Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Impact Of Work Motivation On Organizational Commitment

Using the article â€Å"Impact of work motivation on organizational commitment† by authors Naveen and Ruby Gupta, as well as other resources, this paper researches the issue of motivation in the workplace. In addition to the topic of motivation, this paper explores some of the ways that motivation impacts other outcomes such as organizational commitment, job performance, attitudes, and employee effort. Lastly, recommendations are given in regards to how the manager in my particular situation could go about fixing the problem of low motivation that is facing his team, and ways that I could contribute to the solution as well. Step 1 Brief summary of the organization The company that I will be discussing in this paper today is a rather†¦show more content†¦Authors Kinicki and Fugate write that, â€Å"Motivation refers to the psychological processes â€Å"that underlie the direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior or thought† (Kinicki Fugate, 2016, p. 147) and another author defines â€Å"Motivation as a power that strengthens behavior, gives route to behavior, and triggers the tendency to continue. This explanation identifies that in order to attain assured targets; individuals must be satisfactorily energetic and be clear about their destinations. It is an internal drives to satisfy an unsatisfied need and the will to accomplish.† (Shukla, 2012, p. 2). For many of the representatives on the team all three of these elements were missing most of the time. Of course it is important to clarify that when I say there wasn’t any motivation within the team I don’t mean that no one was ever motivated at one point or another. I simply mean to say that the majority of the time the majority of representatives on the team lacked sufficient or functional motivation to do their jobs to the fullest of their ability or potential. A perfect example of the lack of motivation existent within the team was every Tuesday night, when the team would gather at the office for the span of two to three hours to make phone calls and try and generate sales leads for the coming week. During this time almost everybody on the team, often me included, would spend as much time talking and chattingShow MoreRelatedJob Satisfaction in Organizational Psychology1537 Words   |  7 PagesJob Satisfaction in Organizational Psychology Job satisfaction can be known to some people as an important element in their lives. If an individual is unhappy with their occupation it may affect other parts of their life. Job satisfaction can be seen in what one wants in a job as to what one has in their current job. Definition of Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction can be defined as an attitude or feeling one can have toward ones job. Job satisfaction is the extent to which people like (satisfaction)Read MoreVinay Chaitanya (2014) Contended That Most Workers Need1568 Words   |  7 PagesChaitanya (2014) contended that most workers need motivation to like their employments and perform ideally. A few workers are money spurred while others discover acknowledgment and rewards expressly motivating. Motivation levels inside the work environment directly affect worker efficiency. Laborers who are spurred and amped up for their occupations do their obligations to the best of their capacity and creation numbers increment. therefore, Employee motivation has dependably been a focal issue for leadersRead MoreOrganizational Socialization and Job Satisfaction1519 Words   |  7 PagesOrganizational Socialization and Job Satisfaction (intoduction) Job satisfaction Job satisfaction is the way a person feels about his or her job (Jex amp; Britt, 2008). Job satisfaction is also the attitude a person possesses towards his or her job. A person may feel like his or her job is demanding, interesting, rewarding, or outright stressful, and demeaning. A person who is happy with his or her job demonstrates a positive attitude about the job. Several factors play a key role in how a personRead MoreMotivation Performance Management Essay718 Words   |  3 PagesRunning Head: Motivation and Performance Management Motivation and Performance Management Strayer University Organizational Behavior – BUS322 November 13, 2013, 2013 Motivation and Performance Management Employees in the public and private sectors experience different working conditions and employment relationships. Therefore, their attitudes toward their job and organization, and relationships between them, are differentRead MoreTransformational Leadership As A Good Leadership1164 Words   |  5 PagesThe 3 sorts of worker commitment aren t invariably resulted into best performance. For instance, associate worker United Nations agency has high continuance commitment however low emotive commitment sTransformational leadership is taken into account to be the foremost effective leadership vogue. Avolio et al. (2004) declared that transformational leadership vogue positively enhance worker commitment. Limsili and Ogunlana (2008) declared that transformational leadership is a good leadership styleRead MoreEthical Ethics And Ethical Leadership1275 Words   |  6 Pagesexecutive officers’ ethical leadership, organizational ethical culture, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the results indicate a positive influence of ethical leadership on organizational ethical culture and CSR. Neves and Story (2015) sampled 224 workers across 18 organizations to determine the impact of ethical leadership on organizational commitment and determined ethical leadership positively affected worker commitment and decreased organizational deviance. Demirtas and Akdogan (2015)Read MoreDefinition Of Employee Job Satisfaction Essay1400 Words   |  6 PagesLiterature Review In management areas there are many definition of employee job satisfaction in different approaches; and there are many studies varied in the defining the term job satisfaction. The people who work in the organizations and people who study in this area both are interested to study of Job satisfaction. The terms Job Satisfaction refers â€Å"an individual’s general attitude toward one job’s† [Stephenson P. Robbins, 2005] Job satisfaction is psychological aspects that deals with individualRead MoreTransformational Leadership Style For Producing Positive Changes And Strengthening Organizations982 Words   |  4 Pagesorganizations. These leaders are passionate, energetic, and focused on helping every member of the group succeed. The four dimensions of transformational leadership garner trust, respect, and admiration from followers in the organization. Organizational commitment results from employees being satisfied and devoted to the vision of the company. Ano ther important trait of a transformational leader is emotional intelligence. It is necessary in relationship building and managing emotions in situationsRead MoreMotivation To Improve Performance Through Employee Involvement.1571 Words   |  7 Pages Motivation to Improve Performance through Employee Involvement Charlese Mason Leadership and Organizational Behavior; 520 Dr. Laura Jones Strayer University February 13, 2017 Content 1 Introduction (Motivation through Involvement) 2 The Important Road Ahead (Optimizing Value and Performance) A. What is Motivation B. What is Employee Involvement 3 Leading Characteristics (Management Styles/Organizational Behavior) A. Understanding the Sticks and Carrots Read MoreResearch Proposal on the Impact of Motivation on Employee Job Performance934 Words   |  4 PagesResearch Proposal on The Impact of Motivation on Employee Job Performance The Impact of Motivation on Employee Job Performance Introduction People within an organization are harmoniously working together to satisfy one certain goal, whether short or long-term goal. The organization, as the collection of people, are expected to be deliver the best assets that they have which are the people bearing the knowledge and skills suitable to their position in the organization. Through the desirable performances

Monday, December 16, 2019

School Annual Day Free Essays

This is a request to the entire guest, please get settle down in few minutes, we are about to start our function. We will start our function with national anthem. Kindly stand out at your places. We will write a custom essay sample on School Annual Day or any similar topic only for you Order Now On behalf of **** school family, I welcome you all with great pleasure, for this Annual Day Celebration. It’s an honour to call our Chief Guest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ We are the world. We are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day. I’m sure, all of you present here, must have heard this song performed by michael jackson. Children are the future of every nation across the world. It is today’s generation which can go ahead and make the world a better place. Children are our tomorrow – our future. Bright faces that you are going to see here today, while performing on stage, showing their talents and receiving prizes will be the citizens of tomorrow who are going to make a difference in our society. I hope you all are going to appreciate them, as well as to teachers also, who have putted lot of efforts. Thank you XXX Sir, Good afternoon to all of you, as we all know today we are gathered here to celebrate our Annual Day. Nowadays, only academic excellence is not enough to make any child as outstanding performer. They should be good at extar- curricular activities also. From this prospective our teachers have putted lot of efforts with the little brainees for all the performances. Wishing them luck we will start†¦.. How to cite School Annual Day, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Misleading Conduct and Economic Torts-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Misleading Conduct and Economic Torts. Answer: Issue According to the case study the issue has been arises whether Denise Denefew can able to claim compensation for the defamation against Will Smear and iNyouEndO. Another issue is Will Smear and iNyouEndO can be able to defense himself against the charges by Denis? Rules According to the case study it has been found that Deniseis suffered for the defamation by Will Smear through some misleading conducts through the social media. Now the issue has been arises that Denise want to sue Will Smear and iNyouEndO for publishing wrong information and hamper her personal life and celebrity images (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). When a person was damaged or attacked or disturbed by another person and that damage affect his or her reputation by some conduct ethics then it will be known as the defamation. According to the Defamation Act 2005 it has provides the provisions where the person who has been referred for the deformation can protect by taking legal actions against the person who is responsible for the attack or damages (Curtis 2016). The defamation only applied for the legislation when there is any statement which has been published through spoken or written on illustrated or uses any social media by one person to another. The plaintiff needs to identify the statement or material where he or she has been defeated directly or indirectly. There should be some proof where it is stated that the published statement is defamatory for the plaintiff (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). The section 25 of Defamation Act 2005 has provides the provisions where the plaintiff can defend himself or herself for the publication of defamatory matter and must prove the definite factors which should be substantially true (Curtis 2016). Therefore according to the case study she has claimed that defamation has been published some facts or statement which was confidential for her and affect her celebrity images. In a famous case Cornes v The Ten Group Pty Ltd Ors [2012] it was found that a famous known person Stewart Dew who was subject to defamation by a comedian Mick Molloy. However, the attempt to joke which has affected the celebrity images of him and hampers his career. He has made the complaint in the South Australian Supreme Court in 2011 where he subject to the defamation and Mick Molloy has been fined $85,000 including indemnity cost (Curtis 2016). Therefore according to the case study it can be stated that defamation has been proved because Denise was not having any treatment in the Ray of hope Treatment Centre for having alcohol and drugs but she has a mild obsessive compulsive disorder for that matter she went to the centre for having treatment (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). The Section 30 of the Defamation Act 2005 provide the privilege in the common law defense for apply the statutory difference and the section 27 of the Defamation Act 2005 defined the options where the Publications must privileged on the circumstances of the published matter through various documents or through any debates or through any given evidence or submitting the document regarding the defamation. In another case the Howden vs Truth Sportsman Ltd (1937) it has been found that the plaintiff believes but he was alleged with defamation. In this case the court has found that an importance of telling truth and public benefit the deformation should carry the truth of the matter. In another case of defamation which is JONES vs. SKELTON. (P.C.), it has been found that the plaintiff who is a shire councilor make the allegation against the defendant who is a publisher and proprietor of a newspaper has been published his personal detains in the news paper and the plaintiff think it will affect her personal life so he can sue the defendant for the defamation. Here the liable and slander has been conducted. Therefore according to the case study, Will Smear can use the defense factors in this case as because Denis sued him (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). Application Denise Denefew is famous for the Olympic gold medalist swimmer who recently works as a solicitor in Geelong specializing in family law. However he has also having treatment from the Ray of hope Treatment Centre for a mild obsessive compulsive disorder. Now he has found that, Will Smear who published a blog where he has mentioned about her health issues. Basically Will Smear uses a blog where he always criticize formal lawyers and there incompetence and unprofessionalism which is known as lawyers watch (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). However in his blog he has mentioned a link where the hyperlink provide a blog where it is written that Denise Denefew is having treatment at the Ray of hope treatment centre for two weeks for drug and alcohol addiction (Barendt, 2017). INyouEndO which is an online media organization who are famous for publishing gossip about celebrity titbits where they just mentioned about the Denise situation and hoping for the best result. Now it has been found that Denise actually having treatment from Ray of hope treatment centre for two weeks for the treatment of mild obsessive compulsive disorder (Pelletier, 2016). Therefore, the wrong information has affected his image and the viewers or his fan followers getting wrong message about her addiction in drug and alcohol which may affected his career also therefore he can make the allegation against both will and innuendo (Curtis 2016). According to the section 25 of defamation Act 2005 provides the defense for the plaintiff who is suffering for defamation where that person must prove the justification of the statement. Justification can be pleaded in defense of both facts and opinion where the statement must be substantially truth and accurate. In the case of London Computer Operators Training Ltd Ors v BBC Ors (1973) the defense has been imputed by the justification of the substantially truth of the deformation by them. When defamation is considering that there is seven facts which should be proved those are truth, fair comments, absolute privilege, qualified privilege, the defenses of the publication of public documents which should fair reports of public proceeding and triviality of the defense. Therefore the person who is seeking for the defense for defamation all of the facts should be proved (Pelletier, 2016). When someone is having treatment whether for the drug addiction or for any compulsive disorder no body should published the private and confidential matters in publicly. Here, Will Smear has published wrong information about Denise where she is having treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. Therefore it is the duty of the treatment centre also that they must not provide any information about the patient in publicly and for Denise it has been a disaster because she is known as a famous swimmer and the wrong comments may affect her career (Barendt 2017). She has made the allegation against both of them where Will can use the sec- 25 of Defamation Act 2005 and present every fact regarding the defamation by him and iNyouEndO. The sec-26 of define the defense in contextual truth where Denise can show all her treatment documents to the court that she was having treatment for the obsessive disorder for two weeks (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). The fair comment is the honest opinion in the defense procedure. The defense factors will protects commentary, opinion, analysis and editorials on matters of public interest. The sec- 31 defines the fair comment and Denis need to state the honest opinion rearguing the defamation. The absolute privileged in the defense procedure where the statement which has been made must protect the maker where the statement is been made in public, derogatory and untrue, and even though they are published maliciously (Pelletier, 2016). Qualified Privilege defines those statements where it is available in respect of ot her communications and made for the public interest. It only provide the defense if it in the public interest, to protect the interests of the person publishing the statement, to protect the interests of the person to whom it is published and where there is a community of interest between the publisher and the recipient (Barendt 2017). A public document is another factor in defamation case when the common law defense has the privilege on the protection. Therefore section- 28 of the Defamation Act 2005 define the national defense for the publication of public documents where defendant can stated for the defense by stating that the publication has been updated for a fair comment along with the summary or extract of a public documents (Kelley and Zansberg, 2014). The defense of Triviality defines in the Sec- 33 of the Defamation Act 2005 by providing the publication of defamatory matter by defendant according to the circumstances of publication (Pelletier, 2016). Conclusion Therefore according to the case study, it can be defined that the Will and iNyouEndO both of them can use the defense according to the defense section in this act. The plaintiff is suffered by the defamation where her reputation has been affected and false statement has also included in this case. She can ask for remedies from them whereas, both of the defendant can use the defense sections as per the Defamation Act 2005 References Barendt, E., 2017. Defamation Law. Barnett, K. and Harder, S., 2014. Remedies in Australian private law. Cambridge University Press. Butler, D.A. and Rodrick, S., 2015. Australian media law. Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited. Cornes v The Ten Group Pty Ltd Ors [2012] SASFC 99 Curtis, C., 2016. Internet defamation. Precedent (Sydney, NSW), (132), p.16. Howden v Truth Sportsman Ltd (1937) 58 CLR 416 JONES vs. SKELTON. (P.C.) Kelley, M.E. and Zansberg, S.D., 2014. 140 characters of defamation: The developing law of social media libel. Journal of Internet Law, 18(1). Kenyon, A., 2013. Defamation: Comparative law and practice. CRC Press. London Computer Operators Training Ltd Ors v BBC Ors (1973) 2 All ER 170 MacCallum, W., 2015. Defamation actions and social media: Where are the risks?. Governance Directions, 67(11), p.677. Pelletier, N., 2016. The Emoji that Cost $20,000: Triggering Liability for Defamation on Social Media. Wash. UJL Pol'y, 52, p.227

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Visual Impairment Essays - Ophthalmology, Visual System, RTT

Visual Impairment Vision Impairments People catergorized as visually impaired range from individuals with mild visual losses to those with low vision to those who are totally blind (Winzer,370). Vision impairments does not necessarily mean a total loss of sight. Some visually impaired person can detect light, others can see shapes and forms, and others can see nothing at all. Generally, many different problems that interfere the retina to form image or the transmission of retinal images to the brain can cause blindness or vision impairment. It can be heredity or caused by disease or damage after birth. In some cases a specific reason cannot be determined. There are four major types of vision impairments. The first type are refractive errors. It is cause by the change of shape or size of the eyeball, conera or the lens. Myopia (short-sighted) and hyperopia (long-sighted) are two common examples. People with myopia or hyperopia cannot focus image accurately on the retina. Another example is astigmatism, it is caused by the abnormal curve shape of the cornera or the lens. And it can cause distorted or blurred vision. The second type are ocular motor problems. It is caused by irregular movement of the ocular muscles that control the movement of the eyeballs. It leads to the inability for the eyes to control focusing objects. Strasbismus is an example. This condition effects about 2 percent (2 out of 100) of all young children. Strabismus is a lack of coordinated muscle movement or focusing ability between the eyes, causing the eyes to point in different directions. One or both eyes may turn inward (crossed eyes) or outward (walleye). The eyes, the brain area that controls vision, and the muscles attached to the eyeball are involved. It result in the child that looks in certain directions, double vision (sometimes), vision in one eye only, with loss of depth perception. Strabismus can affect both sexes, all ages, but it usually begins during early childhood, frequently before age 5. If not corrected through therapy or surgery, crossed eyes can result in permanent loss of vision. The third type are eye diseases, it is caused by damage or disease before or after birth to one or more structure of the eye (Winzer, 374). One off the most common causes of blindness is cataracts. Cataracts are a clouding of the lens of the eye that keeps light from reaching retina. Resulting in badly blurred vision, double vision, sensitivity to bright lights and change in color vision. One eye is often more seriously affected than the other. It may be cause by chemical change in the lens. The exact cause is still unknown, but there are many factors that can accelerate cataract formation.These include an injury, either from a blow to the head or direct eye injury, other diseases exposure to radiation of any kind (x-rays, microwaves, or infrared rays) long-term use of a corticosteroid drug. A child may be born with cataracts or develop them at an early age. These cataracts, called congenital cataracts, may be caused by a genetic disorder such as down syndrome or from a condition the mother had during pregnancy such as German measles. The fourth type are other defects such as color blindness, photophobia or albinism. Color blindness is a inherited vision disorder which is often found in male rather than in female. Persons who have color blindness do not have one of the three cone cells which are responsible for receiving either blue, green and red. Therefore, people with color blindness are likely to confuse with red and green. But the condition is not serious enough to connect with visual impairments. Albinism is a hereditary disease. It must be pass thorugh from both parents, each of whom either has albinism or is a carrier of that trait. Albinism affects the production of melanin(Winzer,379). A lack of melanin in the retina, iris and choroid will cause the pupil to become in deep red color, the iris will become in grey, light blue or pink. A person with albinism will also suffer from photophobia, which is the extreme sensitivity to light. Bright light may decreases the person's visual acuity and may blinds the persons with albinism.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

This essay is on Toni Morrisons Beloved It is an essay on the literary devices used in the novel.

This essay is on Toni Morrisons Beloved It is an essay on the literary devices used in the novel. Toni Morrison's unique and distinctive style helps control how the reader will respond to the characters and events within the novel. Morrison uses several different devices to control how the reader reacts to everything that is happening. Some examples of these devices are syntax (as tied with the stream of consciousness method of narration), point of view, and the use of flashback technique.The first device that Morrison uses within the novel is syntax with stream of consciousness narration. In the second part of the book, one of the chapters contains no punctuation. This method of writing is better known as stream of consciousness. In this chapter Sethe is the narrator and the reader is reading her thoughts. Personally, I found this method very effective because I could follow Sethe's thought patterns and understand what she was thinking. Another example of effective syntax is in the third part of the book, the last chapter, "This (It) is (was) not a story to pass on."Toni Morriso n, on jacket of her Pulitzer Prize win...(pg 274-5) This particular quote was separated into its own paragraph which brought out the importance of this statement. It showed how Morrison wanted to stress that the people who came into contact with Beloved could not remember her, and even the people who loved her eventually forgot her too. "They forgot her like a bad dream... those that saw her on the porch deliberately forgot her... It took longer for those who had ... fallen in love with her... in the end, they forgot her too." (pg 274) Morrison effectively shows the reader with that single sentence in its own paragraph that Beloved seemed almost like a bad dream, and nobody could or wanted to remember anything about her.The next device used within the novel is point of view. Morrison effectively changes...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns in Spanish

Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns in Spanish I hit myself. Bill hurt himself. They saw themselves. Did you find yourself? What do the above sentences have in common? Obviously, they all have pronouns that end in -self or -selves. Less obviously, but as a corollary, they all use pronouns that stand for the subject of the sentence. In other words, the subjects and objects of the verbs in the above sentences refer to the same person. Another way of putting this might be that the subject of each sentence is engaging in some action that affects the same person or persons. If you can comprehend that, you understand the basic concept behind the grammar of reflexive pronouns and verbs in Spanish. Reflexive pronouns in Spanish are closely related to direct and indirect-object pronouns, following the same rules of word order and using most of the same pronouns. The Reflexive Pronouns of Spanish Here are the reflexive pronouns in Spanish with a simple example of each and a translation: First-person singular: me - myself - Me oà ­. I heard myself.Second-person singular familiar: te - yourself - Te oiste. You heard yourself.Second-person singular formal, third-person singular: se - yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself - Ella se oyà ³. She heard herself. Èl se oyà ³. He heard himself.  ¿Se oye usted? Do you hear yourself?First-person plural: nos - ourselves - Nos oà ­mos. We heard ourselves.Second-person plural familiar: os - yourselves - Os oà ­steis. You heard yourselves.Second-person plural formal, third-person plural: se - yourselves, themselves - Se oyeron. They heard themselves. Verbs Used Primarily or Only in the Reflexive One major difference between Spanish and English in this matter is that in Spanish many verbs exist only or primarily in the reflexive form. There is only one common English verb that shares this characteristic: to perjure oneself. Examples of verbs that exist primarily or frequently in the reflexive form are acostarse (to go to bed), divertirse (to have a good time), ducharse (to take a shower), enamorarse (to fall in love), enojarse (to get angry), levantarse (to get up), sentarse (to sit down), sentirse (to feel), and vestirse (to get dressed). It is also common to use the reflexive form when performing some action on a part of the body. Examples include secarse el cabello (to dry ones hair) and lavarse las manos (to wash ones hands). Note that the infinitive form of reflexive verbs is usually stated by placing -se at the end of the infinitive. Translating Reflexive Verbs Note that for many of these verbs it is not necessary to translate the reflexive pronoun into English. Se acostà ³ a las nueve, she went to bed at 9. Me siento triste, I feel sad. But with many verbs, especially those that are less frequently used in the reflexive, the pronoun must be translated.  ¿Te ves en el espejo? Do you see yourself in the mirror? And in still other cases, you can translate with or without translating the pronoun. Se vistià ³ en su coche, he got dressed in his car, or he dressed himself in his car. Sometimes, the reflexive can be translated using each other when in the plural form. Nos miramos, we looked at each other. Se escucharon, they listened to each other (or to themselves, depending on the context). Romeo y Julieta se amaron, Romeo and Juliet loved each other. As usual, context should be a key guide when translating to English. In some cases, putting a verb in the reflexive form can make it more intense, as we do sometimes in English by adding a particle. For example, ir means to go, but irse is usually translated to go away. Similarly, comer means to eat, but comerse might be translated as to eat up, as in se comià ³ cinco tacos, he ate up five tacos. Often in Spanish the reflexive form is used where in English we would use a passive form of a verb. Se cerrà ³ la puerta. The door was closed (a literal translation would be the door closed itself). Se perdieron los boletos, the tickets got lost. Translating "-self" to Spanish Sometimes in English we use the reflexive pronouns as a means of emphasizing the subject rather than as a true reflexive, as in the sentence, I myself performed the task or I performed the task myself. In such cases, the reflexive form should not be used in the Spanish translation. The first sentence would typically be translated using mismo: Yo mismo hice la tarea. The second sentence also could be translated by paraphrasing its meaning: Hice la tarea sin ayuda (literally, I did the task without help). Key Takeaways In reflexive sentences, the direct object pronoun of a verb represents the same person or thing as the subject.Spanish reflexive pronouns are used much like English -self words such as myself or ourselves when those words are used reflexively.Many Spanish verbs are used only or mostly in the reflexive form.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Investment Finance-II Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Investment Finance-II - Assignment Example Answer – 1: HPR, AAR and GAR The company selected for Part - A is AMP Ltd. It is a financial services company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. a) The monthly HPR (Holding Period Returns) can be calculated using the following formula: HPR = (end period value – initial value)/initial value The data for HPR is the adjusted close price of AMP Ltd starting from July 2013 to June 2015. The results of the calculation are summarized graphically below: Variance, standard deviation, maximum and minimum is calculated using the following formulas, Standard deviation = ; in excel, SD = stdev (array of numbers) Variance = (SD)2 Maximum = max (array of numbers) Minimum = min (array of numbers) The results of calculation is summarized and shown below:- The arithmetic average and geometric average of returns are calculated in excel using the functions AVERAGE (array of numbers) and GEOMEAN(array of numbers) and the results are shown below: d) Based on the given problem the number of shares bought are 11,055 as shown below The number of shares is calculated by diving available funds with adjusted close price Based on the given assumptions the total gain will be $ 23,598 as shown below

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Globalization human rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Globalization human rights - Essay Example (Speed, 2007) In a sense, through this movement and its reflection in international solidarity, the Mayan indigenous voice was heard as a critique to modern neo-liberalism for the first time, and in a way that was constructive to the development of economic and social policy internationally. (Speed, 2007) This occurred locally through organizations that were internationalized on the basis of humanitarianism and the human rights frameworks as advocated by the UN. These HR frameworks included a historical dialog between the recognition of the rights of developing nations economically and could also be addressed in the critique by pointing out the inherent hypocrisy and double standards in application by hegemonic powers. Awareness of this could also lead to change in local politics internationally and reform of policy in institutions as a larger number of individuals and groups understood the issues of the indigenous peoples themselves.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Factors and contributors Essay Example for Free

Factors and contributors Essay People usually love to go by the shorelines, as these have been identified as the home of a variety of fish and other aquatic creatures (Department of Fisheries and Oceans-Canada, 2008). Many of the fish breed their young, and seek shelter and protection from predators (DFO, 2008). Hence the efforts of shoreline stabilization must be conducted to counter the effects of shoreline erosion (DFO, 2008). Shoreline erosion have varied causes, from natural causes such as wind driven wave action, a dearth in vegetation, ice and water (Marine Information Portal). Man- made factors contributing to shoreline erosion would include n of forests and vegetation and wash, or waves generated from passing boats (Portal). Most shorelines that have been affected by erosion usually undergo shoreline erosion will undergo some stabilization procedures to prevent it from being a threat to development on the waterfront (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration, 2007). Among the measures that are placed on a permanent basis are divided into several types. â€Å"Soft† or â€Å"non-structural† procedures bank on planting of plants and the use of sand fills, while â€Å"hybrid† techniques are deemed as effective stabilization modes to the conventional hard structures such as bulk heads or â€Å"rip rap† structures (NOAA, 2007). Shoreline erosion does not only affect marine life, destroying their natural habitat, turbidity of the water , and algae growth, shoreline erosion contributes to land loss and lowering of property values (Marine Info). But many factors go into determing the impact of shoreline erosion on the waterway (Marine Info). Factors such as the size of the watercraft, how far it is from the shoreline, and the speed when it passed the waterway, influence the degree of erosion on the particular waterway (Marine Info). Urban development has also taken its toll on the shoreline (Department of Boating and Waterways, 2002). In California, the erosion being experienced in North County in San Diego has been attributed to the rapid development pace of urbanization of the watershed area and the competing interests in society (Terra Costa Consulting Group, 2005). The effects of human interference in the natural ecosystem began with the damming the rivers for flood prevention, and creating recreational water facilities (DBW, 2002). These construction activities reduced the sand that would normally reach the coast, and that, along side with obstruction of sand development because of harbor construction activities, contribute to shoreline erosion (DBW, 2002). References Department of Boating and Waterways. (2002).California beach setting. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://www. dbw. ca. gov/PDF/Reports/BeachReport/Ch2_Setting. pdf. Department of Fisheries and Oceans-Canada. (2008). Fish habitat shoreline stabilization. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://www. dfo-mpo. gc. ca/regions/CENTRAL/pub/fact-fait-on/c4_e. htm Marine Information Portal. (n. d. ). Shoreline erosion caused by boat wake. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://www. marinfo. gc. ca/Doc/Erosion/Erosion_des_berges_En. pdf. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2007). Alternative shoreline stabilization methods. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://coastalmanagement. noaa. gov/initiatives/shoreline_stabilization. html Terra Costa Consulting Group. (2005). Appendix d: sediment/ erosion analysis. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://www. ci. solana-beach. ca. us/uploads/Appendix%20D%20Sediment-Erosion %20Analysis. pdf.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Working Mothers and the Welfare State Essay -- Politics of Work-Family

"How can we explain the differences in work-family policies in the different welfare states?† Kimberly Morgan's research approach is policy centred and focuses in particular on gendered polices. In this book, with a historical comparative approach, she tries to explain how â€Å"both religious practice and religious conflict are key in the formation of the welfare state†. She emphasizes the relationship between â€Å"religion as a political force, gender and familial ideologies, the constellation of political parties and the nature of partisan competition, women's movements, policy legacies, and social structural changes† . As stressed out in the first pages: â€Å"this book examines and explain patterns of work-family policies in Sweden, France, the Netherlands and the United States, giving particular attention to child care policy but also looking at parental leave and flexible work-time arrangements. The analysis focuses on how religion has influenced on this dimension of the welfare state.† As Morgan underlines, gender differences in social policies are explained by women’s movements, by the pressures generated by social structural changes on the welfare state and by ideologies. Given that organized religion is an important source of ideology, we can then say that religion has had a fundamental role in the shaping of the relationship between state, family and gender. In fact organized religions â€Å"have sought to maintain their position as the dominant arbiters of community values and morality with giving a great attention over child and family affairs.† An example of religious influence on public welfare policies is the maintenance of the status quo perpetuated by the Christian democracy’s party. The temporal dimension of the welfa... ...by Kimberly J. Morgan, Stanford University Press, 2006 †¢ Working Mothers and the Welfare State by Kimberly J. Morgan Review by: Jason Beckfield Social Forces, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Dec., 2007), pp. 867-869 Published by: Oxford University Press †¢ Miriam Cohen. (2009) Working Mothers and the Welfare State: Religion and the Politics of Work-Family Policies in Western Europe and the United States, by Kimberly J. Morgan, Labor History, 50:3, 382-383, DOI: 10.1080/00236560903021649 †¢ Ingela K. Naumann. Working Mothers and the Welfare State: Religion and the Politics of Work-Family Policies in Western Europe and the United States, by Kimberly J. Morgan, Journal of European Social Policy DOI: 10.1177/09589287070170030602 2007 17: 286 †¢ Lewis, Jane. Gender and the development of welfare regimes Journal of European Social Policy , 1992

Monday, November 11, 2019

Police Corruption Essay

Every police agency throughout the United States has its own patrol division. The patrol division is often over looked and underrated. In almost every agency, this division is the face of the Police Department. Despite the important role that patrol officer’s play, the role often may be viewed as a low-status area of policing. It is usually the largest section of an agency; however, it receives the most agency funds. The patrol division responds to calls, provides services to the community, and helps to prevent crime. It is a physically and mentally demanding job, in which involves all facets of the policing role (Grant and Terry, 2011). Due to its demanding attention, Patrol Officers respond to a numerous of variety calls. These calls include homicides, rapes, and domestic disputes. An officer may at times be plagued with quick judgment calls, which may affect him in the long run. Community patrolling addresses the community concerns at the grassroots patrol level. As departments grow, they set realistic goals and continue to develop community partnerships. Unfortunately, one will often see patrol officers make bad judgment calls, in which can lead to misconduct issues. Criminal acts under color of law include acts within the bounds or limits of lawful authority. This includes acts beyond the bounds of lawful authority. There has been an increase in police corruption issues, misconduct, and brutality incidents within the last year. Everything from the range of using technology for bad selection in newly hired officers has led to this problem. Off-duty conduct may also be covered under color of law only if the perpetrator asserted official status in some manner. Due to these types of issues, one will sometimes hear the Police Department needs to be policed. A number of researchers have examined the use of force. For example, there are debates for the usefulness of force continuums among law enforcement agencies. As a police officer, I have encountered calls, in which witnesses have question my actions and even accused me of police brutality. I once responded to a call of a possible burglary in progress. Upon my arrival, I located a Hispanic male, in his late twenties, attempting to remove a window screen. When he observed my uniform and noticed who I was, he ran away from me while holding a sharp flat headed screw driver in his right hand. As he climbed over a brick wall, separating the building, I observed he tossed the screw driver and he appeared to reach for a second unknown object. As I climbed over the wall myself, I reached for my taser gun and deployed it. I struck him along the side of his torso and he went down like rain drops on cement. As I subdued him and placed handcuffs on him, I could hear people gathering around saying, â€Å"that Officer did not need to taser him, and this is police brutality. † I knew that because of the wall blocking the civilians view, most of the witnesses had not seen what had occurred on the other side of the wall. Using quick judgment and proper use of force will always be questioned by the community. Unfortunately, not all patrol officers practice good judgment as you may have heard about the Fullerton Police Department relating to the incident with Kelly Thomas. Kelly Thomas, born on April 5, 1974 and died on July 10, 2011, was a homeless man diagnosed with schizophrenia. He lived on the streets of Fullerton, California where Thomas died five days after an altercation with members of the Fullerton Police Department on July 5, 2011. After paramedics treated the officers first for their minor injuries, Thomas was taken to St. Jude Medical Center before being transferred to the UC Irvine Medical Center, where he was comatose on arrival and not expected to recover. Medical records show that bones in his face were broken and he had choked on his own blood (Sewell and Winton, 2011). A judge declined to dismiss the charges against the officers in January 2013, finding that â€Å"a reasonable person could infer that the use of force was excessive and unreasonable. An appeals court judge also denied a request to overturn the lower court’s decision. Manuel Ramos, one of the Fullerton Police Officers, was charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. Corporal Jay Cicinelli and Officer Joseph Wolfe were also each charged with one count of felony involuntary manslaughter and one count of excessive force. I was not at the incident; therefore, I cannot judge my colleagues in the actions that were taken on their behalf. However, it is difficult for me to think that any human being deserved this type of force used against him. When dealing with a combative subject I use the only the amount of force needed to make the subject comply. I do not feel that when dealing with a mentally ill transient, the use of strikes to the head and face are needed. As much as I hate to see my colleagues in this position, I feel that this is the closest we will get to justice. Thomas will not return from the dead and someone needs to be punished for the mistakes made that day. Another case I would like to discuss is the Huntington Beach Police Detective, who was accused of corruption. A veteran Huntington Beach police officer was once assigned to a federal anti-drug task force. He was arrested on charges that he conspired with others to distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana. Sergeant Alvaro Murillo, who was also known as â€Å"The Godfather† by his cohorts, was accused of using his job as a police officer to recruit informants in the drug world. After this, he would then use them to help him steal narcotics from dealers (Glover, 2008). Unfortunately, we are going to have officers who abuse their authority. It kind of makes me embarrassed to be associated with this type of behavior. As a rookie officer, I was employed by the City of Huntington Beach. I patrolled the streets of Huntington Beach with my Field Training Officer (FTO) where I remembered one incident when he drove me to a house, which had been raided on a drug related warrant search. I observed evidence, which included United States currency, guns, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and other drug relating to paraphernalia lying on the living room floor. It is disgusting to see a man fall to temptation, even worse, to see a fellow officer taint our profession by performing such a disgusting act. However, this profession, just like all other professions, is conducted by human beings and human beings make mistakes. A key factor in being a good police officer is using good discretion and having integrity. Sergeant Murillo was sentenced to prison to do time for his action. I agree with this punishment, no matter how bad temptation is. As Police Officers, we are held to a higher expectation. If one is tempted by the minor temptations in life and needs to corrupt one’s police department to reach financial gain, then the individual has no business in this profession. As a rookie officer, I remember an old Sergeant briefing the patrol division at 0500 hours. The last words of his briefing were, â€Å"be safe and do the lords work. † By being associated with police corruption, misconduct, and excessive force, one is working with the evil forces of nature in which where one swore to protect against the negative influences. By staying away from those immature acts, it has made me a better officer and an overall better human being.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Overpopulation: Earth’s Destruction

Amanda Broxton Instructor Sabel Composition II Cause and Effect Essay May 28th, 2009 Overpopulation: Earth’s Destruction Can you picture it? On one side of the world, in the middle of nowhere, a potentially beautiful child is just skin and bones; on the other side, another animal that can not be replaced has gone extinct. Somewhere there is a woman washing her few belongings in a dirty, polluted river. These and many other events like them are taking place all over the world. The cause? Over popularization, on which has been the root of many problems and is caused by many others, but do not worry there might be some hope in fixing it. Due to over popularization, one of Earth’s potential destruction is caused by over-production of the land. From more and more animals going extinct that can not be replaced because there isn’t room for them to live on. Also because of this, there is not enough food and clean water for humans and animals alike. Plus, humans are not conserving resources as they should and are taking prime land to pile more and more people on. Environmentalists have long been concerned about the resources threatened by rapidly growing human populations, focusing on phenomenon such as deforestation, desertification, air pollution and global warming. But the worst-case scenario for people experiencing overpopulation, according to Lawrence Smith, president of the Population Institute, is a lack of fresh, clean water. â€Å"If the water goes, t he species goes,† he said. ’(Hoevel, 2008, para. 9). Equally important is the fact that this is all caused by us Homo sapiens looking for a better lifestyle. We now have new medicines and technologies to help us live longer by healing every little thing that might be wrong with us. Some of those things were introduced by Mother Nature to kill us off to keep everything equal. We also have higher birth rates produced by more people having healthier births and multiple births. Furthermore, these children are living through earlier childhood killing diseases with the aforementioned medicines and technologies. ‘Until recently, birth rates and death rates were about the same, keeping the population stable. People had many children, but a large number of them died before age five. During the Industrial Revolution, a period of history in Europe and North America where there were great advances in science and technology, the success in reducing death rates was attributable to several factors: (1) in-creases in food production and distribution, (2) improvement in public health (water and sanitation), and (3) medical technology (vaccines and antibiotics), along with gains in education and standards of living within many developing nations. Without these attributes present in many children's lives, they could not have survived common diseases like measles or the flu. People were able to fight and cure deadly germs that once killed them. ’(Kinder, 2009, para. 10). Not to worry though, there are some ways that this inequality maybe reversed. They may not be what many people would approve of, but at least they are ideas of what we could do. That this one for instance, at the end of each month we would tally all the births. Then picking at random from those people that are on death-row or even in prison or jail for life for longer then ten years, would have the honor of helping with the equalization of the birth-to-death ratio. If nothing else, after a few years, this should deter hard crime. Each country and/or state would be responsible for The Equalization Program. There is also the idea of reinstating the two birth policy (China had this policy at one time) with a few ‘minor’ adjustments. One being that right after the second birth there would be a mandatory sterilization of the mother and father, and any other men over fifty years of age would also have to be sterilization. Those that wanted another child would then have to adopt those children that unfortunately don’t have a home. In conclusion, sure over popularization has many causes and it may cause many problems, but at least there are some solutions that can be looked at. I did not say that many people would like them but they’re there. In the end, I hope that things can be equaled out so that we do not have to put such a strain on our one and only earth. If we destroy it, there is not another one that we can start over on. Work cited

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Where did Mummy Come From Professor Ramos Blog

Where did Mummy Come From Sean Sulikowski English 102 8 August 2018 Where Did Mummy Come From?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the early nineteenth century, people from around the world have been fascinated with the monster known as the â€Å"mummy†. Mummies are depicted as undead creatures wrapped in bandages who rise up from their eternal slumber from inside their sarcophagi to either exact their revenge or take what they will. Real mummies, however, are nothing more than preserved remains with the usual connotation of being from ancient Egypt. The mummification process in ancient Egypt was long, but it kept the dead bodies preserved for the afterlife. In more recent history, this practice seems somewhat taboo and leads our imaginations wild as seen by the plethora of mummies in nineteenth century literature from authors such as Edgar Allen Poe and Jane Loudon Webb (MacFarlane 8). Because of this rise in demand for ghost stories as well as the growing fad for Egyptian style in the Victorian era, mummies were made out to be the new monsters of the ti me. In ancient Egypt, customs came about to preserve dead bodies for the person’s journey through the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed â€Å"the  body was home to a persons Ka (spirit), which was needed in the afterlife,† (A Mummy’s Tale). Because of this, the tradition of preserving body was made and not just for the pharaohs, but almost everybody. The constantly dry weather and the availability of salts made preservation of bodies possible for the Egyptians. These practices would let the bodies last almost forever if left undisturbed so that they could find their way to the modern day where archaeologists would one day uncover them and their strange customs. When the Victorian era came around and archaeologists finally unveiled the hidden mummies, Europeans would take these mummies and their fashion to incorporate them into their own society. Bradley Dean, an author and Professor with two Alumni Association Awards, asked â€Å"why mummy fiction should make its potentially monstrous women so marriageable, why the unfulfilled promise of union should so persistently drive the Victorian fantasies of Egypt?† (MacFarlane 6). When Deane asks this question, he points out the erotic fantasies that those in the Victorian era once had. The mummies were not creatures of horror at first, but rather depictions of wonderful fantasy comparable to the manliness of a modern day lumberjack or the sexiness of a modern day model. These fantasies of long dead pharaohs drove generations of people to love corpses. The ever growing desire for more mummies to unwrap and more tombs to be raided kept every person’s interest and fascination for years t o come. It wasn’t until 1827 when Jane Loudon Webb published her book, The Mummy, that the mummy became the center of a horror genre. Soon after that, the mummy became a figure of horror for the whole world despite its infatuation with the preserved corpses continuing. The â€Å"mummy’s curse† even managed to combine both the erotic fantasy of ancient Egyptian mummies with the newer idea of the vengeful, reanimated mummy in Louisa May Alcott’s short story, Lost in a Pyramid: The Mummys Curse, published in 1869 (A Mummy’s Tale). This story depicts a woman and her fiancà © who travel to Egypt only to have her fiancà © cursed into becoming a mummy. The talk of Egyptian mummies’ curses was nothing more than fantasy amongst mummy lovers all around Europe and was never taken seriously. It was only brought up from fantasy to superstition in the early twentieth century. In 1923, the financer for the latest mummy expedition in the Valley of the Kings, George Herbert, also known as Lord Carnarvon, died just a few weeks after King Tutankhamun’s tomb had been opened. Herbert had developed erysipelas, a skin disease usually caused by bacteria, only to have it cause septicemia, an occurrence of bacteria entering the bloodstream, and pneumonia (Nelson). This coincidence of Herbert dying shortly after King Tutankhamun’s tomb had been unveiled to the world had made international news. Everybody believed these two incidents were linked and accused a â€Å"mummy’s curse† as the culprit. It was at this point that the mummy’s curse became a seemingly real threat. This fear was only broadened when a total of six people out of the twenty four who were present when the tomb was open died by 1934, twelve years since the original discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in November of 1922 (Nelson). The erotic fantasies of mummies soo n stopped along with the arrival of the â€Å"real† mummy’s curse and the abuse of these corpses stopped leaving the preserved body of King Tutankhamun, or King Tut as he is known nowadays, as one of the few mummies remaining. With this new viewpoint on mummies and the original ghost stories from the nineteenth century, we began to see mummies as monsters. Although we had rationalized the mummy’s curse to be fungus or bacteria and later found malic acid on King Tut’s tomb walls which suggested that Aspergillus fungus or Arthrobacter or Pseudomonas bacteria could have been present in the tomb (Vasanthakumar 60), people still found ways to point their finger directly at the mummy itself and blame it on a curse. Much like a modern day serial killer, the mummy became a monster the moment it killed. This supports Cohen’s fifth monster thesis, which states the monster polices the borders of the possible (Cohen 12). He states, â€Å"the monster stands as a warning against exploration of its uncertain demesnes,† (Cohen 12) which perfectly describes the making of the mummy. The mummy’s curse only activated when men had explored too far into its tomb and cursed the men as a warning to the rest who dared to do the same. The mummy can also be described as a monster using Cohen’s fourth monster thesis which states that the monster dwells at the gates of difference (Cohen 7). Cohen describes the largest difference that makes monsters into monsters tends to be â€Å"cultural, political, racial, economic, sexual.† (Cohen 7). This tells us that monsters don’t just look different, but show different viewpoints on every major aspect of our lives to the point of vulgarity or disgust. The mummy was created by a society much different from ours, a society which thinks that removal and preservation of organs along with the body itself was a good thing that helped the person in the afterlife, whereas we might find that practice taboo in modern day. Because of that, we see mummies as monsters. A mummy became a well-known monster with a plethora of books and movies to describe its monsterhood only through centuries of coincidental events which all somehow helped bring the mummy to its throne of monsterhood. The weather of ancient Egypt and the availability of preservation methods were necessary causes for mummification to take place, which in turn was a remote cause for the current position of mummies in media today. After several centuries, Egyptian mummies, who had been mummified in ancient Egypt, finally made their way to the Victorian era to be worshipped as the latest fad as well as become material for the increasing demand for ghost stories in the era until the coincidental death of George Herbert in 1923 just weeks after King Tut’s tomb had been opened which had turned the idea of mummies around from erotic fantasy to subject of superstitious fear. It was then that the mummy was finally regarded as a monster who cast curses on those who dared enter its tomb or reanimate itself to get revenge for similar reasons. Mummies took much time to earn their place as modern day monsters through centuries of causality. Annotated Bibliography â€Å"A Mummy’s Tale.† 2006. E2BN. Web. 5 August 2018. This article talks about the origins of the mummy and where we came to believe in the mummy’s â€Å"curse†. This article briefly goes into the history of the mummy and how mummification was done in ancient Egypt. This article proves its credibility through its list of resources, one of which being the British Museum. This article also shows its reliability through the company that sponsored this article. E2BN is a company that helps local education. I hope to use this article to show where mummies came from. Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. Monster culture (seven theses).  Gothic horror: A guide for students and readers  (2007): 198-217. This is the seven theses we received in class to use for monster analysis. It is a peer reviewed article, proving to be credible. I hope to use it to help understand mummies as monsters. Macfarlane, Karen E. Mummy Knows Best: Knowledge and the Unknowable in Turn of the Century Mummy Fiction.  Horror Studies  1.1 (2010): 5-24. This article discusses mummies in literature. This is a peer reviewed article. I would like to use this article to understand where the myth of mummies came from and the people’s viewpoints on mummies. Nelson, Mark R. The mummys curse: historical cohort study.  BMJ: British Medical Journal  325.7378 (2002): 1482. Nelson studies the survivors of Tutankhamun’s tomb after the events of a supposed â€Å"mummy’s curse† in the 1920s when Tutankhamun’s tomb was exposed. Her studies support that that is no â€Å"mummy’s curse†. This is a peer reviewed article. I hope to use this source to understand the Tutankhamun incident more. Vasanthakumar, Archana, et al. Microbiological survey for analysis of the brown spots on the walls of the tomb of King Tutankhamun.  International Biodeterioration Biodegradation  79 (2013): 56-63. This article discusses the microbiological analysis of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The study presented in this article describes how the walls had brown spots on them which were then studied for signs of microbiological life. This is a peer reviewed article. I plan on using this to help note what caused the myth of the mummy.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

A Reflective Paper On The Importance On Teamwork Nursing Essay

A Reflective Paper On The Importance On Teamwork Nursing Essay What is a team work? Team work can be defined as when actions of individuals are brought together for the purpose of a common goal. Each person in a team puts his efforts to achieve the objectives of large group. Teams make efforts to achieve the success but not necessarily the success is achieved every time. Within a team every member plays a role to achieve the team’s objectives. These roles add new and important dimensions to interactions of team members. Bruce Tuckman’s team development theory provides a way to tackle the tasks of making a team through the completion of the project. On the part of the team every member played an important role to achieve the success at the end of semester. â€Å"Our planning (or worrying about) what’s happening next gives us little opportunity or inclination to examine what has just passed† (Wallace, 2005). Writing from the angle of teacher student and team member relationships, it was appropriate to look then above q uote. I believe that many students in a team hesitate to step further for their next action during the proceeding of project. I need to be reflective in my action for the future performance in a team. â€Å"Groups of employees who have at least some collective tasks and where the team members are authorised to regulate mutually the execution of these collective tasks† (Delarue, 2003). â€Å"Group work is defined by a common task requiring interdependent work and successive or integrative action† (Hacker, 1998). Belbin (1981) developed a model on team roles which was extended in Belbin’s (1993) publication. On the basis of the Belbin’s model the team performance can be observed when a winning or losing task is set for the team. Each member with assigned role balances the team role in a group and strong representation of all roles is predicted with high performance. I have experienced the same the role of every member in my team. Belbin makes a difference b etween two terms team role and functional role. It is necessary for a team to keep the optimum balance both in functional roles and team roles. On the other hands the Tuckman’s theory describes the four stages of small group development as forming, storming, norming and performing. However a fifth stage of adjourning was added which involves the completion of tasks, termination of roles and dissolution of groups. Belbin’s theory is helpful to identify the different types of the teams; the characteristics define the work of the four categories. This model explains that during the team developments conflicts and interpersonal issues are found there and team development is dependent on the quality communication and relationship maturity with better performance. In traditional setting this model is useful for many practitioners and team leaders. According to this model all members work at the same place and are engaged in predefined work. This model works at the micro leve l of teams when new tasks are introduced and people involved have worked together not for long time.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Control the Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Control the Costs - Essay Example This is at your discretion. c. lf you have difficulty obtaining figures, for confidential reasons, you may still itemize those costs incurred. lf possible, use percentage proportions to express the different costs. I believe that following costs could be reduced to improve efficiency: cost of raw materials, and direct labour and overtime hours. The cost of raw materials could be reduced if the company will make purchase raw materials for three months requirement instead of the present policy of buying only for one-month requirement. Buying at a bigger volume could be cheaper because of the discount that would be availed and the reduced ordering and set up cost because of making more orders that are frequent The cost of overtime cost, which is being part of the direct labour, could also be improved by avoiding overtime work by employees and instead increasing the wages of these present workers and hiring additional personnel. The present rate for over time work is 150% of regular rate and rendering overtime also increases the cost of other factory head like the increase cost of electricity because of longer time and higher maintenance cost because of longer use of the equipments. The monitoring of cost is  not successful because of lack of person responsible in controlling cost. What happens in reality is that there is no serious cost control program in the company. I believe that the processes involved in the processing of papers involving payment to suppliers takes too much time before the supplier is paid. The unnecessary hands and papers involved in the processing of payment is eating the valuable time of company officer that should have been involved in making good plans for the company. a. As to the proposal to purchase raw materials for three months requirement, the consequence would be wider space to place the delivered raw

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Reflective Paper over Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Essay

Reflective Paper over Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis - Essay Example He is very unhappy with his job and always narrates adverse effects of his job. He is made to do that job because of being responsible for his whole family. His room has three doors and also his family has three members, his father, his mother and his sister. Gregor Samsa is really unhappy with his life because of his overly responsibilities and his disdainful job. He comes back from his job and shuts himself in his room. The doors in his room are also to inform him about his responsibilities that he has in relation to his family members. Gregor Samsa himself likes to alienate himself from his family members because they are attached to him not as a source of attachment but with their own motives. Gregor wakes up one morning and sees him transformed into a big insect that is disdainful. Because of his transformation into an insect, he suffers through the problem of alienation physically. He is not only alienated from his family only but from the whole world because of his existence as an alien that is frightful. Initially his sister Grete shows some sympathy with him but with the passage of time, she also draws away from him. After his transformation, all his family members started their own jobs. Gregor Samsa is alienated from his family because of his gruesome existence. Anyone who sees him is at once frightened because of his transformed structure. He is also left alone to die and he dies in isolation after which, he is thrown out by his housemaid. His family becomes relieved at his death because they are not required to face people in relation to their son. They consider the existence of Gregor Samsa as a burden on them. Gregor is alienated because he has attachments not based on love and care but based on responsibilities. His parents and his sister look towards him as a source of income that is there to fulfill their wishes. After his transformation, he is of no use for the family but becomes a burden for them.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Epicurean Hedonism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Epicurean Hedonism - Essay Example It is this emphasis on unadulterated pleasure that has created a ruckus, but which is unfounded as will be shown. According to Epicurus, "Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting -point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing" (Qtd. from Cook). 1 He believes that the essential truth of this statement is so obvious, that it renders debate and reasoning unnecessary. It is his belief that we are born with an intimate knowledge of the fact that pleasure is good and pain evil; it is the skepticism which is an inevitable accompaniment of the ageing process that makes the truth so elusive for adults. However the pursuit of pleasure must be governed by temperance. A glutting of the senses with sensual delights can cause pain in the long run; therefore careful judgment must be exercised in order to derive the maximum pleasure that life has to offer. The fulfillment of desire is closely linked to gaining pleasure and Epicurus has a word of caution on the subject. There is pleasure in the satisfaction of desire, but more often than not this is short-lived as more desires take the place of the one that has been fulfilled and soon endless desire takes the form of an insatiable monster, which is hardly conducive to pleasure. Thus an effort must be made to curb desire; this is done by settling for the bare necessities and resisting the temptation to over-indulge oneself. Epicurus distinguishes between desires where "some are natural, others are groundless; and that of the natural some are necessary as well as natural, and some natural only" (Qtd. from Cook).2 Epicurus sets much store by wisdom, as it is ignorance which is responsible for a lack of understanding between good and evil that is the cause of so much misery and turmoil. Wisdom is the wellspring from which the virtues of prudence, courage and justice spring forth. The inherent values of these virtues are largely irrelelevant as the only purpose they serve is towards achieving happiness. Cicero puts this most succinctly, "we aim at these virtues in order to live without anxiety and fear and so far as possible to be free from pain of mind and body"(Qtd.from Cook).3 Epicurean philosophy is immensely valuable to the present day insofar as his arguments go towards overcoming the unreasonable yet prevalent fear of death. With death there is a cessation of sensation, therefore since it involves neither pain nor pleasure, it never has and never will pose a threat to the living. An understanding of this premise goes a long way in removing anxiety which throws an unpleasant pall over the future. Death according to Epicurus "is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not" (Qtd. from Cook). 4 Distinguishing Epicurean Hedonism from Cyrenaicism Much of the notoriousness surrounding Epicurean hedonism and the stigma of moral licentiousness, attached to it, when it fact it is rather a model of asceticism, stems from its doctrines often being confused with Cyrenaicism. Aristippus was the founder

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Difference Between Boycotts and Lockouts

Difference Between Boycotts and Lockouts Difference between boycotts and lockouts 1- INTRODUCTION Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function which works within an organization .It focuses on recruitment of staff, managing them and giving them direction to the employees who work in that organization. Human resource management can be performed by line mangers (Tesco superstores line manger performs the duties of human resource management ).Human resource management function includes several activities and key among them is deciding to use independent contractor or hire employees to get the job done .Ensuring they are high motivating, able to work in a team and dealing with performance issues. Human resources management also include employee benefits and compensation and managing your approach to employees records and personnel activities. Managing human capital means to conquer and to maintain people in the organization, who will work and give the maximum of themselves, with a positive attitude. The following work will attempt to answer the question Do you think boycotts and lockouts are two other anti-impasse weapons sometimes used by labor and management? An impasse occurs when the parties arent able to move further toward settlement. Sometimes, a strike occurs. Responding to the strike involves such steps as shutting the facility, contracting work, or possibly replacing the workers. Third party involvement namely, arbitration, fact-finding, or mediation- is one alternative. Examine the steps you will undertake as part of the HR management team, in order to answer this question this project will open with a review of the literature that has been written on the issues raised by the question above. It should be noticed that a vast amount of writing has been done on this issues but only a few of them dimmed to provide the most benefit to the purposes and intend of this assignment have been sited. Those countries their economy is operating full employment the bargaining power of the worker is strong and his employer is weak. When there is short fall of full employment then employer is more stronger than employee. In this case employees are compulsory to accept employer conditions. It is recognized that the right of workman to strike is an essential element in the principle of collective bargaining. In a non unionized work place, managers use their discretion in organizing work, selection, promoting and training people and other duties of human resource management but it can be change if the worker join the union. Once the join the union they comes across so many agreement and knowledge about employment relationship. Union main demand is all of its representatives are getting right wages ,no job cuts ,no over load of work They have an interest in work related learning and employee development. 2-BOYCOTT A group refusal to have commercial dealing with some organization in protest against its policies, usually it happens because of political reason. In other words boycott can be defined as a rejection of an individual, cop ration or nation to give political and social pressure for change. Example 1: Swadeshi Movement Against British Rulers In 1905,when India was a part of British empire ,a boycott of foreign goods was declared, which is known as swadeshi movement..Indians boycott all British products, to setup local stores where only locally manufactured goods had been sold. They could use British products but it was against their sovereignty. This movement was a good step for their freedom movement. (www.india_resource.tripod.com) Example 2: United States Boycott Against French Products In 2003,France tried to stop bush administration to build international support for a war to depose saddam hussain.In response united states have declared a boycott of French products specially French wine. French wine producers claims their sales are effected in united states because of boycott. (www.nber.org) Example 3: Greenwich Council Workers Boycott Against New Office In Greenwich council six hundred staff reused to work because there was no security screens on new office entrance .They have boycott to work in new office because of security reason. (www.personneltoday.com) Example 4:International Campaign The international campaign organized against A E Stanly, the corn processing plant in Illinois in early 1990s when 10 12 hours four days weekly shift was introduced. The campaign entailed a boycott of important A E Stanley customers like Tate Lyle, Pepsi and miller. (Scullion and Lineham, 2005). 2.1 TYPES OF BOYCOTTS There are two different types of boycotts Those in which users , consumers, or member register their disappointment through avoidance. Those in which an individual or organization takes a leadership position by increasing an active campaign against a product, service, company or organization. 2.2 Silent boycott Silent boycotts are unorganized boycotts spread by gossips in revenge of number of reasons and hit the company before they realize what is happening. Example 5: Toys R Us Boycott Toys of Violence Toys r us, was the subject by silent boycott. Their top management decided not to sell toys of violence like toy tanks, guns, aircraft and similar products. They did not sit with their customers. As a result their market shares never fully recover. (www.boycottnet.com) Example 6: IBM Vs Compaq IBM became target of a successful silent boycott, because of its superiority in which they have treated self-directed distributors. In a result Compaq computers became a very serious threat. (www.boycottnet.com) 2.3 Focused boycott Its simplest term, it involves dissecting the problem into its components and then zeroing in on the most vulnerable point. Example 7: Slaves Boycott Sugar Products The earliest example of focused boycott was in England when slaves boycott sugar products. In 1791, when parliament refused to eliminate slavery and result of this boycott sugar sales dropped by third and half. (www.ethicalconsumer.org) 3-Lockouts When an employer withhold work and denies workers to access their work place. Its a strike by management to induce settlement to a labor dispute on employers terms. when several employers take this action together its called shut down or joint lockouts. A lockout is defined as being the act of an employer in: Closing the employers place of business, or suspending or discontinuing the employers business or any branch of that business; or Discontinuing the employment of any employee; or Breaching some or all of the employers employment agreements; or Refusing or failing to engage employees for any work for which the employer usually employs employees; and Is done with the view of compelling employees, or to aid another employer compelling employees to accept terms of employment or comply with the demands made by the employer. 3.1 REASONS OF LOCKOUTS There can be many reasons of lockouts such as: When union goes on strike and employers want to put pressure on union for reducing the number of members who are able to work. employers can announce a lockout until the strike ends. Another case is when an employer mat compel a lockout to avoid slow down or irregular work stoppages. Example 8: Golden Reach Factory Lockout Its Workers In year 2003, between march and September when the management of golden reach factory in India locked out,1400 of its workers in response to strike called in protest. The golden reach factory is a subsidiary of unilever an Anglo Dutch conglomerate ,unilever has never declared a lock out in Netherlands conglomerate seems to have different policies towards labor, depending on the country which its operates. (www.britannica.com) 4-STRIKES Union and labor associates use strike as weapon to get their demands accepted. Its starts when bunch of workers want to push pressure on their employers, they cease work until they get there demands accepted by employers. In an industry when trade unions and labor associates denies to work until they get their demand accepted is called strike. In a strike people are agreed to stop their work and protest against their employers or government to put pressure on them to pay rise or any other changes they want make on their work place. 4.1REASONS OF STRIKES Trade union and labor associates calls strike for several reasons such as: Salary and incentive problem Increment is not up to mark Dissatisfaction with company policy Dismissal of a staff wrongly Withdrawal of any privilege or concession Hours of work Paid holidays Provident and gratuity Minimum wage dispute Environmental problem on work place Example 9: Royal Mail Strike For Wages Royal mail strike called in because of jobs cut, services, wages, benefits and privatization .Strike is hitting postal services. Communications workers union (CWU) said 25,000 workers participated in this strike. That was the biggest strike after 2007.Major cities (London, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Bristol, Birmingham) got effected of this strike. Workers are protesting against â€Å"panic driven† cuts being made at royal mail to pay job and services. It effects customer trust on royal mail. Postal workers are fed up because of lacking ability of management and their behavior. Royal mail has accused the union of reneging a modernization deal that ended the 2007 strike. (www.guardian.co.uk) Example 10: RMT Vs TFL RMT(rail maritime and transport workers) is largest of the four unions which deals with TFL(transport for London).RMT wants to cancel their contract with TFL because they redundant RMT workers. Even they denies to pay rise.RMT wants a guarantee to protect job of its members.RMT workers called a strike because their demands were not accepted. It effects all the people of London who travel by public transport. (www.guardian.co.uk) Example 11: British Airways Staff For Redundancies British Airways chief .executive (Willie Walsh) has given three weeks notice to BA staff to agree job redundancy and pay cuts. He offered his staff to voluntary redundancies because company is fighting for its survival. As a result strike occurred.BA passengers faced difficulties for traveling. Most of the flights were cancelled. That was the worst time for British airways and still not fully recovered. (www.guardian.co.uk) Example 12: National Strike Against Economical Policies 19 March 2009,union have called for a strike in France ,to protest against French president Nicolas Sarkozys wrong policies in the economic slump. More than 1.2 million people came on the streets. Employees from the private sector and civil servants demonstrated in the cities from Paris to Marseille, schools have been close and transportation have badly effected. President Sarkozy has offered 2.6 billion euro (3.5 billion dollor) tax cuts and aid to unemployed and law paid workers unions in France demanding for more to protect their workers in the recession time when unemployment has reached 2 million and its expected to increase further. Bernard Thiboult ,general secretary of the confederation general du travel. The country 2nd largest union have said if the government says we will not change the policies then there should be no surprise if climate gets tougher. (www.bloomberg.com) Example 13: Massive Strike In Italy April 2002, millions of employees have ceased work and went for strike against government plans to giving special powers to the employer to hire or fire employees easily. The strike was called by three main unions of the country which has brought parts of the country to stand still. Union said rallies in Rome ,Milan, Bologna ,each rally had a crowd of more than 200,000.It was the first all day work stoppage in 20 years. Schools ,banks were remain closed all day even the public transport ,buses ,rails ,air and sea has stopped. There was no live TV no news paper were published. Prime minister silvio Berlusconi said after the strike that he is ready to start talks with union leaders but he insisted that reform of the labor laws was necessary. (www.bbc.co.uk) Example 14: Protest Against Bridgestone The international campaign against the Japanese tyre Bridgestone which is subsidiary of firestone. The workers were replaces with their substitute workers. (www.laborrightsblog.typepad.com) 4.2 TYPES OF STRIKES There are several different types of strikes such as: Sit down strike Slow down strike Economic strike Sympathy strike General strike Sick out(sick in) strike Wildcat strike 4.3 Sit down strike Its a strike when workers do not absent from work place. They dont leave control on production facilities but do not work. This strike is also known as pen drop strike or tool down strike. In this type of strike employees shown up to their jobs but they refuse to work and refuse to leave, in these circumstances they make it very difficult for their employers to resist against union and take control of area. Example 15: ACPA On Strike for Pay Rise In Pakistan(Punjab) more than 2.2 million clerks went on a pen drop strike on call of APCA(all Pakistan clerk association). According to the press release more 2.2 million clerks protest against government and to support their demands regarding their pay rise. They demanded that government should increase the salaries of lower sub- ordinates to the inflation rate. (www.dailytimes.com.pk) 4.4 Slow down strike In this type of strike employees do not stop the work they remain on their jobs but they control the rate of productivity in organized manner to pressure on employers. Example 16: Chief Justice Of U.S Wants More Salary Chief justice of united states district court judge (Carl B. Rubin) went on slow down strike when congress refused to increase his salary more than 51% to reply that only he only hear two cases usual ten cases a month. (www.washingtonpost.com) 4.5 Sympathy strike When employees of one unit , industry, factory go on strike to support employees of separate but related industry, profession, unit is called sympathetic strike. Example 17: Renault 1997,French Motor manufacture company Renault announced the closure of its Belgium production plant at Vilboorde, company dismissed almost 3100 workers without consulting with workers representatives. The colure of the company leads another 1000 redundancies among supplies and subordinates. Unexpected colure of the company in Belgium generated very high level of sympathy action not only in Renault workers across the Europe but also car workers in Belgium were fearful of the same fate. Representatives of the unions of France, Belgium and Spain met and agreed to seek the reasons of the colure of the plant at Vilvoorde and find all possible legal avenues. They organized one hour strike and involves the union of Portugal and Slovenia . Car workers in France, Spain and Belgium protest against Renault, Their plants in 3 different countries were hit by one hour work stoppages. workers of related motor manufactures industries like Polo ,Opel and Ford in Belgium staged sympathy actions. (www.eurofound.europa.eu) 4.6 Sick out(sick in) strike When all the members of union called in sick at the same day is called sick out strike. They dont break any rules but sickness of majority of the staff at the same day leaves very strong impact on employer, that if the staff really went on strike. Example 18 : Air traffic Staff On Strike For Wages In 1969 when united states air traffic controllers called in sick strike because of wages and condition. The traffic controllers walked out and stay out of job for three weeks and called in sick, attempting to avoid the legal penalties for striking. (www.libcom.org) 4.7 Economic strike In this type of strike labor stop their work and put pressure on their employer to increase their economic needs like wages and bonus. Example 19:Lublin Strike In 1980 the workers of eastern city of Lublin (Poland) went on strike for increase of their salaries and cheap prices of food products. July 1980 almost 50,000 local workers from more than 150 companies went on strike. Its also called Lublin strike. (www.tnn.pl) 4.8 General strike It means a strike by all members of union in the region or an industry. This strike can called in by all the members of the union in the region for their common interests. In these types of strikes workers intend to put pressure on the government. Example 20:Union And Non Union Worker On Strike In the year of 1934 in san Francisco union and non union workers went on strike. They have protest against police and employers tactics that had killed two picketers. (www.newdeal.feri.org) Example 21: Trade Union Conflict With Coal- Owners A general strike had occurred in 1926, By the trade unions of great Britain. they were supporting miners federation in their dispute with coal-owners Government had granted a year subsidy to the coal-owners because of the bad state of coal-mining industry and set up a commission of inquiry under sir Herbert Samuel. the commission suggested a scheme of reorganization the industry as soon as practicable when government subsidy was due to expire the coal-owners made up their mind that they are not going to employ the miners except lower rate and longer hours, but they did not give them any proposal until after expiry of the notices, and then did not include any plans for considerable reorganization to result of this trade union congress called a conference of its unions and reported that there is no alternative to a general strike majority of the organized workers stop their work, essential services partially carried on by volunteers acting upon plans outlined by government in the light of railway strike 1919 and miners strike 1920 (www.historybookshop.com) 4.9 Wild cat strike This strike takes place by employees with out the authority and permission of union. Example 22: Prison Officers On Strike Hundred of prison officers went on strike to support their colleagues in HMP (Liverpool). The prison staff at Cardiff, Preston and wands worth are expected to stop work unless managers agree to talk with prison officers association Staff at Liverpool are on unauthorized strike. (www.news.sky.com) 5) Collective Bargaining The process through which members of management and the union meet to negotiate a labor agreements. According to Dessler(2005), the good faith refers to the conditions of both partiesto make every reasonable effort to arrive at agreement good faith bargaining may include the following Surface bargaining Inadequate concession Inadequate proposals and demands Dilatory tactics Imposing conditions Making unilateral changes in conditions By passing the representative Committing unfair labor practices during negotiations Withholding information Ignoring bargaining items Example 23: Northwest Airlines has refused to negotiate with mechanics union representatives because of a reason that their representative have met with mechanics union representatives three times before but they did not respond on their proposal. (Dessler, 2005). Example 24: Employer international union has said that baryant college representative are not fully responsive on the issues of wages, respects and benefits. 134, unfair labor claiming that baryant college negotiators are failed to negotiate with union. (Dessler, 2005). 6)Intervention of the third party When the parties fail to handle the situation then they want to refer this matter to third party. 6.1 Types of intervention 1) Mediation: Mediation is a third neutral party which only arrange a meeting with both parties ,listen both parties issues and try to bargaining common points. Mediation dont have any authority to come to decision .They just offer a settlement package. 2) Fact finder: Fact finder is a neutral third party which deals only to study the issue and make public recommendations for settlement. 3) Arbitration : Arbitration is the only powerful intervention because arbitration has a authority to give them decision for settlement. 4) Conciliation : Conciliation has no power, their role is only to clarifying the issues and offers advice. 7- Recommendations These are the following steps to helps company to come out from this situation. 1) Salary: Company have to make sure employees dont have any issue with their salaries. Their salaries should be on time. Every six months their contract should be renew and give them a pay rise. That should be good step to make them happy .They will be more productive. 2) Bonus: Company should give bonuses to their staff. like Christmas bonus. It would be a step to motivate them. 3) Benefits: If employee are getting benefits like discount card, pensions, insurance and other benefits then employee cannot think for strike. 4) Job guarantee: Employees should have a job guarantee. IF they have a job guarantee they will be more loyal with company because they know their job is secure and employer fulfills all their demands. 5) Paid holidays: Employee should have a privilege of paid holidays. Its the extra benefit that employees are getting from company. This way employees have a relief from work and makes them more energetic to work after holidays. 6) Dismissal of the wrong staff: Company must have rules and regulations for their staff. Do not dismiss any member of staff. who does not deserve to be dismissed. If there is a situation then try to observe then make a decision because wrong decision effects on company† s image. 7) Redundancies: If company is running with any financial crises and want to redundant staff , then company should give them one month notice , give them redundant pay according to law. 8) Dissatisfaction with company policies: Employees must be satisfy with company policies. They should not have any problem. If there is any thing which they think is not on the right place they should complaint and give suggestions to the management. 9) Hours of work: Employees working hour should be accurate. If they are working more than normal hours then they should get their time back or pay them as overtime. 10)APPRAISAL: Employee should get promotion at work. If they have skills employers should promote them with a good salary package. 8- Conclusion: The conclusion of this report is that strike, lockout and boycott are not healthy for company, Organization must have proper strategies to run a business . If there is good relationship between employee and employer then company will run fine. and organization will able to achieve its targets If company polices are not meeting staff requirements then they will disappointed and could take a step towards strike. Employer should always prepare to solve these kind of situations. IF strike occurred then it is a issue for employer, employee and organization. It effects. on everyone related to the company Its better to sit together and resolve the issues. Overall in labor relations worker should be happy working with their employer and employer should keep an eye on workers needs and their work. IF any of them fail to fulfill their duty then it can become a huge problem and one day worker can go for strike , lockout and boycott. Arbitration can try to solve the situation. Collective bargaining is step where they can control the problem.. They fix a meeting between employee and management and open channel for communication for each other. If collective bargaining fails then management need to prepare to deal with one of the anti impasse weapon strike. The best way is to resolve it with intervention. The main causes for strikes are wages, pay cuts, job cuts and wrong policies. If human resource management team properly control these factors then there is no cause for strike.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Medieval versus Renaissance Eras :: Compare Contrast History Art Essays

Medieval and Renaissance Eras   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is amazing how significantly various aspects of society can and will change over a prolonged period of time. Between the time periods of the Medieval era and the Renaissance, one can note numerous significant changes, mainly those pertaining to art and religion. In general, ideals and subjects during the Renaissance became more secular. In Medieval times, people seemed to focus mainly on the church, God, and the afterlife; during the Renaissance, the focus was more secular: humans and life on earth. Although these two eras differ in many ways, the most concentrated differences deal with the realms of architecture, painting, and philosophy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Architecture noticeably shifted from religious awe to classical reason between the Medieval era and the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, architecture was aimed mainly at making advancements in the church. Medieval cathedrals had very distinct features, such as pointed spires, which were exactly that -- spires, or steeples, that were pointed and extended upward from the tower area; the rose window, which was a large stained glass window that was located on the front of the tower; and squared-off exterior walls, which were a contrast to the usual rounded exterior designs that people were accustomed to. Overall, cathedrals during this time could have very elegant features due to the excellent techniques of support and stabilization. Buttresses, simple extensions of the cathedral wall to enhance support, and flying buttresses, stone structures set away from the cathedral wall and attached at the top, contributed to the excellent support that Medieval cathedrals experienced. While architectural advancements during the Middle Ages were concerned mainly with making elegant reformations in the structure of the cathedral, architecture during the Renaissance was much less religion- centered, and revolved more around classical reason and secularity. Architecture in this time was concentrated mostly with the design of castles, such as the home of the prevailing Italian Medici family, perhaps the richest family in Europe. Architectural focus had changed from the cathedral in the Medieval era to other, more classical and secular subjects, such as castles and homes of significant rulers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The style, subjects, and overall attitude of painting was something that underwent very significant changes during the progression from Medieval times to the Renaissance. Generally, paintings became more secular, and less focused on aspects of the church, as the Renaissance approached. Medieval paintings seem to be focused almost entirely on religion and are given heavenly attributes, while paintings of the Renaissance consist mainly of secular subjects and contain much more realism, especially noted in human subjects. In Giotto's Madonna With Child, a Medieval painting, any observer will obviously notice that the child and woman are very awkwardly proportioned, indicating the

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Case Review: Linear Technology Essay

Linear Technology was based out of Silicon Valley and founded in 1981. The company specialized in design, manufacture and marketing of analog integrated circuits. Linear enjoyed a diversified customer base, with 33% of its business coming from the communications sector, 27% from computers, 6% from automotive, and 34% from various other applications. With their focus on the analog segment of the IC sector, which was characterized by custom designed products, it was imperative that Linear hires and retains talented people who were accustomed to out-of-the-box thinking and who could readily develop innovative techniques and products that would keep them competitive. Going IPO in 1986, Linear operated with a modest CAPEX. Additionally they enjoyed low obsolescence of equipment and techniques. This combined with their low R&D expenses led to margins that exceeded that of competing digital IC products. This is supported by Linear’s 7th seat positioning on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index (SOX). Linear’s net income was at its highest in 2001, when global technology spending was at its highest, and its lowest sales the following year. They still maintained positive cash flows and strong margins; this was accomplished through various mechanisms such as cost cutting aided by their variable cost structure. As of 2003 Q3, Linear was emerging out of the recession with strong financials. However, top line sales and net income remained lower than their high point in 2001. Due to political unrest throughout the World, the future of the tech industry remained unclear. Year over year growth in 2003 when compared to 2002 was good, but the company didn’t see a clear path to reaching 2001 levels. At the same time, they didn’t want to sacrifice margins in new markets like Asia. By 1992 Linear’s management was comfortable in their ability to sustain future cash flows, having been cash flow positive since IPO, and began issuing dividends of $.00625 per share (payout ratio: 15%). In 2002 LLTC  continued issuing dividends, despite the higher payout ratio (27.24%), as they didn’t want to lose favor with investors. It is likely that Linear viewed dividends as a way to stay in the portfolio of mutual funds and EU investors who strongly favored dividend-paying stocks. Simultaneously, Linear also began to buy back shares when interest rates were low or/and when market valuation of Linear stock was low. They were skeptical about paying out all or more of their cash in dividends as this could signal lack of growth potential. It is notable that many institutional investors held Linear stock, largest among which was Janus Capital. Linear wanted to be sure to send positive signals to their investors. With a large cash balance ($1.5 billion) and no debt, Linear was at a crossroads – they needed to know what to do with their cash. Their options were: 1) Invest in new projects, 2) Payout via dividends and/or repurchases, and 3) Save it for future investments in innovation and diversification. In this p per, we will analyze three different approaches in deciding Linear’s payout for Q3. Approach – 1 Cent Dividend Increase The analysis below assumes the decision to repurchase 165.7 million in stock will not be adjusted. The decision to be made is to either raise our dividend by one cent per share, or leave the third quarter dividend of .05 per share intact. Payout Decision Historically Linear has not increased dividends in Q3, so a conservative approach for the board would be to approve the continuation of the dividend policy from Q2. Continuing the status quo of .05 per share, the payout ratio would adjust to 27.48 percent of Net Income. Increasing dividend by one cent per share would increase the YTD payout ratio to approximately 29.31 percent for the three quarters (Exhibit 1), a modest increase. At $0.06 dividend per share, the total Q3 dividend payout will be $18.7 million, which will still be considered small by our institutional investors, given our large cash position. The adoption of the 1-cent increase will provide a full offering of 215.70 million dollars back to our investors in the form of dividends and stock repurchases as shown below: Paying the additional 1-cent would still be consistent with our long-term dividend strategy, but the total package will not be aligned with the requests of some of our largest investors. Available Cash to Distribute At this point it is important to note that the firm will be paying out more to the shareholders via share buybacks and dividends, than the firm has available to the equity holders through its operations. This overpayment holds true if the firm holds the dividend at .05, or increases it to .06. The firm has generated a total of 207.5 million FCFE dollars, but would be choosing to payout a total of 215.7 million given the decision to increase the dividend by one cent. Staying committed to the .05 dividend reduces this figure by only three million. Cash Needs and Agency issues Surplus cash to address any unforeseen needs will readily be available by adopting the conservative one-cent increase plan. Increasing the dividend to .06 includes holding on to almost 100 percent of a very large cash position, and therefore provides little pressure to identify such future cash needs. Signaling Linear’s sales are trending upward since the 2002 decline, but the immediate future is still not clear. The adoption of this conservative plan would continue their strategy of consistently signaling a message of safety and consistency of cash flows to their investors, yet provide options for our turbulent times. Other uses for this cash such as improved employee incentives, training, and workplace improvements should also be considered. Other Considerations The drawback for adopting the conservative plan without addressing the concerns of Janus and other like-minded investors could signal that they are not quite ready to suggest that their recent troubles are behind them. If we do choose this plan, a carefully crafted message to address investor concerns should be communicated to investors as quickly as possible. Additionally, other approaches such as one-time share buybacks and special dividends should be considered to address the concerns of Janus and other firms that share their view on Linear’s current cash position. We address these in Approach 2, 3 outlined in the sections that follow. Approach – 2 Payout all of Linear Technology’s Cash 1 In this section, we consider an alternate payout strategy in which Linear returns all of its 1.5 billion to its shareholders, by either (a) Paying a special dividend of $5.01 per share, or (b) Repurchasing about 50 million shares. (a) Special Dividend of $5.01 per share One goal of the special dividend will be to show investors that Linear is in a good position and to buy shares from Linear Technology is not comparable with the risk normally associated with the purchase of shares from technology companies. Additionally it signals to the market that Linear is serious about sharing its wealth with its shareholders. With these higher overall payouts, Linear Technology can reach investors that have specific income goals. Share price In case of a dividend announcement, demand for shares will rise. If investors know that a certain dividend amount will be paid, the share price increases by that amount (Law of One price). In this case, the current share price is $30.87 and dividend announced will be $5.01; hence the share price cum dividend can be expected to increase to $35.88. 1 Exhibit 4 shows calculations for numbers presented in this section Firm value Depending on the time until the dividend is paid, not the whole amount of dividend is added to the share price. If there is still a certain period of time until the dividend is paid, only the net present value of the dividend will be added to the share price. It also can be said that the closer the payment of the dividend gets, the more the amount of the total dividend payment is added to the normal share price. That also means that consequently the market value of equity also will rise. At the day ex-dividend day the share price will drop below the level of the pre-announcement day because the dividend as driver of the rising demand had been paid. The additional value of $5.01 that was is not part of the share value any more. The dividend, as part of the equity, is paid to the shareholder. Therefore, the dividend policy as a whole will not be a decisive factor in the firm’s value. Payout ratio However, in this scenario the payout ratio becomes a ridiculously high 945% (Exhibit-4), which is very high compared to peers. (Exhibit 2) Signaling By deploying capital through an increased dividend versus a share repurchase, management is signaling that Linear’s stock is fairly valued in the market. However, If Linear increases its dividend too much say by giving out all the cash as dividends, management could signal to the market that it believes the company’s growth is slowing and there are no new positive NPV projects for the company to invest in. However, this may help send a positive signal that the company is confident about generating positive cash flows for its operational and investment needs. Since profits of Linear Technology this quarter was far lower than that last year, a huge special dividend may help the investors regain faith in the company. Agency problems Increasing dividend is also a good way to reduce agency costs. With large amount of cash balance in hand, managers’ control over the capital becomes larger. Paying dividend to the investors is an efficient way to get additional monitoring of the capital, and thus make it less attractive to managers to invest the money in projects that will reduce the benefits of the shareholders. Tax Clientele With this very high dividend, the company may attract more European and/or mutual fund investors, but it may generally upset Institutional investors who do not have tax exemptions. Also, the announcement of a dividend may prompt older and poorer investors to buy more of Linear’s stock. (b) Share repurchase Share price and Shares outstanding Linear can repurchase 50.7 (16.23% of common shares) million common shares by spending all of its cash. When they do that, the number of outstanding shares will be 261.7 million. Historically, the stock price of companies has risen following a share  repurchase announcement as it can boost EPS. In this case EPS increases to $0.65. (Exhibit-4) Signaling By deploying all of its capital towards share repurchases, management can signal the market that its stock very undervalued. Linear has had a positive cash flow over the years and they have an opportunity with a net cash of $1.5 billion to bridge the supposed valuation disconnect by accelerating share repurchases. In summary, if the company goes out with a big stock buyback or special dividend, it will send a signal to investors that the company, is no longer a growth company, and stock value may decrease Approach – 3 Payout 50% of Linear Technology’s Cash2 Considering that management does not have a good line of sight into the future at this point, paying out all of Linear’s cash may be a risky move. Hence, in this section we look at a less aggressive approach that lies between preserving their cash balance (Approach 1) and paying out all of their cash (Approach 2). In evaluating this approach, we have assumed that Linear will need to keep up its quarterly dividend at $0.05, and the remainder of the cash after accounting for this quarterly dividend is available for either a special dividend or a share repurchase. The following section analysis the effect of paying out 50% of the remaining cash reserves either in the form of a special dividend of $2.51 or by repurchasing 25.35 million shares. EPS and Share Price If we were to repurchase shares using 50% of the cash, the EPS will increase from 0.55 to 0.59 close to the 2002 numbers of 0.62. Using a price/earnings ratio of 56.53 in 2003 (Exhibit-3), we can estimate the share price to increase to 33.65 with this increased EPS, cum dividend. If we were to pay out a special dividend of $2.51 per share instead, the share price cum dividend could be estimated to be a closely comparable $33.38 (Exhibit-5). EPS will be 0.55, very close to Q2 levels (0.54). Payout Ratio The dividend payout ratio in the case of the special dividend will be close to 486.3% (Exhibit-4) which is once again much higher than all of Linear’s peers (Exhibit-2). In contrast, with a share repurchase, the payout ratio remains at level consistent with previous quarters at 27.5%. 2 Exhibit 4 shows the calculations for numbers presented in this section Firm value and Shareholder wealth Repurchases will help alleviate some of the dilution of the EPS arising out of options awarded to employees and managers, considering that Linear’s incentives for all employees include stock options. On the other hand, dividends will help distribute the wealth more evenly among all investors, while repurchases cause an uneven distribution as the shareholders who do not sell will see a drop in book value of the shares, from $5.01 to $3.23 (rough approximation based solely on cash assets – Exhibit 5. Tax Clientele With the new rules that stipulate equal taxation rate of 15% for Capital gains and OIC, there are no quantifiable advantages one way or the other with respect to the decision to payout either in the form of a special dividend or repurchases. There may however, be some psychological impacts to be considered depending on preferences of the shareholders. For example, if the vast majority of shareholders belong to the older demographic, they may prefer it if the stock paid dividends. Signaling Linear’s investors are used to getting a dividend, and seeing periodic repurchases. Additional payouts of cash help increase ROE and reduce shareholders’ risk premium. At current low interest rates on cash (as of 2003), paying out at least some of the cash balance appears to be in the best interests of the shareholders. Though high payouts may signal that the company is lacking growth potential, it helps send a positive message that the company is keen on sharing its wealth. This message of being a â€Å"cash-cow† is better compared to the image of a company that is hoarding its wealth. Peers A quick look at Maxim’s financials indicates that they have started sharing their cash with their shareholders – in 2002 their cash returned was over 200% of their FCFE (Exhibit-2), and their cash reserves reduced by 455 million. They appear to have used that cash in repurchases in an effort to concentrate their wealth among a smaller number of shareholders, at the same  time they managed to increase their top line numbers significantly, even compared to 2000. By sharing half their cash with their shareholders, Linear will be able to put itself on par with this close competitor. Agency issues and other considerations One time special dividends don’t need to be kept up, so are essentially similar to repurchases in that respect. However, repurchases help boost EPS and prevent dilution, both of which have longer-lasting effects. In this respect a repurchase may be better than a dividend. As far as agency issues go, retaining 50% of the cash position may not provide as much incentive to work harder on identifying positive NPV projects, as expending 100% of the cash, but will work much better than retaining almost all of the cash as in Approach 1. Our Recommendation for Linear Our recommendation to Linear is to maintain status quo with respect to dividends – pay the quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, and to buy back 25.35 million shares using half the cash balance. Dividends consistent with previous quarters of 2003, are recommended to avoid any adverse market reactions, while the company works on figuring out their strategy to increase top line sales and earnings to the 2000-2001 levels or better. Cancelling the dividend altogether or paying less than last quarter is not an option, as this would be perceived very negatively by the market. Historically, Linear has never increased dividends in the Q3 compared to Q2; hence it is safe to maintain a dividend of 5 cents per share as in Q3. Additionally, as shown in Exhibit-2, Linear already pays more dividends compared to peers, including their close competitor Maxim. Paying out all of the cash may deprive the company of the required levels of liquidity. Given that the analog semiconductor industry requires constant innovation and considering opportunities for new ventures such as entering the Asian market, it is safe to assume that the company should keep some cash reserves to account for unknowns. Linear is well aware that they need to expand their business and find ways to increase top line numbers, so keeping some cash, and supplementing it with capital from debt or/and equity markets is worth looking into. This forms the basis of our reasoning for recommending the use of only 50% of the cash balance to repurchase shares. Additionally, by repurchasing shares, Linear will be able to still sufficiently signal to the market that the stock is undervalued. At the same time, by maintaining some of the cash balance, they additionally signal the existence of profitable positive NPV projects for Linear to pursue. Considering the industry characteristics, and the stagnation reached in top line revenues, Linear will need to look at innovation and new markets, both of which could bring dramatic increases in growth. In light of this, we are convinced that the EPS boosting effect of a share repurchase is more valuable to Linear at this point, than the effects of an equitable distribution of shareholder wealth via special dividends.