Algebra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Algebra - Essay Example After writing the augmented matrix for this system, use elementary row operations to reduce this to reduced row-echelon form. If the entries in the last column do not affect the values in the entries in the first n columns and if we take the same set of elementary row operations and apply them to A we will get In and so A is row equivalent to In since we can get to In by applying a finite set of row operations to A.   6) A is expressible as a product of elementary matrices, because every elementary matrices are invertible and its inverse is also an elementary matrices. A square matrix is only invertible if it can be written as a product of an elementary matrix. 7) A family of vectors is linearly independent if none of them can be written as a linear combination of finitely many other vectors in the collection. An alternative method uses the fact that n vectors in Rn are linearly dependent if and only if the determinant of the matrix formed by the vectors is zero. 8) To prove that columns span Rn, finding the basis of the column-space is essential. Then you must reduce the matrix and see if the rank = n; there has to be n linearly independent. columns, which is very easy to see if the matrix is reduced. The basis is the columns of the original matrix, not the columns of the reduced form. An invertible matrix A, determinant (A) != 0 (not equal to zero). 10) Rank A = n because in linear algebra, the column rank (row rank respectively) of a matrix A with entries in some field is defined to be the maximal number of columns (rows respectively) of A which are linearly

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change How are Changes in Knowledge Connected to Social Change? Introduction Knowledge and society have a reciprocal relationship. Religious and scientific ideas bring changes to the social order, likewise changes in society help to shape knowledge. This has been most evident since the time of the Enlightenment. From earliest times philosophers had concerned themselves with questions about God and about the human condition, what are sometimes called timeless truths. Sociology, on the other hand was more contextual and historical in that theorists were concerned with the historical emergence of all aspects of human social life. Sociology emerged through the conditions of modernity, which began in Europe in the 17th Century but later spread to become worldwide. The new scientific view questioned previously held ways of knowing and thinking about the world. Religious doctrine and teachings that had been seen as authoritative and objective truths which dictated the way most people lived their lives were called into question by advances in science. At the same time modernity engendered huge technological and social change that led to a break with what had gone before. The French revolution, and in England, the Industrial revolution, which dramatically changed the face of the social world, were decisive elements in the emergence of a theory of society that was distinct from other branches of philosophy (Giddens, 2001). The revolution was based on notions of individual freedom and human rights; it shook the social and political foundations of France and had repercussions across Europe. It also contained within it economic consequences that destroyed the foundations of feudal society. It questioned the idealized and inward looking existence of philosophy (see Morrison, 1995). Historical development’s impact on philosophy was most evident in Hegel’s work which had profound implications for the development of social theory. Hegel took the view that the revolution had not just influenced the way philosophy saw itself; it fundamentally changed the way philosophers dealt with reality and history. History and the social order had been seen as fixed, the revolution changed that and Hegel observed that as one form of social and political existence ended so another took its place.. Hegel viewed the individual as a subject within history and history as developmental and thus liberative. This was the first time that history and humanity’s role within it had been recognised as an ongoing and changing process. Other 19th century thinkers sought to understand the changing world in which they lived. Knowledge and Social Science Auguste Comte is sometimes called the founder of sociology as he coined the term. Comte was influenced by the way scientists investigated the physical world and he sought to create a science of society which would explain the social world in a similar manner. He believed that the scientific method allowed us to uncover universal laws. Comte’s thinking developed into what is known as positivism. This holds that science should be concerned with observable facts thus knowledge about society had to be based on empirical evidence i.e. observation and experiment (Callincos). Comte was followed by Durkheim who also took the view that social life should be studied in the same way that scientists studied the physical world. He and other positivists believed that social facts about the world could be established through the collection of statistical data. In this way sociologists could study cause and effect in society. For Durkheim sociology was about the discovery of social facts, sociologists should study aspects of life that shape individuals such as religion and economics. Because social change is so rapid the modern world presents us with difficulties that affect our lifestyles and cause human beings to feel unsettled. Durkheim described this process as anomie, a feeling of despair that was a result of modern life. The ideas of Karl Marx contrast with those of Comte and Durkheim who were interested in the structure of society.He also sought to explain the changes that were taking place in society. Marx said that the philosophers had only interpreted the world when it needed to be changed. Drawing on Hegel’s idea of the development of history Marx developed what he called a materialist conception of history (Morris, 1995). Social change, he argued is not the result of ideas, but of economic processes. Historical development is the result of class conflict. Religion was a false ideology that upheld the interests of the ruling class and kept the working classes in submission. Max Weber also wanted to understand social change but was critical of some of Marx’s views. Weber believed that ideas and values were just as important as economic processes and he felt that sociology should focus on action not structure (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000). Weber maintained that capitalism was not si mply the result of class conflict, what he termed the ‘spirit;’ of capitalism was the result of a particular view of the world. He maintained that capitalism was the direct result of a particular religious view of the world, that of Calvinism. They worked hard[1]because that was what God wanted and this resulted in the accumulation of capital. Their success was, for them, a sign of God’s grace. Thus, for Weber, rather than study society as a set of social facts, we need to try to understand the meanings that human beings give to their actions. This brought about a continuing divide in sociology between positivism and interpretavism, social structure versus human action. Those who follow an interpretative view of studying society argue that no causal explanation of human behaviour is possible without some understanding of the meanings that individuals give to their actions (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000).[2] Weber believed that human action was creative whereas Dur kheim believed that our actions were limited by social structures. Later Developments Marx, Durkheim and Weber, are known as the founding fathers of sociology who although divided in their accounts of society all sought to make sense of the changing societies that they lived in (Morrison, 1995). Their thought influenced later sociologists. Functionalism developed out of Durkheim’s thinking. Its most prominent thinkers are the American sociologists Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons. Functionalism holds that society is a system whose various parts work together and this produces social solidarity and cohesion (Giddens, 2001).[3] Thus functionalists examined the institutions of society, the family and education to show how they worked in the development of society and promoted social cohesion. Marx’s thinking developed largely through conflict theories. Inherent in Marx’s thought was the idea that one set of people in society were in conflict with another (the class divide) this has been most obvious in the development of feminist theories. Feminists such as Walby (1990) have used Marx’s analysis of class in the analysis of the rise of patriarchy and the struggle between the sexes. These relationships are characterised by the fact that one group has power and authority while another does not. Weber’s thought has been seen as important to the development of symbolic interactionism as found in the work of George Herbert Mead an American anthropologist. This view holds that individuals have an image of themselves that is reinforced by their interactions with others. Phenomenology is a further development of interactionism but it goes further than interactionists in that they focus solely on the subjective aspects of social life. The ideas of the founding fathers have been termed ‘grand theories’ but with the demise of modernity the idea that history is progressive has been called into question. Society is not a seamless whole but plural and diverse, it has thus been described as post-modern (Lyotard, 1989). Postmodernists argue that objective knowledge of the world is not possible because knowledge reflects the interests of its producers. Michel Foucault (1975) was a French sociologist who argued that knowledge was a result of the power relations that exist in society. Power works through discourse[4] and shapes our attitudes towards sexuality, crime and criminals and madness. Foucault, through his ‘archeology’ of knowledge[5] Foucault argued that what we understand of say mental illness or sexuality is a result of social development. Conclusion Clearly knowledge and social change are very closely linked. The immense changes in society over the past three hundred years have resulted in philosophers and social scientists attempting to understand the world, why things happen the way they do, why we do what we do. They also look at the development of social institutions, and in Foucault’s case[6] the development of knowledge itself through discourse. The emergence of sociology is directly related to social change and sociologists attempts to understand such changes have resulted in the production of knowledge. At the same time new knowledge about the world we live in helps to facilitate social change, e.g. feminist perspectives have resulted in huge changes in women’s status in today’s society. Bibliography Callinicos, A 1999 Social Theory New York, New York University Press Foucault, M 1991 (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Harmondsworth, Penguin Giddens, 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Haralambos and Holborn 2000 Sociology: Themes and Perspectives Collins, London Morrison, K 1995 Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought 1 Footnotes [1] What Weber termed the Protestant work ethic [2] See page 972 [3] See page 17 [4] The way we talk and think about a subject An approach which tries to make sense of what we know and how we know it by digging into the past [5] [6] And also Khun’s with his ideas about paradigms or models of acceptable knowledge which change over time. Thus changing views about mental health, childbirth and parenting.

The Trials and Tribulations Faced In One’s Youth :: Personal Narratives Peer Pressure Essays

The Trials and Tribulations Faced In One’s Youth My life has been filled throughout with influences both good and bad. My high school, although plain and simple from the outside, was anything but on the inside. My high school was known for its academic excellence and its more flush attendance area. But, few not and even some who were associated with my school knew of the problem within. A problem that would even be ignored even when it came right to the forefront of the local news. I never knew that drugs could become such a large part of my life, even without doing them. I never expected to ever find myself in trouble in a drug related incident. But, throughout my time in high school I just did what every other person did and ignored it. But I escaped the problem, others weren’t as lucky. My whole life I could not wait to get to high school. I guess it was always conveyed to me to be the best years of my life. So you can imagine how ecstatic I was to finally began attending Sabino High School in Tucson, Arizona. Home to around fifteen hundred or so students. A school set in a nice community, that was always supportive. It always had much parent backing, and the test scores from the school were some of the best in the state, competing with those scores of private schools. There was a problem though, one that would be ignored throughout my class’ tenure there. As a senior I found myself trapped in a school filled with narcotic sales and use. I even found some of my closest friends involved, and none of them were left with a care in the world. My best friend Zane kept his problem from me. It was not until later that he would admit to participating in any sort of drug activity. He would later tell me that throughout our junior year he used cocaine regularly. I knew nothing of this, and as his best friend worried about him when I did find out. I remember being so mad when he told me about his use of cocaine for that year because people would always tell me that they heard that he was doing it, and I always stuck for him and said that it was a lie.

System Integrity and Validation Kudler Foods

This company has established a new accounting information system to assist in all three stores. As part of this system, this firm recommends utilizing audit productivity software to enhance the system already recommended by this firm. Using audit productivity software will decrease the time necessary to audit the accounts as this will now be computerized. This will also increase profitability by decreasing money and time spent in the audit process and Kudler will be able to make alterations to the process more quickly than if audits were handled manually.Another recommendation by this firm would be the installation of continuous audit software that would continually monitor the data being input into the system. This would increase the effectiveness of auditing the stores. With the continuous audit software, Kudler would be able to follow-up on any abnormalities earlier as this software runs automatically. This would assist Kudler in handling any fraud issues that might arise as well. System Integrity and ValidationKudler Fine Foods hired this corporation to establish a new electronic data system to handle the accounting and inventory needs of the company. As part of the proposal, this company will recommend ways to audit the information that the system creates. Once the data has been input into the system, audit procedures can take place to ensure the information is correct and that the company is performing well. This company will help Kudler establish audit processes for each area of the business.As Kudler moves forward with the new automated accounting software as recommended earlier, it is important that an auditing process be established also. Since the accounting process has been converted to an accounting information system, computerized audit productivity software needs to be established as well. This will increase the productivity and profitability of Kudler because the data used by either internal auditors or external auditors can be more quickly obta ined and analyzed than doing the process manually. Kudler will need to determine which software works best for the needs of the company.Electronic work papers have many features to evaluate which include the importing of data, the analysis of that data, being able to export this data to excel or other formats, and automatically generating the working papers at the conclusion of the audit. All the recommendations for Kudler Foods are to make the company more profitable and automated. Computer assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) â€Å"assist auditors in obtaining sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful evidence to support predefined audit objectives† (Hunton, p.184). It is important that Kudler audit the accounts even though the company is not a publically held company. As outlined previously, this company recommends different auditing techniques depending on the area being audited, but highly recommends the findings and recommendations audit to ensure that the new system i s operating appropriately and the information is accurate. There are 10 key steps in the CAATs system that range from planning and implementation to documenting in the work papers.With each audit, it is critical that the auditor know what information is being looked for so when the data is accumulated, the auditor will understand the data and know if it is accurate. The auditor will work closely with the accounting personnel at Kudler to determine the objective of the audit. Based on the objective, the correct auditing format will be chosen. The ISACA Standards Board has issued guidelines governing the use of CAATs and provides guidance to the auditors. There are two categories of techniques that CAATs is used for.The first is to validate the application integrity, â€Å"the objective being to determine whether the source code has been compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally† (Hunton, p. 188). Tests might be run with a parallel simulation to determine if the soft ware is working properly. In this situation, the auditor will create a test set of data and run the auditing techniques against that data. If the system creates the expected set of data, then the system is working as it should. The second category is to verify the data integrity.This technique centers around data extraction and analysis to ensure the data is imported and exported correctly. With using an automated system, Kudler auditors can pull all the information and test for accuracy or abnormalities instead of only being able to pull a sample of the data. These two techniques help to validate the testing that will occur against the real data being reviewed for Kudler Foods. The CAATs is also used to detect any type of fraud that is occurring within the company.By using an automated accounting system along with the automated auditing system, Kudler has the ability to review 100% of the data and locate duplicates and gaps in the data. By using an automated system, Kudler can not only validate the integrity of the application and data, but also determine what could possibly be missing. A continuous audit technique might be one choice to consider for Kudler as it might work well for detecting fraud. A continue audit would be a program that is imbedded within the software that will look for things outside the norm. This would enable Kudler to find erroneous information faster.According to investopidia (2013), a continuous audit is â€Å"an auditing process that examines accounting practices continuously throughout the year. Continuous audits are usually technology-driven and designed to automate error checking and data verification in real time. A continuous audit driven system generates alarm triggers that provide advance notice about anomalies and errors detected by the system. † By using the continuous audit, this could be a time saver not only in auditing but in detecting the issues within the system and correcting them more quickly. System Integrity and Validation Kudler Foods Summary of RecommendationsThis company has established a new accounting information system to assist in all three stores. As part of this system, this firm recommends utilizing audit productivity software to enhance the system already recommended by this firm. Using audit productivity software will decrease the time necessary to audit the accounts as this will now be computerized. This will also increase profitability by decreasing money and time spent in the audit process and Kudler will be able to make alterations to the process more quickly than if audits were handled manually.Another recommendation by this firm would be the installation of continuous audit software that would continually monitor the data being input into the system. This would increase the effectiveness of auditing the stores. With the continuous audit software, Kudler would be able to follow-up on any abnormalities earlier as this software runs automatically. This would assist Kudler in handling any fraud issues that might arise as well. System Integrity and ValidationKudler Fine Foods hired this corporation to establish a new electronic data system to handle the accounting and inventory needs of the company. As part of the proposal, this company will recommend ways to audit the information that the system creates. Once the data has been input into the system, audit procedures can take place to ensure the information is correct and that the company is performing well. This company will help Kudler establish audit processes for each area of the business.As Kudler moves forward with the new automated accounting software as recommended earlier, it is important that an auditing process be established also. Since the accounting process has been converted to an accounting information system, computerized audit productivity software needs to be established as well. This will increase the productivity and profitability of Kudler because the data used by either internal auditors or external auditor s can be more quickly obtained and analyzed than doing the process manually. Kudler will need to determine which software works best for the needs of the company.Electronic work papers have many features to evaluate which include the importing of data, the analysis of that data, being able to export this data to excel or other formats, and automatically generating the working papers at the conclusion of the audit. All the recommendations for Kudler Foods are to make the company more profitable and automated. Computer assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) â€Å"assist auditors in obtaining sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful evidence to support predefined audit objectives† (Hunton, p.184). It is important that Kudler audit the accounts even though the company is not a publically held company. As outlined previously, this company recommends different auditing techniques depending on the area being audited, but highly recommends the findings and recommendations audit to en sure that the new system is operating appropriately and the information is accurate. There are 10 key steps in the CAATs system that range from planning and implementation to documenting in the work papers.With each audit, it is critical that the auditor know what information is being looked for so when the data is accumulated, the auditor will understand the data and know if it is accurate. The auditor will work closely with the accounting personnel at Kudler to determine the objective of the audit. Based on the objective, the correct auditing format will be chosen. The ISACA Standards Board has issued guidelines governing the use of CAATs and provides guidance to the auditors. There are two categories of techniques that CAATs is used for.The first is to validate the application integrity, â€Å"the objective being to determine whether the source code has been compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally† (Hunton, p. 188). Tests might be run with a parallel simulatio n to determine if the software is working properly. In this situation, the auditor will create a test set of data and run the auditing techniques against that data. If the system creates the expected set of data, then the system is working as it should. The second category is to verify the data integrity.This technique centers around data extraction and analysis to ensure the data is imported and exported correctly. With using an automated system, Kudler auditors can pull all the information and test for accuracy or abnormalities instead of only being able to pull a sample of the data. These two techniques help to validate the testing that will occur against the real data being reviewed for Kudler Foods. The CAATs is also used to detect any type of fraud that is occurring within the company.By using an automated accounting system along with the automated auditing system, Kudler has the ability to review 100% of the data and locate duplicates and gaps in the data. By using an automat ed system, Kudler can not only validate the integrity of the application and data, but also determine what could possibly be missing. A continuous audit technique might be one choice to consider for Kudler as it might work well for detecting fraud. A continue audit would be a program that is imbedded within the software that will look for things outside the norm. This would enable Kudler to find erroneous information faster.According to investopidia (2013), a continuous audit is â€Å"an auditing process that examines accounting practices continuously throughout the year. Continuous audits are usually technology-driven and designed to automate error checking and data verification in real time. A continuous audit driven system generates alarm triggers that provide advance notice about anomalies and errors detected by the system. † By using the continuous audit, this could be a time saver not only in auditing but in detecting the issues within the system and correcting them mor e quickly.

Affirmative Action Essay

Affirmative Action has remained one of the most controversial social issues of our time. Aggressive non-discrimination was the original intention, but it soon became clear that merely promising not to discriminate would have little effect on the racial bias in our society. My own opinion was first formed by my father and influenced by the conservative environment in which I lived. Since then, I have experienced a much broader view of American society. I have heard many different opinions on affirmative action from all aspects of our culture and I have changed my mind. The roots of affirmative action can be traced back to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, where legislation redefined public and private behavior. The act states that to discriminate in private is legal, but anything regarding business or public discrimination is illegal (Affirmative† 13). There are two instances when opposing affirmative action might seem the wrong thing to do. First, the nobility of the cause to help others. Second, affirmative action was a great starter for equality in the work place. The case against affirmative action ests heavily on myth and misunderstanding, and following illustrates that an absence of affirmative action in today’s society will only reinforce racial injustice. Myth 1: The only way to create a color-blind society is to adopt color-blind policies. Although this statement sounds unthinkingly possible, the reality is that colorblind policies often put racial minorities at a disadvantage. For instance, color-blind seniority system tends to protect white workers against job layoffs, because senior employees are usually white (Ezorsky, 1991). Myth 2: Affirmative action has not succeeded in increasing female and minority representation. Several studies have documented important gains in racial and gender equality as a direct result of affirmative action (Bowen & Bok, 1998; Murrell & Jones, 1996). For example, affirmative action has helped five million minorities and six million whites and minority women to be promoted in the workplace. The effect of the affirmative action program previously documented show important gains in racial and gender equality according to, Roger Clegg of the Academic Search Premier. America is known as the land of opportunity. However, it became evident that â€Å"opportunity† was only available to white men. Later, laws were passed to ensure equal opportunity regardless of race, sex, and religion. These affirmative action laws were set in place by our government with the intent of correcting the social evil known as prejudice; but in doing so, they created a monster. Affirmative action has become an ineffective, outdated, and socially harmful policy that is weakening our great nation. Should Affirmative Action be mended or ended? Affirmative action is an attempt to correct unequal distribution of benefits (status, income and wealth, power and authority,) and burdens associated with ethnic and gender differences. When we become citizens of this nation, at birth or otherwise, we get a warranty. That warranty is supposed to be honored by every government franchise in every village and hamlet of this nation. It is non transferable, and it is good for the life of the vehicle. We are guaranteed the right to vote, the right to due process; the right to be free, not to be enslaved, as long as we conduct ourselves in accordance with the laws of our nation; and the right to equal treatment under the law, regardless of our race, color, sex, religion national origin. These are rights which attach to us as individuals, not as members of a group. Affirmative action has its roots in that passion for fairness. When President Lyndon Johnson explained affirmative action to the nation, it is significant that he said,’ You can’t bring a man to the starting line who has been hobbled by chains and expect him to run the race competitively. ‘ Fairness dictated that the nation pursue affirmative action to compensate black Americans for the wrong that had been done. Affirmative action was a technique for jump-starting the process of integrating black Americans into the fabric of American society, for changing the culture of America from an exclusive society into an inclusive one. I will never abandon my faith that America can become Ronald Reagan’s â€Å"shining city on the hill,† a society in which a person’s gender or race or ethnic background are irrelevant in the transactions of their government. Let us not mourn the death of affirmative action. Instead, let us proclaim our belief that the spirit of equal opportunity, which affirmative action engendered, has become a permanent fixture of America’s social, economic, and political landscape. Let us have faith in our own sense of fair play and keep affirmative action alive. Efficiency is important to the success of any machine, including economic machines. Affirmative action increases diversity, but it does so at a cost. The cost is that it promotes racism indirectly by focusing on differences. I have a better idea. The main goal behind affirmative action is to promote unity and efficiency. So the question is what is the best way to do that? One way, is to simply provide unity incentives. Instead of punishing qualified white males, we should instead provide incentives to white males to promote diversity and unity. The best way to do this is to use the tax system. Greater unity should mean lower taxes, meaning tax incentives to anyone who promotes unity. The more women you hire, the lower your taxes. The more minorities you hire, the lower your taxes. If your business is diverse according to guidelines, you should actually be able to earn money for promoting diversity and unity. Affirmative action is wrong; you should not punish qualified employees. You should instead reward shareholders, CEO’s, and the corporation itself for doing what is rational, and in the best interest of the bottom line. So one replacement for affirmative action could be unity tax deductions. Another replacement for affirmative action could be unity credits, where individuals who choose to run their business or give to charities which promote unity, can actually receive credits for doing so and abolish affirmative action. That great American pastime—baseball—is a reminder of the intensity of our passion for fairness as we encourage the crowd to ‘kill the umpire’ if he makes what we consider an unfair call. As we drive home at the end of the day, our hands gripping the steering wheel, our bumper kissing the one ahead, when to our right a vehicle speeds along the curb and merges ahead of us at the moment when an opening appears, our passion for fairness surfaces. The protrusion of one of our fingers signals our belief that one of the rules of fairness has been violated. In every sport I can think of—baseball, basketball, football, tennis—one is expected to play between the white lines. To do otherwise is unfair and carries a penalty. The problem with affirmative action is that it singles out a particular ethnic subsection of the lower class, while leaving many deserving people behind solely because of their heritage. Instead, this society should focus on raising the bar for all members of the lower and middle class who wish to educate themselves and better their economic, intellectual and cultural positions in life. We should do this by providing more lower class young adults of all colors and creeds with inexpensive higher education. I strongly believe that only when affirmative action is unnecessary and outmoded should we abolish it. We should not destroy our current solution without creating a newer, better one. In conclusion, affirmative action policies, as they exist right now, are ineffective, outdated, hypocritical, and harmful. On the other hand, affirmative action is the best thing since peanut butter, where all people of all race can enjoy a good sandwich. Though all of these may be argued well by both sides, this last point is indisputable. Affirmative Action, no matter how it is explained, rationalized, justified, or disguised, will still be the center of social issues in our time and the time to come.

The Life of the Emperor Constantine †History Essay

The Life of the Emperor Constantine – History Essay Free Online Research Papers The Life of the Emperor Constantine History Essay Constantine became the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity. As Constantine embraced Christianity he brought the Roman Empire with him; transforming the polytheistic, pagan empire, into a Christian one. According to Constantine’s biographer, Eusebius, states that his transformation took place when he supposedly received a vision of Christ prior to the battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine easily won the battle and attributed his victory to the help he got from the Christian god. Constantine played a very active role in establishing the Christian church in the Roman Empire and gave the Christians the right to worship without being persecuted. Not only was Constantine responsible for stopping the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and vital in establishing the church in the empire, he also was a mediator in a great deal of theological disagreements amongst Christians. The most noted one act of mediation was the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., in which Constantine called a council of bishops from all across the empire to establish a doctrine that all Christians could agree on and could be backed by the state. Constantine’s reforms set a precedent for the Roman Empire and for Christians. â€Å"The active participation of Christian emperors in church affairs became a common feature in later Byzantine history.† This is a truly amazing accomplishment considering that the emperor in power before Constantine, Diocletian spearheaded all Christian persecution in throughout the empire. His political ability was second to none, it is truly amazing that Constantine was able to take an entire empire that had been predominantly pagan for several centuries and turn it into a Christian empire. Research Papers on The Life of the Emperor Constantine - History EssayAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeQuebec and CanadaGenetic EngineeringInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseTwilight of the UAWHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West MeetThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Budhism essays

Budhism essays Does Buddhism differ from Hinduism on issues other than caste? Buddhism and Hinduism are very similar in many ways, but differ in that Buddhists were encouraged to detach themselves from desires and wants while Hindus were encouraged to pursue things such as sexual, social, and physical pleasure. Some members of the Buddhist religion were known as Ascetics and would starve themselves in order to overcome desire. Week after week, these extremists would wither away and all in the name of their spirituality. Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Buddha, or The Enlightened One went through these trials . He laid under a tree for 49 days meditating, until he felt he reached his goal of shirking desire....despite attempts from of armies of Mara, the evil one, the divine lord of the Realm of Desire... (A71) he perservered and succeeded. From brahmin to pupil, the idea that desire is the cause and origin of suffering continued to branch out to many people. An end to wanting things will bring an end to sadness and pai, and in my mind, this equates to if one doesnt want to be let down, dont want anything. If the standards are high, or if there are any standards at all, then there will be a let down. Buddhists disconnect themselves from everything in relation to joy because if one can be happy then it can also be taken away, and if it can be taken away it must not be needed. Hindus are very much allowed to want things that are not necesities in life. They believed that if one was active in the world and participated in how things happen, theyd be promised Salvation. If one lived a noble life and obeyed moral laws they wouldbe rewarded. Hindus are even encouraged to attain economic happiness, something that would be looked down upon by the Buddhists. Rebirth was an obstacle to the Hindus. They wanted to live happy, successful, pleasing lives, but did not wish to...

Building J at Monte Alban at the Zapotec Site

Building J at Monte Alban at the Zapotec Site The mysteriously-shaped Building J at the Zapotec site of Monte Albn in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, has been thought to have been built for astronomical and ritual purposes. Building J was likely first built about 1AD, with three main phases of construction, the most recent one between about AD 500-700. Architectural Design The building has a roughly pentagonal outline and it is skewed 45% in orientation from the remainder of the buildings at the site by many degrees. The building is oddly shaped, and its shape been variously described as a baseball diamond, home plate, or arrowhead. Low relief carvings on the building include a crossed-sticks glyph, thought to represent astronomical symbols. In addition to its remarkable exterior outline, it has a horizontal tunnel cut through it, and an outer staircase thats skewed another few degrees from the direction of the door. Orientation and the Star Capella Building Js architectural orientation is thought by researchers to point to the location of the star Capella. Capella is indicated by the orientation point of the building on May 2, when the sun reaches its zenith and passes directly overhead. Also Known  As:  Monticulo  J Sources There are more ancient observatories to read about; and more about Monte Alban and the Zapotecs as well. Aveni, Anthony. 2001. Building J at Monte Alban. pp 262-272 in Skywatchers: A Revised and Updated Version of Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin. Peeler, Damon E. and Marcus Winter 1995 Building J at Monte Alban: A correction and reassessment of the astronomical hypothesis. Latin American Antiquity 6(4):362-369.

Leading virtual teams in today's work force Term Paper

Leading virtual teams in today's work force - Term Paper Example The purpose is the most significant aspect holding them together and is defined in various steps of action, individual tasks and common goals. This paper will discuss the evolution of virtual teams, the technology used for their successful operation, how to lead them effectively and opinions on why having them is agreeable. Implementing team collaboration in a virtual working space has an assortment of unique challenges (Konetes & Wiggins, 2009). However, apart from the telephone, there are various technological advances available to fulfill this goal. With an array of communication tools, the internet serves as the most suitable medium (Konetes & Wiggins, 2009). Below is a description of a few of them. Google docs It provides free online management of documents and spreadsheets with a Gmail or Google Account. The spreadsheet feature is handy for several employees working on a spreadsheet at the same time and enables collaborative editing of documents. This tool can be used in domain management, payroll coverage, financial reports, directory lists and ranking reports (Carmel & Espinosa, 2011). Time Doctor It is highly efficient in monitoring how time is spent. It can be used to track personal or team time (Carmel & Espinosa, 2011). ... It is a significant tool in monitoring attendance, to do lists, application usage monitoring and automatic timesheets. Jing Project This tool allows virtual team members to capture a screen or video on their desktops (Carmel & Espinosa, 2011). Comments, explanations and voice recordings, can be added to the screen captures. These can then be uploaded to software that converts them into simple links accessible by all team members. It is useful in communicating with developers and designers, where there is a need to explain requirements and changes. It also serves as a substitute when screen sharing is limited by differences in time zones (Carmel & Espinosa, 2011). This tool also allows users to record their screens. Drop Box This is a file sharing tool (Lipnack & Stamps, 1999). When new content is added to the Drop Box folder, it automatically updates all other team members that the file had been shared with, or even another computer a member might be using at home. Drop box can be us ed to back up documents, passwords and images, share training material, file access from multiple computers and file exchange with clients (Lipnack & Stamps, 1999). Freshbooks This is a web based, easy to setup, invoicing application. It allows employees to add time to company invoices. It is useful in management of billable timesheets, invoicing sales and creating estimates (Konetes & Wiggins, 2009). The advent of telecommuting fueled the evolution of virtual work teams. This was coupled with the need to integrate skills and knowledge across the globe to achieve desired organizational goals. There is also the significant aspect of achieving the goals without having to physically move both human and technological resources. This is

Government 2 Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Government 2 - Dissertation Example There are times that legislative branch will require the executive branch to be witness against a certain issue. This executive privilege prevents the executive branch to share information. The executive privilege will make sure that the discussions between the president and his advisers regarding their decision can be protected. If this privilege is eliminated, there will be issues and questions why the executive branch reached to certain decision. It might be that there will be clash in the power in the branches of government. 2. What specific items out to be listed on a report card that is used to evaluate a federal bureaucracy? Bureaucracy is considered a process of organizing people and work based on the principles of hierarchical authority and formalized rule. This is considered the most efficient means to organize people to work in unity on great tasks. American government is in practicing federal bureaucracy. There is fragmentation of power in the American political system. I n order to check the federal bureaucracy, there are specific items used to evaluate this policy or process. The first is to check if the whether the power is disseminated properly.

Lying is Universal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lying is Universal - Essay Example For our elders who have already passed most parts of their lives such as our grandparents lying is such a trivial phenomenon that they hardly realize when they are undergoing it. Virtually they make themselves believe that whatever they are thinking is right and is based on nothing but facts! It has often been noticed that their thoughts about any matter in particular are based over a series of continuous lies that they have made themselves believe as facts rather than otherwise! Even if it is pointed out to them that what they are sayin is incorrect they claim to have never lied about anything ever before. Below is a narration of such a happening in which an elderly person lies about certain things without realizing what she is doing. A few weeks ago on a sunny afternoon I was lazily reclining on my armchair engrossed in the servitude of my summer vacations. â€Å"I cannot find my Ring! I have looked every where!† exclaimed my grandmother. There was nothing else that could ha ve taken my attention off from the suspense novel that I was reading other than my grandmother’s remarks. What was so special about them was that she was talking about the so very famous ring that had a myth behind it. It was our family’s ancestral ring. ... But today, when she had come back into her room after her morning chores she had suddenly realized that she was not wearing her ancestral ring. She could not recall when she had taken it off and where she had put it. The only thing she knew was that she had looked up all the possible places where the ring could supposedly have been but in-vain. She could find it nowhere. I and my siblings offered our services to her and each one of us took up a separate room to conduct the â€Å"Ring-Hunt† in it. Under the sofa, over the cabinet, beside the refrigerator and below the room carpet, after about 3 hours of continuous search there was no place left on our ground floor that we hadn’t looked up. In the meantime when we were busy searching we could continuously hear grandmother complaining to each and everyone of her children and friends over the phone that she had lost the ring and that she suspected the cleaning lady of having stolen her centuries’ old ring. She was so very convincingly telling everyone that the maid had taken her ring that the listener would get the idea that grandmother was cent percent sure in her saying and that it was not just an imaginary assumption that she was making. Is she not lying? I thought to myself while looking up the ring in her closet. But she was talking as if she had seen the maid take the ring with her own eyes whereas only a few hours earlier had she mentioned that she did not recall where it that she had last seen the ring was. The next thing I heard was that she had extended her Pretend-Story of Stolen Ring Even more. She had linked it with every time the maid had ever mentioned to grandma that she really appreciated the antique jewels that she possessed. She quickly

Financial analysis of BMW and Kraft Foods Essay

Financial analysis of BMW and Kraft Foods - Essay Example The researcher states that the profitability ratios of both the companies depict that Kraft Foods has higher profitability in terms of high operating margin, net profit margin and return on equity. Besides, both the firms had maintained their current ratio above 1. With respect to interest coverage ratio, BMW had higher rank than Kraft Foods which indicates that it has strong financial strength in the industry. The current economic crisis of 2008 had impacted on the financial performance of BMW Group. Due to bad financial condition, the spending of customers had reduced considerably which impacted on the expenditure on vehicles. As a result, the automobile industry had faced drop in sales volume. BMW Group was also unable to evade the impact of financial crisis and therefore the group income had reduced by 5% in the year 2008 to 53,197 million Euros. As the international economy was recovering from the clutches of economic crisis by the end of the year 2010, BMW Group was able to rec over its financial position in the automobile market. The global automobile industry has also become stabilised to certain degree. In 2010, BMW Group had experienced severe increase in sales revenue by 19.3% than 2009 to 60,477 million Euros. Kraft Foods is a financially stable company with revenues of 40.4 billion USD in the year 2009. In the year 2009, the total value of net assets of the company was 25.9 billion USD. Despite bad economic conditions, the revenue of Kraft Foods was slightly affected. In 2007, the net revenue was 35,858 million USD which had increased to 41,932 million USD in 2008 (Kraft Foods Inc, 2010). Ratio Analysis Valuation Ratio Price-Earnings (P/E) Ratio Price-Earnings or P/E Ratio is the ratio of organisation’s share price with earning per share. From the analysis of BMW, it can be observed that the earnings per share of BMW Group had decreased considerably in the time of 2008 to 2009 to 0.49 Euro and 0.31 Euro and increased in 2010 to 4.91 Euro. His torically, the P/E ratio of BMW Group was strong and was always more than the industry average which is around 15-25. In the year 2007, the P/E ratio was below average i.e. 8.5 which had increased to 11.98 in 2010 (BMW Group, 2008; 2010). The price earnings ratio of Kraft Foods was

The Emperor's Club Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Emperor's Club - Essay Example These individuals have control over the hospital operations, doctors thus are obliged to attend to them in more special ways than they do to other patients. Doctors do take care of and watch several patients everyday. Thus, maintaining diligence becomes difficult. b). Universality of a principle means that an individual aware that moral principles can be applied to everybody. Reversibility of the principle means that an individual accepts the principles that are applied to him or her(Hoffman 23) c). No. I totally disagree with Kant’s ideas. This is because there are several complicated situations in reality and thus considerations of other aspects and exemptions are necessary. For example, the right intention of a doctor is to save patients by curing their illness. However, the doctors may forget some of the side effects the patients are facing. It is, therefore, important to have both means and intention. a). The statement means that we should always act in golden means. We should also not forget that things sometimes develop in opposite directions especially when they are extreme. An example is confidence. It enables a person to find solutions to problems. However, too much of it can make the person disrespect others. When a person lacks confidence, he or she becomes afraid of doing things in the wrong way. Such people cannot have enough efficiency and will continue repeating and correcting the same thing. b). The examples of Aristotelian virtues are friendliness, courage and truthfulness. When these virtues become too much, they become obsequiousness, recklessness and boastfulness respectively. When they are too little, they change to grouchiness, cowardice, and self-depreciation. 5. Mr. Hunderts action, in Utilitarian, is not an Act Utilitarianism because it does not create more social utility than other alternative actions he has. Personally, I think changing Bell’s

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop Assignment

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop - Assignment Example This affirmed the fears of the witnesses that indeed the Bishop was a witch. Each witness had an account different from the next, all of which were related to an interaction with the Bishop. In most of the testimonies, the unsuspecting culprits would welcome the Bishop into their homes as a visitor or simply interact with her as they would any other villager. However, the more her visits became, the more their miseries increased. This showed them that the torments would not have been instances of accidents but was well planned and the culprits carefully selected. The Bishop’s gender contributed to the accusations against her. Being a woman, she had gained so much influence and was living on her own. This was not common with the villagers. On the trial day, a body search revealed shambled body parts that did not resonate with the physique of a woman. A teat that was found mysteriously disappears right in the sights of her searchers. This is an occurrence that she could not let herself out of. The presence of puppets made of rugs and hogs bristles with headless pins on them were found in her house. These were weird things that the witnesses could not fathom. Their presence in her home and lack of a proper explanation of their use worsened the case against her. The bench of female jurists thus made the ruling of guilt against her based on the amount of evidence. To protect one from being accused of witchcraft, all it took was the courage to sign a book. The Bishop refused to sign this book. This is an act that proved her among the villagers as an outright witch. She could not thus be accused of routine misconduct. Furthermore, the accusation leveled against her and the following testimonials were unique in that they involved strange occurrences that inflicted pain and torture on her culprits. A large number of her culprits and the intensity of their predicament could not help matters for the Bishop either.

The Emperor's Club Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Emperor's Club - Essay Example These individuals have control over the hospital operations, doctors thus are obliged to attend to them in more special ways than they do to other patients. Doctors do take care of and watch several patients everyday. Thus, maintaining diligence becomes difficult. b). Universality of a principle means that an individual aware that moral principles can be applied to everybody. Reversibility of the principle means that an individual accepts the principles that are applied to him or her(Hoffman 23) c). No. I totally disagree with Kant’s ideas. This is because there are several complicated situations in reality and thus considerations of other aspects and exemptions are necessary. For example, the right intention of a doctor is to save patients by curing their illness. However, the doctors may forget some of the side effects the patients are facing. It is, therefore, important to have both means and intention. a). The statement means that we should always act in golden means. We should also not forget that things sometimes develop in opposite directions especially when they are extreme. An example is confidence. It enables a person to find solutions to problems. However, too much of it can make the person disrespect others. When a person lacks confidence, he or she becomes afraid of doing things in the wrong way. Such people cannot have enough efficiency and will continue repeating and correcting the same thing. b). The examples of Aristotelian virtues are friendliness, courage and truthfulness. When these virtues become too much, they become obsequiousness, recklessness and boastfulness respectively. When they are too little, they change to grouchiness, cowardice, and self-depreciation. 5. Mr. Hunderts action, in Utilitarian, is not an Act Utilitarianism because it does not create more social utility than other alternative actions he has. Personally, I think changing Bell’s

Alexander Calder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alexander Calder - Essay Example Calder' firt exhibition of painting took place in 1926 at the Artit' Gallery, New York. Later that year, he went to Pari and attended the Acadmie de la Grande Chaumire. In Pari, he met tanley William Hayter, exhibited at the 1926 alon de Indpendant, and in 1927 began giving performance of hi miniature circu. The firt how of hi wire animal and caricature portrait wa held at the Weyhe Gallery, New York, in 1928. That ame year, he met Joan Mir, who became hi lifelong friend. ubequently, Calder divided hi time between France and the United tate. In 1929, the Galerie Billiet gave him hi firt olo how in Pari. He met Frederick Kieler, Fernand Lger, and Theo van Doeburg and viited Piet Mondrian' tudio in 1930. Calder began to experiment with abtract culpture at thi time and in 1931 and 1932 introduced moving part into hi work. Thee moving culpture were called "mobile"; the tationary contruction were to be named "tabile." He exhibited with the Abtraction-Cration group in Pari in 1933. In 1943 , the Mueum of Modern Art, New York, gave him a olo exhibition. (Haye, 99-101) During the 1950, Calder traveled widely and executed Tower (wall mobile) and Gong (ound mobile). He won the Grand Prize for culpture at the 1952 Venice Biennale. Late in the decade, the artit worked extenively with gouache; from thi period, he executed numerou major public commiion. In 1964-65, the olomon R. Guggenheim Mueum, New York, preented a Calder retropective. He began the Totem in 1966 and the Animobile in 1971; both are variation on the tanding mobile. A Calder exhibition wa held at the Whitney Mueum of American Art, New York, in 1976. Calder died November 11, 1976, in New York. Early Work & Non-artitic Career Born into a family of artit in Lawnton, Pennylvania, to culptor Alexander tirling Calder and portrait painter Nanette Lederer Calder, both Calder and hi older iter, Margaret Calder Haye, were encouraged to be creative from childhood. (Calder, 13) Calder' firt ignificant recognition a an artit came when he exhibited hi now- famou miniature circu with it animated wire performer at Pari' alon de Humorite in 1927. The idea for the toy figure can be traced back to ketche he made in 1925 while reporting on the circu for the Police Gazette. Made from wire, rubber, cork, button, bottle cap, wood, and other mall "found" object, Calder' circu include lion, acrobat, trapeze artit, elephant, a ringmater, and numerou other figure. Unlike many art work of the period, the unuual creation drew crowd from outide the artitic community a well a within, and the thirty-year-old artit found himelf uddenly widely known. (Prather, 22-32) Facination with the Circu Calder tudied at the Art tudent' League from 1923 to 1926 and worked a a freelance illutrator and toy deigner. Hi facination with the circu began in 1925 when he pent two week ketching at Ringling Brother and Barnum and Bailey Circu on aignment for the National Police Gazette. In 1926 he began creating the firt few figure of wire and wood which were later to grow into the Cirque Calder (Eagle, 7) Calder' firt wire culpture, Joephine Baker (1926), a witty linear repreentation of the famou American-born chanteue, wa exhibited to the Pari art community during the ame period that hi circu wa drawing attention. He decided to return to New York City late in 1927, where he gave a one-man how that included Joephine Baker, a well a everal of hi other wire portrait. Thoe portrait would grow

The Emirate Airlines And Its Products Tourism Essay

The Emirate Airlines And Its Products Tourism Essay The Emirate Airlines and Its Products Emirate Airlines is the largest airlines in the Middle Eastern region and has been operating over 2,500 flights in a week. It has been operating for 122 cities and over 74 countries in all the six continents. The company has been operating four longest non-stop commercial flights of the top 10 flights. It has also been operating cargo activities for the emirates group under the name of Emirates sky cargo division. The airlines has been a subsidiary of the emirates group which is wholly an organization owned by the government of Dubai having over 50,000 employees and controlled directly by the investment corporation of Dubai. Gulf Air started to decrease their services in Dubai during the mid-80s and resulted in the emergence of the Emirate airlines. It was conceived in the year of 1985 in March and has been financed by the royal family of Dubai. The Dubai Royal Air Wing of the Dubai Royal Family provided two aircraft to the airlines as their first aircrafts. The government provided an initial start-up capital of $10 million and the airlines was to operate independent of government subsidies. The airlines present chairman Ahmed Din Saeed Al Maktoum headed the organization. The Airlines is one of the only nine airlines in the world that are operating an all-wide body fleet of aircrafts, operating a mixture of aircrafts like Boeing and Airbus having a centerpiece as Boeing 777. An order of 90 Airbus A380s has already been ordered by the emirates of which 20 aircrafts has been already delivered and are in service and also after the Singapore airlines is the second Airlines to have the Airbus A380-800 to be in operation after the delivery of their first aircraft on 28 July 2008. The Airline has been one of the largest buyers of the Aircrafts and has purchased over 130 aircrafts in the year of 2007 alone. They has been the largest carrier in the Middle East in terms of fleet size, Passengers carried and revenue and has been ranked amongst the top 10 carriers worldwide as per the passengers and revenue generated by the airlines till 2007. The company was the largest in terms of number of scheduled passenger kilometers flown in the world internationally and has been the fourth largest airline in the world. Also they have been the third largest as per the scheduled freight tonne-kilometers flown. Environmental forces Demographic Environment Dubai being the fastest growing emirates has around 300,000 people that are added to the population of UAE every year (Uaeinteract.com, 2009). The airline sector of UAE has been ever growing as a result of this growth rate and the wide spread geographical area and the densely populated cites of UAE. This has resulted in a larger market compared to smaller countries. It has been observed that most of the population of UAE is comprised of young people and which will result in providing a base for the aviation industry in the coming years. Most of the people that travel through flights are aged 50 or above as they have more time to meet their friends and family as compared to young people who are mostly busy with their life and are working. As a result of large young population there is scope of larger number of older people in the near future. Educated people can afford to travel by air as they have made their earnings. Employees of multinational corporations have to frequently travel to other countries and are very important customers for the Emirate Airlines (Sardone, 2012). As per a survey conducted about 70% of the decisions related to vacation planning are made by women. In Dubai most families so not consult the women in the decision making but in the changing times, women has been influencing the decisions made which are concerned with the safety of the families. In percept of travelling the safety of the family has been a major concern for the women in the family rather than money hence the cost and other travelling opinions are second. The women are more likely to go for a trip that is both economical and safe so the company has to highlight major perspective and add attractive points in order for the women to choose their airlines such that the company can have a safe journey at a minimal cost. Airlines tend to decrease the cost of the tickets of the flight for the destinations which are le ss safe but for a matter of fact women tend to choose safety over cost of the trip (Dragon, 2009). Economic Environment The economic environment is related to the economic policies, economic systems and economic conditions of the country that have a direct effect on the economy and the functioning of the industry as a whole and also on the organization. A country with liberal economic policies has a positive effect on the industry as a result of the indirect influence of the bilateral trade agreements. As the increase in the rate of inflation, cost of fare, cost of fuel and other factors, people tend to avoid travelling by airlines and only travel for unavoidable issues, and also they tend to use cheaper means of travelling. The Global financial crisis did not have much impact on the airlines industry as a result of which currently the airlines industry is booming and Emirates airlines also took a benefit from this. In 2009 the inflation rate of UAE was 3% 4% which was predicted to fall even more, before that it was around 11% which has resulted in less frequent travels around the globe (Uaeinteract.com, 2009). Now as there has been a drop in inflation and the value of currency in the country is high, people have more purchasing power and hence they will intend to travel more and most frequently by air. As a result the airline companies decreases there prices while recession and in boom they tend to increase their fare charges. Socio-Cultural factors UAE has coasts among the Indian Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf hence fishing is an important part of the Arab peopleà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s life. Islam is officially the religion of the people of UAE but still alcohol is available to the non-Muslim people living there and in hotels. The tourism is an important part of the country hence the airline services are also to be modified as per the tourists who come from other countries for the culture of the country and its tourism spots. The cultural and social aspects of environment plays an important role in the success of an organization and company like the Emirate airlines also have to comply to these as they have to work in this society. Keeping all these factors in mind, Emirate airlines frames customized services, promotion techniques and prices. The price product strategy is to be devised such that the cost to those destinations that are being travelled less frequently should be low (AMEInfo, 2012). Political Legal Factors As we are aware the Emirate airlines was very much under political influence during 2000s, the situation was in favor of the airlines. There were many for performing their general operations. Both the national and international laws had to be followed for successful operation in different companies. The prime problems that came to the mind of travelers included instability in international market and relationship between two countries. Emirate airlines fulfilled the NATO standards despite of high oil prices and high regional instability. (Emirates.com, 2012) Technological Environment The prime issues faced by the Emirate Airlines in such an environment include dynamic change in technology, countless opportunities for innovations, varying research and budgets for development. There has been introduction of Airbus A380-880 which provides better comfort to the passengers and due to its lightweight the fuel consumption is also less. Also the introduction of Boeing 777 was another great step in technological advancement as it enables to carry greater number of passengers and is also more fuel efficient. Another important advancement was use of bio-fuels which are more efficient and eco-friendly. For accomplishing this task Emirate Airlines is closely working with the RD division in order to inspire market-oriented research. A lot of other technological changes have been made like;use of internet based technologies to provide proper and easy record keeping of customers and hence provides better services, complaint mechanisms etc. (Emirates, 2012) The Cultural Web Following are the elements of cultural web given by Gerry Johnson (1988) in context to Emirate Airlines Invalid source specified.: Stories Emirate Airlines has been one of the most regarded companies not only in UAE but all over the world. Common external people have always been satisfied with the corporate behavior of Emirate Airlines. People always remark that company has been able to adhere to the needs of community and society. Also, the values of the company are able to meet the needs of environment. The employees also carry high morale while working in the Emirate Airlines due to effective leadership of high level management. Employees always talk about how the management has been able to make sure that employees adhere to the needs of other employees as well as to the internal and external environment. The new joiners are always told about the competencies and excellence of executive level management and motivated to learn many skills for acting effectively in the corporate world. Employees talks about the establishment of Emirate Airlines from just two aircrafts wet-leased from Pakistan International Airport. Th e current top story of Emirate Airlines among employees and stakeholders include the record profit of AED 5.9 billion last year. The heroes of these stories include the names like His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum who has been a pioneer figure in spearheading successful expansion of aviation industry, Sir Maurice Flanagan who is the executive vice chairman of the company, etc. Moreover, the communities belonging to over 100 cities have a great relationship with Emirate Airlines who admirably talk about the community initiatives like Emirate Airline Foundation, Emirate Friendship Hospital Group, Emirate CHES Home, etc. Overall, the company has been successful enough in generating a distinctive organizational behavior that is going to be a role model for rest of the airline industry. Rituals and Routines Customers expect the very diligence in the quality of service that Emirate Airlines has maintained over past several numbers of decades. Also, they like to be served in a standard way without compromising with the cultural variances in the different nations where Emirate Airlines offers services. They always remain satisfied with the companyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s diversity management approaches by which Emirate Airlines ensures the fulfillment of needs and demands of services of clients in global market. However, due to recessions and global economy slowdown customers expects the cutting down of prices of tickets. Furthermore, they always expect yearly newsletters and brochures with updated offers and schemes about tour packages that Emirate Airlines offers. Employees are also very enthusiastic about the benefit programs that companyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s management plan from them. They also expect their positive performance cards examined carefully by the m anagement. They always show enough amount of zeal in participating in the execution of strategic plans meant for improving the performance of company in the market. They seek learning in a friendly environment with their managers, sub-ordinates, and peers. These routines and rituals represent fairly pleasant organizational culture in Emirate Airlines with both customers as well as employees acting considerably in an agreeable manner. Moreover, any change if decided by the management could be easily entertained by the employees as they have an effective leadership to guide them through the change however the company may be required to give higher efforts to get immediate positive response from the customers. Symbols The company carries a symbol of high dignity and decorum with its name representing the matchless quality of products and services. The employees working client-side wears a disciplined and standard uniform while offering the most elegant aviation services to every customer they serve. Inside the organization, employees may find their bosses dressed up in the western corporate formal dresses as well as traditional Emirati dress representing the respect for cultural diversity by the company. The famous logo of the company can be easily found at numerous international airports all around the world along with the numerous cabs, vans, and other vehicles associated with Emirate Airlines. Company also sponsors a number of sport events where players can be seen carrying the logo of the company. These symbols represent high status of company in the airline industry with its unparallel leadership in the aviation services. Staff working in the company is extremely proud of these symbols and ta ke them as a pride while at the same time customers like to be served by the company as well as wearing the caps or t-shirts carrying the logo of Emirate Airlines. Organizational Structure The organizational structure of Emirate Airlines is highly hierarchical right from His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoumas chairman and chief executive of company to the executive level management, senior managers, managers, and lower level employees. All 62,000 employees working in 50 different business units of Emirate Airlines work in a hierarchy for smooth functioning of the company. The employees at the same level of hierarchy work with extreme coordination along with their managers and sub-ordinates in executing the planned work and making miscellaneous decisions during the work. This coordination is quite healthy and favorable for execution of complex strategies related with different aspects of the business. Control Systems Emirate Airlines has a strong control over the costs and quality of services and products that they offer. The customers are optimally charged for the cost of production of services delivered to them. Also, a major emphasis is laid over the cost incurred in getting the work done to have a better control over the expenses. However, quality is the top most priority which is controlled through several checks at the strategic as well as the operational level. The employees are also guided strictly to make no compromise in terms of quality especially when they are dealing with the customers. Moreover, employees are sometimes penalized for poor work if quality is compromised anywhere in the work. Thus, Emirate Airlines is quite particular with its employees when it is dealing with quality and costs. Moreover, every team has adequate number of skillful employees who are headed by the competent managers which are further responsible to the executive level staff. A great emphasis is made that control is executed through a hierarchy of leaders till the ground level employees. The level of bureaucracy is fairly less in the company. Power Structures The power in Emirate Airlines is fairly decentralized with the work being strategically divided among different departments at higher levels. However, at the lower level of management, there are only limited powers bestowed upon the managers. The key decisions are made only at the top level while managers at middle and lower levels have the only responsibility to execute them. The departments such as the service, human resource, passenger sales, etc are solely headed by their respective vice presidents who make the key decisions without much participation from lower levels. But at the same time, these key people have played a great role in the history of Emirate Airlines. They have a great influence over employees as well which help the company quickly and effectively act to different situations. Nevertheless, Emirate Airlines has a considerable power distance in its hierarchy. The Paradigm The summation of all the six elements of cultural web suggests quite an optimistic environment for the work in Emirate Airlines. Although some of the required aspects may be missing from the work culture of Emirate Airlines yet overall ingredients seems to be quite close to the taste of success in the coming future. The motivated employees and satisfied customers are always two targetable goals for any big business set-up and Emirate Airlines seems to have both in the current date. The advantage of such a culture in Emirate Airlines is the easy implementation of framed strategies without much internal resistance however the only disadvantage is less origination of ideas from lower hierarchy and possible dissatisfaction of employees in future that can be harmful for that company as competition increases in the market. An important value in Emirate Airlines is that a sub-ordinate has to blindly follow his/her senior and thus one thing that cannot be done in this company is questioning the senior regarding the procedure of execution of some planned work or advising them to accomplish some task in a different way. This particular aspect is somewhat contrary to that of Boeingà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s work where greater amount of freedom is given to the employees to give their inputs is strategy building. Therefore, I would like the culture at Emirate Airlines changed a bit in order to involve greater participation of employees and lower level managers. Recommendation for change Following are some of the recommendations for change Invalid source specified.: Lower level managers and employees should be provided greater powers to make strategic decisions in the company. An advisory board may be built to take suggestions from the employees and further discuss them before recommending those suggestions to upper level management. Employees should be trained enough to make key decisions on behalf of their managers to make quick operations if managers are absent.

Disaster Management Essay -- Business Management Studies

Disaster Management Introduction All disaster managers must make decisions. Their decision involves a comparison between several alternatives and an evaluation of the outcome. The quality of the decisions managers make is the true measure of their performance. Each operational decision influences future actions, which in turn, require further decisions. Errors in decision-making, therefore, tend to be cumulative. Decision-making is the major responsibility of a disaster manager, regardless of his or her functional area or level in the organization. Some of these decisions may have a strong impact on the organization, while others will be important, but less crucial. The important point, however, is that all decisions will have some sort of effect. Variables in Decision-making In some cases, decisions are made where there are few alternatives and all the parameters of the decision can be clearly identified. However, many decisions require that a choice be made between different courses of action that may be affected by variables or events beyond a manager's control. For example, the field director of a refugee relief operation knows that the accuracy of new arrival forecasts will depend in large measure, upon political events in another country. Similarly, a supply officer of a relief agency is faced with the problem of how much and what types of supplies should be ordered in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, without knowing the full extent of the disaster. Decision-making is carried out under three different conditions or sets of variables: 1) certainty; 2) risk; and 3) uncertainty. 1) Decision-making Under Conditions of Certainty à ¦ When a manager knows or is certain of all the effec... ...e. Clarify the problem and try to eliminate irrelevant or unnecessary issues. Step 2. Gather and organize all the information about the problem. Put all the information in a logical form and sequence. Step 3. Extract the relevant information. Step 4. Evaluate the information. Assess the quality and accuracy of the information and estimate the unknowns and variables that may influence the outcome of the decision. Step 5. Identify alternatives. Determine the alternatives and identify as many of the pros and cons and the possible outcomes of each. Step 6. Make the decision. Pick the best (most positive) alternative. Once a decision has been made, it should be adhered to. Hesitation or wavering fosters uncertainty and lack of confidence in the decision-maker, and can reduce the effectiveness of the decision.

French Lietenants Woman :: essays papers

French Lietenants Woman Existentialism, a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness, isolation and freedom upon and individual is a major theme in John Fowles’, The French Lieutenants Woman. Is our life ordained by the superior, or do we power our future? In chapter 13, Fowles interrupts the narration and notes the natural aspects of writing as a novelist, the freedom of the characters that he has created, and the time and structure o f the novel itself. Though awkward to incorporate the authors visions in their own literature, it is manipulated fiction, meta-fiction that is, which perhaps is a subject of major interest amongst the readers of The French Lieutenants Woman. At first, in chapter 13, it becomes evident that he himself, Fowles, is uncertain of his writings, â€Å"I do not know† he immediately confirms. By the third paragraph he has repeated the word â€Å"perhaps† five times, demonstrating Fowles puzzlement of whether he restrains his characters, or, they control him ? Fowles addresses on behalf of all novelists, and comments on the natural features of writing, that a novelist has no predetermined illustration from chapter one. Fowles also states, â€Å"We wish to create worlds as real as, but other than the world that is†(pg.81), which associates to how this novel is a classical Victorian one, but, from a a modern perception. Fowles tries to link the idea of a modern perspective with existentialism, that it is no longer like the pre-ordained Victorians, but the concept that his characters are free from authority. Although Fowles aims to attaining a point of focus in chapter 13, he repeatedly, violently and offensively comments on God and faith. He sates, that he â€Å"The novelist stands next to God†, which is an scarce feature amongst people in general, the suggestion of equating yourself to God. Not only does Fowles reveal this, but following that he concludes â€Å"He may not know all, yet he tries to pretend that he does,† which may well suggest also God â€Å"does not know all†. This comparison is again evident, â€Å"the novelist is still a God, since he createsà ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg.82). In addition, Fowles does not understand that in much of his views, he is speaking on behalf of thousands of authors, which possibly will find his comments rather offending.

Imperfect Punishments Essay

Imagine a place where tyrants stand up to their ears in boiling blood, the gluttonous experience monsoons of human filth, and those who commit sins of the flesh are blown about like pieces of paper in a never-ending wind storm. Welcome to Dante’s Inferno, his perspective on the appropriate punishments for those who are destined to hell for all eternity. Dante attempts to make the punishments fit the crimes, but because it is Dante dealing out the tortures and not God, the punishments will never be perfect because by nature, man is an imperfect creature. Only God is capable of being above reproach and of metering out a just punishment. While Dante’s treatment towards the tyrants is fitting, his views on the inhabitants of the Ante Inferno and Limbo seem to be backwards and these poor people are doomed to suffer misguided punishments. Therefore, despite Dante’s best attempts to justly punish each sinner, he makes a few mistakes because he is not God and Dante is un able to unbiasedly judge each sinner. If you were to attempt a journey through Hell, the first unlucky hellions you would encounter are the inhabitants of the Ante Inferno. The residents of this â€Å"not quite heaven, not quite hell† domain were placed here because while living, they chose to neither side with God nor with the Devil. By choosing neither good nor evil, these people sinned because they never chose to live by a set of Christian ideals. The punishment for these sinners is to constantly chase a white flag. The color of the flag symbolizes the blank and empty life the sinners led because they did not choose to follow God. The sinners are also bitten by wasps because in real life, they were never forced into any type of moral decision, so in the Ante Inferno, the wasps sting them and force them to chase the white flag. While the ordeal these sinners face seems entirely appropriate, their physical location in hell, or lack there of, is what makes their punishment wrong. This becomes very obvious when the punishment for those in Limbo is considered. Limbo is the First Circle of Hell and it is the final resting place for the people who died before the birth of Christianity or who were never baptized. Notable figures like Moses and Noah are former residents of Limbo, until  Christ granted them a pardon. Virgil resides in Limbo and has been given a temporary leave of absence to guide Dante through Hell because Beatrice, Dante’s former love who holds a high place in heaven, is worried that he is headed on the path towards Hell. Dante shows pity for those who are stuck in Limbo because as Virgil describes, â€Å"Some lived before the Christian faith, so that They did not worship God aright – and I Am one of these. Through this, no other fault, We are lost, afflicted only this one way: That having no hope, we live in longing†(Canto IV 28-32). Dante is said to be seized with â€Å"heartfelt grief† (Canto IV 33) after hearing this, but no pity is supposed to be felt towards sinners who are receiving just punishments. But how just is it that people who never knew the word of Christ and had no knowledge of Heaven or Hell are sentenced to Hell? It is not a fair punishment to doom those unlucky enough to be born before Christianity to Hell when they were not given a fair chance to learn how to gain entrance to Heaven, especially when you consider that those living in the Ante Inferno were perfectly aware of God and knew the consequences of not living a Christian life. Knowing about God and simply ignoring him seems to be a worse crime than being born before Christ. Perhaps some of the residents of Limbo may have ended up in Hell had they know about Christianity, but some may not have. The people in Limbo were never given the choice to live a life with God, so their punishment and placement in Hell should be less severe t han the people who ignored their chance to gain entrance to Heaven. If Limbo and the Ante Inferno could geographically switch positions, Dante’s reasonsing and punishments for the two groups would make more sense. The sinners in the Ante Inferno experience what seems to be a greater punishment  than what one would face in Limbo. Being constantly stung by wasps and forced to chase a white flag would be mentally and physically exhausting and seems to be a torture straight out of hell†¦ yet they aren’t even technically in hell. On the other hand, in Limbo one merely walks around and talks to other luckless souls, which does not seem to be a punishment constant with what other sinners face in hell. Dante correctly assigned the right punishments to each group of sinners, but he misplaced both groups. Limbo should be outside of Hell because they did not have the knowledge of either Heaven or Hell. The Ante Inferno should be the first level of Hell, reserved for those who knew about Heaven and Hell, choose neither side, and now must fac e the fact that by their indecision, are bound to suffer in Hell. While Dante may have geographically misplaced these two groups of sinners, he did correctly punish most of the sinners in Hell. For example, â€Å"the river of blood – in which boils everyone / Whose violence hurt others† (Canto XII 41-42) describes the perfect punishment for those who were violent while they were alive. The degree of the violence committed also factors into the punishment. Tyrants who slaughtered many people are completely covered in boiling blood, while those who were violent against only a few suffer with blood up to their torsos. This is the perfect punishment because violence is a crime of passion and causes bloodshed. It is appropriate for these sinners to be in boiling blood, which would have been similar to their blood, simmering with rage and passion, while they committed their sin. Being immersed in this disgusting pool of heated blood would be a terrible punishment and it is just that those who commit the crime of violence and murder should s uffer this endless torment. In order to place the sinners in the appropriate levels of Hell, Dante relies on his personal experiences and opinions about the crimes committed. The little bit that we know about Dante and his life, we learn through the opening scenes of the epic and conversations he has with spirits in Hell. The epic opens with Dante, â€Å"In dark woods, the right road lost† (Canto I 2). This shows the Dante is neither a devout Christian, nor is he a sinner. At his place in his life, being neither good nor bad, Dante would most likely be sentenced to life in the Ante Inferno. Throughout the epic, Dante likens  himself to Virgil, but at the same time appears to know that his work is not quite as good as Virgil’s. Perhaps by placing himself and the Ante Inferno in a level of Hell less severe than Limbo, Dante may still not be as good of a poet, but he is able to represent himself as a better person morally. This may not seem just to me, but to Dante this is a perfectly reasonable pu nishment. Dante feels the need to be superior to Virgil and since he was not able to accomplish this in life, he supercedes Virgil in the afterlife. It is also evident that Dante has a personal bias towards those who commit the sin of violence. While venturing through their circle of Hell, Dante says there â€Å"in that crowd / Were many I recognized† (Canto XII 114-115). He mentions that Alexander resides there and that â€Å"he held Sicily under / For many a sad year† (Canto XII 100-101). Dante may have placed such a harsh, yet still just, punishment on the Violent because he is avenging his country and people for the violent crimes committed against them. Alexander was responsible for an innumerable amount of Italian lives during his occupancy of Sicily and Dante is making sure that he is correctly punished for his sins. In life, Dante was unable to stop Alexander from committing his atrocities, but he is able to condemn him in Hell. Had Dante and his country not experienced the terrors of a tyrant, it is possible that without his need for revenge, Dante may have awarded the Violent a lesser punishment. Our personal experiences and feelings are what make us human, but yet they also lead us to biases, which prevent us from being as fair and just as God. It is obvious that those in Limbo who were never given a chance to have their soul saved by Christ should not be doomed eternally to a lower level of Hell than those in Ante Inferno who ignored the chance to save their soul. Yet Dante misplaces these two domains of Hell to put himself in a level nearer to Heaven than Dante will ever be able to acheive. While Virgil’s literary abilities will always be remembered as better pieces of work, by making Virgil his guide to salvation, Dante will reach Heaven, the ultimate goal of a Christian, while Virgil never will. The punishment of the Violent is a strong statement against those who have brought bloodshed to Italy and reflects Dante’s hope for peace in Italy. Dante shows that while these sinners may have dominated the lives of others on Earth, that in hell  the Violent are completely overwhelmed by the blood that they created. Despite Dante’s good intentions of creating a Hell where the punishment fits the crime, his opinions cloud his judgement. He uses Hell as a way to punish or degrade those whom he had some sort of a conflict with while alive. It is obvious that I do not agree with all of his ideas about Hell, but then again I am also not a fourteenth century Italian male. A just hell is different for everyone, depending on your own beliefs or lack of beliefs. The only universally just Hell that can be experienced is a Hell of God’s making and hopefully I will never know how his punishments compare to Dante’s.

Installing server roles with batch file Essay

When you use this mode, it displays all the roles and features that the server can support. All the entries have a box next to them. A check mark in this box shows that you installed the role or feature on the system. When you supply the name of an XML file, this mode also places the information in the named file for you. The ServerManagerCmd always logs the results of the –query mode. You use the –logPath command line argument to specify a different location for this log. Of course, there’s one final issue to consider about the ServerManagerCmd utility — the format of the answer.xml file. Microsoft strove to keep the format of this file very simple. All you really need to provide is a list of what you want to install or remove. For example, if you want to install the Web Server role, you create an answer.xml file with the following content: Even though the < ServerManagerConfiguration> element appears on multiple lines in this book, it should appear on a single line in your file. The Action attribute tells ServerManagerCmd which task to perform. You can specify Install or Remove as the actions. The < Role> element tells ServerManagerCmd that you want it to install a new role with an ID value of Web-Server. Notice that you must enclose the ID value in double quotes. Use the < RoleService> element to install role services and the < Feature> element to install features. References Techno, C. (2014, Janruary). Retrieved from Computer Techos: http://computertechnos.blogspot.com/2009/09/window-server-2008-using.html

Iran Country Assessment

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country governed by a regime that began with a revolution headed by Ayatollah Khomeini over two decades ago. Khomeini was the first to label the United States as the ‘Great Satan. ’ Although the Iranian government denies it, terrorism has been actively supported, both materially and morally, for years by Iran and Iran supports efforts damaging to the U. S. If the more extreme elements in Iran continue to hold power and arm themselves with nuclear weapons, the international repercussions would be far-reaching.Understanding of Iran is important for members of the U. S. Armed Forces in order to comprehend the scope of Iran’s extremist’s leanings. On the other hand, many of Iran’s citizens love the United States and are resentful of Iran’s oppressive regime. The anti democracy and hindrance of personal liberty have taken a large toll on the Iranian youth. Iran’s younger generation has put forth a lot of res istance against this oppressive regime. Over two thirds of Iran’s population is under the age of 30, which is good from an operational standpoint.This massive amount of young people generally feels that there is hope to moderate if not remove the oppressive regime. Recently a few young Iranians have been frustrated to the point of actively demonstrating against the regime. It is also important to mention many younger Iranians want improved relations with the United States. Most urban Iranians have access to the Internet and satellite television and are able to compare their standard of living with that of the United States and Western Europe.The Kurdish people believe that they are a nation in itself that are deserving of a sovereign homeland. After the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, many Kurdish sided with the Iranian leftist and protested against Ayatollah Khomeini and his regime. In 1979, the Kurdish formed a rebellion, which ended with thousands of Kurdish dea d. Shortly after this, Khomeini centered his power and banded Kurds from serving in government office and greatly enforced freedom of expression.The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan is a militant group that is based out of Iraq but has been consistently performing operations in Iran. Iran has prepared to conduct military action against the group and has moved a large portion of Iran’s military to Kurdistan to hinder the uprising of the militant group. The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan would be a great asset to possible future operation in Kurdistan. The party is semi supportive of the United States but will most likely be more than willing to help in U.S operations in Iran due to their long-term goal of destroying the regime. Iran is a tough operational problem set due to their advanced military and technical power. Operations in Iran should be focused on using the people of Iran to include the youth and Kurdish people. Intelligence operations would be better suited for usin g Iran’s youth because they are more supportive of the Untied States and have the ability to work in Iran’s government and military. The Kurdish are not trusted in the government and would not be able to provide accurate intelligence.Operations should be held out of North East Iraq due to the likelihood of Iraq cooperating with the United States during operations. Iraq has a large portion of Kurdistan and it would be easy to work with the Kurds right out of Iraq. Iran and Iraq have a long history of war which only furthers Iraqs likelihood of helping the U. S. Iran is a very dynamic and technologically advanced country, which presents many intelligence issues. The help of Kurdistan, Iranian youth and Iraq would greatly increase the likelihood of operational success in Iran.

Article Critque 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critque 2 - Article Example As a function of this differential of decision-making, the article in question, entitled â€Å"Wildlife Fire and Decision Making†, seeks to analyze the means by which the process of the controlled burn can be improved upon as a means to analyze emergent science with regards to forestry management and forest fires to secure a more efficient and helpful process by which the low lying undergrowth of a particular region can be reduced without impacting to a negative degree on the extant wildlife within such a region. The article seeks to pay a special level of attention to the fact that the decrease in forested lands has placed a greatly increased burden upon species, both endangered and non-endangered, to occupy a smaller and smaller territory; thereby impacting disproportionately on the means by which controlled burns can provide a positive impact upon the extant environment. On the one side of the debate, those within the fire sciences community have traditionally pointed to the fact that the controlled burns are ultimately beneficial in each and every way; however, those that promote such a one dimensional view of the beneficial nature of this particular application of the fire sciences cannot take into account the changing dynamics of the environment and the means by which extant wildlife is disproportionately affected by these controlled burns. Although it is true that the controlled burn was beneficial in the past, and could very well continue to represent a net positive, the authors of the article seek to analyze the means and metrics by which the controlled burns should be carried out. Rather than merely engaging in a controlled burn for the sake of carrying out a program that has been practiced for decades, the authors promote the idea that the controlled burn should be guided by a complex series of metrics which would help to maximize the good f or a changing environment and dynamic that exists within our current world as