Misuse of Mobile Phones Essay

Mobile or cell phones have revolutionized our lives since many years. In past people had to wait for days or even weeks to get reply to their letters. Then with time and technological advancements things started getting easier with the invention of telephone and then finally it got a lot easier with the introduction of cell phones. Cell phones provide us the opportunity to converse, figure out and access content. Mobile phones have redefined connectivity and communication. But high-end mobile phones have also turned out to be handy devices for criminals, anti-social elements and even activists. Mobile phones have their uses and misuses. Uses: The ability to talk wirelessly and all across the world is one of the major uses of cell phones. Cell phones have surfaced as the main communication gadgets for millions of countryside, distant and undersized areas in many developing countries where it is quite hard to build widespread fixed-line as well as other landline phone infrastructures. One can use cell phones in many disaster circumstances and emergencies to get helpful and apt help. Some of the mobile phones have special features like maps etc. If you are new somewhere and have lost your way you can get help using your cell phone. There are number of applications like calculator, torch, calendar etc in almost every cell phone. One can get help from these applications whenever needed. You can call or chat with your friends or family members for hours with the introduction of a number of worthy packages for you to avail. Thus by spending less money you can talk for longer time period. These packages are worthy enough as compared to wired or landline phone charges. Misuses: On one side if cell phones are the best sources to get instant help in the hour of need there are some drawbacks of this gadget. It is a fact that parents allow their kids use mobile phones at an early age. But it is only to make sure about their safety and security which is needed since we live in an unsecured society. However, unfortunately many times it has been observed that these children do not make use of it in a proper manner. They spend hours talking to their friends, not for good purposes but to gossip and thus waste their time. They prefer indoor games like those in the mobiles rather than the outdoor games. This can impact negatively on their  minds physical fitness. The law made by the governments of many countries was much appreciated by a large number of people according to which it is restricted to the children to buy a SIM card until they reach the age of eighteen. Majority of parents are thankful to their government for taking this effective step. Some of the common misuses of mobile phones are cameras loaded on majority of mobile phones can be used to take pictures of women and innocent children; these pictures are then usually morphed, maneuvered and circulated on the Internet and can be used for any negative purpose. Texting can also be used to misuse or track people. Cell phones have been known to be used by corrupt elements, burglars and criminals can plan out a number of criminal schemes, scamming plans and other illegal activities. Thus cell phones if on one side a blessing then on the other side they can create disasters in our lives and society. It is advisable to make use of mobile phones for positive and useful purposes and not for negative activities.

Globalisation on Jamaica Essay

1. Causes of globalization affecting Jamaica: * For Jamaica, the main reason for globalization was darker. The energy Crisis of the early 1970s forced the Jamaican Government to take out loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cover the rising expenses of fuel based imports. However they weren’t interested in cooperating with Jamaica in developing native infrastructure and resources, so they enforced a short-term repayment of the debt, budget cuts in areas supporting long term development, and removing all trade barriers that favored local industry and farming. Thus, this started the forceful movement of â€Å"globalization† in Jamaica. Three negative globalization cases with causes and effects: * The first one involved Jamaica’s dairy industry. Due to free trade agreements between the United States and Jamaica, dairy farmers in Jamaica had to directly compete with American farmers without any subsidy aid from the government. This resulted in the influx of cheaper powdered milk into Jamaica from the USA, destroying its entire dairy industry altogether and farmer selling cows to the slaughterhouse at a loss. The effect of globalization on Jamaica in this case, only fostered dependency on other nations rather than focusing on its own economic development. * The second case is caused by the â€Å"Banana Wars† between Europe and America. Britain had a long-standing trade agreement with Jamaica that favored their banana exports as a way of compensating for their legacy of colonialism. This brought about complaints to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the USA backed up by large agricultural multinational corporations like Dole, Chiquita and Delmonte who at the time already had 95% of the world’s banana trade, citing it as unconstitutional and against WTO’s policy. The ruling of WTO in USA’s favor and an international penetration of trade into Jamaica’s biggest banana market ensured yet another downfall upon one of the country’s most profitable industries due to the lack of production efficiency. * The third case came about due to the increasing economic stagnation and poverty in Jamaica. To combat this, the government agreed to create Free Trade Zones in Kingston where governmental enforcement does not apply. Ships would unload materials cut in the USA and Jamaican workers would sew garments in huge textile assembly plants near the docks for Hanes, Brooks Brothers and Tommy Hilfiger at $30 per week. These wages were not enough to sustain their standard of living and when protests emerge, the owners simply closed down their shops and relocated to Mexico, where a cheaper work force can be found. This is an example of the â€Å"race to the bottom† stemming from the effects of globalized capitalism. As a result, it leaves Jamaican citizens with lose or lose situation to either comply with unfair demands of employers or risk unemployment. 2. 3 examples in making Global Labour fair * In order to make Global Labour fair, three sectors of society, government, multinationals and civil societies must work together using their own sets of expertise. * The first example involves the Clinton administration regarding their stance on trade in 1996. The government provided the resources and the stage to gather civil societies such as human rights NGOs and trade unions, industry leaders, and its own department of labor to discuss about responsibilities in Global Labour. Civil societies present at the meetings gave ideas and insights about developing a global code of conduct in making labour fair as well as NGOs such as the Fair Labour Association provided awareness to the public about this matter. Then multinationals and industry leaders collaborated by implementing this code of conduct throughout their supply chain, terminating contracts from their suppliers if specific labour conditions are not met. Thus forcing the improvement of Labour standards. * The second example involves the New Zealand Recognized Seasonal Employers Scheme (RSE) to relieve seasonal shortages in the NZ horticulture and viticulture industry through an overseas labour force. The NZ government collaborated with other governments of the Pacific Island Regions to provide the legal requirements and immigration processes to facilitate the influx of workers. Businesses provide employment opportunities to the migrant labour force. On top of that, the government established an evaluation board which includes NGOs such as The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions to monitor key activities, evaluate outcomes and ensuring equity and respect for migrant worker rights. The collaborations between this three sectors of society (government, businesses and civil societies), made sure the benefits of global trade between NZ and Pacific Island Countries are mutual. * The last example includes the consumer goods multinational, Unilever who has taken significant strides in sustainable living regarding the 2001 mercury poisoning in Kodaikanal, India. NGOs such as Greenpeace were responsible of raising the issue to Unilever about scrap glass containing mercury from a Unilever thermometer factory being sold to a scrap dealer located nearby. This was a breach of Unilever’s procedures as workers’ health and then environment could be adversely affected. Unilever immediately closed the plant and removed the glass scraps and the soil beneath the scrap back to the factory. After negotiations, the Indian and US governments were responsible for providing Unilever legal permits for transporting and recycling these hazardous materials in the United States. The commitment of Unilever in ethical choices combined with the cooperation of civil societies and government organizations help prevent a potential fatal disaster that protected the welfare o f international labour. 3. Joseph Stigliz’s plans or conditions for making globalization work: * Eliminating or reducing poverty through more foreign assistance from advanced industrial countries to 0.7 percent of their GDP. Although I feel it’s a good idea for countries to redistribute wealth to disadvantaged nations in order to help make globalization work, I also think that imposing a general level of GDP assistance without consideration of a country’s individual economic conditions is unfair. In recent years, we saw the EU struggling with the financial collapse of Greece and the spread of investor uncertainty throughout its member nations. In this case, I felt that a reduction of foreign aid to focus on own problems is understandable because if developing nations lose a big trade partner such as the EU due this matter, results will be worse off in the long run for both parties. * Stigliz also suggested that this foreign assistance should be given in forms of grants instead of loans as well as and an altered approach to conditionality. I agree with this Idea as we saw earlier with Jamaica, most developing countries face the same problem of debt. Jamaica was forced by the IMF and the World Bank to open up trade barriers which forced dependency on other countries and the destruction of local industries. In addition to that, most governmental spending as well as any foreign earnings from exports is used to service this debt and its ever-growing interest instead of investing in the country’s long term development. This severely limits Jamaica from restarting its own economy, making globalization benefits one sided. * Making trade fair is also on Stigliz’s agenda. For example, removing trade tariffs of developed countries before imposing them on disadvantaged countries. I agree upon this idea and my argument can be built again based on the collapse of Jamaica’s agriculture industry. Potato, onion, carrot farmers have to directly compete with USA on a level playing field by removing trade barriers. However whether this situation is equal is questionable since the USA still maintains its large agricultural subsidies to aid its own farmers forcing down prices of their own produce. This renders Jamaican farmers uncompetitive due to high borrowing costs and lack of governmental aid. I feel this is unfair as this undermines the living standards of developing countries such as Jamaica and advanced countries only benefit from the trade. Lowering trade tariffs in developed countries first allows developing countries a fair chance to adapt to changes in the economy. * Stigliz acknowledges the limitations of liberalization are important. This is shown with the Washington Consensus based upon the concepts of liberalization forged between the World Bank, IMF and U.S Treasury which focused on the downscaling of government, deregulation, and privatization. Argentina who followed the Consensus initially had expansion of investment and export volumes. However what followed was a disappointing increase in unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime and violence. I feel that the reason the consensus failed to revitalize the economy was that they employed a one-size-fits-all mentality. There was an overemphasis on GDP measures which was inefficient in measuring living standards, growth sustainability and equality. Thus these factors are ignored and contributed to the failure of the policy. Therefore, I believe that understanding the local market, government and their individual economic problems apart from just imposing liberalization is crucial in order to make globalization work. * Stigliz mentioned protecting the environment is a growing concern for globalization. The success of economic development in China and India increases the need for energy usage and the use of resources. I agree with Stigliz’s notion that the world’s environment would not able to sustain this change. This year, there was a public outcry of Beijing’s air pollution when the Air Quality Index in the city saw a staggering reading of 755. As a comparison, any reading above 100 is considered hazardous for sensitive groups. This is attributed to the exponential increase in industrial activity in China. Although China benefits from an economic boom, I feel people must realize the cost of this endeavour to its citizens as it is irresponsible to ignore the negative health effects it causes. Enforcing people to work under these conditions is no different to taking advantage of unfair Labour consistently found within the poor working conditions in developing countries.

Quality Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Quality Managment - Essay Example The four absolutes of Crosby’s quality management system enhance operability and functioning of complex rail networks. Professionals in railway operations must remember that quality always comes at a cost; and it is always cheaper and better to promote superior quality from the very beginning. Quality is always about conforming to requirements Conformance to requirements is the first absolute of Crosby quality management philosophy. As a result, it is imperative that such requirements are clearly defined (Evans & Lindsay 2007). That Crosby defines quality in customer terms makes quality management an extremely challenging task, since every customer has his(her) own vision of quality. A business executive traveling from Leeds to London for a full day’s work is looking for superior quality of network rail operations, which should manifest through the no-delay-approaches. Simply stated, a business executive whose schedule is overfilled with meetings and tasks will hardly w ish his train to be late. Business executives traveling for workplace and business purposes usually have their days planned minute by minute. A train is just an instrument of meeting their business objectives. Any delay may become a serious impediment to the development of effective relations between business executives, their suppliers and customers. Therefore, quality is judged by whether or not network rails operate in accordance with their schedules and deadlines. By contrast, grandparents traveling from Sheffield to spend the weekend with their grandchildren in Brighton will always search for the best cost. Affordability will become the main criterion of quality judgments. Older people experience budget constraints and are extremely economical in their financial decisions. However, they do not want the cost of traveling to be low by all possible means; rather, they will look for an option that is equally cheap and safe. A company that manages to offer a safe and affordable trav eling alternative will become the object of grandparents’ choice. Eventually, four friends from Sunderland wanting to take a 4 day break in Paris want to have a nice and pleasant journey. Most probably, they will look for an affordable network rail option that offers smooth travel, includes a good restaurant to spend time in, and makes possible to observe wonderful landscapes and sights on their way to Paris. Such people want everything to be perfect. They do not want their holidays to be spoiled by minor disturbances. However, again, safety will become the main quality requirement for them. Whatever the purpose of traveling, all passengers will expect railway professionals to secure them from the risks of accidents and delays. Quality management: Prevention rather than detection Superior quality management systems rely on the premise that prevention is always better than detection. This is particularly the case of railway networks, which are characterized by relatively high risks of accidents and technical failures. Like any other complex technical mechanism, railways operate in the atmosphere of uncertainty, and prevention is the best way to protect passengers and technical assets from unnecessary failures and risks. Three possible ways to prevent undesirable occurrences from happening in Network Rail may include (1) road safety audit; (2) the use of GIS and GPS systems; and (3) regular training and checks

Financial Accounting Concepts Phase 4 DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Accounting Concepts Phase 4 DB - Essay Example In accordance with the introductory part of the report, it can well be stated that Management Information System (MIS) is a tool that assists management end users in decision making by providing/generating timely reports in a pre-defined, well documented fashion. From this definition, the key words that can be identified are: Thus implying that for routine decision making, managers are in need of some pre-defined reports that are generated by an MIS on a routine basis. Timely availability of required information is precisely what managers need today for effective decision making process. Thus, it can be well derived that MIS systems generate reports that also enhance the decision making ability of managers by means of providing quick and effective reports from the existing set of data and information. MSS or Management Support Systems were the earlier form of an MIS, where the prime target was to give information and support for the efficient decision making by managers. But the buzz word of MIS got clicked and became famous all over in the 60s. the concept of MIS, though older and much advance technologies have come into play these days, is still of much significance to organizations, mainly for the two reasons listed below: Its major emphasis is on the usage of IT by the business managers. As the true goal of a computerized IS is to support the decision making process of the management, not just data processing of the POS generated data. Its stress is towards the framework of systems that compiles and keeps organized set of IS applications. Business applications of IT should always be considered as unified and incorporated computer based information systems and not as autonomous data processing jobs. Providing information and support for management decision making by all types and levels of managers is a complex task. Such task is eased by the application of an MIS that eases the flow of

Character analysis on Anton Chigurh- No Country for Old Men Essay

Character analysis on Anton Chigurh- No Country for Old Men - Essay Example Apparently, one of the most apparent cases in point is Anton Chigurh, the malevolent icon of the setting of No Country for Old Men. Chigurh is not a person in principle. Rather, he appears to be an ambiguous cultural rendition of Judge Holden of Blood Meridian. Both Chigurh and Judge Holden are more of perfect representations of evil than multifaceted persons. Chigurh is not merely a stereotypical character, but he is represented as well with obviously mystical nuances. However, Sheriff Bell guarantees himself that Chigurh is ultimately not a phantom. The deputy whom Sheriff Bell is talking to rejoins, â€Å"I guess if he was a ghost you wouldn’t have to worry about him† (McCarthy 2005, 299). Nevertheless, the ultimate rendezvous of Bell with Chigurh is eclipsed by the bizarre flight of Chigurh. Although it is possible that Chigurh drives off, the story does not specify the manner he carried out that escape without Sheriff Bell knowing it (Cobb 2005). The evidently myst erious disappearance of Chigurh in the movie is in agreement with the representation in the novel. Chigurh, frequently linked to ‘phantoms’ and ‘evils,’ has a powerful hanging cue of supernatural pragmatism. For instance, Chigurh, as aforementioned, is depicted by Sheriff Bell as a ghost and a devil. Even though he admits to have faith in logical depictions of man, he however indicates that he is beginning to bow over the path of trusting a personified Satan. Bell professes, â€Å"He [Satan] explains a lot of things that otherwise don’t have no explanation† (McCarthy 2005, 218). The sheriff is a sensible person and a contemporary disbeliever; however, in his belief, there is a troubling anxiety that Chigurh simply might be an existing embodiment of Satan. Nevertheless, majority of the novels of McCarthy, No Country for Old Men does not depend on simple imagery. Chigurh does not resemble the Prince of Darkness in any way; at several instances in the

Public lnternational Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Public lnternational Law - Essay Example This paper will revolve around the international law. As defined in the article, international law refers to a body of legal rules, regulations, and acceptable practices by countries, international organizations, and people worldwide. It involves norms by which people interact with one another and with other citizens of different countries. Traditionally, the international law dealt with the conduct of states and international organizations (Kelsen, 2003:122). However, in the recent decades, individuals, transnational corporations, and non-governmental organizations are becoming increasingly active in global affairs, and their operations are too relevant to international law. The international law has two basic types, public and private international laws. As stated, public international law deals with relationships among nations or between a nation and an organization or people from different nations. One the other end, the private international law deals with disputes and conflicts between citizens from diverse countries or businesses form different nations (Aust, 2010:1-4). Presence of certain courts and bodies such as the United Nations Security Council facilitate the implementation of the activities of international law since they have the power to decide cases concerning the international law. Is international law good or bad? According to Slomanson, international law is good and essential to nations and individuals. This is because; international law provides bases of peace, harmony, and corporation. Therefore, individuals and nations are able to maintain relations in both local and international levels. The same way men and women could not co-exist peacefully in a society without laws to regulate their conduct the same way nations could not. In addition, international law is necessary since avails conventions used for regulating state conduct. It also impinges on state sovereignty by creating new structures vital for regulating cross border relations. I nternational law forms limitations regarding the sovereignty of member states by establishing principles that control the global relations, which compete with the core realistic principles of sovereignty and anarchy (Slomanson, 2010:195). Since it is an agreement and tradition signed by the subscribed member states, its authority and control are strong. Relationship between international law and municipal law Municipal law and international law co-relate in the manner that, each has mandate over a particular area of jurisdiction. The national law regulates behaviors of individuals in a state while international law deals with behaviors of states and the external relations of the states’ foreign affairs. According to Black public international law, there is a divergence of opinion on the question as to whether international law and municipal law on the various national laws can be said to form a unity being a manifestation of a single conception of law or whether the IL consti tutes an independent system of law essentially different from the municipal law. However, there is a difference with regard to the substance of the law between sovereign states in as much as municipal law governs individuals while international law controls the relationship among states whereby states arrive at it through signed agreement between them. Therefore, as regards competence,

Business Issues and the Contexts of HR Assignment

Business Issues and the Contexts of HR - Assignment Example The human resource manager also plays a great role in reconciling the owners or managers of the company and the workforce, when a crisis arises in the company the human resource manager, as he is closer to the people than the owners are works to bring the two parties jointly to come up with a resolution. The economic world has been faced with similar problems when it comes to human resource management. This is because human resource is dynamic and ranges from skilled to semi skilled to skilled labour. The growing competitive world has worked to put resource managers on their heels to seek professionalism and to make the competitive in the economic world. As competition increases the natural resources decreases, this brings us to the term survival for the fittest and only the fittest company will survive, many companies are investing heavily on skilled labour that has also gained its competition in the market (Human Value Management, Jac Fitz-Enz, 1990). Technological innovations have taken a centre stage in the dynamic economic world creating need to arm the workforce with the skills. In many companies workforce competent in the IT sector have an advantage over the others. Information communication technology has enabled companies to save on costs of production and has made it easier to market their goods and keep a good flow of information within and outside the company. With the growing inflations and the world, economic crisis it has become essential for companies to cut on their spending and the human resource department has not been saved the headache. Networking has become another key factor in the evolving world. Social sites such as Face book, twitter, what sup and Skype among others have played a major task in the marketing of the products. This means that some human resource personnel have to be able to cope with this to remain competitive. It has changed people’s ways of living and doing

Is Downsizing unethical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is Downsizing unethical - Essay Example Insofar as the actions that managers take are in accordance with their moral and legal obligations toward the firm's owners, any decisions resulting from those actions would not necessarily be perceived by them as unethical. Based on this reasoning, decisions made by top management to adopt and implement the downsizing alternative, with the objective of ensuring the financial health of the firm, would be in the best interest of the firm's owners. Subsequently, the ethics of downsizing is not likely to be a conscious consideration as top management formulates downsizing decisions. According to Kantian theory, employee rights are irreducible - that is, they are not to be abridged arbitrarily. This theory also suggests that employees are legally entitled to free and equal access to any rights guaranteed them by law. Legally, employees are entitled to information (i.e., advance notice) concerning layoffs (Cabot, 1988). The concept of rights suggests that employees have the right to as much information as possible about the organization they work for, their job, possibilities of continued employment, and any other information necessary for job enrichment and development (Werhane, 1985). In downsizing situations, particularly during the process of communicating to employees aspects of the downsizing that will affect them and their job, violations of this concept often occur. Pompa (1992) suggests that less than full disclosure of information concerning the downsizing represents the most blatant violation of employee rights. He states that "Deontologically, if withholding information constitutes deception which limits employees' informed choice about their work status, then it violates the Kantian imperative to treat others as ends in themselves, not merely as means" (pp. 148-149). With respect to downsizing, the concept of rights would argue that employees have rights that must not be violated during the formulation and implementation of the downsizing alternative. When these rights are denied, employees are likely to perceive that ethical violations have occurred. Downsizing and the violation of implied contracts What makes a discussion of the ethical implications of downsizing problematic is that there are (save for situations in which collective bargaining is in force) no explicit contractual, legal, or regulatory violations involved. Because employment-at-will is the dominant paradigm for workplace relationships in the United States, recourse to specific legal remedies is limited for employees who have experienced downsizing. There is, in short, no statutory or common-law "right" in American jurisprudence to have continuous employment with a particular employer, although workers in statutorily-protected classes (like women, older workers, and African-Americans) may have claims if they can demonstrate that their individual dismissals were due to unlawful bias (Lee, 1995). A discussion of the ethics of downsizing that focuses on contractual claims will therefore necessarily rely on psychological and social contract theory rather than a legal analysis. In short, the fact that many societal (and for that matter, personal) expectations of employers are neither codified into law nor included in a formalized contract is not necessarily fatal

Research Design, Measurement, and Analysis in a quantitative research Assignment

Research Design, Measurement, and Analysis in a quantitative research method - Assignment Example Example of such conclusion is, table length is twice that of a chair. The third scale is Interval showing distance between items. Example is the distance in temperature measurement. Distance from 40-50 is the same as 70-80. The last one is an ordinal scale, which puts items in ranks. There is no degree of difference in this. Example, the ranks below shows an increase in education, 1-lower learning, 2-high school, 3-college and 4- university. Distance from 1 to 2 is comparatively not the same as 3 to 4 (Creswell, 2009). A variable is a factor that exists in differing types or amounts. In making observations and conclusions, the researcher needs to define which factor affects the other (Christensen, 2011). Dependent variables are used in the conclusion after interacting with independent variables. Variables should relate to the study subject. In my research on poor academic performance, for example, I will use teaching styles, student-teacher ratio and study hours as

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 55

Reflection - Essay Example Language is important resource which also serves as critical tool for disseminating information. Effectiveness of teaching and learning is indeed a constant effort which teachers apply by testing new approaches with learners. Thus methods of teaching need to be looked from new perspective of bonding with learners which can address their learning capabilities and make teaching and learning effective. I strongly agree with the writer that ELT has gradually lost its relevance as the basic purpose of ELT has been overridden by the researchers who believe that semantics of the language is more important. Language is important tool of communication and ELT becomes relevant for foreign students in English speaking nations. The fundamental aim of ELT was to ensure that foreign students were better equipped to assimilate within mainstream population and communicate effectively. But now ELT has evolved into important method of teaching to foreign students and become controversial as its theoretical aspects obstruct learners’ ability to communicate in the real world which actually defeats the very purpose of the language! Theories become effective only when their efficacy is tested in real world. Consequently, practice should be the basis of evolving theories. (words:

Regarding possible influences on thought Essay Example for Free

Regarding possible influences on thought Essay There is an undeniable connection between thought and language. And as thought is so crucial to our knowledge, a study of our language itself is necessary. This essay examines how our language might affect our thought. In doing so, I shall examine the question, what is language?.  So, what is language? Etymologists, those who study language (in how it develops and changes), generally agree that language first started developing thirty thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. It began when, by an evolutionary chance, the oesophagus moved in human beings. This did two things: firstly it made them very prone to choking (this is often taken as proof that the ability to speak is innate in human beings for if benefits of speech were not developed quickly this should have died out almost immediately in accordance with the theory of evolution) and secondly it dramatically increased the range of sounds they could produce orally. It is thought that the natural calls animals make shrieks of alarm to show danger etc developed and became more complex to form a very basic language. Soon, these developed connotations: variations of alarm calls could be used to convey fear, pain or sadness whilst variations of triumphant calls could be used to show happiness, safety or the location of food. Imitations of the sounds things made also developed: a stream could be indicated by a gurgle, wind by a whoosh and so on. Examples of these two phenomenons continue: laughter and crying is pretty universal in babies whilst young children often refer to police cars as whah whah in an imitation of their sound. Language was further developed, reflecting the need to talk about the speakers environment. A commonly quoted example of this is that the Inuit have twenty words for snow. Not only is this debateable Inuit nouns are formed as in German, where nouns are tacked onto each other but also, English has at least fifty! However, a better example would be the aborigines of Tasmania who have a separate word for every kind of native tree, over two hundred in total, but do not have a word for tree. This is because in their environment, all the trees which surround them appear to be drastically different. It is also said (perhaps somewhat dubiously) that Arabic has approximately six thousand words for camels and camel-equipment. T is doubtless that language is affected in its evolution by our surroundings and our need to communicate about them. The main problems with language can be its vagueness and also the fact that it evolves according to our needs. Language is very vague and words can have myriads of meanings. In the English language, the word set has fifty eight non-obsolete uses as a noun, one hundred and twenty eight as a verb and ten as a participial adjective. The Oxford English Dictionary uses sixty thousand words, including abbreviations and symbols, to define it and set is by no means alone. The fact that language reflects its environment means that when someone has an original thought they often have to come up with an entirely new vocabulary to explain it. An example of this would be the concept of the big bang. When the idea originated, the language used to describe it was completely new and very few understood it. As the theory grew in popularity, its language was accepted into common usage. However, when the majority of the populace does not concern itself with that idea, the vocabulary become jargon, to be known only by experts. Language reflects or needs of it. Written language originated as logograms in the form of pictograms where to write house, one would draw a picture of a house. Soon these became ideograms where, as in language, associations where used e.g. a sun to represent heat. This is the basis of all languages and today can be seen in Chinese and Japanese, as well as the ancient hieroglyphs, Linear A and Linear B. Some languages went one step further, changing from logograms to phonograms. This resulted in syllabic or alphabetic symbols, where words were written using their sounds in spoken language. This was the first link between written and spoken language. Written language, in our society, is now completely dependant on spoken language so the two are often seen as synominous. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis argues that the nature of a particular language influences the habitual thoughts of its speaker. Different patterns of language would therefore lead to different patterns of thought. Thus this challenges that the world can be represented objectively, as language will influence its user. The most extreme supporters of this theory argue that thought is reliant on language and that therefore there can be no thought without language. The twentieth century Austrian philosopher, Wittgenstein says that, because of this, language hinders us. For example, when we say that we saw nobody on the road we have not actually seen nobody. More accurately, we did not see anyone on the road. Another twentieth century philosopher, a Rusiian named Vigotsky, would disagree with this. He held that language helps us to think. He says that the thought is ordered and is clarified by using language. However, a large number of people disagree with the extreme view that thought is impossible without language. Look, they say, at when we are lost for words or the words are on the tip of our tongue: we know what were thinking but cant say it. Another example would be that we can often imagine in our heads as an image something for example, the beginning of the universe but cant describe it. This theory states language is created by thought, although language may later by used as a means through which to think. Many etymologists would agree with this theory as it complies with their theory on how language develops: you see something, you think about it and then you develop language to convey these thoughts and to clarify them. So, our language is shaped by the world around us, and our thoughts are shaped by our language. So our thoughts are influenced, not just out of practicality, but empirically by our surroundings. For if we are not familiar with a concept or object or person then we are unlikely to have the language to describe it: and if we dont have the language then we are unlikely to be able to think about something properly, even if we wished to.

The Unique Positioning Of Government Officials Politics Essay

The Unique Positioning Of Government Officials Politics Essay The unique position of government officials is that of both respect and trust. A nation will elect men and women from themselves that they respect or value their opinions. Once in office many decisions will be made that will have a profound effect on the citizens of the nation. That is why trust is so important. The people trust that the officials they have elected will hold steadfast to their morals, ideas, and ethical principles that they began with. I will examine the social and ethical obligations that the government has to its society and why societies need the government to fulfill their ethical duties. Also I will explain the optimal ethical, decision-making processes for making such determinations. The ability of the government to represent the interest of of entire population gives great power to the members of it. People rightly say that the role of government is to provide an orderly society, but it also provides an enforceable set of moral and ethical values which control the functioning of our society. Within the laws are embedded (hopefully) our cultures moral values. As members of our society we have an obligation to conform to these societal values in order to contribute to a peaceful and orderly society. It is important to understand what the governments role in a society is to understand the ethical and social obligations that it has to the people. Normally viewed as a group, or organization a government will exercise authority, controls, and administer public policy and directs control of its members (). Typically, the term government refers to the  civil government  of a  sovereign state  which can be local, national, or international. However, commercial, academic,  religious, or other formal organizations are also governed by internal bodies. Such bodies may be called  boards of directors, managers, or  governors  or they may be known as the administration (as in schools) or  councils of elders  (as in forest). The size of governments can vary by region or purpose. Growth of an organization advances the  complexity  of its government, therefore small towns or small-to-medium privately operated enterprises will have fewer officials than typically larger or ganizations such as multinational corporations which tend to have multiple interlocking, hierarchical  layers of administration and governance. As complexity increases and the nature of governance become more complicated, so does the need for formal policies and procedures. The expression The Public Trust when applied to governments is described as, responsibility the public places on government to care for their interests.() This implies that the members of a society expect its government to carry its self in an ethical and deliberate manner. A nineteenth century bureaucracy writer, Max Weber, discussed an ideal type bureaucracy puts forward that public servants and their institutions do not have ownership over their positions () Rather, the tax-payers of the society. Government officials are elected and appointed to pursue the objectives and goals that are most advantageous for the society. The elected officials and political appointees that are selected to work in a bureaucracy are public servants() If the public servants conduct in pursuit of the goals and objectives remains consistent with the laws and ethical guidelines set in place by the society, the public trust is being satisfied . However, if the authority that is placed into the hands of the public servants is being abused or the goals and objectives are not being met, public interest is being disappointed(). At times public resources are sometimes utilized to serve the personal interest of officials. Too often we have seen this abuse at virtually every level of government. Many in the field of public administration have questioned how we have arrived at a point where there is so much unethical, immoral, and illegal activity in government. In an era where high profile lapses by public-sector leaders in ethical and moral judgment are frequently exposed, citizens have come to expect increasingly higher standards of ethical conduct as a broad range of activities are now viewed as immoral (Bowman, 1990). Increasing awareness and changing societal values have been linked to the publics interest in ethics management (Maesschalck, 2004/5). Accordingly, citizens have become more assertive and demanding toward leaders in the public-sector showing less tolerance for leaders mistakes, shortcomings, and structural challenges. As such public leaders are generally expected to meticulously conform to standards higher than those aligned with personal morality (Lewis, 1991). Thus public leaders can often find this expectation to maintain collectively high and even idealistic levels of ethical responsibility to be quite overwhelming. In general, leaders in the public-sector are expected to maintain a level of morality and integrity which serves the interests of society while at the same time demonstrates personal responsibility, diplomacy, and truthfulness. As previously noted, the ethical role and responsibility of public officials and the ethical foundations of public administration have been viewed in a variety of ways by several scholars and practitioners. some of the primary ethical obligations and expectations which have been considered fundamental to the role of the public administrator are listed. These include: (a) demonstrating concern for the public good and representing the 14 interests of society, (b) abiding by appropriate state, federal, and constitutional laws while at the same time having respect for the procedures within the organization, (c) engaging in basic managerial and supervisory responsibilities such as oversight and planning, (d) being honest and truthful in the discharge of official in formation, (e) acting in reason, fairness, and impartiality in every situation, (f) demonstrating prudence and good judgment in decision-making, (g) providing confidence to citizenry, stakeholders, and subordinates in the abilities of the official to perform the required duties, and demonstrating intelligence and aptitude in the assigned or elected position, and (h) also providing subordinates with the adequate direction and motivational encouragement needed to perform their responsibilities. Thus given these views, many people might say that the ethical role of the public administrator can be summed up as follows: serve the public interest while being fair, honest, lawful, trustworthy, and doing the least amount harm(). Keeping the fore mentioned in mind, we can see the governments obligation to the society spans across many different areas. If it is the governments responsibility to do the least amount of harm, should create laws to stop its citizens from hurting themselves? If th e behavior can directly be linked to endangering another person then yes it is the responsibility of the government. It is understood that alcohol impairs ones judgment, so if that person were to get behind the wheel inebriated than they risk harming not only themselves but others. When people become addicted to narcotics they stop being productive members of society. Not only can they become dangerous, but they can fail to fulfill finical obligations. Thusly, it is illegal to sell, purchase, or possess controlled substances without a prescription. These actions have an immediate effect on others, but there are instances that the behavior would not affect others. For instance, in every state in America if you are caught driving without a seatbelt you can be pulled over. The government in this case has established rules to influence the society develop habits that will keep them safe. On the other hand, you can look at smoking, which is associated with lung cancer along with many oth er terminal diseases. In this case however, the government does not have laws in place that ban smoking. There are higher taxes and smoke-free areas that make it inconvenient but it is still legal. So where is the line drawn between the obligations of the government and the rights of the people? Unfortunately, the case of tobacco highlights a profound problem with special interest groups (). In the government, there are many good ways to fulfill social and ethical obligations through communication. Access, transparency, public resources, and free speech are all effective ways of achieving this. Communication encourages active participation in the political process, in other words it encourages. It is a governments ethical responsibility to ensure that every constituent has equal access to elected officials. When equal access is achieved whether it come through developing technological mediums or public forums, the whole of the populations goals can be heard. Adversely, if few people inside of a population, such as, lobbyist or affluent individuals receive more attention due to their status than goals of the society will not be met. One key principle for elected officials is never accept favors from friends or associates because it can lead to them asking for favors in return, which is inequitable to the remaining. The ability of citizens to see daily activity of the gove rnment is known as transparency. This certainly promotes a governments accountability, but also gives the members of a society a peace of mind in knowing the actions of their government. To guarantee transparency, states have laws that require meetings to be open to the public (the Brown Act in California) as well as, access to government records at no cost to the people. The obligation of the government to provide this sort of transparency is vital to effective leadership.   Engagement of the public enhances effectiveness of the government; also it improves the quality of decisions.   Lack of transparency in government leads to a system lacking necessary checks and balances, where officials can do what they please. Almost all of the time when public resources are utilized they should be used for public purposes. Generally speaking, public resources must be used for public purposes. Public resources are included in many things, such as, government employees time, taxpayers money , or even land that belongs to a community. Governments have a very strong social obligation to ensure that these resources are being utilized in an appropriate manner. In the state of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was charged with abusing tax-payers dollars to pursue extra-marital affairs in Argentina. Not only did this leave a black eye on the state of South Carolina there has been a severe breech of public trust between South Carolinians and the state government. and It is imperative that The  National Government Ethics Survey, conducted June 25-Aug. 15, 2007, included responses from 774 federal, state and local government employees, and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent. It was the first time ERC broke out government employee responses from its larger survey of public and private sector employees, which included 3,452 in 2007. Harned said the survey found that 52 percent of government employees reported witnessing some kind of misconduct by co-workers in 2006. In addition, 23 percent said they saw or experienced abusive behavior, 21 percent witnessed safety violations and 20 percent knew someone who had lied to their colleagues or was involved in a possible conflict of interest. Most reports of misconduct involved ethical breaches, rather than legal violations, according to ERC. Government employees as a whole reported 3 percent more incidents of falsifying or altering documents and 4 percent more incidents of lying to employees than their private sector counterparts did. Harned said reporting misconduct was up 12 percent from 2005, from 58 percent to 70 percent. Eighty-nine percent of employees made their reports to an individual, rather than anonymously to a hotline, and usually approached lower-level local managers and not top officials in organizations. When one considers an ethical decision model for the government the most important thing to remember is the decision represents the people. Thusly, it is even more imperative to demonstrate prudence, justice, honesty, and temperance in the process (Ruggerio, pg 108). To assist the government in making these difficult ethical decisions, the society should be involved. To involve the people it is important to remember the communication tools that where shown earlier. First, one must recognize the ethical issue that needs to be addressed. Accordingly, questions, such as, Is there a negative consequence for a specific group of people? must be answered. The government must also consider if it is a decision of the lesser of two evils vice two positive consequences or is it simply between one good and one bad alternative. Is there a question about the legality of something? After the issue has been determined the facts need to be gathered. Only the relevant facts of the issue need to be exa mined, but all facts must be considered. Is it possible to gather more information and is the understanding of the issue well enough to make a decision? Is there any special interest in the decision or if a specific group has more at stake than that must be taken into consideration? One must understand all possible actions at this point and ensure all options have been identified. Now, one must evaluate all possible alternative actions by reviewing several approaches. What action will cause the least harm and most good? What action best supports the rights of all with interest in the decision? What action provides the most equal consequences for all? What is best for the society? What action most accurately represents the people the government represents? Once all approaches have been considered the government must make a decision. Lastly, the government will act on its decision, and view the outcome. It is important to reflect on the decision to truly understand if it turned out co rrectly and if anything should have been done differently. Only through reflection of actions can a government improve it capabilities to make more effective ethical decisions in the future.

The Security Issues With Social Networks Media Essay

The Security Issues With Social Networks Media Essay Social networks such as Facebook and twitter are becoming more and more popular among the younger generation. Social networks were designed to keep in touch with friends no matter where in the world they were located. Parents though are worried that their childrens privacy is not protecting on the social network. According to pole results realised most parents think their children share to much information online and that the search engines are not doing enough to protect them. Privacy is the ability to conceal personal information about yourself from other people but if they wish to show their information it is selective. Parents are increasingly worried that their children are under threat by hackers and conmen, parents want far more education and leadership about online privacy, and they clearly want the industry and the federal government to update privacy policies. Criteria B- The IT background of the Issue Social networks are places where you can communicate with others no matter where they are in the world and is also a ways of communication for other purposes such as business. A social network is a social structure that maps out the relationships between individuals. Technically we all belong to one giant social network, but we also belong to smaller, tighter social networks defined by our families, our friends, where we live, where we work, where we went to school, our hobbies and interests and much more. Social networks are helpful as they help us to keep all the people we know in one place and we are able to communicate with theme at any time, imagine if you sat down with a pen and paper, it would be difficult to map out all the people with whom youre connected and all the people with whom theyre connected. Thats why social-networking Web sites are so powerful. Criteria C- Impact of the Issue The main issue of social networks are privacy concerns. Even though social networks were set up for people to keep in contact with friends and family around the world but despite these aspects the sites are dangerous because much information is shown. This causes parents to worry about how much information is put online. Even though most information is put on these networks is voluntary some things are not meant to be public but security issues might occur, a security issue occurs when a hacker gains unauthorized access to a written language. These breeches into personal information are a problem because people might be exposed in inappropriate manners and personal information can be gathered to do be used inappropriately. Also, talking to friends over lunch, the Internet keeps a permanent record of what we say to each other. If you are having an online conversation with your friend(s) then you should be aware that conversation can be seen by countless others and that a record of tha t conversation will be kept somewhere on the Internet. Criterion D- A Solution to a problem arising from the Issue The only solution is for the website to create a way to privatise information to users but at the same time be shown to users that you wish it to be shown. The users theme selves can more carefully approach to what they share and with the growth of social networks, its becoming harder to effectively monitor and protect site users and their activity because the tasks of security programmers becomes increasingly spread out. The growth of users of these sites has grown very rapidly take this as an example, if a prison whose inmate count jumped from  a few dozen to 250 million in less than five years only employed 300 guards (in the case of MySpace). In reaction to the growth of pressure to users most chief networks are now enabling users to set privacy controls for who has the ability to view their information. But increase privacy settings are not always definite privacy. Also Do Not Call methods can be used on social networks but developed in such a way that it becomes Do Not Track Kids like stated in the article. Parents survey says social networks dont protect kids privacy CNN Wire Staff (CNN) Most parents think their children share too much information online and that search engines and social networks arent doing enough to protect privacy, according to poll results released Friday. More than 90 percent of the parents surveyed by Zogby International said they are concerned that their children share too much information online, and 75 percent said they would rate the job social networks are doing to protect online privacy as negative. The results, released by the nonprofit advocacy organization Common Sense Media which commissioned the poll do not mention particular social networks or websites by name. Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer said the need for reform is clear. Parents want far more education and leadership about online privacy, and they clearly want the industry and the federal government to update privacy policies, Steyer said in a statement The organization begins a campaign Monday aimed at protecting kids personal information and reputations online. We need a Do Not Track Kids approach similar to the Do Not Call policies that restrict telemarketers, Steyer said. The results also include a survey of 401 teenagers aged 15 to 18. Common Sense Media said 79 percent of the teens surveyed also think their friends share too much personal information online, and 85 percent of them want search engines and social networking sites to ask for permission before using personal information to market products. The poll results present a clear divide between the industrys view of privacy and the opinion of parents and kids, Steyer said. To conduct the online poll of parents, Zogby International used a sampling of 2,100 adults from its online panel, which the polling firm says is representative of the adult population of the United States. The sampling margin of error is 2.2 percentage points. The sampling margin of error for the online poll of teenagers was 5 percentage points. Criterion E- Bibliography CNN Wire Staff, 2010,Parents survey says social networkes dont protect kidsprivacy http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/10/08/parents.poll/index.html Wikipedia, Privacy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy Fast Company, Privacy and security issues in social Networking http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/10/social-networking-security.html Help Net Security, Social networking privacy issues http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1331 How stuff works, How social networks work http://communication.howstuffworks.com/how-social-networks-work.htm

Mobile Technology Essay -- Technology, Education, Mobile Devices

The use of mobile phones to support science teaching and learning outside the classroom is also becoming more common. Benta & Cremene (2004) proposed a multimedia m-learning application for biology lessons. In this study, the students recognized a plant following a Wireless Markup Language (WML) text description and MMS provided by the teacher. While searching for the plant, the students communicated with their peers and the teacher by exchanging pictures and sending MMS. A sensor system for environmental education was developed using mobile phones by Woodgate et al. (2007) as a means of enhancing learner participation and motivation. A participatory design approach was used to develop the sensor system. In this study the students collected a range of sensor data using probes and mobile phones (connected to a datalogger via Bluetooth). Earlier Vahey & Crawford (2002) reported a study where probes connected to handheld computers were used to determine the water quality of a river. In this study, each student took a measurement using a probe at different points along the streambed. The students combined their data by beaming it on to a common personal computer. Then they used their handheld devices to analyze this data and prepared graphs of the combined data sets. This m-learning opportunity allowed students to focus on interpretation rather than tedious process of recording and plotting data. Further collecting and sharing of data led to inquiry based scientific practice in both inside and outside the classroom. Emphasising the children’s understanding of contextual information on the circumstances in which data was collected, Woodgate et al. (2008) reported a second study where school students (age 13-15) used mobile senso... .../or students to bring ‘the outside world’ into the classroom during a science lesson(Ekanayake & Wishart,2010a). According to the findings of this study, the mobile phone camera could be used to support the teacher during the different stages of a lesson including planning, implementating and reviewing. The phones themselves also helped students to learn science effectively by enabling collaborative and authentic learning opportunities. In addition to this Ekanayake & Wishart (2010b) report a study where students used mobile phone video to record the deflection of a galvanometer in a secondary level science lesson. According to the authors, the mobile phones’ video camera helped students to capture a fleeting (observation) event which could have been missed otherwise. This enabled the students to view their observations repeatedly and share them with their peers.

Market Segmentation †How & Why Essay -- Business Management Studies

Market Segmentation – How & Why As well as the physical aspect of our store changing we have to look at the market differently. Where it was once possible to take a pile it high sell it cheap approach, to achieve broad appeal to the population we need to cater to the needs of the population. This is achieved by breaking the population into groups and then releasing products and services that meet the needs of these groups. This is known as target marketing. Although we all appreciate the theoretical economies of scale given by mass marketing a single product, there are few products that appeal to everyone. Naturally this has led to a segmentation of markets as companies that marketed one product, now produce a range of products. An example of this is Coca Cola. Originally they sold one product, as well as standard coke we now have diet coke, coke with vanilla, cherry coke, sprite, lilt and many more. By accepting that people have different needs and different shopping behaviours we can market ourselves to these segments and attract new customers. There are six steps to market segmentation, targeting & positioning and these are 1. Identifying qualities for segmenting the market 2. Developing profiles of the segments created 3. Develop measures of segment attractiveness 4. Select target segment 5. Develop positioning for each target segment 6. Develop marketing mix for each target segment. We have talked about segmenting the market. The question is how do we do this? There are many ways to segment. You could do this based upon household income, gender, age, previous purchases etc. In fact there are many ways to identify different market segments and I will briefly the more commonly used methods. Geographical It is possible to segment the population according to Geography, people from â€Å"the North† drink more Irn Bru than those from the South. This can be measured by the success of advertising, an example being the Jamie Oliver advert for Sainsbury’s was less successful in the north. Demographics. This is where segmentation is done by using personal characteristics of the population; Age, gender, income, stage in the family life cycle etc. Socio Economic Grouping. This is based upon the occupational status of the head of the household. It is based on the traditional social class system of this count... ...e of segments enables a company to specifically target an audience within a population. An example would be if I asked all of you what you would go out and spend fifty pounds on if I were to give it to you now. The chances are that everyone would come back with a different suggestion. However it I likely that some of you would go and buy clothes, some you would go and buy CD’s or DVD’s and some of you may possibly save the money instead. By grouping people together it is possible to target a product at an audience that will wan to buy the product. This should ensure a return on investment quickly for the producer and could lead to rapid growth. However a universal product is unlikely to appeal to a wide range of people so it is possible for a producer to create products for different market segments. Today we are going to discuss in more detail Cola drinks and C.D’s as product within our superstores. For the purpose of illustrating segmentation further it is worth noting that recent demographic shift of men drinking Diet Coke has been noted by Coca Cola and their adverts are targeted far less specifically at woman than the old â€Å"Diet Coke break† ads of the nineties.

Jean Piaget Essay

Jean Piaget is often quoted to have pioneered research in cognitive development (Hayes, 1998). The constructivist theory is a subset of the cognitivist theories. It is based on the learner –centred theories that emphases on the need to provide learners with responsibility for directing their own learning experiences. Schemata, assimilation and accommodation are some of the primary concepts in understanding the Constructivist theory of cognitive development. The other central features apart from three principles are the notions of equilibration and disequilibrium. This essay will briefly define the principles of schemata, assimilation and accommodation. It will also explain the importance of equilibration and disequilibrium in cognitive development. Schemata according to Dembo (1991) are cognitive structures that are formed through the obstruction of one’s earlier experience. It is stated that children are born with very f few innate schemata and that they keep on creating new ones as they interact with the environment. Hayes (1998) adds that schemata should be understood as â€Å"a theoretical construct which is generally understood as the being an internalized representation of the world, or at least some part of the world. † p. 473. Schemata therefore relate to specific bit of activity, and summarises the stored knowledge and experiences related to such an activity. All human thinking is centred on schemata that develop throughout an individual’s life through the process of adaptation. Adaptation involves organisms responding to the changes in their respective surroundings and situations. In essence, adaptation is achieved through assimilation and accommodation. The principle of assimilation refers to a process of making sense of the experiences and perceptions by fitting them into previously established cognitive structures. In other words, what is perceived by a person is altered so that it fits present cognitive schemata (Gage, 1998). Assimilation is said to have occurred when a person perceives a new event or object in terms of an n existing schemas. That is to say, person applies any mental structure that is available to assimilate a new object or event and actively seek to utilize this newly acquired mental structure. On the other hand, the theory of accommodation simply refers to the process of changing internal schemata to provide consistency with external reality. It happens when existing schemas are modified or new ones are created to account for a new experience. According to Borick and Tombari (1995) if a person succeeds in changing the existing schemata in order to understand a new event, object, information or experience is said to have undergone the process of accommodation. From it can therefore be inferred that accommodation influences assimilation in a certain way and vice versa. As a reality is assimilated, structures are accommodated. Cognitive development is a lifelong process that involves the creation and/or the development of schemata through the operation of principles explained above. The term that explains the operation of assimilation and accommodation, which can occur concurrently is called the process of Equilibration. Equilibration is defined as â€Å"the biological drive to produce an optimal state of equilibrium between people’s cognitive structures and their environment† (Duncan, 1995 as cited on http://www. coe. uga. edu/epiltt/pigeat. htm ) . It is an attempt to bring about a state of equilibrium between the other three factors and is very vital for cognitive development. It involves assimilation and accommodation (Russell, Jarvis &Gorman, 2004). This process is very significant because it is through equilibration that people develop their cognitive structures. This occurs as people conduct themselves in logical internal mental structures that allow them to make sense of the various phenomena in their surrounding environment. When the external reality does not match with the logical internal schemas or say when disequilibrium occurs, equilibration is there to come forth so as an effort to bring balance between assimilation and accommodation. In this way, organisms develop sophisticated schemas. McLeod (2009) as cited on http://www. simplypsychology. org/piaget. html points out disequilibrium connotes an unpleasant state when new information cannot be fitted in the existing schemata. O’Donnel (2006) states that the theory of equilibration is important to the learning process. It suggests the need to stimulate conceptual change in someone by challenging students existing concepts in an effort to create cognitive disequilibrium. Students in turn strive to restore equilibrium there by acquiring new knowledge and skills for understanding the world or subject matter in a lesson. Teachers should be able to engage students into unfamiliar areas in order to for them to learn. It suggests that students do not require studying things that they already know but that they can also accommodate new information (Dembo, 1991). However teacher need not to let learners over assimilate because it turns out boring. They should also not over accommodate students beyond their cognitive growth. In this ca se, it can be understood that equilibration is vital to the development of a child’s cognition as well as to the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, the notion of equilibration is important because it indicates that learners are active thinkers who can understand the world on their own. Therefore teacher need to involve students in the learning processes and only act as facilitators in constructing knowledge. The understanding of the constructivist theory with the understanding of how equilibration works has led to emergence of teaching methods such as discovery methods. Teachers can create deliberate disequilibrium in students by asking questions about some illogical statements made by the Lerner. As the learner reconciles his or her disequilibrium, their cognitive capacity develops. In conclusion, this paper has defined schemata as cognitive or mental structures that relate s to specific bit of an activity such as schemata for an object like a tree or more abstract notion like democracy. Jean Piaget contended that all thinking is centred on schemata (Hayes, 1998) and the number of a person schema continues to be constructed throughout a person’s life through the principles of assimilation and accommodation. It has also been noted that the operation 0f these two principles constitutes the notion of equilibration. Equilibration is very important because it is the impetus for cognitive development that makes individuals acquires higher order thinking skills to adapt to the ever changing surrounding. It is through equilibration that people explore the environment and make mental representation of reality. This is so because equilibration improves the sophistication of schemas to create a mental representation of reality.

Critical Analysis on Bonded Labour System Analysis Act, 1976

Critical Analysis on Bonded Labour System (abolition) Act, 1976 SALIENT FEATURES OF THE BONDED LABOUR SYSTEM (ABOLITION) ACT, 1976 †¢ This Act provides for the abolition of the system of bonded labour. It freed unilaterally all the bonded labourers from bondage with simultaneous liquidation of their debts. †¢ The Act does away with every obligation of a bonded labourer to repay any bonded debt; it also dispenses with the future liability of repaying a bonded debt.The law provides that (a) no suit or other proceedings shall be instituted in any Civil Court for the recovery of any bonded debt (b) every attachment made before the commencement of the Act for the recovery of any bonded debt shall stand vacated and (c) such movable property shall be restored to the bonded labourer. †¢ The district and sub-divisional magistrates have been entrusted with certain duties/responsibilities towards implementation of statutory provisions.Under Section-13 of the Act, Vigilance Commit tees are required to be constituted at the district and sub-divisional level for implementation of the provisions of the law. They are composite bodies with representatives from different cross sections of the society and have a life of 2 years. †¢ Registers containing the names and addresses of all freed bonded labourers, their vacation, occupation and income, details of the benefits received are required to be maintained under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Rules. The Act provides for imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to Rs. 2000/- to whoever compels any person to render any bonded labour and whoever advances any bonded debt. An offence detailed surveys in their States. The same information was submitted to the Supreme Court by the State Governments in the form of affidavits in 1997. ?One ILO project namely â€Å"Prevention of Family Indebtedness with Micro Finance Scheme and Related Services† is being implemented in three States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Tami l Nadu and Karnataka.The objective of the project is to induce existing micro finance institutions to develop, test and offer savings and loan products, particularly tailor-made for vulnerable families at the risk of getting into debt traps. The prime focus of the project is on preventing marginal families from falling into debt bondage and also to ensure sustainable rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers. Based on its experience, a model could be considered for replication or application in other parts of the Country. Liability to repay bonded debt to stand extinguished.On the commencement of this Act, every obligation of a bonded labourer to repay any bonded debt, or such part of any bonded debt as remains unsatisfied immediately before such commencement, shall be deemed to have been extinguished. After the commencement of this Act, no suit or other proceeding shall lie in any civil court or before any other authority for the recovery of any bonded debt or any part thereof. Ever y decree or order for the recovery of bonded debt, passed before the commencement of this Act and not fully satisfied before such commencement, shall be deemed, on such commencement, to have been fully satisfied.Every attachment made before the commencement of this Act, for the recovery of any bonded debt, shall, on such commencement, stand vacated; and, where, in pursuance of such attachment, any movable property of the bonded labourer was seized and removed from his custody and kept in the custody of any court or other authority pending sale thereof, such movable property shall be restored, as soon as may be practicable after such commencement, to the possession of the bonded labourer. Property of bonded labourer to be freed from mortgage, etc.All property vested in a bonded labourer which was, immediately before the commencement of this Act under any mortgage, charge, lien or other encumbrances in connection with any bonded debt shall, in so far as it is relatable to the bonded d ebt, stand freed and discharged from such mortgage, charge, lien or other encumbrances, and where any such property was, immediately before the commencement of this Act, in the possession of the mortgagee or the holder of the charge, lien or encumbrance, such property shall (except where it was subject to any other charge), on such commencement, be restored to the possession of the bonded labourer.If any delay is made in restoring any property, referred to in sub-section (1), to the possession of the bonded labourer, such labourer shall be entitled, on and from the date of such commencement, to recover from the mortgagee or holder of the lien, charge or encumbrance, such mesne profits as may be determined by the civil court of the lowest pecuniary jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such property is situated. Authorities who may be specified for implementing the provisions of this Act. The State Government may confer such powers and impose such duties on a Dis trict Magistrate as may be necessary to ensure that the provisions of this Act are properly carried out and the District Magistrate may specify the officer, subordinate to him, who shall exercise all or any of the powers, and perform all or any of the duties, so conferred or imposed and the local limits within which such powers or duties shall be carried out by the officer so specified.Vigilance Committees. Every State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute such number of Vigilance Committees in each district and each Sub-Division as it may think fit.Each Vigilance Committee, constituted for a district, shall consist of the following members, namely: — (a) the District Magistrate, or a person nominated by him, who shall be the Chairman; (b) three persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and residing in the district, to be nominated by the District Magistrate; (c) two social workers, resident in the district, to be nominated by the District Magistrate; (d) not more than three persons to represent the official or non-official agencies in the district connected with rural development, to be nominated by the State Government; (e) one person to represent the financial and credit institutions in the district, to be nominated by the District Magistrate. Act to have overriding effect. The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any enactment other than this Act, or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any enactment other than this Act. Agreement, custom, etc. , to be void. – On the commencement of this Act, any custom or tradition or any contract, agreement or other instrument (whether entered into or executed before or after the commencement of this Act), by virtue of which any person, or any member of the family or dependant of such person, is required to do any work or render any service as a bonded labourer, shall be void and inop erative. CONSTRAINTS Bonded Labour System is a dynamic problem; it can occur and reoccur at any point of time in any industry or occupation. †¢ Once the bonded labourers are identified and released, in case they are not immediately rehabilitated, they become even worse off as compared to the situation when they were bonded and were at least able to survive by getting two square meals. †¢ Contrary to the traditional perception that bonded labour is confined to the agricultural sector alone, it can also occur and reoccur in any form of economic activity such as, agriculture, brick-kiln, stone quarries, carpet weaving, pisciculture, etc. , CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROVISIONS The Constitution of India guarantees to all its citizens- justice, social, economic and political, freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equity of status and opportunity and fraternity, dignity of individual and unity of the Nation. †¢ Under Article 23 of the ConstitutionTraffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. †¢ Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance was promulgated. Which was later on replaced by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. CENTRALLY SPONSORED PLAN SCHEME FOR REHABILITATION OF BONDED LABOURIn order to assist the State Governments in their task of rehabilitation of released bonded labourers, the Ministry of Labour launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme since May, 1978 for rehabilitation of bonded labourers. Under this Scheme rehabilitation assistance of Rs. 20,000/- per freed bonded labour is provided, which is shared by the Central and State Governments on 50:50 basis; in the case of the Seven North Eastern States, 100% central assistance if they express their inability to provide their share. The Scheme also provide for financing of the following activities. †¢ Rs. 2. 00 lakh pe r sensitive district can be provided to concerned state government to conduct survey for identification of bonded labour once in three years. †¢ Central assistance of Rs. 10. 00 lakhs every year can be sanctioned to every tate government to undertake awareness generation activities relating to bonded labour system. †¢ Rs. 5. 00 lakh per year can be sanctioned to every state government to study impact of existing land-debt related issues affecting bonded labourers and the impact of poverty alleviation programmes and financial assistance provided by various Government sources so far. Besides above the States Governments have also been advised to integrate/ dovetail the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labour with other ongoing poverty alleviation schemes such as Swaran Jayanti Gram Swa Rojgar Yojana (SJGSRY), Special Component Plan for Supreme Court, Tribal Sub-Plan etc.Accordingly, the rehabilitation package provided by the concerned Stated Government s for the freed bonded labourers includes the following major components: (i) Allotment of house-site and agricultural land; (ii) Land development; (iii) Provision of low cost dwelling units; (iv) Animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, piggery etc. ; (v) Training for acquiring new skills; developing existing skills; (vi) Wage employment, enforcement of minimum wages etc. ; (vii) Collection and processing of minor forest products; (viii) Supply of essential commodities under targeted public distribution system; (ix) Education for children; and (x) Protection of civil rights.INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION AND FORCED/ BONDED LABOUR †¢ There are two ILO Conventions, Convention No. 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory labour (1930) and Convention No. 105 concerning Abolition of Forced Labour (1957). Government of India has ratified both the Conventions. †¢ Before the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2001) the Director General of ILO submitted a global repor t on ‘Stopping Forced Labour’. This report contained references regarding incidences of bonded labour in India on the basis of survey conducted by the Gandhi Peace Foundation and National Labour Institute and also the estimates of some other NGOs.The Gandhi Peace Foundation and the National Labour Institute conducted a survey in 1978-79, which had estimated the number of bonded labour as 2. 6 million. This survey was based on a random sample drawn from a total of 4,50,199 villages in the ten selected States. Finally, 1000 villages from out of the 4,50,000 villages were selected. Every 450th villages in the census list of villages of each State starting with a random number was selected for the survey. The findings of the survey in respect of the above 1000 villages were multiplied by 450 to find out the total number of bonded labourers in ten States. Since the methodology adopted by the Gandhi Peace Foundation was not scientific the Government have not accepted their es timates.The need for having authentic data on number of bonded labourers in India was emphasized. It was urged that comprehensive and authoritative survey might be conducted in this regard. †¢ From the Government side, it was stated that the Government has strong will and intent to abolish and totally banish the bonded labour system from every nook and corner of the country. It was indicated that the Government of India’s estimates of bonded labour, as also reported in the following pages, were based on the information submitted by the concerned State Governments after conducting detailed surveys in their States. The same information was submitted to the Supreme Court by the State Governments in the form of affidavits in 1997. One ILO project namely â€Å"Prevention of Family Indebtedness with Micro Finance Scheme and Related Services† is being implemented in three States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The objective of the project is to induce e xisting micro finance institutions to develop, test and offer savings and loan products, particularly tailor-made for vulnerable families at the risk of getting into debt traps. The prime focus of the project is on preventing marginal families from falling into debt bondage and also to ensure sustainable rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers. Based on its experience, a model could be considered for replication orapplication in other parts of the Country.

Facilitating the Project Lifecycle the Skills & Tools to Accelerate Progress for Project Managers, Facilitators, and Six Sigma Project Teams Essay

               One of the most important aspects to put into consideration when taking up a project is project risk management. A project risk is an event / condition, which is uncertain that, upon it occurrence brings either a positive or a negative impact on the project. A positive manager should consider this as one of the ten knowledge areas where competence is highly regarded. Risk management is critical, especially to organizations working I multi-project environments and the maturity for risk is high. A wide range of risks is apparent when working in projects involving construction among other engineering work. These risks are mostly attributed to government policy, diversity in stakeholders’ aspirations and the challenges of adding multiple projects. For a good risk management process, there must be a clear statement and understanding of roles and responsibilities, proper skills on technical analysis and the prevailing organizational factors should support th e project. Project risk management involves identifying, assessing and prioritizing of risks: and thereafter putting resources to use in order to reduce, monitor and control those risks that could affect the project negatively and increase realizing of opportunities. This report seeks to outline the knowledge acquired on management of risk in projects. Discussion               All organizations exist for their own different purposes, and that of public engineering organizations in the construction business, the purpose is to deliver a service, which brings a beneficial result in the public/ stakeholders interest. Decisions to pump resources into investments on capital infrastructure are prompted by needs that are meant to enhance the achievement of the major purpose. According to Flanagan and Norman (1993), the benefits of efficient risk management are evident especially in projects involving capital infrastructure because they are dynamic in nature and bring positive cost implications from the construction related decisions. Risk management should be taken as an intrinsic part of capital infrastructure investment decisions mainly because, as project ventures get more elaborate, the role of risk management is exemplified. In regard to this realization, some countries have enacted government policies on constructors emphasizing on th e need to incorporate risk management in capital infrastructure schemes. Risk is therefore, in many occasions, viewed as a condition or event whose occurrence will have adverse effects on the project and may hinder the attainment of set objectives. Hence, risk management relates decisions to such probable harmful effects.                  This philosophical approach to risk management enables the process to be broken down into four fundamental sub-processes. These involve identification, analysis, response and monitoring. The former step of identification is the most critical step because it has the biggest effect on decisions emanating from the process of risk management. Reviewing risk management, in his article, Williams (1995), notes that there is little structured work in publication about typical risks. According to Chapman (1998), as much as risk identification is critical on the risk assessment and response phases, very little empirical evidence is available at this early phase. The heavier task in risk management remains in the analysis and response to the risk, yet the reasoning stands that unless the risks are identified, they cannot be analyzed and responded to.                  For most engineers, the need to have a set out program is critical for it provides an umbrella under which all current projects fall so that an outcome can be delivered massively in general, and greater than the total sum of all others. A program is usually temporary, and flexible; created to direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities for the deliverance of beneficial outcomes that relate to the organization’s strategic objectives. Several projects are undertaken under this umbrella. This explicitly differentiates between program management outcomes and project management outputs. However, there is a link between projects and strategy through the program. Risk management is becoming an increasingly important process due to external pressures in existence. However, good risk management is seen as a critical attribute of organizational success in the field of engineering. The assumption that programs are merely extensions of projects should cease to exist because many will tend to reflect program risk management to project risk management (Allan, 2008). Program management is a broad extension of the varied, yet related, projects.                  On projects, it is important to define one or more objective functions like capital expenditure and completion time to represent it to measure the probability of achieving the set targets. Risk management then goes on to model the project’s objectives against the projects variables like costs and the quantity of inputs. These variables are usually uncertain as time goes on, hence the uncertainty of a hundred percent achievement of the objectives set. The most ideal situation would be identifying and characterizing the variables in advance providing that they will remain unchanged by time. This would make it easy to estimate the possible risks and the consequent variance of the project’s objective(s). However, not all project variables can be identified as new variables might surface as the project goes on while the probability of occurrence of the initial variables may vary. The impacts of the initial variables, both positive and negative, m ay change too hence making risk management even more hard (Drummond, 1999).                     Certainty and uncertainty of realizing a project’s objectives are measurable, only ideally. The possibility of a project not breaking even could be considered as a representative of the whole project, and then used in turn to evaluate against variable and try and reduce the risks involved as well as become a basis for decision-making. Some projects may proceed normally in a stable environment, hence making the uncertainty high at the time it is conceptualized. Pro-active planning and making prudent decisions will see the uncertainty reduce. However, uncertainty in complex projects within a changing environment will not necessarily reduce/ diminish as time goes by Chapman (1998). It is necessary to keep on checking on the project’s variables and re-evaluating of the objective function’s status to facilitate adjustments in the project’s strategies. Uncertainty surrounds many parts of a project; hence early resolution of vari ables may not be possible always. Variables change over time leading to exposure to new threats and risks along the way. This fact should not be refuted and a lot of work is required in the planning evaluating phases, where most of the critical work is done. In spite of all the uncertainty and complexity surrounding risk management and project management, it is important to seek methods of improving the project’s base value (Drummond, 1999).                  Conceptualization, planning, and implementation of a project is a complex process that requires management based on set strategic objectives, which vary from time to time. The objectives should be integrative and holistic in the sense that it caters for social, political, environmental, and community aspects. Traditionally, planning in project management should form the basis of planning, alongside other functions of project management including; human resource, time, scope, integration, quality and procurement. These should be the fundamental factors f consideration along each phase. A variety of guidebooks, protocols and codes of practice in the engineering field have been made available for use in risk management in project management. In the United Kingdom, the ‘Orange book’ is a framework that is set to offer guidance on basic risk management concepts and as a resource for developing risk management processes and implementing them I the public sector. It is also aimed at using a risk based decision-making on investment. There have been many more publications and publications aimed at dictating hoe risk management should look like. These guidelines have offered a basis upon which projects are appraised and their investment viability tested. This has enhanced the process and shifted its reception and perception from project risk management to a risk management strategic level (Melton, 2011).                  In engineering and construction professions, program management and project management came to existence due to the changing procurement environment. In the United Kingdom, procurement of infrastructural assets was done in a sequential manner, which involved a clear differentiation in the project life cycle phases. Currently there are three major procurement systems, that is; prime contracting, Design and Build procurement and Private Finance Initiative. These methods were because of the need to adopt integrative and collaborative project delivery methods. The procurement systems have features like framework agreements, the use of specifications that are output based, and more importantly, emphasis on the lifelong value of the structures (Shehu and Akintoye, 2009). The office of Government Commerce has facilitated the change in construction procurement in the public sector too. The agency’s main agenda is to ensure that policies are followed and en hancing promotion of the best performance practices. These systems ensure that the project undertaken are of high quality and are in regard to the set policies and guidelines. These sanctions in the public works and construction sector have acted as strategic risk management tools for they ensure quality assurance as well as proper quality management.                  Project management should incorporate the use of a strategy-based management approach. This will facilitate the integration of planning, risk management and decision-making hence ensuring real time real time realization of an optimum of the project’s strategic objective against its variables. The project’s promoters are not always the investors. Investors are not always actively involved in the management of the project, but invest resources into the project hoping to get dividends. The promoters’ objective, on the other hand, is to deliver a facility that will ensure a long term balanced and financially viable business entity. The project is therefore a compromise between the attainment of investors’ interests and that of the community. Project development should be based on a set of strategic objectives, which stamp the project as a business and entwining project decisions to strategic business decisions. Amid all risks, the project should be planned proactively with regards to its variables and with a focus on the life cycle objective functions (Westland, 2007).                  The life cycle objective functions are functions such as: financially related functions- such as the project’s net worth, satisfaction of customers- those affected by aspects such as safety, project utility, operability, and quality, lastly, due diligence must be adhered to- that is, statutory concerns and policies should be observed especially when the project is located in highly populated areas or is adjacent or near ecological systems deemed to be sensitive (Janet & Tammy, 2005). This factor also goes hand in hand with the ethical code that is supposed to guide the execution of projects. Proactive planning of the project ensures that project uncertainty is minimized in real time. Effective risk management ensures that there is typical conceptualization of projects and their subsequent implementation using strategic objectives. It also ensures any further variables are assessed and managed accordingly to optimize the project’s strategic o utcome, that which of a business entity. Since projects are subjected to changes in objectives and variables due to external factors, it is important to incorporate a continuous risk management process that involves continuous risk and uncertainty management process conducted in real time to bring value to the project manager. Strategies made from risk analysis should be seen as a basis upon which decisions are made going forward. Objectives of the life cycle should be used as the vessel for analysis. Reflective assessment                  Engaging in exhaustive personal research and involvement of the same with groups has incapacitated adequately with sufficient knowledge on managing projects as an engineer. I have come to evolve from a mediocre project manager, thinking that technicalities were all I needed, to a project under-taker equipped with the relevant skills. Undertaking projects with my group and alone was not like undertaking them with my professor. Comparing personal projects and those done in groups, with those guided by the professor, flaws are clear to point out. In my first group project, our then project leader, whose name I will not disclose for discretion purposes, was too impulsive at times and objectives were not achieved as expected because of poor decision-making, even on the most obvious issues. The project resulted in high costs in execution unlike what had been anticipated and took longer. However, it is from the mistakes that my group and I learnt the importance of risk management in project management as an important tool to facilitate proactive planning, rather than responding to results. Another lesson learnt from that experience was the need to incorporate continuous analysis as a way of implementing risk management to ensure real time solutions. However, it is through solving these and other hurdles that the learning process in the field has been enhanced and increased my knowledge. The short yet detailed experience coupled with the many articles and critiques I have encountered have inspired me to get to want to explore more on the field by undertaking and managing more projects to experience more than I have. By initiating and overseeing projects as well as assuming responsibility for achievement of objectives and integration will boost my intuition and judgment on decision-making for future projects and for professional expertise. I know trying to venture into projects of high magnitude is a risk, but the ability to tackle the risk itself is way beyond the risk management of the process and a success would ultimately mean victory on both ends. References Allan, N., Davis, J., 2006. Strategic risks — thinking about them differently. Proceedings of ICE 159 Drummond H 1999. Are we any closer to the end Escalation and the case of Taurus? International Journal of Project Management Flanagan, R., & Norman, G. (1996). Risk management and construction. Oxford [u.a.], Blackwell Science.Means, J. A., & Adams, T. (2005). Facilitating the Project Lifecycle the Skills & Tools to Accelerate Progress for Project Managers, Facilitators, and Six Sigma Project Teams. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=9130. Melton, T. (2008). Real project planning developing a project delivery strategy. Amsterdam, Butterworth-Heinemann. Shehu, Z., Akintove, A., 2010. Major challenges to the successful implementation and practice of programme management in the construction environment: a critical analysis. International journal of project management Westland, J. (2007). The project management life cycle: a complete step-by-step methodology for initiating, planning, executing & closing a project successfully. Williams, T., 1995. A classified bibliography of recent research relating to project risk management. European Journal of Operational Research Source document