1990 Turing Award Essays - Multics, Compatible Time-Sharing System

1990 Turing Award Essays - Multics, Compatible Time-Sharing System 1990 Turing Award According to the Association for Computing Machinery, (ACM) the A.M. Turing Award is the most prestigious technical award with a prize of $250,000. The Turing Award is given to a member or members of the computing community that has contributed a major technical importance to the computer field. ("ACM's Turing Award.") The Turing Award has been named the ?highest distinction in Computer science? and the ?Nobel Prize of computing?. This award contributes to the ACM?s mission ?to advance computing as a science and a profession?. (Geringer) The Turing Award is named after Alan Mathison Turing, a British mathematician, who is ?credited for being the Father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence?. (Homer) The first award was given out in 1966 and the Association for Computing Machinery has been giving them out every year since. In 1990, Fernando Jos? "Corby" Corbat? received the Turing Award for his work in ?organizing the concepts and leading the development of the general-purpose, large-scale, time-sharing and resource-sharing computer systems?. Corbat? was born on July 1, 1926 in Oakland, California. He received his bachelor?s degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1950, and then went on to receive his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. After getting his Ph.D., he joined MIT?s Computation Center and soon was appointed Associate Professor in 1962. In 1965, he got promoted to a Professor and then during 1974 to 1993 he was Associate Department Head for Computer Science and Engineering. (Conte) Corbats work with time-sharing computer systems started in November 1961, at the MIT Computation Center, when ?an early version of the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) was first demonstrated?. (Csail) Timesharing, driven by the need to increase interactivity between user and computer and ease-of-use of the computer, allows a large number of users to interact with the computer simultaneously. It involves connecting various numbers of consoles to a single, central computer. Each console is allotted a time-slice of the central computer?s time, as the central computer delegates its time by switching between the user?s applications and problems and ?it appears to the user that s/he has complete access to the central computer.? (1963 Timesharing: A Solution to Computer Bottlenecks)The Compatible Time-Sharing System in the IBM 7094 digital computer timesharing operating system was used as the programming and debugging tool. (Vleck) In 1964, Corbats new knowledge of multiple access systems blossomed into the creation of a new system called Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service). This new system also supported an online reconfiguration, which allowed central processing units, memory banks, and disk drives can be added or removed while the system was still operating. Multics was one of the earliest multiprocessor systems because it supported multiple CPUs. In addition, it was the first major operating system to have a secure system from the outset, which lead to more secure systems and prefigured modern security engineering techniques. Multics was the first operating system to provide a hierarchical file system, which means that files could have multiple names and links between directories were supported. In 1973, Multics became the ?basis of a commercial system? that Honeywell Information Systems, Incorporated offered. (Conte) The computer advances that Corbat? has contributed to the world have been very impactful. CTSS was very influential because it showed that time-sharing was viable because it provided means of multi-tasking and multiprogramming, which is still significant and crucial for today?s computers. This provided new applications and programs to be created and used because computers were no longer single-use machines. A semi-recent creation that has brought back the concept of time-sharing is the Internet, where corporate server farms can host millions of customers that all share common resources. (Csail) CTSS also had one of the first inter-user message implementations. This pre-aged electronic mail and e-mail is one of the most common ways of communication in these present times. (Homer) In addition, Multics was the first powerful multi-processor computing machine, which set the groundwork for all of the multi-processing machines that are so popular today. Multics directly inspired AT&T to de velop Unix, another multitasking and multi-user computer operating system. Unix?s direct descendants are still used today in operating systems like Linux and these descendants were

Statement of financial problem Essays

Statement of financial problem Essays Statement of financial problem Essay Statement of financial problem Essay I am using the Indirect Statement of Cash Flows method to analyze the Butler Lumber case. When a company seems profitable but is in serious need of a cash infusion, often the problem stems from poor cash flow. Calculating the cash flow coming in and going out will explain Where did our money come from? and Where did our money go? Likely, it will discover how a companys cash was generated during the period and how that cash was used-or misused. A statement of cash flows provides details as to how the cash account changed during a period. It also helps to understand how events and decisions impacted cash flow during each period. A statement of cash flows provides important information from a cash-basis perspective and complements the income statement and balance sheet, and provides a more complete picture of a companys operations and financial position. The Indirect Statement of Cash Flows method begins with net income and then details the adjustments made to ar rive at cash flows from operations. III. Application of Financial Framework. Indirect Statement of Cash Flows Butler Lumber 1989 through 1st Quarter 1991 Operating Activities for 1989 1990 1st Qrt 1991 Net Income $34,000 $44,000 $9,000 Add: Increase in Accounts Payable $68,000 $64,000 Less: Increase in Accounts Receivable ($51,000) ($95,000) ($28,000) Increase in Inventory ($56,000) ($93,000) ($138,000) Decrease in Accounts Payable ($13,000) Cash flow from operations ($5,000) ($80,000) ($170,000) Because a statement of cash flows provides details as to how the cash account changed during a period, the period of 1988 for Butler Lumber becomes an initial starting point from which we can begin a comparison. Because of the shift from partnership to a corporate form of organization, I dont have figures from 87 and cannot accurately reflect changes from 87 to 88. Changes from 88 to 89 begin the cash flow comparison in the chart above. In the chart above, I have listed each relevant area where cash flow may be a major concern. There appears to be a growing tendency by Butler Lumber to end each period with a negative cash flow. It also appears that this tendency to end each period with a negative cash flow is growing at an alarming rate. As we can see, from 1989 to 1990, the negative cash flow worsened from $5,000 to $80,000-a whopping 1600% increase. Then, the period from the end of 1990 to only the end of the first quarter of 1991, the negative cash flow more than doubled again! IV. Mitigating Circumstances and Assumptions: By examining the statement of cash flows, we discover a major concern in three areas: (1) Inventory, (2) accounts receivable, and (3) accounts payable. All three are moving in a negative, undesirable direction; but inventory is escalating at a greater overall rate and seems to be out of control by the end of the first quarter of 1991. The greatest contributing factor causing Butler Lumbers debt and cash-shortage problem is that they are purchasing much more inventory than they are using. Having too much cash invested in their inventory is their main problem but they have some offshoot problems that tend to be growing out of their inventory problem: 1. One way that companies fund a cash-shortage problem is to keep their accounts payable high. This is an easy way to borrow short-term money, but when a company is slow to pay its bills and owes a significant amount of money, they potentially damage their credit and their business relationships with their suppliers. 2. Without adequate cash, Butler cant pay their accounts within the 30-day term allowed by vendors and this further adds cash-shortage pressures because they then must incur additional finance charges. 3. Because they are cash poor, they cant take advantage of the discounts available for payments made within 10 days of purchase. The extra discounts would help increase their cash flow and their income. V. Conclusion and Recommendation: Butler Lumber has the potential to be a profitable and successful company. The level of growth theyve been experiencing may be new territory for them and the less than perfect way theyve dealt with it might explain why there has been a huge increase in inventory. Thus far, Mr. Butler has not demonstrated a savvy business acumen for adjusting to the significant growth. I have identified the following conclusions and recommendations: 1. Northrop National Bank should help Butler by making a loan under certain prescribed conditions: (a) A loan would help to ensure an influx to Butlers cash flow position, but conditional provisions requiring Butler to be proactive in accomplishing recommended goals and deadlines would be in order; (b) The loan amount of $465,000 is probably too high. The loan amount should be established to help Butler reduce inventories and increase cash flow, but not be so large as to entice Butler to ignore the ensuing problem. Forecasted analysis would still be required; (c) Even though Butler may resist, it would not be unreasonable for Northrop to require collateral, such as property; 2. Butler should significantly reduce inventory and implement better control. (a) One of the conditions of the loan should require Butler to propose a new system and implement a plan that would make better use of their inventory. They need to analyze their inventory turnover ratios and compare them with and keep them in line with industry averages to ensure the numbers are not unreasonable or unachievable. (b) An alternative approach to reducing inventory might include hiring sales personnel who would help convert inventory into profitable sales. 3. Butler should be more aggressive in collecting their accounts receivable. This would provide more cash and, in turn, help Butler to take advantage of available discounts from their vendors. This too would further increase their cash flow and reduce the need to borrow unreasonable amounts of money. 4. Mark Butler should retain less in personal salaries and other perquisites. This would demonstrate to Northrop National that he is personally making serious attempts to increase cash flow, get out of debt, and gain control of other emerging problems. Besides, personal taxes on his income is at a fairly high rate when it rises above $50,000. This is another area where he could increase cash flow while showing that he is truly doing whatever it takes to fix the problems facing Butler Lumber.

Arm Crank Ergometry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Arm Crank Ergometry - Assignment Example Previous studies have considered issues linked to exercise efficiency. This line of enquiry provides important information associated with the relationship between the energy required to achieve a given amount of external work. In the context of a competitive athlete or a patient in a clinical setting, exercise efficiency provides a useful insight into functional capacity. When presented in either gross or net terms, exercise efficiency has been shown to increase in line with workload during both cycling and ACE. Several studies have also demonstrated there to be a clear interaction between crank rate and workload with respect to oxygen consumption during cycling and ACE. Additionally, previous studies have considered exercise efficiency in a number of different ways, including the calculation of gross, net, and delta values. Powers et al. (1984) showed that VO2 during ACE increased in line with crank rate. At workloads of 15 and 30W, VO2 was lower and exercise efficiency was higher, using crank rate of 50 and 70 rev.min-1 compared to 90 rev.min-1. Furthermore, when the workloads were increased to 45 and 60W, exercise efficiency remained higher using 50 compared to 90 rev.min-1. ... Furthermore Smith et al. showed that while variations in crank rate (50, 70 and 90 rev.min-1) influenced measures of exercise efficiency a relatively low workloads (30 to 70w) during ACE, these discrepancies did not exist at 90w. These data are interesting as they question the previously reported interaction between crank rate, workload and exercise efficiency. The purpose of this practical will be to further investigate 1) if exercise efficiency parameters change in line with variations in crank rate and 2) to determine whether or mechanical efficiency varies according to the external workload being achieved. In these respects, values of gross, net and work efficiency will be considered. RESULTS. The results of the experiment are summarised in the table 1 in the Annex. You can see that the index FE02 (fractional concentration of oxygen in expired air) was varied in the range between 16.2 and 18.5 ml O2/kg/min (range is 2.3 ml O2/kg/min). Consequently the mean of 35 measurements was equal to 17.1 and its standard error is 0.09. The variance of FE02 gross value was 0.34 and standard deviation - 0.56. The distribution of the sample was asymmetric and not normal (skewness is 0.72 and kurtosis 0.29). The values of median, lower and upper quartile were equal to 17.0, 16.7 and 17.4 correspondingly. The mean value of FECO2 (fractional concentration of CO2-exhaled) was equal to 3.660.08 while the variance and standard deviation was 0.24 and 0.49 respectively. The median of the index was 3.73 and the first (lowest) and third (upper) quartiles were equal to 3.45 and 3.98 while the minimum and maximum were 2.52 and 4.44 (range is 1.92 ml CO2/kg/min). The skewness and kurtosis were not equal to zero thus the distribution was not symmetric. The data

Loyalty Programmes in Hotels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 19000 words

Loyalty Programmes in Hotels - Essay Example This research attempts to achieve an insight into the value of loyalty programmes to businesses and more specifically examine the value of loyalty programmes to hotels. Review of secondary data is applied to understand the value of loyalty programmes to businesses while a survey among hotels is conducted to examine its value to the hotels. Loyalty Programmes are defined as â€Å"schemes offering delayed, accumulating economic benefits to consumers who buy the brand†. Satisfaction does not equal loyalty. A customer can be very satisfied with the product, but still be not loyal towards it. In order to encourage loyalty, firms develop loyalty programs. Typically, in a Loyalty Program, customers accumulate assets, points or rewards by accumulating their purchases from a local firm which is either exchanged for goods or the services, though not always associated with the firm. This generally adopts the system of points wherein the points can be exchanged for a variety of benefits s uch as free flyer points, gifts, trips, etc. â€Å"Airline frequent-flier programs have been a prototype for many of the schemes†. Such schemes are based on the concept of repeat purchase, and in most businesses today, a large part of sales results from repeat purchase. This fact is being increasingly recognized by enterprises that are implementing loyalty programmes to encourage such purchase pattern.  ... The literature in general helped in understanding various factors and concepts associated with loyalty programme and then those had to be applied to the hotel industry for the research. 34 3.4 Research Approach 36 3.5 Research Strategy 38 3.6 Sample selection 41 3.6.1 Administering the questionnaire 41 3.6.2 Analyzing the responses 43 3.7 Time Horizon 43 3.9.1 Reliability 47 3.9.2 Validity 48 Limitations 49 50 Ethical Considerations 50 4. Analysis and Discussion of Findings 51 4.1 Hotels' definition of loyal customers 52 4.2 Reason for launching loyalty programme 53 4.3 Target segment and benefits offered 55 4.4 Designing loyalty program for corporate segment 58 4.5 Loyalty programmes that attract maximum guests and justify expenses 59 4.6 Objective of loyalty programs 61 4.7 Managing loyalty programme 63 4.8 Delivery mechanism 64 4.9 Involving staff 65 4.10 Assessing the success of loyalty programme 66 4.11 Failure of loyalty programme 70 5. Recommendations 72 Introduction Brief overview and background This research attempts to achieve an insight into the value of loyalty programmes to businesses and more specifically examine the value of loyalty programmes to hotels. Review of secondary data is applied to understand the value of loyalty programmes to businesses while a survey among hotels is conducted to examine its value to the hotels. Loyalty Programmes are defined as "schemes offering delayed, accumulating economic benefits to consumers who buy the brand". Satisfaction does not equal loyalty. A customer can be very satisfied with the product, but still be not loyal towards it (Charles and Lamb, 2008).In order to encourage loyalty, firms

Emotional intelligence and its role in leading, performance and Essay

Emotional intelligence and its role in leading, performance and wellbeing 2211 - Essay Example Intelligence, of any kind cannot be measured; however it can be assessed by asking different questions. Similarly in the case of EI as well, the most feasible way of measuring an individual’s emotional understanding capabilities is by asking different questions. Psychologists are often seen to follow this technique to understand and map the emotions of patients and understand exactly what kind of emotional problems they are undergoing. Different parameters are set and the responses provided by individuals are compared against the responses provided. It is then estimated whether the emotional intelligence quotient of individuals are high or low. Individuals must themselves be able to understand their emotions well so that they can accurately recognize the emotions of others (Schutte, et al., 1998). According to the studies conducted by Salovey and Mayer, emotional intelligence can be described as the sophisticated mental process whereby information regarding one’s own and others emotions are understood and meanings are derived. Emotional intelligence helps perceiving the feelings and thoughts of others and accordingly adapt with the people around. Understanding the emotions of others plays a significant role in the manner we behave and respond to them (Mayer, Caruso and Salovey, 1999). The ability model of emotional intelligence was proposed by Salovey and Mayer. They had developed an EI model describing the development of emotional intelligence from childhood to adulthood. The model is based on four branches. These are described as follows: Perception- Emotional intelligence requires an individual to perceive the emotions present in themselves and in others in a highly accurate way. Identification of emotions is seen to enhance and positively benefit the behavioural conduct of an individual. Perception involves understanding the body language, facial expressions, tone and manner of speaking so that adequate

Impact of Shock on the Body

Impact of Shock on the Body Steve Powell It is important to understand by what is meant by shock. Shock in a physiological is a life threatening condition, and must be taken lightly. Shock as a definition is: â€Å"failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate perfusion of vital organs†. (1) Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 Shock comes used to be classified as separate types: Cardiogenic Hypovolaemic Anaphylactic Neurogenic Toxic Recently this has been condensed in three types: Cardiogenic Hypovolaemic Distributive The definitions of these types of shock are: Cardiogenic –pump failure resulting in the blood cannot get to where it’s supposed to go i.e. the tissues, hence a low cardiac output. Hypovolaemic –a low volume of blood in the body as a result of major trauma or massive haemorrhage Distributive (Vasogenic) –this type of shock relates to changes in the body’s blood vessels, vascular changes, as a result of Anaphylactic, Neurogenic or toxic insult on the body.(2) Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 In Cardiogenic shock we have ascertained that it is down to pump failure and the bodies in ability to circulate adequate blood around the body to meet its metabolic needs. We have seen that it can be caused by a low cardiac output that is caused by, massive haemorrhage trough trauma or pathophysiological reason (dissected aortic aneurysm). It can also be caused by: a myocardial infarction (heart attack), dysrhythmias, and heart failure. A second cause is obstruction to the pump flow, that is to say conditions such as: valve dysfunction, pulmonary embolism, and tamponade (pericardial effusion that effects the normal action of the heart in pumping). Question 1 cont†¦. Hypovolaemic shock as the name suggests is â€Å"low volume†, causes range from massive haemorrhage through trauma or pathophysiological reasons (triple A). Burns victims are at particular risk as it affects these types of patients at a cellular level, the loss of fluid out of vascular spaces. Technically shock in burns victims a combination of distributive and hypovolaemic shock. In as much as it is seen as volume depletion within the intravascular system, lowered pulmonary artery pressure and an elevated systemic resistance, resulting in a low cardiac output. The low cardiac output is a direct result of an increased after load, a reduced contractility, and a lowered level of plasma volume. (3) Barbara A. Latenser, MD, FACS. (2009). Critical care of the burn patient: The first 48 hours Society of critical and medicine. 37 (10), p2819-p2826 Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or MODS as it’s also known is a condition where two or more of the body’s systems have failed. MODS can be described as a â€Å"systemic activation of an adaptive host stress response to a catastrophic event†. (4) Sat Sharma and Gregg Eschun (2008) Hypotension and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Journal of Organ Dysfunction 4 (1), p130-p144 Once a state of prolonged shock has been induced an over the top bodily response takes place. This is known as a â€Å"systemic inflammatory response†. Once this stage has started, the body releases inflammatory mediators that are intrinsic to the pathogenesis of SIRS (systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Where sepsis is not a key trigger, hypotension through hypovolaemic will contribute to the onset of SIRS and eventually MODS. The combination of these three conditions, Sepsis, SIRS, and MODS, combine conditions that have a massive impact on haemodynamic abnormalities, coagulation problems, and systemic issues.(5) Sat Sharma and Gregg Eschun (2008) Hypotension and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Journal of Organ Dysfunction 4 (1), p130-p144 Any insult to the body and normal function (haemostasis) will initiate a cycle of metabolic chaos that includes an increase for oxygen versus an inadequate supply at a molecular level. Question 1 cont Inadequate blood supply to the tissues and cells in hypovolaemic shock and associated hypotension is the key to MODS in this instance. (6) Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 What we can say about the timeline for MODS is: The event that starts the cascade off, infection, hypoxia, trauma, in our case hypovolaemic shock via traumatic infarct trauma. Increase in levels of cytokines (immune system signalling cells). Leads to a release of ELAM and ICAM that induce leukocyte adhesion. This in turn triggers a multiple release of chemicals and compounds resulting in endothelial damage Resulting oedema eventually leading to organ dysfunction. Word count 611 References Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 Barbara A. Latenser, MD, FACS. (2009). Critical care of the burn patient: The first 48 hours Society of critical and medicine. 37 (10), p2819-p2826 Sat Sharma and Gregg Eschun (2008) Hypotension and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Journal of Organ Dysfunction 4 (1), p130-p144 Sat Sharma and Gregg Eschun (2008) Hypotension and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Journal of Organ Dysfunction 4 (1), p130-p144 Mitch Taylor. (2010). Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome Available: http://acls4u.homestead.com/MultOrganDysfunctionSyndromeVoiceOver.pdf. Last accessed 01/06/2014 Reflection As far as a reflective piece of work goes, I find myself having to reflect on skills that I learnt 10 years ago and have been employing on a regular basis. Although reflection should take place on a regular basis, it is never too late to reflect on things. Even though the skills were learnt 10 years ago there is 10 years scope to develop bad habits if not identified and rectified. The four skills in question inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation form part of the primary and secondary surveys for healthcare professionals worldwide. The initial primary survey should take seconds. I can remember when I first started doing patient inspections/assessments, it would be very text book orientated, not a bad thing you would have thought. However when you’ve exhausted all the text book questions you suddenly come to stand still and there is a period of silence then between yourself and the patient and sometimes the relatives. What I started to do, on the advice of a colleague, was, as i approached the patient I would assess their â€Å"colour posture and behaviour†. These three things would give me an idea of the state of the patient. If the patient answered the door and looked well and was ambulatory (as happens) then I would be off to a fairly good start. The patient had spoken to me (airway was clear); they looked well perfused and were mobile, no obvious life threatening conditions. If for instance the patient answered the door and was pale, sweaty, breathless and complained of chest pain then that would put a completely different slant on the primary survey. The patient would then have to be sat down immediately and further cardiac assessment undertaken. So by employing this little method (colour, posture, and behaviour) I was able, at a glance to do a quick assessment of the patient. Other aspects, such as scene safety etc†¦. soon became second nature as was the ability to do rapid risk assessments at the scene’s of RTC’s and other scene’s where there may be hazardous. There is a lot to take into consideration when carrying out an assessment, it is however a rolling concept where you question as you asses or treat. For non life threatening conditions then there no need to rush and miss your history taking, if you stick to the AMPLE model of: Allergies Medicine Past medical history Last meal/oral intake Events that lead to calling 999. These questions are limited and can take 1-2 minutes to ask and be answered. This is where you can expand on the history take and delve further in to the patient’s medical, social, familial history. When I first qualified I was encouraged by work colleagues to use all my extended skills. The auscultation side of the assessment was a little difficult at first because I just didn’t know what I was listening for; it wasn’t long before we started getting quite a few patients with respiratory problems. This enabled me to match the condition with what I was listening to. I remember also listening to chest sounds on the internet, a useful exercise, but not like the real thing. One thing that stick s out, and is still relevant o this day, is that its well and good listening to chest sounds on the computer and in the back of a relatively quiet ambulance, that it is at the side of a road with traffic rushing by and the sound of the fire services generators going at full tilt. Auscultation is a tool that I use frequently in my patient assessment. The percussion side of my assessment, I have to be honest and say that I do it for respiratory cases and trauma cases, but not for every patient that I see. It’s probably an area where i could do with more practise if I’m being hypercritical. Would I know a hyper/hypo-resonant chest? I believe so, however if I were to do a SWOT analysis then this would probably be in my weak box. Palpation I tend to use a lot more, whether it is because I get far more abdominal calls than critical chest’s I don’t know. The fact remains that I use palpation far more than percussion. Palpation is an extremely useful tool in the ballpark when it comes to abdominal complaints. However what I have learnt about abdominal related problems over the years, is that, as well as not being in my scope of practise to diagnose and discharge (without referring to a gp first), more analytical tools are needed. Tools such a doctor, ultrasound and bloods to name (various other scans can be utilised at DGH). Looking back or reflecting over the past 10 years, I feel i took on board the training that I received both EMT and Paramedic, and have built on them to a point where I more than comfortable treating an 80 year old gentleman in his living room with chronic emphysema to a road traffic collision where it’s quite a challenging environment. I have however identified a possible weakness in my practise that I will be address at the soonest opportunity.

Pop-ups and Spam Email Ethical Judgement Essay -- Internet Ads Adverti

Pop-ups and Spam Email Ethical Judgement Introduction: Only two things are certain in this life, death and taxes. I beg to differ. Seems to me we can throw spam and pop-up advertisements in there as well. In recent years, spam and pop-ups have become a way of life. People spend hours of their day weeding through their emails to find which ones are spam and which are the ones they really want to see. And it seems like any webpage you go to nowadays, an animated/flashing pop-up window appears, trying to get you to buy something. Most everyone hates spam and pop-up advertisements. Doing some observational research, I noticed that when people visit websites with pop-ups, they tend to become frustrated and attempt to quickly close the pop-ups window. Personally, I don’t like pop-ups because they never have pertain to anything I’m interested in, and even if they did, I wouldn’t trust an advertisement that is blaring in my face when I’m attempting to do other work that is totally unrelated. I asked others how they feel about pop-ups, and I got some interesting responses. One person said, â€Å"I don’t even consciously think of them anymore. It’s almost like second-nature; when I visit a webpage, without thinking I find the little X in the corner of the pop-up window and close it as fast as possible.† I found the same mentality toward spam messages and emails. A fellow classmate told me that he receives on the order of 200 spam emails every single day. That’s mind-blowing! I thought my 25 per day was bad enough. It got to the point where he needed to create a new email address for important emails, and just empty the old one out everyday. The problem he faces is that if one or two of those 200 emails are ac... ...ps and spam emails forever. References: Apryl Duncan, Pop-Ups: Annoying But Good , 2003, About Advertising, January 2003, http://www.advertising.about.com/library/weekly/aa012803a.htm. Carl Sullivan, E-mail, Ad Blockers Pose Problems for Publishers, 2003, Editor & Publisher, 5 May 2003, http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1894258. Thomas Ordahl, STOP THE POP (UP): The Problem with Internet Advertising, 2004, The Direct Marketing Association, 7 April 2004, http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispnewsstand?article=2111+++++. Jeffrey Utech, The Ethics of Pop-Ups, 2 October 2003, http://jeffrey.theutechs.com/blog/archives/000743.html. Peter Landau, Earthlink Upgrades Spam, Pop-up Blockers, 2003, Editor & Publisher, 30 May 2003, http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1898583.

Beer Et Al’s (1984) Harvard Model of Hrm Notes Essay

Despite almost two decades of debate in the mainstream literature around the nature of human resource management (HRM), its intellectual boundaries and its application in practice, the field continues to be dogged by a number of theoretical and practical limitations. This book is intended to provide students with a relatively advanced and critical discussion of the key debates and themes around HRM as it is conceptualized and operationalized in the early part of the twenty-first century. Thus the current contribution is intended to be in the tradition of Storey (2007) and Legge (1995) and aims to provide students with a well-grounded and critical overview of the key issues surrounding HRM from a theoretical and practical perspective. In doing so we draw on contributions from the leading scholars in the field who provide detailed discussions on key debates in their respective offerings. In this introduction we provide the context for the book though considering a number of overarching themes within which key debates in the field of HRM are situated. Specifically, we provide a summary discussion of the theoretical and intellectual boundaries of HRM, consider its emergence in historical context and identify some of the pervasive contradictions and limitations which prevail in the literature. Finally we provide a short outline of the structure and content of this volume. HRM defined Our discussion begins by considering what HRM actually means. Given the importance of definition in understanding the boundaries of a field, this issue is clearly an important point of departure. However, this question is more difficult to answer than one would expect, since from its emergence HRM has been dogged by the still largely unresolved ambiguity surrounding its definition. As Blyton and Turnbull (1992:2) note ‘The ways in which the term is used by academics and practitioners indicates both variations in meaning and significantly different emphases on what constitutes its core components’. One of the dominant definitions (in the UK at least) has been to define HRM as a contested domain, with rival soft and hard approaches. The soft approach to HRM is generally associated with the Harvard School and in particular the writings of Michael Beer and colleagues (see Beer et al., 1984; Beer and Spector, 1985; Walton and Lawrence, 1985). The soft school emphasizes the importance of aligning HR policies with organizational strategy; it emphasizes the role of employees as a valuable asset and source of competitive advantage through their commitment adaptability and quality (Legge, 1995; D’Art, 2002). It stresses gaining employee commitment to the organization through the use of a congruent suite of HRM policies. Soft HRM draws on behavioural sciences in particular, with strong resonance with the human relations school, while the concept of human growth, which is central to its theory, echoes ‘all-American’ theories of motivation, from McGregor’s Theory Y to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Legge, 1995). Hence it is sometimes conceptualized as ‘developmental humanism’ (Storey, 1989; Legge, 1995). HRM is operationalized in terms of strategic interventions designed to develop resourceful employees and to elicit their commitment to the organizational goal (Storey, 1992). However, sceptics have conceptualized soft HRM as the ‘iron fist in the velvet glove’, arguing that the theory of soft HRM ‘reduced †¦ the complex debate about the role of people in work organizations to the simplistic dogma of an economic model which even its â€Å"creator† Adam Smith would probably not have wished applied in such an indiscriminate manner’ (Hart, 1993:29–30). Another uncharitable definition of soft HRM is that it constituted a desperate rearguard action by liberal academics and practitioners, mostly writing in the United States, to sell more humane forms of managing people to essentially conservative owner interests that have in increasing numbers ruthlessly pressed for a maximization of short term profits, regardless of the cost to both employees and the long term good of the organization. In other words, soft HRM is about trying to encourage firms to be ‘nicer’ to their people, on the basis that such ‘niceness’ is likely to translate into greater commitment and productivity, and hence, even more profits. Soft HRM stands in contrast with the hard variant. Hard HRM is generally associated with the Michigan School (Forbrun et al., 1984). Its emphasis is on the use of human resource (HR) systems to ‘drive’ the attainment of the strategic objectives of the organizations (Forbrun et al., 1984). While sof t HRM emphasizes the human element of HRM, the emphasis of the hard approach is very much on the resource as a means of maximizing shareholder value over the short term. The duty of managers is quite simply to make money for owners, and a focus on other issues such as employee rights is simply a distraction: rather, by focusing on returns, the organization will perform most efficiently, which ultimately is in the interests of all. It has been argued that, in the tradition of Taylorism and Fordism, employees are viewed as a factor of production that should be rationally managed and deployed in quantitative and calculative terms in line with business strategy (Tyson and Fell, 1986; Storey, 1992). However, rather different to classic Taylorism or Fordism, job security in the new hard HRM is seen as an unnecessary luxury, whilst pay rates are to be kept to the lowest level the external labour market would permit: there is little mention in the literature illustrating how hard HRM echoes Henry Ford’s famous commitment to a 5 dollar/day wage. Human resource policies in the hard variant are designed to be both internally consistent and externally ali gned with the organizational strategy. These interventions are designed to ensure full utilization of the labour resource (Storey, 1992). It is legitimized and finds its impetus from a market-responsive frame of reference (Storey, 2007). At the extreme, implicit contracts regarding pensions and tenure are seen as hampering effective management: these should, if possible, be jettisoned, with employee rights being pared back as much a possible. Critics of this point of view have argued that such a focus is likely to make for higher staff turnover rates, with the inevitable loss of job specific skills and accumulated wisdom, low trust, low levels of organizational commitment, and hence, higher transaction costs (see Marsden, 1999). In other words, hard HRM is likely to make organizations less efficient. It could be argued that most successful incrementally innovative high value added manufacturing firms have shunned hard HRM. In contrast, it has been more widely deployed in more volatile areas of economic activity, such as f inancial services. A second and simpler way of viewing things is that HRM in the narrow sense can be defined as a strategic approach to managing employees, which came to the forefront in the liberal market economies, particularly the US and the UK, in the 1980s. Whilst having both soft (‘people friendly’) and hard (‘people as a resource to be deployed, utilized, and, if need be disposed of’) variations, common to this approach was an emphasis on optimal shareholder outcomes, with enhancing outcomes for other stakeholders being at the best a secondary objective, and at worst, an unnecessary distraction. This ‘two sides of the same coin’ point of view argues that, since the end of the long boom that lasted from the post World War II period up until the 1970s, there has been a period of erratic and unstable growth and recession. This period has been characterized by employers gaining the upper hand over employees, on account of the very much weaker bargaining position of the latter (cf. Kelly 1998). Given this, managers – particularly in the liberal market economies, such as the US and UK, where workers have historically had fewer rights under both law and convention – have taken the opportunity to fundamentally change the way they manage people. This has taken the form of systematic attempts to undermine collective bargaining with unions, replacing this with weak forms of consultation with individual employees. Collective employment contracts – where workers performing similar jobs are rewarded according to a pre-agreed pay scale – are replaced with individual ones, with employees being rewarded on the basis of regularly appraised performance, and/or through pay rates simply being linked to outputs. In other words, the role of the employee in the firm is not a dynamic and, in som e sense, negotiated relationship, but rather simply the deployment of a resource, in the same way a firm would deploy other physical resources, such as raw materials. A third way of looking at things is to simply conceptualize HRM as little more than a renaming of personnel management. In this vein, writers such as Armstrong (1987) describe HRM as ‘old wine in new bottles’, while Guest (1987) pointed to the fact that many personnel departments changed their names to HRM departments, with little evidence of any change in role. In practice, this would suggest that much HR work really concerns the administration of systems governing the administration of pay, promotion and recruitment procedures, etc. In turn, this would imply that HR managers are likely to lack power within the organization and have little say in setting real organizational strategies. Finally, HRM may be defined broadly in terms of including all aspects of managing people in organizations and the ways in which organizations respond to the actions of employees, either individually or collectively. The value of this catch all term is that it describes the wide range of issues surrounding both the employment contract, situations where an employment contract has yet to be agreed on (recruitment and selection), and ways in which employees may be involved and participate in areas not directly governed by the employment contract to make working life more agreeable and/or to genuinely empower people. In other words, it goes beyond simply ‘industrial relations’ or ‘employment relations’. The terms ‘personnel administration’ or ‘personnel management’ would not provide a totally accurate label, given their administrative and non-strategic connotations. Some insights into the different ways HRM has been conceived have been provided by the Keele University affair in 2007–2008. A conservative university administration resolved to restructure business and management studies in the university through the simple device of making acade mics that had formally specialized in ‘industrial relations’ redundant. In many respects, this was a surprising decision, given robust student numbers, and the fact that industrial relations research was one area where Keele had gained an excellent reputation. Backed up by the findings of a committee of external ‘experts’, university administration implied that industrial relations academics were likely to be less capable of teaching HRM, and, by implication, had skills sets not relevant to modern business education. Tellingly, a petition signed by many leading HRM and industrial relations academics in Britain, in response to this decision, included a statement that HRM could not be separated from industrial relations, and that the skills necessary to teach industrial relations could broadly be applied to understanding HRM. In other words, HRM was simply a collective noun describing work and employment relations in the broadest possible sense, and was not really about special new skills, or a new and different agenda (see www.bura.org.uk). The preceding discussion highlights the ambiguity around the boundaries of HRM. These differences are summarized in Table 1.1. The tension around definition persists in the literature and a central theme in this volume is highlighting the contradictions between these two broad understandings of HRM. We argue that for ethical and sustainability reasons, more stakeholder orientated approaches to people management are preferable, with shareholder dominant approaches facing both quotidian micro-crises at firm (encompassing problems of human capital development and commitment) and at macro-economic (encompassing problems of excessive speculation-driven volatility, industrial decline, and chronic balance of payments problems) levels. HRM and personnel management compared As noted above, a key point of reference in definitions on HRM is through comparing it with its predecessor – personnel management. Although this debate is somewhat dated, it remains important. Thus it merits summary discussion. During the early days of HRM’s emergence as a mainstream approach to people management a number of commentators were sceptical about the extent to which it represented something different to its predecessor – personnel management. Over time it has become apparent that there are substantive differences between the two, Table 1.1 Definitions of HRM†¦ Definition | Implication | Contested domain | HRM is a contested domain, with two rival paradigms, hard and soft HRM | Two sides of the same coin | Whether hard or soft, HRM is about the management of people in a particular, new way. This may involve the use of strategy to manage people, or simply reflect structural changes that have strengthened management at the expense of employees | ‘New wine in old bottles’ | HRM is little more than the extension of traditional personnel management | Collective noun | HRM is a commonly reflected description for a range of practices associated with managing work and employment relations | At least at a theoretical level. In illuminating these differences a brief discussion on personnel management is merited (for a full discussion, see Legge, 1995). While there are a number of accepted definitions of personnel management, some of which in the US context are closer to accepted definitions of HRM (see Kaufman, 2001; Strauss, 2001), there is a degree of consensus as to its key characteristics. First, personnel management is largely conceived as a downstream activity with a limited strategic role. And, despite the rhetoric, HRM is often not that strategic: after all, both hard and soft HRM ultimately depict HRM as a transmission belt, passing down an agenda of shareholder value. Further, personnel management is generally considered to be reactive and piecemeal with little integration between its various elements. One of the greatest management thinkers – if popular management writing can be considered thought at all – of the last century, Peter Drucker (1961:269), neatly summarized the personnel role as ‘a collection of incidental techniques with little internal cohesion. As personnel administration conceives the job of managing worker and work, it is partly a file clerk’s job, partly a house keeping job, partly a social worker’s job and partly fire-fighting to head off union trouble or to settle it’. This limited role is alluded to by Legge’s (1995:88) observation that ‘in the UK â€Å"personnel management† evokes i mages of do-gooding specialists trying to constrain line managers, of weakly kowtowing to militant unions, of both lacking power and having too much power’. Indeed it has been argued that the perceived welfare role of the personnel function was one aspect of it that limited its credibility as a managerial function. It also resulted in females playing a key role in personnel in its formative years in the UK context (Legge, 1995). A scrutiny of the gender composition of classes at many Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development approved training centres provides some corroboration for the gendered nature of much HR work. A further dimension of the broad personnel role in the UK was its key role in negotiating with trade unions, a characteristic which points toward the fire-fighting role of personnel. Indeed, it was this element of the role that bought increasing numbers of males into the profession (Gunnigle et al., 2006). However, more recent evidence in the UK points to a shift in the balance towards a greater feminization of the HR function (Kersley et al., 2006:69). This engagement with trade unions points to a collectivist orientation and, owing to the historical prominence of trade unions, particularly in the UK and Ireland, personnel management became infused with a pluralist frame of reference (Flanders 1964). Given the importance of bargaining, managing the industrial relationship gained a distinct identity: it is worth noting that the divide between basic personnel management and industrial relations persists in the academic literature, with, as a general rule, those academic journals focusing on the former having low prestige, and on the latter, high prestige. Newer explicitly HR journals represent something of a cross over and incorporate aspects of both, as well as insights from, other disciplines. The preceding discussion suggests that HRM and personnel management – and industrial relations – may differ in a number of substantive ways. The first is that HRM is conceived as having a more strategic role and hence elevated t o the top management table, suggesting a more upstream role, even if, in practice, this has been little more than wishful thinking. Nonetheless, HRM does concern attempts to develop an integrated and congruent set of HR policies as opposed to the piecemeal approach apparent in the traditional personnel role. Furthermore, HR policy and practice is also targeted at the individual level. This is reflected in the preference for individual performance related pay, individual communication mechanisms, employee opinion surveys and the like. A final key distinguishing factor is that, reflective of the individualist orientation, HRM is premised on a unitarist understanding of conflict. Unitarism suggests that there are no intrinsic conflicts of interest in the employment relationship as all within the organization are working toward a common goal for the success of the organization. The common goal is reflected in the idea that there is a single source of authority within the organization – management. Given that there are argued to be no conflicts of interest within the organization – conflicts are caused b y breakdowns in communication or by troublemakers. Conflict should be suppressed by improving communication or removing troublemakers from the organization. Unions are opposed on two grounds: (1) there are no conflicts of interest within the workplace and thus they are unnecessary and (2) they would represent an alternative source of authority. Alternatively, unions may be co-opted to the managerial agenda, through ‘partnership’, with unions trading off militancy for continued recognition, and the benefits that would arguably flow from greater organizational competitiveness. More critical strands of the HR literature suggest that this focus is mistaken, that employees often retain a collective identity, and that managerial power will inevitably continue to be challenged in ways that would make new accommodations necessary if the organization is to work in the most effective way. http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=223448&src=0#

Unions and Management

Unions and Management Introduction Unions are formed to protect the rights of the members. Some organizations feel that unions are a stumbling block to their progress. In most cases conflicts arise between Trade unions and organization management. An analysis of the effect of unions on organizations shows that unions can be profitable or disadvantageous to an organization.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Unions and Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Effects of Unions in Organizations Unions affect the management of an organization either positively or negatively. Unions determine the number of workers who are employed in an organization. This brings to a rise of the workers’ salaries and wages but reduces opportunities of employment. Unions also speak out for the employees so as to increase their pay and conversely reduce the profits of the company. Though they are advantageous their disadvantage is that they affect the e conomy negatively by causing an escalation of prices in consumer goods and services at the expense of providing higher earnings to the employees (Sherk, 2011). Role of Management in an Organization Good Management in an organization is vital for the achievement of its goals. It is the authority of any organization. Management is responsible for employing the workforce. Once they are employed, they should train them to be proficient so as to produce higher output from their work. Management should delegate duties to the employees and encourage them to do their best. They should ensure that all activities in the organization are legal and promote a healthy social environment (Mintzberg, 2009). The management should lead the organization. They should supervise and monitor all operations in every department. Management should handle every type of problem that may come up at the work place. Managers should be entrepreneurs who come up with projects and work them through successfully. The y should allocate resources appropriately so as to take care of the employees’ needs, materials and at the end make some profits. Managers should also be negotiators of their organization (Mintzberg, 2009). Role of Unions in Organizations â€Å"A trade union is an organization based on membership of employees in various trades, occupations and professions, whose major focus is the representation of its members at the workplace and in the wider society† Trade Unions team up with organizations management so as to maintain associations between them (TradeUnion, n. d). The fact that trade unions’ leaders have a huge back in the unions’ members, the leaders can equally have a huge influence in the politics. Trade union leaders use the back up they have in the union members to play a role in formulating labor policies. This way, they are able to access funds from the government to improve welfare of the members. Trade unions usually determine political decision s through their leaders who are professionals such as lawyers and engineers (TradeUnion, n. d.). Unions have an influence on the market. They determine the amount of finances to be used on employees so as to determine the prices of the goods and services provided by the organization. This makes the organizational goods to be competitive in the market. Trade unions work towards betterment of the employees (TradeUnion, n.d.).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Trade unions have a regulatory role in organizations. They regulate standards of working conditions to all members. They, therefore, protect workers by ensuring that they are not exploited by the employers. The effectiveness of a trade union determines its strength capacity in influencing an organization. Some unions share power with the organization to deal with â€Å"grievances, discipline, job evaluation, red undancy, work changes, safety and health and rights to negotiate terms and conditions† (TradeUnion, n.d., p. 1). Trade Unions are also important in providing training for organizations. Individual interests include provision of equal rights, how to prevent sexual insults, harassments and provision of medication for those with chronic illnesses (TradeUnion, n.d.). Unions encourage democracy. By providing good terms and conditions for the employees, they encourage their participation in the union. As they become more involved, they are able to get the best leaders for organizations. The workers are therefore a source of influence. Unions also enable employees to participate in decision making. This is in contrast to most of the past systems where employees who opposed any decisions or came up with new ideas were fired (TradeUnion, n.d.). Unions provide services to their members. These include, â€Å"housing, land lease schemes, transport and service stations, launder mats, cine mas, stores, insurance programmes and other schemes† (TradeUnion, n. d., p. 1). Unions also help workers to get pensions through financial firms. This money accumulates and makes profits over a long period of time. Other services include legal representation and medical services (TradeUnion, n.d.). Unions play a developmental role in organizations. They do this by developing the workforce. Members including youths, women and the elderly are given responsibilities which help them to develop leadership and professional skills. This brings their promotion from low levels to higher levels in management. This strategy promotes maximum utilization of potential and talent of employees (Mintzberg, 2009). Unions provide welfare services to the organization members. These include â€Å"employment of those with disabilities, family services such as baby crà ¨ches, child care centers, old people’s homes and play and recreation centers† (TradeUnion, n.d.). Maintaining Conduc ive Working Relationships An organization can maintain favorable working relationships by promoting effective communication in the organization and maintaining excellent connection with the union. Effective communication comes when employees are aware of the policies that exist in the organization. This means that employees require training. Employees should also understand their responsibility in case of any conflict at the workplace.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Unions and Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Managers should also maintain justice at all times. Whenever there is a dispute even in terms of finances they should handle them effectively. Communication becomes more effective if there is no any discrimination at the work place. It is also important to honor all the agreements made by the organization. Managers should also ensure that employees have first hand information concerning any develop mental changes taking place in their organization (Resource, 2011). The relationship between the organization and the union is very important in that when any dispute gets out of hand, it can be handed over to the union (Resource, 2011). Managers should have an action plan that should be a guide at the work place. Plans differ according to the nature of organizations. The action plan should evaluate the present activities and develop policies that increase the working conditions of the employees. By this, every employee is well informed of his/her duties or responsibilities. The plan should also focus on all people without discrimination including people with disabilities. The plan should also â€Å"address all barriers including physical, information, communication and attitudinal barriers† (Austrarian, n.d., p. 1). Role of Union in Management of Organizations Unions and management of organizations should emphasize on the significance of effective communication in the organi zation. They should come up with ways to support productivity and competitiveness of the organizations. This positively affects the organization managers by encouraging their participation. This can be at both national and enterprise levels. Unions should also ensure that they build trust in organizations. The Unions should focus on development of social capital at enterprise level (TradeUnion, n.d.). Unions should assist organizations to get contracts. They should also help the organization to create awareness to all employees in the organization by helping them know their rights. The unions should also represent organizations in various contracts. They can effectively deal with disciplining issues of the employees and eliminate issues of injustice at the work place. They also have a legal role to play for the organizations by ensuring that they are not subjected to any unfair judgment (TradeUnion, n.d.). Conclusion Depending on the strategies used by the organization it can yield positive or negative results. Management of the organization needs to know its stand and strike a balance on the influence by the union. Unions should also strive to be beneficial to the organizations that they serve. Communication is the key strategy to maintain conducive working relationships and environment. This is because Unions have a great influence on organizations.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More References Austrarian. (n.d.). Developing an Effective Action Plan. HREOC. Retrieved from: hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/action_plans/effective_plan/effective_plan.html Mintzberg, H. (2009). Ten Management Roles. SAYECONOMY. Retrieved from: sayeconomy.com/ten-management-roles-by-henry-mintzberg/ Resource. (2011). Strategic Human Resource. Strategic Human Resource. Retrieved from: strategic-human-resource.com/industrial-relations-adversarial-approach.html Sherk, J. (2011). What Unions Do; How Labor Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy. Heritage. Retrieved from: heritage.org/research/reports/2009/05/what-unions-do-how-labor-unions-affect-jobs-and-the-economy TradeUnion. (n.d.). The Function and Role of Trade Union. Ilocarib. Retrieved from: ilocarib.org.tt/Promalco_tool/productivity-tools/manual09/m9_4.htm

Roman Art essays

Roman Art essays Art has changed a great deal since it began many centuries ago. Centuries dont notice the small changes that are shown even between cultures of alike times. Greeks and Romans both have beautiful pieces of art, but they were very different from each other. The amazing thing about art is that no matter how differences they are it is still beautiful in its own way. There are also alike in some ways. They that are unique with these two cultures as well, but the point that will be focused on is the differences that are found between Greek and Roman art. The pieces that will be focused on from the Greeks are Black-Figured Psykter and Red-Figured Kylix Depicting a Young Athelete, and from the Romans are Mummy Portrait of a Man and Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman. The Menil Collection in Houston holds the Roman Portraits. The Mummy Portrait of a Man is from the Fayum area in Egypt. It was painted about 150-200 B.C. It is painted in encaustic on wood, and is a Fayum portrait. The Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman is also from the Fayum area and painted in encaustic on wood. This portrait was painted about 150-200 B.C. The term Fayum portrait is actually derived from a Coptic word meaning The land of the lake, which refers to the artificial Lake Qarun. This lake was a project of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, and it was this lake that made a desert area of about 100 kilometers into one of the most fruitful areas in Egypt. It was such an amazing achievement that the lake still to this day gives this region water keeping it fruitful. The purpose of the Mummy Portrait of a Man as well as the Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman was to identify the mummy. These portraits were paintings of the person that they identified. The edges of the paintings have paint missing, due to the fact that these portraits were placed over the face of the mummies. The fact that both the artists of these portra ...

Female Cicumcision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Female Cicumcision - Essay Example There are three main types of FC practiced in the Sudanese region; â€Å"Clitoridectomy, Intermediate and Pharaonic Circumcision.† (Magied, Sulima, and Kawther, 2002). The most common kind is a Clitoridectomy, which means the hood of the clitoris is removed (Magied, Sulima, and Kawther, 2002). Intermediate is when the clitoris and part of the labia minor is removed (Magied, Sulima, and Kawther, 2002). A Pharaonic Circumcision occures when the whole outer female genitals are removed then sewed up save a small hole for urination and menstruation (Magied, Sulima, and Kawther, 2002). The type of FC Nawal underwent would depend on the region she was from. There are three main reasons for FC being practiced in the Sudan. The first is the popular belief that if a woman cannot feel sexual pleasure, then she will remain a virgin until marriage (Davidson, 2007). The second reason is the Sudanese belief that the female genital areas are unclean. It is believed that FC makes a female genital area cleaner and smoother. Lastly, many men want their future brides to undergo the most radical form of FC, the Pharaonic Circumcision, for their personal sexual pleasure (Davidson, 2007). This type of FC leaves only a small hole, which tightens the vagina, which enhances a man’s sexual pleasure. This type of circumcision is preferred by 76% of women. Right or wrong, these are the cultural beliefs in the Sudan, since 99% of women are circumcised (Davidson, 2007). The major cultural argument against circumcision is the medical complications (Davidson, 2007). Immediate medical complications were pain and burning during urination (Davidson, 2007). This was due to the urine passing over the wound. This could also lead to infection, fever, and hemorrhaging (Davidson, 2007). Long terms effects were sexual dysfunction, lack of sexual pleasure, infertility, and scarring. The infertility is caused by difficulty in urination and menstruation, which causes â€Å"urinary tract and

Disadvantages of Performance-related Pay outweigh its Advantages Essay

Disadvantages of Performance-related Pay outweigh its Advantages - Essay Example Critics have analyzed performance-related pay differently, as many of the writers in various articles indicate that performance-related pay is a fruitful payment method due to which, there is more competition for positive working and people are more motivated towards effective task performance. On the other hand, there are also writers that have written articles negating the effectiveness of performance-related pay. According to the writers that are against the adoption of method of payment on the basis of basis, the payments are given to only those employees that are able to be close to the administration or management and that the pay is not given to them because of their effective working but on the basis of favouritism. Performance-related pay can have a positive as well as negative impact in various workplace environments. This paper discusses that performance related pay has many advantages but the disadvantages associated to it are overwhelming and devalue this mode of payment. The various forms of performance related pay are described after which, some authorial opinions are analyzed in terms of performance related pay and its effects. The advantages and disadvantages of performance related pay are analyzed and it is discussed that disadvantages outweigh advantages of performance related pay. In the end, the topic is concluded.