Cyper ethics Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cyper ethics - Article Example In accordance with Alvin Goldman critics, the internet has greatly deteriorated the influence that the conventional media once had on the people by lack of truth in the messages being conveyed. As a result, this affects the epistemic prospects of the voting public. Alvin explains filtering as a process whereby, a third person is involved in the process of communication. In addition, he further explains that the person should have the power to select preferred messages that should be sent via certain channel of communication. According to Alvin, this is important as it is the most appropriate way of ensuring that the community can track the truth from politics thus enhancing democracy. Moreover, filtering has been applied in scientific journals and the common law in the process of determining the truth and by so doing; it should also be used in the practices of the social media so as to promote the truth. From Richard Posner’s discussions, it is quite clear that the function of news is to inform people about social, political, cultural, ethical and economic issues. Therefore, journalists and their employers are under an ethical duty to report news accurately and soberly without being biased. However, Richard Posner has pointed various occasions whereby news has been sensationalized and as a result, raised unnecessary anxiety. He explains that this is as a result of increase in the number of television channels due to satellites and numerous online blogs and newspapers even though he concludes that it isn’t much to worry about. In my opinion, I do not think that he’s right as sensationalized news could cause very serious and tragic consequences. This is because could foster crisis especially in during an election and lead to disunity in the region thus destruction of property and consequently harming the economy. Moreover, I am completely in harmony with

The Arch of Constantine Essay Example for Free

The Arch of Constantine Essay The Arch of Constantine has stood as one of the triumphal symbols in Rome, along with the Triumphal Arch, and the Arch of Titus. It was in 313 A. D, when Emperor Constantine the Great established what is known as the largest arch in Rome, situated near the Colosseum. Through the structure, the reliefs, and the mixture of historic scriptural decoration, the Arch of Constantine communicates a manipulative message of Imperial power. In addition, it is in the Formalist approach: consisting of line, shape and other various features, as well as the Marxist approach: which deals with the manipulation of art by the ruling class and conveying of social messages, that we can witness this message of Roman imperialism. Firstly, in its formalistic attributes, the monument holds a definite symmetrical appearance, consisting of three openings with the middle opening being the center of focus, as it is the largest of the three. As for the arch itself, it is made from pure marble with an evident repetition in components of four: from the columns, to the medallions, and also the Dacian statues on the attic of the monument, which were taken from the time of Trajan. As well, the rest of the arch is lavished with decorations of the original reliefs as well as the reliefs of other emperors from earlier monuments like Hadrian, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius. In turn, the combinations of both old and new reliefs show the history of the Roman military campaign as well as the conflicting mixture of styles and traditions in Rome. When looking at the Arch from an Marxist approach, we can acknowledge its strategic placement in the city of Rome. In turn, we can read the reasoning in the placement of the monument when the theory of Marxism is understood as dealing with the struggle of the working class as well as the alienation of the ruling class. Being situated near the Colosseum and acting as a gate into the Palatine Hill, the Arch allows much public accessibility while the reliefs on the monument remind the public of the achievements and historical events in Rome. However, what is most evident is the constant reminder of the Emperor’s authority, a manipulative message that is perhaps repeated through out the whole arch. In furthering this, the monument was a glorious by pass in commemorating Constantine for his victory over Maxentius, his rival. However, it is also through this Arch that the Roman army travels to enter into battle, as well as returning home in victory. Besides the formal structure of the arch, the reliefs decorated upon it also impose a great notion on the power of the state. Reliefs all around the Arch display a record of military campaigns, conquest and Constantine’s personal qualities. Many of the reliefs are even reused from monuments of earlier emperors, such as the two-framed panels on the attic, originally found on a monument of emperor Marcus Aurelius. Another example is the Dacian statues situated in between the framed panels, while they were originally from a Trajanic monument. These reused imagery were all chosen to demonstrate the success and the official military role of the emperor. By doing so, Constantine hoped to gain some of the same honour and recognition as the earlier emperors did. In addition, the Arch consists of â€Å"Victories†, who are statues of powerful women with wings. Their symbolism is likewise to their name, suggesting to the viewer of Rome’s great success in battles won. In this way, Constantine uses these well-recognized, iconographical figures to interpret ideas to the people of Rome. However, besides the message of conquest, two longer panels are found under the medallions on both sides, illustrating the emperor’s influence on the people. The first panel, known as oratio, shows Constantine giving a public speech in the Roman Forum, suggesting leadership and guidance in the emperor. Within this panel, great emphasis is used to lead the viewer’s focus on none other than Constantine, as heads of Romans are generally turned to face the speaker. The second panel, called donatio, displays the emperor distributing money to the public, also showing the emperor’s influence on the people, and even his ability to provide for Rome at his own expense. In furthering these two panels, it is intriguing to find that the head of Constantine is missing in both pieces. This is due to the fact that his head was made of a different, perhaps finer marble and after time, has disconnected with the rest of the piece. However, despite the renewing of earlier monument figures, the reliefs on the Arch of Constantine no longer follow the same naturalistic styles but have become more abstract and formal. Losing the classicality of former monuments, the heads of individual figures are enlarged and stubbier, while their poses are more repetitive, and their carving is flatter. Yet through out many of the reliefs, the message stays the same, showing the emperor has the sovereign, triumphant one, who dominates in each scene. Furthermore, it is the formalistic attributes of the shape and structure of the arch, as well as the Marxist approach in the mixed reliefs that shape the Arch of Constantine as an icon of imperial power. In addition, much of these aspects that shaped the Arch can be seen in many structures in our world today. As well, the way we read these images can be applied to our modern structures, discovering the hidden agendas and implications in the piece. Likewise, facilities such as the White House or a courthouse can be seen with the same principles as icons of power and control as well as order. Other examples include the no longer existing World Trade Centers, which were the iconographical symbols of capitalism. As well, facilities like many schools and universities display the pride and control of the school staff through posters, banners. We are sometimes reminded of the achievements and respective position of the school as we enter its front doors. Similar to the Arch, these structures literally influenced the public, as people are bound to come in contact with them, walk pass them or even through them. Even sport arenas can be seen in the same light, as many stadiums display their historical success and victories or even legendary leaders. It is clear that the usage of formalistic structure and iconographical imagery, in the light of Marxism, is still relevant today. From propaganda, to commercial advertisements, to authoritative visuals, we are confronted in equally similar ways everyday.

Team Player Essay -- Short Story Track Running Essays

Team Player It is a cold, wet October morning in Slippery Rock, PA. The school bus carrying 50 sleeping high schoolers pulls into a gravel parking lot, joining a crowd of buses and vans already lining the edge of a vast grassy field. A never-ending white line is painted on the short-clipped grass marking a trail. It follows the outside of the expanse, along the parking lot, beside the road, up and down the hills and valleys, and through small patches of trees and brush at the far end of the field. Football goalposts crown the crest of a hill in the distance and white wooden posts guard the insides of the curves of the white line. As the bus driver turns off the motor, the girls begin to stir and sit upright in their seats. They wipe the beads of condensation from the inside of the windows and look outside, absorbing this beautiful scenery. A few begin to talk to the person sitting next to them. Others stretch and let out loud groans. This is the morning they have been preparin g for since the summer months: this morning, this very group of girls will try to prove themselves as the highest-ranking, fastest-running cross country team in western Pennsylvania. Soon, this calm field will be overtaken by swarms of coaches, runners, parents, and officials. As the morning moves on, more and more people gather around the tents that have popped up between areas of the course. After about two hours of preparation, the teams start gathering near the starting line for the first race. First to run are the boys’ junior varsity teams, followed forty minutes later by boys’ varsity. And then it’s my turn. Coach LeDonne gathers all of the girls on the JV team around him in front of our duck-y... ... that I gave as much to the team today as any other girl walking in those doors with me. And at that moment I realize that I contributed an equal amount to the victory as the first runner or the fourth runner, or the last runner on my team. Perhaps running is my secondary duty for the team. Maybe it is equally important that I helped Amy push up that hill in her race as it is important that I finished my own race with an average personal time in mine. Even though the team as a whole may value speed over every other quality, I realize that it isn’t necessarily the most important for every runner. The team could never run well without a steady support, a push from behind to run up the steepest hill. I was never meant to be the fastest runner on the team. But I could still have that same importance by being a proud, supportive member of the team.

Metaphor and Imagery in Galway Kinnells Poem, Blackberry Eating Essay

The Use of Metaphor and Imagery in Galway Kinnell's Poem, Blackberry Eating Written in 1980, Galway Kinnell's Blackberry Eating is a poem which creates a strong metaphoric relationship between the tangible objects of blackberries, and the intangible objects of words. The speaker of the poem feels a strong attraction to the sensory characteristics (the touch, taste, and look) of blackberries. The attraction he feels at the beginning of the poem exclusively for blackberries is paralleled in the end by his appetite and attraction to words. The rush the speaker gets out of blackberry eating is paralleled to the enjoyment he finds in thinking about certain words; words which call up the same sensory images the blackberries embody. Throughout the fourteen lines of the poem, the imagery of the blackberries, as well as the speaker's ardor for them is explored. In the final lines of the poem, the speaker reveals the connection between the imagery of the blackberries and the imagery that is created by words. The blackberries become the existing tangible reality of the way the speaker views words. The author savors the taste of the blackberries in his mouth in much the same way as he savors the sound of certain words on his tongue. In the first line of the poem the speaker states his fondness for going out to eat blackberries. "I love to go out in late September..." This line makes it clear that the speaker goes out voluntarily because of his desire to eat the blackberries. In the next line, the speaker describes the blackberries in vivid imagery. "among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries. This description of the blackberries does not leave the reader to wonder about how the blackberries look or taste. The re... ...he metaphor he has created between the two objects. This allusion is further strengthened in the last line of the poem when the writer says "of blackberry eating in late September." The ending of the poem now echoes the beginning. The poem has come full-circle and the correlation between the sensory experience of blackberry eating and the auditory pleasure of words has been made. Blackberry Eating is metaphorical poem about the similarities between the pleasurable experience of picking and eating tasty blackberries and the auditory enjoyment of hearing the sound of certain words. Both the blackberries and the "words" provide a pleasurable sensory experience that the speaker collapses together and relates to in the same manner. Blackberry eating becomes a tangible experience that is used to depict the way the speaker intuitively reacts to certain words.

Football Factory Blog

Not Just A Sport In the novel â€Å"Football Factory† written by John King, we follow a group of Chelsea hooligans in the present England. I think of this novel as an extremely realistic and kind of frightening novel. Together, we follow the main character’s life as a football hooligan. The life of the main character is filled with violence, alcohol and sex, in which his lovely friends accompany him. Through the novel we are bound to listen to his friends’ nasty thoughts and actions. At some point in the novel the main character and the boys watches the film Clockwork Orange, as they have done so many times before.The Clockwork Orange is basically just a couple of guys giving beatings and rapes women for the fun of it. This makes me think of Football Factory of an updated version of Clockwork orange, just not to the same extent. In the novel we don’t have the â€Å"normal† narrative-style. We don’t see a real plot in the novel as such. Itâ₠¬â„¢s more like a story going on and on about his life without a greater meaning. One thing in particular I liked about this novel was the fight scenes. At these points in the novel, I would enjoy reading it.I would suddenly become interested and I would read at a fast pace due to the great and realistic writing. When there were no fighting I would keep losing track and get distracted. Our main character starts questioning himself and his own actions while he is being formed into a somewhat reasonable man. He starts believing he isn’t on the right path. Personally I wouldn’t recommend this novel to any of my friends, as I don’t think they would be interested, since the narrative style is far from usual. Otherwise, an interesting novel.

identify and explain abnormali essays

identify and explain abnormali essays With Particular Reference to the impact of Heredity and Environment, Compare and Contrast Two Theories of Personality. There are many different theories regarding personality, the qualities which make up a persons character. All personality theorists have their own approaches regarding what determines a persons character. I will be concentrating on two opposing theories. Carl Rogers Idiographic theory, claiming that personality is individual, versus Hans Eysencks nomothetic theory, claiming that people can be measured and that we all have the same traits or characteristics but in different measures. Looking at each theorist individually and assessing their approach I will try to find comparisons or similarities and contrasts or differences between the two, based on their beliefs about what makes a personality. It is important to note that each of these theorists had a very different psychological approach to their work and therefore there is immediately a huge contrast between the two. Rogers took a humanistic approach to psychology claiming that we are a product of our environment, and Eysenck a biological approach and so claimed that hereditary and not environment creates who we are. As an idiographic theorist Rogers believed all human beings are unique and therefore personality can only be studied through processes such as case studies, which concentrate on studying the individual. Rogers theory was born out of his work as a clinical psychologist and is based on years of experience and research. He was Fundamentally a therapist and his contributions to psychology have been phenomenal. Today his method of client centred therapy is one of the most commonly used by counsellors worldwide. His counselling technique depends on three essential approaches from the counsellor. Genuineness, unconditional positive regard; to accept the client whatever they may say or do at any moment, and...

Entrepreneurial Ability Essay Example

Entrepreneurial Ability Essay Example Entrepreneurial Ability Paper Entrepreneurial Ability Paper This question has been the focus of significant research and debate that is entrepreneurial ability inherent in all of us? Does it require some external shock to awaken it? Can we identify the traits and can they be taught? Shine (2010) In his book discusses how your genes influence your work interests, work values, decision making, risk taking, management style, approach to leadership, creativity, entrepreneurship and work performance. Shames conclusions were primarily based n the findings of studies of the twins, which has long been the favored method of separating hereditary traits from environmental Influences. Sensation seeking, for example, Is a personality trait believed to be related with entrepreneurship. Shine and his colleagues studied over 3000 twins In U. K. And found between 37 and 42 percent of the variance In tendency of people to engage In entrepreneurship Is accounted for by genetic factors. Twine 31 and 46 percent of this variance was edited by psychological traits of sensation seeking (Anomalous, Shine, Checkers and Specter, 2008, p 16). These findings are not entirely surprising or new. Both popular beliefs and scientific evidences suggest biology plays a role what we become eventually. So are these studies show we are only the product of nature? Dana (2001 ) argues that the Centenarians entrepreneur who creates an innovation is more likely to be born, whilst the Cankering entrepreneur who simply identifies an opportunity can be taught. A common denominator between these two broader lactations of entrepreneurs is that the innovation, whether created or identified, is exploited for profit. As a consequence training has to be tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs. A survey identifying the training and development methods most adapted to Quebec entrepreneurs showed the need for both lecture and participation (77%) and favored trade associations working with educational institutions (57%) (Grainier et al. , 1985). Bill Bolton and John Thompson says, It is however believed that educational programs for entrepreneurs have their place in Ron/made ratio but still environment is an important parameter. Let me conclude with the statement of Bill Bolton and John Thompson We are particularly concerned that such a standard text should be recommended that those who score 25 out of 103 in its Entrepreneur Quotient questionnaire should be advised You still have a chance. Go for it Bolton, B. And Thompson, J. (2004), Entrepreneurs, Elsevier Buttonholer-Henchman, Oxford UK. Dana, D. 2001), Conflict Resolution, McGraw Hill Professional, 2001. Anomalous, N. , Shine, S. Checkers, L. Specter, T. (2008), The Influence of Sensation Seeking In the Heritability of Entrepreneurship, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 2 7-21. Shine, S. (2010), Born Entrepreneurs Born Leaders, Oxford University Press, awaken it? Can we identify the traits and can they be taught? Shine (2010) in his book separating hereditary traits fr om environmental influences. Sensation seeking, for example, is a personality trait believed to be related with entrepreneurship. Shine and his colleagues studied over 3000 twins in U. K. And found between 37 and 42 recent of the variance in tendency of people to engage in entrepreneurship is mediated by psychological traits of sensation seeking.

Ciudadana americana por servir en el Ejrcito de USA

Ciudadana americana por servir en el Ejrcito de USA En reconocimiento al servicio prestado a Estados Unidos, los militares no ciudadanos pueden solicitar la ciudadanà ­a Americana por un procedimiento especial. En realidad, hay dos tipos de caminos, uno el regular, que aplica a casi todos los militares y otro especial para profesionales a travà ©s del MAVNI. Adems, en este artà ­culo se informa sobre quà © extranjeros pueden servir en el Ejà ©rcito y cules son los posibles beneficios migratorios para los familiares inmediatos de militares. Tramitacià ³n regular para militares para adquirir la ciudadanà ­a por naturalizacià ³n El servicio al paà ­s debe haber sido en: Ejà ©rcito de Tierra, Mar, Aire, Marines y Guardia Costera, asà ­ como ciertos miembros del Cuerpo de Reserva y de la Guardia Nacional. Estos son los trmites que se deben realizar: Rellenar el formulario N-400.Permitir que se tomen sus huellas digitales y rellenar el formulario de datos personales B-325B.Proporcionar dos fotografà ­as.Poseer buen carcter moral.Probar conocimientos suficientes del idioma ingles.Aprobar un test sobre conocimientos cà ­vicos e histà ³ricos sobre los Estados Unidos.Y si fueran residentes permanentes legales, proporcionar una copia de la green card. Para cumplimentar estos formularios el Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Naturalizacià ³n (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) ha entrenado a funcionarios para atender especialmente a los militares que pueden llamar al 1-877-CIS-4MIL. Adems, cada instalacià ³n militar cuenta con una persona especialmente designada para ayudar con este proceso a los militares que asà ­ lo deseen. Caracterà ­sticas especiales de la solicitud de ciudadanà ­a para los militares Los militares no tienen que tener presencia fà ­sica o residir en Estados Unidos.No pagan las tarifas por tramitacià ³n del formulario N-400.No pagan la tarifa por tramitacià ³n de formulario de datos personales y huellas digitales B-325B.En determinados periodos designados oficialmente como de hostilidades, los militares pueden solicitar convertirse en ciudadanos por naturalizacià ³n de Estados Unidos aunque no sean residentes permanentes.Desde 2004 es posible solicitar, tramitar, realizar la ceremonia de naturalizacià ³n y jurar lealtad a los Estados Unidos en el extranjero.Es posible recibir la ciudadanà ­a tras haber fallecido cuando militares fallezcan a consecuencia de enfermedades o heridas recibidas durante hostilidades, incluyendo los casos de muerte en combate. La solicitud de la ciudadanà ­a pà ³stuma debe ser solicitada por los familiares directos del difunto en los dos aà ±os siguientes a su fallecimiento. Cundo pueden los militares pedir la naturalizacià ³n Durante tiempo de paz, la solicitud puede presentarse si se es residente permanente, se ha servido con honor al menos por un aà ±o, y se sigue estando active en el Ejà ©rcito o se presenta la peticià ³n dentro de los seis meses siguientes a dejar de prestar servicio. En tiempo de Guerra, cualquier extranjero que sirve en el Ejà ©rcito puede presentar la solicitud para hacerse ciudadano en cualquier momento. Una orden ejecutiva presidencial es la que determina en cada momento si existe o no esta situacià ³n. Procedimiento especial para adquirir la ciudadanà ­a a travà ©s del programa MAVNI Este es un programa que se extiende anualmente y permite a ciertos profesionales que se comprometen con el Ejà ©rcito adquirir la ciudadanà ­a americana de forma muy rpida, frecuentemente en cuestià ³n de apenas unas semanas. Pero,  ¿quà © extranjeros pueden servir en el Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos? En la actualidad, estas son las reglas. Y estas son las especà ­ficas que aplican a las personas extranjeras que residen en USA en situacià ³n migratoria de indocumentadas. Familiares de militares ciudadanos que han fallecido El viudo o viuda, los hijos y los padres de un soldado ciudadano, incluidos los casos de ciudadanà ­as concedidas despuà ©s del fallecimiento, pueden solicitar la ciudadanà ­a Americana para sà ­ mismos. En estos casos, no es necesaria la residencia o presencia fà ­sica en EEUU.  Asimismo, hay que destacar que el viudo o viuda de un militar americano podr solicitar la naturalizacià ³n incluso si se vuelve a casar. Beneficios migratorios para indocumentados Los indocumentados que son familiares inmediatos de soldados, oficiales, reservistas o veteranos podrà ­an beneficiarse del programa conocido como Parole in Place que otorga proteccià ³n frente a la deportacià ³n y es un camino hacia la regularizacià ³n. A tener en cuenta Aunque tradicionalmente la participacià ³n de los hispanos en el Ejà ©rcito ha sido inferior en relacià ³n a su porcentaje en la poblacià ³n estadounidense en general lo cierto es que en las à ºltimas dà ©cadas esta tendencia ha comenzado a cambiar, particularmente entre las mujeres. Y es que en la actualidad aproximadamente el 16 por ciento de los nuevos soldados son hispanos, sin duda atraà ­dos no sà ³lo por la posibilidad de servir a los Estados Unidos sino tambià ©n por los beneficios e incentivos de los que es posible disfrutar. Tener en cuenta que si se toma ventaja e algunos beneficios, como es la obtencià ³n de la ciudadanà ­a por naturalizacià ³n por haber servido en el Ejà ©rcito, à ©sta puede ser revocada si el militar dejar de prestar sus servicios militares en condiciones no honorables y no ha servido con honor al menos un total de cinco aà ±os. Finalmente, haber servido con honor en el Ejà ©rcito es uno de los requisitos que los Dreamers pueden cumplir para solicitar el beneficio de la accià ³n diferida  (DACA), esto para casos antiguos porque en los à ºltimos aà ±os no es posible para indocumentados servir en el Ejà ©rcito, excepto precisamente   los que tienen DACA aprobado. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

AN ANALYTICAL REPORT ON THREE CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS Research Paper

AN ANALYTICAL REPORT ON THREE CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS - Research Paper Example The United States has numerous charitable organizations running various philanthropist programs in various sectors of the society. As such, donating in any of the charitable organizations requires effective analysis of the specific organizations in order to safeguard an individual’s values. Individuals managing the charitable organizations are human just as any one else. This implies that they possess a quality of greed and would always want to enrich themselves from the positions of leadership and management. Charitable organizations just as any other organization therefore require a degree of accountability. Before donating to a charity organization, it becomes prudent to evaluate and analyze the administrative structures of an organization, its projects and its ability to achieve its goals. In doing this, the researcher in this context selects three of such organizations he believes are most deserving and analyses their structures thus justifying his selection based on the quality of management in the organizations and the effectiveness of the philanthropic projects the organizations run within the country. Anyone donating always hopes to help the people. With this understanding, the research investigates the ability of the selected charitable organizations to influ ence the lives of the public. The three charitable organization selected for the review are United Way, Feeding America and The Task Force for Global Health. The three are among the largest and most popular charitable organizations in the United States, the three in various sectors of the society and run various charitable programs all of which seek to improve the social wellbeing of the American citizenry. The three organizations enjoy a national outlook owing to their ability to infiltrate the country. As the largest charitable organizations, the

W7 Asign Environmental Performance Management Essay

W7 Asign Environmental Performance Management - Essay Example An example of CSR is the fashion store Pax Cult donating 10% of its income to an organization the customer chooses. (Fallon, N., 2014) Another is Microsoft giving over than $900 million worth of cash and software to nonprofit organizations worldwide in 2012, reducing its carbon emissions by 30% per unit of revenue and making its biggest investment in overall employee compensation. (O’Reilly, L., 2013) A research conducted to know the 100 most reputable companies in the world discovered that 42% of the participants’ feelings about a company is founded on how socially responsible a company is. (Forbes) This is something corporations now consider as significant information seeing that the more customers are pleased with a company, the more likely that they will do business with it. As a result, companies have incorporated practices echoing social responsibility in their corporate culture and have come up with measures to keep these practices in check. Corporate social responsibility has to do with companies and the effect of their operations on the community and the environment. A company’s reputation is influenced by the negative or positive effect it has on society. Consumers, the company’s source of income, tend to patronize corporations that promote or support the well-being of people and do its share in taking care of the environment. As such, it is important for companies to know how much they are aligned to the standards for CSR. This is where the problem lies as companies strive to find the right formula to measure CSR. A professor of International Business, Global Business Strategy and International Business Strategy at Warwick, Kamel Mellahi (2013) writes that although there are measures to use in determining CSR, there are problems with such methods. One of the measures in place is the Reputation Index, which asks observers to rate a firm’s impact on

Colonial Legacies and Economic Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Colonial Legacies and Economic Growth - Essay Example This includes the kind of education and the way they educate the natives. I agree with Grier’s statement that education is an important component of growth and development. It will result to a more educated population capable of assuming the roles and responsibilities of governance that will eventually be in their hands once independence is achieved. The British approach of involving people in the development of their communities such as teachers belonging to the tribe (p. 66) and relying on the natives to run the colonial civil service (p. 67) means they have considered the natives’ views regarding how a community must be handled and ruled. Also, by letting some of the natives become teachers, it did not seem that they were dictating how and what education should be like which resulted to the natives becoming more accepting of the new ideas and knowledge that they learn from the

Organizational Change through Leadership- Electronic Healthcare Assignment

Organizational Change through Leadership- Electronic Healthcare Records Implementation - Assignment Example The implementation of the Electronic Health Record System was the proposed change in the organization. The change was expected to improve the healthcare center problems and contribute to its growth and development (Overhage, Evans and Marchibroda, 2005). b. Methods or processes employed Many methods were employed in identifying the problem. Firstly, the hospital experienced a significant delay in providing patients’ information on time especially with large numbers of patients. The delay in registering patients and issuing of relevant documents contributed to a delay in the provision of medical services the resulted into loss of many lives. Secondly, the hospital offices were extremely small to accommodate large volumes of files containing each patient’s, doctors, and other staff information. The organization management had to come up with a computerized method of record keeping to get rid of manual files. Thirdly, the high competition in the healthcare industry forces healthcare centers to adopt the most recent technology in order to attract more customers. Most people prefer healthcare centers that are fully equipped electronically and technologically because they stand a better chance of dealing with all types of sicknesses. c. Significance of the problem The implementation of Electronic Health Records System (EHRS) will bring about a lot of progress in the health sector. The program will lead to the advancement in the health center by introducing an efficient and reliable record keeping method. Health Information Technology systems make use of the data required in the improvement and protection of population health by the policy makers, physicians, and health service users. Presence of relevant technology on human and health services assists the both affected and infected people in many ways and saves them both time and money (Health & Development Information Team, 2005). EHRS will also contribute a lot in the health sector whereby an individu al can easily take his or her medical records by the bedside. In addition, the implementation of EHRS will also enable physicians diagnose various diseases comfortably since they just ask questions and input data in the computer after which, they easily do the analysis. 2. State the need for and rationale for change   Literature/evidence supporting change According to Institute of Medicine (2000), health information technology has a lot of significance in the healthcare industry through improving delivery of healthcare services. Health Information Technology plays a significant role in implementing changes within the healthcare industry using many processes. In the past, healthcare services in United States were prone to a lot of errors, poor quality services, and lacked consumer confidence (Berner, Detmer and Simborg, 2005). The implementation of EHRS will assist in eliminating the above problems and making the healthcare industry more technologically advanced. Moreover, the need for change among many organizations is driven by the high rate of globalization and information technology advancement (Eason, 1988). On the other hand, the manual process of keeping health records is cumbersome and time consuming. Healthcare centers using manual means of keeping records have a problem marinating their customers and staff (Ingram & Lavery, 2009). The main aim of utilizing technology is making work easier and saving time to do work. Software manufacturers are competent enough to

Student survival guide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Student survival guide - Essay Example Actions plans are required in the present times since there is so much work that a student does. He does not get the time to study in an age of Internet and changing technological regimes. He is surrounded with so much information that studies seem to take a back step, which by all accounts is an unfortunate thing to know. A student must understand that finding the much needed information and data which could assist with his studies is indeed a task that he has to take on his own and this he could do in an effective manner if he knows which libraries he can access the information from and in what manner this search could be made possible in an effective and efficient way. For this to happen, he must ensure that he is well read with the Internet and knows how to use this technological superpower which has hit the academic world like any other, in the times of today. If he knows how to conduct correct search of data and information on the Internet, then he knows how to devise a proper plan for his studies and this indeed is half the job done and that too in a good enough manner. Personal action plans are devised in a manner that makes best use of the library searches so as to get the most productive and up to date information which is needed and these plans look at the maximization of resources as much as possible. What this means is the fact that conducting one such successful library research is the basis of extracting the needed information in the wake of knowledge acquisition and the eventual development of details related with the student’s resource. Also there must be a lot of emphasis on finding the websites which provide authentic information and not mere hearsay. This can be made use of by employing the search engines and the genuine e-libraries which are present on the World Wide Web. Academic honestly must be upheld at all times by the students so that they learn something constructive with the passage of time and

Library research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Library research - Essay Example Jimenez, E., Tejeda, A., Blanco, J. and Martinez, E. â€Å"Application of lean production with VSM to the Rioja wine sector.† International Journal of Production Research 50.7 (2012): 1890-1904. Print. The article reports on a study on the use of lean production in wine sector in La Rioja. Its subject, lean production is a theory that aims at achieving economic utilization of resources towards optimum production levels, is a topic in operations management. The authors focus on lean production in a different sector from the theory’s traditional industry of application and investigate potential use of the lean production theory for economic utility of resources in the La Rioja’s wine sector towards optimum benefits. Operations management however defines management of processes in production and transportation of goods and services to users and this incorporates lean production concepts at the management’s production stage. The authors identify significance o f lean production in attaining competitiveness and efficiency and the fact that lean production has not been popular in many sectors. The theory establishes and eliminates all activities and processes in a production that do not benefit the process. Using Main Stream Mapping, the authors demonstrates applicability of lean production in La Rioja’s wine sector with the objective of making inference from the results. Lean production was developed in Japan’s motor vehicle industry but its advantages such as lower change periods, better working environments, quality workforce and accurate improvement initiatives has extended its popularity and application in other industries. Results show â€Å"reduction in raw materials† that â€Å"clarifying and quality test process† aids as well as lower inventory level for the organizations in the region’s wine sector. A number of benefits to the sector are attributed to the lean production strategy and examples inc lude lower overall production lead-time that can reduce by up to 60 percent, lower cost of raw materials from reduced volume, and this decrease can be as much as 13 percent of an organization’s expenditure on raw materials. The production approach also reduces losses and depreciation in materials’ value over the production process and facilitates communication between involved parties and departments in a production process. Improved efficiency in space and equipment utilization and better allocation of human resources across the production process are other identified benefits from the study. The results are valid because of their simulation in the target population with positive outcomes (Jimenez, Perez, Blanco and Martinez 1890- 1902). The article demonstrates the role of operations management, through lean production, in organization’s production efficiency and profitability. It identifies efficiency through improvements in production activities and processe s such as economical utility of time, space and human resource and improved quality that is also a result of the efficiency. This corresponds to the overall management objective, considering operations management as a branch of management, of reducing overall costs and improving overall revenues. The article therefore explains the role of oper

Corporate Stratergy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate Stratergy - Case Study Example Over the last few decades the UK grocery market has become a supermarket-dominated business (Ritz 2005, p 22-23). The dominance of the groups in terms of supply chain efficiency, ubiquitous stores and huge product range make entry of new players in the market difficult. Asda's positioning strategy is to be UK's cheapest supermarket grocer. The economic slow down has suddenly made a cheaper supermarket a more attractive proposition to the consumers. Morrison began as a butter and egg merchant, and went on to be a leading supermarket chain. It was by taking over the Safeway chain that Morrison began to make its large-scale presence. In fact, Morrison was forced to sell more than 50 stores it took over to avoid local monopolies. Some of the stores were also sold off because it did not fit in with the group's large format identity. Sainsbury group has a history of more than 150 years. Good quality at reasonable prices was the hallmark of the group from its first store. During the course of years, Sainsbury found itself sandwiched on one side by the cheap stores and on the other side by the up market stores like Waitrose. Tesco cornered the status of being termed the first superstore. The supermarkets grew when RPM (Resale Price Maintenance) was abolish ed, thereby giving the option of more discounts to the customers. Lower prices are the key strategy for the supermarket groups. All four groups own superstores, have lower prices or reasonable prices as a strategy and are perceived as one strategic unit by customers as well as in the Industry. b. Analyse the microenvironment that these companies must operate within. Strategic Analysis of the UK supermarket industry UK retail industry is a supermarket-dominated business. Smaller players exist in the periphery of the business. The supermarkets control the suppliers. Cheaper products that are provided by developing countries also threaten the suppliers. The supplier margins have consistently eroded with the power of the big four. Though food remains the main focus on the big chains, as customer spend more time in the stores, the non-food portfolio that they hold also become profitable. The supermarkets have diversified to add products like clothing, electronic goods, mobile phones and even banking products and legal assistance. The consumer movement has also ensured that the supermarkets focus on remaining green. This is true in case of a reluctance to use Genetically Modified food to carbon labeling of electronic goods. The supermarket chains are also experimenting with alternate store formats to target different type of customers. Continuous innovation and fast response to market conditions are a given in the industry. THE PESTEL Analysis: Political factors affecting the Industry: The political climate that could influence include policy decisions, EU, Euro, taxation policies etc. A couple of issues that could alter the political pressure on the supermarkets include pressure from the farming community which claim that they are getting squeezed by the bargaining power of the supermarkets and as the weakest link in the chain they

Library research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Library research - Essay Example Jimenez, E., Tejeda, A., Blanco, J. and Martinez, E. â€Å"Application of lean production with VSM to the Rioja wine sector.† International Journal of Production Research 50.7 (2012): 1890-1904. Print. The article reports on a study on the use of lean production in wine sector in La Rioja. Its subject, lean production is a theory that aims at achieving economic utilization of resources towards optimum production levels, is a topic in operations management. The authors focus on lean production in a different sector from the theory’s traditional industry of application and investigate potential use of the lean production theory for economic utility of resources in the La Rioja’s wine sector towards optimum benefits. Operations management however defines management of processes in production and transportation of goods and services to users and this incorporates lean production concepts at the management’s production stage. The authors identify significance o f lean production in attaining competitiveness and efficiency and the fact that lean production has not been popular in many sectors. The theory establishes and eliminates all activities and processes in a production that do not benefit the process. Using Main Stream Mapping, the authors demonstrates applicability of lean production in La Rioja’s wine sector with the objective of making inference from the results. Lean production was developed in Japan’s motor vehicle industry but its advantages such as lower change periods, better working environments, quality workforce and accurate improvement initiatives has extended its popularity and application in other industries. Results show â€Å"reduction in raw materials† that â€Å"clarifying and quality test process† aids as well as lower inventory level for the organizations in the region’s wine sector. A number of benefits to the sector are attributed to the lean production strategy and examples inc lude lower overall production lead-time that can reduce by up to 60 percent, lower cost of raw materials from reduced volume, and this decrease can be as much as 13 percent of an organization’s expenditure on raw materials. The production approach also reduces losses and depreciation in materials’ value over the production process and facilitates communication between involved parties and departments in a production process. Improved efficiency in space and equipment utilization and better allocation of human resources across the production process are other identified benefits from the study. The results are valid because of their simulation in the target population with positive outcomes (Jimenez, Perez, Blanco and Martinez 1890- 1902). The article demonstrates the role of operations management, through lean production, in organization’s production efficiency and profitability. It identifies efficiency through improvements in production activities and processe s such as economical utility of time, space and human resource and improved quality that is also a result of the efficiency. This corresponds to the overall management objective, considering operations management as a branch of management, of reducing overall costs and improving overall revenues. The article therefore explains the role of oper

Special Education Classroom Essay Example for Free

Special Education Classroom Essay The purpose of this study is to know whether or not the Discrete Trials Training, one of the main strategies under the Applied Behavior Analysis of Lovaas, is an effective and applicable strategy for special children students especially those who are severely mentally handicapped. Knowing whether or not this strategy is effective for special children, this could be considered as the immediate instruction that will be used by teachers for special children who are mentally handicapped. This study will look into whether there would be progress on the development of a mentally handicapped child when applying the Discrete Trials Training; if results will show that there are improvements on the performance of the student, then this study could be considered as a reference to support the strategy’s effectiveness. Information in this literature review was gathered through the accessibility of various online resources. The online libraries for different researches such as Questia and ERIC libraries were used as search engines to provide various abstracts and overviews of researches about discrete trial training. This literature review also made use of online libraries that specifically contain researches in line with special education. These online sources are Research Autism, Holding Thresholds, Down Syndrome Online, Central Valley Autism Project and Comprehensive information on Autism, Autism Spectrum, and Consulting Services. Different researches that are found to be helpful for this literature review were accessed through these websites. Aside from online research libraries, there are also information used in these literature reviews that were accessed through the website of a university, the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The main motive in conducting such a review is to prove whether the discrete trial training strategy of teaching is an effective way for special children particularly those who have difficulty in generalization of ideas and concepts. Historical Overview It has always been a challenge for special education teachers or instructors to develop new and innovative ways to help special children learn considering their mental capabilities. Special children are called special because they have special and different needs. The demand of educators of special children to posses the most effective strategy in promoting development in the mental thinking of a child is the primary reason why this literature review is done. At this point, there are many strategies that have been discovered by different people, but the question remains: Which one would be the most effective strategy to use? One of the many strategies that could be used in special education classes is Discrete Training Trials which is the main strategy of the Applied Behavior Analysis approach created by Lovaas (Discrete trial training, 2010). If a number of researches have already been done to prove that this strategy would be most effective for the mental development of a special child then more and more schools could adopt this strategy into their own so that the development of a special child can be assured. Relevant Theoretical Literature Since there are a number of strategies that have been developed, the search for the best and most effective strategy to implement inside the classroom is what this review is all about. The strategies that have been formulated have their basis on different learning theories. The Discrete Trial Training strategy is one of the many Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approaches. In one literature review, the different behavioral approaches were examined to have their basis on the behavioral theory of Skinner (Benedict, 2007). Considering the behavioral theory of Skinner, Lovaas developed the Discrete Trial Training as a strategy that upholds the view of behaviorists that learning could be acquired through the use of positive and negative reinforcement (Benedict, 2007). This literature reviewed that the learning theory basis of the Discrete Trial Training under the Applied Behavior Analysis is grounded on the behaviorist learning principle which make use of imitation and reinforcement. This literature also reviewed that the children with special needs who experienced such mode of learning had noticeable development (Benedict, 2007). Applied Behavior Analysis in one study is mentioned to be the study of behavior and the manipulation to achieve a desired behavior and reduce and eventually remove an undesired behavior (Choutka et al. , 2004). With the Discrete Trial Training as one of its subsets, this particular strategy is said to monitor skill acquisition by undergoing a one-on-one instruction (Choutka et al. , 2004). The study also talked about how this particular strategy lacks research to support the reliability and effectiveness of such strategy. Relevant Research There has been an occurring question as to whether which strategy to implement is most effective for special children. In one study of the proponent of the discrete trial training strategy, Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas conducted behavior modification treatments for children with autism and after post treatment, results showed progress in the children’s comprehension and mental development were undoubtedly apparent (Lovaas, 1987). Results also manifested that this type of procedure could be used for other disorders that children may have, one of which could be schizophrenia (Lovaas, 1987). It is also found in one literature that studied the effectiveness of the discrete trial training for the treatment of children with autism. It is said in this study that the discrete trial training method could be used to advance children’s skills and at the same time manage their corresponding negative behavior (Smith, 2001). This research gathered all the necessary information regarding the basic steps of the discrete trial training, the time frame that each child must undergo the said strategy and what other strategies that could be combined with the use of the discrete trial training to further strengthen the development of the child (Smith, 2001). It is also discussed in this study that to effectively implement the discrete trial training strategy inside the classroom, teachers should undergo intensive and specialized training (Smith, 2001). Results showed that though the discrete trial training is a necessary strategy to help children with autism in their mental development, this strategy alone would not be sufficient (Smith, 2001). Though this may be the result of such studies, the researcher believed that there should be more studies and evaluation of the said strategy to further enhance and improve this particular strategy. This study of Smith showed the demand for a thorough evaluation and study of the effectiveness of the discrete trial training as a strategy in the mental development of a child. Another study examined and reviewed other studies, researches on the effectiveness of the discrete trial training as one of the treatment programs for the development of children with autism. This study reviewed how the applied behavior analysis method, most specifically the discrete trial training, is used to treat children with autism (Tews, 2007). After reviewing various studies and results, the review concluded that the method under the applied behavior analysis which is the discrete trial training is one possible strategy to help children with autism (Tews, 2007). Another study discussed the use of the discrete trial training to activate the spontaneity of special children’s response (Feeley and Jones, 2008). The study discussed how the discrete trial training provides much possibility to teach children in such a short span of time by using reinforcements to strengthen positive responses (Feeley and Jones, 2008). Results showed that the effectiveness of a strategy should not solely rely on which skill to attend to, rather consider which skill a child must acquire immediately (Feeley and Jones, 2008). Implications for Practice These researches showed that there is a need to continuously study and evaluate strategies and programs that would be implemented inside the special education classrooms. The researches showed inconsistent results, which give it more reason to further give emphasis on the study whether the discrete trial training is indeed an effective strategy to improve the mental development of a special child. Though there have been numerous studies and researches about the effectiveness of such strategy, these studies also pose questions that seem to be unanswered until now. This only implies that though this strategy has already been implemented to other special education classrooms, the inconsistency of the results should be considered as a sign that this strategy is not applicable for every child. Implications for Inquiry Though there are a number of studies about the effectiveness of the discrete trial training strategy to improve the mental development of a child with special needs, there is a noticeable inconsistency with the results of these studies conducted. This means that there is still a great deal of further research to be done and consistent results should be seen to prove that discrete trial training is indeed an effective strategy to use for the mental development of a special child. Summary The studies that are cited in this review of literature examined whether the discrete trial training is an effective strategy to use for the mental development of a child with special needs. In this study, there will also be adaptations as to how this strategy is implemented to special children in other researches. There will be interventions using the discrete trial training for the development of special children. Before and after the discrete trial training is implemented, the performances of each child will be compared and the result of this comparison will serve as the findings and conclusion of this study. This study would most likely be the same as that of previous studies as regards to the effectiveness of the discrete trial training; however most of these studies require further studies as well. References Benedict, C. S. (2007) Communication intervention for children with autism: a literature review, Retrieved from http://www. uwstout. edu/static/lib/thesis/2007/2007benedictc. pdf Choutka, C. , Doloughty, P. T. and Zirkel, P. A. (2004) The discrete trials of applied behavior analysis for children with autism: outcome-related factors in the case law. Questia, 38. Retrieved from http://www. questia. com/googleScholar. qst;jsessionid=MDDf7QMp2FwKnvN1r83h HlgdnDzL36BblJL6C3hLKd1TLTLcFgs! 1115883797! 2083947951? docId=5006551916 Discrete Trial Training (2010, May 20). Retrieved from http://www. researchautism. net/interventionitem. ikmlprintra=92infolevel=4 Feeley, K. and Jones, E. (2008) Teaching Spontaneous Responses to a Young Child with Down Syndrome, 12. Retrieved from http://www. downsyndrome. org/case- studies/2007/case-studies-2007. pdf Lovaas, O. I. (1987) Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children, 55 (1), pp. 3-9. Retrieved from http://www. cvapinc. org/files/1987_Lovaas_Study. pdf Smith, T. (2001) Discrete trial training in the treatment of autism, Retrieved from http://petemolino. com/uploads/Smith_-_DTT_in_Tx_of_Autism. pdf Tews, L. (2007) Early intervention for children with autism: methodologies critique. Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Retrieved from http://www. eric. ed. gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini. jsp _nfpb=true_ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ812650ERICExtSearch_Searc Type_0=noaccno=EJ812650 Tews, L. (2007) Research: early intervention for children with autism: methodologies critique. Healing Thresholds, 35 (1), Retrieved from http://autism. healingthresholds. com/research/early-intervention-children-autism methodologies-critique

Quantization process

Quantization process Quantization is a process of mapping an infinite set of scalar or vector quantities by a finite set of scalar or vector quantities. Quantization has applications in the areas of signal processing, speech processing and Image processing. In speech coding, quantization is required to reduce the number of bits used for representing a sample of speech signal there by the bit-rate, complexity and memory requirement can be reduced. Quantization results in the loss in the quality of a speech signal, which is undesirable. So a compromise must be made between the reduction in bit-rate and the quality of speech signal. Two types of quantization techniques exist they are: scalar quantization and vector quantization. Scalar quantization deals with the quantization of samples on a sample by sample basis, while vector quantization deals with quantizing the samples in groups called vectors. Vector quantization increases the optimality of a quantizer at the cost of increased computational complexity and memory requirements. Shannon theory states that quantizing a vector will be more effective than quantizing individual scalar values in terms of spectral distortion. According to Shannon the dimension of a vector chosen greatly affects the performance of quantization. Vectors of larger dimension produce better quality when compared to vectors of smaller dimension and in vectors of smaller dimension the transparency in the quantization is not good at a particular bit-rate chosen [8]. This is because in vectors of smaller dimension the correlation that exists between the samples will be lost and the scalar quantization itself destroys the correlation that exists between successive samples so the quality of the quantized speech signal will be lost. Therefore, quantizing correlated data requires techniques that preserve the correlation between the samples, such a technique is the vector quantization technique (VQ). Vector quantization is the simplification of scalar quantization. Vectors of larger dimension produce transparency in quantization at a particular bit-rate chosen. In Vector quantization the data is quantized in the form of contiguous blocks called vectors rather than individual samples. But later with the development of better coding techniques, it is made possible that transparency in quantization can also be achieved even for vectors of smaller dimension. In this thesis quantization is performed on vectors of full length and on vectors of smaller dimensions for a given bit-rate [4, 50]. An example of 2-dimensional vector quantizer is shown in Fig 4.1. The 2-dimensional region shown in Fig 4.1 is called as the voronoi region, which in turn contains several numbers of small hexagonal regions. The hexagonal regions defined by the blue borders are called as the encoding regions. The green dots represent the vectors to be quantized which fall in different hexagonal regions and the red dots represent the codewords (centroids). The vectors (green dots) falling in a particular hexagonal region can be best represented by the codeword (red dot) falling in that hexagonal region [51-54]. Vector quantization technique has become a great tool with the development of non variational design algorithms like the Linde, Buzo, Gray (LBG) algorithm. On the other hand besides spectral distortion the vector quantizer is having its own limitations like the computational complexity and memory requirements required for the searching and storing of the codebooks. For applications requiring higher bit-rates the computational complexity and memory requirements increases exponentially. The block diagram of a vector quantizer is shown in Fig 4.2. Let be an N dimensional vector with real valued samples in the range. The superscript T in the vector denotes the transpose of the vector. In vector quantization, a real valued N dimensional input vector is matched with the real valued N dimensional codewords of the codebook Ci , the codeword that best matches the input vector with lowest distortion is taken and the input vector is replaced by it. The codebook consists of a finite set of codewords C=Ci,, where , where C is the codebook, L is the length of the codebook and Ci denote the ith codeword in a codebook. In LPC coding the high bit-rate input vectors are replaced by the low bit-rate codewords of the codebook. The parameters used for quantization are the line spectral frequencies (LSF). The parameters used in the analysis and synthesis of the speech signals are the LPC coefficients. In speech coding the quantization is not performed directly on the LPC coefficients, the quantization is performed by transforming the LPC coefficients to other forms which ensure filter stability after quantization. Another reason for not using LPC coefficients is that, LPC coefficients have a wide dynamic range and so the LPC filter easily becomes unstable after quantization. So LPC coefficients are not used for quantization. The alternative to LPC coefficients is the use of line spectral frequency (LSF) parameters which ensure filter stability after quantization. The filter stability can be checked easily just by observing the order of the LSF samples in an LSF vector after quantization. If the LSF samples in a vector are in the ascending or descending order the filter stability can be ensured otherwise the filter stability cannot be ensured [54-58]. The angular positions of the roots of and gives us the line spectral frequencies and occurs in complex conjugate pairs. The line spectral frequencies range from. The line spectral frequencies have the following properties: Ø All the roots of and must lie on the unit circle which is the required condition for stability. Ø The roots of and are arranged in an alternate manner on the unit circle i.e., The roots of equation (4.6) can be obtained using the real root method [31] and is The coefficients of equations (4.6) and (4.7) are symmetrical and so the order p of equations (4.6) and (4.7) get reduces to p/2. Vector quantization of speech signals requires the generation of codebooks. The codebooks are designed using an iterative algorithm called Linde, Buzo and Gray (LBG) algorithm. The input to the LBG algorithm is a training sequence. The training sequence is the concatenation of a set LSF vectors obtained from people of different groups and of different ages. The speech signals used to obtain training sequence must be free of background noise. The speech signals used for this purpose can be recorded in sound proof booths, computer rooms and open environments. In this work the speech signals are recorded in computer rooms. In practice speech data bases like TIMIT database, YAHOO data base are available for use in speech coding and speech recognition. The codebook generation using LBG algorithm requires the generation of an initial codebook, which is the centroid or mean obtained from the training sequence. The centroid, so obtained is then splitted into two centroids or codewords using the splitting method. The iterative LBG algorithm splits these two codewords into four, four into eight and the process will be continued till the required numbers of codewords in the codebook are obtained [59-61]. The flow chart of LBG algorithm is shown in Fig 4.3. The LBG algorithm is properly implemented by a recursive procedure given below: 1. Initially the codebook generation requires a training sequence of LSF parameters which will be the input to LBG algorithm. The training sequence is obtained from a set of speech samples recorded from different groups of people in a computer room. 2. Let R be the region of the training sequence. 3. Obtain an initial codebook from the training sequence, which is the centroid or mean of the training sequence and let the initial codebook be C. 4. Split the initial codebook C into a set of codewords and where is the minimum error to be obtained between old and new codewords. 5. Compute the difference between the training sequence and each of the codewords and and let the difference be D. 6. Split the training sequence into two regions R1 and R2 depending on the difference D between the training sequence and the codewords and. The training vectors closer to falls in the region R1 and the training vectors closer to falls in the region R2. 7. Let the training vectors falling in the region R1 be TV1 and the training sequence vectors falling in the region R2 be TV2. 8. Obtain the new centroid or mean for TV1 and TV2. Let the new centroids be CR1 and CR2. 9. Replace the old centroids and by the new centroids CR1 and CR2. 10. Compute the difference between the training sequence and the new centroids CR1 and CR2 and Let the difference be . 11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 until . 12. Repeat steps 4 to 11 till the required number of codewords in the codebook are obtained. Where N=2b represents the number of codewords in the codebook and b represents the number of bits used for codebook generation. represents the difference between the training sequence and the old codewords, represents the difference between the training sequence and the new codewords. The quality of the speech signal is an important parameter in speech coders and is measured in terms of spectral distortion measured in decibels (dB). The spectral distortion is measured between the LPC power spectra of the quantized and unquantized speech signals. The spectral distortion is measured frame wise and the average or mean of the spectral distortion calculated over all frames will be taken as the final value of the spectral distortion. For a quantizer to be transparent the mean of the spectral distortion must be less than 1 dB without any audible distortion in the reconstructed speech. But the mean of the spectral distortion is not a sufficient measure to find the performance of a quantizer, this is because the human ear is sensitive to large quantization errors that occur occasionally. So in addition to measuring the mean of the spectral distortion it is also necessary to have another measure of quality which is the percentage number of frames having a spectral distorti on greater than 2dB and less than 4dB and the percentage number of frames having a spectral distortion greater than 4dB. The frames having spectral distortion between 2 to 4dB and greater than 4dB are called as outlier frames [54]. In order to measure objectively the distortion between the quantized and unquantized outputs, a method called the spectral distortion is often used in narrowband speech coding. For an ith frame the spectral distortion (in dB), is given by equation (4.19). (4.19) Where and are the LPC power spectra of the unquantized and quantized ith frame respectively. The frequency f is in Hz and the frequency range is given by f1 and f2. The frequency range used in practice for narrowband speech coding is 0-4000 Hz [12, 33]. The conditions for transparent speech coding are: Ø The average or mean of the spectral distortion (SD) must be less than or equal to 1dB. Ø There must be no outlier frames having a spectral distortion greater than 4dB. Ø The number of outlier frames between 2 to 4dB must be less than 2%. These three conditions are required to evaluate the performance of a quantizer. At a given bit-rate, an optimization process has to be carried out so as to obtain better performance i.e., accepting a large average spectral distortion for a few outliers. In the design of a vector quantizer instead of using the mean squared error (MSE) distance measure the weighted LSF distance measurement is used. This is done to place emphasis on the low frequency LSFs and on the LSFs with higher power spectrum. The weights used can be of two types they are: static or dynamic [54]. Ø Fixed or Static weights : These are used to place emphasis on the low frequency LSFs in order to account for the sensitivity of human ear for low and high frequency LSFs. Ø Varying or Dynamic weights : These are used to place emphasis on the LSFs with high power spectrum. There exist a number of vector quantization techniques each one is having its own advantages and disadvantages. Each technique is developed to decrease the parameters like spectral distortion, computational complexity and memory requirements. The vector quantization techniques that exist are the Split Vector Quantization (SVQ) technique, Multistage Vector Quantization (MSVQ) technique, Split-Multistage Vector Quantization (S-MSVQ) technique and Switched Split Vector Quantization (SSVQ) technique. As marketability and cost of a product depends on the complexity and memory requirements, the performance of the vector quantization techniques is measured in terms of spectral distortion in decibels, computational complexity in kilo flops per frame and memory requirements in floats. The performance of a vector quantization technique mainly depends on how efficiently the codebook is generated. The codebook can be generated efficiently using a large training set and using more number of bits for codebook generation. The goal involved in the design of each vector quantization technique is to make the technique to use more number of training vectors and less number of bits for codebook generation there by the spectral distortion, computational complexity and memory requirements can be reduced. It has been observed that as the number of bits used for codebook generation decreases the computational complexity and memory requirements decreases but the spectral distortion increases, this increase in spectral distortion can be reduced by increasing the number of training vectors used for codebook generation [62-71]. The block diagram of an Unconstrained Vector Quantizer (UVQ) is shown in Fig 4.4. Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique is the most awful vector quantization technique used for achieving lowest distortion at a given bit-rate and dimension. In LPC-10 the order of the filter chosen is 10 and so the length of each LSF vector will be 10. In Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique the quantization is done on vectors of full length i.e., using 10 samples of an LSF vector. From Fig 4.4 S1, S2, S3Sn are the input LSF vectors to be quantized using the Unconstrained Vector Quantizer. The main advantage of this vector quantization technique is that it is expected to give lowest quantization distortion at a given bit-rate as the correlation that exists between the samples of a vector is preserved. But the disadvantage with this quantization technique is that as vectors of full length are used, at higher bit-rates the computational complexity and memory requirements increases in an exponential manner making it impractical for applications requiring higher bit-rates. Another problem with this quantization technique is that at higher bit-rates the size of the codebook will be large and the generation of the codebook for this type of quantization technique will be difficult on general purpose computers as the memory available with them is limited. So the number of training vectors used for codebook generation must be limited in number or the length of each vector must be reduced. In practice on general purpose computers the codebook cannot be generated even with train ing vectors less than the number of codewords in a codebook at higher bit-rates. But the number of training vectors required to generate the codebook must be large than the number of codewords in a codebook otherwise there will be too much over fitting of the training set [54]. The computational complexity and memory requirements of a b bit, n dimensional vector quantizer are calculated as follows [54]: Ø To calculate the mean square error (MSE) between two vectors of n dimension, n subtractions, n multiplications and n-1 additions are required. So a total of 3n-1 flops are required. Ø To search a codebook of 2b code vectors, (3n-1)2b flops are required in addition to the minimum distortion search requiring 2b-1 flops. Ø So the number of computations made by a b bit, n dimensional vector quantizer is Total complexity = (3n-1)2b + 2b-1 = 3n2b-1 flops per vector. (4.24) In the computing the complexity each addition, multiplication and comparison is considered as one floating point operation. So a b bit n dimensional vector quantizer requires a codebook of 2b code vectors, it needs to store n2b floating point values, it computes 3n2b 1 flops per vector. Instead of the mean square error distance measure if weighted distance measure is used in the design of a vector quantizer the complexity increases from 3n2b 1 to 4n2b 1 flops per vector. The computational complexity of an Unconstrained Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.25) Where n is the dimension of the vector b is the number of bits allocated to the vector quantizer. The Memory requirements of an Unconstrained Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.26) Exhaustive search vector quantizers achieve lowest distortion at the expense of complexity and memory requirements at higher bit- rates. So to make the vector quantizers more practical for vectors of larger dimension and higher bit-rates structural constraints are imposed on the design of a vector quantizer or codebook. One way of achieving this is to decompose the codebook into a Cartesian product of smaller codebooks i.e., C = C1 * C2 * C3 . ..*Cm. The advantage with smaller codebooks is that the computational complexity and memory requirements can be reduced to a very great extent. This is because the number of bits used for codebook generation will be divided among the sets of the decomposed codebook [12, 18]. Examples of product code vector quantization techniques are Split Vector Quantization (SVQ), Multistage Vector Quantization (MSVQ), Split-Multistage Vector Quantization (S-MSVQ), Switched Split Vector Quantization (SSVQ). In this thesis two product code vector quantization techniques are proposed they are: Switched Multistage Vector Quantization (SWMSVQ) and Multi Switched Split Vector Quantization (MSSVQ) techniques [54, 72]. The main disadvantage of Unconstrained Vector Quantizer is that the complexity, memory requirements are very high and the generation of codebook is a very difficult task as vectors of full length are used for quantization without any structural constraint. As a result more number of training vectors and bits cannot be used for codebook generation. With these constraints the quantizer cannot produce better quality quantized outputs. So to improve the performance of Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique a well known technique called Split Vector Quantization has been developed. The concept behind Split Vector Quantization is that, in it vectors of larger dimensions are splitted into vectors of smaller dimensions and the bits allocated to the quantizer are divided among the splits (parts). Due to splitting the dimension of a vector gets decreased hence more number of training vectors and bits are used for codebook generation. As a result the performance of quantization is increas ed, the complexity and memory requirements are reduced. But the main disadvantage with this technique is that, due to splitting the linear and non linear dependencies that exist between the samples of a vector will be lost and the shape of the quantizer cells will be affected. As a result the spectral distortion increases slightly. This increase in spectral distortion can be compensated by increasing the number of training vectors and using more number of bits for codebook generation. The number of splits in this type of quantizer must be limited in number otherwise the vector quantizer will act as a scalar quantizer. In Split Vector Quantization the training sequence used for codebook generation will also be splitted into vectors of smaller dimension and each split of the training sequence is used to generate separate sub codebooks, there by independent vector quantizers exist and the bits must be allocated to each of them. As a result less number of bits will be available at each quantizer, the computational complexity and memory requirements gets reduced as they depend on the number of bits allocated to the quantizer and on the dimension of the vector to be quantized. The block diagram of a three part Split vector quantizer is shown in Fig 4.5. From Fig 4.5 it can be observed that a vector S1 of dimension n is quantized by splitting it into sub-vectors S11, S12, S13 of smaller dimensions. Each of these sub-vectors are quantized using their respective codebooks. In this work the order of the filter is taken as 10 and so the LSF vector contain 10 samples and these 10 samples are splitted into three parts of 3, 3, 4 samples [54, 73-75]. From results of Split Vector Quantization technique it is proved that the computational complexity and memory requirements gets decreased when compared to Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique. So Split Vector Quantization technique is superior to Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique in terms of the computational complexity and memory requirements. In a Split Vector Quantizer of n dimension, SP splits, operating at b bits per vector. The vector space Rn will be splitted into SP subspaces or splits or parts of lower dimension then the dimension of each subspace will be and . The number of independent quantizers will be equal to the number of splits and the bits used for quantization are divided among the splits and is . Where is the number of bits allocated to each vector quantizer. The computational complexity of a Split Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.27) Where ni is the dimension of a sub-vector in ith split bi is the number of bits allocated to the ith split of a quantizer sp is the number of splits. The Memory requirements of a Split Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.28) Multistage Vector Quantization is a modification of Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique. It is also called as Multistep, Residual or Cascaded Vector Quantization. Multistage Vector Quantization (MSVQ) technique preserves all the features of Unconstrained Vector Quantization technique and decreases the computational complexity, memory requirements and spectral distortion when compared to it. When compared to Split Vector Quantization technique, Multistage Vector Quantization technique shows significant improvement in the quality of the speech signal, by decreasing the spectral distortion, but at the expense of increased computational complexity and memory requirements. This is because Split Vector Quantization technique deals with vectors of lower dimensions while Unconstrained and Multistage Vector Quantization techniques deal with vectors of larger dimensions. So the complexity and memory requirements are less for Split Vector Quantization technique. Multistage Vector Quantizer is a cascaded connection of several vector quantizers, where the output of one stage is given as an input to the next stage and the bits used for quantization are divided among the stages connected in cascade [12, 14]. As a result the computational complexity and memory requirements get reduced when compared to Unconstrained Vector Quantizer. The generation of codebooks at different stages of a three stage MSVQ is shown in Fig 4.6. From Fig 4.6 it can be observed that the codebook at the first stage is generated by taking the training sequence as an input. At the second stage the codebook is generated using the quantization errors of the first stage, likewise the codebook at the third stage is generated using the quantization errors of the second stage. This process is continued for the required number of stages [76-80]. The block diagram of a three stage Multistage Vector Quantizer is shown in Fig 4.7. Its implementation requires the design of vector quantizers at each stage. In Multistage Vector Quantization the input vector s to be quantized is passed through the first stage of the vector quantizer so as to obtain the quantized version of the input vector i.e., . The quantization error or residual error at the first stage will be computed which is the difference of the input vector and the quantized version of the input vector. The quantization error at the first stage is given as an input to the vector quantizer of the second stage so as to obtain the quantized version of the error vector at the first stage i.e., . Likewise the quantization error at the second stage will be given as an input to the vector quantizer of the third stage so as to obtain the quantized version of the error vector at the second stage i.e., and this process can be continued for the required number of stages. Finally the decoder takes the indices Ii from each quantizer stage and adds the corresponding c odewords to obtain the quantized version of the input vector i.e., [54]. In a Multistage Vector Quantizer each stage acts as an independent vector quantizer and the total bits available for vector quantization will be divided among the stages. Then the complexity of a particular stage becomes, where bj is the number of bits allocated to the jth stage. This is less than the complexity of Unconstrained Vector Quantizer. Likewise the memory requirements at each stage are , which is less than the memory requirements of Unconstrained Vector Quantizer. The computational complexity of a Multistage Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.29) Where n is the dimension of the vector bj is the number of bits allocated to the jth stage P is the number of stages The Memory requirements of a Multistage Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.30) In order to improve the performance of Multistage Vector Quantization and Split Vector Quantization techniques a hybrid product code vector quantization technique called Split-Multistage Vector Quantization technique has been developed. Split-Multistage Vector Quantization technique is a hybrid of Multistage Vector Quantization and Split Vector Quantization techniques. At reasonable improvement in the quality of the output speech signal, Split-Multistage Vector Quantization technique provides the lowest spectral distortion, computational complexity and memory requirements when compared to Unconstrained Vector Quantization, Multistage Vector Quantization and Split Vector Quantization techniques [73-80]. The decrease in spectral distortion is due to summing of the quantized errors at each stage. In Split-Multistage Vector Quantization the dimension of the vectors to be quantized has been reduced by means of splitting. Likewise the bits used for quantization are also divided among the stages and among the splits of each stage. As a result the computational complexity and memory requirements get decreased when compared to Unconstrained Vector Quantization, Multistage Vector Quantization and Split Vector Quantization techniques. This is due to the decrease in the dimension of vectors, number of bits used for quantization at each stage and at each split of the vector quantizer. The generation of the codebooks at each stage of the Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer is similar to the codebooks generation at each stage of the Multistage Vector Quantizer. But the difference is that each stage of the Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer involves the generation of several sub codebooks. The number of sub codebooks generated at each stage is equal to the number of splits at that stage. In this work, Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer with three parts (splits) and three stages have been developed. The performance of quantization depends on the number of stages and on the number of splits at each stage. As the number of stages increases the quality of the quantized output can be increased, but there must be a limit on the number of stages and on the number of splits at each stage as the number of bits at each stage is limited. The allocation of the bits at each stage is shown in Table 4.1 and the allocation of bits to each split of a stage is shown in Table 4.2. From Ta bles 4.1 and 4.2 it can be observed that the minimum number of bits at each stage with three parts must be at least three. So with three parts (splits) and three stages, in Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer the number of bits at a frame cannot be reduced below 9 bits. The block diagram of a Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer with three parts and three stages is shown in Fig 4.8. The block diagram is similar to three stage Multistage Vector Quantizer except for the splits at each stage. In Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer each split is treated as a separate vector quantizer and the vectors at each split are quantized independently. The quantization mechanism involved in Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer is similar to the quantization mechanism involved in Multistage Vector Quantizer, except that in Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer at each stage the sub-vectors are quantized independently. Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer is a hybrid of Split Vector Quantizer and Multistage Vector Quantizer. The equations for computational complexity and memory requirements are derived from the complexity and memory requirement equations of a Split Vector Quantizer and Multistage Vector Quantizer. Equations (4.31) and (4.32) below are obtained from the equations (4.29) and (4.30) by including the splits (SP) at each stage with a summation term having limits from 1 to SP. The computational complexity of a Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.31) Where nji is the dimension of a sub-vector in jth stage ith split bji is the number of bits allocated to the jth stage and ith split of a quantizer P is the number of stages sp is the number of splits. The Memory requirements of a Split-Multistage Vector Quantizer is given by equation (4.32) Switched Split Vector Quantization (SSVQ) is one of the latest vector quantization techniques and is developed to improve the performance of Split Vector Quantization technique. Switched Split Vector Quantization technique is a hybrid of Switch Vector Quantization and Split Vector Quantization techniques and is used to exploit the linear and non linear dependencies that exist between the splits of a Split Vector Quantizer. In Switched Split Vector Quantizer initially the Switch Vector Quantizer partitions the entire vector space into voronoi regions and exploits the dependencies that exist across all dimensions of the vector space. Then a Split Vector Quantizer is designed for each of the voronoi regions. As a Split Vector Quantizer is adapted to the local statistics of the Voronoi region the sub optimalitys of the Split Vector Quantizer will be localized. In a Switched Split Vector Quantizer a number of vector quantizers are connected in parallel and it can be implemented in two wa ys: hard decision scheme and soft decision scheme. In hard decision scheme each vector to be quantized is quantized in only one of the codebooks connected in parallel, the selection of a codebook for quantization depends on the nearest codeword selected in the initial codebook. An initial codebook is one which is designed for the selection of a switch. The initial codebook is generated by the training vectors used for the generation of the codebooks at the vector quantizers connected in parallel. The number of codewords or centroids in the initial codebook is equal to the number of switches chosen or number of codebooks connected in parallel and these centroids are used to form the Switch Vector Quantizer. In soft decision sc

Social and Individual Responsibility in Frankenstein :: Social Responsibility in Frankenstein

Social and Individual Responsibility in Frankenstein    Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in a time of wonder. A main wonder was whether you could put life back into the dead. Close to the topic of bringing life back into the dead was whether you could create your own being, like selective breeding but a bit more powerful. Close to where Mary lived there was a man named Vultair was experimenting putting electricity through Frogs to see if they could come back to life. With that going on close to her as well as the fear of a revolution and the pressure on her to think of a ghost story it is not surprising she thought of a horror story that would still be popular in the 21st Century. Now I have explained where the story came from and why it is as it is I will explain the social responsibility it brings up and how it is still important today. Looking after something you create is one point it brings up. Frankenstein created his creature so he should have looked after it but instead just because he didn't like the way it looked he ran away. He never taught his creature anything so for all the creature knew it could have been okay to kill people and suchlike. That relates to today as some children who were not taught right from wrong by their parents watch films like Scream and I know what you did last summer where murdering seems cool as it involves Jennifer Love Hewit, Sarah Michelle Geller and Neve Cambell getting killed. The children watch these and think "I want to be like that scary guy with the mask" and they go and try to kill someone. If they do they get charged for the offence but many people think that the children's parents should be blamed as they never taught the child right from wrong and they didn't stop the child (sometimes as young as eight or nine) from watching the video which is rated eighteen or fiftee n. When the filmmakers hear about how their film was responsible for a death they never (except for once) take the film away from the public and what they usually do is make a less violent sequel, which isn't really helping anyone and less violence still is some violence. Teaching a child right from wrong is another point it brings up but I feel I have covered this point in the section above.

Essay --

Rachel Reed PHIL 389 Saint-Croix 10 February 2014 Question #7: Descartes’ Foundationalism In this paper I will describe the foundationalist structure of Descartes’ arguments in his work Meditations on First Philosophy. Foundationalism is the view that there are some beliefs are epistemologically basic and can be known without knowing anything else is true (Loeb, Lecture 1-14). For example, philosophers such as Descartes would acknowledge that geometric truths, such as 2 + 2 = 4, are so fundamental that they don’t need to be proven through argumentation. Thus, these truths can provide the basic foundation for further arguments. In my paper, I will show that two foundational claims of Descartes are first, the existence of the mind, and second, the existence of God. From these claims Descartes derives many others, including the argument for material objects and souls. As I lay out Descartes’ case, I will examine the philosophical soundness and validity of his foundationalist account, as well as its merits and potential weaknesses. In the end, I will conc lude that Descartes’ foundationalism, while alluring in its simplicity, does not survive deeper investigation. Descartes’ first foundational argument asserts that one can have knowledge of one’s own existence. The claim is essential to many arguments that follow because it survives his â€Å"Deceiver Hypothesis.† This hypothesis states that â€Å"there may be a powerful deceiver of supreme power who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me† (Med III, p. 17). This demonstrates that we cannot know, or be sure of, anything based on sensory experience alone. However, Descartes supports the idea that some things can be known entirely outside of sensory experience; through the use of logic and re... ...undational premises, such as the existence of God and the mind, do not provide indisputable groundwork for Descartes’ argument. First begging the question to prove the existence of the mind via dualism, and then conflating logic with cultural and personal ideals, these two tenets cannot stand on their own. In the case of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, foundationalism does not endure close scrutiny. Grade: B- General comments: Your paper doesn't really address the prompt. It does not discuss arguments that might be offered in favor of Foundationalism or discuss how effective such arguments might be, nor does it address the question of what arguments Descartes does offer. There's also little in the way of focused discussion of what you take to be the problem with the position. It seems like you started on a different prompt and switched part-way through.

Public Administrations Essay

The external environment is the highly complex macro-environment that influences the purposes and modes of operation of public organizations. The importance of the ability of public organizations in properly responding to the pressures by these external influences is crucial in maintaining the organization’s optimum functions (Mc Kinney & Howard, 1998). The external environment plays important role in the functioning of the organization. First, it provides demands and resources that trigger and sustain the organization. Second, it sets parameters for organizational activities and third, it belongs to one of the major places where organizational activities are judged. The three major components of the external environment are ecology, cultural setting and the political economy. There is interrelation between the components and change in the external environment cause change in the structure and internal processes of public administration. The changes influence the outputs of the organization. Public administration takes the central role in a political system. By studying each component and understanding why and how organizations behave and perform the way they do, public administrators are able to manage the external environment in order to make the organization function more accountably. The ecology of the government determines greatly what is to be done while the cultural setting helps identify the proper response to these particular demands. Political economy specifies how government officials exercise the power that is granted to them. At the executive level of an organization, leaders are asked to deal with the external environment that include the market organization works within, the competitors and the workforce fluctuations that may be present. At this level, individuals lead the organization in terms of the mission and the vision of the organization and they are in charge as well to strategically plan for the future (Rabin, 2003).

Organization And Management Essay

INTRODUCTION Control is the process of assuring the efficient accomplishment of enterprise objectives. In the turbulent environment faced by management, power and control is necessary to anticipate problems, measure performance against standards, take corrective actions for deviations from plans and if necessary, modify plans. The term control may have some negative connotations for some. In the management process, it is a facilitating function aiding the organization to accomplish the set objectives. The primary responsibility for exercising control rests with management at HQ division with the execution of plans. In an organization, control consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plans adopted, the instructions issued and principles established. Its object is to point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on everything, things, people, and actions. It is wrong to assume that only top management has the responsibility for power and control and that there is little need for control at lower levels of management. While the scope for control may vary to some extent depending upon the position of an employee in the hierarchy, all those who have responsibility for the execution of plans need to exercise control too. M/s Engineering Products is an engineering company, based in UK, manufacturing mechanical tools for various industrial manufactures .Due to the marketing trend and policy change, the company sometime in 1980 did some major deviations by closing and selling some units and presently in the trade of defense, industrial services and auto parts. The company is in the line of exporting components to different countries. It has processed for expansion, 50% of the employees are stationed in Western Europe and North America. Bulk of the sales is taken care by Western Europe and America and a very small portion by UK. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The major prerequisites of control are two: a plan and a structure. a) Plan: controls must be based on plan. The more clear and complete the plans are the more effective controls can be; plans become the standards by which the actions are measured. b) Structure: There is need for a structure to know where the responsibility rests for deviations and corrective action, if any needed. As in the case of plans, the more clear and complete the organization structure is, the more effective control can be. Controls, to be effective, should share the following basic characteristics: Appropriate: Controls should correspond to an organization’s plans. Controls designed for a Management Executive are inappropriate for a supervisor Strategic: Control should serve a strategic purpose and provide spotlight on positive and negative exceptions at critical points. Acceptable: Controls will not work unless people want them to. They should be acceptable to those to whom they apply. Reliable and objective: Controls should be accurate and unbiased. If they are unreliable and subjective, people will resent them. THE POWER AND CONTROL PROCESS In the Engineering Products the control process used  Ã‚     involves three steps: (a) establishing standards. (b) measuring performance against these standards, and (c) reinforcing success/correcting deviations. a) Establishing Standards: Standards mean criteria of performance. Standards may be of many kinds and include verifiable goals set in qualitative or quantitative terms. Engineering Products has established standards in areas such as: (a) Profitability (b) Productivity (c) Market Share (d) Worker Performance (e) Innovation (f) Social Responsibility Standards are based on past performance, managerial judgment or scientific analysis. Standards are used to measure performance and judge success or failure. b) Measuring of Performance: Essentially, it is a comparison between â€Å"what is† and â€Å"what should be† the performance. Ideally, measurement should be done on a forward-looking basis to predict probable deviations from standards rather than merely be used as a post mortem exercise. c) Reinforcing Success/Correcting Deviations: When plans and organization structures are clear, it is easy to reinforce success and avoid failures. When deviations are noticed or apprehended based on warning signs, the reasons can be analyzed and appropriate corrective actions taken promptly. LITERATURE REVIEW POLICIES AND DESIGN CHOICES IN CONTROL Engineering Products are following three options in exercising control: centralization or delegation formal or informal direct or indirect preferences for one or a mix of all options are matters of judgment. Each option has relevance in a particular situation Centralization or Delegation Centralization is an approach where control is exercised by the HQ or the top management group.   Thus, functional autonomy will be lacking at operating levels. Delegation, on the contrary, manifests transfer of decision-making authority downward and outward within the formal structure. Sometimes, decision-making power is transferred downwards in a hierarchy prescribing limits on the scope and type of decisions. Centralized Control: makes it easier to coordinate the activities of various subunits/departments in an organization. seeks to achieve balance among various functions because the top management can be expected to have a broad organization-wide perspective. proves more useful because control will be in the hands of senior, experienced top executives. is necessary to meet extraordinary situations. is economical since duplication in activities and resource use can be avoided. Delegation and decentralization too have positive features: they relieve the top management from overload. motivate individuals to give better performance due to opportunities for individual freedom, discretion and control. contribute to the personal and professional development of managers.†¢ people at operating Direct or Indirect There are two ways of controlling. One way is to supervise subordinates’ activities closely, trace deviations to the persons responsible and get them to correct their practices. This is called indirect control The other way is to develop high quality managers who will properly understand and apply managerial principles, functions, techniques and philosophy, make few mistakes and initiate corrective actions, wherever necessary, themselves. This is called direct control. The higher the quality of managers and their subordinates, the less will be the need for indirect controls. Conflict and Negotiation Life is a never ending process of one conflict after another. Conflict has always been widespread in society but it is only recently that it has generated a lot of interest and has been the focus of research and study. Employees have become more vociferous in their demands for a better deal. Various departments in an organization face a situation full of conflicts due to a number of reasons like goal diversity, scarcity of resources or task interdependence etc. Negotiation is an attempt to find a solution that reconciles or integrates the needs of both parties who work together to define the problem and to identify mutually satisfactory solutions. In negotiation, there is open expression of feelings as well as exchange of task-related information. The most critical ingredients in successful negotiation are: 1 Definition of the problem should be a joint effort based on shared fact finding. 2 Problems should be stated in terms of specifics. 3 Discussions between the groups should consist of specific, non-evaluative comments and questions should be asked to elicit information. 4The groups should work together in developing alternative solutions. 5All agreements about separate issues should he considered tentative.   Without trust, each group will fear manipulation and may not reveal its true preferences. Secondly, integrative problem solving takes a lot of time and can succeed only in the absence of pressure for a quick settlement. Direct control hastens corrective actions, lightens the burden caused by indirect control and subordinates feel less concerned about superior’s subjectivity in rating their performance because in indirect control one would feel a close relationship between performance and measurement. METHODOLOGY The central HR function at Engineering Products had been placed on a different platform after the other units placed at different places are moving towards international integration. integration. A system is being formed for interaction of different managers of different units and how international postings to be managed HR department at HQ office desires to play a more forceful role rather than doing only doing routine administrative work. The Dynamics of Personnel/Human Resource Management (P/HRM) is a dynamic discipline as it mostly deals with ever-changing work settings, characterized by people having varied cultural, social and religious backgrounds, diverse goals, multifarious expectations and attitudes. The personnel scene itself has been changing quite dramatically over the years. State regulations, competitive pressures, unionization of employees, do exert a strong influence on the way the personnel function is carried out in various organizations. Over the years, employees have become more sophisticated in their demands for high quality work environments, adequate benefits, proper training and career growth opportunities. All these factors compel human resource professionals to look for ways to improve their interactions with employees, other managers and outside groups in order to maximize worker productivity and satisfaction. Changing Role of Human Resource in View of Social Factors: A number of environmental factors influence the work of HR office.They cannot perform  Ã‚   in a vacuum. These factors influence the organization through human resources. External factors separately or in combination can influence the HR function of any organization. The job of a HR manager is to balance the demands and expectations of the external groups with the internal requirements and achieve the assigned goals in an efficient and effective manner. The HR manager has to work closely with these constituent parts, understand the internal dynamics properly and devise ways and means to survive and progress. Local and State Factors State is the custodian of industrial and economic activities. The emergence of problems on the industrial front in the form of trade union movement, failure of many employers to deal fairly with workers, non-fulfillment of plan targets forced the states to intervene in human resource management and to enact various pieces of labor legislation.    Unions Unions have also gained strength. At present, these organizations constitute one of the power blocks in many countries. With the formation and recognition of these organizations, the issues relating to employee interests are no longer determined by the unilateral actions of management. These have to be discussed with union representatives invariably.   In consequence, the scope of managerial discretion in personnel activities has been narrowed down. Changing Work Values   Organizations must now advance from general affirmation and enthusiasm for the career development of their personnel to greater precision. The concepts and goals development programmes must be more precise, more widely understood, reflected in formal policy statements and translated into institutional and personnel practice. Alienation from the job, increasing counter-productive behavior, rising expectations and changing ideas of employees are some of the other factors responsible for the changing values and roles of human force. Consequently it has become imperative for the management to include  Ã‚   benefits to improve morale, introduce a machinery to redress grievances, encourage employee participation in decision-making and the like to pave the way for industrial betterment and to meet the ever increasing demands of workforce. Culture In Organization Every organization has some characteristics which are common with any other organization. At the same time, each organization has its unique set of characteristics and properties. This psychological structure of organization and their sub-units is usually referred to as Organizational Culture. Organizational culture is a relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by the members, influences their behavior, and can be described in terms of values of a particular set of characteristics of the organization. Organizational culture is the set of characteristics that describe an organization and that (a) distinguish one organization from other organizations; (b) are relatively enduring over time and (c) influence the behavior of the people in the organization. Organizational Culture is a relatively uniform perception held of the organization, it has common characteristics, it is descriptive, it can distinguish one organization from another and it integrates individual, group and organization system variables. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE. Organization structure refers to the formal, established pattern of relationships amongst the various parts of a firm or any organization. The fact that these relationships are formal implies that they are deliberately specified and adopted and do not evolve on their own. Of course, it may sometimes happen that given an unusual situation, new working relationships may evolve and which may later be adopted as representing the formal structure.   Only when relationships are clearly spelled out and accepted by everyone, can they be considered as constituting a structure. This does not mean that once established, there can be no change in these relationships. Changes may be necessary with passage of time and change of circumstances, but frequent and erratic changes are to be avoided. References Peters, Thomas, J. and Waterman, Robert H., 1999. Management of Development Programmes, Harper and Row: New York. Elbing, A.1998. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. P.0.1991. A Stud .of Decision Making Job Choice. MIT Press: Cambridge. Vroom, V.1-I and Yetton, P.W.1997. Organisational Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Barnard, C.l.l997. The Functions of the Executive. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. Behling, 0, and Schriesheim, C. 1996. Organisational Behavior. Theory, Research and Application. Allyn and Bacon: Boston. Elbing, A.1988. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. Vroom, V.H. and Yetton, P.W.1983. Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Stephin Robbins. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Eager G., Change Agent Skills: Assessing and Designing Excellence, University Associates California (1998). Fohman, Mark.A. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Chris Argyris, Management and Organization Development: The Path form X4 to YB, McGraw Hill, New York (1991). Beckhard, R. Harris, R. T Organization transitions: Managing Complex Changes, Addison Wesley (1997). Cascio, W.F., Fundamentals of Modern Organisations, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,1992 Purecell J.,Boxall P., Organisational Management, Plagrave, Macmillan, New York,2003