Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Impact of iTunes and Other Online Services on Music Industry Research Paper

Impact of iTunes and Other Online Services on Music Industry - Research Paper Example Furthermore, the study indicates that the drop in the number of revenues is a result of two main factors; an apparent increase in piracy related issues and the ability of the potential buyers to pick and choose particular songs rather than buying the entire albums instead. Though iTunes has proved to be a dynamic and a powerful medium having the potential to revolutionize the music industry, but the drop in revenues has turned out to be a huge drawback which overpowers the apparent advantages of the medium of the industry. Impact of iTunes and other online services on music industry Introduction iTunes is like a music jukebox which is used to manage, purchase and download the music online. It is an online music library with an added feature that allows the online purchase of music. However, in contrast to the tradition purchase of music albums iTunes allow the customers to cherry-pick the particular songs instead of buying the entire albums. This in turn has various implications whic h will be addressed further on in the paper. iTunes was launched in 2003 which was a product conceived by Macintosh replaced Napster; therefore it is important to analyze and track the impacts of Napster on the industry to contrast the results with iTunes for a more credible result. The decade after Napster was replaced saw a drastic decrease in the revenues of music industry in the U.S. In contrast when Napster was first introduced in the market, the U.S music industry saw a rapid increase in the profits. According to the statistics, the U.S shipments for recorded music were increase from $5.8 billion to $12.8 billion between 1975 to 1990`s. This is a positive indicator as the recorded shipments almost doubled. However, between 1990`s to 2007, the records again dropped back to $5.5 billion. (Waldfogel 2011). The same trend was observed worldwide indicating the strong impact of iTunes in the market. Though many researches indicated that iTunes have paved way for piracy and illegal c opying of music, but iTunes was constituted in such a way that it minimizes the risks of piracy related issues. With iTunes, music can be shared in two ways, i.e. either by sharing an entire library or by sharing specific playlists. iTunes doesn`t support illegal copying of music over the internet as the music is only available to the host system where iTunes is located. Also, the music can only be retrieved by the person using the iTunes, he shuts down the system the music is no longer available for anyone to be listened. (Waldfogel 2011). iTunes protects the content by two ways, i.e. firstly by incorporating copyrights laws and secondly via contracts. However, different countries have now come up with different jailbreaks and unlocking software which allows copying of music online onto iTunes for free. Though the laws are considerably strict in U.S, but in Europe and other places the laws can be molded which results in music piracy via iTunes elsewhere. Thus, these two factors i.e . pick and choose which music to purchase, and unlocking software leading to music piracy leads towards the apparent decrease in revenues. However, according to a review by Berkeley University, the impact of peer-to peer music

Monday, October 28, 2019

Critiquing Internet Sources Essay Example for Free

Critiquing Internet Sources Essay The internet is filled with information. Podcasts, videos, and blogs are the most used forms of information on the internet. Three factors that need to be used when evaluating internet sources for use in research are authority, can the speaker be authenticated, and is he qualified to speak on the subject, accuracy, can the information be found in other credible sources, and currency is the information current or when was the last revision to the page? The topic is Elder Abuse, a blog, video, and podcast, have been evaluated pertaining to the subject to show the credibility and reliability of the sources. A blog is a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). The blog Elder Care and Technology is written by a group of writers’ in the Walton Law Firm. The blog explains in detail the impact of modern technology on Elder Abuse. The law firm based in San Diego, California specializes in court cases representing abused elders and their families. The Law firm can be authenticated and has been successful in prosecuting and retaining damages against nursing homes and personal care homes for years (Walton Law Firm, 2014). The blog does show some bias against people and organizations accused of elder abuse. The information in the blog is accurate and valid, because there are links to the law firm site that confirm the blog’s content. The information is current and applicable to the topic of Elder Abuse. A video is the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of moving visual images (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). The video Elder Abuse: the Crime of the Twenty-First Century, was produced by The Stein Institute for Research on Aging. The guest speaker is Deputy District Attorney of San Diego County; Paul Greenwood J.D. Attorney Greenwood has prosecuted over  four-hundred felony cases of Elder Abuse, both physic al and financial. The video gives a detailed explanation of what is being done in the state of California to combat Elder Abuse. The speaker is biased towards the prosecuting of those who mistreat the elderly. Attorney Greenwood is a valid source and the information he shares in the video is applicable to this research. The video shares information that can be found in other resources and is just one in a series offered by The Stein Institute for Research on Aging to show the new ideas that the state of California is implementing to fight elder abuse. District Attorney Greenwood is a credible source for information because of his background in the fight against elder abuse. The video is informative and the speaker is clear and concise in his reporting of the facts. A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically (Oxford Dictionaries, 201 5). The New York City Elder Abuse center has a series of podcasts about Elder Justice. The center was erected in 2009 to improve professional, organizational, and system responses to elder abuse (NYCEAC, 2013). The most current podcast in the aging series is Ageism, Elder Justice, and The Legacy Project, each podcast has a guest speaker and the speaker on this podcast is Professor Karl Pillemer, a noted author, Director of Bronfenbrenner’s Center for Translational Research, Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development, Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, and a collaborator on the Legacy Project (Cornell University, 2015). Professor Pillemer is an expert on the issues of the elderly, and his qualified to express his opinions though somewhat biased in favor of the elderly. He uses his bias in a way that expresses the deep concern for the elderly and their treatment, which tends to sway one to favor his arguments. The podcast is one in a series of valid podcasts and the information is easily applied to this research. The information can also be found in other credible sources on the internet. The information given in blogs, videos, and podcasts are great examples of web-based information. Web-based information has a major influence on how students gather information for research, global citizenship, and multicultural understanding. Web-based information helps develop intercultural literacies that students, parents,  educators, and leadership groups need to live and work as a diverse and globalized population. Web-based information gives the user awareness of the interconnectedness with people and environments around the globe (Department of Education, 2013). Web-based information is being infused in today’s global history classroom curriculum to enable students to have access to the global network of multimedia information while being engaged in self-directed learning activities (Scheidel, 2003). Web-based information influences the understanding of global citizenship and multicultural understanding, because people are able to put themselves in the position of the citizens of foreign countries, which helps them broaden their understanding of the different cultures that they meet right here in the United States, and helps us understand the complexities of ethnicity and culture (Hickling, 2012). Elder Abuse is a subject that has recently been raised by different organizations and advocates that fight for the elderly and their rights. The different blogs, videos, and podcasts, are ways that a researcher can find the relevant information they need to learn more about the subject and the policies being used to combat elder abuse. The internet is the leading source of information in society today. The information by way of blogs, videos, and podcasts are all perfect ways to get and exchange information. The credibility and relevance of the information should be easy to prove and sh ould always be authenticated when using these methods for research. References Ageism, Elder Justice The Legacy Project (April 22, 2014). Retrieved from: http://podgallery.org/elder-justice-podcast-series/ January10, 2015 Cornell University College of Human Ecology (2015). Karl Pillemer-Bio Retrieved from: http://www.human.cornell.edu/bio.cfm?netid=kap6 January 11, 2015 Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Education for Global and Multicultural Citizenship: A Strategy for Victorian Government Schools 2009-2013. Retrieved from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/programs/multicultural/default.htm. January 11, 2015. Elder Abuse: The Crime of the Twenty-First Century? Research on Aging MAY 5, 2014 University of California Television (UCTV) Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JoUapRfjZw January 10, 2015. Elder Care and Technology By Walton Law Firm http://www.nursinghomeabuselawyerblog.com/2014/05/elder-care-technology.html Hickling, F.W. (2012). Understanding Patients in Multicultural Settings: A Personal Reflection on Ethnicity and Culture in Clinical Practice. Ethnicity Health, 17(1/2), 203-216. Doi:10. 1080/ 13557858.2012 655266. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library, January 14, 2015. Oxford University Press (2015) http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/ Scheidet, R.A. (2003). Improving Student Achievement by Infusing a Web-Based Curriculum into Global History. Journal Of Research on Technology in Education. International Society for Technology in Education, 36(1), 77-94. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library, January 14, 2015.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Peace of Westphalia :: Ancient Rome Roman History

Peace of Westphalia The two treaties of Mà ¼nster and Osnabrà ¼ck, commonly known as the Peace of Westphalia, was the culminating element for the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. It established a final religious settlement and provided for new political boundaries for the German states of central Europe. The impact of the Peace of Westphalia was broad and long-standing, as it dictated the future of Germany and ex-territories of the Holy Roman Empire for some time to come. The Peace of Westphalia put down the Counter Reformation in Germany and instituted the final religious arrangement the German states had been crying for. It renewed the terms of the Peace of Augsburg, namely that each state of the Empire received the liberty to be either Lutheran or Catholic as it chose; no individual freedom of religion was permitted. If a ruler or a free city decided for Lutheranism, then all persons had to be Lutheran. Similarly in Catholic states all had to be Catholic. In addition to re-instituting the Peace of Augsburg in its traditional form, the Peace of Westphalia included Calvinism to Lutheranism and Catholicism as an acceptable faith. On the controversial issue of church territories secularized after 1552 the Protestants won a complete victory. With the advent of the Peace of Westphalia, the squabbling between Protestants and Catholics was finally put an end to. The Holy Roman Empire was officially dissolved with the Peace of Westphalia. This had been advanced with the drawing of internal religious frontiers in the days of Luther, although now it was confirmed. Borderlands of the Empire fell away. The Dutch and Swiss established themselves as independent, as did the United Provinces. The western frontier of the Empire was carved up among France, Sweden and the Dutch. France took control over three Lorraine bishoprics which they had occupied for a century. The Swedes received the bishoprics of Bremen and Verden and the western half of Pomerania, including the city of Stettin. Sweden enlarged its trans-Baltic possessions, and in addition claimed the mouths of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser rivers in Germany. The Dutch obtained only the mouths of the Rhine and the Scheldt. On the interior front of the Empire, both Brandenburg and Bavaria increased their statures. Brandenburg lay claim to eastern Pomerania, the large archbishopric of Magdeburg, and t wo smaller bishoprics. Bavaria received control of the Palatinate and a seat in the electoral college, increasing the Empire's electors to eight.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

START Programs Defined :: essays research papers

The Impact That the START Treaties Have On Public Safety Have you ever thought about a nuclear bomb hitting Wichita? What could we do to prevent this from happening? There have been several attempts to rid the world of nuclear threat. None of these attempts has actually prevailed to the lofty goal of unilaterally removing the threat of nuclear war. Seemingly, the unilateral limitation of nuclear arsenals would be a good idea. To begin, I need to define terms in layman’s to reveal the total meaning of this topic. Each delivery system has a different range. Inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) have the farthest range of 13,000 kilometers, whereas, submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) can only reach as far as 12,000 kilometers (Friedman). Unilateral action means that each separate side will act identically. If Russia disassembles 100 ICBMs then the United States has to disassemble 100 ICBMs to create equality. The bloc of treaties designed to assure the unilateral reduction of nuclear arms is the strategic arms reduction treaty (START). The START treaties have three sections; each designed to reduce the number of specific nuclear weapons. I will discuss each version of START in order to show what influence it will have on global safety. START I set the groundwork to begin the gradual decline of nuclear weapons for the United States and the Soviet Union. Each party had approximately 10,000 nuclear weapons of various ranges (Friedman). Under START I the number of total nuclear weapons deployed will unilaterally be reduced to a total not to exceed 6,000 warheads (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). Which is a step in the right direction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both the United States and Russia signed the START I treaty on July 31, 1991 (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). Although the Soviet Union dissolved around this time, the four countries that remained ratified the treaty. START I entered into force on December 5, 1994, when the five treaty parties exchanged instruments of ratification in Budapest (Kimball). START II continued to reduce the number of deployed nuclear warheads to a total to 4,250 per party (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). This second treaty further limited the number of ICBMs and SLBMs that can be deployed with nuclear warheads. START II was signed on January 3, 1993 in Moscow (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Library Issues About Public Image/ Gender

Stereotyping is not actually a bad thing. However, the consequences of stereotyping are the ones that are important and matter (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). The people may ignore the existence of these stereotypes but the effects of these on the people are very crucial. Image, on the other hand, is an issue and problem everywhere but the social situation is differs from one place to another. The image of librarians was being molded as early as the 1870s. Married women and men already had jobs and positions in the society. However, the single, unmarried women were left out and had no position in the society. These women engaged in professions such as: librarianship, nursing, social work and elementary school teaching which were not restricted to any gender and to civil status. Librarians’ work consisted of uplifting the morals of a middle-class home through books and to rescue people suffering from moral and intellectual poverty. (Garrison as cited by Engle, 1998) Reed (1995), on the other hand, said that librarianship was initially a job for men and was only feminized in the late nineteenth century. Even if the women were able to enter the profession, the men were retained but were able to advance to higher positions, administrative ones. Also, men comprised and dominated the American Library Association in 1876. The women were attracted to the profession because of the limited employment possibilities. The feminization of the profession came about as women were believed to be able to change the atmosphere in the library. Specifically, women are believed to soften the environment of stacks of books. Green (n.d.) conducted a survey that led to the stereotyping of the librarian as a woman, usually having old age, fair skin and single and there were no specifics on hair color. Marinelli and Baker (2000) and Goldstein (1977 as cited by Reed, 1995; Kneale, 2004), on the other hand, typecasted librarians to ladies with hair arranged in a bun, wearing chained spectacles, with a body covered up with a dress, hushing when noise is being heard and with a worried expression. Men librarians, alternatively, are being questioned with regards to their masculinity. They are usually characterized to be ineffectual, effeminate and unathletic (Reed, 1995). Surprisingly, in Green’s study if the all aforementioned characteristics would be expected to be present in a person to be able to define a librarian, there would be no librarians at all. The characteristics may be present at one person at a time, but not all. Thus, stereotyping is not true in the study. In the same manner, only the spectacles hold as a true characteristic of a librarian in Marinelli and Baker’s (2000) study. The impolite attitude of the librarian only holds true for some cases. And, the generalization of the unfriendly manner of the librarians may be attributed to the silent atmosphere of the library. It can therefore be said that the characterization of stereotypes does not come from the characteristics of real-time librarians. Marinelli and Baker (2000) justified stereotyping has a function in the society. The aged women, spectacles and being single are features that people do not want to emulate, but can somewhat be a convenient reprsentation of the unattractive, meek and rejected. In addition, the dominance of the women in the profession also contributed to the negative overtone in the stereotype (Carmichael, 1992 as cited by Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Similarly, other professions that are dominated by women are also being criticized. The characteristics of the librarian as said on the previous paragraph can be credited to the public librarians. They are the image keepers of the profession as they are the ones that people frequently see and look at (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Also, the public are not much aware of special librarians or archivists. These people are also librarians but cater a specialized clientele. Although the public librarians constitute only a small portion of the total librarians, the stereotype has been used in many types of media, including films, that it became persistent characteristics. The forms of literature are one of the possible causes of stereotyping of librarians. Most literature often associated librarianship to lonesome characters in both men and women (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Only a few have explored the possibilities of other characteristics of librarians, one of which is: â€Å"sexy librarians†, a novel written by Edith Wharton in 1918. Films, on the other hand, characterize librarians differently (Raisch, 1993 as cited by Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Films’ portrayal of librarians vary from spinsters (Donna Reed in â€Å"It's A Wonderful Life†, Hilda Plowright in â€Å"Philadelphia Story† or the librarian in â€Å"Breakfast at Tiffany’s†), repressed ladies (Barbara Stanwyck in â€Å"Forbidden†), mean archivists (Bertha in â€Å"Citizen Kaine†) to innocent blondes (Carole Lombard in â€Å"No Man of Her Own† or Goldie Hawn in â€Å"Foul Play†). And some also feature male librarians (John Rothman in â€Å"Sophie's Choice†, Jason Robards in â€Å"Something Wicked This Way Comes† and Peter Sellers in â€Å"Only Two Can Play†). However, the actors and actresses that play librarians are often attractive people (Katherine Hepburn, Parker Posey, Peter Sellers) that their portrayal is not seen to reflect the real thing. The specialized training of librarians that is not publicly known may be a factor that affects the public perception on librarianship. Their tasks such as referencing, checking and shelving are seen simply as clerical tasks. Nevertheless, there is a Masters in Library and Information Science that is a sort of requirement in the field of professional librarianship. Those without the degree may not be able to advance to the professional level but still be a librarian. Sadly, librarians are much affected by the negative typecasting of their profession.   Distress and denial are the two main reactions of librarians regarding the negative stereotyping in their profession (Engle, 1998). Librarians had to be weighed down by the emotional stress of the typecasting. These in turn cause social pressures on the librarians and cause further dismal attitude. Real-life librarians, actually, do not like the stereotyping of their profession because they personally do not want to be attributed to something unattractive and restrict the entrance of males in the profession (Morrisey and Case, 1988; Carmichael, 1992 as cited by Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Also, Wilson (1982 as cited by Marinelli and Baker, 2000) said that stereotyping might have caused real librarians to not like librarians, including themselves. This is because the librarians react to their occupational identity, instead of reacting as an individual. Due to the typecasting, the librarians are being forced to act as a minority group. The negative stereotyping also causes librarians to think poorly of their profession, especially those on the public libraries and schools (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). The pride of the profession is being lost in the issues. Librarians nowadays are not immediately associated to being professionals. They are just people who look after publications in a room or building. Also, these cause downbeat on client perceptions, status and organizations. The clientele of the librarians may decrease because of the negativity on the profession. Both the status of the people and the organizations that are currently in the profession is also being prejudiced without proper exploration. Furthermore, funding and recruitment for new librarians are being affected. Due to the issues on librarians, people who are interested in entering the profession may reconsider. Only those who work as special librarians in private institutions are properly paid. Some also feel that they are being less valued by the society as compared in 1988 (Bobrovitz and Griebel, 2001). Conversely, there are still librarians that are satisfied with their profession (Bobrovitz and Griebel, 2001). They believe that they are valuable to their employer, with respect to their skills, but are still being subjected to issues causing them to think that they are underappreciated by the society. Despite the negative typecast on the profession, their morals are still up but seek the improvement and image of the career, to change some misinformation for every librarian’s sake. Yet, the negative connotation on the stereotype characteristics of the librarian can also be beneficial. Lately, the issues caused them to make an effort in improving the quality of their work. Through some changes, they believe the public’s perception of the librarians will change and will enable the creation of another stereotype for the profession (Paul and Evans 1988 as cited by Marinelli and Baker, 2000; Bobrovitz and Griebel, 2007). However, the librarians must collectively make this effort in order to overhaul the typecast set on the profession. Even the slightest mistake of only one librarian is very crucial because instead of putting up a good image, things may go for the worse. This made the stereotyping more than an individual behavior. There had been actions to lessen the negative publicity regarding the librarians. McCormack, since the 1987, had been advocating protest for negative ads of librarians (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Through the American Libraries’ column, â€Å"Image: How They’re Seeing Us†, pictures have been revealing both the negative and positive images on librarianship. Through the revelation of some of the extreme negative publicity, there had been realizations of too much prejudice in the society with regards to librarianship. Somehow, the images that show the goose-stepping and hushing librarians have decreased in number. Chances of redeeming the status of the librarian profession is very likely because of technological advancements, faculty status for librarians, unionization and contracting (Marinelli and Baker, 2000). Due to technological advancements, librarians are now taking up positions such as technology managers and information specialists. Although machines also pose as a threat to librarian employment, computers are essential in making information more available and convenient to clients. After all, librarians can employ themselves as consultants and trainers. Also, there have been changes in the perception towards librarians as 10 years before. The business of librarianship is also being appreciated more. However, the term librarianship holds some kind of stigma that corporations appreciate the profession more without mentioning the word librarian. (Kneal, 2006) References Bobrovitz, J. and Griebel, R. (2001). If the (Sensible) Shoe Fits: The Image of the Librarian. Retrieved October 30, 2007 Engle, M. (1998). Ethymologizing Work: The Role of Archetypal Images in the Humanization of Librarianship. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/staff/moe/archetype.html Green, Paul (n.d.) Paul Green’s Librarian Stereotype Survey: Highlights. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from http://warriorlibrarian.com/RESEARCH/stereotype.html Kneale, R. (2004). Where’s The Librarian? Retrieved October 30, 2007, from http://www.librarian-image.net/wheres_the_librarian.html Marinelli, S. and Baker, T. (2000). Image and The Librarian: An Exploration of a Changing Profession. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberresearcher/ImageHomepage.htm#Homepage Reed, R. (1995). From Librarian to Information Scientist: Technology and Occupational Change in A Traditional Woman’s Occupation. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from http://www.wigsat.org/gasat/47.txt ; ;

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma

5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma 5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma 5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma By Mark Nichol A simple lesson about the strength of the mighty little comma can be learned by noting the difference in meaning that results depending on its presence or absence at the end of a parenthetical phrase. More specifically, in the types of sentences shown below, when an attributive phrase one that identifies the source of the information provided in the framing sentence is inserted in the midst of the sentence and a comma precedes the interjection but none follows it, what is said is often not equivalent to what is meant: 1. â€Å"Every nine years, it was decreed that the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.† The point of this sentence is that an action is described as having occurred every nine years, and that this action was decreed. That latter detail is the content of the attributive phrase. But without a comma closing the interjection, the implication is that the decree was issued every nine years. However, what the sentence means is that a decree was issued requiring the action to occur every nine years that’s a much different idea, and this slightly revised sentence correctly expresses it: â€Å"Every nine years, it was decreed, the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.† 2. â€Å"By the end of the century, estimates are that one in three people will be living in poverty.† This sentence is not as far afield from the intended meaning as the original sentence in the previous example, but it does suggest that such estimates will be released by the end of the century, rather than that current estimates predict the stated outcome. This revision states the point more clearly: â€Å"By the end of the century, estimates are, one in three people will be living in poverty.† 3. â€Å"Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.† At first glance, this sentence seems to have the same not-quite-right structure of the second example, but it actually introduces a serious miscommunication. The suggestion is that the commission report, not the Bush administration, is failing to embrace our civil rights future, and that the commission is making the statement in place of that responsibility. The mere insertion of a comma sets the sentence right (in this case, an optional that is not included, so no deletion of same is necessary): â€Å"Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says, the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.† 4. â€Å"Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit that I had always tried to get A’s.† The writer, this sentence suggests, was forced to make an admission until reaching their third year of college, at which time the confession was no longer required (but in that case, am should be replaced by was). But the admission is parenthetical to a different thought, which is that the writer strove for the highest letter grade for only their first two years in higher education: â€Å"Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit, I had always tried to get A’s.† 5. â€Å"As far back as his childhood, he told me he had wanted to be a scientist.† As punctuated, this sentence tells the reader that the would-be scientist had shared his ambition with the writer since the other person had been a child. If this is what the writer means, the beginning of the second part of the sentence should include had (â€Å"he had told me†). But if the writer is relating what the other person had shared more recently about his childhood goal, a comma should follow me to set off the attributive phrase â€Å"he told me†: â€Å"As far back as his childhood, he told me, he had wanted to be a scientist.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire YouNominalized Verbs

Monday, October 21, 2019

Waist-to-Hip Ratio Essay Example

Waist Waist-to-Hip Ratio Paper Waist-to-Hip Ratio Paper It can be seen that the relationship is linear between the WHR, i. e. the lower the WHR value the more attractive the image is considered to be. Whereas, the BMI the data is not linearly related and that the lower the BMI score the image seems to be unattractive and the higher the BMI score the image is also considered to be unattractive. As the BMI is not linearly related a quadratic formula had to be used in order to better predict the rating. Therefore the residuals had to be analysed in order to justify this. Graphs 5 and 6 show the distribution of the residuals for the attractiveness rating and the relationship of them with the fitted values, respectively. The residuals were distributed normally and the relationship seemed linear, but seemed to have a high variance. Similarly with the residuals of WHR (graphs 7 and 8), residuals were normally distributed and an approximate linear relationship with the fitted values. However, the residuals for the BMI, although normally distributed (graph 9), did not have a linear relationship with their fitted values (graph 10). So a quadratic formula was used which resulted in a much smoother parabola (graph 11) showing the same relationship from graph 3 but more clearly. As all the residuals were approximately normally distributed regression analysis was valid and applied (table 1) using the quadratic (BMI2) as one of the predictors. This resulted in only just under 30% (R-sq = 29. 0%) of the variance being explained by the three predictors. This was probably due to other contributing factors that were not taken into account during the experiment such as the gender of the subjects, cultural differences e. t. c. An analysis of the variance was applied and resulted in a very highly significant variance ratio (874. 55) suggesting that both the BMI and WHR were significant contributing factors. The first table of best subsets (table 3) shows that the WHR is the more influential of the two factors. However, only 29% of the variance has been explained and this is not much, so could be inaccurate. So, a cubic formula was tried and this resulted in a more accurate regression equation (table 4) and a greater proportion of the variance was explained (46. 4%). The best subsets (table 6) showed that the BMI was the best contributing factor with the WHR second. The analysis of variance (table 5) confirmed that the significance of the two factors in predicting the attractiveness rating had increased (variance ratio = 1390. 05). The same test was done to discover if using a formula with the power 4 would make a more accurate predictor. This was true and R-sq = 48. 8%, so the accuracy was beginning to plateau off at around 50%. The best subsets of the power four attempted, however was impossible to compute as the correlation was too high. Using firstly, the quadratic allowed a relationship between the three values WHR, BMI and attractiveness to be formulated and plotted against one another (graph 12). This shows that the relationship between the BMI and the attractiveness is always curved, however, the height and elevation of the curve always depends upon the WHR. The values are greatest for attractiveness where WHR is high and the BMI is in the middle of the range. This contradicts graph 4 where the lower the WHR the more attractive the image is considered to be. However, graph 4 only takes into account the influence of WHR alone, not the joint influence of both factors together like graph 12. Greater information could be been obtained if the subjects were asked their gender before rating the images. This would have allowed insight into whether males perception of attractiveness if different to that of womens. Also the age of the subjects could have been varied to see if the age of the individual has an affect on their perception of attractiveness. This has been researched by Fallon and Rozin (1989, cited in Singh 1994) as womens perception is thinner than that of mens ideal. This also works the opposite way, as the age and gender of the images could have been varied to see if either one has an effect upon attractiveness. Cultural differences both of the subject and of the image should be investigated. If the culture of the subject influences their perception, or if, for example, the colour of the person in the image matters to the subject. Are coloured people considered to be less, more or indifferent in their attractiveness to other different coloured people? Also, geographical differences, whether the ideal image of attractiveness varies between the populations of different countries. Yu and Shepard (1998, cited in Tovee Cornelissen 1999) have investigated this and among their findings concluded that Americans prefer higher WHRs to the English. Possibly a more important and more interesting factor could be eating disorders and the effect that they have upon the individuals perception of attractiveness. With the medias representation and obsession with supermodels there has been a steady increase of eating disorders among the population. This rise was predicted by the studies of Agras (1987 cited in Morris et al 1989) when the change in the body shape of women began to appear in fashion magazines. To conclude at first the WHR seemed to be the more important contributing factor (table 3) however, when using a cubic and the power of 4 the accuracy began to increase and it became apparent that the BMI was quite considerably the more influential of the two factors (BMI = 11. 3% and WHR = 9. 8%). This is supported by other research; however, there are many other contributing factors such as, age, culture and eating disorders, which need further investigation. References Morris, A. et al (1989). The changing shape of female fashion Models. Journal of Eating Disorders. 8: 593-596. Singh, D. (1994) Ideal female Body Shape: The role of body weight and Waist-to-Hip Ratio. Journal of Eating Disorders 16:283-288. Singh, D. (1994) Is thin really beautiful and good? Relationship between Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and female attractiveness. Personal and Individual Differences 16: 123-132 Tovee, M. J. Cornelissen, P. L (1999). The mystery of Female beauty Journal of Nature 399, 215-216

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Balanced Budget Amendment - Pros and Cons in Budgeting

Balanced Budget Amendment - Pros and Cons in Budgeting The balanced budget amendment is a proposal introduced in Congress almost every two years, without success, that would limit the federal governments spending to no more than it generates in revenue from taxes in any fiscal year. While almost every state is prohibit from running deficits, federal lawmakers have never gotten  a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution signed by the president, and the government continues to run deficits in the hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars every year.   One of the milestones in the modern debate over the balanced budget amendment came in 1995, when the House of Representatives led by Speaker Newt Gingrich passed legislation that would have banned the federal government from running deficits as part of the Republican Partys Contract With America. It truly has been, I think, an historic moment for the country. We kept our promise. We worked hard. We produced a real change, Gingrich said at the time. But the victory was short-lived, and the balanced budget amendment championed by Gingrich and fiscal conservatives who had been swept into power was defeated  in the Senate by two votes. The same battle has been waged for decades and the concept is often raised during congressional and presidential campaigns because the notion of keep a balanced budget is popular among voters, particularly conservative Republicans.   What Is the Balanced Budget Amendment? Most years, the federal government spends more money than it takes in through taxes. That’s why there is a budget deficit. The government borrows the additional money it needs. That’s why the national  debt is near $20 trillion. The balanced budget amendment would prohibit the federal government from spending more than it takes in each year unless Congress specifically authorizes the additional spending through a three-fifths or two-thirds vote. It would require the president to submit a balanced budget each year. And it would allow Congress to waive the balanced budget requirement when there is a declaration of war. Amending the Constitution is more complicated than simply passing a law. Passing an amendment to the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in each House. It is not submitted to the President for his signature. Instead, three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve it to be added to the Constitution. The only other way to amend the Constitution is to convene a Constitutional Convention at the request of two-thirds of the states. The convention method has never been used to amend the Constitution. Arguments for the Balanced Budget Amendment Advocates of a balanced budget amendment say  the federal government spends too much every year. They say that Congress has been unable to control spending without some kind of restraint and that, if spending is not controlled, our economy will suffer and our standard of living will drop. The federal government will continue to borrow until investors no longer will purchase bonds. The federal government will default and our economy will collapse. If Congress is required to balance the budget, it would figure out what programs are wasteful and would spend money more wisely, advocates say. â€Å"It’s simple math: The federal government should not be spending more taxpayer money that it brings in,† said Republican U.S. Sen. Grassley of Iowa, a longtime supporter of a balanced budget amendment.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Almost every state has adopted some form of a balanced budget requirement, and it’s past time that the federal government follows suit.† Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a cosponsor with Grassley on a balanced budget amendment, added: Hardworking Americans have been forced to bear the burden of Congress’ inability and unwillingness to control federal overspending. As our federal debt continues to rise at an alarming rate, the least we can do is require the federal government to not spend more money than it has at its disposal.† Arguments Against a Balanced Budget Amendment Those opposed to a constitutional amendment say that it is too simplistic. Even with the amendment, balancing the budget will have to be done each year by legislation. This would require Congress to coordinate a large number of pieces of legislation – twelve appropriation bills, tax legislation, and any supplemental appropriations to name just a few of them. To balance the budget right now, Congress would have to eliminate many programs. In addition, when there is an economic downturn, the amount of taxes the federal government takes in usually drops. Spending often must be increased during those times or the economy can get worse. Under the balanced budget amendment, Congress would be unable to increase the needed spending. This is not a problem for states because they don’t control fiscal policy, but Congress needs the ability to stimulate the economy. By requiring a balanced budget every year, no matter the state of the economy, such an amendment would raise serious risks of tipping weak economies into recession and making recessions longer and deeper, causing very large job losses. That’s because the amendment would force policymakers to cut spending, raise taxes, or both just when the economy is weak or already in recession - the exact opposite of what good economic policy would advise, wrote Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Outlook Amending the Constitution is a rare and daunting task. It takes a great deal of time to adopt an amendment. The House may pass the constitutional amendment, but the outlook is much more uncertain in the Senate. If it passes there, it still needs to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. Because of the legitimate opposition to a balanced budget amendment among some economists and policymakers, Congress is unlikely to undertake the cumbersome process of even considering the amendment barring a significant debt crisis.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Case Studies - Tests of controls and tests of balances in audit Essay

Case Studies - Tests of controls and tests of balances in audit program format - Essay Example g the test of controls for cash in the case of The Ourtown Independent School District should have the following questions answered by yes, no, or not applicable. If the answer is no, the next for any of the following questions pertaining to cash receipts for agency should lead us to conduct more extensive test on balances since such negative answer or answers will denote a weakness of the internal control that would affect the materiality of misstatement in the accounts pertaining to the company under audit. The Ourtown Independent School District’s cash disbursements, answers to the following questions s will assist in assuring that all payments are properly approved, recorded, and supported by appropriate documentation as way of testing the presence of appropriate controls. Since internal control includes all the policies and procedures to safeguard the school district’ assets, an analysis of the journal entries should also be evaluated. Accounting realities may provide the special opportunity to make adjustments to accounting records. Although the general journal is used as basis to record non cash items, it is also as important as the other books of original entry namely the cash receipts and cash disbursements journals. Entries made could used to hide the fraud committed on case; hence the answers to the following questions are desirable for the test of controls for cash: Part of good internal control for cash is the existence of trust fund system which requires the practice of establishment and maintenance of petty cash. To ensure the same, the following questions could be used to evaluate whether controls are meant to provide for a timely recording of expenditures of cash in the accounting system: A good internal control for cash requires periodic bank account reconciliation, which is a primary tool for assuring the proper recording and accounting for all cash account activity. To attain the accomplishment of the same the following questions need

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example Most companies that are market-oriented avoid getting into trouble because they spend most of the time with their customers thereby gaining a lot of information from the customers. Indeed the relationship that coexists between the business performance and the market orientation are quite a powerful one. For instance, those businesses that exhibit strong interrelationship between the business performance and the MO have experienced success and the growth of the market share (Appiah-Adu and Ranchho, 1998). While the competitor and customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the overall MO, only the customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the business performance. From the managerial perspective, the measurements scales can be used in assessing the firm’s level of the MO and appropriately identify the â€Å"bottlenecks† in the intra-organizational information flows. For this course, the transformation of the business from the MO to the business performance is a rather a more complex phenomenon due to the interventions from the other factors during the process of transformation (Slater and Narver, 1995; Han et al., 1998; Baker and Sinkula, 1999). Successful organizations create the organizational culture that encourages its employees feel dedication and commitment to the organization. Corporate social responsibility initiatives are one way of achieving this. Besides giving the employees the invaluable feeling towards making enormous contribution to the organization, it also offer other positive effects to the business as well. Innovation in the managerial and organizational practices suggest that new and improved ways of enhancing the CSR via the rebuilding the relationship between the organizations and the community while enhancing the understanding of the social capital that found in the social environment that the

Analysis and Importance of Peter Voulkos' Work in Ceramics Research Paper

Analysis and Importance of Peter Voulkos' Work in Ceramics - Research Paper Example This discussion will also include an analysis of some of this artists’ work. Biography Peter Voulkos is a well-known ceramic artist who in the 1960s was honored as the leading ceramic artist in California. He is acknowledged for raising ceramics to a higher rank of pensiveness and articulation of a person’s ideas. Peter Voulkos was born by his Greek immigrant parents in the year 1924. He went to school in Montana State University, where he studied painting and ceramics. He also won himself a masters of fine arts degree in California College of the Arts. Production of dinnerware was the first activity he undertook in his ceramics career. He later pioneered a department of art ceramics in Otis College of Art and Design and University of California, Berkeley. In the latter university, he worked until the year 1985 from 1959. His work was influenced by abstract expressionism whereby they renovated traditional ceramics to large scale and non-traditional ceramics (Carasso 56) . Peter Voulkos began his ceramics work in his senior year in the year 1949 at Montana State College. Despite being a ceramic artist, Voulkos also used other materials in his sculptures. He used bronze, and in other cases, he painted his works. Some of the pieces of art he made using bronze casting are Missoula and Bucci. In his later years, Voulkos was initiated into the use of wood-fired to make his sculptures. His work is found in quite a number of museums all around the world such as Museum of Modern Art, found in New York, Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art, found in Japan, Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, and The National Gallery, in Melbourne, Australia among other museums. Voulkos normally did his work in the presence of an audience. This was to help the audience, which was inclusive of other artists, to understand the techniques he used in his work. His work many times comprised of a plate, ice buckets, and stacks with wood firings. Normally, this ceramic artist dest royed other smaller pieces of art then made a new one of a larger scale. Peter Voulkos passed on in the year 2002 due to a heart attack after leading a ceramics workshop at a college in Ohio, Bowling Green State University (Carasso 57). Significance of Peter Voulkos ceramic work Peter Voulkos has been of great importance to the field of ceramics. To begin with, he facilitated the movement of abstract expressionism. This as stated above entailed the transformation of traditional ceramics to non-traditional ceramics. He amongst other artists made use of this movement in their artwork. This enhanced the way in which they expressed themselves. Peter Voulkos made the transition easy by elevating the conservative ceramics above the accepted limits. This formed a platform for abstract expressionism. Through this mode of expression, he managed to be the leading sculptor in the 1960s and created an avenue for California to be a centre for moulding using clay. This show the role he played in improving the use of clay in ceramics. It also illustrates his role in the facilitation of abstract expressionism, which faced challenges then, but currently is being used by many artists. Voulkos also loved working with an audience. This is of great importance since it created a channel through which he could educate his students on how he created his pieces. It also created an avenue for other artists to learn relevant techniques that could assist them in their work. As a result of this,

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Historical Museum Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Historical Museum Marketing Plan - Assignment Example This plan includes the following sections: Analysis, where both an information audit and marketing audit inform the mission statement; Planning, where the key issues and market position applicable to the company are compiled into a strategic development structure; Implementation, where the aforementioned analysis is distilled into specific recommendations regarding product, placement, price, and promotion; and Control, where specific systems for monitoring and evaluation are framed within the context of the relevant organizational implications in terms of budget, staffing, and organizational structure. Appropriate use of the recommendations included herein will position the management of LEHM to guide the marketing of the company's products and services so as to maximize operational revenue, profitability, and funding of future growth. To assist with analyzing the company's market potential, I will perform an information audit designed to determine what needed information is lacking. I will perform a marketing audit to determine how well any current marketing resources are being used and then formulate a mission statement that management can use to help make employee's investment in the company's objectives undemanding. An information audit will provide me with the necessary parameters for developing the plan. Management has supplied me with extensive operational and historical data of good quality. There is sufficient information to understand the operations of the company, the environment in which it functions, and some of the organizational objectives it seeks to attain. Unfortunately, there is scant information in terms of marketing. The organization does not have a formal marketing strategy. Accordingly, the supplied information is helpful for general awareness but useless in terms of marketing. Complicating the process, the company does not have any procedures in place for collecting information relative to its market. As set forth in the information plan below, management will need to focus on obtaining several key elements before a successful marketing plan can be put in place. Specifically, we need several sets of data: Demographic, Competitive, Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, and Tec hnological. This information will allow the formation of an effective plan. Management should attain the necessary information by accepting the following objectives and implementing the specific procedures recommended. The information plan is charted, rated, and explained below: Information Requirements Information Availability Predicted Accuracy Timeframe to Complete Methodology Demographic Good Empirical Immediate Create Data Card Competitive Good High Immediate On-site Visitation Collect demographic data. As soon as practicable, management should utilize a simple data card to determine specific data on who is using the museum so that they can know their customers and identify any major market segments that could be targeted for marketing, i.e., their place in the market. This can be achieved by having visitors fill out a registration form upon entry to the museum, and staff completing the same form for school

Refer to Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Refer to Article - Essay Example For instance, the government established a burn aims on advertising cigarettes on television, radios, news papers and other social media. In addition, the United States government established a Policy on Family smoking prevention and tobacco control act that aimed to control the habit of cigarette smoking (US Department of Health and Human Services,paras2-10). Additionally, community health advocacy campaigns’ against smoking and substance abuse was established the through the ministry of health to address the problem of cigarette smoking. The campaigns have been extended not only in schools and institutions of higher learning but also at homes. The campaigns aimed to sensitize the public on the negative impacts of cigarette smoking and substance abuse (Wolfson p.217). . It was reported that the burn helped to reduce cases of cigarette smoking from 40% in 1970 to 19% in the year 2004 (Ferrence, Boisclair and Bader paras6-7). Therefore, this study aims to investigate impacts of smoking, advantages and disadvantages of ant-cigarette smoking campaigns, suggested solutions to address smoking problem as well as summary based on research findings. Advantages and Disadvantages of Cigarette Smoking Campaigns In the United States Anti-cigarette smoking campaigns have helped to reduce the number of deaths attributed to smoking complications such as lungs and throat cancer. Additionally, anti-cigarette smoking campaigns have proved to be cost effective in the long run (F?rat, Begu?m and Aylin p. 142). This is because despite having incurred huge expenditures to carry out anti-cigarette smoking campaigns, the government and health professional have been able to reduce the number of people diagnosed with cancers and smoking related ailments. Connectively, productivity has increased because of having a healthy society where people can work without spending time and resource in taking care of ailed members of the society (F?rat, Begu?m and Aylin pp.142-143). On the con trary, anti-cigarette smoking campaigns have numerous disadvantages especially among cigarette manufacturing companies like Reynolds Tobacco. For example, anti-cigarette campaigns have led to a decrease in companies’ sales volume and profitability. This is because the campaigns utilize deglamolization strategy which aims at making attractiveness of cigarettes among consumers to decline (Glen, Peter and Annette p114). For example; the use of great labels indicating severe consequences of cigarettes brands tends to discourage consumers from taking cigarettes. In above connection, anti-smoking campaigns have caused smoke addicts to be taken as social misfits (Steve, para2). Reaction Summary/personal opinion According to the Centre foe diseases and control, Paras1-3, cigarette smoking campaigns has been reported to increase not only smoking related ailments but also has led to an increase in number of annual deaths in the country. For instance it was reported that cigarette smoki ng had led to an increase in number of adults deaths by a figure of 443,000 every year (Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, para1). Additionally, cigarette smoking was reported to increase the annual medical expenses by ninety six billion dollars. Connectively, the United States government computed a loss of approximate ninety seven billions dollars in productivity due to increase in cases of people diagnos

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Historical Museum Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Historical Museum Marketing Plan - Assignment Example This plan includes the following sections: Analysis, where both an information audit and marketing audit inform the mission statement; Planning, where the key issues and market position applicable to the company are compiled into a strategic development structure; Implementation, where the aforementioned analysis is distilled into specific recommendations regarding product, placement, price, and promotion; and Control, where specific systems for monitoring and evaluation are framed within the context of the relevant organizational implications in terms of budget, staffing, and organizational structure. Appropriate use of the recommendations included herein will position the management of LEHM to guide the marketing of the company's products and services so as to maximize operational revenue, profitability, and funding of future growth. To assist with analyzing the company's market potential, I will perform an information audit designed to determine what needed information is lacking. I will perform a marketing audit to determine how well any current marketing resources are being used and then formulate a mission statement that management can use to help make employee's investment in the company's objectives undemanding. An information audit will provide me with the necessary parameters for developing the plan. Management has supplied me with extensive operational and historical data of good quality. There is sufficient information to understand the operations of the company, the environment in which it functions, and some of the organizational objectives it seeks to attain. Unfortunately, there is scant information in terms of marketing. The organization does not have a formal marketing strategy. Accordingly, the supplied information is helpful for general awareness but useless in terms of marketing. Complicating the process, the company does not have any procedures in place for collecting information relative to its market. As set forth in the information plan below, management will need to focus on obtaining several key elements before a successful marketing plan can be put in place. Specifically, we need several sets of data: Demographic, Competitive, Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, and Tec hnological. This information will allow the formation of an effective plan. Management should attain the necessary information by accepting the following objectives and implementing the specific procedures recommended. The information plan is charted, rated, and explained below: Information Requirements Information Availability Predicted Accuracy Timeframe to Complete Methodology Demographic Good Empirical Immediate Create Data Card Competitive Good High Immediate On-site Visitation Collect demographic data. As soon as practicable, management should utilize a simple data card to determine specific data on who is using the museum so that they can know their customers and identify any major market segments that could be targeted for marketing, i.e., their place in the market. This can be achieved by having visitors fill out a registration form upon entry to the museum, and staff completing the same form for school

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Application of Theory Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Application of Theory Paper - Essay Example The theory makes use of the fourteen components which are solely based on the wants of human beings. The theory works on two major assumptions which are â€Å"Care givers also known as nurses have a responsibility of looking after the client until they are in a position where they can adequately look after themselves’ and â€Å"Nurses are always on the look and selfless in ensuring that the patients recover for their ailments† and lastly â€Å"Nurses will be more effective when they obtain an undergraduate certificate in both arts and sciences†. This paper will examine the problem in nursing leadership by providing scholarly evidence to support the issue. In addition, it will present one strategy and the concepts and principles where the nursing theory are applicable, provide a rationale for the chosen strategy and one ethical strategy for the theory. Nursing leadership has been an emerging issue over the years because of the numerous challenges which various sectors of nursing encounter. Globalization in today’s society has really changed the shape of nursing and nurses across the globe require effective leadership to maintain to the required standards and generate a new generation of nurses. Quality in many health cares is determined by the efficacy of the leadership available. On the other hand leadership is extremely essential in all institutions or organizations. It can be defined as the process through which goals are identified by providing accurate support and motivation(McEwen & Wills, 2007). Nursing practice requires accurate evidence that is only obtained through extensive research. Putting together the evidence collected into nursing practice is necessary for quality to be achieved in the nursing filed. Therefore the behaviors of most health care providers have been wanting as they have not been able to accurately determine the kinds of involvement needed to

Investigating the effects of heat treatment on metals Essay Example for Free

Investigating the effects of heat treatment on metals Essay Metals have various uses in a wide range of industry, where the properties of each metal determine what the metal will be used for. When a metal properties need to be changed to satisfy particular needs, it can be modified by processing the metals with treatments such as cold working and heat treatments. Structure of metals Metals are made from their ore, at extremely high temperature. In this form, metals are in a liquid form. The liquid metals are cast by pouring it into moulds where it is cools down and solidifies. When metals are frozen, crystals start forming. These crystals begin to form throughout the metal, where they keep they keep rapidly growing until they reach a neighboring growing crystal structure. These crystals are called grains, where crystals that meet with one another are called grain boundary. Dislocation Dislocation are formed when defects are found in the crystal structures. This is often caused by when atoms are missing in a layer, This is shown in figure one. Secondly, the metal trip should be placed on top of the hottest part of bunsen burner. The metal should be kept there until is is seen glowing red. Once the metal has gone red, it should immediately be plunged into the previously filled beaker in step 1. Lastly swirl the beaker vigorously for thirty seconds. Tempering With any metal strip that has been quenched, place the strip unto a bunsen flamer until the metal strip goes a dull red. Once the metal has gone dull red, slowly remove the metal from the bunsen flame and pace on a heat proof mat, where it should be left to cool to room temperature. Annealing Firstly, heat metal strip for five minutes on the hottest part of bunsen flame. the whole length should of the strip metal should be heated. Next, half close the bunsen flame and continue heating the metal on the non luminous flame. When a minute or two has passed, starting moving the metal strip in and out of the flame, top start cooling down the metal. After a couple of minutes, remove the strip from the flame and place it on a heat proof mat, where it can cool to room temperature. Cold working Once the metal has been cooled down, a marker should be made 30mm from the tip of the metal suing a felt tip pen. The shorter end of the metal strip should then be put in between two wooden blocks(the marker line should still be visible). The wooden blocks should be clamped firmly on the table or bench to keep the two blocks in place. With leather gloves, bend the metal strip through 90 degrees where the strip is lying alongside the wooden block ( shown in picture B). The metal should be bending where the marker was made. Now the metal should be bent 180 degrees from its position, this is shown in picture C. This in total counts as two bends. To conclude, the strongest metal in the cold working was steel where it snapped after 44 bends. This changed when the metals where quenched, copper showed the most significant change, where the metal bent 64 times before snapping; indicating an increase in strength of copper. Significant changes was also present in aluminum. Quenching on the other hand had very little affect on steel, as the data shows that steel bent 43, slight decrease compared to cold working where the steel bent on average 44 times. Overall the most affected by quenching was copper, followed closely by aluminum, with the lowest being aluminum which has broke on average after 42 bends. In annealing, copper by far was the strongest metal where the average number of bends was 75. Aluminum and steel however, only bent 32 and 35 times, respectively. This shows that annealing heat treatment does little in increasing the strength of steel and aluminum. The heat treatment tempering, managed to increase the strength of copper and aluminum by a large margin, compared to the other two treatments. This indicates that tempering may be the best heat treatment due to it making copper bend on average 84 times and aluminum 64 times, which are the highest average for both metals. The strength of steel on the other hand decreased under tempering. Generally, aluminum showed the most changes on all three treatment, with tempering having the most effect. Copper strength also increased under all heat treatment, with it also showing the most significant change under tempering. Steel however, was either unaffected or decreased under all heat treatments, this may due to experimental errors Evaluation The procedure for each metal on the table above was repeated three times, to ensure that the experiment was reliable. New strips of metals were used for each new treatment to ensure that the accuracy of the results is not changed. In addition, the length was each metal was made the same, to make the results valid. The metals also needs to be bent as close to the strip as possible, as bending the strips to far may cause the metal to bend quicker, affecting the accuracy of the results.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Assessment of UK Policy Approaches to Poverty Reduction

Assessment of UK Policy Approaches to Poverty Reduction Compare, contrast and critically assess two differing approaches to the relief of poverty. Introduction Poverty is a social problem and how best to deal with it has been the object of study and research since the nineteenth century. Townsend (1979) has defined poverty thus: Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diets, participate in the activities and have the living conditions which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies to which they belong. Townsend (1979:31). This paper will look at two approaches to the relief of poverty. The Beveridge approach of full employment and social ensurance, and the welfare to work approach of the New Right and New Labour. There will be a comparison of the differences between these two approaches in terms of their underlying ideologies. The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches will then be examined in the light of a feminist critique. Beveridge and the Welfare State In 1906 what is known as social protection, a range of state benefits aimed at relieving poverty in the general population, began with various Acts, the most important being the introduction of pensions. The Welfare State as we know of it today became fully established between 1946 and 1948 following the 1942 publication of the Beveridge report. This said that there were five giants which were the underlying causes of poverty, these were disease, ignorance, squalor, idleness and want. The report suggested a system which was aimed at relieving poverty through the introduction of a number of measures including National Assurance. This was a system of benefits that were based on everyone paying some money out of what they earned to the Government. This was National Insurance, those who did not pay this were entitled to the safety net of National Assistance. This was to be made available to all people at times of greatest need. It was never envisaged that people would be reliant on it fo r a good part of their adult life. National Assistance eventually became known as social security (Moore et al, 2002). At the same time the Government also introduced the National Health Service. In addition to this it extended the state education system in 1944 to include secondary education, raising the school leaving age to fifteen. The policies that resulted from the Beveridge Report tried to ensure that people would be looked after from the cradle to the grave. Post-War welfare reform was basically a war on poverty and was based on a vision of full employment and a social contract between the Government and the members of society each of whom had equal responsibility for their welfare.The system grew out of the thinking of the economist John Milton Keynes. It became known as universal welfare provision where the state was involved in people’s lives at all levels (Giddens, 2001). The post-war government also introduced a system of benefits for couples with children in the Family Allowances Act of 1945, this later (1975) became known as Child Benefit which replaced family allowance and tax benefits for families with children. It was payable to all families for each child. The National Health Service grew out of the publishing of a National Health Services Bill by Anuerin Bevan in 1946. Healthcare and hospitalisation were envisioned as being free at the point of access but by the 1950s the Government were forced to introduce some charges for dentistry, spectacles and prescriptions to ease the growing tax burden (Marsh et al, 2000).. The Post War welfare state was based on theories of full employment. It had not envisioned massive unemployment and the resultant reduction in tax revenue. Butler (1993).notes that there have been differing views on government’s role in welfare provision and it is only in recent years that there has been a consensus on this. It is not however, a consensus that benefits the vast majority of the population. The New Right and New Labour In 1979 the Conservative Government headed by Margaret Thatcher came to power. Government debastes centered around a free market economy versus the welfare state. The new government introduced measures that would roll back the welfare state and control spending. They did this by introducing marketing concepts and business strategies into policy making. They also began an intense process of privatization because it was thought that public ownership of companies, and the public sector in general undermined market forces. Introducing marketing principles into social care allow Governments to (hypothetically at least) improve services. It also enables a government to retain a greater degree of control. Giddens (2001) says that: †¦the momentum of Thatcherism in economic matters was maintained by the privatising of public companies†¦..(this)..is held to reintroduce healthy economic competition in place of unwieldy and ineffective public bureaucracies, reduce public expenditure and end political interference in managerial decisions (Giddens, 2001:434). The introduction of market forces into social care was considered the best way of allocating resources because free markets were considered to be self organising (Olssen 2000).It was anticipated that this would increase productivity and improve care while at the same time being cost efficient. Government discourses, both Conservative and New Labour have revolved around the notion that the introduction of market mechanisms would result in a more equitable system. Alcock (1994) has argued that the Conservative policies which rolled back the welfare state and introduced changes into social care and the benefits system resulted in greater unemployment, a rise in the number of homeless people, and a general growth in social inequality. In 1997 the Conservative Government was voted out and New Labour came into power, with its New Deal promising a hand up not a hand out. It was believed that the introduction of market forces would improve the economy. In reality it has had the effect of excluding some people from mainstream society and led to the setting up by the present Government of the Social Exclusion Unit in 1997. This Unit is an example of the contradictions engaged in by policy makers in a free market economy. On the one hand the general philosophical approach of both this Government and its predecessor has been on the responsibility of the individual. This is nowhere better expressed than in Labour’s New Deal Documentation. The present Government with its talk of a third way have continued to build on the policies introduced by the Conservatives and it is here that theorists maintain there is a new consensus. Means testing has not only continued but increased and this is nowhere more evident than in the Government’s policy on employment. Job seekers allowance is dependent on a person actively seeking work and Job Centres now have the powers to stop a person’s benefits if they are not seen to be pro-active in finding a job. Under New Labour many of the welfare reforms introduced by the Conservatives have been continued yet the Prime Minister maintains that his party differs from the old way of universal provision and from the New Right policies of the Conservatives. New Labour, he maintains, offers a third way. This draws on ideas from a number of areas and stresses the importance of business success in providing wealth for society and reducing unemployment. This view also promises freedom from discrimination based on gender, race, age and disability. Critics maintain that this view is little more than conservativism with some bolt ons. Universal Provision or the New Right? Welfare provision arises from society’s concerns for social justice and the redistribution of wealth (Sears, 2001)The post-war welfare state claimed to be based upon the idea of universal provision. That is to say that everyone in a certain category would receive a given benefit rather than having to prove their entitlement by means testing. In reality even in the early days of the welfare state few provisions were truly universal because most of them were means tested (Moore et al, 2002). Post-War welfare provision was largely a result of the activities of the social democrats. In this approach the Government in power should ensure that every citizen has the right to be free of poverty and healthcare should be provided on the basis of need rather than the ability to pay. Poverty stems from the idea that modern society produces people who are victims, the unemployed, the disabled, and those who suffer from long term illness. The duty of the state is to look after such people ( Giddens, 2001). Many commentators however are of the opinion that the welfare state failed to deliver its promises. Alcock (1994) has argued that while the post-war welfare state may not have been successful it had attempted to bring about equality in society. He maintains that the Conservative Government that was in power from 1979-1997 arguably actively pursued policies that created greater inequalities. Conservative and New Right thinking (and in this one should include New Labour) do not subscribe to the victims approach but believe that each individual is largely responsible for their own welfare. This approach is not really new, it dates back to the Elizabethan Poor Laws and most particularly to the reforms of that law in the 1830s. it argues that state services are not efficient and that welfare should be provided through the market, the family and charity, this encouraged self-reliance. New Right policies, it is argued, hit the poorest in society. Under the Conservatives the wages of those at the lower end of the labour market fell to an extent where some people were earning less than they would have receive on benefits. As a result of this the Government introduced benefits such as the Family Credit system to subsidise wages (Deakin, 1994). These kinds of policies harked back to the Poor Law where the poor were required to work for the poor relief that they received, such policies also make a distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor, whereas the welfare state in many ways appeared more equitable. However, some theorists maintain that this type of provision was only possible because it was based on the subordination of one set of people to another. Feminist Approaches Feminists argue that we live in a society that for centuries has worked for the benefit of men and that the cost has been borne by women. Thus social policy is based on an existing set of social inequalties (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Oakley (1982) has long maintained that the welfare state and its legislation operates for the benefit of the wider economy and for the worker. As a result of the nineteenth century distinction between the public and private spheres, and women’s banishment from the workplace, those who benefit from this legislation are men. The whole system is based on traditional notions of the family where the man is the breadwinner and his wife and children are dependants. This concept if the family and the fact that both males and females are socialized into different gender roles means that women have been disadvantaged in the education system, in the workplace, and in the wider society. Feminists have lobbied for equal pay for equal work and against sexual h arassment and discrimination in the workplace. While feminists will allow that the welfare state has played some role in advancing women’s independence e.g. the provision of benefits to women who leave violent partners, and legislation on pay, it also tends to reinforce traditional gender roles. (Moore et al, 2002). Conclusion This assignment has looked at different types of welfare provision and then compared their ideological underpinnings. It has also given a feminist critique of welfare in general. It would seem that there is no easy answer for policy makers, and perhaps nothing short of a total redistribution of wealth in society would alleviate the increasing spread of poverty in the world. Bibliography Abbott, P and Wallace, C (1997) An Introduction to Sociology, Feminist Perspectives Routledge, London. Alcock, P. 1994 â€Å"Back to the Future: Victorian Values for the 21st Century† in Murray, C. 1994 Underclass: The Crisis Deepens London, IEA Beveridge, William (1944). Full Employment in a Free Society. London: Allen and Unwin Butler, A. 1993 â€Å"The end of post war consensus† Political Quarterly Vol 64 No. 4 pp 435-446 Deakin, N. 1994 The Politics of Welfare Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf Giddens, A. 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Press Marsh, Keating and Eyre et al 2000 2nd ed. Sociology: Making Sense of Society Essex, Pearson Education Moore, S. Scourfield, P. Sinclair, S. Burch, S. and Wendon, B. 3rd ed. 2002 Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes. Oakley, A (1982) Subject Woman, Fontana, London Olssen, M. 2000 â€Å"Ethical liberalism, education and the New Right† Journal of Educational Policy Vol 15No. 5 2000 pps 481-508 Sears, M 2001 â€Å"Welfare with or without the state: British Pluralists, American Progressives, and the Conditions of Social Justice† The European Legacy Vol 6 No. 2 pp. 201-213 2001 Townsend, P. 1979. Poverty in the United Kingdom. Harmondsworth, Penguin. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Gothic Art :: essays research papers

Gothic Art began in 1137 with the rebuilding of the chair of the abbey church of St. Denis. Gothic Art is the style of art produced in Europe from the Middle Ages up to the beginning of the Renaissance. Typically religious in nature, is especially known for the distinctive arched design of its churches, its stained glass, and its illuminated manuscripts. Gothic, although symbolic, is a lot more anecdotal and naturalistic than Romanesque. In the late 14th century, anticipating the Renaissance, Gothic Art evolved towards a more secular style known as International Gothic. One of the best-known artists of this period is Simone Martini. Simone Martini was a Sienese painter who greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style, and was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting. Giovanni Pisano was an Italian sculptor, as was his father Nicola Pisano. His work shows a mixture of French Gothic and the classical style. Among his works are: Pulpit for the Duomo di Siena, Sculptures and architectural design for the facade of the cathedral in Siena, Pulpit for the church of S. Andrea in Pistoia, The five reliefs on the pulpit are the Annunciation and Nativity, the Adoration, Dream of the Magi and Angel warning Joseph, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgement, and the Pulpit for the Pisa Cathedral. The extraordinary painter Hieronymus Bosch stands apart from the prevailing Flemish traditions in painting. His style was unique, strikingly free, and his symbolism, unforgettably vivid, remains unparalleled to this day. Marvellous and terrifying, he expresses an intense pessimism and reflects the anxieties of his time, one of social and political upheaval The Gothic era in painting spanned more than 200 years, starting in Italy and spreading to the rest of Europe. Towards the end of this period, there were some artists in parts of the North who resisted Renaissance influences and kept to the Gothic tradition.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Spanking is NOT Child Abuse :: Corporal Punishment, Argumentative Essay

â€Å"My father liked me, when I wasn't being an idiot. And he loved me, too -- enough to spank the daylights out of me when I was being an idiot.† -- Diana Gabaldon, Outlander "There is a great difference between spanking a child and abusing a child. One is an act of love; the other is an act of hostility" -- James Dobson, MD There is a great deal of outrage from people who are reading stories about the misconduct of professional athletes and connecting them to a crusade against child abuse. I'm against child abuse. Isn't everyone? However I'm not against spanking.    We have all encountered this situation: A small child is standing in the middle of a department store throwing a complete temper tantrum demanding a toy. His mother, exasperated threatens him with time-outs and other deprived privileges, but the stubborn child continues to kick and scream. In the "old days," a mother wouldn't think twice about marching the defiant child to the bathroom and giving him a good spanking to straighten him out, but these days, parents have to worry about someone screaming child abuse. Whether or not to spank a child has become a heated issue in today's society. Many authorities and psychologists believe that spanking breaks a child's spirit and only leads to violence. They think that it causes the child to become depressed, angry or hostile and they have conducted many studies to prove these things. This type of harsh punishment occurs often, but it is called child abuse. There is a great difference between abusing a child and properly disciplining a child. "One is an act of love; the other is an act of hostility, and they are as different as night and day" (Dobson 35). First of all, spanking does not lead to violence. Our surrounding world and media do. "The average sixteen-year- old has watched 18,000 murders during his formative years, including a daily bombardment of stabbings, shootings, hangings, decapitations, and general dismemberment" (Meier 34). It seems unjust to blame parents who are trying to raise their children properly for today's violence. If a child touches a hot stove he does not become a more violent person because of it, he just learns not to do it again because he learned a valuable lesson from the pain (Meier 34). Many anti spanking researchers have tried to conduct research studies to consolidate their beliefs against

Personal case study reflection Essay

1. Introduction The aim of this report is in order to analyze a personal decision making and the issues in the process of decision in a workplace with critical reflection which includes academic theories and some models. Also some reflections will be given to deal with the problems. I worked as an accountant in a technical company which produces various Laser Cutting Machines. The machines are used in car-making, ship-building, and these kinds of markets are very potential in China. Therefore, the financial situation was great in the company. However, for expanding more markets, the company planned to produce Plasma Cutting Machines which are used in industrial machine making such as electrical cabinet production, metal manufacturing and diggers. The company established a work team which was consisted by nine staffs from different departments and spend three months to analyze whether the new plan should be implemented, and the boss made the final decision according to the advices from the team. I was appointed as one of the members in the work team, and I took part in the team to collect the information of Plasma Cutting Machines market. The analysis showed that the new plan is valuable, and if the company produces the new machines, this would bring more increase of sales. At last, the boss decided to produce Plasma Cutting Machines to enlarge wider market. However, because of the Engineering equipment manufacturing market downturn, the sales of new machines decreased year by year. After five years, this new plan brought a large number of losses. 2. The Normative approaches of decision making As we know that there are two kinds of decisions which are programmed decisions and nonprogrammed decisions (Simon, 1984). It is clear that in this case, the decision is belong to nonprogrammed decisions because the decision maker must choose whether the company should produce the new machine, and it was not routine. For the decision maker, it contained high risk and uncertain factors. Before the boss made the decision, he must consider a lot of factors. According to the normative models (Anthony Hopwood, 1974), it is noticed that the boss realized that the company should not only sell the Laser Cutting Machines, and it needs to develop better. Then in order to earn more money, decision maker suggested investing to product new machines which are Plasma Cutting Machines. Meanwhile he established a team to evaluate the plan. The team collected the information which included the structure and functions, cost and market value about the new machine. According to the team’s evaluation, the boss thought this investment has very high market value. Therefore, he decided to add a new product line to produce Plasma Cutting Machines. Next, according to the customer requirements, new machines were produced. 3. Outcome The team spent three months to do the research about the Plasma Cutting Machines, and they thought the new machine would bring the benefits to the company. As a result they advised the boss to implement the new plan, and the boss accepted the suggestion. After that the company invested to the new project with a large number of funds. Even though the decision maker prepared a lot of things before he decided to add a new line to produce Plasma Cutting Machines, the new plan seemed not as successful as he expected. The sales of the new machine decreased year by year, and this led to a large number of losses five years later which even influenced the financial situation of the Laser Cutting Machines. 4. The issues and analysis 4.1. Team work In the process of decision making, team work was crucial to the decision maker, and this way brought some benefits such as promoting the employee’s work efficiency; using more opportunities which are provided by advanced science and technology; making work become more effective through the range of abilities and knowledge distributed from team members (Schein, 1965). However, because of the benefits, the boss relied on the team too much and ignored the disadvantages of the team. This was the one of the most important reasons why he made an unsuccessful decision. The team was a research and development team which is usually used in highly technical company (Ashleigh, 2010). Our work team needed to collect a large number of information about the new machine. First, the members must research the structures and functions about Plasma Cutting Machines. Moreover, the members also need to survey the sales situation of the new machines in the market. Furthermore, the cost of every machine needs to be confirmed, and  according to the sales and cost, the members needed to calculate the profit. Meanwhile, they must survey if other related companies which need to use Plasma Cutting Machines and may become the customers have potential in the future. It is clear that this team helped to develop and test new products, and this work not only needed members’ professional knowledge but also members’ innovation and experience in this field (Ashleigh, 2010). Whereas, the members ignored some important factors when they analyzed the new products. First, the cost of the Plasma Cutting Machines are very expensive, and each machine needs more than hundreds of thousands dollars. As a result, most customers preferred renting the machines to buying them, and this contributed to the decreasing sales. Second, the depreciation of the new machines increased fast, and the components of the new machine are very expensive and can be broken easily. Therefore, the company needed to cost high price to fix the machines. In addition to this, there were some other disadvantages. In the process of the analysis, the conflict usually arises among the members because of various sources such as individual differences, incompatible goals, different values and beliefs (Hinds and Bailey, 2003). In this case, the members of the team all came from different department such as Production Department (PD), General Accounting Department (GAD), Marketing Department (MD), and Purchasing Department (PD). Every department focused on different parts of the new plan. PD concentrated more on quality of the machines; GAD paid attention to the economic return; MD focused on market value and customers; Purchasing Department paid more attention to the cost of every machine, as a result when they have relational problems, they may have different perspectives. This situation contributed to negative conflict (McShane and Travaglione, 2003). Consequently, the conflict caused the result of the team work was not to be objective. 4.2 Uncertainty and Risk in the market In the process of decision-making, there are often some uncertain outcomes we cannot see previously, and it means it has risks. Furthermore, if the risks do not be solved in time, they may become a crisis to the company (Davies and Walters, 1999), and the crisis can lead to undesirable consequences. According to the team’s analysis about the Plasma Cutting Machines, the boss thought the new machines had very high market value because they are used in  the Engineering equipment manufacturing market such as electrical cabinet production, metal manufacturing and diggers, and they were very popular industry in China. However, the market is changeable, and the Engineering equipment manufacturing market was stuck in a dilemma from 2011. Contraction of the current engineering machinery market is mainly due to the downturn of the construction of high-speed rail, and the infrastructure construction was completed gradually. This, in turn, led to the decreasing sales of the Plasma Cutting Machines. Obviously, the decision maker did not realize the uncertain factors before he made the final decision. 5. Reflection As a decision maker in the company, first, he relied on the work team too much. According to the Big Five Personality Model, it is clear that he was not creative enough which means he gets low scores on openness to experience (Digman, 1990). The purpose of the work team is for providing some professional advices to the decision maker, so the boss should improve the professional knowledge about the Plasma Cutting Machines. Second, the boss should give more time to the team, but he just gave three months to the team to collect the information and analyze the new plan. It is obvious that three-month time was not enough to analyze this complicated plan clearly because the team needed to do a lot of work. Also the decision maker should invite more employees into the team because more members can give more specialized knowledge and suggestions. This can help to collect more information and contribute to a more effective decision. Another reflection is when the negative conflict exists, the members should solve it effectively. According to the Nelson’s (1995) taxonomy, they can use the direct approach to deal with the conflict which means when there are some conflicts among the members, the team leader helps to solve the problems directly. They can also use bargaining approach to solve the conflict. For example, In this case, if the members from General Accounting Department hold the different ideas about buying the components of the Plasma Cutting Machines with Purchasing Department, other members should be the mediators and objectively analyze the two different points. This approach can help the team give more suitable advices to the decision maker. Moreover, before the decision making, the boss should do the survey about the situation of the Engineering equipment manufacturing market because this industry is  associated with the new plan. If the Engineering equipment manufacturing market has great financial situation, that means more companies need to buy or rent our new machines. Meanwhile, he also needs to know about the country policy because it plays an important role in economic market. Sometimes if a company has a good financial situation depends on the country policy. The last reflection is the decision maker should do a risk assessment to decrease the risk of the new plan (Teale, Dispenza, Flynn, Currie, 2003) before he made the final decision because the technology of producing was not mature at that time. At same time, he can study the experience from other Plasma Cutting Machines companies, or he can implement the new plan until this technology becomes mature. 6. Conclusion This report illustrated the decision making about whether the new machines should be produced in a technical company. In the process of the decision, some issues arose and led to the failing result. The one of the main problem is the team did not give the suitable suggestions, but the boss still relied on the team’s analysis too much. Another issue is the uncertainty and risk of the economic market, and the boss did not realize the risk of the Plasma Cutting Machines. Contraposing the issues, some reflections were be given, and these reflections may help the company to solve some problems. If the decision maker can think about the new plan more specifically, the outcome may be not so disappointing. Reference Hopwood, A. (1974). Accounting and Human Behaviour, London: Accountancy Age Books. Schein, E. H. (1965). Organizational psychology (p. 25). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Simon, H. (1984). ‘Decision-making and organizational design’, in Pugh, D.S. (ed.), Organization Theory: Selected Readings, Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin. Ashleigh, M. & Mansi, A. (2010).Working in teams and groups. In The Psychology of People in Organisations(pp.236-65). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Nelson,M.(1995), ‘Interpersonal team leadership skills,’ Hospital Material Management Quarterly, 16(4), 53-63. Hinds, P. J., and Bailey, D. E. (2003). ‘Out of sight; out of sync: understanding conflict in distributed teams’, Organization Science, 14(6), 615-32. McShane, S., and Travagline, T.(2003). Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. North Ryde, NSW: McGraw-Hill Australia. J. M. Digman(1990). â€Å"Personality Structure: Emergence of the Five-Factor Model,† in M. R. Rosenzweig and L. W. Porter(eds.). Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 41 (Palo Alto CA: Annual review, 1990). PP 417-440; Teale, M, Dispenza, V., Flynn, J. &Currie. D.(2003). Management decision-making in context. In Mnagement Decision-Making: Towards an Integrative Approach (pp.3-22). Harlow: Pearson Education.