Islamic architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Islamic architecture - Essay Example (Burckhardt, Art of Islam, p. 203) The divine reflections and revelations of Islamic architecture have deep historical roots in multiple cultures and religions. From ancient Greece to twenty-first century technological marvels, Islamic architecture draws from a plethora of rich influences and resources in creating its own unique experience of bringing the sacred and the divine into the human experience. The earliest historical influences arise out of the architecture of Ancient Greece with its Doric, Ionic and Corinthian styles of architecture as defined by their columnar structures. The influence of the Ionic and later Corinthian styles can be seen in columns of the earliest mosques, such as the Hagia Sophia built in 532 A.D in Istanbul (then Constantinople) in which Corinthian style columns can be seen on the left side knave and Ionic-style columns in the center kiosk in the picture at left (Wegner, Hagia Sophia, [internet]) and in the Tulun Mosque in Cairo Egypt built in 876 A.D. in the picture on the right in which the Corinthian style columns provide the supports to all the doorways and arches. (â€Å"Islamic Architecture† in Free Dictionary [internet]) The Romans also added their influence to Islamic architecture. Roman architecture was socio-policitical in nature. Its aim was primarily focused on public events of which the collisem in Rome is the main existing example. Islam absorbed this focus in its architecture as well in the way its people built their communities in consideration of community needs rather than individual glory. (Helms, pp 129-132) Mosques and Madrasahs reflect the spaciousness of the Roman buildings, as places with space for the whole community to gather for edification and worship. A mosque in Armenia provides an example of this with the photograph to the left illustrating its outer simplicity and the photograph to the left showing a floor-plan of its inner spaciousness. When the Byzantine Empire became the dominant force in

A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay Each day scrooge went back or forward too was on Christmas day or Christmas Eve. I the begging of A Christmas Carol scrooge was a horrible and stingy man things that show and prove this statement is when he said to Bob Cratchits Coal is costly this shows that scrooge is cheap and mean because he is wealthy but he doesnt want to keep himself warm because coal cost money. Coal doesnt coast a lot of money and lasts quite a long time but scrooge still doesnt want to spend money on it. Scrooge shows a lot of different signs of changing like when scrooge says, I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. You can tell he is changing at this point, by him saying this because he never wanted to show his emotions but now hes showing them and he is also saying his feelings aloud. Also before he couldnt show his feelings of sadness because he couldnt cry and you can tell this by in the novel it says his cold eye glisten so this shows he is changing emotionally. He shows other ways of changing such as when he (scrooge) says to the ghost Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me hes saying time is precious. This is because he wants to go back to reality and change his ways and do as much good as possible, that is what the readers will automatically think when they read this. This could also mean in a bad prospective that he knows that hes going to have a bad after life so he wants to go back to reality and live his life to the full and carry on doing bad selfish things but what he doesnt know is what the ghost was about to confront him with. But I think he wants to change because he has been given another chance. From this quote you can also see that he was willing to go with the ghost were as at the begging of the journey he didnt want to go with the ghost so therefore over all this quote shows that he is willing to change and go with the ghost and see whatever is about to confront him. Scrooge also says to show he was changing thank you spirit. I think scrooge is thanking the spirit for forgiving him for all the selfish and horrible things he had done in his life. This shows that he has changed because through the whole novel he has had no manners and has never thanked anyone one or even shown gratitude towards anyone so this shows he as changed. In stave 4 Scrooge says, I hope to live to be another man from what I was this shows that scrooge wants to change. When scrooge says this he sounds desperate to change because he is pleading. I think scrooge is so dedicated to change because his and other lives depend on it. I think scrooge feels like he is leading for his life. You can tell that the moral journey and change is done in stave 5 when scrooge kindly buys Cratchit and his family the biggest turkey in the store and he gives Bob Cratchit a raise. At this point in the novel scrooge seems and acts much happier and the people around him do as well. I think he is no longer a lonely, sad and bitter man by the end and he now knows he can be happy and generous at the same time. A Christmas Carol is full of social setting and cultural context. In chapter 1 Marley says I wear the chain I forged in life I made it link by link and yard by yard. This is a use of religion and marley is saying that every link in the chain is a symbol for every person he has hurt or upset and every thing he has done wrong in his life. In chapter 2 it says cold eye glisten this could mean the way Dickens saw the world. He could of felt cold when he looked at the world because of the way people were treated because they were poor and he didnt find it fare to be treated that way. In chapter 3 the poor woman says rather we all drawn together she was talking about how she would rather drawn with her family then go to the work houses. This is Dickens trying to get the message across to how bad the work houses were and what people would do just to avoid going to one. It is like Dickens mouthpiece it was his message to society. Also in chapter 3 the second spirit says, The names are ignorance and want this is Dickens message to society. He also is saying all the wealthy, selfish and mean people at the time were ignorant and they want every thing. In chapter 4 Mr Dilber says its a judgement on him. She is talking about scrooge. This shows that people were very judgemental at the time that the novel was written and people cared a lot about what people thought of them and said about them. This quote also tries into the key themes religion and morality. In chapter 5 scrooge says god forgive for the time I have wasted this is religious. Dickens is saying that god will forgive the rich for being mean and selfish if they change their ways because in the end scrooge was forgiven so they will be to if they change (in a good way). In A Christmas Carol Scrooge makes a moral journey from changing from a horrible, cheap and selfish person into a kind, generous and loved person. Most signs of change happened in chapter 2 and 4. By showing scrooges journey in a way that showed people how happy and generous you can be at once and by showing what the consequences there are if you are greedy and selfish. These made people read Dickens other books and listen to the message he was trying to get across. Dickens tried to change the way in which society worked by writing this book and others. Because Dickens made rich people sound bad he was hated by them and respected by the poor because he was trying to help and defend them.

The Definition Of Globalization Education Essay

The Definition Of Globalization Education Essay Globalization has brought about many changes in human lives. Globalisation, which started off in the West, was brought about by many factors. Some of it is the the emergence of the information technology and also the economic competition between different countries (Jarvis, 2007, p. 44). Here, it is obvious that globalization was about the economic benefit at first and later had also impacted many others categories of human lives such as education and environment. The impacts and effects of globalization could be seen everywhere, from the food industry to the music that one listens. Some would argue that globalization benefitted the mass, and therefore it is something good. However, some would refute by saying that globalization has also had some negative impacts. Therefore, I would like to find out and discuss the effects of globalization specifically in education. This paper would examine closely the effects of globalization in education in terms of commodification, internationalis ation, citizenship and also accessibility of knowledge. This essay would argue that although globalization brings some positive effects, it also brings some negative effects that sometimes could be considered to outweigh the benefits of it. The arguments will be put forward by first defining globalization and then highlighting some of the different types of globalization. This will be followed by discussing the impact of globalization in education in terms of commodification, internationalisation, citizenship, and accessibility of knowledge. Last but not least, this essay will discuss the implications for teachers in a Malaysian secondary school classroom. Defination of Globalization There are tremendous amount of literature on the definition of globalization. Globalisation seemed to an easy word to define at first. However, there are many definitions of it where each and one of these definitions are looked from various different perspectives such as social, economy and political perspectives. From an political point of view, Beck (2000, p. 11) defines globalization as a process through which transnational actors undermine sovereign national states with varying prospect of power, direction, identities, and network. From a communication point of view, globalization as a concept refers to both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole (Robertson, 1992, p. 8). Similarly, Luke (2005), stated that globalization is how the world is shrinking in the sense that people can communicate to each other instantaneously through the use of technology especially the internet. On a different plane, Waters (1995, p. 3) looks at globalization as a social change where physical boundaries of place on the social and cultural aspects are diminishing and the public are aware that it is diminishing. Looking from a social perspectives or point of view, globalization is the escalation of global social relations which connect far localities in such a way that local events are influenced by events occurring in the far distance and vice versa. (Held, 1991 cited in Morrow Torres, 2000, p. 29). Therefore, it can said that globalisation is the weakening of the physical boundaries surrounding the nation or states, in which affects aspects of human life such as culture, social interaction, economy, politics and many other aspects. The less visible boundaries mean that people are more likely to interact with each other. If the interaction is between people or party of same position or status, the interaction could be in a neutral way. However, if the interaction is between people or party of unequal status or power, the m ore privileged will tend to influence the less privileged it can also happen that the less privileged might want to imitate the more privileged in order to live the same condition as the opposite party. When looking at the definitions of globalisation, it is important to also highlight the different types of globalisation. Here, cultural, economy and political globalisation will be discussed closely. Cultural globalisation is about the spread of one stronger element of culture, which in many cases, would be the American culture. This is done through the American media which penetrates most parts of world. Songs, films, and many more are easily available around the world (Jarvis, 2007). Besides, he also argues that many new cultural institutions have become industries where these institutions are trying to sell their culture. However, one would argue that cultural globalisation could also strengthen the culture in particular society if the member of the society choose to resist the wave of global influx of different foreign culture. According to Jones (1998, p. 146), cultural globalisation includes deteriorating religious mosaic, a deteriorating cosmopolitanism and diversity, widespread consumption of simulations and representations, global distribution of images and information and universal tourism. Therefore, it can be said that cultural globalization is the process where the l ocal cultural aspect of a community disappears in certain rate and substituted with a global culture. On the other hand, economy globalisation includes several aspects such as transnational companies. Transnational companies are companies that operate at a global level without needing to follow a certain nations law and regulation (Bottery, 2006). These companies bring profit to the nation through taxation. These companies possess a huge influence as they are not bound to a countrys law. Transnational companies have power beyond the nations or the states (Jarvis, 1998). Besides, economy globalisation also includes the bigger organisations such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) which provides loan and fund to developing countries. However, it is crucial to highlight here that this economy globalisaton is the setting of other types of globalization (Bottery, 2006). This is because economy is the source of income and the setting of work for people. According to Jones (1998, p. 145), economy globalisation includes freedom of exchange between localities with flows of services and symbo lic commodities, balance of production activity in a locality determined by its physical and geographical advantages, minimal direct foreign investment, flexible responsiveness of organisations to global markets, decentralised, instantaneous and stateless financial markets and free movement of labour. Political globalization looks at the diminishing power of the state where due to globalization, the power is local authority might be weakening. According to Jones (1998 p. 146), political globalisation is portrayed through an absence of state sovereignty and multiple centres of power at global, local and intermediate levels, local issues discussed and situated in relation to a global community, powerful international organisations predominant over national organisations, fluid and multi-centric international relations, a weakening of value attached to the nation-state and a strengthening of common and global political values. Thus, the meaning of being a certain country or nations citizen also gets blurred. The notion of citizen is not as a unified and unifying concept as before when there is certain loss of nation-state sovereignty, or the erosion of national autonomy (Burbules and Torres, 2000, p. 14). The Effect of Globalisation in Education Having looked at the brief categorization of globalization in general, this section will focus on the effect of globalization in education. This section will look at commodification, internationalisation, citizenship and accessibility of knowledge. Commodification is the term used to describe commodification can be seen in two ways, the displacement of use values by exchange values or in general to describe how consumer culture becomes embedded in daily lives through various ways (Ball, 2004, p.4). This consumer culture that is a global phenomenon today has also effected the education sector. Commodification of education is evident from the primary school to the higher education. Many are affected by, especially the parents and the students. Due to the competition for the entrance of an excellent school, parents and the learner will be under a lot of pressure to prepare themselves so they can qualify to this prestigious or high-league table-ranked schools. The society without noticing is drawn to this concept of education commodification due to the societal pressure. Similarly, the teachers and staff in this schools are forced to work hard to maintain the schools league table position so they can maintain the financial support from the government. The demands of competition, the information provided by League Tables, pressures from the state for performance improvement and target-achievement and per-capita funding, in a period of spending constraints, work together to create local economies of student worth where schools compete to recruit those students, most likely to contribute to improvements and performance (Ball, 2004, p. 10). Therefore, in this situation the commodification of education does not really seem to benefitting the learners, or the even parents. This cycle of incentives for performance is not something good as it contradicts with the value of education. .Another effect of globalization is the internationalization of education. Internationalisation is the process of intergrating an international or intercultural dimension into the teaching, research and exercise function of the institution (Knight, 1994, p. 16 cited in Knight, 1999) . Internationalisation is about globalization. Internationalisation happens usually at higher level education. There are many reasons for the internationalisation of the higher education. One of it is the internationalisation will help foreign policy of a country. Through internationalisation, a country will be perceived as welcoming and friendly to the different cultural aspects. In other words, internationalisation will indicate that the country appreciates the various cultures that exist are open to accepting them. On an economic point of view, internationalisation will help attract investment from foreign countries to a country. This will boost the countrys economy through the investments (Knight, 199 9). By internationalisation, the quality of teaching and learning process could be improved. This is because internationalisation encourages acceptance of various culture and integrates this in the teaching and learning process. The students will be exposed to various source of knowledge about the world. This knowledge of the world will help the learners to understand and make sense the difference and similarities people around the world have from one culture to another. Besides, internationalisation will also en courage partnership between various universities around the world. This is because through internationalization, one common medium of interaction will be chosen between the cooperating universities, which will likely to be English. Having a common language and some similarities will further encourage cooperation work between universities from different countries. Citizenship Another effect of globalization in education is that the accessibility of knowledge. Through the internet, many different kind of knowledge are readily accessible on the internet (Robertson, 1992). This means the acquisition of knowledge by students are much faster since there they have wide range of knowledge available for them. This would help students and teachers in their learning process. This rapidly growing information on the net could facilitate learning process by providing references and validating certain concepts that the learners are confused or unable to comprehend. Besides, the teachers and learners can build a network system through the net where they can talk and communicate with teachers and students from any part of the world through the internet. This would help teachers and learners to create a global view of education n based on their communication with people from around the world. However, this might also be a problem for the students since with the huge amoun t of information available on the net, the reliability of some of the information is sometimes questionable. Therefore, it is important for the learners to be able to distinguish between reliable and unreliabale information. Besides, it is also important for them to be able to choose and pick which information that is suitable for them. The downside of this body of knowledge available on the internet is that it cannot be accessed by people in certain parts of the world where the communication technology is not at par with the latest communication technology (Burbules, 2000). This in a way widens the gap between the education progress in a developed country with a well-equipped information technology facilities and the education progress in a developing country with poor information technology facilities. In a less progressed country where it is already a struggle to maintain teaching and learning process, the people will not know what they have missed by the lack of facilities. Another aspect of the manifestation of the accessibility information is the distance learning (Foley, 2003). Distance learning is the teaching and learning process which does not happen in a physical classroom, but instead happens in a virtual classroom. This distance learning was already available before the existence of the internet through the use of post. However, the invention of the internet has taken distance learning into a whole new level. Distance education has enabled more people to gain access to education through the many different types of online courses offered by universities and other online course providers. One of the benefits of this distance learning is that the learning process can be done in learners own time, without any peer pressure form classmates. However, the drawback of distance learning is that the reduced or loss of the human touch in the learning and teaching process. Human touch in the form of communication with one another is important in learning. Implications to Teaching and Learning Process in a Malaysian Secondary Classroom. Having discussed the impact of globalization in education on a global level, tis section will try to relate back the impact of globalization in education in a Malaysian context, specifically in a Malaysian secondary classroom. Malaysian secondary classroom consist of students for the age of thirteen to seventeen. These students come from various backgrounds. First and foremost, one of the main implications the effect of globalization in a Malaysian context is the teachers and students should be aware of the effect of globalization in education to the Malaysian education system and also to the global education policy and reforms. Here, the teacher training college plays a crucial part in incorporating the effect of globalization in education to the teacher trainees. This is so that future teachers will be aware of the effects of globalization and then try to inform the students and then create awareness in the students. Besides, it also a teachers responsibility to make the learners aware of the multi dimension of globalization that exist beyond Malaysia. This will help the learners to be able develop critical thinking based on their awareness of the world around them. Futhermore, the appreciation of unique multicultural society that exists around the world, not only in Malaysia should be made known to the learners. On a similar note, as an future educator, it is important to realise that a teaching method or education policy that is a sucess not necessarily u can take everything and put it into another context. Think about the context in which a teacher is teaching so that it is relevant to the students and context. Another implication that can be drawn from the discussion above is that it is important to realize that the abundance of information and knowledge available on the internet comes with a price as well. The implication of these to the Malaysian education especially in a secondary classroom is that the learners should be equipped with the necessary skill to filter the knowledge and than distinguish between facts and non-facts. In order to do this, the teachers should give some exposure of this kind of activity in the classroom. This will help learners, the secondary school students to be able to pick and choose the fact from the rest. Besides, it is also important to be able to pick the information which is useful for the individual rather than using all the information available. Distance learning CONCLUSION 100

A Human For Nature Essay example -- Essays Papers

A Human For Nature When looking at the issue of humans and nature throughout history, one significant figure stands out in my mind: Theodore Roosevelt. Without him, the most beautiful and serene places in North America may have been destroyed or fallen to the hands of developers. Development and conservation of land have been issues that we have faced since Europeans first landed in America. Today, environmental issues are a concern that any contending political candidate must address. In focusing on Theodore Roosevelt, we will find a basis for preservation in America. We will also explore some of the preservation actions that take place in our world today. The original forests in the United States covered an extremely large amount of land. It is estimated that forests took up roughly 1 billion acres of land, including Alaska5. The first to manipulate the land were the Native Americans who used tools and fire to convert the land to their needs. Areas were cleared for villages and growing crops while acres were also burned to make travel easier and improve hunting conditions. As Europeans arrived on the continent, the lands changed even more dramatically. The Colonists saw the forest as both a never ending resource, and an obstacle for using the land for farming purposes. Still, lumber quickly became one of America’s first exports along with fur which also depended heavily on the forest. As time passed, the population of America grew very rapidly. With a growing population more and more forests were converted for agricultural purposes. By the 1840’s "Manifest Destiny" had become popular, and the government thought transfer of public lands to private ownership as the best way to utilize the continents many resources. Around t... ...f thinking as he stated, "The lands that I have worked to set aside are not for my purpose, I did it for my children." Bibliography 1 Collins, Michael L. That damned cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and the American West. New York: P. Lang, 1989. 2 Eaton, Pamela. "Setting Aside Pieces of the Wild." Denver Post, 21 February 1999, sec.C, p. 1-4. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis. 3 Kriz, Margaret. "Much Less Awful." The National Journal, 16 January 1999, sec. Environment, p. 96. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis. 4 Lorant, Stefan. The Life & Times of Theodore Roosevelt. 1st edition. New York: Double Day, 1959. 5 Locke, Timm. The state of the forest: an historical perspective. Information Access Company, 1997. Thompson Corporation Company. Database on-line. Available from Lexis- Nexis Academic Universe.

Operations Management Assignment Essay

Operations management focuses on cautiously managing the processes to generate and deal out products and services. Some of the associated activities comprise managing purchases, list control, excellence control, storage space, logistics and evaluations. It should be noted that a great deal of focus is on competence and efficacy of processes. Therefore, operations management frequently includes considerable dimension and scrutiny of in-house processes. Eventually, the nature of the method in which operations management is conducted in an association depends extremely much on the nature of goods or services in the association, for instance, vend, manufacturing, wholesale, just to mention but a few. This paper tackles a case study on Weldon Hand Tools that shifted from European hand tool manufacturers to woodworking tools market. (Lewis & Slack, 2002) 1. How many staff should the company employ  Weldon Hand Tools is a region of commerce that is concerned with the manufacture of merchandise and services, and involves the liability of ensuring that commerce operations are well-organized and effectual. The corporation ensures the administration of resources, the giving out of merchandise and services to clientele, and the scrutiny of queue systems. (Lewis & Slack, 2002) Woodworking tool market is a positive and reactive ecological strategy that has assisted the corporation to endorse high-quality stewardship within the society. This will enable Weldon Hand Tools to diminish its carbon footprint by using sustainable supplies, reduce squander in the fabrication cycle and execute widespread corporate-wide recycling and reprocess programs. (Lowson, 2002) The corporation should employ as many employees as possible, roughly more than 30 acquaintances both full-time and part time so as to incessantly look at the company’s processes, this will enable optimization of cede for every part. Nevertheless, the additional ways in which the corporation can reduce waste and optimize cede comprise: amalgamation of acerbic and full bunk consumption and lean manufacturing. Weldon Hand Tools ought to also use supplies with low formaldehyde and low VOC substance. This should contain 100 percent solid or water based adhesives and finishing supplies that will generate a quality smooth and fine fashioned wood that has a competitive advantage in the market. (Naylor, 2002) It should be taken into consideration that while using low VOC, Weldon Hand Tools products will facilitate strength and durability, whilst providing the additional advantage of packaging and delivery investments owing to the reduced density. Weldon Hand Tools can eradicate the burden of casing by lapping panels in the stacking procedure. This would enable the bundles to intertwine thereby eradicating the need for strapping to clutch the bundles jointly when they are moved. (Gaither, 1984) The power plant ought to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week so as to produce just about 1,700 tons of smooth and well shaped wood per week. This will facilitate the corporation to burn roughly 1,000 tons per week for steam and power. (Chase & Aquilano, 2000) 2.  What type of facilities and technology will the company need to buy in order to assemble this product? Weldon Hand tools will require a mixture of machinery that will offer a jointer and planner in one component. Grizzly and jet machines will be helpful in this corporation. A horsepower distinction stands out while comparing the motors of the two equipments. Whereas the jet device boasts a 3-horsepower, 220-volt motor, the Grizzly device boasts a 5-horsepower, 220 volt motor power. It then follows that each one motor produces more than 5,000 rpm thereby making the number of cuts per inch about equivalent. In comparison, Grizzly has 15,102 cuts while jet has 16,500 cuts. (Mattfeld, 2006) The Grizzly device has a split, silky and refined jointer bed and this means an additional step in converting to planer mode. The Grizzly boundary marker is physically powerful and easy to regulate. A straightforward flip of a handle allows one to turn around a knob and shift the boundary marker across the jointer bed. On the other hand, Grizzly design has a disadvantage of having to remove the complete boundary marker prior to converting the device to the planner mode. It should be noted that the boundary marker slides off a dovetail way, even though this appears to be easy enough, storing the boundary marker every time you make use of the planer is onerous. (Association of European operational Research societies, 1989) The Grizzly device has the more recognizable pork-chop technique protector. It swings out as the fabric, and your hand, moves past the harvester head. On the other hand, the jet device features a blueprint that is comparable to European machinery in which the unbending protector raises and lowers thus allowing you to fine-tune to the width of your stock. The advantage of this type of guard is that it helps keep your hands from forever passing over the blades. In my view, I have a preference of the jet guard in view of the fact that it’s an overall safer design. (American production and Inventory control society, 1991) The company will need to buy shapers. Shapers are frequently used to silhouette the boundaries of stock. The machinist feeds the stock from any route against a perpendicular revolving harvester mounted on a spindle and as a result the spindle rotates at a high speed. Some equipment has manifold spindles. Moreover, they also have guide pins that clutch the stock for bowed shaping and fences clutch it for straight line shaping. (Belenky, 1998) In addition to this, the corporation will need to purchase routers. These are used for purposes such as cutting and shaping ornamental pieces, generating framework and panel doors, and milling moldings. Routers have spindles that turn variously fashioned, miniature diameter cutting apparatus at high speeds. The device is held in a collet chuck and protrudes through a horizontal, silky base that slides over the outer surface of the labor. The tool-spindle axis is more often than not vertical, however it may be tilted. The machinist lowers the head for machining, and the head mechanically returns to its original location after the cut is made. This spindle is usually driven by belts and pulleys or by a high-speed motor. (Dilworth, 1989) Moreover, the company will need to purchase radial saws. These are spherical saws that cut downhill, either with or next to the wood grain. It then follows that for crosscutting, the timber is pressed away from the machinist and next to a boundary marker. For rip cuts, the cutting edge is set parallel to the boundary marker, and the stock is hard-pressed through. The saw razor blade then rotates upward the machinist; who feeds the stockpile in the differing direction of the razor blade movement. (Lewis & Slack, 2002) However, it should be noted that radial saws have features that make them more adaptable than table saws. The saw arm can be elevated and lowered and swung from side to side to regulate the profundity and horizontal point of view of the cut; the razor blade can be replaced with shaping shears, drum sanders and other garnishes. It should be noted that woodworking requires safety, therefore, the corporation should provide its human resources with push sticks or other hand tools so that their hands are away from the point of process when they work on miniature pieces of stockpile. A push stick is a narrow piece of wood or block with a nick cut into one end that is frequently used to shove narrow lengths of fabric through saws. The advantage of using push sticks is that they keep the stock from tipping and prevents the machinist fingers from getting in contact with the blades. (Lowson, 2002) Weldon Hand Tools should purchase bench planes in view of the fact that they are modifiable, and the finest have lateral as well as forefront and at the rear cutter adjustment. In addition to this, they also have a movable frog that varies the mouth opening. Moreover, the company can also purchase a block plane, even though it is the least and simplest plane; it is used for light work such as smoothing the finish granule of boards and shaping miniature pieces of wood. It uses a solitary harvester blade that is positioned at a low angle in the frame in order to sanction better acerbic. Its benefit is that, it is obtainable in both modifiable and non-modifiable models. (Klassen & Menor, 2005) Modifiable planes usually feature steel screws that are frequently on the ending of the plane to facilitate differing of the cutter height. Nevertheless, some block planes have an adaptable mouth to differ fragment thickness. An extremely narrow mouth is best for excellent finishing, whilst a wider mouth permits quick stock elimination on less critical labor. (Naylor, 2002) 3.  Design a layout for the assembly operation (to include the fly press work) including the tasks to be performed at each part of the system Device tools direct the equipment to process materials so as to get the desired shapes. For that reason, they comprise the center of manufacturing systems and will give a comprehensible procedure for the selection and acquisition of woodworking equipment. An assessment and examination of the fundamentals of production system ought to be performed prior to selecting machine tools. It then follows that production system has a number of factors that influence equipment selection. Such considerations are connected to the concluding product, industrial unit size and locality, product forecast, layout, universal device parameters, and cost. (Mescon & Albert, 1981) Since Weldon Hand Tools decided to amass all planes at one of the company’s lesser factory sites where an entire workshop is unoccupied, lower equipment ranking ought to be selected in order to maintain capital investment low. These tools will execute adequately when processing gmelina lumber, which is comparable to yellow-pop-lar in machining properties. (Gaither, 1984)

Smart Conversion Rate And Sales Funnel Secrets From Daniel McGaw

Smart Conversion Rate And Sales Funnel Secrets From Daniel McGaw A sales and marketing funnel is when people have an awareness of your brand and move closer to a buying decision. You want them to know, like, and trust you, so there is enough value for them to become your customer. What does your customer’s journey look like? Fortunately, today’s episode features Daniel McGaw, the founder of Effin Amazing and creator of UTM.io. Daniel is a conversion rate optimization and sales funnel expert. Find out about the magic you can get from links and how to increase Website and content conversions. What are the superpowers of what can be done with a link when shared online? Urchin tracking module (UTM) tags are bits of code you can add to the end of any link; it’s the only universal tracking method available Daniel’s product offers presets for teams to keep tags consistent Most entrepreneurs think about business in the wrong way; they focus on the logo, brand, mission, and other factors before they acquire customers Daniel thinks of business this way: Where is the demand? Do we have a customer? If we have a customer, then we have a business. How Effin Amazing got its name and gets a lot of attention Don’t ask for tons of information; just get an email address to optimize for leads Funnel Anatomy: Awareness, top of funnel (TOFU), middle of funnel (MOFU), bottom of funnel (BOFU), and referrals of the funnel (ROFU) Daniel’s company uses the Velocity/Impact/Confidence/Easy (VICE) framework to map a funnel, which includes documenting information, developing strategies, and building benchmarks Evaluate your team’s skills and abilities to augment VICE scores Most marketers and businesses go wrong when they expect people to buy too quickly; and do not get enough email addresses email is king and the lynchpin to success Learn more about your customers during the funnel stages, and try to educate them Links: Daniel McGaw Effin Amazing UTM Trello RealtimeBoard AMP on iTunes leave a review and send screenshot to podcast@.com If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Daniel McGaw: â€Å"What are the superpowers that we can do with a link when sharing it online?† â€Å"We’re definitely trying to set the standard for how people make UTMs.† â€Å"You have to understand your target customer and what you’re trying to sell them.†

How the Study of Psychology Can Help You Interact with People

How the Study of Psychology Can Help You Interact with People How the Study of Psychology Can Help You Interact with People The human mind is very complex. It can be extremely difficult to understand why people in your life behave the way they do. Why does your boyfriend or spouse keep leaving his dirty socks on the floor even though you keep asking him not to? Why does your friend always cancel plans with you at the last minute? Why does your mother always criticize? The reasons are complicated; that’s why we have psychology to understand them. Here are all the ways the study of psychology can make your interactions with others go more smoothly. The art of skillful communication is made up of many little things: word choice, tone, facial expressions, and body language. Any small misunderstanding can lead to problems later. Studying psychology helps you understand verbal and nonverbal communication better, and also convey your own message to others more clearly. Understanding different personalities. Each individual reacts to situations differently based on his/her personality type. At Psychology classes, you learn all about these personality types and what kind of behavior to expect from them. In addition, there are many disorders (narcissism, passive-aggression, etc.) that cause people to behave in dysfunctional ways. Understanding these can help you cope with such behaviors in other people more effectively. Understanding yourself. It’s not unusual to feel alone in your thoughts and feelings. But the fact is there are probably many other people who share them. Studying psychology helps you learn about those thoughts and feelings which may be confusing and difficult, giving you perspective to deal with them better. You will become a stronger person Giving constructive feedback. Everyone needs feedback. But sometimes, if it’s given in a manner that’s critical or unkind, feedback can cause the other party to shut down. Psychology teaches you the nuances of how your feedback affects others, so you can use it to bring out the best in them instead of discouraging them. Conflict resolution. No one enjoys conflicts, but sometimes it’s inevitable. When you learn what causes people to respond in a negative way to the behavior or situation, you can resolve the conflict calmly, without allowing yourself to get carried away by your emotions. Identifying problem behavior. Sometimes we don’t realize that a friend’s or a co-workers behavior is a problem until it’s got out-of-control. Psychology helps us spot toxic behaviors and relationships early so that we can change the course or weed them out before things get too crazy for us to handle. Avoiding unnecessary power struggles. Some things are worth fighting for. Others are not. Studying psychology helps you choose your battles and save your energy for the areas in which you really can make a difference. Making the best of people’s good qualities. Studying psychology can make you more aware of dysfunction like anxiety or depression. But it also makes you more tuned into people’s positive qualities so you can appreciate them and use them to advantage in your personal life or the workplace. Being a good leader. A study of psychology is excellent preparation for a position of leadership in a company. It helps you understand your employees and how to get the best out of them. More options for careers. Studying psychology opens the doors to many great careers. You could become a clinical psychologist, a college professor, or a therapist, just to name a few. Your degree can also be useful if you go into a career as a vocational counselor, a human resource officer, a detective, or a market researcher. As you can see, Psychology is more than just a class. It can be a key component to navigating human relationships and finding success.

Hitler and Roosevelt essays

Hitler and Roosevelt essays Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler were both very powerful men, yet at the same time they were from two different worlds and two completely different men. The one thing they did have in common was that they were the leaders of their country. Although Hilter was a sadistic dictator who almost took out a human race, while Roosevelt was a good man and an even better president. The two men are extremely different and have very different views. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889 into a poor family. He had an illegitimate father who was very poor. Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family on January 30, 1882 at Hyde Park, New York. Hitler grew up in Linz, Austria and received secondary schooling and although bad in school, left at the age of 16. He wanted to become an art student and attend the Academy of Fine Arts, but failed to get in. Roosevelt on the other hand was very good in school, he attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School. Hitler made a living by painting postcards and advertisements while moving from one boarding house to another. He also led a very lonely life, with no friends or lady friends. Roosevelt was very successful, he won the senate in 1910; was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1920; not only was he successful in his career but his love life was doing well, he married Eleanor on St. Patricks Day in 1905. Hitler showed signs of his later behavior in his earlier years, he was very distant from people, hated non-Germans and of course the Jewish people, he was lonely and bitter, and ready to live in a world of fantasy to escape his failures and his poverty. Roosevelt on the other hand was a positive man with great determination, even when was struck with polio he worked hard to get stronger. The two men are very different in many aspects. Hitler left the army to join the Nazi party and went against many of the offici...

Young Emiratis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Young Emiratis - Essay Example There was an explosion of in immigrants and population increased, with corresponding increasing in number of vehicles accompanied by rapidly expanding road construction projects. The pattern of behavior rapidly changed, with behaviors rooted in traditional cultures mixed with that of western. This led to increased number of road traffic accidents with fatalities and casualties challenging the probability of living (El-Sadig, 2012, p. 67). Currently, road traffic accident is a major problem faced by security agencies in the United Arab Emirates and the public as well. Therefore, road accidents represent the number of deaths and injuries, and the effect of accident on social life. In addition, traffic accident causes material losses in terms of property damaged, which is a cost to the economy. According to traffic statistic released by Ministry of Interior in 2012, 6454 accidents occurred resulting in a 758 injury and 628 people died (International Business Publications, 2012 p. 14). M ajor car accidents occur because of irresponsible behaviors of drivers such as not abiding to speed limit, maintaining a short distance between cars, neglecting the importance of safety belts, and making a call while driving. Young Emiratis is the major contributor and cause of road traffic accident in UAE (Martin, 2010, p. 46). ... Male young Emiratis appears to thrive on the risk and in most cases do not abide by traffic and safety rules as compared to female young Emiratis. Early driving is also pointed as the cause of car accidents. According to the study, young Emiratis claim that they started driving surreptitiously or with permission from their parents before they attain legal age of 18 years, 8years to be precise. This is a major determinant of accidents, which result in great loss to the society and the economy. With regard to reckless driving, many young Emiratis engages in risky driving practices including exceeding the speed limit, overtaking using wrong lane, intruding to force way and tailgate (Hutchinson, 2004 p.100). Safety measures that drivers are encouraged to observe, even though they are not legally binding, are not in style to young Emiratis. Others go to an extend of eating and drinking while driving, do not use indicators to show direction, and do not use hand free set when answering or m aking calls. Expression of superiority consumes young Emiratis while driving. This is a behavioral pattern that scientist call ‘territoriality’. It refers to the attempt by individual to occupy, define and defend what he considers his own territory. While driving, young Emiratis mostly overtakes the car in front if the driver of that car is an expatriate or from another Emirate (Martin, 2010, p. 89). When a road accident occurs, there are tangible and intangible cost incurred. It results in fatality. Young Emiratis drives recklessly which result in road traffic accidents. They over-speed and overtake on a wrong lane and fail to observe basic driving rules, which result in unexpected collisions. This causes death to driver, occupants, and those in the surrounding such as passengers

Company Innovation Process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Company Innovation Process - Case Study Example Motorola Inc has always strived to be a company which, to a great extent, succeeded in bringing these new products steadily and quickly to the market. Motorola has global customer sectors which trust the company for its innovative attempts to bring out the best of software enhanced wireless phones, two way radios and Internet access products. Lately, due to the cut throat competition in the industry, Motorola, for some reasons, has been pushed back to reconsider and strengthen the innovation process of the organization to keep up the consistency of its performance as a world class producers of electronic communication devices. Analyzing the situation as the president of Motorola the need of an aggressive innovation process is strikingly inevitable. The development step in the existing process seems to be inadequate for today's need of the industry to deliver timely results in the existing and growing market. Developing, in fact, could be bringing the idea in the paper defined comprehensively into a solid reality. Though, the regular innovation process in Motorola involves five steps such as inventing, developing, diffusing, integrating and monitoring. The ideas that are worth developing into a successful commercialization seem to be the failure in the innovation process. ... dically increase the chances of success for any manufacturer and thus, the best performance will depend significantly on a defined innovation process (Griffin 429-458). So the successful innovation will require a series of tasks and decision points. Developing is a significant step once the idea is conceived; there is an essential task of turning this idea into a profitable concept. An Idea will only be thought in the mind or expressed; this most of the time comes out of a creative mind representing a new product, service or remedy. The first in the series of developing would be creating a visible concept of this idea comprehensively written down on the paper. It gives a solid foundation on which the further development becomes viable. All the economical financial and schedule factors will clearly be evident with a close analysis of this concept. This concept development will function as a criterion to guide the entire work force and crew to developing true value for the customers. Setting up Development Team and Project Timeline Second phase on the developing step could be to set up the team formidable in the given situations. The first step on this would be determining project specifications on cost time and deliverables. Then, it would be the adequate technological training for the work force, as the major challenge in developing an innovative concept could be the number of trained technologically skilled personals. The product specification session will be of creating an operation conditions for the concept to become physical and live. One must utilize here the ability, knowledge, experience and talent of not only the project managers but also, as much as possible, of every individual in the unit, to the maximum. This exploitation of human talent would be

The Impact of Diversity on Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Impact of Diversity on Creativity - Essay Example This is particularly relevant for companies now with the call for both incremental and revolutionary change to enliven the vision and mission† Segal (2001).   Let us take the workplace as an example. Many companies hire people from different ethnic backgrounds. And apparently for very good reasons. The recent years saw the number of corporate managers subscribing to the idea that â€Å"when well managed,† ethnic diversity in the workplace can â€Å"provide organizations with certain competitive advantages.† (McLeod, Lobel & Cox 1996). These managers believe that ideas, which the ethnically diverse groups come up with, are often found to have â€Å"higher quality—more effective and feasible—than the ideas produced by the homogeneous groups,† or the group of people with the same ethnicity. According to McLeod, Lobel & Cox (1996), an enlightened manager realizes that stronger unity exists within diversity. As Lisagor (2006) states;   On the other hand, leaders who appreciate the value of different life experiences, surround themselves with many types of individuals, and encourage dissenting views are usually rewarded with greater success and personal satisfaction.   Advocates for diversity argue that having people with diverse backgrounds will offer diverse ideas to the company.

Marketing Story Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Story Analysis - Essay Example At a deeper level, however, one can find the existence of international marketing strategy, brand image and strategic retail management. 2. Analysis a. Retail Management One of the major and all-encompassing marketing concepts highlighted by this article is that of retail management and consumer behavior. The U.K, like its developed counterparts, is facing a change in its demographics with a skewed population pyramid (KPMG, 2013). The so-called â€Å"ageing population† translates to changing customer habits based on age. In the middle of such a transition, retailers such as Tesco are finding it difficult to adapt to such changes in customer behavior. This transition has given way to increased significance of one-stop convenience shopping as elder individuals find themselves difficult to visit several stores for buying food and non-food products (SAS, 2013). This is one of the most important aspects of retail strategy which requires companies to build store formats based on the needs of the target market (Gilbert, 2003). For instance, IKEA has adapted to customers’ needs for buying furniture for their first apartment (Castella, 2012). Furthermore, it caters to customers’ need to engage in one-stop shopping for their home by offering a maze-like retail format whereby customers walk through virtually everything before getting down to the product they intended to buy (Tozer, 2011) . The article demonstrates just how the â€Å"space race† is no longer important as it used to be. In fact, multi-channel strategies, as the author puts it, are the basis for such advantage in the contemporary world. This points to the area of retail format development which involves the development of a new format of stores for the existing customers with a different retail mix (Levy & Weitz, 2012). In the context of Tesco, this means making the shopping experience more convenient for customers. Tesco has strictly adopted the multi-channel strategy by having T esco Express, Metro, Superstores and Extra in its pipeline of stores (Doyle, 2008) (West et al., 2006). These outlets fulfill different market needs ranging from being located near to customers’ place of residence or work to offering ready-to-eat meals in City Centers. Another way of viewing the same is to understand the shift from the traditional bricks and mortar store format towards digital/online presence (Bernstein et al., 2008). b. E-commerce and multi-channel strategy The scope for e-commerce has been highlighted in the article by claiming that, owing to busy work schedules, individuals are now flocking towards online shopping which has already increased by over 8% in Britain with respect to Tesco. Even successful traditional companies such as Wal-Mart are now offering e-shopping in addition to their traditional services (Rosenbloom, 2013). However, given the fact that virtually all major retailers have adopted this perspective, one may challenge whether or not the mul ti-channel strategy can guarantee a â€Å"sustainable† competitive advantage in today’s world. Further contradiction arises from some authors who have claimed multi-channel strategies to be obsolete. According to them, the â€Å"channel† perspective is being replaced by the â€Å"touch-points†

What processes define Globalisation How do they impinge on sport Essay

What processes define Globalisation How do they impinge on sport Illustrate your answer with examples - Essay Example f of the contemporary era, many renowned economists emphatically state that, strictly going by the basic definition of the term (globalization), it is not a phenomenon that got underway only in the recent past. They state in no uncertain terms that globalization is a process that got initiated as early as many centuries ago, when commercial interactions amongst members of diverse societies of the globe commenced. Having said that, the above-mentioned economists do concede, it is an irrefutable fact that globalization has been spreading across the planet more swiftly over the past two decades, attributable primarily to the phenomenal surge in information technology. â€Å"In its most innocuous sense, globalization simply refers to the complex of forces that trend toward a single world society. Among these forces are mass communications, commerce, increased ease of travel, the internet, popular culture, and the increasingly widespread use of English as an international language† (1) (Progressiveliving.org, ND). â€Å"The more important sense of the term refers to a process, well underway, which trends toward the undermining of national sovereignty, and therefore citizens rights, in favor of the economic interests of gigantic transnational corporations (TNCs). The latter already comprise more than half of the largest "economies" of the world, and are vastly more powerful than most governments.† (1) (Progressiveliving.org, ND). The above definitions are highly relevant to contemporary times, as the hitherto challenging criteria of time and space have now ceased to be hindrances in interactions between people dwelling in different parts of the globe. That is attributable predominantly to the technological revolution that the globe has been witnessing over the past three decades. Also, the first of the aforesaid definitions has included even the element of culture while speaking about integration of mankind. In fact, the rapidly progressing process of globalization has

London Ambulance Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

London Ambulance Service - Essay Example There are seventy ambulances, which serves the entire region of London. The trust is under the jurisdiction of the NHS. The NHS board meets after a period of two months to deliberate on the way forward for the trust. The board consists of a non-executive chairperson, five executive directors, and seven non-executive directors making thirteen board members. The LAS has a long history that dates way back in the 1960’s. The trust has weathered hard times to become one of the most reputable ambulance services in the world. Its formation was facilitated by the 1946 National Health services Act, which provided that ambulances were to be availed to any individual that required their services. Nine ambulance services merged in London and formed the LAS in 1965. Adjustments were made by the NHS, which resulted to the moving of LAS from the Local Government to South West Thames Regional Health Authority. It would later become a NHS trust in 1996 when the authority of South West Thames Regional Health Authority was eliminated (London Ambulance Service 2014). The operations of LAS cover a distance of up to 620 square miles. The region of operation ranges from Enfield to the north to Purley to the south while on the western is Heathrow and Upminster to the east. Seventy ambulance stations are spread across the entire region with four main headquarters at Waterloo road, Pocock Street, Loman street, Fielden House, and Bow. The trust provides an array of medical emergencies, which includes; provision of emergency responses, response to less serious calls, providing a clean environment for patient service, they do take patients for hospital appointments, they deal with major incidences, they help in finding hospital beds while making the experience of the patient to count. The services provided by London Ambulance Services stands out as a merit good. A merit good is one that the market underprovides and the forces therein do not affect the

Marketing Story Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Story Analysis - Essay Example At a deeper level, however, one can find the existence of international marketing strategy, brand image and strategic retail management. 2. Analysis a. Retail Management One of the major and all-encompassing marketing concepts highlighted by this article is that of retail management and consumer behavior. The U.K, like its developed counterparts, is facing a change in its demographics with a skewed population pyramid (KPMG, 2013). The so-called â€Å"ageing population† translates to changing customer habits based on age. In the middle of such a transition, retailers such as Tesco are finding it difficult to adapt to such changes in customer behavior. This transition has given way to increased significance of one-stop convenience shopping as elder individuals find themselves difficult to visit several stores for buying food and non-food products (SAS, 2013). This is one of the most important aspects of retail strategy which requires companies to build store formats based on the needs of the target market (Gilbert, 2003). For instance, IKEA has adapted to customers’ needs for buying furniture for their first apartment (Castella, 2012). Furthermore, it caters to customers’ need to engage in one-stop shopping for their home by offering a maze-like retail format whereby customers walk through virtually everything before getting down to the product they intended to buy (Tozer, 2011) . The article demonstrates just how the â€Å"space race† is no longer important as it used to be. In fact, multi-channel strategies, as the author puts it, are the basis for such advantage in the contemporary world. This points to the area of retail format development which involves the development of a new format of stores for the existing customers with a different retail mix (Levy & Weitz, 2012). In the context of Tesco, this means making the shopping experience more convenient for customers. Tesco has strictly adopted the multi-channel strategy by having T esco Express, Metro, Superstores and Extra in its pipeline of stores (Doyle, 2008) (West et al., 2006). These outlets fulfill different market needs ranging from being located near to customers’ place of residence or work to offering ready-to-eat meals in City Centers. Another way of viewing the same is to understand the shift from the traditional bricks and mortar store format towards digital/online presence (Bernstein et al., 2008). b. E-commerce and multi-channel strategy The scope for e-commerce has been highlighted in the article by claiming that, owing to busy work schedules, individuals are now flocking towards online shopping which has already increased by over 8% in Britain with respect to Tesco. Even successful traditional companies such as Wal-Mart are now offering e-shopping in addition to their traditional services (Rosenbloom, 2013). However, given the fact that virtually all major retailers have adopted this perspective, one may challenge whether or not the mul ti-channel strategy can guarantee a â€Å"sustainable† competitive advantage in today’s world. Further contradiction arises from some authors who have claimed multi-channel strategies to be obsolete. According to them, the â€Å"channel† perspective is being replaced by the â€Å"touch-points†

London Ambulance Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

London Ambulance Service - Essay Example There are seventy ambulances, which serves the entire region of London. The trust is under the jurisdiction of the NHS. The NHS board meets after a period of two months to deliberate on the way forward for the trust. The board consists of a non-executive chairperson, five executive directors, and seven non-executive directors making thirteen board members. The LAS has a long history that dates way back in the 1960’s. The trust has weathered hard times to become one of the most reputable ambulance services in the world. Its formation was facilitated by the 1946 National Health services Act, which provided that ambulances were to be availed to any individual that required their services. Nine ambulance services merged in London and formed the LAS in 1965. Adjustments were made by the NHS, which resulted to the moving of LAS from the Local Government to South West Thames Regional Health Authority. It would later become a NHS trust in 1996 when the authority of South West Thames Regional Health Authority was eliminated (London Ambulance Service 2014). The operations of LAS cover a distance of up to 620 square miles. The region of operation ranges from Enfield to the north to Purley to the south while on the western is Heathrow and Upminster to the east. Seventy ambulance stations are spread across the entire region with four main headquarters at Waterloo road, Pocock Street, Loman street, Fielden House, and Bow. The trust provides an array of medical emergencies, which includes; provision of emergency responses, response to less serious calls, providing a clean environment for patient service, they do take patients for hospital appointments, they deal with major incidences, they help in finding hospital beds while making the experience of the patient to count. The services provided by London Ambulance Services stands out as a merit good. A merit good is one that the market underprovides and the forces therein do not affect the

Paleolithic period Essay Example for Free

Paleolithic period Essay In the Paleolithic period, all the tools used by human beings were made of stone. The tools were useful to their hunting and gathering lifestyle as agriculture was yet to develop. Paleolithic art was hence characterized by wild animal drawings and paintings that was mostly done in caves. The animals depicted in the cave art might have been a source of food, sacred or used for pre-hunting rituals since most of those caves were located in uninhabited areas. Sculptures of the animals that existed in that era were also carved. The Neolithic period saw the introduction of metal tools to complement stone tools, human settlement into communities, agriculture development and domestication of animals. As a result, several drawings have been discovered depicting the Neolithic way of life; mostly domestic animals like herds of cattle and horses. There were also increased images and sculptures of humans (mostly females). The animal incisions on rocks and sculptures in this period were sharper and had finer finishing thanks to the use of more advanced metal tools compared to the all stone tools of the Paleolithic period. Sociology was a major factor in the differences in animal depictions between these two periods. For instance, humans in the Paleolithic period did not live in communities as a result of their hunting and gathering lifestyles which were characterized by constant movement and the lesser the number of humans in a group, the minimal the competition for food acquired. This explains the images of hunting scenes and wild animals in widely scattered and concealed caves. The social structure in the Neolithic period changed to formation of communities that inhabited villages which explains the paintings of domestic animals adjacent to human dwellings. REFERENCES M. Hoover, Art of the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras. July 2001. Art History Survey 1, San Antonio College. May 22, 2010 http://www. alamo. edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/palneo. htm

Bolman And Deals Four Framework Approach

Bolman And Deals Four Framework Approach Leadership was once about hard skills such as planning, finance and business analysis. When command and control ruled the corporate world, the leaders were heroic rationalists who moved people around like pawns and fought like stags. When they spoke, the company employees jumped. The entire career system in some organizations is based on using hard functional skills to progress. But when executives reach the top of the organization, many different skills are required. Corporate leaders may find that although they can do the financial analysis and the strategic planning, they are poor at communicating ideas to employees or colleagues, or have little insight into how to motivate people. The modern CEO requires an array of skills. Some suggest that people expect too much of leaders. Indeed, renaissance men and women are rare. Leadership in a modern organization is highly complex and it is increasingly difficult. It is sometimes impossible for finding all the necessary traits in a single person. Among the most crucial skills is the ability to capture audiences. Richard Branson, the funder of Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic Airline could be one of best leader in the industry. Biography According to Virgin group website, Richard Branson was born in July 18, 1950 in Surrey, England. He is the son of a lawyer and an airline stewardess. He was educated at the exclusive Stowe School, but did not excel, possibly due to his nearsightedness and dyslexia. In his teens he developed a national magazine, Student at the Age of Sixteen. At seventeen he began a student advisory service. After leaving school, Branson entered the music industry. Considering that he could sell records cheaper than the existing average, he started a mail-order catalogue with friends. It was a success, and they opened a record discount shop. They named the business Virgin, because it was their first venture. Virgin Airlines is one of Bransons main businesses. Formed in 1984, it is part owned by Singapore Airlines, and it is the second largest British long haul international airline, and has won many awards. During the 1990s the fleet and the air route network expanded and a Premium Economy service was introduced. In 2003 Virgin Atlantic launched the innovative Upper Class Suite with a flat bed and seat, and in 2006 the Virgin Clubhouse opened at Heathrow with a spa, brasserie, cocktail bar, hair salon and games room. Branson is also well known for his personal adventures by Virgin Atlantic Flyer. In 2010, and less than 40 years after the original conception of the Branson Virgin businesses, Branson boasted over 200 Virgin Megastores worldwide. All told, Branson employed 24,000 employees in 150 companies, with revenues totaling an estimated five billion dollars each year from the entire Virgin Group including the music stores and airline. The Virgin empire was is the largest privately owned business in England (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Bolman and Deals Four Framework Approach to Richard Branson Leadership models can also help us to understand a leaders organizational influence. Bolman and Deal, in Four Framework Approach, suggest that leaders display behaviors in one of four frameworks: Structural, Human Resource, Political, or Symbolic. Each requires a specific organizational setting to be successful. The Structural Framework From the rational perspective, organizations are instruments designed to achieve specified goals. Organizations are purposeful in the sense that the activities and interactions of participants are centrally coordinated to achieve common objectives; behaviors in organizations are rational in the sense that roles and role relations are prescribed independently of the personal attributes of the individuals in the structure (Richard, 1992). In the rational domain, organizations are driven by strategies, and the role of management is to align strategies and structure with the external environment. Strategy development includes two kinds of approaches mainly. The first one is prescriptive approach which is the firm defined the objective and/or the main elements before brainstorm the strategy; vice versa, another one is have no clear objective and/or elements, all the strategy will be developing during the process, which call emergent approach. Finally, what people and task performed base on above approaches that will generate the strategic change by formal or informal organizational structure from the managers, because of environment, business relationship, technology, people, life cycle, political power, etc (Tichy, 1983). The importance of strategic change is that may occur considerable disruption, but this practice is also useful to analysis the specific causes for planning the best direction on Bransons management change. Bransons Corporate Level Strategy Diversification: The core business of Virgin Group is travel, but since early 1990, it has begun to involve in many other different businesses, such businesses are no directly or substantial relationships between each other. Such businesses include mass media, entertainment, beverage, finance, weight industries and more, all these small business units (SBUs) enriched the Virgins portfolio. Brand Extension: Branson built its red brand to represent value for money, quality, fun, innovation, success and trust. This idea is developed and applied on its whole range of businesses. Joint-Venture: In the flight service, each airline have to get the permission for access paths by during with local governments, this process is very complicated and consume a lot of resources in terms of human, money and time. Joint-venture is the method that can be easy to get this permission, also could be easy to meet the economic of scale to reduce cost, and share or lower the risk. Bransons SBUs Level Strategy Differentiation: Branson provides the offer which other firms no. The very common example is, Virgin Atlantics souvenirs are always different and united. Another one example is Virgin Atlantic keeps its safety record is zero accident, to increase the confidence to its passengers, or customers though its air ticket is expensive then others in generally. The Human Resource Framework Although people are intentionally rational, not all human behavior is the result of rationality. People do not leave their emotions and feelings at home when they come to work in the morning, and noneconomic objectives are pursued alongside economic objectives (Powell, 1999). In the human domain, the central issue is how to integrate human needs with organizational rationality. Virgin Group considers peoples as the important assets, so it pays attention on peoples motivation, culture and even the individual desires to manage and maintain peoples work well and comfortable. Branson also thinks staff first, then customers and shareholders, therefore the chairperson, staff, customers and shareholders could be considered as the key stakeholders. Chairperson Shareholders: Branson is as a leader in Virgin which has used the corporate brand name across its entire product, the whole Virgin Group is influenced by him, and he is the greater single asset in the group (Ensor Drummond, 2001). Meanwhile, Branson is one of the shareholder of Virgin Group companies, so as same as other shareholder, his values will be added into the group and will be implemented in running the business. Bransons values are innocence, innovation, quality, fun and irreverence of authority, all of such values could be found in his choices of new ventures. Investor: The investors mainly focus on the profit and the return of investment (ROI). This issue makes the conflict between investor and customers, because customers want to have better services that will increase the cost and decrease the maximization level of the profit Staff: The skills, knowledge and suggestions of the staff are important to the company, Branson also understand this point so that he wants his best people will stay in his company for venturing (Grant, 2003). Example: Julie Bower, Virgin Atlantic Project Manager, response to source alternative customer relations management (CRM) software, then experienced partially customized system with Virgin Atlantics own data. Finally, Saratoga System has been chosen as the provider of CRM system (Thomson Corporation Company, 2005). This example shows the valuable staff will affect the strategic development. Customers: The best products or services are always seeking by customer, in order words, firms are required to provide best product or service for maintaining current customers and exploring new customers. Companies that survive profitably in a competitive environment must be providing value for money (Johnson et al, 2005). Therefore, customers also influence the strategies of the company. Our first time with Virgin Atlantic, and out last! Chaotic queue at LHR took three hours to reach check in desk. The cabin crews were arrogant and more interested in putting on more make up than serving passengers. Virgin relies on their reputation from the eighties, but they have lost it big time. Want to travel and enjoy the experience avoid Virgin at all costs (Skytrax, 2008). This example not only explains how customers influence the strategy development, also explains to provide the certain products to customer can reduce the probability of finical loss. The Political Framework From the political perspective, organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and groups with enduring differences in values and preferences. They are governed not by a single center, as is assumed in the rational perspective, but by a dominant coalition of interest groups. As such, organizations often operate with unresolved conflicts in goals (March Shapiro, 1992). From the human domain perspective, malfunctions arise from structural misalignment or from personal deficiency; while from the political perspective, divergent interests and resource scarcity inevitably turn organizations political. Government: The core business of Virgin Group is transport service, and this business is highly regulated by the government. In the result, government policy is very import to the Branson and company as well, like policy on safety, route, franchise etc. These factors are about the change in government or government policy. The airline industry in UK has been privatized already, this action is initiated by UK Government. Branson got the opportunity to run the airline services from this political change to be a franchisee. Branson entered the markets or industries that have large, well established competitors, for instance, David is one of his favorite roles who against Goliaths, it is the example that the corporate against a big business. Now, the airline industry is run by two parts, Virgin Atlantic and British airways, provide flight and airline services respectively. Moreover, British Airways is the main competitor for Virgin Atlantic that leaded Virgin Atlantic always played the underdog role in competing with British Airways. Though Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been role as underdog and bully respectively, in 1992, Virgin Atlantic had been success to claim one and half million dollars from British Airways (Aker, 2005 Grant, 2003). The Symbolic Framework Symbolism plays a critical role in human experience. In the rational domain, the point of life is choice. However, organizational life is only partly concerned with making decisions (March Shapiro 1992). Decision making is often an arena for symbolic actions. Many events and processes are more important for what is expressed than for what is produced (Bolman Deal, 2008). The leaders use symbols to capture attention; they try to frame experience by providing plausible interpretations of experiences; they discover and communicate a vision. Innovation: Branson understands the new matters could attack the new customers and maintain the current customers, but its competitors also understand this simple theory. Therefore Virgin Atlantic based on the existed offers with new concepts or packages as a new products or services to get the competitive advantage in the industry. These factors are about the application of new inventors or ideas. The technology in air applies to the development of safe airplane, or reliable engine. Virgin Atlantic is the pioneer in this area, Branson introduced the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines to power its new Airbus fleet of 10 A330-300s has triggered a big switch from polution to green eco-friendly travel on the route. The Trent 700 is the first engine in the highly successful Trent family. The 72,000lb thrust engine has lower maintenance costs, lower weight and better performance retention. With the lowest lifecycle fuel burn, lowest cumulative emissions and lowest noise levels the Trent 700 has the lowest environmental impact of any engine on the A330 (TravelDailyNews, 2009). Branson reduces the time taken for long distance travel and efficiency in helping to customers. Except the improvement on speed, Branson also increased number of channels for passenger to buy tickets by web and machine. The software was designed to link customer details, flight information and limo service details together and provides Virgin Atlantic staff with accurate information and tools to efficiently and effectively manage the Upper Class Wing operation (Journalism UK, 2008). Virgin Atlantic has got the opportunity to operate the UK and World air service by the government policy. The inflection perhaps people will be willing to expand more on the travelling. The change of working place also affects the demand on all the modes of transport. The new channels have been developed through the web and new machine system. The market still has space to operate obviously, but the most important consideration of a transport services provider is safety. So the most strength of Branson and Virgin Atlantic has been improving its reputation especially in safety and on-time to get confidence of passengers. Comparison of Richard Bransons corporate strategy decision In the stage of setting up the strategies, Branson definitely understand the strategies of which are the ways in which strategy develops in organization. Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airline Strategic Development Command View and Culture View are highlighted by Virgin Atlantic The culture view is that it occurs as the outcome of the taken-for-granted assumptions and behaviors in organizations. (Johnson et al, 2005) Branson founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984; in fact, Virgin Atlantics success highly depends on the founders principles to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travelers. This principle created and established the culture of Virgin Atlantic, because all Virgin companies also maintain an entrepreneurial culture based on Bransons principle. There are four strategic developments have been found out and will be further described in following: Strategy One: Differentiation Branson also has another philosophy in his principle which is to be a pioneer rather then a follower of the leader. In order to reach this point, Virgin Atlantic must offer highest quality innovative service for its air travelers. Its innovative actions include: 1986, the 1st airline provided sleeper seats in upper class 1990, the 1st airline brought in the automatic defibrillators, trained the staff to help in-flight cardiac arrest victims The 1st airline installed individual TVs to all classes of passenger on the wide-bodied aircraft 2005, won the RFID Breakthrough Integration Award since it is as a leader in RFID 2005 Virgin Atlantic applied RFID tag on the important parts that used in aircraft maintenance and repairs at Heathrow Airport warehouse, UK. The technological advancement is always the advantage taking for Virgin and the customers, said by Mark Butler, System Implementation Manager, Engineering Department, Virgin Atlantic (Tata Consultancy Services Limited, 2007). Strategy Two: Jointing Alliance Virgin Atlantic has jointed an alliance with many airlines until 2006 that providing better choice on where and when for its customers flights, the member of that alliance includes Singapore Airline, Bmi British Midland, Continental Airline, South African Airways, US Airways, Virgin Blue and Air China. All above airlines also signed Codeshare Agreement, so the connections between partners services become closer, customers could enjoy better service and value, such as checking customers and their luggage over to their final destination and synchronizing their schedules with Virgin Atlantics partners. Turn out the customers of Virgin Atlantic could enjoy the shortest possible connections between their services (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). The crises of 11th September, 2001 that affected the worldwide economy, Virgin Atlantic also got heavy losses in financial aspect. The alliance strategy was significantly assisted the recovery, because it reduced the investment and the accompanying inflexibility and risk during the uncertainties of operating in other countries (Aaker, 2005). Strategy Three: Partnership In 1999, Singapore Airline acquired 49% Virgin Atlantic stake that can reinforce to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travellers. Singapore Airline is a unique global partner, this is a perfect collaboration since both two airlines have an incomparable reputation for quality and innovation, and have own numerous awards from the travel industry. According to the terms of the dealing, both two airlines routes will not overlap each other and are uniquely complementary, also they keep independent managements, and the rights to develop their own products. This partnership action generated greater benefits to both companies passengers, such as fare, access to lounges world-wide and an increasingly seamless travel experience across their airlines network (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Japan Airline Strategic Development In terms of strategic management, the major contrast between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline is, Japan Airline is the one managed by traditional state-run or government hierarchy, so its companies strategy was established by country leader and the board, as same as or followed by the strategy of government, often the goal or the result is extremely unrealistic to the commercial. The gap occurs in between the top management board and the tactical managers which more strengthen the difficulties in implementation and lessen the competitiveness in international airline market. Moreover, Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on command view and culture view; in this session, Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view to develop its strategies. In the planning view, strategic planning is to use a formal planning system for the development and implementation of the strategies related to mission and objectives of the organization. (Lynch, 2000) Japan Airlines Background Japan Airline is a joint-venture company which was founded by one governmental company and two private companies, Japan Airline Company, Philippine Airlines and Northwest Airlines in 1951. Japanese Government bought the share from Northwest Airlines that leaded to Japan Airline totally transfer to Japanese Government. Nowadays, all decisions are made by the Board of Directors and their strategic development is mainly focused on strategic planning (Fundinguniverse, 2010). Japan Airlines Planning Procedure One of the Japan Airlines department, Corporate Planning Information Technology Services is established in Japan Airline for responsible to suggest strategies for Japan Airline. After the seminar in 1987, this department suggested five corporate strategies for planning strategies and implementation, one of the strategies is about operational. The Board of Directors and the management group suggest that it (the operational strategy) is now a matter of urgency that Japan Airline must speed up the development of the airlines state enterprise plan in compliance with the policy and guidelines., Minister Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo Conference, Nov 6, 1987. Then, Minister Ishihara grouped Japan Airlines problems for Japan Airlines management group to take actions (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Although this company is now privatized, but used to be country-owned and running by Government long time, the country leaders provide comments and policies on commercial-based company. This manner had been intervened the flexibility of Japan Airline. In 2006, Japan Airlines Chairperson, Haruka Nishimatsu established three committees, Strategic Steering Committee, Project Management Committee and Task Force Committee to increase competitiveness and the value of shareholder (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Today, Japan Airline failed to be effectively competing with other airlines because of such time-consuming and not really flexible to implement in Japan Airlines planning. Conclusion Leaders establish goals, assumptions, policies, strategies, and accepted norms of behavior. They usually recruit and promote managers who conform to their own values and expectations. While a leaders influence is evident in all organizations, it will apply more to small, highly centralized firms, or young, owner run businesses, and can increase with tenure. In the addition, the most relevant contrasts between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline are: Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on culture and command view because of following the principle that provided by Branson that it is controlled by the company. Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view which is controlled by Government so almost every strategies development is produced follow the planning procedure to lead the company more systematic. In theory it should not only focus on single view, but these two companies are only focused one or two views, that led some limitations in Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline. For Virgin Atlantic, it is highly depends on the principles of Branson, he almost becomes the only one and unique person that can decide the future of Virgin Atlantic, includes stay in the market or shut down the business. Another side, for Japan Airline, it involves more procedures for making decision that could be enhances and smoothen the running for a company. As mentioned, there is only Branson is the key person for Virgin Atlantic or the whole Virgin Group, for the future, Virgin Group is suggested to established a number of rules or methods to maintain and investigate the current saturation of its businesses or the new ventures. After that, Branson is the most key person that affects all the things in Virgin Group, then is the staff, last is the customers. Last but not least, whether success to run a business depends on the policy, economy, society and technology in the place where located or plan to locate the business. In the result, the leader should aware all Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic framework in mind for coping the political, social, economic and technology factors positively. So, the finial suggestion is Richard Branson have to establish a committee to share and continue his great work.

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the UK. Section 2 (2)9 provides for the making of delegated legislation in order to implement EU obligations10 . Furthermore, section 2 (4) states that ‘†¦.any enactment passed or to be passed, other than one to be contained in this part of this act shall be construed and have effect subject to the foregoing provisions of this section’.11 This section requires EU law to have primacy over existing and future domestic legislation. This gives effect to the doctrine of the supremacy of EU law. As a consequence of the rule in Section 2 (4) all primary legislation enacted by Parliament was to be interpreted by all courts according the EU law requirements. This obliges the courts to disregard legislation which is inconsistent with EU law. The case of Costa v ENEL12 introduced the doctrine of supremacy. In this case, the European Court of Justice confirmed that community law prevails over any national law of member states that is incompatible with it. In this case it was said: ‘By contrast with ordinary treaties, the E.E.C Treaty has created its own legal system which on entry into force of the treaty becomes an integral part of the legal systems of the member states and which their courts are bound to apply’. In the key case of Factortame (No 2)13, The House of Lords accepted the supremacy of EU law in 1991 and gave effect to Community law that was incompatible with an Act of Parliament. In this case, UK legislation violated community rights concerning discrimination and the free movement of workers. The House of Lords were in a position where they had to choose whether to apply an Act of Parliament or community law. As a result the House of Lords held the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 as invalid as it was in direct conflict ... ...membership of the European Union has undoubtedly limited Parliament’s power of supremacy as it prevails over any national law that is in conflict 14 Vauxhall Estate Ltd v Liverpool Corporation [1932] DC 15 Constitutional and Administrative law, Alex Carroll, 7th edition, 2013, Pearson Education Limited p.95 16 Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2002] EWHC 195 17 Constitutional and Administrative law, Alex Carroll, 7th edition, 2013, Pearson Education Limited p.60 4Constitutional and Administrative law 153642 with it. The UK Parliament is still able to withdraw the UK from the membership of the European Union because it was a voluntary act for the UK to join the EU’s legal order. However no longer is domestic law the only law applicable in the UK, times have changed and it is clear that the membership of the European Union has weakened Parliamentary supremacy.

In Favor of Repealing Arizona House Bill 200 :: Marijuana

In Favor of Repealing Arizona House Bill 200   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over two hundred years ago, new settlers were finding their way around a vast and new country. Their whole philosophy about their new finding was to create new lives away from the British and develop a way of living to fit their standards. As they set up a new government many new and innovative ideas were added. Our fore-fathers wanted a country that would continue to grow and prosper within the needs of its citizens. Since the beginning of such a new government new laws have come and gone, separate governments have been set up and given their own responsibilities. These separate governments of course are at the state level. Our constitution gives direct regulations for state governments, and rights to create our own form of legislation. Arizona may have taken this right a bit too far.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The citizens of the state of Arizona decided to pass an initiative that gives doctors the right to prescribe marijuana and other such drugs for medicinal purposes only. However, this initiative has brought many controversies to the Arizona government. Many of these issues include voters of Arizona not fully understanding the bill and many associations such as the American Lung Association trying to amend the bill.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I propose that as citizens of Arizona, the only way we are going to solve this enormous problem is to take action ourselves. Such actions can include talking or writing to our Senators and letting them know our feelings on the bill and to present our own ideas to the representatives as assistance. Also, the media is a huge market that wants to hear from you, the victims of such a crime. The only way to make difference is to become involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It happens every two years, the speeches, appearances and the promises. We all become tired of the brown nosing done by candidates for a seat in the Arizona Senate. Most citizens tune-out the candidates and put the "x" on the ballot at a name that looks familiar. The truth is we choose our representatives, therefore it is only fair that they, the elected officials by the state, listen to what we have to say and take into consideration. It is apparent by all the media coverage that many people oppose the bill passed by Arizona in November of 1996. Currently the Arizona Senate has finished its annual session and is available for comments from citizens.

Corporate Social Responsibility in India Essay

The basic principle of the sustainable development and Corporate Social Responsibility is the combination of needs important both from the point of view of an institution, as well as a group of entities operating in its environment (employees, shareholders, stakeholders, borrowers, local society) within its business policy. Thus, the goal of a contemporary organisation should be to maximise its shareholders’ value satisfying, at the same time, expectations of other stakeholders (stakeholders’ value) by integrating economic, social and environmental operations. There are many factors that make us interested in Corporate Social Responsibility 2: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ New problems and expectations of citizens, customers, public authorities and investors in the context of globalisation and significant industrial changes; Social criteria have bigger and bigger influence on investment decisions made by units and institutions playing both the role of consumers as well as investors; Bigger and bigger care for damages caused to natural environment by business activities; Transparency of business activities supported by media and IT technologies. Corporate Social Responsibility principles, as well as the quality of information in their web sites and annual reports, the main sources of knowledge about the company for potential investors, counterparties and local communities. In the near future, we should also expect that as a result of the globalisation of financial markets, Polish listed companies will meet investors that are more aware of Corporate Social Responsibility and consumers that invest and co-operate better with companies supporting environmental and social development. The analysis of awareness rates and progress in implementing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in the sector of Polish companies covered all joint stock companies listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange4, excluding listed banks (covered in the analysis of the banking sector) and national investment funds. Results of the study are based on information disclosed and presented in web sites and annual reports of the analysed companies and they refer to the following aspects: †¢ †¢ †¢ reporting on Corporate Governance principles adopted by the company, including audit rules; reporting on the company’s environmental policy, reporting on the company’s social policy. The study covered possibilities of an access for investors, local communities, potential business partners to the information about the company’s financial standing, and strategies in progress. The principles for reporting on Corporate Governance were stipulated in the resolution of the Stock Exchange Council of October 16, 2002 (58/952/2002) on best practice in public companies in 2002. Pursuant to this document, companies were obliged to publish and deliver, by July 1, 2003, their first statement confirming their will to observe the newly introduced rules. The study carried out by the Institute shows that over 90 percent of companies publish their reports on incorporating (adopting) principles of Corporate Governance in their business strategies. However, we have to point out that the quality and availability of the information presented in web sites and in annual reports of companies for potential investors and society is relatively low. 4 The analysis was carried out from August – October 2003. 5 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics Among the listed companies under the study, only 40 percent disclose and publish detailed information about the structure of their Corporate Governance, and mostly in web sites, where companies present the information about the composition and structure of their management board (74. 4 %) and the composition and structure of their supervisory board (62. 2 %). Chart 1. 1. 1 Do domestic companies publish detailed information about the structure of their supervisory bodies? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Board structure Supervisory board structure Responsibilities of board member Definition of independence 25,6% 37,8% 51,7% 87,2% 99,4% 99,4% 74,4% 62,2% 48,3% 12,8% 0,6% Any supervisory board Commities 0,6% Individuals responsible for implementation, oversight and audit of economic, social and environmental policies YES NO Source: Own study based on research carried out by the Gdansk Institute for Market Economics. The Institute’s studies on the companies’ informing about the structure and responsibilities of their main bodies in charge of Corporate Governance also show that: †¢ domestic listed companies have not appointed persons in charge of implementing and supervising their policy related to Corporate Social Responsibility, yet (only 0. 6%), †¢ companies usually do not disclose the information about the existing committees at their supervisory boards. Potential investors and business partners willing to establish co-operation with a given entrepreneur want to know external auditors analysing the company’s financial statements and know whether they are reliable. 6 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics The Institute’s study shows that 88 percent of domestic public companies presents information related to their audit policy in their web sites. The companies usually give procedures for selecting external auditors, principles for rotation (changes) of external auditors and point out that external auditors are independent of the company. Nevertheless, in Poland, companies still do not present statements on audit costs and costs of other services performed by auditors. The Institute’s analysis also shows that most listed companies under the study (86. %) have undertaken to respect such shareholders’ rights specified in the Best Practice like: †¢ †¢ right to express their opinion and make motions to the company’s management board; right to see minutes and reports from previous meetings (usually available to the shareholders at the company’s office); †¢ publishing information on future General Shareholders Meetings and their agenda. Chart 1. 1. 2 Do domestic companies publish information about audit, shareholders’ rights, implemented principles of their Code of Business Conduct / Code of Ethics? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 12,8% 13,3% 98,9% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 87,2% 86,7% 1,1% 0% Does the Company disclose audit related Does the company disclose its policy on information? shareholder rights? Does the company disclose and report on its internal Code of Business Conduct/ Code of Ethics? YES NO Source: Own study based on research carried out by the Gdansk Institute for Market Economics. Assessing the awareness and progress in implementing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility by Polish listed companies, it is worth underlining that still a small percentage of companies has developed and adopted the Code of Ethics and the Code of Business Conduct, 7 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics where the companies define, for example, principles for social, environmental policy, issues related to the protection of human rights, employment policy. The managements have to guarantee that the Code of Business Conduct is effectively implemented, monitored and improved. Therefore, the European Commission promotes companies which adopt and implement the Codes of Business Conduct prepared by international corporations. In the opinion of the European Commission, the Code of Business Conduct should 5: †¢ Be based on guidelines of the Convention of the International Labour Organisation, defined in the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work from 1998 and OECD’s guidelines for international companies related to social partners and their stakeholders; †¢ †¢ †¢ Incorporate mechanisms required to assess and verify the Code implemented; Involve social partners and other groups of stakeholders influencing the company’s operations in the dialog about the shape of the Code; Expand the experience related to best practice in European companies. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility also assumes that the company should purposefully get involved in environmental protection. The study shows that domestic listed companies do not find it purposeful to present information about actions taken to protect t e natural environment. On the one hand, it h results f rom the fact that the companies are not aware of potential benefits they could obtain, according to the assumptions of Corporate Social Responsibility, for example if their environmental actions are positively perceived by their stakeholders. The research carried out by the Market and Opinion Research International (MORI) under the CSR Europe campaign on the sample of 12 thousand citizens representing 12 countries shows that around 70 percent of consumers buying a product or a service take into account the level which a given producer is involved in social and environmental activity to. At the same time, every fifth consumer is ready to pay more for goods produced by a socially responsible company. On the other hand, the lack of information about environmental actions taken by the companies results from relatively low financial expenses borne by these companies for environmental purposes.