Human Rights in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Human Rights in China - Essay Example This includes the region of Tibet bordering India which is linked with an independence movement from the mainland. Any reference to the breakaway island of Taiwan as being an independent entity, not under the jurisdiction of the Chinese mainland is further frowned upon and punished by the state (Zhongguo 193). Even the internet is said to be heavily moderated with content that supports Taiwan or the Free Tibet Movement being censored and violations of viewer ship being brutally punished with torture and other means so as to deter the population. It is public knowledge that the Chinese authorities use Microsoft, Yahoo and other companies to filter the use of certain words such as "Democracy" and other words deemed offensive by the authorities from Chinese chat rooms and instant messaging software (Gunther). Thus it is contended that the government interferes with the basic human right of freedom of speech and expression for its citizens and does not allow free ideas to float. The second major category of allegations against China regarding human rights violations relates to freedom of movement for its citizens. Since the formation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Ze Dong, the state has initiated a program of restricting where its citizens could stay and work. This was regulated utilizing a residency permit system whereby citizens were defined according to their geographical area and encouraged to stay in particular places (MacLeod). It further kept population divided between the urban and rural areas such that the problems accompanying rapid urbanization do not plague China. The allegations put against China are that it deliberately tries to stop the free movement of its citizens, with those wanting to...The second major category of allegations against China regarding human rights violations relates to freedom of movement for its citizens. Since the formation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Ze Dong, the state has initiated a progr am of restricting where its citizens could stay and work. This was regulated utilizing a residency permit system whereby citizens were defined according to their geographical area and encouraged to stay in particular places (MacLeod). It further kept population divided between the urban and rural areas such that the problems accompanying rapid urbanization do not plague China. The allegations put against China are that it deliberately tries to stop the free movement of its citizens, with those wanting to move to urban areas or different provinces being punished in terms of less grain rations etc. This leads to the creation of a society where the rural workers are treated as second class citizens and a system akin to the South African apartheid (MacLeod). It undoubtedly helps the People’s Republic of China in controlling the problem of rapid urbanization and also helps regulate wage rates to some extent but it denies Chinese citizens the choice to move as they please and hence this restrictive system is a violation of fundamental human rights. Another chief point raised against China is that of marginalization of its rural population. This discriminates against people of various religions who because of their beliefs can not take part in political affairs and it closes an important avenue for them.

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 7

Business Strategy - Essay Example It is mastery of the business environment and working on internal weaknesses and strengths that has ensured Disney’s competitive superiority in film, animation and merchandise sectors in the entertainment industry. This paper will look into this company and consider its history, business environment and the sustainable strategies that it has implemented over the years. Walt Disney Company has a long history spanning from 1923 when it was established by two brothers; Walter and Roy. It has come from humble beginnings back then to be the giant company it is today in the entertainment industry. By 1926 the company had produced 2 movies and had earned the owners enough revenue to buy a studio in California (Gabler 2007). It is shortly after this that the company experienced huge crisis in respect to distribution rights whereby Mickey Mouse creation came to save the desperate situation. It is in 1932 that the company won an Academy Award for Silly Symphony. In 1934 Disney produced its first full length film which became one of the greatest films at the time. The movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which Disney released in 1937. During the 1st World War Disney was not able to produce as much due to the company’s involvement in providing skills required in the war. This war proved detrimental as Disney found it hard to embark on animation fi lms production. Treasure Island film which was an action film was produced in 1950 and it brought back the production glory once held by Disney (Walt Disney Company 2010). The management also found it prudent to diversify their operations to include television programs. It is after this that in 1955 it produced the Mickey Mouse Club. It is in the same year that Disneyland was opened and from this time onwards nothing has stopped on its way. Of importance to note is that the company still moved ahead to succeed even after the founder died in 1966 while Roy took over the leadership.

Ray Charles Contributions To Popular Music

Ray Charles Contributions To Popular Music Ray Charles has been described by many of his contemporaries, Such as Frank Sinatra, who said, Ray Charles is the only genius in the business. I am going to discuss to what extent Ray Charles contributed to popular music. Ray grew up alongside both gospel and country music and was heavily influenced by these two genres. I am going to discuss how through his integration of gospel and rhythm and blues in releases such as I Got a Woman helped Ray create his own musical identity but ultimately helped to create a whole new musical style Soul. Finally I will discuss how his fusion of white country music through Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music helped to break barriers and introduced country music to a mainstream audience. Nat King Cole and pianist-singer Charles Brown, much to similar style of Cole had a great effect on Ray Charles. Ray closely imitated these artists as a teenager and during his time with Swing Time Records, headed by Jack Lauderdale. However, for Ray too be more successful he would have develop his own musical identity. During the 1950s Ray Charles would begin to blend RB and secularise gospel styles, which would ultimately lead to birth of Soul. He would begin to incorporate the chord changes, song structures, call and response techniques, and vocal screams of gospel. The influence gospel had on Ray is present from an early age. Ray grew alongside church music and would listen to Wings Over Jordan and the Golden Gate Quartet. During his time at school he would regularly sing in a choir and also organise his own informal singing group, which would sing rhythmic gospel music. In 1953 Whilst recording for singer Tommy Ridgeley at the JM Studio, New Orleans, Ray would play a couple of tunes after the session. He performed Feeling Sad funeral march and Guitar Slims and Rays I Wonder Who. His performance is characteristically blues, as ray weeps his way through the lyrics as horns drone sombre chords. However as Micheal Lydon states that after re-listening, Ray opens his voice in baby steps, exploring how to shade his vocal textures. This recording shows that Ray would need to push himself further with his emotional range. Around his birthday after Ray begins to widen his emotional range his friends in New Orleans would notice a change he began to sound like a gospel singer. Trumpeter Wallace Davenport recalls The first time I heard him I thought he was Charles Brown, then he started getting into that church thing. As Ray began to incorporate gospel into his music he would listen to gospel radio and read the Braille bible he carried. Renald Richard explained how Ray loves the blues singers like Joe Turner, but most of all he loved gospel singersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He used to talk about Archie Browne, the lead singer with the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, how much he liked them. He would then begin to sound like them by turning and playing around with his notes, which would be much to the enjoyment of the audience. Later on in December 1953 whilst with Atlantic Records, Armet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler would listen to four arrangements Ray had made on radio station, WDSU. In this you can hear three distinct elements: Jazz, Deep Blues and fervid Gospel, coming together in an early stage, not a sound which is fully refined but one that sounds like Ray Charles. If there was a single turning point in the career of Ray Charles, it probably occurred on November the 18th 1954 at a radio station in Atlanta. It was here Ray and his recently formed band would record I Got a Woman. This was his first hit Ray had with a gospel influence. In October 1954, Ray was touring with his first band toward Indianna. Whilst searching the radio stations he would stop when he found a gospel station. Renald Richard remembered vividly a gospel tune that came on with a good groove and started singing. Ray sang something like I got a woman and I answered yeh she lives cross town then shes good to me. Renald then wrote the song for the next morning to the satisfaction of Ray. I Got a Woman is an archetypal 16 bar secularisation of My Jesus is all the World to me. Others have seen it as a straight rewrite of I Got a Saviour. The songs Ray had performed before like The Suns Gonna Shine had the hortatory tones of a preacher in the pulpit. I Got a Woman was a preacher a t a picnic. Light heartened gospel spiritual joy into sexual delight. It would lift the listener with each of its 4 bar chord change, confirming his optimistic lyrics. Just as the church would joyfully celebrate the glory of God. I got a woman was a record for every happy couple in America, black, white and in-between. The band first performed I Got a Woman for Ahmet and Jerry as they arrived at the Peacock club in Atlanta. Ahmet described how the power and precision had stunned Jerry. Jerry stated that something fantastic had happened, Ray had hatched, ready for fame. Through blending gospel with blues, Ray had the first time fused two strict idioms. In the African-American community the blues and gospel are both part of their culture. However a blues singer didnt sing gospel and a gospel singer didnt sing the blue. It was taboo. Many people believed that it was sacrilegious to mix blues with spirituals says Big Bill Broonzy and American blues singer. However, it quickly rose to the top of the charts in early 1955, the success of I got a woman being down to good attention from both white and black markets. Before, Ray had recorded songs like Mess Around by Ahmet Ertegà ¼n, which were big in the RB charts but not the white charts. A year after its first recording, Elvis Presley would confirm the impression it made by his own cover of I Got a Woman at RCA. In Jan 1955 Billboard quotes as I Got a Woman as one of the most infectious blues sides to come out since the summer. At the following recording session for Atlantic in Miami. Rays defining sound would be clearly and precisely heard. Ray recorded four charts, two straight blues and two gospel charts. The gospel songs This Little Girl of Mine and A Fool For You would reiterate Rays push of his gospel influence. This Little Girl of Mine is an up-tempo shouter with a rhythmic Latin feel based on the gospel song This Little Light of Mine. A Fool For You is a 6/8 double time waltz with Rays sanctified singing but without the heavenly lyrics, accompanied by piano gospel licks and preaching horns. Although, like I Got a Woman these two gospel and RB charts was seen as sacrilegious, the mix Ray had created appealed to so many audiences across the nation, and introduced a new music that would have a lasting effect, which would be later labelled as Soul music. As the 1950s progressed vocal groups following Ray Charles, began to add a sense of urgency and meaning- Soul, to their style of music resulting in the groups of Motown and others, including groups like the Chicago based family band called the Staple Singers who had hit songs which were centred around Gospel and RB. Their success followed on into the 1970s. In the late 1950s into the 1960s girl groups joined male Doo-Wop and RR groups, which resulted in groups like The Shirelles, Marveletess and The Supremes. Their material was largely written by the Brill Building writers and received hit records but never usually lasted. As Ray Charles added the gospel influence to his music, such as the call and response backing vocal groups like the Raylettes so too did Aretha Franklin. She reinfused her female backing groups with a gospel influence, which are present in her mid 1960s Atlantic recordings. Other artists like James Brown, who started his career as a singer with the Gospel Starlighters, following the style of Reverends Julius Cheeks and Claude Jeter added RB to their style. The vocal urgency and syncopated dance rhythms of gospel along with top notch RB house bands came together most clearly in the music of James Brown. Combining a Little Richard- style act with other theatrics from Joe Tex and a pleading version of Ray Charles gospel/soul. He then recorded his hit Please, Please, Please. In 1959 Ray released Whatd I Say, a song that became a top ten pop hit and would be one of his last singles with Atlantic before his move to ABC. There are clear gospel influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black audiences. In the middle of the song. Charles indicated that The Raelettes should repeat what he was doing, and the song transformed into a call and response between Charles, The Raelettes, and the horn section in the orchestra as they called out to each other in ecstatic shouts and moans and blasts from the horns. This improvised interchange between himself and the Raylettes and between the band and audience is much like that of a Preacher and his congregation. Ray also uses gospel dialouge with unuh-uhnnh over charles moans and cries. He also uses phrases like shake that thing and I feel alright, and expression for the body instead of the lord. During Rays early life the influence of country and western music is ever present. When Ray Charles was growing up, the south was full of Country or Hillbilly music. Ray explains how there wasnt a single Saturday night that he wouldnt listen to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio. I loved Grandpa Jones and other characters. I could hear what they were doing and appreciate the feeling behind it. Ray would listen to Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Hank Williams and later Eddie Arnold. I listened to them all the time, I certainly dug it and paid it some mind. In 1948 Ray joined a Hillbilly band called the Florida Playboys. It took just one audition to convince the Playboys that Ray could play country music with genuine flavour, and they hired him, no questions asked about race. For seven months he gigged with the band, playing current country hits of the day like Kentucky Waltz and Anytime in white honky-tonks in and around Tampa, learning to yodel and singing, Waiting All for You. Even as black, blind man, Ray was accepted and applauded just like anyone else by the audience. I could play the music right and I could do country music with as much feeling as any other southernerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. I had been hearing it since I was a baby. Long before the birth of his own country music, Charles looked back with pride on his stint with the Playboys.Lydon. In an outtake of a 1950s recording, Ray plays a limpid country lick. The producer chuckles over the studio intercom and says that he didnt know Ray could play Nashville. Ray then replies Man, Didnt you know I gigged with the Florida Playboys His time with the Florida Playboys, though brief would plant a seed in his mind that would rise during the 1960s. After leaving Atlantic Records in 1959, Ray joined ABC and at the end of 1961. He asked Sid Feller to get together 40 country hits from the last twenty years with the idea to record a country album. Sid Feller had not know at the time that Ray liked County and Samuel Clark and Larry Newton the executives at ABC Records were adamantly opposed to the idea that Charles brought to them. The ABC executives said, You cant do no country-western things.Youre gonna lose all your fans! However Feller believed that Ray understood Country music. He describes how Ray loved the simple plaintive lyrics, and he felt that giving the music a lush treatment would make it different Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a dozen tunes that runs the whole scope of Nashville from the traditional Careless Love to the rock and roll Bye Bye Love and from Hank Williams to the B-side fail of I Cant Stop Loving You. The tracks alternate from big band to string and voice. However regardless of all the jazz and symphonic effects present, the heart of every arrangement is a simple strummed guitar. Rays bluesy melismas wring every tear out of the country weepers, all the poetry out of their monosyllabic lyrics. I Cant Stop Loving You has a folk song strength, major scale melody, marching up and down over 3 chords and operatic grandeur created by his baritone voice and orchestra. He also uses his trademark letting the chorus lead the lyric with his voice following. Ray sings County in his own way, expanding the country sounds without distorting its colour. Rays own blend obscures the fact that Modern Sounds was his boldest album, which breaks many barriers. Invading white country music in the 1960s was something black pop-jazz singers didnt do. You had to be Country in 1962. After Modern Sounds it became a major player in Rays repertoire and on popular music. His unique blend of Country, Pop, Jazz and RB introduced country music to people of the city and showed to record companies and producers how to arrange their music to reach a much wider audience. Ray Charles played a pivotal role in shaping the course of a seemingly very different genre of popular music. In the words of his good friend and sometimes collaborator, Willie Nelson, speaking before Charles death in 2004, Ray Charles the RB legend did more for country music than any other living human being. The landmark album that earned Ray Charles that praise was Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which held at number 1 for 14 weeks and stayed in the charts for 2 years. His single release I Cant Stop Loving You ruled at number 1 on RB and Easy Listening charts for weeks in the summer of 1962 dipping to 3rd in July and beginning to fall in august. As Charles told Rolling Stone magazine a decad e later, But Charles recognized the quality of songs like I Cant Stop Loving You by Don Gibson and You Dont Know Me, by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker, and the fact that his version of both of those country songs landed in the Top 5 on both the pop and RB charts was vindication of Charless long-held belief that Theres only two kinds of music as far as Im concerned: good and bad. Following the massive commercial success and notice of Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, country music experienced an immediate increase in popularity. According to music writer Daniel Cooper, the album raised the genres profile, specifically Nashville sound, of which Charles had covered. Benefiting from this were songwriters, music publishers and country singers who covered the subgenres material. As noted by Cooper, by the end of 1962, Nashville country publishers were being held as the hottest source of music material in the record business these days. Ray Charless success with the stylistic fusion of country and soul on Modern Sounds later lead to country soul efforts from performers, such as Candi Staton and Solomon Burke who were both greatly influenced by Charless Modern Sounds recordings. Many country music artists, such as Willie Nelson and Buck Owens, have cited Charless take on country music and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music as their major influences. In an interview for Country Music Television, Nelson said of Modern Sounds influence that the album did more for country music than any one artist has ever done. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music has also been perceived by many critics and writers as a landmark album in American music, as the record was the first to blend the two racially distinct genres of country and soul. Ray Charles all-embracing attitude toward music was one that he developed during his childhood and early career. Ray was immersed in the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel and country in his youth, playing in RB bands and a Country Hillbilly band. Ray Charles pioneered soul music, which had a great effect on popular music. In secularising certain aspects of gospel music with RB, Ray received his first gospel and RB hit I Got a Woman, which received attention from both black and white audiences. Subsequently, further releases like Whatd I Say and the Hallelujah I Lover Her So album attracted a large mainstream audience. His fusion of white country music earned Ray mainstream and crossover success, with his album Modern Sound in Country and Western Music which broke racial stereotypes and exposed country music to city dwellers. It also helped other country artists; particularly them orientated around the Nashville sound, reach a wider audience, raising the genres profile. To him, the bounda ries between those styles of music were made to be crossed, and he made a career out of doing just that having a great effect on popular music.

Trade in the Aztec Civilization :: essays research papers

Trade in the Aztec Civilization   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While reading the Trade in the Aztec Civilization, I learned a great deal of new and old business ethics. I saw the differences between today’s business and before business and how we have evolved from it. One of the first things I noticed was the different social classes. Just like in today’s society there were the rich, the middle class, and the poor. The pipiltin’s and mayeques considered themselves the common people. They were the first ones to engage in guilds. On the other hand we had the pochteca who thought of themselves as the more great importance of the social classes. They had what you would call a world of their own in my opinion. They had there own religion, their own economic code, and legal system. Each group came from a different part of the Mexican land, anywhere from El Salvador, to Nicaragua to the Gulf of Mexico. Each group had there own individuality, but came together to share their knowledge in the buying, selling and t rading of goods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were two forms of law that existed in the Aztec community, common law and written law up until around 1325. After that they declared a king what was other wise known to them as a tlatoani. This chief was in charge of the administration of justice, a chief of the army, a head priest, and a royal treasure. They took on those responsibilities with this statement in mind, â€Å"what is desirable, what is right† and they were to rule by that order.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for the political structure the initiation of a legal system was motivated by the fact that they needed a principal role in the religious, economic, and military fields. In having a legal system they were able to distinguish the right from the wrong. Rules and regulations were fixed, the different forms of contracts were deleted, and justice was administered to the markets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is stated in the chapter that there were sixty-nine different categories of traders. They all had different goods to trade, but no matter where you came from you went by scale, loans, contracts, and also used a money system called coachtili. Business was negotiated many different ways, but within each trader, buyer and selling, they knew the international language of business.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I talked about earlier pipiltin’ formed the guilds. Each guild has its own people from there own town.

Bourdieu and social class within the educational system

The subject of social class within the educational system seems to be the elephant in the room. Issues of race, gender, discrimination and making safe places are addressed constantly within the pedagogy yet we ignore the realities of social stratification, especially when it comes to the classroom and the curriculum we are expected to teach. According to Bourdieu, the education systems of western societies function in such a way as to legitimatize class inequalities (Bourdieu, 1977).Success in the education system is enhanced by the possession of cultural capital (which is etermined the dominate culture) and Lower-class pupils do not, in general, possess these traits. Bourdieu then supposes that the failure of the majority of these pupils is inevitable. This, he postulates, explains class inequalities in educational attainment. , For Bourdieu, educational credentials help to reproduce and legitimatize social inequalities, as higher-class individuals are seen to deserve their place in the social structure.Place in the social structure is not pre determined and education often is a factor in the upward mobility in SES. Muller and his team describe cross-national imilarities and differences in the two steps in which education intervenes in the process of intergenerational class mobility: the link between class of origin and educational credentials attained, and between these credentials and class position allocated to (Muller et al. , 1989).They conclude that the patterns of association between class origin and education, and between education and class destinations are similar across the nine nations. However, the strength of these associations demonstrates cross-national variations. This paper is one of the first comparative tudies of social mobility, which used the data sets collected in the early 1970s from nine European countries investigated in Comparative Analysis of Social Mobility in Industrial Nations (CASMIN) project.Nevertheless, this article supports FJG hypothesis which argues that class origin inequalities in relative mobility chances will be roughly constant across nations . Social mobility, class and education is further explored through a longitudinal study conducted by Johnson, Brett & Deary (2009). They proposed that social class of origin acts as ballast, restraining otherwise eritocratic social class movement, and that education is the primary means through which social class movement is both restrained and facilitated, thereby giving weight to Bourdieu's theory of Cultural Reproduction.They conclude that parental social class attainment contributes to educational attainment, which in turn contributes to participant social class attainment, suggesting that educational attainment contributed to social class stability. Education is important to social mobility and, thus, appears to play a pivotal role in the association between ability and social class attainment. When looking at the relationship between ability and socia l class attainment, it is useful to also look at the different types of culture capital.Andersen and Hansen (201 1), for example, distinguish between two interpretations of cultural capital: â€Å"narrow' and â€Å"broad. † The narrow interpretation refers a child's exposure to ‘high cultural' products or activities (Bourdieu's concept ot objectified capital): tor example, having objects of art at home, or a tastefully furnished home, visits to the theatre or art museums, or playing the piano (p. 608). These signs of high culture may not mprove a student's work in any objective way, but they are rewarded through subjectivity involved in assessing academic performance.The same is true of the broad interpretation of cultural capital, which is â€Å"general linguistic skills, habits, and knowledge, including cognitive skills,† which are â€Å"used in a strategic manner by individuals, who thereby may receive advantages or profits† (p. 608). This kind of cult ural capital is passed from parents to children through school work (p. 608). Bourdieu's description of educational capital encompasses this outlook. One ofAndersen and Hansen (2011) implications in schools which supports Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital is that: â€Å"Students from classes with highest cultural capital will perform the best academically, on each horizontal level† (of social class) (p 611) This is often seen played out when looking at the Socio Economic Status schools. Bankston and Caldas (2009) examine how legal desegregation of American schools starting in the 1950s and 1960s was countered by de facto segregation due to â€Å"social class, residential patterns† and other forms of social marginalization.Since the verage socioeconomic status of a student population affects a school's educational achievement levels, upper and middle class families eluded and hindered desegregation by moving to different school districts, suburban communities, by ch oosing private schools etc. Bourdieu's concept of education through institutional capital sees education as a place where one acquires the skills to enter different positions within the labour force -and those positions in turn determines one's socioeconomic status..Bankstone and Caldas state that policy assumes that differences in educational achievements are caused by the concrete schools and in articular by its teaching staff. Schools are believed to determine socioeconomic conditions instead of the other way around. As educators, not only must we be aware that class differences are present in the classroom, but, perhaps, look for ways to minimize the gulf between classes and increase capital culture in those who do not possess as much as others. Technology may be one way to do this. There seems to be a push towards using new technologies in the classroom.Considering class inequality and cultural capital, an educational model that aims to bridge the divide by bringing students to gether to the ame level of technological proficiency would be desirable. Kapttzke (2000), following a case-study in an Australian school, concludes that integrating student- based projects using information technology is a way to bring students with tech sa'. n. y back from the brink of alienation. Kapitzke states that â€Å"teachers who ignore the texts, identities, skills and interests of the young do so at their own peril. † (p. 0) Faced with a growing techno-cultural capital gap, educators need to â€Å"view students as fellow explorers and co-workers† (p. 60) and possibly working on innovative rojects like revamping a school's computer network. The student who led the project ended up teaching not only students but teachers too. Not only would cultural capital be affected, it is most likely that a student's social capital Conversely, a study done in Californian schools shows a different side of the story. Cuban (2001) and fellow researchers explored the paradox of high access to technology with low real use.This was explained by traditional constraints on teachers such as time and structure, as well as annoying deficiencies in the technologies, such as computer crashes, that limited teachers' initiatives. The teachers stressed â€Å"that using computers in their classes made demands upon them that made their Job harder. † (p. 828) In the end, â€Å"inadequate time in the daily schedule to plan work together goes to the heart of teacher use of new technologies and their preferred teaching practices† (p. 28) and resulted in the teachers preferring traditional teacher-based discussions, lectures and activities supplemented with some time for technologies. Cuban and his colleagues believe that technology will never revolutionize the classroom; instead, â€Å"historical legacies of high schools in their chool structures and technological flaws will trump the slow revolution in teaching In conclusion, the Kapitzke article highlights an innovative practices† (p. 830). way of maximizing tech-sawy students' cultural capital and thereby pushing for equality and integration.However, as the Cuban article points out, technology will likely be relegated to special projects when deemed appropriate by a teacher relying on various methodologies. While dynamic technologically innovative teaching methods have their place they are not the magic answer to solving cultural capital and class inequalities.

Human Resource Essay

This is an article review on a paper entitled, ‘The effects of human resource management practices on business performance among private companies in Malaysia’ written by Zaini Abdullah, Nilufar Ahsan and Syed Shah Alam taken from the International Journal of Business and Management. Human capital is one of the most vital aspect of private companies, and human resource management has become an integral part of a company’s success. It is even more crucial in a country such as Malaysia that contains multi-ethic and multi-cultural workforce. It is acknowledged that HRM in Malaysia is still not common (Chew, 2005), but more and more companies are embrasing the concept and integrating it as part of the company’s strategy as they discover the benefits such as organisational stability and harmony (Cheah et al, 2003). The article aims to observe the effect of several HRM practices on the business performance of private companies in Malaysia. There were several HRM practices particularly observed such as – training & development, team work, compensation/incentives, HR planning, performance appraisal and employee security. These are the 6 main independent variables that were identified in the article. The dependent variable is business performance. Previous researches and studies have shown relationship between HRM and business performance. Researches by MacDuffie (1995) showed that some HR practices in worldwide auto assembly plants relates with the quality of the firm. In addition, Youndt et al (1996) also have found some relationship between HRM practices and operational performance of manufacturing companies. Meanwhile, Dory and Doty (1996) found a connection between HR practices and accounting profits among banks. Methodology & Approach This is a survey-based research. It used a self-developed and reliable questionaire to obtain data on human resource practices and business performance. Business performance is measured by the same items developed by Lee and Lee (2007). In total, there were 153 completed samples from managers of companies that are based in Selangor. Respondents are mainly Chinese and undergraduates. Findings The results of this research shows that HR activities such as training and development, team work, HR planning, performance appraisal have a positive impact and relationship with business performance of private companies in Malaysia. On the other hand, it is also observed that compensation/insentives and employee security do not have significant influence on the business performance. Practical Implications As mentioned earlier, HRM practices are still not commonly practised in Malaysia (Chew,2005). Therefore, there is the unique challenge of motivating and training private companies in Malaysia to adopt HRM practices. HRM must be seen as integral with the organizational goals and strategies for growth. Suggestions There are several ways that this research can be improved. First of all, the business world is a big domain with many different industries and sizes. It must be acknowledged that there is a difference of the rate of HRM practices adoption between companies of various size and industries. Therefore, it would be difficult to generalize the result of HRM improving business performance for all types of business. To improve the research, a larger number of respondents from various industries and different sizes must be obtained to get better results. By getting a larger sample of data, the research can obtain a much generalized result. In addition, the research data collected on business performance is based on Likert scale and so can be very subjective. It is arguable that business performance can be measured accurately using this empirical approach. It is suggested that for business performance measurement, a quantitative approach is also used. Business performance can be measured more accurately using data from profits, revenue, cash-flow and cost-savings. As a result, the relationship between HRM and business performance can be analyzed better. It is also suggested that an additional longitudinal study is done to get a much better observation on the relationship between HRM practices and business performance. With a longitudinal study, the companies performance are observed in a much longer time period. The effects of HRM practices over this time period can be observed much better. As a conclusion, this research has empirically proven a positive relationship between HRM practices and business performance. It is seen that training and development, teamwork, HR planning and performance appraisal can improve business performance of private companies in Malaysia. However, it is noted that HRM practices in Malaysia is still not widely implemented and an effort to promote HRM is required. The research can also be improved by getting a large sample of data from various company sizes and industries. A quantitative approach is also suggested to analyze business performance better. Lastly, a longitudinal study will improve this research better by observing the effects HRM practices on business performance over a longer time period.

Statistics and management sciences

Statistics and management sciences Free Online Research Papers Statistics is â€Å"The mathematics of the collection, organization, and interpretation of numerical data, especially the analysis of population characteristics by inference from sampling.† (The American Heritage ® Dictionary) â€Å"The collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of the numerical data. The facts which are dealt with must be capable of numerical expressions.† â€Å"Statistics is a discipline which is concerned with designing experiments and other data collection, summarizing information to aid understanding, drawing conclusions from data, and estimating the present or predicting the future.† (The University of Melbourne) The word statistics originated from Latin word â€Å"status† meaning â€Å"state†. Earlier it was identified solely with displays of data and charts pertaining to the economic, demographic and political situations prevailing in a country. Even today a major segment of the general public thinks this way. However gigantic advances during the twentieth century have enabled statistics to grow and has made it important as a discipline of database reasoning. WHAT IS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES? Management science (MS) is the discipline of using mathematical modeling and other analytical methods, to help make better business management decisions. A management science is the application of scientific techniques that enable managers to make better decisions. Good decision-making can enhance the efficiency, productivity and profits of business firms. Management Sciences techniques are applied in many business functional areas, including supply chain and logistics management, inventory control, quality control, operations planning, production scheduling, sales forecasting, financial management, enterprise data mining, and customer relationship management. For instance, mathematical models can be used to create dependable flight schedules and crew shifts for airlines. Quantitative techniques can be used in deciding on service centre location, controlling production, or implementing statistical quality control in manufacturing companies. These techniques can also be used by service organizations such as banks, hospitals and investment firms to increase productivity, to provide better services to their customers and to increase prof its. In this era of technological advancement in information technology, management sciences makes extensive uses of information technology to effectively model and solve large and complex management problems. RELATIONSHIP OF STATISTICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES The statistics plays a very crucial role in the field of management science. It is practically in practice in the organizations. The management’s main responsibility is to make logically sound decisions and the base of the decisions is the data that depends on the work and the statistical tools. So the statistical is inevitable for the business. Role of statistics in management sciences is discussed below: 1) HELPS IN MAKING SENSE TO NUMERICAL INFORMATION Every manager operating in business environment requires as much information as possible about the characteristics of that environment. The most important thing is that majority of information required is of numerical nature for example interest rates, stock market prices, money supply, market demand strength, an auditor’s concern about number and size of errors found in account receivable etc. These information in raw form are impossible to comprehend fully. Statistician’s role involves the extraction and synthesis of the important features of a large body of numerical information. One objective is to give sense to numerical data by summarizing in such a way that a clearly understandable picture emerges. At some places simple and straightforward numerical or graphical summary is sufficient whereas at times you need to employ heavy artillery of formal techniques to provide a good basis for deeper analysis. QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT The world marketplace has faced immense competition over the past few decades. An international revolution in quality and productivity improvement has heightened pressure on economies. In order to survive the need is to mobilize workforce for continuous commitment to quality improvement. Improvement is possible knowing the current standards of quality provided and surveying what is required. At this stage, statistical skills in the collection and presentation of summaries are required. MONITORING ADVERTISING CLAIMS The public is constantly bombarded with commercials that claim the superiority of one product brand in comparison to others. When such comparisons are founded on sound experimental evidence, they serve to educate the consumers. Not infrequently however, misleading advertising claims are made due to insufficient experimentation, faulty analysis of data, or even blatant manipulation of experimental results. Government agencies and consumer groups must be prepared to verify the comparative quality of products by using adequate data collection procedures and proper methods of statistical analysis. HELPS IN REMOVING UNCERTAINTY Statistics does not deal with question of WHAT IS but of WHAT COULD BE or WHAT PROBABLY IS. At a time when assertions are made its not possible to tell surely of what is going to be the truth. This means that there is element of uncertainty. For example: The price of IBM stock will be higher in six months than it is right now. If the federal budget deficit is high as predicted, interest rates will remain high for rest of the years. Although an analyst may believe that anticipated developments over the next few months are such that price of IBM stock is likely to rise over six months period, he or she will not be certain of this. This means that this possibility exists but to what extent or how much more likely to rise? This is answered with the help of statistical probability tools. SAMPLING Before bringing new product in market, a manufacturer wants to arrive at some assessment of the likely level of demand, and a market research survey may be undertaken. He wants to know about potential population of all buyers. However, it is prohibitively expensive, if not impossible, for a typical market research survey to contact every member of that population. Rather a small sample of population members will be contacted, and any conclusions about the population will be based on information obtained from sample. The technique of sampling large population is largely used in business. For example decisions about whether a production process is operating correctly are based on the quality of a sample from its output. When we have information on a sample from population, it is generally straightforward to summarize the numerical sample data. However taking a sample is merely a means to an end. The objective is not to make statements about the sample but, rather, to draw conclusion about the wider population. Thus an important problem for statisticians involves the extent to which it is possible to generalize about a population, based on results obtained from a sample. RESEARCH ANALYSIS Statistics studies possibility and nature of a relationship between two or more variables of interest. For example, what would be effect of 5% increase in price on demand of automobiles? Economics says other things remaining same an increase in price brings decrease in demand. This theory is qualitative. It does not tell us how much demand will fall. Now we must collect quantitative information in order to assess how demand has responded to price changes in the past. Now we will base our assessment on premise that what happened in past is likely to be repeated after proposed current price increase. Objective of using numerical information is to learn something about the relationship between the variables of interest. Procedures for analyzing relationships are possible only through statistics. FORECASTING Reliable predictions are needed in business. Investment decisions must be made well ahead of time at which a new product can be brought to market, forecasts of likely market conditions some years into the future is desirable. For established products, short term sales forecasts are important in setting of inventory levels and production schedules. In forming economic policy, the government requires forecasts of likely outcomes for variables such as gross domestic product, unemployment, and inflation etc. Forecasts of future values are obtained through the discovery of regularities in past behavior. Thus data are collected on past behavior of the variable to be predicted, and on the behavior of other related variables. The analysis of this information may then suggest likely future trends using statistical tools. DRAWING INFERENCES FROM TOOLS The tools and techniques that compromise business statistics include those specially designed to describe data such as charts, graphs and numerical measures. Also included are inferential tools that help decision makers draw inferences from a set of data. Inferential tools include estimation and hypothesis testing. The inferential tools includes two things the estimation and hypothesis testing. ESTIMATION In situations where one would like to know about all the data in large data sets but it is impractical to work with all the data, decision makers can use techniques to estimate what the larger data set looks like. The estimates are formed by looking closely at a subset of the larger data set. HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT Once the decision maker identified the important variables in a situation and established the relationship among them through logical reasoning in the theoretical framework the decision maker is in a better position to test whether the relationship that have been theorized do in fact hold true. By testing these relationships scientifically through appropriate statistical analysis or through negative case analysis in qualitative research we are able to obtain reliable information on what kind of relationships exist among the variables operating in the problem situation. The results of these tests offer the decision maker some clues as to what could be changed in the situation to solve the problem. Formulating such testable statements is called hypothesis development. INTERPRETATION The results is interpreted in the light of the limitations of the original material. Too exact conclusions must not be drawn from data which themselves are but approximations. It is essential however, that the investigator discovers and clarify all the useful and applicable meaning which is present in its data. FACTOR OF CARELESSNESS ELIMINATED Human beings cannot go through life without making mistakes, but should be reduced to a minimum. Factor of carelessness is eliminated by the use of statistics in business decisions by managers. MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONS Companies are organized on basis of functions performed by them and that is why they are referred as functional organizations. Organizations perform three primary functions of finance, marketing and operations. Their secondary functions include maintaining accounting record, human resources management and information systems. Statistics help managers convert data into information which in turn plays a critical role in decision making. CAPITAL BUDGETING Capital budgeting is the process by which a firm generates, analyzes and selects the projects that it will invest in. The most important issue addressed is composition of firm’s product line. Once a product is developed its financial feasibility is a must to be examined. Revenues and costs associated with the project are also important to be known. The probability concept is helpful in dealing with uncertainty surrounding the projected values of future cash flows. SUCCESS OF PROMOTIONAL TOOLS Promotion is final component of marketing mix. A company must communicate with consumers to inform them about the company and its product and make them buy the product. Promotional tools available to achieve these objectives include advertising, public relations, sales promotion and personal selling. Statistical methods can be used to help assess how successful these tools have been in generating sales. LOCATION ANALYSIS AND LOGISTICS A critical decision for any firm is where to locate its production facility, storage center or retail outlet. The circumstances that effect location decision depend on type or facility. A variety of statistical techniques can be employed to help make the decision of choosing appropriate location as per requirements of business. PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project evaluation and review techniques and critical path method are management science procedures that help control and plan large scale projects. Probability distributions such as the normal distribution are applied in this topic. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT People related decisions by a firm are dealt in functional area of Human Resource Management. It involves activities such as recruitment, training, performance appraisal, compensation and motivation. The HRM must forecast its needs in terms of number of employees required and their skills. If new staff is required then tests must be conducted to employ them on merit basis. The high scorers must be given priority over low scorers. Statistical tools can be used to assess the validity of these tests. Analysis of test results can also help to reveal deficiencies in the training programs. Periodic performance appraisal is important for making decisions regarding retention, compensation and promotion. Statistical methods can be used to assess the compensation program to determine whether it supports performance objectives. INDEX NUMBERS An index number is a statistical device designed to show changes in a variable or a group of related variables with respect to time or geographical location such as wages, income, prices, exports or imports etc over a period of time. Today it’s the most widely used statistical device. They are the indicators of inflationary or deflationary tendencies. Industrial production rising or falling, sales are higher or lower than the previous period are all disclosed by index number. CONCLUSION From the above mentioned heads, it is concluded that statistics plays a key role in the field of management sciences. Research Papers on Statistics and management sciencesThe Project Managment Office SystemRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesResearch Process Part OneDefinition of Export QuotasOpen Architechture a white paperAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfPETSTEL analysis of India

Case Study on Health Education

Case Study on Health Education Sample case study on Health Education: Explain how â€Å"health literacy† relates to Healthy People 2020. Health literacy is having the capacity to process and understand basic health information, and applying this information when making health-related decisions. The responsibility of communicating health information is placed on health professionals and the general public expects them to communicate in plain language which is easily understood. When technical jargons are used, most people are unable to adopt the recommendations which are being put forward by health professionals. The main objective of Healthy People 2020 is to improve the general health of Americans. Besides strengthening the current health policies, Healthy People 2020 also wants to increase the proportion of the population which engages in healthy behaviors. Unless health literacy is improved, the objective mentioned above would no be achieved. There exists a gap of knowledge between the health professionals and the public. The health professionals posses the critical information need to promote health living while the public does not have this information; they rely on the professionals to advice them. Therefore the hunger for information already exists and the impetus is on the health professionals to furnish the public with easily understandable information. The inability to understand health information is often attributed to the manner in which it is presented. There are some factors like age and educational levels which play a part in limiting health literacy but most people blame their inability to understand health information on the manner in which it was conveyed. In concluding, health professionals and physicians in particular must disseminate health information in an accurate and actionable manner. They should speak in a plain language which cuts across all social and cultural boundaries. Health literacy is an attainable goal but the degree to which the public absorbs health information and adopts healthy behaviors largely depends on the language used by health professionals. Please give examples of how health literacy (or the lack of health literacy) affects a persons health behaviors Due to a general improvement in education standards, it is often assumed that everyone possesses some basic form of health literacy. Understanding a medical prescription or sticking to a strict diet prescribed by a doctor may not seem like a complex undertaking to most people. However, there are people within our community who are unable process even the most basic health information without the help of a relative or close friend. Without getting into the details of the factors which limit their health literacy, it has already been proven that the lack of health literacy negatively affects a person’s health behaviors. People with low health literacy are less likely to understand oral or written information given by health professionals. This is glaringly evident among the elderly population or people who are not native speakers (speak English as a second language). Such people are more likely to mix up the prescriptions given by a doctor, ignore important health information and in some occasions refuse to seek treatment for their ailments. Their refusal to seek health treatment is sometimes not voluntary; they are simply daunted by the prospect of navigating a â€Å"complex† health system. The countless procedures, appointment schedules and prescriptions appear like insurmountable challenges. People with low health literacy prefer to seek health services from publicly financed programs instead of going to the private sector which offers better quality of care. Financial ability is often identified as the main reason why certain people opt for publicly financed programs but their health literacy also influences this decision. Public programs like Medicaid are perceived to be more suited for people of low income but the reality is the cost of care at Medicaid is comparable to a majority of private sector programs. Medicaid patients perceive it to be more ‘reliable’ and they ignore private healthcare mostly because of the fear of navigating a ‘new’ healthcare system. Discuss the evolving challenges health educators face regarding improving health literacy. The healthcare industry has undergone massive transformations in the last couple of decades. New medical techniques have been discovered and newer prescriptions introduced to replace the old ones. More importantly, there has also been a dramatic shift in health policies and such changes are unknown to the public. Health educators carry the responsibility of informing the public of all these changes but their efforts are often hampered by financial barriers. Nowadays, educating the public on health awareness is an expensive venture. For example, only a few public organizations can afford to run an important health message during prime time television; the cost of such advertisements exceeds the budgets of most health education projects. The same high costs are evident in other advertising avenues like billboards, magazines and newspapers. The options available for educating the public on health issues are simply limited by the high costs. Other challenges faced by health educators include social and cultural barriers. We currently live in a diverse society which is dominated by different ethnic groups. The difference in earning power has further subdivided our society into different social groups. Health educators face serious challenges especially when communicating social-specific or cultural-specific health information. For example, there is a high prevalence rate of STIs amongst low income populations than high income populations. In some regions, large segments of the low income population are composed of people from a particular ethnic or racial group. How then do health educators convey important information on STIs without appearing like they are racial profiling? Such misconceptions hamper the health educator’s efforts to raise health literacy within certain segments of the population.

Geology and Topography of Antarctica

Geology and Topography of Antarctica Antarctica is not an ideal place for a geologist to work - it is widely considered one of the coldest, driest, windiest and, during winter, darkest places on Earth. The kilometers-thick ice sheet sitting on top of 98 percent of the continent makes geologic study even more difficult. Despite these uninviting conditions, geologists are slowly gaining a better understanding of the fifth-largest continent through the use of gravity meters, ice-penetrating radar, magnetometers, and seismic instruments. Geodynamic Setting and History Continental Antarctica makes up just a portion of the much larger Antarctic Plate, which is surrounded by mostly mid-ocean ridge boundaries with six other major plates. The continent has an interesting geologic history - it was part of the supercontinent Gondwana as recently as 170 million years ago and made a final split from South America 29 million years ago. Antarctica has not always been covered in ice. At numerous times in its geologic history, the continent was warmer due to a more equatorial location and differing paleoclimates. It is not rare to find fossil evidence of vegetation and  dinosaurs  on the now-desolate continent. The most recent large-scale glaciation is thought to have begun around 35 million years ago. Antarctica has traditionally been thought of as sitting on a stable, continental shield with little geologic activity. Recently, scientists installed 13 weather-resistant seismic stations on the continent that measured the speed of earthquake waves through underlying bedrock and mantle. These waves change speed and direction whenever they encounter a different temperature or pressure in the mantle or a different composition in the bedrock, allowing geologists to create a virtual image of the underlying geology. The evidence revealed deep trenches, dormant volcanoes, and warm anomalies, suggesting that the area may be more geologically active than once thought. From space, Antarcticas geographic features seem, for lack of a better word, nonexistent. Underneath all of that snow and ice, however, lie several mountain ranges. The most prominent of these, the  Transantarctic  Mountains, are over 2,200 miles long and split the continent into two distinct halves: East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica sits on top of a Precambrian craton, made up of mostly metamorphic rocks like gneiss and schist.  Sedimentary deposits from the Paleozoic to Early Cenozoic age lie above it.  Western Antarctica, on the other hand, is made up of orogenic belts from the past 500 million years. The summits and high valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains are some of the only places on the entire continent not covered in ice.  The other areas that are free from ice can be found on the  warmer Antarctic Peninsula, which extends 250 miles northward from West Antarctica  towards South America. Another mountain range, the  Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, rises almost 9,000 feet above sea level over a 750-mile expanse in East Antarctica. These mountains, however, are covered by several thousand feet of ice. Radar imaging reveals sharp peaks and low valleys with topography comparable to the European Alps. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet has encased the mountains and protected them from erosion rather than smoothing them into glacial valleys. Glacial Activity Glaciers affect not only the topography of Antarctica but also its underlying geology. The weight of ice in West Antarctica literally pushes the bedrock down, depressing low-lying areas below sea level. Seawater near the edge of the ice sheet creeps between the rock and glacier, causing the ice to move much faster towards the sea. Antarctica is completely surrounded by an ocean, allowing sea ice to greatly expand in winter. Ice normally covers around 18 million square miles at the September maximum (its winter) and decreases to 3 million square miles during the February minimum (its summer).  NASAs Earth Observatory has a nice side-by-side graphic comparing the maximum and minimum sea ice cover of the past 15 years. Antarctica is almost a geographic opposite of the Arctic, which is an ocean semi-enclosed by landmasses. These surrounding landmasses inhibit sea ice mobility, causing it to pile up into high and thick ridges during the winter. Come summer, these thick ridges stay frozen longer. The Arctic retains around 47 percent (2.7 of 5.8 million square miles) of its ice during warmer months. The extent of Antarcticas sea ice has increased by approximately one percent per decade since 1979 and reached record-breaking levels in 2012 to 2014. These gains do not make up for diminishing sea ice in the Arctic, however, and global sea ice continues to disappear at a rate of 13,500 square miles (larger than the state of Maryland) per year.

Analysing children's drawings in relation to current theories on Essay

Analysing children's drawings in relation to current theories on cognitive development - Essay Example Children move from uncontrolled to controlled scribbles. The second stage known as pre- schematic stage occurs from two to four years. Children tend to use their favorite colour to colour every imaginable thing. They are able to draw people with large heads and smaller stick bodies. The other stages include the schematic stage where children create stories for their drawings and the preteen stage which involves the â€Å"I can draw† syndrome. (Wallace 2002) Consistent with this five stage theory, Victor Lowenfeld 1947 also categorized children’s visual art development into five categories, namely, Scribbler, Preschematic, Schematic, Drawing Realism and Pseudo-Naturalism. In light of the fact that only the drawings of a three year old child are analyzed, just the first two stages of Lowenfeld’s art development, specifically, Scribble and Pre-schematic, will be discussed. Lowenfeld posited four sub stages to the Scribble stage. These include disordered-uncontrolled markings, longitudinal-controlled repetitions of motions, circular motions and naming. Lowenfeld maintains that the appearance of circular images with lines mark the beginning of the Preschematic stage. Throughout this stage the schema or visual idea is created. The drawings demonstrate what is â€Å"perceives as most important about the subject.† (Wallace 2002) Unlike Jean Piaget’s stages of development which has a chronological age guideline, Lowenfeld’s stages proceeds along the characteristics of the children’s art. In his description of the scribbler, Lowenfeld suggests that no discernible shape such as an identifiable object or animal is observable. He also proposes that the Scribbler does not represent any specific space in their drawings. The lines drawn appear to be arbitrarily made. However, in his letter to his GP, child A demonstrates an understanding of space in that the scribbles vary in length representing

The Impact of Using Maps as Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Impact of Using Maps as Evidence - Assignment Example It has also been used to manage enforcement through making rational decisions on crime targets. Analysts through the geographical profiling have come up with theories of crime prevention. Research on profiled locations has shown that the work product has been successful and can also be presented as evidence in courts. In cases where evidence against a crime perpetrator is not enough, police enforcement argues that crime mapping should be used as evidence in legal procedures. However, crime mapping also has negative impacts that are used by critics to prevent it from being used as evidence in courts. Since crime mapping includes analysis and visualization of collected data, incorrect data and tendencies can provide misleading information (Chainey and Ratcliffe 2006). If this evidence is presented in court, it may lead to prosecution of innocent individuals. In addition, the trends and analysis should be analyzed using the right computer software and take into account all assumptions. Changes in demographic trends may lead to incorrect results. In some regions, the statistics may lead law enforcers to assume some of the areas that do not appear as crime weak spots in their maps. As a result, crime mapping analysts should take into account all negative impacts before letting their work product used in courts as

Just follow the instruction and pick up one u good at Essay

Just follow the instruction and pick up one u good at - Essay Example Woolf uses this story, among others, to describe why women must have their private space to develop their identities. This space, nevertheless, is not only physical because it is also psychological, political, and economic. Deliberative democracy puts deliberation at the center of democratic processes and outcomes. Citizens must have the freedom to participate in discussions that affect their lives. Political equality is based on equal participation in these deliberations, wherein James Fishkin contends that political equality means â€Å"the institutionalization of a system which grants equal consideration to everyone’s preferences and which grants everyone appropriately equal opportunities to formulate preferences on the issues under consideration† (qtd. in Stein 321-322). Each individual has the right to express his/her own ideas and opinions. Robert E. Stein asserts, furthermore, that substantive equality is needed for deliberative democracy to happen. He defines su bstantive equality: â€Å"Substantive equality arguments claim that along with important procedural safeguards, minimum levels of social and economic equality are also necessary to ensure equality of participation† (322). ... Unless people get fair wages or fair views as human beings, they cannot partake in public discussions (Stein 322). Society, through its web of different sectors and groups, must facilitate substantive equality. Substantive equality provides the necessary foundation of genuine deliberative democracy. Substantive equality has different arguments that must be explored further because they enlighten readers of underlying differences and similarities in the conceptualization and practice of the former. The first approach underlines equal access to resources. Proponents of equal access stress that â€Å"the existing distribution of power and resources does not shape their chances to contribute to deliberation, nor does that distribution play an authoritative role in their deliberation† (Stein 322). People must have minimal access to power and resources to meaningfully contribute to democratic deliberative processes. The second approach highlights capabilities. Even if fair access to resources exists, the absence of capabilities to participate in deliberation renders the former useless (Stein 322). Capabilities supporters assert that the quality of deliberation comes from sufficient deliberation capabilities. Another perspective of substantive equality pertains to reciprocity. Reciprocity does not give up equal access to resources. Gutmann and Thompson assert that reciprocity â€Å"holds that citizens owe one another justifications for the mutually binding laws and public policies they collectively enact† (qtd. in Stein 322). Stein remarks that reciprocity adds a layer of moral perspective to democracy, where substantive equality is right because it respects human dignity (322). People must mutually respect each other’s right to

Research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Research project - Essay Example The projected net income before bonuses for the year is $17.2 million. The preliminary net income before bonuses for the first quarter is $3.7 million. According to (FASB 11) inaccurate recognition of bonuses result into inaccuracies within financial statements and hence it is important to make appropriate recording of bonuses as well as well as taxes associated with the same. Treatment of accounting transactions often requires careful consideration of the implications of the same both technically and at ethical levels. Reliable sources often emphasize the importance of accruing bonuses whenever it is expected that the company’s financial/operational performance will at least be equivalent to the set performance levels to warrant issuance of bonuses (Kimball 12). The accrual decision requires considerable judgment of the performance of the entire period which encompasses many future months during which one thing or another may impede achievement of the bonus plan objectives. A number of alternatives have been proposed for accrual of bonuses. These include: Non-accrual of expense until a reasonable probability of achieving the bonus is present Accrual of a smaller expense early in a given performance period to reflect high performance failure risk and accrue a larger expense in future when success probability is extremely high It is not advisable that one accrues significant bonus expense in an instance where probability of awarding the bonus is extremely low (Stickney 80). Such accruals provide a false expense which might be reversed later when the performance period comes to an end. A sample bonus accrual expense for the case presented could be as follows,    Debit Credit Bonus expense 185,000      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accrued bonus liability    185,000 Where payment for the accrued bonus is made later, the journal entry eliminates accrued bonus liability whilst recognizing any arising payroll tax liabilities which are associated with the accrued bonus. A entry for this could be as follows,    Debit Credit Accrued bonus liability 185,000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cash    xxx Taxes    xxx As a matter of fact, when a percentage bonus is issued at the end of every quarter, it is important to recognize a portion of the bonus at the end of each month’s closing financial statements. For instance, the 5% bonus at each quarter’s end, an accrual of 5% of total salary expense is recorded at the end of every month’s cycle closure (FASB 54). A debit is posted to employee bonuses account for total accrual amount and credit is made to bonus accrual account. In the case discussed in the report, the bonus payment is pegged to the projected net income before bonuses of $17.2 million. However, going by the earnings for the current quarter, there is no high likelihood of attaining the projected income before payment of bonuses and hence its non-accrual is recommended until such time that the probability of attaining the projected i ncome before bonus is achieved. In general, the best way to treat the bonus expense is to handle it as an accrued expense or rather an expense incurred but not yet paid. This is consideration of the fact that whilst the bonus is anticipated, changes in the financial results of the company can prevent the company from incurring this expense at the end of the financial period. Incurrence of this expense is pegged on a condition which must be achieved for it to be affected.

Why Multinational Corporations Seek To Transfer Their Home-Country HRM Essay

Why Multinational Corporations Seek To Transfer Their Home-Country HRM Policies to Their Overseas Subsidiaries - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the strategies of multinational organizations are quite complex having to address a wide range of issues related to different cultural and economic conditions. In this context, many firms chose to promote similar policies in regard to their various sectors aiming to reduce relevant risks. In the HRM area, such practices are quite common. In fact, it has been proved that a high percentage of organizations prefer to transfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries. At a first level, this practice can be possibly considered as justified allowing the easier establishment of the organization in the host country, at the level that no time is wasted on the preparation of locals for working in key positions of the organization’s branch in the host country. The reasons for which organizations transfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries are pres ented and evaluated in this paper. Emphasis is given on the difficulties of this project and on the possible ways for resolving the problems involved. The most common reason for the transfer of home-country human resource management policies to overseas subsidiaries is the need of organizations for promoting homogenous policies in all their sectors so that conflicts and failures are minimized. Such issue is highlighted in the study of Wilton where reference is made to the example of Japanese firms that had to establish branches and operational units abroad. Japanese firms tend to promote team working and task sharing; however, after entering the US market the Japanese firm had to align their HRM strategies with the US laws and ethics. In order to avoid conflicts with local laws and culture, the Japanese firms transformed their HRM policies promoting ‘task demarcation and functional specialization’. From a similar point of view, Sparrow notes that firms may choose to tra nsfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries in order to reduce costs related to training of new employees. Such perspective can be valuable only if the time during which the home country HRM policies are used in the overseas subsidiary is limited; if such practice is continued for a long period of time, then the cost involved would be much higher compared to the development of new HRM policies, aligned with the local culture.

Electronic Waste Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electronic Waste - Speech or Presentation Example Developed nations have made several steps towards ensuring e-waste management. On the other hand, developing nations lag behind and so far policies enacted as not fully implemented. In most developed nations, there are no policies that govern the disposal of electronic materials (Karpus, 1). This, therefore, implies that e-waste is posing several challenges in many nations.   Electronic wastes are made up different materials that are extremely toxic. Some of these materials cannot be decomposed or decompose at a unusually slow rate (Toothman & Elizabeth, 1). Toxic Components of E-Waste  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Smoke alarms contained in many electronic devices are made up of americium or carcinogen. This two materials are radioactive and take a very long to decompose. Mercury is used to make tilt switches, fluorescent tubes, flat screen monitors and thermostats. If mercury is absorbed into the environment, it results into serious health eff ects such as dermatitis, sensory impairment, general muscle weakness, and memory loss in human beings and reduced fertility, death, slower rate of growth and development in animals (Karpus, 1). Lead acid batteries are made up of particularly harmful chemical called sulphur. If absorbed into an individual’s body it causes adverse effects such as kidney damage, throat and eye irritation, and heart damage. When allowed to reach the clouds, it reacts with vapor.... o serious health effects such as dermatitis, sensory impairment, general muscle weakness, and memory loss in human beings and reduced fertility, death, slower rate of growth and development in animals (Karpus, 1). Lead acid batteries are made up of particularly harmful chemical called sulphur. If absorbed into an individual’s body it causes adverse effects such as kidney damage, throat and eye irritation, and heart damage. When allowed to reach the clouds, it reacts with vapor to form sulphuric acid (Toothman & Elizabeth, 1). BFR is used in most electronics as flame retardants. It is made up of other several chemicals, which when allowed to the environment causes several health complications. These include liver problems, thyroid problems, and impaired nervous system development both in animals and human beings (Grossman, 1). Cadmium is used to make light sensitive resistors and nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries used in electronic devices. Cadmium has adverse effects if ex posed to the environment. If inhaled, it causes permanent damage to the lungs as well as causing kidney diseases. Due to its adverse effects, it was banned in Europe except for medical purposes (Toothman & Elizabeth, 1). Lead is a vital component of most electronic devices including monitors, solders, lead-acid batteries, cathode ray tubes and PVC. Lead if allowed into the soil will encourage leaching and destroy natural habitats for many micro-organisms. Beryllium is used as filler in thermal materials. These include thermal grease that is used in CPUs and heat sinks, X-rays ceramic windows, vacuum tubes, and gas lasers (James, 13). If all of these harmful chemicals are released into the environment then our future generations are threatened. Most animals will get extinct the generations that

Why Multinational Corporations Seek To Transfer Their Home-Country HRM Essay

Why Multinational Corporations Seek To Transfer Their Home-Country HRM Policies to Their Overseas Subsidiaries - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the strategies of multinational organizations are quite complex having to address a wide range of issues related to different cultural and economic conditions. In this context, many firms chose to promote similar policies in regard to their various sectors aiming to reduce relevant risks. In the HRM area, such practices are quite common. In fact, it has been proved that a high percentage of organizations prefer to transfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries. At a first level, this practice can be possibly considered as justified allowing the easier establishment of the organization in the host country, at the level that no time is wasted on the preparation of locals for working in key positions of the organization’s branch in the host country. The reasons for which organizations transfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries are pres ented and evaluated in this paper. Emphasis is given on the difficulties of this project and on the possible ways for resolving the problems involved. The most common reason for the transfer of home-country human resource management policies to overseas subsidiaries is the need of organizations for promoting homogenous policies in all their sectors so that conflicts and failures are minimized. Such issue is highlighted in the study of Wilton where reference is made to the example of Japanese firms that had to establish branches and operational units abroad. Japanese firms tend to promote team working and task sharing; however, after entering the US market the Japanese firm had to align their HRM strategies with the US laws and ethics. In order to avoid conflicts with local laws and culture, the Japanese firms transformed their HRM policies promoting ‘task demarcation and functional specialization’. From a similar point of view, Sparrow notes that firms may choose to tra nsfer their home-country human resource management policies to their overseas subsidiaries in order to reduce costs related to training of new employees. Such perspective can be valuable only if the time during which the home country HRM policies are used in the overseas subsidiary is limited; if such practice is continued for a long period of time, then the cost involved would be much higher compared to the development of new HRM policies, aligned with the local culture.

The models of responsibility practice Essay Example for Free

The models of responsibility practice Essay 1. Explain the models of practice that underpin equality, diversity and inclusion in own area of responsibility. There are two models that link with equality, diversity and inclusion, the first one is the social model of disability which views discrimination and prejudice as being embedded in today’s society, their attitude’s and their surrounding environment. The social model focuses on who the adult is as person not what their disability or diagnosis is, the focus is on how to improve and empower the individual’s life and lead a more independent life as possible. The second model is the medical model of disability which views adults has having an impairment or lacking in some way, this model focuses on impairments that the adult has and finding and acknowledging ways to correct them. The client group at my current place of work are elderly adults. Both the social and medical model has an impact on their daily life. The company ethos is to encourage the people we care for to remain independent and enable them to lead a normal life as possible. This is done by providing and engaging them in their own individualised care plans and asking their opinions on what they like how they like it etc. allowing them to make informed choices for them self and whether they have the capacity to make these decisions. My role as a Manager is to ensure that any anti- discriminatory practice is promoted as a key value within our organisation and to raise the staff awareness about equality diversity, and inclusion. To encourage conversations and debate and devising ways that empower rather than to disable. 2. Analyse the potential effects of barriers to equality and inclusion. Barriers to inclusion and equality include; * Race * Age * Gender * Disability * Sexual Orientation * Religion or Belief. The barriers that can and will affect Equality and inclusion are Physical and environmental barriers such as poor access to buildings and community settings, making it difficult for us to help them achieve inclusion within the community. Communication barriers, different languages, slang talk, which is why each carer needs to be matched to each customer to help with the barriers. Inclusion barriers also include financial and the size of the care package not giving the carer and the customer enough time for them to be in the community with support. However this is not an excuse for not doing anything and not meeting the customer’s needs the expectations is that as many modifications are to be made as possible to lift the constraints around support. 3. The impact of legislation and policy initiatives on the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion in own area of responsibility. The promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion has been supported by a number of legislative changes to ensure that provider’s comply with any anti-discrimination practices. The list below reflects the most relevant legislation; * Articles 1, 2 and 14 of the Human Rights Act (1995) * Sex discrimination Act (1975) * Equal Pay Act (1970) * Race Relations Act (1976) * Disability Discrimination Act (1995) * Disability Rights Commission Act (1999) * Race relations (2000) * Employment Equality (Religion or belief) Regulations (2003) *Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003) * Disability Discrimination Act (2005) * Equality Act (2006) In addition to the major anti-discrimination Acts, there are clauses within other acts which focus on anti-discrimination requirements for example; * The Children’s Act 1989 which requires authorities to take special account of children’s disabilities and the support needed to enable them to live as near normal lives as possible. * Guidance in the form ‘No Secrets’ (DOH, 2000) which sets out adult protection policies and recognises adult discrimination as abuse. * The document ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (Department of education 2010) which requires all practitioners to guard against myths and stereotypes. 4. Systems and processes to promote equality and inclusion or reinforce discrimination and exclusion , and, the effectiveness in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in the area of responsibility. Health and safety policies We have clear policies in place on health and safety, with regular risk Assessments and ergonomic checks to promote staff health and wellbeing All risk assessments routinely organised, for example for pregnant women Or staff working in particular areas of risk. Make sure that our policies do not have an impact on the religion or belief of staff: for example; Wearing religious dress or articles of faith, Performance management procedures We have clearly set out procedures on performance management that take Individual needs and cultural differences into account, and are objective and Transparent to all employees. Pay and reward policies All our policies on pay and reward clearly are organised, based on objective criteria and easily understood by employees. We have clear guidance on  starting salaries, Bonuses and performance-related pay. We will be undertaking an equal pay audit to make sure you we don’t have pay gaps by gender, disability or ethnic group. Recruitment and promotion procedures Our procedures for recruitment and promotion are transparent and equally Accessible to all applicants. Our job descriptions focus on objective criteria That are solely related to the job in question, so the procedures we use will not impact negatively on particular groups. Policies on training and development We have regular training in place on equality and human rights. We have procedures To ensure that all employees have access to development and work-related training, and these procedures take into account the particular needs of some groups of employees. Service provision and customer equality policies As a service provider, we have a strategy in place to make sure that all customers are treated equally and fairly, and that needs of customers from diverse backgrounds are recognised and met Our staff at all levels engaged in creating a human rights culture in the provision of services. Informal or unwritten working practices Examining informal working culture can be difficult to do, but the aim is to find out If there are gaps between what is written in our policies and everyday working practices within the organisation. Some areas to think about include: Staff attitudes and behaviour We make sure there an open and understanding working culture where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. All staffs are aware of the importance of equality, human rights and inclusion, and aware of the antidiscrimination policies in place and the procedures on acceptable behaviour. Another point to consider is employee willingness and confidence to disclose personal information: To look at self declaration rates like on sensitive issues such as sexual orientation or religion and belief. We have flexible working hours, time off for dependents or access to religious facilities and requirements, We have to be sure that the working culture in our organisation is supportive of the staff and that they are made aware of what is available. Working patterns and segregation We have staff with diverse backgrounds and from different groups working together in teams and divisions, Or it would be likely that there may be divisions within the workforce on the grounds of gender, ethnic background, age, religion or belief language, culture and class. We Have activities in place to bring staff together and to promote inclusion and Understanding, they will planned to take into account the access requirements of different groups, as well as caring responsibilities and cultural differences. Finally, there clear procedures through which staff can communicate with managers and directors. All staff will be consulted on changes to policies and practices that will affect their working lives. They will be actively involved in initiatives around working culture. If this is not the case, it is more likely that our efforts to create inclusive working will not succeed, because employees may feel that measures are being forced upon them without the chance to give their opinions. 4.2 Explain the principles of informed choice. An informed choice means that a person has the information and support to think the choice through and to understand what the reasonably expected consequences may be of making that choice. It is important to remember that too much information can be oppressive and individuals have differing needs in relation to how information is presented to them. As a Professional organisation we must be able to demonstrate that we have taken these individual needs into account. Enabling people to make informed choices does  not mean the local authority or provider organisation should abdicate its responsibility to ensure people have a good quality of life. For example if a person „chooses‟ to stay in bed all day, every day, the local authority or provider organisation has a responsibility to explore what is happening and respond to this appropriately, working to ensure that the individual fully understands the consequences of their decision. It is not acceptable to simply accept such a decision at face value if this would put the individual at significant risk, as acts of omission can be considered to be abusive. There are at least four elements necessary for decision making; * Understanding the value of respect for persons and their differences. * The ability to be self-governing and being able to determine one’s own personal goals, desires and preferences. * The capacity or confidence to make choices or decisions based on deliberation and reason. * The freedom to make choices for one’s self then to act on these. 4.3 Explain how issues of individual capacity may affect informed choice. In relation to risk, as with any other decision making, if the person has capacity and has been supported to consider the potential consequences, both positive and negative, arising from the proposed decision and has decided to take the risk, then that is their informed decision. Where an individual’s informed choice may put them at risk of abuse or neglect by another person or persons, this should be discussed with them, and these discussions must be clearly recorded. If there is a failure to reach an agreed course of action which both parties are happy with, then it may be necessary for actions to be taken under the Safeguarding Adults Procedures. If the person lacks capacity, and a decision has put her / him at risk of abuse or neglect from a particular person or persons then a referral should be made for action to be taken under the Safeguarding Adults Procedures. CAPACITY ISSUES Where capacity is in question, refer IN ALL CASES to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Code of Practice, which states: 1. Every adult has the right to make their own decisions if they have the capacity to do so. You must assume that a person has capacity unless it can be established otherwise. 2. Individuals should receive support to help them make their own decisions and all possible steps should be taken to try to help him / her to reach a decision themselves. 3. Individuals have the right to make decisions that others might think are unwise. Making an â€Å"unwise† decision does not mean that a person lacks capacity. 4. A person’s capacity must not be judged simply on the basis of their age, appearance, condition or an aspect of their behaviour. 5. It is important to take all possible steps to try to help people make a Decision for themselves  6. Any act or decision should be the least restrictive in relation to its purpose. If there are concerns that an individual may lack the mental capacity to make A decision, a competent person may complete an assessment of capacity. For most day-to-day decisions, it will be the person caring for them at the time a decision must be made. For example, a care worker might need to assess if the person can agree to being bathed. Then a district nurse might assess if the person can consent to have a dressing changed. We are supporting individuals to have more choice and control in their lives through positive approaches to managing risk, things are likely to go wrong from time to time. If this happens and the risk taken results in a negative outcome for the individual, the strategy below would help prevent such incidents 1. Act reasonably. 2. Act in an informed way, reflecting my experience. 3. Act responsibly in relation to my duty of care and avoid being negligent. 4. To assess and take steps to manage and minimise the foreseeable risks 5. Involve the person in the process and support them to make informed decisions. 6. Involve and liaise with other people whom it would be reasonable to involve in the process. 7. Follow organisational policy,  procedures and guidance. This does not mean that there has to be a formal risk assessment document In place if this is deemed unnecessary, rather that the process of assessing The risk will be clearly documented and is reasonable. 8. To make it clear that professionals and organisations have acted reasonably and responsibly in partnership with the person, those who know and care about them and others involved in their support. References 1. https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/helping-people-make-informed-choices-about-health-and-social-care. 2. Baxter, K., Glendinning, C. and Clarke, S. (2008) Making informed choices in social care: the importance of accessible information, Health and Social Care in the Community, 16, 2, 197-207. 3. Department of Health (2005) Independence, Well-being and Choice: Our Vision for the Future of Social Care for Adults in England. Department of Health, London. 4. Ovretveit J. (1996) Informed choice? Health service quality and outcome information for patients. Health Policy 37, 75-90. 5. https://www.in-control.org.uk.

Operating Systems Course: Reflection Essay

Operating Systems Course: Reflection Essay There are a lot of new concepts about Telecommunications and Networking that I’ve learned in depth in this course. It is one of the very interesting courses that I have done so far in IT. I feel it is worth doing this course online as there is a chance to learn so many concepts through our assignments. Wire shark labs were very interesting and we have gained practical knowledge on how networking works in real scenarios. There are so many topics that I felt interesting throughout the course, but there is this topic ‘Modes of Network Operation’ which was the discussion topic in the 6th week that left an ‘aha’ moment. In Infrastructure mode of Network operation, communications occur between a set of Wireless Adapter equipped computers and also between a wired networks by going through a Wireless Access Point (AP). Infrastructurerefers to switches, routers, firewalls, and access points (Aps). Access Points are responsible for handling traffic between wireless networks and also wired networks. There is no Peer to Peer communication in this mode. A wireless network in infrastructure mode which is also connected to wired network is called as BSS (Basic service set).A set of two or more service sets is called Extended Service Set (ESS). The BSSID is a 48-bit number of the same format as a MAC address. This field uniquely identifies each BSS. The value of this field is the MAC address of the AP. Advantages of Infrastructure mode: Wide areas are covered by utilizing the high power of an access point in Infrastructure mode which is the advantage. The learning curve will be less for knowing wireless strengths and weaknesses with Infrastructure Mode. Number of clients can be supported in this mode of operation as additional access points can be added to WLAN to increase the reach of the infrastructure and support any number of wireless clients. Infrastructure mode networks offer the advantage of scalability, centralized security management and improved reach. Disadvantages: The disadvantage associated with infrastructure wireless network is additional cost to purchase AP hardware. ADHOC Mode:  In this mode, each station is a peer to the other stations and communicates directly with other stations within the network. No Access points are required. Advantages: Because Ad Hoc Mode does not require an access point, its easier to set up, especially in a small or temporary network. Disadvantages: In Ad Hoc Mode connections are limited, for example between two laptops, to the power available in the laptops. Because the network layout (thenetwork topology) in Ad Hoc Mode changes regularly, system resources are taken just to maintain connectivity. In an Ad Hoc network with many computers, the amount of interference for all computers will go up, since each is trying to use the same frequency channel. In Ad Hoc Mode, chains of computers will connect to pass your data, if your computer is not directly in range. On the other hand, you do not have control over the path your data takes. The automatic configuration routines may send your data through several computers, causing significant network delays. Conclusion Based on the above various mode of operation both offer advantages and as well as disadvantages. Based on the necessity one many opt for Ad hoc mode where set up is easy and no access points are required whereas Infrastructure mode is suited well for wireless networks as it supports any number of clients and offers advantages such as scalability, security and improved approach. There are a lot of concepts of Operating Systems that are learnt in depth from the course Operating Systems, it being one of the most important courses to be known to end up in software industry. However, I feel, and have always felt that it’s important to understand where we came from and how we landed up here, to be able to understand where we are going. The technology on which the operating systems run on and the mechanics of OS have progressed more than that could have been imagined in the last 30 years. By understanding how that progress was made, we can apply it and make equal progress in the future too. There are so many interesting topics in the discussions and journal entries throughout the course, but the first discussion on â€Å"Microsoft Windows 8: One Size Fits All?† remained as my favorite topic. It being the first discussion topic, also made me feel how interesting the entire Operating systems course would be. This topic grabbed my attention all of a sudden as I have been using Operating systems mostly Microsoft Windows from so many years without even knowing what exactly is happening behind it. The pros and cons of Windows 8 are summed from the â€Å"One size fits all† discussion. This made me think of the practical application of an OS by comparing with the features of other OS. I felt it’s not possible to develop single OS which can be efficient on tablets and PCs and that was the first time I had to disagree/not satisfied with Microsoft’s invention. Microsoft has been ruling the OS platforms. Windows 8 has drastic changes in platform and user interface of the operating systems. It had a smartphone before the Apple iPhone revolution came along, and it was pushing tablet PCs before the Apple iPad made it cool. But, as long as Microsoft’s history with mobile devices is, so is its stubborn desire to make everything about its Windows OS. Nowadays we cannot even imagine the world without computer as they are a part of everyday life now. But many of us do not care about what is actually happening when we use a system. Though I had little knowledge about operating systems earlier, now even though I don’t know everything I’m sure that I have learnt a lot about the functioning of an operating system, many types of management techniques in various operating systems, scheduling algorithms, and Protection and Security mechanisms in OS. An Operating system is a program that manages computers hardware and knowledge about operating system is necessary to start a career in software industry. Operating system provides a basis for application programs and acts as an intermediary between users and computer hardware and optimizes the utilization of hardware. It must exist in order for other programs to run. I would definitely continue my career as a software developer after completion of Masters in IT as I have been a software developer earlier. As a developer I would be developing software applications and having in depth knowledge of Operating systems is always necessary. An Operating system provides a software platform on which other application programs can run. So in some scenario’s like asynchronous function calls in the program written, I would definitely understand the execution of program much better having knowledge of how operating system works. I am pretty sure next time when I buy a laptop or an electronic device, I would not be lost with technical specifications. Indeed I would be more interesting to know the features and discuss the specifications confidently. Finally, I would say learning about the operating system will help every IT professional in their career.