means that for a period of time this enterprise architectural approach may work but not for a lifetime as is approach or strategy may be outmoded or rendered obsolete with the advent of new environment and technology, among others. 3. What is the value derived from companies with mature enterprise architectures? Can you see any disadvantages? When the state of matured enterprise architectures is reached, it is also expected that the maximum benefits in terms of business profit margins, stability of the enterprise, expansion of business and formation of new enterprises, and even the production of new products and services are also attained with maximum efficiency and productivity. However, note must be taken of the fact that once maturity is attained there are accompanying disadvantages such as the deceleration of upward movement and may have even reached its peak. Once one is at its peak, the likely thing to happen is for to slide down. Maturity in any undertaking has also its corresponding negative aspect. Such as the lukewarm attitude towards going into new discoveries and therefore allow itself to be drowned into the depth of obsolescence. Or the belief that since these enterprises with matured architectures that they are at the top, they tend to rest on their laurels and think that nobody could outsmart them in terms of finding new and innovative ways to improve the lot of enterprises. When they are in on this stage, they are likely to suffer an imminent loss. REAL WORLD ACTIVITIES 1. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a recent approach to systems development and implementation that has much in common (and some differences, as well) with enterprise architecture. Go online and research the similarities and differences. Prepare a report to summarize your work. â€Å"Service-oriented architecture is a client/server software design approach in which an application consists of software services and software service consumers (also known as clients or service requesters). SOA differs from the more general client/server model in its definitive emphasis on loose coupling between software components, and in its use of separately standing interfaces.† both aim to address issues on the enterprise level (strategy and planning, reference architecture, and so on), and at the same time their governance models are similar. An enterprise that’s adopting SOA while developing EA and its governances may encounter problems if the similarities and overlaps between EA and SOA are not recognized and accounted for. Architecture domains: similarities and differences The following summarizes the similarities and differences when considering the concepts of architecture in both SOA and EA: Similarities SOA and EA domains share many similarities. For example: * Both address similar architectural domains. * Both are intended to closely align IT with business. * Both use input based on business objectives. * Both require similar strategies and planning activities. Differences While the focus of the EA architecture domains is on the macro level, the SOA architecture domains work on a micro level. More specifically: * EA focuses on defining business components, while SOA focuses on business services. * EA deals with application frameworks and enterprise applications, while SOA’s scope is on service modeling only. * EA deals with enterprise-level infrastructure including servers, databases, and so on, while SOA focuses on the infrastructure that supports services, namely the Enterprise Service Bus. * EA addresses enterprise integration patterns and when they should be used, including point-to-point integration;  file transfer, and other traditional application integration approaches Potential Problems Because of the overlap in the architecture domains of both EA and SOA, the following potential problems may arise when the two are developed in isolation: * If the enterprise focuses only on SOA, it’s possible that other EA aspects are ignored. For example, legitimate needs for integration approaches and standards other than those supported by SOA (for example, point-to-point interface) may be ignored and not addressed on the enterprise level. Also, without EA organizations may fall into applying the Golden Hammer antipattern (if a hammer is your only tool, then every problem looks like a nail) and attempt to use SOA for every solution, even the ones that don’t benefit from such architecture. * With parallel efforts to develop an SOA and EA concurrently, you might encounter inefficiencies as a result of duplicate efforts and missed opportunities to leverage existing architecture artifacts. It’s conceivable that two teams working on developing SOA and EA can spend unnecessary time and resources producing duplicate, and sometimes contradicting. Information models, infrastructure, system-management policies, strategies, and tools. 2. Have you considered a career as an enterprise architect? What bundle of courses would you put together to design a major or a track in enterprise architecture? Break into small groups with your classmates to outline the major areas that should be covered. (No need to break into small groups; just outline the major areas that should be covered) To become an enterprise architect, it requires more than having a degree in engineering, architecture, IT, and business. It demands years of hands-on experience. As a graduate of Entrepreneurial Marketing I can say that I have the knowledge on how to manage a business; in what ways will the business be more profitable; and by what means it can sustain in this competitive economy. Nonetheless, theories are not enough for the industry to survive. To qualify as an enterprise architect I must work for at least 8 – 10 years in an industry to be equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and experience on how the whole system works. The courses which may be bundled are: * Engineering Courses * Mechanical * Electrical * Civil * Industrial & Systems Engr (ISyE) * Business and Management Courses * Marketing * Economics * Accounting * Business Management * Investment & Financial Risk Management * Architectural Studies (Undergrad and Graduate Studies) * MArch/Master of Business Administration * MArch/Master of Computer Science * MArch/Master of Science in Civil and Engineering * Environmental Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management or Structures) * IT Courses * Master Degree Courses * Preferably MBA * Architectural Studies (cited above) * Trainings and Seminars on: * Six Sigma * Business Process * Process Improvement (Innovation and Continuous Improvement) * Cross-functional Team * IT – Management and Strategy * Marketing and Product Management * Quality and Business Planning * Enterprise Software * Enterprise Architecture * Security * Cloud Computing * Vendor Management * Consulting * Business Intelligence * Governance * Software Project * Outsourcing The courses which may be bundled are: Business Courses – Marketing, Accounting, IT with Industrial Psychology; Engineering (Mech., Automotive, Electl., Civil, Electronics, Computer) and technology courses may also be bundled with IT and Industrial Psychology. Then Sociology, Community Development, Political Science, AB English, Psychology with IT.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A study on motivational factors influencing work place behaviour of employees

This project is entitled A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING WORK PLACE BEHAVIOUR OF EMPLOYEES with reference to â€Å"TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. ,†, located at Neyveli. In this company there are 145 employees including the staff members. For this study, I have chosen a sample size 30 employees through a systematic sampling. This study helps to know the factors that are influencing the motivational level of employees in the organization. This project had been undertaken by me to find out the needs and wants of the employees to motivate them. Under this Study a questionnaire that contained the questions relating to the employees expectations are given to them and their responses are recorded. The gathered data had been analyzed relating to employee motivations. CHAPTER-1 1. INTRODUCTION The project work titled as A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING WORK PLACE BEHAVIOUR OF EMPLOYEES with special reference to TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. ,, is mainly conducted to identify the factors which will motivate the employees in that organization. Management’s basic job is the effective utilization of human resources for achievements of organizational objectives. The personnel management is concerned with organizing human resources in such a way to get maximum output to the enterprise and to develop the talent of people at work to the fullest satisfaction. Motivation implies that one person, in organization context a manager, includes another, say an employee, to engage in action by ensuring that a channel to satisfy those needs and aspirations becomes available to the person. In addition to this, the strong needs in a direction that is satisfying to the latent needs in employees and harness them in a manner that would be functional for the organization. Employee motivation is one of the major issues faced by every organization. It is the major task of every manager to motivate his subordinates or to create the ‘will to work’ among the subordinates. It should also be remembered that a worker may be immensely capable of doing some work; nothing can be achieved if he is not willing to work. A manager has to make appropriate use of motivation to enthuse the employees to follow them. Hence these studies focus on the employee motivation among the employees of Premier Buildings Materials Ltd. , The data needed for the study has been collected from the employees through questionnaires and through direct interviews. Analysis and interpretation has been done by using the statistical tools and data’s are presented through tables and charts. 1. 1INDUSTRY PROFILE: Energy has been universally recognized as one of the most important inputs for economic growth and human development. There is a strong two-way relationship between economic development and energy consumption. On one hand, growth of an economy, with its global competitiveness, hinges on the availability of cost-effective and environmentally benign energy sources, and on the other hand, the level of economic development has been observed to be reliant on the energy demand. Coal India now ranks third amongst the coal producing countries in the world. Being the most abundant fossil fuel in India till date, it continues to be one of the most important sources for meeting the domestic energy needs. It accounts for 55% of the country’s total energy supplies. Through sustained increase in investment, production of coal increased from about 70 MT (million tonnes) (MoC 2005) in early 1970s to 382 MT in 2004/05. Most of the coal production in India comes from open pit mines contributing to over 81% of the total production while underground mining accounts for rest of the national output mainly from Neyveli (MoC 2005) 1. 2COMPANY PROFILE: TAQA Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, PJSC (TAQA) Type state-owned Traded as ADX: TAQA Industry Energy Founded 2005 Headquarters Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Owner(s) Government of Abu Dhabi Employees 2,800 (Aug 2011) Subsidiaries TAQA North, TAQA Bratani Website www. taqa. ae The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, PJSC (TAQA) (ADX: TAQA) is a government controlled energy holding company of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. TAQA is one of Abu Dhabi’s flagship companies and as such has an important role to play in helping to deliver the economic strategy of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. [citation needed] History TAQA was founded in June 2005 pursuant to the provisions of Emiri Decree in 2005 as a public joint stock company. In May 2006 TAQA appointed Mr. Peter E. Barker-Homek, an American businessman, as its first CEO. TAQA expanded quickly under the guidance of Mr. Barker-Homek, making several key acquisitions in Africa and North America In Canada, TAQA acquired Northrock Resources Ltd. (US$ 2 billion) Pioneer Natural Resources Canada Inc (US$ 540 million) and PrimeWest Energy Trust (US$ 5 billion). In 2008 TAQA acquired several North Sea assets from Shell U. K. Limited and Esso Exploration and Production (UK) Limited. The purchase included all equity, associated infrastructure and production licenses relating to the Tern, Eider, Cormorant North, South Cormorant, Kestrel and Pelican fields and related sub-sea satellite fields. [citation needed] In late 2009 Mr Barker-Homek relinquished his position as CEO and was replaced by Carl Sheldon. Operations TAQAs main focus of investments is the companies engaged in power generation, water desalination, and production and storage of oil and gas. In addition, it has invested in mining, metal, and services sectors. TAQA has investments in over 60 companies. Its principal wholly owned subsidiaries include Emirates Power Company, Gulf Power Company, Arabian United Power Company, Al Shuweihat Power Company, Taweelah United Power Company, Union Power Holding Company, TAQA Bratani Limited, TAQA Energy B. V. , TAQA North Ltd. and Takoradi International Company, operator of the Takoradi Power Station II. TAQA owns majority stakes in assets that provide about 85% of Abu Dhabis power generation and 90% of its water desalination capacity. In addition to the Persian Gulf region, TAQA has assets in Europe, Asia and Africa. It has interests in the Tern Alpha, Eider Alpha, Cormorant North, Cormorant Alpha, Kestrel and Pelican fields and related sub-sea satellite fields in the North Sea. On 3 August 2009, TAQA took over operatorship of the North Sea Brent Oil Pipelines System. In addition, in 2006 TAQA acquired BP Nederland Energie B. V. Through this acquisition, TAQA get onshore and off-shore production assets, including the Piek Gas Installatie facility in Alkmaar, the project of the largest offshore LNG Regas facilities utilizing the depleted field P15/P18 just off the port of Rotterdam, and partnership in the Bergermeer gas storage project. In August 2009, it bought a 15% interest in North Sea assets from the L11b Group took over the operatorship of the L11b-A production platform. Through the acquisition of CMS Generation, TAQA has assets in the UAE, Ghana, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and India. On January 3, 2013, TAQA signed an agreement with Turkey to invest about $12 billion to develop the coal fields in the Southern Turkey. This deal is considered as the second biggest Arab investment in Turkey in the energy sector. Shareholders TAQA is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The company is 75. 1% indirectly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. The government of Abu Dhabi through ADWEA owns 51%, ADWEA transferred 24. 1% of its shareholding to the Fund for the Support of Farm Owners in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The balance (24. 9%) is traded publicly on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market. Finance Standard Poors has assigned A+/A-1 corporate credit ratings to TAQA. Moodys has assigned a rating of Aa3 to TAQAs long term foreign and local currency obligations. Combining world-class expertise and a dynamic and exciting portfolio of assets, TAQA has been transformed from a start-up into a truly global operator within the space of seven years. TAQA AT A GLANCE Full name Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC Nature of business Oil and gas exploration and production, power generation and water desalination and Energy Solutions 2012 revenue AED 27. 8 Bn USD 7. 6 Bn 2012 profit AED 649 Mn USD 176. 7 Mn Total assets as at 31 Dec 2012 AED 122. 6 Bn USD 33. 4 Bn Number of employees 2,800 Operating in North America, Europe and Greater MENA (Middle East, North Africa and India) Founded June 2005 Listed August 2005 Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Principal shareholders Abu Dhabi Government and Government agencies 72. 5% Public shareholders 27. 5% Power generation capacity 16,395 MW Water desalination capacity 887 MIGD Oil Gas production 135,400 boe/d * US$1. 00 (United States dollar) = AED3. 6725 (UAE dirhams) 1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To study , analyze and to understand the motivational factors of employees of TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. , that affects their work place behavior. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: To identify the various motivational schemes that already exists in the organization. To measure the level of motivation experienced by the employees in the organization 1. 4 NEED FOR THE STUDY: To study and know the employee motivation scenario in TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. ,, To know that the employees satisfaction level with the motivation factors undertaken by the company. To identify steps taken by the organization to motivates its employees. To identify the factors that influence the work place behavior of employees. 1. 5 SCOPE FOR THE STUDY: This study helps the researcher to realize the importance of effective employee motivation. This study explores the views expressed by the Respondents about the motivation and providing solutions in an attempt to develop a better system. The importance of studying employee motivation is to understand the internal satisfaction of every employee. The findings of this study help the company to fulfill the expectations of the employees. It helps to provide insights to support future research regarding strategic guidance for organizations that are both providing and using reward/recognition programs. 1. 6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY: The limitations of the study are the following As the data was collected through questionnaire, the responds from the respondents may not be accurate. The sample taken for the study was only 30 and the results drawn may not be accurate. Another difficulty was very limited time-span of the project. Lack of experience of Researcher. CHAPTER-2: 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2. 1 THEORETICAL REVIEW Rensis Likerthas called motivation as the core of management. Motivation is the core of management. Motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of the management in inspiring the work force . It is the major task of every manager to motivate his subordinate or to create the will to work among the subordinates . It should also be remembered that the worker may be immensely capable of doing some work, nothing can be achieved if he is not willing to work . creation of a will to work is motivation in simple but true sense of term. Motivation is an important function which very manager performs for actuating the people to work for accomplishment of objectives of the organization . Issuance of well conceived instructions and orders does not mean that they will be followed . A manager has to make appropriate use of motivation to enthuse the employees to follow them. Effective motivation succeeds not only in having an order accepted but also in gaining a determination to see that it is executed efficiently and effectively. In order to motivate workers to work for the organizational goals, the managers must determine the motives or needs of the workers and provide an environment in which appropriate incentives are available for their satisfaction . If the management is successful in doing so; it will also be successful in increasing the willingness of the workers to work. This will increase efficiency and effectiveness of the organization . There will be better utilization of resources and workers abilities and capacities. 2. 1. 1 The concept of motivation The word motivation has been derived from motive which means any idea, need or emotion that prompts a man in to action. Whatever may be the behavior of man, there is some stimulus behind it . Stimulus is dependent upon the motive of the person concerned. Motive can be known by studying his needs and desires. There is no universal theory that can explain the factors influencing motives which control mans behavior at any particular point of time. In general, the different motives operate at different times among different people and influence their behaviors. The process of motivation studies the motives of individuals which cause different type of behavior. 2. 1. 2 Definition of Motivation â€Å"Motivation in the real world is the art of getting the extra effort from everyone including yourself†. Management Research, October 2007, ICFAI University press. 2. 1. 3 Saul W. Gellerman According to â€Å"Saul W. Gellerman†, â€Å"Motivation is the process of attempting to influence others to do their work through the possibility of gain or reward†. HRM Review, July 2008, by Saul W. Gellerman . 2. 1. 4 Motivation According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, a motive is â€Å"something a need or desire that causes a person to act†. â€Å"Motivate, in turn, means â€Å"to provide with a motive,† and motivation is defined as â€Å"the act or process of motivating†. Consequently, motivation is the performance or procedure of presenting an intention that origin a person to capture some accomplishment (Shanks. N. H. ). According to Butkus Green, motivation is derived from the word â€Å"motivate†, means to move, push or influence to proceed for fulfilling a want Business Management and Strategy ISSN 2157-6068 2012, Vol. 3, No. 1 2. 1. 4 Significance of Motivation Motivation involves getting the members of the group to pull weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the purpose of the organization. The following results may be expected if the employees are properly motivated. 1. The workforce will be better satisfied if the management provides them with opportunities to fulfill their physiological and psychological needs. The workers will cooperate voluntarily with the management and will contribute their maximum towards the goals of the enterprise. 2. Workers will tend to be as efficient as possible by improving upon their skills and knowledge so that they are able to contribute to the progress of the organization. This will also result in increased productivity. 3. The rates of labor’s turnover and absenteeism among the workers will be low. 4. There will be good human relations in the organization as friction among the workers themselves and between the workers and the management will decrease. 5. The number of complaints and grievances will come down. Accident will also be low. 6. There will be increase in the quantity and quality of products. Wastage and scrap will be less. Better quality of products will also increase the public image of the business. 2. 1. 5 Motivation Process. 1. Identification of need 2. Tension 3. Course of action 4. Result –Positive/Negative 5. Feed back 2. 1. 6 Theories of Motivation. Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne study results (Terpstra, 1979). Six major approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation are Mcclelland’s Achievement Need Theory, Behavior Modification theory; Abraham H Mallows need hierarchy or Deficient theory of motivation. J. S. Adam’s Equity Theory, Vrooms Expectation Theory, Two factor Theory. McClelland’s Achievement Need Theory. According to McClelland’s there are three types of needs; Need for Achievement ; This need is the strongest and lasting motivating factor. Particularly in case of persons who satisfy the other needs. They are constantly pre occupied with a desire for improvement and lack for situation in which successful outcomes are directly correlated with their efforts. They set more difficult but achievable goals for themselves because success with easily achievable goals hardly provides a sense of achievement. Need for Power It is the desire to control the behavior of the other people and to manipulate the surroundings. Power motivations positive applications results in domestic leadership style, while it negative application tends autocratic style. Need for affiliation It is the related to social needs and creates friendship. This results in formation of informal groups or social circle. Behavioral Modification Theory; According to this theory people behavior is the outcome of favorable and unfavorable past circumstances. This theory is based on learning theory. Skinner conducted his researches among rats and school children. He found that stimulus for desirable behavior could be strengthened by rewarding it at the earliest. In the industrial situation, this relevance of this theory may be found in the installation of financial and non financial incentives. More immediate is the reward and stimulation or it motivates it. Withdrawal of reward incase of low standard work may also produce the desired result. However, researches show that it is generally more effective to reward desired behavior than to punish undesired behavior. Abraham H Maslow Need Hierarchy or Deficient theory of Motivation. The intellectual basis for most of motivation thinking has been provided by behavioral scientists, A. H Maslow and Frederick Herzberg, who’s published works are the â€Å"Bible of Motivation†. Although Maslow himself did not apply his theory to industrial situation, it has wide impact for beyond academic circles. Douglous Mac Gregor has used Maslow’s theory to interpret specific problems in personnel administration and industrial relations. The crux of Maslow’s theory is that human needs are arranged in hierarchy composed of five categories. The lowest level needs are physiological and the highest levels are the self actualization needs. Maslow starts with the formation that man is a wanting animal with a hierarchy of needs of which some are lower ins scale and some are in a higher scale or system of values. As the lower needs are satisfied, higher needs emerge. Higher needs cannot be satisfied unless lower needs are fulfilled. A satisfied need is not a motivator. This resembles the standard economic theory of diminishing returns. The hierarchy of needs at work in the individual is today a routine tool of personnel trade and when these needs are active, they act as powerful conditioners of behavior- as Motivators. Hierarchy of needs; the main needs of men are five. They are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, ego needs and self actualization needs, as shown in order of their importance The above five basic needs are regarded as striving needs which make a person do things. The first model indicates the ranking of different needs. The second is more helpful in indicating how the satisfaction of the higher needs is based on the satisfaction of lower needs. It also shows how the number of person who has experienced the fulfillment of the higher needs gradually tapers off. Physiological or Body Needs: The individual move up the ladder responding first to the physiological needs for nourishment, clothing and shelter. These physical needs must be equated with pay rate, pay practices and to an extent with physical condition of the job. Safety: The next in order of needs is safety needs, the need to be free from danger, either from other people or from environment. The individual want to assured, once his bodily needs are satisfied, that they are secure and will continue to be satisfied for foreseeable feature. The safety needs may take the form of job security, security against disease, misfortune, old age etc as also against industrial injury. Such needs are generally met by safety laws, measure of social security, protective labor laws and collective agreements. Social needs: Going up the scale of needs the individual feels the desire to work in a cohesive group and develop a sense of belonging and identification with a group. He feels the need to love and be loved and the need to belong and be identified with a group. In a large organization it is not easy to build up social relations. However close relationship can be built up with at least some fellow workers. Every employee wants to feel that he is wanted or accepted and that he is not an alien facing a hostile group. Ego or Esteem Needs: These needs are reflected in our desire for status and recognition, respect and prestige in the work group or work place such as is conferred by the recognition of one’s merit by promotion, by participation in management and by fulfillment of workers urge for self expression. Some of the needs relate to ones esteem e. g. ; need for achievement, self confidence, knowledge, competence etc. On the job, this means praise for a job but more important it means a feeling by employee that at all times he has the respect of his supervisor as a person and as a contributor to the organizational goals. Self realization or Actualization needs: This upper level need is one which when satisfied provide insights to support future research regarding strategic guidance for organization that are both providing and using reward/recognition programs makes the employee gives up the dependence on others or on the environment. He becomes growth oriented, self oriented, directed, detached and creative. This need reflects a state defined in terms of the extent to which an individual attains his personnel goal. This is the need which totally lies within oneself and there is no demand from any external situation or person. J. S Adams Equity Theory Employee compares her/his job inputs outcome ratio with that of reference. If the employee perceives inequity, she/he will act to correct the inequity: lower productivity, reduced quality, increased absenteeism, voluntary resignation. Vrooms Expectation Theory Vroom’s theory is based on the belief that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). Reward may be either positive or negative. The more positive the reward the more likely the employee will be highly motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be motivated. Two Factor Theory Douglas McGregor introduced the theory with the help of two views; X assumptions are conservative in style Assumptions are modern in style. X Theory Individuals inherently dislike work. People must be coerced or controlled to do work to achieve the objectives. People prefer to be directed Y Theory People view work as being as natural as play and rest People will exercise self direction and control towards achieving objectives they are Committed to. People learn to accept and seek responsibility Types of Motivation. Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is morally significant. Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades) Incentives An incentive is something which stimulates a person towards some goal. It activates human needs and creates the desire to work. Thus, an incentive is a means of motivation. In organizations, increase in incentive leads to better performance and vice versa. Need for Incentives Man is a wanting animal. He continues to want something or other. He is never fully satisfied. If one need is satisfied, the other need arises. In order to motivate the employees, the management should try to satisfy their needs. For this purpose, both financial and non financial incentives may be used by the management to motivate the workers. Financial incentives or motivators are those which are associated with money. They include wages and salaries, fringe benefits, bonus, retirement benefits etc. Non financial motivators are those which are not associated with monetary rewards. They include intangible incentives like ego-satisfaction, self-actualization and responsibility. INCENTIVES Financial Incentives Non-financial incentives Wages and Salaries. * Competition Bonus * Group recognition Medical reimbursement *Job security Insurance *Praise Retirement benefits *Workers participation *Suggestion systems Motivation is the key to performance improvement There is an old saying you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only if its thirsty so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do. Whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the ivory tower they must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus. Are they born with the self-motivation or drive? Yes and no. If no, they can be motivated, for motivation is a skill which can and must be learnt. This is essential for any business to survive and succeed. Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus: Job performance = f (ability) (motivation) Ability in turn depends on education, experience and training and its improvement is a slow and long process. On the other hand motivation can be improved quickly. There are many options and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a guideline, there are broadly seven strategies for motivation. There are broadly seven strategies for motivation. Positive reinforcement / high expectations Effective discipline and punishment Treating people fairly Satisfying employee’s needs Setting work related goals Restructuring jobs Base rewards on job performance Essentially, there is a gap between an individual’s actual state and some desired state and the manager tries to reduce this gap. Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate this gap. 2. 2 RESEARCH REVIEW The research problem here in this study is associated with the motivation of employees of TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. ,. There are a variety of factors that can influence a person’s level of motivation; some of these factors include 1. The level of pay and benefits, 2. The perceived fairness of promotion system within a company, 3. Quality of the working conditions, 4. Leadership and social relationships, 5. Employee recognition 6. Job security 7. Career development opportunities etc. Motivated employees are a great asset to any organization. It is because the motivation and Job satisfaction is clearly linked. Hence this study is focusing on the employee motivation in the organization. 2. 3 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS A hypothesis is a preliminary or tentative explanation or postulate by the researcher of what the researcher considers the outcome of an investigation will be. It is an informed/educated guess. It indicates the expectations of the researcher regarding certain variables. It is the most specific way in which an answer to a problem can be stated. Research hypotheses are the specific testable predictions made about the independent and dependent variables in the study. Hypotheses are couched in terms of the particular independent and dependent variables that are going to be used in the study. The research hypothesis of this study is as follows. HYPOTHESIS: There is significant relationship between income and motivation level of the employees CHAPTER -3 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Research is a systematic method of finding solutions to problems. It is essentially an Investigation, a recording and an analysis of evidence for the purpose of gaining knowledge. According to Clifford woody, â€Å"research comprises of defining and redefining problem, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, reaching conclusions, testing conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis. † 3. 1 RESEARCH DESIGN: A Research design is plan that specifies the objectives of the study, method to be adopted in the collection of the data, tools in analysis of data and helpful to frame hypothesis. â€Å"A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure†. Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various project operations, thereby making the project as efficient as possible yielding maximal information with minimal data collected. 3. 2 Sampling Design. A sample design is a finite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. Simple systematic sampling is used for this study. 3. 3 Universe. The universe chosen for the research study is the employees of TAQA NEYVELI POWER COMPANY Pvt. , Ltd. , 3. 4 Sample Size. Number of the sampling units selected from the population is called the size of the sample. Sample of 30 respondents were obtained from the population. 3. 5 Sampling Procedure. The procedure adopted in the present study is probability sampling, which is also known as chance sampling. Under this sampling design, every item of the frame has an equal chance of inclusion in the sample. 3. 6 Methods of Data Collection. The data’s were collected through Primary and secondary sources. 3. 6. 1 Primary Sources. Primary data are in the form of â€Å"raw material† to which statistical methods are applied for the purpose of analysis and interpretations. The primary sources are discussion with employees, data’s collected through questionnaire. 3. 6. 2 Secondary Sources. Secondary data’s are in the form of finished products as they have already been treated statistically in some form or other. The secondary data mainly consists of data and information collected from records, company websites and also discussion with the management of the organization. Secondary data was also collected from journals, magazines and books. 3. 6. 3 Nature of Research. Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity. 3. 6. 4 Questionnaire. A well defined questionnaire that is used effectively can gather information on both overall performance of the test system as well as information on specific components of the system. A defeated questionnaire was carefully prepared and specially numbered. The questions were arranged in proper order, in accordance with the relevance. 3. 6. 5 Nature of Questions Asked. The questionnaire consists of closed ended, dichotomous questions and open ended question. 3. 6. 6 Pre-testing A pre-testing of questionnaire was conducted with 10 questionnaires, which were distributed and all of them were collected back as completed questionnaire. On the basis of doubts raised by the respondents the questionnaire was redialed to its present form. 3. 6. 7 Sample A finite subset of population, selected from it with the objective of investigating its properties called a sample. A sample is a representative part of the population. A sample of 30 respondents in total has been randomly selected. The response to various elements under each questions were totaled for the purpose of various statistical testing. 3. 6. 8 Variables of the Study. The direct variable of the study is the employee motivation, Indirect variables are the motivational schemes, motivational level and job satisfaction and effectiveness of employees. 3. 6. 9 Presentation of Data. The data are presented through charts and tables. 3. 6. 10 Tools and Techniques for Analysis. Statistical method: Percentage method Bar chart Statistical tool used: To arrange and interpret the collected data the following statistical tool used is ANOVA. CHAPTER-4 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: 4. 1 PE

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Herpes Simplex Virus 2 - Essay Example   The condition has been found to affect approximately 50 million people in the United States. It has also been discovered that antibodies against the virus exist in 20 percent of the adult population which shows previous exposure. It can lead to miscarriages in pregnant mothers if the fetus becomes infected before the fifth month of pregnancy. Females have greater risk of suffering from this condition. There has been not much variation in the rate of occurrence of the disease in United States. The incubation period for the virus is 2 weeks. The first infection is the most severe which resolves in around a month. The following infections cannot have a definitive pattern. Herpes simplex virus leads to genital sores and is responsible for the infection in the neonates due to its spread from the mother to the baby during delivery. The disease is contagious and is sexually transmitted and from the mother to the baby. The disease mainly affects the genitals where it leads to the develop ment of sores. Contact of genitals with the mouth can also result in sores on the mouth. It is responsible for the development of vesicular lesions in the sexual organs in both sexes which can spread to the cervical canal in the case of females and to the prostate gland in males. The newborn baby may also get infected and present with infections on the skin, oral cavity and the eyes. It can also result in inflammation of the brain. Inflammation of the meninges can also be caused by this disease. After the initial infection, the virus can become stored in the sensory ganglia particularly the lumbar and sacral regions where it remains inactive. It reactivates if provided with a stimulus which includes sunlight, high body temperature and disturbances in the hormonal levels. In this case the virus travels again to the skin and produces lesions.   

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Social Implications of Information Technology Essay

Social Implications of Information Technology - Essay Example Economically it has changed the way of doing business and improved communication between partners; culturally it has reduced the differences between cultures and improved intercultural communication; politically it provides people with a new type of access to important information, while politicians obtain a new powerful type of lever to affect the voters; and socially it has influenced the communication and learning patters, and created absolutely new systems of relationship between people. Such extensive and diverse influence makes the new informational technologies one of the key forces that shape the present-day society and affect being of virtually each human being. The recent shift towards intensive use of computer technology in educational practices has already become so powerful that computer-mediated learning is no more perceived as something new. Whether computer laboratories in the primary schools or Internet-equipped computer facilities in the high school, computers have turned into unalienable part of students' life. The tremendous growth of technology has had large and serious impact on virtually every aspect of educational and learning practices. One of the consequences of the remarkable technological surge was the rapid development of computer-mediated distance learning at the higher education level. The beginning of the third millennium was marked by intensive growth. Institutions of higher education continued to further develop distance learning offerings targeting the populations of working adults who otherwise have limited access to higher education (Smart, and Cappel, 2006; Liaw and Huang, 2002). The online enrollment estimations made in the late 1990s have been exceeded and continues to grow at amazingly high rates. Thus, the number of online students reached 2.6 million in the fall of 2004 (Allen and Seaman, 2004). Despite the tremendous success of distance technology-mediated learning (this term covers not only fully online courses, but also various blended approaches that integrate online components into traditional classes), experts suggests that it still remains at an early stage of development and has huge poten tial to grow further (Smart, and Cappel, 2006). Computers are exceptionally useful for students at any level. Simple word-processing software turns students into independent publishers of ideas and opinions, helps them to eliminate the feeling of isolation, weigh their thoughts and ideas against thought and ideas of other people, while more advanced interactive software make it possible for them to practice the inquiry-based learning (Papert, 1996). This significant advantage of the computer technology is especially important in educational institution of higher learning, where the role of teacher is less important and students learns more on his own. Traditionally, European and American universities and colleges found themselves under constant pressure to control the costs while improving the quality of instruction, focusing on customer needs, and reacting to the competitive challenges (Horgan, 1998: 1). Higher education professionals used to perceive distance learning as the major tool in addressing the challenges while maintaining cost-effectiveness of universities (Dibiase, 2000). The distance learnin

Monday, August 26, 2019

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gun Control - Essay Example There are strict measures to control the use of guns. This paper will analyze gun control among the Americans in relation to the rights of the individual to own a gun. 2. Gun Control Winkler (16) mentions that, the rights to own a gun became integral in the American population when the white settlers required protection to guard self from attacks from unknown armies, animals and Native Americans. The justification was that Americans has a responsibility to protect themselves. Moreover, guns were used for hunting which is a sport culture in the country. Firearms are categorized into handguns, long guns and automated guns. Handguns include pistols and weapons that can be used with one hand. Long guns are specially manufactured for hunters to engage in sport. Automated guns and semi automated guns are perceived to be a preserve of the military. Automatic and semi automatic guns as well as rifles are registered by those possessing them. Dealers of the automatic guns must be licensed. The purchase of machine guns is a preserve of the military and is costly since they are scarce. The long guns are not considered as weapons for crime but for sport. However, reports show that the long guns have been used for suicide in some instances. Handguns are commonly used to commit crime. Proponents of use of guns argue that groups conducting gun control describe the different types of firearms with a motive to discriminate certain guns as unsafe for the public. Gun control activists are tent to discourage and disapprove the use of automatic guns for personal defense. Citizens in some states are allowed to own semi automatic guns. Some citizens have gone to the extent of improving the semi automatic machines so that they may resemble the automatic gun. The manufacturers of firearms claim that over a third of the guns are hand guns. The number of casualties resulting from use of fire arm for crime is very high in the United States. Many citizens believe that the guns act as securi ty for them if they show it for defense when there is a possible attack. Many citizens claim that they have used handguns for self defense for self defense especially at their residence and at work. The guns can be used to scare away trespassers in the home place. Thieves breaking into homes can be chased away with hand guns (McClurg et al, 101). Guns are also used to capture criminals by wounding them if they are armed. Criminals who are aware that that those they attack is armed fail to proceed if they learn that they are armed as Kleck (34) mentions. Studies conducted reveal that population with access to firearms is likely to commit homicide that populations without crime. The high number of murders recorded in the United Sates is blamed on the large number of civilians owning guns. Consequently, Americans who witness an attempted or completed armed attack is very large. Prisoners serving a jail term confess having an armed firearm when they were conducting the crime (Lott 78). Kleck (39) mentions that several states in America recommend that guns be kept without loading. When selling guns, dealers ensure that the citizen has the correct reasons for obtaining a gun. The guns should not be given to people who pose a threat to the public population. The certificate and license for ownership of arms dictates the number of ammunitions and firearms that citizens are

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Phoenix mission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Phoenix mission - Essay Example 5 Phoenix Mars Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 A Short Profile Objectives of The Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Study the history of water by examining water-ice below the Martian surface Determining whether Martian arctic soil could support life Study Martian weather from a polar perspective Preparations before Launching†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Communications†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Command and Data Handling†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 About the Landing Site†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 Phases of Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... Phoenix Mars Mission Section 2: Describes the objectives of the mission Section 3: Illustrates the preparation before the launch Section 4: Describes the concept of planetary protection Section 5: Explicates the processes of guidance, navigation and control Section 6: Describes the landing site Section 7: Explicates the different phases of the mission such as development, launch, cruise, entry, descend and landing Section 8: Describes the situation on reaching Mars Sections: Explicates on the results Proposal The Phoenix Mars Scout Lander is the pioneer robotic explorer of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which was launched in August 2007 and landed in Mars in May 2008 to perform â€Å"in-situ and remote sensing investigations† for evaluating the â€Å"biological potential of Mars† (Garcia & Fujii 1). This will enable humans to understand the planet better and to further explore the possibility of life to exist there. Thus, this will be an interesti ng project to research and gain more knowledge about. This research will be based on purely on a review of the existing literature on the topic, especially those published by the NASA and other credible organizations working on the field of aeronautics and related sciences. The researcher will focus on obtaining most recent and relevant information relating to the topic from reliable sources. On the basis of the information gleaned from such reliable sources the researcher will draw relevant findings and conclusion. Student’s Name: Professor’s Name: Subject: 10 October 2013 Phoenix Mars Mission Among the planets in the solar system, Mars is one of the five main planets that has been under study since ancient times. It is yellowish brown to red in color, and is considered as the Roman god of war,

Opera in the U.S. by American composers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Opera in the U.S. by American composers - Essay Example Opera in the U.S. by American composers Answering the question that many people have not been able to answer since the 1960’s, Opera in the United States of America supports performance and creation of new works by American composers especially those from the northern side. OPERA America’s online education core, which is the learning centre, features information, which not only focuses on frequent operas but also houses an inventory that has proven to grow of composers from north America as well as their operas for use by opera lovers, artists and administrators. Therefore, Opera finds synopses, biographies of librettists and composers, historical essays and other research as well as other multimedia excerpts. Jazz composers for example, which happens to be the genre subject in this paper, started way back in the 1960’s and up to date the composers still rely on Opera for research work. In the Opera, there is the voice workshop and the composers’ series, w hich is a competitive biannual fellowship, offered to composers especially those of jazz and composer/librettist teams (Gilbert& Chase, 26). The notion behind fallacies as outlined by major philosophers asserts that in order to be a rational thinkers and composers, then one should avoid the illogicality in fallacies and carry out an examination to gauge one’s level of thinking. While composing, development for Rational Persons involves Viewing Development in Stages; the composer tries to explain the basic concepts that would help in becoming a rational jazz composer. Librettists like mark Campbell places in the mind of the audience stages of evaluation through which one can become a more rational thinker. While at Opera and in stage one, composers assert that it is of primary importance to accept that since humans are always working towards being more rational thinkers, we should accept that shortcoming characteristic of humans and work towards better realization of relevant thinking. The second stage helps composers realize that unless they accept to being irrelevant thinkers, only then can they proceed to being rational thinkers. Stage 3 asserts that composers first question the belief of their reasoning before actually bringing it out to other people. When a composer gets to this stage, then he or she can be referred to as ‘beginning thinkers’. In the fourth stage, a composer is able to have a clearly defined outline of his or her thinking formula. One is able to have an organized line of thought even in arguments. According to Opera, There are 4 different kinds of fallacies. I. Non sequitur is the form of thinking where the composition may be right or wrong, but the premise from which the conclusion is born does not have clear outlay. II. Faulty analogy asserts some level of irrelevance during composition. For instance, if B has content, same as V and V has same composition as Q; simply assuming that therefore B and Q have same properti es without founded conclusive finding is irrelevant and illogical. III. Hasty generalization: in this form of fallacy, a composer simply draws conclusion based only insufficient evidence. If in a list of 12 people, 10 have passed in an exam, simply assuming that the remaining two also have passed in an exam holds no ground for a sufficient conclusion. IV. Equivocation simply implies the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Evolution of Internet Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evolution of Internet Paper - Essay Example With the evolution of internet, devices used to support it have also developed and am outstanding example of these devices is the router. In this part of question, this paper is going to research on three companies (TRENDNet, D-Link and Linksys) selling high-speed router products. It will also compare the most powerful routers sold, as well as elaborating meaning of the term, ‘most powerful’ as with regard to routers. A router is a networking device that analyzes data and forwards it to a certain destination. To transfer the data efficiently and accurately, a lot of activity takes place inside the router. In addition to enabling most computers to go online, it enables computer networking in the most effective way (Zdnet 2012). There are different companies that manufacture high speed routers. The best examples of such companies are TRENDNet, D-Link, and Linksys which deal with high speed routers. Their routers can handle the bandwidth that one subscribes with an internet of 1 mbps connection which can go up to 12 mbps. The TRENDNet Company in California has been supporting home and business networks. Among the products TRENDNet, Company deals with are, high speed routers like TRENDnet TW100 BRV214 and TRENDnet TW100 S4W1CA, and are connected to a modem via Ethernet port (Zdnet 2012). D-link is another company which has developed technology products for two and half decades. It offers solutions for large corporations, educational and government institutions as well as home and office. The company also offers high speed routers like the D-link DI 704p and D-link DIR-130 Broadband VPN Router (Zdnet 2012). Just like the TRENDnet routers, D-link’s routers are connected to a modem via Ethernet. The third company that deals with high speed routers is Linksys, which has been providing technology solutions for long. The company has high speed routers with high performance like; Linksys E4200 dual band wireless-N router and RV042 router (Zdnet 2012). Linksys routers are slimmer than those of the other two companies. They are other software that accompanies these routers to enable the user to get the optimum benefit. High speed routers should be connected in the correct configuration order of modem, router then computer as analyzed in the Introduction to High Speed Routers (2009). The modem connects to internet provider, then the high speed router connects to the modem, and the computer connects to the high speed router. To me the most powerful router can be defined by the ability of the router to enable computer networking, the high speed in downloading files from the internet, the one which does not require antennae to tap signals. The router should also be able to connect wireless-G and wireless-N without complications, and should have the ability to set up a separate network for each band. Week 4 DQ 2 Since 1997 The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) has been responsible for the administration of internet addresses and domains for parts of the Caribbean and North America including Canada and United states. The decision by the American government to have the US department of defense secede from the support for commercial internet inspired its formation (Comer 2000). One of its services is the Whois service, which can be used to determine address blocks for institutions within the United States. It can also be used to determine geographical locations of specific internet provider addresses. In this part of question,

Friday, August 23, 2019

International Hospitality Operations Coursework

International Hospitality Operations - Coursework Example Essentially Dubai is one of the countries that form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Different ethnic groups reside in the Emirates, some of the include Pakistani, European, Bangladesh, Indian and Emirati. It is significant to note that, Middle East, is burgeoning in numerous ways, which include politically, economically and demographically (Baum, 47). It is evident that, much of the region’s wealth is attributable to having the world’s largest deposits of easily extractable oil and tourism activities. Background information The tourism industry in Dubai and in the whole Gulf region is comparatively young. Until the late 19550s, Dubai had no hotels. Visitors would spend with their hosts. It is noticeable that, the following two decades saw Dubai grow tremendously in developing basic facilities for travelers (Baum, 49). The opening of an international airport in 1959 and discovery of oil in 1966 spurred development and opening of several hotels. The founding of the Emirat es Airlines in 1985 and the Dubai Tourism Board saw Dubai attract investors and tourists from across the globe. The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) facilitated international promotion and positioning Dubai as both commercial hub and resort destination (Rehman, 217). The establishment of the Jumeirah Group in 1997 as a hotel management company has seen the development of a portfolio of high-end hotels in Dubai and across the globe. For instance, the Burj-Al-Arab was opened in 1997 as the first seven-star hotel in the world (Brotherton, 151). This trend has accelerating to the current state, which puts Dubai in the global arena in tourist attraction and foreign investment (Rehman, 218). Political trend The middle East is often professed by westerners to be tantamount with conflict, but it middle East has serene areas where many diverse nationalities congregate, work and live together in a harmonious way (Buhalis & Costa, 122). It is imperative to note that, the UAE is one of the peaceful places with Dubai having the highest influx of international workers who make up to 80% of the country’s work force (Rehman, 219). Dubai is politically stable, and it has developed a reputation for being a safe hub for people of diverse nationalities, who work for companies from all over the globe. It is a constitutional monarchy ruled by Sheikh Mohammed (Rehman, 215). Mohammed, who has been on the wheel of leadership since 1995, had a vision for Dubai as an international hub for business and leisure. Mohammed realized his vision for Dubai quickly by the establishment of business centers, tourist attraction centers, which included skyscrapers such as the Burj Khalifa. It is the tallest building in the world. Such building makes Dubai distinct from the rest of the United Arab Emirates. They act as tourist attraction centers. It is imperative to note that, Dubai has managed to raise numerous sophisticated and pleasurable buildings even on water. The Burj Khalifa is illustrated below (Tizabi, 321). Additionally, is a member of numerous global organizations and associations, which include the Arab League, United Nations and World Trade Organization, this trend has sustained healthy relationships with the Western democratic countries. This membership has strengthened Dubai’s internal political stability (Tizabi, 317). Culture and religion background It is vital to note that, Dub

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Two Countries Essay Example for Free

Two Countries Essay All countries in the world are unique. There are many differences and similarities between Brazil and the United States. They are different from one another in location, size; culture, government, education, healthcare, economy, and lifestyles. Many countries share similarities and have some differences. Brazil and the United States are in different hemispheres, but these two nations share many similarities. Â  One important similarity is their governments. Both Brazil and the United States have a president as head of state that is elected and only allowed one re-election. They both are federal governments and have a four years term in office. They both governments are guided by a written constitution and have three branches. These are the similarities I could say about their politics. Another similarity between Brazil and the United States is the diversity of ethnic groups. Brazil was colonized by Europeans, and its culture has been greatly influenced by this fact. However, the identity of the Brazilian people is not solely a product of western civilization. Brazil has many ethnic groups that immigrated there and mixed with the native people. The United States also has a diversity of ethnic groups representing the early colonists from northern Europe as well as groups from Africa, the Mediterranean, Asia, and South America. The mixture of cultures and customs has worked to form ethnically rich cultures in both countries. One important difference between Brazil and the United States is the public health system. The Brazilian public health system is the National Health System (SUS), and the United States public health system is managed and provided by government. They both have a private health system with serve in a complementary role. The Brazilian public health services are universal and available to all citizens of the country for free. In the United States public health system is government programs directly cover a small part of the population including the elderly, disabled, children, veterans, and some of the poor. Federal law mandates public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Therefore, this is a small difference between these Brazil and the United States’ health system. Finally, Brazil and the United States education systems have public and private schools. They have different ways to enter in college, but the same time is spent in the basic schools. The teacher’s devotion with teaching is the same, but there are different relationships between teachers and students. This is a brief comparison between the Brazilian and American educational system. In conclusion, there are many differences and similarities between countries, as location, size, culture, government, education, healthcare, economy, and lifestyles. These are some elements that could be similar or different between Brazil and the United States.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hedda Gabler Manipulation

Hedda Gabler Manipulation August Strindbergs Miss Julie and Henrik Ibsens Hedda Gabler, bring out the same themes but with completely different motives. The dominating theme of manipulation is brought out by the characterization and the speech and dialogue of the important characters. Along with the underlying motive of power, in the former its observed for class revenge while in the latter for perverse pleasure out of sheer boredom. The speech, dialogue and stage directions perceived through the course of these plays reiterate this theme of manipulation. Ambition, power, and the thirst to avenge his fate, leads Jean to tamper with Miss Julie. But a mere valet, he dreams of luxuries beyond his reach. With dreams of climb up, climb up to the top, and look around over the bright landscape where the sun is shining  [1]  , he fulfils his ambition by making Julie his first branch  [2]  . He ensnares Julie in the trap of flattery, lust, guilt, dominance, hatred and obedience by his actions, therefore taking advantage of her confused state of mind especially at a time where she dreamed of climbing down the pillar. Miss Julie, influenced by her childhood, her personality, and her broken engagement makes her an easy prey to Jeans scheming. Her vulnerability becomes greater by the absence of her father, the fact that she in that time of the month, the aphrodisiacs present in the form of dancing, flowers and supported by the festive atmosphere of Midsummers night. Jean takes advantage of her by his carefully planned flattery, exaggerated politeness and hesitation, manners and charm which makes her lower her defences to an inferior person. Her submission to his tactics is suggested by [MISS JULIE exists rapidly stage right. JEAN quickly after her]  [3]   Hedda Gabler on the other hand opens on a note of decline, not only as portrayed by the autumn foliage  [4]  but also by her matrimony with Jorgen Tesman. She faces disaster by becoming Hedda Tesman, as her spare time leads her into a state of constant boredom that transforms everyone present around her into her puppets for her sadistic pleasure derived from demeaning them. This can be observed when she says something happened with Miss Tesman this morning. She put her hat down there on the chair And I pretended I thought it was the servants.  [5]   Heddas sense of manipulation is also expressed by her desire for power. Like Jean, she desires control of the people around her by faking friendship and lending a sympathetic ear to them. Her motives are observed with Thea Elvsted where Mrs. Elvsted confesses in her my husband had no idea I was coming. when she is lured into it by Heddas persuasion and charm. This is further reiterated by Lovborgs confession in Act 2 when he says I used to make [confessions] telling you things about myself that no one else knew.  [6]  These confessions bring her closer to her desire and make her even more wretched. She also portrays the ability to hide her emotions rather well, thus strengthening her facade. Jean continues to lure Julie with a heart rendering tale of his childhood, when he used to secretly admire her and had also decided to die when he couldnt have her but his cruel fate saved him. He goes to the extent of kissing her feet on her demand though his bold advances are halted by her despite her leading him on. In this sado-masochistic relationship of lust, a constant swing of power is seen and the differentiation between the master and servant becomes very vague and is only observed by the reference to money. Jean here changes colours like chameleon and becomes harsh and dominating from when he tells her Fall down to me, and Ill lift you up again.  [7]   Ejlert Lovborg always has had to make a choice between courage and cowardice, drinking and not drinking, scholarly fame and disrespect. He even compares Hedda and Thea by their effect on him Hedda persuaded him away while Thea motivated and inspired him. This distinction can be supported by their outward appearances too. Hedda looked well bred with an even complexion and steel gray eyes with thin light brown hair, while contrasting to her stood Thea with a slight slender figure, large light blue eyes and fair hair, exceptionally thick. Despite Heddas manipulative nature, her fear of scandals prevents her from doing what she wished. She however fulfils her ambition of controlling someone by manipulating Lovborg, leading him back to alcohol and making him break Theas trust. Jeans character portrays it all: from humbleness and obedience to domination and wrath and back to his position as the valet, when it dawns upon him that she is penniless. Despite his wrath, when he says Have you ever seen a girl of my class offer herself like that? Ive only seen the like among animals and prostitutes  [8]  , Julie holds her ground and spills out her intimate secrets. She puts light on her childhood, on her mother and her ideas of the role reversals on the basis of gender and the tragedy faced by the family by the case of arson, thus indirectly characterising herself. Jean continues to dominate her and exhibits his wrath by the cold blooded annexation of her siskin and becomes a valet again at the arrival of the count. Gone is his domination and arrogance, leaving behind a suppressed and punctured servant obeying his masters command. Hedda, married to Tesman and interested in Lovborg, she dominates them both for personal pleasure. Like a faithful companion, Tesman feels I think its so jolly waiting on you, Hedda.  [9]  In contrast to this, Lovborg defies Hedda on her offer of punch. This appeals to Hedda more than being waited upon. Lovborgs drunk and outcast nature makes Hedda feel connected to a world denied to her because of her class and gender. She thus takes a perverse pleasure in luring him back to the path he walked on before becoming reformed. She subtly starts taking charge of his life by doubting his intention of living a clean life. She does so from the point of view of Judge Brack when she says, The contemptuous smile of his when you were afraid to go in there with them  [10]  . She then unravels Theas doubt in his character to remain free of the dirty path, breaking his confidence as a reformed man and thus taking him back to his old life. Hedda uses her control over Lovborgs life and lures towards his death. She sees Lovborg as her romantic hero who shall face a death with an element of beauty in this.  [11]  She lays out the path for him by manipulating him. She initially brings out Theas distrust, leading him to the bottle again and then gaining a grip on him by getting hold of his manuscript. She then leads him into callously treating Thea by persuading the topic of the lost manuscript despite his wishes. Swayed by this, his lie to Thea about the manuscript and confession in Hedda puts her at an upper hand. Having burnt his manuscript, she subtly leads him to her dream of a beautiful death by handing him a pistol, she was sure would be used. Tesman on the other hand adores Hedda so much that he rejoices at the loss of the manuscript mistaking her intentions for it. Hes presented as a puppet in her hands, present there to hold up her name in society without any passion or desire. In contrast to this, the constant role reversal which takes places between the two main characters in Miss Julie bring out their personalities by the way they communicate. This brings out the differing shades of their characters. Miss Julies aspiration of descend is complemented by Jeans ascend. The distinction between the master and the servant is seen by a very fine line here which is constantly put under pressure. This distinction can only be made on the basis of their class. Their actions reveal their class differences. For instance Julie prefers beer while Jean the finest wine, and Julie leads Jean out. This ambiguity of the power remains till the end, as on one hand Jean does obey the counts orders but on the other hand Julie obeys him and leaves with a blade. In Hedda Gabler, Theas courage to stand up to what she believed in, her deep passion and love for Lovborg and her control over him, is seen as a source of constant irritation to Hedda and is brought out her jealousy and is reinforced by her statement: That girl with the tiresome hair, that she was always showing off.  [12]  Theas feminity along with the fact that she had taken away the one thing that Hedda loved the most Lovborg, causes Hedda to manipulate them both. Underlying motives of power, through perverse pleasure and out of ambition leads to the decline of the characters portrayed in both these books as has been observed by their speech and dialogue and stage directions.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Ethics in Data and Web Mining

Ethics in Data and Web Mining Liliam Faraon What is the importance of ethics in Data Mining? We live in a time when the pursuit of knowledge is indispensable. From the transformations we have witnessed in the past years, we can acknowledge that information assumes a growing importance and a requirement for any sector of human activity. Some authors say that 90% of all data in the world has been generated over the last two years, and more and more devices will be connected to the internet generating data that can be used by companies to predict patterns of consumption and increase specific sales. The article: 17 Internet of Things Facts Everyone Should Read published by Forbes in October, 2015, brings us an idea of some numbers and the potential market that is available to be exploit: Nowadays there are more objects connected to the internet than people; By the year of 2020 around 250.000 vehicles will be connected to the internet, (saving time spend in traffic, fuel, improving the performance and protecting the environment and generating data); The global wearable device market has grown 223% only in 2015 specially by the launching of Fitbit ® and Apple Watches; Internet of Things will add $10 to $15 trillion to global GDP by 2036; But looking at all the facts some questions are raised, such as: how the data we produce is managed and stored? How is it perceived? How businesses are taking advantage from all the that information? And finally, how do we protect our own data and make sure is not being used without consent? Thats where web mining poses a threat to ethical values, such as individuality and privacy. Improvements in IT and storage capacity has enabled companies to develop tools for data collection through many channels. There are a variety of ways individuals generate data, such as: ATM visits, bar-code readers, biometric devices, credit and debit card transactions, loyalty clubs, medical records, online shopping, rentals, scanners, subscriptions, website browsing and use of many Smart devices available. As a result, there is an exponential growth of the amount of data stored and available to be explored. This generation of data brought the need of new techniques and technologies that can analyse and convert all this information into useful knowledge and Data Mining becomes a very powerful resource. When all these data are merged and mined, they can infer a persons associations, credit information, health, income, political interests and tastes. Liu defines data mining as The process of discovering useful patterns or knowledge from data sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The patterns must be valid, potentially useful and understandable. (Liu, 2011, p. 6). Data mining based on algorithms are very automated and analytical tools and its use is rapidly increasing. By combining databases, information visualisation, machine learning, mathematical modelling, pattern recognition, statistics and more recently artificial intelligence, very large and complex datasets can be analysed and relationships, patterns, outliers and trends can be revealed. Figure 1: Data Mining         Ã‚   Raw data itself is not useful at all, but the information that can be extracted from the data is where the real value seats. We have endless amounts of data being produced and stored, it makes sense companies and governments have the desire to analyse all this data to uncover patterns potentially useful hidden in there. Data Mining process is basically categorised into two classes: Descriptive: describes the general properties of information stored in a database Predictive: draws inferences from the data in order to make predictions. Witten emphasises: Data Mining is about solving problems by analysing data already present in databases (Witten, 2013, p. 4). Decision makers desire the right answers for broad questions and obviously, the more data gathered the more questions raised. Which customers are likely to respond in a positive way to a marketing campaign? What products will have more success when launched? What is the best price range for a new product? How do the competitors tend to react? The response for those questions cannot be reached based on feelings or intuition, they can be answered by analysing customers behaviour and profile using data mining tools. By collecting and summarizing and making use of data mining companies and organisations can identify insights and obtain competitive advantage, recognize potential competitors, improve customer service relationship, target customer expectations and needs. It also has important uses in social business and science, most recently Government Agencies are using Data and Web mining applications to uncover criminal activities such as terrorist threats. There are many Data Mining tools are available in the market nowadays, each one with its particularities, the most common are KNIME, NLTK, Orange, RapidMiner (formerly known as YALE), R-Programming and WEKA . Ethics must be a condition of the world, like logic. Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951. Giant social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter hold billions of users data, keeping these data protect and as a secret is a big concern. When an individual creates an account on any of those social media channels a policy agreement is accepted, and it is basically data related. Data Mining analysts use people personal information collected by organisations all over the world through many different technologies and use them especially for prediction analysis, but practitioners must be very careful when analysing patterns, certain kinds of discrimination are not only unethical but also illegal, gender, religion, race and certain sensitive information is totally unacceptable, in the other hand, anonymizing data is very difficult, for example, over 85% of Americans can be identified from publicity available records using just three pieces of information: zip code, birth date and sex (Witten, 2013, p.33). When a person shops for a product online, the company has access to customers address, credit card, name, phone number and other information in their database. But how does the company encrypts the information and protects it from misuse or security breach is and ethical and legal issue. Some matters are also raised: Is it ethical and legal to use the users information for publicity purposes? How can users protect their right of privacy? Where does the right of a company meets the ethics when sharing its data with another company to comprehend and understand customers and increase profit by selling this information to third party companies is a very important matter and it must be carefully discussed. There is a thin line between of a persons privacy and companys right to use it. When a person provides personal information, he or she needs to know how and what it will be used and a few steps must be taken to guarantee confidentiality and integrity. The use of data particularly data about people for data mining has serious ethical implications and practitioners of data mining techniques must act responsibly by making themselves aware of the ethical issues that surround their particular application. (Witten, 2013, p. 33). There is a growing concern regarding to the use of private and sensitive information and the ethical issues of Data Mining must be analysed and understood both from the business and the personal point of view. From a personal point of view, by Data Mining execution respecting consent, privacy and regulations customers might appreciate the fact they are being target with more personalized offers based on circumstances and needs and in return they may be willing to provide more specific data about themselves. From a business point of view by respecting the privacy issues companies will save resources as they will be able to target very specific customers for certain products. It is obvious that as any other powerful technology there are negative consequences of Data Mining, some results can ineffective, misdirected or unregulated, but if used correctly it can be very resourceful. Some points are very important and organizations making use of data mining techniques should give a thought about them when the use of personal data is planned: Connectivity and data sharing All the users and people that give consent are connected through the internet and share data Security is essential Once all the information traffics through databases, companies worry about the security and privacy, that way all the data will be encrypted, the web services will be hosted in a server with a certificate installed and authentication user The importance of Privacy Policy Privacy Policy is a legal statement and regulates the privacy policy related to users personal data which is under companies responsibility Infrastructure The process will not function without an application to analyse, interpret, read and draw patterns from the data Account management: Gathering and leveraging Account Management has all the information gathered and leveraged, and elaborate can advertising campaigns. It plays an important role in the profitability of the company Information could be released without the consent of the person, it becomes an ethical dilemma, because sometimes the users are unaware of the information gathered and that is being used by companies. It is very important to highlight that the person has the right to know how it will be used and should be able to have the opportunity to consent or not the collection and use. And also when a person becomes part of a group profile and used as a decision making basis, the individuality is threatened, people cannot be judged only as group members, but also as an individual, able to make its own decisions. It is likely that in the next few years an inspection of ethical issues and legal implications will be further required, legislation of digital privacy will be developed and laws will enter force, confidentiality and privacy preservation should be the main points of concern. Unauthorised extraction of data will be considered a crime and companies must be ready for that. Data Mining algorithms are very important and powerful tools for analysis and predictions, they are expected to become more and more significant in the future, decision based on data will change the way companies base their processes, of course there are no 100% guarantee that they will succeed, but, are more likely to be successful than decisions based on feelings or gut. Once patterns are revealed profiles can be drown and stereotypes can be used for crime prevention, commercial proposes, marketing campaigns, policies development and many others. Meanwhile Data Mining ethical issues need to be raised and awareness increased, as the world continues to develop, more and more data is likely to be collected and the Data Mining processes will become more sophisticated. People will need to get a clearer idea of privacy and companies will have to become more transparent on its processes of collect, gather and use of data. Cook, Jack (2005). Ethics of data mining. Available at: http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1443context=article Ethics in Computing. Available at: https://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/privacy/mining/study.php [Accessed: 02 March 2017]. Fule, Peter. Detecting Privacy and Ethical Sensitivity in Data Mining Results. Available at: http://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV26Fule.pdf Liu, Bing. (2011). Web Data Mining: Exploring Hyperlinks, Contents, and Usage Data, Springer MARR, Bernard.17 Internet Of Things Facts Everyone Should Read (2015). Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/10/27/17-mind-blowing-internet-of-things-facts-everyone-should-read/#5e463ad01a7a [Accessed: 01 March 2017]. Wahlstrom, Kirsten (2006). On the Ethical and Legal Implications of Data Mining. Available at: https://csem.flinders.edu.au/research/techreps/SIE06001.pdf Witten, Ian H (2013). Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Morgan Kaufmann. Zhen, Ethical issues in Web Data Mining. Available at:http://blog.nus.edu.sg/group208/2012/11/25/ethical-issues-in-web-data-mining/ [Accessed: 01 March 2017].