Personal Computer and Local Area Networks

1. Scalabilit y refers to the ability of a computer, product, or system to be available 24/7 for constant use without breaking down. (True/False) 2. Software that manages the resources of the computer is called A) operating system software. B) application software. C) data management software. D) network software. 3. Reducing computer power consumption is a top priority for grid computing. (True/False) 4.The network standard for connecting desktop computers into local area networks that enabled the widespread adoption of client/server computing and local area networks and further stimulated the adoption of personal computers is A) TCP/IP B) COBOL C) Ethernet D) ASCII 5. Which of the following is NOT an example of the emerging mobile computing platforms? A) netbooks B) the Kindle C) cell phones D) CRM E) iPad 6. Connecting geographically remote computers in a single network to create a â€Å"virtual supercomputer† is called A) co-location.B) edge computing. C) grid computing. D ) utility computing. E) cloud-computing 7. In the age of the Internet, Porter's traditional competitive forces model is still at work, but: a)Competitive rivalry has become much more intense b)Barrier to entry is higher c)Customer demands are unpredictable d)Suppliers come and go 8. In the value chain model, primary activities are most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm's products and services that create value for the: a)broker )supplier c)customer d)organization e)system 9. Which of the following is NOT one of the competitive forces? A) suppliers B) other competitors C) external environment D) customers E) wholesalers and distributors 10. Which of the following statements is NOT true about information technology's impacts on business firms? A) It helps firms expand in size. B) It helps firms lower the cost of market participation. C) It helps reduce internal management costs. D) It helps reduce transaction costs.

Describe and Explain the Findings of the Vegetation

Describe and explain the findings of the vegetation quadrats along a transect on Studland sand dunes. Figure 1 Figure 1 The results of the vegetation quadrats along a transect on Studland sand dunes showed that the amount of vegetation increased and changed, while the percentage of bare ground decreased as the sampling sites increased. The reasons behind this can be explained by clarifying what a typical transect is, starting with low embryo dunes near the shoreline and much taller mature dunes several hundred meters back from the shore (as indicated in Figure 1).As you follow the transect from the beach, the dunes get older and the vegetation changes, gradually coving more and more bare sand and increasing in height. A graph to show % vegetation cover on Studland Dunes A graph to show % vegetation cover on Studland Dunes The data suggests that at the first sampling point that there is no vegetation present. This can be justified by the fact that the sample was taken just as the dune s started on the embryo dune.Therefore reasons for no vegetation is that there are extreme conditions at this point; very high pH values (8+); rapid drainage; no humus; high wind speed and lots of salt spray, all of which make it almost impossible for vegetation to grown and the colonies, furthermore this dune can be disappear as quickly as they form. From the graph we can see that sample site 2, 3 and 4 that is on average 98% bare ground and some vegetation is appearing as is suggests there is 2% marram grass, and at sample site 5 and 6 have a 100% cover in marram grass.I think the reasons for this is because there is sparse vegetation it must be a fore dune and sample 5 and 6 might be on a yellow dune. The percentages can be explained by using knowledge of the fore and dunes which are similar except for the their maturity (yellow dunes being older and slightly more developed). Thus, the vegetation has started to grow there because there is reduced winds speed (although its still h igh, marram grass has long deep roots), decreased pH values (marram grass is salt tolerant), water is lightly more retentive (marram grass has inrolled leaves to reduce moisture loss), some humus is formed and the dune surface is continuously blow away and replaced by new sand (when t is replaced it accumulated around vegetation, however strangely marram grass thrives on being buried in sand). At sample sites 7 to 10 the graph suggest that many plants are co-existing and are also closer together which is suggested by the fact that there is 0% for bare ground, also the height of vegetation increases to 90cm, which are all characteristics of grey dunes.The wider variety, and the densely population vegetation can be explained by the features of the dune, which is a lower pH, less wind (shelter by seaward dunes), therefore less mobile sand, thus sand no longer accumulating and higher humus content all of which combine together to make a better habitat for vegetation. Lastly sample sites 11-16 must be the mature dunes, however the graph also indicates this as almost all those samples have a large percentage of heather, which is extremely common in mature dunes.Mature dunes are perfect for acid loving plants (like heather) and a wide variety co-exist together, in mature dunes there is normally acidic soils, increased organic mater content (humus), rich in nutrition and shelter developed for seaward dunes. In sample site 14 it is almost an anomaly for mature dunes, in retrospect the sample could have been in a dune slack as it is a 100% moss, because in dune slacks you find moisture loving plants, which can survive in damp low lying hollows, when there is a high water table in winter and varying pH habitat, all of which moss could with stand.Overall the graph to showing the percentage of vegetation cover and height on Studland Dunes can be explained by understanding the transect of the beach, as vegetation changes along the transect according to the pH, wind conditio n, the soils moisture, and all other factors which have been said above depending on the dunes maturity.

Paper on John Pierport Morgan: Father of Modern United States Economy

John Pierpont Morgan is considered one of the founding fathers of the modern United States economy. Morgan was a banker, railroad czar, industrialist, financier, philanthropist, yachtsman, and ladies' man. The wealth of the Morgan family did not begin with Pierpont but with his grandfather Joseph Morgan. Joseph's first son was Junius Spencer Morgan, also destined for the life of a businessman. In 1864 Junius took over the Peabody Company and changed the name to J. S. Morgan & Co. John Pierpont Morgan was born on April 17, 1837 in Hartford, Connecticut. The family prospered in Hartford until Junius moved the family to Boston where Morgan began Boston English High. In 1857, Junius Morgan decided to broaden his son's experience by sending him to New York. The firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co. was the American representation of the George Peabody Company. In less than three years Morgan went from clerk to cashier in the company. In 1860 Morgan left Duncan, Sherman and founded J. P. Morgan and Company to act as an agent for his father's business. In 1864 Morgan joined up with another former businessman of Duncan, Sherman & Company, Charles Dabney. Charles Dabney and Morgan started their own company named Dabney, Morgan & Co. Morgan's business continued to grow as he intensively involves his company in more trade and commerce transactions. In 1871 Dabney retired and Anthony J. Drexel became Morgan's new senior partner. Drexel was already the head of the Philadelphia investment bank Drexel & and Company. The new company Drexel Morgan & Co. became one of the largest and most successful companies on Wall Street. When Junius Morgan died in 1890, J. P. became head of the London house. Anthony Drexel also died in 1893, and Morgan reorganized the Morgan and Drexel firms two years later. The New York based Drexel Morgan became J. P Morgan & Co. Morgan was an imposing figure on Wall Street and in the financing world but was virtually unknown to many until 1869. That year a war over railroads began including Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, both famous financiers. Gould already had dominant control over the Erie railroad and began to buy up stock in the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad. The board of the railroad was prevented from issuing new stock to protect itself and the president of the company, Joseph Ramsey, was suspended. Ramsey and the board of the company fought Gould buy acquiring more shares of the company. The board of directors and Ramsey asked Morgan for his financial support. Morgan deposed the Erie railroad directors and was more than happy to assist the Ramsey plea. Through legal feuds with Boss Tweed and other characters and holding covert stockholder meetings, Morgan was able to obtain a lease over the company. The state supreme court upheld the lease and ensured ownership over the company to Morgan, Ramsey and the original owners. The legislature, at the time, began to propose control of railroad management, prevent stock watering, and tax profits. William H. Vanderbilt, the legislature, at the time, began to propose control of railroad management, prevent stock watering, and tax profits. Vanderbilt inherited eighty seven percent of the stock of the New York Central Railroad. He made a secret agreement with Morgan to sell 250,000 shares of his stock to English investors. Vanderbilt also agreed to combine the Central railroad with the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad. When the news broke out about the deal, Morgan was praised as an economic genius and stepped out of his father's shadow. As Morgan enjoyed his position on the board of the New York Central, he used his position to settle a dispute of railroad organization in 1885. New York Central was competing with Pennsylvania railroad for control over the West Shore line. The two companies were engaging in rate wars and for control over surrounding lines. A second offspring, the South Pennsylvania line, was built by the Central to compete with the Pennsylvania line. Morgan argued that is was senseless for Vanderbilt and Gould, the two leaders, to compete over the lines. The two parties agreed and Morgan was again hailed as an industrial wizard. Mr. Morgan developed into the nation's railroad reorganizer. Morgan was brought in to slash the value of the watered stock, reduce interest rates on the bonds, and assess the shareholders for more money. Morgan's plans for the Philadelphia and Reading lines were working well until their president A. Archibald McLeod waged was against Pierpont. In 1888, John Pierpont was again called on to reorganize railroads in the east. Morgan was unsympathetic with governmental regulation; however, he sought to help enforce the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. After the Panic of 1893, the government called on Morgan once more to reorganize a large number of leading railroad systems of the country. Various devices were used to ensure Morgan's continued control and that of his associates over the companies. Morgan's methods of railroad organization followed a standard pattern with small variations. Third, Morgan and his associates would always charge enormous fees for their services. Morgan's reputation most likely grows from his role in the emergence of many modern companies. Morgan, through his innate business sense, helped launch some of America's largest corporations. Morgan was now known throughout the land for reorganizing the railroad system. Morgan was one of the earliest of Thomas Edison. Morgan continued to support the growing company by acquiring many stock shares and facilitating the company's merger with the Thomson-Houston Electrical Company. This merger created the General Electric company, one of the most prominent companies in the modern world. Morgan went on to help create the Federal Steel Company, the National Tube Company and the American Bridge Company. One of Morgan's most famous business deals was the formation of the United States Steel Corporation in 1901. Morgan collaborated with Elbert Gary and John Gates to consolidate different steel companies to form a â€Å"supercombination. † The U. S Steel Corporation was organized and acquired the outstanding bonds and stocks of the Carnegie Company. The company also bought the preferred stocks of Federal Steel, National Steel, National Tube, American Steel & Wire, American Tin Plate, American Steel Hoop, American Sheet Steel, Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines and American Bridge Company. Morgan agreed to reorganize the situation and the two companies Deering Harvester and McCormick Harvesting Machine were merged with three other small companies to create the International Harvester Company. A Boston firm primarily financed the American Telephone and Telegraph Company when they faced a consortium of New York bankers in 1902. The New Yorkers, led by J. P Morgan, brought back Theodore Vail as head of the company and funded the company with one hundred million dollars to reorganize the company on a national scale. After 1906, the company was revived and a commanding force it was also principally backed by the house of Morgan. At the time many people believed that Morgan as well as other wealthy financiers including Carnegie and Rockefeller were stronger than the government and were not subject to ordinary laws. Morgan was said to have greatly profited from the transaction, although much upheaval was caused when Morgan refused to reveal his profits to a congressional committee. The panic of 1907 had begun with the public in mayhem and the government turning once again to Morgan for his leadership. Morgan pooled together an emergency committee with Rockefeller, Harriman, Frick, Schiff and H. H. Rodgers. This meaning of great financial leaders decided to help deal with the problem and deposit money into the government funds. Morgan rejected this idea; however, the group did instruct the secretary of Treasury to deposit substantial government relief funds and organize thousands of banks nationwide to deposit excess money into the relief fund. Pierpont Morgan was a man of many pecuniary gains and along with these gains came speculations and controversy into his financial dealings. The public often questioned the large undisclosed sum of money Morgan made by supporting the Treasury in 1895. This event was only one of many debatable issues that concerned Morgan and his control over the government and the American market. President Roosevelt investigated Morgan's large deal with the U. S. Steel Corporation and Tennessee Railroad Company but found that that the â€Å"means employed were none the less effective, as well as profitable. † The culmination of the government and public's suspicion of Morgan's activities were the Pujo hearings of 1912. The House Banking and Currency subcommittee headed by representative Arsene Pujo had been trying to establish that a â€Å"money trust† ruled over America's major corporations, railroads, insurance companies, securities markets, and banks. The attorneys prosecuting Morgan made the pivotal point that eighteen financial institutions effectively controlled a two-thirds majority of the 1912 capital resources, over twenty five billion dollars. The lead attorney questioned J. P. Morgan about his actions in a famous cross-examination. Morgan was questioned on his supposed monopolies, earnings and business practices. The value of Morgan's organization of companies and funding is immeasurable, as these companies are some of today's leading corporations. Pierpont built America with more in mind than that of personal financial gain.

Business Plan Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Business Plan Master - Case Study Example Furthermore, Ms. Thomas feels that her enthusiasm towards the task will enable her become a successful sole proprietor. However, there seems to be some drawbacks in that she has a dispute with her husband with whom they have separated but this does not seem to deter from achieving her goals. Ms. Thomas has never been an entrepreneur and therefore she does not have any records to indicate that she has engaged in business before. Financially, Ms.Thomas seems to have some financial commitment because as indicated, she has had a bank account for ten years. In her business proposal, she has left out some essential information, which would assist her in the in understanding the kind of business she wants to engage in. A business plan is also evaluated by looking at one's ability to run a business. In business, it involves one's ability to manage resources. From Ms. Thomas history, she has little or no experience that she can use to manage her business. This would be very challenging to her because, in order to run a business well, one needs to have knowledge that will assist her in the management of the physical, human and financial resources. Due to the fact that this is the first time that she is engaging in business, she may not have any business documents to support her claim that she has the ability to keep financial records. In this case, if requested by the bank to show the business records, then, she would not have any to show since this is one requirement that a bank would ask for when one is requesting for a business loan. Management would also be evaluated in a business plan. This would be done in terms of assessing the quality of the key personnel that she would employ the relevance of decision makers and also the level of education and training displayed by the key personnel. In Ms. Thomas proposal, she does not explain in any way in which the personnel would be recruited to assess their credibility in terms of offering quality service to the clients. In this case, she would not be in a position to know if the key personnel are helping her in making relevant decisions in the business. The purpose of a business should also be analyzed in a business plan. One needs to explain why a banking facility is needed, whether the facility will be based on serving the customers, whether it would be used for trading purposes or for purchasing fixed assets. Ms. Thomas proposal clearly outlines the purposes for which she would use the facility. For instance, she would request a mortgage from the bank to buy fixtures, fittings and stock and also in the acquiring of a premise. In business plans, an analysis is done on amounts. In this case, one has to balance between the customers stake versus the bank. Ensuring that all costs have been included and that they are correct would do this. When analyzing amount, one needs to ensure that the customers' money is injected into the business before the bank lends it money. In the case of Ms. Thomas proposal, she has stated that she would give all her customers priorities but she has not included the costs that would be incurred in running the business. Furthermore, her business is new so she does not have any money from sales that is essential to show to the banks that she indeed has a business that is going on and

Product and Branding Strategies (Starbucks) Essay

Product and Branding Strategies (Starbucks) - Essay Example 2009) It is because of its high quality that the brand charges a high premium for its products. There are several other product attributes, other than the price and quality that contribute towards the image of the products offered under the brand name of â€Å"Starbucks†. Product Positioning Map Other product attributes of Starbucks coffee include taste, richness, features, design, style, innovation and customer service. These together combine to support the brand image. But for the product positioning map, there are two primary attributes that have been focused upon. The first attribute is the innovation and the second attribute is the customer service. Innovation is necessary for the positioning of the product because customer needs and wants change with time and the only way to meet the changing demand is through innovation. Customer service is also a primary aspect of positioning because it always adds value to the customers’ coffee experience at Starbucks. If innov ation is not present, then the brand might fail to serve its target market in the long run. It cannot come up with new products and cannot create demand of its new products which simply means that it will fail to make use of the opportunities available. Customer service on the other hand is a very important attribute that can help retaining the customers and attracting prospective. Consumers always want to go for the products that provide with the customer service. Starbucks incorporates both these primary attributes into its products. Starbucks specializes in gourmet coffee and there are several competitors that have entered the market of specialized coffee. These competitors include McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. The reason for choosing these competitors is that they do not charge as high a premium as does Starbucks though the product category is same. Starbucks heavily invests in its customer service because it believes that loyal customers are the backbone of its success a nd it is the most effective way of acquiring more loyal customers. For the attribute of innovation, Starbucks has made its own Research and Development team (R&D). The type and level of investment that Starbucks make in its R&D team is notable. It gives a lead to the brand but this gives a direction to the competitors as well because they can wait to imitate the products. Innovation at Starbucks and also the customer service are high. At McDonald’s customer service is high but innovation of the coffee product is low. Dunkin Donuts is low on both the attributes. It is low on the innovation attribute and also the customer service attribute. Following is the product positioning map of Starbucks with respect to its competitors. Customer Service High Starbucks McDonald’s Innovation Low High Dunkin Donuts Low Starbucks is present in the upper right corner of the product positioning map which means that it is both high in innovation and customer service. Similarly McDonaldâ⠂¬â„¢s is present in the upper left corner meaning that it is high in customer service but low in the attribute of innovation. And finally the Dunkin Donuts which is present in the lower left corner of the map, meaning that the coffee brand is both low on innovation and customer service. Brand Strategy in relation to the Target Market Starbucks’ target audience mainly comprises of the upscale coffee drinkers. Starbucks has a very well defined target audience. It has a target market in each age segment

Body's regulation of temperature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Body's regulation of temperature - Essay Example It's very important for us to know the capabilities of our body to fight such dangerous environment. We should know the roots of all that happens in our body. Though fever is treated by the masses us a simple thing that used to come on us and just ignoring this indicator. There is so much more to dig. Homeostasis is the tendency of an organism to maintain a uniform and beneficial physiological stability and between its parts.1 Homeostasis is a remarkable and typical property of an open system. Walter Cannon in 1932, took told the wisdom of the body, the homeostasis, from the two Greek words meaning to remain the same. The cell, which reacts represents the homeostatic system, to every change in the environment, its goal is to maintain its internal balance, stability and to survive, Much importantly when one is faced to a known reaction, or an expected situation and often the result is opposed to the action done. Remember that if one cell that contributes to the complex system; is neither distracted nor destroyed, the stability will not be able anymore to change and evolve. Mammals are endotherms. They do not rely on the sun for warmth because they can generate heat internally. Especially the smaller ones have a high run of the metabolism which helps them generate heat, enough for them to live and survive coldness. The subcutaneous fat that is located under the skin helps them conserve body heat from within, is an example of homeostasis. Body temperature also affects the process of metabolism. For instance, if the body is at work the temperature is high and will get muscles tired. This is the reasons why the internal parts are improperly functioning same if the body is cold or at rest. Therefore we should keep our body working not excessively but in balance work out which does not require our bone to tire up, we should do this for maintaining balance. The hypothalamus and Feedbacks Our brains have an accessory, which contain nerve cells that monitors both the temperatures of the skin and the internal organs called the hypothalamus. If the body temperature is below 37oC the tendency of the hypothalamus is to produce some chemicals that will inform the cells of the entire body to speed up their

Representations of Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Representations of Love - Essay Example This essay compares and contrasts Shakespeare's ideas about love in three of his most popular plays, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. The play Midsummer night's dream revolves around the fundamental difficulties of love. Through out the play this universal concept has been discussed through the effective use of contrast. Shakespeare has used symbolism to develop his ideas in the play and to present a fair view regarding the theme. In Act I, scene I Theseus and Hippolyta discuss their wedding which is to scheduled in four days, from here the story begins and the play gradually describes the ideas of love and the magical powers of dreams. Shakespeare presents his personal views on love with the help of this play. An analysis of the play points out that Shakespeare was of the view that although love is a beautiful emotion cherished by all individuals but finding love is the hardest of all as an individual has to face a lot of tension and stress to find love. The central idea of the play is to prove that a childish love, which is known as teenage love, is foolish in nature. He has included four central characters in the play which are young children who fall in love with the young girls. Eventually at the end of the play, they discover their foolishness. William successfully conveyed his message that teenage love is slightly foolish in nature. The other play under scrutiny is the Twelfth Night which is most simply put is a story of cross dressing and mistaken identity. It is filled with sexual tension between characters and poetic words on love. Twelfth Night is nearly as much a study of service and master-servant relations as it is a comedy of romantic love. The relationships and tensions between lovers are clearly discernible in the play's manifold variations. Viola's status as Orsino's servant is the condition of possibility and impossibility of her love for him and also of Olivia's erotic desire for her as Cesario; Orsino himself embodies courtly infatuation as a form of service in his dotage on Olivia; Malvolio exemplifies, Sonnet-like, the servant's fantasy of social elevation through erotic conquest; Antonio's homoerotic affection for Sebastian restates in a different key courtly devotion to the belove. O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou, That notwithstanding thy capacity Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there, Of what validity and pitch so'er, But falls into abatement and low price Even in a minute. (1.1.9-14) Orsino's opening meditation on his unrequited love for Olivia encompasses some of the most famous lines and images in the whole Shakespeare canon. The lines also identify the major themes and concerns of Twelfth Night. In the lines above, the references to love and to the sea encompass elements that will resound throughout the action of the play. Orsino compares the capacity of love to the capacity of the ocean in its ability to be. The third play is the Merchant of Venice which centers on the struggle between Portia and Antonio for Bassanio's affection, or the competition between friendship and marriage. In the Elizabethan context Antonio and Bassanio's relationship does not

"Juvenile Delinquency Interventions" Coursework

"Juvenile Delinquency Interventions" - Coursework Example This is quite some amount of cash and is unbelievable as a result. I believe in the findings of this study because teenagers seem to do what they are particularly asked not to do. By exposing teenagers to jails and making them aware of the criminal activities that put people in jail, they are made aware of wrongs that they perhaps were unaware of. It is imperative to note that teenagers may be vulnerable to attempting to engage in illegal activities simply because they were exposed to them. In the case of Johnny, who was diagnosed and found to be psychopathic, there are a number of effects that his diagnosis would have on his rehabilitation. For instance, his condition will not allow him to listen and partake advises from his counselors or therapists. Additionally, with his condition, he may be resistant to psychotherapy. A good example of the effects of this diagnosis is a patient who punched his psychotherapist in the face during a session when he was asked to sit calm and watch a predetermined video as a healing process. This was posted in the

Reading Response Questions for One.Life 8 & 9 Essay

Reading Response Questions for One.Life 8 & 9 - Essay Example In my view, the church is the perfect place to worship and pray. In addition, the church makes Christians have the desire to know more about the old devotional traditions of the Christian faith, and to become fully engaged in their renaissance today. There are various strengths and weaknesses in the church. Some of the strengths include the church enabling people explore how Jesus Christ prayed, how various denominations pray (Orthodox Christians, Anglicans and Roman Catholics) and how the Psalms teach Christians to pray. Other strengths of the church is empowering believers and making them understand that praying as a church is an important part of spiritual formation. The main weakness of the church is incorporating modernity into worship whereby God is no longer given the due respect as He was being given in the early church during the time of apostles of Christ. If I were in the capacity to change, I would ensure that every single believer follows the word of God to later, remaining holy since God is Holy. Chapter 9 of the book covers the life that believers lead in their ministry of serving God. According to the chapter, believers need to live a committed and dedicated life; however, they later get it hard to maintain the committed life (McKnight, 2010). The main reason as to why believers fail to maintain the life is the mixing of money and possessions with the church. I agree with the chapter since it speaks of the practical life that believers face every day. The chapter strikes me when it introduces the issue of leading a committed life and mixing possession and money with the church; something that drifts believers (me, for that matter) away from Jesus. There are various reasons that make people find the committed life difficult to follow. Such reasons include peer pressure whereby a believer with non-believer friends would be swayed away. In addition, some people have the

International Risk Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Risk - Term Paper Example Introduction Main Street Capital Corporation (MSCC) was founded on 9, March 2007 with a diverse purpose agenda. The firm assists the business corporations and companies by providing the long-term debts to the middle market and the lower class middle market (LMM) companies. It also helps the middle markets by providing them with the equity capital and tends to commence its partnership with entrepreneurs, management organizations and reputed business companies and it normally grants the financing alternatives within its lower-middle-market profile (MSCC, n.p.) Such classes of companies normally generate $10-$150 million per annum and the long term debt investments are made for the companies greater than the lower-middle-market companies with respect to their business capital multitude. It seeks to bridge financial hole and the gap between LMM businesses and the investment and revenue generations. With the expanse of the MSCC, the company has debt and invested in almost 59 LMM companies till the Fall, 2012. At the end of the year 2012, the Middle Market scenario of the investments had risen up to 85 companies in total. The basic business strategies are categorized as follows 1. Delivery of the customized solution of financial problems in the LMM market. 2. Focusing and assisting the newly established companies. 3. Invest to help multiple companies, Business firms, industries, Regional and capital markets by strictly following a pre-defined investment criteria. 4. Leveraging on strong finance sourcing groups. 5. Lower rates of debts as compared to other debt companies and banks and providing benefit from long term, fixed capital and lower capital financing. (MSCC, n.p.) Owing to the expanse in the business and the investments, financial decisions, debt planning and managing the total expenditure per annum is ofcourse a very risky job and it renders the streamline of the company vulnerable to loss exposure and other risky situations. Following are the risk factors w hich could be predicted stochastically on the basis of the firm’s performance and subject to the economic and investment constraints, business structure and the competition with other business investment funds. The sinusoidal behavior of the economic conditions of US could be catastrophic to the performance of the firm. This rise and all in the country’s economy renders the operation of the company very risky and will obviously down trod the portfolio of the firm. Managing and deploying the capital with proficiency Competitions with other firms Referral conditions, relationships, and the maintenance of such relationships by managing and pacifying all the cliches and the rifts between client and our firm. It could be risky Rules and regulations governing the working of the firm and adversely affecting the way in which the firm rise its capital. Money borrowing business. So the potential for the gain or loss is amplified and so is the risk of investment on the company Su bjugated to the SBA authority regulations because of the licensing issues. Insurance rules in Germany Germans believe in the quotation â€Å"Better safe than sorry†. Germany is the forefront of technology trade and hence it is also a scientific hub. Because

Hospers' view that the unconsciousness that determines what the Essay

Hospers' view that the unconsciousness that determines what the conscious impulse and conscious acts will be is correct - Essay Example The author takes a position that the unconscious is very instrumental in determining the conscious deeds. Man’s actions may be influenced by various factors depending on the prevailing conditions; some of these conditions are within their control while others are not. Hospers argues that the concept of freewill is an illusion because ‘an act is free if and only if it is a voluntary act’. Using examples, he demonstrates that acting involuntarily dominates over voluntary actions. In many quarters, the debate of whether individuals act on freewill has been demonstrated. The proponents argue that freewill is nonexistent because the influence of the unconscious dominates over an individual (Blatchford 41). Citing the situation at birth where a child learns from the environment and the process continues with further development, the argument says that the influences of all those experiences are the ones that bring out the actions of an individual. The way a person acts is not a factor of their willingness but an inner push by the subconscious. A man is a product of their unconscious since their choices are biased. Humans make choices every day. Choices are not justifiable if they do not incorporate the aspect of freewill based on non-coercion. In a case where a person finds himself or herself torn between giving their money to thieves or otherwise they take away his life, making such a decision cannot be termed as freewill because the person is not willing to do either, only that he is limited to make a choice. Whenever a person makes a choice, there are factors inherent in the person that influences the choice (British Philosophical Association 2). In his article, Hospers gives a very convincing example stating that the paralytic are unable to move their legs while the others can, depicting that the limitations are not reliant on the choice of the individual but the credibility of the choice. What gets into the mind of a person indirectly influen ces their actions. Many are the compulsions that influence the humans without their knowledge. The perception that whatever we do is based on an informed choice may be far from the truth. The influences mould people are beyond our control, it is a wrong perception based on a misplaced attitude that am acting like myself, when the reality is that the factors surrounding an individual create an experience that forms the basis of their judgments and choices (British Philosophical Association 4). The actions we demonstrate are out of our control, character formation is an aspect that is based on a myriad of factors such as environmental and genetic that is far beyond our control. The exact character developed influences what we desire that further translates to what we do. Therefore, our actions are a product of a strong inherent will within us that has no individual control, if there was a possibility an individual could act otherwise. The experiences gained in the course of life creat es a bias on the decisions made, a situation that we are unable to distinguish as unconscious. Considering the parts of the unconscious mind, it is evident that they influence every bit of a person’s being. The id is the section that seeks instant fulfillment; it touches on our instincts and primitivity. Therefore, based on the choice to be made these two factors influences the decisions we make. The choice made by a chief executive of a large corporation is based

Introduction of Sociology Essay Example for Free

Introduction of Sociology Essay 1. I think that sociologist should try to reform society, based on what they have studied about sociology. Because the main job of those sociologists is to study and research about the society and the human behavior, they are the ones who understand it the best. As a result, they should reform it, not others. 2. If I were a sociologist, I would use all of sociological perspectives, because each perspective has its own advantage and disadvantage. * Symbolic Interactionism: According to the symbolic interaction’s perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Conversation is an interaction of symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. Of course, anything can serve as a symbol as long as it refers to something beyond itself. However, with the example about applying Symbolic Interactionism to U.S. marriages and divorces over time, this perspective just shows the slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual interactions. * Functional Analysis (Functionalism, and structural functionalism) each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to societys functioning as a whole. This basic approach can be applied to any social group, whether an entire society, a college, or even a group as small as a family. Nevertheless, when any social group loses function, functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment. * Conflict Theory: conflict theorists stress that society is composed of group that are competing with one another for scarce resources. However, with the example about Feminist, the conflict perspective shows that women are more powerful in making headway in their historical struggle with men. As the result, the combination of 3 perspectives is the best sociological perspective I would use.

Child Labor in Lebanon

Child Labor in Lebanon Since many years, child labor has been a serious problem that a lot of organizations were trying to deal with. In fact Lebanon is one of the countries suffering from this issue, especially in poor surroundings of the main cities and in rural districts. According to Kofi Annan(1999), Child labor has serious consequences that stay with the individual and the society for far longer than the years of childhood. Young not only face dangerous work conditions. They face long term physical, intellectual and emotional stress. They face an adulthood of unemployment and illiteracy. Few human rights abuses are so widely condemned, yet so widely unnoticed For these purposes Im against child labor, and I think its the responsibility of the government to help working children. According to UNICEF response to child employment, Child labor is reported as one of the social problems in Lebanon. There are about 3163 children aged 10-13 years that work in Lebanon, while the number of those looking for work in this age group is 1947. These represent respectively 1.2% and 0.7% of the total population in that age group. On the other hand, there are 28786 working children aged 14-17 years and 9525 of that same age group looking for work, representing 10.9% and 3.6% respectively of children in that age group. The region of North Lebanon has the highest proportion of working children with respect to the two age groups 10-13 years and 14-17 years. It is followed by the region of Mount Lebanon, then Beirut, Beqaa and the South. Overall, the districts of Tripoli, Minyeh, Akkar, Baabda, Baalbeck, Zahleh, Saida and Tyre have about 80% of working children aged 10-13 years. In the North, working children are found mostly in the districts of Tripoli, Akkar and Minyeh (91-97% of working children in this region). In the region of Mount Lebanon, the districts of Baabda and Metn have the highest proportion of working children. More specifically, the poor urban neighborhoods of Bab Tebbaneh in Tripoli, Bourj Barajneh in Baabda and Bourj Hammoud in Metn are the worst affected areas in these districts.(UNICEF, 2008, p.1-2) Many children are working 6 days a week and more than 10 hours a day in hard fields especially like agriculture. According to ILO(International Labor Organization office in Beirut): Children are working hard for price of 7 dollars a week sometimes which is unfair. Employer s are interested in hiring teenagers and children under eighteen because they are cheaper especially when their profit are less than expected. Employer does not care about the feelings of the young youths they, keep mistreating them by giving them choirs they cannot handle. Walid a young child living in Tarik al jdideh (Beirut), is a ten year old boy working in a garage. Walid works from 8 am till 6 pm fixing cars and get paid 10 dollars per week. Walid is always complaining of the hard work he is supposed to handle, and from the maltreatment of his boss. Walid is one proof that working children are suffering in Lebanon. Most of these kids are boys, maltreated in several cities and villages in Lebanon whereas they are forced to carry heavy loads, handle chemicals, marble cutting, selling items on roads under bad circumstances and in farms where they are exposed to pesticides. Children laboring in gardening may also be constrained to assemble tobacco, sugar cane, and other crops where they will be subjected to equally harmful conditions. Moreover, kids are obliged to use dangerous machinery, handle toxic chemicals without protective gear; they are also confronting sexual abuse or slavery, especially girls that are sold from their parents to earn extra money. Most of these kids are working in very bad conditions affecting their health, living differently from a normal kid and risking their future. Racha is a good example of a teenager who was forced to depart from her house in the village to work as a housemaid in the industrialized Aley district. Rasha had been raped by the man in the house after several temptations made by him. Sexual abuse of working boys and girls is a crime that will proba bly destroy the life of the young youths. (Alami, 2007, p.1-2) Many children are dropping out from school and leaving their education in order to work and give money for their parents. The learning level of laboring kids is too small comparing to the learning level of the labor force in all areas in Lebanon. The percentage of uneducated worker in the labor force in Lebanon is about 49%, this percentage is 95% concerning children working aged between 10 and 13 years and 84% of those age between 14 and 17 years. (UNICEF, 2008). Yusuf a 12 years old guy who works now in agriculture, is a good example of many kids who left school early and started working. It is the right of the children to get education and go to school instead of that they are facing problems that pushes them to leave school and start working. Many young kids lose their ambitions in order to work and help their fathers. It is unfair for children to drop out from school as their future will be ruined, they will have to work the same work they are working today not having a bachelor degree they wont be able to go further in their lives. It is also unfair for them to miss all the joy of the school days. School days are the best days of a child life as he meets friends in school, develop relations, and learn how to interact with others. School is a basic time needed by the children before getting to the large world of work. (Alami, 2007, p. 2-3) Somehow child labor has a big influence on the society. When the number of working children increases the number of non educated adults will increase, children will be the future of the societies. A society of non educated society is a rural society where people have no respect for each other. You can see that these kinds of societies are the societies where more problems happen, where no one understand the other, and where the neighbor kill his neighbor. As we said before the number of working children is bigger in rural countries of Lebanon like Tripoli, and Bekaa, effectively these are two countries that are full of problems as we see on the news every day. Problems always happen in Tripoli between the people living there; in the Bekaa also car steeling and crimes are very often. Education pushes the society to a higher level, and since education is absent between young working kids their society will be on a lower level than others. Poor societies are societies where most kids st art working early. Such societies will always be poor as no one will get educated enough to get a suitable job. So a main problem of the poor societies in Lebanon is child labor. (Schmitz Traver Larson, 2004) The opposing point of view is the one of the parents of the children and the employers who hires children. Parents when in need oblige their kids to go and get a job in order to make money. Some parents think that their oldest son should leave everything and go to work to help his brothers and sisters. This is common in most Lebanese areas as we see in most families the older son suffers from lack of education. These parents also think that their children are born to serve them and to help them get money to live more comfortably. Some parents that they were also working in very early ages of their life would let their children work in purpose that they will be stronger and more experienced and might be able to easily go over hard situations they may face in the future. Other parents might sell their daughters by saying that they will get married sooner or later so why dont they sell them and earn high revenue of money. Employers also say that they are hiring children who came freely to get work and they are not doing something wrong so they can profit of the low salary these children get which make the cost of the products less and they will be in fewer prices in the market so all the people will also profit. We can see that most restaurants in Lebanon hire young boys for the delivery choirs for example and for serving clients etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Personally I think its very wrong for the parents to let their kids work at young age especially if they work under the supervision of abusing bosses. Kids are suffering in their work as they work in dangerous chemicals and pesticides. Kids have the rights to learn and live their childhood happily and safely. Some employers are criminals because they abuse children; such employers should be caught and arrested because of their actions against children who are so weak to say no or to protest against their parents and bosses. Finally Child labor is a wide problem that should be regulated especially in Lebanon. Children are suffering in their work, dropping out from school early, and infecting the whole society. I think government should work on reducing the number of working children, and to control the hours of work and the salaries. By fixing these issues working children will have better work situation, better opportunities by going to school, having normal life like every teenager should get. It is their right to learn so they can become successful persons in their societies.

European union came into existence

European union came into existence European Union European Union came into existence with an endeavor to stop the war between the bordering countries and to maintain the peace and harmony throughout the Europe. European Union is constructed on the principles of stability and to promote the prosperity among European nations with presence of security. Recent recession has affected each and every part of the world, though it has a differential effect on each country. Some country has been most affected by it on the other hand some countries are least affected. Europe has been badly affected by the recession this has induced European union to draw a recovery strategy for the next ten years to see a prosperous and a competitive Europe in terms of knowledge and market growth. Effect of financial crisis on European nation Unemployment: financial crisis has lead to an increase in the unemployment and still number of jobs are been laid off from different sectors irrespective of the output, just to minimize and to compensate the previous losses (Andrew Watt, 2009). A report by the European Union tells that in Europe around twenty three million people are unemployed (European Union, 2010). The countries which are most severely affected by the recession and which led to unemployment are Latvia where unemployment rate arose linearly from 11% to 28.2% and the country which was least affected by the recession was Poland, its unemployment rate just arose marginally from 17.8% to 18.2% and its GDP remain constant in comparison to the eastern Europe and a central Europe (European union, 2009). From the unemployment point of view, it is been seen that the financial sector is most affected as compare to the other sectors throughout the Europe. In a report by â€Å"International Labour Organization† the bank s in Ireland are shedding maximum number of jobs. Similarly Dexia bank which is a joint venture between France and Belgium is also shedding large number of jobs. In the UK condition is worse as banks like Barclays and HSBC are laying off thousands of its employs (International Labour Organization, 2009). Export and import weaken: the recession also affected the export and import business of the EU27. The export business which contributes a lot to the economy faced a sharp decline and it could not help in balancing or reversing the effect of recession. It was recorded that during the period of 2008-2009 at the peak of recession, the export business of the United Kingdom fell to 6.9% which is the sharpest decline and which is never recorded in the UK history of export business and its import fell by 1.6% (Kathryn Hopkins, 2010). In euro zone there are countries like Germany, Netherlands and Sweden whose economies to a larger extent are reliant on the export business and at the time of recession they contributed very less to the GDP. They were only able to contribute half of the original contribution to its GDP and a country like France was able to contribute just  ¼ to the GDP. This affected the economy of the European nations badly, though not taking full advantage of the weaken eur o for doing the export business. All together EU27 GDP was reported to be -4% (Media Eghbal, 2009). Mergers and acquisitions: recession has not been beneficial in terms of mergers and acquisitions to Europe. Recession made MA at its lowest from the previous years but still there were some MA taking place within Europe, for example Lactalis a France based company buyed Ladorma a Romania based company and Rochea a Switzerland based company bought its share from Genentech Ltd (Claudiu Vranceanu, 2008). But it has been beneficial to developing countries like India and China, as number of mergers and acquisitions were taking place by them in Europe in 2008-2009. It was noticed that British company jaguar and land rover were acquired by the Indian automaker Tata, to make the British company free from the problem of cash flow (BBC, 2008). Similarly acquisition of Schoeweiss of Germany by the Indian auto maker Mahindra and Mahindra (Nimish Sharma, 2010). Decline in the Inflation rate with a threat of deflation: recession had a positive impact on a euro zone in a way that the inflation which was increasing from day to day basis prior recession, started to decline. In Europe it was recorded that the inflation reduced from 4% in the beginning of 2008 to 2.1% at the end of the year (Media Eghbal, 2009), as there was a shortage of cash flow in the market. In addition to this price of oil were also low, which resulted in the lower inflation rate throughout the Euro zone (Adrian Nash, 2008). It was predicted by the researchers that the consumers will be waiting for the cheaper commodity which will make them defer there purchase for the moment and that would affect the producers and the investors. This would deepen the nature of recession. Decline in the industrial production and reduction in revenue: it was experience for the first time that the Europe27 had a negative industrial growth, country like Germany known for its technicality and capability faced a technical recession for the first time in history, with a negative growth. Same was a fate of all European countries; they also faced a negative growth for example France with -.5%, Italy with -.7% and Spain with -.6% (Euro monitor, 2009). Weak currency and decline in interest rate in Europe: in the recession it was recorded that the euro was as its lowest as compared to the US dollar and UK pound and it was still not taking the advantage of doing the international business in terms of export. To minimize the effect of recession and to bring in the stability the Europe central bank steadily started to cut down its interest rate throughout Europe to promote the investors to take risk and bring in some cash flow in market. Effect on the tourism industry: the European tourism industry was severely affected by the financial crisis. By a report from the commission of European tourism, which states that the Europe experienced a sharpest decline in comparison to other part of the world in terms of the tourism revenue. Similarly a report from the World Tourism Organization also confirmed that the Europe tasted a negative growth of -1.1% in the international tourism in the year 2008 and 2009 (Ivan Camilleri, 2010). Evaluating the strategy for recovery proposed by president Jose Manuel Barrosso The new strategy has been proposed, which is named as â€Å"Europe 2020† has been brought into the act as the Lisbon treaty which was been implemented from the past one decade has come to meet its deadline on 2010. The new strategy for 2020 Europe in some ways is similar to the Lisbon Treaty. As in both the treaties issues of growth and competition with the major countries were discussed. Similarly both the treaties formed the new policy structure and the guidelines for the implementation. But the new strategy for Europe 2020 has introduced some new initiatives, which in the past treaties have been introduced but never have been implemented. The Europe 2020 strategy focuses more on the global warning and on the techniques, which need to be researched and developed for the better future. References Andrew Watt. (2009). ‘The economic crisis in Europe. Available: http://www.europeanforumcyprus.eu/Source/sem4/prs_AndrewWatt.pdf. Last accessed 2 April 2010. Kathryn Hopkins. (2010). ‘January trade deficit widens as exports fall. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/09/january-trade-deficit-widens. Last accessed 1April 2010. Media Eghbal. (2009). ‘The global financial crisis: recession bites into Western Europe. Available: http://www.euromonitor.com/The_global_financial_crisis_recession_bites_into_Western_Europe. Last accessed 1 April 2010. Claudiu Vranceanu. (2008). ‘Biggest mergers and acquisitions in 2008. Available: http://www.wall-street.ro/articol/English-Version/56433/Biggest-mergers-and-acquisitions-in-2008.html. Last accessed 4 April 2010. BBC. (2008). ‘Tata buys Jaguar. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7313380.stm. Last accessed 1 April 2010. Nimish Sharma. (2010). ‘Mergers and acquisitions in times of financial crisis. Available: http://www.dare.co.in/strategy/business-essentials/mergers-and-acquisitions-in-times-of-financial-crisis.htm. Last accessed 28 March 2010. Adrian Ash. (2008). ‘inflation during recession. Available: http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/inflation-during-recession/. Last accessed 5 April 2010. International Labour Organization. (2009). ‘Impact of financial crisis on financial sector. Available: 12. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/dgreports/dcomm/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_103263.pdf. Last accessed 7 April 2010. European Union. (2009). ‘Unemployment in Europe. Available: 14. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/09/109. Last accessed 1 April 2010. Ivan Camilleri. (2010). ‘European tourism worst hit by recession. Available: http://www.tourismandaviation.com/news-475European_tourism_worst_hit_by_recession. Last accessed 7 April 2010. European Union. (2010). Europe 2020. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/president/news/statements/pdf/20102010_2_en.pdf. Last accessed 2 April 2010.

Essay --

In the time I have spent researching CPR and First Aid I have learned a lot about both procedures and have found that they go hand and hand. Even though yes both have difference. CPR is preformed on somebody who is experiencing cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest. Knowing how to perform CPR and first aid is very important. People experience cardiac arrest everyday and they are thankful for the person who responded and performed CPR to save there life. That is where First Aid comes in because First Aid is usually given by the first person to respond to someone who is in need of medical attention. Even though there is a lot of education on CPR out here in the world today, I still think people are not educated enough on the process and importance of CPR. That usually leads to people being scared to even try to learn and educate them self. I think CPR and first aid should really be a part of every work place. First Aid is not only a procedure but it also safety precaution. The world of medicine is constantly changing, so we have to educate ourself on the techniques of CPR and First Aid. These aspects are vital to everyones survival. CPR and first aid are a very important aspects in everyday life as well as in the medical field. Having knowledge and knowing how to perform CPR and First Aid can mean the difference of life or death. These two medical aspects are very serious inside the medical office and outside. As being in any medical profession you have to be certified in CPR. The reason for that is because you will be faced with emergency situations daily and knowing how to respond with the proper technique will make a huge difference in saving someone’s life. I have done ... ...to even examine the patient. First Aid is a basic skill every person should know in the medical profession. According to OSHA standards anyone in the medical field needs to be trained in First Aid, but OSHA does not actually have any standards on the performance of First Aid. In conclusion, no matter who you are you can preform these two important aspects of medical care to save someone’s life. CPR and First Aid are two both processes and take time to master, but everything pays off when you know you can save a persons life. This is the basics needed to become an affective medical assistant. My goal is to use these basic skills to provide a foundation that will help me in realizing my dreams of helping others. The MA is usually the first contact person for the patient so it would seem that they should know what they are doing in any medical situation.

Group Think Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Group Thinking Essays

Group Think This type of dysfunctional operation of an organization has many ways and opportunities for failure. The basic fundamentals of this process are the beginnings of failure as groups seek conformity and unity they sacrifice everything in order to maintain peace within the group. Many times this will take the individuals creative thoughts and ability to voice the creative edge thinking away. In many organizations this is a process that is continually used. It is perceived that management wants the organizations operation or process to run without any type of question or waves. Below are listed eight of the main symptoms of group think as detailed by Janis, I. L & Manns book â€Å"Decision making† Symptoms of Groupthink are divided into three types in which they can manifest themselves: Type I: Overestimations of the group's power and morality Type II: Closed-mindedness Type III: Pressure toward uniformity When broken down the three types of groupthink can be broken farther down to eight ways groupthink causes failure. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Illusion of invulnerability: Members ignore obvious danger, take extreme risks, and are overly optimistic. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Collective Rationalization: Members discredit and explain away warnings contrary to group thinking. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Illusions of Morality: Members believe that their decisions are morally correct ignoring the ethical consequences of their decisions. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Excessive Stereotyping: The group constructs negative stereotypes of rivals outside the group. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pressure for Conformity: Members’ pressure any in a group who expresses arguments against the groups’ stereotypes, illusions, or commitment, viewing such opposition and disloyalty. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Self-censorship: Members withhold their dissenting views and counter arguments. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Illusion of Unanimity: Members perceive falsely that everyone agrees with the group decision silence is seen as consent. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mindguards: Some members appoint themselves to the role of protecting the group from adverse information that might threaten group compliance. Personal styles are limited by the group with GROUP THINK. Most of the time the individual will not take the chance to buck the system or willing to take the chance of being discredited by the core group if they do not agree with the process and or direction that is being lead. Decision styles are affe... ...ve that the label of Groupthink can be used too loosely. I myself have experienced situations where a Group is too quick to label themselves as sufferers of Groupthink. Although I truly think that Groupthink is a severe problem that exists today, the Challenger being one of the most disastrous of those examples. I believe that we all need to be careful not to be too swift about the use of the Groupthink label. It can be just as negative to a group to label them as wronged in their process when no such error exists as to call them victims of Groupthink. Again the dilemma is that groups need to always be alert to the existence of Groupthink, they also need to not label themselves or other victims of Groupthink unfairly. Although there are many times that Groupthink leads to failure, there are few instances when it works for the food. This is a fine line to walk, but it is most definitely a line that needs to be walked time and time again. Works Cited: Jarvis, Chris. GROUPTHINK Janis, Irving L. Victims Of Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1972 Janis, Irving L. Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1982 Griffin, Em. Groupthink. McGraw-Hill Inc., 1997

Mental Health Court Essay

Mental health courts are a resource given to prisoners who would normally be put in prison if they had not decided to join this special program. Mental health court is a court run program by the district attorney’s office in some counties. This program is based off of traditional court room structure but is also paired with community services. Mental health courts solve a lot of different problems within our criminal justice system. The first problem it solves is the systematic problem that we have with putting seriously mentally ill offenders in prison instead of putting them in a mental hospital or going through a mental health court program to help them deal with their illness. This gives the offenders the ability to learn how to handle their illness and stay on track to getting their life back together (Thompson, M., Osher, F., & Tomasini-Joshi, D. ,2008). People who work in the mental health court systems take the time out of their day to really take a critical look at th e issues that offenders with mental illnesses face in the criminal justice system. They help craft new ways to deal with these offenders for example with some people you need a more hands on approach in their treatment program and a soft guiding hand, but with other individuals you need to have a firmer no nonsense approach to make them realize that this is not a game but rather an opportunity to get their life back together. The mental health court really gives offenders the ability to work on major mental illnesses while working on taking care of legal issues. This is a very important step in the criminal justice system, because many individuals only committed these crimes due to the fact that they were off their medication at the time the crime occurred (Thompson, M., Osher, F., & Tomasini-Joshi, D. 2008). Mental health courts are very similar to a drug court that you would see. Mental health courts are more of a relaxed dynamic compared to your traditional court room setting. Mental health courts typically meet once a week on a specific day and at a specific ti me. Before the mental health court the case worker, probation officer, judge, and many other people apart of the mental health court process meet to discuss each individual before they see them that day. They spend this time making decisions on what to do with certain individuals who aren’t complying with the terms and also how to keep encouraging everyone who is doing a great job in the program. Mental health court is defiantly more of an encouraging environment for offenders than a traditional court room setting. You have a lot of people who truly want to rehabilitate these offenders and give all their effort to do so. Mental health court is a program that is voluntary. Offenders must opt-in to mental health court to receive the treatment that he/she wants to receive. Some places give the offender the ability to observe the mental health court process while they decide if they want to participate. Although many apply for mental health court not all are accepted into this pr ogram. In order to be accepted into mental health court you have to have had an evaluation with a psychiatrist and have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Every court varies and because of the extensive amount of disorders in the DSM which as of this year is now 800 pages long not every disorder is accepted as the right diagnosis for mental health court. While I am talking about this section I am going to use York County as an example for what is expected of someone in mental health court and what diagnostic criteria you have to meet. To be accepted into the York County mental health court you must meet the diagnostic criteria which means you must be diagnosed with a major Axis I diagnosis, which includes disorders like Bipolar Disorders, Major Depressive Disorders, and Schizophrenia. PTSD is usually only excepted when you are a veteran and then you would not go into the mental health court but into the veteran’s court that they offer. Other disorders besides these can sometimes be acceptable but they have to come with substantial evidence that it impaired their judgment. At York County an exclusion from the mental health court would be if you had any previous charges they are not resolved in other states. Not every charge is allowed to enter into mental health court some examples of that are murder, any sexual charge, any violent offense (example aggravated assault), and anyone who is classified as a violent offender. Although these crimes are excluded under the conditions under certain circumstances they might allow one of these charges to enter into mental health court. Along with a list of certain circumstances to get into mental health court York County also provides a list of prohibited medications in the treatment court so people are aware of the rules before entering. The mental health court at York County has three phases for the offenders and has listed what is expected of them and what the possible sanctions if they do not follow what is required of them (York county mental health court manual, May, 2005). I stated earlier how most mental health court programs are for a yearlong and can change depending on what happens with the offender and the treatment courts position. From being able to have the opportunity to work and observe the mental health court process I learned a lot. York Counties mental health court is not like most according to the research that I found. The treatment court there is mandatory for everyone to attend for 18 months which is why there are the three phases of this program. I think that 18 months is a great reasonable time for someone to complete this program and truly get everything they need out of it. Before you enter York Counties program besides the mental diagnosis you also need to plead guilty to all the charges that have been brought up on you. It is very important for the offender before entering the program to recognize what they did was wrong and that they need to own up to what they have done. The offender has to sign many papers including the contractual agreement saying that they are committing to program for the designated 18 months and they will comply with the entire requirements or face the sanctions that are listed in the manual. Towards the end of completion offender visits become less at York County and then if they are cleared they do not have to come back till graduation day. York County took graduation very seriously because it gave the offenders a sense of accomplishment and sometimes for some of them it was the only time in their lives that they had finally finished something. I was lucky enough while interning there that I was able to go through the end part of the mental health court journey with some people and see them graduate. Overall I feel like York County likes to give an approach of a soft but firm stand point in the treatment court. Everyone who worked there was dedicated to helping the offenders live a mentally better life and stay on track after they graduate (York county mental health court manual, May, 2005). The plea structure of mental health court is very different than the typical plea agreements you see in a regular court system. When you are accepted into mental health court the prosecuting attorney will then proceed to freeze the charges that you are currently charged with. If you have been charged with a felony typically if you complete the mental health court and do everything you were supposed to do the felony will be reduced into a misdemeanor. If you have been charged with a misdemeanor they the charges against you after successful completion will then be dropped from your record (The Proliferation of Mental Health Courts). Mental health courts like I had stated earlier do not typically take violent offenders or certain charges and this is why mental health court is sometimes longer than the actual time they would have served for just the crime. The treatment time in mental health court is usually around a yea r although it can be extended for a period of two years. The court has the right to extend the treatment of the offender if they deem it to be something that is absolutely necessary for them to do in order for the offender to have the opportunity to fully get what they need out of the program. Like I had stated earlier they are required to attend mental health court often and one of the reasons for this is so the judge can monitor them along with the other court personal. Along with attending mental health court they are required to attend all other programs and meet with their probation officer on a consistent basis in order to be in compliance with terms of the treatment court. Overall if they attend what they are supposed to over time the amount of attending the treatment court will lessen towards the end of their treatment. The amount of time that the offender spends in treatment court should not go over the maximum time they would have spent in prison or on probation for their crime (Thompson, M., Osher, F., & Tomasini-Joshi, D. 2008). Mental health courts often reach out to other resources in the community to give the offenders the ability to continue on their path to recovery after the treatment court ends. They provide resources like counseling services after, group meetings to keep them on track, and job placement to keep them an active and productive member of society. All of these resources give the offenders the ability to keep on track an d give a smoother transition back into the community. I think that this is almost if not more important than the treatment court itself. So many times we see that these offenders end up recidivating because they are put back in the same situations that they were in before without any resources to keep them on track. Community resources are a really good thing that the courts do and hopefully continue to do in the future with these courts (The Proliferation of Mental Health Courts). The short term goals of mental health court would be to help offenders get into treatment for their mental illness and reduce the amount of people that we currently have incarcerated. Usually each mental health court has its own set of goals specifically designed for them but they usually fall into basically the same thing. Some of the long term goals for mental health courts is to increase the public safety by hopefully reducing the crime and recidivism rate with the offenders, to encourage treatment amo ng the mental ill community within the criminal justice system, lessening the cost on the community by using the corrections institutions, and overall improving the quality of life for the population of mentally ill people in the criminal justice system (Mental health courts a primer for policy makers and practitioners, 2008). Mental health courts have many benefits to the community and the criminal justice system. Overall in most areas they have been decently successful. Down at York County District Attorney’s Office with my experience in mental health court many people completed the program, but sometimes it really depended on the drive the own individual had to really change their life and turn it around. They contribute to the cases moving faster through the criminal justice system, help the communication between the criminal justice community and mental health communities, and help the offenders with true mental illnesses learn how to deal with them. Mental health courts have had good support from the community and funding which makes this program possible. I do believe that these courts are a great asset to the criminal justice system and help the community with mental illness. So many of the state hospitals in Pennsylvania have closed it has created a large amount of the prison population with mental illnesses not receiving the proper treatment for their disorders. I believe that mental health courts are a great way to reduce the prison population and give people who truly need those resources the opportunity to get them. Each and every county is working hard to serve the offenders the best they can in this court. The idea of treatment court has room for a tremendous amount of gro wth and I only see it becoming an even better system in the future of our criminal justice system. In conclusion from the research that I conducted I found that mental health courts that took a softer approach on their offenders and led them the right way with a gentle hand were more successful. Building relationships with the offenders during this process is just as important as them following through with the proper treatments. Holding them accountable and guiding them are two of the most important components from what I observed. Like I had stated earlier mental health courts have a bright future in our criminal system and seem to do more good for society than harm. References Mental health courts a primer for policy makers and practitioners. (2008). The Proliferation of Mental Health Courts. Center for Court Innovation. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Sept. 2013 Thompson, M., Osher, F., & Tomasini-Joshi, D. (2008).Improving responses to people with mental illnesses: The essential elements of a mental health court. What have we learned from evaluations of mental health courts?. (N.d.). York county mental health court manual . (May, 2005).

Instructional Design Theory According to M. David Merrill

There are many ways by which an educator can look at learning and the teaching process. M. David Merrill, Patricia Smith and Dr. Tillman J. Ragan are three educators who believe that instruction may be done more effectively with given the proper approach and pacing that students may be able to follow. Merrill sought to change the way instruction is done following theories of cognitive learning by integrating consideration for the learner's background and requirements. Smith and Ragan on the other hand, favor an approach to instruction that is more audience centered and based on real-life experiences of their students. Instructional Design Theory According to M. David Merrill, Patricia Smith and Tillman Ragan. An educational psychologist, M. David Merrill has written numerous books and articles on the field of instructional technology and has taken part in the development of various educational materials including instructional computer products.   Merrill has been cited as being among the most productive Educational Psychologists (Gordon, 1984), among the most frequently cited authors in the computer-based instruction literature (Wedman, 1987), and ranked among the most influential people in the field of Instructional Technology (Moore & Braden, 1988). A co-author of the leading book â€Å"Instructional Design,† Patricia Smith is an assistant professor at Cy-Fair College in the North Harris Montgomery Community College District. She holds a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Louisiana State University. Smith’s co-author is Tillman J. Ragan, Ph.D. a Professor Emeritus on Instructional Psychology and Technology from the University of Oklahoma. Basic Beliefs Merrill is a proponent of the Component Display Theory or CDT.   Under CDT, learning is classified by two dimensions: content and performance.   Merrill lists four types of information that falls under â€Å"Content:† 1. Facts which consist of statements and information 2. Concepts that establish relationships between symbols and objects to form a single unit 3. Procedures or ordered/chronological steps required in problem solving 4. Principles that deal with causal relationships Performance on the other hand refers to the way content is used by the learner.   Applications is demonstrated through remembering (information recall), using (practical application) and generalities (finding or development of new abstract concept from given information). CDT presents data in four major forms: rules, examples, recall and practice. Information is further qualified by secondary forms such as are prerequisites, objectives, help, mnemonics and feedback. Merrill believes that based on CDT, effective instruction is achieved when it contains all necessary primary and secondary forms that a learner may use as standards. (Merrill, 1983) The pace of learning is dictated by the accomplishment of the objectives of each task. Evaluation is limited to determining whether the criterion for that particular task is met. What makes CDT different from other cognitive learning theories is that it takes into consideration the capabilities of the learner.   The presentation of information as well as the graduation to the next level/step is determined by what the learner has already accomplished. Also central to the concept of CDT is the empowerment of the learner wherein learners select by themselves their own instructional strategies.   Merrill believes that instructional material becomes highly individualized when done along the CDT guidelines. While Merrill places huge emphasis on course structures rather than the lesson itself, Smith and Ragan believe that creating instructional material starts in determining the needs, experience and capabilities of its intended users. â€Å"As you design instruction, it is critical that you have a particular audience in mind, rather than centering the design around the content and then searching for an audience that is appropriate† (Smith & Regan, 1999). They believed that if an instructor knew about the learning background of their students as well as their capability of assimilating new information, he or she would be better equipped to speak or instruct the students in a way that they can understand. In their book Smith and Ragan summarized thousands of studies in the hope of identifying which steps to take and instructional techniques to use to achieve each type of learning objective. Smith and Ragan also presented the ideas of authentic learning and case based learning. â€Å"Authentic learning refers to the idea that learners should be presented problems from realistic situations and found in everyday applications of knowledge while case-based learning is based on using case studies to present learners with a realistic situation and require them to respond as the person who must solve a problem.† (Smith & Ragan, 1999). Merrill for his part has presented a newer version of the CDT wherein advisor strategies have taken the place of learner control strategies.   Merrill also subscribes to a more macro view which gives more emphasis on course structures and instructional transactions rather than presentation forms. (Merrill, 1994) Cognitive vs. Constructivist Learning Merrill belongs to the theorists who based their ideas on cognitive learning. He believed a systematic and structural approach to learning by using repetition and consistency makes the instruction method more effective. The weakness in cognitive learning lies in its perceived inflexibility in adapting to new situations or methods or accomplishing things. Merrill sought to address this by proposing structured instruction tailored to the requirements and situation of the learner. Smith and Ragan takes a more constructivist or individualistic approach where learning is based on interaction with real-life situations. Adjustment to new situations would be easier and the learner is capable of interpreting multiple realities and individual choice of method in solving a problem or accomplishing a task. The flaw in this design however is that there are situations wherein a degree of conformity is expected and â€Å"individual approaches† will not be acceptable. References Gordon, et al.   (1984, Aug/Sep). Educational Researcher. American Educational Research Association. Merrill, M.D. (1983). Component Display Theory. In C. Reigeluth (ed.), Instructional Design Theories and Models.   Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates. Merrill, M.D. (1994). Instructional Design Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. Moore, D. M., & Braden, R. A. (1988, March).Prestige and influence in the field of educational technology. Performance & Instruction 21(2): 15-23. Smith & Ragan. (1999). Instructional Design (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Young, M. Wedman, J.M., Wedman, J.F., & Heller, M.O. (1987). A computer-prompted system for objective-driven instructional planning. Journal of Computer-Based Instruction, 14 (1), 31-34.      

‘Harmonium’ and ‘Manhunt’ Essay

The speaker’s attitude towards his father in ‘Harmonium’ is honest and realistic. The speaker names the brand of his organ â€Å"Farrand Chapelette† and he names places such as ‘Marsden’ in Yorkshire possibly having a connection of where he and his father grew up. This makes the poem a lot more personnel and therefore the poet manages to gain sympathy from the reader. The use of honesty makes the poem a lot more sentimental whereas in ‘Manhunt’ the wife keeps their background quite discrete. Although the poem does explore the physical and mental effects of dealing with war injuries, it doesn’t include the wars in which he’s participated in and any other personnel information. The poem ‘Manhunt’ is a lot less specific than ‘Harmonium’, which makes it relevant to many other war victims. The husband in Manhunt is not open to his experiences of the past. The speaker in ‘Harmonium’ uses colloquial language to create a friendly, warm, conversational tone. In ‘Harmonium’ Simon Armitage uses language like â€Å"bundled off to the skip† to try and say that the Harmonium is broken. In the poem Manhunt the speaker uses a more compassionate tone, which makes the poem touching. This is created when she unravels the list of her husband’s injuries with each injury getting worse and more heart-breaking. Both of the poems use imagery to convey their feeling to their loved ones through images. In the poem ‘Harmonium’ the speaker’s father is portrayed as a broken ‘Harmonium’, which helps the reader visualize the physical and mental state of the child’s father. In the poem ‘Manhunt’ the husband is continuously referred to images reflecting his health. He is described as having a ‘fetus of metal beneath his chest’ giving the reader a visual image of the metal bullet buried beneath his skin. In the poem ‘Harmonium’ Simon Armitage uses parallelism to intensify the relationship between father and son. He does this by repeating ‘and he, being him†¦.and I, being me† this shows how the son will take the place of his father as time goes on. However in the poem ‘the Manhunt’ the speaker  links herself to her husband. Her husband is described as being the victim of a Manhunt and the poem explains how she is trying to regain her husband’s trust and confidence the idea that the husband is involved with this Manhunt is repeater throughout the poem. The wife is described as ‘widening her search’ to regain her husband; this links to the title ‘Manhunt’. In the poem ‘The Manhunt’ the speaker uses lots of sensational, loving verbs in the poem, reflecting the intimacy of husband and wife, and keen devotion from the wife hoping to heal her husband. The wife says that she is able to ‘climb the rungs of his broken ribs’, a closely observed detail of her hands exploring the altered body of her husband. The idea of the ladder is reflective of the effort involved in the wife’s gradual search for answers. This demonstrates the wife’s confidence when she speaks. However, in ‘Harmonium’ the speaker uses indefinite descriptions such as ‘shallow or sorry’ and ‘phrase or word’; this shows that the speaker is not very comfortable and confident about talking about his father, this suggests that he might be regretful or resentful of his past decisions. The writer feels inadequate. The poem ‘Harmonium’ has four stanzas of different lengths. The first stanza describes the harmonium ready to be throwed away. The next is a closer investigation of the instrument, with detailed descriptions of its parts. The third stanza considers the history of the instrument. The final stanza, which describes carrying the harmonium from the church, is concerned with the relationship between the speaker and his father. However in ‘The Manhunt’; the poem consists of a series of unrhymed couplets. This creates a sense of fragmentation, which matches the feelings of the soldier’s wife as she try’s to understand the man her husband has become. The poem describes the phases of a wife’s search for answers from her injured husband who has recently returned from a war zone. The poem ends when the search is closed. In conclusion the speaker’s attitudes in both poems are quite similar since they are both by Simon Armitage however the spea ker in ‘Harmonium’ takes a more honest and realistic approach with a colloquial tone than the discrete, unspecific, compassionate speaker in ‘The Manhunt’.

Project Sustainability

Executive summary This module is not a detailed study of all aspects of sustainability. The goal of this module is a general introduction into sustainability with a focus on the impact and the effect on projects  © University of Southern Queensland 2 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management throughout their life span. With this knowledge it should be possible for you to identify, understand and address the key issues related to definition and delivery of projects that adhere to current concepts of sustainability, and how to plan for the sustainment of those projects throughout their life span.The concept of sustainability is explored in terms of consumption of resources – this can apply to inputs that are required to the project ‘system’ in order to deliver the project outcomes, the processes by which the project is managed, and the nature of the outputs and their need for resources throughout their useful life span. A range of project sectors is consi dered in order to understand the different implications for each sector. Also, it must be remembered that sustainability works inside of a closed loop system.In all of your deliberations about sustainability and project management you must remember the need to maintain a systems approach. 1. 1 Sustainability issues in a project environment Sustainability is a term that evokes emotion in people about certain events or practices that affect our long term survival of ourselves and all other aspects of our planet. We need to be able to work through this emotion and focus on what is important in an objective and reflective way. By their very nature projects use and affect many resources throughout the life of the project.Some of these resources are consumed or adversely affected by the project. For example, if there was a project to build a new major airport, there would be many issues to consider, and the issue is can their resolution be sustained for the life of the airport? So, the qu estion we need to ask when addressing the project is ‘Can this project be sustained and for how long? ’ The resources required to sustain the project may be physical (natural resources) or they might simply be people (human resources). They could also include local resources as well as imported resources.As a result there are many dimensions of sustainability to consider in a project environment. In 1983 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) convened under Gro Harlem Brundtland a commission to address the growing concern about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development. This became known as the Brundtland Commission. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development in its 1987 Report titled Our Common Future as:Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the abil ity of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987) A full copy of the report is available at http://www. un-documents. net/wced-ocf. htm There are other definitions but this one is often used as the baseline definition. The question that needs to be proactively addressed as we look at the resources required to construct and sustain a project, ‘will it be possible to sustain current and future resources? ’ There are two aspects of sustainability to a project.In the design and construction phases of the project, resources of all kinds are consumed. Similarly, during its operational life there is a need to  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 3 provide resources so that the project can continue to operate profitably and efficiently throughout its life. This through life provision of resources is also known as the sustainment phase. This term is used by Defence, but it is also being used in the wider commercial areas. Blanchard (p. 350) provides a short description about sustaining system maintenance and support functions.But, to sustain these functions requires a capability to provide the range and depth of services for the expected life of the project, including extensions. We often think of project life in terms of years, but, more than likely, it will be decades or in the case of dams, centuries. So, it is important in terms of the project to understand the life of the project as well as the sustaining events for it. When dealing with terms that can have meanings depending upon the context of the situation as well as the potential for emotion, it is important to have a sound base on which to use the word, and to be able to defend its usage.A search of the Oxford English Dictionary shows that sustainability first appeared in the mid-1960s in a form that is consistent with contemporary usage. Its usage in the context of sustainable development is first referenced in 1972. So, it is a relatively new word. The On-Line Oxford English Dictionary defines sustainable development as follows: sustainable development n. (a) Econ. economic development which can be sustained in the long term; (b) Ecol. utilization and development of natural resources in ways which are compatible with the maintenance of these resources, and with the conservation of the environment, for future generations.When developing a project it is necessary to be able to determine the current and future needs of the project and the ability of the providers of the future to meet those needs. To carry out the sustainment work of maintenance will require facilities and workshops of different sources. Although these are technical designs, they are controlled by other factors such as planning laws. Therefore, to start developing a definition for sustainability we need to start by considering the wider meaning of sustainable development. Reading activity 1. 1 Selected reading 1. is the Sustainable Development Guidelines for the Brisbane City Council which is a large local government body in Queensland Australia (Brisbane City Council 2005). This reading will provide more indepth detail about sustainable development as required by a local government authority. On completion of this reading, carry out research to find out what your local government authority requires in terms of sustainable development. Compare the two approaches. Selected reading 1. 2 is a paper based on the work done by the Western Australia government on sustainability (Hartz-Karp & Newman 2006).Governments at all levels have an interest in sustainable development, and this paper describes the issues in setting up a sustainability program from first principles. After completing these readings, reflect on the wider issues of sustainability and the sustaining outcomes described by Blanchard. Can you identify the links between the different needs?  © University of Southern Queen sland 4 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 1. 2 Reporting sustainability Given the diverse industries involved in projects, it would be difficult to have comparative and transparent reporting without some form of consistent process.This is achieved though the Global Reporting Initiativeâ„ ¢ (GRI) (Global Reporting Initiative 2008). The GRI is the world de facto standard on sustainability reporting. This is achieved though a set of guidelines, currently known as the G3. The purpose of these guidelines is for organizations to report their social, economic and environmental performance as routinely and with the same discipline as the financial reports. Many organizations routinely report on their sustainability credentials using the GRI G3 guidelines as the reporting standard.Reading activity 1. 2 Log onto www. globalreporting. org and familiarize yourself with the general content of the site. Read the G3 Guidelines to appreciate the range and depth of issues address ed in sustainability reporting. As can be seen from the G3 Guidelines, reporting imposes a significant workload on an organization. Also, as this is an important communication document for the organization, some industries can expect to have their sustainability report critically evaluated by groups within the community. Reading activity 1. 3Log onto websites for large organizations such as those suggested below and do internal searches for sustainability. Read these approaches and reports and see the extent to which this work is done. Now, if you were on a project within an organization such as this, with these reporting requirements, how would you approach this work? ? BHP Billiton at www. bhpbilliton. com ? Rio Tinto at www. riotinto. com ? Hydro Tasmania at www. hydro. com. au 1. 3 Sustainability impacts on management of projects Projects do not occur in a vacuum. They occur in a business environment that is closely monitored by many people.Many of these people have no direct in volvement on the project, but they are interested in it because of the way it could affect their lifestyle or the natural environment in some way. Traditionally, we talk about the shareholders of a project. Increasingly, business is being forced to consider Triple Bottom line (TBL) reporting. In this paradigm, shareholders are replaced by stakeholders. From a project management approach it is now necessary to make sure that a broader range of stakeholders than just shareholders is clearly identified. It is now  © University of Southern QueenslandMGT8021 – Project sustainability management 5 necessary to address the needs of stakeholders other than just shareholders, and these could be competing interests. Reading activity 1. 4 Read selected reading 1. 3 on sustainability in business (Dorf 2001). Consider the added requirements that emerging sustainability issues are placing on business. How do these issues get included in the overall budget for a project? As a project has a future life, it is not good enough to reinvent the past. It is necessary that you be able to consider future issues.These may be unclear early in the life of a project; but, you need to attempt to develop some idea of what sustainability issues will impact the future of the project. For example, a project might be a suburban rail system with an expected life of 40 years. How do you plan for appropriately trained people to maintain the system over the 40 years? One of the most critical aspects of through life project sustainability is obsolescence. The obsolescence could be in the form of parts, tools, facilities, or skills. At a higher level, obsolescence could be due to the technology or societal factors.An example is the demise of society’s acceptance of coal-fired power stations over the last few years. Obsolescence management is an important aspect of project management sustainability and requires good skills in understanding technology from all aspects. You need to be a ble to anticipate the changes that are likely to happen. This anticipation will usually rely upon reading about relevant and complementary topics as well as seeking specialized opinions. The reference list includes books that provide approaches to future issues and problems.Even though it may seem unrealistic at this time, carefully crafted future thinking may position your project far ahead of anything else at that time. The book Cradle to Cradle (McDonough & Braumgart 2002) is a good example of addressing the challenges we need to address. In the classic through-life approach we talk about ‘cradle to the grave’ to reflect that at the end of its useful life, equipment is disposed of in some way. In the ‘cradle to cradle’ concept the emphasis is on designing products and their packaging so that at the end of useful life they are regenerated, rather than just discarded thoughtlessly.Remaining Useful Life (RUL) is one of the measures of performance that is of ten used to asses an asset. This is usually calculated on classical economic bases to get the most profitable life out of an asset. However, it may be that other criteria included in the G3 or Triple Bottom Line reporting are the drivers of the Remaining Useful Life of the project. When considering the sustainability impact on projects it is necessary to take a systems view and think proactively about the through-life sustainability issues of a project.Just because the issue seems unrealistic at this time, does not mean that it could not turn into a significant problem to resolve in the future. That is, significant management problems may be created for the future.  © University of Southern Queensland 6 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 1. 4 Sustainability considerations for project sectors In a practical sense, sustainability issues are driven by Environmental Impact Statements. There are two broad considerations: statutory and voluntary.In some projects (such as mining) there is a statutory requirement to perform an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and publish the findings in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Don’t get caught up in the actual terms, as there is little consensus on what constitutes an EIA or an EIA. In most cases, it will be decided by the circumstances of the project. On other projects there may not be any statutory requirement; however, given the attitude of the community towards major projects, there may be a need for voluntary consideration of the issues addressed in Environmental Impact Statement requirements.It is not possible to identify all considerations for all sectors and table 1. 1 provides a summary of the key general considerations to be addressed. Table 1. 1: Environmental considerations by project sector Sector Considerations Aviation Air worthiness, passenger comfort, passenger safety, reputation Property Physical appearance, occupant safety, public safety Engineering Design strength, mai ntenance, maintenance support, integrity Infrastructure Service provision, public safety, extremely long life Software Media, programming skills, configuration, documentationQuite often there are numerous regulations that prescribe the issues to be considered for sustainability. This is achieved through environmental investigations into a particular project. The Wyaralong Dam is a new project to build a dam near Beaudesert, south of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. This project requires an Environmental Impact Statement, the details of which are available at: http://www. deedi. qld. gov. au/cg/wyaralong-dam-project. html Log onto the URL above and skim through the scope of considerations for such a project. Now, log onto the URL below for a fact sheet on environmental impact statements: http://www. pa. qld. gov. au/register/p00320aa. pdf While at this site navigate to the various links to obtain a wider perspective of the considerations of the environmental impact statements. Focu s on the first three elements of this fact sheet.  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 7 ? assess the potential adverse and beneficial environmental, economic, and social impacts of the project; ? provide information to the public about the project and its impacts; ? obtain input from the community and stakeholders about the project, its impacts and management;These three elements address the core considerations that need to be addressed to demonstrate the sustainability of the project. Although there are many elements listed in the fact sheet, it is realistic to assume that if these three elements are not done correctly the project will find progress difficult for a number of reasons not associated with the technical aspects of the project. A significant issue that faces global organizations is to ensure that the sustainability considerations for projects that are legal in one jurisdiction are not illegal in another jurisdiction. Many larger organizations have Codes of Practice or Codes of Conduct to assure an independent legal authority that the integrity of their processes is compliant. Assuring project sustainability in your sector may fall into this realm of compliance reporting. You will need to find out to ensure that this matter is addressed otherwise it poses a significant legal and financial risk to the organization. That is, how do the governance responsibilities and accountabilities drive the requirements for sustainability considerations in your sector?To consolidate your understanding of sustainability considerations you should explore the statutory and voluntary considerations for project sustainability in your local area. 1. 5 Draft a sustainability model for a project A model is the description of reality. However, as many different people will have a diverse perception of reality, it is often difficult in a consensus environment developing a model. The risk adverse approach is to adopt a mod el developed by another group and adapt or adopt it for the group’s purpose. Sometimes this will work and sometimes it will not.Even with these difficulties it is still beneficial to consider the elements of a sustainability model. Reading activity 1. 5 Selected reading 1. 4 is a report on a national sustainability initiative. Sustainability models can take many forms and have different starting points, and an example of this is the Australian National Sustainability Initiative (ANSI) (Australian National Biocentre Inc. 2004). Look at the cover photo. It shows the interface between urban and un-developed land, with a creek as the boundary. If you look at the creek you will notice that it is a series of water holes.Now, count how many swimming pools are located in the adjoining private residences. Can our water courses sustain private swimming pools? Read through this initiative and form your own views about whether this document offers a baseline as a suitable model for susta inability? If it does: how and why; if it does not: how and why not?  © University of Southern Queensland 8 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management The basic model for sustainability is based on the balance between economics, ecology and society. Dorf (2001) paragraph 2. 3 addresses this triple bottom line approach.Figure 1. 1 provides an approach to a general model for sustainability. Figure 1. 1: The interdependence of economics, ecology and society (Source: Dorf 2001, p. 43) In this model the three elements of triple bottom line accounting are divided into four main groups of corporation, cultural values, community, and person. These groups are further subdivided into twelve components to be considered. In your current or future experience you will come across models with more than 100 components. Dorf (2001, p. 51) lists ten principles of sustainable business practices.There practices were developed by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics (CERES). In these examples from Dorf we see approaches to models based on a relatively few components. In drafting a model it is suggested that you work with 10–12 components to keep it understandable. If there are too many components it will be difficult to maintain comprehension of what is being modeled and this will make it difficult to communicate your model. Key aspects will get lost in the minutia of the detail. The twelve points proposed in figure1. are analogous to the standard twelve points of the compass, and this makes it easy to present to a wider audience. Other approaches to a model include the G3 reporting framework (Global Reporting Initiative 2008). The G3 describes how sustainability should be reported and this makes it a model in its own right. But this is a very detailed approach and is probably better approached through a more general higher model such as in Figure 1. 1. When drafting a sustainability model it is necessary to collect as many approaches to a model as is possible and to make them as inclusive as possible.The key issue is to be able to find the balance for your project that is accepted by the wider stakeholders, and does not trivialize important issues. This might mean that you have to research many aspects of the project, other than its technical components in order to draft a good model. In the supplementary reading list are several titles that provide a range of views to consider when developing project management strategies and plans.  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 9 In this module we look at sustainability as a separate issue.However, it must be seen as part of the quality management system of an organization. ISO9000 is a set of standards for quality management maintained by the International Organization for Standardization , and proposes figure 2. 1 as a model for the delivery of quality within an organization. Sustainability is part of the quality system and s hould not be treated separately from it or exclude it. In this context, the quality system should also include project management standards such as those in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) (Project Management Institute 2004).Thus, the key drivers in the project are addressed through the one paradigm of quality. Figure 1. 2: Model of a process-based quality management system (Source: ISO9000 2006, p. 3) In the quality diagram shown in figure 1. 2, the various stakeholders are clearly identified as input customers who are imposing requirements on the system. In the product realization phase, (the project) the requirements come to life and treated as part of the continuously improving aspects of the quality management systems. For those who use Six Sigma processes in their organization, the same link is made.A model for sustainability should not be seen as a separate model, but inclusive of and derived for and from the quality management system. All of the sustainability issues and considerations that we have addressed can be addressed within the quality management system model. This is probably the most powerful model to represent the commitment of the organization to sustainability. Conclusions Projects are an important mechanism to deliver the goods and services of all types that we require for living. This also includes the delivery of goods and services in the aid of others or natural disasters. University of Southern Queensland 10 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management Projects do not exist in a vacuum and impact on all aspects of society, economy and resources. This is represented by the triple bottom line approach to accounting, and this puts projects beyond the classic economic theory decision processes. There is increasing pressure on organizations to deliver projects that are more than simply good profit to the shareholders. The current and increasing requirement emphasizes the need to ensure that the project a lso brings benefits to society as a whole.To be able to consider this wider systems approach, it is necessary to proactively adopt an approach to projects that places correct emphasis on components that affect the sustainability of the project. These components could be as economically obtuse as placing high value on areas of biodiversity as the more measurable of higher levels of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT). Being able to successfully navigate through sustainability issues is an increasingly important skill of the project manager.