Saturday, August 31, 2019

Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest Patients

Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest Jaime Bromley Jefferson College of Health Sciences Hypothermia is a decrease in the core temperature below 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit. There are various medical uses for hypothermia. Therapeutic hypothermia is the only proven effective treatment for post cardiac arrest patients. Hypothermia decreases the amount of cerebral oxygen needed and also lessens the inflammatory response post cardiac arrest. This prevents brain damage and death in patients.There were two major studies done on this topic. One in Europe and one in Australia; they showed very positive outcomes for the patients who were treated with therapeutic hypothermia. More of the patients who received the hypothermic treatment survived compared to those who did not; also patients treated with hypothermia had less brain damage upon hospital discharge. Sudden cardiac arrest is a major health concern in the United States; there are more than 400,000 incidents annually (AHA, 2011).Only five to thirty percent of patients survive hospitalization and make it to hospital discharge (AHA, 2011). Doctors are now discovering the highly effective treatment of doctor induced hypothermia for cardiac arrest patients. Hypothermia is defined as a decrease in the core body temperature below 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit (Ward, 2011). It is then characterized by whether it occurred accidentally or if it was induced purposefully. There are multiple uses for medically induced hypothermia.Doctor induced hypothermia is the most effective therapeutic treatment for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest patients suffer from ischemic brain injury leading to poor neurologic outcomes and death. Doctors will begin to cool patients as soon as recirculation begins. Therapeutic hypothermia works by decreasing the cerebral oxygen consumption. During cardiac arrest circulation does not occur, therefor the vital organs are not adequately perfused. W hen resuscitation happens circulation resumes and reperfusion occurs.Reperfusion is associates with free radical formation (AHA, 2011). Mild hypothermia blocks intracellular effects from high calcium concentrations and lessens the inflammatory response after cardiac arrest (Ward, 2011). In 2002 the results of two randomized trials were published that compared mild hypothermia with normothermia in comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. One study was done in five European countries; the other was conducted in four hospitals in Australia (University of Chicago, 2008).In the European study the patients were cooled to the target range of 32 to 34 degrees Celsius (University of Chicago, 2008). They were kept at that temperature for 24 hours, and then passive warming would begin (University of Chicago, 2008). Six months after cardiac arrest 75 of the 137 hypothermic patients had positive results; and were able to live independently and able to work (University of Chicago, 20 08). Whereas with the normothermia patients only 54 of the 137 patients survived six months after their cardiac arrest (University of Chicago, 2008).With the Australian study the patients were cooled to 33 degrees Celsius, kept at that temperature for 18 then active rewarming would begin (University of Chicago, 2008). The results of the Australian study, 21 of the 43 patients treated with hypothermia had good neurological function at discharge compared to nine of 34 patients who were normothermic post cardiac arrest (University of Chicago, 2008). There are various techniques used to cool patients; currently there is not one technique that stands out over the rest in ease of use and high efficiency.Before the cooling procedure can begin the patient is given a sedative and a neuromuscular blocker to prevent shivering. There are multiple external techniques such as cooling blankets, ice packs, wet towels, and a cooling helmet; however all of these are slow to cool core temperature (Uni versity of Chicago, 2008). An intravascular heat exchange device has recently become available; this machine enables rapid cooling and precise temperature control (University of Chicago, 2008).During the whole cooling and rewarming process the patient is closely monitored and their temperature is taken regularly. Not every person who has sudden cardiac arrest is able to receive hypothermic therapy. There are multiple restrictions, and each hospital has its own protocol to follow. Some of the common exclusions are pregnancy, core temperature of less than 30 degrees Celsius post arrest, and known clotting disorders (AHA, 2011).In order to receive hypothermic treatment the patient must be at least 18 years of age, female patients must have a documented negative pregnancy test, cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation, and the blood pressure can be maintained at 90mmHg (AHA, 2011). With the use of therapeutic hypothermia treatment many people have been given a second chance at life. Doctors and scientists are making great strides in refining the technique needed to successfully treat patients with hypothermic therapy. Ward, J. 2011). Therapeutic hypothermia for victims of cardiopulmonary arrest. AARC Times. 35 (10), 36-46. American Heart Association. (2011). Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest. Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://circ. ahajournals. org/content/108/1/118. full#sec-9 University of Chicago CPR committee. (2008). Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest. Retrieved April 14, 2011 from http://www. med. upenn. edu/resuscitation/hypothermia/documents/Hypothermia%20Protocol%20Univ%20of%20Chicago%202008. pdf

Friday, August 30, 2019

Development Of Radiographer Led Procedures Health And Social Care Essay

This scrutiny has been carried out on patients as a complete scrutiny. With the development of radiographer-led processs there is move towards giving a direct reply to put of the clinical indicants and inquiry and so orienting the scrutiny to suit this demand. The Ba sup can therefore moderately be split into a figure of ‘subexaminations ‘ when the clinical image has a definite way. Upper high Ba sup, this scrutiny is used for patients who have high dysphagia or definite oesophageal symptoms, or have rather frequently had a normal OGD but there are still have diagnostic that mean: rather frequently a motility upset may be cause. The technique is the patient is asked to stand erect in the AP place on the fluoroscopic tabular array and keep the cup of Ba in their manus, normally the left, as farther turning of the patient is normally to the left. The arm will so lie clear of the bole, without the patient holding to negociate its motion around the escalating screen passenger car. The patient is turned into a sidelong place in order to get down with everyday appraisal of possible aspiration, if this instance the scrutiny should be terminated instantly. They are asked to take a normal sized for them mouthful of the liquid and keep it in their oral cavity until asked to get down. This is to give the operator a opportunity to focus on on the country of involvement and optimise the collimation. If the radiographic equipment allows, a frame rate of 3 per second is suggested as an initial pick, modern digital equipment can let recording of the screened image. This frequently a radiation dosage decrease by leting retrospective and repeated survey of the patients get downing action without returning to the rescreen missed actions, and besides allows a more existent clip appraisal to take topographic point. The patient is so asked to get down and the exposure is initiated. Real clip recording is terminated when the Ba bolus passes beyond the screened image or po int of involvement. The AP position is the optimum for hypopharyngeal anatomy, it will be seen in individual and dual contrast images. This position can so be repeated at least one time more to guarantee there is consistence in the image, doing it easier to definitively place pathology. The patient is so turned into the sidelong place and the same process of taking a mouthful and get downing on petition is imaged. This position allows the posterior wall to be optimally viewed. The most common abnormalcies shown are relentless cricopharyngeal feelings or diverticulae, the most common diverticulum type being zenkers this occurs in the mid-hypopharynx and is more common in the older population. They are rather frequently termed hypopharyngeal pouches. The pouches can go rather big, frequently doing patients to be referred due to regurgitation of undigested nutrient some clip after they have eaten. They are besides frequently hard to endoscope as the range enters the pouch and can non b e passed farther. The Ba sup can therefore rather frequently be the most appropriate trial for corroborating the presence and extent of this pathology. Oesophageal webs are besides best seen on the sidelong projection, shown on the anterior wall, although they are best viewed with rapid imaging sequences, they have been noted in 1-5 % of diagnostic patients and 12-15 % of dysphagia patients. Barium sup and the reflux appraisal is patient for this type of survey frequently present with clinical symptoms of GOR. They frequently have a feeling of retrosternal uncomfortableness and no other symptoms. Although pH monitoring is an effectual manner of rating GOR, there is non every bit yet a gilded criterion test.the Ba survey can still be utile as an adjunct to other trials, as some GOR patients may hold little suspension hernias that are non seen on endoscopy. These patients frequently have mucosal alterations in the distal tierce of the gorge, so the sup is used to see the part closely and detect the fundus to look into for herniation. Technique for this testes is AP and sidelong projections can be taken of the gorge as antecedently described for the Ba sup. A more utile position of the distal tierce of the gorge is provided by the erect left posterior oblique, taken after the patients is asked to get down. The Ba bolus is imaged as a column and athletics movies taken to demo the distal tierce of the distal tierce of the gorge. This allows mucosal rings and peptic stenosiss to be shown good. As the column base on ballss and the mucous membrane relaxes, spor movies can be taken this frequently shown oesophagitis. The patient is the asked to take the effervescent granules either dry or assorted with a little sum of H2O if dry is excessively hard, or other effervescent assistance, followed by the citric acid. It is of import to affect on the patient that these will bring forth gas in the tummy and may give them the feeling that they need to burp, it is imperative the y do non yield to enticement and the best manner to avoid this is to state them to maintain swallowing. Advance account of this, giving grounds for its importance, will maximise conformity. The patient is so asked to get down another mouthful of Ba whilst in the LPO place and images can be taken of the lower gorge. This will give a dual contrast scrutiny of gorge, leting a good expression at mucosal item. To observe marks of a suspension hernia or GOR, the fluoroscopic sofa is so placed horizontally and the patient turned to their right to measure reflux. Sport images of the country are taken. The patient is so asked to revolve through 360 at their ain gait, this will guarantee coating of all facets of the stomachic mucous membrane ready for appraisal of the tummy. Whilst they are executing this motion it is best to test sporadically in instance any extra lower oesophageal pathology is noted so that a athletics image of the lower oesopagus and gastroesopahageal junction can be taken . On finishing this tactic, farther images of the tummy are taken at cardinal phases: foremost, the patient is asked to turn to their left ( LOP ) where a athletics images is taken. Second, turned back to supine ( AP ) . Third, turned to their right ( RPO ) . And the patient is returned to the vertical place, turned somewhat to their left and an erect ( LPO ) movie is taken to demo the distal orsophagus and the fundus of the tummy. To demo reflux really happening, the patient can be tilted caput downwards ( Trendelenburg place ) as this mimics stress reflux but, as this is an unreal place, it may hold limited bearing on the truth appraisal of the true extent of reflux. If reflux is demonstrated the freedom with which it occurs and the degree it attains should be note as this will be an assistance to the clinician in the appraisal of the patient. It is noted nevertheless, that reflux may merely happen in approximately a 3rd of diagnostic patient. Preparation of patient to all scrutin y upper piece of land is, the patien should hunger for least 6 hours before the scrutiny but 5 hours is considered equal by some. It is suggested that this should be the instance even if merely Ba sup is indicated, in instance positions of the tummy are found to be required, this avoids the patient holding to return for a 2nd scrutiny. All jewelry or artifacts illustration hearing AIDSs should be removed. Patient vesture should be removed and a patient gown should be worn. The patient should so be informed of the process they should have information with their assignment prior to go toing, so they can give their consent. Complication with instructions on the famishment period should be checked. ESOPHAGRAM PROCEDURE. Two common radiographic processs of the upper GI system affecting the disposal of contrast media are the esophagram, or Ba sup, buttocks it is sometimes referred to, and the upper GI series. Each of these processs is described in item, get downing the esophagram. An esophagram, or Ba sup is the common radiographic process or scrutiny of the pharnx and gorge, using a radiopaque contrast media may be used. The intent of an esophagram is to analyze radiographically the signifier and map of the get downing facets of the pharnx and gorge. No contraindications exist for esophagrams except possible sensitiveness to the contrast media used. The engineer should find whether the patient has a history of sensitiveness to barium sulphate or water-soluble contrast media. Because the gorge is empty most the clip, patient need no readying for an esophagram unless upper GI series is to follow. When combined with an upper GI, or if the primary interested is the lower gorge, readying for the UGI takes precedency. For an esophagram merely, all vesture and anything metallic between the oral cavity and the waist should be removed, and the patient should have on a infirmary gown. Before the fluoroscopic process a pertinent history should be taken and the scrutiny carefully explained to the patient. The first portion of an esophagram involves fluoroscopy with a positive-contrast medium. The scrutiny room should be clean, tidy, and appropriated stocked before the patient is escorted to the room. The appropriate sum and type of contrast medium should be ready. Esophagrams by and large use both thin and thick Ba. Extra points utile in the sensing of a radiolucent foreign organic structure are cotton balls soaked in thin Ba, Ba pills or gelatin capsules filled with BaSO, and marsmallows. After get downing any one of these three substances, the patient is asked to get down an extra thin Ba mixture. Because the esophagrams begins with the tabular array in the perpendicular place the footbo ard should be in topographic point and tested for security. Lead aprons, compaction paddle, and lead baseball mitts should be provided for the radiotherapist, ass good as lead aprons for all other forces in the room. Proper radiation protection methods must be observed at all times during fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy with the room prepared and the patient ready, the patient and radiotherapist are introduced and the patients history and the ground for the test discussed. The fluoroscopic scrutiny normally begins with a general study of patients chest including bosom, lungs and stop, and the venters. During fluoroscopy, the technologist responsibilities in general are to follow the radiotherapist instructions, assist patient as needed, and hasten the process in any mode possible because the scrutiny in begun in the vertical or vertical place, a cup of thin Ba is placed in the patient left manus near to the left shoulder. The patient so is instructed to follow radiotherapist instructions r efering how much to imbibe and when. The radiotherapist observes the flow of Ba with the roentgenoscope. Swallowing of thin Ba is observed with the patient in assorted places. Similar place may be used while the patient swallows thick Ba. The usage of thick Ba allows better visual image of mucosal forms and any lesion within the gorge. The type of Ba mixture to be used, nevertheless, is determined by the radiotherapist. After the unsloped surveies, horizontal and Trendelenburg places with midst and thin Ba may follow. A patient is shown in place for an RAO projection with a cup of thin Ba. The throat and cervical gorges are normally studied fluoroscopically with athletics movie, whereas the chief part of the esophagus down to the tummy is surveies both with fluoroscopy and with postfluoroscopy overhead radiogram. Presentation of esophageal reflux is the diagnosing of possible esophageal reflux o regurgition of stomachic contents may happen during fluoroscopy or an esophagram. One or more of the undermentioned processs may be performed to observe esophageal reflux ; take a breathing exercising, H2O trial, compaction paddle technique and toe- touch manoeuvre.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A Comparison of Mac OSX Tiger and Microsoft Windows Vista Essay Example for Free

A Comparison of Mac OSX Tiger and Microsoft Windows Vista Essay ? Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OSX are one of the most prominent Operating Systems in the world. Both have millions of Active users and are considered as major rivals. Both Operating systems have their specific advantages as well as some disadvantages. Both operating systems have evolved throughout the time in a specific manner and has managed to create their own identity. This paper will compare the latest releases of both software giants i.e. â€Å"Microsoft Windows Vista† and â€Å"Mac OSX Tiger†. A Comparison of Microsoft Windows Vista and Mac OSX Tiger: Mac OSX Tiger 10.4x is the latest release of the OSX series of operating systems released by Apple Corps. This version was released in spring 2005. Like its predecessors Tiger’s foundation is laid on the Unix Kernel â€Å"Darwin†. The Unix foundation has made Tiger more secure and reliable than its non Unix rivals like Microsoft’s Windows. There are no known Viruses, Worms or Spywares which can force Tiger to compromise . Vista’s predecessor Windows XP has been under attack by the hackers and viruses since its release for the first time which compelled Microsoft to fix the loopholes in the form of service packs. That why its successor Vista has been developed with security in mind. Though Vista seems to be more secure than XP or other earlier Windows releases but it has not achieved 100% immunity against viruses and worms. Apple has maintained a policy of releasing new versions roughly after every 18 months. Due to this approach the changes and innovations made in the new versions were not that prominent to confuse the users. On the contrary Microsoft has not released any new version after the release of Windows XP in 2001. Thus the change in Vista is more dramatic than change in Tiger. Speaking about the GUI and its features Tiger and Vista share many similarities. Because Tiger is a couple of years older than Vista seems to draw many features and ideas from Tiger. Some notable similarities are in icons. Vista has also change the names of â€Å"My Documents† and â€Å"My Computer† folder to â€Å"Documents† and â€Å"Computer† same as in Tiger. The term Vista Aero Interface is very similar to Tigers Aqua interface in terminology. The buttons and other interface details have the same shiny round look as in Tiger. Tiger’s most amazing feature is its spotlight search technology which is borrowed by Vista in such a way that even the search button is identical to it, only the magnifying glass turns on the opposite side. But along these similarities Vista is more advanced and sophisticated than Tiger in a number of ways. Vista provides a more sophisticated file previewing technology not found in Tiger. It can even preview text files. Moreover Vista’s folder give the preview of the files located inside them a feature not found in Tiger. Moreover Vista can scale icons and previews up to 128 by 128 pixels. Regarding file management and searching Vista and Tiger share many similarities. Vista’s new file searching technologies are very similar to Tiger’s spotlight technology, but Vista goes further ahead and provides the facility of adding meta data in Internet Explorer directly. Vista provides multiple fields for searching and adding meta data a feature not available in Tiger. Vista has also borrowed the idea of Tiger’s smart folders renaming them as virtual folders. But Vista has also developed some advanced file management features not found in Tiger. Vista provides a new backup system which record changes in the backed up files time to time and save them in a protected folder. Vista has also developed a feature available in Mac OSX since its earlier times. OSX has the ability to create any document in PDF. Vista on the other hand has given support to change any document in Metro an universal XML document format. Regarding networking Vista is far more superior than Tiger. This is basically because Vista is more compatible to Microsoft servers than Tiger. Vista has also provided the facility to connect to a project on the network and send presentations to it. Vista is also introducing Ipv6 protocol, a feature which is available in OSX since Panther. Vista also has a better support for RSS feeds, Weblogs etc. Media Center is a feature which can certainly be called the pride of Microsoft in the world of Desktops and operating systems. Because neither Tiger nor any other competitor such accomplished media center facitlities as provided by Microsoft. The feature first introduced in Windows XP Media Center edition has shown further enhancements and innovations in this regard. Though Vista is a major innovative change for Windows users many new features introduced in Vista are not that new in the world of desktops. Tiger and some other operating systems have introduced them a couple of years ago. But Vista has gone further beyond. There are many features and advances in Vista which are not found in any operating system currently. Security is the key problem thats why Vista provides more sophisticated security features than Tiger. Vista also has the advantage of the largest number of software support which Tiger doesn’t. But Tiger has support of open source softwares thanks to its Unix foundation. One can conclude that each operating system is superior to its rival in some characteristics and lacks some features found in the other. References James Fallows (2006), Microsoft Reboots: A Preview of the New Versions of Windows and Office, The Atlantic Monthly. Volume: 298. Issue: 5 The Atlantic Monthly Magazine J.V. Bolkan (2005), Facing the Future: Computer Hardware Is Getting a New Set of Standards. Find out How They Will Affect Your Future Purchases, Learning & Leading with Technology. Volume: 33. Issue: 3, International Society for Technology in Education. Royal Van Horn (2006), The Perfect Computer and Web Browser Updates, Phi Delta Kappan. Volume: 88. Issue: 1. Publication Year: 2006. Page Number: 7, Phi Delta Kappa, Inc A Comparison of Mac OSX Tiger and Microsoft Windows Vista. (2017, Mar 13).

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Strategic Management in Computers and Internet Essay

Strategic Management in Computers and Internet - Essay Example This will be one of the main factors when considering the buyer's (consumer's) segment of Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Then it will consider the new substitutes in the market, i.e. the no frills budget airlines, such as EASYJET and RYAN AIR as opposed to traditional competitors, such as British Midland. The above diagram succinctly explains the five forces that effect the position of a company within a competitive liberal market. These forces are the competitive rivalry within the industry, i.e. whether it is a monopoly or oligarchy, i.e. how easy it is for new individuals to enter the industry. In respect to airlines the ease to enter the market is limited because there are large setup costs; as well as the strict regulations since the events surrounding September 11th 2001. However, in recent years there have been budget airlines that have been entering the market, with the financial backing of large companies or tycoons. A prime example is Easy Jet. The bargaining power of customers is increasing with the entrance of budget airlines, whereby pricing is very competitive; especially with the rising fear of terrorist attacks. In fact, in many cases the pricing is dictated by the general consumer's expectations; however this causes problems to locations which are not the destination of the mass public. In respect to substitutes to airlines, this is limited in respect to long haul trips but much more diverse in respect to national and continental travels. Therefore not only does BA have to compete with budget airlines on short haul trips, but also with road, rail and sea travel. In order to compete with these obstacles BA.COM has initiated a very old, but winning approach which is customer service; however the main difference is that one can also have the efficiency and hassle free approach of online booking. The following report will focus on how introducing the first class customer service approach will create a stronger company internally and therefore making the choice of UK air travellers. In dealing with these issues of reputation, customer, staff and shareholder retention and satisfaction some serious queries have to be considered in respect to the regulatory regime of the Terrorism and Security requirements in each of its trading countries. As a company that engages in international travel, especially air travel, it is governed by strict requirements, guidelines and laws that need to be followed. This report will investigate the problems that may occur if BA.COM did not have an effective set of organizational behaviors in respect to the treatment and protection of staff, customers and shareholders; as well as the reputation of the company. The most important factor to remember is a happy staff means improved customer service and therefore the choice of customers.2 This falls in line with new EU Regulations concerning the position of the consumer. There are three key areas where problems are easily identifiable for the organization which are; the lack of proper organization with respect to operations; customer satisfaction; and staff morale. The first question that has to be dealt with is whether the bad market name is a direct result of the new policy or lack of organization in the customer service side. It would seem that the lack of any viable customer service will have a major negative impact on the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Role of Micro-simulation in Intelligent Transportation Assignment

The Role of Micro-simulation in Intelligent Transportation - Assignment Example Base case is usually used to cover and acts as the irreducible minimum for all the dynamics that may occur or accrue ion the course of the actualization of the project. For instance, there are chances that the communications lines along the simulated road models would be erected are. Thus, the base case is critical and beneficial because it would bear in mind the structural changes that are highly likely to be pursued in the due course of time (Khan, Armstrong, & Munir, 2006). Similarly, base case is also techniques that cover in and factors all the things and issues that are considered as eventualities in human life and aspect such as an accident.Why Adding New Capacity on Highway 417 is Ineffective This stems from the fact that highway 417 was expanded from a four lane to a six lane Highway and road network. This was done and factored in due to the comparison that was done and completed on the chances of expanding it relative to the traditional building capacity projects. For insta nce, during the simulation, it was postulated that an accident in this Highway may lead to a closure for close to twenty minutes before the spill heavy traffic spills over to the other lanes. This adds new capacity to highway 417 may to be as effective.Comparing the Effectiveness of Freeway-arterial Integrated Corridors and Ramp MasteringRamp metering seems to be more effective as compared to the free-arterial integrated corridors due to the fact that the former may be most effective over a short period of time.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Company Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Company Analysis - Research Paper Example In U.S., diversity was not seen as an integral part of planning previously. Diversity initiatives in most businesses processes lacked specificity, were poorly conceptualized and had no link to the business strategic plans. However, in the U.S business operations today, managers and leaders have realized that diversity planning must be aligned with the business operational decisions. This is to ensure that the businesses become successful (Richard SaÃŒ nchez, SaÃŒ nchez-Runde, and Luciara Nardon, Pg.18). Some of the U.S owned business organizations, most particularly the Macy’s company, have adopted a number of planning diversity practices in the business world. Such practices are illustratively discussed as follows. Diversity strategic plan is generally referred to as A-One Strategic Plan. The business builds and manages a workforce which is truly diverse. This is done by strategic planning of diversity through its core values of respect to the individual’s dignity, trust, integrity, credibility, personal renewal and continuous improvement. The business organizations use BWF (Balanced Workforce Force) strategy which is a strategy that all-encompassing. The strategy guides the organization in various situations and also covers the all the populations of employees. The strategy sets a 10-year annual target on goal plans for the business. Through the strategy, the managers are held accountable for upward employees’ mobility. BWF ensures that when layoffs occur, then the members of one group in the organization are not disproportionately affected in comparison with other member groups (Richard SaÃŒ nchez, SaÃŒ nchez-Runde, and Luciara Nardon, Pg.23). Another diversity strategy used by U.S Macy’s company business entails the continuous business improvement through the development and engagement of people. In this strategy, the business develops six

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Business Formal analytical report Research Paper

Business Formal analytical report - Research Paper Example In addition, the report has proposed a plan that will be followed to carry out the research plus the schedules on how the research will be carried out. I hope you find this report helpful in regards to lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at green park hotel. If you have any questions or comments regarding my recommendation feel free to contact me at (814) 862-7480. I hope you are going to approve this report to enable me and my teams research this problem concerning Green Park Hotel which will bring back its glorious image. Green Park Hotel, in the past, used to run its services smoothly and there were no major problems within the business. Currently, Green Park faces a big problem of high employee turnover and many complaints from customers concerning service quality. Customers for the entity used to leave good comments at the end of most services they received from the hotel. However, things have changed in the recent past with the most notable transformation being high employee turnover. In fact, the hotel replaces employees almost on a weekly basis. Moreover, the hotel has lost a huge stake in its market capitalization. Competitors are drowning a huge part of the once large market. Customers have hurled several complaints at our employees, and some have even gone ahead to publicize how some of our services have deteriorated. The report has defined the problem at hand, which is lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park Hotel. Thereafter various alternative solutions have been given, then there is an argument for the solution which satisfies the criteria best and finally a conclusion and recommendation follow respectively. I am writing to seek your approval to come up with a report for lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park hotel after an intensive research. On completion of the research, the operational management team for the hotel will receive the

CONFERENCE AND EVENT MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

CONFERENCE AND EVENT MANAGEMENT - Essay Example These issues were however raised prior to the commencement of the 2009 annual event and were reported upon after the event, as will be highlighted within this report. Prior to the commencement of the 2009 event in Brisbane, media reports dominated the process of the refurbishment of the existing show grounds where the exhibition is housed on an annual basis, with a budget of $3 billion. This refurbishment includes inter alia the development of retail, commercial and residential infrastructure and development within the immediate grounds and vicinities, which in itself represents a significant contribution to the region in terms of both development, as well as the regional economy. Although this is not specific to the EKKA itself, it is seen as an initiative from within the EKKA camp and represents value to the region as a whole. From a historical perspective, the EKKA originally named The Brisbane Exhibition had its inaugural exhibition in 1876 with an attendance of 17,000 visitors (Mirosch, 2008). According to the media reports of the Brisbane Times and pertaining to the 2009 event, an approximate visitor turnout of 400,000 people attended the 2009 event (Brisbane Times). This turnout was however down on the preceding years figures by as much as 20%, represented by a significant turnout of over half a million people in 2008, according to media reports and resources. The show was still however deemed to be successful despite the reduced numbers in attendance, the media attributed the reduced turnout to the current financial situation as well as the impending swine flu situation. Attendance figures may well have an impact upon the sustainability of an exhibition, as well as the profitability of the event itself, dependent upon the expected income generated from admission or entrance fees, this will be addres sed further

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Human Resource Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resource Strategies - Essay Example Organization do not operate in vacuum, hence there are interconnectivities of interrelationships. The relationship between management and workers of organization, with the focus of how organizations' productivity can be enhanced has brought about the emergence of plethora of organizational theories. Among these are , the Frederick Taylor Scientific or Machine theory, Elton Mayo's Human Relations theory, Behavioral theory, Administrative theories, System theories, motivational theories , like McGregor's; X and Y theories, Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Need theory and Frederick Hezberg two Factors theories, inter alia. How feasible and tenable is the proposition that "human resource strategies should be underpinned by organization development theories". This write- up will focus on this, using McDonalds Corporation as a case study to show how organization's strategy helps in contributing to its success. Human Resource Management (HRM) is the management of organization's human resources in such a way that the workers personal needs are adequately met in order that they put in their best in the attainment of the organization's objectives and long term goals. According to Sims (2002), HRM is the term increasingly used to refer to the philosophy, policies, procedures, and practices related to the management of an organization's employee. In the process of HRM, there is an increasingly emphasis on the personal needs of the organization and its members. The challenge is to create an organizational environment in which each employee can grow and develop to his or her fullest extent. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the linking up of HRM to the strategic goal and objectives of the organization. "Strategic HR means accepting the HR functions as a strategic partner in the formulation of the company's strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel". (Chaturvedi, 2005). Theories are abstractions from the real world situations in order to give explanation to a given phenomenon or interrelating variables. Thus, organization development theories are those theories that tend to explain how efficiently the organization's resources can be adequately managed in order that the highest productivity and the attainment of set objectives are achieved by the organization. INCORPORATING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT THEORIES IN HUMAN RESOURCES STARTEGIES Scholars have argued that SHRM has no thoroughly researched theories to give explanation on how HRM is linked to the organization's strategy. In the view of Wright and Haggerty (2005), SHRM research has greatly borrowed from other disciplines' meta-theories and utilized organization theories in linking up HRM to strategic management. "existing research in SHRM had predominantly utilized Resource based Theory, the Behavioral Approach, Open System theory, and Control theory with a few authors exploring Population Ecology and Critical

Friday, August 23, 2019

Compare and contrast functionalist and marxist perspectives including Essay

Compare and contrast functionalist and marxist perspectives including feminist perspectives - Essay Example Interpretive sociology examines the meaning that is given to everyday life by those involved in its construction. The culture in which people live has a profound impact on what is perceived as reality. People act out their social roles, some of which are ascribed or given at birth, and others are achieved or gained through life experiences. The Functionalists and the New Right adopt a consensus perspective and uphold family values based on consensus. On the other hand, Feminism and Marxism are conflict perspectives, â€Å"which view family values as part of the problem in relation to power, control, status and inequality† (Squire, 2003: 69). The functionalist perspective of family is comprehensively explained by Parsons (1964), who identifies two major functions of the conjugal family. First, families facilitate the procreation of children and socialize them into adult roles of the kind which are accepted and expected by the social group in which they live. An example is the teaching of adult gender roles by the Western family. This is achieved by â€Å"the way in which children are dressed, the games they are allowed to play, how they are spoken to and the different attitudes of parents towards their children’s behaviour† (Bond, 1994: 95). Children are socialized into identifying with a gender role. Secondly, the family undertakes to re-inforce primary and secondary socialisation; and also stabilizes adult behaviour towards the stereotyped roles of husband and wife. Thus, in traditional conjugal families, parents act as role models for their children, besides influencing the way children identify adult gender roles. In industrialized societies, men usually work to earn money to support the family, hence their activities and interests are more focused outside the home than are those of women whose main occupations are domestic and therefore pertain to the home (Bond, 1994). Thus, the functionalist perspective views the relatively independent-functioning

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Organisational Change Essay Example for Free

Organisational Change Essay Organizational change is also known as organizational transformation and it may involves organisational change in mission, introducing new technology, restructuring operations, introducing new programmes, mergers, re-engineering and having new major collaborations. (Bridges 1991) Organizational changes are aimed at achieving some set organizational goals and objectives which need to be a attained within a given period of time. In many cases changes in the organizational are provoked by some outside forces which includes taking care of new markets, substantial cut in finding, need for increase in services and productivity among others. There are many approaches that managers uses to introduce change in the organization, some are planned, explicit and structured while others are more unfolding, implicit and organic. Managers goes for the approaches that will be supported by all the employees and those that will enable the organization to maximize the profit margin as they achieve the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Some approaches works from the future to the present where by the managers uses the organizations vision to plan all the organizational activities aiming at achieving the vision while other approaches works from the present to the future which may include pointing out the currents needs of the target clients and then making the necessary changes towards achieving those needs. This is the best approach since the clients and other stakeholders are the backbone of any organization and they determine the success of the any business (Easterby 1999). Identifying their needs should be a continuous exercise which should be followed by implementing the necessary changes which will facilitate in satisfying their needs hence building a good and strong customer relationship which will lead to increased sales hence increasing the Organizational profitability (Dent 1999).  Aegon UK  is a member of the AEGON Group which is among the worlds largest life insurance and pension company. The company is the owner of different life insurance, pensions, adviser and management businesses in the UK (Folger 1999). The company has 27,000 employees and a total of over 25 million customers worldwide with its main markets being in Netherlands and the United States. Factors That Lead To Change One of the major hindrance for decision making is a clear understanding of the working environment where the decisions made will be operated. (Brewster 2004) Proper understanding of the working environment improves the decision making and it minimizes uncertainty. In the UK where life expectancy has risen in the past few years, people are expected to retire for a longer period of time hence the need to think ahead and save for retirement, an idea that many people find difficult to comprehend. (Kotter 1979) Many people do not properly plan about their retirement hence they suffer during the old age since they do not be have enough money for survival and on the other hand the government is also emphasizing on reduced dependency on the state in old age. This resulted to many insurance companies coming up with new cheap pension schemes who also emphasized on employee pension (Hultman 1995). The Industry Aegon operates in the life insurance and pension industry which for the past few years had a poor reputation. Some organisations in the industry has been blamed of mis-selling where by they do not give the customers quality products that satisfy their needs. (Johnston e 2004) The Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced some regulations in the industry which were aimed at avoiding such situations from happening again in the future. The industry has been faced with intense competition where by AEGON is competing with other organisations that are well known in the UK and they specialise in selling directly to the customers (Kirkman 2000). The company normally distributes its services and products to customers through financial advisers. For AEGON to remain competitive it had to take care of all the problems that the industry was facing. Reasons For Change Historically AEGON had been very successful and profitable but some times back the government introduced some regulations that reduced the organisations profitability. Comparing the company with its competitors, AEGON was not well known though it had very good services and products and it also had good relationship with the distributors. (Strebel 1996) For consumers to have the confidence of investing in a long term product, they have to know more about the organisation they are planning to invest with by learning more about the brands that are being offered by the organisation and by understanding the value of each brand. As AEGON offered different brands it was hard for the financial advisers and the consumers to identify and understand the different depth and breadth of the brands. Facilitators of Change AEGON company appointed a new (CEO) Chief Executive Officer who entered into the office with new strategies for the company and the first thing that he implemented was to bring AEGON into a discovery phase which would help him in achieving the goals he had for AEGON. The CEOs goal was to develop the best long term savings and protection business in the UK while the discovery phase was aimed at finding ways of achieving those goals. (Kegan 2001) Another aspect that needed consideration was the companys brands and how they could be audited. The company was examined both internally and externally to find its position in the market. The process of auditing was aimed at giving more information about the company which assisted AEGON in making more informed decisions which were needed to start the process of change. Creating a New Culture Culture refers to the attitude and the personality of an organization and it is also involves the shared values, behavior and beliefs of the employees and other stakeholders (Morgan 1997). It acts as a key part in the change process since it dictates the way in which the organisation and the stakeholders solve problems and makes decision. By developing a new culture, AEGON was able to provide services and products that were required in the market hence they were able to remain competitive. A Behavior Framework In order to support the new culture, AEGON came up with a behavior framework which was aimed at strengthening the brand values. It was designed in such a way that it could influence how all the employees in the organisation could work and make decisions where by the behavior emphasized the values of AEGON. (Coetsee 1999) The company also introduced a Management Development Programme which emphasised on eight main behaviors which are, think customer, embrace change, encourage excellence, act with integrity, decisive actions, work together, learn and grow and finally relate and communicate (Piderit 2000). Implementing The Change The organisation has emphasised on the customers needs which determines the decisions, behaviour and it also informs actions. The senior mangers keeps the customers needs at the heart of all the operations in AEGON while the other managers and professionals innovates with the needs of the customers in mind so that they come up with products and services that can satisfy the needs of the customers. AEGON brand have been extensively promoted alongside Scottish Equitable or other brands are traded under it. Association with AEGON is stronger where by the Scottish Equitable is currently AEGON Scottish Equitable which reflects the local knowledge and the global power. Currently all the brands has a new look that is common, different and refreshing. Impacts Of The Changes Implementing change in AEGON affected it both externally and internally. Internally the changes influenced how the people behaved and communicated while the organisational operations has been focused on satisfying the needs of the customers. Great emphasis has been on making information clearer so that the customers can be in a position to understand the company well so that they can do business with them. The company has intensively done external promotional campaigns and it has managed to launch new innovative products aimed at satisfying the customers needs. This changes has worked very well for AEGON since the company has been able to maximise its profit. Currently AGEON brand is in a position that it influences the financial services in the industry. Challenges The main challenge that AEGON is facing is that the competition is growing at a very fast rate in an increasingly difficult market. This has forced the government to implement some regulations to govern the industry. To fight competition, AEGON should maintain two way communication channel which should be open and they should emphasis on getting feedback from all the stakeholders. This feedback is very important since the stakeholders can inform the organisation where they might be going wrong and can even give some recommendations which can work very well for the company hence being ahead of the competitors which leads to maximising the profit margins of the company. The stakeholders can also help the company in identifying the needs of the customers hence enabling the company to provide what is needed in the market . Also when there is open communication between the management and the employees it is normally very easy to prevent conflicts since the employees will be free to air their grivances hence cultivating a culture of good working relationships in AEGON which will even motivate the workers to work even harder thus enabling the company to realize the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Conclusion Organisational change is continuous and the process of change is like a journey which will be faced by external factors that can affect the operations of the organisation. AEGON respond to the external factors was by clarifying, simplifying and strengthening its brand in the UK. As the organisation changes, its culture and pattern of behavior develops which is a cycle which requires the business to use the knowledge it has to learn from the experiences. This has enabled AEGON to move towards achieving its goals through realizing its full potential while they remain competitive in the market. Taking care of the needs of the customers increases the sales of the company since many customers will be interested in the products or services that are being provided by the company hence increasing sales which in turn increases the profit margin of the company.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

VLSI Architecture for QR Decomposition on MHHT Algoritm

VLSI Architecture for QR Decomposition on MHHT Algoritm A VLSI Architecture for the QR Decomposition based on the MHHT Algorithm s.n.v.sai.pratap1 k.kalyani2 s.rajaram3 Abstract: This paper presents Novel VLSI (Very Large Scale of Integration) architecture for the QR decomposition (QRD) based on the Modified Householder transformation (MHHT) algorithm. QRD of a matrix H is decomposition of matrixHinto a productof an orthogonal matrix Qand an upper triangularR. QRD is often used to solve several engineering problems in many areas. Pre-processing modules based on QRD makes the decoding in signal processing easier and implementing data detection with QRD helps to reduce the complexity of spatial multiplexing MIMO – OFDM detection. The techniques used for implementing QR decomposition are: Givens rotation, Modified GramSchmidt Orthogonalization (MGS), Householder Transformations (HHT), and indeed Modified Householder transformation (MHHT). The proposed MHHT algorithm shows best trade-off between complexity and numerical precision, and also suites for VLSI architectures. The proposed MHHT algorithm reduces computation time and hardware area of the QRD block compared to the existing Householder algorithm. Implementation of this algorithm is carried out in FPGA Virtex6 xc6vlx550tl-1Lff1759 device with the help of Xilinx ISE 14.1. Keywords: MIMO systems,VLSI architecture, QR Decomposition (QRD), Householder Transformation(HHT). 1. INTRODUCTION: The QR decomposition (QRD) is a basic matrix factorization method from matrix-computation theory used to compute two output matrices Q and R from an input matrix H, such that H = QR. QRD is often used to solve many engineering areas like least-square problems, linear system equations etc. For symbol-decoding solutions inside Spatial-Multiplexing Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (SM-MIMO) systems, QRD basically consists in simplifying demodulation tasks in suboptimal and near-optimal solutions by finding an orthogonal matrix Q and an upper-triangular matrix R from an input matrix H. Several techniques towards implementing the QRD are already reported in literature. For instance, and under the context of SM-MIMO systems, the most explored are the Modified Gram-Schmidt Orthogonalization (MGS, as a generalized improvement of the Gram-Schmidt algorithm), Givens rotation, the Modified Householder Transformations (MHHT as an enhancement of the Householder Transformation algorithm). Due to its simplicity and numerical stability, the QR factorization algorithm utilizing Householder transformations has been adopted. An overview of the main steps of the Existing Householder QR algorithm is presented. The purpose of this work is to show that when modifying existing Householder QR factorization to the matrix H, the computational complexity and hardware area gets reduced. Due to its trade-off in complexity, numerical precision, and VLSI implementation suitability, the MHHT is preferred. The contribution of this paper is to present a flexible and scalable FPGA-based VLSI architecture with competitive capabilities against other related approaches, motivated on the context of SM-MIMO demodulation solutions. The organization of this paper is as follows: Section II presents the QRD. In Section III, the exisiting HHT and MHHT algorithm is exposed. Implementation results are reported in Section IV, and conclusions are covered in Section V. 2. QR DECOMPOSITION The QRD constitutes a relevant pre-processing operation in SM-MIMO demodulation tasks [1-2]. The baseband equivalent model can be described in (1) At each symbol time, a vector S with each symbol belonging to the Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (q-QAM) constellation passes through the channel response matrix H. The received vector y at the receiving antenna for each symbol time is a noisy superimposition of the signals contaminated by Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) given by n.The maximum likelihood (ML) detector is the optimum detection algorithm for the MIMO system. It requires finding the signal point from all transmit vector signal sets that minimize the Euclidean distance with respect to the received signal vector. The transmitted symbol s can be estimated by solving (2) This gives the optimal result. However, solving (2) with larger constellations and multiple antennas will result in complex calculations. Instead of solving (2) as such, the symbol estimation can be simplified by using QR decomposition of.That is where resides the usefulness of decomposing matrix H in a QR form, yielding a back-recursive dependency on elements in S without incurring into a BER (Bit Error Rate) loss [3-4]. With this practice, the computational complexity is reduced. The detected vector is computed based on the ML algorithm with QR decomposition as given in (3) (3) where is in upper triangular form, approximation of is computationally simpler with the aid of (3). Note that for MIMO-OFDM systems operated in stationary environments, the channel matrix remains almost the same. Thus, QR decomposition of the channel matrix can be done only once to get matrix. On the other hand, the calculation of must be updated for every incoming signal. 2.1 QRD IMPLEMENTATION The techniques used for QR decomposition are: Gram–Schmidt algorithm obtains the orthogonal basis spanning the column space of the matrix by the orthogonality principle. Using a series of projection, subtraction, norm and division, the column vector of the unitary matrix containing the orthogonal basis can be acquired one by one and upper triangular matrix is also obtained as a by-product. Householder Transformation (HHT) tries to zero out the most elements of each column vector at a stroke by reflection operations. The upper triangular matrix is derived after each transformation matrix being applied to every column vector sequentially. The unitary matrix involves the multiplications of these Householder transformation matrices and thus the complexity is much higher. On the other hand, Givens Rotation (GR) zeros one element of the matrix at a time by two-dimensional rotation. If an identity matrix is fed as an input, the unitary matrix will be calculated by using the same rotation sequence when the upper triangular matrix is obtained (Malstev 2006; Hwang 2008 and Patel 2009).The Gram–Schmidt algorithm has the disadvantage that small imprecisions in the calculation of inner products accumulate quickly and lead to effective loss of orthogonality.HHT method has greater numerical stabilitythan the Gram–Schmidt method. Givens method stores two numbers c and s, for each rotation and thus requires more storage and work than Householder method .Givens rotation requires more complicated implementation in order to overcome this disadvantages. Givens rotation can be beneficial for computing QR factorization only when many entries of matrix are already zero, since nullifying certain matrix elements can be skipped. Unlike Givens Transform, Householder Transform can act on all columns of a matrix, and require less computations for Tridiagonalization and QR decomposition, but cannot be deeply or efficiently parallelized. Householder is used for dense matrices on sequential machines, while Givens is u sed for sparse matrices or/on parallel machines. 3. QRD using Householder Transformation In this section, the existing Householder Transformation algorithm is described, followed by proposed HHT method architecture is demonstrated in detail. 3.1 Householder Transformation Householder QR algorithm gradually transforms H into an upper triangular form R by applying a sequence of Householder matrices (multiplies H from the left with Q). Householder transformation is performed by projecting a multi-dimensional input vector onto a plane zeroes multiple elements at the same time. An nÃâ€"n matrix H of the form , (4) is called a Householder matrix. The vector is called a Householder vector. Pre-multiplication of the coefficient matrix with is used to zero out appropriate elements of. It is easy to verify that Householder matrices are symmetric and orthogonal. The Householder matrix block involves the computation of an outer product which requires complexity operation. However, the practical time requirement of using to zero out elements in is lower than that of computing a full outer product. This is because of the tedious computation of the full matrix which is not necessary in practice. Householder reflections work well for introducing large number of zeros using just one matrix multiplication (computing). Normally, all the elements below the diagonal of an entire column of the matrix are eliminated by one Householder reflection. However, this leads to a difficulty when Householder transforms are implemented on parallelly. One reflection affects multiple rows, and therefore, it is difficult to achieve fine-grained parallelism in the operation. The algorithm for Householder transform is given in Table 1. and its block diagram is given in Figure 2. Fig. 2 Block diagram of HHT Table 1 HHT algorithm End Householder vector block: The conventional method of Householder algorithm for decomposing channel matrix is given in Table 1. Initially, the channel matrix is assigned to matrix. It can be periodically updated by following steps to obtain upper triangular matrix. The first column of is assigned to ‘a’ vector. After that the norm value of ‘a’ is calculated and assigned it to ‘g’. The Householder vector ‘v’ is the division ‘u’ and‘t’ which is the norm operation of vector selection . Householder matrix block: The output of Householder vector is given as input to Householder matrix block. Finally, H is computed by The above operation can be updated upto n times to obtain the upper triangular matrix and unitary matrix. It is given below, (5) Q = (HnHn-1†¦H1) T (6) Here the matrix is given to the input of channel matrix to update its vector value. The orthogonal matrix is computed by the multiplication of ‘n’ Householder matrix. Hence its complexity increases and also it occupy more hardware area. If the matrix size increases, the hardware area also increases tremendously. So there is need to reduce the hardware complexity of this block. 3.2 Proposed HHT method The existing method of Householder reflection requires large hardware area and computation time. Householder transformations also provide the capability of nullifying multiple elements simultaneously by reflecting a multi-dimensional input vector onto a plane. However, VLSI implementation of the Householder algorithm needs square-root, multiplication and division operations, which require high hardware complexity. To resolve this issue, a novel Householder algorithm is presented that use series of simple Householder projections, which can be easily implemented using simple arithmetic operations. The proposed algorithm as given in table2 has lesser number of computations compared to the existing algorithm. In Figure 3, the block diagram of modified method is given. It shows two major sub blocks (i.e.) householder vector block and householder matrix block. Householder vector block is same to the previous method of computing ‘v’ with extra weight vector computation. Here modification taken in the Householder matrix block to eliminate matrix multiplication. The vector ‘v’ subtracted from ‘f’ and column vector of channel matrix to give ‘H’ value. Fig. 3 Block diagram of MHHT. In the first step, matrix H is reduced to with all zeros below the diagonal element in the first column by computing the sign of the pivot element d and weight value w. Compared to the previous algorithm, number of steps required to obtain the first matrix can be reduced. For example, if the initial channel matrix of 4Ãâ€"4 undergone to Householder reflection, then it reduces the matrix with all zeros below the first element. The computation of Householder vector in the existing algorithm requires large memory and area. Because is a 4Ãâ€"4 matrix, multiplication of become complex process. To avoid such a task, column vector of matrix has been taken one by one and process it iteratively to obtain the upper triangular matrix. After computation of the first step the matrix size reduced to. After that, the sub matrix of size 3Ãâ€"3 is taken and the steps can be applied repeatedly. The algorithm to compute Householder Vector block is given below. Table 2 HHT algorithm End Repeat above steps for right bottom (n-1)*(n-1) matrix of R Householder vector block: In this Householder reflection algorithm, it transforms the column (7) into the vector of the form (8) where the diagonal element (9) The Householder vector can be computed by, (10) where and This block computation is same as that of previous Householder vector block with a little modification in the weight value. Householder matrix block: After obtaining the Householder vector, the output vector is given to the input of Householder matrix block. The computation of this block is very simple compared to previous method of Householder matrix block computing. The Householder matrix element algorithm is given below, (11) where It reduces the channel matrix to its upper triangular form in steps. To reduce the complexity of computing Q, here the output vector y’ has been taken directly and its algorithm is given below, (12) So the execution time for computing the upper triangular matrix and output vector is very less when compared to conventional Householder reflection algorithm. This reduces the hardware area for the Householder matrix block. The QR decomposition using modified Householder transformation algorithm is simulated by taking ‘a’ as input channel matrix, ‘zb’ as output vector and ‘upper’ as upper triangular matrix. The unitary or orthogonal matrix ‘Q’ need not to be calculated. The output vector in (3) can be computed from the updated Householder vector ‘v’. Also the extra time needed to calculate ‘Q’ can be reduced. So the speed of decomposing the channel matrix can be increased tremendously. 4. Results and Discussion QR decomposition algorithm is required as a pre-processing unit for many MIMO detectors. The accuracy of the channel matrix QR decomposition does not have an impact on the MIMO detection process and finally receiver’s bit-error-rate (BER) performance. The existing and proposed Householder algorithms are downloaded on to Xilinx device xc6vlx550tl-1Lff1759. The synthesis results are compared to show the area efficiency of the proposed one. The channel matrix H elements are represented in floating point representation of 16 bits comprising 1 for sign bit,3 bits for decimal part and 12 bits for fractional part. The 16 bit representation shows an numerical precision oscillates around the interval[10-6,10-5] for both existing and modified algorithms . The computation of column vectors of the R matrix can be parallelised in modified algorithm and thus improvement is obtained in computational time of 49.7% reduction.The computational time for proposed algorithm is about 194.84ns,whereas exisiting algorithm is about 394.56ns. Modified algorithm reduces the matrix computation into vector multilications for some extent and thus reduces the hardware area as obtained from the synthesis report. Table 3 Synthesis report for Conventional Householder algorithm Logic Utilization Used Available Slice LUTs 11142 343680 Bonded IOBs 768 840 BUFG/BUFGCTRL’S 0 32 DSP48E1s 261 864 Table 4 Synthesis report for Proposed Householder algorithm Logic Utilization Used Available Slice LUTs 7634 343680 Bonded IOBs 385 840 BUFG/BUFGCTRL’S 1 32 DSP48E1s 70 864 Table 5 Comparison result Logic Utilization Conventional HHT Proposed HHT % reduced Slice LUTs 11142 7634 31% LUT Flip flops 768 385 49.8% Bonded IOBs 0 1 DSP48E1s 261 70 73% 5. Conclusion To reduce the computational and hardware complexity, Householder transformation algorithm for QRD has been modified. The computation of Q is the tedious process in the existing algorithm. In this work, it can be overcome by directly computing output vector. It reduces the computation time by 52.38% and also reduce in hardware area compared to previous HHT algorithm (Slices – 31%, LUTs – 49.8%) presented in the QRD. Thus it is evident from the comparison result that the number of slices and 4 input LUTs required in FPGA implementation of QR Decomposition is reduced thereby making the low complex design which can meet the specifications of most OFDM communication systems, including VDSL, 802.16, DAB and DVB. In future, this work can be extended to implement K-best LSD and Turbo decoding of LTE receiver. References Lee, K.F. and Williams, D.B.: A space-frequency transmitter diversity technique for OFDM systems. In Proc. Global Telecommunications Conf., San Francisco, CA, pp. 1473-1477. (Nov. 2000) H. Kim, J. Kim, S. Yang, M. Hong, and Y. Shin, â€Å"An effective MIMO–OFDM system for IEEE 802.22 WRAN channels,† IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II, Exp. Briefs, vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 821–825, Aug. 2008. H.-L. Lin, R. C. Chang, and H.-L. Chen, â€Å"A high speed SDM-MIMO decoder using efficient candidate searching for wireless communication,† IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II, Exp. Briefs, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 289–293, Mar. 2008. L. Boher, R. Rabineau, and M. Helard, â€Å"FPGA implementation of an iterative receiver for MIMO–OFDM systems,† IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 857–866, Aug. 2008. M.-S. Baek, Y.-H. You, and H.-K. Song, â€Å"Combined QRD-M and DFE detection technique for simple and efficient signal detection in MIMO–OFDM systems,† IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1632–1638, Apr. 2009. C. F. T. Tang, K. J. R. Liu, and S. A. Tretter, â€Å"On systolic arrays for recursive complex Householder transformations with applications to array processing,† in Proc. Int. Conf. Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Process., 1991, pp. 1033–1036. K.-L. Chung and W.-M. Yan, â€Å"The complex Householder transform,† IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 45, no. 9, pp. 2374–2376, Sep. 1997. S. Y. Kung, VLSI Array Processors. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall, 1987.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Marks and Spencer: Internal and External Analysis

Marks and Spencer: Internal and External Analysis MS is a great brand. It is one of the UKs leading retailers. The company operates in about 41 countries worldwide with UK as its primary market and employs about 76,000 people. MS deals in clothing, food, home, financial services and online services. To develop the suitable business strategy for its growth particularly focusing on Plan A, there have been discussed MS internal external environments. Strategic impact of external environment on MS has also been discussed. Major challenges facing MS and competitive advantages of MS have been discussed. MS is a market leader so that market leader strategy and suggestions have been given. INTRODUCTION The study encompasses a report about the MS, to develop the strategy for its growth focusing on Plan A. Marks Spencer launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. The discussion has been described in detail about the core analysis of MS internal and external environment, SWOT analysis of MS has been included. Debenhams has been selected closest competitor of MS because they have a comparable product base. Strengths Weaknesses of DEB have been described. It also consists upon the current economic obstacles and the remedies to remove these obstacles. For this reason, books, newspapers, magazines, and websites have been consulted. LITERATURE REVIEW REFERENCES SOURCES: BOOKS/NEWS PAPERS/JOURNALS,MAGAZINES DIGESTS BOOKS: 01. Fundamentals of Marketing by William J. Stanton, Michael J. Etzel, Bruce J. Walker, 10th Edition, Published and Printed in The United States of America by McGraw-Hill, Inc. 02. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Volume 7, Published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. United States of America. British Library. NEWS PAPERS: The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk/ JOURNALS,MAGAZINES DIGEST European Retail Digest  | The University of Manchester www.readinglists.manchester.ac.uk/ Web Sites: web.ebscohost.com (British Library) www.marksandspencer.com/ http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/company_overview http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=15053580site=ehost-live http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/marksspencer?INTCMP=SRCH http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/planA-2010.pdf http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/opportunities/shared_services_admin/ssa_hr www.datamonitor.com http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/marketing-retail-assignment/ http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/marketing-retail-assignment/ Brief History of Marks Spencer: MS is a major retailer of clothing. It is headquartered in London. MS started its business in 1884 as a stall in an open market in Leeds. Then known as Marks Penny Bazaar, it was the household goods, toy, and sheet-music business of Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from Poland. In 1894 he started partnership with Thomas Spencer. Marks son Simon transformed the business from outdoor stalls to indoor shops. He purchased Brookes Brothers, the oldest U.S. clothing retailer in 1988 but sold it in 2001. (1) MS products, including food, clothing and household goods have been selling under the St. Michael brand name in most parts of the world.(2) The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Volume 7, Published by, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Printed in The United States of America. (British Library). Aldridge, Roger, Autumn1995, Growth Strategies A Case Study in Internationalisation. [online]. European Retail Digest, Issue 8, p25-32, Available from: (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=15053580site=ehost-live), [Accessed 15 March 2011 03:12 PM] (British Library). Marks Spencer Overview: MS is one of the UKs leading retailers. MS offer stylish, high quality, great value clothing, home products and best quality foods. There are over 75,000 people working at MS in the UK and abroad, and over 600 UK stores. MS is expanding its business globally. MS is the number one provider of womenswear in the UK, and is rapidly growing market share in menswear, kids wear, home, and online business. (Company Overview) Available from: (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/company_overview) [Accessed 11 April 2011 at 4:24 PM] Stock Chart for MS, March 2011-April 2011 One Month Chart for MARKS SP. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/marksspencer?INTCMP=SRCH [Accessed 12 April 2011 at 03:09 AM] [online] Something About Plan A Marks Spencer launched Plan A in January 2007, with aim to 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. Marks Spencer has now extended Plan A to 180 commitments to achieve by 2015. The goal of it to become the worlds number one retailer. MS has now achieved 62 of its 100 Plan A commitments set in 2007. (1) Marks Spencers 7th annual report. Published in June 2010. http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/planA-2010.pdf (Consulted on 20/03/2011) Analysis of MSs Internal Environment: MS is the market leader in clothing due its range and quality. Leadership in clothing converted MS into market leader in department stores. In this section, the discussion would be on the following key points: Financial Resources Human Resources Company Image Learning and development Location Production Facilities (1) Strengths Weaknesses Financial Resources: The company earned  £9,536.6 million profit during the financial year ended April 2010. (DATAMONITOR. 2010. Marks and Spencer Group plc. Available from: www.datamonitor.com [Accessed 22 March 2011]. Human Resources: In this area MS has a number of teams, including Payroll, Pensions, Learning and HR Administration. MS also has a general recruitment team who manage all store and head office recruitment. (Human Resources. http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/opportunities/shared_services_admin/ssa_hr [Accessed 09 April 2011 at 02:28 AM] ). William J. Stanton, Michael J. Etzel, Bruce J. Walker Fundamentals of Marketing 10th edition, International edition (1994), Page # 54, McGraw-Hill, Inc. United States of America. Company Image: MS is a top company for responsible business. Marks Spencer has been recognised as the top company in the UK for responsible business. MS was named Company of the Year 2006, at Business in the Communitys Awards for Excellence. (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/press_releases/pr/businessinthecommunity.pdf) [Accessed 09 April 2011 at 02:40 AM] Learning Development: MS provide in-depth training and performance coaching to the employees for their development. (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/learning_development) [Accessed 09 April 2011] Location: MS has over  600 stores throughout the UK. MSs largest store is located at Marble Arch on Londons Oxford Street. http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/where/uk_stores [Accessed 09 April 2011] Production Facilities: MS is the worlds first retailer who is using palm oil in its products.   This palm oil has been used in almost 1,000 MS food, beauty and home products each year.   (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors/press_releases/sustainablepalmoil) [Accessed 09 April 2011 at 03:48 AM] Strengths Weaknesses of MS: Strengths of MS: MS has a strong market position in the clothing segment. MS leads the market in womenswear, lingerie and menswear and have an expanding childrenswear business. MS has been very successful in capturing its customers segment through its different product offer, in-store service and garment quality. Some other key points are: Reputation/Brand Market position Quality products Online shopping Weaknesses of MS: The average shelf life for MS products is 3 to 5 days, compared with supermarket dry shelf products with 3 to 4 weeks shelf life. It is a high price for consumers. Cost-conscious people are much concerned about the price. MS stores have competitive disadvantages as compared to Tesco. Tesco stores have been carefully designed with good store layouts. MS stores have not been carefully designed with good layout. This is a clear competitive disadvantage compared to Tesco. (1) Some other key points are: Slow to change Lack of newness Clothing: does not appeal to younger womens taste Analysis of MSs External Environment: In this section the discussion would be on following key points: There are two levels of external environment: External Macro environment External Micro environment Marks Spencer Group, PLC SWOT Analysis; Nov2010, p1-13, DATAMONITOR: Marks and Spencer Group plc. Marks Spencer Group Company Report, Available from: (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=58451839site=ehost-live), [Accessed 15 March 2011 02:55 PM], British Library. In external macro environment, key points would be: People Economic Conditions Competitors Analysis Social and cultural Aspects Political and legal Aspects Technology In external micro environment, key points would be: The market Suppliers Marketing Intermediaries (1) And Opportunities Threats. External Macro Environment: People: The first external environmental factor is population because the people make up the markets. We know that MS is trying to fulfill the need, want and demand of its customers by their age groups, marital status, gents, ladies, kids, old aged people, and brand quality conscious people and to the higher number of home shopping or internet/online shopping. Economic Conditions: Economic conditions or changes effect the total market size. MS has strong customer segment even in this challenging economic environment. MS has increased the share of the clothing market. (1) William J. Stanton, Michael J. Etzel, Bruce J. Walker Fundamentals of Marketing 10th edition, International edition (1994), Page # 42,53,54 , McGraw-Hill, Inc. United States of America. Competitors Analysis Competitors of MS are many. Because MS sells a lot of different products. There is long list of its competitors, like, BHS, Debenhams, Derrys, House of Fraser, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Morrisons. But MS is best known for its clothes. So that I have selected Debenhams closest competitor of MS. This selection has been made because they have a comparable product base. Strengths of Debenhams: Reputation Good product mix and brand selection Latest designers better up-to-date with current trends. Attractive Advertisement. Weaknesses of Debenhams: Internationally, theyre not well known as compared with MS. Theyre competing mainly in the domestic market. (1) Social and Cultural Aspects: Life-styles, social values, beliefs have significant marketing implications and MS has capability to cope with change. Political Legal Aspects: Every company is influenced by the political and legal processes. These forces, such as, monetary and fiscal policies, social legislation and regulation, and governmental relationships with industries. Technology: Technological changes, change the business style. http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/marketing-retail-assignment/, [Accessed 11 April 2011]. - External Micro Environment: The Market, Suppliers and Marketing Intermediaries are also effect the organization. Opportunities Threats of MS: Opportunities: Expansion abroad (India and China), and investment in other countries. (1) Threats: Due to strong competition MS losses market share, especially in food sector. (http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/marketing-retail-assignment/), [Accessed 11 April 2011, at 11:52 PM] Major Challenges Facing the MS: MS has made progress, but still face some challenges to meet the original 2012 targets. Government has changed the rules for renewable electricity so MS is working in partnership with BRE/Pure to meet its commitments. Marks Spencer Group, PLC SWOT Analysis; Nov2010, p1-13, DATAMONITOR: Marks and Spencer Group plc. Marks Spencer Group Company Report, Available from: (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=58451839site=ehost-live), [Accessed 15 March 2011], British Library. MS has a wide range of food; and sales of food have continued to decline in the current economic climate. (1) External Environmental Strategic Impact on MS: The retail industry is generally a very dynamic, fast changing sector. Companies have to be keeping themselves to aware about the market, to know any new trend and they have to keep up with the customers increasing expectations and changing tastes. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more difficult and challenging to keep the customer satisfied and loyal customers preferences change quickly. Above mentioned analysis of external environment of MS has a strong effect on it. MS is among the top 6 UK retailers. External issues have the strategic impact on MS as: Fast changing Market Economic conditions. Consumers change of taste. Marks Spencers 7th annual report. Published in June 2010. http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/planA-2010.pdf [Accessed 12 April 2011 at 3:33 PM] Slow economy. Increased competition from locally and from foreign companies. (1) Competitive Advantages of MS and How MS will achieve it: MS is the market leader both in clothing and department stores. Reputation and brand of MS is globally recognised. Internationally, DEB is not well known as compared with MS. DEB is competing mainly in the domestic market. MS regularly checks the salaries against other retailers to make sure that it is competitive. For this reason MS continuously reviews the basic pay every year. MS also offer extra performance rewards to recognise individual achievement. (2) MS is continuously offering these rewards benefits: Competitive Salary, Bonus Scheme, Holidays, Employee discount, Pension Plan, Additional benefits (like: discounted gym membership, savings on tickets for amusement parks, joining fees for health clubs and reductions at a variety of UK holiday resorts.). (3) (1). http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/marketing-retail-assignment/, [Accessed 12 April 2011 at 5:00PM]. (2): (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits), [Accessed 12 April 2011 at 11:43 PM]. (3) (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/opportunities/trainee_management_scheme/trainee_benefits_rewards), [Accessed 13 April 2011 at 12:27 AM]. NEED OF STRATEGY FOR THE GROWTH OF MS Need of developing the strategy for the growth of MS focusing on Plan A is to make moves, plans and strategies for expanding the market or enlarging the share of existing market and keeping them secure. It helps an organization better cope with the changes that occur in market place from time to time. MS is a market leader in retail industry and under mentioned are the suitable business strategies for the MS. Market Leader Strategy: The company has the largest market share in the relevant products market. The market leader should look for new users, new uses, and more usage of its products. MS must defend its market share market segment. SUGGESTIONS: Distinctive Competence: MS must determine its distinctive competence over its competitors. So that it can made strengths over them. Distinctive competence may exist in the form of: Low cost of production competence. Mass production competence. Access to cheap sources of raw material. Product quality variety. Financial Technological competence. Capability to cope with change. An organizations capability to cope with change is a very good strong point. MS must continue with the market changes with better marketing policies and effective functional programmes. Name Indexà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Subject Indexà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..

Monday, August 19, 2019

To the Marketing Manager :: Business and Management Studies

To the Marketing Manager Introduction The pet food market has experienced steady growth for years and despite a slight decline in pet ownership, pet food sales have increased. This is especially true for cat food sales, which reflects the fact that cats are outpacing dogs slowly but steady. As the trend is going towards pets being treated as a part of the family, they deserve food that is equal in the way to human dishes. These and other factors are the foundation of our report on entering the promising cat food market. Main The current cat food market is dominated by 2 multinational players, namely Mars (Masterfoods) with a share of 40% of the market and Nestlà ¨ (Friskies UK) with 41 %. (Mintel, 2002). As these firms have established their position on a solid basis, it is recommended to avoid direct competition with these brands. Therefore a strategy based on pure specialisation seems to be the best way to enter the market, therefore introducing a niche product. We would suggest entering with a highly-specialised, super-premium product for the cat food market, as cats are generally fussy eaters and their owners are willing to spend a great amount of money in order to satisfy their pet’s needs. (Keynote, 2003) Recent statistics have revealed that the trend is going towards focusing on health issues and functionality. The product should include a certain amount of vitamins and minerals, as well as special medical ingredients to strengthen the cat’s immune system. Furthermore the product should contain purely of organic ingredients. (PFMA) Concerning the product design, there’s recently the trend of ‘humanisation’ even when it comes to the recipe. Culinary choices should be made available to the consumer, such as pasta and rice dishes and consideration should be taken to suit different expectations of pet owners living in different countries, thus having a different attitude due to their culture. Additionally different age types should be targeted separately, as young kittens have different needs and desires than older cats. Kittens may need less food, resulting in smaller portions, whereas old cats need special nutrition to stay healthy and live longer. This should be a further element of our specialisation process. (Mars, 2003) Great emphasis has been placed on the convenience of the product package and design, for example single serve trays have proven to be widely accepted amongst pet owners, as they are easy to store and can provide the right amount for one meal. Re-sealable package, such as foil sachets, are also very popular, as they provide the owner with control and keeps the freshness of the food. In order to underline the natural and organic ingredients of the

Feelings That Kill Essay -- Racism Racist African Americans Essays

Feelings That Kill Racism is defined as the mistreatment of a group of people on the basis of color, race, religion, or national origin. The term racism can also be used to represent a hatred or prejudice toward another group. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, takes place during an extremely racist time in America. Nella Harper Lee wrote this novel to give her readers a harsh sense of the segregation that went on in the south during this time period. Between the years of 1925 and 1935 there were many problems facing the south. The depression brought job and poverty issues to many blacks, which increased the segregation. To Kill A Mockingbird has many parallels between the fictional segregation in the novel and the factual racism that actually took place in this time span. Between the years of 1882 and 1968 there were many different types of racial discrimination and mistreatment of blacks. One of the main types of this behavior was lynching. â€Å"Lynching is the practice whereby a mob, usually several dozen or several hundred persons, takes the law into its own hands in order to injure and kill a person accused of some wrongdoing. The alleged offense can range from a serious crime like theft or murder to a mere violation of local customs and sensibilities† (The Reader’s Companion to American History). Lynching can also occur just from the violation of a local law, as stated in the definition. An example of this occurred in Birmingham, Alabama in 1925. â€Å"A group of black women, including Indiana Little, who was a social worker, are beaten by election officials while attempting to register to vote† (Browne). These women were trying to register to vote, but were beaten by white officials only because it was against th... ...001. University of California, Los Angeles. 10 Mar. 2002.<http://www.thediasporaproject.com/research_topics/race_timeline.htm#Tse kani Browne>. Lee, Nella Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Harper & Row, 1982. Ransdell, Hollace. "The First Scottsboro Trials." REPORT ON THE SCOTTSBORO, ALA. CASE . 1999. American Civil Liberties Union . 10 Mar. 2002.<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_HRrep.h tml>. "The Handbook of Texas Online." The Texas State Historical Association. 23 July 2001. University of Texas at Austin. 12 March 2002. <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/print/SS/jcs6.html> Zangrando, Robert L.. "The Reader's Companion to American History." Houghton Mifflin Co.. 1991. UIUC. 10 Mar. 2002. <http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lynching/lynching.htm>.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Arthur Asa Bergers Analysis of Cheers Essay -- essays research papers

"Cheers" - A Semiotic Analysis by Berger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Arthur Asa Berger’s essay, he conducts a semiotic analysis of the comedy television show "Cheers." In his analysis of the show he points out many characteristics that refer to semiotics. Even though one could not agree with all of his findings, many of them are reasonable. One discrepancy someone might have with his ideas is that he applies his analysis to simply one episode rather than the entire series. Berger could have been able to conduct a more thorough examination if he used the whole series as a basis for his semiotic analysis. There are many examples Berger uses to explain his point.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One such example Berger uses is the instance about the signs. He states that there is more than one significant meaning of the word â€Å"cheers.'...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Case: “Lessons on Leadership from Ann Fudge”

†¢ Openness to Experience: The way she approaches problems, learns new information, and reacts to new experiences are showing that she is open to new experiences and curious. For example, she willingly took 2 years off to travel and see the world—try new things—and define her life by more than her career (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). She exposed herself to new cultures and ideas. She is very strategic and has her eye on the big-picture which indicates her high level of openness to experience. Agreeableness: How does she get along with others, as opposed to getting ahead of others?Again, it is likely she would score high on this factor. She is about being out with people (customers and employees) and listening to them. She has the ability to interact effectively with all constituencies of a consumer business. She could engage all three constituents in the same day. She is approachable and optimistic. Extraversion: Fudge is self-confident, competitive, li kes being around people (and in a team environment), decisive, goal-oriented, and drives to make an impact. Neuroticism: How does she react to stress, failure, and personal criticism? Moderate to high on this factor.As her old boss pointed out, she is very comfortable with who she is and is not interested in pretending to be someone else (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). This indicates she can handle the personal criticism and deal with it. However, the fact that she decided to take some time off and do other things might show she was not dealing with the stress and pressure well. †¢ Analytic Intelligence: Although not as important in this case, her track record for high levels of success and performance indicates she likely has a high degree of general mental ability.Practical Intelligence: Also known as â€Å"street smarts,† has been important in her new job. She has used her knowledge of the business and industry to land some very big new clients to the firm ( i. e. , Microsoft, Toys R Us). †¢ Benefits: It allowed her to gain new and broader experiences. Perhaps, even it helped increasing her commitment to various and diverse ideas as a way to stimulate thinking and business. She was also true to herself about what she wanted to do to define her life. In addition, it also provided her with a chance to take a break and recharge her battery (and avoid urnout)—in the end this has the chance to make her more of an asset to her organization and employees. Drawbacks: Leaving the industry for 2 years could result in losing contact with the industry as well as updating the current trends. It might hurt her credibility in the sense that others thought she could not â€Å"hack it† when things were getting tough. The perceptions others have might be an initial hurdle, but Fudge appears to have cleared this and other potential drawbacks and is leading Y&R back to the top in this industry.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Illegal Immigration Essay

With Illegal immigrants entering the United States daily, attention grows as to what should be done about it. Illegal immigrants who enter the United States and build lives here ultimately affect our economy and society. On one side of the debate, you have those who believe all illegal immigrants should be deported. No exceptions should be made and citizenship should be required to enter the borders of the United States. On the other side, why not give illegal immigrants a chance? Allow them to earn rights in the United States and eventually gain citizenship. Serious debate continues over what reforms should be made to our nation’s Immigration laws. With a vision of more secure borders, there are those who see illegal immigration completely unacceptable. This side argues that Illegal immigrants be given no status in the United States. Those who share this point of view often times share similar reasons as well. Many middle class jobs, available to legal United States citizens, are being swept up by illegals. Illegal immigrants are using falsified documents to gain access to such jobs. It’s not fair that legal citizens who are looking for jobs face competition against illegal immigrants. Their use of fake social security numbers to authenticate documents causes issues to tax brackets and government assistance programs. Government assistance, only intended for use by citizens in need, is being utilized by illegal immigrants. As well as wanting to keep government agencies from being utilized by wrong parties, safety is a strong reason for wanting more secure borders. With thousands of immigrants making the attempt into the U nited States daily, it is impossible to filter out violent offenders and other criminals from non- criminals. This is what scares many American citizens into wanting completely shut borders. You just don’t know who is entering the U.S. Without the ability to screen everyone who enters the U.S., and regulate the number of immigrants entering the U.S., this side will continue to vote for closed borders. On the contrary though, commonly in tune with ideals that our nation was founded by immigrants, there are those who see reform is necessary for the United States. America has been known as the land of opportunity for centuries. Why not allow everyone a chance to prosper? Immigrants bring and have brought new ideas to our country for centuries. Every day they form a functioning part of our society as well as economy. Although some view it wrong for illegal aliens to receive government assistance, they contribute to taxes as well. With dreams of bettering one’s life, immigrants usually come to the U.S. with strong work ethics and hopes to prosper. Blamed for the shortages in jobs, Illegal immigrants seem to fill the holes in society that legal citizens haven’t already filled. With them they bring values of their own cultures. This helps distill more values of culture into our own. Creating a more diverse country can help everyone feel more like they fit in. Illegal immigr ants, with dreams of citizenship in the U.S., should be given the chance. Reform in our government should allow more eligibility for those trying to gain citizenship. Opportunity should be accessible to everyone. With illegal immigration often debated by those with strict agendas, it is easy to see certain points of view are missed. Noted historically as â€Å"one big melting pot†, The United States was originally founded by immigrants. Most â€Å"Americans† today are descendants of immigrants who came to the U.S. hoping to find opportunity, the same as immigrants today. The United States should honor that many illegal immigrants see it as the land of opportunity. Citizenship here should not be a dream held out of reach for so many. Immigrants bring diversity to new nations. Government reforms concerning both sides can be made. Changes that not only allow more opportunity to those looking in, but strengthen and secure our border’s as well. Consideration from both sides of the debate is necessary in trying to find solutions to the immigration problems our nation faces today. Debate over whether our borders be accessible or left shut will continue as long as people try to cross them. There will always be those radically opposed to immigration as will there always be those for it. With chances  slim of immigration into the U.S. slowing down, parties will have to form necessary common grounds in order to preserve the integrity of our nation. Security for the U.S. will always be the main factor in how our reform pans out. It should never be forgotten though that this is the land of opportunity, built by those who came by boat. Only views of equality can fix the issues tying up our immigration reform. Work Cited Brooks, Philip. â€Å"Timeline.† Immigration. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2004. 44. Print â€Å"Illegal Immigration.† Illegal Immigration. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013 â€Å"Immigration ProCon.org – What Are the Solutions to Illegal Immigration in America?† ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Smith, James P., and Barry Edmonston. â€Å"Historical Background and Current Immigration Issues.† The Immigration Debate: Studies on the Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. Washington, D.C.: National Academy, 1998. 289-310. Print. West, Darrell M. â€Å"Shifting Public Opinion.† Brain Gain: Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2010. 107-26. Print.