Saturday, August 31, 2019

Supply Chain Management – Greening Beyond Reverse Logistics.

In a world which is experiencing climate crisis in the form of increased ecological footprint because of environmental damage caused by various businesses, there is an immediate need for value seeking and proactive approach based on increasing the efficiency of reverse logistics aspect of modern supply chains. This paper looks at steeps to lower the ecological footprint of the supply chains, challenges involved in adopting green steps and the practical problems encountered in the making of green supply chains. Key words:Supply chain management, ecological footprint, environmental management strategies, green issues Introduction: Supply chain management is the coordination and management of a complex network of activities involved in delivering a finished product to the end user or customer . it is a vital business function and the process includes sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling products, storage, order entry and tracking, distribution through the vario us channels and finally delivery to the customer.A company’s supply chain structure consists of external supplier’s ,internal functions of the company and external distributors as well as customers (commercial or end-user). firms may be members of multiple supply chains simultaneously . the management and corporation is further complicated by global players spread across geographic boundaries and multiple time zones . the successful management of a supply chain is also influenced by customer expectations, globalization, information technology, government regulation, competition and the environment.Management of the supply chain is taking an important role in lowering environmental impact of business in this aspect the principle of ecological footprint shows how relevant are the green initiatives in maintaining ecological balance. It is aurgived that companies should assess the impact of their economic on the environment and resource consumption, the footprint is define d as the amount of land required to meet a typical consumer’s needs for many countries the ecological footprints exceed the actual area of the respective countries, for example the ecological ootprint of the Netherlands is 15 times the area of the countryEnvironmental management is gaining increasing interest among researchers in supply chain management, the concept of greening is becoming a critical avenue of this area, also the organizations are assigning increasing importance to the environmental issues. Despite some early steps a well knit theory or framework for greening of supply chains is lacking. Research initiatives are needed to overcome this problem, especially the research may have to move beyond reverse logistics, into the development of green supply chains.It is proposed that reverse logistics alone may not be enough and that a focus on the entire supply chain is more relevant for understanding the impact of business practices on the environment . this approach gels with value seeking approach of the environment that leverages the potential contribution of greening to the business organizations. The focus of greening as a competitive initiative by the business organizations represents a more proactive approach of greening instead of reacting to compliance measures of environmental regulations of several governments. The concept of reverse logistics:Reverse logistics stands for operations related to the reuse of products and materials which are part of the supply chain, it is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory ,finished goods and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin for the purpose of recapturing value or for attaining proper disposal, simply reverse logistics is the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value or proper disposal, the reverse logistics process inc ludes the management and the sales of sapless as well as returned equipment .Normally logistics deals with events that bring the product towards the customer. In the case of reverse logistics atleast one step back in the supply chain. For example, goods move from the customer to the distributer or to the manufacturer. As reverse logistics is gaining increasing interest and relevance, the question becomes whether it is enough to limit greening efforts to one segment of the supply chain and to single company. Following is a diagram given below which gives a commonly used scheme for implementing environment friendly initiatives in a company.Thisscheme depicts that there is much more to greening than the reversed flow of goods only. reening can start rite at the source with supply conditions and can work its way through storage and packaging practices to distribution and to end-consumers all of which is referred to as green supply chain management (GSCM). green supply chain management i s adding the â€Å"green component† to the supply chain and it involves addressing the influence and relationships of supply chain management through the natural environment. Green supply chain management (GSCM) =green purchasing+ green manufacturing/materials management+ green distribution/marketing+ reverse logistics This reverse flow in reverse logistics can take different forms,from collection to return shipments into the distribution channel followed by disassembly and reuse of selected parts. Alternatively, goods could be scrapped and re-entered into production as raw materials.Return goods or elements of the product, could even be returned to suppliers and supply chain partners for them to re-manufacture. Other possible supply chain applications should be taken into consideration. for example, disassemblies operations in the reverse flow can be replaced by incorporating a proactive â€Å"design for disassembly â€Å" right in the initial product design stage of both supplier and customer. What are the approaches for going green. The implementation of greening as a competitive initiative was explained in detail by porter and van der linde(1995) they reasoned that investments in greening can be recourse saving, waste eliminating and productivity improving.As a result, green initiatives can lower not only the environmental impact of a business, but also rise efficiency, possibly creating major competitive advantages in innovation and operations. Kopicki et al. (1993),introduced three approaches in environmental management: the reactive, pro-active and value-seeking approach. in the reactive approach companies commit minimal resources to environmental management as they start to procure some products with some recycled content, start labeling products that are recyclable. in the proactive approach, companies start to implement new environmental laws by realizing a modest recourse commitment to initiate the recycling of product and designing green p roducts.In this approach the ompany assumes responsibility over product re-use and recycling as an element of environmental management. The most far reaching approach is value-seeking, in that companies integrate environmental activities into a business strategies and operate the firm to reduce its impact on the environment as a strategic initiative. The head of the organization establishes a strong environmental commitment and the capital commitment is shared among partners in the supply chain. Operating systems in the value-seeking face may include the re-design of the products for dis-assembly, the use of life cycle analysis of the product and creating and involment of third parties.Companies are integrating environmental management into corporate strategic planning and into day-to-day process as they adopt a recourse-productivity frame work to maximize benefits attained from environmental programs. Theextention of kopicki et al. (1993) framework offered by Walton et al. (1998) i s that they state that companies will only thrive in the final face of environmental management when they act as a whole system that includes customers, suppliers and other players in the supply chain. By developing a supply chain approach in the environmental management process, the impact on supply chain operation gets leveraged throughout the supply chain.They detail how such an approach requires cross functional and cross company activities including product design, suppliers, processes, evaluation systems and inbound logistics. Walley and whitehead (1994) mentioned the value-based approach as the most far-reaching approach in environmental management. They characterized this approach as systematic, through the strong commitment and integration of flexible strategies and structures, throughout the supply chain. Within this approach three types of activities are undertaken: operational, technical and strategicactivities, depending on the impact on value and the scope of discretio nary response. What are the green steps to be taken: If a supply chain approach is so important in a value-seeking greening initiative how should businesses develop such an approach?The first step to be taken in greening the supply chains involve identifying the various supply chain flows and customizing the greening approaches basing on a particular supply chain flow. There are five supply chain flows- materials, services, financial, information and knowledge, and wasteflows. These flows may also have different scale levels, and thus, are directly related tothe boundaries that envelop them or through which they flow. The types of flows, theirpurpose, and how they are managed may also differ depending on the boundary context. For example, materials flows from an organizational boundaries perspective wouldrequire that materials be cooperatively agreed upon by managers and designers, and froma proximal perspective the decisions on where they are designated to be located andstored.Anot her example would be information flows where legal requirements have themmanaging the information so they can be reported to customers, while information relatedto environmental costs may only be of concern to an operations manager orenvironmental department. We now provide an overview of the different flows and somerelationships and studies on green supply chain. Materials Flows Materials flows are typical physical flows associated with supply chains and mayinclude parts, components, raw materials or finished goods. Much of the research insupply chain management has focused on the management of tangible durable goods. One of the basic tools is material flow analysis which has been recommended forevaluating an integrated environmental supply chain.The environmental aspects ofthese flows are well documented in and between organizations and have implications onall forms of environmental media implications ranging from solid waste management, Resource productivity, dematerialization an d climate change issues. Some recentresearch has proposed that material flow analysis be a core aspect of managing supplierenvironmental relationships. Service Flows These flows represent more intangible flows of services amongst organizations. Example service flows would be utilities and transportation services offered toorganizations. Some of the service flows from these two industries are major contributorsto the major environmental concerns facing the world, climate change, and are criticalelements of the supply chain.Since we incorporate utilities into this flow, we couldinclude energy service and critical water flows, albeit water may also be a physicalMaterial flow. Energy services in the supply chain are essentially pertinent since they aregrouped at levels of importance similar to material flows and are also critical flows for service industries. In fact, the energy service providers have greatly increased inimportance amongst supply chains as deregulation (especially in th e US) has seenincreased growth since the early 1990’s. Services may include many supportingactivities that may not be completely carried out by the organization or require specificmaterials. Information and financial services may also fall within this scope for industrial and retail level consumption.This more generic service industry has seen little researchin the green supply chain management literature, except for some hospitality and tourismservice industry perspectives . Within the supply chain, the shift to dematerialization could be enhanced with servicizing materials flows . Servicizing, also defined as product-service systems, is essentially the process of selling services rather products or materials toorganizations. One example of this is in Xerox’s strategy to offer a service, documentmanagement, for its copiers by leasing them rather than selling them. It provided aleasing service of a product which was taken back and reclaimed after lease expiration.Ina s ervicizing relationship, both the buyer and the supplier wish to decrease materialusage, where cost savings can be shared. Another aspect of service flows are those services provided by nature and includethe following ecosystem service categories: provisioning such as the productionof food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, suchas nutrient cycles and crop pollination; cultural, such as spiritual and recreationalbenefits; and preserving, which includes guarding against uncertainty through themaintenance of diversity. Managing these service flows may or may not be under thecontrol of a man-made supply chain, but certainly have some relationships to all supplychains. Financial FlowsFinancial flows are primarily the flow of capital (money) across the supply chain. These flows are critical to the management of supply chain practices. The environmentalimplications of these flows are mostly associated with the funding of practices andservice/mate rial flows which may cause environmental damage and consumption. The management of these flows can have profound environmental implications (forexample financial institutions may not lend due to environmental risks associated withcertain organizational projects). Tools integrating the financial flows into supply chainmanagement have relied on standard accounting tools such as activity based costing.Financial flow evaluation and analysis integrated into environmental supply chainmanagement has been very limited. As the recent world financial crisis shows, financialsystems will greatly regulate the amount of material flows and requirements for allsupply chains. One of the missing links in evaluating financial (capital) flows is the integrationof nature’s capital into the evaluation of supply chain economics. Integration ofnature’s services into supply chains’ financial flows analyses can provide significantlymore accurate perspectives on the influence of environme ntal supply chain managementpractices of organizations. The difficulty arises from the various assumptions that have tobe made for such a flow.Valuation of environmental resources is certainly a mystifyingexercise with significant variances in estimations. Information Flows Information and knowledge flows are also one of the critical management aspectsof green supply chain management. Much of the environmental information withinthe supply chain can be related to product life cycles and LCA type analyses . Operations across the supply chain can also benefit the environment just with regularinformation. Some of these benefits can be tied to the principle of informationsubstitution, having accurate information about material and goods that replace the needto hold durable material and goods.Information substitution can greatly reduce theamount of energy, transportation, and material inventory in the supply chain. Withthe advent of e-commerce and inter-organizational information systems within the supplychain, information substitution along the supply chain will have significantenvironmentally beneficial influence. Knowledge flows arise from having knowledge of environmental policies,technology, practices, and programs that can be shared across the supply chain. Not onlyare operations effected by knowledge, but supply chain innovation is also influenced. Innovation builds on and requires knowledge, knowledge generation, and knowledgeexchange.Innovation from knowledge flows are especially pertinent to smallerorganizations within the supply chains who typically lack the knowledge resourcesrelated to environmental actions for their operations. Environmentally orientedorganizational and inter-organizational learning is also dependent on effective knowledgeflows through training and continuous improvement programs and supply chain Collaboration, Information is not only critical for internal supply chain management operations,but can be a very effective regulatory tool w hich may cause organizations to reevaluatetheir supply chain processes. That is, environmental information flows may be usedto provide certain public images of the supply chain and its members.Having thisinformation made public can cause significant pressures from external stakeholders onthe overall supply chain to improve environmental and social performance . Recentresearch has shown that within the supply chain, information will have varying impactsand will be used in different ways by supply chain members. Overall, these differences inapplication and sharing of information and management of environmental informationflows is based on a variety of factors including expected costs or expectedrevenues/benefits related to environmental improvements, perception of externalstakeholder demand, perception of supplier relationship (from the perspective of thesupply chain manager) and top-management environmental commitment . Waste FlowsWe could consider waste flows as an element of all th e previous flows which doesnot necessarily have social (environmental) or economic benefit, non-value adding, to theunit under consideration. These waste flows cause greater costs to occur and may requireseparate programs to minimize them. For example, lean and green typically focus onminimizing waste and inefficiency within supply chains. Thus the management ofthis flow will also be critical, and may be separated within a supply chain. From abroader informational and industrial symbiosis perspective, waste exchanges betweenorganizations can alter the waste flows into useful material flows and have been appliedto disparate materials and flows such as water, construction material ,plastics,electronic products and energy .These waste exchange networksand flows not only can span inter and intra-organizational boundaries, but also acrossinformational boundaries as the waste exchanges become more available through Information and e-commerce systems. The other aspect of waste flows is tha t of end-of-lifemanagement or products andthe type of disposal that should be completed. There are issues with landfilling,incineration and returning materials back into the supply chain. Within the landfilling andincineration debate, the type of material may determine which is more economically andenvironmentally feasible. Rather than disposal of these wastes, recycling andreverse logistics network flows can be designed to manage these streams.Thus, as withany systems decisions, many variables will come into play before a clear-cut solution isavailable and decisions on managing these waste flows will range from individualconsumer level to broad governmental policies. The concepts pertaining to greening the supply chain or supply chain environmental management (SCEM) are usually understood by industry as screening suppliers for their environmental performance and then doing business with only those that meet the regulatory standards the driving forces for implementing the concept in to the company operations are many and comprise a range of â€Å"reactive regulatory reason to proactive strategic and competitive advantage reasons†.These concepts include working collaboratively with suppliers on green product design, holding awareness seminars, helping suppliers establish their own environmental program and soon. Thus there has to be a conscious need to integrate environmental concerns into the economic concerns of the strategy, in order to help contribute to the sustainability of the company’s future. Concern for the environmental performance of suppliers has now become the characteristic of responsible business practices. For instance, ford motor company has demanded that all of its suppliers with manufacturing facilities, comprising about 5000 companies worldwide, must obtain a third-party certification of environmental management system(EMS) for at least one of their plants by the end of 2001, and for all plants by 2003.o help the suppliers esta blish their own environmental management system, ford offers awareness seminars and training for its suppliers ,for them to be like any world class organization and attain their goal of environmental excellence . in the same manner, nestle Philippines also conducts seminars and provides technical assistance to its suppliers and contractors to help them implement and environmental management system that is consistent of Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s environmental management system (NEMS). nestle hopes this initiative will help its suppliershave a fully functioning and effective EMS complies with regulations, judicious use of raw materials, the conservation of water and energy, and the minimization of the waste.This initiative of urging suppliers and contractors to meet certain standards of environmental performance is among the 16 principles of environmental management listed in the â€Å"business charter for sustainable development†, adopted by the international chamber of commerce in N ovember in 1990,it emphasizes the need for contractors and suppliers to ensure that their environmental practices are consistent with those of the enterprise and encourages wider adoption of these principles Supplier chain environmental management is being adopted by industry, though not in a very apparent way, in different parts of the world. The extent and mode of implementation vary significantly. In some instances the implementation takes the form of questionnaires identifying what suppliers are doing, often in terms of quality programmers such as ISO-9001.More and more of these questionnaires are now adays supplemented by specific environmental questions. In other instances the suppliers are assessed at their own sites either by personnel from the customer company or by a third party or consultant, supported by a examination of company records, documents and by interviews with company personals. gain, in certain other case the large companies are even going for partnering and m entoring with their suppliers: mentoring involving the development of a close relationship between them, say providing guidance to set-up an environmental management system(EMS) or a waste minimization program; partnering involving and integrated approach to their relationship to improve operational efficiency of each. Measuring the performance of supply chains: In supply chains with multiple vendors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, whether regionally or globally dispersed, performance measurement is challenging because it is difficult to attribute performance results to one particular entity within the chain. There are difficulties in measuring performance within organizations and even more difficulties arise in inter-organizational environmental performance measurement.The reasons for lack of systems to measure performance across organizations are multidimensional, including non-standardized data, poor technological integration, geographical and cultural differences, di fferences in organizational policy, lack of agreed upon metrics, or poor understanding of the need for inter-organizational supply chain performance measurement. Performance measurement in supply chains is difficult for additional reasons, especially when looking at numerous tiers within a supply chain, and green supply chain management performance measurement, or GSCM/PM, is virtually non-existent. With these barriers and difficulties in mind, GSCM/PM is needed for a number of reasons (including regulatory, marketing and competitiveness reasons). Overcoming these barriers is not a trivial issue, but the long-term sustainability (environmental and otherwise) and competitiveness of organizations may rely on successful adoption.The basic purposes of GSCM/PM are: external reporting (economic rent), internal control (managing the business better) and internal analysis (understanding the business better and continuous improvement). These are the fundamental issues that drive the developm ent of frameworks for business performance measurement. It is important to consider both purpose, as well as the interrelationships of these various measurements of GSCM/PM. Corporate performance measurement and its application continue to grow and encompass both quantitative and qualitative measurements and approaches. The variety and level of performance measures depends greatly on the goal of the organization or the individual strategic business unit’s characteristics.For example, when measuring performance, companies must consider existing financial measures such as return on investment, profitability, market share and revenue growth at a more competitive and strategic level. Other measures such as customer service and inventory performance (supply, turnover) are more operationally focused, but may necessarily be linked to strategic level measures and issues. Conclusion: As supply chains are becoming increasingly globalized and multi-company based, the ecological footprin t principle deserves a broader application in the supply chain. Footprints are not only nation-based as suggested by Hart (1997); the scope of supply chains is far broader. This also implies that a focus on reversed logistics, as commonly used in the literature, is no longer adequate.Based on the existing literature, this paper presents a categorization of green approaches and suggests the value-seeking approach as the most relevant in greening the supply chain as a whole (instead of logistics, and regulatory compliance alone). In order to develop greening approaches as a competitive initiative, various elements have been suggested, including sets of actions for various players along the chain, as well as, measures of success. Much research still has to be done to support the evolution in business practice towards greening along the entire supply chain. Hopefully, this paper has identified some of the steps to take, while minding our footprint.

Friday, August 30, 2019

MR Assessed Task

Please remember the suggested times are only a guide and each learner will work at their own pace. However, please try not to spend 2 hours on a task which should take 30 minutes. Don't forget you can find a breakdown of the learning outcomes and assessment criteria relating to each task in the qualification specification or in your EDI portfolio. There is just one task for this unit which should be completed at the start.Assessment for the rest of the unit, learning outcomes 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be cover as direct observations assessed in the work place and will be on-going, as reflection on practice and personal development is a large part of working with children and this qualification. Task. 1. 1 Write a job description Of your work role, this can be a list of things you do with a brief explanation. (20-30 minutes) 1. 2 Link each item on the list to the relevant standards.If you ark with under as this will be the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYES), safeguarding and welfare require ments. (45 -60 minutes) You can use a table format or a piece of writing. As you work your way through the course you should keep a personal development plan. The plan should record development objectives, how you will achieve these objectives and time scales for review. It should also show how you have agreed these objectives and with whom. A downloaded template is provided for your use.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Organizational Behavior Critical Thinking Essay

I have chosen three theories to address the problem. The first theory is Schwartz’s Value Theory. According to the theory, everyone has each own set of personal values and the attainment of these personal values is crucial. Conflict of values or failure in attaining them might lead to employees’ turnover. From the article, the senior staffs claimed that the bonuses they received were below average. I infer that some of the staffs’ personal values were not attained, which in this case possibly power and achievement. Their personal values might also have conflicted with the company’s values, which lead to their departure. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory is also applicable in addressing this issue. According to the theory, there are some factors those lead to both work â€Å"satisfaction† (motivators) and â€Å"dissatisfaction† (hygiene). The absence of recognition which is one of the motivators leads to no satisfaction and the presen ce of hygiene factors such as poor salary and violation of company’s policies such as not paying bonuses that the executives deserved might lead to â€Å"dissatisfaction†. This  presence of â€Å"dissatisfaction† might be the major reason for the staffs to quit. Lastly, according to The Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment there are three types of commitment that create a binding force, those may reduce the high turnover. They are namely Normative, Continuance and Affective commitment. Affective commitment is mainly influenced by personal characteristics and values and is closely related to the Schwartz’s Value Theory. This commitment also takes into consideration work experience, which might support the executives’ decision to quit. Violation of psychological contract is a factor that may cause Normative commitment to be ruptured. UBS has failed to meet the expectation of some of their executive and this can be seen as hygiene factors according to Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory which leads to â€Å"dissatisfaction†. The model, so far, has covered the other two theories. Adding on to that, this model also includes the possibility of external factors that might lead someone to leave a company. In this case, availability of job alternatives in other companies, which compromise their Continuance commitments, might be another force that encouraged executives to leave their positions in the company. Therefore, I conclude that this model, in comparison with the others, is the most appropriate model to address the problem of high turnover in UBS as it covers more possibilities and gives us a more complete view of why the senior staffs may have left the company. UBS is very sensitive to the performance of the world’s economy as it runs in the area of financial service. Poor global economic performance or recession is a major factor that influences the problem of high turnover faced by UBS. Most of the decisions must be made carefully by the company as it involves very high risk level. Through these decisions, UBS has to maintain or even improve the job satisfaction level of its employee and at the same time, continue to give excellent performance. Wrong decisions might cause UBS to lose its employees even its key executives. In the time of financial crisis, it is more difficult for UBS to maintain both its employees’ job satisfaction and also its performance. This depends largely on the company’s policy and also the decisions made by the company. For instance, in Wall Street Meltdown in 2008 UBS made a US$32 billion loss and its stock value plunged by almost 70% (Gross, 2008). One of the decisions that the company made was to fire 8900 employees worldwide (â€Å"Ubs lay off,† 2008). The increased in the regulation  of financial industry such as tax on financial may also affect the performance of UBS negatively. Financial Analysts predicted that this increase in regulation will reduce the size of the industry (Adams, 2011) and this leaves UBS with no other option than cutting off the number of its employees. This decision made might negatively impact the rest of the employees as they would feel insecure in their positions. This factor can also be seen as one of the hygiene factors which lead to â€Å"dissatisfaction† and this result in the high turnover. Apart from that, the competitive nature of the industry itself intensifies the challenge faced by UBS. Due to lower bonuses that it paid to its executive in comparison to the rival companies might encourage the executives to switch company. For example, Edward Cook who has worked for UBS for 28 years decided to join Morgan Stanley very recently (Philbin, 2011) and Suneel Kamlani, who has worked for 21 years in UBS, decided to join RBS just last year (Muà ±oz, 2010). This shows that it is definitely a challenge for UBS to elicit higher levels of commitment of its employees and executives. Availability of position and better payment offered by rival companies will test the loyalty of the UBS’s employees. Hence, the high competition among banks also induces the high turnover in UBS. To reduce turnover, managers should cultivate the company’s value in the employees. This will reduce Individual-Organizational value conflict and it can be done through training sharing of the company’s vision. Managers also have to respect the psychological contract and should propose more-defined policies to company as it may reduce job dissatisfaction. In time of crisis, company may also maintain the Continuance Commitment of the employees by paying the bonuses by using the company’s share. However, all of the solutions I proposed may not be successful as they do not take into account the other external factors and the success also depends on the personal characteristics of the employees. References Shehan, Tom, S. ,. T. (n.d.). How to retain employees: a high turnover rate is costly in both direct and indirect costs. . Retrieved from http://www.allbusiness.com/management/447495-1.html Gross, D. (2008, July 07). Phil gramm’s ubs problem. http://www.slate.com/id/2194933/ Ubs lay off job cut: may fire 1900 employees. (2008, October 01). Retrieved from http://www.finance-trading-times.com/2008/10/ubs-lay-off-job-cut-may-fire-1900.html Adams, B. (2011, August 30). The big layoff: struggling financial giant fires thousands of employees. Retrieved from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/the-big-layoff-struggling-financial-giant-fires-thousands-of-employees/ Philbin, B. (2011, September 14). Street moves: morgan stanley hires rbc, ubs financial advisers. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110914-711796.html Muà ±oz, S. S. (2010, April 12). Rbs hires key executive from ubs. Retrieved from http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2010-04-12/rbs-hires-kamlani-executive-ubs

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Systems and Operations Management - Critical Evaluation of the Assignment

Systems and Operations Management - Critical Evaluation of the Competitive Factors - Assignment Example hough, e-business is one of the most hyped topics and business strategies in the corporate sector few industries are still operating in a brick and mortar model. Automobile industry is one of them and despite of covering a vast segment of the international market place, they are operating in the bricks and mortar model only. Hesterberg (2008) stated that because of the nature of the products involved in the automobile industry, the bricks and mortar model is the most suitable process for the automobile industry. However, the concept of remote operations and selling creates an opportunity for the automobile industries to develop a clicks and mortar model in the business process of the firm. The following segments of the study will focus on implementing a clicks and mortar model for an automobile company based on the United Kingdom and analyse the process of transition from bricks and mortar to clicks and mortar. Lotus Cars is a segment of Group Lotus Plc which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-HICOM based in the United Kingdom. Lotus is known for their highly appreciated products in motor sports (Lotus Cars, 2014). They have provided winning cars such as Espirit, Elise, Elan, etc. The historical significance of the company is also boosted by the fact that the manufacturing process of the cars is situated in Norfolk which was an airfield during World War II (Lotus Cars, 2014). The entire Lotus groups have been segmented into three groups namely, Lotus Cars, Lotus Engineering and Lotus Motorsport (Lotus Cars, 2014). Colin Dare and Colin Chapman founded the company in 1952. The company believes in developing a separate passage to success and creates its own trend rather than following (Lotus Cars, 2014). Throughout all these years of growth and development, Lotus has always tried to create new products with extensive use of technology; however their main intention has always been to keep their vehicles light. According to Hesterberg (2008), lightness in the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

One page reflection -Holland's Code Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

One page reflection -Holland's Code - Article Example The Realistic element calls for physical involvement in one’s career or vocation, an aspect that makes it vital for the counselor to inform the client about the most important attributes of being Realistic or Doer. The idea is to call the client’s attention to the fact that Doers are practical and independent, and they do well in manually demanding careers. At a personal level, Holland’s Code is undoubtedly relevant and informative. Holland’s guide will go a long way in helping me evaluate my personality and subsequently match my personality type with my career goals and objectives. At the same time, this guide will play a key role in enhancing my personal understanding of job diversity, as well as opportunities that are best for me in the job market. In the process, I hope to improve my academic and career growth and development for a successful future. Ultimately, my future success will capitalize on my personality

Monday, August 26, 2019

Newspaper report on the conditions in the factories and mining areas Essay

Newspaper report on the conditions in the factories and mining areas of Industrial England - Essay Example It is a fighting that has no productive end, in the same way that â€Å"intellectual pride† does not accomplish anything meaningful for its practitioners. Flannery O'Connor provides another exploration of â€Å"intellectual pride.† â€Å"Intellectual pride† relies on egocentric and illogical beliefs of one’s intellect, because it is characterized by the resistance to acknowledging one’s mistakes, strong belief in one’s ability to â€Å"read people,† and assertion of one’s intellectual superiority. â€Å"Intellectual pride† refers to that permanent resistance to admitting one’s mistakes. Mrs. Hopewell believes that she did not make a mistake in hiring the Freemans or in choosing Pointer as a potential boyfriend for Joy. Still, she suffers from Mrs. Freeman’s insistent presence during meals, and Pointer happens to be one of the greatest shams in her world of â€Å"Good Country People.† The grandmother a lso does not want to divulge to her son Bailey that she made a mistake in giving directions. Even at the point of impending death, she resists acknowledging that she indirectly killed her own family, because of her vain attachment to an illusory past. People with â€Å"intellectual pride† also insist that they know how to â€Å"read† people. Mrs. Hopewell thinks she knows who good country people are.

Assignment 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignment 7 - Essay Example In contrast, the expansionist hypothesis relates to women working outside the home as a positive feature of society. Expansionist supporters believe that the more roles a woman takes on, the more multi-tasking that she does, the more fulfilling and successful her life will be. Where scarcity supporters feel that participation in many different roles can essentially run down a woman’s energy resources, supporters of expansionism feel the opposite in that many different roles engage different parts of the brain and actually lead to happier working women. Specifically, multi-tasking is said to have reward association. This means that women working outside the home are subject to achieving role privileges, personality enhancement, and enjoying success in one role when another may not be going so well. A women who works outside the home and also provides the most care for her children can appreciate her success as a mother during tough times at work, and vice versa. Women can also experience an increase in self esteem when they participate in many different roles at the same time; instead of feeling pigeon-holed and relegated to one specific role, be it an outside-the-home job or a role within the household. This is what expansionist supporters are trying to address in their theory: the idea that women cannot exist within and without the home without overexerting themselves and ultimately making themselves miserable and hurting their families in the long run. The scarcity theory does not intend to insinuate that women cannot hold multiple roles successfully, but maintains that they cannot be expected to do so without harming their mental health. In terms of the actual mental health of women, it appears that the more successful roles that women hold, the happier they are. Stress levels can be heightened by holding multiple roles, however this is independent of the women themselves and in general a woman’s happiness is not dependent on the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

European business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European business - Essay Example The advantages that the member states have are worth an elaborate description and this would be followed shortly. First however lets first mention the euro and the European Monetary Union. The Euro, which is a common currency shared among 16 out of the current 27 member states has had a significant impact onto the union body. Around five countries also generally accept the currency even if they do not recognize it officially. Naturally as European Union constitutes some of the most major countries of the world, their medium of exchange has a significant impact onto the exchange market. It is arguably, the second most traded and important currency of the world after the U.S. Dollar. Although accepted by all the euro accepting countries, the European Monetary Union constitutes of 12 countries out of the 27. They share policies and affects. The member states act as a unified economic body and their macro and micro implications and choices are termed and analyzed as one. The first and foremost advantage of the same currency policy is indeed the reduction in transaction costs. To do business, even with the neighboring countries, one has add on additional amounts to the host country so that one’s currency is received there. It was estimated that to do business, the member countries used to spend around 1.5 billion pounds every year to buy and sell foreign currencies so that the visiting people could have money at their disposal. This however was more problematic for the members were naturally inclined to trade with their neighboring countries so as to cut on the transportation costs. However, the cost of transaction eventually reduced the amounts of revenue generation and profits and left them less motives and inclinations to trade. The same currency policy however, by the introduction of the Euro, gave the members the liberty to practically go along the border and do business with the same money that was in his/her pocket

Saturday, August 24, 2019

IMAX Mangement Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IMAX Mangement Case Study - Essay Example As per the case the strategic resource of IMAX is its technology. The technology which it use and develop helps the company to attain its strategic position. The technology of IMAX satisfies the VIRUS criteria in the following ways:- The technology of IMAX is valuable in many ways. Firstly it gives the organisation an edge over its competitors. IMAX was the first company who initiated the larger format films. It also made light weight 3D camera. The technology of IMAX also helped the company to achieve the scientific and technical achievement Oscar Award in 1997. The technology of IMAX cannot be imitated easily. The technology which was used by IMAX was developed by its research and development section. The organisation incurred huge costs in order to generate the advanced and superior technology. More over the development of the technology was a time taking process and the organisation has to do research for years to develop the technology. Anything which requires huge cost and time to generate cannot be copied by any other organisation very easily. The strategic resource should be rare in the industry in other words it should not be easily accessible to the other organisation. The technology of IMAX was not assessable to the other organisation. Strategic resource should be such which cannot be substituted by any other alternative resource in order to imitate any strategic decision. The technology used by IMAX for 3D images was very unique which was developed by the research and development wing. This type of technology is very difficult to be substituted. In this case, as per IMAX its main advantage is having a good brand image, a brand of for making larger format film. As IMAX latter has to face a rival Iwreks in larger format film category therefore its claim of being a brand of larger format film is not a strategic resource. Critical Analysis IMAX is a huge company which is involved in film production, photographic equipments, film distribution and theatre operations. This company was the first one to be to operate in large format film in the world. The main strength of IMAX is the technical aspect which gives it a unique identity and differentiates in the film and photographic industry. IMAX has implemented various strategies to expand and grow. The options which IMAX considered for its growth and expansion strategy were all strategic options which mean it satisfied the RACE criteria that is the recourses for the option were available, it were acceptable, coherent with other existing plans and efficient to achieve the objective. For expansion and growth the company chose to locate itself in multiples theatres, converting the Hollywood movies in its format and installing its projectors and other theatre equipments in different multiplexes. These options were all strategic because:- The resource which were needed for these options that is the hi-tech theatre equipments were already available to the company. They did not have to arrang e it separately. These options were aimed at increasing the customer base and the revenue therefore it was also acceptable to the stake holders. IMAX was already working in making movies in larger formats. Hence converting Hollywood movies in their format and shifting their location did not hamper their existing work. The objective of the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Safety Awards Programs, Advantages and Disadvantages Term Paper

Safety Awards Programs, Advantages and Disadvantages - Term Paper Example Additionally, approximately $7,000 USD is the cost for non-lost time accident, $38,000 USD for disabling accident, and $1.1M USD for a workplace fatality (NSC, 2005). This is most probably why most American businesses have some sort of safety awards programs. However, the effectiveness of such programs is still the source of ongoing debate among its advocates and critics (Friend & Kohn, 2010). In this light, it is necessary for any organization to understand and recognize the positive and negative attributes of such safety awards programs to determine whether the incentive scheme is obtaining the organizational goal. Several texts on safety and management provide well-examined data on the pros and cons of incentives on performance and motivation. A number of safety professionals maintain that an incentive scheme is a significant factor in any health and safety program. However, a few individuals view the philosophy behind these incentive schemes is founded on flawed principles (Fland ers & Lawrence, 1999). Critics still point out three major debatable and interconnected areas surrounding the safety awards programs --- use of monetary rewards to improve work productivity and quality, unreliable SAFETY AWARDS PROGRAMS 3 injury reports that underreport health and safety hazards and accidents, and long-term effectiveness of such programs (Davis & Prichard, 2000). The â€Å"Carrot† Approach One major opposition against the incentive schemes is that they are considered bribery. Critics view them as â€Å"de-motivators† and underhanded attempts at control because they can induce people to create an image of safety by covering up injuries or accidents. These few individuals assert that incentives are there due to two major reasons: 1) giving away incentives makes management feel good, and 2) safety professionals resort to bribery because they do not really know how to lessen injuries and accidents (Azaroff, 2002). On a deeper perspective, there are three m ain bases that put incentive schemes in a bad light. First is the incorrect concept that injuries are merely results of accidents and that avoiding them deserve rewards. This standpoint does not consider that workplace injuries are usually due to a mishmash of improper behaviors, inappropriate practices or methods, and perilous environment. Second is the thought that incentives fail to recognize the real causes of accidents. They disguise and draw the attention away from the roots of the issue. Third is related to the first basis, where incentives give the idea that rewards will prompt workers to avoid behaving inappropriately (Flanders & Lawrence, 1999). Contrary to these viewpoints, safety rewards supporters believe in the â€Å"carrot† theory (Davis & Prichard, 2000). It is the way where organizations show their care for their workers by promoting safety in the workplace. Proponents of this concept also believe that long-term effectiveness can be achieved by providing mone tary incentives for appropriate behavior and increased safety awareness. In agreement to this idea, attaining goals through incentives has SAFETY AWARDS PROGRAMS 4 always been embraced by society. Incentives have always been part of people’s lives, like frequent flyer rewards, school recognition for academic excellence, stock market rewards for wise

Thursday, August 22, 2019

European Expansionism and the New World Order Essay Example for Free

European Expansionism and the New World Order Essay The European invasion and expansionism leave a stain to the World History, and thus traced the question where does the modern youth get their evil side. Since this Europeans invaded most part of the world if not the whole, everyone could say that each has a small drop of blood of Europeans in their system, especially in the continent of South and North America, where most of the European expeditions harbored. Because of this, wickedness of Europeans might be inside of todays every mans alive. The extermination of Hispaniola by the Spaniards is no less than a tragic extinction of American Natives. Exquisite execution of the poor victims ironically generates fun and excitement with those performing the impious acts, all for the name of the Almighty. In the book of Stannard, it summarizes blow by blow account of how the Europeans perform such evil acts including Spaniards whos responsible in creating the New World in accordance to their standards and Christian beliefs and devotions. However, the creation of the so-called New World of this Europeans caused massive killings and pestilence which resulted to a depopulation of about ninety-six percent. The irony is putting a New World for the living in expense of every living thing that is degraded, demoralized, and extinct. For the most common term it is survival of the fittest supposedly performed only by animals in the wild fighting as predators for the flesh of their victims. How the old Europeans perform the survival of the fittest game for their New World? American Natives wiped out for many ungodly reasons varying from killing newly born babies to letting husbands and wife being tired and stressful that they do not get to feel the sexual urge to do procreation. Some reasons were pestilence or intentionally spreading of plague and viral diseases by scattering contaminated things to public. Some were simply letting the people starved to death. Some were being subjected to burning villages and massive killings. This character of burning people and villages originated in Europeans because they are the ones having the superiority trait and that inferiors of them deserved to be maltreated, demoralized and died inhumanely. It could be to totally eliminate habitants of such community, especially when they see that the land that they occupied were fertile, healthy and rich. For the conclusion on this chapter which talk about European Expansionism and New World Order is the additional denunciation for the late reaction of the natives as they allowed three or four decades of European invasion and American extinction before they do the movement and crusade of condemning Europeans wrongdoings. Again, these movements which lead to Civil War also take part in the World History in a negative manner and reputation.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Worlds cheap products Essay Example for Free

Worlds cheap products Essay This shows that he is expressing his anger for the worlds cheap products through his work, repressing it as a statue, called Ogun. The form of this poem is very simple with short sharp sentences and two lined stanzas, that give a cold feeling of wanting to put his point across more than anything else. The tone of the poem is mostly anger of the writers uncle because of the fact no one will buy his goods. The world just wants cheap, soulless things, and his tradition and identity suffer as a result. In Nothings Changed the main message put across is that although racism has changed with laws and such, the feelings that remain are exactly the same. This fits in with the suffering of identity because even when laws have been passed and it says you can be a certain place, or do a certain thing, you still feel like you cant and that you are treated the same, because of the colour of your skin. The message of this is brought across with several techniques. The imagery gives a feeling of hurt and deceit, and of a gut feeling of everything being the same it makes you think of pain that has happened, and that will continue to happen. The reader gets a feeling that the place is wasteland with rubbish and rubble everywhere, like a ghost town deserted and quiet. The language of the poem is thoughtful and heartfelt. The first part of the poem tells us that the man in the poem is breathing heavily, scared, frightened because of the terrain he is walking through.  And the soft labouring of my lungs, and the hot, white, inwards turning anger of my eyes  This tells us he is bottling up his feelings about the place and that he is angry because of what had gone on there before. He cannot get the anger out of his system nor does he feel welcome in this place; he feels a connection with the weeds on the floor, both unwanted and uncared for. As the poem goes on it tells you he is more angry and powerless because nothing has changed from when he was a child: I back from the glass, boy again  He tells us that he still feels a victim of apartheid, weak, small and powerless, because everything is the same as when he was a child. Even though things have physically changed, things will never mentally change. Some of the words in the poem such as haute cuisine gives an effect of expense and exoticness so that only rich people could afford it, which lets you know that things are strange to the writer. The form of this poem is put across in short simple words. The first stanza tries to imitate footsteps.  Small round hard stones click, under my heels  The tone of the poem is angry, upset, hurt and very serious this is put across by the whole feel of the poem to show that he feels out of place, in the place he was brought up. This inevitably causes pain and inner suffering The poets want to put across the fact that readers should learn and understand that just because something is different, it may be a lot better than what you thought, and that you should treat people as you wish to be treated and not discriminate. They also show that poets from other cultures and traditions show suffering because of their identity because people are prejudiced and feel threatened by something that is different. The poets suffer because they do not feel as if they can fit in, as people treat them differently or are not so easy to get on with as someone from the same sort of background.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Structural and Interest Based Theories of Politics

Structural and Interest Based Theories of Politics What are the main differences between structural and interest-based explanations in comparative politics? Compare and discuss their features using empirical examples. At the heart of the field of comparative politics lie a variety of theoretical frameworks, each of which attempts to enhance our understanding of what is important in relation to explaining political phenomena. The aim of this essay is to examine and compare the features of the structural and interest-based approaches, through the use of empirical examples. As regards its structure, the essay will begin by providing a definition of the comparative method. Following on will be a brief discussion on its uses and a cost-benefit analysis of using such an approach. After all, it is the comparative method that will form the basis of the discussion to follow. The essay will subsequently identify the main differences between structural and interest-based explanations in comparative politics. Due to the lack of space, the ways in which they complement one another will be omitted. Finally, the essay will conclude by arguing that the main differences between structural and interest-based approa ches revolve around their explanations on the causes of political developments, and their focuses on the individual. In order to fully appreciate the main differences between the structural and interest-based explanations in comparative politics, it is first important to develop an understanding of the comparative method in its own right. Although widely used in the field of political science, the comparative method is far from straightforward to define. It is an abstract term to which various definitions have been applied over the years. According to the political scientist Arend Lijphart, the comparative method can be defined as the analysis of a small number of cases, entailing at least two observations, yet too few to permit the application of conventional statistical analysis. (Collier, 1993: 106) In practice, this refers to what is known as a small N analysis, within which there are two basic research designs: most similar systems design (MSSD), and most different systems design (MDSD). As a rule of thumb, the former, otherwise known as Mills Method of Difference, involves the use of less tha n 20 cases (states) that are as similar as possible. The logic behind this methodology is that the more homogeneous the cases under investigation, the easier it ought to be to pinpoint the factors accountable for the differences between them. Faure (1994) argues that the most similar systems design is the prevailing method (but not the only one) in comparative politics. (Faure, 1994: 310) By contrast, the latter, otherwise known as Mills Method of Similarity, involves the use of less than 20 cases that are as different as possible, the purpose of which is to communicate the vigorous nature of the correlation between dependent and independent variables. Such a method assumes that by proving that the observed correlations hold true in different domestic settings, the line of reasoning should be better corroborated. There are many uses of the comparative method. In addition to the case study approach, the experimental method, and the statistical method (Lijphart, 1971: 682), political scientists draw upon the comparative method to assist them in the devising of hypotheses (suggested explanations of something), the testing of hypotheses (which are proven or refuted), and the uncovering of empirical regularities and the identification of outliers' (Gherghina, 2017: 14). The comparative method is by no means faultless; though an analysis of its merits is required in order to demonstrate why it has stood the test of time in the field of political science. One of the main proponents of the comparative method, the aforementioned Arend Lijphart, deduces that given inevitable scarcity of time, energy, and financial resources, the intensive analysis of a few cases may be more promising than the superficial statistical analysis of many cases. (Collier, 1993: 107) His inference substantiates the argument that a detailed analysis of a small number of states is a more effective than a brief analysis of a large number of states as a result of various limitations already touched upon. However, that is not to say the comparative method is without its faults. Indeed, one of the inherent problems picked up on by academics is that of many variables, few cases (Lijphart, 1971: 685). Now that we have developed an understanding of the comparative method, it is possible to observe the ways in which structural and interest-based explanations differ. It can be argued that one of the main differences between structural and interest-based explanations in comparative politics is in relation to the causes of political developments. The crux of the formers argument revolves around the idea that macro factors in other words, factors that are observable at the level of society or variables to put it more simply, factors that are liable to vary or change are the ultimate causes of political events. The most prevalent macro factors or variables employed in the structural approach include a countrys level of economic development, social inequality, educational inequality, life expectancy, degree of urbanisation, ethnic fractionalisation that is, the quantity and size of ethnic groups within a society), and religious composition. (Gherghina, 2017: 10) To demonstrate the structural approach in practice, we can apply the example of the modernisation theory. Broadly speaking, the modernisation theory associated with the work of the polit ical sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset argues that democratisation is the result of modernisation. Modernisation incorporates many of the variables already touched upon, including urbanisation. In laymans terms, the more modern a society becomes, the more likely a society is to become democratic. This is the case because these changes enable middle-class elites to mobilise the working class to press for political rights for all (Gherghina, 2017: 11). From the 18th century onwards Lipset carried out an analysis of several countries, from which he was able to conclude that this does indeed hold true. Among the countries that followed the theory proposed by Lipset were the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, and, more recently, Taiwan in the 20th century. This vividly illustrates the extent to which the structural approach can be useful with regards to explaining political developments and their causes, albeit it does not take into account its visible shortcomings. Nonetheless, by putting into practice the example, it is abundantly clear that the structural approach considers the causes of political developments to be disconnected from the dynamic of the political process. That, in stark contrast, to the interest-based approach in which individual decisions on the basis of seeking to maximise self-interest (Hague et al, 2016: 76) are seen to account for political developments. It is worth stressing that interest-based explanations do not only refer to financial optimisation, but also to a plethora of valued entities, such as authority and the accomplishment of ideological objectives. To illustrate the interest-based approach in practice, we can apply the example of political scientist William Rikers minimal winning coalition theory. It holds that in the aftermath of a general election in which no single party has been able to form a majority government, party leaders will seek to fulfil two criteria. First, they will seek to seek to form a coalition with parties that are ideologically similar to them on the political spectrum. Second, they will do so in such a way so as not to involve more politicians than is necessary to secure a parliamentary majority. This is evidenced by the 2010 UK general election. As Figure 1 vividly illustrates, the Conservatives, under the leadership of David Cameron, fell 19 seats short of a majority. As a result, they followed the aforementioned criteria to decide which party they wished to go into coalition with. Based on the first set of criteria, Cameron opted to go into coalition with Nick Cleggs Liberal Democrats as opposed to Gor don Browns Labour, in light of the fact that that the formers ideals were more closely aligned with those of their own than the latters, as Figure 2 (YouGov, 2014) makes abundantly clear. In addition, based on the second set of criteria, the Conservatives chose the Liberal Democrats as their coalition partners by taking into account the fact that the latter won over 200 fewer seats than Labour (see Figure 1), thus making it less likely that disagreements over the implementation of policies, for example would ensue in government. Hence, at the core of interest-based explanations is the idea that individuals perceived self-interest is the driving force behind political decisions and, on the whole, political developments are the result of such individual decisions. Furthermore, the structural and interest-based explanations can be contrasted in terms of their focus. According to Mahoney, at the core of structuralism is the concern with objective relationships between groups and societies. (Hague et al, 2016: 83) By contrast, the latter is focused on people. (Hague et al, 2016: 84) Thus, the latter focuses on the individual, whereas the former pays attention to networks. To summarise, this essay has examined the main differences between structural and interest-based explanations in comparative politics, through the use of empirical examples, and concluded that the grounds on which they differ are multitudinous. However, one of the main differences is in relation to how they explain the causes of political developments. Whereas structural explanations conclude that factors external to political life, such as life expectancy, are seen to account for political developments, interest-based explanations adopt the perspective that political developments are shaped by individual decisions, on the basis of what is best for them at a particular point in time. In that sense, another of the main differences between structural and interest-based approaches is that the former places a lot of emphasis on networks unlike the latter where the entirety of its focus lies with the individual. Bibliography BBC News Website (2010) Election 2010 Results http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/default.stm [accessed 26th February 2017] Collier, David (1993) The Comparative Method in Finifter, Ada W.; and American Political Science Association Political Science; the state of the discipline II Washington DC: American Political Science Association Faure, Andrew (1994) Some Methodological Problems in Comparative Politics Journal of Theoretical Politics Vol. 6 No. 3 pp. 307-322 Gherghina, Sergiu (2017) The Comparative Method in Introduction to Comparative Politics Gherghina, Sergiu (2017) Theoretical Frameworks in Comparative Politics in Introduction to Comparative Politics Hague, Rod; Harrop, Martin; and McCormack, John (2016) Chapter 5: Theoretical Approaches in Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction 10th Edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Lijphart, Arend (1971) Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method The American Political Science Review Vol. 65 No. 3 pp. 682-693 YouGov Website (2014) Britains Changing Political Spectrum https://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/07/23/britains-changing-political-spectrum/ [accessed 26th February 2017]   Ã‚   Appendices

Punishment as a form of behaviour modification Essay -- essays researc

Introduction Punishment is a process through which â€Å"the consequence of a response decreases the likelihood that the response will recur† (Gray, 2002, pp.115). Further, punishment can be seen as an effort to decrease the response rate to stimuli by either removing a desired stimulus or presenting one which is undesired (Gray, 2002). Recent studies suggest that punishment can be an effective method of behaviour modification. However, as reported in Lerman and Vorndran (2002), there are a number of limitations to punishment as an intervention and subsequent negative side effects. For this reason, certain principles upon which the implementation of a successful punishment is dependent must be adhered to. In accordance to these findings, this essay will contend that whilst there are alternative means to operant conditioning, certain punishment techniques have been proven to be effectual and in some aspects advantageous. The effectiveness of punishment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Punishment is one of the most used, but least understood and badly administered, aspects of learning† (Luthans, 1977, pp.300). As mentioned earlier, punishment is anything which weakens behaviour and tends to decrease it in subsequent frequency. Positive punishment is the method of administering negative consequences upon the occurrence of an action whereas Negative punishment involves the termination of positive consequences. In order to work, either case must weaken and decrease the behaviour which preceded the application or withdrawal of the stimuli. Skinner (1953) stipulated that we must defy the urge to label a form of stimuli as â€Å"desired† or â€Å"undesired† as a whole but rather to identify them by their effect on the observed subject. Whether punishment is effective depends on the criteria applied or the objectives to be achieved. That is, before we can say it is useful we must ask whether we desire an immediate or a lasting effect, and at how high a cost. There is some evidence to suggest that when punishment is administered in the form of aversive stimulation, it acts to suppress behaviour temporarily. When it is withdrawn, the punished behaviour rapidly gains strength. If the punishment is more severe and given consistently, it may act to suppress behaviour for a longer period of time (Skinner, 1953). Historically, the efficacy of punishment has been appreciated only in the pa... ... determine its utility (Lerman & Vorndran, 2002). Ultimately, â€Å"if punishment is necessary, it should always be used in combination with positive reinforcement† (Luthans, 1977, p.517). References: Blackham, G.J., & Silberman, A. (1971). Modification of Child Behaviour. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. Browning, R.M., & Stover, D.O. (1971). Behaviour Modification in Child Treatment. Chicago: Aldine–Atherton, Inc. Gray, P. (2002). Psychology (4th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Lerman, D. C., & Vorndran, C. M. (2002). On the status of knowledge for using punishment: Implications for treating behavior disorders. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 431-464. Lieberman, D. A. (2000). Learning, Behavior and Cognition (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. [Chapter 7] Luthans, F. (1977). Organizational Behaviour. United States of America: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Sanson, A., Montgomery, B., Gault, U., Gridley, H., & Thomson, D. (1996). Punishment and behaviour change: An Australian Psychology Society position paper. Australian Psychologist, 31, 157-165. Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behaviour. New York: Macmillan Co.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Evolution Essay -- essays research papers

Charles Darwin had two great themes in "On the Origin of Species" which accounted for the similarities and adaptations characteristic of living organisms. To account for the adaptations of organisms and those innumerable features that equip them for survival and reproduction, Darwin (and Wallace) independently came up with the central theory of evolutionary process: natural selection. Natural selection gives insight in to why organisms are the way that they are. Adaptations are phenotypic variants that result in the highest fitness among a specified set of variants in a given environment. In reference to humans, there are many traits that have been selected and adapted for throughout their evolutionary history giving them the characteristics that they have today. In this paper I will discuss some parts of the human body, which have been found to be selected for by the evolutionary mechanisms of natural selection, adaptation and mutation. Natural selection, adaptation, and mutations are three components of the evolutionary process, each one having either positive or negative effects on the other. What exactly is natural selection? There are many variations of the definition but most agree that it must include the following concepts: some attribute or trait must vary among biological entities, and there must be a consistent relationship, within a defined context, between the trait and one or more components of reproductive success, where "reproductive success" includes both survival and the reproductive processes themselves (Futuyma, 1998). Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection states "if variations useful to any organic being ever occur, assuredly individuals thus characterized will have the best chance of being preserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong principle of inheritance, these will tend to produce offspring similarly characterized." Regardless of how it is defined, natural selection and its action can have tremendous effects on the members of a population. It is natural selection that causes adaptation, and these adaptations evolve to ensure the survival of a species. Evolution, in a very broad sense, is defined as descent with modification and often with diversification (Futuyma, 1998). Darwin's idea of evolution was that it occurred by descent with modificatio... ...-carbohydrate, high protein diet. Certain metabolic adaptations were therefore necessary to accommodate the low glucose intake. Many indicate that the adaptive response to the low carbohydrate intake is insulin resistance(Miller, Colagiuri, 1994). A study done by J.C. Brand Miller and S. Colagirui proposes that insulin resistance offered a survival and reproductive advantage during the Ice Ages. This study also proposed that a carnivorous diet would have disadvantaged reproduction in insulin-sensitive individuals and positively selected for individuals with insulin resistance. Another factor mentioned was the various environmental factors that contributed to the low carbohydrate intake such as the types of foods that were available. The forces of natural selection on the evolutionary processes in humans can have a broad range of effects on the characteristics of humans. There are no concrete answers to some of the questions proposed in this paper, but time will soon tell exactly how the evolutionary mechanisms have effected the human race. The human species will continue to evolve as long as the mechanisms of evolution and environmental factors act upon us.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Mass Media’s Undermining of Societal Values During Health Care Reform E

Mass Media’s Undermining of Societal Values During Health Care Reform There is little doubt that three years ago the American people wanted health care reform. News media saw the controversy over health care reform as a strong issue to discuss in their productions, and most fulfilled their responsibility as an information medium: to provide equal opportunity for both sides of this debate to reveal the benefits of their plans and the drawbacks of their opponents’. However, when interest groups became involved in this dispute, advertising their own beliefs against the Clinton Health Care Reform Plan, they manipulated the public by using scare tactics. News media incorporated these ads in their coverage of the benefits and drawbacks of the proposed changes and the present system. The American public persuaded Congress to kill any effort by the Clinton Administration to universalize health care because of the interest groups’ advertisements and the news media’s emphasis on the accuracy of the messages displayed in these ads. The lack of support for health care reform was because of the fear and confusion the news media created. In this paper I will argue that mass media’s exposing the American Public to interest groups advertisements and the news media’s analyzing these advertisements in their health care reform reports reinforced the interest groups messages. This reinforcement led media to acknowledge the interest groups basis for disagreement over and the flaws of health care reform. The disagreement over and flaws of health care reform eventually led to the downfall of this initiative and of society’s valuing improvements in health care. News media undermined societal values by ignoring how health care reform... ... they rejected health care reform, and ignored mass media’s attention to health care reform. Otherwise, society would have had what it wanted: universal health care and an news medium respecting, not scaring its audience out of wise and beneficial decisions. Page 8 Works Cited Page Beck, Melinda. â€Å"Rationing Health Care† Newsweek 27 June 1994: 30. â€Å"Bureaucats† Coalition For Health Insurance 24 June 1994. â€Å"Changes Alternate # 2† Health Insurance Association of America 24 June 1994. â€Å"Defuse Health Care Bill.† The Arizona Republic 18 July 1994: 2. Greenwald, John. â€Å"OUCH! Which Hurts More, The Shot Or The Bill?† Time 8 March 1993: 53-55. Reich, Robert F. â€Å"National Health Care Reform: Comparing Four Alternative Plans.† Illinois Business Review 22 March 1994: 3. Wright, Robert. â€Å"The Technology Time Bomb.† The New Republic 29 March 1993: 25-30.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Political and Economic Environment Comparison Essay

The political and economic environments between Costa Rica and Mexico have similarities as well as differences. There are strong values and ethical views from both cultures that need to be compared and respected before there is complete understanding. The ability to understand each culture’s description and detailed information will determine how both cultures are able to understand each other and other surrounding cultures with similar views. The political views are discussed from both countries, Mexico and Costa Rica, and the economy is compared and contrasted to show overall cultural develop and growth. Political and Economic Environments of Costa Rica Costa Rica is one of the fastest growing nations right now, it’s government is one that is known as one of the oldest democracies in Central America, often looked upon by other countries as a model of success when discussing Latin American governments. However unlike most of their neighbors, Costa Rica has not suffered through the usual dictatorships or civil wars since their current system was implemented in 1948. In Costa Rica Presidential elections take place every four years and the president is elected by popular vote just as the American vote. The rule of thumb is that the president is elected with at minimum 40 percent of the popular vote or a runoff election will need to be held to make the final decision. The judicial branch has the final say in terms of administering justice in Costa Rica, this branch of government is made up of the Supreme Court, appellate courts and trial courts. Costa Rica’s governing body includes 22 magistrates, which are selected by the legislative assembly that takes place every eight years. The current President of Costa Rica is Laura Chinchilla, although the current President is a woman, Costa Rica has been ran by very strong male leaders in the past, a few notable politicians in Costa Rica are: Oscar Arias Sanchez, who was also a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1987) and also the President of the Republic (1986–1990, 2006-current). Another past president of Costa Rica was Juan Primitivo Prospero Fernandez Oreamuno from 1882 to 1885. He fought in the war of 1856-1857 against William Walker and participated in the military coup that overthrew Jesus Jimenez in 1870. Economic Factors of Costa Rica Costa Rica like many other countries uses trade to level economy. Trade brings in the income and a variety of food and merchandise. Here are a few countries Costa Rica is in trades with. The United States, Netherlands, China (including the special region of Hong Kong, Japan, Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil (2005) (Foley, 2008). A few other countries that Costa Rica has signed trade agreements with include, Canada, Chile, The Dominican Republic, Panama, and several Caribbean Community countries. The total value of exports is $2. 9 billion (1996); partners with Germany, Italy, Guatemala, El Salvador, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and France. Total value of imports was at $3. 4 billion in (1996); partners with the United States, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala. In 2000 trade was $6. 1 billion. In 2009 there was a two-way trade between the United States and Costa Rica exceeding $9. 6 billion. One major industry includes â€Å"The Intel Corporation,† which opened a chip-manufacturing plant in 1998. The garment assembly and tuna processing industries are important. The industrial production growth rate in 1992 was at 10. 5%. Costa Rica use these main industries, food processing textiles, clothing, construction materials, fertilizers, and plastic products. Others include aluminum processing, a petrochemical plant at Moin, a tuna-processing plant at Golfito, and an oil refinery at Puerto Limon. According to the Infocostarica staff, tourism is another major industry. Some 400,000 foreign tourists spent United States $164 million in 1998. In 1992 more than half a million foreigners visited Costa Rica, and spent an estimated $20 million, 15,000 jobs sites were also created within the first six months of that year. Costa Rica has been listed the lowest unemployment in all Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2001 the unemployment rate was at 6. %. In 2010 the unemployment rate was 6. 7%. The Cost Rican Union of Private Business Chambers and Associations (Uccaep) reported 15,000 lost jobs in the month of December 2008. The unemployment level was set a t 4. 9 in 2008, whereas it was expecting to rise 6% in 2009. The Nations International Labor Organization (OIT) listed Costa Rica as the lowest employment rate. The report also noted that more than half the new jobs generated in 2007 in the entire region are considered to be low-paying; jobs such as mine, construction and factory workers, transportation, and warehouse workers. Women in Costa Rica continue to be a disadvantage even though women have a higher level of education than men; the average salary paid to women is 26% lower. Costa Rica is known to use what they call currency as colon (CRC). Notes of 500; 1,000; 2,000; 5,000; 10,000 colon, coins 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, cemtimos, one USD – 517 (CRC) in 2007 (Foley, 2008). Currency is subdivided into 100 centimos. The Costaricans have slang terms for the currency, one example is for the colon bill of 100 called – â€Å"teja. † In recent times the colon has tended to depreciate against the dollar by about 10% annually. Political and Economic Environments of Mexico Mexico has a federation of about 31 states including the Federal District or (Mexico City, DF). [pic] There are three branches within the Federal Government in Mexico such as: Executive, Legislative and Judicial but all are very centralized in practice and most of the power with the executive branch. This branch includes the [pic]President, whom is elected to a 6 year term, called a sexenio. The President in Mexico can not be re-elected. [pic] The President is able to appoint closest collaborators which are referred to as the government’s Department Secretaries/Ministers (Politics of [pic] Mexico 2006). The Legislative Branch (Congreso de la Union has two parts; Senate and Congress. There are 128 Senators in the Senate and 500 Congressmen in Congress. The Senators have 96 members which are directly elelcted by simple [pic] votes within districts, 32 are allocated by proportional [pic] bases [pic]on the party’s popular vote. All senators serve a 6 year term. The Congressmen, have 300 member which are directly elected by the majority of the votes within districts [pic] while the rest of the 200 member are picked by popular vote from each party. All Congress members serve a 3 year term. Both the Senate and Congress’ members cannot be re-elected. Below is a list of today’s current Government Officials since 2006. Here are a few examples of current politicians in Mexico starting with the President being Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, the Foreign Secretary is Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, the Ambassador to the U. S. is Arturo Sarukhan Casmitjana, and the Ambassador to the United Nations is Claude Heller Rouassant. Mexico also has its share of [pic]famous politicians and holds large pride in each person’s success representing the country. Such great people are Robert Madrazo Pintado, Rosario Robles, and Moctezuma Ilhuicamina. Roberto Madrazo Pintado, a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was the candidate of the alliance between the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) and his party during the 2006 Presidential Election. Another famous person was Rosario Robles. She was born in 1956 and a left-wing Mexican politician who was appointed substitutes Head of Government of the Federal District or Mayor of Mexico City. Lastly, a famous earlier century (1398-1469) politician Moctezuma or Motecuhzoma Illhuicamina was the fifth Aztec emperor before Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas (wikipedia. org). Economic Factors of Mexico Mexico has several major industries which include vehicles, machinery, cement, pottery, iron and steel, mining, agriculture, oil and natural gas production, and aluminum refining. (Altepedia, 2009). Mexico’s official currency is the Mexican Peso, and one hundred centavos (Mexican cents) are equal to one peso. Like the American dollar, the symbol for a Mexican peso is the dollar sign. However, the symbol is displayed slightly differently to help one distinguish between the two. For example, sometimes peso amounts will be shown with the letters MX in front of the dollar sign (MX$). Other times the amount will have the letters MN after the amount ($500 MN). The letters MN stand for â€Å"Moneda Nacional,† in English translation it means â€Å"National Currency. † Similar to other currencies, the Mexican peso’s value fluctuates daily because this currency is â€Å"free floating† (Mexperience, 2010). The country has three main trading partners including the USA, European Union, and Japan. In 1986, Mexico joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT). After this exports to all countries began to rise. Between the years 1985 and 1993, exports went up 80 percent. In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began. This agreement removed most of the barriers to trade between the countries in North America (United States, Mexico, and Canada) (Williams, 2004). Once the implementation of NAFTA took place, Mexico’s exports growth nearly doubled. The countries major exports include â€Å"Chemicals, Coffee, Cotton, Fruit and Vegetables, Machinery and Industrial Goods, Oil and Gas, Shrimps† (Altepedia, 2009, p. 1). Unfortunately, during recent years the Mexican Economy began to change. During the last few years, Mexico has experienced a downturn in the economy. As a result employment levels began to drop. The economic downturn along with a recent increase in violence on the United States – Mexico border has damaged many of the country’s manufacturing plants. Several of the country’s Industria Manufacturera, Maquildora y de Servicios de Exportacion (IMMEX) plants shut down. In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua employment levels â€Å"decreased from 214,272 in July 2007 to 168,011 in December 2009† (Angeles Villarreal, 2010, p. 11). During this period, 46,261 jobs were lost. In Tijuana, Baja California, during the same period 37, 148 jobs were lost. These cities had the largest number of jobs in export assembly plants, but many more people were affected. The entire country’s export employment rate decreased from 1,910,112 to 1,641,465. The country’s total number of jobs lost between July 2007 and December 2009 was 268, 647 (Angeles Villarreal, 2010). Conclusion We have read about politics in Costa Rica and Mexico. How the government handles the absolute. Although each country has a president, the politicians can easily overrule democracy. Costa Rica and Mexico’s major industries are somewhat similar in content, although Mexico beats Costa Rica by one essence, pottery, while Costa Rica sky rockets with its tourism. The unemployment rate in both countries is at an ultimate low. That gives us clarity on why so many Latinos flee to the U. S. Many believe there is more to opportunity. Is that the only way out? Will Costa Rica and Mexico beat the odds?

Friday, August 16, 2019

Mf0010

Master in Business Administration – Semester3 MF0010– Security Analysis and Portfolio Management – 4Credits (Book ID: B1208) Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks) Q. 1 Frame the investment process for a person of your age group. Ans:- It is rare to find investors investing their entire savings in a single security. Instead, they tend to invest in a group of securities. Such a group of securities is called a portfolio. Most financial experts stress that in order to minimize risk; an investor should hold a well-balanced investment portfolio.The investment process describes how an investor must go about making. Decisions with regard to what securities to invest in while constructing a portfolio, how extensive the investment should be, and when the investment should be made. This is a procedure involving the following five steps: †¢ Set investment policy †¢ Perform security analysis †¢ Construct a portfolio †¢ Revise the portfolio †¢ Evaluate the perf ormance of portfolio 1. Setting Investment Policy : This initial step determines the investor’s objectives and the amount of his investable wealth.Since there is a positive relationship between risk and return, the investment objectives should be stated in terms of both risk and return. This step concludes with the asset allocation decision: identification of the potential categories of financial assets for consideration in the portfolio that the investor is going to construct. Asset allocation involves dividing an investment portfolio among different asset categories, such as stocks, bonds and cash. The asset allocation that works best for an investor at any given point in his life depends largely on his time horizon and his ability to tolerate risk.Time Horizon – The time horizon is the expected number of months, years, or decades that an investor will be investing his money to achieve a particular financial goal. An investor with a longer time horizon may feel more comfortable with a riskier or more volatile investment because he can ride out the slow economic cycles and the inevitable ups and downs of the markets. By contrast, an investor who is saving for his teen-aged daughter’s college education would be less likely to take a large risk because he has a shorter time horizon.Risk Tolerance – Risk tolerance is an investor’s ability and willingness to lose some or all of his original investment in exchange for greater potential returns. An aggressive investor, or one with a high-risk tolerance, is more likely to risk losing money in order to get better results. A conservative investor, or one with a low-risk tolerance, tends to favour investments that will preserve his or her original investment. The conservative investors keep a â€Å"bird in the hand,† while aggressive investors seek â€Å"two in the bush. † While setting the investment policy, the investor also selects the portfolio management style (acti ve vs. assive management). Active Management is the process of managing investment portfolios by attempting to time the market and/or select „undervalued? stocks to buy and „overvalued? stocks to sell, based upon research, investigation and analysis. Passive Management is the process of managing investment portfolios by trying to match the performance of an index (such as a stock market index) or asset class of securities as closely as possible, by holding all or a representative sample of the securities in the index or asset class.This portfolio management style does not use market timing or stock selection strategies. 2. Performing Security Analysis : This step is the security selection decision: Within each asset type, identified in the asset allocation decision, how does an investor select which securities to purchase. Security analysis involves examining a number of individual securities within the broad categories of financial assets identified in the previous step . One purpose of this exercise is to identify those securities that currently appear to be mispriced.Security analysis is done either using Fundamental or Technical analysis (both have been discussed in subsequent units). Fundamental analysis is a method used to evaluate the worth of a security by studying the financial data of the issuer. It scrutinizes the issuer's income and expenses, assets and liabilities, management, and position in its industry. In other words, it focuses on the „basics? of the business. Technical analysis is a method used to evaluate the worth of a security by studying market statistics. Unlike fundamental analysis, technical analysis disregards an issuer's financial statements.Instead, it relies upon market trends to ascertain investor sentiment to predict how a security will perform. 3. Portfolio Construction : This step identifies those specific assets in which to invest, as well as determining the proportion of the investor’s wealth to put i nto each one. Here selectivity, timing and diversification issues are addressed. Selectivity refers to security analysis and focuses on price movements of individual securities. Timing involves forecasting of price movement of stocks relative to price movements of fixed income securities (such as bonds).Diversification aims at constructing a portfolio in such a way that the investor’s risk is minimized. The following table summarizes how the portfolio is constructed for an active and a passive investor. [pic] 4. Portfolio Revision : This step is the repetition of the three previous steps, as objectives might change and previously held portfolio might not be the optimal one. 5. Portfolio performance evaluation : This step involves determining periodically how the portfolio has performed over some time period (returns earned vs. risks incurred). Q. From the website of BSE India, explain how the BSE Sensex is calculated. Ans:- SENSEX is calculated using the â€Å"Free-float Mar ket Capitalization† methodology, wherein, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization.The base period of SENSEX is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the free-float market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the SENSEX. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc.During market hours, prices of the index scrips, a t which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate SENSEX on a continuous basis. Dollex-30 BSE also calculates a dollar-linked version of SENSEX and historical values of this index are available since its inception. (For more details click ‘Dollex series of BSE indices') SENSEX – Scrip Selection Criteria 1. Equities of companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. (excluding companies classified in Z group, listed mutual funds, scrips suspended on the last day of the month prior to review date, scrips objected by theSurveillance department of the Exchange and those that are traded under permitted category) shall be considered eligible 2. Listing History: The scrip should have a listing history of at least three months at BSE. An exception may be granted to one month, if the average free-float market capitalization of a newly listed company ranks in the top 10 of all companies listed at BSE. In the event that a company is listed on account o f a merger / demerger / amalgamation, a minimum listing history is not required. 3.The scrip should have been traded on each and every trading day in the last three months at BSE. Exceptions can be made for extreme reasons like scrip suspension etc. 4. Companies that have reported revenue in the latest four quarters from its core activity are considered eligible. 5. From the list of constituents selected through Steps 1-4, the top 75 companies based on free-float market capitalisation (avg. 3 months) are selected as well as any additional companies that are in the top 75 based on full market capitalization (avg. months). 6. The filtered list of constituents selected through Step 5 (which can be greater than 75 companies) is then ranked on absolute turnover (avg. 3 months). 7. Any company in the filtered, sorted list created in Step 6 that has Cumulative Turnover of >98%, are excluded, so long as the remaining list has more than 30 scrips 8. The filtered list calculated in Step 7 is then sorted by free float market capitalization. Any company having a weight within this filtered constituent list of

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Solar Ray Collector

OBJECTIVE: – To determine the efficiency of the solar ray collector under various experimental conditions. 1. Illumination with halogen lamp. Water temperature ? e? 20 °C. a) Complete collector b) Collector without glass plate 2. Illumination with halogen lamp. Water temperature ? e ? 60 °C. c) Complete collector d) Complete collector, cold jet of air impinges e) Collector without glass plate f) Collector without glass plate, cold jet of air impinges INTRODUCTION: Solar ray collectors  transform solar radiation into heat and transfer that heat to water. Then solar heat can be used for heating water, to back up heating systems.The heart of a solar collector is the absorber, which is usually composed of several narrow metal strips. The carrier fluid for heat transfer flows through a heat-carrying pipe, which is connected to the absorber strip. In plate-type absorbers, two sheets are sandwiched together allowing the medium to flow between the two sheets. Absorbers are typic ally made of copper or aluminum. CALCULATION: Important formula for calculating the useful power, PN and efficiency, ? : 1. Useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) where, m = 100 g/min = 1. 667 x 10-3 kg/s c = specific thermal capacity of water = 4. 182 kJ/kg  · K o = average absorber outlet temperature ?i = average absorber inlet temperature 2. Efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) where, qi = 1 kW/m2 A = 0. 12 m2 Sample calculation: PART A I. Complete collector ( t=15 min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 667 x 10-3 kg/s)  · (32. 5 – 28. 5) K = 0. 0279 kW – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 0. 0279kW / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 12 m2) = 0. 232 II. Complete without glass plate ( t=15min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 667 x 10-3 kg/s)  · (35. 0 – 30. 0) K = 0. 0348 kW – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 0. 0279kW / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 2 m2) = 0. 29 PART B I. Complete collector ( t=15 min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 667 x 10-3 kg/s)  · (50. 0 -50. 5) K = 3. 49 W – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 3. 49W / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 12 m2) = 0. 029 II. Collector without glass plate ( t=10min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 667 x 10-3 kg/s)  · (52. 0 -52. 0) K = 0. 0 W – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 0. 0 W / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 12 m2) = 0. 0 III. Complete collector, cold jet of air impinges ( t=15 min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 67 x 10-3 kg/s)  · (51. 5-51. 5) K = 0. 0 W – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 0 W / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 12 m2) = 0. 0 IV. Collector without glass plate , cold jet of air impinges ( t=15min ) – useful power, PN = c  · m  · (? o – ? i) = (4. 182 kJ/kg  · K)  · (1. 667 x 10-3 kg/ s)  · (43. 0 – 49. 0) K = 0. 0418 kW – efficiency, ? = PN / (qi x A) = 0. 0418 kW / (1 kW/m2 x 0. 12 m2) = 0. 349 DISCUSSION: In this laboratory session, we have conducted an experiment regarding Solar Ray Collector. The main idea of this experiment is to determine the efficiency of the solar ray collector under various experimental conditions.Theoretically, solar collectors transform solar radiation into heat and transfer that heat to a medium (water, solar fluid, or air). Then solar heat can be used for heating water, to back up heating systems. The efficiency of a solar collector is defined as the quotient of usable thermal energy versus received solar energy. Absorbers are usually black, as dark surfaces demonstrate a particularly high degree of light absorption. The level of absorption indicates the amount of solar radiation being absorbed that means not being reflected.As the absorber warms up to a temperature higher than the ambient temperature, it gives off a great part of the accumulated solar energy in form of heat rays. From the Part A of the experiment we can observed that the temperature increases for collector with glass is lesser than collector without a glass. This is because for the condition without glass plate, the light emitted from the halogen lamp not being reflected. Thus the light is emitted directed to the solar ray collector and gives their full efficiency without any disturbance or obstacles.In other scenario, collector with the glass plate, the light that emitted from the halogen lamp is being reflected by the glass plate and also reduced the heat that cross from the glass to the solar collector and hence reduced their efficiency. When the glass is placed, the maximum efficiency recorded was 0. 23 and when the glass is not used the maximum efficiency reached 0. 29. Efficiency indicates how well an energy conversion or transfer process is accomplished. In Part B , we can said that when we use heated water around 60? C , we can see that PN and ? ecome constant zero at the end of the time for natural air with glass. This is because the inlet and outlet temperature have become the same. So we can say that there is no useful power in the system. For the experiment that using the blower, the useful power and efficiency of the absorber for the blower without glass plate is higher than blower with glass plate. This is because the air from the blower relieves the heat from the surface of the absorber thus directly reducing the effectiveness of the absorber significantly. There are several error that occurred while we doing the experiment.First is as parallax errors, for instance the reading of the thermometer not taken precisely. Thus it might be give a slightly error in the data . If the parallax errors occurred, it might influence the results and calculation that we got. Secondly is to get temperature of water at 60 Celsius °C and sometime the temperature drop and affected the heat exchanger. Besides , we are having difficulty in order to maintain the flow rate of 100 cm3/min, because it sometimes goes down and up. Thus we have to check it frequently and its quite disturbing because we also need to take measurement for every minutes for 15 minutes.Moreover the thermometer is not precise because it scale is only 0. 5. Thus it is very difficult to get a correct measurement CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we can say that this experiment has achieve its objectives since we can determine the efficiency of the solar ray collector under various experimental conditions. In this experiment we can said that, the greater heat losses of the absorber the higher its temperature. Although there a lack of technique in handling the apparatus, we managed to complete the experiment with the guide of instructor.