College Life Essay

I knew when I graduated from high school a new beginning was ahead of me. College was the only thing that was important to me because I knew that I would have to get a good education to get a good job to start a great career. I would have never expected myself to bounce from a community college to a vocational school back to a community college. There are so many choices of colleges and how their short term programs can really help the potential student. The truth of the matter is that there aren’t any short cuts in life, but how are these schools still standing. I was accepted into 3 universities to continue my post secondary education. I made my finally decision as to which one I was planning on attending, Norfolk State University in Norfolk Virginia. There was only one small problem; I was raised by a single mother so there wasn’t any money set aside for my college education. When this was brought to my attention it was too late to apply for scholarships and grants. However I did apply for financial aid but I didn’t qualify because according to the government my mother made to much money for me to get free money. So I did what any other determined person would do, enroll in community college, and work part-time for one year and then go away to school for the rest of my education. When I went to enroll in my first community college, Daley, I took a placement test to see what level I would be at for my general courses like English, Math and so forth. Once I received my results I was instructed to see a counselor and register for fall classes. The counselor that I saw wasn’t even a real counselor; she was a remedial English teacher who barley new the course catalog, but I trusted her input and enrolled in the recommended courses that I wouldn’t even need for my major at the time. When I finished my first semester at Daley my GPA was good for a freshman, but I didn’t save enough money to continue my education there. That’s when I moved to the south suburbs and started at South Suburban College. I attended South Suburban for a total of two semesters maintaining a GPA of 3. 2. I saved some money from the two jobs that I worked but that was barely enough for me to attend 1 semester at NSU. My mother was willing to help me out but she still had my little brother to raise. That was when I kept seeing ads for ITT Technical Institute. The ads simple said that I can graduate with an Associate’s Degree within two years or a Bachelor’s in three years. The commercial also stated that they will find employment for me and I can come back as an alumnus to take any course refreshers if needed to. I thought to myself, that is where I need to be attending as soon as the next semester starts. When I went to enroll I just knew that I would qualify for financial aid because I have been living on my own for almost two years, but once again I was declined and the school suggested that I take out a student loan, the school also said that I will need a co-signer since I don’t have any credit established. My mind was made up and I was going to attend this school, so I asked my mom of course to co-sign for me. She really didn’t trust this schools credibility, but she saw how important it meant to me so she applied along with my husband now, boyfriend at the time. I got my loans for school, totaling 60k for two years, enrolled and started in the fall of 2004. I went through my program for 2 years and received an Associate’s in Computer Electronics and Engineering Technology. When I graduated the school had jobs waiting for me but they had nothing to do with what I just spent the last two years of my life studying for.

Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Missionary

Bartolome de Las Casas was one of the pioneers and a champion of human rights in the most critical period of history. The context of his presence needs a deeper understanding. The Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades were ‘justified’ as a sanction granted by God. The natives were seen as uncivilized beings and the only way to ‘tame’ them was by using brutal force.The genocide of the natives by the Spanish Inquisition resulted in many tribes erased without a trace. The natives referred by Bartolome da Las Casas were only to name a few.The significance of Las Casas was his ability to push the law and have many inhuman authorities removed from the Council. Under such pretext, it would be unfair to use modern day judgment to criticize Las Casas. This paper establishes that Las Casas, given his time that he lived in and the kind of family that he was raised in, was justified in his manner of referencing to the natives. The world has not become a better place and o ur modern understanding of human rights and the violation of human rights, at least as expressed by the UN stems from the views of Las Casas.The historical context explicitly implies that Las Casa himself was from an upper class family who then later had the power to negotiate in favor of the natives. Las Casas was himself ‘gifted’ with Juanico, a Taino youth for a servant when he was a little boy. So for a man of his stature who belonged and had the ‘luxury’ of the oppressor, was willing and believed he could stop the evil. He had the ear of the courts who were the decision makers. Although his supplications were met with heavy criticism, he was determined to stop the brutality towards the natives.As far as the wealth was brought in, and exhibited in Spain from the New World, people were drawn towards it and were completely blind to the atrocities committed by them, and to make things worse, they were all done in the name of religion. Under such pretext wh o would have been a better person to condemn than a seminarian. The setting is a world where the masses are mesmerized by wealth and are willing to do anything to get their hands on it. This very thought and behavior is against the very religious belief that the colonizers practiced to massacre the natives.Hence it is understandable if Las Casas is isolated in terms of being the only person who despite his disposition took the risk of condemning and putting his own life on the line to speak for the voiceless. Over and over the attitude of Las Casas is focused only on his description of the natives, whose plight is all the more pitiful, because of the brutal behavior of the colonizers. When he is describing the natives as gentle beings, it highlights their state of helplessness in comparison to the beastly behavior of the colonizers.God has created all these numberless people to be quite the simplest, without malice or duplicity, most obedient, most faithful to their natural Lords, a nd to the Christians, whom they serve; the most humble, most patient, most peaceful and calm, without strife nor tumults; not wrangling, nor querulous, as free from uproar, hate and desire of revenge as any in the world. . . . From a seminarian perspective, the natives are the humble sheep possessed of Christian virtues and the sinners are the Christian colonizers. The description of the natives is in stark contrast to the description of the colonizers.The Christians, with their horses and swords and lances, began to slaughter and practice strange cruelty among them. They penetrated into the country and spared neither children nor the aged, nor pregnant women, nor those in child labour, all of whom they ran through the body and lacerated, as though they were assaulting so many lambs herded in their sheepfold. Hence Las Casas urge to take up the cause of the voiceless natives to the highest authority possible, the royalty, portrays him as a humanitarian by nature and an un-ordained a dvocate of human rights.It is true that he suggested to bring slaves from Africa as opposed to making slaves of the natives, but he later repented when he saw that the treatment of the slaves were just as bad. He later regretted when he had to witness the cold blooded violence that the Africans were subjected to, and repented. Though his repentance had no impact on the brutal nature of the colonizers, he is the only one of his time publically known to have repented without himself having inflicted any pain on any human being. The rest of the inquisitors took pride in what they did.In a world where the natives and Africans were seen as deformed or incomplete or uncivilized human beings, Las Casas addresses them as ‘people’. Bartolome de Las Casas reports first hand of the cruelty in its raw graphic nature to evoke sympathy in the eyes of the decision makers. For most part colonizers have been successful in erasing the past of the colonized but Las Casas did not let that happen. It is his record of what he witnessed that makes a significant mile stone in the history of human rights.Among these gentle sheep, gifted by their Maker with the above qualities, the Spaniards entered as soon as soon as they knew them, like wolves, tiger and lions which had been starving for many days, and since forty years they have done nothing else; nor do they afflict, torment, and destroy them with strange and new, and divers kinds of cruelty, never before seen, nor heard of, nor read of. . . . . The Language used to describe the native is a surface level issue given the fact that Las Casas was an ordained priest and a colonist. But he set himself up as an example by denouncing encomienda.He also suggested peaceful co-existence between colonists and the natives which was implemented and successful until the colonizers could not refrain from provoking the natives. Hence it is completely unfair to overlook all of Bartolome de Las Casas efforts towards safeguarding natives over words that depict them as inferior to the Europeans. Had Las Casas not spoken for them, more people would have fallen victims to the genocide. It is not the language but the content of the text that should be the focus, since it is filled with compassion and evokes sympathy through the painful description of torture.Also, his life was constantly under threat yet he was willing to walk the line for the cause he believed in, until the massacre stopped. Bartolome de Las Casas, can be isolated for his efforts to stop human rights violation but not to be judged over the language he used. He could be given the benefit of doubt that he used humble descriptions to invoke sympathy from a prejudiced court. Works Cited American Taino, Commentary from the perspective of a American Latino. http://americantaino. blogspot. com/2007/10/bartolom-de-las-casas-witness-to-evil. html

Organization for Efficient Management Essay

â€Å"Sound organization structure is an essential prerequisite of efficient management† – Discuss this statement and point out the various principles which should be followed in developing organization structure Introduction Organization is the backbone of management. Without efficient organization, no management can perform its functions smoothly. Sound organization contributes greatly to the continuity and success of the enterprise. Once A. Carnegie, an American industrialist, said, â€Å"Take away our factories, take away our trade, our avenues of transportation, and our money. Leave nothing but our organization, and in four years we shall have re-established ourselves†. That shows the significance of managerial skills and organization. However, good organization structure does not by itself produce good performance – just as a good constitution does not guarantee great presidents or good laws a moral society. But a poor organization structure makes good performance impossible, no matter how good the individuals may be. The right organizational structure is the necessary foundation; without it the best performance in all other areas of management will be ineffectual and frustrated. CONCEPT OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURE Organisation structure may be defined as the established pattern of relationships among the components of the organisation. Organisation structure in this sense refers to the network of relationships among individuals and positions in an organisation. Jennifer and Gareth have defined organisation structure as the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees so that they cooperate and work together to achieve an organisation’s goals. In fact organisation structure describes the organisation framework. Just as human beings have skeletons that define their parameters, organisations have structures that define-theirs. It is like the architectural plan of a building. Just as the architect considers various factors like cost, space, special features needed etc. while designing a good structure, the managers too must look into factors like benefits of specialisation, communication problems, problems in creating authority levels etc., before designing the organisation structure. The manager determines the work activities to get the job done, writes job descriptions, and organises people into groups and assigns them to superiors. He fixes goals and deadlines and establishes standards of performance. Operations are controlled through a reporting system. The whole structure takes the shape of a pyramid. The structural organisation implies the following things :  · The formal relationships with well-defined duties and responsibilities;  · The hierarchical relationships between superior and subordinates within the organisation;  · The tasks or activities assigned to different persons and the departments;  · Coordination of the various tasks and activities;  · A set of policies, procedures, standards and methods of evaluation of performance which are formulated to guide the people and their activities. The arrangement which is deliberately planned is the formal structure of organisation. But the actual operations and behaviour of people are not always governed by the formal structure of relations. Thus, the formal arrangement is often modified by social and psychological forces and the operating structure provides the basis of the organisation. Sound organization is an essential prerequisite of efficient management. It helps an organization in the following ways: 1. Enlarges abilities: It helps individuals to enlarge their capabilities. Division of work enables an individual to specialize in the job in which he is proficient, leading to better utilization of resources and talents. 2. Facilitates administration: It facilitates administration by avoiding waste motions, overlapping work and duplication of effort. Departmentation enables proper planning of work. Confusion and misunderstanding, over who is to perform what work, is avoided by specifying the role of managers clearly. Proportionate and balanced emphasis is put on various activities. 3. Facilitates growth and diversification:Sound organization helps in keeping activities under constant vigil and control. The organization can undertake more activities without dislocation. Talents and resources are put to good use. Opportunities are seized quickly and exploited fully, which ultimately pave way for growth and diversification. 4. Permits optimum use of resources: Human, technical and material resources are put to good use. Right persons are given right jobs. There is proper allocation of work. People know that they are supposed to do, well in advance. Necessary functions are determined and assigned, so that personnel and physical facilities are utilized effectively. 5. Stimulates creativity. It offers stimulating opportunities to people at all levels, to use their skills on jobs best suited to their nature. Delegation helps people at lower levels to do more challenging work. The higher ups, in turn, can concentrate on strategic issues putting their creative abilities to good use. 6. Facilitates coordination: Organization is an important way of achieving coordination among different departments of an enterprise. Clear authority relationships and proper assignment of work facilitates the task of achieving coordination at all levels. Poor organization leads to improper arrangement of duties and responsibilities. As a result, unimportant and trivial issues are given top priority. Activities that should be integrated or centralized are spread out and put to improper supervision. Incompetent individuals are overused while talented people are under utilized. Delays, duplications and waste motions occur with frustrating regularity. Expenses mount up. These would create utter confusion, chaos and conflict. Poor organization may mean improper arrangement of facilities and failure to achieve goals of objectives, management thinkers have laid down certain statements from time to time, from certain generally accepted understandings, which may be called the principles of organization. The principles are guidelines for planning an efficient organization structure. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the principles of organization is essential for good organization. The important principles of organization 1. Consideration of Objectives. An enterprise strives to accomplish certain objectives. Organization serves as a tool to attain these objectives. The objectives must be stated in clear terms as they play an important role in determining the type of structure, which should be developed. The principle of consideration of objectives states that only after the objectives have been stated, an organization structure should be developed to achieve them. 2. Division of Work and Specialization. The entire work in the organization should be divided into various parts so that every individual is confined to the performance of a single job, as far as possible, according to his ability and aptitudes. This is also called the principle of specialization. More a person continues on a particular job, the better will be his performance. 3. Definition of Jobs. Every position in the organization should be clearly defined in relation to other positions in the organization. The duties and responsibilities assigned to every position and its relationship with other positions should be clearly defined so that there may not be any overlapping of functions. 4. Separation of Line and Staff Functions. Whenever possible, line functions should be separated from staff activities. Line functions are those, which accomplish the main objectives of the company. In many manufacturing companies, the manufacturing and marketing departments are considered to be accomplishing the main objectives of the business and so are called the line functions and other functions like personnel, plant maintenance, financing and legal are considered as staff functions. 5. Chain of Command. There must be clear lines of authority running from the top to the bottom of the organization. Authority is the right to decide, direct and coordinate. The organization structure should facilitate delegation of authority. Clarity is achieved through delegation by steps or levels from the top position to the operating level. From the chief executive, a line of authority may proceed to departmental managers, to supervisors or foremen and finally to workers. This chain of command is also known as scalar principle of organization. 6. Parity of Authority and Responsibility. Responsibility should always be coupled with corresponding authority. Each subordinate must have sufficient authority to discharge the responsibility entrusted to him. This principle suggests that if a plant manager in a multi-plant organization is held accountable for all activities in his plant, he should not be subject to orders from company headquarters specifying the quantity of raw materials he should buy or from whom he should purchase raw materials. If a supervisor is responsible for the quality of work of his department, he should not be asked to accept as a member of his workforce an employee who has been hired without consulting him. 7. Unity of Command. No one in the organization should report to more than one supervisor. Everyone in the organization should know to whom he reports and who reports to him. Stated simply, everyone should have only one boss. Receiving directions from several supervisors may result in confusion, chaos, conflicts and lack of action. So each member of the organization should receive directions from and report to one superior only. This will avoid conflict of command and help in fixing responsibilities. 8. Exceptional Matters. This principle requires that organization structure should be so designed that managers are required to go through the exceptional matters only. The subordinates should take all the routine decisions, whereas problems involving unusual matters and policy decisions should be referred to higher levels. 9. Span of Supervision. The span of supervision means the number of persons a manager or a supervisor can direct. If too less number of employees are reporting to a supervisor, his time will not be utilized properly. But, on the other hand, there is a limit to the number of subordinates that can be efficiently supervised by an executive. Both these points should be kept in mind while grouping and allocating the activities to various departments. It is difficult to give a definite number of persons a manager can direct. It will depend upon the nature of the work and a number of other factors. 10. Balance of Various Factors. There should be proper balance in the formal structure of the organization in regard to factors having conflicting claims, e.g., between centralization and decentralization, span of supervision and lines of communication and authority allocated to departments and personnel at various levels. 11. Communication. A good communication network is essential to achieve the objectives of an organization. No doubt the line of authority provides readymade channels of communication downward and upward, still some blocks in communication occur in many organizations. The confidence of the superior in his subordinates and two-way communication are the factors that unite an organization into an effectively operating system. 12. Flexibility. The organization structure should be flexible so that it can be easily and economically adapted to the changes in the nature of business as well as technical innovations. Flexibility of organization structure ensures the ability to change with the environment before something serious may occur. So the organization structure should be such that it permits expansion and contraction without disrupting the basic activities. 13. Continuity. Change is the law of nature. Many changes take place outside the organization. These changes must be reflected in the organization. For this, the form of organization structure must be able to serve the enterprise and to attain its objectives for a long period of time. Types of Organizational Structure in Management Small companies can use a variety of organizational structures. However, a small company’s organization structure must be designed to effectively meet its goals and objectives, according to the Lamar University article titled â€Å"Organizational Structure† on its website. Types of organizational structure in management can include flat structures as well as functional, product and geographical-structured organizations. Flat Organizational Structure Many small companies use a flat organizational structure, where very few levels of management separate executives from analysts, secretaries and lower-level employees. Flat organizations work best when a company has less than 20 employees, especially if the company employs one or two employees per department. One advantage of using a flat organizational structure for management is that decisions can be made relatively quickly. The flat organizational lacks the typical bureaucracy of taller organizational structures–those with many levels of management. Functional Organizational Structure A functional organizational structure is centered on job functions, such as marketing, research and development and finance. Small companies should use a functional organization when they want to arrange their organizational structure by department. For example, a small company may have a director, two managers and two analysts in the marketing department. The director would likely report to the Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, and both managers would report to the director. In addition, each manager may have an analyst reporting to them. A functional organizational structure works well when small companies are heavily project-focused. Directors can assign certain projects to managers, who can then divvy up tasks with their analysts. The department can then more effectively meet their project deadlines. Product Organzational Structure A product organizational structure has managers reporting to the president or head of the company by product type. Product organizational structures are primarily used by retail companies that have stores in various cities. However, stores in each city may still need a local human resources or marketing department to carry out functions locally. For example, a small department store company may have a vice president of sporting goods, housewares and general merchandise at the corporate office. One manager may report to each vice president. However, each manager may oversee the work of one or more field marketing employees who travel and handle local marketing stores in several states. These field marketing employees may work for the sporting goods manager one week in League City, Texas, then do merchandising for the housewares manager another week in the Sugarland, Texas, market. Geographical Organizational Structure The Small Business Administration is responsible for defining small businesses in different industries. For example, in manufacturing, the SBA usually considers a company with 500 or fewer employees a small business. Point is, small businesses are still large enough to use a geographical organizational structure. A geographical organizational structure is when companies decentralize the functional areas. For example, unlike the product organizational structure, there may be a local marketing, finance, accounting and research development person based in each region. For example, a small consumer products food company may be large enough to place a marketing research manager and analyst in each of six different regions. This can be important because consumers in various areas have different tastes. Hence, a geographical structure will enable the company to better serve the local market. ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS The study of organisational structure is necessary to understand organisational effectiveness. In simple terms better the structure of an organisation more effective would be the organisation and vice versa. You must be aware that some organisations perform better and grow more rapidly than other. On the extreme side some organisations perform badly and within a short period of time go out of business. Determinants of Organisational Effectiveness Several factors influence the organisational effectiveness Managerial Policies and Practices Managerial policies and practices integrate the entire organisation, maintain balance among the interest groups in the organisation, and accommodate them with the external environment. Managerial policies and practices have a direct bearing on the Organisational effectiveness. The major managerial policies and practices are as follow : Strategy: A strategy is a plan for interacting with the competitive environment to achieve organizational goals. Goals define where does the organisation want to go and strategies define how will the organization reach there. In other words, strategy is the determination of basic long term goals of the organisation, the adoption of the courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary to achieve them. The strategy is the most important factor of an organisation which decides the future course of action for the organisation. New strategy is often selected based upon environmental needs, and then the top management attempts to redesign the orga nisation to achieve those ends. Strategy: A strategy is a plan for interacting with the competitive environment to achieve organizational goals. Goals define where does the organisation want to go and strategies define how will the organization reach there. In other words, strategy is the determination of basic long term goals of the organisation, the adoption of the courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary to achieve them. The strategy is the most important factor of an organisation which decides the future course of action for the organisation. New strategy is often selected based upon environmental needs, and then the top management attempts to redesign the organisation to achieve those ends. Decision-making: Decision-making is choosing among alternatives. It has close relationship with all traditional management functions. The decision that management makes has a profound impact on the success of an organisation. Rewards: Organisational success to a large extent depends on how is management able to gain support of its team by way of compensating them for the efforts they are making for the achievement of organizational goals. It is primarily meant to sustain employee morale and improve or maintain productivity. Communication: It is the linkages among members of the organisation whereby they exchange information. The organisational structure has to provide for a perfect communication among different members of the organisation. Organisational communication is the grease that enables any organisational change. Environmental Characteristics Organisational effectiveness is influenced to a great degree by the external environmental characteristics. It is dependent on how is the external environment predictable, complex and hostile to the organisation and its activity. The major characteristics are as follow : Predictability: Predictability refers to how certain or uncertain an organisation may be towards supply of various resources; human, raw material etc. It is an element of external environment. Complexity: Environment complexity refers to the heterogeneity and range of activities which are relevant to an organisation’s operations. How many diverse groups from external environment the organisations have to deal with. Hostility: A hostile environment is one in which the underpinning of the organisation is threatened. How is an organisation viewed by the people at large. You may recall the case of Union Carbide after the Bhopal gas leakage about the hostility of environment Employee characteristics The characteristics of the human resource could make or break an organisation. It is employee characteristics, which is reflected in the success or failure of an organisation. The major characteristics are as follow : Goals: Goals define where the organisation wants to go. Goals are intentions that an individual or an organisation would like to achieve in the course of their working. Goals provide a directional nature to people’s behaviour and guide their thoughts and actions. Skills: Skill is the ability to engage in a set of behaviour that are functionally related to one another and that lead to a desired performance in a given area. The skill can be technical, managerial, behavioural etc. Motives: A motive is an inner state of a person that energizes activates, or moves and directs towards the achievement of a pre defined goal. The motivated employees have high motives to perform better and achieve the targets. Attitudes: Attitudes are evaluative statements- either favourable or unfavourable concerning objects, events, or people. Attitudes influence job behaviour and hence organisational effectiveness. Values: Values represent basic convictions or a specific mode of conduct. It generally influences an individual’s attitude and behaviour. The value that a person holds influences his or her motivation and subsequently behaviour. Organisational Characteristics Organisational characteristics refer to the general conditions that exist within an organisation. Various organisational characteristics influence organisational effectiveness. The major characteristics are as follow: Structure: An organisational structure defines how are job tasks formally divided, grouped and coordinated. For organisational effectiveness, six elements need to be addressed while designing organisational structure. These are: work specialisation, departmentation, chain of command, span of control, centralisation and decentralisation, and formalization. Technology: The term technology refers to how does an organisation transfer its inputs into outputs. Every organisation has at least one technology for converting financial, human and physical resources into products or services. The choice of technology and its use influences organisational effectiveness. Size: In a narrow sense organisational size refers to the number of people in an organisation. But, if we take a broader view, size refers to the physical capacity of the organisation, the personnel available to the organisation, the organisational inputs or outputs and the discretionary resources available to an organisation. It is the size which influences the structure which in turn influences organisational effectiveness. Benefits of organisational effectiveness:  · Structures and behaviours are aligned with business needs.  · Disruption to business is minimised which reduces operational risk.  · Employee morale is sustained which maintains productivity.  · The right employees and talent are retained.  · Employees objectives and rewards are aligned to business goals. CONCLUSION Organisation structure refers to the grouping of activities and establishing pattern of relationship among the various parts of the organisation. It involves the assignment of tasks, establishment of hierarchical relationship, creation of policies, procedures, coordination and control of all activities in the organisation. The Organisational designs are dependent on a wide variety of factors; namely the management philosophy, the size of the organisation, the type of technology, and the external environmental factors. Therefore, there cannot be tailor-made solutions for all organisations. The ultimate aim for the organisation is to be effective and organisational structure is a tool in the attainment of organisational objectives. The components of organisational effectiveness are managerial policies and practices, employee characteristics, organizational characteristics and the environmental characteristics. Organizational structure is what ensures that your organization will function smoothly and as you intended. You should think about structure early in the development of your organization, but be aware that the type that fits best may change as your organization grows.

How important is it to develop a Business Continuity Model (BCM) Essay

How important is it to develop a Business Continuity Model (BCM) strategy Critically assess the three phases of Business Contin - Essay Example However, there are other systems or business continuity models that are more elaborate. For the Institute of Internal Auditors, business continuity management is a â€Å"process by which an organisation prepares for future incidents that could jeopardise the organisation’s core mission and its long-term viability† (2008, p. 3). Some of the incidents that can affect an organisation include fires, earthquakes, and pandemics (Institute of Internal Auditors 2008, p. 3). Meanwhile, the key components of business continuity management are management support, risk assessment and risk mitigation, business impact analysis, business recovery and continuity strategy, awareness and training, exercises and drill, and maintenance (Institute of Internal Auditors 2008, p. 3). For business continuity strategies, the Institute of Internal Auditors (2008, p. 3) has identified that the business continuity strategies that can be adopted include the following 1. Manual work processes when co mputer systems are down; 2. Outsourcing when work can be performed by external companies, competitors, or secondary vendors; 3. Recovery solutions for data; 4. Employment of alternative staffing or mobilisation of other staff members who can perform certain job functions; and 5. Use of alternative facilities. In contrast, the Department of Health of the United Kingdom has a more proactive perspective to business continuity. For the Department of Health of the United Kingdom (2011), the objective of business continuity management is to â€Å"counteract interruptions to business activities and to protect critical business processes from the effects of major failures or disasters†. Business continuity management covers â€Å"controls to identify and reduce risks, limit the consequences of damaging incidents, and ensure the timely resumption of essential operations† (UK Department of Health 2011). The business continuity model adopted by the United Kingdom Deparment of Hea lth is a 10-point model consisting of the following: 1. Project initiation and management; 2. Risks evaluation and control; 3. Business impact analysis; 4. Developing business continuity strategies; 5. Developing and implementing procedures for emergency response and operations; 6. Developing and implementing business continuity plans; 7. Building awareness and training programs; 8. Maintaining and exercising business continuity plans; 9. Formulating public relations and crisis co-ordination plans and response; and 10. Coordination with authorities. Forrester Research (2006, p. 2) defined business continuity mainly in terms of workforce continuity and defined it as â€Å"a strategy that provides for connecting a dispersed workforce to the applications, data, and communications they need in instances where pandemics, strikes, natural disasters, or other events prevent the workforce from reaching a corporate facility†. For Forrester Research (2006, p. 3-4), just like Tammineedi (2010), business continuity involves three phases: business impact analysis, local threat assessment, and business continuity plan development and maintenance. In the Forrester Research’s first phase or business impact analysis, the enterprise must identify the most critical business operations and resources (2006, p. 3). According to Forrester Research (2006, p. 3), the critical resources cover information technology, human resources, business partners,

Aerobic exercise assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aerobic exercise assignment - Case Study Example Superman helps strengthening the lower back. One lies on the stomach with a rolled towel under the hips to support the back. Another folded towel may be used to support the forehead. Tighten the abdominal muscles (Daniel, 1982). Then raise the right arm off the floor holding it for three or 4 breaths. Lower it then raise the other arm. Repeat the same with the legs. Redo until both legs and hands feel fatigued. This involves lying on your stomach then raising yourself up so that you are resting on the forearms and knees. One should ensure that the head and neck are aligned with the back and place the shoulders above the elbows. Then tighten the abdomen muscles. To create resistance, press the elbows and knees toward one another, neither moving from their position on the floor. Hold in the same position for four breaths (Bandy, 1994). Repeat severally by returning to the start position until you feel fatigue. Segmental Rotation involves lying on your back with the knees bent and back in a neutral position while tightening abdominal muscles (Daniel, 1982). While your shoulders are kept on the floor, allow the knees to fall slowly to the left until you feel a stretch, hold for 4 breaths and then repeat the exercise on the right. Do it severally until you feel fatigue. One lies on the back with the knees bent, keeping the back in a neutral position. Do not arch or press into the floor. Similarly, avoid tilting the hips as you tighten abdominal muscles. Then align your hips with your knees and shoulders by raising your hips off the floor. Hold for 4 breaths then return to the start position and repeat until you feel fatigue (Daniel, 1982). Effective cool down gives the body time to recover. This should be done by gradually decreasing the intensity level of the aerobic exercises. For instance, reduce the pace of walking and the intensity of the above activities until the breathing rate and heart

Deconstructionism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Deconstructionism - Assignment Example Furthermore, it dissects binary issues, particularly nature versus modernity, truth versus deception, and essence versus appearance. â€Å"Gooseberries† examines the difference between being good, which can lead to the illusion of happiness and power, and doing good, which results to action, truth, and a meaningful life. One of the initial binary oppositions is between nature and modernity, where Chekhov proposes a paradoxical view of nature. In the beginning, nature is separated from modernity, because of the distinction between the towns and the farms. On one side, â€Å"endless, telegraph-posts, and the train† occupy the eyesight, while on the other side, people can see the â€Å"bank of the river; meadows, green willows, farmhouses† (Chekhov 1). Chaos and tedium seem to infiltrate the symbols of modern living, while nature is full of action, diversity, color, and life. Nevertheless, as rain pours on n Ivanich and Bourkin, nature acquires a more sinister dispo sition. What used to be a lovely setting of hills suddenly becomes â€Å"wet, muddy, and unpleasant, and the river looked cold and sullen† (Chekhov 1). At the same time, because the mud made walking a chore, Ivanich and Bourkin look like â€Å"they were angry with each other† (Chekhov 1). ... Nicholai is a perfect example of a wasted life, because all that matters to him is having a happy life with no ideology and care for disadvantaged sectors of society. He worked at the Exchequer Court, but he did nothing of significance, as he held this important job. Instead of ensuring the spread of social justice and equality, he is more concerned of his self-interests. He is obsessed with the idea of having a farm of his own with a gooseberry bush. This obsession drives him to be stingy, not only with money, but with human compassion. For Ivan, his brother unintentionally kills his rich, old wife through starving her to death and making her feel miserable about her life. Through his brother’s case, Ivan argues for the difference between happiness and misery. Nicholai seems to be happy, because he attained his dream, but his gooseberries are â€Å"hard and sour† (Chekhov 4). It suggests that he appears to be happy, but he has a miserable life. He is fat and dying for no evocative purpose at all, except to deceive himself that he has a good life and that he is a good man. Nicholai insists on being called â€Å"His Lordship,† and yet his sloth and vanity are far from the qualities of a true God (Chekhov 4). Nicholai also believes that the masses do not need education and that corporal punishment is justifiable to some extent (Chekhov 4). Ivan expresses disgust for his brother, who has lost in touch with his nature, the nature with real ideals worth living and dying for. Gooseberries are motifs for the difference between doing good and being good. Having a farm and doing nothing to improve its state, especially the state of its people is â€Å"†¦egoism, laziness; it is a kind of monasticism, but monasticism

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Literature review - Essay Example Marketers are offering opportunities to customize the products. People have a desire to be unique. They pursue self-uniqueness in characteristic ways. The variables associated with compulsive buying tend to be restricted to marketing variables related to mass media like advertising contents and television viewing, socio-environmental variables like family and peer influences, and personal characteristics related to personality traits and demographics (Park & Burns, 2005). Today consumer buying is more fashion-related. Compulsive buyers are very likely to be conscious of how they look and appear to others. Credit card usage has been found to be an influential factor in compulsive buying. High level of impulsive buying is also a form of compulsive buying. Shoham and Brencic (2003) contend that the higher the unplanned purchases, the higher the compulsive purchase tendency. The higher the tendency to buy items off their product list, the higher is the compulsive purchase tendency. Compulsive buying is influenced by demographic and behavioral elements. This helps to understand the dynamics of consumer behavior. Shopping for some is a relief from stress and pressures of everyday life. Getting involved in the entire process of buying helps to alleviate the consumer from the gloom and humdrum of life. Kwak, Zinkhan and Roushanzamir (2004) contend that compulsive buying must include two criteria – behavior must be repetitive and behavior must be problematic for the individual. Thus compulsive buying is a chronic repetitive purchasing that becomes a primary response to negative feelings. Initially people feel happy but eventually realize the harmful consequences when they are unable to stop. This is line with Gutman and Mills 1982 fashion oriented dimensions which suggests that ‘fashion leaders’ and ‘fashion independents’ describe themselves as different and standing out (Lynn & Harris, 1997). Such compulsive buyers will shop at departmental and specialty

RISK MANAGMENT FOR DIFFERENT CASES Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

RISK MANAGMENT FOR DIFFERENT CASES - Case Study Example Discussion Distinctive feature with Dubai’s palm islands is that unlike the development and construction of such other islands in the world where metal as well as concrete are applied, this island’s construction wholly adopts natural materials (Butler, 2005). This therefore represented the main challenge while designing the artificial island and collaborative efforts by ‘’construction contractors and engineering scientists’ were involved for the exercise. Major risk was however the way to sustain the sand island after reclamation taking into consideration the exposure to tides as well as waves and rising sea level as influenced by global warming (â€Å"Palm Islands, Dubai - Compression of the Soil† 2013). Nevertheless, the construction of a crescent water-break structure has the capacity of protecting the island from the adverse effects of such waves and tidal rises. Precaution is however taken by the scientists who constructed the breakwater crescent because the destruction of the crescent has a direct implication of destruction of the island. This therefore presents the main challenge. Among other lessons learnt from this construction is that the islands are artificial and made of natural materials without such materials as concrete and metal. Besides, the island’s construction suffered time constraint and was scheduled to last only three years, a challenge that the contractors were to succeed in. the construction of the crescent faced a major challenge of poor water circulation which they sought to address through two openings through which tidal water would replenish the fronds water supply and control stagnation. Another challenge is that the sand used is loose and uncompacted which presents the main threat to the welfare of the island. Liquefaction is therefore seen to have a high potential of occurring in the event that an earthquake occurs, which would have adverse outcomes to the islands (‘MESSINA p roject’, 2005). The precautions in this construction process were inevitable as the design was intended to support over a million people upon completion (‘Island life’, nd). Erosion along the beach posed another major problem with the palm island where unlike with natural beaches, the artificial beach would fail to replenish sand washed always by water, as would be a natural course with the natural beaches (Choomchaiyo, 2009). The analysis of this project presents some basic risks, which pose a threat to the successful completion of the project as designed. Financial resources were paramount with the project requiring continued adjustment longitudinal researches. The controversy around the matching of the financial as well as resultant social benefits from the project and the costs incurred poses a major challenge to determine. Besides, misrepresentations and miscalculations while planning for the project has adverse effects in costs incurred by the public over t he project. Other risks associated with the project are costs risks (such as maintenance, construction as well as operation of the island), demand risks (forecasting revenue returns to be earned), future financial market performance as well as political risks. Moreover, such a mega project has the capacity of fragmenting social as well as physical coherence in the island (Darmaki, 2008). The palm project

The History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago Annotated Bibliography

The History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago - Annotated Bibliography Example The author questions the reason why the proofreader alters the story and includes the word not which changes the whole story. Barosso’s article is about the interview of Saramago about his novel the history of the Siege of Lisbon. The interviewee conducted the interview some days before Saramago was officially crowned the Nobel Prize for Literature. The interviewee focuses on the biography of Saramago and gives us deep insight in what actually happens in life. Borosso also goes ahead and finds out the reason behind the passion behind the literature for the Portugal man. When Saramago was asked about what he would do when he wins the coveted prize, he replied, â€Å"I will not take on the duties of the Nobel as would the winner of the beauty contests, who has to be shown everywhere†¦ I don’t aspire that kind of throne, nor could I, of Course†. The interview reveals how Saramago is a down to earth person but most astonishingly he says he does not miss Lisbon especially after he sought refuge in another country due to controversies surrounding his writings. Saramago confesses that he is a person who doesn’t complicate his life. This is a primary source of reference which is very useful in building up a thesis. It is an interview of the author of the novel. The interview also contains some of his real life experiences which can play a major role in building up the thesis of my research. In addition to this the excerpts from the interviews can also be in strengthening my research objectives and questions. When Evans visited Palestine he decided to pose and talk to Saramago concerning what is happening in Palestine. He interviews Saramago concerning what was actually happening in Palestine in reference to his novel the History of the siege of Lisbon. The interviewee is keen to extract information about what he thinks is happening in Palestine is relevant to what he wrote some times back.

Design - Potassium Dichromate Essay Example for Free

Design Potassium Dichromate Essay Introduction: The reaction that is carried out in this design practical is between acidified Potassium dichromate and Iron wool. The reaction is a redox reaction. A Redox reaction (a short way of saying reduction-oxidation reaction) is the simultaneous transfer of electrons between multiple substances. The oxidation numbers or the oxidation state of atoms is changed through the process of oxidation or reduction. Reduction is where electrons are gained to the reaction and oxidation is when electrons are lost in a reaction between substances. In this experiment Iron (or Fe) is losing two electrons meaning it undergoing oxidation. Potassium Dichromate is gaining electrons meaning it is undergoing reduction. The Iron is the Reducing agent because it gave electrons to the Potassium Dichromate. The Potassium Dichromate is the oxidising agent because it took electrons from the iron. This experiment will attempt to prove the redox reaction through experimentation. Redox half equations: x3 ( Fe à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Fe2+ + 2e- ) Cr2072- + 14H+ + 6e- à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 2Cr3+ + 7H2O Cr2072- + 14H+ + 3 Fe à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 2Cr3+ 7H2O 3Fe2+ Aim: The aim of this experiment is discover the relationship between the temperature (20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,25à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,30à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,35à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,40à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) of the reaction between acidified Potassium Dichromate and Iron using a water bath on the rate in which the acidified Potassium Dichromate and Iron react and change colour from yellow to dark purple. The independent variable in this experiment is the temperature. The reaction will be carried out at a range of temperatures. (20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,25à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,30à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,35à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C,40à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) . The reaction will be carried out in a water bath. The temperature will be measured with an electronic thermometer and will be measured every 10 seconds to make sure the water bath is at a constant temperature in each trial. The dependent variable is the time it takes for the reaction between Potassium Dichromate and Iron wool to come to completion or to turn from yellow to green. Time will be measured with a digital stopwatch. Independent variable: Independent variable Range (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) How it is measured How they are changed Temperature 20,25,30,35,40 Electronic thermometer Changing temperature of water bath Dependent variable: Dependent Variable How it is measured Problems Time Stop watch controlled by human Reaction time Constant variables: Constant variables Measurement How they are kept constant /monitored Amount of H2SO4 used 20ml à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1 The same measuring cylinder was used Amount of Potassium Dichromate used 20ml à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1 The same measuring cylinder was used Stirring speed Slow but constant Magnetic stirrer wasnt able to be used in water bath, so I manually stirred the solution slow and constantly Mass of wool 0.295g 0.305g à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.01 Mass of iron wool was kept as close as possible in each test Surface area of wool 6cm3 Wool was squeezed into cube shape 1cmx1cmx1cm Type/brand of wool Superior manufactures ltd Same box of Iron wool is used Air temperature 19.0à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C Tests are carried out on same day Concentration of sulphuric acid 2.0 mol Same bottle is used in each test Concentration of potassium dichromate 0.1 mol Same solution is used in each test Colour Yellow- dark green A pilot with dark green colour is used to compare to the colour change in the trials How to ensure reliability of results: To ensure the reliability of results the temperature of the water bath and the reaction are measured very frequently (once a min). The chemicals came from the same containers as to keep concentration consistent. I did a pilot test first to see what colour I am looking for. This beaker of dark green liquid is then used to compare with the colours in the trials so I know when the reaction has come to completion. Equipment: 1) 5x 20ml Sulphuric acid-2.0mol 2) 5x 20ml Potassium Dichromate- 0.1mol 3) 5x 100ml Beakers 4) 1x Digital stop watch à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.5 sec 5) 1x Electronic thermometer à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C 6) 1x large water bath à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.1à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C 7) Approximately 2g Iron wool- split into 5x 0.300g -1cm3 -cubes Method: 1) Gather all the equipment that is listed in the equipment list provided above and prepare a table like the one shown on the following page. 2) Secondly set your water bath at 20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C. Weigh the iron with electronic scales (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.001g) wool making and modify its mass to make it 0.300g or as close as you can get. Squeeze the iron wool so that the wool is approximately 1cmx1cmx1cm. This makes the surface area constant over the trials. 3) Next measure 20ml with a 50ml à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1ml measuring cylinder of 0.1mol Potassium dichromate. Pour it into a 100ml beaker making sure to pour all drops into the beaker. Measure 20ml of 2.0mol sulphuric acid with a 50ml à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1ml measuring cylinder. Pour it into the same 100ml beaker as the potassium dichromate. 4) Measure the temperature of the water bath the an electric thermometer making sure it is 20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C. When certain the temperature is constant place the beaker with the potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid into the water bath. Make sure as much of the beaker is under the water as possible but keeping enough above not to let any of the water in. Get someone else to hold the beaker down if required. 5) Measure the temperature of the potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid making sure the temperature is exactly 20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C. When satisfied this is accurate hold the stop watch in one hand and the 0.300g à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.001g iron wool in the other hand. Place the iron wool in the beaker and simultaneously push the start button on the digital stop watch. The colour should change from yellow to a dark green colour. As soon as you are satisfied the colour has changed to the dark green colour push the stop button on the digital stop watch. Record this time in your pre prepared data table. 6) Next repeat steeps (2-5) 5 times with the same chemicals. These will be the five trials. 7) Repeat steps (2-6) 5 times but now change the water bath temperature. The range of temperatures are ). Record all the data in the table you have prepared. Data Table: Raw data table showing the effect of a change on temperature on the rate in which the reaction between acidified Potassium Dichromate and Iron wool occurs.

The Stakeholder Engagement Process Management Essay

The Stakeholder Engagement Process Management Essay A person, group of persons, or organization that has a direct or indirect stake in an organisation because it can affect or be affected by organizations action, objectives, polices. (Business dictionary, 2012) Stakeholder engagement process: The word stakeholder and engagement both have different meanings for different people therefore it is difficult to understand what people are trying to think and say about these words. These words are used together to define a procedure which is theoretical a transparent process Stakeholder is only defined in a reference to a particular issue e.g. as a local resident in a particular area you may be a stakeholder in a decision about what will be the opening and closing timing of the restaurant. But you will not be a stakeholder in a decision about what kind of restaurant/food they will serve but health and local authority might a stakeholder in both decisions. Many authors described this phrase in different way. According to (Glicken, 2000) A stakeholder is an individual or group influenced by and with an ability to significantly impact (positively or negatively) the topical area of interest. However, according to (Slocum et al, 1995) Active involvement of people in making decisions about the implementation of processes programmes and projects which affect them. Freeman (1984) explains that any person or group of people who can directly or indirectly affect or can be affected by the organisations actions, objectives and policies. Shareholders including investors, owners, partners, directors, people owning shares or stock, banks, anyone having a financial stake in the business purchasers, consumers and end users. Stakeholder engagement is the process used by an organisation to engage significant stakeholders for a clear purpose to attain accepted results and stakeholder engagement is the process used by an organisation to engage relevant stakeholders for a purpose to achieve accepted outcomes. It is now also known as a fundamental accountability tool, since it obliges an organisation to involve stakeholders in classifying, understanding and answering to sustainability issues and concerns, and to report, explain and be accountable to stakeholders for decisions, actions and performance. Quality stakeholder engagement process should include: Clearly define the scope and have an agreed decision making process; Focus on issues material to the organisation and/or its stakeholders; We need to identify the important stakeholder and their interest relating to our restaurant. We need to assess the power and influence of stakeholders in connection to our restaurant. Define appropriate project to each stakeholder and we need to identify the stakeholders risk relating to our restaurant. Create opportunities for dialogue and be integral to organisational governance; Have a process appropriate to the stakeholders engaged Be timely; be transparent, flexible and responsive. Stakeholder engagement must be rooted in the culture and main functions of the organisation. To accomplish this, this requires an assurance to the principles and incorporation of stakeholder engagement with organisational governance, strategy and operations. Through this assurance and incorporation, the outputs of stakeholder engagement lead to strategic and operational outcomes. Whenever we start a project or business it is very important for us to identify key stakeholders and their type and also identify their interest relating to our business or project. Different kind of stakeholders: Usually stakeholders have three types Primary stakeholder Secondary stakeholder Key stakeholder Primary stakeholder: A primary stakeholder includes any group of people or an organisation which are eventually affected by the actions of the organisation both in positively or negatively way. In our restaurant business primary stakeholders are customers, lenders, suppliers and owner of the building. Secondary stakeholder: Secondary stakeholders are those who could be indirectly affected by the actions of the organisations. In our restaurant business secondary stakeholders are city council and environmental authorities. Key stakeholder: Key stakeholders can belong to first two groups and these peoples or organisations can have substantial impact upon within our restaurant. Key stakeholder includes; City council Customers Suppliers Lenders Owner of the building Environmental authorities and trade authorities. The Importance of Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholder engagement is premised on the concept that those groups who can affect or are affected by the succession of an organisations purpose should be given the opportunity to observe and input into the expansion of decisions that affect them. In todays society, if they are not actively sought out, sooner or later they may claim to be consulted. Situations could arise when organisations do not aggressively engage but are forced to do so by the demands of society as a result of a crisis situation. In response, organisations hire crisis management procedures, and are often forced into a defensive negotiation with stakeholders, leading to a substantial and long lasting loss of reputation. This type of interface is often opposed and damaging of trust. Meaningful engagements take place in organizations as many organizations are well aware of current changes in the wider society and how they pass on to organisational performance. A relation with stakeholders is a mean to manage the impact as a result of those changes, many of which are shaped due to vast negative impact of global economic downturn. Organisations can either seek to diminish risk through the use of stakeholder management, or through the use of meaningful stakeholder engagement exploit new trends to identify and establish new opportunities; the latter is characterised by a readiness to be open to change. As with any other business process, engagement process should be systematic, logical and should be applied thoroughly. A process is provided by stakeholder engagement which takes in to account organisation from the starting point of planning and identifying objectives through to post monitoring and evaluation. This process is represented as a circle as it is constant where lessons are learned from past experience and will then shape the future planning and engagement. Stakeholder mapping and their importance: Stakeholder mapping is process of listing the entire stakeholders according to their interest and power or influence on a particular organisation. (Bjorn Andersen, 2008) Each stakeholder is different from other in terms of their power and their interest. Some stakeholders have more power and more interest in an organisation and some stakeholders have more power with less interest in an organisation. Therefore, stakeholder mapping provides us a framework which helps organisation in term of stakeholder management. By using stakeholder mapping organisation categorise each stakeholder in different category and then spend more time and money on those stakeholders who have more interests and more power and organisation also saves time by spending less time on those stakeholders who have less power and less interest. Stakeholders Mapping http://open.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/650/Items/B324_1_004i.jpg http://open.jorum.ac.uk Key players: Key players are those stakeholders who have more power and more interest in our business or organisation. In key players stakeholder management process organisation need to actively involve these stakeholder in almost in every part of the project. Because these are the stakeholders who have more power, influence and interest in our organisation. In our project suppliers, lenders and property owner has high power and high interest therefore, these stakeholders are key player in our project. Keep satisfied: These are the stakeholders who have less interest but more power in our organisation. Therefore, organisation always needs to try to keep these stakeholders satisfied at all the time and organisation always need to feed these stakeholders with the information which they need. Keep informed: These stakeholders have with high interests but low power. There is a very less chance that these stakeholders will create any trouble in our project, but these stakeholders have high interest in our project. Therefore, organisation always needs to try to spend relatively less time on this stakeholder and keep them satisfied. For example, local community and neighbourhood people who have most interests and low power and they cannot create any trouble but their interests level is quite high. Minimal effort: These are the peoples with less interests and low power. Organisation should need to spend less time and money on these stakeholders. Understanding stakeholder: Engagement process includes the understanding of the different stakeholders and also understanding their needs and demands. In this process we need to know how best we can engage all different stakeholders and how to communicate with them. We need to consider some key questions to find out how we can perform this process efficiently. This key question includes; What financial and non-financial interest they have? We need to know if stakeholders go against our restaurant project then how we are going to manage their negative attitude towards our project? What is their current judgment about our restaurant project? What kind of information they require from us? How we need to communicate with them? To get the answer for all of the above questions we need to ask directly to the potential stakeholders. Stakeholders are quiet open about their opinion and they feel free to comment on an organisations policies and actions. By asking these questions and interacting with stakeholders helps organisations to build a strong relationship with the stakeholders which will help organisation in a long run. Being a project runner we need to ensure that stakeholders are aware that things will get better once the project is completed and there will be now extra financial cost or any other burden on them. If we dont ensure them there will be resistance in future and this resistance could affect our project. Stakeholder management: Successful project requires a careful stakeholder management. Therefore, we need to ask questions who are the stakeholders? Stakeholder is any group/person or any organisation that has direct interest in our restaurant and they can be directly affected by the output of our restaurant. Therefore, it is necessary for us to understand the principles and issues which stakeholders have in order to address them and keep everyone on board for the duration of our restaurant project. (www.projectsmart.co.uk) In stakeholder management process we need to identify our key stakeholders then we need to find out whats their needs, demands, interest and power relating to our restaurant and then we need to know how to manage these stakeholders. Therefore, managing these stakeholders is different from managing other stakeholders. For example in our project of opening a restaurant on oxford road we have some stakeholder e.g. city council which could be directly affected by the output of our restaurant and if we affect this stakeholder our restaurant could be closed before it opens. Purpose of the stakeholder management: Purpose of stakeholder management is apparent however this idea has been ignored by most of the organisations. We need to consider all those stakeholders who can make an impact on our project in later period. In recent years we have noticed many examples that many organisation those who were ignoring their stakeholders now they are considering their stakeholders with more care and acting more responsibly towards their stakeholders. (www.triplepundit.com) Fast-food giant Burger king and McDonald faced criticism for supporting the cutting of the Amazonian rain forest from beef suppliers. Now Burger king and McDonalds started to act responsibly by altering their policies and improving their CSRs and they are reporting more carefully and they are taking care of their stakeholders relationship. (Buzz, 2012) Advantages and disadvantages of stakeholder management: An organisation can receive many advantages and disadvantages for managing the stakeholders carefully. Stakeholder management reduces the risk of failure of a project. Quality of a project can be improved by engaging the stakeholders. Serious issues which can affect our project can be diminishing at early stage by engaging all the stakeholders. Managing and identifying all the stakeholders is a costly process because every stakeholder has different demands and needs from other. Managing all stakeholders is not easy it is really hard job to manage all stakeholders because every stokehold aspect something extra ordinary output from your project. Conclusion: After extensive study and research; researcher is able to draw a conclusion that stakeholders are important and integral part of an organisation and organisation cannot deny form carrying out stakeholder analyses in every stage of the project. Because organisations future depends on better stakeholder management if organisation fails to do so they will end up facing extreme pressure from stakeholders and they might lose their business too and project may fail and we have seen many examples in past. Bjorn Andersen, T.F.L.E.O., 2008. Mapping work progress. 2nd ed. USA: Quality press. Freeman, R.E (1984). Strategic Management: A stakeholder Approach. Boston, MA: Pitman. Glicken, J. (2000), Getting stakeholder participation right: a discussion of the participatory processes and possible pitfalls. Environmental Science and Policy, 3, 305-310. Slocum, R., Wichhart, L., Rocheleau, D. and Thomas-Slayter, B. (eds) (1995) Power, Process and Participation. London: ITDG Publishing. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/stakeholder.html [Accessed on 24th November 2012] http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/04/purpose-vs-profit-stakeholder-management/ [Accessed on 24th November 2012] http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/stakeholder-management.html [Accessed on 23rd November 2012] http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/04/purpose-vs-profit-stakeholder-management/ [Accessed on 23rd November 2012]

The programming and document

The programming and document 1. Introduction: The main intention of the assignment is to carry out the programming and document the automation of a Bytronic associated with Industrial Control Trainer using an Allen-Bradley Micrologix 1000 PLC. It includes Analysing the mechanical system, sensors and actuators. Establishing the control requirements. High-level design of the PLC program using the Sequential Function Chart (Grafcet) notation. Implementation of the program in ladder logic form using RSLogix 500 software. Program testing. Critical assessment of the completed program adjacent to the stated requirements. Programmable Logic Controller (PLC): Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a programmable electronic device that is used in the industrial automation systems in order to examine the system inputs and responses the behaviour of program to manage the output devices based upon the sequence and logic provided to the system. Approximately in all manufacturing line, electronics and electrical shops and as well as in some type of the mechanicals; this process is greatly enhanced. PLC is mainly used in industries and machineries. For general purpose, the PLC is mainly designed for the multiple inputs and responses the arrangements of output. But in real-time PLC, the output must be produced within a restricted time for the given input conditions. The main benefits of the PLC are: Communication possibilities. Flexibilities. Reliability Realization of complex control algorithms. System is very simple. Special devices are available. The main functionality of the PLC is to include sequential relay control, statistical discipline that deals with the algorithms and mechanism for controlling the output of a process and distributed control systems. History Of PLCs: In the need of the American automotive manufacturing industry, the PLC was invented. Initially the programmable controllers were adopted by the automated industry. When production models changed, the software revision has been replaced by re-wiring hard-wired control panel. The first programmable logic controllers were designed and developed by Modicon as a relay re-placer for GM and Landis. Later the PLCs were designed to replace the relay logic systems after that the PLC were programmed in ladder logic which strongly resembles in relay logic. Modern PLC, in Variety ways the programmed can be altered from ladder logic to more traditional languages like C and BASIC. While reducing the cabinet space that housed the logic, the new system severely increased the functionality of the controls. The first PLC, model 084, was invented by Dick Morley in 1969. The first commercial successful PLC, the 184, was introduced in 1973 and was designed by Michael Greenberg. Interior Structure Of PLC: Programmable Logic Controller is a microprocessor based device that mainly consists of CPU, I/O devices and memory. Additionally it is also connected to the program reader, memory unit and programming and printer. Perform housekeeping activities like communications through RS-232, internal diagnostics etc. Perform the control instructions contained in the users programs. This program is stored in ‘ROM/EPROM which is non-volatile memory (data/program cannot be lost when the power has lost). Communicate with other devices like I/O devices, network, programming devices. The main difference between the PLCs and other microprocessor based devices are; PLCs are designed rough for the industrial settings and secured for improving the electric noise immunity and they are modular. 2. System Description: Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a programmable device that hub too many manufacturing industries processes. The internal structure of the PLC is similar to many parts of the systems and embedded controllers. The PLC depends upon the types of systems i.e. small, medium and large and depending on that the component of the system is built in the distributed unit. The microprocessor based unit is equipment used for controlling and tracking the manufacturing processes. The main advantage of the PLC is easy to design and modify the control process and also the programming languages were adopted. Microprocessor is the main part of the PLC which acts as a vice-versa in the systems. The commands and the instructions from the users program depend on the microprocessor to results system. PLC consists of microprocessor, memory integrated unit and it also consists of storage and reclaim the data from the memory unit. The PLC also includes the communication ports, so that it can transfer the data from system to the PLC and to other terminal devices. In real-time world, it has a capability to control the processes. The main position of the processor is to examine the number of inputs and results the responses from the system. RAM is a Random Access Memory which is a volatile memory (i.e. when the power has lost the data will be lost). This type of RAM is not used in the system and it may causes some battery back up in slot. The CMOSRAM (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor RAM) is used for storage memory and ladder logic diagram. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) is also a non-volatile memory and this type of memory is used for the storage of large amount of data. The other electric devices are used for the storage of small amount of data. It is used to back up the major program in the CMOSRAM processor. ROM (Read Only Memory) is also a non- volatile memory. It can only read the program and the program cannot be modified. It is mainly used to distribute firmware and it does not require an external power supply. Input Module: There are several types of input devices to be taken such as pushbuttons, thumb switches and some other devices etc. And some other DC inputs devices like electronic card access, thumbprint, etc are used for the application to access the input module. But in most of the industrial sector system are provided with the essential noisy and electric isolation between the processor and the module. In majority of industrial systems, the processor for the input module takes from 8 to 32 input bits. For each and every input bit the address will be allocated according to the processor instructions. Output Module: The output module can be used for both the device (AC or DC) such as solenoids, relays, contractors and LED readouts. The result depends upon the input module to which the connection has been made through the ports or terminals. The connection towards the input and output devices may vary according to the power supply as well as load. For an analog device, the special type of output device is used to convert from a digital to analog. Whereas for the digital, the special type of output device is used to convert from analog to digital. For analog output device, the results are stored in 12 bit file and convert it to analog signal. The signal may vary from 0 to -10v for DC. Communications: The most commonly used for communication port is RS-232 9-pin connector. In PLC, RS-232 is an in built communication protocol to communicate within the peripheral interfaces and other terminal devices. In todays world, the wide range of communication link in some of the PLC is RS-485 which can access more speed. For peer to peer communication, the larger I/O devices are used in PLC program. There are different methods to communicate between a PLC and a programmer or even with two different PLC. In PLC, the application programs are written in personal computer and downloaded to the system (PC) using the plug in cable to the programming port of the PLC. This communication can be forwarded through the RS-232 or RS-485. The communication between two PLC can be conceded by the keen links supplied through the RS-232. Operation Of PLC: The operation of the all PLCs is followed in four steps continuously takes place in rotationally. The four basic steps followed by the PLC are Input Scan Program Scan Output scan Housekeeping. The below figure shows the operation of the PLC: 1) Input Scan: It detects all the state of inputs that are connected to the PLC. 2) Program Scan: Examine the program logic created by the user to execute. 3) Output Scan: All the output devices that are connected to the PLC can be energizes or de-energizes. 4) Housekeeping: This step is used to communicate with the peripherals, programming terminals and other devices etc. PLC Diagram Description: In PLC the programs are fabricated based upon the ‘gates simultaneously with the inputs, timers, counters, outputs, internal memory bits, analog inputs, comparators, analog output etc. Inputs: The physical connections that are connected to the PLC are switches, pushbuttons, sensors and anything which acts like a switch or signal to the state of ON and OFF position. The voltages that accept to some of the devices are 24V DC and some may not; it may vary. The switch when it is in ON state, then status of the device bit is ‘1 and when it goes to OFF state the status of the device bit is ‘0. Output: The result that appears from the input devices is the communication between the PLC and other terminals. They are used to control the solenoids, sensors, and connectors etc to on and off position. In the PLC, there are 8 sensors and 5 actuators were used. The result from each sensor response the actuators and other sensors to perform the task. These eight sensors has different task they are 1) Sensor1: It detects the presence of peg in the upper sort area. 2) Sensor2: It detects the components in front of the solenoid at the upper sort area of the ring chute. 3) Sensor3: It detects the presence of ring in assembly area. 4) Sensor4: It is used to commence assembling. 5) Sensor5: It is used to terminate the assembling. 6) Sensor6: It is used to detect the complete assemblies. 7) Sensor7: It is used to detect the components at the lower sort area. 8) Sensor8: It is used to detect the components and assemblies near the reject area solenoid. The purpose of 5 actuator which are used in PLC area are 1) Actuator1: It drives the upper chain conveyor motor. 2) Actuator2: It drives the lower chain conveyor motor. 3) Actuator3: It knocks the ring in the ring chute. 4) Actuator4: It releases the ring into the assembly area. 5) Actuator5: It rejects the unassembled components. Relay: A relay is a switch which is operated on the electromagnetic. Counters: when a pre-assigned count value is reached, the digital counters are in the form of relay contact. Timers: Timer consists of internal clock, a count value register and an accumulator which is used to count the time. 3. Requirements: The requirements for the PLC diagram are Ladder diagram Structure text programming Instruction list Functional block programming Sequential functional chart. Requirements Constraints: During the operation, Conveyor belts should be kept moving. When sensor 1 senses it, the actuator 3 should knock only the ring. Overloading of rings should be collected in the surplus rings box. The ring should not enter the peg chute or vice versa. The peg chute and the ring chute should be kept clean for the peg and the ring to slide in to that. By the actuator 5, Unassembled components should be knocked down Constraints Actuator should not knock the ring when there are more than 5 rings in the chute if there are more rings 5 rings then the progress will be blocked. The area between the actuator 4 and the sensor 3 should be clear for the next peg to occupy the space. Only if the peg moves past the ring the assembly will be over. If there are more than 5 rings in the ring chute, the actuator 3 cannot knock. 4. Program Design: The graphical representation of the logic essential in relay logic is a ladder diagram. The ladder diagram instruction consists of relays, timers and counters, program control, data transfer, arithmetic operation and data manipulations. In order to create programmable controller program, the ladder diagram language is used. The control logic can be obtained by reducing the ladder instructions symbols. The main objective of the ladder diagram is to control the outputs based on the input circumstances. Based on the simple logic, the ladder rungs can be reduced and also the controlling rungs are based on the logic. The ladder instructions consist of some symbols to perform the program. The symbols to be used in the programming and instruction set are basic relay type contacts and coil symbols. The representation of the coil symbol is used at the output and whereas the representation of the contact symbol is used at the conditions in orders to control the output. For each and every contact and coil, an address number will be referred. Function Block Programming: In this function block, the instruction for the programming is very complex for the users program such as data transfer, shift register instruction and so on. And these are also basic building blocks for the control systems. Sequential Function Chart: There are some steps to follow the sequential function chart program symbols, they are Start block Initial block Step block Transition OR path AND path There are three basic standard rules to be followed by the chart 1) The first step is to active the program at the start block and the programming have an option of restarting the device. 2) After the completion of the steps one by one, the transition state will be tested and the action will be continued until the transition is in true state. 3) Once the transition is in true state, the processor scans the steps once again to rearrange all timer instructions and executes the next step. The processor scans starts the sequential function chart from left to right side and if chart is encountered then it examines the ladder logic from left side to right side. Grafcet is a graphical function chart programming language. This language was adopted by telemechanique into the programmable control language and this language is used for the sequence behaviour of the program. Each step represents the state of system to be controlled and the horizontal bar represents the conditions to perform the accomplishment. 6. Explanation Of Program: Stage1: 0000 If flag1 (B3:1/1) is set to ON state and input sensor 4 is ON (I:0/18) but the input sensor 5 (I:0/19) is set to OFF state then LATCH (Enable) the flag2 and UNLATCH the flag1. 0001 If flag 2 (B3:1/2) is set to ON state then ENABLE both the output actuator 1 which is a lower conveyor motor (o:0/3) and the output actuator 2 which is a upper conveyor motor (o:0/4). 0002 If flag 2 is ENABLE and the input sensor 5 (I:0/19) is set to ON state then LATCH the flag1 and UNLATCH the flag 2. Stage 2: 0003 If flag 3 (B3:2/1) is set to ON state and the input sensor 2 (I:0/1) is ON state and input sensor 1 (I:0/4) is set to OFF state and the counter C5 is less than five then LATCH the flag 4 (B3:2/2) and UNLATCH the flag 3 (B3:2/1). 0004 If the flag 4 (B3:2/2) is set to ON state then enables the timer 1 to 0.01 and preset value to 50 and ENABLES the output actuator 3 (o:0/0). 0005 If the flag 4 is set to ON state and the timer 1 is decrementing then UNLATCH the flag 4 and LATCH the flag 5 (B3:2/3). 0006 If the flag 5 (B3:2/3) is set to ON state and then set the timer 2 (T4:1) to 0.01 second and preset value to 20 seconds. 0007 If the flag 5 is set to ON state and the timer 2 (T4:1) is enable and then LATCH the flag 6 and UNLATCH the flag 5. 0008 If the flag 6 (B3:2/4) is set to ON state and then set the counter to up C5:0 and preset value to 5. 0009 If the flag 6 is set to ON state and counter up is enabled then LATCH flag 3 and UNLATCH flag 6. Stage 3: 0010 If the flag 7 (B3:3/1) is set to ON state and the input sensor 3 (I:0/0) is set to OFF state and then C5:0.ACC source A 0011 If the flag 8 (B3:3/2) is set to ON state and timer 3 (T4:2) is set to base as 0.01 and preset value to 50 and ENABLES the output actuator 4 (o:0/1). 0012 If the flag 8 is set to ON state and the timer 3 (T4:2) is decreasing and then LATCH the flag 9 and UNLATCH the flag8. 0013 If the flag 9 (B3:3/3) is set to ON state and then set the counter down by 1. 0014 If the flag 9 is set to ON state and the input sensor 3 (I:0/0) is set to OFF state then LATCH the flag 10 and UNLATCH the flag 9. 0015 If the flag 10 (B3:3/4) is set to ON state and the input sensor 9 (I:0/5) is set to ON state then LATCH the flag 7 and UNLATCH the flag 10. Stage 4: 0016 If the flag 11 (B3:4/1) is set to ON state and the input sensor 6 (I:0/6) is set to ON state and then LATCH flag 12 and UNLATCH flag 11. 0017 If the flag 12 (B3:4/2) is set to ON state and the input sensor 8 (I:0/2) is set to ON state then UNLATCH the flag 12 and LATCH the flag 13. 0018 If the flag 13 (B3:4/3) is set to ON state and the input sensor 8 (I:0/2) is set to OFF state then LATCH the flag 11 and UNLATCH the flag 13. 0019 If the flag 11 (B3:4/1) is set to ON state and the input sensor 8 (I:0/2) is set to ON state then UNLATCH the flag 11 and LATCH the flag 14. 0020 If the flag 14 (B3:4/4) is set to ON state and then ENABLE the output actuator 5 (o:0/2). 0021 If the flag 14 is set to ON state and the input sensor 8 (I:0/2) is set to OFF state and then LATCH the flag 11 and UNLATCH the flag 14. 0022 END 7. The Rejection Component: In PLC, the unassembled components are rejected by the sensor 8 (I:0/2). The problem in which the unassembled components are rejected due to the delay in the actuator 4 or the peg which comes from the peg chute initially but not the ring or the assembled components which comes from the sensor 3 moves a bit distance at which the sensor 6 cannot detects the component then the rejection of the component could be taken by the sensor 8. And also there must be delay in the actuator 3 in order to push the rings in to the chute. These are the reasons for the rejection of the assembled and unassembled components. 8. Testing: There are four tests to check whether the PLC is working under conditions or not. The first test is to check whether the sensor one is detecting the peg or not and the actuator 3 is knocking the ring into the chute through the detection of sensor 2. The second test is whether the actuator 4 is holding the ring in the ring chute for some delay of time and allowing only the rings through detection of sensor 2. The third test is to check the whether the sensor 6 is detecting the assembled components at the lower sort area. The fourth test is to check the actuator 5 at the solenoid in order to reject the unassembled components. 9. Discussion: In modern control systems, the mechanical and electrical parts are used to design the machinery. In most of the control systems, there is a relay in the circuits, programming controllers and some other special devices are used. There are several ways to select the PLC. The most important in selecting the PLC is the processor. The cost of the system is very cheap and it is reliable and flexible. In PLC the user program cannot be analyzed. The main benefit of the Programmable controllers is the flexibility. The effectiveness of the use of the PLC is the software controller in which the PC software solution that relates devices via communications protocols. The main focus is based on the programming languages. These languages are built with the logic of the various instruction set. The following are the methods for selecting the PLC are 1) Maximum number of inputs and outputs is allowed. (Digital, analogue, inputs, outputs). 2) Layout of sensors and actuators. ( peripherals) 3) Nature of solution.( New or existing) 4) Special signals and modules. (high speed digital outputs) 5) Processor properties. (program and data memory) 6) Working conditions. (temperature, humidity, dust) 7) Communications. (ASCII) 8) Specialities of program. (special functions) The limitations of the PLC are 1) To store a large amount of data, the program controllers are not capable with sufficient memory. 2) The temporal network which is traceable by hardly overloads can cause the issue in automation system communication. Conclusion: The solution that set the industrial standard is the Allen-Bradley Micrologic 1000PLC. For the digital I/O, the micrologic 1000PLC are available in 10-points,16-points and 32-points and whereas fort the analogue I/O, the micrologic 1000PLC are available in 20-points digital I/O, with 4 analog inputs and 1 analog output. The successfully method for the Allen-Bradley manufactures-lower costs, flexibility, high quality and fast start ups. This control method has been successfully invented by the PLC program. The major parts of the PLC are sensors, solenoids and actuators. These sensors and actuators will acts as a vital role in the PLC. The pegs and the rings that come on the upper sort and lower sort area can be detected through the sensors. Thus, by placing the sensors and actuators in the suitable place, the rings and pegs can reach the destination successfully. The program is tested and thus the results is achieved successfully without any errors.

Molybdenum :: Chemistry Essay

Molybdenum is a transition metal. It is represented by the symbol Mo. It is a pure metal that is is silverish white in color and very hard, and has one of the highest melting points of all pure elements at 4753  °F. Its boiling point is 8382  °F. Its density is 10280 kg/m3 and its hardness is 5.5. It has a molar volume of 9.38 Ãâ€"10-6 m3/mol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Molybdenum has an atomic weight of 95.94 amu. Its atomic number is 42. The atomic radius is 145 pm and the covalent radius is 145 pm also. Its electron configuration is [Kr]4d^5 5s^1. It is a strong acid. Its crystal structure is body centered cubic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over 2/3 of all molybdenum is used in alloys. Molybdenum use increased a lot during World War I, when demand for tungsten made tungsten rare, and strong steels were at expensive. Molybdenum is used in aircraft and missile parts, and in filaments. Molybdenum acts as a catalyst in the petroleum industry for removing organic sulfurs from petroleum products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Molybdenum is not found in nature, and the compounds that can be found were, until the late 1700s confused with other elements, such as carbon and lead. In 1778 Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered that molybdenum was separate from graphite and lead, and was able to isolate the oxide of the metal from molybdenite. Molybdenum was rarely used and stayed in the laboratory until the late 19th century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plants and animals generally have molybdenum, present in very small amounts.

Uniforms in Schools Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Uniforms in Schools School uniforms in public schools are becoming increasingly popular across the nation. The public school system would benefit greatly if this policy were to be adopted. Opposition is always a factor when trying to make changes. Taking all things into consideration, the positive effects would be far greater than the negative effects. School uniforms should be required in public schools because their use would lead to higher education, less violence, and lower cost to parents. By requiring school uniforms in public schools, education will be improved. A dress code will enforce discipline toward learning. Uniforms improve a person’s outlook toward success. Students generally act the way they are dressed. With fewer distractions, students see the school as a workplace for teaching and learning. Students also have less stress in their lives because they are not in a fashion competition. Dress codes also lead to a change in grades. Mainly this happens because the student’s attendance comes up. There is also a change in grades because it is easier to focus when everyone looks alike. Another reason school uniforms should be required in public schools is that it causes less violence. There will be less peer pressure toward competition to distract the students from their studies. Everyone will be equal if the uniforms were to be required. The weapons factor will be cut down drastically by mandatory uniforms. The reason for this violence decrease is that...

Comparing Schools Essay

This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. This is an area of educational practice in which there have been many recent developments, much debate and a growing body of relevant research. Our work is framed by recent agreements of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), in particular, at its meeting on 29 November 2008: C OAG agreed that the new Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority will be supplied with the information necessary to enable it to publish relevant, nationally-comparable information on all schools to support accountability, school evaluation, collaborative policy development and resource allocation. The Authority will provide the public with information on each school in Australia that includes data on each school’s performance, including national testing results and school attainment rates, the indicators relevant to the needs of the student population and the school’s capacity including the numbers and qualifications of its teaching staff and its resources. The publication of this information will allow comparison of like schools (that is, schools with similar student populations across the nation) and comparison of a school with other schools in their local community. (COAG Meeting Outcomes) Our work also has been framed by the recently endorsed MCEETYA Principles for Reporting Information on Schooling (see Section 1. 4). Before summarising our specific recommendations, there are some general conclusions that we have reached from our review of international research and experience. The specific recommendations that follow are best understood in the context of these general conclusions: †¢ Vigilance is required to ensure that nationally comparable data on individual schools does not have the unintended consequence of focusing attention on some aspects of the purposes of schooling at the expense of other outcomes that are as important but not as easily measurable. Parents/caregivers and the public are interested in a broad range of information about schools, and nationally comparable data should be reported in the context of this broader information. †¢ Although it has become popular in education systems in some other parts of the world to use statistical models to develop ‘measures’ of school performance and to report these measures publicly in league tables, we believe that there are very v Reporting and Comparing School Performances  sound technical and educational reasons why school measures of this kind should not be used for public reporting and school comparisons. †¢ Related to this point, we are not convinced of the value of reporting ‘adjusted’ measures of student outcomes publicly. Measures of student outcomes should be reported without adjustment. †¢ To enable the comparison of unadjusted student outcomes across schools, we believe that a ‘like-schools’ methodology should be used. This methodology would allow parents/caregivers, the public, and education systems to compare outcomes for schools in similar circumstances. †¢ While point-in-time measures of student outcomes often are useful, it is difficult to establish the contributions that teachers and schools make to point-in-time outcomes. In general, measures of student gain/growth across the years of school provide a more useful basis for making judgements about the value that schools are adding. †¢ Measures of gain/growth are most appropriately based on measurement scales that can be used to monitor student progress across the years of school. The NAPLAN measurement scales are an example and provide educational data superior to that available in most other countries. Consideration should be given to developing national measurement scales for early literacy learning and in some subjects of the national curriculum. †¢ Initially reporting should build on the understandings that parents and the public have already developed. For example a school’s NAPLAN results should be reported in forms that are consistent with current NAPLAN reports for students. Although much work needs to be done in defining the most appropriate measures, the principle should be to build on the representations of data that are already familiar to people. Recommendations Our report makes the following specific recommendations: student outcome measures †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the literacy and numeracy skills of students in each school, using NAPLAN (Years 3, 5, 7 and 9). †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the tertiary entrance results of students in each senior secondary school. These data could be reported as the percentage of students achieving tertiary entrance ranks of 60 or above, 70 or above, 80 or above, and 90 or above (calculated as a percentage of the students achieving tertiary entrance ranks). †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each senior secondary school completing Year 12 or equivalent; the percentage of students applying to all forms of post-school education; and the percentage of students completing VET studies. vi Reporting and Comparing School Performances †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the achievements of students in core national curriculum subjects (English, mathematics, science and history), beginning in 2010. National assessments could be developed initially at Year 10. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the early literacy learning of children in each primary school. These assessments will need to be developed and should be administered upon entry to school and used as a baseline for monitoring progress across the first few years of school. physical and human resources †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected about sources and amounts of funding received by each school, including all income to the school from State and Commonwealth governments, as well as details of fees payable by parents, including those that are mandatory and any voluntary levies that parents are expected to pay. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the numbers and qualifications of teaching staff in each school. Basic data would include academic qualifications, details of pre-service teacher education, and details of any advanced certification (eg, Advanced Skills Teacher; Level 3 Teacher). student intake characteristics †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the socio-economic backgrounds of students in each school. Data should be based on information collected at the individual student level, using at least parental occupation and, possibly, parental education levels, under the agreed MCEETYA definitions. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background under the agreed MCEETYA definition. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school identified as having a language background other than English (LBOTE) under the agreed MCEETYA definition. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the geo-location of each school using a 3-category scale: metropolitan, provincial, and remote. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school with special educational needs. A nationally agreed definition of this category will need to be developed. like-school comparisons †¢ In reporting student outcome data for a school, data for like-schools should be provided as a point of comparison. Like-schools will be schools in similar circumstances and facing similar challenges. †¢ In determining ‘like-schools’, account should be taken of the percentage of students with Indigenous backgrounds, the socio-economic backgrounds of the students in the school, and the percentage of students from language backgrounds other than English. vii Reporting and Comparing School Performances †¢ For each school separately, like-schools should be identified as the schools most similar to that school on the above characteristics (rather than pre-defining a limited number of like-school categories). †¢ Work should commence as soon as possible on the development of an appropriate like-schools methodology. public reporting †¢ For the purpose of providing public information about schools, a common national website should be used to provide parents/caregivers and the public with access to rich information about individual schools. †¢ The national website should provide information about each school’s programs, philosophies, values and purposes, provided by the school itself, as well as nationally comparable data, provided centrally. †¢ Nationally comparable student outcome data should, wherever possible, provide information about current levels of attainment (ie, status), gain/growth across the years of school, and improvement in a school over time. †¢ The complete database for each state/territory should be made available to the relevant state/territory departments of education and other employing authorities, enabling them to interrogate data for their schools and to make judgments about school performances using aggregated data and national summary statistics. We believe that almost all nationally comparable data collected centrally could be reported publicly. The exceptions would arise when the public reporting of data may have negative and unintended consequences for schools. For example, we can envisage negative consequences arising from the reporting of the socio-economic backgrounds of students in a school, or of the financial circumstances of struggling, small schools (both government and non-government). We also believe that data reported publicly should be factual data about a school, and not the results of secondary analyses and interpretations that are open to debate (eg, value-added measures). viii Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. INTRODUCTION In education, good decision making is facilitated by access to relevant, reliable and timely information. Dependable information is required at all levels of educational decision making to identify areas of deficiency and special need, to monitor progress towards goals, to evaluate the effectiveness of special interventions and initiatives, and to make decisions in the best interests of individual learners. The focus of this  paper is on the provision and use of information about individual schools. The starting point is the observation that relevant and reliable information about schools is required by a range of decision makers – including parents and caregivers, school principals and school leadership teams, system managers and governments, and the general public – all of whom require dependable information that they can use to maximise opportunities and outcomes for students. 1. 1 Audiences and Purposes  Parents and caregivers require valid and reliable information to evaluate the quality of the education their children are receiving, to make informed decisions in the best interests of individual students, and to become active partners in their children’s learning. They require dependable information about the progress individuals have made (the knowledge, skills and understandings developed through instruction), about teachers’ plans for future learning, and about what they can do to assist. There is also considerable evidence that parents and caregivers want information about how their children are performing in comparison with other children of the same age. And, if they are to make judgements about the quality of the education their children are receiving, they require information that enables meaningful comparisons across schools. School leaders require reliable information on student and school performances for effective school management. Research into factors underpinning school  effectiveness highlights the importance of the school leader’s role in establishing an environment in which student learning is accorded a central focus, and goals for improved performance are developed collaboratively by staff with a commitment to achieving them. School managers require dependable pictures of how well students in a school are performing, both with respect to school goals for improvement and with respect to past achievements and achievements in other, comparable schools. Governments and system managers require dependable information on the performance and progress of individual schools if they are to exercise their responsibilities for the delivery of quality education to all students. Effective management depends on an ability to monitor system-wide and school performances over time, to gauge the effectiveness of special programs and targeted resource allocations, to monitor the impact of policies, and to evaluate the success of initiatives aimed at traditionally disadvantaged and underachieving sections of the student population. Accurate, reliable information allows system managers to measure progress against past performances, to identify schools and issues requiring special attention, to target resources appropriately, and to set goals for future improvement. 1 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. 2 Forms of Information Because there are multiple audiences and purposes for information about schools, the forms of information required for effective decision making are different for different stakeholders. Parents and caregivers require a wide range of information, including information relating to their immediate needs (eg, Is the school easily accessible by public transport? Does it have an after-school program? What fees and/or levies does it charge? ); the ethos of the school (eg, What evidence is there of bullying/harassment? What are the espoused values of the school? Do students wear uniforms? What level of discipline is imposed? Who is the principal? ); their child’s likely educational experience (eg, Who will be my child’s teacher next year? Will they be in a composite class? How large will the class be? Does the school have a literacy intervention program? What extra-curricular activities are provided? ); and the school’s educational results (eg, Does the school achieve outstanding Year 12 results? ). School leaders require other forms of information, including information relating to staffing and resources (eg, What resources are available for music next year? How many beginning children have special learning needs? ); the effectiveness of initiatives (eg, Is there any evidence that the extra class time allocated to literacy this year made a difference?); and academic results (eg, How many Year 5 students did not meet the minimum performance standard in Reading? Have our results improved since last year? Are we still below the state average? How did last year’s Year 12 results compare with those of the neighbouring school? ). System managers and governments require still other forms of information, including information to monitor system-wide trends over time, to evaluate the effectiveness of attempts to raise standards and close gaps, and to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances. In general, the schoollevel information required by system managers and governments is less fine-grained than the information required by parents, teachers and school leaders. Figure 1 displays schematically various forms of information that could be made available about a school, either publicly or to specific audiences (eg, system managers). The forms of evidence represented in Figure 1 are: A: student outcome measures that a school could choose to report Most schools report a wide range of information about the achievements of their students to their school communities. This information is reported in school newsletters, local and community newspapers, school websites, and at school events. The information includes details of Year 12 results, analyses of postschool destinations, results in national mathematics and science competitions, language certificates, awards, prizes, extra-curricular achievements, community recognition, and so on. Most schools take every opportunity to celebrate the achievements of their students and to announce these achievements publicly. 2 Reporting and Comparing School Performances Figure 1. Forms of information that could be made available about a school B:a sub-set of student outcome measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data Within the set of student outcome information that might be reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of outcomes on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. A reason for identifying such a sub-set would be to ensure some common measures to facilitate school comparisons – within a local geographical area, across an entire education system, nationally, or within a group of ‘like’ schools. Inevitably, nationally comparable data would be collected for only some of the outcomes that schools, parents and communities value. Performances on common literacy and numeracy tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are an example of nationally comparable data currently in this category. C. physical and human resources measures that a school could choose to report Schools provide information in various forms and to various audiences about their physical and human resources. Information of this kind includes details of staff qualifications and teaching experience, staff turnover rates, school global budgets, computers and other technology, newly constructed facilities, bequests, results of fundraising drives, and so on. Some of this information may be reported to the school community; some may be kept confidential to the school, education system or government departments. D: a sub-set of physical and human resources measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data Within the set of physical and human resources measures reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of measures on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. For example, there have been recent calls for greater consistency and transparency in the reporting of school funding arrangements (Dowling, 2007; 2008) and for more consistent national approaches to assessing and recognising teacher quality (Dinham, et al, 2008). 3 Reporting and Comparing School Performances E. student intake measures that a school could choose to report Most schools have considerable information about their students. For example, they may have information about students’ language backgrounds, Indigenous status, socio-economic backgrounds, learning difficulties and disabilities. This information usually is reported only within education systems or to governments and is not reported publicly, although schools sometimes provide information to their communities about the range of languages spoken by students in the school, the countries from which they come, the percentage of Indigenous students in the school and the school’s special Indigenous programs, or the number of severely disabled students and the facilities and support provided for these students. F: a sub-set of student intake measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data. Within the set of student intake characteristics reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of measures on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. Some progress has been made toward nationally consistent definitions and nationally consistent data collections on student background characteristics. G. all other information that a school could choose to make available Beyond information about student outcomes, student backgrounds and their physical and human resources, schools provide a range of other information to the communities they serve. 1. 3 Nationally Comparable Data Acknowledging the many purposes and audiences for information about schools, and the various forms that this information can take, the specific focus of this paper is on the collection and reporting of nationally comparable data for the purposes of evaluating and comparing school performances. In other words, the focus is on categories B, D and F in Figure 1. We envisage three broad uses of such data: †¢ use by parents and caregivers in judging the quality of educational provision and in making informed decisions in the best interests of individual students; †¢ use by school leaders in monitoring a school’s improvement and benchmarking the school’s performance against other, comparable schools; and †¢ use by education systems and governments in identifying schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances. As noted above, these three stakeholder groups are likely to have different needs. The ways in which nationally comparable data are analysed, combined and reported may be different for different purposes. We see the process of reaching agreement on the core data that should be available about a school as a national collaborative process, and see little value in arriving at different conclusions about these data for different parts of the country. 4 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. 4 Principles for Reporting The Principles for Reporting Information on Schooling (see pages 6-7) adopted by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCCETYA) provide an important point of reference for any proposed collection and use of nationally comparable data on schools. These principles recognise the multiple audiences and purposes for information about schools, the need to collect broad evidence about student and school performances, and the desirability of monitoring intended and unintended consequences of reporting information on schools. Australian governments have undertaken to ensure that data provided for the purposes of comparing schools are reliable and fair and take into account the contexts in which schools work. Governments also have undertaken not to develop simplistic league tables of school performances. 1. 5 Structure of Paper This paper first considers the kinds of nationally comparable data that might be collected about schools for the purposes outlined above. We draw on national and international research and experience, attempt to anticipate the likely requirements of different audiences, and take into account what measures currently exist and what additional measures might be desirable in the future. Each of the three data categories in Figure 1 is considered in turn: †¢ †¢ †¢ student outcome measures physical and human resources measures student intake measures (sections 2-3) (section 4) (section 5) We then consider alternative ways of evaluating and comparing school performances. Two broad methodologies are discussed: †¢ †¢ the direct comparison of student outcomes the construction of measures of school performance (section 6) (section 7) Finally, we consider issues in reporting publicly on the performances of schools: †¢ †¢ audiences and purposes for reporting options for public reporting on schools (section 8) (section 9) 5 Reporting and Comparing School Performances MCEETYA PRINCIPLES FOR REPORTING INFORMATION ON SCHOOLING There is a vast amount of information on Australian schooling and individual schools. This includes information about the educational approach of schools, their enrolment profile, staffing, facilities and programs, and the education environment they offer, as well as information on the performance of students, schools and systems. Different groups, including schools and their students, parents and families, the community and governments, have different information needs. The following principles provide guidance on requirements for information on schooling, including the types of information that should be made readily available to each of the groups noted above. These principles will be supported by an agreed set of national protocols on the access to and use of information on schooling. Good quality information on schooling is important: FOR SCHOOLS AND THEIR STUDENTS. Principle 1: Schools need reliable, rich data on the performance of their students because they have the primary accountability for improving student outcomes. Good quality data supports each school to improve outcomes for all of their students. It supports effective diagnosis of student progress and the design of quality learning programs. It also informs schools’ approaches to provision of programs, school policies, pursuit and allocation of resources, relationships with parents and partnerships with community and business. Schools should have access to: †¢ Comprehensive data on the performance of their own students that uses a broad set of indicators †¢ Data that enables each school to compare its own performance against all schools and with schools of similar characteristics †¢ Data demonstrating improvements of the school over time †¢ Data enabling the school to benchmark its own performance against that of the bestperforming schools in their jurisdiction and nationally FOR PARENTS AND FAMILIES. Principle 2: Information about schooling, including data on the performance of individuals, schools and systems, helps parents and families to make informed choices and to engage with their children’s education and the school community. Parents and families should have access to: †¢ Information about the philosophy and educational approach of schools, and their staffing, facilities, programs and extra-curricular activities that enables parents and families to compare the education environment offered by schools †¢ Information about a school’s enrolment profile, taking care not to use data on student 1  characteristics in a way that may stigmatise schools or undermine social inclusion. †¢ Data on student outcomes that enables them to monitor the individual performance of their child, including what their child knows and is able to do and how this relates to what is expected for their age group, and how they can contribute to their child’s progress †¢ Information that allows them to assess a school’s performance overall and in improving student outcomes, including in relation to other schools with similar characteristics in their jurisdiction and nationally. 1 Any use or publication of information relating to a school’s enrolment profile should ensure that the privacy of individual students is protected. For example, where the small size of a school population or of a specific student cohort may enable identification of individual students, publication of this information should be avoided. 6 Reporting and Comparing School Performances FOR THE COMMUNITY. Principle 3: The community should have access to information that enables an understanding of the decisions taken by governments and the status and performance of schooling in Australia, to ensure schools are accountable for the results they achieve with the public funding they receive, and governments are accountable for the decisions they take. Students are an important part of our society and take up a variety of roles within it after leaving school. The community is therefore a direct and indirect consumer of the product of our schools, as well as providing the means of public funding. Information about schools in the public domain fulfils the requirement that schools be accountable for the results they achieve with the public funding they receive, including relative to other ‘like’ schools; it should also give the community a broad picture of school performance and a sense of confidence in our school systems. The community should have access to: †¢ Information about the philosophy and educational approach of schools, and their staffing, facilities, programs and extra-curricular activities that enables the community to compare the education environment offered by schools. †¢ Information about individual schools’ enrolment profile, taking care not to use data on student characteristics in a way that may stigmatise schools or undermine social inclusion †¢ National reporting on the performance of all schools with data that allows them to view a school’s performance overall and in improving student outcomes, including in relation to other schools with similar characteristics RESPONSIBLE PROVISION OF SCHOOLING INFORMATION Australian Governments will ensure that school-based information is published responsibly so that: †¢ any public comparisons of schools will be fair, contain accurate and verified data, contextual information and a range of indicators to provide a more reliable and complete view of performance (for example, information on income, student body characteristics, the spread of student outcomes and information on the value added by schools) †¢ governments will not devise simplistic league tables or rankings and will put in place strategies to manage the risk that third parties may seek to produce such tables or rankings, and will ensure that privacy will be protected. †¢ reports providing information on schooling for parents and families and the community will be developed based on research on what these groups want to know and the most effective ways the information can be presented and communicated. FOR GOVERNMENTS Principle 4: Governments need sound information on school performance to support ongoing improvement for students, schools and systems. Government also need to monitor and evaluate the impacts (intended and unintended) of the use and release of this information to improve its application over time. Good quality information on schooling enables governments to: †¢ analyse how well schools are performing †¢ identify schools with particular needs †¢ determine where resources are most needed to lift attainment †¢ identify best practice and innovation in high-performing schools that can be mainstreamed and used to support improvements in schools with poorer performance †¢ conduct national and international comparisons of approaches and performance †¢ develop a substantive evidence base on what works. This will enable future improvements in school performance that support the achievement of the agreed education outcomes of both the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs and the Council of Australian Governments. 7 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 2. STUDENT OUTCOMES Information about the outcomes of a school’s efforts is key information for parents and caregivers if they are to judge the quality of educational provision; for school leaders to monitor a school’s performance and improvement; and for education systems and governments to identify schools in need of additional support. However, schools work to promote many different kinds of outcomes for their students. For some schools, an important objective is to improve school attendance rates. For others, assisting students to make successful transitions into the workforce is a high priority. Some schools are more focused than others on supporting the social, spiritual and emotional development of students. Still others measure their success in terms of entry rates into highly sought-after university courses. Decisions about the outcomes to be reported publicly for schools are important because they influence judgements about how well individual schools are performing. This is particularly true when education systems and governments attempt to construct ‘measures’ of school performance: Perverse incentives can arise when the [school] performance measure has both a large impact upon actors and focuses on an aspect of schooling that does not reflect the true or overall purpose and objectives of schools. Unfortunately, this can be common in school performance measures if the performance measure is too narrowly defined. (OECD, 2008, 26).