Empowered to formulate

Strategic management involves decision making , formulation# and implementation of plans and carrying out actions towards achieving the objectives as changes are brought forth in the business environment and complexity of the equines. It is a continuous, long term process that requires strategic foresight and consists of risk.The strategic management is empowered to formulate policies regarding capital investment, mergers, expansion and so on. Some of the areas looked at under this management: Operations; decisions pertaining to production scheduling, inventory levels, pricing, marketing strategy, etc. These are often repetitive in nature, decentralized and at a the functional level Administrative; changes in organization triggered by strategic and operating problems. #Strategy formulation: SOOT Analysis: Strength- Weaknesses of the firm-opportunities-Threats. The four conditions will indicate the portfolio strategy and other strategies it should pursue.It presents itself as a system atic approach. Strength: strong brand name, quality products, state of the art tech, strong R&D support, good human resource management, good industrial relations, good reserves and high credit rating, efficient board of directors Weaknesses: poor sales force, weak distribution, poor inventory management, high costs, poor human resources, poor morale, low credit rating and inefficient managers. Opportunities: regulation, import liberalizing, economic boom, favorable change in customer behavior, consumerism Threats: political instability, recession, lower income and reduction in population.TOES Matrix: strategy- formulation tool based on internal(s; w) and external factors(o; t) SO strategy; maximize strength, maximize opportunity WOW strategy: minimize weakness, maximize opportunity SST strategy: maximize strength, min threat WIT strategy: min weakness, min threat. Strategic management has its downside too; it requires highly experienced or qualified members making it a costly affai r. Even good strategies lacking implementation may not yield the expected result thus causing frustration. The environment can be highly unpredictable bringing risks and a MIS-timed strategy can result in heavy losses.

Capital Budgeting Methods for Corporate Project Selection

Capital Budgeting Methods for Corporate Project Selection In a 2001 Graham and Harvey survey of 392 chief financial officers (CFOs) asked â€Å"how frequently they used different capital budgeting methods? † Approximately 75% of the CFOs replied that they use net present value (NPV) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) always or almost always (Smart, Megginson & Gitman, 2004, pg. 251). Projects are viewed as capital investments in the corporate world, and as such, are evaluated closely for their possible financial impacts on the â€Å"bottom line† due to their higher risk of failure.Capital investments are those that are considered long-term investments such as manufacturing plants, R&D, equipment, marketing campaign, etc. , and capital budgeting is â€Å"the process of identifying which of these investment projects a firm should undertake† (Smart, Megginson & Gitman, 2004, pg. 227). According to Smart, Megginson & Gitman, there are three steps in the capital budgeti ng process: * Identifying potential investments Analyzing the set of investment opportunities, identifying those that will create shareholder value, and perhaps prioritizing them * Implementing and Monitoring the investment projects selected This paper will focus on step two, and will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the four most common methods that are utilized for evaluating, selecting and prioritizing projects in the corporate world. Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Straight/Discounted Payback Period and Profitability Index are the four of the most come methods used during step 2 of the capital budgeting process.Four fictional potential capital investments will be used to illustrate how the different methods can affect project selection for a portfolio. THEME PARK CAPITAL INVESTMENTS A theme park senior executive management team had four capital projects presented during the last capital budget meeting. The projects are a $250M park expansion, $50M value resort renovation, $500M new moderate resort construction and $200M new value resort construction. All these projects have similar completion time frames and have 20 year life expectancies.Years 1 to 5 cash flows for each project come from the pro formas, and Years 6 -20 are based on an expected 2% per increase in cash flows. The company has $750M to invest on capital projects this year, and they must decide which projects should be approved. NET PRESENT VALUE Net Present Value is the sum of discounted future cash flows and provides the appropriate adjustments for the time value of money. In short, NPV is the reverse of compounding interest, and this process begins with the selection of a â€Å"discount rate. † According to Smart, Megginson & Gitman, pg. 01, â€Å"A project’s discount risk must be high enough to compensate investors for the project’s risk† The discount rate can be based on the inherent risk of a project, the required rate of return on shares, cost of equity, etc. The discount rate should not be one rate for all projects with in a firm, but reflect the nature of the project. The formula for NPV is: In this calculation, CFt represents the net cash flow of the year and r is the selected discount rate. CF0 usually represents the initial outlay to get the project started, and is usually a negative cash flow.As a rule, projects with a negative NPV are not approved, but a â€Å"hurdle† could be set such as projects with a NPV

Professional Solder

What does being a professional solder mean to me? Professionalism as a solider is exemplified by the constant display of knowledge of what it means to be a soldier and showing that in your everyday duty. As a professional solider you should constantly have situational awareness, knowing how to address your superior and subordinates, maintaining your military bearing and how to do your job efficiently are the cornerstones of being a true professional solider..For instincts being a professional solder means to serve our country from foren or domestic enemies so that all the people of the United States of America can live a happy and free lives . being part of that one percent that decided to join the armed services. Having young and older generations look up to you for being who you are. It also means living up to your seven key army values. Many people know what the words are and what they mean loyalty- Bear true faith and allegiance to the U. S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other Soldiers, duty Fulfill your obligations.doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks; Duty means being able to accomplish tasks as part of a team, respect- Treat people as they should be treated. In the Soldier’s Code, we pledge to â€Å"treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same, selfless service-Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person, honor-Live up to Army values, integrity-do what’s right, legally and morally.Integrity is a quality you develop by adhering to moral principles. It requires that you do and say nothing that deceives others, personal courage Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral). But how often do you see someone actually live up to them? Being a professional solder I have to live by them values on a everyday bases. As a professional solder you also need to live by the army creed, I am an American Soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier.The main thing we pull out of all that and keep to heart it the worrier ethos, I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I the army we have a long and strong tradition of military structure that demands that those of lower ranks refer to their superiors in certain ways. If you do not know how to properly address superior officers, you can find yourself being reprimanded or, even worse, â€Å"smoked† (put through vigorous physical punishment).

Company analysis of Ooredoo (previously known as Q-tel) Research Paper

Company analysis of Ooredoo (previously known as Q-tel) - Research Paper Example The company is headquartered in Doha, Qatar and is growing ambitiously by capturing the opportunities that exist in the emerging market in the world. The Ooredoo Group operates with a wide range of brands in the communication industry and provides a collection of services which include mobile telephones, broadband, digital technologies and fibre technologies to serve their customer and the business industry. The core vision of Ooredoo is to enrich the lives of the people by being the leading communications company at the international stage. The Ooredoo group is committed to let their customer live their aspiration. This has been achieved for a huge customer base in international societies who are closely connected with their operators. The operators of Ooredoo keep close linkages with the communities and fulfil their daily needs. The markets of Ooredoo are present in Iraq, Indonesia, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Kuwait, Maldives, Palestine and Qatar. The chairman of Ooredoo, H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani enjoys the status of minister of state and has been instrumental in implementing effective corporate governance, corporate accountability and maximizing the wealth of its shareholders. In line with the vision statement, Ooredoo has a mission to become the leading international communications company in the world. ... For this Ooredoo maintains underlying ethics of true financial disclosures. Ooredoo group is committed to fulfil its corporate social responsibility by extending support to the communities and groups for charities in Qatar thereby returning the benefits to the society. The group also has a vision of contributing actively to social causes in the field of healthcare, education, sports, environmental aspects and welfare of the society. Ooredoo supports the national program for spreading awareness towards electronic wastes and their disposal techniques which helps in protecting the environment. Apart from that the company sponsors school events, educational projects. Ooredoo also supported construction of a full-fledged kidney dialysis centre in Qatar. As an outcome of adhering to the core values in line with the vision and mission statement, Ooredoo has achieved an eight fold growth from $800 million to $7.5 billion at the end of 2010 under the leadership of its management. Identificati on of stakeholders The stakeholders of the Ooredoo have increased as the company has expanded its operations in several markets all over the world by catering to the emerging needs in telecommunication. Ooredoo being a leading international communications company has both internal as well as the external stakeholders. The chairman of the Board of Directors, the governing body, representatives of the government and representatives of the private sector present in the governing body, the shareholders of the company and the employees of Ooredoo comprise of the internal stakeholders. The framework of policies of the organisation and implementing of those

Life of an American Slave in Early American History Essay

Life of an American Slave in Early American History - Essay Example Early American slaves were native Indians and a few exported from West Indies. During the later part of slavery, slaves were imported from the African continent in large numbers. The life of slaves was really pathetic. Atrocious behavior of the elite people made their life even worse. Slaves were put to work in the most heinous conditions in the plantations and domestic premises. The situation of slaves who worked in the plantations was really pitiable. They were not as educated or sophisticated as the domestic slaves. Domestic slaves were mostly women. Most of the men worked in plantations. Domestic slaves were well aware of the happenings in the whole household. They also had deep knowledge in the happenings in the political area. Majority of the slaves were concentrated in the upper south area. The native Indian slaves and the African American slaves tried to reconstruct their lost culture in America. This resulted and contributed in the development of the famous American culture that is unique with its racial diversity and ethnicity. This ethnic culture was later termed as popular culture. Slangs were introduced to the language and literature by the African slaves and their descendants. This enriched the literature and gave it a fresh outlook with more depth and broadness. Music was the passion of American slaves and they saw music as a source of entertainment and relaxation. Besides, they perceived music as a means of an outcry of the hurt feelings. Jazz music was introduced into the field of music by the slaves. Thus, the contribution made by the slaves to augment the modern American culture was enormous. The contribution of American leaders to develop and unify a culture that enjoyed wide diversity in religion and ethnicity is praiseworthy. Along with the struggle for freedom and emancipation of slavery movement, the American leaders also succeeded in building up a nation with multitude races that were unified and distinct from the rest of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eve Kornfeld through the book, â€Å"Creating an American Culture† (Kornfeld par. 1) tries to expose the efforts made by the eminent leaders like Noah Webster, Benjamin Rush, Judith Sargent Murray, David Ramsay, Mercy Otis Warren and other intellectuals to develop an inimitable national literature that integrated a nation and reconstructed the concept of an exclusive nationhood. Most Americans have a static vision of slavery that existed in America. When we talk about slavery, the

Morphology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Morphology - Assignment Example In Arabic the future tense is formed by adding the prefix ‘sa’ to the imperfect verb, ie. sa + ya’kulu â€Å"He will eat†. b) infixation: a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is added within a stem or root word. An affix is added within a root word and forms a new word with a different meaning. Although English utilizes many prefixes and suffixes it does not evidence infixes except in slang wherein a curse word may be inserted, ie. ‘abso +bloomin + lutely’ . Evidence of infixes: Siouan cheti ‘to build a fire’ – che + wa – ti ‘I build a fire and shuta ‘to miss’ – shu + un + ta ‘we miss’ (Sapir, 2004, p. 57) c) compounding: a morphological process whereby two or more free lexemes are combined to form a new word. Each lexeme can function in its own right and can be attributed to any lexical category. English uses lexemes from many different lexical categories to form numerous different English compounds, ie. ‘cross + roads’ (N + N), ‘over + dose’ (Prep + N), ‘stir + fry’ (V + V). ... ‘present’, ‘conflict’, ‘insult’; a very productive process in English (McIntyre, 2000) Question 2: a) total reduplication: any linguistic unit, ie. phoneme, word, phrase, clause, utterance or morpheme that is repeated in total, ie. ‘bye-bye’ (childish way of saying goodbye) – both grammatically and semantically important; generally categorized as either at the semantic/content level or the expression level, ie. Kashmiri: ‘shur’ shur’ ‘children children’ (expression level for emphasis (optional)), ‘jaan jaan’ ‘good good’ (expression level for plurality (obligatory)), ‘vuzIvuzI’ ‘desire’ (semantic level), ‘tharItharI’ ‘trembling’ (semantic level) (Koul, 1977). b) partial duplication: a form that is repeated in part as in ‘helter-skelter’, or ‘teenie- weenie’; Malay: reduplication indicates a à ¢â‚¬Ëœcontinuous process and the progressive form† (Nadarajan, p.42) by reduplicating the base after adding a prefix ‘ber’, ie. (ber) + base + root as in ‘ketuk’ ‘peck, ‘ber +ketuk’ ‘to peck’, ‘ber + ketuk + ketuk’ ‘keeps pecking / is pecking / pecks’ (Nadarajan, p.42). c) coordinative compound: when words have more than one (usually two) lexemes that have equal standing as in ‘bitter-sweet’; a compound is coordinate when it comprises two elements from the same lexical category and are co-hyponyms (Renner, 2008); English coordinate compounds include N + N ‘hunter + gatherer’, Adj + Adj ‘manic + depressive’ and V + V ‘sleep + walk’ (Renner, 2008) d) derivation: a morphological process whereby a derivational suffix is added that changes the meaning of the word and the word class as in ‘act + ion’, ‘cheer + ful + ness’, or when a prefix is added and only the

Science and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Science and Religion - Essay Example According to him, personal interpretations should be given the benefit of the doubt and should not be immediately accepted or taught. As an example, Boyle cites those who, out of intense devotion and blinded by faith, tend to â€Å"increase the number, and the wonderfulness of mysteries,† and think that â€Å"things are fittest to be believed, when they are not clearly to be proved or understood.† Upon making an assumption that a supreme being exists, Boyle then proceeded to point out that as humans, there are things which we simply could not understand about God’s existence and his works. Boyle explains that, â€Å"†¦if his attributes and perfections be not fully comprehensible to our reason, we can have but inadequate conceptions of them and †¦ there may be some things in his nature, and in the manner of his existence, which is without all example, or perfect analogy, in inferior beings.† From this statement, Boyle has carefully established the limits of human reason and on the basis of the scientific context at the time, this may have successfully answered or silenced further inquiry or doubts about the Christian religion. Boyle further adds that when such a point is reached where reason would no longer suffice in bringing answers, we should rather turn to God and not to our own conclusions for, says Boyle, â€Å"whatever he tells us is infallibly true.† He also points out that even such brilliant minds as Galileo and Descartes have, like him, kept their faith intact despite being scientists themselves.

Tax avoidance and evasion schemes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tax avoidance and evasion schemes - Assignment Example The government has made tax evasion and avoidance one of its key priorities so as to reduce the deficit and boost the exchequer (Alan 2011). Tax evasion is illegal way of minimizing taxes thus stiff penalties are involved on individual or corporate bodies who evade taxes. Unintentional mathematical errors in tax returns are not considered to be tax evasion (McGee 2012). Tax avoidance is a legal way of minimizing tax liability, and it involves planning in advance an intended transaction so as to get a specific tax treatment. Individuals can minimize taxes through tax planning for example through schemes. Avoidance also involves disclosure. Tax avoidance and evasion schemes a) Defined contribution retirement plan Contributing money to a qualified employer sponsored retirement plan helps in reducing tax liability. A defined contribution retirement plan is an IRS approved retirement plan sponsored by an employer. Contributions made by the employees to these schemes are tax deductible, an d as a result, the tax payable is reduced. For example, if an employee who is in a tax bracket of 25% contributes 2000, he will save 500 (McGee 2012). Another benefit with defined contribution retirement plan is that the contributions made by the employee to the scheme are invested to a mutual fund. ... Such expenses include qualified parking, transit passes and van pool commuting. These savings made from the payroll are deductible for tax purposes thus tax payable is minimized (Alan 2011). c) Flexible spending account This account is also referred to as an expense reimbursement account designed for employees who pay for the child or parent care. FSA helps employees fund medical and dental expenses through salary deduction to out of pocket unreimbursed health care expenses limited by law to $2,500 annually and depended care up to a maximum of $5,000 annually (McGee 2012). Example includes prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs and annual deductibles. d) High income child benefit charge According to the Finance Act 2012 section 681B, a person is only legible to claim the high income child benefit charge if personal income for the year exceeds ?50,000 (Great Britain 2011). Also, when either a person or his partner are entitled to receive child benefit, or get contributions from someone else who claims Child Benefit for a child who lives with you..If you are liable to the tax charge and your income increases or drops, this can affect whether you continue to be liable or how much tax charge you have to pay. If your individual income drops to ?50,000 or less for a tax year you will not have to pay the tax charge (Karayan and Swenson 2007). e) Offshore business structures Investors make investments through non-resident companies especially ones with lower tax jurisdictions. Tax charged on rental receipts for overseas investments is 20% unlike 26% charged to residents. The tax is withheld by tenants or appointed agents from their rent. Alternatively, an approval from HMRC can be obtains for rents to be received at

Student Learning Environment & Scoring Rubric Essay

Student Learning Environment & Scoring Rubric - Essay Example Design of a rubric can be cumbersome but rewarding and useful. Today's Baccalaureate program in nursing seeks to provide leaders in nursing. This is a program that is needed in the 21st century, at a time when the world is expecting a tremendous number of patients as well as many chronic diseases. There are many challenges and at this point, there is a great shortage of nurses, therefore those who lead will need every innovation that they can find. This will include the ability to apply standards and assure core competencies, as well as teaching and mentoring newer nurses. This paper will examine the core competencies for this program and determine and determine how a nurse educator might achieve the learning environment that works (AACN, 1). According to the American Association of Colleges for Nursing, there are nine essentials that should be accomplished by the end of one's nursing program. These include, liberal education for the generalist, basic organizational and systems leadership, scholarship for evidence based practice, information management and application of patient care technology, health care policy, finance, and regulatory environments, interprofessional communication and collaboration for improving patient health outcomes, clinical prevention and population health, professionalism and professional values, and generalist nursing practice. These competencies are stated slightly differently but supported by the NLNAC and nurse educators. This paper will choose to discuss scholarship for evidence based practice, interprofessional communication and collaboration for improving patient health outcomes, and the baccalaureate generalist nursing practice. The AACN has determined that professional nursing should be supported by an evidence based practice. This includes identification of issues that affect practice as well as integration of evidence and evaluation of the outcome of that integration. Baccalaureate education should provide the tools for the graduate nurse to be prepared to use evidence based practice. This include the research process, clinical judgment, and interpersonal prospective (AACN, 1). Effective communication and collaboration among professionals in practice is essential in care today. Patient centered care has been proven by many studies to be effective an quality care (Kautz, Kuiper, Pesut, 2005). Interprofessional communication supports patient centered care, therefore interprofessional education where it involves evidence base or communication becomes an essential part of any Baccalaureate Nurse education. Learning to educate as well as communicate allows the nurse to introduce new practices more easily (IPMG, 6). Baccalaureate generalist nursing practice is essential because the overall program generally learned is completed with practice focused outcomes. This brings together the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are learned in all of the other essential practices. It allows the nurse to understand individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations in many different settings (AACN, 2009). In providing care, the nurse must be compassionate, well informed in evidence based practice, and well aware of how to conduct nursing research to meet this essential. Clinical reasoning should be evident in this nurse and she should

Places Around the World Are Getting More and More Similar Essay Example for Free

Places Around the World Are Getting More and More Similar Essay In the past,people used to travel to many places to see the differences from their home country. Now all the places around the world are getting more and more similar. What is the cause of this simailarity? Do you think that the advantage of thissimilarity overweigh the disadvantages? Recently ,lack of unique place to travel has become a top discussions in our daily life. It will be disappointed for people who expect to find a difference of their own country. In my opinion,the most important factor of this issue may be globalization,and globalization certainly has the potential to bring about great advance for humankind. Nowadays,in tourist areas of the developing world we can follow a growing international trend in many aspects,and also I believe it is a good way for our social development. For example,many modern buildings,especially skyscrapers with glass walls are being erected here and there,and some of them even become the symbols of a city around the world. Clearly,this is an unavoidable trend. It should not only can house more people and host more office,but also can make valuable tourist resource. In other side,we can also observe a changing happened in leisure time pursuits and culture exchange. Chinese youths shopping at department store in Shanghai,hang out in club over a glass of beer in much the same way that their American counterparts do in NewYork. The third one is that television and internet as very powerful medium of influence over large populations. Younger generations the world over who can through these mordern technologies often encounter the same media such as advertisements,films,TV chanels popular brands and so on. At the same time,many argue that the costs of globalization are too high and that differences between countries and communitices need to be maintained before we quickly and completely lose all sense of who we are,where we came from and what choice are still available to us. After all,historic places provide a physical link to our past. In sum up,only by further developing the way in which we manmage our societies can we make sure that those currently not in control of globalization can make their voices heard in the political processes affecting the rang of their own personal choices.

A History of Pottery

A History of Pottery The production of pottery is one of the most ancient arts. The oldest known body of pottery dates from the Jomon period (from about 10,500 to 400 BC) in Japan; and even the earliest Jomon ceramics exhibit a unique sophistication of technique and design. Excavations in the Near East have revealed that primitive fired-clay vessels were made there more than 8,000 years ago. Potters were working in Iran by about 5500 BC, and earthenware was probably being produced even earlier on the Iranian high plateau. Chinese potters had developed characteristic techniques by about 5000 BC. In the New World many pre-Columbian American cultures developed highly artistic pottery traditions. TYPES OF WARES Pottery comprises three distinctive types of wares. The first type, earthenware, has been made following virtually the same techniques since ancient times; only in the modern era has mass production brought changes in materials and methods. Earthenware is basically composed of clayoften blended claysand baked hard, the degree of hardness depending on the intensity of the heat. After the invention of glazing, earthenwares were coated with glaze to render them waterproof; sometimes glaze was applied decoratively. It was found that, when fired at great heat, the clay body became nonporous. This second type of pottery, called stoneware, came to be preferred for domestic use. The third type of pottery is a Chinese invention that appeared when feldspathic material in a fusible state was incorporated in a stoneware composition. The ancient Chinese called decayed feldspar kaolin (meaning high place, where it was originally found); this substance is known in the West as china clay. Petuntse, or china stone, a less decayed, more fusible feldspathic material, was also used in Chinese porcelain; it forms a white cement that binds together the particles of less fusible kaolin. Significantly, the Chinese have never felt that high-quality porcelain must be either translucent or white. Two types of porcelain evolved: true porcelain, consisting of a kaolin hard-paste body, extremely glassy and smooth, produced by high temperature firing, and soft porcelain, invariably translucent and lead glazed, produced from a composition of ground glass and other ingredients including white clay and fired at a low temperature. The latter was widely produced by 18th-century Europea n potters. It is believed that porcelain was first made by Chinese potters toward the end of the Han period (206 BC-AD 220), when pottery generally became more refined in body, form, and decoration. The Chinese made early vitreous wares (protoporcelain) before they developed their white vitreous ware (true porcelain) that was later so much admired by Europeans. Regardless of time or place, basic pottery techniques have varied little except in ancient America, where the potters wheel was unknown. Among the requisites of success are correct composition of the clay body by using balanced materials; skill in shaping the wet clay on the wheel or pressing it into molds; and, most important, firing at the correct temperature. The last operation depends vitally on the experience, judgment, and technical skill of the potter. DECORATING TECHNIQUES In the course of their long history potters have used many decorating techniques. Among the earliest, impressing and incising of wares are still favored. Ancient potters in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, northern India, and the high regions of Central Asia (where primitive terra-cotta figures associated with religious cults were produced) frequently decorated wares with impressed or incised designs. A notable incising technique developed more recently was that of Korean potters working in the Koryo period (918-1392). These artisans began by ornamenting their celadon wares with delicately incised and impressed patterns and later developed elaborate inlaying by filling incised lines with colored slip (semiliquid clay). Black and white slip was used most effectively for inlaying colored porcelains. Decoration of this sort generally depends more on the skill of the artisan than on the complexity of the tools being used. An especially popular type of decoration involved the sgraffito, or scratched, technique used by Italian potters before the 15th century. This technique, which is thought to have reached Italy from the Near East, was probably derived from China, where it was first used during the Song (Sung) dynasty (960-1279). By the 16th century Italian potters working mainly in Padua and Bologna had developed great skill in sgraffito, which entailed the incising of designs on red or buff earthenware that had been coated with ordinary transparent lead glaze, usually toned yellow or, sometimes, brown, copper, or green. After firing, the wares were dipped into white clay slip so that a dark pattern could be cut on the surface. By cutting through the white slip, the artist produced a design on the exposed red or buff body. Pigments were also sometimes applied. After a further coating of lead glaze the ware was fired a second time. A sound knowledge of glazesboth utilitarian and decorativeis vital to the potter. The origin of glazes and glazing techniques is unknown, but the fine lustrous glazes developed in China surely began with a simple glaze that served to cover earthenware and render it watertight. Chinese potters used two kinds of glazes, one composed basically of feldspar, and another produced by fusing silica of quartz or sand by means of a flux, generally of lead oxide. Chinese potters regarded glazes and glazing techniques as having prime importance; under the Han emperors they made great efforts to improve this technology. The use of lead glaze increased, and wood ash was incorporated to impart a dullish brown or gray green coloring, somewhat blotchy and occasionally iridescent. These effects were entirely natural, as no coloring matter was added to the composition. Glazing techniques were modified under successive dynasties. Colored glazes were developed and used to brilliant effect by Tang (Tang) and Song potters, and a great diversity of brightly hued wares appeared over the centuries. Many connoisseurs feel that the pure white porcelain, called blanc de chine, which first appeared during the Ming dynasty, is the most serenely beautiful of all Chinese ceramics. Dehua (Te-hua) potters in Fujian (Fukien) province, working during the 17th century, produced their blanc de chine masterpieces in the purest white porcelain coated with a thick white glaze. Salt glaze, used by English potters during the early 1700s, may well have been known to the Chinese but was not used by them. Near Eastern potters glazed wares in ancient times. Potters in Mesopotamia and Iran commonly used an alkaline glaze made of quartz mixed with sodium and potassium. An admixture of colored metallic oxides, mostly lead, was introduced later. Painting on pottery and porcelain became richly colorful in many regions and periods. Decorative brush painting directly on the baked clay reached its zenith in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), whose artists were highly skilled at painting in fired colors. For a long period Chinese ceramic artists had used only black or brown pigment to decorate wares that were then covered with clear glaze. It is believed that the appearance in China of 13th-century brush-decorated wares from Persia sparked a change. These works, painted in blue cobalt under the glaze, inspired the brushwork of the Chinese and the resulting so-called blue-and-white style. Ming artists also excelled in painting over the glaze, using brilliant enamel colors. The overglaze technique, which evolved over two centuries, demanded correct preparation of the enamels, skill in application, and the proper (low) firing temperature. The overglaze enamel decorations executed during the reign of Chenghua (1465-87), which were never surpassed in China, incorporated flowers, foliage, and figure subjects against backgrounds of arabesques and scrollwork. Designs enclosed within dark blue outlines were filled in with brilliant color. Enamel decoration of superb quality was also executed in Japan during the Edo period (1615-1868) by celebrated artists and potters of the caliber of Kenzan, Kakiemon, and Ninsei. In the ancient Aegean the potters art developed continuously from the Neolithic period and through the periods of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, culminating, in ancient Greece, in a unique type of painted pottery, which reached its height between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. The finest Greek pottery, especially Attic vases, was exquisitely proportioned and often decorated with finely painted relief work. Unlike artisans in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia, the Attic potters did not apply heavy glaze to their wares. The unique gloss commonly seen on Attic pottery and similar wares made elsewhere in Greece still baffles those who have tried to determine its formula and method of application. Neither a glaze nor a varnish, it is more marked on some areas, such as those painted black, than on others. Some experts conjecture that it may be attributed to illite or a similar clay mineral in a weak solution that was thinly applied to the surface of wares or mixed into the black paint used by the artists. In the Islamic world ceramic decorative art flowered with the creation of a great diversity of painted wares. Painted luster decoration on pottery originated in Mesopotamia and spread to ancient Egypt; later, under Islam in Persia, this type of decoration on white-glazed wares became incredibly brilliant. Islamic luster-painted wares were later imitated by Italian potters during the Renaissance. MAJOR TRADITIONS IN THE WEST After the fall of the ancient Roman Empire potters in Europe produced little other than repetitive utilitarian wares until the end of the Middle Ages. Earthenware A distinctive type of earthenware known as majolica, which was derived from Chinese porcelain, appeared in Italy during the last quarter of the 14th century. It is now believed that this type of painted earthenware was inspired by the Hispano-Moresque luster-decorated ware of Spanish origin introduced to Italy by Majorcan seagoing traders. Majolica ware, whether thrown on the wheel or pressed into molds, was fired once to obtain a brown or buff body, then dipped in glaze composed of lead and tin oxide with a silicate of potash. The opaque glaze presented a surface that was suitable to receive decoration. A second firing after decoration fixed the white glaze to the body and the pigments to the glaze, so that the colors became permanently preserved. Frequently, the beauty of these wares was increased by dipping them in a translucent lead glaze composed of oxide of lead mixed with sand, potash, and salt. When certain luster pigments and enamels were used in all-over painting, wares had to be specially fired at low temperature. Application of metallic luster pigments required great skill because these colors were extremely volatile and needed special handling. Luca della Robbia (see della Robbia, family) did not, as has been held, invent the enamel tin-glazing process; nevertheless, his work raised majolica production from a craft to high art in Italy. Not only did he use blue and white enamels in decorative work, but, as a sculptor, he also used the majolica technique to add brilliance to the surface of his productions. By the beginning of the 15th century Italian potters had abandoned the old familiar processes, and a revolution in style and techniques was under way. The severe style as followed principally in the school of Tuscany continued to the end of the 15th century, but rules and principles slackened until the inclusion of human figures in designs, previously frowned upon, was accepted. At the end of the 15th century Faenza became the thriving center of a reinvigorated pottery industry in Italy. A new, rich decorative style, known as istoriato, fired the imagination of potters, reaching its zenith in the workshops of Urbino. In early 17th-century England attractive slipwares were produced, including the slip-decorated earthenware that was a speciality of the Toft family of potters. A kind of tin-glazed earthenware was also produced in the Netherlands, principally at Delft, beginning in the mid-17th century. Termed delftware, it was among the first European wares to be decorated with motifs inspired by Chinese and Japanese models. Continental Porcelains Eventually, European potters, who much admired the porcelain of the Far East, attempted to imitate it, but the formula remained elusive. Francesco de Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, produced an inferior type of soft-paste porcelain in his Florence workshop during the 16th century. In March 1709, Augustus II of Saxony announced that his ceramist Johann Bottger (1682-1719) had discovered how to make porcelain. The first European royal porcelain manufactory was consequently established at Meissen (see Meissen ware) near Dresden, Germany. Throughout the century following the discovery of the porcelain formulawhen, despite the utmost precautions at Meissen, the secret leaked outmany rival factories were set up in Europe. Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and England soon had factories engaged in the production of wares much like those of Meissen. Porcelain figures were first produced in Meissen as table ornaments; the earliest examples were formed as part of sweetmeat dishes. Many splendid wares issued from the royal factory, but none were more admired than the finely modeled and decorated porcelain figures imitated by almost every German, Austrian, Italian, and English factory of note. Widespread interest in figures of both pottery and porcelain has continued to the present. Johann Joachim Kandler (1706-75), a master modeler, was the most notable of the artisans engaged in this work at Meissen and rivaled the famous Franz Anton Bustelli (1723-63) of Nymphenburg (see Nymphenburg ware). The methods used to produce porcelain figures as developed by Kandler imparted a new dimension to the art. German porcelain figures were usually produced from molds, which, in turn, were cast from an original master model made of wax, clay, or, occasionally, wood. The use of molds facilitated unlimited reproduction. Because the figures shrank during firing, allowances had to be made in their sizes; they were also provided with a small venthole in the back or base to permit excess heated air to escape. Because different factories placed these holes differently, their positions help determine the provenance and authenticity of given pieces. When considerable undercutting was necessary, porcelain figures were usually made in sections, using separate molds. Portions of elaborate groups and single figures were later joined by a specially trained assembler (known as a repairer) who usually worked from a master model. Europes second hard-paste porcelain factory began operations at Vienna in 1717. In the late 1700s at the royal Sevres (see Sevres ware) factory in France, potters experimented until they developed a remarkably white, finely textured body. Sevres wares were painted in unique colors that no other European factory could duplicate. The bleu de roi and rose Pompadour of Sevres wares captivated all Europe and, with the products of Meissen and Vienna, inspired English potters. English Wares The finest English porcelainboth soft- and hard-pastewas made between about 1745 and 1775. The first English porcelain was probably produced at Chelsea (see Chelsea ware) under Charles Gouyn, but his successor Nicholas Sprimont, a Flemish silversmith who took over management in 1750, was responsible for the high-quality wares, especially the superb figures, for which the factory became famous. Factories at Worcester (see Worcester ware), Bow, and Derby also produced wares that rival those of the Continent. Led by the ambitious, energetic, and enterprising Josiah Wedgwood and his successors at the Etruria factory, English potters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries became resourceful and inventive. Wedgwoods contributions consisted mainly of a much improved creamware, his celebrated jasperware, so-called black basalt, and a series of fine figures created by famous modelers and artists. After Wedgwood, other potters of the first half of the 19th century developed a number of new wares. Of these, Parian ware was the most outstanding and commercially successful. The name of this ware was derived from Paros, the Greek island from which sculptors in ancient times obtained the creamy or ivory-tinted marble that Parian ware resembled. The first examples of this new product, described as statuary porcelain, issued from Copeland and Garrets factory in 1842 and were immediately acclaimed. Two varieties of Parian ware were produced: statuary parian, used in the making of figures and reproductions of sculpture, and hard-paste, or standard, parian, from which hollowware was made. Statuary parian, incorporating a glassy frit, is classified as soft porcelain. Standard parian, with a greater proportion of feldspar in the composition but no frit, is hard porcelain. Early parian statuary was ivory-tinted due to the presence of iron in the feldspar devoid of iron silicate. Suitable deposits were eventually located in Sweden and Ireland. Both English and American potters either obtained details of the original formula or worked out their own, and the resulti ng production of Parian wares on both sides of the Atlantic was enormous. Among the most beautiful and successful wares invented by 19th-century potters were those decorated in what came to be known in England as pate-sur-pate, a paste-on-paste technique devised sometime after 1870 by Marc-Louis Solon (1835-1913) of Mintons in England. Pate-sur-pate, involving both modeling and painting techniques, was stained Parian ware decorated with reliefs in translucent tinted or white slip, the colors being laid one upon the other. Solon was inspired by a Chinese celadon case decorated with embossed flowers that he had admired in the museum at Sevres, where he worked for a time. At first his slip painting on biscuit porcelain simply peeled off; he was successful, however, when he applied layers of slip to a damp surface. Minton wares decorated with pate-sur-pate became the most costly and coveted ceramic ornaments produced in England in the last quarter of the 19th century. Only a few English potters mastered Solons complex technique, although the work of his pupil, Alboin Birks, rivaled that of the master. 20th-Century Developments By the late 19th century, with the development of machinery and the introduction of new technologies, the age of mass production dawned and the potters art consequently suffered. Western ceramic wares declined markedly in quality of materials and decoration. Florid designs, gaudy coloring, and inartistic shapes became fashionable, and the resulting decadence continued into the 20th century. Not until the 1930s were signs of revival in the form and decoration of ceramics discernible, principally in the productions of artist-potters who were active in Western Europe and the United States. Many of these artist-potters arrived at their innovations by way of continuous experiment with materials and techniques. Others sought inspiration from primitive types of Japanese pottery or in the forms of ancient American Indian traditions. Since the end of World War II the design and decoration of ceramics in both Europe and the United States, especially ornamental wares, has been largely influence d by individual artist-artisans. Commercial products, such as tablewares, have tended to reflect the styles and patterns developed by these potters, whose work has often shown striking originality.

Relationship between the society and technology

Relationship between the society and technology Technology is very important aspect of human condition as it provides cloths, shelters, foods, transportations etc. Technological determinism is the theory that technology is an autonomous force that changes society and it is also the key force to our society. This provides explanations for many changes that can be observed in society, and it has a very simple cause/effect form. However, this theory is false, if you think you have an instance, it means you are looking at just one part of a much more complex situation, and ignoring the complex social network that supports the technology. However, technology is a major and really the main cause of social change as a lot of changes in the society is largely caused by technology but within human control. The computer and email technology has reduced the period it takes to transmit messages between two parties or more as emails sent electronically can be received immediately, thereby saving lots of man hours, and consequently even reducing human and vehicular traffic as people dont need to sometimes travel to send and receive documents. The computerization of the banking is not necessarily to reduce wage bills and increase profit as new technologies and this computerization brings new employment opportunities for a lot of IT professionals who will manage this technology. The new innovation in banking is to guarantee efficiency and productivity the same applies in the containerization of cargo. Like earlier specified these technologies were not only technologically determined, it did have its economic, social, cultural and political reasons. These technologies did give room for employment as more people gets employed to manage these technologies, the more income and more revenue for government and ultimately growth in economy, thereby causing political stability which has it cultural advantages as a peaceful society is a viable society. A society is an organized group of person associated together for purposes such as social, political and religious, while technology on the other hand is an application or even sometime seen as object. This report will help us to determine which of the above mention attempt that is best in relating both technology and society, their strength and weakness, merits and demerits and possible whether they have been able to really answer to the obvious question of whether the society is inflecting technology or its technology that is influencing the society. 2. TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM Technological determinism is one of the three attempts that this report intends to use in determining the relationship between technology and the society. Before I analyze this attitude or theory, it is important to understand what I mean by technology and society. Technology determinism does explain the relationship between technology and the society, but it does not adequately explain the relationship technology and society. A lot of social changes are also independent as technology does not have any influence. Technology cannot be said to be autonomous as not all social changes and activities are dependent on technology examples are the computer and email technology where informations, messages and documents are sent electronically, not needing people to take mail from one location to another, but this technology is still largely not dependent as the computer cannot send mails on its own, which means its not out of mans control as people still get employment to receive, read and possibly reply mails, so does not cause any redundancy or unemployment. 2.1 Technological Determinism explains relationship between technology and society which asserts that. Technological Determinism is also a popular view about the relationship between technology and society. It is the same Technology Determinism that says new technologies develop the change in society. And the theory presumes that a societys technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. Therefore the term technological determinism is an idea, a belief, a theory that human, individual and societal change are caused primarily by technology, that technology is the main agent of social change. However, there is still the debate whether technological determinism is a theory or an attitude. This refers to the belief that technology is the agent of social change. It is both popular attitude, reflected in such expressions as you cant stop progresses and a theoretical position. Looking at the relationship between technological determinism as a theory and as an attitude, determinism is a popular attitude to technology, but it cannot be used as a theory or basis for explaining the relationship between society and technology. 2.2 I believe that quotes B and D are examples of Technology determinism. 2.3 The reasons why I believe quotes B and D are examples of a Technology Determinism approach to technology and society. 3. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM Social Constructionism is an artefact in a social invention or construction by an individual in a particular society. Also theory that in addition to express the socially designed ways of our social life which can also be in connect with knowledge achieved and develop within society context, as opposed to realism. (Nilsen) Social Constructionism is a term used theories that express the socially originated way of our social life. (Marshall, 1994). Main feature of Social construction theory is viewing knowledge as socially distributed. Through origin relationship between knowledge and its social base knowledge becomes a social product and a factor in social change. Social distribution of knowledge has implications for social construction of identity, depending on which identity is appropriate or desired at a specific point in time. As a result, whatever the experts do, the pluralistic situation changes not only the social position of the traditional definitions of reality, but also the way in which these are held in the consciousness of individuals ( Berger Luckmann, p. 115). 3.1 The main features of this theory areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 3.2 The quotes which I think best illustrate SCism are W and Y. 3.3 The reasons why I think W and Y are written from a SCist perspective areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 4. SOCIAL SHAPING Social shaping is theory that addressed the outcomes or impacts of technological change, the design patterns and implementation of technology. In recent years, social shaping has increased and also gained its recognition. It thus goes beyond traditional approaches, concerned merely to assess the `social impacts of technology, to examine what shapes the technology which is having these impacts, and the way in which these impacts are achieved (MacKenzie and Wajcman 1985). Technological change is often seen as something that takes its own way. 4.1 This theory about the relationship between tech. and society can be explained as followsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 4.2 identify quotes 4.3 state why you have chosen these quotes. 5. CONCLUSION 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alphabetical list of all books, websites, articles etc used in preparing report. FORMAT: Author/editors last name then initial, (date of publication), title in italics, place of publication: place of publication. Forester, T. (1987) High-Tech Society, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Internet technology boost china in next 10 years :: essays research papers

INTERNET TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BOOST CHINA FURTHER A perspective look at the country ¡Ã‚ ¦s transition in next decade relative to internet technology Bo Li, School of Technology & Management Submit to: Mr. Paul Reynolds INTRODUCTION Since 1980 China ¡Ã‚ ¦s economy has grown by more than 9 percent a year. The country now manufactures 75 percent of the world ¡Ã‚ ¦s toys, 58 percent of the cloths, and 29 percent of the mobile phones. More than $1 billion in foreign direct investment arrives each week. By 2008 China will be the world ¡Ã‚ ¦s third largest exporter, and by the decade ¡Ã‚ ¦s end its economy will be larger than that of either France or United Kingdom (Emmanuel, et al., 2004). China ¡Ã‚ ¦s GDP in 2004 growth by 9.5 percent to  ¢G851,072 million and IT(information technology) ¡Ã‚ ¦s contributions account for 25 percent. It is predicted that the IT market will growth by 15.8 percent every year to 2009. Economists are curious to know how long will China ¡Ã‚ ¦s strong economy be. When the advantage of low labor costs in China will subside in the future, what will support its fast growing economy? According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ¡Ã‚ ¦s 2005 report, 94 million internet user and half of them are using broadband connection. China now has 4 internet-based companies listed in NASDAQ. As they reported profit since the SMS business introduced in 2002, many economists think there will be an internet technology boom in China again. IT industries in developed countries now are facing both challenge and opportunity since many mergers and acquisition happened in west countries from Chinese maker. That what will happen in China on internet technology in the next 10 years will affect every international business around the world. This study begins with the analysis of upcoming internet technology ¡Xexamining the effect of future internet technology and China ¡Ã‚ ¦s policy  ¡Xand then move on the analysis of the impact of internet technology on China ¡Ã‚ ¦s industries in next decade as well as its future contribution to the country ¡Ã‚ ¦s stellar growth. Internet Era Just Begin Internet will change more dramatically in the next decade than it has during its entire history. We have just seen the beginning of what the Internet can do for use as a revolution in communications and the way business is done (Gates, 2000). Internet application had moved from transaction phase to platform phase at the beginning of this decade. There are some trends will be prevailed. ƒÞ  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wireless connection on multi-device Wireless connection between different devices at high speed is probably the key component that is really going to take the scenarios of empowerment that we have always believed in and make them a reality.

The Role Of The Media In Democracy Essays -- essays research papers f

How much does your vote really count? As a voter, does your choice really matter? How much influence does the media have on your vote? How many choices does the media actually make when it comes to our nation's leadership? These are questions pondered by both political scientists and the average American citizen each year as the second Tuesday in November approaches. Though we know that the framers founded this nation on the principles of representing it's citizens, and on the ideals of a nation for the people and by the people; it is obvious that the people feel that their vote doesn't always count. In this paper I plan to expand on these questions and the justifications behind asking them, and I plan to follow up with a specific example in which the media played a highly significant role in the choice of high government officials. How much does your vote really count? Does your choice really matter? According to the framers, your choice does matter. They say that one man equals one vote. Congress also seems to believe that the American vote should count. They have passed Amendments to the Constitution in order to give more people the chance to vote and the chance to make a choice of their representatives. But why then does the people actually directly elect so few officials? Perhaps they agree with the ideas of Converse and Lane and are using voting only as a way to attempt to get the citizens out of the voting slump they seem to be in. Converse stated that voters are minimally informed, minimally capable, and therefore incompetent of voting. Lane claims that this is not the problem, but that instead, voters are simply lazy in their ideology. (Muraca, July 13, 1999) I tend to agree with both, but I don't feel that the fault lies on the shoulders of the people. Rather, I feel that the burden of voter incompeten ce lies on the shoulders of the media. Voters are not uninformed perse, but they are limited in the amount in information that they posses. The reason that this information is limited is because of the media. Media makes the choice everyday what they do and do not want the public to know. The power to make the choice of our knowledge rests in their hands. Without the information they pass on from day to day, we, as voters know nothing about the happenings of our government. Yet on more than one occasion the media has held back information that c... .... It is a nation founded on free speech and freedom of the press, and the media uses these freedoms to influence some of the most important decisions that may ever occur in our country. It is somewhat scary that the fate of our nation could be put in the hands of the King of Porn, but at the same time it is somewhat invigorating. As citizens, the framers entrusted everyday citizens with the right to influence the actions and fate of our government, even if only through a small article in the newspaper. Even though they did give the media this right, and we as citizens the right to use it, they still found fault with the nation as a whole. Otherwise, citizens would have been given the chance to directly elect those they feel represent them the best. The question of why they did this remains, but the fault lies at the feet of the media for keeping the citizens left uninformed and unable to cast a reasonable vote. Works Cited Janda, Berry, Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy. Sixth Edition. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Muraca, Stephanie, T.. In-class-notes. July 13, 1999. Shepard, Alicia, C.. "Gatekeepers Without Gates", American Journalism News Link. March 1999.

Philosophy I Think Therefore I Am Essay

‘Cogito ergo sum’, meaning I think therefore I am, Rene Descartes is the man credited to these few words. The quote originally written in French, comes from The Discourse on Method, but also appears written as the famous Latin, â€Å"Cogito ergo sum,† in his Meditations on First Philosophy, which was an attempt to find foundational truths for knowledge. The book contains six meditations that attempt to discover what is real by first doubting absolutely everything and starting from scratch. In this way, Descartes starts at the bottom and works his way up into believing in the existence of worldly things. For Descartes the essence of the self is the ability to think, in order to actually have an identity, you must be able to think. In many of Descartes works he emphasizes this point. In order for one to have an identity, you would have to be aware of your thinking, reasoning, perceiving processes. If someone was consistently unconscious of all of the for-mentioned things than it is impossible to actually have a perception of the self. Cogito, ergo sum is one principles of Descartes theory, where he is basically saying that if someone can not think, or have a conscience mind then they do not exist as an individual. It was the foundation upon which knowledge could be built. Although we can doubt our senses, we cannot doubt our thinking as doubting is a thought. And as one cannot think without existing and as we think, it follows that we exist. Many people now reject Descartes’ point of view, but I completely agree. If we can’t not think how can we truly understand our surroundings and adapt as all humans are naturally born to do. Our ability to think is completely dependent on all of the things we perceive with our minds. Though sometimes our senses can be a deceiving it is completely up to our minds and our thinking ability to be the decipher, the clear thought in the sea of confusing and discourse.

Evil Inside

Answer each question in a complete sentence. Include textual evidence to support 6 answers. 1. Summarize the plot of the opera, â€Å"Madame Butterfly,† in your own words. Why would Moore include an Depigraph that quotes this opera? In Madame Butterfly the plot of the opera is that a birth mother loses her a child an adoptive mother who later on loses the baby. The whole time Suzuki, the servant, witnesses everything, but can do nothing to help. Moore quoted this opera in the epigraph because much in Madame Butterfly where Suzuki is very relied by Madame Butterfly to do basically everything for her.This is Just like how Sarah relies on Tassie to do everything for her, such as raising Emmie. 2. What do the three epigraphs fit together? Or contrast with each other? The first two epigraphs fit together because they both relate to the subject of servants and both are related to Madame Butterfly. The first two contrast to the third because if you're a servant then you don't see the world from the same point of view as someone that you're a servant for. 3. In addition to her sense of humor and intelligence, what are Tassie's strengths as a narrator? How does Owhat she describes as â€Å"an unseemly collection of Jostling former elves† (p. 3) affect the narrative and Ocontribute to the appeal of her tale? In addition to Tassie's sense of humor and intelligence, her other strengths as a narrator are that she describes everything in great detail such as â€Å"Though the interior of the casket was quilted white, like a beautiful suitcase, what I could see of my brother looked like garbage tossed inside† (Moore 298-299). When Tassie describes herself as â€Å"an unseemly collection of Jostling former selves†, it affects the narrative because she was playing a different role and had a different personality in Troy and Dellacrosse.When she is in Troy she is playing the role of a servant for the Thornwood-Brink family. While in Dellacrosse she's p laying the role of an average college girl, not ready to grow up. She's basically living a double life. 4. How does the initial meeting between Tassie and Sarah create a real, if hesitant, connection Obetween them? What aspects of their personalities come out in their conversation? Tassie and Sarah's first meeting created a hesitant connection between them because they didn't know each other at all and because of this, they did not understand each other's sense of humor and couldn't talk to each other ithout it being awkward.Sarah seemed to bring up everything they could ever talk about except for why they were adopting a child and any other aspects of it. Many aspects of their personalities came through in their conversation. One of the aspects was that they were both extremely talkative, but they both werent using they talkativeness in an appropriate manor for the situation. They couldn't stay on topic at all during their conversation. Another aspect that came out was that Sarah w as overall very proud of her wealth and what she has done.She didn't seem too modest or humble. This showed especially when Sarah randomly said in a conversation â€Å"‘l ou n'† (Moore 1) wltnout even Delng asked. DescrlDe tne aaoptlon process through Tassie's eyes. What aspects of her personality come out during Othis process? Tassie describes the adoption process as â€Å"†¦ Adoption seemed like both a cruel Joke and a lovely day-dream – a nice way of avoiding the blood and pain of giving birth, or, from a child's perspective, a realized fantasy of your parents not really being your parents. † (Moore 16).At the beginning of the novel Tassie didn't really know what to think about the adoption, but at the end Tassie really starts to ecome attached to Emmie and she realizes that it doesn't matter where Emmie came from. 6. Describe the evolution of Tassie's relationship with her brother, Robert, from the beginning of the novel Ountil the end. Tassie's r elationship with her brother Robert changed from the beginning to the end of the book because at the beginning they were really close, compared to other brother and sister relationships. They were both very unguided, while growing up, so Robert would always look up to Tassie.When Tassie went to Troy for college, Robert had a hard time getting through his last ear of high school because he had no one to look up to. When Tassie said â€Å"Robert, it had often seemed to me, failed to apply himself-musically or academically' (Moore 41). They basically grew more and more apart until Tassie received an email from him one day saying that he wants to Join the military. When she shows up in Dellacrosse for his graduation, she finds out that Robert is actually Joining the military. What she doesn't know is that this will be the last time she will ever see him. When Robert dies, Tassie felt more distant from him than ever. . What do you make of Edward? Does Edward's behavior at dinner and the â€Å"small conspiracy' he and 0 Tassie establish (pp. 112-114) offer a more sympathetic (or at least more understandable) view of him? I think Edward was really uninterested in being a father again. He didn't seem very into Emmie at all, adopting her or playing with her after they adopted her. I feel like he Just didn't seem too fond of having a biracial baby. He didn't even come to any of the adoption meetings until the middle of the one with Bonnie. It seemed like he was always missing in action in some sort of way, throughout the adoption process and at home.He seemed to be a big flirt towards Tassie. He would always look at her with a certain look and then all my thoughts were confirmed at the end of the book when he asked her to go to coffee with him. I dont think the â€Å"small conspiracy' offered a more sympathetic view of him. It was kind of weird because from the start of the book basically Tassie and Edward had a secret that they wouldn't tell Sarah. I think Tassie re alized the kind of person Edward was during this conspiracy and how he probably keeps a lot of secrets from Tassie, Sarah, and probably other people.This came up especially when he said â€Å"‘Let's not tell Sarah,' said Edward. ‘She's got a slightly obsessive side'† (Moore 113). Also I think Edward didn't want to get to know the child because I think it brought back bad memories from the first child. 8. Does A Gate at the Stairs accurately reflect the persistence of racism in America? What do the comments Dand encounters sprinkled throughout in the novel (80, 1 12, 151, 167, 229) show about the various forms Oracism takes in our society?A Gate at the Stairs accurately reflects the persistence of racism in America because of how all of the events in the book took place after 9/1 1 . Once 9/1 1 occurred, racism grew in America, yet it was still there before it occurred. When Tassie would take Emmie out for errands, she would be looked down upon for Instance wnen la ssle sala â€Å"l nls was all sala In looks, so tne trutn could not De uttered, but I saw again and again what it was simply to walk into a store for a doughnut and have a wordless racial experience (Moore 167-168).She especially got looks from white people such as when she said â€Å"To the white woman I was a whoring girl messing around with anyone (Moore 167). The comments and encounters in the ovel showed that there are many forms of racism in our society. The first way that I stated was more of a looking down upon way while â€Å"Instead, he glared right at little Mary-Emma and shouted, ‘Nigger! † (Moore 1 51) was more of a verbal way. 9.What is the importance of Tassie's description of Mary-Emma's affection for Reynaldo: â€Å"the colorblindness of Osmall children is a myth; she noticed difference and sameness, with almost equal interest; there was no O'Dilemma of Difference' as my alliteration- loving professors occasionally put it† (p. 169)? The importa nce of Tassie's description f Mary-Emma's affection for Reynaldo is that she didn't care about the color of Reynaldo's skin color or what he looked like and she only cared about his personality. 10.On page 296, Tassie offers a thoughtful explanation of the purpose of religion in people's lives. Are there Oother lessons about the meaning of religion or faith to be found in the novel? Yes, there are other lessons on religion on faith and an example would be when Bonnie Amber wanted to have Mary-Emma raised Catholic. This shows that many people are Judgmental about religion, and even though shes giving p her baby to another family of a possible other religion, they still want their baby to be Catholic no matter if the new parents arent Catholic. 1. Does the novel prepare you for Sarah's dreadful confession (232-242)? What particular incidents or conversations foreshadow the revelations? I think the novel does prepare us for Sarah's dreadful confession because you can tell that somethin g is missing throughout the book. You can tell that they're not telling Tassie something about their past because they never even told her why they were adopting and why they idn't Just have a child on her own.I think the whole hiding something makes Tassie feel on edge throughout the whole book which was probably why Tassie wasn't even that surprised and didn't really have a reaction when Sarah told her the story. I especially saw when Sarah said † † (Moore ) that she was hiding something. Also, Edward always being missing seemed kind of suspicious and it might have been cause of his guilt towards the first child, which we didn't know about then. 12. Was their decision to move and start anew the best solution under the circumstances? It epends on how you look at it.If you look at it like they were Just two parents that made a horrible parenting mistake and it was Just an accident and they deserve a second chance, then yes you could argue that that was probably their onl y chance of getting another chance. If you look at it Just from the fact that they killed their child, then no. They shouldn't have changed their names and moved on Just like that to try and forget their horrible past which was obviously bound to come back and bite them eventually. ** Thank you, Oprah, for many of these awesome questions

African American Identity Essay

It was a hot August day as sweat beat down on Thomas Jefferson Brown. He had been working in the field 2 hours before the hot sun had made its presence known. He looked back over the drying field, hoping that this crop would provide for his family better than last years crop had. Thomas watched his oldest son, Nathan, who worked down one row of the field while staring intently at the cotton plants as he picked the cotton. Nathan was a very inquisitive young man who had just yesterday asked his father what it was like being a slave for Mr. Walter Johnson. When his father had told him that in a lot of ways life was so much easier than now, Nathan had given him a look that allowed Thomas to know that his son could not understand. How could he understand? Nathan had not grown up a slave and seen that while it was extremely difficult, there was a feeling of stability to life then. Yes, Thomas Jefferson Brown had endured the beatings and yes he had watched as his Mother and eventually his sisters had been sexually assaulted, but how do you tell a young man such as Nathan that such was the way of life; it was to be expected, along with the comfort of knowing where your next meal was going to come from. Since Tomas had been freed after the great war, He s and his family had endured much more than that; having watched the lynching of two of his brothers and numerous friends. They were the lucky ones though, Thomas thought, while looking up at the fiery ball of heat known as the sun. They did not have to endure other hardships; their suffering was over. Yes it was hard for Nathan to know that life was indeed easier as a slave than a freed man, and maybe, just maybe, things would change during Nathan’s lifetime. Thomas Jefferson Brown wiped his brow once more and continued on picking the cotton? Even though the civil war ended in 1865, African Americans still faced an uphill battle to obtain rights that were afforded other Americans. This was in spite of the fact that 24 African American soldiers earned our Nations highest honor; the Congressional Medal of Honor, during the Civil War. Even with the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865 banning slavery and the 14th Amendment giving African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law, there were still so many other issues that would deprive African Americans of their lawful rights, such as having the first African American elected into the 41st Congress in 1869 continuing through 1901 with the 57th congress, which had no African Americans. This trend would continue until the election of 1929 before another African American was elected to congress. In 1873 the Supreme Court decision ruled that the 14th-Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws extended only to federal civil rights, thus removing southern states from the duty to protect the civil rights of African Americans, but it was just not their rights that were taken; but their lives as well. Between 1882 and the end of 1900, 1751 African Americans and 1105 white Americans were lynched for trying to further the African American cause (National). Given all of this discrimination and violence, it is hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to further the African American cause, but many stood ready to not only give of themselves, but perhaps even to give their life for this noble cause. African American writers were presented with these problems of equality and self esteem, and yet have truly transformed and continue to support a freed people, to obtain all of their rights. What follows is from three writers who each in his own way contributed mightily to the African American cause. They are W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Glen Loury. First, we have W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Dubois, who was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Dubois was one of the most influential black leaders of the first half of the 20th Century. Dubois shared in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, in 1909. He served as its director of research and editor of its magazine Crisis until 1934. He was the first African American to graduate from Harvard University, which he accomplished in 1896. At first, Dubois thought that African Americans could be freed through the Social Sciences, but quickly became disillusioned with this idea and began to believe that freedoms could only come about by agitation and protest(Chew). Dubois recognized that the African American’s of his day faced many problems, not the least of which were of the life threatening variety. After his disillusionment with helping African Americans through the social sciences, Dubois thought that African Americans needed to develop their own culture, which was definitely more American than African. Dubois enjoyed the unique African American culture, particularly that of the Negro spiritual songs. Dubois thought that African Americans should not give in to what white Americans expectations were of African Americans, but to continue to develop as a people. Dubois wrote that all people regardless of their culture, heritage, sex, should be treated as equals. Dubois also thought that African Americans should not worry about competing with the world as a group, but that they should join together to help each other. He eventually was forced to leave the United States because the government considered Dubois an agent of the Soviet Union. That is why he immigrated to Ghana, first obtaining Ghana citizenship, joined the communist party and eventually died there in 1963. Dubois was there for all future African Americans to follow his example. Dubois founding of the NAACP led to many victories for the rights of all Americans, most of which he never saw. Next we have Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who was born in Jamaica on 17 August 1887. Mr. Garvey is best remembered as a pivotal figure in the struggle for racial equality, not just in the United States but throughout the world as well. He founded the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and African Communities League in 1914 while still in Jamaica, and also championed the ‘back to Africa’ movement of the 1920s. Of the Africans who departed, Garvey thought, some had left independently while others were brutally removed for economic gain and exploitation. Garvey perceived that the main problems facing not only African Americans, but Africans as well was that they must first go back to Africa and free their African brothers before moving on to other parts of the world. Through the organizations that Garvey had formed (UNIA and ACL), he reasoned that until Africa is free and redeemed, not only in name but in reality, no one would be free, Black or White. Garvey reasoned that no matter what one’s race was we are all bound together by the Creator, which is Spirit. The Creator has a purpose for everyone and that purpose did not include being made a slave or subject to anyone for that matter. While Dubois and Garvey did not see eye to eye on the issues involving African Americans, Garvey did align himself closely with Dr Robert Love, and Dr Loves teachings that a race could progress no further than the dignity and esteem of their women and younger girls. Garvey and Love thought that the best way to plant the seeds of dignity and self-esteem would be through the woman and younger girl. Last, we have Glen Loury, who was born in 1948. Mr. Loury is a professor of economics at Boston University while also being a consultant to the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Loury has devoted a major portion of his career to the study of race and public policy. He is the author of ‘On the Need for Moral Leadership in the Black Community’, ‘Responsibility and Race’, ‘Impact of Affirmative Action on Equal Opportunity: A New Look’, and most recently ‘A New American Dilemma’. Mr. Loury saw many problems facing not only African American, but also all Americans, including the civil rights policies of 1960-1985, which seemed to have been based on equality of outcome rather than on equality of opportunity. Mr. Loury also thought that affirmative action policies created backlash. Loury maintained that all Americans should have equal rights with none being given favorable treatment over any other. Loury reasoned that it is hard to justify denying admission to an elite college to anyone who struggled to be able to pass the admissions exam; while admitting a member of a designated minority group, who did not work near as hard to earn his score and is only admitted based on his minority status. Such actions build resentment towards these policies and are only heightened when defenders of the policies claim that to question these policies is to engage in a racist act. Mr. Loury contends that giving preferential treatment with no sound explanation only led to more heightened tensions and is a very grievous error on the part of those who merely wish to be advocates of affirmative action. Loury did see, that there was a proper use of affirmative action, such as on police forces around the country that had a significant percentage of African American citizens and yet none on the police force. These Authors present their own conclusions and reasoning’s for what happened to the African Americans previous to, and of their own time. These writers used the influences of other African Americans and were also pioneers themselves. All of these writers believed in equality for everyone and thus did share at least one common goal. In Mr. Dubois we have a writer and scholar who originally thought that through a study of Social Sciences and doing what was right could African Americans receive their rights, and yet Dubois was able to refocus and remain firm in his opinions of helping each other and thus able to help not only the African American’s of his generation, but the ones to follow as well. Mr. Dubois saw all of the problems besetting African Americans and knew that they must unite, working together, to build a culture of their own, that would allow all African Americans to have a better life. Mr. Garvey on the other hand, perceived that until the rights and freedoms were restored in the entire African continent, Africans elsewhere would always be treated as second-class citizens. Garvey along with Dr Robert Love, thought that it was through the African women, especially the younger women, that Africans had a chance to make a difference in providing a better future. Mr. Loury saw problems that came about because of the Civil Rights movement, and that African Americans should not merely rely on being a minority to get ahead in life, but instead grab the opportunity that was before them so as not to create a political backlash. Each of these writers have stood their ground for what they believe in, and our world we live in today is better for it. Each of these writers, in their own time, helped frame not just African Americans lives but has truly transformed and continues to support a freed people, obtain all, of their rights. Works Cited Chew, Robin â€Å"W. E. B. Dubois Sociologist, Author & Civil Rights Leader 1868 ? 1963†³ February 26, 2005. 6 Feb 2006 Dr Coony, Mark â€Å"Race and Affirmative Action† 6 Feb 2006 Du Bois, W. E. B. â€Å"Of our Spiritual Strivings. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 131-145 Garvey, Marcus â€Å"Motive of the NAACP Exposed† Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 153-154 Loury, Glenn. â€Å"Free at Last? A Personal Perspective on Race ad Identity in America. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 173-180 â€Å"Marcus Garvey Biography† November 2000, K. W. Spence-Lewis Consultant Researcher Community Health and Planning Plant Science. â€Å"The Making of African American Identity VOL II 1863-1917† National Humanities Center 6 Feb 06 Bibliography Chew, Robin â€Å"W. E. B. Dubois Sociologist, Author & Civil Rights Leader 1868 ? 1963† February 26, 2005. 6 Feb 2006 Dr Coony, Mark â€Å"Race and Affirmative Action† 6 Feb 2006 Du Bois, W. E. B. â€Å"Of our Spiritual Strivings. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 131-145 Garvey, Marcus â€Å"Motive of the NAACP Exposed† Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 153-154 Loury, Glenn. â€Å"Free at Last? A Personal Perspective on Race ad Identity in America. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 173-180 â€Å"Marcus Garvey Biography† November 2000, K. W. Spence-Lewis Consultant Researcher Community Health and Planning Plant Science. â€Å"The Making of African American Identity VOL II 1863-1917† National Humanities Center 6 Feb 06.

A New Miss America: Nina Davuluri

Born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in Oklahoma and Michigan, it is hard to pick a more American story than that of Davuluri. The daughter of Indian doctors who immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s, Miss America embodies all ideas of the great American Dream. But an uneducated public is trying to crush that dream with their negativity. Misidentifying Davuluri as Muslim, Arab, Egyptian, and Indonesian, among other ethnicities, Twitter users did not Just stop at proclaiming hat, essentially, non-white participants of the pageant should be disqualified.They also linked her to terrorist organizations, such as A1 Qaeda. Some took it even further, outraged that she should be crowned in the same week as September 1 1 . Those who correctly acknowledged her Indian heritage made racist Jokes, playing on the stereotype that Indian-Americans often work in the grocery and food industries. It is ironic that the 24-year-old New Yorker is bullied about her race after her answer in t he question round of this weekend's pageant. Asked by Miss America udge Carla Hall about TV host Julie Chen's plastic surgery to appear â€Å"less Asian,† Davuluri responded, â€Å"I've always viewed Miss America as the girl next door.And the girl next door is evolving as the diversity in America evolves†¦ Definitely be confident in who you are. † One has to question if Davuluri is staying confident after her crowning considering the negative feedback from the public, although she is putting on a brave face. â€Å"I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity,† she told The Associated Press. â€Å"There are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America. Addressing her â€Å"non-American† haters, she said, â€Å"l always viewed myself as first and foremost American. † Davuluri was not the only contestant rebuffed for her race.Fellow Top 5 runners- up Miss California Crystal Lee and Miss Minnesota Rebecca Yeh go t backlash for their Asian roots. Exactly thirty years after Vanessa Williams was crowned as the first black Miss America, it was refreshing to see the racial diversity at this year's pageant, with 13 non-white contestants. It showed a forward-thinking Miss America, focused more on intelligence, drive, talent, and poise and an attempt to move the pageant into the 1st century. Yet the American people were not yet ready for the group of diverse, educated young women who are the face of the future America. According to Census Bureau reports, America will be much less white than it is today, with the percentage of blacks, Asians, and Hispanics increasing in our population. ) These women are independent and strong, they represent many ditterent backgrounds, they are accessible, they are role models, they are real. They do not fit the stereotypical 1950s pageant queen archetype. They are more than that. The Judges could see that, choosing to focus on inner beauty and accomplishments. Some of those who verbally fought Miss America's title were firmly set on who they believed should be queen bee: Miss Kansas Theresa Vail.The 22-year-old blonde beauty is only the second military woman to participate in the pageant. As a sergeant in the U. S. Army and the first Miss America contestant to bear tattoos, Vail was a fan favorite long before the cameras starting rolling at the Atlantic City show. A humorous and highly talented young woman, Vail made it to the Top 10 but was cut from the competition after the talent round. Online, she was well-like because she mbodied the â€Å"real† American woman: she can sing, she has tattoos, she likes to hunt, she is poised but goofy and self-deprecating.She represents middle America. But on closer inspection, she does not embody America as it is today. She embodies what an ideal America used to be: middle class, white, Christian, rural, the picture- perfect WASP woman. So for all the progress the pageant made to depict a well- ro unded, diverse America, the public still gravitated, predictably, to the â€Å"All American Beauty. † â€Å"l swear I'm not racist but this is America. † How has this come to define America, a ountry renown for its opportunities, for its freedoms, and for being the greatest melting pot in the world?How dare you deny Miss America, a talented and intelligent woman, her shot at the American dream? Why are we stuck in archaic mindsets of who deserves to be praised for their accomplishments and then rewarded with scholarship funds to pursue their passions? Who are we to Judge? To Twitter user @JAyres15 and to all of those ganging up on Nina Davuluri: you may swear you are not a racist, but I swear that you are. You hide behind prejudice and bigotry, you are close-minded, and you are the non-American.

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Strategic management - Essay Example On the supply side of the old thought, the production technology employed was unique to both within and outside markets. Another alternative thought detailed the firm as a unit that consolidates financial surplus from the different profit sources both inside and outside a given economy matrix. On the demand side, the old issue was also winning the name plate competition between substitutable end products. The emerging trend is about capturing expenditure on a function as it trickles down from the firms and households into substitutable and complementary products and services (Froud 2006, p.7). At this juncture, the sector matrix is a form of opportunistic and multifaceted thinking on the side of management spearheaded by financialization and starting from a totally different set of assumptions to the concept of supply chain industry (Froud 2006, p.100). Some of these assumptions detailed: that the household and corporate demand for the related products and services will be the starti ng point of the analysis; the boundary of the matrix is to be defined by the unique function, for example, motoring, healthcare and mobility; the boundary might have a tendency of shifting with time, as it responds to regulatory, social and economic changes (Froud 2006, p.101). This is based on the assumptions that the financial firm is persistently looking to increase its profits; that there is no restriction of competition only to group of firms producing similar products, although there is extension also to other firms that aspire to position in the matrix (Froud 2006, p.100). Analysis of motoring matrix The major illustration of sector matrix is a motoring matrix. It highlights the new used car relation as well as the overall importance of non manufacturing activities. The matrix allows us to give a new definition to the competition that is common in car companies. It clearly shows that this is not a contest the manufacturing systems. It also highlights that it is not a competit ion between social; settlements so that the Americans and Europeans must lose due to their high salaries and social costs. It then affirms that the car business is merely a business contest (Froud 2006, p.257). This is to see how these logic and assembly can be modified through the consolidation of non-manufacturing activities. Breaking from the value chain approach requires adoption of two wider assumptions in the process of constructing a matrix of framework. First, on the demand side, rather than limiting this to expenditure on the new product by an individual consumer, the definition should include all the household expenditure. Secondly, on the supply side, rather than limiting the definition of a business operating in an industry defined by the same technology and identical finished products, the definition should be widened in such a way that the definition of the business is by financial consolidation of a range of activities cutting across all industrial sectors (Froud 2006 , p.95). Extended examples illustrating sector matrix From the above analogy, another grid can be drawn for any complicated product. This centers on whether it requires supporting infrastructure or needs consumption coupled with ancillary services. A healthcare matrix is such an example. Here in the matrix, the primary and secondary healthcare can replace the new and

The invention of the telephone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The invention of the telephone - Essay Example The invention of the telephone can be attributed to two great minds: Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell. These two men were American inventors working independently on similar projects that culminated in the creation of the first telephone in the 1870s. They both designed the first instruments that could be used to transmit sound through electronic means (Casson, 2007). Gray and Graham Bell could not have been successful in their inventions had it not been for the effort of other inventors who had worked on projects that involved the transfer of sound from one device to another. In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered that it was possible to covert metallic vibrations to electrical impulses. This became the most important basic principle of the telephone, although nobody worked on it up until 1861. This was when Johann Reis designed the first instrument that could convert sound to electromagnetic waves and back to sound. However this device had many shortcomings including its inability to transmit several frequencies at the same time. In 1854, Antonio Meucci invented the telettrofono, a device which could be used to communicate through voice (Mercer, 2006, 76). One of the factors that contributed greatly to the invention of the telephone was the telegraph, which had been in existence for more than thirty years by the time the telephone was designed. Although it was a highly successful communication system, it had its own problems. For instance, its use of the Morse code greatly limited how one could send and receive messages. in 1870 the Englishman electrician C.F. Varley patented some audio telegraphs that were based on the invention of Reis. In 1874, Poul la Cour was bale to transmit tones through audio telegraphs and telegraph lines (Noll, 2001, 151. However, the instruments were not made to transmit actual human sound. Gray and Bell used Reis’s instrument to make their own versions of the telephone. Gray had designed a tone telegraph similar to la

Imposing Quality Models and Performance Management Tools to Help an Essay

Imposing Quality Models and Performance Management Tools to Help an Organization to Innovate - Essay Example Corporate of different sizes, whether engaged in giving any service or producing any specific type of product, should implement one of the given quality models like six sigma, total quality management and ISO 9000 etc. The standard implementation of quality models and performance management techniques can create damage on the company resource & time, since people usually show resilience in implementing them but quality management training and other awareness program can help a lot in changing wrong perceptions. The seven most basic quality management tools known to the world must be there in an organization, serving their intended purposes for improvement. The players in an organization must have some common quality values, they all must follow a structured scheme for doing any project, and all must focus on customer requirements and instincts. Customer requirements and company’s objectives must be clearly identified in an organization; the employees must work as a team with d ecision making based on consensus. There should be a healthy environment to use fish bone diagrams, control charts & Pareto analysis in order to analyze the root cause of any problem. There should be a common habit of using Gantt chart for managing projects, and the organization should be well aware of advance quality management techniques to improve via these where applicable. 2. Quality Models Contribution for Business Excellence There are varieties of quality & management models which can be used for achieving business excellence. A balanced scorecard is a way of determining of the company's routine in opposition to its goals. The elements of a balanced scorecard are enterprise procedures, monetary ins and outs, learning, development and customer happiness. Some merits of utilizing balanced scorecards are that all the statistics are in one place and the manager can observe how he/she is doing at a glimpse. In order to create a balanced scorecard, choose a center business practice . In combination with stakeholders, choose the objectives to follow. Manuscript the present routine and generate an intentional goal. On the scorecard, manuscript the plans executed to assist accomplishment of the goal. Every month, follow progress in the direction of the goal (Ramsey, 1990). Employees are a valuable quality improvement model. They have the acquaintance of the business and comprehend its internal mechanism. Employees are conscious of both in-house and outside quality matters practiced by consumers and co-workers. For procedures that originate unremitting issues, employees have typically made a "workaround" to avoid the trouble. To employ workers as a quality improvement tool, make a questionnaire about those procedures in their sections that generate the main impact. Empower the employees to resolve those troubles that can be simply solved. Give confidence to them to job jointly inside the department and transversely with other departments to apply solutions. Consum ers are essential in quality development. They can be utilized to implement the quality improvement program. Customers can be involved in quality improvement for an organization by conducting customer satisfaction surveys and asking consumers about their perception of the company's products and services, enquiring consumers how healthy the commodities carried out, and what they would get better