Food Fair Essay

The food industries are considered as one of the most important Arabic & Foreign Industries in the world. Over the years, these industries have developed in various degrees technologically and economically and have over the last 5 decades incorporated many international changes. Their productions have had spread throughout the Arab world and internationally. The products of these industries have grown as well as the raw materials used in the production process, leading to a diverse development in the food industries. The Basic Workings of a Food Fair: Before we can begin planning a fair, we must envision a general idea about the event so that our planning can be organized, efficient, and effective. Because such a wide variety of activities can be part of a fair and because a fair can emphasize any number of topics related to anything, it’s important to think about the kind of fair you want to hold before you jump in and begin sending out media alerts. Her we decided to do a food fair on the fair grounds near the Damascus airport high way which will take place in the following: Days from 06/06/2008 > 09/06/2008. From 5 o’clock until 11 o’clock Determining the features of a food fair: Once our organization decides to hold a food fair, you should begin planning by determining the kind of event you want to hold. The central considerations are the following: †¢Location †¢Time of year †¢Length †¢Purpose †¢Activities Location: A food fair can be held indoors or outdoors, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Outdoors, the enjoyment of attendees is affected by the weather, be it precipitation or temperature. The event itself may also be affected, so we will need a convenient rain site if we decide to hold our event outside. Furthermore, our organization’s displays as well as the displays of vendors, booths, or demonstrations will need to be securely anchored in case of wind and protected from rain if the event is rain or shine. Holding the fair indoors virtually frees us from weather concerns (barring bad weather that would prevent people from attending the event), but attendance may be limited by the size of the building and the availability of parking or other access at the event. Access to indoor facilities may also require the payment of fees, whereas parks and other public areas are often available for free if we give advance notice. An indoor venue may provide ready access to electricity, water, and restrooms, which may not be as convenient in some outdoor locations (but which we may need to provide for an event that focuses on food). An outdoor event may more readily attract the attention of passers-by and may draw curious people who just happen to see the banners or an assembly of people. In many cases, the location of the event may be dictated by the purpose and activities of the fair Time of year: A food fair can be held during any season of the year, but spring, summer, and fall offer the best opportunities for a good turnout. Spring is often a good choice because the event could coincide with the Earth Day (April 20). Summer is a good choice as well because of warm weather and because many fruits and vegetables are in season. People often have more free time during the summer, too, because of the long days. Autumn often offers the best weather, and the focus on the harvest also creates a nice context for festivals that focus on food. Length: food fairs can be held for any amount of time ranging from an afternoon to a weekend to a three-day or a week-long event. When determining the length of time and day(s) of the week we hold our food fair, bearing in mind the following: Availability of volunteers and other resources A fair held on a weekday or that extends beyond the weekend may create conflicts with the work schedules of many willing volunteers. Similarly, our organization may have limited resources (including brochures, handouts, merchandise, and money), which restrict the length of the event. Conflicts with community observances Although holidays usually guarantee days off for volunteers and attendees, they may be less-than-ideal times to hold a food fair given the frequency of community events that may be held on those days. We want our event to be one of only several events to ensure media coverage and full participation by the community. Availability of vendors In small communities, vendors who become involved as sellers at a food fair may be able to spare staff for an afternoon, day-long, or weekend event but will need to limit their participation if the fair lasts too long. Similarly, they may have a limited amount of merchandise to sell or may be limited by suppliers in other ways that would affect how long they can participate. If we choose to have vendors and plan to hand out information or make merchandise of our own available, we will want a wide variety of materials that can meet the demands of attendees. Better to have a shorter event that lives up to its billing than to have a longer event in which there is a steady decline in vendors and information available for interested individuals. Purpose: Food fairs do have a built-in focus: the event is a celebration of the Food lifestyle, and the focus is on food. For some fairs, education about Healthy Food through food sampling, cooking demonstrations, nutrition booths and lectures, may be the purpose of the event. For other events, however, education about human health through food-related activities may be the focus. The purpose of our event will shape the kind of fair we ultimately want to hold and the kinds of activities we want to include in the event. A food fair can also have a general purpose and include elements of many different aspects. We can combine booths, varied displays, and vendors to create a fair that addresses many interests. A quick survey of the many food fairs that are already taking place in the World reveals that there is no prescription for a successful food fair. But having a purpose in mind will assist us in determining the activities for the fair and prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by the sheer variety of activities that can be part of a food fair. Activities: Preliminary thoughts about the type of fair we want to have should include consideration of the kinds of activities we will include to attract the public to our event. The range of activities that are appropriate for a food fair is limited only by imagination. Cooking demonstrations cooking demonstrations are a great addition or centerpiece to a food fair. The demonstration could show attendees how to create quick meals or how to use popular Herbal ingredients. The demonstrations could focus on themes, such as main courses, holiday meals, or desserts, or we could create a series of demonstrations that take place throughout the day. A local chef or cookbook author might be interested in putting together such a demonstration. We might also try to book a well-known chef or cookbook author to attract people to our fair. We will need to plan ahead for a cooking demonstration. WE may need to prepare ingredients ahead of time, especially if the site lacks access to running water. We should find out whether our site will have access to electricity and ask about other methods of cooking that may be allowed (for example, gas grill or open flame) before we make other plans for the demonstration. Speakers A well-known local or national vegetarian advocate will attract many people to a food fair because many people will come specifically to hear the speaker or purchase his or her book. Having a speaker highlight the food fair is also a good way to kick off or complete an event. Another option is to have a panel of speakers discussing specific issues or taking questions from the audience. Speakers usually charge a fee for speaking, and there may be other details (for example, travel and accommodations) that factor into whether we have a speaker at our food fair. A speaker will need a sound system, and we will need to organize the fair so that a crowd can gather in one place to see and hear the speaker. If an event involves vendors, exhibits, and booths that are going to continue operation during the speaker, we’ll likely need a separate adjacent area for a speaker. An event with a set itinerary, or an event that is held in a large building with access to different rooms or partitioned areas, however, will not pose this problem. We want to provide the speaker with an opportunity to address a crowd of listeners, so if we plan more than one speaker, we should arrange the food fair and its schedule to highlight each speaker and try to ensure that there will be an appropriately sized audience for each. If we are uncertain whether each speaker will get a crowd of participants, we should organize the speakers into a panel instead, and highlight that as the center point of the fair. Music Music can be a focal point or a backdrop during a food fair. Fairs and music seem to go hand in hand: the presence of singing or instrumentalists adds a festive touch to a food fair and alerts passersby that the fair is taking place. Exhibits Free-standing, self-explanatory exhibits or staffed booths can provide a variety of information for fair attendees. These booths may offer free samples or free information. A variety of booths widens the appeal of the food fair, and exhibits can include: †¢Conserved food products. †¢Oil and ghee produces. †¢Canned and conserved products. †¢Dairy and cheese products. †¢Meat products. †¢Sugar, sweets, biscuits, and chocolate products. †¢Ice cream products. †¢Coffee – Tea – Herbs. †¢Poultry and fish products. †¢Mineral, carbonated water and juice products. †¢Vegetable and fruit products. †¢Pasta and cereal products. †¢Production lines. †¢Packing and packaging machines and related materials. †¢Raw materials for food. †¢Cooling and freezing equipment. †¢National Arab and international supervisory boards and companies. Once well established, a food fair may even attract national or international makers of foods we will certainly want to set up an exhibit that features our own organization, with information about meetings, plenty of handouts and literature, and a sign-up sheet for our organization’s mailing list. Creating a marketing plan: Once we have a general idea about the kind of fair we want to have, we need to create a marketing plan by taking an inventory of the skills and resources we have within our group and our community. This assessment gives us a starting point for assigning organizational tasks and generating publicity for the fair. We have to be sure to consider media, organizations, and businesses in our country as well as in other countries and cities. Media: Local radio and television stations, newspapers, and other publications will be key for generating publicity for our event. We should plan on creating public service announcements, placing advertisements, and arranging interviews not only to provide details about the event but also to generate interest about the fair. We might also consider contacting and placing ads in larger publications in order to advertise in the countries and cities that are around us because we want our fair to be local and world wide. We have to be sure to note the deadlines for submission of public service announcements and advertisements in relation to our fair to ensure that our efforts are timely. Community resources: Our advertisement is going to be mostly for investors, industrialists, merchants, business men and officials. Through intensive campaigns by mail, e-mail or through the internet. Including direct phone calls with the people that are interested in this kind of fairs and the official and concerned bodies that are Arab and foreign. At the same time we will be printing flyers for the fair which will help advertising for it. Also printing invitation cards for some governmental bodies like the prime minister or his deputy or the minister of industry, also for VIP business men and industrialists. Skills: Early on in the planning of our fair, it is helpful to find out what skills the members of our group or other participants have that can be put to use when organizing the fair. An artistic member might be interested in creating a logo, banners, and signage for the event and determining where to display them, or we could simply use a professional assistance from any graphic and advertising company. Creating a budget: Budgeting is one element of food fair brainstorming that we should think through fully before planning begins. We have to be sure to take an inventory of what our group already has (merchandise, literature, signs, for example) to avoid unnecessary budgeting and spending and to help us determine what we need to order. The following is a checklist of items that we may need to pay for to successfully organize and hold a food fair: †¢Advertisements. †¢Cooking demonstration expense. †¢Courier and flyer-posting expenses. †¢Demonstration supplies. †¢Lecture expense. †¢Merchandise expenses. †¢Office supplies. †¢Parking fees. †¢Permit fees. †¢Photocopies. †¢Portable toilets. †¢Postage. †¢Posters, flyers, and stickers. †¢Programs. †¢Printing. †¢Rentals (Equipment [tables, chairs, tents, tools, video or sound equipment, fire extinguishers, etc. ]; Space). †¢Trash removal/recycling fee. Creating an overview of planning details: Planning a food fair involves the coordination of many details and the combining of different elements to create a whole event. Failure to keep track of even one of these details or elements will leave holes in our planning and gaps at the event itself. Keeping track of details and creating a planning schedule that prompts us to take care of specific tasks. A general rule of thumb is that planning for a food fair should begin 8 to 10 months or even a year before the actual event. Food Fair Planning: Now that we have determined the purpose of our fair and the activities we want to include, we are ready to start booking a site, sponsors, vendors, and other participants. For our site we will be using the fair ground in Damascus at the airport high way in order to set a date for the exhibition and visiting hours. Now during the process of advertising for the fair we will be asked about many things from the exhibitors and they are either direct or through e-mail, of course our answers must be logical and convincing: Examples of our clients questions: 1. What are the things that this fair refers to? †¢Canned and conserved products. †¢Conserved food products. †¢Oil and ghee products. †¢Dairy and cheese products. †¢Meat products. †¢Sugar and sweets products. †¢Chocolate and biscuit. †¢Ice cream products. †¢Coffee – Tea – Herbs. †¢Poultry and fish products. †¢Mineral, carbonated water and juice products. †¢Vegetable and fruit products. †¢Pasta and cereal products. †¢Production lines. †¢Packing and packaging machines and related materials. †¢Raw materials for food. †¢Cooling and freezing equipment. †¢Banks, investment and finance institutions. †¢National, Arab, and international supervisory boards and companies. 2. What are the services that the fair will deliver for participating companies? †¢There will be a mobile center for business men which will offer (phone, fax, e-mail) services to help and aid them with their supplies. †¢There will be a set of meetings between the exhibitors by a special program so they can know each other. †¢There will be a media center for business men, representatives and delegates either form the press or the T. V and Arabic and Foreign news agencies. †¢Transportation will be provided for exhibitors and visitors concerning their requests and for a special fee for exhibitors. †¢We will offer all the fair’s accommodation and services. From setting booths and stands to every single need for the exhibitors which include: 1. Flight reservation and hotel accommodation. 2. Putting the name and address of the company in the fair guide. 3. Including the name of the company in the list of participants in the fair’s website. 4. Offering help and support in building the sections of the fair (special needs). 3. Where and when is the fair going to take place? It will be held on Damascus fair grounds: From 06/04/2008 > 09/04/2008 From 5 o’clock until 11 o’clock 5. What are the laws and regulations that the will be applied on the exhibitors? There are a set of rules and regulations exhibitors are required to do, and the most important rule is that for accepting a participant in the fair, rental of the stand and ending the contract. It also can contain information about the dimensions of the stand and other services. Also one of the important points that should be focused on when participating in an exhibition is cancellation, we mean by that if some company wanted to cancel its participation there will be an amount of money to be deducted from its payments and that amount is decreased whenever that cancelation was sooner. 6. Prices for participating? To know how much a square meter costs we have to know how much the fair would cost: 1st. from organizational aspect: -We have rented a hall that is 1000 square meters: 560 square meters for stands and booth and 460 square meters for passages. -The hall costs 1000,000 SYP after we agreed with the fair grounds and international markets company. -equipments costs: 1. Carpets: 600000 SYP. 2. Setting and preparing the stands: 400000 SYP. 3. Lighting: 250000 SYP. 4. Sound equipments: 200000 SYP. 5. Heating and A/C’s: 250000 SYP. -Employees for the fair: 200000 SYP. -Hiring Guards: 150000 SYP. -Decorations for our company: 300000 SYP. -The opening: 200000 SYP. 2nd. Managerial aspect: Media: 1. Magazines and news papers: 300000 SYP. 2. Radio and T. V: 115500 SYP. 3. Road Ads: 300000 SYP. Office work: -Mail-internet-fax-salaries-transportation-stationary: 300000 SYP. Printing costs (brochures, booklets, Fair Guide): 300000 SYP. Total = 4865500 SYP. Organization profit approximately 41% = 2014500 SYP. Final Total = 6880000 SYP. Now by dividing the Total on the part that the booths and stands are going to be which is 560 square meters = 12285 SYP. Now for the price in USD we divide on 50 SYP. It becomes: 245 USD per square meter. Studying the financial feasibility for this fair: We have decided a price for each type of stand we have (Stand with one side, Stand with two sides, stand with three sides and a stand with four sides): 1. Stand with one side including its corners they are 43 stands in total and each one is 8 square meters: 43X8X200=68800 USD 2. Stand with two sides which are 18 stand costs 300 USD each: 18X8X300=43200 USD 3. Stand with three sides which are 8 stands costs 350 USD each: 8X8X350=22400 USD 4. Stand with four sides (island stand) which are 1 stand costs 400 USD: 1X8X400= 3200 USD Total: 68800+43200+22400+3200=137600 USD. 137600X50=6880000 SYP. To the profit: 6880000-430000=2580000 could just transfer it to our bank account. 8. Is there any travel agent which we can trust on our reservations and transportation and any other services that we might need specially if there was VIP’s? We have decided at the beginning of our fair planning that there should be a travel and tourism agent which will do the following: Confirm hotel reservations, insure that there are transportations from the hotel to the airport and vice versus specially for VIP’s, do all the necessary shipping for the organization, making sure to do all the reception and farewell’s for the participators, booking restaurants, doing tours in the city, confirming travel tickets, making that there are guides during the tours and booking cars or buses. Our merchandise to offer: Space which has to be at least 8 square meters Including: switches, carpet for passage ways and inside the stand, lighting, a board with the company name, electricity, cleaning and guarding, a table, 2 chairs, 3 shelves, plastic name badges for managers or company owners, carton badges for exhibitors. Also we will include information about the company in the fair guide and CD in both languages Arabic and English. During the days of the fair: The organizing company should follow up with the exhibitors during the days of the fair through a sales man in the company because the follow up is a very important way in gaining the clients trust. And in order to know if the fair is a success or a failure we distribute a questionnaire showing how they benefited from the fair and if they are satisfied with the results. After that we collect the questionnaires to determine the points of strength and weaknesses to avoid in the next fair. After the fair: The follow-up: Its considered one of the most important process, and successful organizing for it Is one of the factors in a successful fair, so that the organizing company should not delay any check for the interviews that occurred in the fair because it’s the first step for building long term public relationships. At a fair clients are divided into categories and they are: -actual customers. -possible customers. -regular customers. -important customers. The follow-up consists of: -sending a thank you note for visiting. -sending the information that both sides have agreed on. -attending all the meetings and dates that have been discussed before. -studying the expenses as a hole. -studying the contracts that has taken place at the fair. -comparison between the basic plan and actual activity. -studying the answers about the survey.

Activity Planning, Level 3 Child Care

Activity Planning Sheet – – Name of the activity: Circle/story time. – The number of children involved: 7-8 children. – The age of the children that are taking part: 4-5 years. Area of Learning – This activity will make the children use their imagination, also this activity will get the children to concentrate as they will be thinking about a story to come up with. It will also help the children boost their confidence and their social skills.The early years foundation satge says that you should provide the children with activities that involve turn-taking and sharing in small groups. It also says that the aldut should explain to the children why it is important to pay attention when others are speaking. I think this is great for a circle time activity. Specific Learning Objectives – This activity is good for boosting the children's confidence in themselves and interacting with other children.The early years foundation stage say that adults sh ould provide regular opportunities for children to talk to a small group about something they are interested in or have done, i thought this would be a good idea as the children can put in their own experiences into the story they are making up. This will also encourage the children to listen to others. The main objective of this activity is to get the children to use their imagination, as they are very imaginative. Resources and Equipment –During my activity I'm going to use a small teddy bear for them to pass around the circle when the children are making up their own story, I think this is a good idea as the children will know that they can only talk when they are holding the bear which well help them to share things with other children. This will also help their concentration. While doing this activity I'm going to write down the story that they have made up so they can look back on it or show their parents. Special Considerations –When doing this activity I may co me across a child that is to shy to talk and that doesn't want to take part in the activity. Bringing in a small teddy bear that the children can hold when it's their turn will comfort them and it may even encourage them to take part in the activity. There might be a child in the group that only speak basic English, I'll need to take the child's feelings in to consideration and make sure during the activity I try and get the child involved as much as i can and use signs and facial expressions to help them understand what the story is about.I need to make sure that no one feels left out and that they all have fun. Health and safety – While doing the circle time activity with them i need to make sure that all the children aren't sitting close together in the circle as children get very excited when doing an activity that is fun, we need to prevent any accidents that may happen like bumping in to each other. What is the adult's role in this activity? -Make sure all the children are behaving well and being sensible. Observe the children and learn from the experience. -make sure they are all using appropriate language. -They're all learning at the best of their ability. -Give the children help with their language if they need it. -Be in charge of the group I'm working with and make sure that they are all taking part in the activity. -Give encouragement to all the children especially the children who don't want to take part. -Make sure you follow the activity plan and the schools policies. Make sure all the children have fun!

Leadership challenge in GAS Co Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership challenge in GAS Co - Essay Example 5.2. Many car manufacturers have begun to convert their product designs to run on greener alternatives than petroleum fuels. 5.3. Cars and land vehicles using the green technologies will be in mass production by 2015 (three years from this report), in increasing volumes every year, pursuant to mandatory provisions in international agreements and EU directives. 5.4. At present, GAS Co. is still aggressively expanding its conventional gasoline stations which, while offering biofuels, are still designed primarily for petroleum fuels; there are no special design or system considerations yet for alternative fuels. 5.5. The firm’s executives still loyally pursue the original strategy of their parents to pursue the petroleum business which is its present competency; no new competencies are being developed beyond ethanol gasoline (E85). 6. Strategy to overcome the challenge to the leadership 6.1. The present leadership must resolve to break away from its traditional strategy and consi der gaining new competencies in the alternative technologies. 6.2. Aggressive construction of refilling stations should be suspended, pending new designs pursuant to the new competencies. 6.3. Environmental scanning should be conducted to determine the technologies most likely to be adopted in their franchise areas. 6.4. Massive reorientation of R&D and engineering designs, followed by HRD, training, and operations, should follow the decision as to what innovative technologies to adopt. 6.5. New franchise contract should be revised and existing franchises renegotiated in accordance with the proposed technical changes. 7. Conclusion The leadership should assess the new technical, regulatory, and business environment and articulate their company strategies and plans to ensure the firm’s... The organization upon which this discussion shall centre is a petroleum company which, for confidentiality purposes upon the company’s request, this study shall be designated as GAS Co. The firm’s business is the wholesale and retail distribution of petroleum fuel and lubricant products. The firm is based in an emerging Asian economy, and presently has some 500 retail stations located throughout the Southeast Asia and Pacific region, and about 30 depots that store quantities of downstream petroleum products (i.e., diesel, kerosene, unleaded, ethanol (E85), and premium gasoline). GAS Co. began in 1978 as a family corporation which offered mass storage facilities for petroleum and petrochemical based products; it then expanded into providing wholesale supply of petroleum products to industrial and manufacturing clientele. Thereafter it entered into a partnership with one of the world’s leading suppliers of lubricant additives, which enabled the company to undertake its own research and development in lubricants. Not long thereafter, when the downstream oil industry was deregulated by the national government, GAS Co. took the bold step of being the first local petroleum retailer to establish its line of refilling stations. It is now the leading local petroleum retailer in the country, and continues to expand by franchising its fuel refilling stations, which it began in the 1990s.

Can A Machine Know Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Can A Machine Know - Essay Example This misconception is a gross oversimplification of the seemingly limitless boundaries of the human mind. The potential of machines were thought to be able to eventually encompass â€Å"an inductive and creative mind, capable of taking initiative, to which human beings could confide all their problems and obtain instant solutions in return† (Ifrah, 1997: 1679). This misconception in the early days of the computer has carried over even to today. This discussion examines the functions of the computer brain along with the similarities and differences to the human brain in addition to the meaning of knowledge and the limitations of machines as compared to the human mind. Simply stated, computers are machines which effectively carry out algorithmic functions. The machine discerns formalized input through a sequence of fixed stages through a predetermined, straightforward set of rules of a standardized and exacting description. This allows computers to perform procedures in a precise number of steps. Mechanical computers, unlike the functions of the computer-like brain do not have the capability to determine right from wrong nor can they make judgments, have no feelings and cannot think on their own. It cannot be denied that some types of intelligence can be attributed to computers but this capacity is very limited when balanced against the boundless intricacies in a human’s brain. However, the computer is superior when considering its capability to process information at a higher speed. This has provided humans a useful tool for a myriad of endeavors. Nevertheless, computers cannot reason, imagine, invent, create, express thoughts, manage idea s, make judgments or possess the ability to adapt to differing situations and therefore cannot solve problems that are new to them. Unlike the human brain, computers aren’t conscious of their own being, have no concept of the world around them and cannot execute voluntary activities (Ifrah, 1997:

Economic Development Middle East and South Asia Essay

Economic Development Middle East and South Asia - Essay Example The dramatic increase of oil prices can be related to the Arab-Israeli war that occurred in the year 1973 and the Iranian revolution which occurred in 1979. The oil producing states in the Middle East have directly benefited from the high export earnings brought by oil earnings. Further, there has been a decrease in the employment opportunities due to the blooming economies of these oil producing states (Askari 9). Non oil producing countries in the Middle East have also benefited even though they do not produce oil. Their citizens have crossed borders to seek for employment opportunities as well as suitable markets for doing business. Further, several citizens in the non oil producing countries have migrated in order to earn money as teachers, construction workers and engineers in the oil fields. The earnings from the employment opportunities for these citizens have very important for the growth of countries like Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Palestine. During the period of economic development in the oil producing countries in this region, non oil producing countries also gained from the high levels of foreign aid they were able to get from the oil producing countries (Askari 9). The increased oil revenues in the Middle East brought about several developments, especially in the social scene. The country’s infant mortality as well as life expectancy was improved. The infant mortality rates were halved while life expectancy in the Middle East region rose to over ten years. On the education sector, more citizens were able to enroll for school. Adult education levels were also on the rise (Rodney 45). Further, another benefit for increased oil revenues led to the decreased gap between the poor and the rich. This show that while the revenues from oil were increasing, some countries developed faster than the others in their national wealth. The major oil producing countries especially those with low population in the gulf were able to substantially improve the lives of their citizens. The income level per person in these countries would in some cases, surpass those of the European countries. On the contrary, countries such as Jordan and Yemen have remained t o be the poorest in the region as well as in the world (Rodney 45). The economic growth, however, came to a decline in 1986. This period witnessed the decrease of oil prices from $28 per barrel to $10 per barrel. This huge drop in the price of oil was as a result of the overproduction of oil in these states. Consequently, the huge economic gains that had been made started to decrease. This decline in the economy led to the loss of employment opportunities as well as numerous job losses. Further, the non oil producing countries were not able to get foreign aid they had previously enjoyed from the oil producing countries (Rodney 45). Economic future The Middle East is currently being challenged by various factors in their economies. The most evident factor is the rapid population growth. The average population growth in the Middle East currently stands at 3% per year. This means that the population in a given state will double in every 20 years. The increased rate of population growth in this region is one of the highest in the world. The sub Saharan region in Africa still leads in the population growth rate in the world (Askari 10). Large population growth leads to various challenges in the economy and the available resources.

Computing Dissertation Written Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computing Dissertation Written Report - Essay Example The area of e-learning has had development on the internet but it is an area that most people are not using for entertainment value. This is an important issue to think about when creating an e-learning website. People would not visit a site for fun; they will however visit for a specific purpose and choose not to use it again. To resolve this issue, visitors registering with the website should be welcomed and instantly facilitated to see the various communities in action. They may then choose to subscribe in one of them. Since learners are now engaged with computers, they lack a natural social outlet which can lead to feelings of isolation.   Because isolation is a major contributor to attrition (Morgan & Tam, 1999), one potential strategy for reducing users leaving the site is to encouraging users to support each other and a sense of belonging to a community.   The task of this paper is to structure the website so learners have mechanisms to connect with each other and form communities. Selznik (1996) identifies seven elements of community: history, identity, mutuality, plurality, autonomy, participation, and integration. With respect to virtual learning communities, Schwier (in press) adds: an orientation to the future, technology, and learning. Some of these characteristics of community will be present from the beginning. Others, the cohort will have to grow into. There is an importance to detail these 10 characteristics, and discuss how they can be used for purposes of this website. Selznik notes that communities are stronger when their members share history and culture, rather than simply abstract general interests. They build an identity and sense of belongingness. Schwier’s suggested strategies for fostering identity include team-building exercises, developing community logos, and public acknowledgement of individual and group accomplishments within the community. He also noted the importance of articulating the

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 8

Psychology - Essay Example Seven separate studies were conducted, with more than two thousand participants. The self-esteem of the participants had been gauged and measured previously. These studies included timing the swiftness of the participants’ response, as well as answering simple questionnaires that gauged the strength of the participants’ answers, and diary entries that the participants were asked to make. The results of all of them showed that the participants whose self-esteem had been measured to be high had a more stable view of their relationship, whereas those with low self-esteem levels had a very oscillating view thereof. The results of the study are true for all relationships, not only romantic ones – lower a person’s self-esteem, more vacillating is their outlook towards the relationship they have. Thus, the study concludes that the level of self-esteem of a person’s failures or successes in relationships. It further points out the probability that those wit h high self-esteem are liable to more successful in their relationships, romantic or otherwise. The study, however, does point out that since there is a difference between self-esteem and self-confidence, therefore, it is not easy, if indeed possible, to gauge a person’s self-esteem. People may be completely self-confident about their abilities, for instance, but this does not relate to their sense of themselves – how they view themselves to be in their own mind. This study is a clear indication that those who are secure in themselves and hold themselves in higher esteem, in their own eyes, are liable to be more secure with regard to others and their own relationship with them. Those with low self-esteem, due to their own lack of self worth, project their insecurities on to their relationships and, therefore, swing widely in their opinion regarding those close to them. This can often result in bitterness and disillusionment. It is, therefore, crucial for the

In the light of these( moshirian& long-staff) and other relevant Essay

In the light of these( moshirian& long-staff) and other relevant articles, critically evaluate the reasons for the recent global - Essay Example The third one includes the multiple misunderstood innovations in financial engineering, which, in turn, include sub-prime mortgages, credit default swaps, new forms of securitization, and lack of responsibility in large private financial institutions, which operate globally. Many analysts conclude that the crisis was because of poor financial engineering innovations and failures in the financial sector regulations and supervision (Moshirian 2011, 502; Casu et al. 2006, 58). Fiscal policy in the United States led to low saving rate and monetary policy, which was persistently simple (Casu et al. 2006, 58). Other countries affected by monetary policy problems include several countries in Asia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and some countries within the Euro zone, which had issues with the real interest rates. Many countries, like Korea, had policies that led to large amounts of foreign exchange reserves. The policies also led to global imbalances and distortion of international adjust ment process. These reserves put pressure on the macro-economic policies of many countries including the U.S. global imbalances phenomenon. This, however, was not a main cause of the recent economic and financial crisis. The imbalances and the crisis happened simultaneously as a result of faults in design and implementation of macro-economic policies in the world. This led to increase in global credit. It also led to housing booms in the U.S. and other places accompanied by a rise in equity prices and other factors that cause inflation. Financial sector regulation and supervision also caused the crisis, but the errors were not necessarily committed during that period (Moshirian 2011, 504). Bad financial conditions lead to too much lending and credit standards. Financial sector supervision could have reduced the excesses, but this was not the case anywhere in the world. Innovations in financial engineering have become partly blamed, but they existed even in the past (Moshirian 2011, 504). In most cases, the innovations were not clearly understood, thus leaving the risks involved unnoticed, which is important in financial risk management (Moshirian 2011, 34). Financial innovations did not cause the crisis, but they intensified through market dynamics and distorted the incentives for financial institutions (Moshirian 2011, 505). As such, large private financial that operated globally had an upper hand in this because they played a significant role in exacerbating the crises. The failure of these institutions was not due to lack of national supervisors, but because they absconded their responsibility. Furthermore, their global scope was not the cause of failure, but their large size and complexity. Cases were unique, but the institutions were extremely large. Managers of these institutions became deceived that unfavorable economic and financial crisis would persist indefinitely or until they complete their tasks. However, most of them were wrong (Guerrera and Thal -Larsen 2008, 65). A key element in the existing confusion was as a result of liquidity risks, which culminated into the disintegration of Bear Stearns and Northern Rock (Longstaff 2010, 45). These two made it clear that the risks involved with the reduction of liquidity had previously gone unnoticed since they had enough capital resources back then. The context of deregulation has greatly contributed towards development of these financial products for the last few decades. For example, the different

Criminals are made, not born. Critically discuss this statement Essay

Criminals are made, not born. Critically discuss this statement - Essay Example In this paper will be discussed why a person would commit a crime, and why a person would need both a sociological determinism and a biological determinism. Biological determinism would include an extra Y chromosome. The normal man is born with only XY chromosomes. Some men are born with XYY chromosomes. Having an XYY chromosome means a man is more aggressive, when a man is more aggressive a man may sometimes commit a crime. Aggressive men commit aggressive crimes. Men with an extra Y chromosome will most often commit crimes like rape, and other violent crimes. This theory is generally accepted. However, it has been determined through conclusive evidence that some men who commit violently, and aggressive crimes like rape do not necessarily have an extra Y chromosome. So if men who commit violent crimes do not all have an extra Y chromosome there must be other determinants in what makes people commit a violent crime. There are also women who commit crime. Women do not have an extra Y chromosome. Some women also commit violent crimes. Therefore, one might need to look at the Chicago school theory. The Chicago school theory of why a person commits crime is one that focuses on a person societal environment. This theory focuses on people committing crime because of the environment they live in. The Chicago school adopts many other theories like the strain theory. The strain theory is a theory that says people commit crimes because these criminals are under strain. The strain can come from a number of sources. Strain can come from breaking up with one’s boyfriend, or girlfriend. Financial strain can come from the environment in which one lives. This is how the strain theory incorporates into the Chicago school theory. The Chicago school theory states that one would commit a crime because of financial strain induced by the environment one lives. Is this possible? Do people commit white-collar crimes, financial crimes, violent crime, and other blue collar crimes due to strain? The labeling theory is one of the most generally accepted theories in criminology. The labeling theory states that one develops deviant behavior because one is often told that one is a juvenile delinquent. The labeling theory states that once someone has a label, it is difficult to get rid of the label. One can also develop deviant behavior because of other labeling. Labeling theory states that many develop deviant behavior, because these people are labeled lazy and delinquent. Many who have been labeled as deviant, and delinquent will often seek the advice, and guidance from other deviant, and delinquent people. Some of these deviant, and delinquent people will be those of gang members. One might think someone with a label of deviant, and delinquent may want to shed that label. However, it appears many do not shed the label. Many are not interested in shedding the label. Many will conform to what society expects them to conform to. When one thinks that someone is no t interested in shedding the label that has them placed upon them one might think that would be impossible. Many people with a label have a difficult time finding a job. Many who are labeled will often commit further crime to meet financial needs. In committing further crime to meet financial needs cuts of a label one cannot find legitimate work. When one cannot get find legitimate

Trespassing In Cyberspace Essay Example for Free

Trespassing In Cyberspace Essay Introduction This paper will focus on one of the most contentious issues in cyberlaw, such as trespassing in cyberspace. While the issue of trespass as a sort of offense against a person or against property is carefully regulated in the majority of jurisdiction, the question whether trespass as a phenomenon can actually exist in cyberspace is a subject of heated debate. Thus, in-depth analysis of this question will help to understand its significance in the broader context of cyberlaw. Definition Under common law, trespass happens when a person intermeddles or performs unauthorized of another person’s property (Quilter, 2002). Pending the consensus among scholars concerning a clear-cut definition of trespass in cyberspace, courts and researchers often have to apply reasoning by analogy to analyze such cyberlaw cases: ‘The concept of trespass in cyberspace depends heavily on a conception of a web site or mail server as ‘property’ from which, like land, the owner ought to have the right to exclude others’ (Merges, Menell Lemley, 2006, p.928). One of the concepts that is most widely applied to cyberspace trespass cases is the concept of trespass to chattels, chattels being is defined as tangible property (not to be confused with real property and intellectual property). Trespass to chattels is a tort action under certain circumstances: ‘The tort of trespass to chattels traditionally requires proof not just that the defendant ‘intermeddled’ with a chattel, but that the defendants use actually caused injury to the chattel or injured the owner by depriving it of the benefit of using the chattel’ (Merges, Menell Lemley, 2006, p.923) However, the latter thesis is a contentious one, and further discussion of this issue will happen in the ‘Notable Cases’ section. The scholars argued that there are many concepts than need careful legal reconsiderations in the Information Age before any analogies with real property or chattels can be brought into the discussions. These concepts include, but not limited to, the notion of Intent, Entry, Property, and Permission (Adida et. al., 1998). Yet the idea of applying the doctrine of trespass to chattels to cyberspace turned out to be surprisingly appealing to judges: ‘Notwithstanding scholars’ early suggestions of its inappropriateness, courts have rushed to resurrect the late, largely unlamented, tort of trespass to chattels, and apply it to the new cyberspace arena’ (Cranor Wildman, 2003, p.13). At present, most scholars agree that the doctrine can be applied to such issues as spam and spidering when actual orb potential harm has been caused to a plaintiff. Legal Basis The foundational document that governs electronic transactions is Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984 (CFAA). Computer Fraud and Abuse Act such issues with data integrity as in the situation when an offender breaks authorization rules instituted by an organization with a view to gaining access to protected information, such as information contained in a financial record of a financial institution, or of a card issuer. It also established penalties for acts or attempts to encroach on secret governmental information. However, the applicability of this Act can be made possible by proving that data and information resources can be regarded as chattels. Nowadays, it is an accepted fact in the legal practice, which was established by a series of legal precedents. Notable Cases In Thrifty-Tel v. Bezenek, it was established that electronic signals can be regarded as property due to the fact they are physical and tangible in nature. The analogy used in the case was the comparison of electronic signals to real property not chattels. Trespass to chattels first appeared in the case CompuServe v. CyberPromotions, which was a span case (Quilter, 2002). In United States v. Seidlitz, confidential software was illegally obtained by an employee by tapping into the work session of a previous worker. In this case, federal law was applied only because of an accompanying circumstance. Several  telephone calls the employee made to accomplish his aim were made across state lines.  Otherwise this employee would have had to be prosecuted under one state’s wire fraud legislation (Adida et. al., 1998). In United States v. Langevin, ex-worker of the Federal Reserve Board committed a similar offence. Being a financial analyst at the time when the offence was perpetrated, he tried to access the file containing protected data on money supply. Again, the applicability of federal legislation was made possible solely because of telephone calls made in the manner similar to the previous case (Adida et. al., 1998).    Another notable case, Intel v. Hamidi, was won by the defendant as the California Supreme Court ruled that Ken Hamidi did not commit an act of trespassing Intel’s computers by sending messages to its employees. After being fired from Intel in 1995, Ken Hamidi sent six emails to thousands of Intel’s employees with bitter criticism of the company’s policies and employee treatment. These messages did not result in physical damage on the company’s computer systems or failure of its networks or computer services. However, Intel decided to press charges against Mr.Hamidi accusing him of trespass. Intel claimed that workers were distracted and distressed as a result of disappointing emails, which further led to loss of productivity: ‘Intels position represents a further extension of the trespass to chattels tort, fictionally recharacterizing the allegedly injurious effect of a communications contents on recipients as an impairment to the device which transmitted the message’ (Epstein, 2004, p.15). Yet the court sided with the defendant on the grounds that no actual harm has been caused to Intel’s computer system: ‘The California courts have rejected trespass to chattels claims in the absence of evidence of actual harm to the chattel in question the computer server†¦ because the trespass to chattels tort†¦may not, in California, be proved without evidence of an injury to the plaintiffs personal property or legal interest therein.’ (Merges, Menell Lemley, 2006, pp.925-926). The significance of this case lies not only in the perceived victory for those who endorse cyberspace rights and fair labor relations. The case established a standard for legal reasoning in the cases of the like nature: ‘The decision noted that calling distressing content of a message a ‘trespass’ on the computer was as wrong as claiming that ‘the personal distress caused by reading an unpleasant letter would be an injury to the recipients mailbox, or the loss of privacy caused by an intrusive telephone call would be an injury to the recipients telephone equipment’’ (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2003, para.3). The case eBay, Inc. v. Bidders Edge, Inc. is important for the discussion because it expanded the concept of trespass to chattels to spidering. Spidering is widely used by search engines to track information on Web serves. Bidder’s Edge was an auction aggregator that collected information from different auction sites, put it together in its own data bank, and then offered the information on demand as a to consumers looking for a certain item. eBay pressed charges against this company on the basis of trespass to chattels because of the company’s spider activity. The evidence of real harm resulting from Bidder’s Edge’s spidering was not allowed in the court, but the presence of potential harm was sufficient to rule that Bidder’s Edge was trespassing eBay’s information resources (Quilter, 2002). Other cases decided on the same grounds as are TicketMaster v. Tickets.com92 and Register.com v. Verio (Quilter, 2002). Impact While there is little discussion as to the benefits of application of trespass theory to spam emails, the issue is not that clear when it comes to spidering. It is widely believed that all the recent cases concerning trespass in cyberspace had far-reaching implications. Some scholars believe that the application of trespass to chattels doctrine to spidering may be detrimental to the development of e-commerce services: ‘While the promise of ecommerce is to improve consumer information and lower transaction costs, under a trespass theory many of those benefits will disappear’ (Merges, Menell Lemley, 2006, p.924). From the customer’s perspective, eBay’s victory was hardly beneficial for those seeking quality service: ‘AuctionWatch [a website run by Bidder’s Edge] was a better product for consumers than eBay, since it covered more auctions. However, eBay succeeded in shutting it down using the trespass to chattels tort. Any type of innovative aggregation product is subject to the same problem’ (Cranor Wildman, 2003, p.21). However, arguing against the doctrine of trespass in cyberspace from the position of customer’s satisfaction is not the most effective stance. In any legal case, there is a variety of stakeholders involved. The purpose of legal settling is to satisfy the demands of a plaintiff (if they have reasonable grounds) on the basis of existing laws and regulations. Companies operating in cyberspace merit protection just like customers do. Conclusion Despite the ongoing debate on the applicability of the concept of trespass to cyberspace offences, legal practice has already legitimized the relevance of certain common law doctrines (i.e. trespass to chattels) to such cases. Following the analogy with trespass to property such as land or personal possessions, courts have decided a series of exemplary cases based on the reasoning that electronic signals are physical and tangible enough to be regarded as property. References Cranor, Lorrie F., Steven S. Wildman. Rethinking Rights and Regulations: Institutional Responses to New Communications Technologies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. Epstein, Richard A. Cases and Materials on Torts, 8th ed. Rockville, MD: Aspen Publishers, 2004. Merges, Robert P., Menell, Peter S., Mark A. Lemley. Intellectual Property in the Technological Age, 4th ed. Rockville, MD: Aspen Publishers, 2006. Adida, Benjamin, Chang, Enoch, Fletcher, Lauren B., Hong, Michelle, Sandon, Lydia, Page, Kristina. ‘The Future of Trespass and Property in Cyberspace.’ 10 December 1998. June 19, 2007. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/courses/ltac98/final.html Electronic Frontier Foundation. ‘California Supreme Court Sides With Email Pamphleteer: Intel v. Hamidi Decision Protects Internet Speech.’ June 30, 2003. June 19, 2007. http://www.eff.org/spam/Intel_v_Hamidi/20030630_eff_hamidi_pr.php Quilter, Laura. The Continuing Evolution of Cyberspace Trespass to Chattels. 2002. June 19, 2007. www.law.berkeley.edu/institutes/bclt/pubs/annrev/exmplrs/final/lqfin.pdf

Violent Crime Throughout History Criminology Essay

Violent Crime Throughout History Criminology Essay From the beginning of human life, violent crime has been an issue that society has had to deal with. Violent crime destroys the lives of innocent people. In order for people to live in peace, it is important that society finds a way to decrease violent criminal behavior. Society continually puts restraints in place as a means of deterring violent crime. These restraints are based on theories as to how violent behavior is derived and controlled. Before we can successfully deter criminal behavior, we must first understand the minds of those that commit these crimes. Social organizational theories suggest that the criminal mind evolves from its environment. Statistically, there is some truth to this, because crime is more dominant in urban, low income geographic areas with weak community controls. Theorists, Clifford Shaw and Henry Mckay (1972), Note the format for multiple authors, described socially disorganized neighborhoods as brimming with attitudes and values conductive to delinquency and crime, which provided pathways to adult crime. Social disorganization is described by social scientist, Robert Bursik (1988), this is the citation format for a single author as the capacity of a neighborhood to regulate itself through formal and informal processes of social control. This criminal behavior sometimes becomes violent and is passed down from one generation to the next, which provides the continuation to its same geographic location. Violent criminal behavior is prevalent in areas that have a high rate of crime. Marvin Wolfgang (1958) found that most non-premeditated homicides, not caused by mental disease or defect, occur mostly among members of certain social groups living in certain neighborhoods. He also attributed most perpetrators as being young, nonwhite, lower-class males who share a value system, that conduct norms of a subculture of violence. (Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967, p. 276) If the quote is more than 40 words or more you do not use quotes. You block the quote, starting on a new line and indenting five spaces from the left margin on each line and double spacing. When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list. Most perpetrators value their social status in the community more than human life. Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) explained the thoughts of some perpetrators as its either him or me. Violence is used as a means of survival in some disorganized neighborhoods. This makes violent crime extremely hard to combat. Social organizational theories lend support to many different ways of deterring and combating violent crimes. Community policing can be directed to those areas that have many violent crimes reducing social disorder at the neighborhood level. Such neighborhoods can form groups, and separate themselves from gangs and violent crowds, categorizing such behavior as deviant and unacceptable to society. Gerald Suttles (1968) referred to such communities as defended neighborhoods. The Wilson and Kelling, (1982) broken window theory also reflects ways of deterring crime by cosmetically cleaning up a disorganized community, to instill pride in its inhabitants. Some communities are also installing gates and guards to keep the criminal element out. All of these deterrents are effective ways to combat violent crimes, but none will entirely eliminate them. Although statistics definitely reinforce social organizational theories, they definitely undermine a persons free will to commit a violent crime. There are people that come from disorganized communities that become successful and do not turn to crime, just as there are murderers and rapists that come from high class neighborhoods. Violent criminal behavior is not always passed down through generations. If a persons environment is responsible for the crimes that they commit, why is a person punished for their crimes? Is violent behavior a byproduct of ones environment, or is it the behavior learned or is its consequences not learned from their parents, peers, teachers, etc.? These are all questions that we struggle to find answers to that would help future endeavors in combating and deterring violent crime. Social Process Theories: Here we are given notice that the topic is changing substantially Theories that explain criminal behavior as learned behavior are considered social process theories. According to sociologist Edwin L. Sutherland (1950), criminal behavior is learned and most learning occurs within intimate personal groups. This has become known as the differential association theory. According to Ronald Akers (1985), learned criminal behavior is acquired or conditioned by the effects, outcomes, or consequences it has on the persons environment. This is accomplished through a persons punishments and reinforcements (rewards or avoided punishments). F. Ivan Nye (1958) described criminal activity from juvenile delinquents as being attributed to family-level punishments and restrictions, affection with parents, their conscience, and the availability of the means to gratify needs. Recently, young males are responsible for a good portion of not only crimes, but violent crimes. Violent crimes are a true concern to the public. Social process theories suggest that violent behavior may be learned from a persons peers or parents. Gang members form close-knit groups and may influence their peers to commit violent crimes. These theories also suggest that a child learns behavior from his or her parents. This can attribute to domestic violence, which has been proven to be spread from one generation to the next in many cases. According to social process theories, children must learn that violence is deviant in society and they must have proper parental guidance and reinforcement from peers. One way to combat violent criminal behavior is through the social bonding theory. According to Travis Hirschi (1972) The bond of affection for conventional persons is a major deterrent to crime. A social bond is the forces in a persons environment that connects them to society and its morality. The social bond theory is based on such key elements as attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. This theory can be applied by parental guidance, affection, and by incorporating community programs for children. Law enforcement officials can interact with troubled children, having a positive influence on them. DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, and GREAT, Gang Resistance Education and Training are two examples of programs based on social process theories. Although effectiveness is debated, with some refinement, these programs may possibly have a profound effect on criminal behavior amongst juveniles. Social process theories offer some good ideas behind the cause of criminal behavior and ways to correct or deter it, but they definitely dont cover all crimes, especially some of those considered to be violent. Social process theories do not give much account for individual motives as to why crimes are committed. They do little to explain crimes of passion, and other violent crimes committed by people that were never exposed to such criminal behavior as a child. Travis Hirshci (1969), suggests that criminality is more or less naturally present, that it requires socialization for its control. Social learning theories suggest that criminal behavior is learned rather than naturally present. Conclusion: Your paper should end with a conclusionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦usually your summary and any opinion of your findings. (avoid writing in the first person) Although different, social organizational and social process theories are similar in some aspects. Social organizational theories explain criminal or violent behavior as a product of ones environment. This is true in a way that the criminal behavior is learned through the people which surround them, which reflects views of social process theories. Sheldon Glueck (1950) refers to this as birds of a feather flock together. People are influenced by their surroundings either positively or negatively. This attributes to their upbringing. Statistics prove that someone from a good upbringing is less likely to become involved in crime. Criminal behavior leads to violent crime. One is very rarely present without the other. One example of this is that people on drugs will do what ever can to get a hold of drugs. When the regard for themselves and others diminishes, violent crime will occur. Both of these sets of theories are true in many aspects about the cause of crime. They both also provide us useful ways of combating and deterring crime. All theories are useful, but no one theory successfully explains all criminal behavior and the best way to deter it. In order to successfully deter violent crime, we must look at all of these theories and combat crime from all angles. Once we better understand the minds behind violent crime, we will do better in combating and deterring it.

Reducing waste in Europe Essay -- Waste Management, Waste Handling

European Union Directive 2008/98/EC outlines hierarchy of steps in which waste handling should occur. It suggests that waste prevention should be a top priority followed by re-use and recycling of materials. However in modern, demand and profit driven society this tactic has very small chance of success, certainly in terms of reducing and reusing. As a result generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is projected to rise by further 2020 by 16% in EU-27, with 80% produced in the EU-15 (which includes UK) (Skovgaard et al., 2008). This implies that â€Å"The 3 R’s† strategy fails to deliver its key objective – waste reduction. Thus attention should also focus on options that could help to reduce waste accumulation rather than just prevention. One of the most successful strategies to decrease landfill waste is to divert it to Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. The most popular form of energy recovery from waste, for technical and economical reason, is Waste to Energy Incineration (WtEI). It raises a lot of controversy, mainly because it is associated with technologies from the past, when air pollution controls did not exist. This resulted in significant environmental degradation and heath issues. Understandably, this has left a bad image of incineration. Modern incinerators however emit less than 10% of pollutants than their counterparts 25 years ago (DEFRA, 2013). Technology has the potential to play a significant role as part of waste management strategy but equally important as constituent of balanced energy mix. This essay presents available evidence which sheds new light on Waste to Energy Incineration, highlighting its impact on environment, energy security and human health. In 2011 waste management contributed 17.3 MtCO2e (3.1... ...te Management 29, 1718–1724 Shalunenko, N., I.,Korolyuk, T., A., 2012. Construction glass material based on ash from waste incineration plants. Glass and Ceramics, Vol. 69, Nos. 11 – 12, March, 2013 Skovgaard, M., Hedal, N., Villanueva, A., Andersen, F., M., Larsen, H., 2008. Municipal waste management and greenhouse gases. ETC/RWM working paper 2008/1 Available at: http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2008_1/wp/wp1_2008 Accessed on: 4th December 2013 Tabasovà ¡, A., Kropà ¡c, J., Kermes, V., Nemet, A., Stehlà ­k, P., 2012. Waste-to-energy technologies: Impact on environment. Energy 44, 146-155 UK biomass strategy, 2007. Working Paper 1 – economic analysis of biomass energy. Energy Technologies Unit Department of Trade and Industry. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39040.pdf Accessed on: 24th November 2013 Reducing waste in Europe Essay -- Waste Management, Waste Handling European Union Directive 2008/98/EC outlines hierarchy of steps in which waste handling should occur. It suggests that waste prevention should be a top priority followed by re-use and recycling of materials. However in modern, demand and profit driven society this tactic has very small chance of success, certainly in terms of reducing and reusing. As a result generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is projected to rise by further 2020 by 16% in EU-27, with 80% produced in the EU-15 (which includes UK) (Skovgaard et al., 2008). This implies that â€Å"The 3 R’s† strategy fails to deliver its key objective – waste reduction. Thus attention should also focus on options that could help to reduce waste accumulation rather than just prevention. One of the most successful strategies to decrease landfill waste is to divert it to Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. The most popular form of energy recovery from waste, for technical and economical reason, is Waste to Energy Incineration (WtEI). It raises a lot of controversy, mainly because it is associated with technologies from the past, when air pollution controls did not exist. This resulted in significant environmental degradation and heath issues. Understandably, this has left a bad image of incineration. Modern incinerators however emit less than 10% of pollutants than their counterparts 25 years ago (DEFRA, 2013). Technology has the potential to play a significant role as part of waste management strategy but equally important as constituent of balanced energy mix. This essay presents available evidence which sheds new light on Waste to Energy Incineration, highlighting its impact on environment, energy security and human health. In 2011 waste management contributed 17.3 MtCO2e (3.1... ...te Management 29, 1718–1724 Shalunenko, N., I.,Korolyuk, T., A., 2012. Construction glass material based on ash from waste incineration plants. Glass and Ceramics, Vol. 69, Nos. 11 – 12, March, 2013 Skovgaard, M., Hedal, N., Villanueva, A., Andersen, F., M., Larsen, H., 2008. Municipal waste management and greenhouse gases. ETC/RWM working paper 2008/1 Available at: http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2008_1/wp/wp1_2008 Accessed on: 4th December 2013 Tabasovà ¡, A., Kropà ¡c, J., Kermes, V., Nemet, A., Stehlà ­k, P., 2012. Waste-to-energy technologies: Impact on environment. Energy 44, 146-155 UK biomass strategy, 2007. Working Paper 1 – economic analysis of biomass energy. Energy Technologies Unit Department of Trade and Industry. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39040.pdf Accessed on: 24th November 2013

Queen Elizabeth I :: England Queen Elizabeth First Essays Papers

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace near London. Her father was England's King Henry VIII; her mother was the king's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth had an older half-sister, Mary, who was the daughter of the king's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. King Henry had moved heaven and earth to marry Anne Boleyn. He had parted from the Catholic church, established the Church of England, and annulled his twenty-four year marriage to Queen Catherine - partly because he loved Anne, and partly because he wanted the male heir Catherine could not give him. Henry and Anne were convinced that their first child would be a boy. The new queen even had a document drawn up ahead of time that announced the birth of a prince. When the prince turned out to be a princess, her parents were dismayed. Over the next few years Anne had three miscarriages, and Henry - who had become disenchanted with her even before Elizabeth's birth - decided to be rid of her. In 1536 he had Anne arrested on false charges of adultery. The Archbishop of Canterbury bowed to the king's will by declaring that Henry's marriage to Anne had never been valid. Like her half-sister Mary, two-year-old Elizabeth was now considered illegitimate. Anne was executed, and two weeks later the king married Jane Seymour. In 1537 Queen Jane died after giving birth to a son, Edward. Elizabeth and Mary participated in his christening ceremony. As Edward grew older, he and Elizabeth became close; although they lived in separate households, they wrote to each other often. When Elizabeth was four, Katherine Champernowne became her governess. The well-educated Champernowne - known as Kat Ashley after her marriage in 1545 - began teaching Elizabeth astronomy, geography, history, math, French, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and other subjects. Elizabeth was an excellent student. Her tutor Roger Ascham later wrote, "She talks French and Italian as well as she does English. When she writes Greek and Latin, nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting." In 1540 Elizabeth's father married Anne of Cleves. Repelled by what he perceived as his bride's ugliness, Henry quickly had the marriage annulled and instead married Anne Boleyn's first cousin Katherine Howard. Katherine was very young - about fifteen - and something of a featherbrain, but she was kind to Elizabeth, who was surely appalled when, in a repetition of the past, the queen was arrested and charged with adultery. This time the charges were true. Queen Katherine was beheaded in 1542, when Elizabeth was seven years old.

A Cultural Problem, an Economic Crisis Essay -- Economics Finance

In the past two years, Western society has experienced what many of its leaders have called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the very least, it has been the worst period of instability that our younger generations have ever seen in their lifetimes. But unlike other financial crises that have largely been triggered by external forces, such as the oil embargoes of the 1970’s, this latest one was a product of our own internal policies and practices; even more so, of our cultural outlooks on the very notion of finance, credit, and debt itself. Specifically, the financial crisis that has just come to pass was the result of the new culture of neo-liberalism and the hyper-individuality and debt-based consumption that it brought with it. What’s worse is that, without an admission of this new culture, or any effort to change it, our current economic system will be regularly plagued with such crises from here on into the future. Before any efforts can be made towards a cultural shift however, we must first understand, at least briefly, the current socio-political ideas that are creating such issues in the modern western market. As Kotz and McDonough put it, â€Å"the concept of ‘global neo-liberalism’ best captures the contemporary social reality.† This ‘new social reality’ was, as they put it, a return to older liberalism, and a retreat from the more government-controlled, Keynesian style of the post-war years. With this relaxing of government control or influence over the markets, we saw an emergence of a new individualistic, and privatized outlook on the market system. Neo-liberalism as doctrine, creed, or culture, or whatever you may call it, became almost something of a throwback to the early days of capitalism... ...olitical Economy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Dumenil, Gerard and Levy, Dominique. â€Å"The economics of US imperialism at the turn of the 21st century,† Review of International Political Economy, 11:4 (2004), pp. 657-676. Retrieved from EBSCO, 21 April 2010. Eichengreen, Barry. â€Å"The Last Temptations of Risk,† National Interest, 101 (2009), pp. 8-14. Retrieved from EBSCO, 21 April 2010. McDonough, Terrence, Michael Reich and David M. Kotz, eds. Contemporary Capitalism and Its Crises: Social Structure of Accumulation Theory for the 21st Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Smart, Barry. Economy, Culture and Society: A sociological critique of neo-liberalism. Buckingham: Open University Press, 2003. Westra, Richard, ed. Confronting Global Neoliberalism: Third World Resistance and Development Strategies. Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2010.

Discuss the Role of Neural and Hormonal Mechanisms in Aggression Essay

Support that serotonin leads to aggressive behaviour has been found, as human and animal research suggest that serotonin levels influence aggression and violent behaviour. There seems to be a negative correlation as low levels of serotonin, increase aggressive behaviour. Although we cannot determine a causal link as the cause of aggression cannot be attributed solely to serotonin. The link between dopamine and aggression is not as clear as with serotonin. Although there does seem to be a relationship between high levels of dopamine and aggression. Dopamine is produced in response to rewarding stimuli such as food, sex and recreational drugs. Research suggests that some individuals try to find aggressive encounters because of the rewarding sensations it brings, caused by increases in dopamine. Researchers have also suggested that people can become addicted to aggression, in the same way that they become addicted to food, gambling, etc. Ferrari et al. made a rat fight for 10 consecutive days. On the 11th day it was not allowed to fight. Researchers found that in anticipation of the fight the rat’s dopamine levels had raised and serotonin levels had decreased. This shows that experience had altered the rat’s brain chemistry, gearing it up for a fight. This supports the idea that both neurotransmitters are involved in aggressive behaviour and suggests a possible cognitive element in aggression i. e. the anticipation the rats experienced seemed to altar the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. It is hard to extrapolate these results from animals to humans as it is unclear whether the influence is the same for both. Hormonal mechanisms such as testosterone and cortisol, are chemicals which regulate and control body functions. It is said that hormone levels affect a person’s behaviour. An example of a hormone which affects body functions is testosterone. This hormone is found in both men and women, but in larger quantities in men. Testosterone makes aggression more likely, but there is not a causal link. Nelson found a positive correlation between levels of testosterone and aggressive behaviour in male and female prisoners. However these levels were not measured during the aggressive act so we cannot be sure whether hormonal levels are a causal factor. Observational studies of children have shown that they tend to become more aggressive once they enter puberty and their testosterone levels rise. Pillay found that male and female athletes involved in aggressive sports have higher levels of testosterone than those involved in non-aggressive sports. Despite these findings we can question this using the basal and reciprocal model of testosterone. Did the male and females have high levels of testosterone and so were more competitive and dominant, therefore enjoying aggressive sports as stated by the basal model of testosterone. Or were the high levels of testosterone in those involved in aggressive sports exerted due to the aggressive sports, as stated by the reciprocal model of testosterone. Whether testosterone causes aggression has not been proved, although it does have an effect on aggressive behaviour. It also plays a big role in encouraging other behaviours i. e. dominance, impulsiveness and competition. These are all adaptive behaviours in human evolution and therefore very important for our survival as species. Despite this, this is a deterministic view of human behaviour. If aggression is completely controlled by neural and hormonal levels then it follows that individuals don’t exert any free will over their actions and that their behaviour is completely determined by their biochemistry. There are many individuals who have high testosterone levels, who may choose not to act aggressively even though they may be provoked. This demonstrates how a person can exert their free will and choose to override biological impulses. By only understanding aggressive behaviour from a biological approach, these explanations can be criticised for being reductionist. Simpson argues that testosterone is just one factor linked to aggression and that the effects of environmental stimuli such as heat and overcrowding have at times been found to correlate strongly. Likewise social psychological theories of aggression, e. g. social learning theory and deindividualisation have also received a lot of research support, for example the studies conducted by Bandura and Zimbardo.

Explain the Skills Needed to Communicate with Children and Young People Essay

You have been elected to be communication champion for your school. At the next staff meeting you are asked to explain the skills that staff need in order to communicate effectively with children and young people. Use the table below to record your thoughts and consider what each skill means in practice. Skill needed to communicate effectively with children and young peopleIn practice this means†¦. †¢Find opportunities to speak to children. †¢Give eye contact and actively listen. †¢Use body language and facial expressions, and be approachable. †¢React and comment on what they are saying. †¢Be interested, responding and questioning to maintain conversation.†¢Give children suï ¬Æ'cient opportunities to talk and express themselves as they may lack confidence when speaking to adults. †¢Often children feel that you are not listening if you do not give them eye contact, make sure that if they are talking you give them your attention. †¢When speaking to small children get down to their level, smile nod and make appreciative noises to assure them that you are interested in what they have to say. †¢Repeat back to the child to ensure your understanding, this way you can correct incorrect language without them feeling like they are wrong. Also comment on their statement so they feel you are interested in what they have said. †¢It is important for children to experience the norms of holding a conversation so they can build up their understanding of how it works. Encourage them to ask questions and suggest ideas.

Definition of Culture and Its Importance Essay

Human beings are considered the highest form of animals, behaving passionately social as a group, using language and understanding, and doing teamwork and intergroup rivalry. Culture then relates to everything that humans have, think and do as a member of the social group. Both existent and make-believe, humans have stuff like tools, weapons, languages, laws, music, art, material resources, technologies and systems that when taken jointly will give details of the past and describes the present. On the other hand, when ideas, values, attitudes, beliefs and ideologies are taken as a group, help explains religious partiality, political directives, mores and extensive range of social associations. In addition, humans do or perform activities among specific group or society based on nationality, religion, ethnic boundaries and even occupation and academic, which later on collectively form the prescribed accepted behavior. (Holt, D. & Wigginton, K. 2002). In 1997, culture was described by Geert Hofstede in his book, Cultures and Organizations as the â€Å"software of the mind†. While individuals all have the identical â€Å"hardware†, which is the human brain, their â€Å"software† or â€Å"programming† is rather diverse. It is an identical experience when interrelating with somebody from a dissimilar culture – their language, suppositions, body language and movement, morals, and other facets of their culture will not be logical when relocated to another’s orientation structure. There are three fundamental logical reasoning when it comes to culture, namely: 1. Superiority of experience in the fine arts and humanities; 2. A combined blueprint of human knowledge, trust, and manners that relies upon the aptitude for figurative thinking and social knowledge; and 3. The set of divided outlooks, principles, purposes, and practices that distinguishes an association, society or group. According to Holt and Wigginton (2002), culture is a concept in the field of anthropology that concerns with shared structure of attitudes, way of life, ownership, traits, tradition and morals that describes group actions, which can be observed in a family, ethnic group, a business organization or a society. Authority, leadership, work attitudes and ethical practices on the part of management are influenced by this shared structure. Workers also are influenced by cultural antecedents on how they recognize and understand quality performance, work responsibilities, their function in decision-making and attitude in following orders from superior, as well as insight of human rights. The daily demeanor of workers in terms of punctuality, following rules on safety standards and personal hygiene are also affected. Slight differences between any two or more cultural groups can be observed, which therefore requires sensitivity to understand cultural differences, especially in manners of proper handling of business transactions. This way, when difficulties are encounter they will be solved readily with positive results. Understanding Differences in Culture The basic requirements for human survival are standard, which means for people to live they need water, food, clothing, housing and security. However, scarcity of these necessities compels human to creatively expand manners of acquiring them in order to give solutions to these survival problems. For simple societies, economic and social behavior consists of uncomplicated activities like looking for and cooking food, crafting clothes, building houses and rearing children. On the other hand, for developed societies, roles go beyond work and domestic related actions and extend to production and distribution of goods and services in order to sustain their big areas of responsibilities. It is essential to know that differences in culture would mean that different cultures have a diversity of styles in looking at things, ways of dressing and expressing individuality and/or goodness. Education, social rank, religion, individuality, belief composition, precedent experience, warmth shown in the domicile, and a countless of other factors will influence an individual’s manners and mores. A good deal of dissimilarities in culture has something to do with foodstuff preparation, music, and what each culture considers good manners. There are really cultural and philosophy disparities and it is fine to have an appreciation about a civilization’s way of life. Hofstede’s Model of Cultural Dimensions A Dutch researcher by the name of Geert Hofstede made a cross-cultural study of organizational behavior using managers from different countries to produce profile of cultural differences. This model is the most famous Hofstede’s Model composed of five dimensions namely power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and long term orientation, which gives a comparative evaluation of group attributes. Said dimensions when used jointly, provide management sensible outlook regarding contradicting values and prototypes of manners among countries and groups. Power distance as a dimension relates to the degree of human inequalities. Hierarchical position and authority are the main focuses of a culture with high power distance. Less dominant member of the society acknowledge just being subordinates, who should always follow those who are leading. In societies with high power distance as exemplified by Japan, formal authority comes from the hierarchy where employees hardly ever go against a chain of command or subject into scrutiny the decisions of top management. The reverse is true with societies like the United States, Australia and New Zealand with low power distance, where both higher-ups and subordinates coordinate their decisions with one another and authority is not a big deal. However, for societies like Great Britain, Israel and Canada in particular, though they refuse to accept parity in social level, still they value the right of each person’s accomplishment (Holt, D. & Wigginton, K. , 2002). Individualism pertains to the degree of initiative in becoming independent against that of collective endeavor. Societies with high individualism placed importance on personal triumphs, advancement, escapades and self-sufficiency. This implies ignoring the extensive necessities of the society and making oneself and ones family the priority. Contradictory, culture with low degree of individualism supports family relationship, group synchronization, social order and devote to compromised ideas. Uncertainty avoidance (Holt, D. & Wigginton, K. , 2002) is the degree of open-mindedness for uncertainty and ambiguity, particularly to man’s search for Truth. It means the feeling of contentment and discontentment in shapeless circumstances which are unusual, unknown and unexpected. For majority of the societies, their religious beliefs stand as their manner of knowing the Absolute Truth. Japanese culture for instance, typifies a society that avoids uncertainty by creating detailed laws and standards in consonance with the norms of the society. There are also societies with dual philosophical beliefs that they do not consider any Absolute Truth and so they accept uncertainty within their organizations. Canadians, as an example do not prioritize ceremonies and company rites unlike the Japanese. The degree of motivational behavior based on value systems that are depicted in terms of being masculine or feminine is another dimension in the Hofstede’s Model termed masculinity. The focus of the said model is not on biological perspectives; however, the behavior is portrayed using gender. In countries with high masculinity, like Japan, men work and hold top positions in organization, while women stay at home to perform household chores and nurture children. In other words, there are distinct roles that women and men do in society. The priorities of people living in societies with high masculinity are achievement, wealth and expansion. Working professionals spent much of their time in work related activities and seldom take vacations to relieve their stress. When confronted with problems, the manners of settling these conflicts are done aggressively. On the opposite, countries that score low in masculinity give significance to their family, relationships and quality of life. There is equality in terms of positions for both men and women which could be observed in all aspects of their lives. Negotiation for people in societies with low masculinity is the best way to resolve misunderstandings and disagreements. They are also fond of working in flexible hours to give way for more vacations and relaxation. The fifth and newest cultural dimension is the long term orientation, founded on the teaching of Confucius on the East. Countries with high long term orientation can be described as being persistent, thrifty, having a sense of shame and organizing and observing relationship by status. On the other hand, those cultures with short term orientation have personal control and firmness, shield ones â€Å"face†, value ritual and give back to greetings, favors, and gifts.

Implications of Information Technology in Developing Countries Essay

The survival and growth of organizations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures. How can IT help the organizations in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organizations achieve the flexible organization structure? These are the topics that remains to be a matter of question for many developing countries. Although Information technology is still a .black box . technology for developing countries, it is largely applied in industrialised countries to the disadvantage of the majority of developing countries. This paper will try to illuminate the aspects and the impact of Information Technology in managing organizational change and its implications for developing countries. 1. Introduction The rate and magnitude of change are rapidly outpacing the complex of theories. economic, social, and philosophical on which public and private decisions are based. To the extent that we continue to view the world from the perspective of an earlier, vanishing age, we will continue to misunderstand the developments surrounding the transition to an information society, be unable to realize the full economic and social potential of this revolutionary technology, and risk making some very serious mistakes as reality and the theories we use to interpret it continue to diverge..-Arthur Cordell(1987). We have modified our environment so radically that we must modify ourselves in order to exist in this new environment..Norbert Wiener(1957) The survival and growth of organizations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures. How can IT help the organizations in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organizations achieve the .flexible. organization structure? These are the topics that remains to be a matter of question for many developing countries. This study will try to illuminate the aspects and the impact of Information Technology in managing organizational change and its implications for developing countries. 2. Aspects of Information Technology Information technology (IT) may be defined as the convergence of electronics, computing, and telecommunications. It has unleashed a tidal wave of technological innovation in the collecting, storing, processing, transmission, and presentation of information that has not only transformed the information technology sector itself into a highly dynamic and expanding field of activity – creating new markets and generating new investment, income, and jobs- but also provided other sectors with more rapid and efficient mechanisms for responding to shifts in demand patterns and changes in international comparative advantages, through more efficient production processes and new and improved products and services (e.g. replacing mechanical and electromechanical components, upgrading traditional products by creating new product functions, incorporating skills and functions into equipment, automating routine work, making technical, professional, or finan cial services more transportable). The development of IT is intimately associated with the overwhelming advances recently accomplished in microelectronics. Based on scientific and technological breakthroughs in transistors, semiconductors, and integrated circuits (â€Å"chips†), micro-electronics is affecting every other branch of the economy, in terms of both its present and future employment and skill requirements and its future market prospects. Its introduction has resulted in a drastic fall in costs as well as dramatically improved technical performance both within the electronics industry and outside it (Malone and Rockart, 1993). The continuous rise in the number of features on a single micro-electronic chip has permitted lower assembly costs for electronic equipment (each chip replacing many discrete components), faster switching speeds (thus faster and more powerful computers), and more reliable, smaller, and lighter equipment (fewer interconnections, less power and material). Similar dramatic falls in costs occurred in the transport and steel industries in the nineteenth century and in energy in the twentieth, associated with the emergence of the third and fourth Kondratiev cycles, respectively. The potential effects of microelectronics are thus very far-reaching, for its use in production saves on virtually all inputs, ranging from skilled and unskilled labor to energy, materials, andcapital. All sectors of the economy have been influenced by the development of IT applications: information technology opens up greater opportunities for the exploitation of economies of scale and scope, allows the more flexible production and use of labor and equipment, promotes the internationalization of production and markets, offers greater mobility and flexibility in capital and financial flows and services, and is frequently the precondition for the creation of innovative financial instruments. Information system developments are constantly being applied to increase the productivity, quality, and efficiency of finance, banking, business management, and public administration. In manufacturing, and to some extent in agriculture, many processes have been automated, some requiring highly flexible, self-regulating machines, or robots. The engineering industry has been transformed by computer-aided design and three-dimensional computerized screen displays. The pace of technological change in IT will most likely accelerate the already observable growth in the interdependence of international relations not just economic or financial, but also political and cultural. National economies have become more susceptible to the effects of policy decisions taken at the international level, and domestic economic measures are having increased impacts on economic policies of other countries. World markets for the consumption of similar goods are growing, and so are common lifestyles across national borders. The advance of telecommunications and computerization has recently enabled large companies to use information systems to transmit technical and economic information among numerous computer systems at different geographical locations, subjecting widely dispersed industrial plants to direct managerial control from a central location; this affects the international division of labor and production and international trade, changing the patterns of industrial ownership and control, altering the competitive standing of individual countries, and creating new trading partners. It is the integration of functions that confers on information technology its real economic and social significance. More than just a gradual and incremental technological evolution leading to improved ways of carrying out traditional manufacturing processes (i.e. simply the substitution of new technologies for existing systems and the rationalization of standard activities), IT offers the opportunity for completely new ways of working through systems integration. Rather than applying one item of new technology to each of the production functions now performed at distinct stages of the production process, i.e. design, production, marketing, and distribution (in what could be called â€Å"stand-alone† improvements or â€Å"island automation†), having evolved in to new technologies, i.e. Enterprise Resource Planning systems, IT offers the possibility of linking design to production (e.g. through programmable manufacturing, measuring, and testing equipment responding to the codification of design), planning and design to marketing and distribution (e.g. through a variety of computer aids and databases that sense and collect changing market trends), production to distribution (e.g. by automatically incorporating orders and commissions by customers and suppliers into the production process), etc. The complete integration of all these production subsystems in a synergistic ensemble is still more a long-term trend than a reality, but use of automated equipment to link together individual items of equipment belonging to hitherto discrete manufacturing operations has already made IT a strategic issue for industry. More technical advances are expected soon in the automation of telecommunications and the linkage of computers by data transmission that will enhance the possibilities of systems integration. Such â€Å"programmable automation,† or computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), has the capability of integrating information processing with physical tasks performed by programmable machine tools or robots. CIM offers radical improvements in traditional problem areas confronting manufacturers, such as: – reduced lead time for existing and new products; – reduced inventories; – more accurate control over production and better quality production management information; – increased utilization of expensive equipment; – reduced overhead costs; – improved and consistent quality; – more accurate forecasting; – improved delivery performance (Miles et al., 1988). These features characterize information technology as a new technological system, in which far-reaching changes in the trajectories of electronic, computer, and telecommunication technologies converge and offer a range of new technological options to virtually all branches of the economy. Moreover, IT forms the basis for a reorganization of industrial society and the core of the emerging techno-economic paradigm. The reason for the pre-eminence of the new technological system clustered around information technology over the equally new technological systems clustered around new materials and biotechnology is the fact that information activities of one kind or another are a part of every activity within an industrial or commercial sector, as well as in our working and domestic lives. Almost all productive activities have high information intensity (some involve little else, such as banking or education). Further more, along with the premier of internet technology and e-business architectures; powerful concepts like inventory control, supply chain management, customer relationship/service management, and management resource planning through the internet under the name of Enterprise Resource Planning have enabled IT to be capable of offering â€Å"strategic† improvements in the productivity and competitiveness of virtually any socio-economic activity. Other than industrial or commercial sectors, information technology is also applicable in education sector and in public institutions. Thus, Information Technology is universally applicable. Probably only a fraction of the benefits derived from information technology-based innovations have so far been reaped and the rest remain to be acquired in the next decades. The shift towards systems integration to capitalize the full potential benefits of IT requires considerable adaptations, learning processes, and structural changes in exis ting socioeconomic institutions and organizational systems. The tradition in most current organizations is still to operate in a largely â€Å"disintegrated† fashion, reminiscent of the Ford-Taylorist management approaches that dominated the fourth Kondratiev cycle: high division of labor, increasing functional specialization/differentiation and de-skilling of many tasks, rigid manufacturing procedures and controls, long management hierarchies with bureaucratic decision-making procedures and a â€Å"mechanistic† approach to performance. Under these conditions, use of IT is restricted to piecemeal technology improvements. By contrast, information technology-based systems offer organizations the opportunity of functional integration, multi-skilled staff, rapid and flexible decision-making structures with greater delegation of responsibilities and greater autonomy of operating units, a more flexible and â€Å"organic† approach enabling a quick adjustment to changing environmental conditions. (Piore and Sabel, 1984.) But this means that information management skills require the ability to make choices about the optimal arrangements for particular situations: unlike earlier generations of technology, IT offers not a single â€Å"best† way of organization but a set of more or less appropriate alternative organizing, staffing, and managing options that may be adopted in different organizational contexts. There is no â€Å"determinism† in the way information technology influences the socioinstitutional framework. Therefore, organizational innovation is a crucial part of the requirement for firms to adapt to survive (Miles, 1988). Unfortunately, this is true for all the institutions as well. Further, it is even more dramatic for the organizations in developing countries because of not being able to properly adapt to this so-called .black-box. technology. No matter how frustrating it is interpreted for these countries, IT still has significant impact on their development. Although socio-economic structure of these countries resists organizational or institutional changes, the complex interrelations between these changes and information technologies have significant implications for the way IT does and will affect the societies and economies of developing countries. As a matter of fact, the negative and positive potential impacts of IT on these countries are a matter of great controversy among economists and politicians. The main short term issues usually discussed are the potential erosion of the comparative advantages of low labor costs, particularly in relation to assembly facilities, and the effects of automation, particularly on internal markets and international competitiveness. Implications of information technology for those countries hold great importance. 3. Implications for Developing Countries The first direct effect of the â€Å"micro-electronics revolution† was the location of production for export in third world countries. While production of mainframe computers continued to be located largely in industrialized countries, production of smaller computers and of microelectronic devices, more subject to price competition, was shifted to low-wage locations, mainly in East Asia, where countries presented low wage costs as well as political stability, a docile labor force, and government incentives. Location of production for local and regional consumption followed, but the countries concerned were mainly middle income: three quarters of US investment in third world micro-electronic industries was concentrated in 11 countries, namely the four Asian â€Å"dragons,† India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia (Steward, 1991). Export-oriented investments in these countries were associated more with direct foreign investment from larger firms in industrialized countries than with firms producing for the local market; on the other hand, licensing was more associated with smaller firms (Tigre, 1995). The automation of production decreases the relative importance of labor-intensive manufacturing and cost of labor, thereby eroding the competitiveness of low labor costs. For instance, automation led to a sharp decrease in the difference between manufacturing costs of electronic devices between the United States and Hong Kong: in manual processes, manufacturing costs were three times higher in the United States, and the introduction of semi-automatic processes made the difference practically disappear (Sagasti, 1994). Equally, the expansion of automation in Japan has contributed to a reduction of Japanese investments in the Asia/Pacific region involving firms in electronics, assembly parts, and textiles (Sagasti, 1994). The trend to increasing systems optimization and integration is most likely to induce large producers in industrialized countries to bring back a significant share of their production located in developing countries (offshore production). This movement has been called â€Å"comparative advantage reversal.† As integration increases, with functions previously obtained by assembling pieces being incorporated in the electronic components, value-added is pushed out of assembly processes into the components themselves and upwards towards servicing. In addition, the growing technological complexity of electronic devices increases the value of the parts manufactured by firms located in industrialized countries The amount of value-added obtained in offshore assembly has thus been constantly decreasing (Sagasti,1994). Global factories constructed in locations of least cost, often at a considerable distance from final markets, were economically worthwhile because labor was one of the major determinants of costs. Technology and rapid responsiveness to volatile local markets are becoming more important components of competitiveness. The reduction of product cycles due to the growing resistance to obsolescence of programmable machines and equipment has led to a concentration of manufacturing investment in capital-intensive flexible manufacturing, further adding to the erosion of the comparative advantages of developing countries. The assembly of systems will probably continue in some developing countries that have adopted protective legislation for local production targeted at particular market segments (e.g. Brazil), although this is changing very rapidly (Steward, 1991). The types of equipment produced under these circumstances are used largely in internal markets and are hardly competitive on the international level; they tend to be far more expensive than comparable equipment available abroad, and often their installation and use are also more costly because of expensive auxiliary installations, under-use, and lack of management skills. Nevertheless, they may at least provide the country with the capacity to follow the development of information technologies more closely. In other countries, assembly of equipment is taking place from components bought practically off the shelf, but as the level of hardware integration and the amount of software incorporated into the chips (firmware) grow, valueadded will be taken away from the assembly process, reducing or eliminating its economic advantages. The introduction of microelectronics requires certain new skills of design, maintenance, and management, as well as complementary infrastructural facilities such as reliable telephone systems and power supplies. Deficiencies in these factors prevent the widespread adoption of information technology in developing countries (Munasinghe et al., 1985). The more advanced developing countries, with a wider basis of skills and infrastructure and a more flexible labor force, may be in a better position to adopt IT and to increase their productivity and their international competitiveness. But the less developed countries, with inadequate skills and infrastructure, low labor productivity, and lack of capital resources, will find it difficult to adopt the new technologies; they are likely to suffer a deterioration in international competitiveness vis-à  -vis both industrialized and the more advanced developing countries (Stewart et al., 1991). Quality, too, requires an adequate level of skills, infrastructure, and managerial know-how that is generally lacking in developing countries. This greatly reduces the synergies, number of options, faster responses, and more informed decisions that can be implemented in the firm by the optimization of the systems performance. In turn, the composition of the labor force existing within firms located in industrialized countries will further improve their systems performance and further reinforce the advantages derived from automation. The proportion of the labor force employed in production is constantly decreasing in the industrialized countries, implying that performances at the systems level and innovation, not manufacturing, are becoming the key to profit, growth, and survival (Sagasti, 1994). Like biotechnology, information technology is a proprietary technology, vital technical information regarding design engineering specification, process know-how, testing procedures, etc., being covered by patents or copyrights or closely held as trade secrets within various electronic firms from industrialized countries. Many companies in the software area do not patent or copyright their products because it entails disclosing valuable information, and firms are generally reluctant to license the more recent and advanced technologies. Therefore, technology transfer takes place mainly among established or important producers, hindering the access to developing countries. Moreover, the main issue facing developing countries is not so much the access to a particular technology but to the process of technological change, because of the dynamism of this process. Sagasti implies this issue in the book The Uncertain Guest: science, technology and development (1994) that recent trends in int er-firm relationships seem to indicate that this access takes place essentially through the participation in the equity of the company holding the technology.