Process Improvement Essay

ABSTRACT This document will be evaluating an existing process within Toyota during the time of their accelerator crisis. A problem statement will be defined around the process of internal communication of concerns and ideas between foreign-based Toyota employees and the authoritative management of Toyota based in Japan. PROBLEM ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PROCESS Problem framing is a very important, but easily overlooked, part of decision-making. Framing a problem can have a heavy influence on the decisions that are made. It isn’t enough to frame the problem; it should be framed with the solution in mind. This helps to keep the end goal of the decision-making process in mind so that the correct choices are made. In the case of Toyota, at the highest level, they had a major problem with some of their products involving unintended acceleration and their handling of  customer reports of the problem led to a whole mess of other problems. So from the outside looking in, it seems that many processes internal to Toyota had room for improvement. Although there are many different business sections of Toyota with their own respective problems such as customer service, public relations, manufacturing, the problem I would like analyze and offer improvement on is internal communication process between management and foreign employees and how the breakdown in this process affected some of the business decisions made by Toyota’s upper management. â€Å"As Toyota grew into a global powerhouse in the auto industry, the organizational structure that emerged was a centralized design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ that put key decision-making in the hands of executives in Japan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some believed that Toyota’s structure in the U.S. ultimately impaired its ability to prevent the safety problems before they reached the crisis† (Greto, Schotter & Teagarden, 2010, pg. 7-8). A quality tool or method used to help with the identification and prioritization of the potential causes of quality problems in a process is cause-and-effect analysis. In a way, this is a reverse engineering method used to identify the elements of a specific quality problem and to identify the causes so that it can be corrected. The problem wasn’t the unintended acceleration of certain vehicles; the problem was the internal management decision-making that impacted the engineering of those vehicles which created the engineering problem. For some background information, the defining and founding philosophy of Toyota, the Toyota Way, has been around for a long time but it wasn’t until the late 1980s in which they began production of their vehicles in the U.S. Specifically the problem of ideas from U.S.-based employees has been largely ignored for almost 20 years when it comes to key engineering or financial-based decisions. â€Å"Despite the global sales volume gain, Toyota reported revenues of US $211 billion for 2009, a decrease of 19% for the previous year† (Greto, Schotter & Teagarden, 2010, pg. 2). Even though Toyota has been making large profits throughout the past 20 years, they experienced a decrease in 2009 and part of this was related to the ambitious initiatives and business decisions made by Toyota’s upper management. â€Å"Japan is notoriously consensus oriented, and companies have a strong tendency to mediate differences among individuals rather than accentuate them† (Porter, 1996, pg. 63). Japanese culture and Toyota’s centralized decision-making structure made it difficult for U.S. based employees to offer ideas, suggestions for improvements, or to elevate critical problems to upper management in Japan. Toyota’s upper management, in their minds, let the U.S. employees do what they do best, which is supposedly marketing and selling. The process used by Toyota to communicate foreign employees’ ideas to upper management was heard, but not listened to. Even the process of internal communication between management had its breakdowns because of the perception by family-oriented managers of nonfamily managers in that nonfamily members didn’t have such thoughts as safety and quality in the forefront of their minds. Overall, the communication process seemed to be that ideas were submitted from employees, whether by Japanese or foreign employees, to management and ideas were reviewed and pushed up the management chain when it was appropriate. However, ideas that might have some bearing on engineering, manufacturing or financing were largely ignored when the source of the ideas were from U.S.-based employees and this violated the Toyota Way. To add to the complexity, the process for communicating ideas became more convoluted depending on the audience, nonfamily or family-based managers. To sum this up into a problem statement: â€Å"Toyota has violated their founding philosophy of employee empowerment, especially for non-Japanese employees, and continues to make important business decisions without any regard to concerns or ideas from foreign employees when appropriate. Employees may have ideas that could be used in the decision-making process to achieve better quality solutions. Toyota needs a better mechanism or improvement to this internal communication process to capture the knowledge and ideas of all employees and to share these ideas across the organization. All in all, it’s to improve the internal communicat ion process between employees and management in order to support the idea of continuous improvement and quality.† CONTEXT OF SELECTED PROCESS FOR IMPROVEMENT â€Å"The _Toyota Way_ mandates planning for the long term; highlighting problems  instead of hiding them; encouraging team work with colleagues and suppliers; and, perhaps most importantly, instilling a self-critical culture that fosters continuous and unrelenting improvement† (Greto, Schotter & Teagarden, 2010, pg. 3). Two cores ideas from the statement above are the idea of team work and most importantly employee empowerment. These two values are what made Toyota into a successful global corporation during their fast rise in the 1980s. Employees were encouraged to offer ideas for improvement for any process within the organization and this helped with continuing the idea of continuous improvement. An important part of making business decisions is having real-time and critical information. The selected process for improvement: improving the communication of ideas and concerns and the sharing of foreign employees’ ideas to Toyota’s Japanese management team needs to be addressed immediately. The process selected for improvement is the process used to capture the ideas of all employees, U.S.-based included, and to have these ideas be properly represented and presented to management for review in real-time. â€Å"You know the joke that every bank branch has a president – well, every Toyota facility has a president, and one can’t tell another what to do† (Greto, Schotter & Teagarden, 2010, pg. 8). This statement touches the surface of why the internal management communication process needs improvement at Toyota. The way the process is currently being represented in Toyota’s organization is a complete violation of their founding philosophy. During the 2000s, Toyota pushed for a lot of initiatives that in hindsight were either short-term profit driven or too ambitious. For example, â€Å"despite the savings of more than US $10 billion over the six years since CC21’s inception, Watanabe set out to achieve even more cost savings through the new â€Å"VI† (Value Innovation) strategy† (Greto, Schotter & Teagarden, 2010, pg. 5). This was a business decision made to further drive up profits despite the respectable amount of savings already made financially. If the knowledge, ideas and concerns of employees were properly captured and communicated to management, it could have prevented some of the poor business decision-making made and the impact of these decisions on engineering and manufacturing. Two impacts of the poor decision-making was the decision to become leaner with the manufacturing process and  overstretching existing resources in trying to supplant GM as number on in the automobile industry. Toyota’s has employees in many different markets who most likely had concerns regarding these decisions or ideas on how to improve the ideas and _communicated_ these ideas but these ideas weren’t being heard in time or heard at all by management. To put this all into context, the process for communicating ideas and concerns internally is impacted by the culture and internal structure of Toyota. These are both tough things to change but the process used to capture and represent ideas to management is something easy to improve. IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROCESS If the current internal communication process continues as is, there will continue to be a breakdown in the communication of potentially important ideas and concerns from employees to management. If employees feel as if their input isn’t listened to or even heard, they will become apathetic or not even bother trying to communicate important ideas or concerns. As a result, this can lead to the cycle of poor business decisions being made resulting in more damage to the company. Even worse, this will continue to cause Toyota to stray away from the core values of the Toyota Way that made them a successful global corporation. Already what has happened as a result of the ignoring of ideas and making business decisions with only the goal of short-term profits in mind is that Toyota during the oil sludge crisis had to pay millions of dollars as a result of class action lawsuits and took a hit to their business image. Fast forward to the accelerator crisis, Toyota experienced losing $2 billion dollars during the recall, had to pay a $16.4 million dollar civil penalty under U.S. law, experienced a customer relations nightmare and even had some of their car models dropped from Consumer Reports. The dollar amount lost due to the alienation of customers, lack of accountability at first by Toyota, and corporate reputation and image hit is immeasurable. Implementing some mechanism to improve the communication process between  employees and management and even management can be improved with the use of something such as a knowledge management system. â€Å"Effective knowledge management tools can help firms reduce internal costs of maintaining electronic filing systems and reduce the administrative expense of locating documents. Second, just as efficiency can improve profitability, leverage can have the same effect where knowledge transfer enhances the quality of work performance, and therefore, its value. In this context, leverage is the ability to delegate work to the most cost-effective resource. The transfer of knowledge is, in fact, the essence of knowledge management† (Martin, 2002, pg. 1). Although it is a large internal expense, the benefits of a KM system would have a great effect on the general business results and business relationships of Toyota with its employees, management and even their supply chain. POTENTIAL OUTCOMES OF IMPROVING THE PROCESS Improving the current internal communication process of ideas and concern helps to improve employee relations between management and their reports. It helps to re-establish a culture of knowledge sharing and representing that captured knowledge in such a way that it can help to improve the business decision-making by upper management. Any important business decisions made by upper management have a direct impact on the shareholders. So any improvement in the process that results in better business decisions being made will have a direct positive impact for the shareholders. The current decision-making and straying away from the founding principles of the Toyota Way has damaged the company and continuing down this path will only make the future worse for Toyota. So having an internal mechanism to capture ideas and improve communication such as a KM system can only improve the situation. Employees would feel like their ideas are being heard and will continue to offer suggestions for continual improvement. An improvement in communication can help to break down the false perceptions that family-oriented managers have of nonfamily managers. For example, a family-based manager might come across an idea from an unexpected source, a nonfamily manager, and come to respect that person for their knowledge. In a  way, this could help to improve the Japanese culture way of making decisions internally. Toyota is almost in the top of their market, so they are their own worst enemy when it comes to being competitive. So an improvement in their internal decision-making around all important financial, engineering and manufacturing decisions will only help to sustain and further their current competitive edge. Sometimes an organization has to make a large internal expense in order to position themselves differently from their competitors. â€Å"Strategic positioning means performing _different_ activities from rivals’ or performing similar activities in _different_ ways† (Porter, 1996, pg. 62). So collecting ideas internally and using them to make better business decisions will help Toyota to strategically position themselves even further away from their competition. SUMMARY Overall, Toyota is its own worst enemy with the current decision-making process they have in place internally. Even though the centralized decision-making structure is what Toyota currently has in place, the decision-making needs to take into account employee input, whether foreign or not. Employee input has been a cornerstone of the Toyota Way and Toyota has strayed from this founding principle. The implications of continuing down this path will result in more crises which in turn results in loss business, damaged business reputation, lawsuits and losing the competitive edge. Improving this process will result in better employee relations; establish a knowledge sharing culture which is needed for an environment that is striving for continual improvement and better business decisions being made. REFERENCES Greto, M., Schotter, A., & Teagarden, M. (2010). Toyota: The accelerator crisis. Thunderbird School of Global Management. Martin, K. (2002). Features – â€Å"Show Me the Money† – Measuring the Return on Knowledge Management. LLRX. Retrieved from http://www.llrx.com/features/kmroi.htm Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy? _Harvard Business Review, 74_(6), 61-78. Russell, R.S., & Taylor, B.W. (2011). _Operations management: Creating value along the supply chain_ (7th ed.)_._ Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 9780470525906

Preparing and designing learning Essay

Preparing and designing Learning and Development Activities In this assignment I will address factors which influence learning and development activities, focusing on adult learning, organisational factors and key legislation which must be adhered to. I will describe different learning methods and learning resources and highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of each. I will also plan and prepare a full training session including development activities for a Team Manager with the objective for them to effectively manage the attendance of their employees. Factors Relating to Adult Learning Andragogy (adult learning) is a theory that holds a set of assumptions about how adults learn. Andragogy emphasises the value of the process of learning, It uses approaches to learning that are problem-based and collaborative, and also emphasises more equality between the teacher and learner. Knowles identified the six principles of adult learning outlined below: 1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed – Your role is to facilitate a students’ movement toward more self-directed and responsible learning as well as to foster the student’s internal motivation to learn. 2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences – Adults like to be given opportunity to use their existing foundation of knowledge and experience gained from life experience, and apply it to their new learning experiences. 3. Adults are goal oriented – Adult students become ready to learn when â€Å"they experience a need to learn it in order to cope more satisfyingly with real-life tasks or problems† (Knowles) 4. Adults are relevancy oriented – Adult learners want to know the relevance of what they are learning to what they want to achieve. 5. Adults are practical – Through practical fieldwork experiences, interacting with real clients and their real life situations, students move from classroom and textbook mode to hands-on problem solving where they can recognise first hand how what they are learning applies to life and the work context. 6. Adult learners like to be respected. Adult Learning Cycle Kolb learning styles: Diverging (feeling and watching – CE/RO) -Kolb called this style ‘Diverging’ because these people perform better in situations that require ideas-generation, for example, brainstorming. People with the Diverging style prefer to work in groups, to listen with an open mind and to receive personal feedback. Assimilating (watching and thinking – AC/RO) – The Assimilating learning preference is for a concise, logical approach. Ideas and concepts are more important than people. People with this style are more attracted to logically sound theories than approaches based on practical value. Converging (doing and thinking – AC/AE) – People with a Converging learning style can solve problems and will use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. People with a Converging learning style are more attracted to technical tasks and problems than social or interpersonal issues. People with a Converging style like to experiment with new ideas, to simulate, and to work with practical applications. Accommodating (doing and feeling – CE/AE) – The Accommodating learning style is ‘hands-on’, and relies on intuition rather than logic. These people use other people’s analysis, and prefer to take a practical, experiential approach. People with an Accommodating learning style prefer to work in teams to complete tasks. They set targets and actively work in the field trying different ways to achieve an objective. Barriers to Adult Learning Barriers that are associated with adult learning include; poor writing skills lack of sufficient time lack of funds lack of persistence or motivation Other barriers include gender discrimination, age discrepancies, language problems, and lack of support from employers, friends, and family. Organisational factors which impact design of learning and development activities 1. Organisational policy and culture 2. Financial Factors 3. Timing and timescales 4. Equality of opportunity 5. Learner factors 6. Organisational priorities Key legislation relevant to learning and development activities Equality and diversity Health and safety data protection Learning Methods The Visual Style – People who learn best through visual aids have a visual learning style. Visual aids include facial expressions and gesticulations of teachers, pictures, texts with illustrations, DVDs, etc. Advantage: It makes recollection easier when, in an environment different from where you had learned the information, you see pictures similar to those through which you learned the information. Disadvantage: the difficulty you experience when only texts and speeches are available for learning, without any visual aids. The Auditory Style – Some people prefer to learn by hearing what they want to learn. Theirs is the auditory learning style. To learn, such people would prefer listening to discussions, talking matters over, reading out of texts or making use of e-courses containing audio recordings. Advantage of this style is that you assimilate and retain information without having to see it in texts or pictures. Disadvantage: the difficulty of learning among silently reading learners EG in a Library. The Read/Write Style – If you learn best by reading texts or writing down notes from what you read, see or hear, then you are a read/write learner. Read/write learners need writing materials to take down points they think important from what they read, hear or see. Advantage of making them more self-dependent because with their note taking, they can learn much by themselves. Disadvantage of not being able to learn easily where the only  medium of instruction is visual or audio, or where they do not have access to writing materials. The Kinesthetic Style – Kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by moving and doing. They prefer interactive learning, learning through practical challenges and hands-on experience and taking in information as they move from one place to another. Kinesthetic learners are therefore not comfortable sitting in a place for long. Advantage of exposing learners faster to practice and evidence: You learn as you practice and practice what you learn; you see the evidence of what you had digested with difficulty from texts or discussions. Disadvantages where there are no places to move to for such live experience and nobody to interactive with. Learning Resources Instructor-led training remains one of the most popular training techniques for trainers. There are many resources used including: whiteboard, power point presentation etc†¦ Advantages  Instructor-led classroom training is an efficient method for presenting a large body of material to large or small groups of employees. It is a personal, face-to-face type of training as opposed to computer-based training and other methods we will discuss later. It ensures that everyone gets the same information at the same time. It is cost-effective, especially when not outsourced to guest speakers. Storytelling grabs people’s attention. Disadvantages Sometimes it is not interactive. Too much of the success of the training depends on the effectiveness of the lecturer. Scheduling classroom sessions for large numbers of trainees can be difficult—especially when trainees are at multiple locations. There are many ways that you can break up training sessions and keep trainees attentive and involved, including: Small group discussions. Break the participants down into small groups and give them case studies or work situations to discuss or solve. This is a good way for knowledgeable veteran employees to pass on  their experience to newer employees. Case studies. Adults tend to bring a problem-oriented way of thinking to workplace training. Case studies are an excellent way to capitalize on this type of adult learning. By analysing real job-related situations, employees can learn how to handle similar situations. They can also see how various elements of a job work together to create problems as well as solutions. Q & A sessions. Informal question-and-answer sessions are most effective with small groups and for updating skills rather than teaching new skills. For example, some changes in departmental procedure might easily be handled by a short explanation by the supervisor, followed by a question-and-answer period and a discussion period. Role-playing. By assuming roles and acting out situations that might occur in the workplace, employees learn how to handle various situations before they face them on the job. Role-playing is an excellent training technique for many interpersonal skills, such as customer service, interviewing, and supervising. Advantages Interactive sessions keep trainees engaged in the training, which makes them more receptive to the new information. They make training more fun and enjoyable. They provide ways for established employees to pass on knowledge and experience to newer employees. They can provide in-session feedback to trainers on how well trainees are learning. Disadvantages Interactive sessions can take longer because activities, such as taking quizzes or breaking into small groups, are time-consuming. Some method can be less structured, and trainers will need to make sure that all necessary information is covered.

Foundations of Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foundations of Accounting - Essay Example and not as cash or its equivalent is received or paid) and they are recorded in the accounting records and reported in the financial statements of the periods to which they relate†. It’s important that the there should not be any misleading through the concealment of accrued expenses or through overstated income by false profits. Contingencies and commitments should be disclosed in the form of note, if any. The current ratio, the liquid or acid test ratio and the stock turnover basically considered as the short term liquidity ratios as they are used to calculate the ability of a company to meet its current liabilities with its current assets. Enough cash must be available to payoff the short term liability like trade creditors usually within 12 months including those who required immediate payments like of 2to 3 months. A ratio of between 1.5:2 and 2:1 are considered reasonable (Randall).while a current ratio in excess of 2:1, shows that the resources are not efficiently used and the investment is tied up in huge stocks , debtors or unnecessary accumulation of cash in banks. As evident from the figures, the current ratio incase of poodle ltd of 1.5:1 is acceptable while incase of Collie limited it should be decreased by 0.5, i.e. it has to be around 2:1, so as to be acceptable. Liquid ratios are generally calculated to check the ability of the company to meet its current debt through the current assets other than stock. The purpose is to assess that whether is an unnecessary accumulation of stock or not. It may be either of raw material or WIP or even of finished goods. A liquid ratio of 1:1 is usually considered satisfactory but it can decrease till 0.9:1 (Randall), provided that there the provision for doubtful debts is not very high, i.e. the prompt payment from the customers is expected. It indicates the average no days the inventory is tied up in the Store room. Usually the higher the inventory level the better it will be but in some cases

Managing Operations and Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Operations and Finance - Essay Example Moving forward, the paper presents a comparison of the current and last year financial performance of the company through financial statement ratio analysis. The primary reason to conduct a ratio analysis is to quantify the results of the operations of a company and compare them with that of the prior year(s) in order to assess different aspects of the financial feasibility. The ratios are divided into profitability, liquidity and gearing ratios. The paper identifies the areas, through ratio analysis, where the company is performing well and where it needs improvements. In conclusion the paper presents a comparison of the financial and operational performance of Marks and Spencer with one of its primary competitors, Debenhams. Major financial ratios are compared and in addition, historical share prices are also analyzed of both companies in order to identify which company has a better market capitalization and better reputation from investor’s perspective. Operating Performanc e of the Company Marks and Spencer, an internationally recognized name considered analogous for high fashion and trend setting quality. Marks and Spencer is regarded as the premier retailer in the United Kingdom catering more than 21 million customers. Keeping in pace with the globalization, the company is planning to expand its business in other frontiers. As per the audited financial statement of the company for the financial year 2010, the company employees more than 76,000 and has its operations expanded to more than 41 countries in the world. Marks and Spencer’s well established business attracts a great deal of consumer base irrespective of demography. The primary business of the company comprises of selling general merchandise which mainly consists of womenswear, menswear and an expanding kid’s wear. The company, through its resilient and effective marketing tactics, has able to capture market share of around 11.0% by value and 11.2% by volume. Another source fr om where the company earns a great deal of its revenue is through selling food items. Marks and Spencer is the leading provider when it comes to selling fine quality food. The company sells everything from fresh meals to canned food items, highly acclaimed and praised range of wines to other groceries products. The company has improved its shelf availability and has adopted the strategy of renewing its food range. The proactive approach has resulted in an increase of 1.8% in sales revenue from food business. The financial year 2010 proved to be another progressive year for Marks and Spencer. During the current year, Marks and Spencer’s revenue increased by 5.2% during the current year to an impressive ?9.5 billion which has caused the operating profit to increase by 9.8%. The company, following its growth strategy, aspires transform its operation into multi channel business. The company has taken major steps in investing its direct sales business which enhanced the revenue by 27% during the current financial year. In addition, the company is actively following its strategy of refurbishing its stores and giving them a new and improved look. The refurbishment has resulted in an increased storage space and has created a fashionable shopping environment. The following table compares the financial results of Marks and Spencer, for

Project Planning, Execution and Closure - final project Essay

Project Planning, Execution and Closure - final project - Essay Example The company believes that the new system will be of immense help to the customers of the company, who will be able to access and perform many of those functions through the web, which were so far only available physically. The company is planning to outsource the development work to a vendor who will perform the required upgrades collaboratively. The company is planning to employ some of its man hours during the course of the development and is planning to keep its direct involvement in the project to the minimum. On its part, IRTC is planning to play a more supervisory role all through the project life cycle. Since the vendor has already worked on the project in question, it would be ideal to outsource the work rather than use company resources to execute the project because of the learning curve involved. 1. Provide a web interface for the existing system so that it would be beneficial to customers as well as internal staff. Customers can benefit from the web interface to perform their routine requirements, while the staff can benefit from reduced work load and increased ease of delivery of services 3. The system has been envisaged to create more interaction between the customer service department and the billing department so that more professional exchanges can happen between the departments. This would also allow the company to enhance the performance of the two departments. 4. The new system will not directly enhance the internal processes of the system and will not undertake a business process reengineering effort. The software will merely be deployed according to the direction of the managers who are managing the change. 6. The system will be delivered in modules that will cater to the immediate needs of the billing and customer service departments. The third module will integrate the two departments. The fourth and final module will integrate the back office functionality with a user interface that will be provided to the customer. 7. The

Ethics in business (case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics in business (case study) - Essay Example The organization expects compliance with its standards of integrity throughout the organization and will not tolerate employees who achieve results at the cost of violation of law or who deal unscrupulously. It is the policy of the organization that all transactions will be accurately reflected in its books and records by the employees. This, of course, means that falsification of books and records and the creation and maintenance of any off-the record bank accounts are strictly prohibited. The organization anticipates sincerity from employees at all points and observance to its regulations and internal controls. A negativity which might result when the employees obscure information from the organization’s officials or the auditors is that other employees might get an idea that the organizational policies and internal controls can be overlooked when they are problematic. It is the corporation’s policy to make full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the corporation files with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other public communications. All employees are responsible for reporting material information known to them to higher management so that the information will be available to senior officials responsible for making disclosure decisions. A code of ethics is developed in order to provide the members of the organizations with some broad ethical statements that will guide them through their professional lives and also to identify relevant considerations when ethical uncertainties arise (Anonymous 2008). It facilitates the employees to share common values and a common vision. The development of code of ethics defines behaviors that are both accepted and acceptable in an organization (MacDonald 2009). It further assists in establishing a better organizational culture which would improve the public image of the organization. They also develop a sense of community and belonging

W3 Asign2 Strategy Map & Balanced Score Card Essay

W3 Asign2 Strategy Map & Balanced Score Card - Essay Example (Cokins, G., 2013) Using these two tools, this paper will attempt to identify the KPIs for Rotor-Rooter, a plumbing company that is based and provides services primarily in the United States. It was difficult to identify the KPIs for Roto-Rooter because aside from company-owned operations in the United States they also have independent contractors and independent franchises locally and internationally. (Roto-Rooter, 2014) Since the writer is of the belief that the independent contractors and franchises should probably have their own KPIs, this paper will focus on the performance of the company-owned branches. As mentioned earlier, this tool presents the objectives and KPIs needed to meet those company goals. For this company, the key indicators of performance start with, under Learning Growth, enhance technical skills for all Level 1 employees and improve managerial & administrative skills for Level 2 employees. I think these are important because Rotor-Rooter’s business requires its employees at these levels to practice technical skills to complete their work and organizational skills and management skills to coordinate with their many branches, franchises and contractors, respectively. For the Learning Process stage, the KPIs are to implement training programs for current and new employees and to implement management training programs to meet the objectives at the first level of the map. For the Customer Level, the KPIs are to attain customer retention at 100%, to continue providing quality service, and to provide after sales service. Finally at the Financial Stage, the KPIs are to increase revenue and to increase productivity. A balanced scorecard contains individual KPIs with a predefined target measure, and KPIs that are project-based and process-based. (Cokins, G., 2012) For Roto-Rooter, the balanced scorecard will show, as KPIs for the managers and employees, target outputs with

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY - Research Paper Example Borugian et al. (2005) did not directly really address equity issues in Canada’s rural health care. However, one way of interpreting the Borugian et al. (2005) article is that when we are able to correlate select socioeconomic variables with the rural sector of Canada, cases of childhood leukemia may negatively correlate with Canada’s rural socioeconomic characteristics. One key result that Borugian et al. (2005) supposedly found is that a slightly lower relative risk of childhood leukemia was observed in the poorest quintile compared with the richest quintile. Thus, when we succeed in showing that Canada’s rural population is associated with the poorest quintile, it may be possible to show that Canada’s rural population is also associated with lower childhood leukemia. Borugian et al. (2005) recognize that other studies have results that are inconsistent with their own findings but Borugian et al. (2005) interpreted the inconsistent findings to be due to case ascertainment or study participation. It is worth noting that Borugian et al. (2005) also revealed that the provincial registries cover at least 95% of all Canadian cancer cases. Thus, the Borugian et al. (2005) finding appears inconsistent with the data on cancer prevalence. Nevertheless, following the Borugian et al. ... James, P., Wilkins, R., Detsky, A., Tugwell, P., and Manuel, D. (2007). Avoidable mortality by neighbourhood income in Canada: 25 years after the establishment of universal health insurance. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 287-296. Employing quantitative techniques, the James et al. (2007) study highlights the role of universal insurance for doctors and hospital services in Canada. According to James et al. (2007), the results after 25 years of universal health insurance indicate that health differences between the riches and poorest quintiles based on age-standardized expected years of life lost decreased by 60% in men and by 78% in women. The James et al. (2007) study has a list of illnesses or conditions in which deaths may be avoidable. One set of illnesses or conditions are those in which deaths can be avoided through medical care and another set consist of illnesses and conditions in which deaths can be avoided through public health programs. It follows from t he James et al. (2007) that mortality from illnesses and conditions are functions of public policy. Public policy can institute reforms in health insurance access and in improving medical care and public health. Thus, one extension of the study results of James et al. (2007) is that health inequities produced by the urban-rural divide can also be moderated by public policy. Meanwhile, among the illnesses or conditions in which there has been only marginal decreases in mortality disparities across incomes include lung cancer, HIV, and cerebro-vascular diseases. James et al. (2007) noted that another important contributory factor to the reduction of health disparities is the increase in government funding for public

Designers and performers Essay Example for Free

Designers and performers Essay After deciding that we was going to focus on the musical genre in the 1920s America period, we wrote down a list of films, musicals and music that could linked to our oncoming performance. For example, Chicago, Bugsy Malone and Christina Aguileras new album. We chose the films/musicals Chicago and Bugsy Malone because they were set at the same time period as our performance and we chose Christina Aguileras new album as she has sung all her songs in the style of the 1920-30s jazz era and thought it easily fitted into the style we were trying to create. I have seen the musical Chicago on stage and on film, and even though they are both based on the same storyline, contain the same characters, music etc, they are both different with the fact one is performed on stage and the other was filmed on a set. They have both influenced us, especially the stage version where limited space is used compared to the film as they use different locations, whereas a stage is very limited where the same space has to be used to create different locations. This helped us how to use the space effectively and use to our full advantage and still make the performance effective. The music within the musical Chicago gave us ideas of what sort of music and themes to focus on and research, as we didnt want to use the exact same music as Chicago because the music is fairly popular and we didnt want the audience to compare our performance to Chicago, which is why we included a major twist within our story, so people wouldnt compare both performances. We decided to use Chicago as a source to gather information within that time period, which meant costumes, characters, setting, lighting, colours for setting and lighting and music used within the performance. Even though we werent going to use their music we needed to get an idea of what style of music to look for and include. We were able to watch what the time period back in the 1920s was really like, rather than researching on the internet and reading about it in books, even though we did get help from these sources we found by watching the film more reliable and enjoyable. We could actually see what colours were popular for costumes and lighting used. For costumes we used a lot of bright colours, a part from the male characters who just wore a black and white suit, as this went with the time period. For the woman, black and red costumes were worn as this is worn a lot in Chicago and it looked and worked with the lighting colours we wanted to include as well. We found that black and red was really popular so we decided to use this for our lighting, as well as blackouts, spot light effects and using red lighting to show what scenes are serious or for the performance scene which is quite flirtatious. These colours worked well within our performance and worked well with every scene that we included this in. We took these ideas from Chicago and linked them into our own performance. The film Bugsy Malone also gave us ideas towards our performance. The character of Bugsy helped me develop my character as Jack Murray in our performance. Bugsy Malone is set in the same time period we were setting our piece and when thinking about how to play and portray my character as Jack Murray I automatically thought of Bugsy. He influenced me by the way he acted as the character of Bugsy seemed to always be up to something behind your back and you never quite knew if he was coming or going type of character. He influenced my character in that way as Jack Murray was up to something but the audience didnt quite know what. The character of Busy also seemed to be a bit of the jack the lad sort of person and I feel that this defiantly influenced me for my character and is shown well when playing Jack Murray. The characters of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey were influenced by the two real lives of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. We researched information about them both and found out that Ma Rainey use to be violent and bossy towards Bessie Smith and we created the characters from there. We found Christina Aguileras new album very relevant for our performance. Her music was inspired by the 1920-1930s style of music. We felt by using some of her music for our performance we are still including music relevant to the time period and at the same time people will recognise her music and still making our performance relevant to today. Instead of only focusing the music within our performance on Christinas music we also researched actual artists from the 1920s. We found music from famous artists such as Billy Holiday, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong and we actually included one of his songs for one of our performance pieces but actually sung by one of the actors instead of it being a voice over like we had done so far for our singing performances. We thought this looked better in our piece as only one verse was being sung without any music, compared to the previous performance scene where most of the song we performed we thought it looked better if the two actors didnt actually sing the song. Music can influence a scene massively and an example of this is the detective scene. As the detective is trying to find out who really murdered Bessie Smith, we included flash backs about who could of murdered her. For the first flash back we decided to include Charleston themed music as people are really familiar with this tune and by using this music it became quite comical and thought this was brilliant as the next flash back would be the complete opposite. We found it very different difficult to find music for the next flash back because even though this didnt actually happen, at this point during the story the audience are meant to think Starlet did murder Ma Rainey and the music heavily influences that. When listening to music from Chicago we found the beginning of one song that fitted into the mood we was trying to create. We only wanted to use the beginning so we repeated this tune over and over again for this certain flash back and it gave the impression that Starlet really did murder Ma Rainey because compared to the previous flash back this one was much more serious and this is what we wanted to create. A lot of multi-rolling was used in our performance and we was influenced by John Godbers work. I was influenced by his playwrights, Teechers, Bouncers and Shakers where multi-rolling is used throughout these pieces. They was so effective and cleverly done and performed, for the use of multi-rolling within our play we looked at these plays and looked at how he made it look effective. Costume is one of the main concerns when multi-rolling, if you didnt change your costume the audience would think you were still playing the character you were playing when they last saw you on stage. We made sure an obvious change was made when changing characters, if it was as simple as a coat, walking stick or a wig. An obvious change had to be done and made noticeable to the audience. Godber also made sure there was a change in voice as this would also help show the audience that the actor is now playing a different character. Multi-rolling is shown effectively throughout our piece as we used this through most of our play. Example, when I change into my character as Jack Murray I deepen my voice slightly to show I am playing a man, and the read all about it scene where everybody is involved, we change into different characters buying a newspaper in a busy street, we put on a simple piece of costume each such as a hat, coat, scarf as well as changing our voices to show we are playing different characters. All the films/ musicians/ singers/ practitioners influenced our piece in many ways that I have already discussed. The musicians and singers helped us decide what style of music to include that would make our piece a success and would link in well with our story. The films influenced the development of some of our characters such as Jack Murray, and they also influenced our costumes, in what styles to go for and colours as well. The practitioner, John Godber helped us make multi-rolling really work within our performance by reading and looking at his other work and how to make multi-rolling a success within your performance, which I think made our piece really successful. We tried to make our performance very different to ones people would had seen before so we tried not to get too heavily influenced by other playwrights, directors, films and musicals. Especially with the storyline as this is what seemed too happened at first when deciding on a storyline. Instead we were only really looking for ideas to help us on the design side of the performance, and when researching characters and music for our performance.

Arts and pornography Essay Example for Free

Arts and pornography Essay ?No-one ever asks When does art become realistic? , or When does art become abstract? , or When does art become literary? , although questions like these make as much sense because art can be all or any of these things. This is because we can usually distinguish an abstract work from a realistic or literary one, whereas what pornography is, is unclear in the minds of most people. Pornography derives from two Greek words: porne, which means harlot, and graphos, which refers to writing; however, we use the term today to describe much more than stories about prostitutes. And when we use it, it is as more than the definition of a class of writing and visual art: it has an ethical (usually pejorative) connotation also. And, like most ethical and aesthetic terms, its use is intensely personal. Just as beautiful really means no more than I like it (although I cannot clearly explain why), pornographic means I find this offensive (although I cannot really explain why). There is no generally agreed meaning for either of these terms which bedevils our discussion of both. Art exists in many different forms. Sculpture, paintings, graphics, drawings and such are part of the visual art. Dance, film, music and theater, as well as literature, are also forms of art. Throughout the years, art has, in all of its forms, interpreted, presented, or made allusion to nudity. Many famous masterpieces or important art represent nude people, and sometimes even persons making love; yet, it is recognized as beautiful art by many people. What difference is there, if any, in the interpretation and importance that we humans give to nude art and pornography? So it leads to my first knowledge issue: When does art become pornography? Here is a real life example. As we all know, our school invites some nude models for art class, they expose their nude bodies to the art students. I am not sure if it is the reason why many guys take art. Do you think it is art, nasty art, performance art or pornography? Art, nudity and pornography are different, and every individual’s sense perception of what these are will also be different. The area of knowledge of art is one of the most subjective of all the areas of knowledge, which explains why persons interpret it differently. Nudity may or may not be included in the AoK of Art, but it is a part of many art pieces. Nudity is present in many forms, for example, the famous sculpture of David by Michelangelo Buonarroti. This 5. 17 meter tall statue represents the biblical King David, nude, and it is recognized by many as a masterpiece, and some even consider it a symbol of the defense of civil rights. Vitruvian Man, by Leonardo Da Vinci, is the drawing of a nude man, legs and arms stretched. Michelangelo did not limit himself to sculpting nude man, but also painted many important figures nude on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, such as Adam, Eve, Jesus, and others. All these art pieces, famous and important, widely recognized masterpieces include nudity. Of course, the importance and recognition of these art pieces is debatable and can be argued, but many people and important art communities consider them to be masterpieces. These art pieces illustrate both, men and women, sometimes together, other times separated, but share many things in common. All of these art pieces include nudity, and are recognized by many as important art. But then, when does art become pornography? Is it just like crossing a line, on one side its art and the closer you get to that line, it becomes less art until you cross that line and it becomes pornography? If that is the case, what if you stand on the line, would it be neither art nor pornography, or both? Every single person can interpret it as they want, but as I see it, many factors affect the decision of whether it is art or pornography. I see it as a line, on one side it is art, and on the other it is pornography, because I don’t think that an art piece can be both art and pornography at the same time for a single person. I emphasize on the fact that it is for a single person, as this is very subjective. Although this is very subjective, as mentioned before, it is also very cultural. In most of Western Europe, nudity is seen in a very different way than in the Middle East, due to cultural and historical differences. In the Middle East, for example, Muslim women must wear the burkha, while in Western Europe there are many semi-nudist or nudist beaches that anyone, regardless of age and gender, can enjoy. This, however, does not justify or imply anything else than the fact that there are higher chances for western Europeans to have higher limits and Middle Eastern people to have lower. It only means higher chances, because as mentioned before, although culture is a factor that affects where the individual puts the limit, it still is subjective, based on beliefs, ideals, past experiences, and many other factors. The Ways of Knowing apply to this judgment or decision of whether it is art or pornography in different ways for each individual. Sense perception, which includes the five senses, is the main element that allows the interpreter to perceive the art piece, whether it is through hearing, seeing, or touching. The other two senses, smelling and tasting, are not as relevant for the interpretation of the forms of art mentioned earlier. With the three senses mentioned (sight, hear and touch), a person can interpret a work of art and decide what it is, give an interpretation, a symbol, a meaning to it. Then, through emotions, the person can associate feelings and ideas to the work of art. If the person feels shocked or offended (emotions) from seeing (sense perception) a nude sculpture, he or she might decide it is pornography. Finally language is very important as it is one of the most important filters affecting the decision between art and pornography. The simple definitions of what is art and what is pornography are evidences of the implications of language. Art can be defined as â€Å"the quality, production, expression or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance† in other words, something exceptional according to a set of principles (decided by a majority of people). According to this definition, the masterpieces mentioned before are still art. Pornography is more difficult to define. The first definition (from dictionary. com) describes pornography as â€Å"obscene writings, drawings, photographs especially those having little or no artistic merit†. The definition states â€Å"obscene† materials, but obscenity is very subjective and varies from person to person, just like the limit at which art becomes pornography. The second part of the definition is very interesting, and I would agree with it: materials with â€Å"little or no artistic merit† so that would mean that is not exceptional according to the set of principles previously mentioned, which again supports the idea that it’s subjective. Another definition of pornography (from The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) states it is â€Å"sexually explicit [material] whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal†. This definition is more ambiguous then the first mentioned. According to this definition, two factors are needed in order for something to be pornography: it needs to be sexually explicit, and it needs to primarily cause sexual arousal. The problem with this definition is that anything containing nudity is sexually explicit, so all the masterpieces mentioned above have at least the first factor needed to be considered pornography (according to this definition). The second part of the definition is very subjective, because we cannot know what the purpose of the nude sculpture, drawing or painting was unless the author tells us. To conclude, in my personal point of view, art cannot â€Å"become† pornography, it is either born as art, or born as pornography, and this depends on each individual’s interpretation of the material in question. Not only the visual arts, but other forms of arts, especially Medias, have many influences on young people. Anyone who watches television, goes to the movies, or picks up a magazine today knows sex is prominent across all media. Discussions regarding the early sexualization of children and young people are an increasingly hot topic with celebrities and politicians alike having something to say. An analysis of use of the term sexualisation published on the Global Media Insight blogspot showed that in early 2010 use of the term ‘sexualisation’ in both mainstream and social media more than doubled (fig. 1). This is not to say that the concerns behind the idea of sexualised childhood are new ones; it does however suggest that this is a concept which is increasingly in the collective public consciousness. Although the effects of sexual content have received little attention from researchers in the 1980s, there are strong theoretical reasons to believe that media may play an especially important role in the socialization of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior. These were well summarized by Elizabeth Roberts (1982): â€Å"(1) the adult nature of most programming children watch; (2) children’s limited access to or experience with countervailing information or ideas; (3) the ‘realism’ with which roles, relationships, and lifestyles are portrayed; and (4) the overwhelming consistency of the messages about sexuality that are communicated† (Roberts, 1982, p. 209). Each of these points is even more pertinent in 1998 than in 1982. Children watch a great deal of adult programming, and there has been a steady increase in the frequency and explicitness of sexual content on broadcast television. Young people have access to a much wider range of video content as well as to other entertainment media than they did in the early 1980s. Movies Adolescents see movies in theaters, and the same movies are soon available on pay TV channels and video tape. Many of these movies are â€Å"R-rated. † They contain more frequent and more explicit portrayals of sexual behavior than broadcast TV – an average of 17. 5 per film in one analysis (Greenberg, Siemicki, Dorfman, Heeter, Stanley, Soderman, Linsangan, 1993). Like TV, the most frequent sexual activity shown is unmarried sexual intercourse. Sex is often in the context of profanity, alcohol and drug use, and nudity. Not only have the movies, music world confronted similar problem as well. Let’s see a real example. Modern music is becoming increasingly pornographic. It is not about being old-fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the modern world. We can’t watch modern stars like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga with a two-year-old. 99 percent of the charts in RB and 99 percent of that is soft pornography. Children and young people are being forced to grow up too young. A researcher named Larson (1995) used an experience sampling technique to analyze the relationship between emotional states and the use of television and other media. He argues that adolescents experience increased emotionality and that such emotionality may be related to increased use of music because â€Å"it both speaks to adolescents’ personal issues and helps them create a separate experiential space at home music is also important to adolescents because it helps define their public self outside the family†. Private, solitary use of both music and television use by adolescents is important in providing them an opportunity to deal with the stress and emotionality of this stage of development. Young people select media which entertain them, contribute to their identity formation, help them cope with their problems and emotional mood states, and form the basis of their selection into youth subcultures. Today’s generation of youth has easier access to sexual content. From television, movies, magazines, and advertisements (billboards, print, and electronic), to music (on radio and in music videos) and the Internet, youth who are interested in nudity, sexual role models, romance and depictions of sex and intercourse, have a range of media options readily available. Media provide perhaps the least embarrassing way to get information about sex and romance.

What Are Aforestation And Deforestation Environmental Sciences Essay

What Are Aforestation And Deforestation Environmental Sciences Essay 2.causes of the deforestation in the world:- (1)Forests are threatened by both biotic and a-biotic factors such as climatic hazards, diseases prompted by insects or pathogens, threats of a purely anthropogenic nature, fires, atmospheric pollution, deforastation, and the increase in social pressures.   But this classic division is a bit artificial, since man is partly responsible for all these threats.  Indeed the mark of human actions is always present : it is however relatively moderate concerning climatic disorder despite the emissions of greenhouse gases, responsible for important destructions ; it is average in the sensitive growth of certain artificial forestry stands prone to parasitic attacks ; it is preponderant in the phenomena of atmospheic pollution or of deforestation. These aggressions will therefore be classed by groups but keeping an effort to maintain classification by growing order of mans implications, and therefore the possibility of theoretical intervention will also increase.(1) (3)Agricultural purposes Grazing cattle or planting crops. Poor farmers in developing countries chop down a small area of trees and burn them, which provide nutrients for the soil (know as the Slash-and-Burn technique). This supply is quickly exhausted so the farmers move on to a fresh area, and the cycle starts again. This occurs on a much larger scale for intensive or modern agriculture e.g. large cattle pastures often replace rain forest to grow beef . Commercial logging the cutting down of trees for sale as timber or pulp. In the developed world, there are increasing demands for hardwoods such as mahogany and ebony. The rate at which trees are felled is increasing to meet these demands. People in third world countries need the timber for firewood, as its practically the only source of fuel available to people living there. The heavy machinery used (e.g. bulldozers) is just as damaging to a forest overall as the chainsaws are to individual trees.(3) Climatic hazards and natural catastrophes (4)Climatic hazards or natural catastrophes are pratically independent from the actions of the man. However, the worries concerning eventual future climatic changes, due to the consequences of green house gases from industrial pollution are going to grow. It is sufficient to study here not the ways of fighting these aggressions, but those measures to take before forestry stands are subjected to these events.   Forests are submitted more than any other terrestrial ecosystem to climatic hazards, due to the duration of their maturity, wich can take up to 200 years. In such a period the number of climatic hazards can be great. Storms and win-blow Storms have had an important destructive effect throughout this century, especially throughout the last twenty five years in Europe, destroying millions of m3 of wood, the following 1990, almost 110 million m3 destroyed throughout Europe.   1999, 140 million m3 in France.   These anarchic destructions greatly perturb cutting cycles and general forestry work. Delaying The development of the forest and disrupting the wood market. Against such freak winds forestry management has very little power. However, although foresters are unable to prevent such catastrophes, they have the power to limit the destruction of violent winds by favouring the development of stands that are more wind resistant, and by adopting a prudent and diverse outlook towards management. Periods of drought Water stress renders forestry stands very fragile. They can arise either by a change in the distribution of water throughout the seasons, for the same quantity of annual precipitation (the supply therefore being brought forward in relation to the demand of forest stands), or by a fall in the annual volume of precipitation. It has now been established that the numerous cases of dieback observed in forests stands throughout the world in the last ten years (which at the time were entirely blamed on atmospheric pollution) are due in part, to periodic water stress. In fact, those observations realised concern those forests in regions subjected to strong pollution fall out, but also forests of less affected regions.    Biotic Threats Diseases and the attack of insects : brief overview of the situation   Insects and fungi play an important part towards the causes of dieback in many forests of the world.   These biotic agents intervene, either as primary agressors, or most often as secondary agressors, often attacking already weakened stands. The examples of diseases and illnesses caused by pathogens are unfortunately numerous and only a few will be outlined. These illnesses develop, either as a result of native pathogenic activity, or by the invasion of the non-native agents in non-resistant stands. Robredo and Cadahia drew up a very complete table of the world situation concerning this problem during the tenth world forestry congress, from wich the following text is largely inspired (in COLLECTIF. The forest, inheritance of the future Acts of the tenth forestry congress . French forestry revue. Nancy, 1991.). In North Africa, natural cedar stands are attacked by xylophitic insects , during periods of climatic stress. In Spain,  Abies pinsapo  is subjected to combined attacks of theFungi  Fomes annosus, and xylophitic and cortical perforating insects. In Europe, dieback can be observed amongst various oak species, most notably, the cork oak and evergreen oak (attacks of  Diplodia  andHypoxilon). In Quebec, the pine shoot moth periodically attacks the annual shoots of (Abies balsamea and Picea glauca) as in the whole of the North East of North America. This indigenous insect reaches epidemic proportions roughly every thirty years. The last infestation (1938-1958) provoked the death of 60 % of Firs and 20 % of Spruces. At the end of 1975, an epidemic breakout covered 35 million ha of Quebec. Fires:-Fire has always been an element present in many forestry ecosystems. Natural causes of fire exist such as lightening and volcanic eruptions. The area subjected to natural fires has been very important and can cover millions of hectares. However the lapse of time is generally long between successive fires, permitting the ecosystem to recover and reconstitute itself.   Large fires have always ravaged the surface of the earth. In the North of China, 1.33 million ha went up in flames in 1987 ; more than 3.5 million ha were burnt in Kalimantan (Borneo) between 1982 and 1983 ; in 1988, 400.000 ha were destroyed by fire in the United States in yellow stone national park. Recently in 1993, considerable damage was done by an enormous fire in Australia. The importance of human factor The main causes of contemporary fires and anthropogenic : This is the case with the recurrent fires in the European Mediterranean zone, or those fires provoked in tropical humid zones, which have their goal the clearing of land for agriculture. In dry tropical zones with mixed broadleaved forests and rich undergrowth, human populations have always used fire to make way for grazing and agriculture. In Europe, figures gathered by the FAO permit one to establish the area of forest burnt annually between 1980 and 1988, i.e. some 585.000 ha. During the same period North America lost some 3.5 million hectares of forest to fires. That percentage attribued to human causes being around 97% in Europe, 91% in the United States and 66% in Canada. Very little is known concerning the equivalent information for the entire world. The total wooded surface touched by fire annually is around 10 million hectares, which represents some 0.3% of the total world forested area. However the impact of these fires is more important than this small percentage suggests. In fact, in the zones where the frequence of fires is high, the destructive character of such fires is worsened by the fact that forest stands do not have the time to reconstitute themselves between the passage of two consecutive fires.   An Integrated policy for the prevention and fighting of fires The methods of fighting fires must be adapted to the socio-cultural environment in which they are put into place. Developed countries Developed countries possess the necessary materials to permit them to carry out a No-fire policy in order to satisfy public opinion, which is generally very sensitive to this form of threat to the natural environment. In this case, a perfect coordination between terrestrial and aerial fire fighting means must be provided, in addition to the active participation of the public and private forestry sectors, for example, in the participation of preventive operations and detective procedures.   Developing countries In developing countries or in natural regions wich are less densely populated, one must accept that a part of the wooded surface will be burnt. This practice is due to an agro-silvo-pastoral culture wich includes positive elements and is therefore difficult to condemn. Solutions can not be looked for without taking into account the subsistence requirements of those populations concerned.(4) 3. BENEFITS OF AFORESTATION (5)Afforestation refers to the conversion of wasteland into a woodland or forest. It is essentially the transformation of land which has not been forested for a period of more than 40 year to woodland through seeding and planting. Afforestation is the best technique used to minimize the greenhouse effect. Therefore, there is constant necessity to develop afforestation programs in order to preserve and protect the forestry including the wasteland. A massive afforestation program is required to meet the increasing demand of fuel wood, timber and fodder. Here are the main benefits of afforestation. 1. Preserves wildlife Afforestation is useful especially when it comes to protecting the wildlife. According to recent scientific studies, upland forest vegetation tends to affect the population of birds on neighboring unplanted moorlands. Planting of trees simply restores and maintains ecological balance of all systems in the environment. 2. Tourist attraction Trees provide oxygen and also help to preserve ecological splendor of the landscape which in turn attracts tourists from all parts of the world. 3. Minimizes soil erosion Soil erosion is significantly reduced as tree plantations prevent run off after heavy rains. In addition, trees bring soils together which prevents soil erosion. 4. Provides forest products With an increase in demand for forest and timber products, afforestation is very valuable due to the explosion of livestock and human population. For that reason, construction of infrastructure has led to the demand of forest products. 5. Stabilizes the climate Planting of trees in semi-arid areas attracts rainfall. This way, agricultural practices such as irrigation are carried out efficiently. In addition, afforestation acts as a catchment for water and soil conservation.(5) 4 .EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION (8)When forests are killed, nature basically requires people to renew the forest. Reforestation is one concept that is in the opposite direction as deforestation, but is proven to be a much harder effort than deforestation. So the rate of deforestation has not been offset by the rate of reforestation. Thus, the world is now in a troubled state when it comes to issues concerning the environment. Climate Change When an area of rainforest is either cut down or destroyed, there are various climate changes that happen as a result. The following is a list of the various climate changes with a brief description of why they come about. Desication of previously moist forest soil What happens is because of the exposure to the sun, the soil gets baked and the lack of canopy leaves nothing to prevent the moisture from quickly evaporating into the atmosphere. Thus, previously moist soil becomes dry and cracked. Dramatic Increase in Temperature Extremes Trees provide shade and the shaded area has a moderated temperature. With shade, the temperature may be 98 degrees Farenheit during the day and 60 degrees at night. With out the shade, temperatures would be much colder during the night and around 130 degrees during the day. Moist Humid Region Changes to Desert This is related to the desicaiton of previously moist forest soil. Primarily because of the lack of moisture and the inability to keep moisture, soil that is exposed to the sun will dry and turn into desert sand. Even before that happens, when the soil becomes dry, dust storms become more frequent. At that point, the soil becomes usesless. No Recycling of Water Moisture from the oceans fall as rain on adjacent coastal regions. The moisture is soon sent up to the atmosphere through the transpiration of foliage to fall again on inland forest areas. This cycle repeats several times to rain on all forest regions. Less Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Exchange The rainforests are important in the carbon dioxide exchange process. They are second only to oceans as the most important sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. The most recent survey on deforestaiton and greenhouse gas emisions reports that deforestation may account for as much as 10% of current greenhouse gas emmisions. Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that literally trap heat. There is a theory that as more greenhouse gasses are released into the atmosphere, more heat gets trapped. Thus, there is a global warming trend in which the average temperature becomes progressivily higher. The ozone layer is a mass of oxygen or O3 atoms that serves as shield in the atmosphere against the harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Because ozone is made up of oxygen atoms, oxygen react with carbon monoxide. Such reaction would use up oxygen It follows that when there are more carbon monoxide atoms going to the atmosphere, the volume of oxygen would decline. Such is the case of ozone depletion. More Desertification According to the United Nations Enviromental Programme (UNEP) in 1977, deforestation is an important factor contributing to desertificaiton. What is unclear is how fast deserts are expanding is controversial. According to UNEP, between 1958 and 1975, the Saharen Desert expanded southward by about 100km. In 1980 UNEP estimated that desertification threatened 35 per cent of the worlds land surface and 20 per cent of the worlds population. Recently, groups challenged those conclusions. Some scientists claim that the conclusion were based on insufficient data. Nevertheless, desertification still threatens more and more drylands.(8) 7.(3)(Soil Erosion Soil Erosion   The trees and shrubs in a forest cover the ground and protect the soil from the rain. Tree leaves intercept the rain fall, and shrubs and leaf litter protects the soil from water dripping off the leaves. With this protection removed, the rain falls directly onto the bare soil and erodes it. The rain also leaches the soil of important nutrients, making it less fertile. 8. The Greenhouse Effect   During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is taken in and oxygen is given out. Deforestation removes the carbon sinks, and coupled with the carbon dioxide emitted from the burning of fossil, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increase. The carbon dioxide forms a blanket around the earth and traps heat from solar radiation. This is called the greenhouse effect, and causes the average temperature of the earth to rise. If this continues, the polar ice caps could melt and cause flooding. 9. Disruption of the Hydrological Cycle   Deforestation can effect the local climate of an area by reducing the evaporative cooling that takes place from the soil and plants. Because the amount of evapotranspiration has been reduced, the formation of clouds and therefore precipitation is also reduced. This threatens the existence of the remaining plants in the forest. Deforestation can also cause flooding. In forested areas, flood water is absorbed into the soil and taken up by the tree roots. The water is then transpired through aerial parts of the plant and into the atmosphere, where it forms clouds. In deforested areas, the flood water runs across the area and is not stopped by vegetation. The top layer of soil is eroded in this process and gets transported into rivers where it causes the level of silt to rise. This rise in the river level causes floods to occur more frequently. Less evaporation also means that more of the suns energy is used to warm the surface and consequently the air above, leading to a rise in temperatures. 10. Spreading of Disease   the mosquito, anopheles darlingi, which spreads malaria parasites, breeds in pools of water that are created in deforested land and on eroded land. Deforestation therefore favours a population explosion of this species.(3) (6)11. Flooding. Deforestation can result to watersheds that are no longer able to sustain and regulate water flows from rivers and streams. Trees are highly effective in absorbing water quantities, keeping the amount of water in watersheds to a manageable level. The forest also serves as a cover against erosion. Once they are gone, too much water can result to downstream flooding, many of which have caused disasters in many parts of the world. As fertile topsoil is eroded and flooded into the lower regions, many coastal fisheries and coral reefs suffer from the sedimentation brought by the flooding. This results to negative effects in the economic viability of many businesses and fatalities in wildlife population.(6) 12. Other Effects (7)(a) Demand for land for cultivation. This has been seen both in Kenya and other parts of the world especially countries that have Agriculture as the backbone of their economy. Trees have been cut down to obtain land for cultivation of both subsistence and cash crops, both by governments and individuals. b) Need for firewood People, especially those who live in rural areas where electricity and gas are unavailable, resort to use of firewood as a source of heat. Here, wood is cut down and burnt. c) Need for land to build industries Industries require a lot of land and while industrialization is important for every country, it is the bane of large tracts of forest. People need jobs in order to provide for their daily needs. d) Need for land to build houses With the worldwide increase in population, land to build houses for people to live in is very much required. e) Need for wood for furniture, pencils, paper etc)(7) (8)There many rewards such as clean air and clean water, perhaps the two most important, that forests provide. Rainforests also provide many aesthetic, recreational and cultural rewards. If the rainforests are destroyed, then these rewards dissappear. This has major social repercusions for the entire world.(8) Effect to biodiversity (7)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Destruction of animal habitats: Apart from domesticated animals and marine and fresh water animals, all other animals need forests as their habitats. These forests do not only provide a place for the animals to roam day but also provide their food and act as a source of protection from predators through camouflage. Destruction of the animals habitats literally kills the animals. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Medicinal Plants: Some trees are used as herbs. Trees such as the Cinchona have been used as treatment against Malaria since time immemorial. Destruction of these forests leads to destruction of medicinal plants that could be used as treatment for various ailments.(7) (9)Forests are natural habitats to many types of animals and organisms. That is why, when there is deforestation, many animals are left without shelters. Those that manage to go through the flat lands and residential sites are then killed by people. Through the years, it is estimated that there are millions of plant and extinct animal species that have been wiped out because they have been deprived of home. Thus, biodiversity is significantly lowered because of the savage deforestation practices of some people. Wildlife advocates have been constantly reminding that several wild animals left in the world could still be saved if deforested forests would only be reforested and the practice of slash and burn of forests would be totally abandoned. Social effects of deforestation Deforestation is hardly hitting the living conditions of indigenous people who consider forests as their primary habitats. Imagine how they are rendered homeless when forests are depleted. These natives would be forced to live elsewhere, and are usually left to becoming mendicants in rural and urban areas. water sinks in deeper to the ground, and eventually replenishing the supply of water in the water table. Now, imagine what happens when there is not enough forests anymore. Water from rain would simply flow through the soil surface and not be retained by the soil. Overall, effects of deforestation cannot be offset by the contribution of the practice to development. While it is logical that progress is very much needed by mankind, it must also be noted that nature knows no defeat. Destruct it and it would certainly retaliate, one way or another. Pollution is rapidly growing along with population. Forests are greatly helping reduce the amount of pollutants in the air. So, the depletion of these groups of trees is greatly increasing the risk that carbon monoxide would reach the atmosphere and result in the depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn results to global warming.(9) 5. SOLUTION OF DEFORESTATION (3)Reforesting   this is especially popular in Vietnam, where most of their forests were destroyed during the war. Now, every pupil has to plant a tree and look after it. Bans   generally, people want a ban on the logging of ancient-growth forests and possibly compensating companies for not logging certain areas. Sustainable Forests   using forest and the animals and plants that live in them in ways that do not permanently damage them. This could mean taking only as much timber or other products as the forests can support so that they will continue to be productive in future years. Recycling   an option for the wealthier countries in the world to cut down on their consumption of forest products in general. Protected Areas   environmental organisations like WWF and Friend of the Earth can offer legal protection for certain areas by campaigning and informing governments over the necessity to protect a proportion of the world forests from destruction. Produce   an increase in demand for products which have their origin in tropical rainforests e.g. body creams, bath oils, sweets, fruits and nuts, would make the forests more secure, as a large number of trees are needed to produce a large yield.(3) (10)False Solutions:  1. Sustainable Commercial Logging On a governmental level, attempted solutions to deforestation caused by the timber industry have emphasised the necessity of supporting sustainable timber extraction. Such approaches assume, without supporting evidence, that rainforests can be used as an industrial resource base for timber on a sustainable basis. This has resulted in more rather than less deforestation. The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) has had to acknowledge that serious attempts at sustainable management of tropical rainforests for timber production are on a world scale, negligible. As well as the technical obstacles to sustainability, the industry has shown itself to be unable to operate free from corruption. The only systematic attempt to disclose such corruption has been in Papua New Guinea, where a recent inquire concluded that there can be no doubt that the timber industry, by its very nature, is conducive to acts of a criminal nature and acts contrary to law and proper government administration.   2. The Tropical Forestry Action Plan (TFAP), the first major international initiative to tackle tropical deforestation, was launched in 1985 by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), The World Resources Institute, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. It claimed to offer a cure for tropical deforestation and its supposed causes, but its flaws were apparent from the outset. It was based on the assumption that poverty and overpopulation are the main underlying causes of tropical deforestation and failed to recognise the role of the developed countries. It paid lip service to the role of landlessness and destructive development, but made no real attempt to deal with them. The TFAP regarded deforestation as a result of too little government control and called for all rainforests to eventually come under government jurisdiction. Rather than calling for reforms to inequitable land ownership, the TFAP often requires annexation of traditional lands for govern ment forestry estates.   Donor countries are becoming unwilling to fund TFAP projects. Peru, Colombia, Panama and Argentina have received less than 10% of the funding required for their national TFAP projects. The US Senate is now refusing to fund the TFAP at all, and Britain has said it will withdraw from the Plan entirely unless coordination of the TFAP is moved out of the FAO. 3. The Limits of Reserve Strategies A significant proportion of tropical biodiversity would already be lost if nature reserves, often initiated by private conservation organisations, had not been established. However, all too often indigenous peoples, living harmoniously with their environment, have been expelled from protected areas or subjected to controls that have led to the disintegration of their cultures.  Ã‚  It is a misconception to believe that nature reserves can conserve the greater proportion of the genetic diversity of tropical rainforests, where the number of individuals of each species per unit area tends to be low, but the total number of species can be enormous. On average, ten hectares of lowland tropical rainforest in South East Asia will contain more tree species than the whole of North America.  Ã‚  It is therefore inevitable that any large-scale projects which destroy rainforests will lead to the extinction of hundreds of species. Only by providing the widest possible protection for the remaining primary rainforests will it be possible to save the greater part of the Earths biological diversity from extinction. Strictly protected nature reserves can only be a supportive measure in an overall programme for the protection of rainforest ecosystems. The creation of nature reserves must not be used as justification for the destructive exploitation of unprotected rainforest areas.   4. The International Biodiversity Programme The World Bank is pursuing the goal of a global Biodiversity Action Programme. Like the TEAP, this plan fails to confront underlying causes of biodiversity loss, and is likely to worsen the problem it is supposed to solve. Loss of biodiversity in tropical regions is due to the trend towards replacement of traditional species-rich agriculture and forestry with monocultures. Yet under the Biodiversity Programme, monocultures would be encouraged. The Programme sees the setting aside of reserves as the solution to the problem, but the minimum size required for viable areas of tropical forest is unknown. Worse, the setting aside of reserves is likely to be used as an excuse for the unrestricted exploitation of unprotected areas. The Programme would also increase the control of biodiversity by the North at the expense of the South. TOWARDS REALISTIC SOLUTIONS: Alternatives to destructive exploitation of tropical forests are to be found in small-scale initiatives coming from the grass roots in tropical countries, not from ill-conceived large-scale prestige projects such as the TFAP 1. Recognising the Rights of Traditional Owners. The Australian Rainforest Memorandum, produced by the Rainforest Information Centre and endorsed by over 40 non-governmental organisations, asserts that: The right to cultural survival for all tribal peoples is inviolable. All possible efforts should be made to support and safeguard their rights and those of other forest dwellers, in particular the right to security of land tenure.  About one thousand rainforest cultures still exist. Nearly all of them are in conflict with the development strategies of the dominant social classes and international development agencies that have taken control of their lands and who consistently ignore their basic rights and often even their very existence. It is significant that the most successful projects to save rainforests are those which have been carried out in cooperation with the traditional owners of the forests. In Papua New Guinea and Ecuador, the Rainforest Information Centre and other organisations have been involved in schemes which support the legitimate development aspirations of traditional landowners with small-scale autonomous projects. In 1990, the Colombian Government gave back half its Amazonian territory to its rightful Indian owners, acknowledging that they were the best guardians of the forest. In Malaysia, Indonesia and the many other countries where the rights of traditional owners have been ignored, attempts to save rainforests have been uniformly unsuccessful. 2. Non-Timber Values The economic value of keeping rainforests is often overlooked. Rainforests provide essential and renewable sources of fruits, starches, oils, medicines, firewood, animal products, building materials and other projects when extraction is well-managed. However, the value of rainforest goods and services to local human populations is usually ignored in the economic analyses upon which development decisions are based because these societies often operate with little involvement in the cash economy. In many tropical countries, major sections of the population depend directly on intact rainforests for their daily needs. The people of Papua New Guinea, for instance, obtain 58% of their animal protein from rainforest areas.   In large regions of West Africa, people until recently met 65% of their animal protein needs from rainforests. This situation changed as the forests were destroyed by the establishment of export plantations and the timber industry.   Although the careful management of non-timber forest products has considerable national and international; potential, these resources are being lost through the destruction of the tropical forests. In the Amazon, over two million people depend on rubber, Brazil nuts and other minor forest products without damaging the biological integrity of the rainforest. Recent studies have shown that the value of non-timber forest products often far exceeds the value of timber in tropical forests. A study in the rainforests of Peru showed that the economic value of the minor forest products, including fruits, resins and medicines which were actually being marketed, exceeded the value of use the forest for timber by nine to one.   However, assessment of the potential of non-timber forest projects to provide for the market beyond a regional level must include careful ecological auditing. Available suggests that the specific ecological characteristics and the soil and microclimate conditions of tropical rainforests limit the possibilities for sustainable exploitation to a much greater degree than in temperate ecosystems. In fact primary rainforest

Pygmalion Discussion Paper :: essays research papers

English  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tyler Bliss Pygmalion Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The traits men want in our women can never and will never be attainable by any person, no matter who they are. For many years, love has been kind of a lost cause. Men might look for a woman that could satisfy their needs in the present, but they had no thought of what she might be like in the future. Male and female relationships in the myth Pygmalion, the book Pygmalion, and in â€Å"real† life have many similarities. All the men look for the most desirable traits in women, and sometimes we don’t always get what we want. But with those similarities, comes a few differences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book, myth and in real life, the men aspire for traits in women that they could never have or aren’t worthy of. In the myth, the beauty of the goddess Aphrodite enchanted Pygmalion. And it was this enchantment that made him make the sculpture of her. In the book, Higgins wanted Eliza’s strength. In a weird way, he got what he wanted when she finally stood up to him. In real life, all men want traits in women that we think will suit our needs. We want to marry a woman that can meet all of our desires. Men from all different times and walks of life, dream of the woman that they want, but can never have. Perfection is unattainable, even in the stories passed down from generation to generation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the changing times, the men look for different traits in women. In the times of the myth, men probably looked for a woman that could cook, clean and mother his children. Where as, in the harsh times of the book, men probably looked for women that could be strong and loyal. Now, men all over the world look for women that are athletic, beautiful, and smart and have a unique attitude towards life. Men now a-days men still look for traits that the men long ago wanted in their women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In all three examples, the men don’t really get what they want; instead they get what has always been in front of them. The may have to settle for â€Å"the next best thing†. In the myth, Pygmalion didn’t get to marry Aphrodite; instead he married his sculpture that was brought to life by Aphrodite.

Criminal Acts in Sport :: essays research papers

Criminal Acts in Sport; Getting Away With Murder Introduction The amount of crimes that occur in and around sports has been a growing topic of conversation over the last decade in our society. Sports participants and spectators alike have been committing crimes on far more frequent basis over the last few years and in the minds of some, this is an issue that is getting or has gotten out of hand. There is a question that is asked by many, â€Å"Where does part of the game become a crime?† as well as; â€Å"Why are sports the cause of so much aggression?† This and many other questions relating to crime, in and around sports, are seeking an answer that may never be completely resolved. When examining the issue of criminal acts in sports it is easy to realize that there are many places where these acts occur. The range of these acts is far more vast than just in the professional arenas. This is, however, what the public sees and hears about most often. While this is one of the major topics of this paper, criminal acts are found in all of sport ranging from professionals, to college, high school, and in youth sports, including the reaction of the fans. This paper will take an in-depth look at the four major points regarding criminal acts in sport: the acts themselves; the consequences of those acts; the possible reasons for the acts occurring; an analysis of a few major events that have occurred and the possible solutions to the problem of criminal acts in sport. In the section about fan reaction to sport, there will be an overall account of the individual acts and not personal cases due to the overload of personal events that occur. During the evaluation of the events in each topic area there are some legal terms that may need to be defined. These terms may also be defined differently depending on the state that the event occurs in. At the end of this paper there is a list of definitions that describe what a certain legal action could mean. All forms of government view these definitions similarly, however, each state may have differing consequences for each of the crimes. Professional Sports INTRODUCTION In the world of professional sports there are many criminal acts that are committed both on and off the playing surface. In this section we are going to look at a few cases where criminal acts have occurred. Criminal Acts in Sport :: essays research papers Criminal Acts in Sport; Getting Away With Murder Introduction The amount of crimes that occur in and around sports has been a growing topic of conversation over the last decade in our society. Sports participants and spectators alike have been committing crimes on far more frequent basis over the last few years and in the minds of some, this is an issue that is getting or has gotten out of hand. There is a question that is asked by many, â€Å"Where does part of the game become a crime?† as well as; â€Å"Why are sports the cause of so much aggression?† This and many other questions relating to crime, in and around sports, are seeking an answer that may never be completely resolved. When examining the issue of criminal acts in sports it is easy to realize that there are many places where these acts occur. The range of these acts is far more vast than just in the professional arenas. This is, however, what the public sees and hears about most often. While this is one of the major topics of this paper, criminal acts are found in all of sport ranging from professionals, to college, high school, and in youth sports, including the reaction of the fans. This paper will take an in-depth look at the four major points regarding criminal acts in sport: the acts themselves; the consequences of those acts; the possible reasons for the acts occurring; an analysis of a few major events that have occurred and the possible solutions to the problem of criminal acts in sport. In the section about fan reaction to sport, there will be an overall account of the individual acts and not personal cases due to the overload of personal events that occur. During the evaluation of the events in each topic area there are some legal terms that may need to be defined. These terms may also be defined differently depending on the state that the event occurs in. At the end of this paper there is a list of definitions that describe what a certain legal action could mean. All forms of government view these definitions similarly, however, each state may have differing consequences for each of the crimes. Professional Sports INTRODUCTION In the world of professional sports there are many criminal acts that are committed both on and off the playing surface. In this section we are going to look at a few cases where criminal acts have occurred.

Types of Facebook Users

Wael Alhathal Dustin Hopkins English A100 13 December 2012 What type of Facebook-er are you? Living in the 21st century, Facebook has pretty much taking over our world. We have reached a point where we believe that if you do not have a Facebook, then you do not have a life. About hundreds of people join Facebook every day, making it one of the most visited websites in the world, with about 585 million active members. 585 million!You might think that this is too much, but in fact, there are actually four main categories of Facebook users in the world—â€Å"annoying-Facebook-girl,† the â€Å"Simon-Cowell,† the â€Å"attention-seeking-whore,† and the â€Å"I’m-too-cool-for-Facebook. † Each and every user in these categories specializes in a particular way of participating on Facebook: a way of updating their statuses, how they comment, how many pictures they upload every day, and how often they spend their time on Facebook. If you have an  "annoying-Facebook-girl† on your friends list, deactivate your account right now!The main feature of the â€Å"annoying-Facebook-girl,† other than being just plain obnoxious, is the gift to update her status every few hours with crap no one really cares about. Her name will blow up on your news feed in a matter of seconds. The most common words used in their statuses are â€Å"OMG! † or â€Å"OH EM GEE! † They tend to upload not just a single photo, but albums of crappy pictures in a day. A typical â€Å"annoying-facebook-girl† would upload an album with 200 or more pictures titled â€Å"Mcdonaldz wd my Bff’z