Featured Post

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer Essay Example For Students

Artist Geoffrey Chaucer Essay English Poet and composed the incomplete work. The Canterbury Tales. It is viewed as one of the best idylli...

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Womens Role In Confucianism And Taoism, Within The Patriarchal Society Of China

Women’s Role in Confucianism and Taoism, Within the Patriarchal Society of China China is an extremely patriarchal society. The female is generally viewed as weak, dark, and subservient whereas the male is viewed as strong, hot, and dominant. Confucianism encourages this patriarchal society by placing the woman in a servant-like role. Contrary to Confucianism, Taoism places the woman in a mysterious, natural form. Although Confucianism and Taoism have opposing views of woman, they also have some similar ideologies. Confucianism describes the relationship between husband and wife to be a master/servant relationship. The male’s role is to protect his wife while the wife’s role is to serve her husband. Confucians live in a partilocal society where the wife moves into the husbands’ home. The wife is to practice selfless virtue and serve her husband. â€Å"Let a woman modestly yield to others; let her respect others, let her put others first, herself last. Should she do something good, let her not mention it; should she do something bad, let her not deny it. Let her bear disgrace; let her even endure when others speak or do evil to her. Always let her seem to tremble and to fear.† (EWBR 193)Contrastingly, in Taoism’s Tao te ching, the female versus male roles are to be an equality of opposites. There is harmony amongst the sexes. There should be balance, not victory over each other. The two sides depend on each other for existence; there is complimentary dualism. The woman is viewed as positive, the essence of creativeness and potentiality for the eternal. Although very opposite in the roles of women in society, Confucianism and Taoism have similar general views of women. The woman is looked at as weak and soft and is associated with the earth where the male is strong and hard and is associated with heaven. These views are analogous yet the meanings behind them are very different. In Confucianism, the Ear... Free Essays on Womens Role In Confucianism And Taoism, Within The Patriarchal Society Of China Free Essays on Womens Role In Confucianism And Taoism, Within The Patriarchal Society Of China Women’s Role in Confucianism and Taoism, Within the Patriarchal Society of China China is an extremely patriarchal society. The female is generally viewed as weak, dark, and subservient whereas the male is viewed as strong, hot, and dominant. Confucianism encourages this patriarchal society by placing the woman in a servant-like role. Contrary to Confucianism, Taoism places the woman in a mysterious, natural form. Although Confucianism and Taoism have opposing views of woman, they also have some similar ideologies. Confucianism describes the relationship between husband and wife to be a master/servant relationship. The male’s role is to protect his wife while the wife’s role is to serve her husband. Confucians live in a partilocal society where the wife moves into the husbands’ home. The wife is to practice selfless virtue and serve her husband. â€Å"Let a woman modestly yield to others; let her respect others, let her put others first, herself last. Should she do something good, let her not mention it; should she do something bad, let her not deny it. Let her bear disgrace; let her even endure when others speak or do evil to her. Always let her seem to tremble and to fear.† (EWBR 193)Contrastingly, in Taoism’s Tao te ching, the female versus male roles are to be an equality of opposites. There is harmony amongst the sexes. There should be balance, not victory over each other. The two sides depend on each other for existence; there is complimentary dualism. The woman is viewed as positive, the essence of creativeness and potentiality for the eternal. Although very opposite in the roles of women in society, Confucianism and Taoism have similar general views of women. The woman is looked at as weak and soft and is associated with the earth where the male is strong and hard and is associated with heaven. These views are analogous yet the meanings behind them are very different. In Confucianism, the Ear...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Functions with the T-Distribution in Excel

Functions with the T-Distribution in Excel Microsoft’s Excel is useful in performing basic calculations in statistics. Sometimes it is helpful to know all of the functions that are available to work with a particular topic. Here we will consider the functions in Excel that are related to the Student’s t-distribution. In addition to doing direct calculations with the t-distribution, Excel can also calculate confidence intervals and perform hypothesis tests. Functions Concerning the T-Distribution There are several functions in Excel that work directly with the t-distribution. Given a value along the t-distribution, the following functions all return the proportion of the distribution that is in the specified tail. A proportion in the tail can also be interpreted as a probability. These tail probabilities can be used for p-values in hypothesis tests. The T.DIST function returns the left tail of Student’s t-distribution. This function can also be used to obtain the y-value for any point along the density curve.The T.DIST.RT function returns the right tail of Student’s t-distribution.The T.DIST.2T function returns both tails of Student’s t-distribution. These functions all have similar arguments. These arguments are, in order: The value x, which denotes where along the x axis we are along the distributionThe number of degrees of freedom.The T.DIST function has a third argument , which allows us to choose between a cumulative distribution (by entering a 1) or not (by entering a 0). If we enter a 1, then this function will return a p-value. If we enter a 0 then this function will return the y-value of the density curve for the given x. Inverse Functions All of the functions T.DIST, T.DIST.RT and T.DIST.2T share a common property. We see how all of these functions start with a value along the t-distribution and then return a proportion. There are occasions when we would like to reverse this process. We start with a proportion and wish to know the value of t that corresponds to this proportion. In this case we use the appropriate inverse function in Excel. The function T.INV returns the left tailed inverse of Student’s T-distribution.The function T.INV.2T returns the two tailed inverse of Student’s T-distribution. There are two arguments for each of these functions. The first is the probability or proportion of the distribution. The second is the number of degrees of freedom for the particular distribution that we are curious about. Example of T.INV We will see an example of both the T.INV and the T.INV.2T functions. Suppose we are working with a t-distribution with 12 degrees of freedom. If we want to know the point along the distribution that accounts for 10% of the area under the curve to the left of this point, then we enter T.INV(0.1,12) into an empty cell. Excel returns the value -1.356. If instead we use the T.INV.2T function, we see that entering T.INV.2T(0.1,12) will return the value 1.782. This means that 10% of the area under the graph of the distribution function is to the left of -1.782 and to the right of 1.782. In general, by the symmetry of the t-distribution, for a probability P and degrees of freedom d we have T.INV.2T(P, d) ABS(T.INV(P/2,d), where ABS is the absolute value function in Excel. Confidence Intervals One of the topics on inferential statistics involves estimation of a population parameter. This estimate takes the form of a confidence interval. For example the estimate of a population mean is a sample mean. The estimate also possesses a margin of error, which Excel will calculate. For this margin of error we must use the CONFIDENCE.T function. Excel’s documentation says that the function CONFIDENCE.T is said to return the confidence interval using Student’s t-distribution. This function does return the margin of error. The arguments for this function are, in the order that they must be entered: Alpha – this is the level of significance. Alpha is also 1 – C, where C denotes the confidence level. For example, if we want 95% confidence, then we must enter 0.05 for alpha.Standard deviation – this is the sample standard deviation from our data set.Sample size. The formula that Excel uses for this calculation is: M t*s/ √n Here M is for margin, t* is the critical value that corresponds to the level of confidence, s is the sample standard deviation and n is the sample size. Example of Confidence Interval Suppose that we have a simple random sample of 16 cookies and we weigh them. We find that their mean weight is 3 grams with a standard deviation of 0.25 grams. What is a 90% confidence interval for the mean weight of all cookies of this brand? Here we simply type the following into an empty cell: CONFIDENCE.T(0.1,0.25,16) Excel returns 0.109565647. This is the margin of error. We subtract and also add this to our sample mean, and so our confidence interval is 2.89 grams to 3.11 grams. Tests of Significance Excel will also perform hypothesis tests that are related to the t-distribution. The function T.TEST returns the p-value for several different tests of significance. The arguments for the T.TEST function are: Array 1, which gives the first   set of sample data.Array 2, which gives the second set of sample dataTails, in which we can enter either 1 or 2.Type - 1 denotes a paired t-test, 2 a two-sample test with the same population variance, and 3 a two-sample test with different population variances.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Strategic marketing assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic marketing assignment - Essay Example 1 Skype is the market leader in the international voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone market. The software used by Skype allows the customers to use the internet in order to make free calls to other Skype users globally. In the process of doing business along with the internal factors, the external factors, the external environment also have the potential to enhance or subdue the performance of the business. The extent to which the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors affected the business of Skype has increased generate public awareness and acquisition by eBay. 2 Political Factors Skype defined as VoIP has an international outlook as it’s used by numerous people all over the world. So the political conditions are essential for the success of the Skype. Skype allows people to make free calls over the internet which has a direct advantage to the small business. But Skype has been suffering from many political issues over the ye ars. The governments of some emerging countries have tried to block Skype mainly because the telecom industry started to lose money due to lucrative international calls. China telecom has planned to block the access to Skype as Skype has been accused of security issues. Apart from the countries blocking Skype, based on its technology, assuming that no disruptive technology enter and challenges Skype, variations from different country tends to become less significant. With liberal regulations Skype has the opportunity to extend to developed countries and its presence along with eBay has a great potential for earning revenues and increase profits. In the emerging countries Skype has been facing difficulties but the company has the ability to capitalize in a positive manner along with eBay. Countries such as China where the political factors are often co related with the social and cultural issues, the possibility of Skype is less optimistic. The Middle Eastern Countries have also deni ed the use of Skype in their communication process and it can be said that the implication of the company are not favorable.3 Economical Factors The internet along with the digital civilization has brought about dramatic changes in the economic system as well s in the social structure caused mainly due to communications technologies. The economic condition which governs Skype reveals that a very minimal amount of risk is associated with Skype in the efficient running of its business. The business model of Skype peer to peer model is combined with the ability to leverage the resources of eBay in a cost effective manner in order to ensure competitiveness in pricing strategies.4 Skype is cost effective as it offers free online calls over the internet to people across the globe. Its low cost strategy has led to an increase in the perceived value since the savings associated to individuals are high and significant in the long run. According to sources, Skype has been regarded as one of t he fastest business which has fueled the growth rate for eBay. Skype has currently added about 150000 users per day for its 54million members in about 225 countries. Skype has generated revenue of about $7million in 2004 and achieved $200million in 2006. With Skype’s international existence, and popularity it would eventually help eBay with its international presence

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Financial Analysis - Southwest Airlines case Essay - 1

Financial Analysis - Southwest Airlines case - Essay Example This attitude is also visible in the recruitment activities of the airlines. While hiring new people the airlines gives preference to candidates with a combative and hardworking spirit. Besides this in the hiring process the airline officials look for traits like dedication, sense of humor and extroverted people with an empathetic attitude in dealing with the peoples’ emotions. The airline gives special emphasis to learning and expects its employees to learn even from the day to day job experiences. Leadership courses designed for the airline managers emphasize on encouraging, empowering and coaching and are not limited to supervision or rule enforcement. Through regular courses the cultural themes like trust, teamwork, diversity and harmony are ingrained in the employees and supervisors. The supervisory positions in the airline are mainly filled internally as it is the belief of the management that the people who had been in the system are better equipped in handling and understanding the beliefs of the co-workers and find acceptance among the peer. This concept of internal job promotion motivates the employees to put in their best performance. The compensation offered by the airline is higher than the industry standards and it also consists of a plan for profit-sharing for the senior employees. The company has a non-adversarial and harmonious relationship with the employee unions. Airline’s contract with the employee union does not consist of any restrictive rules permitting even the pilots, gate-keepers and ticket agents to perform loading and unloading work. South-west airline has a â€Å"no-layoff policy†. This is because the company is of the belief that laying-off people is only a short term measure of increasing business profits. Instead the com pany seeks to build a sense of trust with the employees as this makes the employees more loyal towards the company. For this reason the company has been successful in building a good-will with

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Online vs. Brick and Mortar Shopping Essay Example for Free

Online vs. Brick and Mortar Shopping Essay Abstract It seems that many of us are discovering a new and more convenient way of shopping, and this would be online. Online shopping has become a major way of making purchases today, and it seems to offer everything that your local department, grocery, or drug store does, only with more convenience. On the other hand, there are those â€Å"Die-Hard† shoppers who would rather pound the pavement and deal with the hustle and bustle of the crowds, either because of habit or tradition. The â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar† shoppers are the most common folk, who wouldn’t have it any other way, because to them there’s just something about personally choosing the items that they are purchasing. The online shopper seems to be less particular, when it comes to online shopping; you have to have a certain amount of faith in certain web sites when buying anything from items for the home to clothing. Online vs. Brick-and-Mortar shopping seem to be two ways of doing the same thing. Although online shopping takes a little more time for the consumer to receive their purchase(s), many people don’t seem to mind because of the convenience of it all. They seem to accept the risks that go along with it, and some of the risks could include getting the wrong size, color, or an item that doesn’t work properly. An item can always be shipped back, and we can wait on either another product or a refund, which can cause some inconvenience. When the â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar shoppers make their purchases, most of them are satisfied, because they have made the decision to take the time to personally inspect and admire their item(s) personally, and if something is not quite right, they have the option of returning to the store and waiting in line for customer service to either refund or exchange their item(s). It seems that there can be some inconvenience with  whatever method of shopping you choose. When you think of making a purchase, part of the excitement is in choosing your items personally, and you want to do that first hand and in person. There also leaves room for a chance meeting with friends and acquaintances, which open the opportunity for reconnecting and catching up on old times. If you choose to shop online, you won’t have that opportunity because computers don’t have that capability. To the Brick-and-Mortar shoppers, it’s just a way of life, and a part of living and staying socially connected to the happenings in the community. This can be an adventure or a task; it all just depends on the circumstances and the situation. Online shopping enables retailers to display merchandise which can be seen by people all around the globe, which wouldn’t have been possible in the case of visiting a store. Nevertheless, there are a series of disadvantages attached to the worldwide online shopping as well. For example, one of the main flaws is represented by security issues. Some of the advantages of traditional or â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar† shopping, are that you get what you see with no hitches, so you know if it’s right for you. It also gets you out of the house and if you are walking it keeps you fit. Some of the disadvantages to traditional shopping are that you might have to travel long lengths which cost more money, as Internet shopping can get delivered to your door. Sometimes you may have to look through almost every shop to get what you want, therefor on the Internet you type exactly what you need. While online shopping might be the right choice for purchasing some items, there are those items that require a more personal touch, such as clothing, personal items, food, and in some cases the medications that we take, all of these things require personal attention. To the Brick-and-Mortar shopper, they wouldn’t have it any other way because shopping is like an adventure that you don’t want anyone else to go on but yourself. When we choose to do our shopping online, it just seems that we are becoming less social and less active in our communities. When you go out and patronize your local department, grocery, or drug stores there’s something about feeling connected and a part of something. Online shopping has changed people’s lives, some people today only purchase online. For some, their geographic location makes a trip to the store almost impossible. Fortunately, the  Internet is both a time saver and a cost comparison opportunity, where you can frequently find not only what you are looking for, but also get the best prices (including shipping) by doing a little shopping comparison. Basically, the retailer today needs to focus on what all worldwide online shopping is offering to a customer. This would include an abundance of information besides perfect price transparency. Also on offer are a bouquet of special deals and much more. Retailers relying on the earlier formats will have to either adapt to this change or they will die out, since the new ones will pull volume from their stores and take away their profitability. Today the economic reality is well established that e-commerce is reaching for a much larger share in retail revenue. When we purchase items right now because we just can’t wait it is called â€Å"Hyperbolic Discounting†, it’s when you prefer an option that arrives sooner than later. Fortunately, this is one of the biases that you can really fight against. If you start comparing prices before you are actually in a store, you have a better chance of putting everything on the same delivery timeline. Two day shipping from Amazon to save fifty percent sounds very good when you’re sitting at your computer and thinking about the commute to the store. If you know the variation on prices beforehand, you’re more likely not to worry about getting it immediately. While some of us choose to do our shopping the traditional way, which means getting out there and dealing with the long lines and the crowds, all in for the sake of tradition or habit, there are those who choose to do their shopping online, which is more â€Å"Convenient†. It all boils down to the choices that we make, and our personal preference. This could lead us to believe that we may be becoming less social creatures, and if we really reflect on it, we might be. In the case of online vs. brick-and-mortar shopping and which is best, I would have to say that it’s a matter of choice. References Bibliography answers.com. (2012). online shopping. articlesfactory.com. (2012). Online shopping. .

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Literature Supports Trigger-Dispersion Theory :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Literature Supports Trigger-Dispersion Theory Having seen epileptic seizures and talking qualitatively about the experience with people who have epilepsy, I made five basic hypotheses about epilepsy. I collectively call these hypotheses my trigger dispersion theory of epilepsy. My five hypotheses are: 1 There is an area in the brain where abnormal firing associated with seizures begins. I will call this area the trigger area. From the trigger area, abnormal firing spreads to other areas of the brain compromising the function of the affected area. 2 There is a stimulus either external or internal which excites the trigger area. I will call this stimulus the trigger. The trigger can be very specific. 3 The first area affected after the trigger area is sensory. 4 The abnormal firing spreads from the sensory area to an area for motor control. In this paper, I will go through the hypotheses of the trigger-dispersion theory and discuss literature that supports each hypothesis. Hypothesis 1- There is an area in the brain where abnormal firing associated with seizures begins. I will call this area the trigger area. From the trigger area, abnormal firing spreads to other areas of the brain compromising the function of the affected area. During a seizure, certain cells (a seizure focus) begin to fire rapidly. In fact, nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses at a rate of up to four times higher than normal during a seizure (5) . This abnormal firing is spread this to other neighboring cells. In the brain of an epileptic, there is not enough inhibitory neurotransmitters to stop the spread of the abnormal firing (2) . In the 1800s, it was noted by Jackson that epileptic seizures begin in isolated parts of the body such as the thumb and from there spread to neighboring regions perhaps the arm and then to the rest of the body. He hypothesized that there were areas in cerebral cortex that controlled isolated movements and that the areas that were adjacent in the brain were anatomically adjacent as well. Therefore, a seizure began in one area and spread to the rest of the cortex. His hypothesis was later substantiated by Fritsch and Hittig's excitation experiments on motor cortex or area 4. It is a band of neural tissue on the cerebral cortex lying on precentral fissure. The body's movements are mapped out on this band giving rise to the spreading fashion that Jackson described during seizures (6) .

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Corrution the cancer of Indian society

The problem In our country is not the lack of knowledge or understanding about corrupt practices but the lack of courage to stand against such practices It Is very easy to target others including politicians but what about common man? WE HAVE to understand that the system is corrupt because we are also corrupt. First, we have to change ourselves then only we can expect change In others. This Is a very old method to point the fingers towards the wrongdoing of others. But no one is ready to check their own character. M really questioning the validity of self- referred right people. Before pointing fingers towards others, including politicians and other government employees, we should Introspect ourselves. I am seeing that everybody is ready to abuse the system but what about ourselves. Are we common people really different from those who are in politics and other sphere of life and running this country? No, that is the truth. We are no more different from those whom we are abusing cont inuously on different forum Including media.We are ready to talk about corruption till the time we want to abuse politics. For me doing anything ring is also a type of corruption and most of us in some way or other are involved in corrupt practices. It is quite possible that most readers will not agree with me on this because they are also in the same boat. Let us see whatever what I am saying is correct or not. We are ready to pay money in the form of bribe to get connections of different types such as gas, water, and electricity – all out of turn.There may be others In the society who are not able to pay such bribes to get such connections out of turn and even some time they have to Walt for longer period of time just because of people like us so called middle class who ant corruption to be eradicated from society. There are others In the middle class – especially small time businessmen like shopkeepers of different types, – and they may be earning more than w hat we are getting in the form of our monthly salary but they are not ready to pay income tax.There will be more than 10 million such shops in our country and most of them are not paying enough taxes as per law. People opposing FED in retail sector are actually supporting such shopkeepers. What is the need in the world for the parties to fight on such important issue of FED because of such tax evaders? They know very well how to evade Income tax and other taxes and they are at the same time running a market of black money. Whereas FED will bring a lot of money to the government in the form different taxes but it will ensure transparency too in the retail segment.So basic question remains are we really Interested to eradicate corruption from our society? If the answer is yes, then we have to start from ourselves rather than ask others to do. First, we have to change and then only we can expect the change in suit. Let us assume one person in each family take a vow to be not corrupt wh atever resistances will be there believe me that more than 50% corruption will eradicate at very such time. Gandhi]' had stressed that there is enough in the world for man's need but hopelessly not adequate for his greed.In India, it is the greed of a very few individuals that has threatened the teeming billion odd population of starvation, environmental degradation, uncontrolled rise in pollution and deteriorating environmental standards. Looking at Ago in the last 60 years, there is a visible difference. Ago through the sass right up to the late sass sustained itself admirably on solar energy. The ignite of labor saw every Goanna earn his bread through the day and sleep peacefully at night. The spring waters were pure, clean and rich in minerals, smoothening, invigorating and refreshing.Food supply may not have been plentiful but was adequate. The helpless and those ‘unfortunates' incapable of labor were looked after by the family, neighbors, friends or the societal form of institutions like the temple and church institutions or the likes of provider. No doubt then that although there was exploitation of the maunders by a handful of bathmats, by and large the incidences of robberies, rapes, murders and crimes were ender control thus affording Goons the tag of a ‘peaceful society'.Goons were appreciated as gentle, hardworking, talented and a faithful workforce. Goanna musicians, cooks, clerks, doctors, administrators, nannies, personal assistants, engineers and scientists became role models in all walks of life and made their mark in politics too. Goons strives hard to ensure the environment remained clean, green and salubrious. Do we have courage to take such a vow? I don't think so. If yes, for which chances are very less, then it will be really good for the country as a whole.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Organizational Behavior Issues in Aussieco Essay

Aussieco, an Australian company established as a small manufacturing and service operation company in 1962 is now a fully expanded company with 600 employees. The company built its reputation on a single product holding 90 per cent of the Australian market in the 1980. Over the years the market holding has gone down by 30 percent in spite of the product being unique and company facing little competition in the market (Jones,Gal, n. d) The downturn in Aussieco’s performance is mainly due to issues with the company’s management and organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior refers to ‘the understanding, prediction and management of human behavior in organizations’ (Luthans,2010). It is the study of individuals and their behavior in a work place. A company’s performance and outcome largely depends on its organizational behavior as it is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management. Aussieco’s organizational behavior issues can be explained through Henri Fayol’s 14 management principles. Henri Fayol’s theory of administration and organizational behavior focuses on the personal duties of management and managerial effectiveness which aussieco lacked. (Fayol,1971). The company has inexperienced staff and no specialization as major high authority staff is friends and family without skilled knowledge. The executive managing director is the owner’s nephew with no practical or industrial experience. The production supervisor is the production manager’s best friend who has little knowledge of the daily production tasks as he is a carpet fitter by qualification. Employees at the operative level are migrant labor mostly lacking formal qualification. On diversification, management failed to understand the changing market needs. Aussieco follows the power culture where control is centralized. The major motivational or driving force is fear (Luthans,2011). Suggestions and personal preferences are not welcomed. The owner-chairman reacts in a strong negative way if any manager’s opinion differentiates from his. This lack of consultation leads to staff feeling de motivated and undervalued. Though there has been division of labor and departmentalization in the company but the managers lack authority and responsibility. On the instance of owner accepting order from a bad debt customer without consulting the general manager shows lack of authority for the manager. Owner’s dictatorial attitude and ignorance of modern trends hold back the dedicated managers to improve and bring changes in the company’s working, as they are either fired from the job or become his instant enemies. The company lacks discipline and employee commitment. Lack of loyalty, no willingness to put high levels of effort, no belief in the company’s goals and vales and lack of faith in the management all together leads to all the issues of Aussieco. During lunch hours the senior management and sales staff have access to unlimited alcohol in the workplace. Assembly line workers underperform and hold back production with vague excuses. Subordination of individual interest over the company’s interest and goal is one of the major problems of Aussieco Employees overtime to get paid extra and not for productive outcomes. Also the senior programmer in spite of completing his work order uses his work holiday for personal matters. There is lack of equity and justice among the employees. The rule being everyone must vacate office during lunch break but exceptions for the senior management and sales staff that eat in the work place, operatives and other staff are allowed no food or drinks in the workplace. The migrant staff is treated well and better than its own internal staff. There are less internal promotions. High employee turnover, no stability of tenure of personnel is another major issue with Aussieco. To attain maximum productivity of personnel it is essential to have a stable workforce, which Aussieco lacks. There are frequent mass resignations in the company. No production manager lasts for more than 3 years in the company. The post of personnel manager is vacant since 2 months. Employees have no job security and thus are not fully committed to their work. This further increases the company’s costs of recruitment,selection and training. There is lack of motivation and initiative by the management for the welfare of the employees. There is lack of rewards, appraisal and bonus. The workshop roofs are without insulation and leak during heavy rain, no doors and filthy windows point toward bad and unhealthy working conditions. This even gave a loss of $AUS 500,000 when water leakage blew a computerized robot. No parking area provided for the employees, who reach frustrated to the office,which in turn shows in their slow performance. Lack of structured work, irregularity in work and no proper accounts and records maintained by the managers is another organizational issue for Aussieco. Though the record showed a stock of 4700 resistors but none could be located. A welder forgotten by the company after fitting of new automat is idle and has no contribution in the company. Reasons why these problems occur. One of the major reason for the organizational issues of aussieco is the employee attitude. Job satisfaction focuses on employee attitude and organizational commitment focuses on their attitude towards the organization. Job satisfaction is determined by how well the expectations of employees are met in return of their output (Luthans,2011). The aspects of job satisfication are not met by Aussieco. Employees of Aussieco are unsatisfied with the kind of work they get, the job provides less opportunities for learning and less responsibility. There is lack of remuneration and pay, less promotional opportunities, bad working conditions. This high level of job dissatisfaction of employees reflects in their low performance, company’s low profits, high employee turnover, high absenteeism and low level of commitment towards the company. The attitude of employees in an organization is largely influenced by the kind of environment the organization posses and further the attitude of employees affects their efficiency and performance at the organizational level. The environment of aussieco is not employee friendly thus employees have a negative attitude. Employee traits can be best explained by the Five factor model. Job performance is highly dependent on an individual’s conscientiousness (i. e dutifulness, persistence, industriousness) and emotional stability (i. anxiety, security, suspiciousness). In Aussieco employees had low conscientiousness and low emotional stability which affected their overall task performance and contextual performance. Organizational commitment is an important attitude toward the employers and the company. It is the extent to which we identify with them. Most of the employees, posses’ continuance organizational commitment, which is a calculative approach, where they chose to continue working in the company because they ‘have to’ rather than their want or obligation. This attitude is influenced by perceived costs of leaving the company, lack of opportunities, age, peer pressure, society expectations etc. Employees of Aussieco developed this attitude because of the mechanistic treatment they receive and lack of empathy from management. Autocracy is the concentration of power and authority in hands of one person. The management of Aussieco has an autocratic structure with the owner having unlimited power and absolute authority. There is a strict hierarchical structure; orders are sent from top level to bottom level. Ideas, personal opinions and suggestions are unwelcomed. In this management style managers believe workers must be controlled to ensure maximum productivity (Luthans,2011). Aussieco’s structure can be best explained by Douglas McGregor’s theory X. This theory represents an assumption of conflicting and negative working attitudes. The managers assume an average person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible, thus must be forced with threat of punishment to achieve organizational goals. An average person prefers to be directed and avoids responsibility. This approach encourages deadline and ultimatums, arrogant and demanding managers, mechanistic approach, no concern toward staff and one way communication (Jeremiah,2009). In Aussieco this approach resulted in a negative attitude by the employees, made them insecure and unhappy. Lack of Taylor’s scientific management. Frederik winslow taylor’s key idea was to improve industrial efficiency scientifically. He encouraged scientifically selecting and training workers and regularly monitoring their work to improve efficiency which also improves work man happiness and positivity (Lynch,1984). Aussieco lacked scientific selection, training and development of workmen and passively left them to train themselves. Managers did not supervise and provide instructions to the employees and there was no division of work between managers and workers. There was lack of specialization, standardized and systematic approach. The company continuously changed its suppliers for cheapest material available, a supplier providing 99. 5% quality level charging $20 per unit was replaced with a supplier charging $12per unit. The quality of the product suffered, increasing customer complaints and affecting the goodwill of the company negatively. There is lack of communication between departments, department managers and workers and senior management and managers. The senior management is unapproachable and not interested in the issues of the company and workers. Though Taylorism has faced criticism of exploitation, mechanistic approach etc but in relation to Aussieco, the company needs to adapt certain principles of Taylorism for a better organizational working. To conclude Ausseico’s major issue is organizational and management structure. The company should have a more humanistic and realistic approach with a right balance of authority and responsibility.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay

buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay The abbreviations CPO stand for Chief Purchasing Officer. TOC, on the other hand, stands for total ownership cost. It is the total of all costs that have a connection to the production, procurement use and disposal of a given asset. It covers expenses such as inventory and transportation costs too. Note that ownership cost goes beyond the purchasing price. (Weele, 2010) In addition to the purchasing cost, TOC comprises of; transportation cost, customs or duties, warehousing, inventory holding costs, impacts of quality yield rate, servicing cost, projected repair cost and purchasing administrative cost. The CPOs who have a lot of experience find that models developed using suppliers inputs are the most effective in controlling the future costs. (Demir, 2002) If I were in the on the office of the chief purchase officer of a company such as Nissan company, I would use TOC strategy to reduce the expenses of my company, there by increasing savings. TOC has a number of advantages to the organizations that employ it in their planning. A company like Honda Company developed a TOC model. Honda learnt that castings constituted thirty two percent of their total spending. Electrical components constituted fifteen percent, while non-production commodities and services constituted twenty percent. This analysis accounted for seventy-five percent of their total spending. (Weele, 2010) After a deeper search in the 75% expenditure, Honda learnt that the key expense drivers include supplier inventory. Supplier transportation is yet another expense driver. This one comprises of the total expense that the supplier of row materials incurs in the process of transporting them to Honda Company. We also have supplier rejections as well as scrap. These expense drivers comprise of the materials that are faulty; therefore, they ca not be used i the manufacturing process. Scrap, on the other hand, is the waste materials. The last expense driver that Honda identified was supplier material handling driver. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is important to note that all these costs have a relation to errors in the company, and processes that support the production flow. It is because of the TOC driver research that Honda realized where to focus on the supplier development in supply chain techniques. According to Honda, TOC models help to identify and minimize cost drivers. Therefore, it is essential for a CPO to have a TOC model in place to enable him to detect such errors and production flow weaknesses for correction. TOC model enhances accurate forecast thus reducing inventory-holding costs. Suppliers learn TOC techniques that help them to control their vendors. It also brings about cost-based targets that facilitate mutual gain sharing. We learn all these benefits of having a TOC model from the Honda Company. (Weele, 2010) We also learn from Hiromichi, which uses Toyota quality assurance techniques that TOC helps to minimize purchasing target prices and internal costs of a firm. The company guides supplier process improvement and target price initiatives. It supports commodity councils to find the best suppliers available. It performs price-versus-quality trade-offs using industry TOC models. It also conducts a search for innovative sources within the global supply base. More over, it recommends potential gain sharing with high-performing suppliers looking inward to reduce internal costs. (Demir, 2002) The staff of Hiromichi promotes internal manufacturing cost and waste reduction. It preserves knowledge and skills in critical core processes, as well. The company staff guides initiatives to reduce administrative costs of purchasing. It trains others in industry and financial analysis, ass well as negotiation and mediation techniques. The aim of all this is to lower the total cost of purchases. (Weele, 2010) In order to control the cost of purchasing, Hiromichi learnt from Toyota that it should focus critical decisions on the long term, even at short-term financial risk. It was also necessary to promote leaders who understand processes well enough to teach others. In addition, it should not produce or ship inferior goods; fix the problems instead. It learnt that it should Use process flow analysis to reveal problems. Equally, it should develop exceptional generalists to serve on well-supported teams. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is crucial to visit the work site to understand an emerging problem. One should also respect suppliers and employees and help them improve perhaps by offering in-job training. There ought to be consensus among the stakeholders to assess and decide, then implement rapidly. Lastly, they learnt that well-tested technology must fit their strategy, not the reverse. (Burrow Bosiljevac, 2009) It is vital to produce to demand. This means that the company should not strive for over production. It was necessary to Level out workload and identify the limits of constraints. Standardization of tasks to enable consistency was as well found to be of significant essence. They had to practice continuous improvement of processes through relentless reflection. Wastes in time, touches, movement, costs, and rework had to be eradicated as they contribute highly to increased costs. (Weele, 2010) From these two companies, we see that for a company to be leading in competitive markets, it has to establish highly efficient management systems. These systems enable the company to have an accurate forecast thus avoiding wasteful expenditures. We can achieve this through the development of TOC models only. (Demir, 2002) Buy custom Total Ownership Cost essay

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Biography of Dolley Madison, Bipartisan First Lady

Biography of Dolley Madison, Bipartisan First Lady Born Dolley Payne, Dolley Madison (May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was first lady of the United States as the wife of James Madison, the country’s fourth president. Over the course of her tenure as first lady, she was instrumental in forging friendly and social relationships between members of different political parties. Fast Facts: Dolley Madison Full Name:  Dolley Payne Todd MadisonOccupation: First lady of the United StatesBorn: May 20, 1768 in New Garden, North CarolinaDied: July 12, 1849 in Washington, D.C.Known For: As first lady, Dolley Madison influenced bipartisan efforts and was known for her grace and charm as a hostess.Spouses: John Todd (m. 1790-1793), James Madison (m. 1794-1836)Children: John Payne Todd (1792-1852), William Temple Todd (1793-1793) Quaker Childhood Dolley was the first daughter of Mary Coles Payne and John Payne Jr., Virginian transplants to North Carolina. Her mother was a lifelong Quaker, and her father joined the faith upon marrying Mary in 1761. In 1769, the Paynes returned to Virginia, where they raised their children on the family plantation. As a child, Dolley was very close to her mother’s family. The Paynes had four daughters (including Dolley) and four sons. As Quakers, the family was somewhat anti-slavery, and in 1783, they emancipated all their slaves. That same year, when Dolley was fifteen, the family moved again, this time to Philadelphia, where John Payne started a business as a starch merchant. Unfortunately, his business failed by 1791, resulting in his expulsion from the Quaker community. He died in 1792. First Marriage In 1790, when she was 22 years old, Dolley married John Todd, a Quaker lawyer whom she met in Philadelphia. They soon had two sons: John Payne Todd (named for Dolley’s father) and William Temple Todd (born in 1793). Her sister, Anna Payne, also moved in to help with the children.   Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828). Dolley Dandridge Payne Todd Madison, 1804. Oil on canvas. White House Historical Association (White House Collection) Tragedy struck in 1793, when a yellow fever epidemic tore through Philadelphia, killing more than five thousand people over the course of four months. Dolley lost her husband, her son William, and her in-laws to the epidemic. In the aftermath, she was stuck dealing not only with her grief and raising her surviving son, but with the legal limitations placed on women inheriting. Because her brother-in-law was the executor of her husband’s will, he was able to withhold her inheritance from her until forced to retract after a lawsuit. At the time, laws around women’s financial rights left many women in positions like Dolley’s. Because women were severely limited in their ability to earn money or own any property, they were almost entirely financially dependent on male relatives, under a system known as coverture- the doctrine that essentially subsumed all of a woman’s rights into her husband’s upon marriage. Mrs. Madison Dolley was a young widow, only 25 years old, and was considered a very beautiful woman. Living in Philadelphia, the temporary capital of the new United States, resulted in Dolley encountering many of the elite figures of the time. Dolley was staying at a boarding house, where the lawyer Aaron Burr was also living. Burr had attended college with James Madison, who was then representing Virginia as a congressman in the House of Representatives. Reportedly, it was Burr’s idea to introduce his old friend and his neighbor. In early 1794, Burr introduced the two, and they apparently hit it off quickly. Although Dolley would have been aware of the necessity of remarriage in order to support herself and her son, she and Madison did apparently care deeply for each other- despite an age gap of seventeen years. They married that September, resulting in Dolley’s expulsion from the Quaker community for marrying outside her faith; she adopted James’ Episcopal faith instead. Drawings of the coin honoring Dolley Madison from the U.S. Mints First Spouse Gold Coin Program are displayed in the East Room of the White House November 19, 2007 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Madison served eight years in the House of Representatives before retiring from politics in 1797. Their family returned to Virginia, where Dolley helped her husband expand their house on his estate of Montpelier. However, the retirement didn’t last long. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson won the presidency, and he asked Madison to take the post of Secretary of State. Madison accepted, and he and his family moved to Washington. Because Jefferson was a widower, Dolley stepped in to fulfill some of the traditional functions of the first lady, as set out by Martha Washington. She assisted in furnishing the White House and served as hostess on several state occasions, while also befriending the wives of many international diplomats. During this era, she gained a reputation for her charm and graciousness. First Lady and Later Legacy Madison was the nominee of the Democratic-Republican Party in the 1808 election and won the presidency; he was reelected four years later as well. She functioned as the official hostess of the administration, smoothing over political tensions with her grace and social finesse. It was her social events, in fact, that helped bring together politicians of different parties. During her tenure as first lady, Dolley also participated in the advances of the ages: she was the only first lady given an honorary seat on the floor of Congress, and the first American to receive and reply to a telegraph message. Illustration shows American First Lady Dolley Madison (1768 - 1849) as she holds aloft the Declaration of Independence, as British soldiers approach the White House, Washington DC, August 24, 1814. Though Madison did save a number of documents from the White House, Gilbert Stuarts portrait of George Washington was the most historically important item she saved, and this image, which even includes a cracked display case in the background, is a fictional representation of the events. Stock Montage / Getty Images Dolley’s most famous action came in 1814- and, technically, it wasn’t even hers. During the War of 1812, British forces attacked Washington and burned much of the relatively new city. As the presidential staff hurried to depart, Dolley ordered that a painting of George Washington, a copy of the famous Lansdowne portrait, be taken down and saved. In popular culture, Dolley was depicted as the one who saved the painting, in reality, it was the house’s servants (or, more accurately, slaves) who did the saving. After Madison’s tenure as president ended in 1817, the family returned to Montpelier, where they enjoyed retirement. James Madison died on June 28, 1836, and Dolley spent the next year organizing and copying his papers for their records and for publication. She then returned to Washington, along with her sister Anna, in 1837. The Montpelier plantation was left in the care of her son, Payne Todd, but he suffered from alcoholism and other illnesses and was unable to carry out his duties properly. Instead, Dolley sold off Montpelier and the plantation’s remaining slaves to pay off her family’s debts. In her later years, Dolley Madison remained a fixture in Washington, as one of the last remaining members of the prominent Revolutionary War families. Over the years, her finances were intermittently shaky, and she sold the rest of her husband’s papers to help support herself. She passed away at the age of 81 at her home in Washington in 1849, and was first buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, then reinterred alongside James at Montpelier. Along with other early presidential wives such as Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison defined the role of the first lady and used social gatherings to work towards bipartisan cooperation in a chaotic era. Sources Allgor, Catherine. A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation. New York: Henry Holy Co., 2006.â€Å"First Lady Biography: Dolley Madison.† National First Ladies Library, firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography4.Howat, Kenna, ed. â€Å"Dolley Madison.† National Women’s History Museum, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolley-madison.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Addiction can self discipline help Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Addiction can self discipline help - Essay Example The human being primarily desires relationships. In the absence of wholesome relationships the heart remains unfulfilled. We are created to receive satisfaction and joy through interaction and attachment with others.When we are denied these an emotional hole remains which we endeavour to fulfil through other non-relational or relational means, which could be dysfunctional. Sometimes these coping mechanisms could remain harmless and not cause substantial damage to the person's lifestyle. When these coping mechanisms become dangerous and beyond control, they turn into addiction.Experts differ on the use of the term 'addiction'. Some would like to limit the use to apply only to cases of drug or alcohol use which have gone beyond acceptable levels. Nevertheless the term 'addiction' is also used to describe out of control behaviour in areas like eating, gambling or sex.This is because it is recognised that in all the above cases the 'addict' engages in behaviour that is directly or indire ctly detrimental to his well being. Often the addict is well aware of the adverse effect of his addictive behaviour, but is unable to stop the behaviour. Addiction is often characterized by a craving for more of the drug or behavior, increased physiological tolerance to exposure, and withdrawal symptoms in the absence of the stimulus. Many drugs and behaviours that provide either pleasure or relief from pain pose a risk of addiction or dependency (Wikipedia). It is normal to expect the immediate reaction to addiction as one that is judgmental where one tends to lose respect for the person having the problem. This is understandable because a lay person who is confronted with an addict cannot understand the justification for the addict to continue with the addiction. Everyone has heard of alcoholics, but even in an informed age very few sympathize with one. The more natural response is to hold the addict responsible for his addiction and put it down to failure in self discipline. The question that needs to be asked is why is it that certain people have certain addictions while others don't. On the outset it may seem that an alcoholic (for example) has a greater affinity to alcohol than other normal people. The truth is that this greater affinity for alcohol came about because this person has been denied other needs which he is trying to fulfill through his consumption of alcohol. As another example we may take a woman who has a string of disruptive relationships with men. The reason for this could be a dysfunctional relationship with her father where she does not get adequate love from him. She attempts to fulfill this unmet need through her other relationships. Sadly, she can never fulfill that need in the method she adopts because no one can substitute for her father. So she is embroiled in a vicious cycle of search and disappointment, and we have an addict to the search for love (Hart). Unless a focused attempt is made by the person with or without help professional or otherwise to expose the unmet need that is causing the addiction, the relationship between the addiction and its cause remains unknown. In fact most of the time the addict is in denial about his/her pain. This pattern of denial appears to be a response of the mind to the pain or the need in order to make the solution more effective. And this pattern only makes the addiction stronger because the person slips into dependency without being conscious of the need which the addiction is meeting. The more unconscious this relationship the more powerful the addiction (Hart). When we talk about self discipline we are saying that following a practice of abstinence from the addictive behavior will help in reducing the behaviour. There have been cases of men and women with great amount of will power who have successfully abstained and eventually

Friday, November 1, 2019

Potatoes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Potatoes - Essay Example Its Latin name is Solanum tuberosum L. and is a perennial plant i.e. present at all seasons of the year. (Rhodes, 2009). In the genus Solanum, Petota comprises of around 190 wild tuber-bearing species, and are extensively spread in the Americas, from the South Western USA to Southern Chile and Argentina and from sea level to the highlands of the Andes Mountains (Visser et al., 2009). A universally accepted taxonomy does not exist for cultivated potatoes. The interested part of the potato crop plant is a tuber, the enlarged end of a stolon, or underground stem. Externally tuber appears as tan to purple color while; its flesh is normally white or light yellow, except for some purple Andrean potatoes. The tuber buds off externally that can sprout into new crops. These buds or eyes function like a fruit seeds which give rise to new plants (Rhodes, 2009). Cross breeding techniques between common potato varieties and wild potato varieties are used to produce crop plants with desirable traits such as broad spectrum resistances to pests and diseases, tolerances to frost and drought, high yielding and highly nutritious crops in adverse biotic and abiotic stimuli, high quality storage characteristics, easy processing etc (Visser et al., 2009). In addition to this, developed countries are also emphasizing on organically prepared and processed potato. The production of diverse and abundant food to sustain the demand of increasing population is the need of the day. The supply of abundant, cheapest, diverse and safest food becomes an immense challenge in developing world. In this regard, root and tuber crops can contribute significantly. The annual growth rates of potato production are increasing by 4.5 million tons per year (Visser et al., 2009). It tops the list in non-grain food commodity, while secures third position as an important food crop after wheat and rice (Visser et al., 2009). It has been reported that in 2007, 325 million