Performance Reviews (Human Resource Management) Essay

Performance Reviews (Human Resource Management) - Essay Example She at one point disputed some of my achievements on the basis that she did not believe I was capable of that since my background was miserable. However, much I tried to display my competence during the review, the supervisor was not impressed. I realized that her motive was to instil the anger in me and evoke a negative response so as she could get a chance to get me down. I tried to play calm all through the review, answering only the questions that were not personal. However, I was utterly discouraged when she indicated on my report that I was uncooperative in the review. Although I forwarded my grievances to the superiors in the organization and was given a consideration, I still feel offended by the actions of the supervisor and it is my feeling that such people should not be allowed to conduct reviews. Moreover, even with shortages of staff performance reviews should not be based on a single person review as this increases the risk of

The Lonely Miss Brill Essay Example for Free

The Lonely Miss Brill Essay With a unique blend of symbolism, imagery and setting Mansfield brings us into the world of †Miss Brill†. The story is narrated in the third person; the narrator primarily acts as the voice of Miss Brill. By telling the story through the eyes of Miss Brill, Mansfield is able to convey to the reader the loneliness and the lack of self-awareness of the main character. She gives no explanation as to the Miss Brill’s past, leaving it to the readers to draw their own conclusions. At the same time the author provides clues from which the reader can derive the theme of this story. The central theme of â€Å"Miss Brill† is the pain of loneliness, and inadvertent attempts to experience life through the experiences of total strangers. Miss Brill, has many symbols that clearly point out that Miss Brill is an old maid without close contacts. Firstly, Miss Brill lives in northern France teaching English. She is an immigrant everyone she knows, with the exception of her students and a elderly man, lives in England. This makes Miss Brill a stranger in a strange land despite the fact that she speaks French. Another reason the reader can tell Miss Brill is alone stems from the title. She has never been married and therefore has no family. Also brill is French for bearded. Symbolically bearded people are old. These are some symbols that point the loneliness and age factor in Miss Brill. From the beginning of the narrative it becomes apparent that Miss Brill is starving for warmth and companionship. She tenderly caresses her fur as if it were a beloved pet when she rubs â€Å"the life into the dim little eyes† (p. 0) of the old fox boa. Another sign of Miss Brill’s need for companionship is evident in her perception of the music which the band is playing at the Jardins Publiques: â€Å"It was like some one playing with only the family to listen (p. 50). † Despite of her loneliness, she is considering herself a part of this family that the band is entertaining with its music. But in reality she is more of an observer, a observer, and not an active participant in life as it unfolds at the Jardins Publiques. She is looking forward to eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, believing herself to be quite an expert in remaining unnoticed. Miss Brill adopts a more critical, at times even hostile, attitude toward the women that she observes in the park than toward their male companions. She seems to view the man who shares her â€Å"special† seat as â€Å"a fine old man,† while the woman is â€Å"a big old woman (p. 50). † When she recollects the events of the previous Sunday at the park, she remembers a patient Englishman with the difficult to please wife, whom â€Å"Miss Brill wanted to shake (p. 0). † These observation of the women carry perhaps a note of envy that she feels toward the women who have male companionship. At this point in the story the reader still does not know much about her, except that she is a lonely observer. Then one of her observations about the â€Å"odd, silent, nearly all old people, and from the way they stared they look ed as though they’d just come from dark little rooms or even – even cupboards! (p. 51)† whom she sees every Sunday at the park hints to the reader that she might be one of those people. The pieces of the puzzle, of course, fall into place at the end of the story, when her room is described as â€Å"the little dark room-her room like a cupboard (p. 52). † This is the conclusion of the story, when Miss Brill is able to see herself and her surroundings in the new light. Her new self-awareness is brought about by disparaging remarks of the young lovers who refer to Miss Brill as â€Å"that stupid old thing (p. 52),† and to her precious fur as â€Å"a fried whiting (p. 52). † This is Miss Brill’s moment of epiphany. She is as old as the other park-goers, her fur is a pitiful necklet, and she foregoes her usual Sunday slice of honeycake. In spite of her newly found self-awareness, Miss Brill still denies some of her own emotions when â€Å"she thought she heard something crying (p. 52)† at the very end of the story. The tears are obviously her own. Yet another look at the same lines of the story you realize that the young man and girl are repulsed by her not really because of how she is dressed but she and the other older people represent their own mortality and one day they know they too may be like this.

Negative Music and the Effects on Human Behavior :: essays research papers

I have chosen to write about negative music and its effect on human behavior. I will trace the history of this type of music and discuss some studies which point out effects of listening to it. What is negative music? Negative music is music that has a negative effect. One form of negative music is music that is used to express or to stimulate negative emotions. A Viennese classical composer named Arnold Schonberg was the first person to openly create negative music early in the twentieth century. His music was rejected by European concert attendees of the time and sometimes caused near riots. Based on discords, Schoenberg's music caused listeners to feel uncomfortable and irritated. However, he became the pivotal composer of the early twentieth century and today he is considered one of the greatest composers of that century. The music ushered in an era of negative music in Western classical music that lasted for over fifty years. His theory was eventually accepted by composers throughout the Western world and was taught in the finest music schools. The result of all this was the incorporation of negative music into TV programs and movies. Negative music is used to create e motions of suspense, terror, anxiety, and fear. It is the music that accompanies crime programs and horror films. The same kind of music that concert audiences rejected because of the feelings that the music invoked became standard TV fare, and for the very same reasons (5). I never thought about the idea that scary and suspenseful music was a break from the norm. It is obvious though that it changes behavior in people. Just watch a horror flick with a friend. You will both know when something horrible is going to happen. The learned behavior from the music stimulus ranges from sliding back in your seat, to covering and closing your eyes. The music tells you something bad is coming and you know how to respond to it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Western classical music was the first style of music to incorporate negativity. The next step in the evolution of negative music was its introduction into rock music in the late 1960s. The first hard rock and heavy metal music was produced by the rock group called Blue Cheer somewhere around 1967. Their music was angry and had a noticeably heavy beat.. At this time, the music of the Rolling Stones, too, became harder and angry, with a negative accent.

The Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights :: American History Governmental Rights Essays

The Articles of Confederation 1776 brought a declaration of and a war for independence to Britain’s North American colonies. While they had all acted in concert to reach this decision, their memories of colonial life under the centralized British monarchy had lasting effect upon their views of what the federal government of their new republic would have the power to do. In the years following the Declaration of Independence, Congress came up with the Articles of Confederation to loosely govern the new republic at the federal level. 1781 found all 13 states ratifying the Articles of the Confederation as well as the conclusion of the War for Independence, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Already, the weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation were beginning to show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every one of the 13 colonies suffered economic setbacks as a result of the War for Independence. Devalued American currency as a result of the Congress’ habit of printing new paper money to cover the new republic’s war debt and the British blockade created high prices for goods. The end of the war hardly helped the situation as Congress found itself powerless to levy taxes to pay off the war debt, powerless to regulate trade with other nations, and powerless to regulate workers wages and the price of goods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This unregulated economic climate provoked citizens who were shouldering much of the debt as a result. Farmers of western Massachusetts who saw banks moving to foreclose on the mortgages of their farms demanded that the government do something to protect them in their time of financial need. They saw the lower legislative house of Massachusetts draft and approve a measure, which included relief measures for them. Under the influence of the farmers’ creditors, the upper house blocked the actions of the lower house, which further enraged these local farmers. In 1786, a captain of the old Continental army Daniel Shays, led 2000 armed farmers against the state government. They shut down county courts to prevent foreclosure proceedings on their farms, and marched on the Federal Arsenal at Springfield, evidently to properly arm themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eventually in 1787, the Massachusetts state militia put down the rebellion. Both sides in the mess were unhappy with the new republic’s role (or lack thereof) in the crisis. Farmers were unhappy that the government wasn’t taking steps to protect their property from creditors, and creditors were unhappy that the The Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights :: American History Governmental Rights Essays The Articles of Confederation 1776 brought a declaration of and a war for independence to Britain’s North American colonies. While they had all acted in concert to reach this decision, their memories of colonial life under the centralized British monarchy had lasting effect upon their views of what the federal government of their new republic would have the power to do. In the years following the Declaration of Independence, Congress came up with the Articles of Confederation to loosely govern the new republic at the federal level. 1781 found all 13 states ratifying the Articles of the Confederation as well as the conclusion of the War for Independence, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Already, the weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation were beginning to show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every one of the 13 colonies suffered economic setbacks as a result of the War for Independence. Devalued American currency as a result of the Congress’ habit of printing new paper money to cover the new republic’s war debt and the British blockade created high prices for goods. The end of the war hardly helped the situation as Congress found itself powerless to levy taxes to pay off the war debt, powerless to regulate trade with other nations, and powerless to regulate workers wages and the price of goods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This unregulated economic climate provoked citizens who were shouldering much of the debt as a result. Farmers of western Massachusetts who saw banks moving to foreclose on the mortgages of their farms demanded that the government do something to protect them in their time of financial need. They saw the lower legislative house of Massachusetts draft and approve a measure, which included relief measures for them. Under the influence of the farmers’ creditors, the upper house blocked the actions of the lower house, which further enraged these local farmers. In 1786, a captain of the old Continental army Daniel Shays, led 2000 armed farmers against the state government. They shut down county courts to prevent foreclosure proceedings on their farms, and marched on the Federal Arsenal at Springfield, evidently to properly arm themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eventually in 1787, the Massachusetts state militia put down the rebellion. Both sides in the mess were unhappy with the new republic’s role (or lack thereof) in the crisis. Farmers were unhappy that the government wasn’t taking steps to protect their property from creditors, and creditors were unhappy that the

Is america too dependent on technology? Essay

Are Americans too dependent on technology? Do you think Americans are too dependent on technology? Americans have become so reliant on technology in the 21st century that a vast majority of us probably wouldn’t know what to do if one day all the electronics just shut down. For example, I depended on this computer in order to write this paper, instead of just doing it the old fashioned way with a pencil and a piece of paper. Cell phones have become a â€Å"must have† in almost everyone’s life even the younger kids. I personally believe that we, Americans, are extremely too dependent on technology. Even though technology helps us in many ways it can also harm us as well. Despite the ease technology has given us â€Å"technology has caused people to become so reliant that, in a poll by CNET, 28 percent of people said they wouldn’t be able to live without high- speed Internet. The younger generation has lost its curious nature to explore to world. Instead, children are hiding behind a TV screen or Xbox game† (America). Many American children have awful social skills in todays time because they’re so stuck on their phones or computers. For example, my little brother is so stuck on his phone, ipad, or tv that when he has to talk to people in person he shuts down because he’s so used to just talking to people through his electronics. â€Å"Some experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic† (An Ugly). Another large problem technology has caused for us.

Free Essays on Global Wind Patterens

Wind Power â€Å"They’re farming a different crop in Wyoming County these days- the wind. Atop a hill in this little town – population 729 – are 10 windmills that are expected to produce enough electricity each year to provide power for 1,700 homes. It’s not hard to see what this piece of the future looks like.† (Ploetz, A1) Wind power was developed as a major alternative energy source during the 1970’s. The interest in finding alternative energy sources has grown tremendously as people are beginning to realize that they are depleting the Earth of irreplaceable natural resources. The technology is now the fastest-growing energy source in the world. The wind turbine, also called a windmill, is a means of harnessing the kinetic energy of the wind and converting it into electrical energy. This is accomplished by turning blades called aerofoils, which drive a shaft, which drive a motor (turbine) and are connected to a generator. This energy is then supplied to a multitude of homes, businesses, factories, etc. The worldwide total wind capacity is 13,400 MW and the year 2000 is expected to significantly increase this amount, according to the trend in recent records of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Wind generating capacity has grown from 2,000 MW in 1990 to the present capacity of more than 3,600 MW. It is predicted that worldwide energy supply may consist of 10% wind power by 2020, with Europe alone producing more than 100,000 MW. â€Å"Global investment in wind turbines should surpass $200 billion by 2010 as part of a rapid growth in investment in renewable energy sources worldwide,† according to Michael Kujawa, senior Allied Business Intelligence Incorporated (Chambers, 14-16) Presently, Europe is far more advanced than the U.S. in its development and implementation of wind power. However, NASA is using the largest, most expensive wind tunnel yet created to test a huge, high-tech wind tur... Free Essays on Global Wind Patterens Free Essays on Global Wind Patterens Wind Power â€Å"They’re farming a different crop in Wyoming County these days- the wind. Atop a hill in this little town – population 729 – are 10 windmills that are expected to produce enough electricity each year to provide power for 1,700 homes. It’s not hard to see what this piece of the future looks like.† (Ploetz, A1) Wind power was developed as a major alternative energy source during the 1970’s. The interest in finding alternative energy sources has grown tremendously as people are beginning to realize that they are depleting the Earth of irreplaceable natural resources. The technology is now the fastest-growing energy source in the world. The wind turbine, also called a windmill, is a means of harnessing the kinetic energy of the wind and converting it into electrical energy. This is accomplished by turning blades called aerofoils, which drive a shaft, which drive a motor (turbine) and are connected to a generator. This energy is then supplied to a multitude of homes, businesses, factories, etc. The worldwide total wind capacity is 13,400 MW and the year 2000 is expected to significantly increase this amount, according to the trend in recent records of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Wind generating capacity has grown from 2,000 MW in 1990 to the present capacity of more than 3,600 MW. It is predicted that worldwide energy supply may consist of 10% wind power by 2020, with Europe alone producing more than 100,000 MW. â€Å"Global investment in wind turbines should surpass $200 billion by 2010 as part of a rapid growth in investment in renewable energy sources worldwide,† according to Michael Kujawa, senior Allied Business Intelligence Incorporated (Chambers, 14-16) Presently, Europe is far more advanced than the U.S. in its development and implementation of wind power. However, NASA is using the largest, most expensive wind tunnel yet created to test a huge, high-tech wind tur...

Pros and Cons of Using Lectures as a Teaching Method

Pros and Cons of Using Lectures as a Teaching Method Lecturing is a time-tested instructional method where an instructor who possesses the knowledge on a given topic delivers all relevant information to students verbally. This model dates back to Medieval Ages representing an  oral tradition  in contrast to providing information in print or other media. In fact, the word lecture came into use during the  14th century as a verb, to read or deliver formal discourses. The person presenting the lecture was called a reader because information  in a book was read to students who would then copy the information all down. During a typical lecture, an instructor stands before a class and presents information for the students to learn, but this method of teaching tends to get a bad reputation today. Thanks to the infusion of technology, instructors have the ability to provide a multi-media learning experience, by working to incorporate sound, visuals, activities, and even games into a classroom learning experience, and even provide opportunities for flipped classroom formats.   So, does that mean that lectures no longer have a place in todays teaching landscape? There are a number of factors that can make a lecture successful or unsuccessful. These factors can include the acoustics in the room, the dynamic quality of the lecturer and his ability to hold an audiences attention, the length of lecture, topic and amount of information intended to be shared.   Lecture Pros Lectures are a straightforward way to provide information knowledge to students quickly. In a lecture, instructors have greater control over what is being taught in the classroom because they are the sole source of information. Students who are auditory learners may find that lectures appeal to their learning style. Most college courses are lecture-based, and as a result, many high school teachers imitate this style to prepare their students for the college lecture. Far from being a Medieval way to deliver information, the modern lecture can be very engaging. Many educational institutions now offer faculty recorded lectures for students. Massive Open Online Courses have video lectures available on every subject. There are a number of schools that record teachers in lectures or that use pre-recorded lectures to support flipped classrooms or for remediating students who may have missed materials.  Khan Academy  videos are examples of short lectures on topics students need to review. There are also popular lecture series that have been recorded for general viewing and then used in classrooms. One of the most popular lecture series on  culture  is offered through the non-profit organization  TED Talks  with their series for schools, TED-Ed. The TED Conferences that host  these talks began in 1984 as a means to spread ideas in Technology, Entertainment, and Design. This style of short lectures delivered by dynamic speakers became popular, and there are now hundreds of recorded lectures or talks on the TED website in over 110 languages.   Lecture Cons Students are expected to take notes while listening to a lecture. During a lecture, there is no discussion. The only exchange that may occur between the instructor and students might be a few scattered questions from listeners. Therefore, students who are not auditory learners or have other learning styles  may not be as engaged by lectures. Such students may have a harder time absorbing the material. Students who are weak in note-taking skills may have trouble summarizing or in identifying the main points they should remember from lectures. Some students may find lectures boring; the  length can cause them to lose interest. Because the instructor does all the talking, students may not feel that they are able to ask questions as they arise during lectures. Lectures do not meet the criteria in many teacher evaluation programs, such as in the Marzano or Danielson models. In those evaluation domains that rate classroom instruction, lectures are categorized as teacher-centered. They do not provide the opportunities for students to formulate many questions, initiate topics, or challenge one another’s thinking. There is no evidence of student inquiry or student contributions. During a lecture, there is no grouping for differentiation. The most important reason to reconsider the use of the lecture is that the instructor does not have the immediate opportunity to assess how much students are understanding. There is little to no opportunity for exchanges. Other Considerations Effective lectures need to be well organized and cover only what students can absorb during a given class period. Selectivity and organization are keys to effective lectures. Lectures are also only one tool in a teachers instructional arsenal. As with all the other tools, lectures should only be used when most appropriate. Instruction should be varied from day to day to help reach the greatest number of students. Teachers should help students beef up their  note-taking skills  before they start presenting lectures. Instructors should also help students understand verbal clues and learn methods of organizing and  taking notes. Some schools suggest providing a handout listing key points of the days lecture to help students focus on the major concepts to be covered. Preparatory work should be  conducted before a lecture even begins. These  steps are key to helping students be successful and fully understand the subject and content the teacher hopes to convey. A lecture may be necessary to improve student understanding, but a steady stream of lectures does not allow for an instructor to differentiate for a students needs or assess a students understanding. On balance, lectures should be implemented less often than other instructional strategies.

DHL Case Study †Strategic Planning and Strategy

DHL Case Study – Strategic Planning and Strategy Free Online Research Papers Contents: Unit 1 Management Strategy 1. Definition of Management Strategy. 2. Proposal of a suitable structure for Identification of DHL’s appropriate participation from its stakeholders for the development of strategic management 3. Development and description of the key criteria of that DHL considers when reviewing management strategy options 4. 4.1. Construction of an appropriate strategy of DHL employs and indication of its resource implications in the organization. 4.2. Discussion of DHL’s proposal of strategic alliance with UPS for strengthening of market posisstion and share. Unit 2 Vision, Mission, Objectives and Measures 1. 1.1. Identification of DHL’s ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business Objectives. 1.2 How these influence by the current business and economic climate between 2002 and 2008. 2. Description of DHL’s vision and mission statement. How these effect on DHL’s core organizational values. 3. 3.1. Establishment and evaluation of any organizations achievements with its objectives like DHL. 3.2. Process of management of DHL’s culture issues as a result of being a global player. Unit 3 Implementation of the Strategy 1. Development of a timetable outlining the anticipated strategy implementation of the partnership between DHL and UPS including key milestones. 2. 2.1. Appropriate dissemination processes that might assist DHL to encourage participation and commitment to the new strategic collaboration with UPS. 2.2. Setup monitoring and evaluation systems for this new strategy. 2.3. Outlining how this might be possible within DHL. MANAGEMENT STRATEGY can be defined as the future oriented conception in which the relationship between the industry and environment (pattern for adopting to the environment) is described and forms the guiding principles for the people in the industry for decision making. It is definite that the state of affairs with regard to the management strategy like the number of years for which the strategy has been planned, how clearly it has been described and for what level of people it forms the guiding principles etc., differ from industry to industry. Strategic planning of an organization determines over the next years or more, how its going to get there and how it will know if got there or not. The focus of strategic plan is usually on the total organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product. Service or program. There are variety of perspectives, models and approaches used in strategic planning both in profit of non-profit organizations. The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the organizations leadership, culture of the organization, complexity of the organizations environment etc. Regarding with my assignment on a case study on DHL’s success partnering with UPS, it is found that both of these organizations adapted the goals-based strategic planning with issue-based and organic based strategic planning. 1. DHL ensures appropriate participation with different stakeholders in different ways for the development of its strategic management processes. DHL believe that it is vital that they identify their stakeholders and either consult them, or establish a dialogue with them to understand their key concerns-this will help them shape their future activities and to be sensitive to the impact that they have. Engaging stakeholders can allows them to gather input. After engaging with the World Economic Forum’s Logistics and Transportation Corporate Citizenship Initiative (LTCCI), DHL can participate with stakeholders for the development of its strategic management process on the two levels: First, stakeholder consultation, for the main concern about environmental emissions, ensuring positive impact on local communities, the health safety and well-being of employees. For example, Currently DHL consulting with customers relate to suppliers meeting strict environmental management systems standards, the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and adherence to human rights codes etc. Second, multi-stakeholder dialogue: which is convened by the much-respected Goal Reporting Initiative (GRI). Most importantly, DHL can make corporate governance. It is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way in which a corporation is directed, administered and controlled. It can help DHL in declaration of conformity, their corporate values with other stakeholders like employees, suppliers, customers, bank and other lenders etc. O One of the important example of the development of the strategic management process is its partnership with the rival party UPS. By partnering with this win-win strategy, DHL has benefitted shipping, financial services and telecommunication industries and has yielded a positive outcomes in the Fed-ex-US postal services which was signed in 2001. Partnering with rival party can play a major cost-cutting initiatives as the fuel prices are on the rise, may be positive step towards controlling pollution by optimized use of planes. 2. DHL’s most important reviewing management strategy criteria is the cost reduction programs. The chief executive of DHL’s global business, John Mullen admitted that maintaining a scale of network similar to that of UPS and FedEx with just 6% or 7% market share, gave them financial benefits. According to this agreement, UPS will carry DHL’s US domestic and international shipments within North America. The agreement mention that UPS will carry express, deferred and international packages but not freight. It was identified that UPS will also transport DHL air packages between US, Canada and Mexico. Under the deal DHL is expected to pay every year $1 billion to UPS. DHL also plans to restructure its domestic footprint. The third point is the go green programme by reducing carbon emission by implementing a number of measures including, Reducing gas and electricity usage across DHL’s building portfolio, through a means of increased awareness and technique and improve building management. Using 100% renewable energy across all DHL express UK properties. Investing alternative fuel option- DHL is proactively seeking alternative to the fuel volume that are purchased. These trails have been undertaken in collaboration with DHL’s industry partners and have included both courier vans and trucks and are helping to pave the way for future transport solutions. The introduction of 12 fuel efficient double-decker trailers, contributing to a reduction of circa 250 operating runs per annum. Continuing increased amount of waste that is recycled. DHL has three pilot schemes underway whereby waste is sorted on site, baled and sold to recycling agent. 3. Strategic alliances with its rival company like UPS, FedEx can be an appropriate strategy for the DHL and it can be a resource which can DHL implement for its organizations development. Jerry Hempstead, president of Hempstead Consulting in Orlando, said that a large number of shippers who use DHL because of its flexibility with its flight scheduling to accommodate the special needs of specific shippers, will see at least 3.3% decline in the service performance. As a part of its strategic move in 2003, DHL acquired Airborne Express which was the third largest player in the US and ABX Air started providing airlift along with ASTAR Air Cargo for DHL. DHL had big aspirations for its express business in the US after it acquired Airborne Express. Making alliances with other parcel services can save a lot of money especially if these express companies can create a similar route network. Alliance with UPS can cut costs a lot. UPS will carry express, deferred and international packages. It was identified that UPS will also transport DHL air packages between US, Canada, and Mexico. Under the deal, DHL expected to pay every year $1 billion to UPS. Proposed strategic alliance can strengthen the DHL not only for above reason but also this deal was one of the series of transactions such as acquisition of Emery by UPS in 2006 and Airborne by DHL in 2003 which reduced the competition in the express industry. Unit 2 1. 1.1 There are varieties of objectives in related with ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business can be found in DHL. Such as a) Ethical commitment: ? Quality focus- DHL’s commitment is the quality first makes the difference.In order to achieve high quality standards; it works constantly to improve its structure and processes to satisfy the customers. ? Customer’s satisfaction- DHL believes that customer’s satisfactions guarantee their own success. They prioritize customer focus in all of their business processes, projects and dealings. ? Besides these, DHL believes in laws and ethical standards, transparency, accounting and reporting standards, and money laundering as well. b) DHL’s business integrity: ? Shareholders trust- DHL’s corporate management very much transparent to their shareholders and investors. ? Business partner dialogue- share principles of ethical behavior, social engagement, respect their suppliers, subcontractors, agents etc. ? Besides these, conflicts of interests, fair competition, bribery and corruption, gifts and benefits, facilitating payments etc. c) Social responsibilities: ? Communities- DHL is committed to support the communities in which they work. They work for community development with non government organizations. ? Environment- They are committed to improvement the environment as well. They regularly assess and monitor their impacts on the environment. ? Cultural achievements. 1.2. After purchasing by a privatized German postal services, DHL could not fill the planes with cargo to capacity made way for losses. Within a short span, 2004-2008, DHL’s US business lost $3 billion. But, for the above objectives, in 2003, it contributed $64 billion to world GDP. In 2004, it became a global market leader of the international express and logistic industry by attaining revenues over $32 billion. DHL’s overall revenue for the year 2007 was $20.2 millions. Globally, in 2007, DHL express processed approximately $1 billion shipments annually. It was reported that the worlds number 1 in ocean freight and contract logistic in 2008. 2. DHL’s mission is to be first choice worldwide by making the most scale and experience and the passion. Its vision is the transform the logistic industry and to deliver beyond customers experience for the future. DHL’s vision is To intensify customer focus. To deliver consistence service excellence. To extend capabilities ( creating local strength and driving practical innovation) To attract, develop and retain talents. To relentless drive efficiency. To be proactive in social. With using the vision and mission statement, DHL’s core organizational values can be increased by examining its weakness, threats, strength and opportunities. The following swot analysis can be done in DHL. STRENGTH: WEAKNESS: o Strong brand image. High price o Globalism Market share estimate o Eservices and technology Weak visibility o Corporate symbiosis Not as well known as UPS or FedEx o Smart-truck projects. OPPORTUNITIES: o Expansion globally o Joint venture o Expansion of ecommerce o Increased the number of manufacture good. THREATS: o Relation with foreign countries. o Economic and political condition o Restriction o Economic slow down. COMPANY STRENGTH: Strong brand image- In 1997, DHL became the global express transportation company simultaneous system-wide ISO 9001 certificate in international quality standards. Globalism- DHL operate mare than 220 countries over the world on a global scale. E services and technology- it uses and search for a new technology. Product can be tracked, queried, and ordered online. Corporate symbiosis- it helps to encompass the empowerment of its personnel at a local level. Smart-truck projects- it allows DHL to deliver faster. COMPANY WEAKNESS: High prices- prices above their rival company. Mistakes in market share estimate- it it’s the biggest weakness of DHL. Weak visibility- in the community compared with its potential. COMPANY OPPORTUNITY: Expansion globally- it can expand globally including other companies under DHL. Joint venture- DHL can form joint venture integrating their customer bases. Expansion of ecommerce- it serves with shipping online. DHL can enjoy both profit and brand name recognition form this kind of expansion. Increased in the number of manufactured goods- manufactured goods will increased exponentially as a report given be WTO. COMPANY THREATS: Relations with foreign countries- in every country, DHL subjects to laws and order which hinders their operation and efficiency. Economic and political condition- as a global company they are subjects to more risks than other domestic companies. Restrictions- some restrictions like to prevent from china are big problems in the logistic sector. Economic slow down- it decrease the number of products they produced. 3. It is very much difficult to establish and evaluate the achievement of objectives of any organizations like DHL. However, if any organization can manage its own cultural issues properly, then it may be possible to achieve. DHL employees can share common value and strong corporate culture. Their corporate values represent a responsibility and a challenge. They can view themselves as a member of society, and this attitude is reflected in the responsibility that they assume for people and environment. UNIT 3 Implementation of the strategy: 1. Implementation of the Group strategy presented by CEO Frank Appel in the spring of this year is progressing according to plan. Deutsche Post DHL presented DHL Solutions Innovation (DSI), its newly launched business unit at the 26th German Logistics Congress in Berlin. As a motor of innovation and a cross-cutting function of DHL it pools and drives technological development within the Group. Headed by Petra Kiwitt, it reports directly to CEO Frank Appel. Logistics is becoming a sector for trendsetters and setting standards not only with respect to technological development. Petra Kiwitt and her team will contribute to ensuring that our Group remains one of these trendsetters and helps to secure the economic success of our customers by offering future-oriented logistics solutions, said Frank Appel.The newly created organizational unit consolidates the innovation activities of the individual branches of DHL. Based on the results of market studies, analyses of sector strategies and inte nsive customer surveys, DHL Solutions Innovation lays the groundwork for future-oriented and standardized logistics solutions that are becoming applicable across sectors. Our customers expect sustainable solutions, understandable services that are easy to use and uncomplicated access to their service provider. We are achieving this among other things by enhancing connections between the various DHL Units dealing with research and development. This is a way to tap the full creative potential of our staff, Petra Kiwitt stressed.Right from the start, DHL Solutions Innovations has been able to benefit from successful platform approaches, such as the Control Tower Concept. Used for several customers, this concept enables a strategic transport management through modern IT solutions which provide a permanently updated access to all details of the supply chain. The experience and innovative strength of the DHL Innovation Center, which opened in 2007, is another asset. This is where ground breaking logistics solutions such as the parcel robot, the carbon offsetting procedure and the smart truck originated.DSI also proves that the Group Strategy presented in March 2009, which is aimed at strengthening Deutsche Post DHLs leading role in the international logistics market, is being implemented. The strategy is aimed at leveraging the full potential of the worlds leading logistics provider and increasing the profitability of DHL by improving cooperation as One DHL and increasingly dovetailing operations with DHL Global Customer Solutions (GCS). The needs in particular of the 100 biggest customers handled by GCS are valuable indicators, which are now being fed into development processes at an early stage.DHL Solutions Innovations is also the result of the study Delivering Tomorrow Customer Expectations in 2020 and Beyond that was recently presented by Deutsche Post DHL. Our study shows that the omnipresence of the Internet, sustainable resource management and climate cha nge are issues of relevance to society. The logistics sector too must respond to these challenges, stated Frank Appel. DHL Solutions Innovation is another building block that will help Deutsche Post DHL turn these challenges into opportunities. Strategy 2015: The Strategy 2015, which CEO Frank Appel announced on March 11, 2009, is based on two pillars: The first is a strong mail business that is clearly committed to carrying out the universal service obligation of Deutsche Post and that plans to add new value-added electronic services to its range of offerings. The second is an integrated international logistics business that vigorously focuses on quality and customers. The core aim of this strategic shift is to unleash the companys unexploited potential following the aggressive phase of expansion pursued in recent years. The objective is to achieve growth in all divisions that exceeds market performance by 1 to 2 percentage points. At the same time, the Group is committed to ensuring that these growth targets are reached in accord with its responsibility for the environment and society. At DHL, the individual divisions in the future will work even more closely together in order to better address customer needs and to improve profitability of the entire business. The Group has also introduced a new guiding principle for employees with the aim of increasing employee involvement and commitment and of ensuring swift implementation of the Strategy 2015. The strengthening of the First Choice customer initiative will also contribute to this end. Challenges 2009: The worlds economy has been experiencing a tailspin of historic proportions since the fourth quarter of 2008. Throughout all regions and sectors, many customers of Deutsche Post DHL are seeing unparalleled decreases in demand, which then result in lower shipping volume. In the United States, the restructuring of the Express business continues to make good progress. The termination of the entire domestic business was carried out on schedule at the end of January. The remaining international express cargo will be shipped by DHLs current carriers ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo. The talks between UPS and DHL about a potential airlift agreement have been terminated. Despite having to master major economic challenges this year, the Group will remain fully committed to its responsibility for the environment and society. As presented in its Sustainability Report 2009, the Group has introduced various initiatives in all Corporate Divisions covering the areas of fleet, buildings, innovative technologies and employee motivation to help improve carbon efficiency. Deutsche Post DHL a year ago launched its Go Green climate protection program aimed at improving carbon efficiency by 10 percent through 2012 and by 30 percent through 2020. Financial improvements: In terms of costs, DPWN expects to see overall profits for DHL Express US improve by $1 billion in 2011, with expected losses of $1.8 billion in 2008, $900 million in 2009, $500 million in 2010, and $300 million in 2011. Although this restructuring is expected to have a significant material impact on DHL’s cost base and overall infrastructure, it is expected to have a smaller impact on customers, said DHL Express CEO John Mullen. DPWN said it expects to spend up to $2 billion to finance the restructuring plan, which will go towards termination costs, leases, severance, aviation assets, and pickup and delivery optimization. And DPWN noted that it anticipates these restructuring efforts will result in annual savings of $1 billion per year (in earnings before taxes), with key changes expected to be completed by the end of 2009 and full plan implementation taking hold by 2010. â€Å"As a result of this, we will have a less complicated ground and air network than we had before, which should deliver more reliability across the whole platform of our combined operations,† said Mullen. â€Å"Most importantly, we believe this plan will protect our international network franchise and our global coverage, which is critical to a global player such as us. It is essential that we have a continuing presence in the U.S.† Industry analysts suggest that there are pros and cons in terms of the type of impact today’s news may have for shippers. â€Å"DHL has stated in the past that its customers pay less than its competitors on many occasions,† said Doug Caldwell, executive vice president of ParcelPool, a small parcel delivery consultancy and services provider. â€Å"So now you have a situation where current DHL shippers with good rates can think this is a positive, because it says DHL is clearly staying in the U.S. and they don’t have to worry about DHL shipments down the line.† But shippers will want to see a smooth transition for DHL’s U.S. restructuring, noted Caldwell, and he said they don’t necessarily need to be exploring other options. Instead, shippers using DHL should be looking to hold onto those rates for as long as they can for two reasons: one being that DHL’s rates are by and large better than what the competition offers, and the second point being the reliability of UPS airlift. â€Å"Why would a shipper want to switch from DHL to UPS, when UPS is already handling the line haul for airfreight on shipments right now? Also, UPS operationally is second to none linehaul with very few service failures. This is a plus for DHL shippers, except for those with a lot of rural shipments, and for those in rural areas normally have a different service expectation.† While Parcel Pool’s Caldwell, said that DHL’s probable agreement with UPS is largely favorable for shippers, Jerry Hempstead, president of Hempstead Consulting in Orlando, Fla., said that today’s announcement overlooks some important points for shippers. One point being that this deal with UPS leaves DHL bound to the UPS flight schedule. DHL, said Hempstead, has a large number of shippers that use DHL, because it has been flexible over the years with its flight scheduling to accommodate the special needs of specific shippers. As an example, he said DHL has a special flight into Memphis that allows it to deliver as early as 4 a.m. to a company that repairs laptops. This gives the laptop repair company the ability to extend its repair window so that laptops can be turned in the same day and shipped out to the customer. He also pointed out that other businesses have special flights into certain cities via these specific DHL flights. â€Å"I am not sure how the new arrangement with UPS is going to address the special situations DHL has developed over the years,† said Hempstead. â€Å"In addition large shippers, by way of the announcement, will see, by DHLs admission at least a 3.3 percent decline in the service performance, and the delivery will be through a hand-off to the USPS. DHL was already struggling with its service image in the marketplace. You can’t price poor service low enough to keep many of the large shippers upon which DHL built its domestic business.† He also cautioned that there are a lot of unknowns in this announcement, with the most disconcerting one being that they announced a deal with UPS without having a definitive contract in hand with UPS, leaving UPS in the driver’s seat in negotiating the final agreement. Its infrastructure network and in aviation with a restructuring plan that focuses on three mainelements: 1. Reducing infrastructure network capacity by approximately 30 percent through the following detailed measures: Consolidating and closing smaller sorting facilities into modernized, larger stations, resulting in reductions of approximately 34 percent Rationalizing pickup and delivery routes by 17 percent, including new courier routing plans to enable better route planning and avoiding peaks in the operation, as well as making changes to staffing plans Ground linehaul network rationalized by 18 percent through improved capacity utilization and footprint reductions in some remote areas. 2. A proposed contract between DHL and UPS whereby UPS will provide air uplift for DHL Express U.S. domestic and international shipments within North America 3. Reduction in overhead and other administrative costs As one central part of its restructuring activities, DHL and UPS will pursue a contract to provide air uplift, creating a single airline partner for DHL Express in the U.S. DHL will continue to operate its courier and ground network as well as pickup and delivery services to its customers across the country. The proposed agreement, in character and scope representing an efficient model in the express industry, will extend for 10 years. The commencement of UPS service into the DHL network is expected to begin later this year. The proposed contract provides both DHL and UPS substantial economic benefits in the U.S. Express market, which remains one of the most challenging marketplaces worldwide in light of the current economic downturn. DHL will continue to compete in the U.S. market under its own brand, offering attractive value to customers. The restructuring action in no way diminishes DHLs commitment to retaining a significant presence in the U.S. market, which is key to DHLs global network. DHLs strategic priorities in the U.S. will be to continue to provide record service reliability, and accelerating growth in more profitable segments of the market through leveraging innovative sales channel strategies like the recently announced Walgreens partnership. To drive the implementation of the restructuring plan, DHL recently announced the appointment of long-time DHL senior executive, Ken Allen, as CEO of DHL Express U.S. Allen has extensive experience executing restructuring plans within DHL. In his previous role as CEO of DHL Express Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA), Allen has doubled revenue growth and margin within two years. In addition, his experience as CEO of DHL Express Canada resulted in turning many years of negative performance into what is now positive financial development for the company. Conclusion: From the above discussion, it can be said that-Centralization is not a benefit in and of itself, but it does enable the practice of strategic planning. Strategic Planning can be applied to both a centralized and a decentralized model. But is easier to apply strategic planning to a centralized model, and it’s more difficult to apply strategic planning to a decentralized corporate culture. It allows for economies-of-scale on a worldwide basis, the benefits of which can be applied to every component of the value chain. In my opinion, DHL can make successful their business buy developing a contract whereby UPS will provide airlift for DHL express US domestic and international shipments within the US. The two parties will now rapidly conclude a definitive contract with the goal of being able to provide service in the second half of 2008. The two parties will now rapidly conclude a definitive contract with the goal of being able to provide service in the second half of 2008. References: ? Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works, by Leonard Goodstein. ? The Board Member’s Guide to Strategic Planning: A Practical Approach to Strengthening Nonprofit. ? Organizations (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series) by Fisher Howe. ? Organizations (Jossey-Bass Public Administration Series) by John M. Bryson, Farnum K. ? Alston. Jossey-Bass, 1995. ISBN: 0787901423. ? High Impact Tools and Activities for Strategic Planning: Creative Techniques for Facilitating Your. ? Organization’s Planning Process by Rod Napier, Patrick Sanaghan, Clint Sidle. ? Strategic Planning: What Every Manager Must Know, by George Albert Steiner. Free Press. Additional Resources ? Websites ? www.wikiswot.com/swot4_user_generated/DHL.html ? Community Associations Institute- www.caionline.org ? Foundation for Community Association Research- www.cairf.org Research Papers on DHL Case Study - Strategic Planning and StrategyThe Project Managment Office SystemOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Is business bad for science & stop selling out science to commerce Essay - 1

Is business bad for science & stop selling out science to commerce - Essay Example The paper seeks to show that commercial influences on scientific research have become increasingly detrimental. First, commercial influences on scientific research have led to failure to release some of the scientific results seen as harming industries. For example, the results may be on danger posed by certain substances or drugs produced by companies. As a result, such companies are most likely to engage in a campaign that will ensure that such results do not come to the public limelight. A classical example is seen through Nancy Olivieri of Toronto University (Slaght & Pallant, 2006). Olivieri notes that that one of drug companies engaged in a campaign that she did not publish her results concerning a drug she found to have a high level of toxicity (Slaght & Pallant, 2006). The allegation is serious knowing that such drug will be in the public for use. Hence, this is not just unethical, but also detrimental to the public as it may lead to serious short and long term harm. Secondly, the influence of business on science has made it difficult for public to know how various advancements may be harmful to health and environment. Most of the research is done with little focus on the public concerns (Slaght & Pallant, 2006). The focus has been on ensuring their competitiveness, and business groups have been able to have their way with funding from bodies concerned with research. For example, genetic has been seen as playing a leading role in agriculture due to such influence. Hence, other environmental friendly approaches have been ignored such as minimal use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Slaght & Pallant, 2006). In addition, through funding most companies ensures that results are favorable to them. There has been damning evidence mostly in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sectors. For example, it has been established that funders mostly choose scientists that are

Dashboard and Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dashboard and Executive Summary - Essay Example In this respect, the sales departments are charged with the responsibility of determining the effectiveness of the products of the company and the company rating among the consumers/customers. The sales design management team of Coca-Cola collected the following data from the survey on different variables that measure the performance of the organization in this competitive industry. The data collected measures the rating of the company services and products over the last four year. Besides, these information also measure the variations in the performance of Coca-Cola using key performance indicators (KPI) such as sales volume, market share and profitability index. Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 Sales Volume 20% 17% 16.3% 14.1% Profitability 23% 22% 11% 19% Market share 51% 50.2% 48% 48.6% Production cost 12% 12% 17% 19.2% No. of new customers 5% 7% 2% 3.1% From the above company performance dash board, it is evidenced that although the company is performing averagely in the industry, the s urvey indicates inconsistency in the industrial outcome over the last four years. Although Coca-Cola still has the dominant share and control of the soft drink and non-alcoholic drinks industry, the market share is slightly declining following the economic liberalization that allows room for other competitors to join the industry with diversity of products (Hays 12). This gives the consumers arrange of differentiated products to choose from. The entry of new firms in the market over the last decade has resulted into a continuous decline in the market share dominance of Coca-Cola. This was led to the slight decline in the market dominance from 51% in 2009 to 48.6% in 2012. Owing to the global economic and financial contagion of 2008-2009, the cost of production has been on the rise from 2009-2012. This because, the economic stability is yet to be realized globally, thereby making firms (including Coca-Cola) to invest more resource factoring in the expansionary inflationary pressure o n the production and raw materials that are essential for the entire process. The rise in the cost of production has negatively impacted on the sales and profitability index of the company. Over the last four years, as demonstrated above, the profitability index of Coca-Cola has significantly dropped. From 2009 to 2011, the records on the dash board indicate that the company profits have been falling from 23 to 11%. However, the little economic recovery in the last quarter of 2011 and 2012 resulted into a boom in the profitability index to 19% in 2012 (Hays 56-7). Consequently, the sales volume for the company also decline over-time since 2009 forcing the firm to revert to modern approaches of marketing and popularizing its product. It is revealed that the entry of new firms and the increasing customer base of other competitors such Pepsi-Cola have contributed to this fall in sales and profit margins. The survey also involved the customer survey on the variables such as satisfaction , likelihood of re-purchase, quality, pricing, design, and recommending Coca-Cola products to others. The outcome of the survey is as tabulated and dashed below. Year 2009 2010 2011 2011 Customer Satisfaction 72% 75% 81% 73% Re-purchase likelihood 67% 67% 69% 67% Recommending Coca to others 65% 71% 78% 56% Product Quality and Pricing 87% 70% 76% 72% The above dash board shows the customers’ level of satisfaction with the services and quality of products of Coca-Cola. Regarding the

Student Success Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Student Success Plan - Essay Example The major purpose of the review is to provide helpful information on the value of the various approaches to parents and teachers so they would be better able to determine which was best for their child/student. In order to affectively ensure that educational pursuits are being taught effectively for the benefit of this young girl, we must provide a plan of action that will enhance her abilities in art and reading yet transfer those abilities toward subjects including mathematics, language, science, social science and music. There have been many studies on the subject of teaching autistic students. Autism is a very complicated disability that affects a child's cognition, perception, speech and motor abilities and so very much more. Seeking other methods for autistic children to express their intelligence has been the goal for many educators. For some with certain disabilities this requires a certain level of motivation. Possessing the ability to structured teaching is the ultimate goal of teaching this autistic girl, especially at the young age of six years. Classrooms must be structured in a specific manner for teachers to effectively teach their autistic students. ... round this young girl's strengths of reading and art would in fact be to the benefit of her educational pursuit, incorporating artistic measures into mathematics, the creation of maps for social sciences, and the use of diagrams which are designed and drawn in artistic formula. Five steps to creating the most effective learning environment and plan for a six year old with autism would require the following: A classroom which is designed to have access to the tools for drawing, painting and other design capacity would in fact be of benefit. Physical organization of the classroom environment is effective in allowing for focused attention on lessons as they are managed. Ensuring the situation in which this student will be fully functional in placement of desks, doors, and bathroom facilities will assure a balanced environment for more enhanced learning experiences. The use of color in the various teaching formats will maintain attention span and allow for focus upon the objectives of the daily lesson. Color, if used effectively, can allow associative capacity, one color for a certain activity, or a certain location in the classroom, such as the bookshelf. The use of scheduling gives a structure to classroom learning utilizing sequential memory and organization of time. Utilizing two levels of scheduling simultaneously will allow for focused individual education along with group activities. Events outlined for the entire classroom that also focus on the time to spend in individual educational pursuits. Utilizing simplified language will facilitate a greater capacity for understanding instruction and communication for both the student and the teacher and the ability to allow autistic students time alone if they need it. Simplified language and the use of pictures to

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities Essay - 2

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities - Essay Example Texcoco was located east of the Lake Texcoco and was proud of its shared name with the lake. It had played a great part in history and the people were proud of their ancestry. Five provinces to the east of the river were under the rule of Texcoco by the start of 15th century and the lands it ruled over went as far as their enemies’ borders in the Highlands. It had flourishing markets, grand temples, and the people living there were educated. But upon attack from Tepanecs, Texcocan enemies, people of Tenochtitlan did not help them to defend them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tlacopan was joined with the Aztecs and Texcocans in to form the Triple Alliance in 1428. Founded originally by Tepanecs who arrived in the Valley of Mexico early in the 13th century, Tlacopan was not a very big city and only received one-fifth of the compliments received by the Triple Alliance. Tlacopan was seized over in 1521. When the Aztecs first arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1300 A.D., it was nothing but a marshy island near Lake Texcoco. Out of that marshy island, the Aztecs gave rise to a magnificent city, which stood for centuries and whose temples and buildings were a sight to behold.

Terry fox a canadian individual whose contribution made a difference Research Paper

Terry fox a canadian individual whose contribution made a difference in the lives of canadians or non-canadians - Research Paper Example He continued his run for 143 days during which he covered 5.373 kilometres in the country. The run ended up his life but gave him worldwide lasting legacy. The essay aims to discuss the contribution of Terry Fox who was an ordinary young man that turned to the national hero in Canada due to his remarkable contributions and efforts to insist Canadians to make some donation for cancer research. His efforts resulted in annual fund raising run in Canada as well as other countries of the world and the funds collected from the run are used for providing cancer patients with better treatment and cure through detailed research work. His contributions not only benefited the Canadians but the people outside the Canada also avail the benefits of the cancer research conducted with the help of funds and public awareness raised by his run (Murphy, 2005). Fox was a basketball player and distant runner. He played for the Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, high school and Simon Fraser University teams. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer in 1977 due to which his right leg was removed from his body at about six inches about his knee. He however continued to run with the artificial leg and also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver and also won three national basketball championship events. The time he spent in the hospital was the worst time of his life that he always hated (Chivers, 2009). His experience made him realize that there is very little money spent in Canada for the cancer research that must be raised to bring improvement in the condition of people and help fighting the cancer patient with their disease. He decided to raise money and awareness all over the country to fight against cancer. He decided to insist the Canadians to donate one dollar for the cancer research. He persuades people that when 24 million Canadians will donate just one dollar it will help collecting around 24 million rupee

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities Essay - 2

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities - Essay Example Texcoco was located east of the Lake Texcoco and was proud of its shared name with the lake. It had played a great part in history and the people were proud of their ancestry. Five provinces to the east of the river were under the rule of Texcoco by the start of 15th century and the lands it ruled over went as far as their enemies’ borders in the Highlands. It had flourishing markets, grand temples, and the people living there were educated. But upon attack from Tepanecs, Texcocan enemies, people of Tenochtitlan did not help them to defend them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tlacopan was joined with the Aztecs and Texcocans in to form the Triple Alliance in 1428. Founded originally by Tepanecs who arrived in the Valley of Mexico early in the 13th century, Tlacopan was not a very big city and only received one-fifth of the compliments received by the Triple Alliance. Tlacopan was seized over in 1521. When the Aztecs first arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1300 A.D., it was nothing but a marshy island near Lake Texcoco. Out of that marshy island, the Aztecs gave rise to a magnificent city, which stood for centuries and whose temples and buildings were a sight to behold.

Critically evaluate theoretical explanations of motivation that we Essay - 1

Critically evaluate theoretical explanations of motivation that we have learnt about in this module week 4 lecture - Essay Example tors within an individual and the environment in ways that determine the nature of outcomes and the level of attachment between the agent and the task. Content theories are concerned with the causative agents of behavior. The humanist theory explores the subject of motivation alongside Maslow’s theory of needs. The processes of motivation, according to the theory depend on the sequential pursuit of needs in accordance with the hierarchy determined by Maslow (1970). Understanding of humanist needs must begin with the comprehension of the processes of adjustment, which takes place whenever some form of inequilibrium occurs. In general, such processes entail a determination of a range of issues that affect the state of equilibrium of needs. Essentially, groups and individuals will seek to adjust themselves and situations around them in ways that minimize the effects of stress. Motivation, in the sense of humanist theory, is understood as some kind of kinetic force the offers the necessary propulsion in an individual or a group towards the attainment of some specified goals, which are consistent with their needs (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009, p. 61). One of the characteristics of motivation is that it seeks the determination of goals based on the particular needs of the individual. The pursuit of motivation is considered a subject endeavor arising out of the unique needs of the individual (Miner, 2007, p. 40). For instance, an individual aspiring to attain a certain level of professional competence will invest more efforts in training and practical experience in a consistent and orderly manner. On this score, it becomes appropriate to consider the fact that some of the goals achieved through the efforts as understood within the humanist theory are suited for particular motives and limited to certain subjective interests. In essence, the humanist needs work in such a manner that individuals will seek to satisfy some pressing basic needs before focusing on other kinds of

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iraq Veterans Essay Example for Free

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iraq Veterans Essay Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is a condition characterized by excessive fear, helplessness, or horror resulting from an experience of excessive trauma. Its symptoms include persistent relapse of the traumatic experience, avoidance of stimuli related to the trauma, lack of general responsiveness, and lingering symptoms of heightened autonomic arousal (Long, 1995). The State of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder  All these symptoms must manifest themselves for over a month, and the condition must bring about a clinically significant pain or impairment in social, occupational, or other important aspects of functioning (Long, 1995). According to a study conducted by the Pentagon, almost one out of ten American soldiers who went on a tour of duty in Iraq suffered post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) after seeing a dead comrade or taking part in combat. The findings of the study could trigger a budget battle in Congress over the health care of veterans (Strong, 2006). The survey, which involved 222,620 Army and Marine soldiers coming home from Iraq, 16,318 from Afghanistan, and 64,967 from other places, revealed that over 1/3 of American soldiers received psychological counseling immediately after coming home from Iraq (Strong, 2006). Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the report revealed that nineteen percent of the returnees satisfied the â€Å"risk criteria for a mental health concern† of the military which is higher than the 11. 3% and 8. 5% of those who returned from Afghanistan and other deployments, respectively (Strong, 2006). According to Dr. Charles Hoge, who co-authored the study and serving as a colonel at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said that the findings of the research did not come as a surprise to them since the military is implementing a new mental health evaluation program for returning soldiers which encourages them to seek medical help early to avoid any serious complications in the future (Strong, 2006). Post-traumatic stress disorder was likewise experienced by soldiers who were deployed to Vietnam. Administered in 1990, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study conducted by The Research Triangle Institute contracted by the Veterans Affairs Administration, the research revealed that 31 percent of the soldiers deployed to Vietnam which translates to 1 million troops experienced PTSD after their return (Satel, 2004). Psychiatric reports attached to the study showed that 12 to 15 out of every 1000 soldiers succumbed to psychiatric disorder. If the 1990 research is accurate, the number of Vietnam War veterans who suffered from PTSD increased vastly in post-war era (Satel, 2004). In the Pentagon study, 80 percent of those who was diagnosed with PTSD said that they saw their comrades getting killed or wounded or took part in combat and shot their weapon. Among those who did not experience PTSD, half participated in combat and experienced violence (Strong, 2006). The Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder According to Judith Broder (2008), psychiatrist and founder of the Soldiers Project, a volunteer organization geared towards treating war veterans for free, the excessive trauma as well as the fear of getting almost killed are common signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is quite understandable as soldiers are sent to unfamiliar territory and will always find themselves in a dangerous situation and tends to be cautious all the time. For most soldiers who are deployed in Iraq making the transition to a peaceful life after months or years of being in action can be challenging (Terzyan, 2008). The reason for the growth in post-traumatic stress disorder is not only because troops have now become more aware of the condition but also due to the extended separation from their families and secured conditions. Likewise, troops are prone to PTSD because the nature of their job demands their being exposed to life-threatening and stressful conditions (Terzyan, 2008). Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Contrary to what many people think, treating post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans can be quite complicated. There is evidence that proves that taking any kind of medication is not as effective in war veterans as it is in ordinary citizens, and there is minimal research on antidepressants for combat troops (Spollen Labbate, 2008). A small study used fluoxetine in treating post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans. The findings showed minimal improvements in veterans than civilians. A similar study this time using sertraline yielded the same result (Spollen Labbate, 2008). Psychological and social intervention may be the first choice when it comes to veterans with PTSD. In some instances, they are more valuable interventions than medication. Building trust between patient and provider is the initial step in the conduction of treatment. However, establishing such connection can be difficult with patients who has suffered traumatic stress (Reeves, 2007). Treating Iraq veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder poses a real challenge to primary care providers. For many patients, an early alternative would be to visit a Veterans Affair (VA) medical facility. The United States Department of Veteran Affairs has trained physicians in the field of PTSD and Iraqi veterans coming home are qualified for treatment (Reeves, 2007). Conclusion Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition characterized by excessive fear, helplessness, or horror resulting from an experience of excessive trauma. Its symptoms include persistent relapse of the traumatic experience, avoidance of stimuli related to the trauma, lack of general responsiveness, and lingering symptoms of heightened autonomic arousal. According to a study conducted by the Pentagon, almost one out of ten American soldiers who went on a tour of duty in Iraq suffered post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) after seeing a dead comrade or taking part in combat. The findings of the study could trigger a budget battle in Congress over the health care of veterans. The reason for the growth in post-traumatic stress disorder is not only because troops have now become more aware of the condition but also due to the extended separation from their families and secured conditions. Likewise, troops are prone to PTSD because the nature of their job demands their being exposed to life-threatening and stressful conditions. Contrary to what many people think, treating post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans can be quite complicated. There is evidence that proves that taking any kind of medication is not as effective in war veterans as it is in ordinary citizens, and there is minimal research on antidepressants for combat troops. Psychological and social intervention may be the first choice when it comes to veterans with PTSD. In some instances, they are more valuable interventions than medication. Building trust between patient and provider is the initial step in the conduction of treatment. However, establishing such connection can be difficult with patients who has suffered traumatic stress.

TTS Systems for Android

TTS Systems for Android   ABSTRACT There are different kinds of TTS (Text to Speech) systems are already available for Personal computers and web applications. In the Platform of Smart Phone, few of TTS systems are available for Bangla Language. Nowadays android is a popular platform considering Smartphone. There are few Bangla TTS Systems are Available with different kind of Mechanisms and techniques, various kind of tools were used. Here we tried to introduce all mechanisms together and proving a summary above all existing system. Introduction There are more than 250 million people over 4 states of 2 countries in the world speaks Bengali. We are looking for a device which would be able to read any bangla text aloud. So now there is no other device than mobile phone as a better option. There are more than 14 million mobile users in Bangladesh and 30% of them are using smart phones. Use of smart phones are increasing day by day because of reliability, maximum features, capable of using faster internet and eligible for open source application based system. So these kind of features are making our communication very easier and maximum communication is happening over text messaging. So for making our life very easier there are many TTS engines are available for English and many other languages. For bangla there are few more TTS Systems are available in smart phones Platform. Text and Speech both are very powerful communication infliction. If we can make it easier by converting from text to speech or vice versa than it would be a great achievement in communication life cycle, it will make communication easier than before. People would be able to speak their own words by texting only via Mobile Phone. Speech is the most natural form of communication and interaction. Speech Synthesis is a major part of TTS engine and for Bangla it is done in many different ways by different authors. From all those we will get the basic idea of Speech Synthesis Techniques. It is apparent that we are using pre recorded voices for TTS engines yet. Maximum system renders symbolic linguistic representation. So we will discuss about the existing system and possibilities of making the voice very much realistic. The concatenation of final token of speech should be patterned as like real communication. Recorded voices are stored in Database. System differ in the size of the stored units. As for being the speeches or words recorded by human then the clarity may vary. Maximum author tried to put most of the effort to code optimization and database compression. Theyve tried to found many new methods of Speech Synthesis also. Android is a popular Smart phone operating system because of it allows open source applications to install and use, For this reason anyone can try for making better applications for using or business purpose. So it is very important to build a bangla TTS for android. The purpose of our research is to introduce with all of the best TTS Existing systems for Bangla in Android Platform, and ensuring the quality research outputs , findings and Placing possible future works .We discussed about the key points of individual authors and at the end we shown the comparison between all of those. Edification and research for Bangla TTS Engine was improved very highly in last few years. For Android mobile there are many publications available. So here we will discuss about few of them. Case Study 1: After studying the paper Title (A benglai Speech Synthesizer on Android OS), authors names (Sankar Mukherjee and Shyamal Kumar Das Mandal ), we have found that they were trying to develop Bengali speech synthesizer on mobile device. They have used Epoch Synchronous Non Overlap Add (ESNOLA) based concatenative speech synthesis technique for Speech generation. They work hard for database compression because where as space was very limited, small diaphone database was being used in previous days which reduced the quality of synthesized Speech. But in other hand (Pucher, M. and Frohlich, 2005) introduced with large unit selection database, they used a Server for synthesized output speech. It was mandatory to transferred the wave form to a mobile device over a network. They tried a quality output in almost real-time on Mobile device. Speech synthesis is the method of input text data to speech waveforms conversion. The Synthesis method ascertained by the vocabulary size. For utterances of the speech need to be modeled. There are many speech synthesis techniques such as rule-based, articulatory modeling and concatenative technique. But here they developed their synthesizer based on Epoch Synchronous Non Overlap Add (ESNOLA) concatenative speech synthesis method. ESNOLA provides moderate processing for proper matching between different segments during concatenation and it supports unlimited vocabulary without decreasing the quality. So this could be proposed as a good technique of Speech Synthesis. They have designed their full operational method as the given diagram. They divided the system in 4 parts including Input text and output speech state. In between they have planned two important states which is Text analysis module and Synthesizer Module. Where the major operations designed to be performed. A perfect speech required many things such as intonation, prosody, phonological words. And specially handling exception is mandatory while converting text to speech. In this paper they have tried to work with all those parts have mentioned. In their system model they introduced a module named Text analysis module. Which have two sections named phonological analysis module and other one is Analysis of the text for prosody and intonation. They work with the exceptional words at the first Phonological rule part. They developed and implemented phonological rule analysis of the text for prosody and intonation as (Basu, J et al., 2009). They have also work with the exceptional dictionary due to requirement of language analysis. So total processing of text related part ends in phonological analysis module. And synthesizing will be done by the next module. Synthesizer module works for generating a realistic and quality speech .after getting the finalized text from text analysis module they generate a token and then combine splices of pre-recorded Speech and generate the synthesized voice output using ESNOLA approach as in Shyamal Kr Das Mandal, et al. (2007). In ESNOLA approach, the synthesized output speech is generated by concatenating the basic signal segments from the signal dictionary at epoch positions. They synthesized like e.g à  Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ­Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ²Ãƒ  Ã‚ §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹ = bh + bha + a + aL+o . They had implemented their application in below System specification. Memory management is a major issue in android platform otherwise it wouldnt be used broadly. In this paper they have mentioned that This context will live as long as this application is alive and does not depend on the activities life cycle. It is obtained by calling Activity.getApplication(). They kept the partneme database in external storage card. And the best part is after producing output the final speech file will be deleted. For this TTS system there are total 596 sound files stored in the partneme database. Total size of the database is 1.0 Mb and application size is 2.26 Mb. The best part of this TTS system is it can read Bengali message from phones inbox and it also can generate speech by writing the Bengali word using English alphabet format. Performance And Quality Evaluation is the major part of any Application. Here the total processing time is counting from the starting time ( button is pressed to speak) to the first speech sound is pronounced. They had test the application in many ways and the output of all result is given below They have also judged their application by audience. To measure the output speech quality 5 subjects, 3 male (L1, L2, L3) and 2 female (L4, L5), are selected and their age ranging from 24 to 50. 10 original (as uttered by speaker) and modified (as uttered with android version) sentences are randomly presented for listening and their judgment in 5 point score (1=less natural 5=most natural). The result is given below. The total average score for the original sentences is 4.72 and the modified sentence is 2.88. In their paper, they describe about implementation of a Bengali speech synthesizer on a mobile device. Their goal was to develop a text-to-speech (TTS) application that can produce real time Speech. They modified several components in ESNOLA to make it run on android device. Case Study 2: The objective of a TTS engine is to convert some language Text into its spoken equivalent by a series of modules. For a better TTS engine language modeling and Speech synthesis is major units. After Studying the paper Title( Text to speech for Bangla Language using Festival) authors names (Firoj Alam , Promila Kanti Nath and Dr. Mumit Khan) we found they have used the open-source third party tool Festival TTS engine. Festival provides a frame work for building speech synthesis systems for any TTS engine. The Festival system is written in C++ and uses the Edinburgh Speech Tools Library for low level architecture and has a Scheme (SIOD) based command interpreter for control. Festival Provides API documentation. In their TTS engine they have used two different kind of concatenative methods: unit selection and multisyn unit selection which supported in Festival. In their research they have discussed about Text Analysis, Phonetic analysis Grapheme to phoneme Conversion, Prosodic Analysis, Speech Database or Waveform Synthesis, Speech Output and Analysis of output result. The input text may come in non standard way, considering this problem they have used the text analysis part to convert all non standard words to standard words. Their grapheme-to-phoneme module produces strings of phonemic symbols based on information in the written text. Final speech synthesis is accomplished by concatenative unit selection technique and multisyn unit selection technique. In their proposed system the first step is text analysis. the job of a TTS engine is to convert the input text to equivalent Speech, for this reason the input text should convert to a standard format. There is always a chance that the input text may contain NSW (Non-Standard Word) type words. Here the author listed the NSW words as e.g. numbers (year, time, ordinal, cardinal, floating point), abbreviations, acronyms, currency, dates, URLs. They have used Text normalization for formatting NSW to SW (Standard Word) and they disambiguate the ambiguous token using rule. In their research they didnt work with Unicode directly because Festival doesnt support Unicode, So that they convert Unicode text to ASCII. In text analysis part they Split the token based on white-space and punctuation. They consider white space as a separator and Punctuation can separate the raw tokens. Festival Ordered list of tokens, each with features of white-space, and punctuation. For tokenization White-space is the most commonly used .they have identified Bangla Language have more than 10 types of NSW, so each NSW can identify as separate token by token identifier rules. They used scheme regular expression in festival to identify the token. After identifying of all NSW they convert it to standard word by pronunciation lexicon or (letter to sound) LTS rule. Pronunciation of a word sometimes doesnt match with the pronunciation form. They have solved this problem by using list of lexicon and LTS rule. They inserted 900 lexicons with its pronunciation in the lexicon dictionary. The Steps of Phonetic Analysis within festival: 1. Building large amount of lexicon. 2. Building letter-to-sound rules. They have used three techniques for concatenative synthesis: diphone, unit selection and multisyn-unit selection.They identified 45 phones excluding 31 diphthongs with their features based on articulatory analysis. To build diphone database they include diphthong as well. In their implementation they excluded the diphthongs. The duration they added is taken from Kiswahili TTS system but This is not exact duration for the phone set of Bangla language. They have approximately recorded 500-900 utterance to cover most frequent words of language. The analogy of the system was tested in two ways: in terms of acceptability/naturalness and in terms of intelligibility. Synthesized speech was evaluated on three levels: sentence level, word level and phrase level. In case of sentences level the intelligibility rate being close to 85%. On phrase level it is 83.33% and word level it is 56.66%. In their second experiment, degree of naturalness of the synthesized speech was assessed, again on sentence 90%, phrase 85% and word level 65%. The results Obtained are shown in below Figure. Case Study 3: Their model consist of three part, 1st one is LINGUISTIC MODULE what generate a linguistic representation from text. 2nd one is ACOUSTIC MODULE which generates speech from the linguistic representation. And the 3rd and final one is VISUAL MODULE which driving a talking head based on the linguistic representation. They created a relational lexical database from three source lexica: The Carnegie Mellon Pronouncing Dictionary, Moby Pronunciation II and COMLEX English pronouncing lexicon. There have almost entered 200,000 word, of which over 1500 are non-homophonous homographs. The interesting part of their project is they used animated image which will moved on the subject. In their Linguistic Module they token textual input and looks up word pronunciations and tags in the lexical database. Which words are not present in their lexical database they used a dynamic programming alignment algorithm that algorithm described for aligning sequences from the same alphabets. In Letter-to-sound neural network they defined features for a letter to be the union of the features of the phones that that letter might represent. When they get competitive results they thought that improved performance will come from simplifying the phonological representations found in the dictionary. By this they built a prelimi nary linguistic representation of the utterance. Then the linguistic representation submitted to a postlexical module where lexical pronunciations derived from the lexicon are converted to postlexical pronunciations typical of the speaker. They consider the distance to word, phrase, clause, and sentence boundaries was included. After converting the linguistic representation they send it to the Acoustic Module, which has three stage 1.Duration Neural Network , 2.Phonetic Neural Network and 3.Waveform Synthesizer . The acoustic module established the timing of the speech signal by associating segment duration with each phone in the linguistic representation. An acoustic representation, consist of input parameters for the synthesis portion of a vocoder, is generated for each ten-millisecond frame of speech. Finally, the synthesis portion of the vocoder is used to generate speech from these acoustic descriptions. The most interesting part of their module is that they are providing the video for the speech, so it looks like natural. And that reason they collect the animated image from the nature. The video subsystem takes the output of the linguistic module and the output of the duration neural network and generates an animated figure by using an additional neural network. Case Study 4 : Sanghamitra Mohanty has developed a very intelligent tool, which provides four Indian language Speech output at a time Hindi, Odiya, Bengali and Telegu. For all language she has considered a common system what she named Priyambada. She found Indian languages are phonetic in nature, and the progenitor phoneme mapping is linear. So the vowel and the consonant of the language are almost same except some of them. She took those in consider and apply algorithm for that. We found three stage on this TTS system. First one is Speech Corpora Creation. Here she identified speakers for four native languages, and get them in a laboratory environment using noise cancellation microphone. The sampling rate is 16 bit in single channel of 16000 Hz.By this way she collect the voice from the speakers. Secondly she creates a database for the Different Syllables from the text. She also stored individual polysyllables for different languages in a .wav file format. Finally she played the .wav files for the represented data. There she does not give the solution for the new word what is not in her present. With C++ language she developed a very interesting tool what plays very important role. Case Study 5: They actually focus to normalize the text. Most probably their work is same, their processes are tokenization, token classification, token sense disambiguation and word representation. They found some ambiguous tokens in bangla language. Like, Bangla use many language(English, Arabic, Hindi etc) in their language. the most challenging part of token are the numbers, dates, year, time, multi-text genre etc. To solve this problem they found two ways. One is to token normal bangla language and another table is to handle the ambiguous words. They levels three stage to token a word i) Tokenizer what will used to token the English and other South Asian scripts Bangla ii) Splitter is used for Punctuation and delimiter and iii) to token phone number, year, time and floating point is used Classifier. It also check the contextual rules, different form of delimiters was removed in this stage, for each type of token, regular expression were written in .jflex format all are checked in this stage. To make the ambiguous token natural this part is used for. The ambiguous words like non-natural number cardinal, ordinal, acronym, and abbreviations will sound natural. For this the used some stages. Those are (i). traverse from right to left. (ii). Map first two digits with lexicon to get the expanded form (i.e. 10 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ten). (iii). After the expanded form of the third digit insert the token hundred. (iv). Get expanded form of each pair of digit after third digit from the lexicon. (v). Insert the token thousand after the expanded form fourth and fifth digit and lakh after expanded form of sixth and seventh digit. They will continue those stages. After each of second block they insert the token koti to make it natural By this way they believe they can make perfection of 99% of the ambiguous words. Summary of 4 case studies: Topics Case study 1 Case study 2 Case study 3 Case study 4 Case study 5 Tools ESNOLA FESTIVAL NA Priyambada JFlex Processing text type ENGLISH ASCII, UNICODE ENGLISH NOT DEFINED ENGLISH Input text type BANGLA ENGLISH ENGLISH ENGLISH ENGLISH Voice source Pre recorded Pre recorded Pre recorded Pre recorded Pre recorded Total Modules 2 3 Audio format Not define Not define Not define .Wav Not define intonation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Utterance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Prosody Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Phonological words Yes Yes Not defined Not defined Yes Exception Handling Yes Yes No No Yes Database length 596 files Not defined 200,000 Not defined Not defined Database size 1.0 Mb Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined Speech quality evaluation 2.88 out of 5.00 Intelligibility rate No 85% No No Yes Word Processing speed 0.45 sec/ 2 word ( no of syllable -6 ) Not defined Not defined Not defined Not defined Accuracy 57.8% 85% 87% Not define 99% for Ambiguous word [1] Frances Alias, Xavier Servillano, Joan Claudi socoro and Xavier Gonzalvo Towards High-Quality Next Generation Text-to-Speech Synthesis:A multi domain Approach by Automatic Domain Classification,IEEE Transactions on AUDIO,SPEECH AND LANGUAG PROCESSING, VOL16,NO,7 september 2008. 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