Financial Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial Appraisal - Essay Example These three financial aspects must be that, in order to run or execute them, it necessitates substantial inputs in terms of costs and they must entail a wide range of benefits upon their execution (Kirkpatrick & Weiss 2006). As such, the costs and the subsequent benefits must be subjugated in terms of money or they should be such that, their worth can be estimated considering the monetary terms. Further, it can be said as a systematic process by which alternative utilization of wide variety of resources are examined with a great focus on assessment of factors, which are likely to influence a decision (Gupta 2011). They include; benefits, affordability, goals, risks, costs, funding, needs and options among others. In some cases, it is used to mean the same thing as economic appraisal. It entails methodologies, which are put in place in an effort to assist in establishing and defining problems and thereby finding ways to solve them. As such, these solutions should be those that aim at offering the best value for money (Carroll 2006). This is ideal when it comes to matters concerning public expenditure. In this context, it is mostly used as a catalyst for planning as well as public investment approval relating to the three notions of financial aspects. This paper aims at establishing a good financial appraisal that best gives a good value for money taking into account, projects, policies as well as programs (Lock 2007). Financial appraisal tools and methodologies A good financial appraisal is the one that incorporates the use of various financial appraisals tools. As such, these tools are used in different stages involved in the process of development and by differentiated individuals who have a stake in the business (Lefley & Ryan 2011). For instance, there are situations where, a financial appraisal tools developer or applicant tends to appraise the site using such approach as residual land. In such a case, the costs, value, as well as returns maybe used to esta blish the potential value of the land, which they are ready to give out in exchange with the land but must be subjected to a negotiation. In this example, there are assumptions made and as such, before they are applied, it must be ensured that they are tested. This test is usually done against a framework associated with planning as well as the extant policy (Dayananda 2009). The developer, in most cases, is likely to have come up with appraisal tools that are more of an in-house nature. This is important as the in-house appraisal tools, aided by commercial accounting software, they do reflect the processes related to accounting and of which are internal (Nagarajan 2004). Moreover, there exist other financial appraisal models used in the public sector. These models are exclusively designed to suit a particular use usually in the process of planning. As such, they are used primarily in situations in which the impact of finance involving the affordable housing aimed at assessing the c ontribution of grant as well as additionality, if any, that affordable housing may achieve, are to be considered (Tosh & Rayburn 2003). Both the Affordable Housing Development Control Toolkit as well as Development appraisal tools are spreadsheet based financial appraisal models and as such, they are effective if utilized to see these functions through. Again, the HCA is also efficient as it produces an appraisal model commonly known as Area Wide Viability. This kind of an appraisal model has the capability to test the viability of alternative sites that differ in terms of their characteristics (Morden 2007). There are other projects that involve expenditure considering the public sector. Considering these projects and expenditures, there is a great deal of likelihood that there will be

Meaning of life Essay Example for Free

Meaning of life Essay The meaning of life is a philosophical question concerning the significance of life or existence in general. It can also be expressed in different forms, such as Why are we here?, What is life all about?, and What is the purpose of existence? It has been the subject of much philosophical, scientific, and theological speculation throughout history. There have been a large number of proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The meaning of life is in the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness, and borders on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, the existence of one or multiple Gods, conceptions of God, the soul, and the afterlife. Scientific contributions focus primarily on describing related empirical facts about the universe, exploring the context and parameters concerning the how of life. Science also studies and can provide recommendations for the pursuit of well-being and a related conception of morality. An alternative, humanistic approach poses the question What is the meaning of my life? The value of the question pertaining to the purpose of life may coincide with the achievement of ultimate reality, or a feeling of oneness, or even a feeling of sacredness. governs the universe. Closeness with the God of Israel is through study of His Torah, and adherence to its mitzvot (divine laws). In traditional Judaism, God established a special covenant with a people, the people of Israel, at Mount Sinai, giving the Jewish commandments. Torah comprises the written Pentateuch and the transcribed oral tradition, further developed through the generations. The Jewish people are intended as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation[69] and a light to the Nations, influencing the other peoples to keep their own religio-ethical Seven Laws of Noah. The messianic era is seen as the perfection of this dual path to God. Jewish observances involve ethical and ritual, affirmative and prohibative injunctions. Modern Jewish denominations differ over the nature, relevance and emphases of mitzvot. Jewish philosophy emphasises that God is not affected or benefited, but the individual and society benefit by drawing close to God. The rationalist Maimonides sees the ethical and ritual divine commandments as a necessary, but insufficient preparation for philosophical  understanding of God, with its love and awe.[70] Among fundamental values in the Torah are pursuit of justice, compassion, peace, kindness, hard work, prosperity, humility, and education.[71][72] The world to come,[73] prepared in the present, elevates man to an everlasting connection with God.[74] Simeon the Righteous says, the world stands on three things: on Torah, on worship, and on acts of loving kindness. The prayer book relates, blessed is our God who created us for his honorand planted within us everlasting life. Of this context, the Talmud states, everything that God does is for the good, including suffering. The Jewish mystical Kabbalah gives complimentary esoteric meanings of life. As well as Judaism providing an immanent relationship with God (personal theism), in Kabbalah the spiritual and physical creation is a paradoxical manifest ation of the immanent aspects of Gods Being (panentheism), related to the Shekhinah (Divine feminine). Jewish observance unites the sephirot (Divine attributes) on high, restoring harmony to creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the meaning of life is the messianic rectification of the shattered sparks of Gods persona, exiled in physical existence (the Kelipot shells), through the actions of Jewish observance.[75] Through this, in Hasidic Judaism the ultimate essential desire of God is the revelation of the Omnipresent Divine essence through materiality, achieved by man from within his limited physical realm, when the body will give life to the soul. Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy named after its prophet Zoroaster, which is believed to have influenced the beliefs of Judaism and its descendant religions.[77] Zoroastrians believe in a universe created by a transcendental God, Ahura Mazda, to whom all worship is ultimately directed. Ahura Mazdas creation is asha, truth and order, and it is in conflict with its antithesis, druj, falsehood and disorder. (See also Zoroastrian eschatology). Since humanity possesses free will, people must be responsible for their moral choices. By using free will, people must take an active role in the universal conflict, with good thoughts, good words and good deeds to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

Whales Essay -- essays research papers fc

Whale weighs as much as 20 elephants but lives beneath the sea. The blue whale is Earth's largest animal. Larger than the largest of ancient dinosaurs, blue whales can grow to be more than 100 feet (30 meters) long and weigh nearly 150 tons. Not all whales are so large. The much smaller pilot whale grows to about 28 feet (8.5 meters) in length. And dolphins, which belong to the whale family, range only from 3 to 13 feet (1 to 4 meters). Although whales spend their lives in the sea, they are, like humans, warm-blooded mammals. After a baby whale is born, it nurses on its mother's milk, just like the young of land mammals. Whales are members of the order Cetacea, along with dolphins, porpoises, and the narwhal. There are two basic types of living cetaceans: baleen, or whalebone, whales of the scientific suborder Mysticeti; and toothed whales of the suborder Odontoceti. General Characteristics Whales live in all of the open seas of the world, though some occasionally enter coastal waters. Some species, such as the white whale, or beluga, may travel upstream in large rivers. Some species migrate with the seasons; others remain year-round in the same habitats, where they find their preferred food. The present-day distribution and abundance of some species has been greatly influenced by the commercial whaling industry. Whalers eliminated or greatly reduced the numbers of some species of baleen whales in certain oceanic regions where whales once frolicked in abundance. This is particularly true in parts of the Arctic Ocean and the eastern North Atlantic Ocean, where the blue whale was almost completely exterminated in the early 1900s. Some species of whales, however, are numerous today in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The skin of whales is usually black, gray, black and white, or all white. Some, such as the blue whale, have skin that is bluish-gray. The surface of the skin is smooth, but like other mammals, whales have hair. Hair first appears while the fetal whale is still developing inside its mother's womb. In adult whales, hair is confined primarily to a few bristles in the head region and is largely absent over most of the body. Whales that live in polar regions are insulated from the extreme cold by a layer of blubber, or fat, enveloping their bodies. Baleen Whales The baleen whales inc... ...usion In 1946 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established to set up the guidelines followed by whaling nations today. The sizes, kinds, locations, and seasons of catches are controlled. However, strong international politics came into play, and some nations steadfastly voted against, or even ignored, restrictions that were not economically advantageous. The limitations were passed almost too late for the blue whale, which had already declined to dangerously low numbers in all oceans. The once large populations of blue whales in the eastern North Atlantic were almost brought to extinction. Today, fewer than 500, and possibly as few as 100, are found there. In 1971 the United States declared all commercially exploited whales endangered species and made it illegal to import any whale products. The United States lists the blue, bowhead, finback, gray, humpback, right, sei, and sperm whales as endangered species. Therefore, we should take goof care of whale. Works Cited Cousteau, Jacques, and Paccalet, Yves. Whales (W.H. Allen, 1998). Tinker, S.W. Whales of the World (Bess Press, 1997). Day, David. The Whale War (Sierra Club Books, 1997).

Junot Diaz Bio Essay

Lent DDS was born In the Dominican Republic and raised New Jersey. He Is a creative writing teacher at MIT and fiction editor at the Boston Review. He also serves on the board of advisers for the Freedom university, a Volunteer organization in Georgia that provides post-secondary instruction to undocumented immigrants. From what I have read I have gathered that he really had to rely on himself. Getting him through college working the Jobs where you have to do the dirty work, dishes, and pumping-gas. Supposedly Drown reflects Diaz’s strained relationship with his own father, with whom he no longer keeps in contact with. Diaz was born in Villa Juana, a neighborhood in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was the third child in a family of five. Through most of his childhood he lived with his mother and grandparents while his father worked in the united States. Diaz emigrated to Parlin, New Jersey, in December of 1974, where he was able to reunite with his father. He lived close to what he considered one of the largest landfills in New Jersey. His short fiction has appeared In The New Yorker magazine, which listed him as one of the 20 top writers for the 21st He has also been published in Story, The Paris Review, and in the anthologies The Best American Short Stories four times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), The PEWO. Henry prize stones (2009), and African voices. He s best known for his two major works: the short story collection Drown (1996) and the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007). 80th were published to critical acclaim and he won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the latter. Diaz himself has described his writing style as a disobedient child of New Jersey and the Dominican Republic If that can be possibly Imagined with way too much Diaz has received a Eugene McDermott Award, a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a Lila Acheson Wallace Readers Digest Award, the 2002 PEN/Malamud Award, the 2003 us-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard university and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was selected as one of the 39 most important Latin American writers under the age of 39 by the Bogota World Book Capital and the Hay Festival. [18] In September 2007, Miramax acquired the rights for a film adaptation of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. [19] The stories in Drown ocus on the teenage narrator’s impoverished, fatherless youth in the Dominican Republic and his struggle adapting to his new life in New Jersey. Reviews were generally strong but not without complaints. 20] Diaz read twice for PRI’s This American Life

Case Synopsis

The management at Atlantic Computer had the problem of formulating a pricing strategy for product bundling. This had to be a unique pricing strategy because they were breaking away from the industry practice which was to offer software tools for free.However in this case, the management had decided against this strategy as the use of the software tool would lead to considerable savings on the part of the customer. Therefore the management believed that if new product marketing and sales did their job right, customers could be persuaded to pay an additional percentage for the PESA software tool.Therefore the center of the problem was clearly to develop the right pricing strategy which would take into consideration the product’s benefits and the current competitive pressures in the market. This was the task given to Jason Jowers, the youngest product manager at Atlantic Computer. The strategy that Jason developed would be tested at the SME trade show. Depending on the test resul ts, the pricing structure could be put into practice.Company overviewAtlantic Computer has a long record of operating in the high-end performance servers market. It had been selling Radia to large enterprise consumer servers for the last thirty years. However the management had shifted the strategic focus to basic servers because of the popularity of the Internet technology.This was the reason that Atlantic Computer was introducing Tronn. The head of the server division believed that customers would no longer consider high performance servers and basic servers as substitutes. Therefore, the market had considerable growth potential in terms of basic servers. Atlantic Computer already had a considerable brand reputation in the market from selling high performance servers and the company would be able to capitalize upon this reputation by selling basic servers.The company also had a reputation for responsive post-sales assistance. This was based on customer relationship management and product differentiation. Therefore, the company had a substantial existing customer list which could be capitalized upon to enter the market for basic servers. In this respect the strategy of product differentiation was being implemented in the form of bundling hardware with software.Product overviewAtlantic Computer had been selling high performance servers for the last 30 years. Now it was entering a new market with basic servers the functionalities of which were expanded by bundling the hardware with the PESA software tool. The industry practice was that software tools were given away for free.However the management at Atlantic Computer had decided against this strategy because the customers would be able to reduce their operating expenses considerably by using the PESA software tool. Basic servers are used to perform simple, repeatable functions while software tools are used to monitor the health of a server or to enhance the performance of the server. Customers in the web-serve r and file sharing applications segment would benefit most from the suggested product bundling

More than One Kind of Irony

More than One Kind of Irony More than One Kind of Irony More than One Kind of Irony By Maeve Maddox Irony and its adjective ironic have joined the class of carelessly used words–like literally and awesome–that drive many language lovers wild. As early as 1926 H.W. Fowler decried the use of irony and ironic to refer to happenings that are merely coincidental or odd. For example, if I run into you in Walmart and an hour later bump into you at OfficeMax, that’s not ironic; it’s a coincidence. If I’m driving to school with barely enough time to make it to class on time and get stuck at a train crossing, that’s annoying or frustrating, but it’s not ironic. Fowler describes three kinds of irony: Socratic irony, dramatic irony, and the irony of Fate. Socratic irony takes its name from the philosopher Socrates who would pretend to be ignorant, so as to encourage his students to argue their beliefs. The television detective Columbo is a master at this kind of irony. Just as Socrates used apparently innocent questions to show up his students’ shaky arguments, Columbo uses feigned humility and ignorance to lure his suspects into talking too much and revealing their guilt. Dramatic irony is the irony of classical Greek drama, written for an audience that knew the details of the drama being presented. This kind of irony produces goose bumps in the audience or reader. When Oedipus swears he’ll bring his father’s murderer to justice, the audience knows that Oedipus is his father’s murderer. When Oedipus innocently marries Jocasta, the audience knows that she’s his mother. Strong stuff, dramatic irony. Novelists set it up by letting the reader know what the characters do not. Irony of Fate occurs when misfortune is the result of Fate, Chance, or God. In Fowler’s words, â€Å"Nature persuades most of us that the course of events is within wide limits foreseeable, that things will follow their usual course† If you watched the video clips of the floods that ravaged England in early 2014, you may have seen the pictures of the fabulous, recently completed mansion, its four-acre grounds ringed by a protective moat; despite the owner’s efforts, the waters triumphed. This is an example of the irony of Fate or Chance, also called cosmic irony. Reedsy defines it from the point of view of writers: Irony is a storytelling tool used to create contrast between how things seem and how they really are beneath the surface. The term â€Å"ironic† comes from the Latin word ironia, which means â€Å"feigned ignorance.† Two other types of irony not mentioned by Fowler are â€Å"verbal irony† and â€Å"situational irony.† Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing, but means another, for example, saying â€Å"Lucky me!† when you slip on the ice and break your arm. Situational irony is similar to cosmic irony. You go into a situation expecting one outcome, but experience the opposite result. The O. Henry story â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† is built on situational irony: the wife sells her hair to buy her husband a watch fob; the husband sells his watch to buy his wife a decorative comb. The irony is that neither spouse can use the thoughtful gift. Irony has more than one meaning, but â€Å"coincidental† and â€Å"odd† are not among them. Related article: What Is Irony? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Addressing A Letter to Two PeoplePeace of Mind and A Piece of One's MindSupervise vs. Monitor

Free Essays on Fahrenheit 451 The Sieve and the Sand, by Ray Bradbury

Bradbury uses several significant religious references in this section to illuminate Montag's process of self-realization. First, Faber reads from the Book of Job, a part of the Bible in which God and Satan make a wager about whether Job will remain faithful to God when subjected to terrible afflictions. Clearly, Faber encourages Montag to endure despite the difficulty of his undertaking. Montag, however, is becoming so tired of mindlessly doing what other people say that he becomes suspicious of Faber's orders, and Faber in turn praises him for his development of independent thought. Next, Montag compares Mildred's friends to religious objects, based on the fact that he can't understand such objects any more than he can Mildred's friends. The two women seem artificial, superficial, and empty to Montag. The conversation that Montag forces them to have reveals their lack of concern about the coming war, the pervasiveness and casual treatment of suicide in their society, and the deplorable state of family ethics. They remind him of icons he once saw in a church and did not understand; they seem strange and meaningless to him. Finally, in a third instance of religious imagery, Faber describes himself as water and Montag as fire, claiming that the merging of the two will produce wine. Jesus Christ's transformation of water into wine was one of the miracles that proved his identity and instilled faith in people. Montag longs to confirm his own identity through a similar self-transformation. He hopes that when he becomes this new self, he will be able to look back and understand the man he used to be. Montag opens his book of poetry to "Dover Beach," which is quite appropriate to his circumstances, as it deals with the theme of lost faith, and of the capacity for personal relationships to replace faith. The poem also deals with the emptiness of life's promises and the unthinking violence of war. Shortly afterward, Montag has a Shakespearea... Free Essays on Fahrenheit 451 The Sieve and the Sand, by Ray Bradbury Free Essays on Fahrenheit 451 The Sieve and the Sand, by Ray Bradbury Bradbury uses several significant religious references in this section to illuminate Montag's process of self-realization. First, Faber reads from the Book of Job, a part of the Bible in which God and Satan make a wager about whether Job will remain faithful to God when subjected to terrible afflictions. Clearly, Faber encourages Montag to endure despite the difficulty of his undertaking. Montag, however, is becoming so tired of mindlessly doing what other people say that he becomes suspicious of Faber's orders, and Faber in turn praises him for his development of independent thought. Next, Montag compares Mildred's friends to religious objects, based on the fact that he can't understand such objects any more than he can Mildred's friends. The two women seem artificial, superficial, and empty to Montag. The conversation that Montag forces them to have reveals their lack of concern about the coming war, the pervasiveness and casual treatment of suicide in their society, and the deplorable state of family ethics. They remind him of icons he once saw in a church and did not understand; they seem strange and meaningless to him. Finally, in a third instance of religious imagery, Faber describes himself as water and Montag as fire, claiming that the merging of the two will produce wine. Jesus Christ's transformation of water into wine was one of the miracles that proved his identity and instilled faith in people. Montag longs to confirm his own identity through a similar self-transformation. He hopes that when he becomes this new self, he will be able to look back and understand the man he used to be. Montag opens his book of poetry to "Dover Beach," which is quite appropriate to his circumstances, as it deals with the theme of lost faith, and of the capacity for personal relationships to replace faith. The poem also deals with the emptiness of life's promises and the unthinking violence of war. Shortly afterward, Montag has a Shakespearea...

The Difference Between Bienvenu and Bienvenue

The Difference Between 'Bienvenu' and 'Bienvenue' Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them. When wanting to express Welcome! as a stand-alone phrase, beginners to French will often write  Bienvenu! ​instead of  the correct spelling of Bienvenue! Explanation of Bienvenue vs. Bienvenu Bienvenue used as a greeting is short for je vous souhaite la bienvenue, which literally means I wish you welcome. When saying Welcome! with no verb, you always have to use the feminine:  Bienvenue! Bienvenu with no e is an adjective often used as a noun conforming to a subject. To use this spelling of Bienvenu, the employed sentence needs to have a subject. Because of this, only when using a complete sentence can you say either Soyez le bienvenu or Soyez la bienvenue, according to the gender of the person you are talking to. You can say Soyez les bienvenus if its more than one person. The distinction is confusing and often leads to mistakes. A famous example is that of a sign in Utah that reads: Bienvenu internationale voyageurs. This sentence is wrong on many levels. Because it possesses no subject, the correct spelling would be Bienvenue ending with an e. In this instance, it would also need to be followed by the preposition . On a different but related note, the adjective international should be plural instead of feminine (to agree with voyageurs), and it should follow rather than precede the noun. The apostrophe has no business there either. Better French Greetings for the sign would be: Bienvenue aux voyageurs internationauxVoyageurs internationaux : soyez les bienvenus

Italian culture, government, economy, business, foreign trade and Essay

Italian culture, government, economy, business, foreign trade and ethical issues - Essay Example the Mafia and corruption in the government. But take a look now, Italy is at the moment one of the most industrialized nations in the world. It is the second most popular tourist country in the world only next to USA. It is also the world's largest wine producer. Italy is one of the most culture-oriented country in the world. Today, it has given us Antonioni and Fellini (in cinematic arts), Pavarotti and Bocelli (in operatic music), Maria Montessori (in education), Armani, Gucci, Prada, Versace and Valentino (in fashion arts) and Damiani (in jewelry-making). The Duomo cathedral, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Piazza San Marco in Venice and the La Scala theater are showcases of Italian architecture. But the ones who made a dent and established Italy as the center of world culture are the Renaissance artists, intellectuals and scientists of the 14th to 16th century. The Renaissance or rebirth produced a revival of classical culture and a heightened interest in classical literature and philosophy. It Bernini, Titian, Verdi, Puccini, Vivaldi, Rossini, Donizetti, Galileo, poet Petrarch and philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli. In that era the city-state of Florence was the center of the movement where prolific artists, fostered by the ruling Medici family, strut their talents to the fore. Another important contribution of Italy to world culture is the opera. An opera is a "play in which all the words are sung to an instrumental accompaniment"(Art and Man 32). The earliest opera known to mankind was Daphne, composed by Jacobo Peri in Florence in 1597. However, Eurydice, again by Peri with lyrics by Giulio Cacchini and based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, is on record the earliest surviving opera. Opera as an art was perfected by Claudio Monteverdi in 1607, who "employed a larger and more varied ensemble of instruments and put a new dramatic excitement and human emotion into the music he composed for Orfeo" (Art and Man 32). Italian Government The Italian government, since time immemorial, is intensely dynamic, intrigue-laden, chaotic and unstable. Because of this and because of corruption in high places, prosperity was greatly hindered. Since the end of World War II, the government was changed 44 times in 37 years. It is said that governments in Italy "form and fall with the regularity of seasons" (Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia 185). It is further complicated by the fact that nominally, Italy is democratic but many city governments are run by communist mayors. In fact, the communist party, born in the 1920's, perpetually exerts influence over labor and social legislation. Strikes and street demonstrations are dime a dozen and under-the-table deals permeate the daily

An historical account of an ancient Greek city-state or colony Assignment

An historical account of an ancient Greek city-state or colony - Assignment Example The author draws heavily from the primary sources of information such as the Herodotus, Plutarch, and the Thucydides to explain the nature and structures of various Greek land engagements in the 500 century B.C. In essence, the author presents a formative domain in understanding the history of Western warfare. The map below is a representation of ancient Greece city states that had come into existence in the 500 century B.C. the map clearly shows the settlements in the ancient Greece and the surrounding natural features such as the seas and other natural landscapes. From the map, it can be observed that the Athens City is among the notable City-States that existed in the early 500 century B.C. and was surrounded by rival city states such as Thebes and Corinth. The author gives a critical overview of the birth of the Athens City State and cultural diversity. The author notes that Athens is located at latitude 37 58’ 20† N and longitude 23 43’ 9† on the Attica plains. At the heart of the Attica plain, there exists a range of hills (presently referred to as Tourko Vouni) that spread from the northeast to the south. The hills separate the Kephisos and ILissos valleys that are boards a spur to the south. The spur can be termed as the link to the Athens City states. It is worth noting that the highest point of Athens is known as Acropolis. From the book, it can be identified that Athens has experienced dramatic transformations since its existence. Currently, the city is occupied by people from diverse origins in terms of race, ethnic background and religious affiliations. As a result of the settlement of people from diverse origins, the city is characterized by a rich a dynamic culture. Different people have different cultural construction and, therefore, meeting of residents in a common place leads to cultural

Indra Nooyis Vision for PepsiCo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Indra Nooyis Vision for PepsiCo - Assignment Example Without referent power, the leader would not be trusted or respected by subordinates and followers. Without referent power, the employees would not be motivated to work towards shifting to non-carbonated drinks and would not approve Nooyi’s strategic decisions. Nooyi has built goodwill due to his successful acquisitions of profitable bottling companies. Without referent power, the stakeholders would be frustrated with lack of advertising the core sugary and fatty cola products (Cummings and Worley 176). Â  This approach is sustainable for PepsiCo if Nooyi leaves the organization to Cabinet Member in Washington, D.C. The approach would be sustainable if she establishes clear strategic goals for PepsiCo and implements succession plans that ensure future leaders are committed to the turnaround to more healthy products and environmental potential. Some types of influences that she needs in order to wield power for her to be successful in this endeavor include influence reward influence through providing fair benefits and recognizing excellent job performance. Another influence is a personal influence on shareholders by building close working relationships and trust in the turnaround strategy. A third influence would be positional influence by ensuring subordinates stick to the timelines of implementation of the strategy. She will also need expert influence by clearly demonstrating her career track record of making profitable acquisitions and change in organizations.

Role of Information Technology in Kentucky Fried Chicken Essay

Role of Information Technology in Kentucky Fried Chicken - Essay Example Information system helps to change or restructure the business and also quickens the response time to changes in the environment. There are various features of information system that can help a firm gain competitive advantage. For example the decision support system helps firms to align their information system with the business strategies. Then there is the Enterprise resource planning solutions that link the business process with the firm’s objective of optimizing the enterprise resources. Also there is the database system that having â€Å"data mining† capabilities which makes the best use of information for production, innovation and marketing (Hemmatfar, Salehi & Bayat, 2010, p. 158-160). For the purpose of this report let me first describe about the Fast food industry. It is one of the largest growing industries. The industry is characterized by the foods which are prepared and served quickly. Typically, the foods of this industry are sold in retail food outlets or in a packaged form. The major market players of this industry are Kentucky fried chicken, McDonalds, Pizza hut, Dominos, Arby’s, Subway, Fingers and Del Taco among various other players. Franchise operation acts as the most crucial element of this industry. The noticeable foodstuffs includes pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, French fries, fried chicken, ice creams and also foods like noodles, fried rice and soups among the others. Presently information technology is widely used in fast food industry. The market share of KFC and its competitors are as follows:- Figure 1 (Source: pugetsoundoff, n.d.). Information technology plays an essential role in the unprecedented growth of fast food industry. In this sector the functions of Information technology is significant as it helps in research and development process, marketing process and also in the financial segment. Information systems help organisations in the fast food industry to not only deliver products and services at low c osts but also deliver differentiated products and services. Organisations are using information system to create niche markets for themselves and at the same time focus on developing new and innovative products. The current applications being used in fast food industry include the following:- Point of sale system – It manages the total selling process of an outlet. This is also responsible for the formation and printing of the receipt. A typical retail food outlet POS includes a computer, receipt printer, bar-code scanner, customer display and a cash drawer. Apart from these basic requirements the system sometimes also consists of debit & credit card reader. The next application includes these cash registers are coupled with the computerized system which automatically prepares accounting reports and facilitates reordering of inventories. It also helps in tracking the internal orders and sales. The other application which is very much in use is the Customer Relationship Manage ment System. Customer relationship management (CRM) is all about managing and increasing customer relationships that can help the company to drive the costs down and increase the viability of products and services. (Anderson & Kerr, 2001, p.1-11). Data about customers like

Analyze 4 real cases of directors liability and lessons learned Essay - 1

Analyze 4 real cases of directors liability and lessons learned - Essay Example The initial case is a lawsuit concerning the president for a computer game company. In this case, the director breached his duty of being honesty because the Korean Website company reported the computer game company, 9Korea, together with the company’s director. This complains represented many people who had problems with the company, because it was using their personal residential registration number illegally. The residential claimed that the company’s president was not honest because he was illegally using their identities to open up new accounts for the online game developer. Regarding this case, the court alleged that the company together with its president should be the first party involved in campaigning against illegal use of other people’s names in online game registration. The courts also accused the company for being negligent by using other people real name together with their personal information, which affected more than 800 individuals without thei r permission. Therefore, the court posited that the corporation should reimburse every plaintiff a damage price of KRW 1, 000,000 (Loos 503). Second case is about Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). A minor shareholder in the company called McMullin. Mr. Beran alleged this case, claiming that the chemical company director favors major shareholders when it comes to discussing the prices for chemical products. Mr. Beran claimed that the director failed to follow the required rules in implementing the prices, thus discriminating the needs of minor shareholders in the company. Regarding this matter, the court dismissed the case citing the fact that the plaintiff had planned to rebut the rule governing judgments, which is in place to cover all directors against liabilities. Mr. Beran filed this case because he believed that the company’s director breached fiduciary duties that required him/her to perform his/her

Role of Information Technology in Kentucky Fried Chicken Essay

Role of Information Technology in Kentucky Fried Chicken - Essay Example Information system helps to change or restructure the business and also quickens the response time to changes in the environment. There are various features of information system that can help a firm gain competitive advantage. For example the decision support system helps firms to align their information system with the business strategies. Then there is the Enterprise resource planning solutions that link the business process with the firm’s objective of optimizing the enterprise resources. Also there is the database system that having â€Å"data mining† capabilities which makes the best use of information for production, innovation and marketing (Hemmatfar, Salehi & Bayat, 2010, p. 158-160). For the purpose of this report let me first describe about the Fast food industry. It is one of the largest growing industries. The industry is characterized by the foods which are prepared and served quickly. Typically, the foods of this industry are sold in retail food outlets or in a packaged form. The major market players of this industry are Kentucky fried chicken, McDonalds, Pizza hut, Dominos, Arby’s, Subway, Fingers and Del Taco among various other players. Franchise operation acts as the most crucial element of this industry. The noticeable foodstuffs includes pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, French fries, fried chicken, ice creams and also foods like noodles, fried rice and soups among the others. Presently information technology is widely used in fast food industry. The market share of KFC and its competitors are as follows:- Figure 1 (Source: pugetsoundoff, n.d.). Information technology plays an essential role in the unprecedented growth of fast food industry. In this sector the functions of Information technology is significant as it helps in research and development process, marketing process and also in the financial segment. Information systems help organisations in the fast food industry to not only deliver products and services at low c osts but also deliver differentiated products and services. Organisations are using information system to create niche markets for themselves and at the same time focus on developing new and innovative products. The current applications being used in fast food industry include the following:- Point of sale system – It manages the total selling process of an outlet. This is also responsible for the formation and printing of the receipt. A typical retail food outlet POS includes a computer, receipt printer, bar-code scanner, customer display and a cash drawer. Apart from these basic requirements the system sometimes also consists of debit & credit card reader. The next application includes these cash registers are coupled with the computerized system which automatically prepares accounting reports and facilitates reordering of inventories. It also helps in tracking the internal orders and sales. The other application which is very much in use is the Customer Relationship Manage ment System. Customer relationship management (CRM) is all about managing and increasing customer relationships that can help the company to drive the costs down and increase the viability of products and services. (Anderson & Kerr, 2001, p.1-11). Data about customers like

Foreign Investment in Oil and Gas Sector in Kurdistan Region of Iraq Dissertation

Foreign Investment in Oil and Gas Sector in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Dissertation Example Historically, the Middle East, a land known for its rich Sheikhs and vast sandy topography, was and is extremely enriched in petroleum reserves. Petroleum extraction and refinery is the prime industry in the Middle East and export of petroleum and gas is the main trading product. Middle East has little arable land and any other type of minerals apart from petroleum is almost absent. These have forced the region to resort to the best thing they are capable of. Among the oil producing nations of the Middle East; Saudi Arabia holds the top spot followed by Iran and Iraq (Leverett and Bader, 2005). Petroleum and the Middle East share a complex political relation with the rest of the world; especially with the developed nations. The developed nations are highly industrialized and they need fuel to sustain their economic growth. This has often led to their involvement in Middle East politics with a sole goal of controlling the largest share of the oil reservoirs and refineries along with t he land through which the pipeline (carrying oil and gas) passes (Leverett and Bader, 2005). Even the latest war against Taliban and their eventual obliteration might have been linked to the settlement of a peaceful pathway for petroleum and gas line that was getting disturbed by the anti American sentiments of the Taliban (Kull, Ramsey and Lewis, 2002).The present paper concentrates on the foreign direct investment in oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. ... The Legal framework for contractors, and affiliates under the Iraqi and Kurdish Law†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 31 5.2. What is the importance of oil and gas sector in Kurdistan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 33 5.3. What are the driving factors of FDI into this sector†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 35 5.4. Reason behind source countries investing in Kurdistan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 39 Chapter 6. Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 53 Chapter 7. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 64 7.1 Aim One Conclusionà ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 64 7.2 Aim Two Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 65 7.3 Aim Three Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 66 Topic Page Number 7.4. Implications of the Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 67 7.5 Limitations of Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 68 7.6. Recommendations for Future Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 68 Chapter 8. Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 69 Abstract: The report is about the Foreign Investment in Oil and Gas Sector in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Iraq is one of the leading country which is rich in natural oil and natural gas. In Iraq, Kurdistan region have the most of natural oil and gas storage. In this report we discussed about different factors that are associated with the foreign direct investment in this region. The role played by the government to attract the FDI to boost the economy of the region. Study of FDI in Kurdistan region also

The Leadership Challenge Essay Example for Free

The Leadership Challenge Essay Challenges are what this book expands on, most especially, challenges pertaining to traditions and myths about leadership. Kouzes and Posner look at the issue of leadership and ask, What’s new, and what’s different? Through their research they conclude that even if the context has changed, the real meat of leadership remains the same. In their book The Leadership Challenge, the authors provide real examples of what true leaders really are and suggest that anyone can do the same and practice these principles so that they shine as leaders in their own spheres of work or activity. Written in 1987, many thought it would be one of those books on leadership but since it comes at a time when the world is undergoing a lot of changes and there is a big demand on excellence. The newest edition emphasize once again that the fundamentals of leadership, the very essence of what it means to be a good leader is the same today as it was two decades ago. Thus, they posit that â€Å"Leaders do exhibit certain distinct practices when they are doing their best. Good leadership is not only an understandable but also a universal process†¦and Leadership is not a private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary managers use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others.† Perhaps this is what makes the book a hit. The authors are able to hit the weak spot of readers as the challenge is brought out to everyone to do their best because being a true leader requires the very same characteristics that one may already be doing in his own field of work, yet just needs some honing. Thus, the context may change – like there are many modern things that had been changing globally, and in this aspect, leadership has changed dramatically; yet the very essence of leadership is still the same, such as the values and virtues that one cultivates in ordinary life. The book is divided into seven parts with thirteen (13) chapters. It helps that the authors are real leaders themselves. Consider this: Jim Kouzes is Chairman Emeritus of the Tom Peters Company and an Executive Fellow at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Meanwhile, co-author Barry Posner is Dean of the Leavey School of Business and Professor of Leadership at Santa Clara University. They come up with a Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and other publications have made them the authors to beat. Part One of the book establishes the background of what leadership is all about. They challenge readers on how people can be made to follow leadership—that is, by free choice. Thus, they were able to identify five common practices common to most extraordinary leadership. They maintain that leaders do their best when they challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage. Leaders interact well with their followers. Right from the start they provide real life examples such as that Tom Melohn who in a period of eight years increased the sales of the North American Tool and Die (NATD) by a factor of 5, increasing its pretax profits by 750 percent, and decreasing annual turnover from 27 percent to 4 percent. By year eight, NATD was ready to open a new plant which Melohn calls â€Å"Plant 20† receiving its ninth â€Å"vendor of the year† award. From there the authors analyze how Melohn did it considering that he could not even hammer a nail or screw the license plates onto his car, claiming he has never read a book on business since his studies focused on history. He was merely a peddler of packaged goods. He attributes his success because: â€Å"We set three objectives for NATD. First, we planned to from the company profitably. Second, to share the wealth among employees. And third, and equally critical, it was important to have fun—not just the two owners, but all our employees.† From this the authors dissect Melohn’s leadership capabilities within the company. It is in these examples, peppered all throughout the book, which makes The Leadership Challenge a great read. Readers are able to identify with the true-to-life examples of ordinary men and women who did their best to make their lives and those of others memorable. The quality and type of leadership depends, in part, on the attitude or stance of the organizational head. The general outlook of companies with regards to community service and mitigation of negative externalities may have originated from its founder. Leadership is a primary aspect of management, and an effective leader is someone who knows how to motivate the colleagues to act for the attainment of goals. Good leadership will empower employees to become collaborators in the programs. A holistic organizational participation thus dispels the notion that innovations of management are just personal whims of the managers. Good leadership is a response to the changing attitude and values of the clients and the society, and to get obstinately stuck in the old notion of sheer profit-making is placing one’s self under the risks of being static. Thus, the authors explain that once successful companies are no longer successful because they have become static along the way when they failed to change and adapt. The authors also underscore that successful leaders have well-designed strategy for planned change. Good leaders also possess well-planned out strategies which are major courses of action adhered to by an organization in order to meet its goals. They are the company’s methods of responding to threat and opportunities. Their philosophies, programs, practices and decisions, must be in line with the other systems and activities of the organization. Good leaders possess good business ethics, in that it is the ultimate act of deviating from the former exploitative system of capitalism and industrialization. Balancing between strategic logic and social involvement with tangible projects may actually be an implementation of ethic’s moral rights model. Yet the authors provide readers with excellent examples of a leadership model which is not based on power. Rather, it is based on the tools that leaders use to encourage people to be involved in accomplishing the company’s goals by making â€Å"extraordinary things happen,† as the authors refer to. Prominent in each chapter are examples of leaders who were able to overcome crisis situations. The authors maintain that knowledge is not the sole capability of the leaders. They argue that knowledge is distributed in all levels of the organization and that in order for the organization to benefit from the knowledge of the other men and women in it, they must be empowered well. Thus they state that it is not a matter of making people feel that they are part of the company. Rather it is a matter of making people part of it. Thus, it is not based on feeling. There is more a reaching out of leaders to these employees such that they are encouraged to be true followers pursuing the goals of the organization. Finally, the authors argue that empowerment of all members is very important in making changes more effective. The more involved people are in the process of change, the more effective the change will be and the more lasting it will be for the company Good leaders today enhance their ability to influence their subordinates in order to facilitate efficient decision making process within the organization. This means enhanced strategies in motivating and influencing employees to achieve their tasks. The core need for good leaders is to have the ability to communicate well with employees their roles in the accomplishment of organizational goals and targets. There are lots of valuable leadership forms in the book which many leaders could use. They represent the most effective and the least effective leadership strategy. The issues of motivation are also delved into in the book and this is the prime mover for many workers. Workers need affirmation that what they are doing is correct and exceptional. The inability of the leader to convey the message that job is well done only demoralizes them. This invokes feelings of uselessness and diminishing self-worth eventually giving no incentive to perform a good job anymore. To be extremely coercive is not an effective communication tool for workers would not be able to confirm their role in the over-all design to achieve the goals. The authors end the book with the Leadership Practices Inventory which was developed to empirically measure the conceptual framework developed in the case studies of managers’ personal best experiences as leaders. This puts a nail in the many concepts that they posit in the entire book. Today, there are researches that investigate how the inventory is related to other independent measures of managerial effectiveness.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Plant Response to Drought

Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Plant Response to Drought 1. Introduction Plant growth and productivity is adversely affected by natures wrath in the form of various abiotic and biotic stress factors (e.g. salinity, low temperature, drought, and flooding heat, oxidative stress and heavy metal toxicity). All these stress factors are a menace for plants and prevent them from reaching their full genetic potential and limit the crop productivity worldwide. Abiotic stress is the principal cause of crop failure, decrease average yields for most major crops by more than 50% (Bray, 2000) and causes losses worth hundreds of million dollars each year. In fact these stresses, threaten the sustainability of agricultural industry (Shilpi, 2005). Environmental degradation and climate change have become severe global problems because of the explosive population increases and industrialization in developing countries. To solve this problem, one of the keys is plant biotechnology based on physiology of crop, plant biochemistry, genomics and transgenic technology. This is becoming more and more important for molecular breeding of crops that can tolerate droughts. For this technology, we need to understand plant responses to drought stress at the molecular level. For agricultural and environmental sustainability, it is important to breed or genetically engineer crops with improved stress tolerance. The identification of key genes and that gene can be used directly for engineering transgenic crops with improved drought tolerance. Although a number of candidate genes have been identified in recent years, only very few have been tested in functional assays for a beneficial effect on drought tolerance. In order to assess gene function directly in plant suffering from abiotic stress caused by the drought, proved to be useful. Analysing the functions of these genes is critical for understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing plant stress response and tolerance, ultimately leading to enhancement of stress tolerance in crops through genetic manipulation. In this study, this will be used for overexpression of genes as well as for induced gene silencing, by using GATEWAY technology. A comprehensive investigation of Adh and Pdc induction and the determination of ethanol production during stress treatments would provide valuable information on how ethanol involved in the response to limited water condition. 2. Literature review 2.1. What is stress? Stress in physical terms is defined as mechanical force per unit area applied to an object. In response to the applied stress, an object undergoes a change in the dimension. Biological term is difficult to define in the plant stress. A biological condition, which may be stress for one plant may be optimum for another plant. The most practical definition of a biological stress is an adverse force or a condition, which inhibits the normal functioning and well being of a biological system such as plants (Jones et al., 1989 ) 2.2. Stress signalling pathways The stress is first perceived by the receptors present on the membrane of the plant cells , the signal is then transduced downstream and this results in the generation of second messengers including calcium, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inositol phosphates. These second messengers, further modulate the intracellular calcium level. This Ca2+ level is sensed by calcium binding proteins, Ca2+ sensors. These sensory proteins then interact with their respective interacting partners often initiating a phosphorylation cascade and target the major stress responsive genes or the transcription factors controlling these genes. The products of these stress genes ultimately lead to plant adaptation and help the plant to survive the unfavourable conditions. Thus, plant responds to stresses as individual cells and synergistically as a whole organism. Stress induced changes in gene expression in turn may participate in the generation of hormones like ABA, salicylic acid and ethylene. The various stress responsive genes can be broadly categorized as early and late induced genes. Early genes are induced within minutes of stress signal perception and often express transiently. In contrast, most of the other genes, which are activated by stress more slowly, i.e. after hours of stress perception are included in the late induced category. These genes include the major stress responsive genes such as RD (responsive to dehydration)/ KIN (cold induced)/COR (cold responsive), which encodes and modulate the LEA-like proteins (late embryogenesis abundant), antioxidants, membrane stabilizing proteins and synthesis of osmoly tes. 2.3. Drought stress Among all abiotic stresses, drought is one of the most serious problems for sustainable agriculture worldwide. The adverse effect of drought stress is reductions in yield as reported in crops such as rice (Oryza sativa) (Brevedan and Egli, 2003), wheat (Triticum aestivum) (Cabuslay et al., 2002), soybean (Glycine max) (Kirigwi et al., 2004), and chickpea (Cicer aerietum) (Khanna-Chopra and Khanna-Chopra, 2004). The adaptive responses to drought must be coordinated at the molecular, cellular, and whole-plant levels. These conditions induce dehydration of plant cells, which may trigger physiological, biochemical and molecular responses against such stresses (Shinozaki and Yamaguchi, 1996). Water deficit is a complex of responses, which depends upon severity and duration of the stress, plant genotype, developmental stage, and environmental factors providing the stress. Yield losses due to drought are highly variable in nature depending on the stress timing, intensity, and duration. Although, different plant species have variable thresholds for stress tolerance, and some of them can successfully tolerate severe stresses and still complete their life cycles, most cultivated crop plant species are highly sensitive and either die or suffer from productivity loss after they are exposed to long periods of stress. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the yield potential of major crops are routinely lost due to unfavourable growing environments ( Shilpi, 2005 ). Plants have evolved a number of strategies to severe drought. These include escape strategies such as avoidance (flowering, deep rooting, enhanced water uptake efficiency, or reduced water loss) as well as tolerance mechanisms. Reduced shoot growth and increased root development could result in increased water absorption and reduced transpiration, thereby maintaining plant tissue water status. In addition to such avoidance mechanisms, plant responses to water shortages can involve changes in biochemical pathways and expression of genes encoding proteins that contribute to drought adaptation. The proteins could be enzymes involved in the synthesis of osmolytes, antioxidants, or hormones such as ABA and others. Such changes can bring about drought tolerance, whereby plants continue to function at the low water potentials caused by water deficit (Hall, 1993). A central response to water deficit is often increased synthesis of ABA, which in turn induces a range of developmental (avoidanc e) and physiological or biochemical (tolerance) mechanisms. There is an ongoing debate as to whether the exploitation of avoidance or tolerance mechanisms should be the focus of plant breeding programmes. However, it appears likely that the exploitation of tolerance mechanisms may be more promising for the stabilization of crop yield under severe drought conditions (Araus et al, 2002). An assortment of genes with diverse functions are induced or repressed by these drought stresses (Bartels and Sunkar, 2005; Yamaguchi and Shinozaki, 2005). Drought tolerance has been shown to be a highly complex trait, regulated expression of multiple genes that may be induced during drought stress and thus more difficult to control and engineer. Plant engineering strategies for abiotic stress tolerance rely on the expression of genes that are involved in signaling and regulatory pathways (Seki and Shinozaki, 2003) or genes that encode proteins conferring stress tolerance (Wang, 2004) or enzymes present in pathways leading to the synthesis of functional and structural metabolites. Current efforts to improve plant stress tolerance by genetic transformation have resulted in several important achievements; however, the genetically complex mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance make the task extremely difficult. 2.3.1 Physiological and biochemical responses of drought Physiological and biochemical changes at the cellular level that are associated with drought stress include turgor loss, changes in membrane fluidity and composition, changes in solute concentration, and protein and protein-lipid interactions (Chaves et al,2003) . Other physiological effects of drought on plants are the reduction in vegetative growth, in particular shoot growth. Leaf growth is generally more sensitive than the root growth. Reduced leaf expansion is beneficial to plants under water deficit condition, as less leaf area is exposed resulting in reduced transpiration. Many mature plants, for example cotton subjected to drought respond by accelerating senescence and abscission of the older leaves. This process is also known as leaf area adjustment. Regarding root, the relative root growth may undergo enhancement, which facilitates the capacity of the root system to extract more water from deeper soil layers. Plant tissues can maintain turgor during drought by avoiding dehydration, tolerating dehydration or both (Kramer,1995). These forms of stress resistance are controlled by developmental and morphological traits such as root thickness, the ability of roots to penetrate compacted soil layers, and root depth and mass (Pathan, 2004). By contrast, adaptive traits, such as osmotic adjustment and dehydration tolerance, arise in response to water deficit . Reduction of photosynthetic activity, accumulation of organic acids and osmolytes, and changes in carbohydrate metabolism, are typical physiological and biochemical responses to stress. Synthesis of osmoprotectants, osmolytes or compatible solutes is one of the mechanisms of adaptation to water deficit. These molecules, which act as osmotic balancing agents, are accumulated in plant cells in response to drought stress and are subsequently degraded after stress relief (Tabaeizadeh ,1998). 2.3.2 Molecular responses Studies on the molecular responses to water deficit have identified multiple changes in gene expression. Functions for many of these genà ¨ products have been predicted from the deduced amino acid sequence of the genes. Genes expressed during stress are anticipated to promote cellular tolerance of dehydration through protective functions in the cytoplasm, alteration of cellular water potentia1 to promote water uptake, control of ion accumulation, and further regulation of gene expression. Expression of a gene during stress does not guarantee that a gene product promotes the ability of the plant to survive stress. The expression of some genes may result from injury or damage that occurred during stress. Other genes may be induced, but their expression does not alter stress tolerance. Yet others are required for stress tolerance and the accumulation of these gene products is an adaptive response. Complex regulatory and signaling processes, most of which are not understood, control the expression of genes during water deficit. In addition to induction by stress, the expression of water-deficit-associated genes is controlled with respect to tissue, organ, and developmental stage and may be expressed independently of the stress conditions. The regulation of specific processes will also depend upon the experimental conditions of stress application. Stress conditions that are applied in the laboratory may not accurately represent those that occur in the field. Frequently, laboratory stresses are rapid and severe, whereas stress in the field often develops over an extended period of time ( Radin, 1993). These differences must also be evaluated when studying the adaptive value of certain responses. The function of the gene products and the mechanisms of gene expression are intertwined, and both must be understood to fully comprehend the molecular response to water deficit. 2.4. Function of water-stress inducible genes Genes induced during water-stress conditions are thought to function not only in protecting cells from water deficit by the production of important metabolic proteins but also in the regulation of genes for signal transduction in the water-stress response . Thus, these gene products are classified into two groups. The first group includes proteins that probably function in stress tolerance: water channel proteins involved in the movement of water through membranes, the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of various osmoprotectants (sugars, Pro, and Gly-betaine), proteins that may protect macromolecules and membranes (LEA protein, osmotin, antifreeze protein, chaperon, and mRNA binding proteins), proteases for protein turn over (thiol proteases, Clp protease, and ubiquitin), the detoxification enzymes (glutathione S-transferase, soluble epoxide hydrolase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and ascorbate peroxidase). Some of the stress-inducible genes that encode proteins, such as a key enzyme for Pro biosynthesis, were over expressed in transgenic plants to produce a stress tolerant phenotype of the plants; this indicates that the gene products really function in stress tolerance ( Shinozaki ,1996 ). The second group contains protein factors involved in further regulation of signal transduction and gene expression that probably function in stress response: Most of the regulatory proteins are involved in signal transduction. Now it becomes more important to elucidate the role of these regulatory proteins for further understanding of plant responses to water deficit. Many transcription factor genes were stress inducible, and various transcriptional regulatory mechanisms may function in regulating drought, cold, or high salinity stress signal transduction pathways. These transcription factors could govern expression of stress-inducible genes either cooperatively or independently, and may constitute gene networks in Arabidopsis ( Pathan.2004 ), 2.5. Model plant for studying the drought tolerant Arabidopsis thaliana is a small weed in the mustard family. It has been a convenient for studies in classical genetics for over forty years ( Redei,1975). This flowering plant also has a genome size and genomic organization that recommend it for certain experiments in molecular genetics and it is coming to be widely used as a model organism in plant molecular genetics, development, physiology, and biochemistry. Arabidopsis thaliana provides an excellent experimental plant system for molecular genetics because of its remarkably small genome size and short life cycle. Arabidopsis thaliana, a genetic model plant, has been extensively used for unravelling the molecular basis of stress tolerance. Arabidopsis also proved to be extremely important for assessing functions for individual stress associated genes due to the availability of knock-out mutants and its amenability for genetic transformation. It has been collected or reported in many different regions and climates, ranging from high elevations in the tropics to the cold climate of northern Scandinavia and including locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America (Kirchheim,1981). Arabidopsis has the smallest known genome among the higher plants. The reasons for a small genome include little repetitive DNA and, in some cases, simpler gene families. Leutwiler et al. (1984) reported that the haploid genome from Arabidopsis (n = 5 chromosomes) contains only roughly 70,000 kilobase pairs (kb). The contrast of the Arabidopsis genome with that of other plants frequently used in molecular genetic work is striking: tobacco, for example, has a haploid nuclear genome of 1,600,000 kb; the pea haploid genome is 4,500,000 kb; and the wheat haploid genome is 5,900,000 kb . The significance of this small DNA content for molecular genetics is that a genomic library of Arabidopsis chromosomal fragments is easy to make, and simple and economical to screen. It is thus rapid and inexpensive to repeatedly screen Arabidopsis genomic libraries. In addition to its remarkably low content of nuclear DNA, Arabidopsis has a genomic organization that makes it uniquely suited to certain ty pes of molecular cloning experiments. All of the properties of the plant small, short generation time, high seed set, ease of growth, self- or cross-fertilization at willmake Arabidopsis a convenient subject for studies in classical genetics. 2.6. Drought related gene Alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase are enzyme whose activity has been observed in numerous higher plants including Arabidopsis, maize, pearl millet, sunflower, wheat, and pea (Gottlieb, 1982). In a number of plants, different ADH genes are expressed in various organs, at specific times during development, or in re-sponse to environmental signals. High levels of ADH activity are found in dry seeds and in anaerobically treated seeds (Freeling, 1973. Banuett-Bourrillon .1979), roots (Freeling .1973), and shoots (App, 1958). During periods of anaerobic stress, the enzyme is presumably required by plants for NADH metabolism, via reduction of acetaldehyde to ethanol. With respect to secondary metabolites, ADH is involved in the inter conversion of volatile compounds such as aldehydes and alcohols (Bicsak et al., 1982; Molina et al., 1986; Longhurst et al., 1990). The ethanolic fermentation pathway branches off the main glycolytic pathway at pyruvate. In the first step, pyruvate is the substrate of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), yielding CO2 and acetaldehyde. Subsequently, acetaldehyde is reduced to ethanol with the concomitant oxidation of NADH to NAD+ by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Although PDC and ADH gene induction has been demonstrated, ethanol and acetaldehyde production as a result of stress treatment has only been reported for red pine (Pinus resinosa) and birch (Betula spp.) seedlings exposed to sulfur dioxide, water deficiency, freezing, and ozone(Kimmerer and Kozolowski. 1982). Many plants contain more than one ADH gene (Gottlieb, 1982 ), resulting in the expression of different ADH proteins (i.e. ADH isozymes, often designated ADH 1, ADH2, etc. ). The most extensive study of maize Adh genes, AdhI and Adh2, have been cloned and sequenced. The coding sequences of these genes are 82% homologous, interrupted by nine identically positioned introns that differ in sequence and length. The expression of the Arabidopsis Adh gene (Chang and Meyerowitz, 1986; Dolferus et al., 1990) has many features in common with maize Adhl gene (Walker et al., 1987). The two genes have comparable developmental expression pattens, and both have tissue-specific responses to hypoxic stress. In both maize and Arabidopsis, the gene is expressed in seeds, roots, and pollen grains, whereas green aerial plant parts are devoid of detectable levels of ADH activity. In both species, hypoxic induction of the gene occurs in cells of the root system (reviewed by Freeling and Bennett, 1985; Dolferus and Jacobs, 1991; Okimoto et al., 1980;). ADH is induced anaerobically in Arabidopsis (Dolferus, 1985) as in maize. ADH is also induced in both maize root and Arabidopsis callus by the synthetic auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (Dolferus,1985. Feeling, 1973). Several approaches have been undertaken to assess the functional role of Adh in development, stress response, and metabolite synthesis. The expression of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene is known to be regulated developmentally and to be induced by environmental stresses (Christie et al., 1991; Bucher et al., 1995). Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) plays a key enzymatic function in the response to anaerobic conditions in plants (Sachs, Subbaiah, and Saab 1996). A new and exciting aspect of ethanolic fermentation is the suggested involvement in stress signaling and response to environmental stresses other than low oxygen (Tadege et al., 1999). Furthermore, specific analysis of the ADH gene from rice (Oryza sativa), maize, and Arabidopsis showed ADH to be induced by cold (Christie et al., 1991), wounding (Kato-Noguchi, 2001), dehydration (Dolferus et al., 1994), and the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA; de Bruxelles et al., 1996), in line with the observation from the micro-array experim ents. In Arabidopsis thaliana, Adh overexpression improved the tolerance of hairy roots to low oxygen conditions and was effective in improving root growth (Dennis et al., 2000; Shiao et al., 2002). However, it had no effect on flooding survival (Ismond et al., 2003). Adh over expression in tomato has been shown to modify the balance between Cà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬  , Adh overexpression in tomato aldehydes and alcohols in ripe fruits (Speirs et al., 1998). Grapevine plants overexpressing Adh displayed a lower sucrose content, a higher degree of polymerization of proanthocyanidins, and a generally increased content of volatile compounds, mainly in carotenoid- and shikimate-derived volatiles (Catherine et al., 2006).

The Forgotten Female in the Works of Ernest Hemingway Essay -- Biograp

The Forgotten Female in the Works of Hemingway      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ernest Hemingway has often been accused of misogyny in his treatment of female characters (and, perhaps, in his treatment of women in his own life). "It is not fashionable these days to praise the work of Ernest Hemingway," says Frederick Busch. "His women too often seem to be projections of male needfulness" (1). Many of his stories are seen as prototypical bildungsroman stories--stories, usually, of young men coming of age. There are few, if any, stories in the canon of women coming of age, however, and Hemingway is not the first to suffer the wrath of feminist critics. But is this wrath justified?    In his dissertation, Mark G. Newton reviews some of the critical literature that places Hemingway within the misogynist genre. "Cliches [sic] abound," he says. "Hemingway was in search of his manhood (an ignoble quest?); he hated women; he had a "death wish" and a "thin persona"; he was the archpriest of violence, etc." (6). However, Newton sees women in Hemingway's works as the "positive life-directed force which transports the male Hemingway hero away from a debilitating wound" (2), and he places them into "[t]he roles manifested by Hemingway's women in aiding the hero": "Ideal Women," "Sister Guides," "Icons and Dream Visions," "Wicked Women Who Also Serve," "Feminine Points of View," and "Full Cycle." My problem with Newton's approach to the feminine in Hemingway is that Newton seems to accept that, in presenting women as archetypal Eve's, the woman as "help-meet"-type image, that Hemingway is somehow presenting women favorably.    A somewhat similar view is presented by Jeryl J. Prescott in "Liberty for Just(Us): Gender and Race in ... ... of Melville, Twain, and Hemingway. New York: Peter Lang, 1984. Kennedy, J. Gerald. "Hemingway's Gender Trouble." American Literature 63:2 (1991): 187-207. Miller, Linda Patterson. "Hemingway's Women: A Reassessment." Hemingway in Italy and Other Essays. Ed. Robert W,. Lewis. Praeger, 1990. Newton, Mark G. Beyond the Wound: The Role of Women in Aiding the Hemingway Hero. Dissertation: U of S. Florida, 1985. Penn Warren, Robert. "Ernest Hemingway," Introduction to Modern Standard Authors edition of A Farewell to Arms. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1949. Prescott, Jeryl J. "Liberty for Just(us): Gender and Race in Hemingway's To Have and Have Not." College Language Association Journal 37:2 (1993): 176-88. Willingham, Kathy. "Hemingway's The Garden of Eden: Writing with the Body." The Hemingway Review 12:2 (1993): 46-61.   

History Free Response Essay

In the period of 1820 -1840 a two party system began to form for several reasons including major political personalities as well as economic issues. Conflicts began to surface during this time period, which contributed to the reemergence of a two party system. Major Political Personalities such as Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and John Quincy Adams were all candidates for president in 1824. This is where the first split began. All four candidates were from the Republican Party. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but failed to win the majority of the Electoral College. According to the constitution, the top three candidates would be voted on in the House of Representatives. Clay was eliminated as he received the 4th amount of votes. Clay used his power as speaker of the House to throw his support to John Quincy Adams. Shortly after Quincy Adams’ election he placed Clay in the position of Secretary of State, a known stepping-stone to the presidency. Jackson called this â€Å"foul play†, and many of Jackson’s followers called the Election of 1824 a â€Å"corrupt bargain.† When election time came again in 1828 Jackson ran as a democrat while Quincy Adams ran as Republican. Jackson won the electio n as a Democratic. Jackson faced many crises during this time, which made him quite a few friends as well as many enemies. The Tariff of 1828, which sought to drive up tariffs on many southern products, was widely disapproved by the people in the south but highly accepted by people in the north and could be seen as a power struggle between Daniel Webster who was Pro-Tariff and John C. Calhoun who was Anti-Tariff. Calhoun advocated a complete nullification of the bill in South Carolina. Jackson responded immediately by threatening to send in armed forces to collect the taxes in South Carolina if necessary. Jackson also made enemies with his Indian Removal Act. Even though Jackson made many enemies during his first term he was re-elected to a second term and defeated Clay in this second Election. During this election can the beginning of the Anti- Masonic Party. The Anti- Masonic Party was an Anti-Jackson Party. This party hated the Jackson Party, as well as Jackson himself, who was a Mason. During Jackson’s second term a long-term party developed which was called the Whigs, which stood for everythi ng that was anti-Jackson. They hated the â€Å"abuse† of Jackson because he used the veto power more than any of the other presidents combined. President Jackson did not run for re-election, as he was too old. However, by this point in time two distinct parties had formed. On one side were the democrats who glorified the individual, and believed in the liberal idea of laissez faire or self-help. They believed that the government should not bail out or attempt to help businesses that were failing by giving financial support. The Whigs however, supported the market system and capitalism. Whigs favored moral reforms, a national bank, tariffs and a natural balance in society as well as the community over the individual which was very much anti-Jackson. Both parties had many similarities however a primary division of the two parties came because of economic issue. A second issue that arose and led to two political parties was the Bank of the United States. The Bank of the United States was due to expire, which meant it would need to be re-chartered. A Bank war erupted when two political viewpoints fought over the re-chartering of the bank. One side wanted the re-chartering to be passed and the other wanted President Jackson to use his veto power so the bank would be eliminated. Jackson was against the re- chartering, as he was apprehensive of all banks and their paper-money issues along with the fact that he believed that the bank had intervened in local and national elections. Jackson also believed that the banks president had too much control of its wealth and power. Jackson decided the Bank of the United States would not be re-chartered. Jackson began removing funds from the Bank in the hopes that it would slowly close it down. He placed these removals into smaller state banks. Several other smaller banks also formed at this time and issued their own paper money. This new money led to over pricing of land in the west and forced Jackson to issue an order that all land be purchased with metal money instead of the paper money. Jackson left office shortly after this and left president Martin Van Buren to clean up this issue which had spread to every other part of the economy. In the hopes of stopping the crisis Van Buren formed the Independent Treasury who would keep all government funds locked away in vaults. After Van Buren, the Federal Reserve System was created to help control the amount of money in circulation and to keep a certain amount in the central government. The Whigs, which was a major politically party formed because of the trouble surrounding the Bank of the United States. The Whigs stood for a strong national bank in control of every aspect while Jackson and the Democrats believed in central government supervision of state banks. This became the primary distinction between the two political parties. Both political personalities like Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams and economic issues as with The Bank of the United States led to the re-emergence of the two party systems of Whigs and Democrats.

Human Relations: A Personal Experience

Human Relations: A Personal Experience Allison R. West Introduction to Graduate Studies in Human Relations 12/4/13 While reading Modern Human Relations at Work I found information that I pretty much expected to find in a book on this subject. I found some specific studies that I had not read about before and ideals that I found to be true in theory, but not so much in practice. The standard questions of whether a happy worker is a productive worker and do open door policies work were addressed. Ten years ago I would have read this text book in a much different manner, with a completely different erspective than I do today.I may have viewed the ideals of organizational human relations with some sort of hope that people can actually work in environments where there are superiors and subordinates can maintain a sense of respect and humanity towards one another, but that has not always been my experience. The old expression â€Å"it's lonely at the top† can be interpreted in sever al ways; there are not many top dogs out there, or that the higher you go the less time you have to mingle with the lowly, or the less you really care to, or the misguided belief that you should have a self-imposed separation .Whatever the meaning or reason one thing is true to my understanding; organizations are truly not classless societies and while they, in theory, should understand human relations better than anyone, they practice very little of what they profess to preach. I do not mean to give the impression that I do not understand the need for hierarchies and the important role they play in efficient organizations, it is not the paradigm, but the players, with which I take issue.In this paper I would like to address the two areas that were of greatest interest to me as they apply to my experiences working within large organizations. The first area referred to the fundamentals of human relations and included a study conducted by the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric in Ill inois that I found interesting. The second discussed the management of conflict between individuals and organizations and included exercises that companies can use to build stronger relationships between botn I wou d like to snare my thoughts on these areas trom both theoretical and practical stand points.The book defined human relations as follows: â€Å"The process by which management brings workers into contact with the organization in such a way that the objectives of oth groups are achieved is human relations† (pg. 5) and takes the point of view of the manager. While the company and the worker share a common purpose of being successful and making money, the worker also has goals that the company may or may not be aware of or concerned with. Successful human relations addresses both the company and the worker and finds a satisfactory solution to all needs.This, in my opinion, is where most companies don't seem to be able to get it right. It is not enough for an organizati on to say that they care about their workers, what their needs are, what their opinions are and how they can best use their talents to nhance the organization, there has to be follow through and this is what usually does not happen. You only have to look at a company's turnover of employees to get a good idea of their attitude towards human relations. I spent 10 years working for an organization that truly did not care at all about their workers, though they professed to.It is my experience with this particular organization, which I will call Agency X that I will be referring to in this paper. Agency X has a high turnover for several reasons, one of which is the amount of stress that comes with the Job and the econd is the response, or lack thereof, on the part of the agency to try and understand, alleviate, or even acknowledge the fact that the needs of the workers are not being met. So while I read through the book, I suppose I was more Jaded and had a more pessimistic attitude th an I should have, but I truly believe that few companies actually care about human relations in practice.I found the Hawthorne studies interesting in that it showed that a worker who feels that they are valued and has some level of relationship with those they work with is productive and that the quality of the supervision they receive effects the uality and quantity of their work (pg. 9). When I worked for Agency X I was a case manager for 4 years and had a supervisor who truly cared and was concerned for the well-being of her workers and the impact the Job was having on us. This supervisor did a good Job of shielding us from the bureaucratic issues that came from above.She believed that the quality of services to clients and the needs of the workers were both equally as important. After 4 years she changed Jobs and I was promoted to her position, it was at this same time that our contract was obtained by another big agency and suddenly things changed. While I continued to supervis e in the way I had been taught, ensuring that what needed to be done was done, that clients were receiving the best possible services and that workers were not burning out and were taking care of themselves I began to see the differences in field work and middle management.I was accused of babying my workers whenever I tried to make things a little easier for them. It is important to note that we worked with abused children and families in volatile situations that required a tremendous amount of travel and field time (we were not child welfare). Let me give an example of a worker who was close to burning out. We had both been at a home in the country where the situation became fragile and volatile and we decided that it was best to leave.After we had driven away (we took separate cars) my worker pulled over to the side of the road and just sat there. I pulled in behind ner and Just watched tor a tew seconds wondering if she was going to get out of the car, but she did not. I walked up to her window to find her in tears. I allowed her to vent her feelings and frustrations and finally I suggested to her that she go home for the rest of the day (it was early Friday afternoon) and spend time with her daughters and not think about work until Monday morning.I told my worker that we would meet in my office on the Monday and talk about what we needed to do make sure her needs and the needs of the client were being met. While this was an appropriate solution to me, I was then â€Å"counseled† as I told my worker to go home when she had not filled out a â€Å"request for leave† form. That was my first indication that Agency X did not care at all about my worker, all they cared about was a piece of paper that they would not have received until timesheets were turned in the following week anyway.So I took that hit, signed y piece of paper that said I was a bad supervisor that day and never said a word to my worker about it. Human relations works at a worker level and even at a middle management level if you have a supervisor who gives a damn about you, but it is only a slogan on a poster for those in upper management. The human resources model outlined on page 11 of our book gives 4 systems that an agency can fall into when dealing with human relations. I feel that an agency can fall into several systems at one time.I think those in middle management still see their workers as valuable assets that should not be easily discarded. Middle anagement have better relationships with their workers and probably fall between system 3 (consultive democratic) and system 4 (participative democratic) depending on how long the subordinate and superior have been working together. Upper management would have you believe that their agency is participative democratic, but they are, in reality, benevolent autocratic (system 2) where condescension and punishment are the main staples of management.It was forced upon me many times that I should separate myse lf from my workers and make sure they understood we were â€Å"not the same†. While I understand that it is not always wise for supervisors o be friends with workers, we do not need to sit in ivory towers looking down on them either. There is a happy medium that upper management ignore. As I progressed in Agency X, I was promoted again to Regional Director and was responsible for services all 16 counties in Southwest Oklahoma. This was my first and only experience with upper management and I have no desire to â€Å"go there† again.

Foundation and Empire Acknowledgments

The date was August 1, 1941. World War II had been raging for two years. France had fallen, the Battle of Britain had been fought, and the Soviet Union had just been invaded by Nazi Germany. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was four months in the future. But on that day, with Europe in flames, and the evil shadow of Adolf Hitler apparently falling over all the world, what was chiefly on my mind was a meeting toward which I was hastening. I was 21 years old, a graduate student in chemistry at Columbia University, and I had been writing science fiction professionally for three years. In that time, I had sold five stories to John Campbell, editor of Astounding, and the fifth story, â€Å"Nightfall,† was about to appear in the September 1941 issue of the magazine. I had an appointment to see Mr. Campbell to tell him the plot of a new story I was planning to write, and the catch was that I had no plot in mind, not the trace of one. I therefore tried a device I sometimes use. I opened a book at random and set up free association, beginning with whatever I first saw. The book I had with me was a collection of the Gilbert and Sullivan plays. I happened to open it to the picture of the Fairy Queen of lolanthe throwing herself at the feet of Private Willis. I thought of soldiers, of military empires, of the Roman Empire – of a Galactic Empire – aha! Why shouldn't I write of the fall of the Galactic Empire and of the return of feudalism, written from the viewpoint of someone in the secure days of the Second Galactic Empire? After all, I had read Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire not once, but twice. I was bubbling over by the time I got to Campbell's, and my enthusiasm must have been catching for Campbell blazed up as I had never seen him do. In the course of an hour we built up the notion of a vast series of connected stories that were to deal in intricate detail with the thousand-year period between the First and Second Galactic Empires. This was to be illuminated by the science of psychohistory, which Campbell and I thrashed out between us. On August 11, 1941, therefore, I began the story of that interregnum and called it â€Å"Foundation.† In it, I described how the psychohistorian, Hari Seldon, established a pair of Foundations at opposite ends of the Universe under such circumstances as to make sure that the forces of history would bring about the second Empire after one thousand years instead of the thirty thousand that would be required otherwise. The story was submitted on September 8 and, to make sure that Campbell really meant what he said about a series, I ended â€Å"Foundation† on a cliff-hanger. Thus, it seemed to me, he would be forced to buy a second story. However, when I started the second story (on October 24), I found that I had outsmarted myself. I quickly wrote myself into an impasse, and the Foundation series would have died an ignominious death had I not had a conversation with Fred Pohl on November 2 (on the Brooklyn Bridge, as it happened). I don't remember what Fred actually said, but, whatever it was, it pulled me out of the hole. â€Å"Foundation† appeared in the May 1942 issue of Astounding and the succeeding story, â€Å"Bridle and Saddle,† in the June 1942 issue. After that there was only the routine trouble of writing the stories. Through the remainder of the decade, John Campbell kept my nose to the grindstone and made sure he got additional Foundation stories. â€Å"The Big and the Little† was in the August 1944 Astounding, â€Å"The Wedge† in the October 1944 issue, and â€Å"Dead Hand† in the April 1945 issue. (These stories were written while I was working at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia.) On January 26, 1945, I began â€Å"The Mule,† my personal favorite among the Foundation stories, and the longest yet, for it was 50,000 words. It was printed as a two-part serial (the very first serial I was ever responsible for) in the November and December 1945 issues. By the time the second part appeared I was in the army. After I got out of the army, I wrote â€Å"Now You See It-† which appeared in the January 1948 issue. By this time, though, I had grown tired of the Foundation stories so I tried to end them by setting up, and solving, the mystery of the location of the Second Foundation. Campbell would have none of that, however. He forced me to change the ending, and made me promise I would do one more Foundation story. Well, Campbell was the kind of editor who could not be denied, so I wrote one more Foundation story, vowing to myself that it would be the last. I called it â€Å"-And Now You Don't,† and it appeared as a three-part serial in the November 1949, December 1949, and January 1950 issues of Astounding. By then, I was on the biochemistry faculty of Boston University School of Medicine, my first book had just been published, and I was determined to move on to new things. I had spent eight years on the Foundation, written nine stories with a total of about 220,000 words. My total earnings for the series came to $3,641 and that seemed enough. The Foundation was over and done with, as far as I was concerned. In 1950, however, hardcover science fiction was just coming into existence. I had no objection to earning a little more money by having the Foundation series reprinted in book form. I offered the series to Doubleday (which had already published a science-fiction novel by me, and which had contracted for another) and to Little-Brown, but both rejected it. In that year, though, a small publishing firm, Gnome Press, was beginning to be active, and it was prepared to do the Foundation series as three books. The publisher of Gnome felt, however, that the series began too abruptly. He persuaded me to write a small Foundation story, one that would serve as an introductory section to the first book (so that the first part of the Foundation series was the last written). In 1951, the Gnome Press edition of Foundation was published, containing the introduction and the first four stories of the series. In 1952, Foundation and Empire appeared, with the fifth and sixth stories; and in 1953, Second Foundation appeared, with the seventh and eighth stories. The three books together came to be called The Foundation Trilogy. The mere fact of the existence of the Trilogy pleased me, but Gnome Press did not have the financial clout or the publishing knowhow to get the books distributed properly, so that few copies were sold and fewer still paid me royalties. (Nowadays, copies of first editions of those Gnome Press books sell at $50 a copy and up-but I still get no royalties from them.) Ace Books did put out paperback editions of Foundation and of Foundation and Empire, but they changed the titles, and used cut versions. Any money that was involved was paid to Gnome Press and I didn't see much of that. In the first decade of the existence of The Foundation Trilogy it may have earned something like $1500 total. And yet there was some foreign interest. In early 1961, Timothy Seldes, who was then my editor at Doubleday, told me that Doubleday had received a request for the Portuguese rights for the Foundation series and, since they weren't Doubleday books, he was passing them on to me. I sighed and said, â€Å"The heck with it, Tim. I don't get royalties on those books.† Seldes was horrified, and instantly set about getting the books away from Gnome Press so that Doubleday could publish them instead. He paid no attention to my loudly expressed fears that Doubleday â€Å"would lose its shirt on them.† In August 1961 an agreement was reached and the Foundation books became Doubleday property. What's more, Avon Books, which had published a paperback version of Second Foundation, set about obtaining the rights to all three from Doubleday, and put out nice editions. From that moment on, the Foundation books took off and began to earn increasing royalties. They have sold well and steadily, both in hardcover and softcover, for two decades so far. Increasingly, the letters I received from the readers spoke of them in high praise. They received more attention than all my other books put together. Doubleday also published an omnibus volume, The Foundation Trilogy, for its Science Fiction Book Club. That omnibus volume has been continuously featured by the Book Club for over twenty years. Matters reached a climax in 1966. The fans organizing the World Science Fiction Convention for that year (to be held in Cleveland) decided to award a Hugo for the best all-time series, where the series, to qualify, had to consist of at least three connected novels. It was the first time such a category had been set up, nor has it been repeated since. The Foundation series was nominated, and I felt that was going to have to be glory enough for me, since I was sure that Tolkien's â€Å"Lord of the Rings† would win. It didn't. The Foundation series won, and the Hugo I received for it has been sitting on my bookcase in the livingroom ever since. In among all this litany of success, both in money and in fame, there was one annoying side-effect. Readers couldn't help but notice that the books of the Foundation series covered only three hundred-plus years of the thousand-year hiatus between Empires. That meant the Foundation series â€Å"wasn't finished.† I got innumerable letters from readers who asked me to finish it, from others who demanded I finish it, and still others who threatened dire vengeance if I didn't finish it. Worse yet, various editors at Doubleday over the years have pointed out that it might be wise to finish it. It was flattering, of course, but irritating as well. Years had passed, then decades. Back in the 1940s, I had been in a Foundation-writing mood. Now I wasn't. Starting in the late 1950s, I had been in a more and more nonfiction-writing mood. That didn't mean I was writing no fiction at all. In the 1960s and 1970s, in fact, I wrote two science-fiction novels and a mystery novel, to say nothing of well over a hundred short stories – but about eighty percent of what I wrote was nonfiction. One of the most indefatigable nags in the matter of finishing the Foundation series was my good friend, the great science-fiction writer, Lester del Rey. He was constantly telling me I ought to finish the series and was just as constantly suggesting plot devices. He even told Larry Ashmead, then my editor at Doubleday, that if I refused to write more Foundation stories, he, Lester, would be willing to take on the task. When Ashmead mentioned this to me in 1973, I began another Foundation novel out of sheer desperation. I called it â€Å"Lightning Rod† and managed to write fourteen pages before other tasks called me away. The fourteen pages were put away and additional years passed. In January 1977, Cathleen Jordan, then my editor at Doubleday, suggested I do â€Å"an important book – a Foundation novel, perhaps.† I said, â€Å"I'd rather do an autobiography,† and I did – 640,000 words of it. In January 1981, Doubleday apparently lost its temper. At least, Hugh O'Neill, then my editor there, said, â€Å"Betty Prashker wants to see you,† and marched me into her office. She was then one of the senior editors, and a sweet and gentle person. She wasted no time. â€Å"Isaac,† she said, â€Å"you are going to write a novel for us and you are going to sign a contract to that effect.† â€Å"Betty,† I said, â€Å"I am already working on a big science book for Doubleday and I have to revise the Biographical Encyclopedia for Doubleday and -â€Å" â€Å"It can all wait,† she said. â€Å"You are going to sign a contract to do a novel. What's more, we're going to give you a $50,000 advance.† That was a stunner. I don't like large advances. They put me under too great an obligation. My average advance is something like $3,000. Why not? It's all out of royalties. I said, â€Å"That's way too much money, Betty.† â€Å"No, it isn't,† she said. â€Å"Doubleday will lose its shirt,† I said. â€Å"You keep telling us that all the time. It won't.† I said, desperately, â€Å"All right. Have the contract read that I don't get any money until I notify you in writing that I have begun the novel.† â€Å"Are you crazy?† she said. â€Å"You'll never start if that clause is in the contract. You get $25,000 on signing the contract, and $25,000 on delivering a completed manuscript.† â€Å"But suppose the novel is no good.† â€Å"Now you're being silly,† she said, and she ended the conversation. That night, Pat LoBrutto, the science-fiction editor at Doubleday called to express his pleasure. â€Å"And remember,† he said, â€Å"that when we say ‘novel' we mean ‘science-fiction novel,' not anything else. And when we say ‘science-fiction novel,' we mean ‘Foundation novel' and not anything else.† On February 5, 1981, I signed the contract, and within the week, the Doubleday accounting system cranked out the check for $25,000. I moaned that I was not my own master anymore and Hugh O'Neill said, cheerfully, â€Å"That's right, and from now on, we're going to call every other week and say, ‘Where's the manuscript?'† (But they didn't. They left me strictly alone, and never even asked for a progress report.) Nearly four months passed while I took care of a vast number of things I had to do, but about the end of May, I picked up my own copy of The Foundation Trilogy and began reading. I had to. For one thing, I hadn't read the Trilogy in thirty years and while I remembered the general plot, I did not remember the details. Besides, before beginning a new Foundation novel I had to immerse myself in the style and atmosphere of the series. I read it with mounting uneasiness. I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever did. All three volumes, all the nearly quarter of a million words, consisted of thoughts and of conversations. No action. No physical suspense. What was all the fuss about, then? Why did everyone want more of that stuff? – To be sure, I couldn't help but notice that I was turning the pages eagerly, and that I was upset when I finished the book, and that I wanted more, but I was the author, for goodness' sake. You couldn't go by me. I was on the edge of deciding it was all a terrible mistake and of insisting on giving back the money, when (quite by accident, I swear) I came across some sentences by science-fiction writer and critic, James Gunn, who, in connection with the Foundation series, said, â€Å"Action and romance have little to do with the success of the Trilogy – virtually all the action takes place offstage, and the romance is almost invisible – but the stories provide a detective-story fascination with the permutations and reversals of ideas.† Oh, well, if what was needed were â€Å"permutations and reversals of ideas,† then that I could supply. Panic receded, and on June 10, 1981, I dug out the fourteen pages I had written more than eight years before and reread them. They sounded good to me. I didn't remember where I had been headed back then, but I had worked out what seemed to me to be a good ending now, and, starting page 15 on that day, I proceeded to work toward the new ending. I found, to my infinite relief, that I had no trouble getting back into a â€Å"Foundation-mood,† and, fresh from my rereading, I had Foundation history at my finger-tips. There were differences, to be sure: 1) The original stories were written for a science-fiction magazine and were from 7,000 to 50,000 words long, and no more. Consequently, each book in the trilogy had at least two stories and lacked unity. I intended to make the new book a single story. 2) I had a particularly good chance for development since Hugh said, â€Å"Let the book find its own length, Isaac. We don't mind a long book.† So I planned on 140,000 words, which was nearly three times the length of â€Å"The Mule,† and this gave me plenty of elbow-room, and I could add all sorts of little touches. 3) The Foundation series had been written at a time when our knowledge of astronomy was primitive compared with what it is today. I could take advantage of that and at least mention black holes, for instance. I could also take advantage of electronic computers, which had not been invented until I was half through with the series. The novel progressed steadily, and on January 17, 1982, I began final copy. I brought the manuscript to Hugh O'Neill in batches, and the poor fellow went half-crazy since he insisted on reading it in this broken fashion. On March 25, 1982, I brought in the last bit, and the very next day got the second half of the advance. I had kept â€Å"Lightning Rod† as my working title all the way through, but Hugh finally said, â€Å"Is there any way of putting ‘Foundation' into the title, Isaac?† I suggested Foundations at Bay, therefore, and that may be the title that will actually be used 1. You will have noticed that I have said nothing about the plot of the new Foundation novel. Well, naturally. I would rather you buy and read the book. And yet there is one thing I have to confess to you. I generally manage to tie up all the loose ends into one neat little bow-knot at the end of my stories, no matter how complicated the plot might be. In this case, however, I noticed that when I was all done, one glaring little item remained unresolved. I am hoping no one else notices it because it clearly points the way to the continuation of the series. It is even possible that I inadvertently gave this away for at the end of the novel, I wrote: â€Å"The End (for now).† I very much fear that if the novel proves successful, Doubleday will be at my throat again, as Campbell used to be in the old days. And yet what can I do but hope that the novel is very successful indeed. What a quandary!