Using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, explain the social consequences of Chinas move towards the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus. - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2673 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category History Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? Introduction This paper explores the relationship between two apparently different themes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the essentially postmodern, 20th century established and outsider social philosophy expounded by Norbert Elias (Elias and Scotson, 1994) and the distinctly 21st century and essentially economic programme encapsulated in the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus (PWBC) (Peerenboom, 2014). Every policy, however, has social consequences, and this paper examines the social consequences of the PWBC in an Eliasian context. This paper begins by explicating Elias established and outsider philosophy before moving on to describe the PWBC. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, explain the social consequences of Chinas move towards the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus." essay for you Create order The social consequences of the PWBC shall then be analysed within the Eliasian context in order to achieve a deep understanding of what these social consequences are and what they could mean for the people of China should the PWBC come to full fruition. The paper ends by drawing together the findings in a conclusion that while the PWBC comprehensively addresses Chinas economic dilemma, its narrow focus and elision of the need for a free media and democratic representation indicates that social consequences go unaddressed, and that China faces social unrest and dislocation as a result. Norbert Elias established and insider concept Elias research as far as this paper is concerned relates to the distinctions between the established à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" those who comprise the official establishment and unofficial, socially mediated cliques à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and the outsiders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" those lacking in connections or social advantage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" who are excluded from the power, economic and knowledge structures of the society in which they live (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Elias philosophy found expression in his significant research into the lives of the people of Winston Parva; Elias Winston Parva was a long-established community, the members of which viewed themselves within structural confines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a quantitatively ordered, dimensional and objectively classified concept (Hofstede, 2001) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" something that offended Elias postmodern tendencies, where the objective is not to seek prima facie classification, but to search for depth and understanding (McSweeney, 2002). The initial research in Winston Parva was conducted by John Scotson, who was a member of the community and was therefore able to establish the validity of his research that long-term immersion endows (Christians, 1997). Elias took Scotsons initial research and rewrote it, adding the insight of the philosopher to its original observational validity. The post-war history of Winston Parva rendered it particularly suitable for sociological enquiry. Pre-1945, Winston Parva had been a community divided on class and economic lines. The powerful established included businessmen, officials and professionals (Elias and Scotson, 1994). The disempowered established consisted of the communitys unskilled labour, skilled artisans and shopworkers; these count among the established because they were bonded through family, occupation and society, and found particular identification in these aspects of their lives (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Post-1945, however, a new influx of people arrived in Win ston Parva. These comprised primarily people from various large cities, seeking homes to replace those lost as a result of wartime bombing (Elias and Scotson, 1994). These outsiders had little in common with each other, there were few extended familial ties and no social ties to bond them into a community; also, for them, work was often hard to find as their skills were not transferrable (Elias and Scotson, 1994). This influx became the outsiders, viewed by the established as the minority of the worst (Elias and Scotson, 1994: 7). Elias concept of the established, characterised by cohesion, self-support, self-praise and self-affirmation and the outsiders, characterised by lack of cohesion, lack of economic power and subject to the blame of others (Elias and Scotson, 1994), is transferrable to many other social settings. It is by this process that the social conditions for people in China undergoing the upheaval of the PWBC shall now be examined. The Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus within the Eliasian context China has seen remarkable economic growth in recent decades, although growth that was typically in double figures until 2009 has slowed since then to a still-impressive but markedly reduced level of 7 per cent per annum for 2015 (The Economist, 2015). Chinas economy has been predicated upon exporting manufactured goods and high levels of investment from government-controlled financial institutions (Peerenboom, 2014). Chinas home-grown variety of post-Mao socialism has facilitated this and has unintentionally led to wide economic disparities among the population; as Chinese former premier Deng Xiaoping said, let a portion of the population get rich first (Hilton, 2012: n.p.). At first sight it appears that post-Mao China has little in common with the Winston Parva of Elias and Scotson (1994). It is important, however, to appreciate that Chinas growth has been macro-economic; much has been achieved in terms of headline data, although for the Chinese equivalent of the newcomers to Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the migrants to Chinese cities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the situation is markedly similar. As Hilton (2012) explains, the established of China are the main beneficiaries of Chinese economic growth, whereas the outsiders, while achieving the greater economic stability that comes with industrial employment, experience geographical and social dislocation. This bears comparison with the outsiders of Winston Parva; they too experienced geographical and social dislocation (Elias and Scotson, 1994). While the political and economic histories and macro-economic situations of Winston Parva and the Chinese cities may differ, the social experiences of their outsiders are significantly comparable. The question remains, however, whether the history and macro-economic situations of these outsiders is influential in their social condition. With one important qualification it appears not, as contemporaneous literature for both countries suggests that the vision of outside rs is preoccupied by their present and their future, not reflecting on their past (Levitt and Jaworsky, 2007). The present is the situation described in this paper; the past for China is the Cultural Revolution, and the past for Winston Parva is the Second World War. The important qualification relates to an aspect of Chinas past and present that, while interesting, remains outside the remit of this paper à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Chinas inaccurately named One-Child Policy (Cai, 2010). As Chinas migrants to the cities are mostly young and single, the effects of the One-Child Policy can be presently discounted, although this may change as the migrant population matures. Presently, however, China faces the dilemma of being caught in what is called the middle-income trap à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the situation where development stalls due to an inability to adapt its economic model to enable the leap from middle-income to high-income status (Ginsburg, 2014). To enable this leap to high-income sta tus, China needs to radically change its economic model from that of exporting cheaply manufactured goods to one of exporting fewer but more expensive premium products and building a comprehensive and sophisticated service sector à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a feature that all high-income countries share. Other developing countries have followed the Washington Consensus paradigm for economic growth, comprising focus on markets and international co-operation (Williamson, 1989), with limited success (Fofack, 2014). China, however, followed its own path, known as the Beijing Consensus or China Model, comprising the export-led, high-investment programme described above (Peerenboom, 2014). While this may bear little comparison with todays Britain, it exhibits startling similarities to the investment-led post-war British drive for exports that was underway in the late-1950s when Scotson conducted his initial research (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Unlike British government policy of the 1950s and be yond, however, there is no immediate provision for representative democracy or media freedom within the PWBC (Banerjee and Duflo, 2008). The success of the Beijing Consensus has been remarkable, but with significant adverse social consequences including income disparity, particularly noticeable between rural and urban areas, and a lack of urban social provision and infrastructure (He and Su, 2013). Like Elias Winston Parva (Elias and Scotson, 1994), Chinese cities have seen mass inward migration from diverse rural areas; these arrivals are recent and socially diverse, and have little in the way of local familial connections or social power. These are the outsiders who come for employment in the burgeoning Chinese private sector, set in contrast against a largely state-employed long-standing urban establishment. As such they correspond significantly to Elias outsiders. Where they differ, however, is that unlike Elias outsiders in Winston Parva, they are almost wholly in employment an d so have a degree of economic power. Their economic power is, however, at present limited by the middle-income exigency of Chinas export-led, high-investment economy, predicated upon mass exports at low production cost (Peerenboom, 2014) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a significant component of which is low remuneration rates. As such, they bear comparison with the outsiders of Winston Parva who also experience economic want due to unemployment (Elias and Scotson, 2014). The PWBC advocates a combination of the free-market approach of the Washington Consensus and the authoritarianism of the Beijing Consensus (Peerenboom, 2014). It is motivated by the need for China to escape the middle-income trap. Income and social status are interlinked as the outsiders in Winston Parva illustrate, although this is not the only relevant factor. In order for communities to be built à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the means by which outsiders can achieve established status à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it is necessary for social an d material infrastructure to be built (Tanaka, 2015). The PWBC recognises the need for material infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" housing, transport, hospitals and schools à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as it is clear that as the migrant population matures, these facilities will be necessary; however the position regarding social infrastructure is less clear. Similarly, Elias and Scotsons (1994) Winston Parva possessed the necessary material infrastructure. As has been explained, the economic situation of the Chinese cities and Winston Parva bears comparison through, in the Chinese cities case, low remuneration rates and, in Winston Parvas case, unemployment. This, however, is where the similarity ends; while the economic outcomes for each location may be similar, the social effects of low pay and unemployment are very different (Stewart, 2005), although amelioration is possibly in sight through the income-raising measures of the PWBC in China and local training and employment measures in Winst on Parva. The Chinese government appears to be either unclear about or unwilling to address the social infrastructure issue. The migrant population in Chinese cities currently works hard to support families in rural areas but, as the migrant population matures, its priorities and needs will change, and the question to be addressed is whether top-down, unrepresentative government will be able to identify that populations social needs and adequately address them. The lessons from Winston Parva suggest not; in Winston Parva, building an estate and filling it with unconnected people from disparate backgrounds and locations did not build a community, and while the outsiders of Winston Parva were poor and largely despised by the established, they at least had the benefit of representation at national and local levels. They also had the benefit of a free media, so their voices could be heard. It appears that the social effects of low pay/unemployment and the presence/absence of repre sentation and a free media crucially distinguish the cities of China from the community of Winston Parva. The established-outsider tension in Winston Parva implicit in the praise and blame associated with unemployment and other facets of social status was maintained from within by the self-supporting established (Scotson and Elias, 1994); however, viewed from outside, such self-affirming practices are regarded as illegitimate, as was the case highlighted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, whereby outsiders plight was identified by the media and subsequently resolved through the power of their democratic representatives (Katrina 10, 2015). Concerning the presence/absence of democratic representation and a free media, in China, unlike in Winston Parva, the voices of the outsiders cannot be heard and, without democratically accountable representation, their social needs cannot be adequately addressed. China faces a social dilemma as serious as its economic one, bu t one that cannot be mediated due to the lack of representation and media access, and while the PWBC may address the economic problems faced by China, it seems unable to provide any solutions to its incipient social ones. Conclusion This paper set out to out to address how, using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, the social consequences of Chinas move towards the PWBC may be explained. Elias established-outsider concept was explained using the illustrative example of Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the site of Scotsons and later Elias research. Significant parallels were found between the situations of outsiders in Winston Parva and those in Chinese cities; in both situations, the outsiders were new arrivals from disparate origins, who had no familial or occupational ties to the area or each other. Neither group of outsiders had the means of building a community. There were, however, differences; the Chinese outsiders have a limited degree of economic power whereas their Winston Parva counterparts did not and, while the economic differences are negligible, the social consequences are not, although amelioration in both locations is in prospect; also, the Winston Parva outsiders had access to a free media and democratic representation, whereas the Chinese outsiders do not. The PWBC crucially lacks dimensions in these latter regards, and this is why the social needs of the Chinese outsiders are unlikely to be met by it, and their social future looks bleak and resolvable only through social unrest and dislocation. Elias established-outsider concept was explained using the illustrative example of Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the site of Scotsons and later Elias research. Significant parallels were found between the situations of outsiders in Winston Parva and those in Chinese cities; in both situations, the outsiders were new arrivals from disparate origins, who had no familial or occupational ties to the area or each other. Neither group of outsiders had the means of building a community. There were, however, differences; the Chinese outsiders have a limited degree of economic power whereas their Winston Parva counterparts did not and, while the economic differences are negligible, the social consequences are not, although amelioration in both locations is in prospect; also, the Winston Parva outsiders had access to a free media and democratic representation, whereas the Chinese outsiders do not. The PWBC crucially lacks dimensions in these latter regards, and this is why the social needs of the Chinese outsiders are unlikely to be met by it, and their social future looks bleak and resolvable only through social unrest and dislocation. Bibliography Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2008) What is middle class about the middle classes around the world? in Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(2), pp. 3-28 Cai, Y. (2010) Chinas below-replacement fertility: government policy or socio-economic development? in Population and Development Review, 36(3), pp. 419-440 Christians, C. G. (1997) The ethics of being in a communication context in Christians, C. G. And Traber, M. (eds) Communication Ethics and Universal Values, pp. 3-23, Thousand Oaks: Sage The Economist (2015) Economist Explains: Why Chinas Economy is Slowing, 11th March, 2015 [online] available at https://economist.com, accessed 23rd September, 2015 Elias, N. and Scotson, J. L. (1994) The Established and the Outsiders: a Sociological Enquiry into Community Problems, London: Sage in association with Theory, Culture and Society Fofack, H. (2014) Retrospective analysis of Africa post-HIPC Growth Resurgence: overcoming the risk of immersising growth in Africa Affairs, f orthcoming Ginsburg, T. (2014) The Politics of Law and Development in Middle-Income Countries in Peerenboom, R. and Ginsburg, T. (eds) Law and Development of Middle-Income Countries: Avoiding the Middle-Income Trap, pp. 21-35, New York: Cambridge University Press He, X. and Su, Y. (2013) Do the haves come out ahead in Shanghai courts? in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 10(1), pp. 120-145, March 2013 Hilton, I. (2012) Chinas economic reforms have let party leaders and their families get rich in The Guardian, Friday 26th October, 2012 Hofstede, G. (2001) Cultures Consequences: Comparing Cultures, Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organisations across Nations, Thousand Oaks, Sage Katrina 10 (2015) Resilient New Orleans [online] available at https://.katrina10.org, accessed 23rd September, 2015 Levitt, P. and Jaworsky, B. N. (2007) Transnational migration studies: past developments and future trends in Annual Review of Sociology, (33) pp. 129-156 McSweeney, B . (2002) Hofstedes model of national cultural differences: a triumph of faith à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a failure of analysis in Human Relations, 55(1), pp. 89-118 Peerenboom, R. (2014) Law and Development of Middle-Income Countries: A Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus, public lecture [online] available at https://youtube.com/watch?v=2VwOAKwAHhM Stewart, M. B. (2005) The inter-related dynamics of unemployment and low-wage employment, Warwick Economic Research Papers, No. 741, [online] available at https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/2008/twerp_741.pdf Tanaka, A. (2015) Toward a theory of human security in JICA Institute Working Paper (91), March 2015 Williamson, J. (1989) What Washington Means by Policy Reform [online] available at https://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?researchid=486, accessed 23rd September, 2015

Ict Ethics Issues in Malaysia - 638 Words

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White Collar Crime Free Essays

Is White Collar Crime an Inside Job? Simply put, the point that Charles Ferguson is trying to get across in his documentary, The Inside Job is that economics is exactly that, it’s an inside job; with many elite employees involved. Economics is a profession, and at the end of the day, it all comes down to power, and the money being brought home by those at the top. Throughout the documentary Ferguson does an excellent job revealing the not so behind the scenes action, that many just don’t pick up on, due to the fact that companies police themselves. We will write a custom essay sample on White Collar Crime or any similar topic only for you Order Now The documentary explains how it effects everyone, even those that are not directly involved or related. Those who are responsible for the financial meltdown in 2008, and the housing bubble are revealed, and an explanation is given as to why they are still in charge of the companies whose actions affected millions of people not only in The United States, but all over the world. Several different types of white collar crimes were committed leading up to the financial crisis, and several different companies were engaging in the large scale criminal activity. Financial deregulation is one of the main topics discussed in the documentary, and how financial institutions were given more freedom; thus making more risky investments with their depositors money, and seeing no consequences when these investments fell through. The documentary brings forward many thoughts about the types of white collar crime committed and how those that are guilty got away with it, how the victims were affected by the careless actions of the companies, as well as the reasons and motivation behind the crimes. The documentary stresses that this crisis was no accident, and that it was all caused by an out of control industry. Each crises causes more and more financial damage, while industries continue to make millions. While the documentary doesn’t once mention the term white collar crime, it doesn’t take much to realize that this was exactly what went on. â€Å"Not only have the vast majority of responsible parties not been convicted of any crime — they haven’t even been charged† (Andrew Leonard, 2012), the employees that destroyed their own companies, and caused crisis all over the world, walked away with all their money, and left millions of people without their savings. Defining White Collar Crime Defined by Edwin Sutherland(1949), white collar crime is â€Å"a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation†. Countless types of white collar crime exist, many people not even being aware of them . It is strongly believed that white collar crime was the cause of the global financial crisis of 2008, which consisted mainly of mortgage, insurance, and security fraud. Marshall Clinard and Richard Quinney (1973) defined two types of white collar crime: occupational, and corporate. They defined occupational crime as being committed by individuals over the course of their occupation, mainly for personal gain, whereas corporate crime is committed by the corporations as a whole, the crime is planned and committed for the corporations financial gain. In The Inside Job, several types of white collar crime were committed, such as: laundering, cooking books, and defrauding customer’s money. Even though those who commit white collar crime are labeled as criminals, they often don’t fall under the typical stereotype that street criminals hold. Reducing the amount of white collar crime is something that is very important and there needs to be more attention toward it. The media definitely needs to focus more on white collar crime, as most news usually revolves around street crime, rather than revealing the crimes being committed by large corporations. A stronger punishment is needed to reduce white collar crime. Often, those who commit white collar crimes get off without jail, because they have the money to pay millions of dollars in fines. Increasing these fines drastically would not allow them to pay for their punishment. Victimization of White Collar Crime Victimization of white collar crime is not something that is often heard of in the media. It’s not uncommon to turn on the news and see countless stories of the victims of murder and robbery, and well as drug related street crimes. But what about the victims of the crime that’s vastly underreported, and even more undetected? People who commit street crime are seen as more dangerous, and often receive a harsh punishment, because they generally have less money,therefore less power. One of the many reasons for the underreported incidences of white collar crime, is simply because there is less to show for it. It is estimated by the Canadian Securities Administration, that nearly 5% of adult Canadians have lost money to some type of investment fraud. White collar crime is often seen as less damaging than street crime, but in reality, victims of white collar crime do suffer from tremendous damages. Aside from the obvious financial loss, they are known to have struggles with psychological, emotional, and physical health (Kempa 2009). Numerous things can happen after people are affected by white collar crimes, such as possibly triggering them to commit street crimes, such as theft, in order to support their family after losing money. A close relationship is often built between the perpetrator and the victim, giving them the sense of trust, thus having them believe that no type of fraud could happen to them. As seen in the documentary, not just those directly involved are affected. When the Wall Street Stock Market crashed in 2008, other countries were also paying the price. Tens of millions of people were affected either directly or indirectly from the global economic crisis. With the sudden drop of employment in America, budgets of those families also decreased drastically, thus buying less in order to save money. This cutback caused several large companies in China to cease their production; causing over 10 million to lose their job. As heard in The Inside Job, Dominique Strauss-Kahn states that â€Å"at the end of the day, the poorest, as always, pay the most†. As mentioned earlier, the employees of the large corporations committing the crimes go home with their hundreds of thousands of dollars, and those affected in poorer countries, are left with nothing. People with money have power, power that can often get them out of situations that many others are not be able to. Self-Control Theory and White Collar Crime The self-control theory argues that all crime stems from the problem of low self control. (Hirschi Gottfredson, 1987). This low self control causes people to act impulsively and spontaneously, value risk and adventure, and care more about themselves than they do others. As stated in The Inside Job, Jonathan Alpert, therapist to many Wall Street exclusives, says that they’re â€Å"risk takers, and impulsive. It’s part of their behaviour, it’s part of their personality†¦ there’s just a blatant disregard for the impact that their actions might have on society, on family†. Many of those that commit white collar crimes are often seen as having the need to control, being charismatic and narcissistic, as well as having a fear of losing their power and their position. Greed is often a primary motivator for white collar criminals. As heard in The Inside Job, â€Å"the bankers showered money on themselves, each other, and their friends†, they lived a wealthy and luxurious life; living in penthouse suites on Park Avenue, owning numerous vacation homes in the Hampton’s, flying around the world in private jets. Living such a wealthy and elite lifestyle, â€Å"it’s quite typical for the guys to go out, to go to strip bars, to use drugs. I see a lot of cocaine use, a lot of use of prostitution†¦ A lot of people feel that they need to really participate in that behavior to make it, to get promoted, to get recognized. † (Alpert, 2010). It’s quite clear that the main motivation behind many of those involved in committing white collar crimes, usually comes down to the power they hold, and most importantly, the money in their pockets. White Collar vs. Street Crime Those who commit street crime are often given a harsher punishment and a more negative reputation than those who commit white collar crimes. In reality, the two types of criminals are not that different, even though their methods of crime are unalike. Should there be different punishment or sentences for those who commit fraud or embezzlement, compared to those who distribute illegal drugs? People with a higher status and more money and power often tend to get a lighter sentence, as both the money and power can often get them out of situations, but this isn’t fair. White collar crimes generally effect people more than street crime. As seen in The Inside Job, the crimes committed by a few large corporations, caused millions of people to lose copious amounts of money, as well as their jobs. A main distinction that can often separate those who commit white collar crime, and those who commit street crime, is their level of education. Many people seen in The Inside Job were those who had graduated, or even worked at respected universities. They were often well educated in economics and business, so they knew every last detail of what they were working with. White collar criminals are often known have a desire for control, causing them to engage in corporate crime, hoping to gain power. The financial crisis of 2008 that affected millions of people, causing tremendous losses of both jobs and money, is something that will be around to haunt people for years. Their victims are left to suffer, while the employees of the large corporations walk away with all their money. The people who commit such white collar crimes are selfish, and only care about their own power and money. Even years after the crisis, news is still floating around, and people are still questioning why the corporations and their employees aren’t seeing punishment. The criminals that commit these large scale crimes, are being treated differently than those that commit street crimes, they get away with no punishment, and continue working, in time committing the same crimes over again. Reference List Barkan, S. E. Criminology: a sociological understanding. (5th ed. ). Pearson. Croall , H. (2001). Understanding white collar crime. Buckingham, England: McGraw Hill. Ferguson, C. (Director) (2010). The inside job [DVD]. Kempa, M. (2009). Combating white collar crime in canada: Serving victim needs and market integrity. (University of Ottawa). Leonard, A. (2012, May 18). Corporate criminals gone wild. Retrieved from http://www. salon. com/2012/05/18/corporate_criminals_gone_wild/ Morgenson, G. Story, L. ,(2011, July 7). As wall st. polices itself, prosecutors use softer approach. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2011/07/08/business/in-shift-federal-prosecutors-are-lenient-as-companies-break-the-law. html? _r=2=1=wisenberg=cse Watt, R. (2012). University students’ propensity towards white-collar versus street crime. (University of Guelph). How to cite White Collar Crime, Essay examples

System Thinking In Portflio Management †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The System Thinking In Portflio Management? Answer: Introducation Systems thinking and project management, both the function have a strong relationship with each other. Both of the topics are used together for big researches in the mid 90s. After World War 2 both the processes had their separate progression but their interrelation cannot be neglected, not even today. Development of bodies like SEBOK and PMBOK, elevated the practices of system thinking, specifically system engineering. The shared concepts between system engineering and project management are life-cycle advancement of designs and concepts as well as implementations of projects and systems (Liu, Forrest and Yang 2015). With the evolution of technology system thinking and engineering have been spread from hard to soft systems like personnel and communication management, team structure and performance, communication management and others (Brandstdter, Harms and Grossschedl 2012). The complexities of any project can be understood by the managers by application of concepts of system think ing. Purpose of this essay is to understand the system thinking process and application of different tools and techniques of system thinking in project management. A project can be considered as a system since a system is purposeful factor, interrelated with different interacting constructive parts. A system runs by taking input from the environment or circumstances and by converting them into desirable outputs (Hanson 2014). The structure of a system defines its relationships and usefulness in performing specific activities. Boundary of a system can be defined as the concerns regarding the systems and these concerns or scopes are changeable along with circumstances. A project consists of activities, structures and processes. Project managers can settle down an uncontrollable project by the appropriate application of system thinking (Henry et al. 2013). The term general system management is first introduced by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, which tells that a system can be identified by the dynamic interaction between the components and its non-linearity (Kerzner 2013). A part of a system cannot be understood separately. A system approach can be descr ibed as explaining the problems from large viewpoint to analyse, synthesize, provide feedback and verify alternative approaches which can minimise the complexities (Brownsword and Setchi 2012). Approach of system thinking in project develops a definition of project management system, which an helpful organisational sub-system for superimposing a project team on the structure of an organisation. System engineering is an inter-regulatory approach consisting of successful engineering systems for deducing the solutions of problems by understanding the needs of stakeholders and by deploying useful applications like opportunity explorations, documentations of requirements and validating and verifying the complexities (Kerzner 2013). System engineering should provide a guide for the necessary information regarding the boundaries, vocabulary and structural concepts of any discipline. It should inform about the values as well as limitations of system thinking to the project managers (Gomes and Romo 2015). Incorporating a system engineering process a project can avail requirements, verifications and functions (Haimes 2015). An effective project management system incorporates work breakdown structure that is a hierarchy composed of the products and services necessary for the completion of the project. This work breakdown structure is associated with system architecture, which configur es the alignment between system engineering and project management (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). With the application of system engineering the integration of risks and risk management process in project management is inevitable (Liu, Forrest and Yang 2015). These risks can be defined as the uncertainty of an event or its result constructed by system engineering. These risks can be categorised as- strategic, financial, operational, technical and program or project risks. These risks are associated with the strategic plans and policies of an organisation, its financial base, technical and operations departments of an organisation (Henry et al. 2013). In order to achieve safety from these risks system engineering must be incorporated of a suitable set of risk management procedures. The components of this risk management procedure are planning, identification of risk factors, analysis, development of strategies for responding to the risk factors, monitor and control of risks. A larger project management plan should include sufficient resources for risk management which can give pro per information about tools and techniques, objectives and goals, responsibilities and roles of communication. Next important thing is ti identify the category of the risks (Brownsword and Setchi 2012). There are several risk factors associated with technical, cost-revenue, human resources, production, management, engineering, business threats and more. A proper identification of risk factors will allow an organisation to take appropriate measures to counter the risk. Risk analysis can be of two methods, which are qualitative and quantitative (Haimes 2015). For qualitative analysis a risk mapping matrix delivers the risk probability. Quantitative analysis comprises two techniques, Decision tree analysis and Monte Carlo analysis in order to present the measurement of risks either by using permutation possibility or by sampling randomly. Analysing the risk factors, based on the findings strategies are made to respond against risks. Generic model of development of risk response strateg y follows acceptance, avoidance, control and transfer (Hanson 2014). Finally, the risks are controlled and monitored that those risk factors do not return in the system to affect the project. The techniques for controlling risk factors are achieved value, which is technique of comparison of earned work value with work value set to perform in the scheduled time, program metrics, which is periodic analysis of the achievement of risk management plans and measurement of technical performances, which is a quantification of technicalities of a project and comparison of it with project success metrics. Concepts that strategize the decision making ability incorporating investment policies, align it with objectives and allocation of individual and organisational assets and development of risk management strategies are the structural unit of portfolio management. It is associated with strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analyses that estimate the maximum return despite of presence of risk factors (Brandstdter, Harms and Grossschedl 2012). The consolidated management that manages various procedures, techniques and technologies applied by the bodies of project management in order to analyze a project based on several key characteristics is called project portfolio management (PPM) (Heising 2012). The key objectives of this management procedure is the determination of resource combination for delivery and scheduling of activities to properly achieve the operational, technical and financial objectives of an organisation keeping the boundaries and constraints delivered by strategies, consumers and other circumstances (Martinsuo 2013). Organisational maturity model explains the selection, management and completion of projects by any organisation. The portfolio consistency of any company is dependent on the experience of that organisation (Gomes and Romo 2015). Different levels of project portfolio management are associated with organisational maturity model differently (Bourne 2016). The first level, which can be described as reactive, consists of no formal tool for project management. The directives of management are prioritized on the basis the most needed projects and the projects have definite cost estimation. New-formed organisations are the elements of this PPM (Wendler 2012). The second level, emerging discipline, consists of a project management office that provides the surety of involvement of organisational strategies to the projects. The project managers at this level follow a specific set of project management processes giving priority to the initiated projects. Level three of PPM is initial integration (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). The organisations in this level utilize a program, a set of projects embedded in its project portfolio management that clearly defines roles and objectives of project manager. Project officer, PPM manager and different committees that can guide a project exist in these organisations. Layer four, which is effective integration, consists of organisations those use the knowledge gathered from organisations all around the world (Teller et al. 2012). Each project is tracked, monitored and forecasted specifically for its benefits. Project portfolio is modelled to obtain risks, rewards and investment returns. Layer five of project portfolio management, effective innovation, is the maximum level of maturity of project portfolio management where the communication is channelled through an Enterprise project management office and the scope of interest of the project changes circumstantially. Roll out rate of the PPM projects at this level is faster than that o f the lower level PPM projects (Unger, Gemnden and Aubry 2012). Project managers are given responsibilities of smaller project for achieving improved flow of projects within the enterprise and quicker success rates. Aligning project portfolio with corporate strategies and objectives ensures the focus of any organisation towards the right projects. This alignment is done in the basis of strategic goals, assumptions, operational constraints and applicable data (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). These portfolio alignments provides various benefits like clients have been clearly defined about the objectives and targets of the organisation and based on that the vision develops inside the client (Heising 2012). It gives clients the idea of project values and helps them to eliminate un-aligned projects for waste reduction and proper utilization of resources. There are certain business values related with portfolio management. Allocation of resources can be improved by prioritizing work through every available department of an organisation (Bourne 2016). The portfolio incorporates both in-house equipments and outsourced works. Work scrutiny can be improved by portfolio management as it suggests that the work has to be approved by all the stakeholders. According to the concepts, any work must be opened for scrutinizing in more than one area as any work when approved in any one area, it reduces the potential for other works to be approved in that same area (Martinsuo 2013). The authorization process of any work gets sufficiently open as the information of funding of the work gets revealed. The planning process gives the permission to every individual to propose work and channels the knowledge of authorization of the work to the relevant people. Consistency of work assessment can be improved by portfolio management planning process. The comp arison of the authorized work can be evaluated on an apples to apples basis. Along with the selection of high priority works, the alignment of work is also an effect of portfolio management (Unger, Gemnden and Aubry 2012). The alignment is made on the basis of targets and objectives of the overall context of the department. Work balance can be improved also. Financial portfolio management helps to develop a balance in the usage of resources. The instruments used to ensure this balance are bonds, real estate, stocks and some others. Sometimes evaluation of the portfolio of an authorized work set some barriers in the path of the work. Portfolio management helps to overcome these barriers by categorizing the events for spending resources and provides a way to adjust the expenses and create balance in utilization of resources (Wendler 2012). The values lie further ahead. A shift of focus from cost to investment is an important effect of portfolio management. Any work will only get authorized when teh values become relative to the cost structure. This focus change is primarily observed in the areas of information technology due to the involvement of computers. The values of expenditure can be mentioned in the portfolio. Collaboration and communication can be increased through portfolio management. Good amount of communication between the functional departments and the peer departments enhances the collaboration (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). The enhanced communication between the team for portfolio management and the executives of any organisation is also required for a perfectly build portfolio management system. Lastly, a project needs to be stopped at an appropriate moment. Sometimes the financial activities like the investment on a project do not fulfil the objectives (Teller et al. 2012). This profitability diminishes an d the resources need to be saved as they can be used for another approach. These ideas can be achieved from project portfolio management. Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be said that a project can only be developed properly with the application of system engineering. Thinking every step systematically helps a project to be constructed according to the objective of the project. Project portfolio management is centralized approach of management for different organisations. In order to gain the profit from the projects and fulfil their objective every organisation must include a project portfolio management team. PPM set the business values of an organisation and affects various parts of its functions. Ultimately it selects the works those need to be authorized and the works those need to be rejected. References: Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio management and its impact on success.International Journal of Project Management,31(6), pp.830-846. Bourne, L., 2016.Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. CRC Press. Brandstdter, K., Harms, U. and Grossschedl, J., 2012. Assessing system thinking through different concept-mapping practices.International Journal of Science Education,34(14), pp.2147-2170. Brownsword, M. and Setchi, R., 2012. A formalised approach to the management of risk: a conceptual framework and ontology.Systems approaches to knowledge management, transfer, and resource development. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp.263-285. Gomes, J. and Romo, M., 2015. Enhancing Organisational Maturity with Benefits Management.International Journal of Information Technology Project Management (IJITPM),6(4), pp.34-47. Haimes, Y.Y., 2015.Risk modeling, assessment, and management. John Wiley Sons. Hanson, B.G., 2014.General Systems Theory-Beginning With Wholes: Beginning with Wholes. Taylor Francis. Heising, W., 2012. The integration of ideation and project portfolio managementA key factor for sustainable success.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.582-595. Henry, D., Pyster, A., Olwell, D.H., Hutchison, N., Enck, S. and Anthony, J.F., 2013. Experiences from creating the guide to the systems engineering body of knowledge (SEBoK) v. 1.0.Procedia Computer Science,16, pp.990-999. Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Liu, S., Forrest, J. and Yang, Y., 2015. Grey system: thinking, methods, and models with applications. InContemporary Issues in Systems Science and Engineering(pp. 153-224). New York, NY: John Wiley Sons, Inc.. Martinsuo, M., 2013. Project portfolio management in practice and in context.International Journal of Project Management,31(6), pp.794-803. Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017.Project management for engineering, business and technology. Taylor Francis. Teller, J., Unger, B.N., Kock, A. and Gemnden, H.G., 2012. Formalization of project portfolio management: The moderating role of project portfolio complexity.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.596-607. Unger, B.N., Gemnden, H.G. and Aubry, M., 2012. The three roles of a project portfolio management office: Their impact on portfolio management execution and success.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.608-620. Wendler, R., 2012. The maturity of maturity model research: A systematic mapping study.Information and software technology,54(12), pp.1317-1339.

Water Biomes Essay Example For Students

Water Biomes Essay Marshland is covered with grasses, reeds, sedges, and cattails. Theseplants all have their roots in soil covered or saturated with water and itsleaves held above water.Marshes may be freshwater or salt. Freshwater marshesdevelop along the shallow edges of lakes and slow-moving rivers, forming whenponds and lakes become filled with sediment. Salt marshes occur on coastal tidalflats. Inland salt marshes occupy the edges of lakes. They affect the supply ofnutrients, the movement of water, and the type and deposition of sediment. Salt marshes are best developed on the Atlantic coasts of North Americaand Europe. In eastern North America the low marsh is dominated by a singlespecies, salt-marsh cordgrass. The high marsh consists of a short cordgrasscalled hay, spike grass, and glasswort. Glasswort is the dominant plant ofPacific Coast salt marshes. Freshwater marshes provide nesting and wintering habitats for waterfowland shorebirds, muskrats, frogs, and many aquatic insects. Salt marshes arewintering grounds for snow geese and ducks, a nesting habitat for herons andrails, and a source of nutrients for estuarine waters. Marshes are important inflood control, in sustaining high-water tables, and as settling basins toreduce pollution downstream. Despite their great environmental value, marshesare continually being destroyed by drainage and filling. We will write a custom essay on Water Biomes specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Marine Life, plants and animals of the sea, from the high-tide markalong the shore to the depths of the ocean. These organisms fall into threemajor groups: the benthos, plants such as kelp and animals such as brittle starsthat live on or depend on the bottom; the nekton, swimming animals such asfishes and whales that move independently of water currents; and plankton,various small to microscopic organisms that are carried along by the currents. Shore Life, the essentially marine organisms that inhabit the regionbounded on one side by the height of the extreme high tide and on the other bythe height of the extreme low tide. Within these boundaries organisms face asevere environment imposed by the rise and fall of tides. For up to half of a24-hour period, the environment is marine; the rest of the time it is exposed,with terrestrial extremes in temperature and the drying effects of wind and sun. Life on rocky shores, best developed on northern coasts, is separatedinto distinct zones that reflect the length of time each zone is exposed. At thehighest position on the rocks is the black zone, marked by blue-green algae. This transition area between land and the marine environment is flooded onlyduring the high spring. Below the black zone lies the white zone, wherebarnacles are tightly glued to rocks. Living among the barnacles are rock-clinging mollusks called limpets. At low tide, barnacles keep their four movableplates closed to avoid drying; at high tide they open the plates and extend sixpairs of wandlike tentacles to sweep the water for microscopic life. Preying onthe barnacles are hole-drilling snails called dog whelks. Below the white zone and in some places overlying the barnacles arerockweeds, which have no roots but attach themselves to rocks by holdfasts. Brown algae are rockweeds that grow more than 8 ft long. The most common are thebladder wracks, with branching thalli up to 6 in wide. In the lowest zone,uncovered only during the spring tides, is the large brown alga Laminaria, oneof the kelps. Beneath its frondlike thalli live starfish, sea cucumbers, limpets,mussels, and crabs. On the sandy shores, life lies hidden beneath the surface, waiting forthe next high tide. Shifting and unstable, sand provides no substrate on whichlife can anchor itself. The environment of sand-dwelling animals, however, isless severe than that of animals dwelling on rocky shores. Although the surfacetemperature on a beach varies with the tide, below the surface the temperatureremains nearly constant, as does the salinity. The upper sandy beach, like theupper rocky shore, is transitional from land to sea. It is occupied by ghostcrabs and beach fleas, animals more terrestrial than marine. True marine lifeappears at the intertidal zone. Two common inhabitants, active at high tide, arethe lugworm, which burrows through the sand and feeds on organic matter; and thecoquina clam Donax, which advances up the beach and retreats with the tides. .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .postImageUrl , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:hover , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:visited , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:active { border:0!important; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:active , .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808 .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u71c40ae71867f95e113653626d0a7808:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Plastic surgery EssayAmong the sand grains live small copepods and worms that feed on microscopicalgae, bacteria, and organic matter. On the lower beach, which remains uncovered for only a short period oftime, live clams, crabs, starfish, and sand dollars, whose calcareous skeletonslie partially buried in the sand. Category: Social Issues

Crime and Punishment analysis essays

Crime and Punishment analysis essays Everyone in his or her life experiences some type of mischief or wrong doing in which causes some type of mental disturbance. In Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky uses the five basic literary elements in order to show the atrocities of crime; that crime is an unnecessary evil that only brings about suffering such as guilt, illness, loneliness and punishment. The five basic literary elements utilized by Dostoyevsky are setting, plot, characterization, style and theme. For instance, Dostoyevsky uses the literary element of setting to show that crime is consequentially followed by guilt, and only causes a negative effect on that person who is culpable of the crime. The setting of Crime and Punishment takes place in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, in the midst of its troubled transition to the modern age. Through Dostoyevsky use of setting we see that crime causes suffering and guilt. For example, he uses normal occurrences at a police station to exacerbate the protagonists (Roskolnikov) guilt. Furthermore, we see the suffering of Roskolnikov through Dostoyevskys vivid descriptions of his impoverished room; He woke up tense, bilious, irritable, and looked with hatred at his tiny room. It was a minute cubicle, six steps long...the ceiling was so low that a man of any height could not stand there without the sense that he was about to bump his head.(37) Secondly, through the use of plot, Dostoyevsky displays his feelings that crime is accompanied with loneliness. Ive really got to go. I wanted to tell you mother...and you Dunia, it would be better off if we ...separated for a while.(336) This statement by Roskolnikov indicates the extent to which his crime has isolated him, further demonstrating Dostoyevsky belief that crime entails loneliness. Furthermore, ...

Managing People in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing People in Organisations - Essay Example Managers should therefore be professional enough in trying to come up with the best style or a blend of styles that best suit their organisations in order to ensure that they achieve the underlying goals and objectives. Attention in the recent decades has been heavily laid on the field of leadership and the basic reason for this is to come up with the various impacts that a management or leadership style can positively impact the overall organisational performance. Effective leadership by many is taken to be the driving force of success for an organisation. Lack of this king of leadership proves detrimental and for this reason there are various leadership styles that shall be highlighted in this paper that are most common and whose use can either bring down or raise an organisation to prosperity depending on the particular organisational context (Northouse and Northouse 2009). These styles will assist in explaining how leadership styles can impact on organisation performance. There a huge link that exists between the leadership style and the organisational performance as highlighted above. In looking at this relationship it is important to appreciate that the first major aspect is that of practice. In the world today there increasingly high competition that managers are facing and this has bred rivalry that is based on innovation and dynamism in dealing with competitors (Koene et al. 2002). Therefore, the behaviour exhibited by a manager or leader is crucial in steering the organisation through this kind of competitive atmosphere that is full of challenges while trying to cope with the possible occurrence of diminishing returns. This also shows how important leadership can be in making an organisation take a competitive advantage over its rivals, enhance profitability and general organisational improvement. Organisational settings in many instances dictate the

CUlture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CUlture - Essay Example Having announced free primary education in 1998, the government allocated a quarter of its budget to financing this venture and yet this was not enough to see it into completion. A continually escalating national debt and structural reliance on its richer neighbors, specifically, South Africa, are factors that have seen Lesotho engulfed in the present quagmire. In the Brazilian case as expounded upon by Nancy Scheper Hughes in her revealing testimonial of the excesses of shanty life, mothers seem to embrace almost fatalistic attitudes based on retrogressive cultural practices (Hughes, p.364). People seem to believe that evil spirits cause diseases (Hughes, p.366). Mothers refer to these illnesses as though they are caused by factors beyond their capacity to control and expect to be at the mercy of curable diseases. This is an example of one of the common ways that culture can be harmful to those who practice it. She also documents how mothers and older women claim that there exist fourteen to twenty one various types of child and infant illnesses, with systems ranging from a ‘hanging head and sickly pallor to a reluctance to suckle (Hughes, p.368). These ill-informed people can actually affect psychological systems of precociousness in a young or prospective mother who is encumbered with the fear that her child will be a victim of at least one of these diseases. In the Brazilian case, the poverty of these wretched mothers obviously contributes to their fatalistic view of life as far as their children are concerned. Unable to provide not only for their needs but also for their young, they adopt an unusual resignation to the harsh realities of shanty life and search for ways within themselves to accept inevitable death as normality. The church and its teachings as concerns the next life fits snuggly into this confusion as mothers

Business analysis of Guajilote Cooperativo Forestal, Honduras Essay

Business analysis of Guajilote Cooperativo Forestal, Honduras - Essay Example As a business enterprise, Guajilote Cooperative is a socially oriented not-for-profit organization of illiterate farmers who serve the market of furniture makers by providing low-priced, high-quality mahogany lumber. The cooperative does not seem to have any sufficient strategic direction beyond the good intentions of its original project proponents, the USAID (the foreign aid agency of the United States government) and COHDEFOR (the forestry development service of Honduras), to develop a sustainable model that can be imitated by other national parks for social, environmental, and political motives. Strategic direction is lacking because there are no specific plans to assess the cooperative’s strengths and weaknesses and how these can help address the opportunities and threats it is currently facing. The cooperative needs a strategic plan because without one, it may lose its viability as a business enterprise and collapse from the external and internal pressures that similar organizations face when dealing with the market. This strategic direction that will allow Guajilote to continue to exist and compete in the marketplace is also known as the organization’s competitive strategy, a concept that we define below. Without a strategy, the cooperative can fail as a business venture and a model project, causing serious social consequences: the shortage of mahogany lumber; the return of its members to a life of poverty; dashed hopes for Honduran farmers in other parts of the country who want and expect the project to succeed; and many other imaginable political, economic, and social costs. The strategic plan begins with an assessment of the enterprise and its business environment, and there are three popular tools we can use: the SWOT analysis (Andrews, 1971/1987; Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962), the PEST(EL) analysis (Steiner, 1979; Andrews, 1987), and Porter’s Five Forces model and

Social Impact of Communication Technology

Social Impact of Communication Technology INTRODUCTION New communication technologies have become a phenomenon of the modern age. It is used by millions of people worldwide, and significantly influences their way of living and communicating with one another. Rogers (1986) defined several social impacts which have emerged through extensive usage of new communication technologies. Information overload and knowledge gap are examined in this paper as two possible social impacts of new communication technology mentioned by Rogers. Practical examples are reviewed, assessing whether information is equally distributed among all social groups and how information usage has evolved in modern society. 1.0 Information Overload Most people are unable to effectively manage the amount of information to which they are constantly exposed. Overloading of our memory can be compared to an overflowing glass filled with water. If water keeps flowing continuously into a full glass everything above the glass ribbon overflows. . Our information absorption is limited, and our brain can only handle a certain amount of incoming information. Nowadays, people are flooded with information which is coming from various sources, and is very difficult to differentiate value-add information from information noise. As John Naisbitt in his book Megatrends said:†We are drowning in information and starved for knowledge† (Naisbitt,1982, p.24). On the other hand, it is good to have so much information at our finger tips, while information is available more easily than any-time before.There is very little we can’t find out within seconds with search engines running on our communication gadgets. Among the many researches documenting information overload, is the most noticeable is research by Reuters agency called â€Å"Dying for information† published by CNI in 1998. The research indicated that people cannot cope with the volume of information which they receive every-day. They spend substantial time searching for information, needed for decision taking, and information collection distracts them from main responsibilities. One disturbing effect is the increase in the level of stress which is linked to enormous amounts of information received. Thus, the finding showed how information overload influences our mental health and social life. In a second research conducted by University of London, published in 22.4. 2005 by BBC News, that the relation between communication technology and mental sharpness was observed. Distractions from incoming email or phone calls caused up to a 10-point fall in IQ. One can notice that information overload can impose both direct cost linked to cost of information maintenance and indirect cost imposed trough, impact on health or social life. 1.1 The blurring of lines between entertainment and information overload Donald O. Case in book ‘Looking for Information’ describes difference between informative information and entertaining information (Case, 2007, p. 108). Separating the search of â€Å"informative information from entertaining information† in everyday life is often almost impossible. People daily receive increasing number of information from news, blogs, tabloids; social network-status posts and they often cannot differentiate which information is useful and they need to understand versus information which might not be completely accurate. Does the excessive flow of information necessarily lead to more thinking? Or does it cause the society to think less? There are some writers who believe that too much information can lead to the increase in the level of ‘noise’ or confusion in understanding the meaning to the message. One of the most interesting elements of this noise was caused by development of Internet which gave rise to virtual communities, or vi rtual cultures. Kovà ¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ovà ¡ (2011, p.251) refers to creation of own fantasy world where the individual (subject) can manipulate and recreate his identity according to his or her own imagination. The main aim of this virtual world is to bring into the online world the best version of oneself, with a new identity. One disturbing impact of virtual identities can be seen in the way how people view relations. In Japan the growth of virtual world games caused rise of Otaku culture. In BBC, 24.10 2013 has been published an article about men who prefer virtual girlfriends to sex. Most of those people also decided to change their identity for abetter one. Nowadays, people have areal problem to cope with all the information around them and they do not understand difference between reality and fantasy. It seems that quantity of information become more important than the quality. Therefore, one can observe that from all of these examples, it is obvious that information overload brings alot of disadvantages which affect us. Our environment is fast-changing and so is the way how we receive, manage and use information. Amount of information determines the usage and evolution of communication technology. 2.0 THE KNOWLEDGE –GAP HYPOTESIS Knowledge as other kinds of wealth is not distributed equally throughout our society. People who are struggling with financial poverty are also often information poor, with limited access to newest communication technology. Knowledge gap theory is based on the premise that while the production of mass media increases, the knowledge gap between different social groups widens. One reason is the ability of opposing social groups to respond to changes that are taking place in the society and adapt within a certain time interval. In the first hypothesis about knowledge gap found in the study of Tichenor, Donohue Olien (1970,p.159), the authors wrote: â€Å"As the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments, so that the gap in knowledge between these segments tends to increase rather than decrease.† The author also point s out that in measuring the knowledge gap, one should factor in people with access to more information only, and not people who have very little access to new information, as this could incorrectly skew the results. People with low socioeconomic status would most likely have lower access to information. A key indicator of socioeconomic status is education. At the same time, education is also an important factor that influences interest in obtaining information. 2.1 DIGITAL DIVIDE In the new era of globalization, communication technology plays an increasingly important role. Number of people is connecting to the Internet to conduct their daily activities and they are becoming more and more dependent on technology. The access to information has become synonym of access to communication technology. Inability in access to communication technology can result in information inequality. Very often the theory of a digital gap (digital divide) is quoted, which expands the previous concepts of knowledge-gap hypothesis, information poverty and knowledge. Simply the digital divide can be defined as the gap between those who have the possibility of access to modern information and communication technologies and benefit from them and to those who do not have this privilege. Multiple publications examined the phenomenon of digital divide from different angles. Norris (2001) in his work makes a clear distinction of three different aspects of understanding the digital divide. First of all, he defined first aspect as global divide between countries. This means inequality in access to information communication technologies andinternet between developed and developing countries. As a second aspect Norris described social inequality within one nation or state (social stratification within counties), where the inequality is between information poor and information rich. Last aspect of digital divide highlights the democratic gap which refers to the difference between those that use digital technology to participation in public life and those who through these technologies do not engage publicly. As an illustration, in Slovakia since 2005, research is being conducted by the Institute for Public Affairs Slovakia, in the area of communication technologies usage in Slovakian households, under the name Digital Literacy in Slovakia 2013. The research shows that people with higher education degree are more active users of communication technology than people with lower education degree. Low educated, low-skilled, low-income households and residents of small communities belong to the part of population which stood at the edge of the digital divide (IT News, 2013). It is apparent that the lack of information access is not only an issue of developing countries of the third world but still a hot topic among developed countries too. The task of a modern society today is to ensure equal access to information and to take appropriate measures ensuring that access to information is available to all. Conclusion This paper examined the social impacts caused by the implementation and usage of new communication technology in our day-to-day life. Differences were examined between the inequality of those who benefit from technology and those who do not. Although social networks and communication gadgets have become a part of our culture, for the first time in our history, an unintended consequence is that information overload has led to an information crisis. Practical examples examined different angles of social impacts of communication technology and information evolution in modern society. Society as a whole may need to take steps to assure that access to information is available to all, while defining clear rules and practices to effectively manage and process information inflow.

Essay --

Introduction As my utility group has chosen Royal Dutch Shell Public Limited Company, which is one of the world’s six major owned oil and gas public organizations, for discussing its win-win strategy and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, an online game, CEO2, will take part in this report in order to build the best win-win strategy for the chosen company such as reducing carbon dioxide emission while raising the long term profitability. The biggest challenge in this industry is meeting consumer demand with acceptable ecological impacts and producing electricity at competitive prices. Moreover, Shell oil spill in 2011 has listed as the worst spill in the United Kingdom waters in the past decade. (Harvey, 2011) and caused stakeholders suspected its CSR strategy. Therefore, this report will analyze the win-win strategy by using the game result and address the company’s CSR issues in relation to its CSR strategy. CEO2 Game & Win-Win strategy The CEO2 game’s outcome is based on two rounds, we selected the best three options based on the options provided in round one. Firstly, â€Å"install new off-shore wind farms† with decreasing 20 percent CO2 emission, which adding up to 20 percent generation capacity and off-shore wind farms is better than the traditional on-shore wind farms due to more space available, higher wind speed and lesser complaints by the neighbors such as noise issue. Secondly, â€Å"Cooperate with a grid operator† which uses to equip every private and industry customer with a smart meter. For example, smart meters would help consumers better manage their energy use and reduce their energy bill. Thirdly, â€Å"retrofit existing plants† which allowed improving efficiency at all existing power plants by on average 4 perce... ... risk.†(ADN news, 2011) However, Shell only informed the public that the organization had taken the incident seriously with indicating regret and care, but not its emergency measure. Conclusion In conclusion, Shell’s CSR strategy is lack of equilibrium between environmental and economic performances which led to lose the trust of the public, therefore, Shell’s CSR needs to improve. For example, media and NGOs as watch dog and integrators to rebuild the trust with the public to ensure the company activities are environmentally, socially responsible and economically. Moreover, the organization could also increase its investment in technologies such as using cameras to control the oil transportation process in order to ensure the incident will not happen again. Overall, the company may add a win-win strategy to its CSR strategy to improve its current CSR performance.

The Giant Panda

The giant panda, which lives only in China outside of captivity, has captured the hearts of people of all ages across the globe. From their furry black and white body to their shy and docile nature, they are considered one of the most loved animals. ï ¿ ¼Quick Fact The estimated number of giant pandas in the wild varies between 1,500 and 3,000.Intriguing Giant Panda MysteriesWhile most adore their fluffy fur and round head, which help give them their cuddly bear quality, others are fascinated by the many mysteries of the giant panda. Did you know that a giant panda may actually be a raccoon, they have an opposable pseudo thumb, and they’re technically a carnivore even though their diet is primarily vegetarian? These things and more have baffled scientists and naturalists for hundreds of years.Opposable Pseudo ThumbA characteristic of the giant panda that has mystified scientists is their movable, elongated wrist bone that acts like an opposable thumb. This human-like quality that helps give them an even more cuddly-bear appearance enables the giant panda to pick up objects and even eat sitting up. ï ¿ ¼Quick Fact Giant pandas have five clawed toes and one pseudo thumb. Their pseudo thumb, along with pads of skin, help the giant panda strip the more nutritious small bamboo shoots and leaves while they hold the stalk in their mouth.Small Bear or Large Raccoon?Giant pandas are generally referred to as bears and are typically called panda bears rather than giant pandas. Though we may think they look like bears, there has been a great deal of discussion for decades about where giant pandas actually fit in the animal kingdom. Much of the debate has been whether they are more closely related to the red panda, once thought to be a member of the raccoon family, than the bear family.While a giant panda has a body that resembles a small bear and climbs trees like a bear, it also has several characteristics in common with the red panda. For example, both giant pan das and red pandas eat bamboo and have the same pseudo thumb. The  table below lists the main characteristics the giant panda shares with the bear and red panda.ï ¿ ¹ BearRed Pandaï ¿ » ï ¿ ¹ ShapeDietï ¿ » ï ¿ ¹ SizePawsï ¿ » ï ¿ ¹ Shaggy furEyesï ¿ » ï ¿ ¹ GaitNose and teethï ¿ »Cat-like featuresWhile the body of a giant panda looks like that of a bear and the dark circles around its eyes resemble those of a red panda or raccoon, its pupils have vertical slits like the eyes of a cat. Because of their unusual eyes, a popular Chinese name for panda is ‘big bear cat’ orÃ¥ ¤ §Ã¢â‚¬ Ã§â€ Å Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¨ ²â€œ /dà   xià ³ng mÄ o, pronounced as dah-sshyong-maow. DNA resultsDNA analysis has put one mystery to rest. It has revealed that while the red panda is a distant relative, the giant panda's closest relative is the spectacled bear from South America.Mostly Vegetarian DietGiant pandas love bamboo! In fact, their diet is 99% bamboo. Along with bamboo, they eat o ther plants, small rodents, and occasionally fish. The mystery behind their diet is they have the digestive system of a carnivore. ï ¿ ¼Their ability to digest bamboo is attributed to tiny microbes that live within their digestive system. Since they can only digest about 20% of what they eat, the average giant panda consumes around 14 kilograms (30 pounds) of bamboo a day. In comparison, humans eat about 2 kilograms (5 pounds) of food a day. This enormous diet means the giant panda spends more than 12 hours a day eating to stay nourished. ï ¿ ¼Quick Fact As the seasons change, the giant panda prefers different species and parts of bamboo.Tiny CubsAn infant giant panda cub is about the size of a croissant, weighs less than a coffee cup, and is about 900 times smaller than its mother. An average adult mother weighs around 91 kilograms (200 pounds) while a newborn weighs only 83 to 190 grams (3 to 4 ounces).Other Fun Giant Panda FactsResearchers have recently discovered the gene resp onsible for tasting savory or umami flavors, such as meat, is inactive in giant pandas. For many centuries, giant pandas were thought to be a mythical creature, similar to a dragon or unicorn. Unlike other bears in the region, giant pandas don’t hibernate.Giant pandas can stand erect on their hind legs but rarely walk. The Qinling panda, another giant panda species with a dark brown and light brown coat, lives only in the mountains of Shaanxi. Giant pandas have very sensitive hearing and smell, but they have poor eyesight. A newborn giant panda is blind and looks like a tiny, pink, hairless mouse.

Play essays

Play essays How can one describe any of Becketts work? It is truly difficult to even begin to convey what his productions might stand for. If there were only one word to describe Becketts work, it would have to be unique, for seldom does one come across theater so innovative. To acquire a taste of Becketts strange but inspirational work, one should start with the exceptionally jaw-dropping performance, Play. Here is a short synopsis of the production: Play begins, and continues throughout its entirety, with rapid chatter to the untrained ear. The abrupt beginning forces the listener to truly pay attention, for idle listening will cause one to miss the whole objective of the theatrical work. There isnt much indicated in the script about set design. Oddly enough, it is asked that main focuses of the production are the heads of the three people (one man and two women). Some may assume that a restriction of this kind would result in a deficiency of amusement, but many others believe that this new approach to theater as added a fresh exhilaration and an enjoyable mysteriousness to the art. Though it may seem impossible to some that one man could create such absurd conceptions, Beckett undoubtedly had preset images carved in his mind, and he articulated those images in his script. Yet, even with boundary, it is easy to realize that the script itself was written to allow maxi mum creativity within any sort of production. The script is ingeniously crafted for a wide range of creative input. When watching the on-screen version of Play, it is easy to see how. Beckett created Play with view of it being performed on stage, yet it was predictably proven that the play itself was not confined to the boundaries of theater. Its transformation from stage to film surely was not an easy task, but it was, without a doubt, an educational one. Though there was room to allow for the directors creat ...

Introduction to Renaissance Architecture essays

Introduction to Renaissance Architecture essays At the end of the fourteenth century, gothic architecture began to wear off and renaissance architecture moved in. Europe was evolving out of the middle ages and in the Renaissance period. The beliefs in humanity were growing in popularity. Along with the changes in ways of life, politics, families and etc. the architecture and architects were also changing. The architects of the time revived yet also changed the ideas from classical Greek and Roman architecture. They did however; begin using new materials such as brick, and in particular red brick. Architects and artists no longer worked independently of one another, which is why many renaissance buildings contain murals, and statues. One of the most common features throughout Renaissance architecture was the use of the dome. Many of these domes had paintings or other various works of art on them. Some good examples of this are the Duomo of Florence, and St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Renaissance architecture traces back to Florence, Italy around the early fifteenth century. A group of Italian scholars, some of whom were amateur architects influenced the birth of Renaissance Architecture. These scholars knew classical culture well and considered it far more superior than the culture of their present time. The key originator of the new Renaissance style was Filippo Brunelleschi of Florence, his first great project was the dome for the Cathedral of Florence. Italians eventually considered this dome to be their greatest engineering accomplishment. Their style then quickly spread outside of Florence to cities such as Rome and Milan, and eventually made it's way North to the Netherlands and then began to encompass the rest of Europe, however, France did not witness Renaissance architecture first hand until almost 125 years after it began in Florence. The finest French Renaissance buildings are their amazing castles or chateaus, such as those at Fontainebleau, and Ch ambord. ...

What is academic misconduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What is academic misconduct - Essay Example Students cannot be excused from such clear instincts of cheating, while it is possible that the accusation of academic misconduct may sometimes hurt those students who were not aware in the first place that they committed a mistake. To avoid this, proper measures should be taken to let students know clearly what plagiarism means, and how a lack of understanding about it may lead to academic misconduct. Q: How have you figured out what cheating is here at university? Who has talked to you about cheating to help you understand what is considered cheating? Who have you talked with here at university to help you determine what is considered cheating? What are some things that are considered cheating? A: Before I took a test in the University, I heard that my friend took the same class at summer and he has the midterm paper for that class. So I asked the midterm paper of summer and received. When I took the midterm exam, I found the midterm exam was exactly same from the summer class so I wrote what I had. At that time, I never thought this was cheating because the other class before I took this class, some professor posted the last semester exams and solutions and I had used those things for my exams. But a student conduct told me that was a kind of cheating. First time, I could not agree with him. But I found that I had been mistaken about what cheating was because what I wrote in the last exam was not from my idea and thinking. Even if I did not copy from others in a class, if I used other’s idea or thinking from outside source, that could be cheating. The University expects my answers to be original, based on my exposure to the subject in my classroom and through my ow n reading and observations. If I used ideas and expressions of others without acknowledging it, I was committing plagiarism. Moreover, one has to be very honest in exams. This is what I learned form this incident. A: The

Dollar Instability as World Reserve Currency Essay

Dollar Instability as World Reserve Currency - Essay Example This scenario is about to change (Lorimer n.p). Though the mainstream media in the U.S. has been abnormally silent about this, truth is that some of the big economies on the globe are making agreements with each other to shift from using the U.S. dollar in international trade.   Currently, some oil producing countries have begun selling oil in non U.S. dollar currencies. This is a huge threat to the petrodollar system that has been in place for almost four decades.   In addition big international organizations such as the United Nations and IMF have started advocating for the need to move away from the U.S. dollar adopt a new world reserve currency. The operation of the U.S. dollar as a world reserve currency is under threat and the impending shift in international trade will have massive implications on the U.S. economy. There are several reasons as to why countries want to get rid of the U.S dollar as a reserve currency. First and foremost is the instability of the dollar. Big economies such as China already hate having to rely on the U.S dollar. The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy that is notably loose and the rapidly rising public debt of the U.S. are troubling officials concerned with international trade. There is fear that the stimulus measures that were adopted to revive the U.S.’s flagging economy will soon generate a high inflation burst that will further weaken the dollar. Such an occurrence would be detrimental to holders of US government bonds, including China. China has about $2 trillion of its $3.2 trillion currency reserves held are in dollars most of which is in bonds. The U.S. has also lost its triple-A credit due to failure to come up with credible plans to cap its public debt (The Economist). In addition, China as the second largest economy on earth with projections that it will pass the U.S economy by 2016 and be three times larger by 2040, it is difficult for China to continue using the dollar in its economy (Lorimer n.p ). China together with other emerging economic powers such as Russia, over the past several years have been quietly making agreements that will see them shift from the use of the U.S. dollar when conducting international trade. The economy of the U.S. is continuously fading. This is going to make it difficult to argue for the U.S. dollar to continue functioning as the primary reserve currency of the world. An indication of the changing fortunes of the dollar is the recent deal between China and Japan that promotes the use of their currencies when conducting bilateral trade. Currently, they do their trade in U.S. dollars but the instability of the dollar has necessitated such an intervention. In addition to this, another emerging block referred to as BRICS comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is also planning to move away from U.S. dollar based trade. The block proposes to create a credit facility that will enable these countries to use their local currencies i n trade. For over a year now, China and Russia have used their national currencies when conduction bilateral trade (Lorimer n.p). The growing use of the Chinese Currency in Africa is an indication of a process that is already in motion. In 2009, China overtook the United States of America as Africa’s biggest trading partner. Many African countries therefore prefer to use the Chinese yen in trade With China so as to reduce transaction cost incurred in acquiring U.S dollars. It is approximated that 70,000 Chinese

Cultural Influences on Communication in Groups Assignment - 1

Cultural Influences on Communication in Groups - Assignment Example This is because if a house has a good athlete for a game, then there are very high chances of him/ her winning the gold and thus earning points for the house, which might culminate into the house winning the House Cup. Once a consensus of the representatives was reached on what had to be included then it would be approved by the patron of the society, after which the practices were t follow. Joe initiated the discussion by giving a brief to everyone, regarding what the meeting was about, just as a warm up speech. When he opened the floor for discussion, Artem was the first one to take the lead in the discussion by talking about the general events that are included almost every year such as sprint, relay, 200m and 400m race for boys, Javelin throw, high jump, long jump and discus throw. Once the specifications of all these events were listed down by Joe, the discussion on the real matter that was to be debated began. Up till now Zarina and Aset had behaved more or less like passive li steners of the discussion, contributing just about as a formality here and there. Artem had been vocal throughout. He was more like helping Joe out with sorting out the specifications of all the games, just like someone genuinely interested in sports would do. Ainura was comparatively more participative than Zarina and Aset, she sat back in her seat and paid considerable attention to what was being discussed and also added a few valuable points such as raising the height of the bar for high jump compared to what it was last year and so forth. However, what followed was quite unexpected. Normally one would expect the discussion to continue with the same flow it started with. However, as soon as the topic about debatable games started Zarina’s and Aset’s body language changed completely. Rather than sitting in their chairs in the sloppy posture they had during the beginning of the discussion, they now sat erect, with their hands on the table as opposed to their laps. Art em was attentive as always and Ainura also maintained her general composure. The next topic under discussion was whether 200m and 400m races should be included for girls or not. Zarina advanced her point of view in what would strictly be referred to as an authoritative way and said that these games require a lot of stamina which is too much to expect from girls. This was countered by Ainura, who herself had been practicing running both 200m and 400m for the athletic meet, she was articulate and firm in making her point clear that if the girls practice enough stamina will not seem to be an issue. Zarina got agitated and cut her midway; her voice’s pitch was getting higher by the second. Artem and Aset intervened both with opposing viewpoints on the issue, however both were trying to reason the issue out as opposed to Zarina. Joe was convinced that Zarina’s interruptions and aggression along with the different interests of the group representatives would not lead the gro up to a consensus. Therefore he proposed that the matter be resolved with the help of a vote, which was indeed the right choice. Next in line was the debate on the inclusion of the Discus throw and Shot put, Artem was the one against the inclusion this time, he was sided by