LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES - Coursework Example During the process new leaders are made for the future through proper training and experience. Any organization that is in its finest today whether it be, Apple co, Microsoft, Zara was the result of one or more individuals in their early thirties who possessed leadership qualities. While it is true that for a company to be created and be successful it needs to have something to sell, at the same time they need a great leader. A fine example is the late Steve Jobs who did not create any of the Apple computers but steered them into the right direction with his social intelligence and his eye for design. Change management however, is needed in any and every company that wants success in the long run. It simply might be needed because the customers are bored of the monotonous product that they’re being offered or a more complex reason might be because intrapreneurship is needed in the organization because the previous management system wasn’t effective enough. Sometimes the change might be needed because the competitors have caught up and you no longer hold a competitive advantage. Having discussed leadership and change management, it is true that an organization cannot survive without either one of them. Any organization that comes into being is very informal in the beginning, starting off with very few employees, mostly friends who share the same ideas and visions, working in a small office consisting of a mere two or three rooms. Some of these organizations even start off from the garage of a home. The environment of these organizations is very informal which works in the beginning as they only need enough revenue above breakeven to invest further into the workings of the company. When this organization has matured and has enough employees to push out of a city or district it needs to change from an informal management to a more formal one. This is achieved by hiring leaders or identifying leaders among

Sustainability Development in Hotel Industry Essay Example for Free

Sustainability Development in Hotel Industry Essay Hotel industry in recent past has come up with various sustainable development measures. These measures are from conserving water, waste management , energy saving to creating green room. The industry has integrated its business with Sustainable development approach in various functions such as Operations, supply Chain and procurement. These sustainable approaches has benefited industry in terms of cost and brand. This research paper find out how globally Hotel industry is adopting sustainable development approaches in the daily business. The goal of Sustainable Development is clearly to secure economic development, social equity and environmental protection. As much as they could work in harmony these goals sometimes work against each other in our modern world. The rapid development of good living, travel and in general of the consumer society has often resulted in less protection to the environment and to some groups of the world population. Ferocious search for profitability has not co-existed harmoniously with making the world a better place. However there is a general consensus that t cannot go on for ever and those who are favored by life now feel responsible for those who have not had the same chance. Economic growth will always remain the basis of human development but it should integrate as well its impact on the people and on the planet. SD focuses on having a holistic approach to development taking into consideration economic, social and environmental needs while avoiding over utilizing key natural resources. Hospitality or Hotel industry all over the world is leading in creating sustainable model for other industry. Area of S ustainable Developments in Hotel industry Water As the hotel industry is a large consumer of water it is obvious that it should demonstrate its concern about this major problem. Currently, in a lot of hotels, guests are recommended to keep their towels –sometimes their sheets- for more than a day in order for hotels to conserve water and reduce the use of detergent. It is a worthwhile undertaking but one that sounds hypocritical as it appears to be as a cost saving exercise. Energy The installation of fluorescent lights throughout a hotel reduces energy consumption by thousands of dollars as does the replacement of windows. Green roofs help conserve energy. New energies – wind, solar should be encouraged. Not only these programs help save energy but they cut maintenance costs. Their pay-back period is generally very good. Governments usually encourage the efforts by giving grants or tax cuts. Hotel companies should do whatever can be done to help develop clean energies. Waste There is an enormous amount of waste in the hotel industry and particularly in the food industry. A significant global project is to engage the units to reduce waste as much as possible and to recycle it Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) Hotels, using major quantities of energy, produce major quantities of GHG. The measurement of the reduction of GHG emission is more visible when consolidated at company level. A company can make a pledge to offset carbon emissions by supporting an organization such as Climate Care. Paperless environment When one considers the quantity of paper that is used in a hotel one cannot but think of the destruction of trees and its impact on global warming. Moreover the printing of paper is often totally useless and people often discard papers after a meeting or will not even look at them at a later point. When one adds the production of ink and toners to supply photocopy machines it is easy to realize the negative impact of such habits on the environment. In a computerized world it is evident that old habits should be discouraged. Not only would it help the environment but it would also cut costs dramatically in the long term. Only the necessary printing of paper and strict use of recycled paper should be encouraged. Green Hotel Program – A new Concept In an industry where investment in the end product (rooms) is enormous it is significant to spend money wisely with a focus on the environment. It actually ives a great opportunity for the company to display its commitment to SD. Every aspect of room construction and decoration can be addressed: flooring, wall-covering, air conditioning, electrical installation, water usage, furniture, textile and equipment. Clearly the process should not only consider the room but the whole property; however in the hotel industry it is the room product that captures the attention of the public Procurement The value chain of the hotel industry includes a major component which is procurement. This is true not only during construction but while running a hotel and a restaurant. This activity will reveal how a sound hotel SD policy can have a ripple effect on other industries, engaging the procurement company and all suppliers in the same direction. Vendors involved in a hotel construction and renovation program should be made aware of the objective of the company. Moreover the procurement company should include Sustainable Development in its own strategy. It can start with presenting as many green products as possible and encouraging vendors to reduce packaging and offer recyclable products. It should as well emphasize buying sustainable food only. Once the procurement company is involved in this mission it will encourage hoteliers to go yet further in their SD efforts. The purchasing power of a procurement company is enormous and it will help reduce the unit price of sustainable products as they can be more expensive than non-sustainable products and it discourages hoteliers and restaurateurs from buying SD products. A major endeavor for a procurement company is to include Fair Trade in its strategy enabling local suppliers to develop their business and helping poor countries to expand their economy. It should not however stop companies from considering Fair Trade as a great opportunity to improve their corporate social responsibility. Industry Standards for ‘Green Hotel’ According to US green building council a ‘Green’ or ‘Sustainable’ Hotel will : †¢Use 26% Less Energy †¢Emit 33% Carbon Dioxide †¢Use 30% Less Indoor Water †¢Send 50%-75% less Solid Waste to Landfills and Incinerators †¢Green Buildings can also encourage the use of alternative transportation (walking, mass transit, low-emission, fuel-efficient or alternative fuel vehicles) World Wide Leading Hotels in Sustainable Development Fairmont Hotels Resorts Fairmont is certainly the hotel company that has introduced Environment and Community Service earlier than others in its global strategy. Due to its history and its hotels locations, often in the countryside, the company has officially recognized the importance of Environment in 1990 and pioneered the Fairmont Green Partnership, in order to minimize the impact of its hotels on the planet. It encourages all properties to individually search for environment initiatives, be it minimization of pesticide on their golf course, encouragement to use hybrid cars, etc. Its main topics are waste reduction, resource conservation, purchasing policy, habitat and species protection and community connection. They encourage as well Social Responsibility through the Fairmont Hotels Resorts charitable donations program that delivers grants which support Education and Youth development programs, Health programs, Social services and Civic and community projects. Through these programs Fairmont has received many accolades and awards, most recently the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow 2006 award. Accor As of today Accor is the hotel company that is the most advanced in its SD approach. It started as an Environment strategy in 1994 building a network of 53 environment correspondents throughout the world. Sustainable Development was officially embedded in the strategy of the company in 2002 with the appointment of a Director of Sustainable Development, member of the Management Board, the creation of a group-wide SD committee and the development of an exhaustive SD strategy. That strategy encompasses all aspects of the concept. A scorecard has been developed that checks Accor’s involvement throughout the world with all takeholders: Shareholders, Customers, Employees, suppliers, Environment and local communities. The company was one of the first ones to sign the Global Compact initiative launched by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in January 1999 which is a commitment to follow strict guidelines in terms of Human rights, Labor, Environment and anti-corruption initiatives. Accor is not only focused on developing a group SD strategy but insists in reaching each and every one of its 170 000 employees through direct campaigns. It sends a strong message to all employees by published a short document highlighting conservation tips, a comic book about environment conservation, and an environment guide for hotel managers to train their employees about all aspects of environmental protection. A SD purchasing charter was developed and distributed to suppliers to entice them to follow SD guidelines and involve them in a virtuous circle. Environment and eco-efficiency start during the development phase of all projects. The Company uses internationally or nationally recognized certifications. 0 hotels are now ISO 14001 certified and more certifications are in the pipeline. In Canada its hotels are Audubon certified for eco-efficiency. Measurements are in place to show the energy, waste and water consumption reduction. Biodiversity and architectural integration are another focus in the development of projects. For international and shareholder recognition Accor is listed in the major socially responsible investment indexes: DJSI World Stoxx, FTSE4Good, ASPI and ESI indexes. InterContinental Hotels Group IHG has evidently undergone a major shift toward a complete Sustainable Development strategy recently. The basis is there to make it the industry reference in the coming years. The group will not only be the largest hotel company in the world but as well, naturally, can become the most admired one. All components of SD have been addressed. Many actions geared toward social responsibility and environmental protections have been endorsed throughout the years by various divisions or hotels and coordination is now taking place. Measurements will help demonstrate that the company walks the talk and a separate and comprehensive company SD report will position the company not as one of but as the hotel company that leads the industry. It would be convenient to â€Å"brand† this strategy so that all could refer to it easily. A Senior Vice President Global Corporate Social Responsibility position was created in September 2006. Hilton Hilton Corporation has not yet embraced a holistic approach to Sustainable Development. They communicate mostly on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environment concerns. Their CSR is focused on four areas: Education programs Selected Healthcare programs Youth programs Civic affaires and Public policy. Their Environment policies are based on a tagline: Reduce Reuse – Recycle. The company was the first in the industry to be awarded the EnergyStar award (US) for its involvement in reducing electrical energy consumption –fluorescent bulbs in all areas-, water conservation – towel program-, recycling. It encourages its employees to be involved in various community services. Hilton International (now bought by Hilton Corp) has started a program called We Care which is addressing mostly environmental issues and community service. They have included it in their balance scorecard system. Hilton Hotels has developed an interesting program to help improve relationship between people: Be Hospitable Kimpton Hotels It has divided its operations into two distinctive divisions: Hotels and Restaurants. It is very much involved in Sustainable Development and Environmental protection. Kimpton EarthCare: Their mission statement is the following: â€Å"To lead the hospitality industry in supporting a sustainable world, by continuing to deliver a premium guest experience through non-intrusive, high quality, eco-friendly products and services†. One of these initiatives is the creation of an eco-friendly room at the Triton hotel in San Francisco designed to become a best practice for the company. It offers amenity dispensers – to reduce packaging waste-, energy efficient lighting and motion sensors, non-toxic environmentally safe products, eco-friendly paints, energy efficient mini-bars and air conditioning system, etc. Kimpton’s SD strategy is clear, with a twist of being specific to â€Å"boutique/hip hotels†. However there are still at the initial stage when it comes to measurements. Some of them are the following: â€Å"Over $500,000 in new revenue attributed to EarthCare Over 12,000 gallons (over 360 bathtubs) of toxic cleaners removed from our water supply Conserved over 103,000 gallons of water at Hotel Allegro, Chicago Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City awarded the e2 environmental award Galleria Park Hotel in San Francisco saved $4,000 from just changing Exit lighting to LEDs†. Six Senses SPAs Their purpose: â€Å"To create innovative and enriching experiences in a sustainable environment†. They have an exhaustive list of values all geared towards the happiness of their staff and customers: â€Å"epitomizing all senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch †¦ and beyond†. Their environmental program is developed in the Holistic Environmental Management Program. Being generally located on tiny islands, their goals are: to reduce resource consumption and waste generation. to manage energy use and water conservation. o hire members of local communities and engage them in social responsibility. Protection of flora and fauna. They created a fund to support all types of environmental and social activities in which they allocate 0. 05% of their total annual revenue. One interesting idea is the Six Senses guest carbon- neutral program through which clients are enticed to donate money to help compensate the emission of carbon dioxide (CO? ) that the plane that brought them to the island produced. That fund is then distributed to NGOs that care about the reforestation of the planet. Preserving the environment with the ECHO program (Environmentally Conscious Hospitality Operations) through eco-friendly guidelines to all hotels and associates through the â€Å"reduce-reuse-recycle† process†. ITC India ITC is leading hotel in India for sustainability development. It has come up with Innovative designs, Water efficient buildings, Material resources and energy conservation steps in its various hotels . At 170,000 sq feet, ITC Green Centre is the world’s largest 0% water discharge, noncommercial Green building, and compared to similar buildings, ITC Green Centre has a 30% smaller carbon footprint. ITC is developing its hotel based on this building model and architecture. References Jauhari, Vinnie (Editor). International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 19, Issue 5 : The Hospitality Industry in India. Bradford, , GBR: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 2007. p 364. Saxena, Atul. New Trends in Tourism and Hotel Industry. Delhi, IND: Global Media, 2008. p 191. Brody, Derrick. Latest Trends in Hotel Industry. Delhi, , IND: Global Media, 2009. p 4. Mannan, B. A..

Functions of Network Management

Functions of Network Management In this report, I will be explaining the functions of network management. There are many stages to creating a network, these are: Planning planning is crucial, as you will need to map out what kind of network you want to create and what its purpose will be Research researching what network devices and cabling will be required, also researching topologies to create a suitable network Design design is essential as you will need to know what your network will look like before its made Preparation begin creating your network, install the cabling and devices and connect them Development Set up the devices in the network and make sure they are on and ready to communicate Testing test the network and check that everything is up and running smoothly Maintenance if any issues arise, troubleshoot the errors and make sure that the network is stable Evaluation analyse and understand the network, if any problems occur, document them so it will be easier to troubleshoot in the future. Task 1: Functions of network management P4 Network configuration is necessary to allow computers in a network to communicate with each other. Configuration exists to control networks and allow troubleshooting or performance enhancements. There are many devices used in a network. The most important medium are routers and switches. When configured correctly, it will allow them to communicate which then allows users to communicate with each other. Fault management is compulsory in any network as it will detect problems and minimise failure. In case of failure, it will be prepared to troubleshoot the issues as quick as possible. By monitoring the networks, you can see if an error occurs it will ensure that the network is up for as long as possible. Fault management could be approached from a remotely controlled centralised console, which will allow you to easily reboot or troubleshoot one or more computer. Account management involves taking care of the users account and ensuring they can access all software easily. The admin will make user accounts for people in an office or school in order for the users to access their files at work. Account management groups together the users with the same rights on their accounts, which makes it simpler for the administrator as they can make a change to the entire user group rather than each account. Account management is required in large networks like schools and organisations as it will allow the administrator to manage multiple accounts easily as it would be hard to install software or enable access to every single account separately. The purpose of performance variables is to work out how key parts of the network are and have been performing. By checking this, it is possible to measure whether the performance is decreasing or increasing, this is crucial because if performance is decreasing, you will be able to see it. Examples of performance variables are user response times and network throughput. Network throughput is how fast data is transferred through a network. User response times are how fast the network is for users. Line utilisation is the amount of data on the cabling, if too much data is loaded onto the cable it will alter performance. Security is essential in any network in order to ensure safety; by implementing security in a network, you will prevent viruses and other threats such as hacking. It is possible to get viruses in many different forms such as files and documents on the internet, spyware, even physical issues can be a threat such as fires. Because there are different types of threats to a network, there are different ways to deal with them all. Firewalls and antivirus software should be installed to prevent viruses from entering a network. If a virus is in a network, it can sabotage the performance of the network and put the companys data in jeopardy. It is also very important to back up the files to another server in case of an attack so if any data is lost it can be restored effectively. Data logging is recording all of the information that passes through a network, this will make it easier to identify problems in the network, as you will be able to look through the data and analyse where an error has occurred. Logs are not usually kept permanently as they may not be necessary. It is useful to have data logs in parts of the network where errors occur to help you identify them as soon as possible. Checking performance and traffic is essential to ensure that your network is performing as well as it can and clearing up traffic will improve performance. Reporting is a management feature which documents performance and the data usage throughout the network to the admins. The reports are often taken using systems such as Windows Server which reports response time and performance of packets. Task 2: Fault Management M2 Fault Management Fault management in networks is to locate and troubleshoot problems in the network. Fault management is important to keep the network running efficiently. Why is fault management necessary in networks? Fault management is essential, as it will allow the network to perform at its maximum capacity without being disrupted. If any errors occur, data in the network could be jeopardised so by troubleshooting errors as soon as possible it will allow the network to run with minimal errors. This should be carried out remotely as it will be time consuming to physically go to each device throughout the network. The main goals of fault management in any network is to: Monitor the network remotely Enable alerts to warn the network engineer about any failures Create logs to see past failures and prevent future problems One of the goals of fault management is to monitor the network remotely through a centralised device. This will allow the network engineer to control the network quickly and efficiently as they will not need to access each physical device which can be very time consuming. By monitoring performance, the network engineer can troubleshoot failure quickly. Another goal of fault management is to enable alerts to warn the network engineer when there is a fault in the network immediately. By ensuring that the network engineer is notified about faults, the fault can either be prevented or solved as quick as possible. This will make sure that the effect on the performance is minimal. Finally, creating logs of faults are essential as it will allow the network engineer to look back at it in the future and solve the problem quicker. This will also show how well the network is performing as you can see every fault that has previously occurred. If there is a recurring fault in the network, the engineer will be able to prevent it and ensure that it doesnt happen again. If the network is affected by a failure, this can alter performance and could cause the network to crash. This will be atrocious for the company as it can prevent staff from communicating and doing their jobs. Task 3: Routine performance management D1 Routine performance management is scheduled routine maintenance. This means that the network will be checked on a regular basis to ensure that it is up to speed. This is crucial for any business as you will want to make sure that the network is running smoothly and the companys information or data is not in jeopardy. If a companys network isnt checked frequently, it could severely impact the company as they could be in danger of losing data or if a part of the network is down, they wont be able to communicate which will end up losing the company money. There are many different types of risks ranging from physical issues to hardware issues, for example a fire which can endanger both lives and the hardware in the network and if a switch or router is overloaded which can cause it to fail or perform slowly which will also majorly affect the company. There are a few tasks that the network manager must do to check and keep the network up and running efficiently. Backups are extremely important in a network in case of data loss or failure. If any data is lost and the data hasnt been backed up in a long time this will be a huge setback for the company as they will have lost important information. It is important to backup data at least daily or weekly to ensure that you have the latest data available to restore in case of any errors or failures in the network. Backups can be made to multiple places. The most common one is to a remote server which will hold the companys data. This is efficient as the data is all stored in one place so it is easier to access and minimises downtime. Companies also often use redundant array of independent disks (RAID) hard drive systems. This is known as a live backup feature that backs up data as it is written. It has many hard disks that are interconnected that contain all the data. This is extremely useful and can also minimise downtime as it will allow the network engineer to restore the data very quickly. User accounts are used in every organisation as employees will need their own personal accounts to access the network and do their jobs. Every user has a unique personal username which makes it easier to identify each user. All users have the same privileges and must change their passwords often due to security reasons. The network admin will have control over the user accounts and can help employees if they forget their password. Users are usually put into groups of departments or services, for examples, Sales or Accounting. This makes it much easier for the network engineer to control each section of the network and can make changes to a group of people with ease. It is also more organised as people that do the same job will be in the same group. This gives everybody the same privileges and allows them to do their jobs efficiently. Logon scripts are activated once someone logs onto a device in a network. It is very useful as it automatically carries out tasks. Scripts are developed in the command prompt with scripting languages. This is useful as it can utilise commands such as ipconfig and look through commands as soon as the device is up and running. If the network engineer had to manually carry this out every single time it would take very long. Virus scans are crucial in any network to ensure network safety and efficiency. The network admin will run virus scans regularly on all devices on the network. If any viruses are found they will be logged in the virus software to clearly outline how many viruses have occurred since the last check. This is important as the network admin will be able to see viruses occur often which could show a weakness in the network. Virus checkers in a network will differ from the ones in a home network. On a network when a virus is encountered, the network admin will be notified and will investigate the virus. Checking for viruses is very important as a virus can jeopardise data within the network which is why the administrator must be notified immediately and eliminate the threat. Whereas at home, people use an antivirus software and carry out scans to check their devices. Frequent file clean ups are necessary to clear up space and organise data correctly. Any temporary files or old files should be deleted as it will not be necessary on the drives. This will free up space for files in the future which will be useful. The network admin should frequently check if the users have enough space on their drives to ensure efficiency. Task 4: Network Security Policy Security is essential in every network, especially for Phoenix. There is a range of security policies that will need to be implemented in the network for it to run efficiently and securely. These procedures will keep sensitive information safe and protect client data. Below I have outlined and covered the security policies that are necessary in any network for it to run smoothly. A firewall is a program that prevents viruses from entering the network. Firewall management is crucial in a network to stop attacks coming into the network. There are many types of attacks that can occur in a network, one type of attack is known as an access attack. This is when a stranger tries to gain information from the network and take control of the network. Another type of attack is a DoS (Denial of Service) attack, this type of attack will affect the systems in the network. This can block employees from accessing their systems which is a setback for the company. ACLs are used to permit or deny access to users throughout the network. The network admin may want a specific group of users to access resources, by adding ACLs the admin can reject access from other groups within the network. This is necessary for Phoenix because it will prevent outsiders from accessing data within the network. The devices in a network must be protected as they contain sensitive data. Hardening is making a device secure and reliable. There are many ways of hardening a device, one way this can be done is by enabling antivirus protection on each device to prevent it from viruses and malware. Another way a device can be more secure is having ACLs put on them, this will stop people from entering them without permission. Securing your devices is crucial in every network to ensure efficiency and reliability. If the device goes down or is hacked it could risk data theft which will setback the company, in this case, Phoenix. This involves reviewing the security policy frequently to ensure that the company is up and running securely. All the security policies are important to the network as they keep it up and running safely. A record should be kept of any threats so the network admin can look out for issues that have occurred in the past, and ensure that they dont happen again. By reviewing all the policies, it will allow the network to run at its optimal performance. Users should have the right permissions on their accounts. The network admin should check the users accounts once a week at least in case some users have rights that they arent supposed to have. This is important for Phoenix as it keeps the company organised and ensures safety by permitting the correct rights to users.

Direct Digital Democracy :: Technology Government Papers

Direct Digital Democracy The central question of this paper is whether or not the rise of the Internet – and, in general, new communications technology – alters â€Å"the limits of the human capacity for self-government.† My answer to this question is no. Advancements in communications technology, no matter how significant or revolutionary they may at first seem, ultimately have no fundamental effect on man’s literal capacity to govern himself. The Internet, like the television, the telephone, and the transatlantic telegraph before that, all have one basic thing in common: each is a tool and not a force of nature. Each must be comprehended, manipulated and applied by an individual, using his own rational faculty and according to his own devices. The technology itself – although complex – is fundamentally no different than the spear, the wheel, the stirrup, the combustible engine, or the space shuttle. Technology does not change man’s fundamental nature, but it does affect how well he lives, what he does, where he goes, and how quickly he can get there. Will the Internet alter the American political system? Indeed it will, and to a large extent already has, by facilitating the work of current government officials and representatives within our present system of representative democracy. But will the Internet revolution drive the American system of government toward direct digital democracy – a â€Å"third transformation† as significant as the transformation from Athenian direct democracy to American representative democracy? Most empirical evidence suggests it will not. Normatively speaking, political scientists ought to retain James Madison’s view that the purpose of gove rnment is to prevent tyranny of the majority and to constrain evil. Therefore, contemporary politicians should openly oppose measures that seek to alter our existing institutions in an effort to make them more conducive to direct democracy, whether digital or not. This Madisonian view of government is neither the sole standard of government in contemporary American society, nor is it the frontrunner among competing political ideologies. I would argue that the mythology of liberalism or populism is accepted as just and revered by most average Americans. In the 2002 Presidential Election, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the Electoral College vote, thus winning the presidency, but lost the overall popular American vote by a significant margin.

Classification of Students

Classifications of Students Students are defined as curious humans who would crave to learn mostly about everything that occurs in this world and that will happen. Like normal humans, students also have different attitudes and characteristics which are commonly alike which causes them to be divided into five different groupings, the ‘queen/king bees', the ‘bullies', the ‘universals', the ‘nerds' and the ‘losers'. In order to further know about these groups, they should be defined. To start with†¦The ‘queen/king bees' which consists of talented, smart, beautiful/handsome, rich and popular, but at the same time hardhearted and prejudice prejudice students. Most of them are mean because they feel their intense power to control students who are lower than them. They are mostly praised and are what I call the ‘heartthrobs' they make boys/girls crazy in love with them which causes them to have stalkers. Some of them are dumb and the factors th at may have raised them up are their money or their beauty. They can also be called bullies but they're bullies in a less destructive and social ways.They are mostly seen in special rooms, libraries and common classes but they are always infront. Next, the ‘universals'. They are the friend of all, from queen/king bees to the losers,except the bullies because bullies are real bad to everyone. The persons that are inclusive to the universals are talented, optimistic, smiling, jolly, lively and smart and they are mostly respected as well but they are pure in heart that they never want to be prejudice and they never want to underestimate anyone who are lower than them.They are the kind of students which are well taught in character building and they are the ones who can be true friends despite of the differences. They are mostly seen everywhere Then here comes, the ‘nerds' which are crazy smart and almost know everything out of anything! They are fond with books and computer s. They are mostly silent and weird looking. Almost all of them are bullied, sometimes they become ‘the bully's nerd' which means they are used by bullies in return, they wouldn't be bullied.Their jobs to the bullies are more on paper works because all pure bullies are dumb and the only thing they know is to hurt. They are mostly seen in the library and computer libraries. Speaking of the ‘bullies', they are the ones who are less understood. Most of them hurt others because that maybe what they learned from their houses or experience. They see other people or students as their outlets of their hatred that they can't express to the ones they hated. They are totally dumb and never wants to study.They hurt all students except the queen/king bees and the universals because they fear to hurt the ones who can stand up against them. They are mostly seen in the detention class or summer class. And last but not the least, the ‘losers'. They are dumb, untalented and mostly g et themselves in trouble. They are mostly hopeless about their future. They are ones who are very bullied. Usually, their friends are their co losers or the nerds but their group befriending a nerd is a very unusual tandem. They are mostly seen in detention class with the bullies or in the normal class right at the middle or back.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly essays

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly essays In society many people are portrayed as pure and innocent, however in reality not everyone is pure, as they seem. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare; it presents the primary character Macbeth represents an innocent human being, but reality proves that he is a cruel evil man. The semblance of Inverness Castle looks harmless and innocent on the outside but when you peer inside the illusion, you come to realize the unholy acts of the murder. Macbeths wife, Lady Macbeth appears to show her innocent self, but also wants to achieve her ambitions and constructs the plans of murder. As a result, Macbeth is lured to murder the king, Duncan, by the desire for power, an appetite whetted by the witchs prophecies and his wifes encouragement and consequenly causes him to live with guilt and discomfort for the rest of his life. The innocence of Macbeth is shown clearly to the people of Scotland. The first illusion in Macbeths cruel massacre occurs to Duncan, the king of Cawdor, the greed of ambition overpowered him by using a false face (I, vii, 94) and using a false heart to hide from his sin. In order to appear innocent Macbeths uses his false face to fool and deceive the people of Cawdor, getting them to believe that he had no connection with the murder. His false heart leads his cruel aspiration of striping Duncan of his kingship. Some of his followers see the illusion fading and discover the wrong doings of Macbeth. The problem that Macbeth now faces is the prophecy that banquos son will be come the new king. Macbeth knows he cannot commit another murder, and with thy bloody and invisible hand (III, ii, 54) he does commit the murder upon Duncan. Furthermore, by killing Duncan and using his invisible hand, the prophecy of Banquos son does not follow thru. After the second murder, the people of Cawdo r get a little more curious about Macbeth and his intensio...

Book Cover Design Advice and Inspiration

Book Cover Design Advice and Inspiration The level of digital media rapidly increases every day, but take a trip to your local bookstore and youll probably notice that print design is still alive and well. Although I love working in both digital and print media, theres something special about being able to hold a beautifully designed printed object in your hands, and some of the best and most unique designs in the field today are found on the covers of books.Designing a great book cover can be a challenge- in order for your design to be effective, it has to creatively represent the material inside while being distinct enough to grab the attention of a viewer and make a significant impact. Because of the complexities of the various different kinds of books, designing book covers can be a valuable exercise to practice your design thinking skills. Here are a few tips to get you on your way to designing stunning covers.Start with a conceptThe best way to get started on a book design is to develop a solid concept that reflects t he overall key message or tone of the book. Thoroughly understanding the content and the goal of the content are critical steps in making a successful cover. In order to do this, its a good idea for you to actually read the content if its available to you or if time allows. Even if you have a fast-approaching deadline or the content is complicated, there are still ways you can gain a true understanding of the content without reading it word-for-word. Read summaries or synopses, character sheets, reviews–basically, any material you can get your hands on in order to really comprehend the book.Next, its time to translate themes and messages of the content into visuals. There are a few different techniques to do this, but my favorite is to develop a mood board- itll help you organize any visual inspiration you get from the content. Go through your content and make a list of adjectives that describe the tone or overall feeling. Some example adjectives might be dark, mysterious, pl ayful, hopeful, serious, noir, classic, scholarly, and funny. Find any recurring objects, settings, motifs, or important scenes and add them to your board. You might find that these words and images start to evoke certain color palettes or typefaces that you can start to explore. The goal of your mood board is to create a visual picture of the content and its meaning which you can draw inspiration from. Generally, covers that are more symbolic tend to be more visually interesting than literal cover designs, so think about how you can represent themes with a subtle visual metaphor that might intrigue a reader. Understanding the tone of your book will help you to create visuals for your cover that are appropriate for the content and that hint at the overall theme. Think of the cover as a sneak peek for the reader- the first chance to draw them into whatever is inside.Stick to your genreKeeping the genre of your book in mind is important- the cover of a mystery novel looks very differe nt from a textbook or childrens book, and it might contain different information with a different hierarchy. Depending on the genre, youll have a different audience to cater to and should design with this audience in mind. For example, a young adult novel cover should appeal to teenagers, so you might use a more youthful design or employ trendier colors and typefaces. For a nonfiction book about politics, the cover you design might feel more formal and academic. Keeping the design applicable to the genre helps readers to quickly understand what kind of book it is and what kind of content theyll find inside.Take a look at other book covers in your genre to see what kinds of techniques they use. This can provide a bit of inspiration, but it can also help you to avoid repeating concepts that have already been done or using common visual clichà ©s which show up frequently within the genre. For example, mystery novels often use doors, long shadows, dead trees, etc.- this doesnt mean tha t you cant use these elements, but your cover will stand out more if you find a way to fit within the genre while still being unique. Try putting a new spin on a clichà © or use unexpected visuals or type treatments.Keep it simpleOne of the biggest mistakes I see with novice book cover designs is trying to do too many things at once. Keep typefaces, colors, and information to a minimum- remember, you only have a few seconds to grab the attention of a reader. This doesnt mean that you have to create a minimal design, but making sure the elements of your cover arent overwhelming together is critical to a professional-looking design.Make sure your layout has a clear hierarchy- this will help a reader navigate through the presented information and understand it easier and faster. Keep all copy as legible and easy-to-read as possible- this is especially important if youre given a lot of copy to put on the cover. Contrasting your type and imagery can help create a pleasant visual balance . For example, if you choose a busy, complicated image as a background, contrast that with a simple typeface so that the two dont compete. Relate the placement of your type with the image so that the design feels intentional and cohesive. The two should work together harmoniously so that the cover feels great and cohesive as a whole.Dont forget productionProduction is another important aspect of book cover design to keep in mind. Make sure you know the specifications of your book cover- this includes things like spine width, bleed, margins and safe areas, and where the barcode will go. Having this information before you start designing will help save time and hassle in the long run.There are a variety of binding and finishing options that can elevate your design and get a passerby to pick it up. Depending on the project budget (and how much control you have in the production process), elements like spot gloss, foil stamping, coatings, and embossing can be options to consider. Howeve r, as a general rule, I would avoid using too many of these options at once- simplicity is key to keep your cover from looking too gimmicky or overwhelming. The production of your book cover should feel as intentional and thought-out as the design itself so that nothing feels like an afterthought or out of place.When deciding on finishing options, I like to stop by bookstores and take notes on what other books are doing- what kind of paper they use, whether the covers are matte or gloss, what elements are embossed, etc. This can help inspire you on where finishing would be best-suited on your design. Be sure to discuss production with your client and/or printer to see what options are feasible for the timeline and budget of the project youre working on.Break the rulesOnce you have the basics of design and layout down, dont hesitate to try something completely unconventional or risky. Some of the most successful book covers take this unorthodox approach in ways that make sense for th eir content. Try altering the orientation of the text, losing the margins, or making the text really big or really small. Use jarring or impactful imagery, die cut holes in the cover, or spread the title over the whole front and back. Breaking the rules doesnt work in every situation, but it can allow you a little more artistic freedom to explore and push the memorability of your cover. Doing something bold with the cover is a great way to prompt a reader to pick up a book.Practice!In my opinion, book cover design is one of the best (and most fun!) ways to practice your overall design skills, especially if youre new to the field. Covers require critical thinking, concepting, sketching, typography, layout, and production- skills that can be applied to many other projects. And unlike other mock projects, its fairly easy to develop a fake brief for a book cover assignment. Try redesigning an existing book, or use a site like Plot Generator to develop fake titles and blurbs. Doing a han dful of fake covers as a personal project can help you to improve your skills and provides great portfolio work when youre just starting out. And, because the projects are your own, youll have more freedom to try new things than you might with a real-life client.Below are three fake book covers I designed for three different genres. Each one uses a different stylistic approach and organizes the information differently.This cover for a made-up thriller uses bold, brushed typography and a subtle textural background of a city. The pop of yellow color conveys a sense of urgency and helps the title stand out over the mysterious background.Just because a book is educational or instructional, doesnt mean it cant be beautifully designed. I designed this cooking guide to be simple, using only blue and white, to create an approachable feel for new chefs. The clean, sparse typography contrasts nicely with the more detailed vintage illustrations which make the book feel classic and timeless.For a romance novel, I went with a minimal approach that uses warm colors and lots of white space. I pulled the simple circles off the edge of the cover to reference a sun setting, and the overlapping circles create a sense of connection and movement.Book cover design can be a difficult and complex process, but keeping these few guidelines in mind will help you to create more successful and meaningful covers.

Consequences of the WW essays

Consequences of the WW essays What are the consequences of The Second World War? What are the most important results of the Second World War? What vital lessons can be derived from its history? The utter defeat of fascist Germany and militarist Japan in which the Soviet Union took the decisive role, was the result of joint efforts by the international front of national liberation, democratic and other progressive forces. The reasons for Victory's impact on world history are to be found in the course and character of the war itself. This is obvious because the Second World War affected the whole system of international relations and, together with these, the interests of all nations and countries far more than the First World War. Its origins, course and consequences are a reflection of the essence and contradictions of the epoch. The main source of wars, as before, is imperialism whose inherent contradictions have become exacerbated in the ever-deepening general crisis of capitalism. War is rooted in the lengthy struggle between rival imperialist blocs, on the one hand, and in their common striving to destroy the Soviet Union and all forces of socialism and progress, on the other. The fomenters of the Second World War were the German imperialists, with the tacit approval of the ruling circles of Britain, France and the United States, who banked on exploiting the armed might of fascist Germany, and her partners in the fight against the USSR, the communist and working-class movement. History has shown that a policy of appeasement is pernicious to its pursuers. The Soviet Union and the other peace loving forces failed in their efforts to prevent war. It began in 1939 with a conflict within the capitalist system. When fascist Germany treacherously attacked this country in the summer of 1941, Britain, France and a number of other countries depended for their very existence on the Soviet Union's capacity to breast the tide and win the war. That is the expre...

Experience in writing the critical analysis Essay

Experience in writing the critical analysis - Essay Example I rarely take statements the way they appear. I have been able to ask, why? In many occasions, this has become part of statement argument in my daily life. Literary analysis is crucial in writing process and I am so convinced that given any work on this, I will be able to handle with a lot of enthusiasm and care. I understand how the written word and language can be powerful. In this class, I am also able to get concepts and expression of ideas. The ideas go together with knowledge and thoughts. In addition, I do not have difficulty in proper sentence construction. My critical analysis essay is very complex in nature with many dimensional views. It gives me the rational knowledge to apply that helps me create a perfect way of logical thinking process. Through this, I am able to see things or expressions in more than one way. For instance, if I look at the most said English phrase â€Å"love is blind†, I am able to analyze it just to get the most appropriate meaning. Logically, what comes into my mind is the author of the phrase, William Shakespeare. Then I would understand that he is a very powerful person since his literary work is sold all over the world. There is a reason for quoting this phrase. It dawns on me that the author’s phrase is very simple, but it holds deep meaning and captures attention of many other scholars and writers. It has gained fame all over the world. ... I will not stress much on this, but let me go back to the subject of the topic. When I refocus on writing skills, understanding the powerful nature of particular statement is crucial. This helps where it can be used effectively in a given sentence construction. In exemplifying this, an analysis on environmental perspective, the writer Steinbeck stressed on embracing and cherishing the natural environment. He states in his book, â€Å"fingers of cloud† the most proper way of treating the environment. The title of his work is reflecting on creativity and one understands the environmental concept more deeply. In using one of his major characters, Gertie, who disregarded all her worldly duties and only embraced radiant mystery of tall mountains and bright skies, he is able to describe the hidden meaning of the title. At least now I am more effective in presenting my written work especially when it comes to research paper. Previously, I would always state what was learnt in class a nd my research findings just in a general way. This time round, I am able to formulate supportive and critical ideas from different sources. Description on my report writing has become a very easy and I can do my work effectively. The classes I had really helped me in writing better papers. In my learning process, I am able to understand and put together various ideas in a coherent and in a correct way, according to the requirements of my assignment. In demonstrating my position, when I look at the research that I have written, the description on the â€Å"Fingers of Cloud,† where it is presented that Steinbeck’s fiction is very interesting when he decided to lengthen the rift between the real and the metaphysical. In addition, different interesting skills I have learnt in writing show my

EVIDENCED BASED PRACICE Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EVIDENCED BASED PRACICE - Literature review Example Multicentre study essentially represents the research study that is planned and is supported by various cooperating institutions. These institutions have been organised in order to assess variables along with outcomes within a specific patient population. There exist certain advantages and shortcomings pertaining to the multicentre study. In such kind of study, assessing the number of patient’s that would be required to conduct the study becomes quite convenient. This further assists in deriving the key outcomes that are convincing and are accepted at a higher level. In this article, this key term shows certain amount of relevancy. The article circles around the certainty of the risk factors pertaining to ‘Diabetic Neuropathic Foot Ulceration’. This is considered as multicentre study because requirement of patients’ number in the aforementioned case is important to have an in-depth knowledge about the problem. The technologies and instruments among others t hat have been implemented depict the association of multicentre as the key term with the article. For instance, â€Å"at baseline and at every subsequent visit (weeks 13, 26, 39, and 52), a thorough foot examination was performed to determine presence of a first or new ulcer† (Abbott & et. al., 1998). This ensures that the depiction of data reflects the implementation of multicentre study. The next key term can be considered as the predictive risk factors. In case of the predictive risk factors, it refers to the instant predictions that can be made pertaining to the relevant problem. In keeping with the predictive risk factors, it can be affirmed that it might accelerate the patient’s risk pertaining to the development of certain diseases. In this article that deals with foot ulceration in case of diabetic neuropathy, the patients might develop any adverse conditions with regard to the treatment being provided. Predictive risk factor has been focused with greater impor tance as a search term in order to derive the particular literature/article. It ensures the various risk conditions that might arise under certain treatment measures (Lund Research Ltd, 2013). The entire article related to ‘Diabetic Neuropathic Foot Ulceration’ deals with this particular disease. The objective of the article is to investigate the prognostic factors pertaining to the foot ulceration for the diabetic patients. Thus, these aspects can be taken into consideration as the key factors (Shaw & et. al., 2003). Key Words Highlighted Within the Literature The key words highlighted in the evaluated article are Vibration Perception Threshold (VPT) and Michigan DPN. In accordance with VPT, it is a form of measure that is applied in the peripheral neuropathy related to Type 1 diabetes. This measure has also been applied in this article to get the outcome related to foot ulceration within the diabetic patients (Martin & et. al., 2013). The prevailing tests conducted by the usage of VPT are useful in deriving the results pertaining to foot ulceration. Michigan Diabetic Polyneuropathy (DPN) is another form of measure that is applied in order to derive

Italian Renaissance Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Italian Renaissance Art - Essay Example The models given by early buildings and works performed by the art also stimulated the expansion of new imaginative techniques and the desire to re-build the forms and styles of classical art (Joost & Christiane, 47). The main development of Renaissance art was the emergence of the artist as a maker, required after, and appreciated for his erudition and imagination. Art became treasured not only as a medium for spiritual and communal didacticism, but also more as a mode of personal, illustration appearance. Even though the development of Italian Renaissance art was a nonstop progress, it is divided into three major phases: Early, High, and Late Renaissance. The last stage has been the focus in new existence of multifaceted interpretation that identifies many contending and complementary trends. Some scholars mark the start of the Italian Renaissance from Giotto di Bondone’s appearance, in the initial years of the 14th century, while others stare his abnormal success in naturalistic art as an remote occurrence (Campbell & Cole, 54). The major members of the first generation of Renaissance artists were Donatello in statue, Filippop Brunelleschi in structural design, and Masaccio in painting. They had common significant characteristics necessary to their philosophy, a faith in the hypothetical foundations of art and the confidence that growth and advancement were not only likely but important to the life and worth of the paintings. Ancient art was valued, not only as a stirring replica but also as a documentation of test and fault that could disclose the successes of former great artists. Intending to repeat the imaginative method, Early Renaissance artists required to make art forms reliable with the appearance of the normal world and with their knowledge of human personality and behavior. By the late 15th century, the innovation of the first volatile advances of Renaissance style had given way to a general receipt of such basic ideas as amount,

Managing People and Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing People and Organizations - Essay Example He / she help in curriculum development in conjunction with other colleagues, department and curriculum coordinators. He/she conduct research; develop new courses, topics, teaching materials and resources. Apart from the teaching job, teacher will be assigned other duties related to the job. These duties can be assigned to him/her by the school principal or department head. The duties may include representing the college during education or career conventions. He/she is expected to comply with Glenelg School of Abu Dhabi code of ethic as well as those specified by the association of teachers at the national level. The candidate should behave professionally at all times. The desired candidate will be liaising students and administration. He or she should interact and work well with colleagues, parents, students and school management. He/she should respect and treat all students as equal. The teacher should inform the parents of the students’ records .All important parents communications are recorded and submitted to the office. In the course of his duties the teacher is expected to use official language only. A job specification refers to skills, knowledge, abilities, education and experience required in order to perform a certain job. Job specification is derived from job analysis. It describes qualities of the candidate to be hired for a specific job (Jean Phillips, 2009). A teacher should have a minimum of a university degree and should be well versed with management, ethics and behavioral theories and concepts. Since the teacher will be dealing with different kinds of people in school, knowledge of management theories will help him/her in motivating student, building relationships with colleagues as well as time and cost management. Knowledge of behavioral theories will help him/her to understand the behavior of students, colleagues and parents. Ethic theories will guide his/her conduct. Apart from the teaching knowledge

Should We Cry for Argentina Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Should We Cry for Argentina - Case Study Example The peso had initially been pegged to the dollar to increase the popularity of the domestic currency following a hyperinflation that had led to demand of payments in dollars back in the 1990s. Local companies blamed their defaults on new requirements that all money sent abroad had to have the central bank’s authorization, a process that proved to be too slow. Increased taxes on exporters and cash-rich firms, and inability to obtain money to pay foreign suppliers intensified the local companies’ struggles. International companies faced rising debts and losses from their Argentine operations as the peso continued its decline. Aerolineas Argentinas, an Argentine airline company, was forced to cancel all of its international flights due to the economical crisis that saw it barely escape bankruptcy in 2002. The rising inflation resulted in a significant increase in commodity prices thus making lives of ordinary difficult. People opted to spend on much cheaper goods than before. It is however reported that the inflation prompted the Argentines to spend rather than save and see their money depreciate in value (Agren). Rates of unemployment soared and poverty ensued too and by the 2012 purchasing power was at an all time

Human Factors in Aviation Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Factors in Aviation Safety - Essay Example At the time, it received high-profile attention from the media, which covered the incident on live television (JetBlue plane, 2005; JetBlue passengers, 2005; JetBlue Airways, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to explore the human factor as it relates to this mishap. The pilot and crew are the first to become the focus of any airline mishap. Other human factors involve maintenance, traffic control and aircraft design. As noted by Wikipedia, "the ability of the flight crew to maintain situational awareness is a critical human factor in air safety" (Air Safety, 2006). A broad definition of situational awareness in flight is observing everything that happens in the immediate area and determining its importance in a complex environment. Initiation of a pilot checklist in 1937 and the relatively new concept of situational awareness have contributed to aircraft safety. Even so, pilot error is considered the most common factor of aviation crashes. Although it is often a factor in midair collisions, additional causes might be due to adverse weather conditions. Crew resource management (CRM) training is another recent effort to reduce pilot error. Terrorism has been added to the human factor list following 9/11/1001, which involved four different commerc ial aircraft (Air Safety, 2006). In the case of the 2005 JetBlue mishap, ... In fact, Robert Boser, editor of Aviation Safety.com, commended the pilot, Captain Scott Burke, who managed to stop the plane in the middle of the 12,000-foot runway at LAX without having the nose break off. The only damage to the plane was in the front wheel area and no one was injured. Because of sparks and smoke, Burke asked if there was any fire visible, but did not receive an answer from the tower. He therefore used air stairs to disembark the passengers for safety reasons (Boser, 2005). This was his response to an emergency in progress, but was there some way he could have known the problem existed before takeoff What Were the Contributing Factors What were the human factors involved in this incident and how well was the emergency handled In addition, why did it happen at all In the case of pilot error, possible factors that could be involved are alcohol use, nicotine addiction withdrawal, error in copying air traffic control clearances, or mental illness. In the JetBlue incident, the pilot and crew were exonerated of any blame and in fact were lauded. Other factors include oversights in aircraft maintenance, mistakes in air traffic control, or weaknesses in aircraft or equipment design. One question in the relatively short history of JetBlue Airlines is whether such a problem has occurred before. And if it has, what was the cause and what human factors were involved JetBlue has only been in business for six years and offers low fares and extra incentives such as live television, leather seats and wireless Internet, which are not available on other popular low-cost airlines such as Southwest. Because of the passengers' ability to watch CNN on the airline's DirectTV hook up, however, with televisions at every seat, they were able to follow the

Managing People and Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing People and Organizations - Essay Example He / she help in curriculum development in conjunction with other colleagues, department and curriculum coordinators. He/she conduct research; develop new courses, topics, teaching materials and resources. Apart from the teaching job, teacher will be assigned other duties related to the job. These duties can be assigned to him/her by the school principal or department head. The duties may include representing the college during education or career conventions. He/she is expected to comply with Glenelg School of Abu Dhabi code of ethic as well as those specified by the association of teachers at the national level. The candidate should behave professionally at all times. The desired candidate will be liaising students and administration. He or she should interact and work well with colleagues, parents, students and school management. He/she should respect and treat all students as equal. The teacher should inform the parents of the students’ records .All important parents communications are recorded and submitted to the office. In the course of his duties the teacher is expected to use official language only. A job specification refers to skills, knowledge, abilities, education and experience required in order to perform a certain job. Job specification is derived from job analysis. It describes qualities of the candidate to be hired for a specific job (Jean Phillips, 2009). A teacher should have a minimum of a university degree and should be well versed with management, ethics and behavioral theories and concepts. Since the teacher will be dealing with different kinds of people in school, knowledge of management theories will help him/her in motivating student, building relationships with colleagues as well as time and cost management. Knowledge of behavioral theories will help him/her to understand the behavior of students, colleagues and parents. Ethic theories will guide his/her conduct. Apart from the teaching knowledge

Human Factors in Aviation Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Factors in Aviation Safety - Essay Example At the time, it received high-profile attention from the media, which covered the incident on live television (JetBlue plane, 2005; JetBlue passengers, 2005; JetBlue Airways, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to explore the human factor as it relates to this mishap. The pilot and crew are the first to become the focus of any airline mishap. Other human factors involve maintenance, traffic control and aircraft design. As noted by Wikipedia, "the ability of the flight crew to maintain situational awareness is a critical human factor in air safety" (Air Safety, 2006). A broad definition of situational awareness in flight is observing everything that happens in the immediate area and determining its importance in a complex environment. Initiation of a pilot checklist in 1937 and the relatively new concept of situational awareness have contributed to aircraft safety. Even so, pilot error is considered the most common factor of aviation crashes. Although it is often a factor in midair collisions, additional causes might be due to adverse weather conditions. Crew resource management (CRM) training is another recent effort to reduce pilot error. Terrorism has been added to the human factor list following 9/11/1001, which involved four different commerc ial aircraft (Air Safety, 2006). In the case of the 2005 JetBlue mishap, ... In fact, Robert Boser, editor of Aviation Safety.com, commended the pilot, Captain Scott Burke, who managed to stop the plane in the middle of the 12,000-foot runway at LAX without having the nose break off. The only damage to the plane was in the front wheel area and no one was injured. Because of sparks and smoke, Burke asked if there was any fire visible, but did not receive an answer from the tower. He therefore used air stairs to disembark the passengers for safety reasons (Boser, 2005). This was his response to an emergency in progress, but was there some way he could have known the problem existed before takeoff What Were the Contributing Factors What were the human factors involved in this incident and how well was the emergency handled In addition, why did it happen at all In the case of pilot error, possible factors that could be involved are alcohol use, nicotine addiction withdrawal, error in copying air traffic control clearances, or mental illness. In the JetBlue incident, the pilot and crew were exonerated of any blame and in fact were lauded. Other factors include oversights in aircraft maintenance, mistakes in air traffic control, or weaknesses in aircraft or equipment design. One question in the relatively short history of JetBlue Airlines is whether such a problem has occurred before. And if it has, what was the cause and what human factors were involved JetBlue has only been in business for six years and offers low fares and extra incentives such as live television, leather seats and wireless Internet, which are not available on other popular low-cost airlines such as Southwest. Because of the passengers' ability to watch CNN on the airline's DirectTV hook up, however, with televisions at every seat, they were able to follow the

Evaluate the Claim That Britishness Is an Ethnic Construction Essay Example for Free

Evaluate the Claim That Britishness Is an Ethnic Construction Essay Introduction The purpose of writing this paper is to analyze and evaluate the argument that ‘Britishness is an ethnic construction’ from the perspective of both its advocators and opponents. The discussion will include evidences that support the claim and also those who go against it in relation to the cultural and ethnic dimensions of britishness in order to provide a better understanding of the events and circumstances that have shaped the past and present of Britain and have led to the development of the identity of britishness. Many sociologists have tried to define britishness in diverse ways. Some have defined it as a ‘mixture’ of races resulting in the emergence of a unique ‘British Race’ with distinguishing characteristics while others have termed it as ‘national character’ that encompasses national customs, traditions, norms and values, molded by historical and environmental factors (On the Meaning n. d. ). Such definitions, however, are not sufficient and deep enough to give a complete explanation of what Britishness really is. Being a matter of perception, britishness has different meaning for different people, but the argument that it is merely a product of ethnic factors is quite debatable. Ethnic groups are often viewed as homogenous, bounded entities with ethnic labels associated with them and referring their connection with a particular material culture. Those who view Britishness as an ethnic identity only argue that it is an unsolidified, diverse and mobile ethnic identity that began 1. X1783213 to establish itself during the nineteenth century with British Monarchy. Concerns regarding religion, ethnicity and national identity have always been at the forefront of political and social debates in modern Britain. Sociologists and political analysts have discussed Britishness among ethnic minorities for many decades, sparked by popular intergroup events such as Rushdie Affair in 1989, Notting Hill in 1958, the Oldham Race riots of 2001 and numerous others. Britishness often tend of get muddled with Englishness, and it is supposed to because there are no clear boundaries that separate Englishness with britishness. An authoritative answer can be a simple ground of differentiation that Englishness is the unique identity of people living in England while Britishness refers to custom values and traditions of Britain citizens (Betts 2007). Whichever definition we present of both the entities, it is clear that there is no clear boundary marking what we can call britishness and Englishness given that the individualistic nature of both the identities are quite similar in terms of ethnicity and social trends. Although the sense of britishness is often considered as a construct of ethnicity, but is can be argued that race and ethnicity are not the only determinants of this national identity as geography, national symbols, political events and historic achievements, diversity, citizenship and immigration trends that have led to cultural diversity in Britain and have influenced the British culture in the realms of language, literature, arts, practices, habits and behaviors, are also equally important tools that have a fair share in shaping up the idea of britishness (Ethnos Research 2005). Although the British Isles and distinctive topographic features like Scottish Highlands and rolling hills, have been subject to influences of conquest and immigration since before the era of Christianity, most anthropologists and sociologists studying and writing about developments of race 2. X1783213 and ethnicity in the region restrain their historical contextualizing to the age following the second World War . The understandable reason for this confinement is that in this period only Britain saw huge numbers of non-white immigrants from different parts of the world. In fact, many diverse non-white populaces had already been residing in Britain before the arrival of Indian traders, (Banks 1996, p. 86). London Docklands was where migrants would arrived not only to sette in the Uk but other parts of the world. Between 1885 and 1905, a number of Eastern Europeans and Russians moved through these and other ports in the UK on their way to North America and South Africa. Between 1876 and 1990 about 2 million adult males left the UK for North America alone. (Green, MacKinnon and Minns, 2003). According to a research conducted by Ethnos Research and Consultancy organization to find out how people living in Britain and belonging to varied ethnicities perceive britishness, it was revealed that the ways in which ethnic groups in Britain, equally sharing britishness, personally relate to their national identity were quite varied (Ethnos Research 2005). The subjects for this research were UK passport holders, knowing that they are British citizens but most of them did not attach any significant value to it. However, white people and those belonging to ethnic minority groups in Wales and Scotland relate to the identity more strongly with the countries rather than with Britain. In England, white participants considered themselves English first and then British, while those belonging to ethnic minorities perceived themselves as British, completely failing to identify themselves as English as they viewed Englishness as something exclusively associated with white people. In short, people from ethnic minority backgrounds residing in England were the ones who identified strongly with britishness (Ethnos Research 2005). It was also revealed that people mainly 3. X1783213 relate to the ethnicity (geographical origins and their traditional cultures), religious and race or cultural sources of identification and these elements of national identifications are widely perceived as being compatible with britishness. It should also be kept in mind that, despite of identity connections and disconnections between people, the advent of internet and modern communication technology has influenced social connectedness, to a great extent, that drives the factors particularly crucial to forming a unified concept of identity including the geographical, socio-economic and cultural factors as explored the research study ‘Connected lives’ undertaken by Victoria university (Wellman et. al 2005). Most of the white population residing in Britain do not consider themselves as Britishers and prefer to register their identity as Scottish, Irish, English or Welsh. But a huge number of people from the ethnic groups confidently proclaim their Britishness and do not feel they are associated to any other national group (Carvel 2002). These issues regarding national identity were explored for the first time in 2011 by a survey conducted by governments general household, an extensive poll of approximately 9,000 British households, issued recently by the office for national statistics. As generally anticipated, the Scots were the ones least tending to assert their identity as British. More astonishingly, citizens old enough to recall the memories of the last war were less likely to acknowledge their Britishness than the young ones (Carvel 2002). Grown-ups were asked to register how they like to describe themselves, picking one or more options from a national identities list including British, Welsh, English, Irish, Scottish or other. The results revealed that, for Britain as a whole, 31 percent people declare their nationality as British and gave 4. X1783213 no other varying reply, 50 percent of participants labeled themselves only as Scottish, English, Irish or Welsh, while 13% claimed both of these (Carvel 2002). Hence from what ground reality depicts, geographical origin and social and political history has much influence on shaping people’s perspectives of identity rather than only ethnic background. Since the cultural influence as part of the region’s diversity has given rise to a mixed society, incorporating various cultural elements; Asian food, black music, morocco drugs, etc. Furthermore, 1997 landslide labor elections brought a more adaptive government to Westminster, which had a flexible attitude towards the matters of national identity as compared to the Pluralist Liberal establishments of the 19th and early 20th century. The concept of britishness has changed over the course of last two centuries, adapting to the changing demands and circumstances. The new version of Britishness not only embraces diversity but is constituted of this multiplicity, that not only engages religiousness and ethnicity, but also races, common customs, traditions, new ideologies and social concepts, geographic inheritance and arts and literature (Ward 2004, p. 10). As stated by Paul Ward, identification categories which people have allocated themselves have not been strictly defined along ethnic lines (Ward 2004, p.115). During a research carried out to address the questions related to national identities, a white youngster belonging to Southall described himself as related to ‘English black’ culture, conveying the wide scale existence of hybridity which is a very significant concept for understanding sense of Britishness that prevails today. According to various studies aimed at understanding the psychological factors behind the notion of Britishness, it was indicated that just like any other concept portraying social identity, the concept of Britishness is to a great extent fluid and flexible, which can be linked with a range of varied and, in 5. X1783213 most cases, contradictory meanings. Yet, even though it has a flexible nature, the Britishness conception is also grounded in a specific social, economic, political, ideological and cultural reality (Ethnos Research 2005). Strong relationships related to age, class, ethnicity, religion and gender are primarily involved in outlining and maintaining the notion of Britishness. It should also be kept in view while drawing out the connections of ethnicity with Britishness that ethnicity itself is not self-enclosed, rigid and exclusive. According to a practical definition of ethnicity, it entails a belief system in realms of cultural distinctiveness or an identification founded on mutual cultural traits (Ward 2004, p. 115). This indicates that ethnicities are not fixed, neither there are any clear cut boundaries defining communities or races because today hybridity and diversity together has blur the lines separating ethnicity, races and communities. Hence the amalgamation of ethnic groups and social communities has changed the rigidness that could have been allied with formation of a hard-edged concept of Britishness. Now there exists a ‘collective’ or ‘combined’ sense of identification owing to the ethnic and racial diversity that have emerged as a result of a long and consistent history of migrations leading to a society with multi-ethnic nature and diverse social and political ideological frameworks that, along with a number of other features, majorly including historical events, immigration trends, socio-economic and political changes, terrain origin, attitude towards gender and racism etc. have a crucial contribution in constructing the concept of Britishness (Ward 2004, p.116). References Banks Marcus1996, Ethnicity: Anthropological constructions, Routledge, London. Betts Alex 2007, Through my eyes: Englishness vs britishness, Albion Magazine Online, 6. X1783213 Carvel John 2002, Sense of britishness more prevalent among ethnic minorities, survey shows, The Guardian Ethnos Research and Consultancy 2005, Citizenship and belonging: What is britishness? , Commission for Racial Equality, London. Spearhead, On the Meaning of Britishness, n. d. , Spearhead Wellman Barry et.al 2005, ‘Connected lives: The project’, in Purcell P (ed. ), Networked neighbourhoods, Springer, Berlin. Introducing the Social Sciences – Part 2, Exploring Social Lives. The Open University. Simon Bromley, John Clarke, Steve Hinchliffe and Stephanie Taylor. 2010 Self Reflection I did enjoy writing this essay quite a lot as I can be quite controversy and did a lot of sourcing on the subject as I hope it shows. However it just comes down to time for me to get it done on time and make sure that its worthy of sending in. 7.

Analysis of New Dawn Drilling Company

Analysis of New Dawn Drilling Company New Dawn Drilling (NDD) is a company focused on identifying, acquiring and exploring gold and platinum deposits. It is also a major player in underground drilling operations on South African land. The company currently has its operation spread over 6 towns in South Africa. This report is produced by carrying out investigative business analysis on NDD and its external environment to determine company position and ability to survive in the competitive mining sector of SA. The analysis will help in developing a long term strategic plan to improve the business of the NDD Company. The good reputation that NDD has developed in the market is used to develop a business strategy to make it a brand for drilling operations and developing a niche market for its drilling operations. The role of an information system in a business and how it can be used to coordinate the paper work, development process and efficient working of the regional offices is evaluated. Use case, activity and class diagrams are techniques used for modeling the information system. The assumptions made can be used to interpret the system in a number of different ways. 1.1 Introduction to Strategic Analysis tools NDD can use several TPI can use several analysis techniques to discover the potency of its business model, while examining the attributes of the business environment in which it operates. The techniques discussed below include SWOT, PESTEL and Porters Five Forces. SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis SWOT analysis is a business tool used to evaluate the companys position in the market and its ability to survive. It helps to predict the capability of the organization. The strengths and weaknesses deal with the internal facts and factors of the business. The opportunities and threats deal with the external factors of the organization. Exploiting the right opportunity and safeguarding against the analyzed threats can set a company apart from their competition. PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Technological) The PESTEL analyses are used to scan the external environment. The Pestle analysis factors are out of the businesses control as they are always subject to change. Still, they have a significant affect they have on companys performance. They help the businesses to take a pro-active approach and be ahead of these changes instead of hastily changing the products and processes. (Robert Mark Brown) Porters Five forces Porters 5 Forces can be best described by the following figure: Fig: Schematic diagram of Porters 5 forces. (Robert Mark Brown) They are used determine the, expected level of competitive intensity (Grà ¼nig and Kà ¼hn, 2008, chap 11.1). They analysis help to detect which are the dominant forces which can control the business. Using Porters five forces concurrently with SWOT analysis will add more depth to the analysis (Mind tools, 2010) 1.2 PESTle Analysis: PESTLE Analysis factors How does it affect NDD Potential Impact: Importance Political: 1.There is an increasing black unionism which has caused a significant change in South African politics leading to reforms in legislation. 2. The Government has employed policy reforms which allow foreign direct investment in Africa resulting in transfer of new technologies for exploration and drilling services, skills and production methods for efficient use of the mineral resource. 3. The government has introduced ABET (Adult basic education and Training) to improve the skills and literacy of the people. 4.The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) is been continuously updated by implementing more stringent rules making it more difficult for companies to adhere to them. (Rapidbi,2010) Employees of NDD are benefitted. NDD can contact foreign companies for partnerships. More skilled labour to hire from. Additional costs might have to be incurred Medium Medium Low High Important Critical Unknown Critical Economic 1. South Africa is in a recession leading to low long term interest rates. The economic crisis had led to reduced tariff, taxes and fiscal deficit. 2. The production of many big mining companies was halted due to accidents on site owing to reduced activity on the mining front. The gold and other prices also dropped owing to reduced growth. 3.Global recession has weakened the rand has led to South Africa becoming a competitive place to perform drilling operations for mining industry.(Robert Mark Brown) 4.The mining employers are investing and spending less as the banks have reduced the lending tightened their budgets because banks are controlling lending more strictly. 5. Presently, the drilling, exploration and any mining company for that matter has been faced to spend the 5 to 10% of their payroll in the skill and development programmes required for their perspective operations.(Rapidbi.,2010) Capital crunch Less Business to do. Increased rivalry Cant borrow Money for expansion. Reduced profits High High High Medium Medium Important Unknown Critical Important Important Socio-cultural 1.South African mining sector has lower levels of skilled employees than other sectors in the economy. But still they have strong mining culture which helps them produce new ideas. 2. South Africa has a large presence of HIV/Aids epidemic and is high amongst young SA population. The mining sector is the deeply hit industry as the labor required by them is mostly young as the work required is physically taxing and dangerous. 3.NDD has to keep in mind that when they expand their business locally or internationally they have to consider the local preferred way of living and doing things. 4.South Africa has growing ethnic, cultural and gender diversity leading to new opportunities as well as challenges.(Rapidbi,2010) Labour with Strong mining background. Deal with discrimination which is bound to happen. Carrying out extensive research of demographic where they enter. Management Challenges Medium High High Medium Important Critical Important Critical Technological 1. Alternative cheaper and inexpensive sample retrieval techniques other than diamond drilling can be used ex.RVC Drilling 2. The implementation of information systems to the mining companies has helped them to mine site production reporting and accounting. It also helps them to calculate their raw material requirements and helps in creating wok purchase orders. 3. South Africa has a huge science base invested in improving Mining operations. They are continuously pushing the boundaries to automate most of the processes involved. It would help the companies to reduce labor cost. 4. The lack of investment in Research and innovation in the Mining sector has generally contributed to lower levels of operational productivity compared to its strong global competitors like China and Australia.(Robert Mark Brown) Considerably reduce operation costs. Help manage Paper work efficiently. This can help reduce the labour costs Due to this NDD cannot compete with the inter-national local big players High High High Medium Critical Important Unknown Unknown 1.3 Porters Five Forces: Threat of New Entry It is unlikely that there is a threat of new entry as the capital required to set up a business similar to NDD is quite high. This can only be afforded by companies with huge balance sheets and strong set of contacts. The industry is highly regulated which makes it difficult to enter. Few, but not all, exploration and drilling companies have established co-operation with mining companies to remain in business and these contracts are not easily awarded Competitive Rivalry: There are 25 local competitors of which few have thrice the turnover of NDD. This shows that NDD is a small/medium player in a saturated market. As the South African rand has weakened the mining operation have been slowed down resulting in increased competition to land the existing few projects. and will not be able to benefit from the economies of scale of the larger mining sector. Some local rivals have partnerships and acquisitions with the larger mining groups based locally or internationally. The companies cannot win the contracts by keeping their prices low as the cost of materials is going to increase due to recession. Bargaining power of Buyer: The negotiation strength of the customers is high because, for example, a gold mining company will try to merge with its larger counterpart involved in gold, diamond, platinum, etc and this may offer us to have a larger share of the market. Though switching from one buyer to another is difficult NDD can be able to exercise its market power. Threat of Substitution The threat of substitution is a harsh reality NDD has to face. But the organizations out there which might perform operations similar to that of NDD are substantial but limited. There are no new companies entering so the threat of substitution tends to be low. Bargaining power of Supplier: The bargaining power of the supplier will be high. Drilling operations are going to remain consistent and they are going to need materials from suppliers. Due to the current economic conditions it has lead to prices rise and inflation which have made prices of the commodities required a bit unaffordable (oils, grease).This has threatened the supply-chain relationship. 1.4 SWOT Analysis (Intelligence Phase) Strengths 1. NDD is a company targeting copper, gold and platinum metal ores in Orkney, Randoftein, etc which the rich mineral belts of South Africa are. 2. It has a consistent underground drilling business which will continue to be as the companies are obliged to carry out core sampling for safety reasons. (New Dawn Drilling, 2010) 3. Their management team is good competent, experienced and have set of technical expertise. (New Dawn Drilling, 2010) 4. Surface exploration lends itself well to a high degree of automation which can help reduce labor cost and improve production rates. 5. South Africa is a low risk sovereign country.NDD has focused its exploration and drilling operations only in South Africa which is justified by the past economic global events. 6. Amalgamation of the orders at the central offices enables the company to buy at cheaper rates from suppliers. (New Dawn Drilling, 2010) Weaknesses 1 The exploration business is extremely sensitive so it requires a strategic business plan to survive and flourish.NDD does not have any sort of plan if they were going to lose a significant amount of business. 2. In the current situation, NDD cannot track whether excessive replacements of parts are taking place at certain project sites. 3. NDD has poor communication channels. The absence of centralized management system restricts the main office from accessing information in real time. They have to wait for the regional sites to compile the information and mail it to them. 4. NDD is dependent entirely on its underground drilling operations for profit as surface drilling business is merely making a profit. 5. NDD has not yet ventured into the mining sectors internationally. (Helix Resources Limited, 2010) Opportunities 1. South Africa has been long involved in mining and it has a promising geological setting for other minerals. They can start applying for projects which include exploring and drilling for minerals like nickel, Rare earth elements (Rees), etc. 2. To enter into international markets preferably starting from the African neighbors. 3. The current shortage of high quality deposits has caused a huge market interest in new exploration activities. This can be a great opportunity to rope in a few extra projects from companies. 4. Opportunity to merge with other companies in the mining industry, to benefit from shared knowledge, economies of scale and offer more services like competitors. 5. NDDs major chances of success lie in proving a reserve. This can be achieved by implementing latest or alternate drilling and exploration techniques. 7. NDD can use farm-in-opportunities in regions which they think have potential for copper, gold or any other mineral. 8. A new employee shift system can be implanted to ensure drilling operations at non- peak times. (New Dawn Drilling, 2010) Threats 1. Exploration is inherently a risky business as it is very difficult to predict and only handful of exploration operations turn into production. 2. Regulatory risk- If any changes happen to the health and safety rules or environmental laws and regulations, it would result in company bearing additional costs. 3. Challenges from local and foreign companies performing the similar services are high. 4. Over reliance on technology The PCs at the project sites will be linked to the server at Johannesburg for access to the application software and database. So if the system is down it can bring the working of the business to halt. It is critical that the servers are running for the activity based costing system to function efficiently since the business is based in two geographical locations. (New Dawn Drilling, 2010) 1.5 Conclusion of the strategic analysis techniques The strategic analysis from the SWOT, PEST and Porters five forces indicate that the strengths of the company are outweighed by its weaknesses and threats. The business which the company is operating is very sensitive and strategic analysis of NDD helps us to conclude that the existing business policy will not help it to survive in the long term. The opportunities presented to NDD through the SWOT analysis suggest how the business could target a specific segment in the market, rather than the mass market which is saturated as overseas manufacturers enter the industry in the UK. A major strength of NDD is the reputation and a small but strong foothold in the gold and platinum ore bodies of mining industry. This opportunity can be exploited to the fullest by branding itself and using a the existing projects as a leeway to obtain new projects in the other mineral ore bodies like nickel or even the rare earth metals (REEs).NDD has a good working relationship with its mining employers and it is possible that the company can use this strength to carry out Research Development to implement new and latest drilling and exploration technologies. This might also help in finding and serving a gap in the current drilling services provided by the companies if it exists. (Helix Resources Limited, 2010)(Fin Metal Mining Ltd, 2010) The greatest weakness of NDD is a fact that it is a small player in a competitive South African mining industry dominated by larger organizations and also will not be able to compete on cost with their Asian counterparts.NDD needs to implement a management information system and streamline its operations so that it can track the cost of drilling, keep a record of excessive replacement of costly parts and identify operations where costs are exceeding the income. The Management information system being implemented in the form of an activity based costing system can help to carry out the price fixing exercise with the mining companies. 1.6 Five year Business plan: The draft of the five year business plan for NDD is developed on the basis of the conclusion of the strategic analysis of NDD using PESTEL, Porters Five Forces and SWOT. In the current situation NDD does not have any Strategic plan and their business is hugely sensitive depending upon the local and global market events. If NDD were to lose their current share of business they would have no way forward. Therefore, NDD needs to weigh its options locally as well as internationally as there are other countries too those are involved in mining. Branding, though quite rarely used in mining industry it is becoming an upcoming trend for companies to differentiate themselves from their rivals. They can concentrate on a particular market; make changes to their employee work pattern and their business plan for the future 1.6.1 SWOT-Design Phase: Weaknesses 1. They dont have a system in place to estimate correct contract rates. Even if slight changes occur in the contract rates they seriously impact the income stream. 2. NDD is relatively a small/medium player with a turnover of up to 20 million dollars. NDD cannot have the same level of resources that are available to their big competitors Strengths They can keep focusing on gold as it is a flourishing business. 2. The company has a healthy pipeline of projects in hand with in minerals ranging from gold, copper and platinum spread over six geographically different areas. 3. The annual price fixing of the contract enables the company to assess its variable costs in relation to the existing economic conditions. Opportunities NDD can brand itself for operations they are currently performing. They can implement Management information system to track materials and calculate contract pricing. They can enter the stock market making the private business public. . A new employee shift system can be implanted to ensure drilling operations at non- peak times. Threats 1. Economic Factors: interest rates, political decisions, inflation al affect the mining industry very badly. 2. Lack of Skilled workers Although the number of people entering the mining sector is high in SA, many lack the specialist skills required to carry out specific operations. 1.6.2 Using Branding as Business Strategy: NDD already has a reputed name as it is involved in projects spread over six geographically different towns in SA. This means that company can use some form of marketing strategies to establish itself as a brand in the services and operations they are performing. For branding NDD needs to consider two basic strategies. The first is to be different from the others and stress on the distinctive feature that NDD offers when it is employed by the organization. Every employer is willing to consider something different which is profitable for them. This can be a different work roster or an innovative system to perform operations required. The second will be to put through the NDDs vision, values and culture. While doing this if we stumble upon that a certain aspect of the company is not worth publicizing then we can always focus on the strengths we have derived from the SWOT analysis. This is a long term solution which will make the Company competitive as it will take some time for mining employers to develop confidence in them. Also, an important advantage is the fact that the amount of resources required for branding an organization go on decreasing with time as more and more Companies start noticing. (Helix Resources Limited,2010)( Fin Metal Min ing Ltd,2010) 1.6.3 Targeting a Niche Sector in Mining Sector; NDD is currently working on 9 shafts related to gold. This can use as an advantage by NDD by targeting all the gold shaft related projects. Most of the companies are focused on platinum markets which can help NDD reduce some of the perceived threats to its business by targeting the gold market. The mining sector is becoming increasingly competitive and there any many big multi-nationals out there ready to put small/medium industries out of business.NDD can use the contacts from the existing gold mining employers to farther there ambition. They can even enter into partnerships with their current employers and sign future gold shaft contracts and ensuring a stability of income to their business. Due to NDDs previous and present track record the companies might consider entering into partnership. Even though there have been global recession, the gold production and mining hasnt been affected badly. They can also venture into international markets for gold related projects. They can star t with applying for contracts in Zimbabwe and Tanzania which are also rich for gold deposits and less competitive than South Africa.NDD compared to other companies in these countries can be termed as Medium/Big player which help give them an advantage. The labor and operating costs will also be low compared to SA. Thus targeting gold related operations can prove to be a huge safety net in these uncertain times. Though it cant be neglected that the Pestle analysis are going to dictate the income and pricing for the contracts. (Fin Metal Mining Ltd. 2010) (Otjihase and Matchless Mines). 1.6.4 Operating Strategic plan For NDD: NDD can focus their existing strategy on the finding out near surface targets for gold (niche) or the other two minerals they are operating. This will allow them to perform underground drilling operations on surfaces which are suitable for open cut mining operations. This focus on areas which have a rich history for previous success, for example, targeting projects in areas of Kimberley Reef group will keep the income cash flow constant in these current economic conditions. (Otjihase and Matchless Mines). NDD can also enter into drilling projects for minerals other than gold, platinum, copper .NDD can try uranium, nickel or the Rare earth elements (Rees).For uranium they can focus on exploring areas like Gauteng in Witwatersrand basin which are rich in content ensuring underground drilling operations to be performed on them for the mining employers to start their mining production. Similarly for Nickel which is even easier as Phalborawa where they are currently operating are rich in Nickel deposits. They can acquire projects related to them as they are already well-known in that area. They can NDD can prioritize their accepting of surface exploration projects in the following sequence: In areas requiring near surface exploration with mineralization targets not more than 70 m below which are extremely high potential for Mining operations. Targeting areas which have a mining history Areas which have not been mined previously but seem to have potential for underground mining They can also undertake projects from companies which require refurbishment for their shafts. The refurbishment for the shafts will include an underground drill program to take rock sample from the shafts and perform tests on them. This will allow the mining companies to help estimate the amount of mineralization left in the foots or hanging walls of these shafts. These contracts will not require any new technologies and investment from NDD as it is already doing it for its current employers in some way. This can be a way to expand their business. (Exploration Strategy, 2010) (Otjihase and Matchless Mines). 1.6.5 Alternative operating technique: NDD can also try out a different operating strategy for underground Drilling. At present, Diamond drilling is used for retrieving core samples which is expensive and time consuming. Instead of this, NDD can implement RVC drilling which give small rock samples instead of a solid core which are easier to look under microscope. Figure: Rvc Drilliing (Delta Mine training center, 2010) RVC drilling requires a bit larger equipment but it has high rate of penetration and low cost per foot. This makes it faster and inexpensive than diamond drilling. This can help NDD reduce its operational costs. (Trevor Fletcher) (Otjihase and Matchless Mines). 1.6.6 Going Public: The other strategy NDD can adopt is making the private company go public. This will help it enter the South African stock exchange where people can buy NDDs Shares. This will also automatically serve as a purpose of branding as it will help the company get noticed. This will also help them to get international recognizition.They can enter into partnerships with the foreign companies which are looking to invest in Africa due to new FDI Policy implemented by South African government. This can serve as an opportunity for NDD to get projects locally as well as internationally. 1.6.7 Employee shift system: At present the company operations on site are carried out 7 days a week and 3 x 8 hour shift basis. This can be replaced by be 2 x 10 hour shift on a continuous basis. Often the drill started on one shift ends on anothers shift. This can sometimes cause delays. New shifts will minimize these chances and also save time. The overtime will be calculated above the set 10 hours reducing the costs incurred by the company. This will also help in decreasing the non-productive hours. (Shift Schedules, 2010) (Otjihase and Matchless Mines) 1.6.7 Role of the director managing the future: NDD cannot change its operating strategies overnight. It will require a step-by-step process form the management personality (1 director) which is experienced and has a proven field experience. He will also play a major role in evaluating pricing for tenders, contracts and acquiring the projects. The employees are going to face a lot of social difficulties while trying to operate with new information systems at offices and also new operating techniques on site. Therefore, the management has to solve the problems on site or the glitches in the information systems by appointing people for that purposes. Later, when the plans work he has to dedicate funds for their maintenance and continuous improvements. He will have to combine the top officials from NDDs regional offices and work together for better future of the company. 1.6.8 Legal Factors to be considered: The stringent health and safety rules mean that NDD will face legal challenges to make sure the company and staff have been vetted by the government and have obtained a level of safety clearance deemed fit to carry out its drilling operations.. The company must follow The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999)which stated that the work equipment should comply with the strict and complex safety control procedures necessary for mine related operations. They must also have evacuation methods in place in case a catastrophe occurs. The business of the NDD is susceptible to a number of risks and hazards which involve labor disputes, on-site accidents, unforeseen geological and environmental conditions, cave-ins or even earthquakes for that matter. This can cause damage to the company equipments, properties or even death of the employees which can get the company into a legal mess. Therefore, NDD must have an insurance policy to cover itself if these calamities were to o ccur.. Companies providing insurances for mining industry generally at high premium costs. Losses from these events might be difficult to recover from for NDD so they need to have them even though it is not on their terms. Chapter 2 2 a) Use case Diagram: 2 b) Class Diagram: Class Diagrams: Activity Diagram: 2 c) Activity Diagram: 2 d) Architecture of the Information System: The Johannesburg office has a server and 2 computers which are connected using a switch. This switch is used to create 2 subnets of which one contains the server while the other contains 2 pcs. This will assist in management and maintenance of the information systems and also help in future expansion. The switch is connected to the router which is in turn connected to the internet through a firewall. This firewall will protect the internal network and also handle the VPN connections from the regional offices.The regional offices will use local internet providers to connect to the internet. This will be much cheaper and flexible than having private dedicated lines from the regional offices to the main office. Network connections: An Ethernet cable is used to connection between the PCs and the router and the router and the server is carried out using an Ethernet cable. All pc at the regional offices will have internet connection so that they are connected to the server in Johannesburg. As a security measure firewall will be placed between the internet connection and the server. Barcode readers will be made mobile by connecting them to the pc using a wireless connection.. Virtual private networks (VPN) will be used over the network connection for the pcs to communicate with the server in Johannesburg (Beynon-Davies) Software required Windows NT is used as the operating system and server software. The software will have applications such as purchasing, word processing, activity based costing system, and stock control .The pcs at regional offices will have installed the windows operating system and must log in to the server to use the applications. Pcs will be equipped with software linked to the server for barcode reading procedures. (Beynon-Davies) Security A firewall is in place to stop any unauthorized access. There is log in system available on each pc to restrict it to only employees of the company.VPNs are used by the regional offices to connect to the Johannesburg server over any other unsecured network connection. (Beynon-Davies) Chapter 3 Conclusion The report gives a wide perspective by carrying out analysis of NDD and how developing and implementing a strategic business plan can help the NDDs business to survive and grow in a competitive environment. It is extremely vital to understand that decisions made using the strategic analysis techniques are based on assumptions for, e.g. will the investment be made by the company venture into international markets, or will they invest in the equipments necessary for exploring minerals ore bodies other than gold, copper and platinum, train its employees for this purpose and also finding and providing drilling services which are yet not out there in the maket.NDD must also be willing to spend to buy new automated drilling machines if they are available or invest in automating their existing machines NDD must understand that the analysis techniques have their limitations and realize that committing itself to sudden change by undertaking projects for different minerals or REEs might be risky, although the risk can be well afforded as it is likely that if the business continues to function as it is of now it would be pushed out of the mining sector by local and overseas competitors entering the South African mining industry. Moving into exploring and drilling for other mineral ores such as nickel,REEs,etc or expanding into foreign markets can have their share of threats as it is likely that there are specific companies who will have built a great deal of experience in the field and have long term strategic contracts with their customers. New players like NDD, may be ignored by customers in the international or local untried mineral markets because they may be perceived to not have the necessary skills to serve the industry