Friday, November 29, 2019

Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills in 2 Weeks

Today we have hundreds and thousands of essay writers who specifically just write essays and earn money doing this work either full time or part time. Many of these are experienced and skilled writers but at the time there are many writers who are new or who are having very little experience in essay writing, so they badly needs to improve their essay writing skills. Usually writers says that they don’t have time to work extra on improving their skills but this does not take months at all. You just need two weeks to improve your essay writing skills and then the regular routine will help you further, how? Here are some tips for improving your essay writing skills: †¢ Practice as much as possible: practice definitely makes a man perfect. The more you practice anything the more perfection you will see in your work. You just cannot except to produce great quality work just without practice. In these two weeks you have to practice as much as possible. Practice essay writing in your spare time and if you already have a very tough schedule so get some time out of it for practicing no matter what. Practice is the key to great essays and essays should always be great. †¢ Keep reading in your routine: reading is very important too, you just cannot be good at writing if you are not fond of reading. Reading will bring great knowledge and exposure to your life which simply means you can add better stuff in your essays and your essays will always be having some great words as reading also improves your way of choosing and playing with words. †¢ Get feedback from experienced people: whenever you write something new make sure you take that to someone experienced in this feedback so that you can get honest feedback. Don’t always expect the feedback to be positive you can also get negative feedback and negative feedback should not break you instead you should be strong and work on it all over again this time focusing more on your mistakes and try your best to make it better. Mistakes and negative feedback helps us learn a lot in our professional as well as our personal life. †¢ Work on all the weak points: everyone has some weak points professionally, so if you yourself can observe them, that’s great and if someone else is making you realize then its super good. Now you know all your weak points so try to overcome them, face them and make all your weak points turn in to your strength. Then only you can write really good and interesting essays. Boring essays will never attract the readers and readers will never read your full essay. †¢ Observe good essays and try following that particular style: all the writers can easily figure out good essays so look for good essays and good essay writers and get essay help UK. Once you find good essays and some great essay writers, start following them. Read all their essays that they have written, observe their writing style and try adapting it to your writing style. Observe that which standard rules they are following and how. Where they have applied these rules in the essay. You can always get essay help UK regarding all this and this will really help you enhancing your essay writing skills.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Conjugating the Verb Fare in Italian

Conjugating the Verb Fare in Italian The number of times that we talk about doing something or making something is plentiful, which makes â€Å"fare†, the verb that represents those two definitions, a must-know. Use this article to learn how to conjugate it in all of its tenses and read the examples so you can get an idea of how to use it. This is especially important because â€Å"fare† is one of those verbs in Italian that don’t translate well into English. There are lots of idiomatic expressions with it, so make sure to look out for those. Some Definitions of â€Å"Fare† Include To doTo makeTo act (like)To performTo create What to Know About â€Å"Fare† It’s an irregular verb, so it doesn’t follow the typical -ere verb ending pattern.It can be both a transitive verb, which takes a direct object  and an intransitive verb, which does not take one when conjugated with the auxiliary verb â€Å"avere†.The infinito is â€Å"fare†.The participio passato is â€Å"fatto†.The gerund form is â€Å"facendo†.The past gerund form is â€Å"avendo fatto†. INDICATIVO/INDICATIVE Il presente io faccio noi facciamo tu fai voi fate lui, lei, Lei fa Essi, Loro fanno Esempi: Hai gi fatto colazione? - Have you already had breakfast?Che fai? - What are you doing? Il passato prossimo io ho fatto noi abbiamo fatto tu hai fatto voi avete fatto lui, lei, Lei, ha fatto loro, Loro hanno fatto Esempi: Che hai fatto di bello oggi? - What were you up to today?Facciamo una pausa, va bene? - Let’s take a break, okay? L’imperfetto io facevo noi facevamo tu facevi voi facevate lui, lei, Lei faceva loro, Loro facevano Esempi: Quando li ho chiamati, facevano una passeggiata.  - When I called them, they were taking a walk.Facevano sempre quello che volevano. - They always used to do what they wanted. Il trapassato prossimo io avevo fatto noi avevamo fatto tu avevi fatto voi avevate fatto lui, lei, Lei aveva fatto loro, Loro avevano fatto Esempi: Lei voleva andare in Italia, come avevamo fatto due anni fa. - She wanted to go to Italy, like we had done two years ago.Non mi ricordavo quello che avevo detto o fatto. - I didn’t remember what I said or did. Il passato remoto io feci noi facemmo tu facesti voi faceste lui, lei, Lei fece loro, essi fecero Esempi: Quell’anno John Lennon fece un regalo a Yoko Ono, penso che fosse un quadro. - John Lennon gave a gift to Yoko Ono that year, I think it was a painting.Fecero davvero un bel lavoro. - They really did a great job! Il trapassato remoto io ebbi fatto noi avemmo fatto tu avesti fatto voi aveste fatto lui, lei, Lei ebbe fatto loro, essi ebbero fatto TIP: This tense is rarely used, so don’t worry too much about mastering it. You’ll find it in very sophisticated writing. Il futuro semplice io farà ² noi faremo tu farai voi farete lui, lei, Lei far loro, essi faranno Esempi: Che faremo domani?   - What will be doing tomorrow?Chiss cosa far Giulia adesso. - Who knows what Giulia is doing right now. Il futuro anteriore io avrà ² fatto noi avremo fatto tu avrai fatto voi avrete fatto lui, lei, Lei avr fatto loro, essi avranno fatto Esempi: Non appena avrà ² fatto una chiamata, verrà ² da te. - As soon as I have made a phone call, I’ll come over.Hai sentito il suo accento? Avr fatto molto pratica per essere ad un livello cosà ¬ alto.- Did you hear her accent? She must have practiced a lot to be at that high of a level. CONGIUNTIVO/SUBJUNCTIVE Il presente che io faccia che noi facciamo che tu faccia che voi facciate che lui, lei, Lei faccia che loro, essi facciano Esempi: Prima che tu faccia i compiti, andiamo in piscina per una bella nuotata. - Before you do your homework, let’s go to the pool for a nice swim.Possono restare a condizione che facciano la spesa, non ci aiutano mai! - They can stay as long as they do the grocery shopping, they never help us! Il passato io abbia fatto noi abbiamo fatto tu abbia fatto voi abbiate fatto lui, lei, Lei abbia fatto loro, essi abbiano fatto Esempi: È possible che lui abbia gi fatto le valigie e preso l’aereo. - It’s possible that he already packed his bags and got on the plane.Non penso che lei abbia fatto i compiti. - I don’t think she’s done her homework. L’imperfetto io facessi noi facessimo tu facessi voi faceste lui, lei, Lei facesse loro, essi facessero Esempi: Benchà © facessi colazione, avevo ancora fame! - Even though I had already had breakfast, I was still hungry!Sembrava che lui facesse male. - It seemed like he was hurt. Il trapassato prossimo io avessi fatto noi avessimo fatto tu avessi fatto voi aveste fatto lui, lei, Lei avesse fatto loro, Loro avessero fatto Esempi: Non credevo lo avessi fatto tu! - I couldn’t have believed you had made it!Pensavo che avessero fatto la raccolta fondi il mese scorso. - I thought they had the fundraising last month. CONDIZIONALE/CONDITIONAL Il presente io farei noi faremmo tu faresti voi fareste lui, lei, Lei farebbe loro, Loro farebbero Esempi: Non farebbe mai un viaggio in Europa, ha paura di volare! - He would never take a trip to Europe, he’s scared to fly!Che cosa faresti se fossi in me? - What would you do if you were me? Il passato io avrei fatto noi avremmo fatto tu avresti fatto voi avreste fatto lui, lei, Lei avrebbe fatto loro, Loro avrebbero fatto Avrei fatto qualsiasi cosa per essere stato là ¬ con lei. - I would have done anything to have been there for her.Avremmo fatto i compiti se avessimo saputo che cercare un lavoro sarebbe stato cosà ¬ difficile. - We would have done our homework if we had known that finding work would be so difficult.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Text - In - Context Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Text - In - Context Paper - Essay Example The protagonist lives an extremely squalid life upon arrival in England. This feature is revealed at the sharing of tiny rooms amongst numerous men. Feeding standards were entirely low. However, the men moved gradually from the room to get married. The story quotes, â€Å"Every now and then someone in the house moved out, to live with a woman whom his family back in Calcutta had determined he was to wed† (Lahiri 174). Iyer, Zare, Shankar and Cheung are major critics in literature. In their publications, they affirm the influence of Lahiri’s life experiences to her writing. The critics also qualify Lahiri’s work as a short story. â€Å"The Third and Final Continent† takes the form of a short story in prose fiction. This story features majorly immigrant families and individuals from India (Iyer and Zare, 42). Iyer and Zare reinforce this fact in his analysis and criticism of the story. Indian immigrants shared a uniform culture. As denoted previously, the me n moved out of the room to get married to women chosen by their families (Iyer and Zare, 42). They usually traveled back to their native home Calcutta to get married (Lahiri 174). This story is narrated in the first person voice. The protagonist expresses his journey and adversities from the onset of his journey from India to England and Britain. He suffers poverty in England after serving in a library. Subsequently, he travels back to India for his marriage processes. He obtains a wife and travels to America where he still lives under squalid conditions in Mrs. Croft’s room. As he lived in this place, he was waiting for his wife in India to obtain a green card. His wife eventually obtains a green card and joins him in America. The protagonist gets a better house to accommodate his wife. Throughout his stay in America, he was serving in a library at M.I.T (Lahiri 176). The protagonist nurtures his family in this foreign land. His son pursues higher education in Harvard Univer sity. At the culmination of the narration, the protagonist encourages his son by narrating his past encounters. He asserts that nothing should be impossible if he survived on three continents. This short story drives much influence from the lives of immigrants in foreign lands (Iyer and Zare, 44). Lahiri is a major voice in modern literature. However, a majority of her literary works may constitute ancient ideologies. She focuses on harmonizing the antique ideologies and thoughts with the recent happenings (Iyer and Zare 40). This author has a rich history and background. She was a daughter of Indian immigrants. Her father and mother upheld Indian principles and perspectives even after their settlement in America. Lahiri’s father served at a library in the University of Rhode Island. Her father oversaw her academic achievements from kindergarten to the tertiary level. She went to South Kingstown High School with the support of her parents. After graduating from Barnard Colleg e, she joined Boston University to further her course in Literature (Shankar and Cheung x). Shankar and Cheung are major literary critics that also reinforce the influence of Lahiri’s life experiences to her writing of the story. This history had a definite impact on the composition of â€Å"The Third and Final Continent.† Characterization borrows much from her background (Iyer and Zare, 40). There is an evident link of the protagonist and Lahiri’

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Future of Access Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Future of Access Control - Essay Example This paper will examine the future of access control systems. Access control systems are being increasingly characterized by the convergence between the physical security of the facility and Information technology which is responsible for the security management of the facility which includes issues like authentication and logging. Access control methods can be broadly classified into three categories. Firstly, the visual recognition techniques which rely on a human to check the identity card issued to authorized personnel. This is the oldest form of access control and has several advantages like simplicity, ease of use, low implementation cost (though the cost is recurring in nature) and there is no requirement to always keep the password handy. There are disadvantages too like, the reliance on the human factor and the consequent scope for error; the identity cards can be easily duplicated and finally the low speed at which the checking takes place. Secondly we have the mechanical access control systems which can be characterized as the lock and key mechanism where the key acts as the physical identifier (Honey, Gerard 2005). This system has been used by humanity to secure physical spaces for a long time. The advantages are the simplicity of use and the low cost of implementation. However the disadvantages ar e that there is no way to prevent or regulate the duplication of an authorized key and there is no system to prevent or log unauthorized attempts. The third method of access control is the electrical access control systems which usually consist of an electromechanical lock which is operated by a set of valid keys. This method can be used imaginatively in various kinds of scenarios to provide differing levels of security. The advantages and the disadvantages of the mechanical access control systems are retained with the additional requirement of electrical cabling. The fourth method of access control is the electronic access control. This is proving to be an increasingly popular solution due to several factors. This method represents a convergence of electronics, Information Technology and physical access control. They can be broadly sub divided into three sub categories, keyboard based, smart based and biometrics based (Horrowitz,P and W. Hill 1992). The merits and demerits of each of these categories will be discussed in detail later in this paper. However all these electronic access control systems have the following advantages like a high level of security, increased flexibility in deployment resulting from a wide possibility for application, operation and small size. They also have some generic drawbacks like enhanced cost of deployment and the requirement of specialized knowledge for installation. Access control is about the continuing race between the increasingly complex access control systems and the people who are trying to gain unauthorized access. This demands a continually evolving technology. This paper will examine the future trends of access control systems and the various technologies associated with them. Types of Barriers and Design of Systems There are several types of barriers with each barrier having its own advantages and disadvantages. These advantages and di

Monday, November 18, 2019

Digital Telecommunications and Networks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Digital Telecommunications and Networks - Essay Example In the signal amplification of analog systems, noise is amplified with the analog signal. Thus, the signal-to-noise ratio deteriorates for each time an analog signal is amplified. Digital regenerators, on the other hand, reproduce an entirely new digital signal from a sample noisy digital signal. The signal-to-noise ratio of this new digital signal has the same signal-to-noise ratio as the original signal. Thus, digital signals can be transmitted over longer distances than analog signals. Pulse Code Modulation is simply digitally coding analog signals. It consists of sampling analog information signals and then converting them to a serial n-bit binary code for transmission over a physical medium. With PCM, each code has the same number of bits and requires the same length of time for transmission. The presence or absence of a pulse within a specific time slot indicates either a logic condition of 1 or 0 respectively. Wayne Tomasi, in his book Electronic Communications Systems, outlined how a simplex PCM system is integrated in telephony: An analog input signal passes a band pass filter which limits it to the standard voice-band frequency range of 300Hz to 3000Hz. The sample and hold circuit periodically converts samples of the analog input signal to a multilevel Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) signal. The analog-to-digital converter (ADC) converts these PAM signals to parallel PCM codes. These parallel PCM codes are then converted to serial binary data in the parallel-to-signal converter. Finally, the serial binary data are then outputted onto the transmission medium as serial pulses. At the receiver's end of the transmission medium, the serial pulses pass through the serial-to-parallel converter. The digital-to-analog converter then converts parallel PCM codes to parallel PAM signals. Finally, the hold circuit which is a low pass filter, converts parallel PAM signals to the original analog sig nal (408). Time Division Multiplexing is the transmission of information from multiple sources to one or more destinations using the same facility but at different transmission times. The following are the fundamentals of how Time Division Multiplexing is integrated in telephony as summarized by Wayne Tomasi: In a 2-channel PCM-TDM system, each channel's input is sampled and then converted to an eight-bit PCM code. While the PCM code of channel 1 is transmitted over the transmission medium, channel 2 analog input signals is sampled and converted to a PCM code. And when the PCM code of channel 2 is transmitted, it is channel 1 that then undergoes analog input sampling and conversion (453). C.) Describe the main operating principles of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology and GSM (Global System Mobile) technology in mobile communication. Code-Division Multiple Accessing is a cellular telephone system based on spread-spectrum technology. It uses a unique code rather than a frequency or time assignment to differentiate users from one another. With CDMA, the base station uses

Saturday, November 16, 2019

What Is Absenteeism And What Causes Absence Management Essay

What Is Absenteeism And What Causes Absence Management Essay An employees deliberate or habitual absence from work. In todays working organisations everybody misses a day of work now and then. But when an employee misses too many days of work it can be a big problem for the organisation and this can cause serious problems when all other employees have to cover for the missing worker or in worse cases the work simply doesnt get done. Absenteeism occurs when the employees of a company do not turn up to work due to scheduled time off, illness, injury, or any other reason. Recent studies have reviled that Absenteeism sometimes put the figure much higher. One recent Gallup poll did not put a price tag on the sniffles and swollen eyes, but claimed that more than 3 million workdays per year are lost when working people stay home because their allergies are acting up. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a study in 1994 claiming that clinical depression alone resulted in more than 213 million lost workdays, costing $24 billion. Furthermore, a 1995 study discovered a correlation between absenteeism and employee turnover. Companies with high rates of absenteeism were found to be more likely to have their employees leave for jobs with other firms. In light of such findings, employers have recognized that a generous absence policy can be profitable and contribute to employee satisfaction and stability.  [1]   If we look back the history, there is only a small written history of absenteeism in business literature, probably because until the 20th century businesses had a simple rule, No work: no pay. Then labour unions forced the companies into contracts to allow employees to take time off from work for illness or vacations and the practice of offering paid sick days become widespread. These practices still vary among companies and union contracts and normally there is an average of four to ten sick days per year is standard. Companies have realized that human absence management policies are cost effective; even many companies were unwilling to off paid leave to their employees. In fact, there is an estimate in the current studies regarding absenteeism that those company who have effective employee absence strategies can reduce their overall payroll costs by atleast 10 percent. HOW MUCH ABSENTEEISM COST THE BUSINESS: Most recent studies on absenteeism have claimed that missing employees cost companies millions of pounds in lost revenue each year. There have been several surveys to find out how much exactly does absenteeism cost the organisations, some of them are as under: According to a new survey by Mercer,  The Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences, the total cost of absence can equal as much as 36% of payroll (compared to 15.4% for health care coverage). Of that figure, 9% accounts for unplanned absences. Planned absences, like vacations and holidays, average 26.6%. For a midsize business, this unplanned absence can account for as much as $4.5 million per year and unplanned absences like casual sick days result in the highest per-day productivity loss, 21% versus just 15% for planned absences like vacation days. On an average, employees have 5.3 unplanned absence days per year.  [2]   The other most recent survey on the common causes of absenteeism by BBC has revealed that within the UK 93% of workers cite cods and flu as their common reason for being away from their work. IHC estimates that 13.4 million working days a year are lost to stress, anxiety and depression, and 12.3 million to back and upper limb problems. And the overall cost to UK industry? A whopping  £11.5bn in 2002 was paid out in wages to absent employees and on additional overtime and temporary staff cover, according to the CBI. One such firm that has decided to tackle the problem of workplace absence is investment management company INVESCO. Based in the City of London and Henley-on-Thames and employing 1,000 permanent staff, it realised that absenteeism, whether to visit a doctor, physiotherapist or councillor, was costing it an estimated  £38,000 a year after carrying out a study into the problem in late 2002.  [3]   Absence from work costs British industry  £10.2bn a year, mainly through minor illnesses, stress and family responsibilities, according to a new report. A survey of more than 530 firms for the Confederation of British Industry estimated that 200m days were lost through sickness absence last year, an average of 8.5 days per worker.  [4]   The  Massachusetts Institute of Technology  (MIT) is a  private  research university located in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, United States, MIT has released a study in 1994 that, Clinical depression alone resulted in more than 213 million lost workdays, costing $24 billion.  [5]   According to an annual survey report of CIPD in 2009, it is stated that the annual cost of absence, is highest in the public sector, averaging  £784 per employee per year. Manufacturing and production employers recorded the next highest cost at  £754 per employee per year. Absence costs among non-profit organisations also fell slightly to  £698 from  £741 per employee per year.  Private services organisations recorded the lowest annual absence costs, averaging  £666. However, the findings showed that only 41% of employers monitor the cost of employee absence, a figure which has remained stubbornly low over the last few years.  Annual Absence Labour Turnover Survey 2008  by the CBI and insurer AXA revealed that of the 172 million sick days lost to absence in 2007, more than one in ten (12%) are thought to be non-genuine. These 21 million sick employees cost the economy  £1.6bn and two thirds of employers think that people use them to extend their weekends.  [6]   Another company Hewitt Associates  which is based in  Lincolnshire,  Illinois  is a global  human resources  (HR)  outsourcing   and  consulting  firm which delivers a wide range of integrated services to help companies manage their total HR and employee costs and improve their workforces has confirmed that: Sickness costs UK companies more than  £1,000 per employee every year. In addition, absenteeism is costing employers at least  £662 per employee, although this rises by as much as 60% once indirect costs, such as lost productivity, overtime and recruitment, are included. The first Hewitt Healthcare Fundamentals Survey, found that many companies are under-estimating their rate of absenteeism and its financial impact as less than two thirds of companies indicated that they properly record employee absenteeism. The survey showed that the biggest causes of absenteeism are flu, muscular injuries such as back pain and repetitive strain injury, and stress and depression. Some 56% of respondents said that stress is an issue for their organisation yet only a third provides stress management coaching for their managers. The report makes it clear that stress is predicted to be the main cause of employee ill-health in the next three years. If the UK economy worsens, stress levels can undo ubtedly be expected to rise further, making this the biggest threat to employee health in the UK. Poor health and work absenteeism has long been recognised as a problem for UK employers. According to a recent review by Dame Carol Black, the National Director for Health and Work at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, the total cost of sickness and absenteeism to the UK economy is over  £60 billion.  [7]   Forum of Private Business (FPB) an online forum has recently conducted a survey on how much absenteeism is costing the business in the United Kingdom. This forum warned that the cost of a single day of workers absenteeism within UK because of the freezing winter conditions could be at least  £230 million. FPB also stated that: Employee absenteeism represents a huge cost for many small businesses. According to the FPBs recent cost of compliance survey, small business employers in the UK spend a total of  £391 million per year on absence control and management more than on any other aspect of employment law.  [8]   WHAT CAUSES ABSENCE? The most common main causes of sickness absence for both manual and non-manual employees have been identified as: Manual Non-Manual Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Back pain Stress Musculo-skeletal injuries Musculo-skeletal injuries Home/family responsibilities Back pain Stress Home/family responsibilities Recurring medical conditions Recurring medical conditions Injuries/accidents not related to work Other absences not related to ill-health The latest studies and surveys have revealed that an increase in stress related absence is continuing in number of employers these days. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS International comparison of absence rates is equally useful and informative. The title sick man of Europe was once given to Britain because of apparently poor industrial relations record. This title can be given to any other country now as absence rates in the UK are among the lowest of any EU member country. Table 1 illustrates this point: Country Short-term Absenteeism rate Long-term Absenteeism rate Denmark UK Austria Sweden Ireland Norway Netherlands France Germany Belgium Italy Portugal 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.4 4.5 5.0 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.8 6.9 8.0 9.1 5.5 12.7 3.0 10.4 13.3 11.1 6.5 6.6 5.5 11.2 Source: Adapted from CBI, Focus on Absence, 1989  [9]   THEORIES RELEVANT TO ABSENTEEISM MOTIVATION THEORY The word motivation is used to describe certain sorts of behaviour. The purpose of motivation theories is to predict behaviours. Motivation is not the behaviour itself, and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action and the internal and external forces which influence a persons choice of action (Mitchell 1987).  [10]   HERZBERGS TWO FACTOR THEORY Herzberg used the critical incidental method and his original study was chosen because of the growing importance in the business world and his study was consisted of interviews with 203 accountants and engineers  from different industries in the Pittsburgh area of America. The responses to these interviews were generally consistent and revealed that there were two different sets of factors affecting motivation and work. This led to the Two Factor Theory of motivation and job satisfaction. Herzberg concluded that the factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are not motivators but are hygiene factors. According to Herzbergs theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job satisfaction and on the other hand their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction. In contrast, he determined from data that the motivators were elements that enriched a persons job he found  five factors  in particular that were strong  determiners of job satisfaction: Achievement Recognition The work itself Responsibility Advancement  Ã‚   According to Herzberg theory these motivators who also can be known as satisfiers were associated with  long-term  positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only  short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level. In summary,  satisfiers describe a persons relationship with that she or he  does, many related to the tasks being performed.  On the other hand dissatisfiers have to do with a persons  relationship to the context or environment  in which she or he performs the job.  Ã‚  The satisfiers or motivators relate to what a person does while the dissatisfiers relate to the situation in which the person does what he or she does. Herzberg argued that extra compensation only work in the short term and other hygiene factors only avoid dissatisfaction and that satisfaction comes from intrinsic motivators. Herzberg developed the job enhancement process and brought out the following features in his theory: Direct feedback non-evaluative feedback on work performance which goes straight to the employee, not through a superior. New learning employees given opportunities to learn new and meaningful skills Scheduling employees are permitted to organise their own work patterns within reasonable limits Unique expertise using ones special skills and knowledge Control over resources having an individual budget for which one is responsible Direct communications authority being able to communicate as necessary to get the job done Personal accountability the employee is directly accountable for the work.  [11]   ATTRIBUTION THEORY Attribution theory suggests that we observe a persons behaviour and then try to establish whether internal or external forces caused it. If it is judged to be internal, it is seen as being under the persons control; if it is judged to be external, it is seen as a result of the situation. Attribution is said to be subjected to a number of considerations, because we judge actions in a context. For example, we judge how distinctive behaviour is and whether behaviour is unusual for a particular person. Attribution theory is very much relevant to absenteeism as for example the employee is absent from work and the circumstances are that his or her attendance record is exemplary, then the behaviour could be considered unusual and an external cause (that is, that the behaviour is outside the control of the individual) will be attributed. If the absenteeism fits in with the general pattern of behaviour, then an internal attribution will be attached (that is, it will be seen as being under the persons control). DOUGLAS MCGREGOR THEORY X THEORY Y According to Douglas McGregor there are two distinct views of human beings, the first one is basically negative, labelled as Theory X, and the other basically positive, labelled as Theory Y. McGregor concluded, after viewing the way in which managers dealt with employees, that a managers view of the nature of human beings is based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that he or she tends to mold his or her behaviour toward employees according to these assumptions: According to McGregors Theory X, there are four assumptions held by managers which are: Employees inherently dislike work and whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals. Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition.  [12]   In contrast to these negative views about the nature of human beings, McGregor listed the four positive assumptions that he called Theory Y: Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play. People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibilities. The ability to make innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management positions.  [13]   HOW TO MEASURE ABSENTEEISM To measure worker absenteeism the most obvious way is to record how many days have employees not come in to work. The companies should have some sort of clock-in or accountability set-up making this step relatively simple. Once the numbers are available, surely it would be interesting to know how many of those workers were genuinely ill. Measuring absenteeism can serve as many as four purposes for organisations, which includes the following: Administering payroll and benefits programs Planning human resource requirements for production scheduling identifying absenteeism problems measuring and controlling personnel costs (Gandz and Mikalachki, 1979) Actual assessment and analyzing is a key aspect of managing absence effectively. Organisations must assess if they have complications with absenteeism, its extent and find out the best way to tackle it. In the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence survey, less than half of employers monitor the cost of absence,  and just under  half of organisations have set a target for reducing absence and only 38% of organisations benchmark themselves against other employers.   To analyse particular arrangement of absenteeism and underlying the basis, employers should acquire and use data, for example, the management approach of an appropriate manager or an increase in workloads. This can also provide the evidence of how absenteeism impacts on the bottom line and why it value investing in an effective absenteeism management programme. HOW TO MEASURE TIME LOST? To evaluate absenteeism there are a number of different measures that can be used, each of which can gives information about the different aspects of absenteeism. Some of the factors are described as under: LOST TIME RATE Lost time rate measure  articulate the percentage of the total time available which has been lost due to absence: Total absence (hours or days) in the period  x 100   Possible total (hours or days) in the period   For instance, if the total absence of the employees in the period is 155 person-hours and the total time available is 1,950 person-hours, the lost time rate will be:   155 x 100 = 7.95%   1,950   This can also be calculated separately for the individual departments of different groups of employees to uncover particular absence problems within an organisation. FREQUENCY RATE The frequency rate method shows an average number of absences per employee, which is expressed as a percentage. This does not give any indication of the length or duration of each absence period, nor any indication of employees who take more than one spell of absence and it is calculated as under:   No of spells of absence in the period  x 100   No of employees   For example, if an organisation employed on average 110 workers in one month, and during this time there were a total of 24 spells of absence, the frequency rate will be:   24  x 100 = 21.82%   110   To find out the individual frequency rate, we have to count the number of workers who take at least one interval of absence in the period, rather than to total number of intervals of absence. BRADFORD FACTOR This method expresses the persistent short-term absence for individuals, by measuring the number of spells of absence, and is therefore a useful measure of the disruption caused by this type of absence. It is calculated using the formula:   S x S x D S = number of spells of absence in 52 weeks taken by an individual   D = number of days of absence in 52 weeks taken by that individual   For example:   10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000   1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10   5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250   2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40   The trigger points will differ between organisations. The underlying causes will need to be identified for all unauthorised absence. ABSENCE POLICIES The companies should have clear policies in place which support their business objectives and culture and this is the first step to managing absenteeism efficiently. Under the current legislation employers are required to provide their staff with knowledge on any terms and conditions relating to inadequacy for work due to the sickness or injury, including any arrangement for sick pay. Effective absenteeism policies must spell out clearly employees rights and responsibilities when taking time off from work due to sickness or any other reason. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is Europes largest HR development professional body which support and develop the management and development of people within organization, has explained that the following few facts are most considerable and the policies should: Provide details of contractual sick pay terms and its relationship with statutory sick pay Outline the process employees must follow if taking time off sick covering when and whom employees should notify if they are not able to attend work Include when (after how many days) employees need a self-certificate form Contain details of when they require a fit note from their doctor Explain that adjustments may be appropriate to assist the employee in returning to work as soon as is practicable   Mention that the organisation reserves the right to require employees to attend an examination by a company doctor and (with the workers consent) to request a report from the employees doctor Include provisions for return-to-work interviews as these have been identified as the most effective intervention to manage short-term absence.  [14]   HOW TO MANAGE ABSENTEEISM Before we discuss how to manage absenteeism we look the types of absenteeism. There are many other reasons why people take time off from work. These can be categorised as under: Non permitted absence or continuous lateness Long-term sickness absence Short-term sickness absence (uncertificated, self-certificated, or covered by a doctors fit note which replaced the sick note from April 2010) Other authorised absences:  for example,  annual leave; maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave; time off for public or trade union duties, or to care for dependents; compassionate leave; educational leave. Other than these above categories of absenteeism there are two main types of absenteeism, know as short term absenteeism and long term absenteeism. We discuss in detail how to manage these two main types of absenteeism: MANAGING SHORT-TERM ABSENCE Short term absence also known as absence interventions. The most effective interventions in managing short term absence include the followings: A proactive absence management policy Return-to-work interviews Disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence levels Involving trained line managers in absence management Providing sickness absence information to line managers Restricting sick pay Involving occupational health professionals The most common method which is currently being adopted by many organisations is return-to-work interviews which can help identify short-term absence problems at an early stage. These return-to-work interviews provide an opportunity to managers to start a dialogue with staff over underlying issues, which might be causing the absence.   Tim Holden, the Managing Director of  FLUID, draws on more than 10 years experience as an award-winning recruiter and trainer. FLUID works with organisations to enhance their attractiveness to both current and future employees. Holden suggests that: The use of disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence may be used to make it clear to employees that unjustified absence will not be tolerated and that absence policies will be enforced.  Ã‚  [15]   According to CIPDs recent survey it has been revealed that, only 12% of organisations use attendance incentives or bonuses as a tool of absence management according to our latest absence survey. LINE MANAGERS ROLE To control and reduce the causes of absenteeism, line managers have a substantial role to play, either directly or indirectly. How managers behave is very important because it has a significant effect on employee health and comfort. Many recent researches show that line managers are the type of employees most likely to be reported as bullies within organisations. Management style within an organisation is also one of the top causes of stress at work.  Ã‚   In any organisations the managers need good communications skills to encourage employees so that they can feel free to discuss any problems they may have at an early stage so that they can be given support or advice by the managers before matters escalate. According to all the recent studies and surveys it is stated that despite of all the importance of line manager/supervisor involvement, there are only 50% organisations are training their line managers to get the skills needed to do this effectively. The organisations should train their line managers to get the following skills to handle the absenteeism properly and they should have a good knowledge of: Their companys absence policies and procedures What is their role in the absence management programme How to act upon any advice given by the doctor to the employee. All the related legal and disciplinary aspects of absence including potential disability discrimination issues   How to maintain absence record-keeping and understanding facts and figures on absence The role of occupational health services The proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing Operation (where applicable) of trigger points Development of return-to-work interview skills Development of counselling skills. MANAGING LONG-TERM ABSENCE The current studies and researches on long term absence have shown that absence of  eight days or more justify about one third  of total time lost through absence and absence of four weeks or more accounts for more than 15%. Consequently it is very vital that organisations have an approved strategy in place to help their employees to get back to work after a continuous period of sickness or injury-related absence. The knowledge of potential disability discrimination claims is also critical these days.   THE ROLE OF LINE MANAGERS   The role and responsibilities of the line manager in the management of absence should be clearly defined. However, these days the role of line managers is paramount. It is the line managers responsibility to manager his or her departmental, or unit. Therefore it is his/her responsibility to see that these resources are used as effectively as possible. This means that levels of attendance should be good and absence kept to a minimum. The line managers should follow the companys approach to management style, organisation and allocation of work, as this will be a vital part of any strategy to control absence. In addition it is his/her responsibility to follow the company absence polices and procedures to staff. In addition, the line manager will be one of the main influences on an individuals view of the company attitude to absence. It is therefore important that the actions, and words of line manager support the companys position. Taking a difference stance on the management of absence, whether more strictly or leniently, will cause problems for the individual manager and for the organisation. Line managers must be able to rely on the support of senior management for decision they take in line with the companys policy, their responsibilities are as under: To effectively organize and allocate work; To use an appropriate management style; To ensure that all staff are adequately trained for their role; To communicate the absence policy and procedures to all subordinates; To apply policy and procedures in a consistent and fair manner; To deal with requests for prior approved absence; To keep accurate and up-to-date records of absences; To investigate reasons for unexplained absences; To carry out return to work interviews; To instigate disciplinary procedures, when required; To provide adequate feedback to senior management; To ensure adequate personal development and training to be able to meet these responsibilities effectively. As we already discussed the role of line manager in managing the short-term absence, now we discuss the role of the line manager in managing long-term absence which is also crucial for managing long-term absence and other interventions are also important, which include:   The occupational health involvement and proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing The line management involvement as part of the absence management programme Restricting sick pay Changes to work patterns or environment Return-to-work interviews Rehabilitation programme There are also four typical components in the recovery and return-to-work process, which are discussed as under: Keeping in contact with sick employees   The line manager should ensure that a regular contact is maintained using both sensitive and non-intrusive approach with the employee and this should be agreed with the member of staff and manager and, also where appropriate, with the union or employee representative. Planning and undertaking workplace controls or adjustments   There can be some obstacles which may cause delay, interruption or difficulties to an employees return to work. A risk assessment can analyse measures or adjustm

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Computational Complexity and Philosophical Dualism :: Dualism Essays

Computational Complexity and Philosophical Dualism ABSTRACT: I examine some recent controversies involving the possibility of mechanical simulation of mathematical intuition. The first part is concerned with a presentation of the Lucas-Penrose position and recapitulates some basic logical conceptual machinery (GÃ ¶del's proof, Hilbert's Tenth Problem and Turing's Halting Problem). The second part is devoted to a presentation of the main outlines of Complexity Theory as well as to the introduction of Bremermann's notion of transcomputability and fundamental limit. The third part attempts to draw a connection/relationship between Complexity Theory and undecidability focusing on a new revised version of the Lucas-Penrose position in light of physical a priori limitations of computing machines. Finally, the last part derives some epistemological/philosophical implications of the relationship between GÃ ¶del's incompleteness theorem and Complexity Theory for the mind/brain problem in Artificial Intelligence and discusses the compatibili ty of functionalism with a materialist theory of the mind. This paper purports to re-examine the Lucas-Penrose argument against Artificial Intelligence in the light of Complexity Theory. Arguments against strong AI based on some philosophical consequences derived from an interpretation of GÃ ¶del's proof have been around for many years since their initial formulation by Lucas (1961) and their recent revival by Penrose (1989,1994). For one thing, Penrose is right in sustaining that mental activity cannot be modeled as a Turing Machine. However, such a view does not have to follow from the uncomputable nature of some human cognitive capabilities such as mathematical intuition. In what follows I intend to show that even if mathematical intuition were mechanizable (as part of a conception of mental activity understood as the realization of an algorithm) the Turing Machine model of the human mind becomes self-refuting. Our contention will start from the notion of transcomputability. Such a notion will allow us to draw a pathway between formal and physical limitations of symbol-based artificial intelligence by bridging up computational complexity and undecidability. Furthermore, linking complexity and undecidability will reveal that functionalism is incompatible with a materialist theory of the mind and that adherents of functionalism have systematically overlooked implementational issues. 1 - The Lucas-Penrose argument — Lucas-Penrose argument runs as follows: GÃ ¶del's incompleteness theorem shows that computational systems are limited in a way that humans are not. In any consistent formal system powerful enough to do a certain sort of arithmetic there will be a true sentence — a GÃ ¶del sentence (G) — that the system cannot prove.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Zimbabwe

Q. 1. The potential revenue of the field. Find the most reliable figure for this, tell where you obtained it and explain why you think it is the most reliable figure that you could obtain. Ans. 1. Zimbabwe started selling diamonds and earned more than ?1 billion by selling diamonds (The Press Association). The soldiers forced people to work harder. They also tortured them and their children with heavily armed force. There is no official estimate for the revenue from selling stones and diamonds in that sector but an unofficial estimated range is showing ?1. billion from that field in Zimbabwe (The Press Association). The eastern alluvial diamond fields of diamond estimated to meet one-forth demand of the total demand of diamond across the world in 2006. They earned high revenue and profit by trading diamonds into several countries, like, Israel, India, Lebanon and Russia. The government of Zimbabwe earned $20 million from the legal sale of diamonds in 2008 (The Press Association). But the important thing is that most of the earned income and revenue of mining diamonds is illegal and it has no governmental or official record. If a Chinese mining company wants to set up a legal partnership with Zimbabwe government then it will achieve great revenue with high profit and growth through mining diamond in Marange which is a newly founded diamond field in Zimbabwe. This particular field of diamond is situated in the eastern field which earned high revenue through diamond mining in Zimbabwe. To expand their trade facilities, they arranged some private planes to bring buyers from foreign countries. Most of the diamond fields in Zimbabwe are illegal and distributing conflicting diamonds to many countries. These illegal mining fields are expecting high profit and thus they forced poor people to work harder under the mechanism of ‘Dig or Die’ (The Press Association). Poor people are bound to work under the heavily armed security guard in these illegal fields of diamond. According to Abbey Chikane, the Kimberley Process monitor for Zimbabwe, marked the Marange Diamond field in Zimbabwe as a certified diamond field to export conflict-free diamonds to meet the demand of diamond across the world (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). The human right organization of Zimbabwe is protesting the diamond mining though several illegal diamond fields which are doing illegal activities through killing many poor helpless men, raping women and torturing children to get hard work from them. To solve these problems, the government of Zimbabwe has become very serious to set up legal diamond mines to export conflict-free diamonds. Q. 2. Who controls the Mining Development Corporation? Do they have any existing joint venture partners? Who in the Zimbabwean government will influence decisions regarding the investment? Ans. 2. Diamond exporting and supplying business is currently controlled by the government of Zimbabwe. Though it is controlled by the government, there is a presence of powerful illegal diamond fields in Zimbabwe and these fields are engaged in several illegal and non-ethical activities with the help of the armed police and security guard force of Zimbabwe. The presence of political battle and high rate of corruption in the Zimbabwean economic, political and social atmospheres guided the government to a wrong direction. Being the Zimbabwe monitor of the world diamond control body, Abbey Chikane, also stated that the diamonds are ready for sale in the international market to provide minimum international standard of diamond (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). According to the investors, the mining of diamond in Marange was conducted through use of virtual slaves under the control of armed soldiers in 2008 (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). Therefore, this field is not working legally or the government may be not serious about fact of diamond mining in Zimbabwe. The Kimberley Process is an international monitoring body to control conflict-free diamond supply from certified diamond fields under governmental rules and regulations. Mr. Chikane announced that Zimbabwe can start trading the Marange diamonds under proper guidance of the government of Zimbabwe. According to him, the Zimbabwe government has taken several effective steps to regulate legal diamond fields and to remove illegal sources of diamond. The Kimberley Process did not consider the fact of taking steps against governments which violated the rules of the human-rights organization in Zimbabwe in diamond mining. The Kimberley team investigated that the heavily armed security forces killed many people, raped women who were illegally mining in the Marange fields in July, 2008 (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). But the officials denied these charges against them and the government and they told that the security guards were there to give protection to the governmental part of the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe. The Kimberley members restricted sales of diamonds by the Marange diamond fields as they were supplying non-certified stones in the international market with proper certificates. This helped to get certification for the diamond fields in Zimbabwe. It also allowed exporting several other legal diamond fields into the foreign market. Zimbabwe's government earned $20 million from the legal fields of diamonds in 2008 (The Press Association). There are some political conflicts in Zimbabwe in the issue of diamond exporting and mining from legal and illegal diamond fields of the country. After the election in Zimbabwe in 2008, the situation in Marange diamond field has become very much concern about their effectiveness of the Kimberley Process. A top member of the World Diamond Council, Martin Rapaport reigned from the Kimberley Process to protest against their activity and controlling mechanism of the process. Human rights organizations in Zimbabwe are now become very much concern about the export of diamond in the international market after getting the green signal to restart the sale of diamonds from the Marange diamond fields, where heavily armed soldiers deployed by the President Robert Mugabe have been charged for conducting illegal activities (Peta, 2010). The Zimbabwean government investigated that more than 4 million carats of diamonds were founded from the controversial fields of the Zimbabwean diamond fields. Marange was one of them. The estimated value of the total sale of diamonds will be around $1. 7bn according to the Zimbabwe's 2010 budget and that will be very much helpful to provide a boost to the economic condition of Zimbabwe (Peta, 2010). Investment from the foreign investors is always encouraged the mining development corporation of Zimbabwe. To meet the international demand of diamond, they are gradually expanding their international business through legal export of conflict-free diamonds of certified diamond fields of Zimbabwe. To increase their revenue, the government of Zimbabwe is very much interested to incorporate many foreign investors across the world. The director of the Centre for Research and Development which is a Zimbabwean human-rights organization was tracking the operations in Marange diamond field in Zimbabwe (Peta, 2010). According to them at the end of 2008, there was no improvement in the condition of the human rights in the Marange diamond field. Mr. Maguwu, the director of the research and development centre, also showed how diamonds from the Marange Diamond field were being smuggled out from Zimbabwe to Mozambique and it became a profitable strategy for the soldiers of Zimbabwe through illegal diamond export to other foreign countries (Peta, 2010). The Zimbabwe government forced the African Consolidated Resources to take back their claims against the government and their officials in the issue of diamond supply and export from the Marange diamond field in Zimbabwe at the end of 2006. The high court of Zimbabwe decided that all diamond mines should hand over their power of illegal diamond export to the central bank of Zimbabwe and those mines could get back their power after resolving the dispute in 2008 (Peta, 2010). Therefore, after the political and social battle in Zimbabwean diamond fields, it has become mandatory to get certified by the government, the diamond research and development centre and also by the human rights organization of Zimbabwe. Game Theory: Q. 3. Game theory is very useful in planning strategy. Your firm, if it decides that it is a good investment, wants to win the rights to develop the mine. Explain how you can use game theory to plot a winning strategy. Ans. 3. If the Chinese firm decides that it will be a good investment and also wants to win the rights to develop the diamond mines in Zimbabwe, then they should follow a strategic plan with game theory application. The firm can invest in the Marange diamond field through legal contract of partnership with the mining company. They should be aware of the fact that there are no illegal activities in the mining field against the human rights organization in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe should follow ethics of the social and political aspects in the case of diamond mining from different legal fields of diamond. According to the perfect formation of the game of this case of development in the field of diamonds, the most effective and suitable pay-off will be the combination of the investment of the Chinese firm and the investment in the legal fields of certified diamonds in Zimbabwe. The investment of the Chinese firm will be more profitable if the firm can invest into a legal field of diamonds, rather than investment into an illegal field of diamonds. There are some other factors related with social, ethical and legal perspectives of the country in the case of diamond mining. These aspects should be highly concerned by the Chinese company who is very much interested to get with some Zimbabwean mining company through legal partnership contract. The Chinese company can get high revenue and profit if it makes a contract with an illegal company but other social, legal and ethical aspects will not be there. There may be several strategies but only one pay-off will be economically, financially, legally and ethically viable for this case. Pricing Strategies: Q. 4. Explain why the price of diamonds in international markets is so high. Note that a good answer to this question will involve research into the pricing strategies of the firms that sell diamonds as well as the application of basic economic principles. Ans. 4. The price of diamond is very high in the international market. If demand increases for a commodity, the price of that commodity will also increase keeping other factors as unchanged. The demand curve of a commodity is downward slopping in the price of the commodity and the quantity demanded for the commodity framework. Demand Curve of commodity: Price Demand Curve †¢ Quantity Demanded (Source: varian, 2003, pp. 4-6) The price of the commodity and the quantity demanded of the commodity are taken respectively as the vertical and the horizontal line of the diagram. The demand of diamond is gradually increasing in the international market. In the above diagram, according to the basic concept of the demand curve, the demand is dependent on the price of the commodity. Therefore, the price of any commodity should also be dependent on the demand of the commodity. In general, if the demand increases, the price should fall according to the demand curve. But in this case, the price of diamonds is gradually increasing with the increase in the price of the diamonds. The price of the diamonds is very high in the international market to reduce the demand of diamonds in scarcity of diamonds in the global market. The scarcity of diamonds is the main reason for the increasing price of diamonds in the international market. At present, there are few diamond mines from which high quality diamonds can be found. On the other hand, there are few diamond mining companies in the world. Therefore, the competition in these companies is negligible. If a firm with monopoly power in a market increases the price of its commodity, there will be no change in the demand of the commodity. This advantage for the diamond mining companies encourages them to increase the price to achieve high revenue and profit from this business. In the competitive market the firms can not increase the prices of their products because if they increase the price the demand of the product will reduce in those firms and the consumer will prefer to buy from any other firm at lower price of the commodity. There is another important reason for the increment of the price of diamonds in the international market. Most of the exported diamonds are smuggled out from the African diamond fields in different countries. These smugglers have fixed very high price for these diamonds in the foreign market. Though this reason is illegal and not providing any economic theory, it is a very important reason for the high price of diamonds. Ethics: Q. 5. What is the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme? What are the elements of the scheme? Does this investment satisfy these? Why or why not? Ans. 5. Mines Minister of Zimbabwe, Obert Mpofu, stated that more than 90% of the total demand from the international market was achieved by the trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process group in November in 2009 (BBC News, 2009). The armed police force in the diamond mining field killed more than 200 poor people by torturing them at the Marange field of diamonds (The Press Association). The activists wanted to remove these pathetic and illegal activities which were gradually reducing the socio-economic culture of the economy. They also announced to reform the planning and controlling strategies of diamond fields in Zimbabwe and they fixed 2010 as the deadline of this reformation (BBC News, 2009). The Kimberley process is a controlling body under the governmental power in Zimbabwe. With the help of this organization, the government earned a lot revenue and profit but it was not helpful to maintain social, legal and ethical aspects of the economy. To achieve high profit and growth, this organization forced people to work harder in the diamond fields of Marange. The security guards killed many people, raped women and forced children to work continuously in the fields. The Kimberley Process decided to work against the human rights groups of Zimbabwe. Therefore, this process is not concern about the ethics of the organization and they are away from maintaining social responsibilities in Zimbabwe. The government denied these charges against their officials and they are still not very much worried about the fact. The 70-member Kimberley Process group approved a compromise diamond contract at a summit in Namibia in 2009 (BBC News, 2009). To maintain balance in the socio-economic aspects of the economy, an independent monitoring body with independent inspector was established. This organization mainly monitors the diamond mining from the controversial fields. As this process is completely away from maintaining ethics and any other social responsibilities, the investment in this organization will not provide any knowledge of social, economic, legal and ethical responsibilities. This will not be suitable or helpful for the future in a long-run perspective. Q. 6. Do you think that this investment is ethical? Why or why not? Ans. 6. Investment in this organization or process will not be an ethical decision for the Chinese mining company. This process helped to work illegally to achieve high profit in an illegal diamond mining sector. This process is not maintaining any ethics which should be helpful for long-term planning. This process also affects the environmental degradation in Zimbabwe. It is also damaging farming irrigation systems in Zimbabwe (Conflict & Blood Diamonds, 2009). If the Chinese mining company wants to observe a sustainable growth and development for a long-term perspective, they should not go for the partnership contract with the Marange Diamond mining fields and should not even go for investing in these illegal unauthorized and non-certified diamond mining fields in Zimbabwe.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Apush Notes: Conquering a Continent 1861-1877 Essay

* Essential Question: What factors helped advance the integration of the national economy after the Civil War? Section 1: The Republican Vision: * Integrating the National Economy: * Reshaping the former Confederacy after the Civil War supplemented a Republican drive to strengthen the national economy to overcome limitations of market variations that took place under previous Democratic commands. * Failure to fund internal improvements left different regions of the country disconnected, producing the Civil War, Republicans argued. * During the Civil War and after, the Republican-dominated Congress made strong use of federal power, passing protective tariffs that gave U.S. manufacturers a competitive advantage against foreign firms. * Republican administrations would strengthen the economy through a massive public-private partnership that modern historians argue represents a turn away from a laissez-faire or â€Å"hands off† approach of previous administrations towards the economy. * Railroad developments in the United States began well before the Civil War but peaked after the Civil War. By 1900, virtually no corner of the country lacked rail service. * Railroads transformed American capitalism by adopting a legal form of organization, the corporation, enabling them to raise private capital in large amounts. * Along with the transformative power of railroads, Republicans’ protective tariffs also helped build thriving U.S. industries. A Civil War debt of $2.8 billion was erased during the 1880s by a $2.1-billion-dollar income from tariffs. * Fierce tariff debates marked American politics in the 1880s and 1890s. Democrats argued that the tariff had not slowed poverty in the United States. * Protective tariffs had also helped to foster the growth of trusts, giant corporations that dominated whole sectors of the economy and wielded monopoly power. * The rise of railroads and trusts prompted a pushback by companies against new state and federal regulatory laws. In Munn v. Illinois (1877), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states possessed the right to regulate businesses, but not at the expense of fragmenting the national marketplace. * In the Southwest, federal courts promoted economic development at the expense of racial justice. Although the United States had taken control of New Mexico and Arizona after the U.S. Mexican War of 1848, much of the land still remained in Mexican American hands by the 1870s. * As the post–Civil War years brought railroads and Anglo-American settlers, Mexican Americans lost 64 percent of their lands through special courts that ruled on land titles. * The Santa Fe Ring was a notorious group of politicians and lawyers who conspired to defraud Mexican Americans of their lands. * After the Civil War, U.S. and European policymakers attempted to transform their economies to the gold standard. But basing money supplies on gold was a divisive issue that framed U.S. politics for a generation. * In 1873, Congress directed the U.S. Treasury, over a six-year period, to retire the greenback paper dollars issued during the Civil War and replace them with notes from an expanded system of national banks. After 1879, the Treasury exchanged notes for gold upon request. * Silver adherents received a modest victory when Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, requiring the United States to coin a modest amount of silver. * Republican nationalist policies fostered rapid economic growth in the form of an expansion of telecommunications, corporations, and capital, making the United States a mighty industrial power by 1900. * The New Union and the World: * Following the Civil War, the United States achieved greater leverage with foreign nations like Britain. American expansionists expected to add more territories to the nation. The use of the Hawaiian Islands and the invention of steam transportation facilitated expansion off the continent to places like Japan in the 1850s. * Union victory also increased trade with Latin America. Mexico freed itself from French rule in 1867, but risked economic manipulation by its larger northern neighbor, the United States. * International trade became a new model for asserting power in Latin America and Asia. Under the leadership of Secretary of State William Steward (1861–1869), the United States embraced China and Japan, forcing the Japanese to remain open to trade. * Seward also advocated the purchase of strategic locations for naval bases and refueling stations, such as land in Nicaragua for a canal, Hawaii, and the Philippines. * In 1868, Seward achieved a significant victory with congressional approval of the Burlingame Treaty with China, regulating immigration. The same year, Seward also purchased Alaska from Russia, further establishing the United States as a global power. Summary: * Essential Question: What factors drew homesteaders to the Great Plains, and what role did they play in the Republicans’ vision for the post-Civil War nation? Section 2: Incorporating the West: * Cattlemen and Miners: * Conquest and development of the American West became the domestic foundation for national supremacy in the late 1800s. Farm development was as vital as factory development to Republican policymakers. * Republicans sought to bring families to the West by offering 160 acres of land through the Homestead Act. * Innovative federal policies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, helped in 1879 to open up western lands managed under a new Department of the Interior. * Federal policies helped to incorporate the trans-Mississippi West. As railroads crossed the country, thousands of homesteaders filed land claims. * To make room for cattle, professional buffalo hunters eliminated the buffalo. * Texas ranchers inaugurated the famous Long Drive, hiring cowboys to herd cattle hundreds of miles north to the railroads that pushed west across Kansas. * As soon as railroads reached the Texas range country during the 1870s, ranchers abandoned the Long Drive. Stockyards appeared beside railroad tracks in large Midwestern cities like Chicago. These places became the center of a new industry, meatpacking. * Sheep raising also became a major enterprise in the high country of the Rockies and the Sierras. * In the late 1850s as California gold panned out, other mineral discoveries helped to develop the Far West in places like Nevada, the Colorado Rockies, South Dakota’s Black Hills, and Idaho. The Comstock Lode in Nevada was a major silver discovery. * At some sites, miners found copper, lead, and zinc that eastern industries demanded. The insatiable material demands of mining triggered economic growth at many far-flung sites, such as Pueblo, Colorado, which smelted ore. * Remote areas turned into a mob scene of prospectors, traders, gamblers, prostitutes, and saloonkeepers; prospectors made their own mining codes and often used them to exclude or discriminate against Mexicans, Chinese, and blacks. * California created a market for Oregon’s produce and timber. * Homesteaders: * Upon first encountering the Great Plains, Euro-Americans thought the land barren, and referred to it as the Great American Desert. * Railroads, land speculators, steamship lines, and the western states and territories did all they could to encourage settlement of the Great Plains. * New technology—steel plows, barbed wire, and strains of hard-kernel wheat—helped settlers to overcome obstacles. * Between 1878 and 1886, settlers experienced exceptionally wet weather, but then the dry weather typical of the Great Plains returned, and settlers fled recently settled land. * â€Å"American fever† took hold in northern Europe as Norwegians and Swedes came to the United States. * For some southern blacks known as Exodusters, Kansas was the Promised Land; by 1880, 40,000 blacks lived in Kansas—the largest concentration of blacks in the West aside from Texas. * By the turn of the century, the Great Plains had fully submitted to agricultural development. In this process, there was little of the â€Å"pioneering† that Americans associated with the westward movement; farming required capital investment and the willingness to risk boom and bust cycles just like any other business. * Although miners, lumber workers, and cowboys were overwhelmingly men, many women accompanied families as homesteaders. * The Republican ideal of national economic development through farm building supported the cultural value of domesticity. Spread widely before and after the Civil War, domesticity held that it was a man’s devotion to his wife and childr en that caused him to work hard and be thrifty and responsible. * Domesticity produced a political clash with the Mormon Church, whose adherents practiced polygamy. Along with voting rights, this issue framed gender political controversies during Reconstruction. * Women’s rights expanded when Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1869. Towns in Kansas in the 1880s elected women as mayors and as city professionals. Women were increasingly leaving the home to work. * Yet the majority of rural women lived under harsh frontier conditions. Rolvaag’s contemporary work, Giants in the Earth portrayed the fear and isolation of Norwegian immigrant women on the Dakota vast prairie. * Debt and Aridity: * Farm prices dropped in the late 1800s as technological innovation and global expansion glutted markets for wheat, cotton, and corn. * Farmers also faced the problem of being small producers in a marketplace that rewarded economies of scale, giving large corporations the advantage of undercutting farmers. In the 1880s, farmers would launch one of the most powerful protest movements in the history of American politics. * A hostile environment existed on the Great Plains in the form of grasshoppers, prairie fires, hailstorms, droughts, tornadoes, blizzards, the lack of water, and minimal wood supplies. Many families built homes made of sod. * By the late 1880s, over 50,000 homesteaders had fled the Dakotas and many others gave up their settled lands. Dry farming techniques helped to alleviate some of the challenges of Great Plains farming. But it favored the growth of large corporations. Family farms required over 300 acres to survive low prices and harsh weather conditions. * By 1900, about half of the nation’s cattle and sheep, one-third of its cereal crops, and nearly three-fifths of its wheat came from the Great Plains. But environmental costs multiplied as wasteful anti-biodiversity agricultural practices continued. * Encouragement from experts like John Wesley Powell, a geologist who explored the West, to infuse federal funding into western development ignited a debate over corporate versus small family farms. * Rampant overdevelopment led to a preservation movement by Congress. In 1864, Congress gave 10 square miles of the Yosemite Valley to California for public use. In 1872, Congress set aside 2 million acres of Wyoming’s Yellowstone Valley as a public park for tourism, a new western industry on the rise. * Indian eviction accompanied land preservation. In 1877, the Nez Perce under Chief Joseph and the Bannock tribe of Indians utilized Yellowstone for survival as they fled forced reservation life by the federal military. * The military decided that killing buffalo would help reduce resistance of the Great Plains tribes. They had signed treaties in 1867 and 1868 to ceded vast tracts of land and remain on reservations. Whites now wanted Indians to cede more lands. Summary: * Essential Question: How did the federal government’s relationship with Native Americans change in the decades following the Civil War? How did they stay the same? Section 3: A Harvest of Blood: Native Peoples Dispossessed: * The Civil War and Indians on the Plains: * Before the Civil War, Congress gave the Great Plains to Native Americans because they thought it could not be farmed. But railroads, steel plows, and the desire for land reversed that decision. * The Sioux and other tribes fought against federal government attempts to place them on reservations. In 1862 in Minnesota, the Sioux responded by massacring white settlers. President Lincoln hanged the leaders and exiled the remainder from the state. * The Dakota Sioux uprising escalated tensions elsewhere between whites and Indians. In 1864, Col. Chivington led his troops to commit the Sand Creek Massacre of Cheyenne in eastern Colorado. * The Sioux and Arapaho responded with more attacks. In December of 1866, the Sioux wiped out eighty men under Captain Fetterman and successfully closed the Bozeman Trail. * By 1869, public opinion had turned against warfare as an effective means to subdue Indian tribes. Congressional leaders searched for other options to deal with the â€Å"Indian probl em.† * Grant’s Peace Policy: * Christian reformers heavily influenced the Grant administration’s peace policy. Reformers argued that Indians could be transformed into whites through education and religious indoctrination, particularly of Indian youth in boarding schools. The first boarding school opened at Carlisle in 1879. * Corruption, racism, and denominational in-fighting reduced the effectiveness of the boarding school campaign. To Indian leaders, reformers became just another interest group. * Indian tribes were forced by political circumstances to accommodate. In 1871, Congress abolished further treaty-making with Indian tribes. * The Supreme Court further eroded tribal power in Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903), stating that Congress could make any policies it chose and could ignore existing treaties. * In Ex Parte Crow Dog, the Court ruled that Indians were not citizens unless approved by Congress. Indians would remain wards of the government until the 1930s. * Another assimilation measure attempted to free Indians from their tribal past, this time through land taking. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 held that all Indians would receive allotments of reservation land and the remainder would be sold to non-Indians. * The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ carelessness, corruption, and greed doomed the act. Fifteen million surplus acres alone were taken from tribes in Indian Territory by 1894, facilitating the birth of the state of Oklahoma. * Before Dawes, Indians had held over 155 million acres of land; by 1900, this had dropped to 77 million. By 1934, native peoples had lost 66 percent of their allotted lands. * The End of Armed Resistance: * By 1873, only Sitting Bull, the great Lakota Sioux leader, openly refused to go to a reservation. * A crisis came on the northern plains in 1876 when the Sioux refused to sell the Black Hills as demanded by the federal government. * On June 25, 1876, George A. Custer pursued a reckless strategy and suffered annihilation by Chief Crazy Horse’s Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at the Little Big Horn. This was the last victory of the Plains Indians against the U.S. Army. * The Apache hated their reservation, so they made life miserable for white settlers in the Southwest until their chief Geronimo was finally captured in 1886. The United States had completed its military conquest of the West. * Strategies of Survival: * Despite living on reservations and halting armed resistance, most native people continued to practice traditional languages, ceremonies, and arts. * Most native people also selectively adopted white ways such as use of the English language and skills such as agriculture. Most native people blended old and new ways. * One of the most famous native people who assimilated during this era was Dr. Charles Eastman, a Dakota Sioux boy trained in white schools to become a medical doctor. * The Ghost Dance movement symbolized the syncretism, or blending together, of white and Indian ways. The dance drew on Christian and native elements, spreading from reservation to reservation across the West and alarmed many local whites. On December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, U.S. Army soldiers massacred 150 Lakota Sioux people. The soldiers feared that the Ghost Dance would provoke war uniting Indian communities. * By 1890, the United States included forty states, an industrial economy that rivaled Britain and Germany, steady immigration, and inklings of becoming a major player in foreign places. A new American empire was forming abroad.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Infographic Best Practices How to Make Yours More Successful

Infographic Best Practices How to Make Yours More Successful All too often, an agency or team will spend weeks coming up with a solid concept, crafting compelling copy, and drawing up stunning designs for their infographic†¦ only for it to fall flat when it’s finally ready to be shown to the world. Why? Did they misjudge their audience’s interest in the topic? Did they miss a step in the process of bringing an infographic to life? Did they bully Zuckerberg as a child, leading to Facebook’s algorithm being specifically devoted to pushing their content to the bottom? If you’ve got a story worth telling, then it’s worth being shown to the world. At Lemonly, we believe one of the best ways to tick both boxes is with a brilliant blend of copy and design that makes the abstract actionable, the boring brilliant, and the complex concise: an infographic. Your content’s performance involves a number of variables, of course, but the fact of the matter is this: a finished piece of content is only the first step in the ever-evolving process of content marketing. If nobody sees your stuff, does it really matter how insightful or aesthetically pleasing it is? And besides, everybody’s busy. Creating content that goes nowhere isn’t in the best interest of anyone’s time. Any good content marketing team should go into every project with a plan for posting and promoting their pieces online - here’s our three-step suggestion. How to Make Your Infographics More Successful With the Right Best Practices by @lemonly viaBonus Checklist: How to Make Infographic in 7 Steps This post is packed with advice on creating infographics the right way. But, how do you actually follow a process to create a single infographic? Follow this guide created by s own design extraordinaire, Ashton Hauff.Follow this infographic design checklist to make sure every one you create gets done right.Step 1: Nail Your Infographic Copy + Design The first step might seem a little obvious, but it’s an important one across the content board. If you’re going to get in the game, jump in head-first. With as many channels as are competing for consumers’ attention, the highest quality work will always rise to the top. Putting out consistent, quality content establishes a good reputation that will keep people coming back for more. Call us biased, but we’ve found infographics to be hugely successful when it comes to explaining a process, spreading the word about a new discovery, suggesting a solution, or simply telling a story. Infographics combine data visualization with attractive illustrations to form a quick, easy-to-read piece of content that can do some serious heavy lifting. Though they can be animated, static, or interactive, and can fit into nearly any form factor, the best infographics cover the same key bases. Even if you’re not an Adobe master, keeping these in mind will lead to a strong infographic that’s well on its way to garnering big engagement for your brand. Recommended Reading: How to Make an Infographic in 7 Easy Steps Start With a Thesis Great infographics immediately answer â€Å"What’s the point?† After all, you’re not just expressing your artistic side. Decide what you want your audience to take away once they close your window, and stick to it. Trying to do too much can water down your main point. Add Clear, Concise Copy Much like the piece as a whole, having a plan makes writing compelling copy much more simple. Start with an outline that lays out your thesis and supports it with a few key points, then research your topic and add statistics to and other evidence that backs up your claims. Outlines help you keep your information structured and cut down on that intimidating feeling of staring down a blank Word document. It’s a good idea to stick to the â€Å"need-to-knows† - too much fluff and you’ll lose your audience.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Landlord and Tenant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Landlord and Tenant - Essay Example It must be stated that statutory provisions appear to restrict the rights of tenants where carrying out repairs is concerned. Although the tenant has a common law right to deduct costs of repairs from rents payable to the landlord or arrears of rent, this may not provide adequate levels of protection against the landlord’s breach of contractual obligations. Statutory regulations specify all manner of restrictions in the carrying out of repairs and despite the good intentions of the tenant, the landlord can refuse to pay for the repairs if the wrong materials or the wrong contractor is used. The requirement of notice by the tenant before the landlord will be liable for repairs has also been spelt out under statutory provisions as well as the precedents established in case law. Another important distinction that must be noted is that licensees and tenants have a different set of rights where the question of forcing the landlord to carry out repairs is concerned. Licensees may have better provision under common law principals against licensors who are in default, because they can force them to carry out repairs on grounds of contractual breaches.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Australian Retailing Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Australian Retailing Industry - Essay Example Since the retailers are situated in a more convenient location than the manufacturers, consumers tend to choose retailers over these specific producers of goods. Annual reports give certainties that today, the retailing industry remains one of the top grossing industry in Australia. From the year 1993 towards the year 2000, retailing employed at least 920,000 people, which is almost 45% of the total number of workforce employed within the said country. It has been noted through reports that through the years 2005 towards the year 2006, the employing capabilities of the retailing industry in the country would increase up to 22% higher than the present statistical data that it presents in the Australian economic industries. (ARS, 2006, Internet) As of the latest statistical surveys, it has been carried on that there are at least 70,000 individual retailing business organizations in Australia submitting up to $150 Billion of business profits to the national treasury system. As it could be noted from these particular reports, the retail industry is indeed making up a large part of the entire national economy of Australia. Knowing that Australia holds at least 35% of its population devoted to employing the minorities or the Immigrants, it could be expected that the management policing and practices would naturally be directly affected. (ARS, 2006, Internet) Management and the Retail Industry Considering the fact mentioned earlier, the Australian community is made up of a large number of minorities or immigrants who have been entering the boundaries of the country searching for employment. Hence, through this particular truth, it could be observed that the management... The researcher states that today, being able to make amends with the way the management deals with the organization’s workforce is one way by which the business entity is ensured with the success that it aims to achieve in the future. This is the primary reason why management could not passively deal with the issues that concern the employees when dealing with the retail practices. Particularly in Australia, retail businesses are soaring high and are indeed making a great mark in the country’s industrial statistical reports. To support the claims mentioned above, a study on the Australian retailing industry shall be studied in this essay. The system of retailing business is based upon the process of busying and reselling used or new items to final consumers in the market. This procedure is mainly done by major industries that are not able to manufacture their own products. The idea revolves around the possibilities of creating profit from the manufactured products throu gh adding a certain amount called interest from the principal or original amount that the products were sold to the retailers. As the products passes through from retailers to retailers, it could be observed that the amount or the price of the product continuously rise as the money aims to suffice the capital or investment placed by the retailers themselves. Retailers have naturally brought in their products directly to the target buyers to ensure their organizations of the right kind of market influence that they need to penetrate for better market effects.